Majgen Ch. 017

Warning! Work in progress, the full book-series is not yet finished (unless my profile states otherwise). Agonising waits in between chapters is a very real risk!

Copyright of Nanna Marker

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----=(Home)=----

"Little Human, wake up."

"What is it?" mumbled Majgen, not at all in the mood to wake up.

"I need to tell you something." Aejoa picked her half-sleeping body up.

"I'm tired," protested Majgen, and snuggled against him, preparing to sneak into another nap against his chest.

Aejoa couldn't help but laugh at that.

'Sometimes she is as cute as a baby.' His body shook with giggles. Yijejoan laughter in itself was soundless, though if talking while laughing the difference was quite audible.

"Would you wake faster if I dumped you in a tub full of cold water?" he asked.

'He wouldn't do that,' perceived Majgen, and mumbled, "What is it you want to tell me?"

Aejoa became serious again. "We are very close to my home now, Little Human."'Almost home,' the thought made him so jubilant that remaining serious was difficult. His Little Human had allowed him to relieve her syndroms, and was getting more accustomed to it every time.'We are coming home, together.'

"In less than an hour this ship arrives at Naonun, where I live. The soldiers will be received, and celebrated, as heroes. Like I told you, I will not be expected to participate in those celebrations so soon after my ordeal. But I won't be able to go straight to my home with you, as we had planned."

"Where are we going then?" asked Majgen. Still drowsy she waited for his words to translate. Her senses were as sleepy as the rest of her.

"You will go to my home in your night-cage, to wait for me there, Little Human. I need to go to the Ojewa's residency on Naonun. He has requested my presence."

'And an Ojewa's request to a Winin is an order,' understood Majgen. "How long must I be alone at your home, Aejoa?"

"You won't be completely alone, Little Human. My servants will provide for you. They are very loyal and reliable. You need not worry; I trust them."

'Well, Iam worried,' thought Majgen.'I am one of the enemy, Aejoa. Sometimes you forget how much our two species hate each other.'

"Do not worry, Little Human. Even if they were not reliable, which they are, they are all bound by an old fashioned contract. They wouldn't dare disobey me and harm you."

"Old fashioned?" inquired Majgen.

"What do you mean with old fashioned?" asked Aejoa.

"You said old fashioned contract," explained Majgen.

"No, I said old fashioned contract," the translator translated.

"I think the translator has issues, Aejoa. It just said old fashioned contract again."

Aejoa looked at the device and spoke a single yijejo word

"Old fashioned," the translator translated.

"It did it again," said Majgen.

"I will use other words then," promised Aejoa, and rephrased, "My servants are hired by a contract type which allows me to beat them if they are disobedient or rude in any way."

"You beat your servants?" Majgen frowned.'Doesn't sound like Aejoa to beat servants.'

"No, I've never beaten any of my servants. That type of contract is just tradition when a high-ranking Eieie hires aid," he explained. With pride he added, "There are many traditions amongst high ranking Eieie."

'Is that a good thing?' wondered Majgen, reminded of the various mentarion traditions.

All in all, she wasn't very fond of traditions at this time in her life.

"Cheer up, Little Human. I've had human toilet facilities installed in my home while we have been travelling. When we arrive you no longer need to relieve yourself in a tub." Aejoa knew she hated doing that, and he knew he hated leaving her alone in yijejo size sanitary facilities.

"I do look forward to that," admitted Majgen.

"And I've had human size showers and tubs installed too."

"Human tubs, or human foot-baths?" teased Majgen, reminding Aejoa of his immense fear that she might drown in a tub.

"Human tub size, I swear, Little Human, it's true."

"I look forward to that too," said Majgen with a smile.

"Even more luxury awaits us."

"Really?" asked Majgen, and perceived what he meant sooner than he finished talking, but she still listened politely to the translator.

"As soon as I join you at my home, I will order tailors. Glamorous clothes for both of us."

"I look forward to no longer hauling these oversized sheets around," said Majgen.'He knows I look forward to all these things, but it makes him happy to hear me say it.'

"The weather is good today, sunshine, very few clouds. I can't wait to see the sky again," said Aejoa with longing in his voice and emotions.

"I think the translator is broken, Aejoa. The last translation was complete gibberish."

"Maybe I should ask for a new one," said Aejoa. "Did that translate?"

"Yes, perfectly."

"Strange."

The Winin - Aejoa - was supplied with a new hand-held translator. The ship mechanics found no malfunctions in the old one though.

