Sasha had woken up early and spent the better part of the morning following Analyst's directions to remove the freon and AC unit from zir truck. Ze had tried to be patient, but the drive to do something was too much while waiting for Lyrica to arrive. Ze also had no idea when that would be.
"Sasha, Lyrica is here." Kat said when she opened the garage door.
Sasha turned and froze when we saw Lyrica, like zir tongue could no longer move.
Lyrica had white hair with black ends, and cute bangs that accented their face well. Their face was very soft with cheekbones that stood out, and their face was an oval in shape. Lyrica was wearing all black that made their hair the focus of attention.
What caught Sasha was Lyrica's soft, chocolate brown eyes held in a look of warmth before they turned into what seemed to be sorrow.
"Hi… I'm Lyrica Un-Underwood." Lyrica looked down as they spoke, as if they were in trouble.
"Uh, Hi! I'm Sasha. My pronouns are ze/zim/zir."
"Mine are she/her, sorry."
"It's okay, no worries. I was told by my sister that such was custom when meeting people."
"It is, forgive me. I just have poor manners."
Kat and Sasha looked at each other.
"Alright. Well, I'm going to leave you to reading, yeah?" Kat spoke up before leaving.
"Let's go to my room." Sasha waived for Lyrica to follow.
When they got up to the room, Lyrica took her backpack off and sat on the floor. She then started taking books out of it. Some of the books were thin and colorful, while others looked like they had been in a library since the dawn of time and could only be described as brown.
"Is it okay if I leave these here for you, when the time comes?" Lyrica asked, softly.
"Yeah, sure! Just leave them there next you and I will put them away."
"Today, I wanted to start with teaching you the alphabet, and some phonetic rules. I really want to help you be on your way to sounding out words, as soon as possible. Is that okay?"
Sasha hung there for a minute.
"Lyrica, are you okay?"
"I'm fine. What do you mean?"
"You seem scared, like I am going to be upset with you for something. I could be wrong, but I just wanted to check and make sure that you were okay."
"Uhm, I guess today hasn't been the best, but you don't need to worry about that."
"What happened?"
Lyrica paused for a really long time, and then took a single deep breath.
"I'll tell you, but you can't tell anyone else, okay?"
"I won't."
"My father called from prison this morning. I was lucky to not have to talk to him, but after all of the things he did to me just the idea of hearing him is really messing with me. I just want to forget about him and what he did to my mom and I. On the other hand, I was given an assignment to teach you to read, and that takes priority to me."
"Would you like a hug? It always feels better when Renee hugs me…"
Lyrica looked up quickly with surprise and an apparent blush on her pale cheeks.
"I would, but only if you're okay with that."
Sasha went over to Lyrica and picked her up off the floor and held her in a hug. Lyrica yelped as she was being picked up, but eventually found herself burying her head into Sasha's chest.
Lyrica didn't say a word, but she absolutely loved how warm and comforting Sasha's embrace was. Lyrica also could smell a trace of what she thought to be sandalwood and vanilla on Sasha, which made her mind ring with jubilee. Lyrica didn't want to leave, even though she had just met Sasha, and was very shaken when Sasha let go of her. She could feel that her face was hot and tried to keep Sasha from seeing her.
Sasha noticed that Lyrica was leaning into zir chest, but ze was worried that Lyrica would think something I'll of zim, if ze held her any longer. Sasha had to try fairly hard to keep control of zimself, as ze was trying not to make Lyrica uncomfortable.
Sasha backed off a little.
"I'm sorry. I don't mean to make you uncomfortable, I promise." Sasha felt guilty.
"No no, I'm okay. I appreciate it." Lyrica said with her face turned.
Sasha could see the bright red of her face and went from guilt to concern.
"Your face is red. I don't know what to do, but should I phone a doctor?"
"No, I'm okay."
"Are you sure? I just want to-"
"You're very beautiful, and I've never been held by someone so breath-taking, okay?" Lyrica cut Sasha off.
"Oh. I'm sorry… "
"You're okay, Sasha. I'm not upset and I don't need a doctor. You didn't do anything wrong. I found your touch to be very comfortable."
Things sat quietly for a while, as they both thought about their feelings.
"I can give you my number, and we can continue to talk. I want to help you. I won't say a word to anyone else, I promise."
