The human’s voice was not angry, but it was loud. 19 staggered backward, falling on his butt, dropping the peace offering. He wasn’t necessarily scared, just concerned. They liked it when he repeated their words, so he should just do that again, “Fuck?”
“Great job Tanner, you taught it-er-him to swear.”
“Really, it just became a fucking human, and you’re worried that it swore.”
“Oh right. Um, that was not mentioned on the news. Did you know they could do that?” Tanner looked at his wife, his face answering her question. “Yeah, me neither. See I told you there was something going on. I was right. Look at that Tanner I was right wasn’t I-”
“Lucy, look at- um- him. He’s covered in bruises.”
“I mean he has been missing for two days, it’s not surprising he’s banged up.”
“No. Look, those are healing bruises. And I think you’re thinking the same thing I am. You were right. Something is wrong. And you know glossing past the whole transformation thing, those bruises are almost strategic. They were purposeful.”
Lucy pulled out her phone quickly typing away, scrolling then sighing and putting it away. “There is no mention of Xs being able to do what he just did on the internet.”
“So, you think the farm has been hiding things from everyone.”
“I don’t exactly know what to think at this point. And weren’t you the one who wanted to rush and call them, now you’re accusing them of hiding things and beating the Xs?”
“Well, that was before- THIS!” Tanner gestured to the human Xling, who still sat on the floor, his head following the speaker. “And we should probably get him some clothes.”
“And why is that?” Lucy’s face curved into a smile. She knew why. But she wanted to hear him say it.
“Well, we can’t very well send him back, we have to figure this out first, and he can’t stay naked.” Tanner didn’t smile. His eyes fixated on the child. He bent down to be eye level and smiled. “Hello.”
After chasing around the naked 8-year-old, who kept yelling “Fuck”, the couple were able to get one of Tanner’s t-shirts on him, which was not something he agreed with. He sat scowling, back on his boxes, and yet he found that he trusted them. Sure, they were noisy, but they were nice. They reminded him of his father. So, he allowed them to place this restraint on him. And they smiled. Smiled like his father. Smiled like his friends. Smiled like the human boy. Not like the master.
The doorbell rang through the house, startling all 3 of them. Tanner and Lucy met eyes. It was almost 9’o’clock. Tanner faced the Xling and put his finger to his lips, before turning and running up the stairs. Lucy turned to the boy, whose eyes had refilled with fear. She walked over to him, still allowing him some distance, before sitting facing him. She smiled softly. And when his eyes reunited with hers, some of the fear drained away. There were suddenly loud footsteps above them. Both immediately recognized the multiple sets of feet needed to make the sounds. The voices were muffled, but one word both was heard and understood. “Xling”. And the voice was not Tanner’s.
“Lucy, can you come up here.” Tanner’s voice quivered, not enough for a stranger to hear, but enough for his wife to recognize. She stood to her feet. Something was wrong, and as she looked to the Xling, she feared she knew who was above her. She started to walk towards the stairs when she suddenly felt a small hand grasp hers. She turned to the boy, his eyes begging her not to leave.
“Lucy?” Tanner’s voice seemed more urgent. She needed to go, but she couldn’t leave him alone. He wouldn’t understand why they were leaving him. He probably feared they were going to give him to whoever was up there. She smiled and clutched his hand, and together up they went.
Tanner expected to see his wife come through the basement door. He did not expect her to be accompanied. What was she thinking? His eyes glanced at the boy, his little hand tucked gently in hers.
“Hello, Mrs. Wilson. We are from Lyrian Xs. As you may know, an Xling escaped two days ago. This creature, although small, should be considered highly dangerous. You must remember that these are just animals, and when hungry they will try to eat whatever breathing soul dares to enter its path. We are here to check with all the residents of this town, as someone recently called in with a sighting, and we must take this matter very seriously” The man and his partner wore matching uniforms, green with a black trim, and printed on the collar were the words “Lyrian Xs”.
19 recognized their outfits and immediately hid behind Lucy.
“Oh, Mr. Wilson didn’t mention you had a child.” The guard crept towards Lucy and the hiding child. “And who may this be?”
Lucy quickly picked up on the man’s suspicions. She and her husband had sandy blond hair, blue eyes, and pale skin, whereas the child had medium brown hair, chestnut eyes, and honey skin. “This is,-” Lucy’s mind darted, “-Samuel.”
