Humans Are Encountered

Idioms

Knycuz approached the laboratory just before second meal, the humans slowly trickling into the corridor. Xe was watching for Jessica, keeping a distance away from the door as in not to be seen, filled with uncertainty, or what Zork'ak had tried to help xem name. This feeling xe had only felt a handful of times, only when xe had responded to an external threat. Even still, xer commanding officer position allowed for the certainty of execution as xe made the decisions. To cause this uneasiness, this taste of uncertainty when things did not go as planned. There was no reason a human, a human, should ever make the commanding officer of external threats for the Klyls, the most advanced species of the tri-planet coordination, feel that way. Yet, here xe stood, with that foreign uncertainty, if xe should walk away or walk in or wait.

The options finally disappeared as xe saw Jessica leaving the laboratory. "Jessica," Knycuz said, approaching.

She froze. "What are you doing here?" Her voice was quiet.

"I, uh," xe did not expect this. This was the root of xer uncertainty. "I just-"

"Jess?"

Her head darted to where Adam stood down the hall. "I'm coming!" Her eyes darted back and forth between Knycuz and Adam as if she hoped he wouldn't see the Klyl. Adam nodded, turning away. Xe had not told her that Adam knew, that he didn't react for that reason. "Just-" Her eyes lingered towards the meal room. "Come in here." She ushered xem into the laboratory and over into a corner. Xe could see some humans still working across the room. "Hold on for a sec."

Knycuz looked around, finding a bench area to grip. Xe was unsure what the humans could be doing in this room that called for the extra need for stability. Jessica cocked her head. "What are you doing?"

"Holding as you said."

She dropped her head into the end of her extremities. "No. I meant- just wait here for a minute."

Knycuz nodded, and she walked around to the other side of a large structure, a storage container for the humans. Xe waited for what xe concluded was a minute after watching the humans' interactions. Then xe walked around the opposite side of the structure to where Jessica stood, speaking to another human Knycuz did not recognize. Jessica's head turned.

"What are y-" She walked forward, her face portraying she was not pleased. She grabbed Knycuz's upper extremity, pulling xem back around the structure. "I told you to wait here."

"I waited for the allotted minute."

She threw her head back, looking up. "Just don't move. Got it?"

Knycuz nodded xer head. Xe locked in xer limbs, standing at ready and waited until Jessica returned.

"Okay." She came up to xem. "What do you need? Why are you here?" Knycuz was unsure of Jessica's polarizing instructions. "Hello?"

Knycuz moved only xer lips. "Am I allowed to move now?"

Jessica's eyes rolled towards the wall. "Yes." Knycuz relaxed xer limbs. "Now, tell me why you're here."

"I did not visit you last night."

"I know." She crossed her upper extremities. "So?"

Knycuz felt as if xe couldn't breathe. "I, well, I would have been pleased with your company."

"Is that why you're here now?"

"Zork'ak joins you all for meal. I supposed with my growing bond with all of you, especially you, I may as well."

"With me?" Her upper extremities dropped. "Yeah, I like having you around and all, but you aren't like Zor."

Knycuz was attempting to swallow, to breathe but could not. "I am not as well bonded as Zork'ak, yes, but I felt that I, too, could partake in a bonding ritual."

"Knycuz, we are not like that. We aren't those kind of friends."

And then she turned to walk out of the laboratory and towards the meal room. And for the first time, Knycuz broke xer schedule. Returning to xer quarters without retrieving meal as, for some reason, xe were no longer hungry.