Chapter 15
I expected Basil to greet me in the bathtub like old times, but when I found him missing in action again, I tossed down the mouthwash and ran out the bathroom. The past few days had conditioned me to expect the worse, and it was a relief to see him at the kitchen table, although strangely, he actually sat on a chair and had a plate and accompanying silverware in front of him. Oh, and a plush lizard rested on his head.
“Morning Ly-lee!” he called out to me with a waving arm. He beckoned me closer. It was good to see him in a chirpy mood again.
“Good morning, lil’ guy,” I said. “What’s that you got there?”
“A plate.”
“I mean on your head.”
“Oh! Tia gave it to me. He’s a basilisk! A common basilisk it says. She got it from the zoo. Isn’t he cute?”
He wiggled his head and the stuffed brown reptile greeted me with bobs of its crested head.
“I think we’re pretty much alike,” Basil said.
“I don’t think you can run on water,” a female voice called out from the kitchen. I looked in and saw Tia cooking something on the stove. She glanced back at me and smiled. I rubbed my eyes, thinking it as some morning hallucination.
“Well, that’s just one thing,” said Basil.
“It’s the most important thing.”
“Then I could do it.”
“Really now?”
“Sure! If a basilisk can do it then so can Basilisk. I’m sure I can figure out. Maybe some high-buoyancy waders or something. Nu could help me create it.”
“Now that’s just cheating. C-H-E-A-T-I-N-G.”
“That’s why Nu’s gonna do it.”
Tia came to the table with the still-sizzling pan. I still couldn’t quite comprehend the sight. It’s like seeing your dogs play poker or something. She smiled to me and said, “Morning Ly-lee. Hungry?”
“Uh, yeah. Sure.” I peered into the pan. “You cooked eggs?”
“Yep! Scrambled ’em. They taste delicious, I think. Here, I’ll get you some.” She sat the pan on the table and nudged her brother. “Would you get another plate and stuff?”
“Why? I got mine right here.”
He whimpered when Tia snatched the plate and utensils and moved them in front of me at the opposite end of the table. He sighed and went to the kitchen.
“I hope you like it, Ly-lee,” Tia said as she spooned the eggs onto the plate. “I’ve been practicing a lot at the zoo. I think I’m pretty good now.”
“It looks wonderful.”
She chirped happily and, after filling my plate up, pressed her claws on my shoulders to encourage me to sit. I thumbed the fork in my hand and smelled the aroma. It smelled full, rich, and genuinely delicious. Tia purred coaxed me to eat, so I speared a lump of egg and took a bite. She looked in anticipation while I chewed.
“It’s goood!” I said, my taste buds not allowing me to swallow fully before complimenting her.
“I’m so glad I made eggs for breakfast,” she said and licked my cheek.
“Where did you get them, anyway? We ran out days ago.”
“The man in room one gave them to me. I figured he might have a couple of eggs since he was so big, so I went down and asked if I could have some.”
“Room one? Wait, you got eggs from the landlord?”
“Is that who he is? I dunno. But anyway, he gave me four cases! He’s such a nice guy. Maybe I should bring some scrambled eggs from him to eat, do you think?”
“Ah… no, I don’t think you should. I think he gets indigestion from eggs.”
“Really? Oh well, that’s too bad.”
She took the pan and tossed the eggs around to pick out larger morsels to snack on. With morning hunger satiated a bit, I thought back to the other day. I was glad she was back, ecstatic even, but her return did nothing to answer the questions that lingered and bit into me. There were some things I wanted to say to her, but I didn’t know if it was appropriate. Or that I even wanted to say it. I was lost in my own feelings.
I reached around her and brushed over the velvet of her collar.
“Tia,” I started, “I wanted to maybe… I want to ask you something.”
“Oh, where is that brother of mine?” she said after swallowing a mouthful. “How long does it take to get a plate? I’ll be right back.”
Convenient enough. I didn’t bring the conversation back up when they returned with a set of plates, utensils, and hungry mouths. I just refilled my plate and shut my mouth up with some more eggs.
At the labs, the twins put themselves forward and make up the lost time in designing Uncle Sam’s arsenal of frightening weapons. I certainly enjoyed debugging my crashed simulation for two hours—no, I seriously did. Hell, the rest of the labs seemed chipper and upbeat as well. New joy is infection, and just about the only person not enjoying himself was Mark, who scowled from the third rung when he found that the Isian population in SE-2 had doubled. Same old, same old, and I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.