"I would like that. I don't have very many people I can talk with about my life, any more. I feel like I can trust you. You don't want to hurt me, right?"
"No, I will never intentionally hurt someone who put their faith in me."
"That seems oddly specific."
"I will tell you about my life, if you tell me about yours, over the phone."
"That sounds nice, but how do you use a phone, if you can't read?"
"I can't read English, but I can read Tulki fluently."
"Where is Tulki from?"
"Morinth 284C. I'm a demon, not from Earth."
"It's hard to believe, but I can tell your body is different. Your horns, ears, paws, and even your eyes are like a cat's."
"My mom?"
"No, like the animal."
"I have never met any of the animals on Earth…"
Lyrica pulled a phone out of her pocket and then showed Sasha a picture of a cat.
"This is my cat. His name is Chess, like my favorite dessert."
"His eyes look like mine."
"I told you so!" Lyrica laughed.
Sasha was entranced by Lyrica's toothy grin and felt it in zir heart.
"When you bear your teeth in that way, my heart beats faster and it feels warm in my chest…"
Lyrica made a sound that was like a short, higher pitched laugh, but then covered her mouth with her hand.
"You don't need to hide yourself. I'm sorry if I made you feel like you had to."
"It's okay. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to."
Lyrica bent over and grabbed some papers out of her backpack.
She started to write the alphabet, and said the letter with each one she wrote.
"I don't want either of us to get in trouble for me not teaching you anything today."
"Yeah, I understand. I would really love to be able to read some manuals, too."
"Manuals? What on Earth do you need manuals for?"
"Oh! I'm rebuilding a truck. I was working on it when Kat brought you in."
"That white truck is yours? No way!"
"Yeah, it is! I bought it yesterday."
"I… wow. Congratulations, Sasha, that's a big achievement. I guess we better get you reading so you don't get hurt, yeah?"
Sasha just nodded with a smile.
The two went on with Sasha's lesson, which ze was making good progress on when the two were interrupted by Kat coming up to offer lunch to both of them.
Lyrica was surprised by the cup of blood that Sasha drank just as she did every day, after putting her powdered medications in the cup.
By the time Lyrica had to head home, Sasha was starting to piece together new words within zir vernacular, though zir handwriting was not yet practiced enough to be more than chicken scratch. Lyrica felt that Sasha was a spectacular person to be around, and valued zir help with what she was going through during the day. They exchanged phone numbers before Kat drove Lyrica home for the night. Though, they still spent the night texting each other, and Sasha even tried putting zir phone into English, for the time being.
They eventually settled with the fact that they'd be seeing each other until Sasha reached fluency.
***
At dinner, Sasha had the usual, while the others had grilled fish and vegetables. Sasha sat next to Renee, across from Seamus and Kat.
"So, I hear that truck in the garage is yours, huh?" Renee asked, giving Sasha a look that ze couldn't quite find a description for other than playful.
"Yeah! I was able to do it all over the phone."
"Nice! Does it drive well?"
"I'm not sure, yet. I'm in the process of taking it apart."
"I didn't know you were a mechanic."
"I guess everyone has to start somewhere. I chose to start here."
"That's really powerful, Sasha. I hope it goes as planned."
"Thank you. That means a lot, actually."
"On another note, I hear you're already bringing girls home, huh?" Renee waggled her eyebrows.
"Renee Samantha! She was just over to help Sasha learn how to read, tell her Sasha."
Sasha nervously looked away.
"Ha, mom! I knew I heard her giggling in there when I came to tell Sasha dinner would be soon."
Kat turned to Sasha, "You guys didn't do anything, right?"
"What do you mean?"
"You guys weren't being intimate, she means." Renee pointed out.
"No, I think she is beautiful and sweet, but we have only known each other for today. I hugged her because she was having a bad day, after that her mood lightened up and we worked on learning how to spell and sound out words. I'm sorry I lead you to believe something nefarious was happening."
"I'm sorry, Sasha. I shouldn't have said anything. I didn't actually believe you were doing something wrong." Renee apologized in a serious tone.
"It's okay. I just feel very self conscious because I don't actually know what is okay for people. I hope I handled it properly, but I just don't know. Then there is the idea that eats at me of whether or not she'd even be able to handle my scars or the pieces of my past that will affect me for a long time."
