Humans are Weird - Hork
Sift scrambled down the massive hall and for once the echos didn’t bother her and that unwethered chemical smell that haunted every new human structure barely registered in her nostrils. Her tail waved high behind her with energy that she would have firmly denied as ‘wiggling’. She was no longer a hatching after all. She reached the door she thought she was looking for and stood on her hind legs to peer up at the plate.
“Guest dwelling,” she read, and did not let out a gurgle of excitement, and if she gave a full body wriggle… well this was exciting! The most mature of old matrons could be excused. Sift adjusted her satchel on her back and felt that the gift was secure. She hoped the bolt of natural fiber cloth, made from the chaff of her hometown’s favorite bread grain and laser patterned with an ancient botanists artistic scientific illustration of the fruiting grain heads.
Sift had been delighted to the point of wriggles when research into human gifting customs had revealed that human parents valued such logical and normal hatching gifts, mammals or not, little ones had to be kept warm, and parents liked to keep them warm in a nice, soft, cloth-weave with pretty pictures on them. She thumped the door politely with her tail and scuttled back to wait patiently to be granted entrance. The floor vibrated with the thumps of human footfalls from inside the room and something about them struck Sift as slightly odd, but the door swung open before she could parse it and a much smaller human female than she expected stood blinking down at her holding what appeared to be a damp cloth in one hand.
“Hello!” Sift called out, remembering to wave a fore paw in greeting. “Is Mary in?”
The small human blinked at her again and contorted her face in a frown, not the kind that indicated anger or frustration, rather the kind that indicated confusion or thought. Sift noticed that this human kept her hair much more loosely than Mary did, with stray strands sticking out all over the place. Suddenly the human’s face flexed again, this time showing delight and understanding. The human twister around, rotating her head and shoulders so that she was facing the opposite way while her feet still pointed at Sift. Sift was still schooling her initial horrified reaction to this show of mammalian flexibility when the human screeched out.
“Hey Mary! It’s your friend the midwife lizard!”
There was a rather worrisome groan in reply, but the small human turned and showed all her teeth at Sift in a friendly display.
“We’ve been expecting you!” the human said sticking out one hand. “I’m Martha!”
Sift shuffled forward on her hindlegs to ‘shake’ the human’s long, fragile hand with a click of understanding.
“You are Mary’s little sister!” Sift exclaimed.
“One of ‘em,” the girl said with a vigorous series of nods. “Ma figured Mary’d need some help now that she’s horking her lungs out every morning, least while she’s traveling so they sent me to make sure she drinks her ‘lectrolites and whatnot.”
“Martha!” came a distressed howl from behind the door, followed by what sounded like human vomiting.
“An’ that’s why!” Martha declared, turning and leaving the door open as she rushed, presumably back to her sister’s side as Sift took a moment to decide that that was an invitation and followed her into the common area of the guest dwelling, being mindful to close the door behind her with her tail, but not slam it.
Sift gave a little bark of distress at what she saw. Mary was bent over a bucket, her face an unhealthy pale color, her hair hanging down around her face in even more disarray than Martha’s, breathing heavily. Martha was gathering her hair in one hand and roughly shoving it into an elastic tie. Mary lifted her eyes and smiled wanly at Sift.
“Hel-” the human’s greeting was cut short as her body contorted and her digestive system made what appeared to be a valiant attempt to reverse itself.
“Mary!” Sift called out, “are you sick?”
“Yup!” Martha said cheerfully.
“No!” Mary groaned out as Martha began to wipe her larger sister’s face with the cool towel.
The two sisters exchanged a challenging look and Mary turned back to the bucket before Martha backed down.
“Just morning sickness,” Mary admitted.
“Are you in any danger?” Sift asked coming forward and reaching out to pat the human’s thigh.
“Nope!” Martha answered with a grin as Mary began to heave (producing nothing) into the bucket again. “It’s just a mammal thing. Hormones and stuff when her body is making the baby. Mom got it really bad to. So will I probably.”
“This is a normal part of the reproduction process?” Sift asked, fishing her notepad out of her satchel.
“For some of us,” Mary confirmed. “It’s why I made sure to invite you over so early in the day so you could -”
Her voice cut off and this time her digestive systems successfully voided several measures of stomach contents into the bucket. Sift eagerly took notes. Such action might have been rude to some humans, but Mary had specifically invited her to witness this after all.