----=(o)=----

"Be careful, Mooje. Don't bump it so much. There is a living thing inside," cautioned First Servant Inee.

"I am being careful, Inee," protested Servant Mooje.

"You are holding your corner of the cage too far from your body, Mooje," complained First Servant Inee. "You can't hold it steady like that."

"There are only bars under the covering cloth. The thing could reach out and touch me! There is no way I will hold my corner close to my body," stated Servant Mooje.

"It's just one human, Mooje. It's much smaller than us," said Servant Ene. "It's more afraid of us than we are of it."

"Seems to me that Mooje is more afraid of it than it is of him," said Low-Servant Niinon, laughter obvious in his voice.

"Careful around this corner," cautioned First Servant Inee.

All four of them went quiet focusing on the task of moving the cage, which contained the Winin's new pet, safely around the corner.

"Seriously, Mooje, is there anything you aren't afraid of?" Servant Ene asked once they were clear of the corner. "So far I've seen you fear bugs, and weed-critters, and now you are afraid of a tiny unarmed human."

"You can't know it's unarmed. There is a cover on the cage," explained Mooje, defensively.

"Of course it's unarmed," interfered First Servant Inee. "The Winin wouldn't have provided it with a weapon."

"Well, either way it just creeps me out. Humans are disgusting. Didn't any of you see that movie 'Carrying'?" asked Mooje.

"I did," admitted Low-servant Niinon. "Good movie too, scary. Utterly fictional, though. A human can't eat a yijejo. If they try they die from intoxication."

"Well I just don't want this human to 'try' on me," said Mooje.

The other three all burst into silent yijejo laughter at that remark, to such a degree that Majgen could feel the vibrations through the bottom of the cage.

"Aren't any of you bothered by those creepy sounds coming from inside the cage?" asked Mooje.

'Those creepy sounds' was the translator translating everything they said to Humana. Majgen listened quietly from inside the cage, holding the translating device. She also analysed their emanations. She had been doing that since the soldiers had dropped her cage off at Aejoa's home.

'None of them are soldiers. None of them has ever had anything to do with the war,' she understood.'They all think it is very strange that the Winin has brought a human pet home, but none of them would voice that. They respect Aejoa too much to ever voice a possible disagreement with his actions.'

Mooje was teased by the other three servants till the cage reached the appropriate room and was carefully set onto the floor.

'They look as much forward to Aejoa's homecoming as I do,' realised Majgen.'They truly care for his well-being. They were devastated when he was captured.'

"I guess we should take the cloth off now that the cage is in position," said First Servant Inee, and took hold of the cloth pulling it off slowly.

Sitting on the floor in the cage, covered in a sheet, Majgen remained absolutely still. Her head was bowed. Her eyes absently focused on the translator. Through the servants' emanations she saw herself from four different angles.

'Colours look so strange through yijejo eyes. It's different than seeing it through another human's eyes.'

"It doesn't look as creepy as I thought it would," said Servant Mooje, scrutinising the appearance of the small alien. "It actually looks kind of cute."

"So small and fragile," Low-Servant Niinon added. "Are we really at war with those?"

'Yes our species are at war,' Majgen thought to herself.'Your kind killed my parents.'

Somehow, the lack of hostility in these yijejo strangers was harder to handle than the contained hatred she had expected. Majgen laid down and hid herself under sheets. She missed Aejoa's comforting voice, and she missed her long dead parents.

"It feels such profound sadness," said Mooje, sympathy in his emotions.

"It is all alone and very far from home," commented Inee. "Let's give it some peace and quiet while it settles in its new surroundings. Who wants to guard it first?"

"I'll take that chore if you don't mind, Inee," said Mooje. "I want to get used to the creature before the Winin comes home."

----=(o)=----

'Aejoa is here,' thought Majgen, and opened her eyes. "Aejoa!" she greeted, while getting on her feet. Covered in an oversized sheet she trussed to the cage's gate. Aejoa opened it for her and lifted her up as soon as she came out.

"Little Human," he hummed happily. "I hope you haven't been too bored?"

"It wasn't bad," she admitted.

She had spent the hours absorbed in Mooje's emanations, purposefully forgetting her own situation. While Mooje had guarded her - unaware of her special abilities, she had relived many parts of his life.

"Let's go out in the garden. The weather is wonderful," said Aejoa. "The sun is shining and the sky is blue."