“Yes, sorry, I meant to mention him, but I thought he was sleeping. This is our child, which before you ask yes, he is adopted.” Tanner forced a laugh, pretending like they were questioned about it all the time. The guard knew. The guard knew Xs could transform into humans, that’s why he was so interested in the boy, which pissed Tanner off. He didn’t want to be right about the farm, but this was proving it.
“Well, hello, Samuel. Wow your hair is quite long, say are you a boy or a girl?” The guard smiled. He was trying to trip him up. Xs couldn’t speak English. He had got them. Except the guard didn’t know something. He didn’t know that 3 years before, 19/Samuel had learned the words boy and girl and had held tightly onto them in his memory. He smirked.
“BOY!”
The guard stood confused. He was almost sure that this was the Xling.
“Excuse me, do you think it is appropriate to ask a little kid their gender because of hair length. I thought you said you were here on serious business, but instead, you basically insult our son based on his appearance. The nerve of you. If you don’t leave my house right now, I will make sure to contact your boss to tell him about this outrageous behavior.” Lucy was losing her cool. These men were up to no good. She didn’t know how Samuel learned the word boy, but all that mattered was that he knew it and it saved him.
Tanner pushed the guards from the house as they apologized profusely for causing any discomfort, which was met with scowls and looks of utter distaste. The men fled to the next house, as Tanner slammed the door, before sliding down the wall and sighing. “Samuel huh?”
Lucy released the boy’s hand and joined her husband, “We always said if we had a son, we would name after your father.”
Tanner smiled. “Our son.” He looked to the boy, just to find that he had disappeared. He was about to launch a search party when the child reappeared with an apple in hand and missing his clothes. “He took it off. He took the shirt off.” The couple broke down laughing. Xling or not, all they saw was a child, who was now apparently their child.
19/Samuel walked cautiously to the laughing humans. He did not recognize this sound. Were they hurt? They seemed to like it when he learned new words, maybe that would help them. He sat in front of them and held out his new object. He pointed at it and stared at the large one.
“I think he wants to know what it's called.” Tanner looked at the boy before pointing to the apple, “Apple.”
“Ah-pill?” 19/Samuel repeated smiling.
“Ah-pull.” Tanner smiled back, slowing his wording.
“Apple?” Tanner and Lucy both clapped, which the boy took as good, so he clapped along. He was learning, and just like the human boy they were willing to teach him. So, several hours were spent, with him running from object to object pointing at each one, and repeating what was told. With each new word, his smile grew larger and larger.
Lucy and Tanner were amazed. They and all other humans had been duped. Xs were intelligent beings. There was absolutely no way that they had discovered the only Xling who could learn so easily and was so fascinated by everything he found, and so, they happily followed him around, repeating word after word congratulating him each time. He was thrilled. He had so much emotion. Their hearts warmed with every smile and every clap. But it wasn’t long before the Xling, who had been running for 2 straight days, who now finally felt safe, passed out on the ground.
Tanner scooped up the boy as Lucy managed to get the shirt back on him, and both walked to their bedroom, quietly watching every step as to not wake the sleeping child. They placed him down right in the center of their bed and tucked him in. Both agreed, he would probably be scared if he woke up next to them, so they planned on sleeping on the couch. They had a second bedroom. A bedroom that had sat empty for so long, waiting to be a nursery. Now it would finally have a host.
As Tanner opened the door, he heard a small cry from the bed. Both turned to see the small boy sitting groggily up, he shook his head and pointed at them, and then back at the bed. He was still afraid. He had been so afraid for the last two days, as every step could've led to his death, and yet he had come face to face with two of the very people who could bestow him that fate, but he was still alive. All because of them. They kept him safe, and he was afraid that as soon as they left, he would be in danger all over again.
Lucy and Tanner smiled at 19/Samuel and to each other before taking their place in their bed, and as soon as they laid down, the boy was out again. The couple looked at each other. Their night had been so hectic that if they were to tell it, they would surely be institutionalized.
As they fell asleep there was a silent agreement. An agreement, that they would protect this boy as much as they possibly could. They had only known him for a few short hours and yet their family of two had just increased by one.
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