The frantic whirring of the sewing machine smothered the sound of Iris’s Sunday afternoon alarm. She hunched over the sewing table while maintaining tension and proper feeding of fabric into the hungry machine. Vibrations rattled both hands and kept reminding her that her life as it was right then was real. Iris stopped at the end of a seam and finally noticed the insistent trill of the alarm. She silenced the infernal machine, leaned back in her chair, and sighed.
I mean, what else can be done? Might as well go with it…
Iris folded fabric pieces together and pinned them in place to prepare for the next run through her machine. A single two-inch-long pin stabbed into her index finger as her mind wandered. She recoiled at the pain, smeared the tiny pin-prick of blood away with her thumb, and reflected again about the whole evening yesterday…
The living room had erupted into a choir of loud voices with a singular, confused harmony. Zayzann adamantly opposed letting another human into the apartment, partly because he had concerns that he couldn’t remain hidden indefinitely. Khazmine mirrored his concern, but was more willing to tolerate Iris’s friend more than Zayzann. Byxx enthusiastically crowed about making new friends, and possibly leaving the apartment someday. Iris muddled ineffectually through the discordant music of their collective outcries.
“Come on now, do you want to spend the rest of your time on Earth with only a single human and your roommates for company?” Byxx tried to convince Zayzann, who had risen abruptly from his loafed seated position on the floor. “Not all foreign humans are dreadful, you know. This one might surprise you.”
“And you’re willing to risk all of our collective well-being on a hope?” Zayzann snapped back. “You realize how foolish you sound, yes?”
“I’m sure it sounds that way to you, Blue.” Byxx confessed. “For many years, I’ve fought enemies from within and without. I’ve endured hardships you’ve never imagined. And I’ve lost… so very much… Sometimes hope’s all I have.”
Zayzann clicked his tongue and Khazmine winced at Byxx’s heartfelt plea. Despite the unenthusiastic reception from his roommates, his speech had the desired effect on Iris, who stared compassionately at him with glassy eyes. At the end of the day, it made little difference if everyone else thought he was foolish or silly.
If she believes in me at least, than that’s enough.
Iris looked pensively at each of her companions before arriving at a decision. Each one had solid reasoning for wanting to befriend, monitor, or reject Curtis, but it was ultimately Iris’s choice on what to do. She needed a solution that met everyone’s needs, and provided them with the most likely outlook for success. She ran her tongue over her dried lips before speaking, buying herself a few more precious seconds of peace.
“All right, here’s the plan.” Iris stated resolutely. “Zay, I hear you when you say you’re worried about having Curtis over. I respect that. It’s unfair to put that much stress on you all the time anyway. With that in mind, Curtis will only come over if and when everyone feels like it’s okay.”
“W-wait, what?” Byxx sputtered. “That’s—”
“And Byxx,” she cut in. “You should be able to do as you please too. You’re not a prisoner here. I have an idea on how we can get you outside without anyone caring all that much what you look like, if you’re willing to hear me out.”
“I can’t keep myself cooped up here. I just can’t stand the thought of it.” Byxx admitted. “What did you have in mind?”
“Camouflage.” Iris grinned.
“Huh? What do you mean?” Khazmine interjected. “Surely, he’s the most obvious organic on Earth. No one would mistake him for human at first glance.”
“That’s what the camouflage is for.” Iris sidled over to the shopping bags and fumbled around with something before she raised the black “Crit Happens” shirt in front of her. She had smeared smudges of the Victorian Velvet makeup along the collar and shirt hems, giving it a new purpose. “Byxx is obviously a human… wearing a costume.”
The roommates exchanged curious glances at one another. Only Khazmine broke the mold, smiling broadly with a wicked look in her eyes. She crackled electrically, betraying her Augment heritage.
“Yes, that could work.” Khazmine muttered with a hushed voice. “He’s so obvious that there’s no point trying to hide it.”
“Exactly. We can hint at his humanity without ever showing it.” Iris encouraged. “We’ll give you props and accessories to help with the illusion, okay?”
Iris took out her sketchbook from the faux leather bag and thumbed to a blank page. She hurriedly sketched out a blank stick-man version of Byxx on the pad as the others watched on. She covered his body with modern-styled clothing, and added touches to make him seem more authentically human.
“There, that should do it.” Iris propped the pad on her lap to showcase her sketch. “Byxx can wear shirts with designs that make it look like he is playing a character from some sort of video game, or something. I can make the clothes and tailor Howard’s old shirts to fit you, and add a few details like shoes and some jewelry so you look more normal. We’ll also need to hide your tail to get this to work.”
“But would that be enough to blend in?” Byxx asked. He rubbed the end of his spade tail point in a self soothing gesture. “Can I pass for one of you?”