“Finally!” Martha sang out in triumph, “now lets get some of that ginger tea down you!”
“Guest dwelling,” she read, and did not let out a gurgle of excitement, and if she gave a full body wriggle… well this was exciting! The most mature of old matrons could be excused. Sift adjusted her satchel on her back and felt that the gift was secure. She hoped the bolt of natural fiber cloth, made from the chaff of her hometown’s favorite bread grain and laser patterned with an ancient botanists artistic scientific illustration of the fruiting grain heads.
Sift had been delighted to the point of wriggles when research into human gifting customs had revealed that human parents valued such logical and normal hatching gifts, mammals or not, little ones had to be kept warm, and parents liked to keep them warm in a nice, soft, cloth-weave with pretty pictures on them. She thumped the door politely with her tail and scuttled back to wait patiently to be granted entrance. The floor vibrated with the thumps of human footfalls from inside the room and something about them struck Sift as slightly odd, but the door swung open before she could parse it and a much smaller human female than she expected stood blinking down at her holding what appeared to be a damp cloth in one hand.
“Hello!” Sift called out, remembering to wave a fore paw in greeting. “Is Mary in?”
The small human blinked at her again and contorted her face in a frown, not the kind that indicated anger or frustration, rather the kind that indicated confusion or thought. Sift noticed that this human kept her hair much more loosely than Mary did, with stray strands sticking out all over the place. Suddenly the human’s face flexed again, this time showing delight and understanding. The human twister around, rotating her head and shoulders so that she was facing the opposite way while her feet still pointed at Sift. Sift was still schooling her initial horrified reaction to this show of mammalian flexibility when the human screeched out.
“Hey Mary! It’s your friend the midwife lizard!”
There was a rather worrisome groan in reply, but the small human turned and showed all her teeth at Sift in a friendly display.
“We’ve been expecting you!” the human said sticking out one hand. “I’m Martha!”
Sift shuffled forward on her hindlegs to ‘shake’ the human’s long, fragile hand with a click of understanding.
“You are Mary’s little sister!” Sift exclaimed.
“One of ‘em,” the girl said with a vigorous series of nods. “Ma figured Mary’d need some help now that she’s horking her lungs out every morning, least while she’s traveling so they sent me to make sure she drinks her ‘lectrolites and whatnot.”
“Martha!” came a distressed howl from behind the door, followed by what sounded like human vomiting.
“An’ that’s why!” Martha declared, turning and leaving the door open as she rushed, presumably back to her sister’s side as Sift took a moment to decide that that was an invitation and followed her into the common area of the guest dwelling, being mindful to close the door behind her with her tail, but not slam it.
Sift gave a little bark of distress at what she saw. Mary was bent over a bucket, her face an unhealthy pale color, her hair hanging down around her face in even more disarray than Martha’s, breathing heavily. Martha was gathering her hair in one hand and roughly shoving it into an elastic tie. Mary lifted her eyes and smiled wanly at Sift.
“Hel-” the human’s greeting was cut short as her body contorted and her digestive system made what appeared to be a valiant attempt to reverse itself.
“Mary!” Sift called out, “are you sick?”
“Yup!” Martha said cheerfully.
“No!” Mary groaned out as Martha began to wipe her larger sister’s face with the cool towel.
The two sisters exchanged a challenging look and Mary turned back to the bucket before Martha backed down.
“Just morning sickness,” Mary admitted.
“Are you in any danger?” Sift asked coming forward and reaching out to pat the human’s thigh.
“Nope!” Martha answered with a grin as Mary began to heave (producing nothing) into the bucket again. “It’s just a mammal thing. Hormones and stuff when her body is making the baby. Mom got it really bad to. So will I probably.”
“This is a normal part of the reproduction process?” Sift asked, fishing her notepad out of her satchel.
“For some of us,” Mary confirmed. “It’s why I made sure to invite you over so early in the day so you could -”
Her voice cut off and this time her digestive systems successfully voided several measures of stomach contents into the bucket. Sift eagerly took notes. Such action might have been rude to some humans, but Mary had specifically invited her to witness this after all.
“Finally!” Martha sang out in triumph, “now lets get some of that ginger tea down you!”
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