Chapter Six:
Vartan practically knocked Rhoswen over as he stumbled inside, holding onto the wall as he made his way through her kitchen and to the living room, where he fell onto the couch. Rhoswen closed and locked the door behind him, then hurried over to the couch.
”What are you doing here?”
He looked up at her, and for first time she could see a hint of annoyance on his face. It was both frightening and comical. “They asked me to leave the base. So I came here.”
”... They threw you out?”
He laid back on the couch, making himself a bit more comfortable, though every move still seemed painful. “Yes, that is basically true.”
Rhoswen was holding her forehead. This is ridiculous. If the neighbors see him here they’ll freak out.
He glanced to the side. “You do not have a television?”
She frowned. “No, I’m not that rich. And besides, I don’t even like watching movies. Wait, why did you come to my apartment? For that matter how did you know where I live?”
”I followed you home. And you are the only human I know.”
Rhoswen couldn’t help but feel a little bit special upon hearing that. How many girls in the city could say a half-breed knew them well enough to crash at their place? But she tossed the thought out of her mind. “You know Terrian too. He has a really big house.”
”But you’re the one I followed,” he said simply, as if that explained everything.
Rhoswen sighed. “Alright, you can stay as long as you need to, but please don’t go walking around in the hallway or anything. The other people in the building might have heart attacks if they spot you.”
Vartan nodded.
”And,” she said carefully, “there is one more condition to staying here.”
He looked her in the eyes again. “What is it?”
She felt a little scared. She just couldn’t get beyond the fact that she was talking to a half-breed. She took a deep breath. “You can’t punish anyone while you’re staying with me. No matter what.”
He raised his eyebrows, and Rhoswen flinched, as if expecting him to jump up and decapitate her. “And what will you do if I punish anyone?”
Rhoswen hesitated for a moment, then built up her courage and said “I’ll throw you out!”
Vartan stared at her in response, and she could’ve sworn an extremely faint smile had tugged at his lips for an instant. “Very well,” he said, “I will abide by your rules.”
Rhoswen wanted to gasp loudly, or to laugh, or to cry. She wanted to express her shock in some way, but she only exhaled and walked into the bedroom, where she pulled out an extra blanket and took one of the pillows from her own bed. She brought them to him, and he politely thanked her.
Once he was comfortable again, she waved to him and told him goodnight, going into her room to change into pajamas. It was a very restless night, as she had trouble sleeping while knowing that a half-breed was laying on her couch in the next room. Her mind was going crazy, telling herself that he was different, that he was kind to her and had gotten himself into trouble for her sake, but at the same time reminding herself of how callously he had murdered Miranda’s parents only a few days before. She couldn’t decide whether he was a gentle boy or a barbaric monster.
In the end, she fell asleep just a few hours before sunrise, and so overslept terribly the next morning. She climbed out of bed and staggered into the kitchen. Vartan was at the table peeling an orange. His jacket was gone and, to Rhoswen’s embarrassment, so were his pants. He wore boxer shorts, plain black cotton. He looked up when she entered the room. “Is it alright that I took an orange?”
She nodded, still a little disoriented. She was wearing a tank top and a pair of knit shorts. Nothing scandalous, but she felt a little self-conscious so she held her arms over herself and stepped toward the door.
”There is no need to be embarrassed,” he said, biting into the peeled orange, “I have seen you in less.”
She remembered their first meeting, in the clinic while she was in her underwear, and cringed. She had almost forgotten it. She turned around to face him. “Right, about that, I have another rule. You can’t... um... do anything... to me.”
He looked highly confused. “Do anything?”
”You know... what you half-breeds do to humans all the time. Um, how did that girl put it yesterday... ‘enjoy’?”
Vartan obviously understood now, and Rhoswen was more than a little embarrassed. He took another bite of the orange. “I will do nothing to harm you.”
She sighed in relief. “Great, I’m glad we cleared that up.” She sat down at the table and grabbed an apple from the bowl of fruit, biting into it without peeling it. “By the way, I wanted to thank you for what you did yesterday. You really saved us, Anna and I.”
Vartan nodded without a word.
She watched him for a moment while chewing the apple. “I’m curious though, why did you do it?”
