Three days later
I leaned over, taking in deep breaths and trying to get my shaking limbs under control as Ani rubbed my back. I hated flying. I could repeat it over and over again and it would never change. I crouched down, trying to keep my breakfast from coming back up.
"You really do not like flying." Ani said it slowly and I coughed, holding back a gag.
"No shit, Sherlock." I wheezed it out as I rubbed at my chest. It felt too tight and too heavy. I really hated flying.
"What?" She sounded so confused and I tried to focus on my breathing as I waved at her weakly.
"It's just a saying. I can't explain it right now. Need to breathe." I focused on my breathing. In and out. In and out. My limbs shook and I pressed a hand to the floor to help me stay upright so I wouldn't fall over into a trembling heap.
"Still have that issue, Liviya?" Ami'la's voice was teasing and I lifted my head to look at her. I gave her a weak smile. I was very happy to see her even though I knew I looked like a trembling, sweaty mess.
"Always, Ami'la." I doubted I would ever get over the fear I had of flying. I attempted to get to my feet and Ani helped me, keeping steady hands on me so I wouldn't fall over on my shaky legs.
"Come here and give me a hug." She moved over, I almost expected to hear her heels clicking on the floor but she was surprisingly dressed casually, with sneakers of all things. Her arms wrapped around me and she gave me a quick hug. Ani made a slightly disgruntled sound in her throat and I glanced at her as Ami'la let me go.
Ani looked rather wary of the new woman. "Who are you exactly?" She looked confused but her tone was hard and I gestured between them, even as Ami'la looked rather affronted by the tone.
"Ani'tah, this was my case worker and is my good friend Ami'la. Ami'la, this is my good friend Ani'tah from the ship, she's my roommate." I was starting to feel a bit better, my limbs not shaking as badly and the fear slowly seeping out of my body. I wiped at my forehead, hating the stickiness that I felt.
"Very pleased to meet you, Ani'tah." Ami'la held out her hand for Ani and she took it quickly, giving it a friendly and rather enthusiastic shake. All confusion and wariness gone from her form.
"Likewise. So are all Orrians down here friendly to humans or is it just you?" Her tone was earnest and I pinched my nose and closed my eyes with a sigh. Ani lacked tact sometimes.
"Umm, well..." Ami'la sounded a bit caught off guard at the question and I silently apologized to her. "A lot of us work closely with humans so we are generally friendly towards them. We wouldn't have a good working relationship otherwise." She started out slowly before she seemed to gain some confidence in what she was saying, losing the slight shock at the sudden question.
"Okay. I was just wondering because nearly everyone on the ship looks at Liv like they want to toss her over the railing into the shipping bay." At that Ami'la made a choked sound in the back of her throat.
I finally looked at her with a wry smile. "Ani doesn't know when to stop talking." I gave Ami'la a look, rolling my eyes slightly. I doubted Ani was listening to me or simply ignored me because she didn't react to my statement.
"I want to move to Earth after the Learning Centre. I will live right beside you if I can, Liv." She grabbed my arm, wrapping hers around it in excitement. I honestly didn't want to argue with her about it because living on Earth with Rhex was something that I hadn't actually thought about and it sounded wonderful. Not having to live among those that hated me and being in a community that would be more accepting of Rhex and I as a pairing was something I hoped to the Source we could have.
"Everything okay on the ship?" Ami'la looked at me and I shrugged slightly rubbing at my chest. The action more of a habit than me actually trying to rub the ache away. Surprisingly the concoction I had drunk had done its purpose. I was still prone to getting hot flashes randomly and that empty area that Rhex had occupied before still felt too full and unnatural but I wasn't in as much pain as before. I was still tired and still having some nightmares but it was better.
"People are getting used to me and no one has full on attempted to murder me yet, so that's good." I was still breathing, that was the main thing. I could deal with the aches and the separation as long as I was still surviving. Rhex would be back in almost ten weeks and I could survive that. I was nearly at the halfway point and it was enough for now.
"Still sarcastically morbid, I see." She raised an eyebrow at me and I smirked at her.
"Admit it, it's part of my charm." I needed the small conversation with her. I needed that normalcy, especially since everything was now in chaos for me. I lacked normalcy and so this was a treat for me. I was even happier that Ami'la was coming with us to my parent's home. I had sort of planned a get together with all of us and forgot to tell Ani that Ami'la was joining us. Although I had to admit I did it on purpose for her waking me up so goddamned early in the morning all week.
"Just like your hair. It's too long." She tugged on a strand of it, a soft smirk on her face. Her words were more to tease than to reprimand.
"Rhex likes it long." I patted it self-consciously, my face going slightly red.
"Ooooooooooh." Ani nudged me repeatedly as she made the sound and wiggled her eyebrows. "Does he now? What else does he like? His hair being touched? Massages?" I rolled my eyes and looked at Ami'la as Ani continued to ramble.
