Humans Are Encountered

Not So Mundane

Zork'ak arrived at Wren' quarters just before the agreed sun height. Xe had been regularly meeting with Wren and walking with her, even though xe now knew where the room that Faradae instructed his classes was. Xe interpreted it as a bonding experience, and xe wanted to be part of their group, partially to learn more about the species and partially because xe wanted to be included in activities with the humans. It was an unusual emotion for Klyls to experience, the desire to engage in activities for no clear reason. Klyls did not socialize in the ways humans did, but Zork'ak discovered that they could and benefited from it, too.

Wren was walking, or jumping, around her room. Clothes were spread everywhere, and she was throwing more around the space when she noticed Zork'ak standing there. "Hold on! I can't find my other shoe." She continued to dig through one of the piles. "Where is the damn thing!" She tripped over something on the ground and fell over.

"Wren," Zork'ak asked from where xe stood, "why does your quarters not have organized bins?"

She was under the bed now. "Don't need 'em."

"It would not be very time-consuming for me to help you label bins for this so you could find each item."

"Nah. I can find it." Zork'ak was about to offer xer help again when Wren climbed out from under the bed. "Found it!" She held up her shoe before pulling it on without sitting. Zork'ak could not comprehend how Wren found anything in her quarters, but xe understood little of humans. They were not the most efficient species, far from it because their decisions did not match the evolutionary process in the slightest.

Zork'ak turned away to leave the quarters when xe glimpsed a small table in the corner with a piece of one leg missing and books stacked underneath to level it out. "Wren, if your table is broken, we can provide a replacement."

She slipped passed Zork'ak. "Nah. I fixed it. Let's go."

"You have not 'fixed it.'" Zork'ak was not sure if this was how humans improved objects.

"Well, it works doesn't it?"

Zork'ak thought about that one. "I suppose it must."

Wren's mouth pulled up at the edges in a show of entertainment. "Don't fix what ain't broken."

Xe opened xer mouth to remind her that the table was broken but decided against it. Instead, xe remembered the other part of xer confusion over Wren's room. "Wren?" She looked back at xem, her mouth upturned still. "Why is it that you own so many covering devices?"

"You mean clothes?" Zork'ak lifted and dropped xer upper body. Xe had learned how to move xer upper body in the human-like gesture. "Well, I can't wear the same ones every day."

"And why is that?"

"Well, they get dirty."

"Do you often partake in activities that stain and soil your coverings?"

Wren was staring up at Zork'ak now in confusion. "Well, no, but there's sweat and dirt and oil. So we wear different clothes every day to be clean."

"I do not see how you secrete these fluids and they cause your clothes to become unwearable."

"I guess. Well, you know how humans secrete oils and sweat?" Zork'ak nodded. This the Klyls did know about humans. "It gets on our clothes and so we want fresh ones instead of piling more oil and sweat on top of it."

"And why is it you need these coverings? Would it not be more efficient to not cover your body instead of catching the secretions and trapping them on your skin?"

"Well, on Earth, it is not allowed to be naked. Humans believe we should cover certain parts. They say it is not acceptable to see the entirety of another person if you are not like, well, kind of really good friends with them."

Zork'ak looked down at xer body. Xe were covered in protective scales and did not see a reason to cover the body. "Is it because your body is easily harmed?"

"Partly. We protect our body from cold or the sun or the rain. Different things."

"I understand how you would need coverings considering your skin is not particularly effective at defense."

Wren stopped in the hallway, turning left, and xe followed her into the grappling room, where Faradae was standing in the center of the room, using his hands to fight with another individual. It was a fast and fluid movement, unlike the fighting the Klyls were taught in using their poisonous layer. He demonstrated speed and strength by blocking his opponent. When they finished and invited Zork'ak and Wren in, Faradae approached Zork'ak to discuss a new tactic to introduce to this class. With T'chet's help, Zork'ak had collected knowledge on other species' fighting techniques and quickly relayed the information, focusing on Faradae's hands.

"Are you hurt?" Zork'ak asked after finishing xer report.

Faradae looked down at his hands. There was a thin, white material wrapped around several of his fingers. "Eh. I had to tape my fingers. Hurt a few of them when I was boxing."

"You continue to practice with your extremities damaged?"

"I mean, it's not that bad. It'll heal." All of their bones appeared to heal without medical attention.

"You should rest."

Faradae patted Zork'ak's upper extremities, his facial expression tightening as his injured areas bent against xer scales. "I'll rest when I'm dead."

Xe wanted to respond to inform him that there would be no rest once xer body had ceased to function, but he walked away to greet other humans answering.