PROMPT

“Shoulder or pocket, your choice.”

Living Art

Instruments lined the walls, strings and percussion alike. The metronome next to the window stood silent watch next to the sleek black grand piano. There were a couple of chairs nearby but, otherwise, the only other piece of furniture in the room was a mahogany desk.

The desk was usually covered with dozens of blank sheet music scores, scraps of paper, and fountain pens accompanied by their bottles of ink. That’s not what was on the desk now.

Instead, there was a lone figure.

Neomaya paced back and forth across the surface of the desk. She wrung her hands on way, and then the other way. She didn’t remember the last time she was this nervous.

Well…

That wasn’t true…

She did remember one specific time – the day she was taken to her new home.

She stood on the same desk where she first met… him – Nathaniel Eragon.

Nathaniel Eragon was a tall, lanky man with thick, dark and curly auburn hair that was about shoulder length. His features were almost over exaggeratedly thin. He had narrow lips that formed a thin line on his face when he was wrestling with something but didn’t want to say.

The musician carried a whimsical, quick-witted energy that lurked beneath his reserved exterior. He often wore button down shirts with rolled up sleeves, revealing a few subtle tattoos he often kept private.

His most notable feature, however, was his honey-colored eye.

This is what threw Neomaya off the most when she first met him.

The one eye.

Evidently, when he was young, he had an accident which took his right eye. Now, he wore an eyepatch to cover up what would undoubtedly make other uncomfortable.

Neomaya hated that people would see him and be uncomfortable with him, especially after she got to know him. He was very sweet and generous, soft spoken and very encouraging when given the correct circumstances.

She didn’t know that when she was presented to him.

She stopped pacing and closed her eyes to remember that day.

~~~^*^*^~~~

The box she was in rattled and shook around her. They came directly from the Facility and were going to her supposed forever home. Neomaya was a pet, a biologically engineered entity derived directly from the human race. Fully sentient with no autonomy, but that’s how things were.

She was small of stature, barely above four and a half inches, and had mousey brown hair the frizzed out at the ends. Slate black eyes and pale, cream-colored skin, Neomaya’s appearance wasn’t the only thing that set her apart from other pets.

She also received special conditioning, which was why she came directly from the Facility. Neomaya was registered as a therapy pet, meaning she was especially obedient, highly empathetic, and intuitive.

Neomaya wasn’t sure why she was purchased, but she did know that the family seemed especially concerned about who she was being given to. She was tossed from side to side in the box, quietly listening to the chatter on the outside.

“Mom, I know this is a good idea. Trust me! He’s been so down and out lately. Having a pet will give him something to do,” said the woman who purchased Neomaya.

“I understand what you’re trying to do for your brother. It’s just…” said an older woman.

“It’s just nothing. He’s going to accept his new pet, love it, and thank me later for it.”

More jostling and the sounds of footsteps. The quick, jolting upward told the pet they were going up stairs. There was furious knocking on the door. From where she was, Neomaya could already feel the chill of the late autumn air seeping in through the cracks in the box and through the air holes at the top of the box.

The door opened and a soft, deep voice with a hint of masculine gravel greeted the two humans at the door. Neomaya was shaking and too focused on maintaining her neutral disposition to hear what it was they were talking about.

All she knew was that the top of the box was suddenly thrown open and a female hand engulfed her entire frame with little to no effort. She was lifted out of the box and suddenly placed on a mahogany surface. She stumbled a few steps before looking up into the singular honey-colored eye of a very thin man in his late twenties.

Instantly, she used her training and stood at her trained “attention” stance, shoulders relaxed, head down with gaze averted, straight back, and no fidgeting. Long fingers suddenly came into her field of vision. Instinctively, she tensed, but the fingers only rested near her.

“Katherine, what did you do?” he asked, voice sounding tired and annoyed.

“I got you a pet. Now you have something other than your booze to entertain,” snarked Katherine, the woman who purchased Neomaya.

“You make it sound like I’m an alcoholic,” he muttered as he walked way, which released the tension in Neomaya’s shoulders immensely. She dared to glance up and watch what was about to happen. “And I don’t need a pet. I told you. I’m grieving. That’s all.”

“Great! And a pet will help you get back to normal,” replied Katherine. When the man gave no response, she huffed a sigh and approached. “Nathaniel, listen. We’re worried about you. Right mom? We are all worried about you. You’re obviously exhausted. You obviously aren’t eating, at least not well. You aren’t even writing music for Heaven’s sake! Music is your life, and you’re not even doing that. I know Liberty was a little more than a friend, but…”

At the mention of this name, Nathaniel whipped around, a fierce and deep seeded anger in his face. “Don’t…”

Katherine rolled her eyes and walked toward the door.

“Mom is in the car. We were going to invite you to lunch, but you should get yourself together. Seriously, Nathaniel. I know it’s only been six months, but this isn’t healthy.” With that, Katherine left the two of them alone.

Nathaniel’s posture shifted from hostile to slumped, despondent. He walked over and hopped up on top of the piano, which Neomaya only now noticed, and he laid back to stare at the ceiling.

He said nothing.

He barely acknowledged her existence.

An hour passed while Neomaya waited patiently for some sort of order. Her training taught her that. It didn’t stop her from looking around the room cautiously. It was beautiful and spacious, instruments clinging to stands and hooks on the walls. There were frames of what looked like awards, but the pet would need to get closer to read what they actually were.

Another hour had almost completed when Nathaniel pushed himself up, walked over to the desk, and plopped down in the chair across from Neomaya. She held deathly still as she stood there, waiting for him to issue some kind of command or to start messing with her. It was what they said would happen during her conditioning after all.

She heard him click his tongue just before speaking.

“I have no idea why she brought you here to me. Kat always thinks she knows best,” he sighed. His finger suddenly came into view and rested on the top of her shoes before retracting and pointing at her attire. “Kat probably dressed you like that. Skin-tight uniform. At least the colors suit you. White and sky blue. You look like a nurse.”

Neomaya felt tears prick the corners of her eyes. This wasn’t even the worst thing that had ever been said to her, but it was just his presence that made her sad. He was obviously skilled, otherwise he wouldn’t have so many instruments and pieces of paper with signatures and awards. Still, he seemed angry and sad, which made him critical.

“Are you scared of me?” he asked briskly. Neomaya took the chance to look up into his face and mechanically shake her head even though every instinct in her squirmed under his scrutiny.

“No sir,” she said clearly, which made Nathaniel snort.

“Not a very good liar. I can see it in your eyes that you’re either afraid or uncomfortable. Is it the patch?” he asked stiffly. Neomaya’s heartrate quickened as she remembered her training. Reassure. Regulate. Be ready.

“Just getting to know you, sir,” said Neomaya.

Nathaniel sighed and folded his arms across his chest, leaving a solid five minutes of air in the conversation before speaking again.

“It’s freaky, you know,” continued Nathaniel, eye glazing over and looking not at her, but at something distant that Neomaya couldn’t see. “You look so human except for your height. Eyes, nose, fingers, toes, heart, brain. Basically dressed up to play a nurse, here to tend to a soul not worth the oxygen and carbon constructing it. How human are you anyway?”

He sounded so hopeless. It was heart crushing.

Maybe it was because, mere hours ago, she was plucked from training to be taken to an unknown fate. Maybe it was just being in his presence and feeling the heartbreak in the air around him. Whatever it was, she didn’t know.

All Neomaya knew was that her eyes were glistening with tears and her shoulders shook slightly under Nathaniel’s gaze.

She heard him sigh and he leaned back while she attempted to steady her breathing. Heart racing, chest tight, Neomaya knew immediately her training was failing.

Or was it…

A few seconds later, Nathaniel sighed again, leaned forward, and reached out to press his palm against her back, thumb barely brushing the side of her head. It wasn’t a display of power, nor was it meant as threatening. It was meant as a comfort, which Neomaya noted as a good sign.

His fingers closed around her delicately, closing around her lower half, before he tilted his hand for her to sit in. He used his fingers like a human would use a seat belt as he lifted her to his chest above his heart and tilted his hand, letting her lean forward until his palm was against her back.

He was cradling her in his palm, pressing her ever so slightly into his shoulder. Neomaya wasn’t sure, but it felt like he was trying to offer some kind of hug. She leaned into the touch, both out of training habits and because, honestly, it felt nice. She gripped onto his shirt and pressed her face into the nice smelling fabric.

“Sorry,” he said quietly, which still reverberated in his chest like distant, rolling thunder to her. “I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings. I’m just… tired. Sad and tired.”

Nathaniel leaned back into his chair, taking Neomaya with him, as he sat there and breathed. Neomaya listened to his heart deep in his chest. It was rhythmic and soothing, lulling her into a dazed, dreamlike state. She could fall asleep to this sound. After some time, he tensed his fingers around her, which instantly gained the pet’s attention.

“I guess I need to find something to feed the both of us. Pocket or shoulder, your choice,” he muttered. There was hardly any debate in her mind. Neomaya saw that the pocket he was referring to was mere inches from her body and so close to the hypnotic thrum of his heart, so the choice was clear.

“Pocket please, sir,” she replied.

“Ugh, enough with the sir nonsense. It’s Nathaniel. Just Nathaniel.”

“Yes si—er… Nathaniel.” With that, he tilted his hand and she slipped easily between the folds of the fabric and watched as Nathaniel made his way through his home to the kitchen, noticing the entire way how he shuffled past all of his awards as though they didn’t exist.

What happened to him?