"Ignore her. I try to." Try being the key word. Ani was hard to drown out sometimes.
The woman in question wiggled excitedly. "Does he like bubble baths? Oooooh does he like his toes being licked?" At that I shoved at her, making a disgusted face.
"Ani!" That was not something I wanted to imagine. She simply laughed loudly and poked my cheeks. I was glad she found humour. in her words because I was not. I glanced at Ami'la in slight embarrassment and my mouth dropped open when I saw she was covering her mouth, hiding her own giggles. "Oh you two are impossible!" I wiggled my arm out of Ani's grasp and walked away from them both quickly. Despite the slight embarrassment I felt, I was trying hard not to join in on their amusement.
"Oh come on, Liv." Ani gave a huff. "Lighten up. Just because Rhex likes his toes being licked-"
"Ani!" I covered my face and hurried away from them. They were both embarrassing. I had to admit that Ami'la probably deserved to embarrass me for all the times I made her squirm with my sense of humour but Ani was just being a brat.
I had an arm wrap around my shoulder and Ani chuckled as she gave me a friendly squeeze. "I am just teasing. I have never been down here so my excitement is off the charts!" She gave a happy little squeal as she practically vibrated with her excitement.
"You've never been down here before?" Ami'la sounded surprised as she looped her arm around mine on the opposite side from Ani.
"Never." Ani did a happy little wiggle as we walked down the hall and Ami'la made a noise in her throat.
"We have to take her for so many things, Liviya." She looked at me with wide eyes and I nodded. Ani was missing out on quite a few things and I was more than happy to show them to her.
"That we do but first we have to go to my parents." I was excited to see them again. I loved my parents dearly and not seeing them for a month was grating for me. I knew I still had a fair bit of time before I would see them again so I was going to savour the feeling of being at home.
"Are you sure I am alright to join in?" Ami'la sounded unsure about the situation and I didn't blame her. She felt like she was imposing and no matter how many times I told her it was okay.
I gave a quick nod. "Without a doubt. My parents are thrilled you're both coming." I had never brought friends home before so when Nadila had allowed me to talk to them to make plans they had been very excited to hear that I would be bringing some friends with me.
We finally made it out of the building and into the government supplied car. Ani stared at everything with wide eyes and both Ami'la and I chuckled at her innocence as she asked what the car was as we got in it. She pointed at numerous things and asked what they were as we drove by them. I hadn't realized how much she truly didn't know about my own culture. It was a fun change to teach her about my culture instead of her teaching me about hers.
Having her with me also highlighted just how separated our worlds were. There was nothing saying we couldn't mingle, share our cultures but prejudices kept us apart. Even when one wanted to mingle, the attitudes made it nearly impossible. Humans were accepting but Orrians simply weren't. It was a difficult time navigating the some time hostile waters between the two of them.
"So cars drive you from place to place. Like ships that do not leave the ground?" Ani looked at me and Ami'la and we both nodded. "And they use... wheels?" She sounded a bit off put by that and we nodded again. "That is so... primitive." She made a face and I laughed at it.
"It works." When something wasn't broken, you didn't fix it. I preferred them to the levitating models that one could get. Those ones reminded me too much of flying to use comfortably.
"It is just strange." Ani looked a bit off-kilter and I didn't blame her, experiencing a new culture was shocking at first.
"You will find many things strange. I know I did when I first started working on Earth. You get used to them and in most cases you start to prefer them. I can't really stomach ship food after years of human cuisine. They have so many different varieties and flavours." Ami'la let out a happy sigh and I nodded in agreement. Ship food was fairly bland and strange compared to the food I grew up on.
"I cannot wait!" She wiggled excitedly in her spot as the car slowed down to a stop in front of my family home. Once again my mother stood out on the lawn but this time my father stood out beside her. Apparently he had learned his lesson the last time. I came by my stubbornness honestly.
"We're here." I opened the door and waved at my parents.
My mother hurried over and yanked me into a hug. "I'm so glad to see you!" She peppered my face with kisses and I simply smiled, enjoying her embrace. "Look at you! I'm just so happy you're here!" She hugged me tightly and I glanced at my dad over her shoulder and he winked at me, smiling in amusement.
"Oh! You must be Ani!" She let me go abruptly to grab Ani's hand and yank her close to give her a hug as well. "Very pleased to meet you! We are so excited you're here!" I stepped back, allowing my mum to smother Ani in affection. She looked alarmed as my mother kissed her cheeks and looked her over, speaking about how excited she was to see her and how beautiful she thought she was.
My dad wrapped an arm around my shoulders, giving me a gentle squeeze in welcome. I leaned against him with a slight smile as my mother moved from Ani to Ami'la. It was a more subdued but no less enthusiastic greeting. My parents had already met Ami'la before but there was no less affection to the greeting.
