Page 12 of Waves
“No, I’m not especially tired.”
“Do you maybe want to hang out and watch television for a bit?”
“Sure,” he said, with yet another shrug. Something told me he would have agreed to anything from rock climbing to knitting.
I sank down on one end of the couch, and Ishmael jumped up beside me when I turned on the television. Of course, the moment Kai sat down at the other end, I got my dog’s tail whacking my face instead. Ishmael flopped down and spat his toy in Kai’s lap, then whimpered for more of his attention.
“You have a great dog,” Kai said while he rubbed Ishmael’s chest and belly.
“I thought so too,” I muttered. I looked at the puddle of fur lying between us and shook my head. Some guard dog he was. A damn good thing I got Ishmael solely for companionship and not protection.
About halfway through the program on the animal channel, I realized how much I enjoyed sitting on my couch with another person. I wouldn’t consider myself a social butterfly, nor would I go so far as to say I was a total loner. Someone who could offer an engaging conversation still remained a rare treat. I honestly couldn’t remember the last time I spoke this much to anyone other than Mary. What the hell did that say about me?
Leaning against Ishmael, I scratched his side until he began snoring. The mockumentary about mermaids kept me engrossed because I found this sort of fiction so interesting. To someone like myself, I could appreciate the factual tidbits scattered throughout the story. The show got me so preoccupied; I didn’t even notice when Kai and I both gravitated toward the middle of the couch. Once I saw how close I got, I sat up straighter and made sure there was a healthy amount of space between us. Our shoulders were no longer dangerously close to touching like we were a moment ago. I might have died from embarrassment if we had. While anxiety kept me busy, Kai lounged beside me as cool as a freaking cucumber. I told myself he didn’t even notice how close we drifted to one another once we became more comfortable, nor my small freak-out.
After the special ended, I dug a large blanket and a few pillows from my closet so Kai could be as comfortable as possible on the couch. Then we said goodnight, and I shut off the living room lights. I practically had to drag Ishmael into my room with me, but he finally hopped onto my bed and settled at the foot once I climbed under the sheets.
I couldn’t seem to fall asleep, mostly because I doubted my goofball dog would defend me to the death against someone he already trusted with his favorite stuffed toy. Instead, I tried to push those anxieties away by playing way too many rounds of Sudoku on my phone until I rolled over and passed out.
* * *
KAI
Spending time with Ezra was nice. He was not at all what I would consider dull, though he often became so flustered so easily. Still, he had been nothing but cordial with me, and even chatty, when the mood struck. Perhaps Ezra’s most endearing quality was how well he took a joke and even tossed one right back once he found the nerve. I wouldn’t claim to know any humans well, but Ezra always stood out from the rest. Even after a short time spent together, I could confidently deem him my favorite human already. Maybe his inherent goodness was why I found myself enjoying his company so much.
Life as a seal had always been pleasantly dull. For the most part, I enjoyed plenty of napping and eating and swimming. I did little else. We weren’t exactly social, either, so I spent most of my time alone. I couldn’t say I even minded the solitude, but Ezra might be someone I would miss if he stopped coming around.
Ezra and I shared a lovely evening tonight, sitting around and watching the screen. I happened to know for a fact that humans were obsessed with screens. Why this was, I never could quite say, but I began to see the appeal. Their technology always changed so drastically and so rapidly, but that might be because I didn’t bother to stop and attend to these things often.
I continued to reflect on the evening until I fell asleep and woke the next morning right before dawn. An early start was my usual habit, but being awake before sunrise never seemed so bad when I could nap the day away. Every time I came ashore, I always forgot how tiring it was to be a human until I had been for an extended period. Snoozing in the sunshine for most of the day would always be much more enjoyable to me than filling the day with menial tasks.
Upon waking enveloped in such warmth and comfort, I almost mistook the comfort for my coat. A few moments later, I shook the sleep from my mind. My coat remained missing—but hopefully washed ashore by now—and I merely cocooned myself in the blanket while asleep.
Not long after I untangled and rolled off the couch, whining came from somewhere down the hall. I opened the first door in the hallway and saw the empty bathroom. Next, I found a closet, then another room filled with books and papers (perhaps an office), but no sign of Ishmael. The last doorknob didn’t turn in my hand, but I heard the unmistakable plea of someone needing to relieve himself while Ishmael scratched on the other side of the door.
Well, wouldn’t it be convenient if I had mystical powers right about now? I was a seal-human, so I must possess some magic, right? Unfortunately, I considered myself extraordinarily bland in both forms, but I had one talent that proved itself to come in handy.
Though I could not recall how I came by such a skill, I was very, very good at picking locks. I hadn’t put it to the test in recent memory, but had yet to be stumped each time I tried (since the humans possessed a fixation with locking up things, too). Maybe I had a superior problem-solving man-seal brain helping me, or I learned so long ago I simply forgot (as I did most other habits). I couldn’t really say.
I headed back into the office looking room, searching for something useful among scattered papers on a desk. After settling on a paperclip, I wasted a moment bending the metal into the shape I needed. As soon as I popped the lock, Ishmael raced out of the room with a very appreciative whine and right past me. He danced in front of the sliding door in the kitchen where he waited for someone with thumbs to assist him.
After a quick check to ensure Ezra’s garden was secure, I slid open the door. Ishmael lifted his leg on the first patch of grass he came across, then trotted right back in the house, his tail wagging appreciatively. He stopped at the refrigerator after, his tail swishing across the floor while he looked at me, then the refrigerator door, then his bowl, and back to me.
“I bet you want food now, huh?”
He responded with a short ‘awoo’ and turned to the refrigerator.
I used my thumbs to assist yet again, opening the refrigerator door for him and ripping open a packet of food to pour into his bowl. It was just as well Ishmael was impatient for his breakfast. This way, Ezra could get some proper sleep after running around so much yesterday because of me. Ishmael and I were the only ones in the kitchen once the sun came up. After he scarfed down his food and made another request to go outside, he returned to the kitchen to sit before me.
“What?” I asked him with a smile.
Ishmael softly woofed and trotted to the living room, where his pillow sat in a corner.
I might as well go back to sleep also, since it was too early to do much of anything else. I returned to my nest on the couch and pulled the blanket around my shoulders. As soon as I closed my eyes, a sudden heaviness sank atop me. Ishmael sighed, his head resting on my chest, and I smiled to myself. I gently scratched the soft velvet of his ears and drifted asleep faster than I had all night.
The hum of my phone buzzing atop my wooden nightstand interrupted my sleep. I knew Mary would try calling early, so I set that sucker on vibrate last night before I passed out. I flung my arm from the sheets and felt around until my fingers located my phone.
“Hello?” I answered with a yawn.