It’s so quiet in the cab of my truck that I hear him swallow. “A piece of it,” he says.“It isquite hard to explain.My previous existence…” When he trails off, I glance over.His eyesare staring off into the distance.
“What?” I ask.
His gaze travels over to me, eyes dark as starless midnight.“I am not surehow to get back.Not sure how I got herein the first place, really. It is the magic of the lines.Unexplainable.”
We fall into silence, and I get the urge to break it, to, I don’t even know, comfort him? But how can I? Between the two ofus, he seems to know more than I do. But I still feel almost… protective. Is that why he’s in my truck right now? Is that why I couldn’t leave him to figure this out on his own?
When I glance at him again, he’s wringing his hands nervously. He doesn’t even seem to know he’s doing it.
“Hey,” I whisper to him. Something possesses me to reach over and put a hand on his wrist. But when I realize how close my fingers are to his crotch, I pull it back.
His hand comes up, like it’s chasing mine, and then drops back into his lap.
“We're going to figure it out,” I say. “Everything'stotally fine.”
Maybe if I say it enough, I’ll start to believe it.
CHAPTER FIVE
When we get back to the house, I unlock the door, hold it open for him.
“Thank you,” he says.
I can't make eye contact. I can't look at him at all because he’s still not wearing clothes.And not only is seeing his dark, ocean-blue skin startling,but I've gotten a glimpse of the thing that I was trying not to get a glimpse of,and it's, um, impressive.
I shut the door. “Are you sure you're not cold?”
“Not at all,” he says.
“Would you mind if I gave you some clothes anyway? Just because…”I don't finish the sentence.
He waits for a moment, and then he raises his eyebrows. “Oh, of course.I am so sorry.I hope I have not made you uncomfortable. I know that humans rather enjoy wearing clothes.”
“I’m not sure it’s necessarily about enjoyment,” I say, “but it's sort of expected.”
I lead him through the living room of my small house and into the master bedroom.I pull open a drawer and hand him a pair of sweatpants.I suppose he doesn't need anything more than that, at least for now.
He examines the sweatpants and then my jeans, mostly covered by my thick winter coat. Seeming to figure out how to manage, he bends to put on the sweatpants and I avert my eyes, pulling off my beanie and ruffling my hair to give myself something to do.
“This is, um, my bedroom, but you can sleep in the room next door.Mackenzie normally sleeps in there when she stays the night.I haven't had a chance to clean the sheets, but?—”
“That is very generous of you,” he says, and I’m grateful to find he’s gotten the sweatpants into place, even if they don’t completely hide the bulge he’s got going on.
I lead him over to Mackenzie’s room. It’s not like she’ll ever know someone else was sleeping here. I’m going to get this guy back where he belongs before she figures out that he exists.
We stand awkwardly in the doorway. I’m not sure what else to do. I’m not the best host to begin with, and I was certainly not prepared for a moment like this. What do you do when you have a supernatural being staying in your house?
“Make yourself at home,”I say, and then want to smack myself.
Make yourself at home?How exactly is a piece of the sky who now has a human body meant to make themselves at home in a cottage in Black Forest? Pretty sure we’re as far from home as he could possibly get.
“We’ll figure everything out in the morning.”
He nods once.
I start to turn away and then turn back again.“Do you have a name?” I ask.
He tilts his head to the side, like a dog hearing a high whistle. And then shakes his head slowly.“No, I do not have a name.”
