In Alien Hands: Meeting Merle

Day 11, Introducing Grene -Merle

Holli immediately went to the couch, clambering to the top like a toddler. She'd been improving on her climbing skills, but she still seemed clumsy in the way she dragged herself up. I had filled another cup for her, which she seemed happy to drink. I gave Holli a second to re-hydrate before signalling Grene to knock by clearing my throat.

As I expected, Holli bolted like her life depended on it. Stumble off the couch, dash to the back door, towards the kitchen, she eventually went for the stairs. I didn't bother chasing her down, I'd just coax her out of where ever she decided to hide. Grene was snickering when I opened the door.

"Was that her making all that noise?" He seemed lighthearted about the whole situation. After all, she was adorable.

"Yeah. She ran up the stairs when she heard you knock" We both giggled about the whole situation while we went upstairs looking for her.

Humans have a relatively strong smell (though not unpleasant in the slightest), so it was easy to find her. She had tucked herself under my bed. I called her name, clicking my tongue to try and keep her calm while we approached. I kneeled down to look at her.

"Out of reach?" Grene chuckled.

"Not in the slightest." I wouldn't drag her out from under the bed, that would ruin her trust, but Grene knew that. It is always important to never give your human access to places you can't retrieve them from. Imagine if the house was on fire just then, how would I get her out? "Can you grab me the candy in my top drawer?"

My brother handed me a piece of the candy that Holli had loved earlier. It was pretty popular with the humans back home, we could coax our humans into just about anything with this candy. Holli refused to come out at first, so I offered her a piece for free, letting her get a taste of it.

Grene put a few more pieces in a small bowl for her, I laughed seeing her eyes light up when i showed her the bowl. She dragged herself out from under my bed, avoiding eye contact with my brother. She lunged for the bowl, so I kept it from her. She'd get the rest, but not all at once. It is easy for a human to try and eat the whole bowl in seconds, giving themselves a stomach ache. I instead gave her three pieces, watching her sulk her way down stairs, Grene keeping his distance in order to avoid stressing her out. He was fantastic with humans, he knew how to get along with them.

She picked up on his name immediately, not even hesitating much to take the candy from him. Grene is a master at human behavior, punctuated with his ability to speak English. He'd wait until Holli moved in to speak to her, if he spoke to her, she might try to bond with him rather than me. Once she was mine, and only mine, she'd learn about him.

published 12/21/18

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