"Sasha, if she is worth your time, then it doesn't matter what scars you have, or what has been done to you. She will see the real you, and you have to take time to make sure that she does see you and choose you. If you need help, I have your back, alright?" Renee spoke with heart.
"Okay, Renee. I'll be patient. I don't want to be hurt or hurt anyone."
"You've got this, Sasha. I believe in you."
"Thanks, Renee. I am grateful for your support, really."
"I mean, hey, that's what sisters are for. If we don't have family, then who do we have, ya know? We have to make sure each other is living their best life and taking care of ourselves."
Kat was wiping away tears from her eyes.
"You okay, mom?" Renee asked.
"Yeah… I'm just really proud of you guys and your ability to open up to each other. I hope you guys cherish that for as long as you live."
"We will, mom. Right, Sasha?"
"Right."
Sasha got up and washed zir cup before putting it away and going back up to zir room.
Sasha picked up zir phone and found two notifications waiting. When ze checked them, it was Lyrica asking about Sasha's dinner. Quickly the two got back into talking to each other for the night, which left Sasha to regrettably fall asleep later than usual. Sasha was excited to see Lyrica tomorrow, though, and thought the little sacrifice of sleep was well worth it, in the end.
***
Sasha was up earlier than Kat working on zir truck, which was scary for Kat when she went to wake Sasha up and ze was nowhere to be found.
By the time Kat found Sasha in the garage, feeling dumb about not thinking that would be the case earlier, Sasha had just successfully taken all the fluids out of the truck's systems and was pulling out the radiator.
"You're up awfully early. Don't you need sleep?" Kat asked with a turned head.
"I did. I just wasn't able to go back to sleep, so I decided to get to work and keep myself busy with something, instead of getting panicked."
"Oh, alright. Well, I have to head to work, so you be careful and make sure you don't keep Lyrica waiting, okay?"
"I won't, mom, promise."
Kat didn't say anything, but rather smiled in surprise. It was the first time Sasha had called her that in person.
"Okay, be safe, dear. I'll see you when I get home."
"You too. See you later." Sasha smiled back.
As soon as Kat closed the door, Sasha got right back to talking with Analyst while taking apart the truck, again. Ze was finished taking all of the stuff that runs on the serpentine belt of the engine and out of the truck when Analyst made a notification sound. Instead of checking zir phone, ze decided to just check the door.
When Sasha opened the door, Lyrica looked up and their eyes met. As their gaze into each other's souls lingered, Lyrica's face started to become more red.
"I'm sorry. W-would you like to come in?" Sasha tried to get out, nervous.
"Yeah, sorry. I didn't notice at first that your eyes were so red, even your scleras are a deep red. I then… realized I was staring at you. I actually want to ask you something…"
Sasha closed the door behind Lyrica.
"What did you want to know?"
"Can I touch your ears?"
"Alright. Just don't pull them, please."
Sasha kealt on the floor, and then leaned forward.
Lyrica's touch was gentle and kind, as she softly scratched behind Sasha's ears. Just like her cat, Chess, Sasha pushed into Lyrica's hands and ze made a sound that was a deep hum, more rich than that of Chess. Lyrica took that as incentive to keep scratching around Sasha's ears for a minute.
"You like that, huh, pretty boy?" Lyrica asked in a raised tone, before she remembered Sasha was not Chess.
Sasha looked up to Lyrica with zir head turned, "You really think I am pretty?"
"Ah, uhm, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to offend you." Lyrica carefully took her hands from Sasha's head.
"I am not offended. It was really nice, actually. I have never been called pretty by anyone before, and I just wanted to know if you meant it, you know?"
Lyrica was burning red with embarrassment, but managed to squeeze out: "Yes. Y-you are very pretty, Sasha. I am telling the truth."
"Did I offend you?"
"No, I… I am worried that I did something wrong."
"I don't feel like you did, but I don't know what's normal for humans. If you're worried what they think, we can go back up to my room, yeah?"
"Your parents won't be mad?"
"I don't think so… but I'm not sure."
"Okay. Let's try something… If you do well in your learning today, I'll scratch your ears, again. I don't want either of us to get in trouble, fair?"
"Yeah, that's fair," Sasha smiled. " But will you say the thing, again?"
"You-you liked that?"