”I already explained. You saved me, I wanted to save you in return.”
”But when you spared Miranda, I mean, the little girl a few nights ago, you said your debt had been repaid.”
He was looking at the half-eaten orange in his hand. “I am... not on the best of terms with those three.”
”Oh. I see. So going up against them wasn’t exactly new?”
”Correct,” he answered, “I have fought with them many times.”
”Why?” Rhoswen asked, the question slipping out of her mouth before she thought. Oh no, I’m prying too much!
”I believe Celeste, the girl you met, harbors feelings for me that one half-breed should not have for another.”
Rhoswen’s jaw dropped. “You mean she has a crush on you?!”
”Yes, I believe so. And the others, Aden and Marcel, harbor those feelings for her. As such, they despise me.”
Rhoswen had laid the apple on the table, too intrigued to eat. “Wow, so they’re jealous of you! But why would she attack you the way she did? Why would she allow them to?”
Vartan looked at her, surprised. “Why would she not?”
”Because she’s in love with you, isn’t she? You don’t hurt people you love!”
”We do not understand the feelings of humans,” he said, “If we somehow come to experience them, we do not know how to react to them.”
Rhoswen looked back down. “Oh,” she said, then looked at him sharply. “But why don’t the half-breeds get together? Why don’t they ever date each other or get married?”
Vartan looked positively shocked by her question, his expression even going beyond mere raised eyebrows to include wide eyes and a gaping mouth. “That is forbidden! We can never touch each other in that way!”
Rhoswen was quite surprised herself. “Why not?”
Vartan settled back into his usual expression. “I’m not sure. We’ve been told from the time we were children that we must never, ever mate with fellow half-breeds. Doing so would be punishable by death.”
”Wow, that’s a really harsh rule. But I guess that explains why you guys fool around with humans so much.”
”Yes,” he replied, eating his orange again and seeming strangely uncomfortable, “We were told to satisfy our physical desires with humans.”
Rhoswen placed her elbow on the table and leaned over, supporting her head with her arm. “But don’t you guys ever want something more? More than just a physical thing? How do you get any pleasure from it when the human obviously doesn’t want it?”
Vartan was focused intently on the orange, as if purposely avoiding her eyes. “We were told that humans are hormonal creatures who always desire physical pleasure. We were told that the humans wouldn’t mind, that they would be happy to satisfy us, because we are pleasing to their eyes.”
Rhoswen was positively amazed to be hearing all of this. Finally things were starting to make a little more sense. “But couldn’t you figure out that humans didn’t want to be used?”
Vartan suddenly stood up from the table. “Do you mind if I use your shower?”
Rhoswen blinked, caught off-guard. “Oh, sure. There are some towels in the closet in the hall.”
He stood up and pushed his chair in, then cleared the table of the small mess he had made with the orange. It really struck Rhoswen again that he was unbelievably polite. She wondered if half-breeds were raised to be that way, or if this was simply a personality trait for him.
She heard him open and then close the closet door, then listened as he walked a little farther down the hall and into the bathroom. Then the water came on. She finished her apple while she waited, and he eventually emerged from the hall again, but this time he was without the boxers. She nearly choked on the apple, but stood up and quickly backed away, covering her eyes.
”What’s wrong?” he asked.
”Please put your clothes on!” she cried, still covering her eyes.
”Why? You have seen me nude before. Why are humans so bothered by such things?”
Rhoswen slowly removed her hands from her eyes, but looked straight at his face. He looked genuinely curious. “Because things like this should be reserved for couples.”
”Why?”
She thought for a moment, trying to come up with the best way to word it. “Well... it should be special, when two people who are in love see each other naked for the first time. Exposing yourself like that is like revealing your deepest secret.”
Vartan’s puzzled expression made Rhoswen realize that she had indeed worded it wrong. “Wait, that didn’t come out right. I mean... even with people who are not in love, you want to save that ‘secret’ for the person you are in love with.”
”So, humans do not allow anyone to see them nude unless they are in love with them?”