"The translator is feeding me gibberish again, Aejoa," complained Majgen.

"Which part couldn't it translate?" he asked.

"You said, 'let's go out in the garden.' That made sense. But everything after that was nonsense.

"The weather is good," tried Aejoa. "The weather is good," the translator spoke.

"You are saying something is good," said Majgen, "but I don't know what thing it is that is good. Maybe if you use other words."

"It is not raining and the temperature is good," attempted Aejoa.

"It is your garden," said Majgen with a smile. "When you want to relax in the garden you can just turn the watering off. Can't you, Aejoa?"

"I can't turn off the rain, Little Human," he laughed.

"Why not?" asked Majgen.

Aejoa's laughter dissipated as he perceived her question was sincere.

"My garden is outside, Little Human. It is not a green-house."

"A green house? What's a green-house?"

"A green-house is a garden confined by see-through walls, so the sunlight can enter, but rain, wind and cold can't."

"You are confusing me, Aejoa, why would anyone expose their plants to sun-light? If you want to kill plants there are easier ways."

"May I look in your mind a moment, Little Human?" Aejoa had learned to respectfully ask, and be welcomed, rather than push in unwanted.

"Ok." Majgen shut her sensitivity down a bit to avoid mirror effects.

"What are you looking for?" she asked, when he had been quiet a bit.

"Sunlight," said Aejoa.

The word combination made Majgen think of outer space and science.

"Clouds," said Aejoa.

Majgen thought of emotions clouding and changing, facial expressions going dim or angry, everything but literal clouds.

"Rain," said Aejoa.

The human in his arms thought of watering mechanisms for parks, and showers, and confetti raining down on a party.

"Have you never been outside?" asked Aejoa.

"Of course I have," said Majgen, and thought of streets and parks of habitats and super cities.

"Have you never seen a sky?"

"What is that?" asked Majgen.

"Do you know what an atmosphere is?" asked Aejoa.

"Yes, it is when a planet is covered by gases."

"Breathable atmosphere?"

"Earth had that once," said Majgen. "Long before it was destroyed."

'She has never been outside.'

"Naonun has a breathable atmosphere, Little Human," he said cautiously, and wondered,'Will she fear the open sky?'

"Oh, that's interesting," said Majgen, wondering what significance that would have on a super-city. "Is that resource somehow taken advantage of in the air circulation system?"

"I don't know how to say it, Little Human," admitted Aejoa, retracting to the top of her mind.

"Let me look into your mind for it then," said Majgen, and hesitated no further when she sensed Aejoa's emotional permission.

'Blue sky!' she saw in his mind.'Now I understand. Atmosphere, sky, outside, it all makes sense now. It is beautiful,' she noted to herself.'Strange how I never noticed before in his memories. He takes it for granted. I never noticed it was something other than a painted ceiling, never saw his memories of appraising the view before.'

'She understands,' perceived Aejoa. "Do you want so see it with your own eyes?"

"Ei," said Majgen, speaking the yijejo word for yes. She was making a habit of trying to memorise more yijejo words.

"I will hold on to you, Little Human. You are safe with me," Aejoa reminded her as he left the room carrying her.

Twice more, he repeated those words before they reached a door leading to his garden.

"Are you ready?" he asked before stepping outside.

"Ei," said Majgen with a smile.'Why is he so worried, it is beautiful, not terrifying. I saw that in his memories,' she thought, while Aejoa took her outside.

Exposed to the sunlight, Majgen instinctively closed her eyes.

"It is very bright," she apologised. "Give me a moment to adjust, please."

"All the time you need, Little Human. We have years ahead of us."

Majgen pressed her face against his chest, to let his body shield her from the light. Carefully she opened her eyes, and looked at the fabric of his cloth.

"Let me climb up your chest a bit, Aejoa," she requested. He shifted his hold to accommodate her.

Within Aejoa's hold Majgen got to her knees. Cautiously she climbed up his chest, supporting herself on his reaching limbs, till she was able to peak over his shoulder. Very slowly she raised her head to see his home over his shoulder, allowing more view and more light to reach her eyes.

Next she saw blue, just above his ground floored house. Raising her head further she saw more blue, and more.

'Endless blue, true blue,' she thought and raised her head till she looked straight up.'BEAUTIFUL!' To not fall up into infinity, she instinctively clutched Aejoa's shoulders tight and reached for his mind to hug that too.'Look Aejoa! See what I see.'