Ani moved closer to me, eyeing my mum warily. I wanted to laugh at the look on her face. She kind of looked like Rhex did the first time my mother did that to him. I had forgotten about how jarring it was for an Orrian to be confronted by physical affection.
"You must be Ani." My dad stuck out his hand and she jumped slightly, staring at him with wide eyes. I reached out and nudged her and her face went red before she shook his hand quickly. "Don't worry about Eliza. She's friendly like that towards everyone." My dad smiled softly at my mum's back as she gestured wildly in her storytelling for Ami'la.
I felt a pang in my chest of longing. I was surprised it wasn't an actual sharp pain but the potion I took had pretty much nullified those feelings. It didn't remove them but it dampened them until I could barely feel them. It had its own drawbacks but I was trying my best to ignore those.
"My name is Louis." My dad gave her a wide smile and gave me another squeeze around the shoulders. It felt nice to be back on Earth with my family. It had a feeling of normalcy to it that I craved.
"Nice to meet you. I am Ani'tah." Ani tucked her hands in her pockets and rocked back and forth as she looked around. It was clear she felt a bit out of her element and a tad overwhelmed and I didn't blame her. I knew that feeling all too well.
"I know all about you. I pulled your file." My dad said it brightly and I smacked his chest with the back of my hand quickly.
"Dad!" There was no reason for him to be pulling files on anyone and getting in trouble because he was feeling overprotective. We didn't need Orrians poking their noses into our family business any further than they were.
"I'm kidding." He chuckled before letting me go and moving towards my mum to rescue Ami'la.
"This is..." Ani looked at a loss for words and I smiled at her.
"Weird? Confusing? Not at all what you were expecting?" There was a myriad of words and phrases she could possibly use to describe her feelings. I knew because I had experienced the culture shock she was currently feeling. Except some of my feelings included severe anxiety and fear as well.
"A bit of all three with a bit of simply nice mixed in." She said it slowly and gave me a hesitant smile. She was still unsure of herself and I nodded before looping my arm through hers.
"Come inside. My parents have a library you will want to live in." It wasn't a fancy library by any means but for an Orrian that loved human literature, Ani would adore the library regardless of how it looked. "Mum, dad. I'm taking Ani inside."
"Alright, Liv. We will be along shortly." My mum waved us off with a bright smile that I returned before I lead Ani up the stairs and into the house. Once we removed our shoes, she slowed down her steps as she slowly took everything in. Her hand reaching out to touch the paintings my mother had hung on the wall and even to touch the wooden frames on the door.
"Humans create such beautiful things." She sounded almost in awe as we moved down the hall and passed even more paintings and several glass blown vases. Ani seemed to take it all in with a child-like innocence. It was a heartwarming feeling to be the one responsible for the look on her face
"When we remained trapped on Earth. it was the one thing we could do. Create beauty from ordinary objects." It was the one thing humans truly had going for us. We were a highly creative people, be it words or carvings or paintings. We created beautiful, one of a kind masterpieces.
"I have never seen anything like these. What machines could create these images?" She touched a close painting of a starlit sky that was my mum's favourite.
I let her arm go to lift up her hand, spreading her fingers out. "These ones." I tapped on her palm and fingers and she looked stunned as she looked between the paintings and her hands. Sometimes beautiful things needed a touch of humanity to make them that more vivid.
"No." She said it softly. "Hands cannot create these... these... marvels." She looked so confused and I chucked softly and nodded.
"Human hands are capable of great many things, Ani. Beauty or chaos, creation or death. We're creatures of habit and expressing ourselves through our hands and our words is just one of the more beautiful habits we have." We created and we destroyed. It was a cycle that had been repeated again and again and again throughout our history. I knew humans were flawed but what creatures weren't? We simply didn't hide our flaws and mistakes, we told the next generation of them in the hope that they wouldn't be repeated. Or at least we did now.
I pushed open the door to the library and her mouth dropped open, our conversation forgotten as she took in the shelves of books. She stood in shocked silence before she slowly closed her mouth and swallowed hard. I left her side to grab a familiar tome. I flipped it to the page I had memorized my entire life growing up before carrying it back to Ani.
"Here. Hero of Old. It's mine and my father's favourite poem. I think you will like it." I urged her to take the book and she did before sitting down in one of the overstuffed chairs, drawing her knees up to her chest as she scanned the page intently, her fingers following the words. I smiled at her.
Ani was one in a million. She was never satisfied in what she was told, she craved knowledge and stories and words. She devoured them quickly and with such joy. The library was a faint gift to her, to let her adjust to the culture shock in an environment she would be comfortable in.
I settled into a chair across from her, picking up a random book from the small table beside the chair. Ani's expression changed with the words she read before she seemed to wiggle further into her seat. I glanced down at the book I had picked up with an amused smile. There was no way I was getting her out of the library without a serious fight.