“With just that? No.” Iris admitted, then added a few more scribbles to the sketchbook before holding it up again. This time, Byxx was surrounded by hastily drawn stick people. “You need other people to complete the look. If at least one other person engages with you like a normal human, you’ll look like just another guy. A weird guy, but definitely human. What do you think?”
“That’s pretty brassy, mistress.” Khazmine bit her lower lip to suppress a chuckle. “I like it.”
“Could we… give it a try?” Byxx ventured. “I would like to…”
“You’re not serious, are you?” Zayzann chimed in. “This plan could fail. And it sounds expensive. How can we justify such a hefty extravagance for—”
“It’s worth it to me, to see you all happy.” Iris peered intensely into Zayzann’s eyes, causing him to flinch and back down. “And it won’t cost too much at all, just a little bit of my free time. I think that’s worth it.”
Byxx wordlessly scooped Iris up into a warm hug and kissed the crown of her head twice. Even Khazmine was excited about this plan, leaning in to hear more about the details of this new and audacious caper. Zayzann sat back down into a loaf, tucking his feet and legs beneath him. The exhilarated sounds of the group’s enthusiasm faded into the background as Zayzann stared off and allowed his vision to blur.
He had gotten what he wanted, but this still tasted like loss. Curtis would meet with them all outside the apartment, effectively isolating him from the group. They would play this game, eat together, and grow closer to one another without his presence. Zayzann’s instinct to bond with his new tribe kicked into overdrive, sending jolts of unwelcome adrenaline through his body.
The sound of Zayzann’s elevated heart rate and panic-laden breathing drew Khazmine’s glance away from the group. Her critical eye traced down Zayzann’s arm, watching him subconsciously retract many of his fluffy down feathers beneath smooth, human skin. Khazmine raised a single brow as her eyes met his in an icy, knowing gridlock.
Are you afraid, little bird? Sounds to me like you are. Your fear could be an excellent motivator, if leveraged properly…
Khazmine turned her back on Zayzann, effectively closing the loop on the group’s discussion. He had been cast out, at least in his mind, and the feeling left him nauseated and dizzy. Zayzann bolted upright and excused himself to flee to the bathroom alone. Iris motioned to check on him, while Khazmine entreated her to remain in the living room.
“Don’t mind him.” Khazmine maneuvered. “He’s probably just sore that he didn’t get his way. It’s just a tantrum, nothing more.”
Iris frowned and dropped back down on the ragged couch. She was all too familiar with throwing tantrums as a tactic. Lily used to do the same thing whenever she didn’t get her way. The memories of years of acquiescing to her little sister’s demands made her chest feel like it was filling with heavy sludge.
Khazmine smiled warmly at Iris to lift her spirits, and to revel in her clever scheming to push Zayzann to the edge. She could hear the high-pitched scraping of his talons on the porcelain sink in the bathroom. Khazmine’s grin broadened when the scraping shifted from hard talons to soft fingernails, and Zayzann’s ragged breathing stabilized behind the closed door.
I’ll admit, that was a pretty mean thing to do… But it got results, didn’t it?
Khazmine’s attention rejoined the group, and she abandoned Zayzann to sort out the aftermath alone. He would need to become the master of his abilities eventually, and not every Paxoram had the privilege of learning to adapt from their peers. No, this was for the best, and he would be fine on his own.
After a worrisome amount of time, Iris rose from the couch to check on Zayzann. He hadn't made a sound or come out of the bathroom for a while, and Iris began to fret. She tapped on the bathroom door with a single knuckle and grazed the doorknob with her other hand.
“Zayzann? Are you okay?”
“I-I’m fine, Iris.” Zayzann stammered weakly. “Don’t come in, please. I just, I just need a minute. Everything’s fine.”
Of course, she didn’t believe him. Iris knew the sounds of misery and exhaustion too well to ignore them. But she trusted and respected Zayzann’s pleas for her to leave him be, and she trudged away from the door. The showerhead sputtered to life and a deep sigh could be heard from within.
Zayzann backed away from the frigid water once he had given himself an invigorating rinse. A single bath sheet wrapped around his waist was all he had to dry himself with as he stepped onto the fuzzy pink bath mat. It was cold, much colder than he had expected, which sent shivers along his chest and limbs.
He pressed his pruned fingertips against the porcelain sink for balance and glanced up at his reflection in the bathroom wall mirror. A strange, handsome human stared back at him with aloe green eyes, expressive brows, olive skin, and shocks of blue hair that graded to black at the tips.
The rush from this success crashed over him in waves of triumph and relief. After a few precious minutes, Zayzann slowly and carefully shifted back to his natural state, with the notable difference that it was pain-free this time. His throat flushed red with pride at this immense achievement. He’d finally been able to transform…
Snapping back to reality, Iris resumed working on tailoring clothes with renewed vigor. She was just about to run the freshly pinned pieces through her sewing machine when she heard a gentle knocking on the spare room door.
Comments (2)
See all