Xyr relief was palpable as their movements remained slow and measured, and xe was getting better at interpreting the tone of those sounds. Xe hummed as xyr tentacles went briefly limp before curling back where they belonged, returning to the blue that xe'd chosen to keep xyr charge comfortable. Xe watched curiously as they licked their hand – what a very short tongue – taking their time eating the fruit. Maybe not as hungry as xe'd thought? Or else they were being careful, which would be very smart indeed.
Was xe imagining that they looked different?
«Oh!» Xe came closer again as xe realized what it was, standing tall and leaning to the side of them to look at the back of their head. «The… the lumpy bit? Oh, how did that happen? I wasn't paying attention! I missed it!» Gloved tentacles attempted to gather up the hair again, but of course it immediately collapsed once more. «It's so long,» xe marveled, doing it again just to be sure.
… xe was just playing with their hair now.
"A la u'a," I'm sorry xe chirped, flushing pale green around the eyes again, covering xyr face before retreating enough to retrieve xyr scanner.
Xe deliberated before deciding to sit down beside them, doing so slowly to avoid alarm. Xe pulled xyr tentacles up off the floor to gather them beneath xem as was comfortable, tucking the ends of xyr white silk panels underneath for good measure. Xe was unaware that xe looked a little like a novelty pincushion. They made a little growling sound, but this time it was in their throat – definitely, actually a growl. «It's okay,» xe assured them, still trying to move slowly now that their arms were free. Xe held up the scanner just a short distance from their neck, because that seemed… relatively safe? Then xe squinted at the display.
It was always so darn bright in here. And dry. The things xe did to make xyr specimens comfortable.
«Lots of… iron? Are you supposed to have that much iron in your blood? That seems dangerous. No chromatophores at all, your planet must be very brown. Oh! I wonder if I can check… which one is it? Estrogen? Oh. No, it looks like… testosterone? You're a boy! This says you're a boy. That means you can only be a father, and not a mother, right? Good call. I'd rather be neither, personally, but we all have to die eventually, I guess.» A cephalic tentacle had found its way into xyr mouth as xe pulled the scanner away from him, looking closer at the screen. «And you're… homeothermic? But that seems…»
Uala set the scanner down, and slowly risked touching some of his skin while he ate. Hopefully he wouldn't be too protective of his fruit. Xe ran tentacles over his chest and his shoulders, and one wrapped around his upper arm, squeezing a little. «Your bones are… oh, they're way down there. But this isn't… this can't all be muscles. It can't be. That would just be…» Xe prodded at his abdominals, incredulous. «Absurd.» Xyr tentacles withdrew from him again, but did poke at his shoulder experimentally. «Where's all your fat? How much do you eat?» The caloric intake required to maintain that much muscle and heat must have been huge. That meant he probably ate mostly meat. And he'd have to get new meat all the time, because he wasn't storing any of it away in fat for later. «Your planet,» xe decided, «must be terrifying.»
Xe continued biting anxiously at that tentacle before pulling it out of xyr mouth with the others, pushing it back where it belonged. «Don't tell anyone,» xe said finally, «but I think you might be an actual, proper alien. I mean, all of my specimens are aliens, but they're not… I don't know. Maybe that's why you're a secret?»
But someone would have told xem, wouldn't they have, if xe was poking at a person. He would have tried to talk to her. Unless he was already trying to talk to xem. He made a lot of sounds that xe simply couldn't, quite frankly, and none of them sounded like language. Xyr own language consisted mostly of vowels distinguished in meaning by pitch. He just sort of made a lot of weird mouth sounds and barely varied pitch at all.
Experimentally, xe pointed at xyrself. "U-a-la," xe said slowly, emphasizing the pitch like xe was trying to teach him to sing. «Can you say Uala? I have a very easy name, if you can talk. Uala.»
Was xe imagining that they looked different?
«Oh!» Xe came closer again as xe realized what it was, standing tall and leaning to the side of them to look at the back of their head. «The… the lumpy bit? Oh, how did that happen? I wasn't paying attention! I missed it!» Gloved tentacles attempted to gather up the hair again, but of course it immediately collapsed once more. «It's so long,» xe marveled, doing it again just to be sure.
… xe was just playing with their hair now.
"A la u'a," I'm sorry xe chirped, flushing pale green around the eyes again, covering xyr face before retreating enough to retrieve xyr scanner.
Xe deliberated before deciding to sit down beside them, doing so slowly to avoid alarm. Xe pulled xyr tentacles up off the floor to gather them beneath xem as was comfortable, tucking the ends of xyr white silk panels underneath for good measure. Xe was unaware that xe looked a little like a novelty pincushion. They made a little growling sound, but this time it was in their throat – definitely, actually a growl. «It's okay,» xe assured them, still trying to move slowly now that their arms were free. Xe held up the scanner just a short distance from their neck, because that seemed… relatively safe? Then xe squinted at the display.
It was always so darn bright in here. And dry. The things xe did to make xyr specimens comfortable.
«Lots of… iron? Are you supposed to have that much iron in your blood? That seems dangerous. No chromatophores at all, your planet must be very brown. Oh! I wonder if I can check… which one is it? Estrogen? Oh. No, it looks like… testosterone? You're a boy! This says you're a boy. That means you can only be a father, and not a mother, right? Good call. I'd rather be neither, personally, but we all have to die eventually, I guess.» A cephalic tentacle had found its way into xyr mouth as xe pulled the scanner away from him, looking closer at the screen. «And you're… homeothermic? But that seems…»
Uala set the scanner down, and slowly risked touching some of his skin while he ate. Hopefully he wouldn't be too protective of his fruit. Xe ran tentacles over his chest and his shoulders, and one wrapped around his upper arm, squeezing a little. «Your bones are… oh, they're way down there. But this isn't… this can't all be muscles. It can't be. That would just be…» Xe prodded at his abdominals, incredulous. «Absurd.» Xyr tentacles withdrew from him again, but did poke at his shoulder experimentally. «Where's all your fat? How much do you eat?» The caloric intake required to maintain that much muscle and heat must have been huge. That meant he probably ate mostly meat. And he'd have to get new meat all the time, because he wasn't storing any of it away in fat for later. «Your planet,» xe decided, «must be terrifying.»
Xe continued biting anxiously at that tentacle before pulling it out of xyr mouth with the others, pushing it back where it belonged. «Don't tell anyone,» xe said finally, «but I think you might be an actual, proper alien. I mean, all of my specimens are aliens, but they're not… I don't know. Maybe that's why you're a secret?»
But someone would have told xem, wouldn't they have, if xe was poking at a person. He would have tried to talk to her. Unless he was already trying to talk to xem. He made a lot of sounds that xe simply couldn't, quite frankly, and none of them sounded like language. Xyr own language consisted mostly of vowels distinguished in meaning by pitch. He just sort of made a lot of weird mouth sounds and barely varied pitch at all.
Experimentally, xe pointed at xyrself. "U-a-la," xe said slowly, emphasizing the pitch like xe was trying to teach him to sing. «Can you say Uala? I have a very easy name, if you can talk. Uala.»
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