"Yes. It made me happy. I don't know if I am a boy, though, and I don't know how that all works, either."
"Oh. Would you rather I said something else?"
"No, I liked what you said. It makes me feel warm that you think I'm pretty."
Lyrica smiled softly at Sasha before Sasha got up off the floor and the two walked beside each other to the room.
They were pretty quick to get into working on phonetics of words and all the rules that made up English pronunciations. More for Lyrica's sake, they would take breaks every hour or so and talked about whatever was on their minds, until Lyrica recommended that they ask each other questions about themselves.
"Alright, Sasha. What is your favorite color?"
"Red because my fur is red and I like it. What is your's?"
"Black because it hides everything. What do you think of Earth?"
"I think it's much better than the rest of my life, I like it here. Why do you like to hide?"
"My father yelled at me, often, and would hurt me, if I didn't follow his rules. What was your life before?"
"I was a test subject for a company, and they would try all the new projects they were intending to sell on me, for my entire life that I can remember. I was in a room with a vault door a lot with nothing to do. What is your favorite things to do?"
"I love to read and experience new worlds through the words. What kinds of tests were they?"
"Medications, surgeries, physicals, social impact, emotional response, sleep deprivation, pain tolerance, and body part tests. What did he do to end up in prison?"
"He sexually assaulted my mother and I, just between you and me. We went to the police, did tests, and he was sentenced for life because of the evidence. What are body part tests?"
"They would change out parts of my body and make me do different activities with them, until they were satisfied. I don't even remember what I looked like before all the changes. Do I hurt you?
"No, not at all. I just get really embarrassed because I worry about making you uncomfortable. Are those tattoos from the facility?"
"Yes. I woke up with them one day, long ago. Do I scare you?
"No, I find you very comforting and easy to talk to. Do you think I'm pretty?
"Yes, I think you're stunning. Do I make you feel happy?"
"Yes, you do. Were you thinking about me while I was away?"
"Yes, I was. Were you?"
"Yes, I was. I couldn't take my mind off of you, and now I want to get to know you and how to make you happy. You're really cool and not scary or manipulative. Do you think I'm scary?"
"No, I think you are really soft, gentle, and caring. Would you mind calling me a pretty boy more often?"
"No, but only if you'll hug me like you did yesterday. Can I come here, even if it's not related to school?"
"You can, I just have to talk to my parents about it. What would we do?"
"We could work on your truck together, I think that would be nice. What do you think?"
"I think having your help would be nice, and you could help me read the manuals. I don't know if Analyst will get tied of that or not. Did you want to pick this back up, later and continue reading?"
"Yeah, that's fine. You're doing really well, though. I think once you start seeing words more you'll have it down. You speak English well, so now that you know how most words should look, I think it's only a matter of time. I think it's time we try a new approach to your learning, like word roots, so you can identify words you haven't seen before. I mean, you could also read a dictionary, instead."
"A dictionary?"
"It's a big book that has every word and it's definition in it, but it doesn't have slang unless the word has been used long enough."
Sasha took zir phone out.
"Hey, Analyst?"
"Yes?"
"Do you have access to an English dictionary?"
"I have many, including ones that have a thesaurus. They are as recent as 2399 CE. Would you like to take a look at one of those?"
"Yes, please. Thank you, Analyst."
"No problem, Sasha."
Sasha tapped the phone screen and opened what was now a dictionary and handed it to Lyrica.
"Does that look right?" Sasha asked.
"Yeah, that looks perfect. It has everything you could want from a dictionary. Is-is Analyst a person?"
"Analyst is the AI built into my phone, they're very much like a person, though."
"Wow… That's really cool! So, Analyst doesn't like manuals?"
"Not really. Analyst does like to help me, though, which is why they do it."
"That's really nice of Analyst. I will help you with that sometimes, so Analyst can take a break from the manuals."
"I really appreciate that, and I am sure Analyst does, too."
The two spent the time up until they were hungry working on root words, and when they went down to the kitchen for food, Seamus had been preparing meat rolled up in corn tortillas and fried in oil, which Sasha learned were called taquitos. Sasha decided to try them, even if they had no benefit because they smelled so divine, and the salsa they were being dipped in had a stinging, acidic taste that Sasha loved. Ze much preferred them to the metallic taste of the blood.