~~~^*^*^~~~

The days turned into weeks, which turned into months, and Neomaya had been tracking the idiosyncrasies of her human. First was when he woke up, which was late in the afternoon. Most nights, she accidentally fell asleep and woke up in her cubby he made for her in his bedside table.

He didn’t say much and, if he did, he was clear and concise. Mostly, if he talked, he would ask her if she needed anything or if she would rather be in his pocket or on his shoulder. Every time, she chose pocket. The shoulder felt so exposed and, if she was being honest, Neomaya was a quiet introvert at best. She also liked listening to the deep, rhythmic pulse of his heart.

Nathaniel had this way of shuffling his feet when he walked, but he had excellent posture when he sat down. He barely ate and sometimes muttered in his sleep. His touch was delicate, and he never pinched or grabbed her unnecessarily. In fact, other than the odd night when he would press his loosely closed fist against her back, Neomaya was left to her own devices.

Nathaniel installed ropes and lines for her to climb. One day when he felt energetic, he even installed a couple of ladder and bridge systems so she could get from place to place on her own.

Neomaya could wander and explore as she pleased through the house and found a lot of her time open and free. It was an odd sensation, not being watched or monitored every second of every day. What was even stranger was that she, not once, felt uneasy around Nathaniel. It wasn’t at all what she expected, being someone’s pet.

There were a few times where she found frames overturned or pictures that were clearly torn up and taped back together, but with pieces missing. It wasn’t her place to ask or pry, but she made note to remember it.

What made Neomaya very intrigued, however, were the instruments. She didn’t dare ask about them and, instead, made herself readily available and close by if he needed anything.

It was one fateful day, however, when he stepped out of the room and left her alone on his desk that she blundered into what became the most special interaction they ever had.