The twins bottled their empty stomachs a few minutes past noon (surely a new world record) until their appetites sprung them from arena like a charged coil. I rushed up to follow them. The security checkpoint stalled them enough for me to reach Basil before he could leave. I rubbed his shoulder.
“Hey Basil, mind if I talked to you for a bit?”
“Hmm?” He turned to me and then looked back to see his sister already skipping through the lobby. “Well I guess, yeah. Sure.”
I led back into the hallway and away from hungry crowd leaving the labs, to a spot on the far end where we could be alone.
“So what is it you wanted to talk about?” Basil asked.
“I was just wondering about how you’re feeling today. You all right?”
“Pretty good, I guess.” He considered for a moment with a chin scratch and chirped. “Really good, actually. Everything’s all better now! Although I’d feel a lot better after I eat, I think.”
“So you’re fine then? There’s nothing you want to talk to me about?”
“I don’t think so.”
“What do you think of Tia and Brian? Are you still—” I paused to think of the right word, “upset about them being together?”
The rumbling from his throat jostled my sense of danger and tensed my body. I ground my back into the wall—a reflex at this point. To my confusion, he just laughed. My nerve relieved itself by following along.
“Oh! That! Aha!” he said in between gasps. He calmed himself and sighed. “Oh, Ly-lee. I feel so silly. Can you believe I got angry at her about that? Ah, so stupid.”
“You’re okay with it now?”
He shook his head and clicked his tongue. “I don’t have to be okay with it. She doesn’t even like him to begin with. She never did!”
“You’re telling me she wasn’t attracted to Brian? That all this time she was going to the zoo, it wasn’t because of him?”
“Yep! Like I said, she doesn’t like him. Well, she probably does like him, but not like him, you know? She likes him how she likes you.”
I didn’t say anything.
“Actually, that’s not quite right. She was really going to the zoo to see him, but for a different reason.” He motioned me close to him and whispered in my ear. “She was finding us a new home.”
I jolted back up. “What?”
“Isn’t it great? She told me she had the idea when we saw the dragon’s pen at the zoo. It’s big and pretty and even has its own tree. And ever since then, she’s been thinking of a way to try to get us a place just like that. So she made friends with Brian. It turns out he’s actually in charge of the entire reptile place at the zoo. That’s the reason why she kept on writing and talking to him and going to see him and stuff. She was ‘making a deal,’ as she says. Ha! I was angry with her because she was finding us another place to live! I feel so stupid now.”
“Did she succeed?” I asked, hoping for a particular answer.
He chirped and bobbed his head. “Yep! She did! We’re supposed to go in three weeks, but she talked them into tomorrow. So we’ll head off there in the morning to see our new home. Isn’t she the best sister in the world?”
“Yeah, she is.”
With my questions answered, I let him go on his way while I stayed in the hall to think by myself. In the end, I felt… dissatisfied.
At lunch, Tia didn’t appreciate Basil’s revelation of their new zoo home because she wanted to tell me herself. Fortunately, Basil’s yelp from a pinched shoulder was satisfactory reparation for her. The three of us went back to the labs after lunch, butted a few more hours of work, and headed home. The realization that this would be the last time we would share the definition “home” hadn’t yet set on me.
We exhausted the rest of our evening watching back episodes of Iron Maiden and Captain Starslinger served with helpings of hot dogs (a dish Tia hadn’t been delighted to yet). Because I couldn’t track down that Sage of the Hot Dog himself at his haunt in the park, I bought some generic weenies at the grocers. I made it back in time to see that the princess, once again, wasn’t in the space station. Fin, roll the next episode.
A man could only take so much Starslinger though, so I got up from the couch and asked the twins not to stay up too late. Rapt in the adventure, they nodded to me without a peep. I prepared myself for bed.
During the night, a pressure on my stomach roused me up. I stretched my eyes open and leaned my torso up to investigate, but something pressed me back down until I stared at the ceiling. A white face floated to my sight and smiled at me. I reached up and felt its collared neck.
“What are you doing, Tia?”
“I think you and I need to talk, while Basil’s cleaning himself,” she whispered. She pressed her body close to my chest and arched her neck so her snout pointed to my nose.
I shifted my body up and tried to get into a position more conducive for consciousness. Despite putting her entire body onto me, it didn’t feel uncomfortable. I turned on the lamp so I could see her narrow, smiling face.