'I see what you see,' felt Aejoa, and did.

'It is the most beautiful thing I ever saw,' felt and thought Majgen. Below her, her knees gave in, unable to carry her weight in the face of this magnificent glory. But she didn't fall; Aejoa held her close.

" 'Magnificent,' " whispered and thought Majgen.

" 'Yes,' " seconded Aejoa.

Majgen kept staring into the sky till her neck started complaining about the awkward angle, then she lowered her eyes to Aejoa's face next to her.

"Thank you," she said, and thought,'This is a moment of perfect happiness, Aejoa. Thank you so much for sharing it with me.'

"Thank you too for sharing it with me, My Friend," said Aejoa.

They remained in the garden for hours. Sometimes they talked, but mostly Majgen was awed to silence by the open air above. Later, Aejoa took her to the outskirts of his gardens, and let her see the plains bordering his home, which led into cultivated nature, which yet again in the distance led to uncultivated nature.

'I can see so far,' thought Majgen.'I never realised I could see so far. I never knew eyes were meant to see so far.'

"When evening comes, I will show you the sun-set, Little Human," promised Aejoa. "It is beautiful from here."

"As beautiful as the sky?" asked Majgen.

"You ask more than I can answer," said Aejoa with laughter in his voice. "But it makes the sky beautiful in other ways."

"Then I look forward to seeing it."

----=(o)=----

"The tailors have arrived, Winin," announced First Servant Inee.

"Good," declared Aejoa. "Have them set up their equipment in the white leisure room."

First servant Inee bent his knees, performing a partial kneel, before leaving to do as ordered. Majgen studied his movements attentively, from her position on the seating of a yijejo chair.

'There truly is a lot of ceremony in Aejoa's life,' she thought.'I would hate for everyone to always bow and kneel to me, but Aejoa likes it. He doesn't think about it though, it is natural to him, second nature after years of being a Winin. The Winin of Naonun.'

"Now, Little Human," said Aejoa, "I hope you will forgive me for dragging you out of the sun-light. I promise it will only be for a little while."

"If it is only for a little while, I will forgive you," said Majgen, smiling.

After Aejoa had shown her his garden, she hadn't wanted to be anywhere else. She liked the insides of Aejoa's home too, but -- apart from a brief tour -- she, so far, only went inside to use the sanitary facilities. A bit more than a full human day had passed since she had first seen the sky, and she still couldn't get enough of it.

The shivers of Aejoa's laughter tickled when he picked her up, causing her to giggle too.

'You make me feel like a child again, Aejoa,' she thought, not aiming to transmit the emotion.'Sometimes that doesn't feel like a bad thing.' Catching one more glimpse of the sky while Aejoa carried her inside, Majgen let her thoughts strafe to the past,'If only I could show this blue to Femaron Baglian. He would be able to develop a most therapeutically pleasant mind sedation from it.'

The shadowy feeling of being inside enveloped her as Aejoa carried her through the corridors of his home.

'Did you make it out alive, Femaron Baglian?'

----=(o)=----

"Hiro, are you home?" called Loke, sounding somewhat worried as he walked into Baglian's Drom apartment. "You left the door unlocked. If I don't see at least five nude ladies in here with you I'll be mighty upset about such negligence!" Loke joked, to chase away his feelings of worry.'Hiro never forgets details like locking his door.'

His worried feeling upon finding the door unlocked was not enough to prepare him for the sight and smells that met him when he entered Baglian's living-room.

"Grief," whispered Loke, as his eyes took in the unexpected scenery.

Bottles everywhere, most of them opened, a scattered mess of empty and almost empty bottles. Most of them were Bonka beer bottles, but there seemed to be representatives from all alcoholic families present. The stench of spilled and vaporising alcohol was overwhelming.

A light snore, as well as the emanations of a sleeping drunk person indicated Baglian's position in the mayhem. He was sleeping on one of his couches, one naked bruised leg draping over the side, the foot resting on the floor. His torso covered by the stained outer cloak of a Femaron uniform.

'What happened to you, Hiro?' wondered Loke, and walked to his friend, stepping over pools of spilled alcohol and crisps.

"Now why didn't you invite me to the party, Hiro?" he joked, shaking Baglian's shoulder gently. When Baglian didn't wake, Loke decided to clean while Baglian slept it off.'Where's Majgen?' he wondered, while gathering bottles and other trash.'Could she have been returned to a Mentarion school for some ranking up?'