After eating, the two decided to try reading the manuals Sasha had in mind, Sasha would then work on the truck, and then come back and work through the pages under Lyrica's supervision. By the time Lyrica needed to head home, Sasha had managed to disconnect and disassemble the gas tank, fuel lines, and the inner workings of all the wheels, including taking the shocks out with a compressor. Before Lyrica left, she held to her word and scratched Sasha's ears and, nervously, said the sweet things that she had promised, as well.
***
When Kat got home from work, the rest of her family was already seated, waiting for her to show up to begin eating.
"Sasha, did you guys do something?" Kat asked.
"What do you mean?"
"Lyrica was beet red the whole way home, I could see it even in the poor lighting of the night."
"Oh… She scratched my ears and said some nice things. Is that okay? I really don't know what's normal for humans, and I'm really sorry if I did something wrong. Please don't be mad at her. Please forgive me…" Sasha answered feeling really contrite.
"I'm sorry, Sasha. You didn't do anything wrong. I was just worried that a lot more than that happened."
"I don't understand."
"Like, I don't know, birds and the bees?"
"She was worried you two were having sex." Renee chimed in.
"Oh… No, we weren't. I don't even know if that's possible anatomically."
"Why wouldn't it be?"
"I'm not human. I don't know if my anatomy allows for anything like that. I also don't feel like I want to try and find out at this time. I was just cherishing that someone thought good things about me. I've never experienced that before…"
"Look, I'll just tell you what I tell Renee. It's okay as long as no one gets hurt in any way, and no one gets pregnant. I would appreciate it if you keep it private. I won't ask any more because it's not my business. I promise you didn't do anything wrong. I am happy that she enjoys making you happy, and doesn't hurt you. I am sorry for crossing the line I did."
"Oh… I'm really confused because I still feel like I did something wrong."
"I promise you didn't. I'm sorry for making you feel that way."
Sasha nodded and took a deep breath and tried to shake the feeling by counting while everyone ate quietly.
Sasha finished off the blood when ze realized it was still sitting there and put the empty cup back down.
"Please don't kick me out." Sasha felt a pain in zir chest.
"We won't kick you out. This is your home now, too, okay?" Seamus said gently, followed by the other's nods of approval.
"Promise?"
"I promise."
"Okay. Thank you. I think I am going to go work on my truck…"
"That's okay. We're here for you if you need anything."
Sasha got up and washed out zir cup before heading to the garage.
In the garage, Sasha pulled out zir phone and messaged Lyrica, "Thank you for saying the thing. I feel like I could really use that right now."
"What's wrong?"
Sasha proceeded to explain what happened with Kat in as much detail as we could remember.
"That's okay. We'll keep it in your room, then. I'm sorry that happened, though. I understand why you feel bad. Would you like me to text it to you, for now?"
"Are you sure you're okay with that?"
"If it makes you happy, I would say it as much as you are comfortable with."
"I would really like that, as long as you don't get in trouble or punished. I can't handle you being punished at my expense."
"I was actually talking to my mom about it, and she said that it was okay as long as I don't end up pregnant or end up with someone like my dad. I still want to get to know you better, but you don't act like my dad, at all."
"That's fair. You can take as much time as you want in order to protect yourself. I hope it's okay that I do the same."
"Yeah. It is, I promise. Is it still okay with you if I come over? I don't want to step on your boundaries."
"Yeah, I love it when you come over. My parents really like you, too, I promise. They were just concerned someone would end up hurt."
"My mom is the same way, but I think we'll be okay, pretty boy. c:"
"Thank you. That's really nice of you."
"I really enjoy doing it, I promise. I'm going to go clean up and go to bed, so that I can be up early."
"Alright. I'll see you tomorrow."
Sasha felt a lot better after talking with Lyrica, and was grateful for her presence in zir life. Ze started working truck with a much better disposition than ze would've had before.
Ze worked hard to disassemble the powertrain with Analyst's help. What took the longest was getting all of the bolts to take out the transmission because of all the weird places they were located. Instead of hoisting out the engine tonight, ze decided to work on taking out the truck's computer modules and connecting wires. It was tricky to get all the ones that ran under the paneling and into the cab.
When Sasha was finished removing all the wires, ze decided to wash up, head to bed, and tackle the removal of the engine in the morning.