“I just want to say how sorry I am, Ly-lee,” she said. “I’m sorry that we caused you so much trouble. You don’t deserve anything like that. I didn’t think I would get into such a fight with my brother. Will you forgive me?”
“Don’t worry, Tia. It’s not your fault.” I stroked her neck some more. “Besides, I can’t stay mad at you even if it was.”
“Really? You mean it?”
“Of course. Things happen. People get into arguments, often with those they love the most. But you know, you could have spared us all from all this if you would have just told the truth. Why did you have to lie to him?”
“I wanted to surprise him. He’s the happiest when he’s surprised. I like seeing him happy because it makes me happy too.”
“Well, he sure wasn’t happy when you taunted him. Basil still thought you loved Brian.” I hesitated a bit. “And you know, you didn’t stop him from believing it.”
“You’re right, I didn’t. Remember what I said back at the zoo? It’s all true. I just couldn’t stand Basil treating me like he did, even though I didn’t actually love Brian. I guess I got too angry with him. So I said whatever I could to hurt him. I said a lot of nasty things, things I didn’t really mean.”
“You could’ve at least told me your plans in all this. I could have at least tempered things.”
She fidgeted a bit and said, in a soft voice, “Well, I wasn’t sure if you’d be happy that I was trying to find somewhere else to live.” She bowed her head low and shook it. “And now I hurt my brother and hurt you too. I’m a bad person, aren’t I?”
I stroked her cheek and turned her head back up. “No, you’re not bad at all. It was just the anger talking. You meant well, and I don’t blame you for anything. You’re a good person inside, Tia.”
She smiled and licked my nose.
“Oh, you are always the best, Ly-lee. I know that you wouldn’t have gotten the wrong idea like my brother. You’re much smarter than that.”
“Well actually, I thought you were in love with Brian too.”
God, did I just say that? I did. The self-defensive chuckle I gave afterwards did nothing to soothe the embarrassment. Defeatist laughter only works when the other person does too, but Tia just stared at me. It was a small relief, then, when she finally tapped my chest and snickered.
“Really?” she said. “You really thought I loved Brian?”
“Yeah. Funny, huh?”
“Ah you’re just being silly now. Basil imagined it because he doesn’t know any better. But you’re too clever to believe that.” She giggled and sat up. “I mean, why would I fall in love with Brian? He’s nice and friendly and pretty handsome for a human, but I would never want him to be my mate. How does that even work? We’re completely different!”
“I know. I didn’t believe it myself. Ha! It was dumb of me to even consider it,” I said, my voice more cackles than words. A lizard and a human—obviously not. Unbelievable that I believed it. Silly fucking me.
“Oh yes. We’re so different. I mean, he’s a reptile zookeeper and I’m an aeronautics engineer. That’s way too different to be mates, I think. You shouldn’t listen to my brother, he has weird ideas.”
She laughed, but my self-deprecating chortles melted into gurgles. I was at a loss.
“Anyway,” she said, “it’s all right now, and I think everything’s come together just fine. See? I kept my promise.”
“Your promise?”
“Don’t you remember?” She pulled up my hands from my sides, placed them together, and cupped her claws around them. “I asked you to trust me. I promised that I’d make things better for all of us. And I did! Now my brother and I have a nice, beautiful place to live, and you can have everything by yourself again. Doesn’t that make you feel better? Especially after the big fight.” She whistled and rocked our hands. “But even then, you still trusted me, didn’t you?”
I was looking at her face when I lied to her. Under that innocent, expecting gaze, her hands clutched over mine, I said, “Yes.” Right to her face like a fucking slimeball.
She rewarded my loyalty by hugging me.
I pried Tia off my chest after a few squeezes because I began to enjoy it, and that was something I couldn’t stand at the time. She flopped next to me on her side and grinned. I thought to do something before she could find an excuse to hug me again, and I remembered her picture from the zoo. I fished it from underneath my bed and handed it to her.
“Before I forget, Tia, I believe this belongs to you,” I said.
She examined it for a couple of seconds and then said, “Oh, it’s this one! I was wondering where it went.”
“I figure you’d want it back now.”
“No, not really.” She slipped the picture back in my hand. “I’ll be living in the real zoo, so I don’t need a picture to remind me. You can have it, though. It’s a really good picture. The komodo is so pretty. She’s such a beautiful dragon.”
“She?”
