Her eyes brighten. “Oh! Oh, I’m taking ASL right now. Motherfucking yes. This is so cool. Hold on.” She lifts her hands and signs, ‘My name Breanna. Your name what?’
My lips stretch into a smile, my tight chest deflating. ‘Nice to meet you. My name Cielo.’
I make sure to fingerspell it slowly. She mouths each letter as I sign, and she types it in before beaming up at me. “Ah, yes, I see you here. You’re a new member. Welcome. Let me know if you need anything.”
I cock my head, not sure what she means. I’ve never been a member of anything other than my clan, but I like it. To be a part of something once more feels special.
‘Quilliyn here?’
It takes her a moment to understand the letters I spell, but she shakes her head when she does. “No, he’s…” she frowns and then signs, ‘Home.’
Ah, home. I’m not sure if she means Erethar or if he has an abode somewhere on Earth, which I’m sure he does. Vyastil of his station have always been provided nice accommodations.
Nothing like what the other Outerlanders and I were given.
But it’s not worth thinking about now. I shrug, then sign a quick, ‘Thank you,’ before stepping away from the desk and toward the large machines that humans are using to make their muscles get larger.
I wonder if I should stay and try to figure out how to use them on my own, but the more I watch, the more overwhelmed I am. Once again, I feel like I don’t belong here, and I make a distressed trill in the back of my throat, the sound of it making me wince.
I need to leave, to get out of here. To go back home. I turn to run, but her soft, kind voice stops me.
“Hey, um. Hey, Cielo,” Breanna says. “If you’re not sure where to start, I think I can help. I know Q isn’t here, but my brother is. He can show you the ropes if you’d like.”
I peer over my shoulder and follow her outstretched hand. There are three men standing in front of small iron bars stacked on racks. They’re grunting at each other, a round bar in each hand, their muscles bulging as they lift them.
It is a strange human ritual.
“Come on. They’re really nice.”
I wonder if that is true. I remember how men who looked like that hurt Everest, but Breanna is small and weak, and she does not seem afraid.
Instead, she bounds out from behind the desk and nearly skips toward them. I’m left to follow, my claws clacking on the floor as I move. I can feel the humans in the gym watching me, and I force myself not to look.
They must be used to seeing the Vyastil around. Quilliyn is one of us, and he is always here. Though he does seem more human than I feel in this moment. I am very out of place, even wearing my very human pink jacket.
“Hey, Brody.” One of the guys with brown hair and a yellow shirt turns to look at Breanna. The tiny bars are clasped in his hands as he grins.
“Hey, Bre. What’s up?”
Then his gaze moves up to me as I linger behind her. His eyes widen, and he fumbles with the irons, nearly dropping them, but I’m faster. My hands fly out, and I grab onto them, balancing them in one palm to hand them back.
The humans stare at me, and I feel my ears start to flutter in embarrassment.
“Dude, he’s holding both of them with like one hand,” the man with red hair says.
I stare down at the bars and realize that I am. Glancing back up, I blink, unsure if I did something wrong.
“Whoa. They must be so fucking strong,” the one with the black hair says as he adjusts his glasses on his small nose.
Brody seems to come to the realization that he’s staring, so he jolts forward and nearly tramples over his sister. I pull her out of the way with my tail, making the four of them gasp in surprise.
“Jesus, he moves fast,” the red-haired one says.
“So fucking cool,” the black-haired one says.
I stare at them, and then Brody holds out his fist. “Fuck, you must think humans are so weird. Sorry for that. I’m Brody. This is Tyler, and this is Chadwick. What’s your name?”
I stare down at his outstretched fist and place the weights in it.