Rhoswen rubbed her forehead again. “No, that’s not exactly it. I mean, doctors see you naked, but that’s for medical reasons. It’s different. And when you’re a kid and your parents see you naked, like when you’re taking a bath. Or if you’re spending the night with your best friend and you change clothes in the same bedroom, it’s not a big deal. But, when it comes to someone you’re attracted to, it makes you shy about it, so you only want to show yourself to them when you trust them to not be judgemental and...”
She trailed off, noticing that Vartan’s look of confusion was gone and he was instead staring at her intently. Did I just say ‘when it comes to someone you’re attracted to’? Oh God.
”I see,” Vartan said, stepping into the living room. He returned a few seconds later, buttoning his pants. “I suppose I no longer have a secret to reveal.”
”What?”
Again that faint smile seemed to flash across his face for the briefest of moments, but it disappeared just as quickly. “You’re not going to the clinic today. Are you going anywhere else?”
”Terrian’s house. He gave me a new job.”
”What kind?”
Rhoswen raised an eyebrow at him. “Are you really interested or are you making conversation?”
”I am interested.”
”He wants Anna and I to be his new maids. I know he just wants to give us a reason to take money from him and come to his house, so we won’t feel like we’re robbing him, you know? But I hope he doesn’t make us wear uniforms again.”
”The white outfit you were wearing at the clinic, that was a uniform?”
”Yeah. Terrian picks them out. I think he has a costume fetish or something.”
”Does he not make you feel uncomfortable?”
Rhoswen laughed. “We know he’s just joking around. Yeah, he likes to see us in cute clothes, but he would never do anything inappropriate. In fact he’s ridiculously protective of us.”
”Yes, I saw that,” he replied, “He was fast to attack me when he thought I was doing you harm.”
Rhoswen laughed again, and in the back of her mind wondered when she had reached the point that she could laugh with a half-breed. Her eyes drifted to the clock on the kitchen wall. “Oh crap, I’m really running late now. I better get ready.”
She hurried to the hall, grabbed some towels, and took a quick shower. She dressed in the bathroom, having no desire to go prancing into her bedroom with nothing but a towel on while Vartan was there. He promised he wouldn’t do anything, but she decided it wouldn’t be a good idea to tempt a half-breed, despite the circumstances.
She flipped her dark brown curls of hair upside down and shaped it with her hands, using a tiny drop of her quickly depleting stocks of gel. She even dabbled on a little makeup and perfume, things she normally never bothered with. When finished, she looked in the mirror and asked herself why she was trying so hard to look good. Was it because she wanted Vartan to find her attractive? But she had gone to such lengths to avoid attracting that sort of attention from him.
But what’s wrong with it if I like him? He can’t force me if I want him just as badly.
She rubbed her forehead again, fully aware that she was developing a habit of doing so when stressed. She then took a deep breath and walked out of the bathroom. She grabbed her purse from the counter in the kitchen and stepped into a pair of shoes by the door. She glanced into the living room, where Vartan was sitting quietly on the couch.
”Um, I’m leaving now. If you decide to go out, lock the door behind you. There’s an extra key in the table by my bed so you can get back in. Remember not to let anyone see you in the building, okay?”
He looked up at her and nodded, then waved as she left.
She arrived several minutes later at Terrian’s house. She usually visited in the evenings, after they closed the clinic, so seeing it in the daylight, under the red-tinged sun, made the huge house look a little scary. Now she understood why he often asked the girls to come live with him.
She walked up on the porch and rang the door bell. A few minutes later, she heard footsteps and the door suddenly flung open. There stood Anna, positively fuming, in a skimpy french maid costume that was obviously bought for Halloween many years ago. Rhoswen wanted to laugh, but then it occurred to her that she would probably be wearing that horrendous getup too. She blanched.
”He’s gone too far this time!” Anna said loudly, stomping her foot as she talked as if to emphasize every word. “Look at this! I look ridiculous!”
”It’s... not that bad. I mean, it’s kinda cute but... well...”
”It’s awful!” Anna cried.
Rhoswen opened her mouth to respond, but heard Terrian’s voice ring out from within the house. “Is Rhoswen here? Send her on up to get her uniform!”
Rhoswen paled. “Well, at least you won’t look awful by yourself.” She stepped inside and began climbing up the stairs, dreading what she would see when she reached the top.