“Yeah. Oh! You didn’t know? Sydney’s a girl. Basil was actually right, but don’t tell him. I’ll never hear the end of it.” She giggled and came close to whisper. “Maybe I’ll introduce them tomorrow. He really does need a nice pretty girl for himself. They’d be pretty cute together, doncha think?”
I studied the komodo in the picture. Crazy as it sounded, I could kind of see it.
The sight of the Wyvern-Hamilton tram pulling to the curb didn’t allow the twins to finish breakfast in their excitement, and they raced down to meet it. I followed as best my human legs could, just missing the landlord as he hurried back into his room. Brian came out from the tram along with, surprisingly enough, Arlene. She came and talked to me while the Isians pestered the poor zookeeper.
“Well Lyle, I guess this is the day you’re going back to a normal life, eh? It must feel good.”
“It’s good enough.”
“Good enough? Don’t tell me you’re regretting it already. They’re not even out of the nest yet.” She laughed.
“Well, I just didn’t expect them to find a home in a zoo, of all places. You’d think Summit would be zoo enough for them.”
“The zoo is probably the best place them right now. We own the place, after all, which lets us to keep a close eye on them and give them the care they need.” She patted my shoulder. “See, I told you I’d take care of things and get them out of your hair.”
“Hold on, you mean to tell me that you knew about all this?”
“Of course I did. Who did you think gave them the idea to visit the zoo? Isian psychology, Lyle. If they want it enough, they’ll find a way to take it. And to an Isian, the zoo is extremely desirable. All it takes is one visit. After that, they’ll take care of it themselves. Or at least Tia wil.”
I shook my head incredulously. “Ah, geez. All this time, it was all just a rouse. You could have at least told me.”
“I was going to, but I just honestly didn’t think they’d move so fast. My idea was about a month, but our little hen here just moves too fast,” she said, pointing to Tia. “Aika and Natalia did warn me that she would, so I only have myself to blame. I didn’t even have time to get Brian in on the plan.” She smirked at me. “He told me you made an interesting visit to the zoo the other day.”
“‘Interesting’ is an interesting way to put it,” I said.
She shrugged. “Well, don’t worry. He was just as confused as you were. I’m just sorry I couldn’t get you guys the heads-up sooner. But all’s well that ends well. In the end, I really couldn’t have asked for a smoother operation.”
Yeah, smooth.
“I have to thank Aika though,” she continued. “It was her idea, and that message she sent to Tia was what really put the plan in motion.”
“Aika, huh? Well now, I guess I know who I owe dinner to.”
“Trust me, between the two of us, we owe her a month’s worth of dinners. But God knows when we’ll get to see her again.”
“Then get in touch with me when she gets into town. It’ll be a nice get-together.”
Aimee nodded in agreement.
We watched the twins interact with Brian for a little bit, until they tried to drag him to the park to get some hot dogs. Arlene whistled for their attention and told them to board the tram, which they did with disappointed faces. Brian, looking like he just finished a marathon, entered after them. Arlene had a foot in the door and waved me in.
“Want to take ride, Lyle? We’re stopping by Brian’s place before we hit the zoo. His wife is making breakfast for us.”
I paused. “Brian has a wife?”
“Yes. He’s been married for seven years.”
Huh. Imagine that.
“So want to come?” she asked.
“Nah, I’m good. I wouldn’t want to bother you guys. Maybe next time.”
“All right then. Oh! Almost forgot.”
From her pocket, she pulled out a card with Wyvern’s draconic emblem branded on its face and handed it to me.
“This is for you,” she said. “It’ll get you in the zoo from the employee entrances and away from the crowds. Come visit anytime you want.”
“Thanks, Arlene. I really appreciate it.”
“Don’t mention it. It’s the least I could do.” She entered the tram and waved. “We’ll see you later!”
The twins waved their hands at me in tandem. “Bye Ly-lee!” they called out.
After a final wave of goodbyes, the doors closed and the tram pulled out to the street. The twins pressed their faces against the back windows, waving to me as long as the rising sun allowed me to see before it blurred it the tram into a haze. I held out the security card Arlene gave me. “Lyle A. Ivano, Special Guest,” it read below the blue wyvern. I thought I would like use it later in the afternoon. And maybe the afternoon after that. Hell, I should look up metro itineraries and make it part of my daily commute. I slipped the card into my wallet, lingered a bit to absorb the morning warmth, and started for the train station. It was only seven o’clock. I smiled. That was enough time to make a quick visit.