Shifting Eyes

CHAPTER TWO

WAYLON'S POV:

"When I find you, you will wish you never crossed paths with me!" Tivan shouts, causing me to drop the cloak of his that I was folding.

Whenever Tivan plays his SuperRing game on the VR set, he gets extremely worked up. He has been shouting nonstop at the empty room for a couple of hours, and he doesn't seem to be slowing down.

While my master is playing games all day, Namlin and I are told to do all his bidding. Namlin's chores usually consist of cleaning, cooking, and taking care of most of the exhibits.

My chores, on the other hand, are a bit more humiliating. I have to follow around Tivan wherever he goes, making sure his every whim is met. It's exhausting to always have to put someone else's needs above your own.

I finish folding the cloak that he was wearing before he started the game, and sit back down.

I know its risky because I'm usually told to stand up all the time, but I figured if he was so invested with his game, I could get away with it.

"Pet! PET!" Tivan's loud screaming has me standing straight back up. I look over at him to see him still involved with his game—not even taking the headset off.

"Yes, master?" I say, coming up to stand next to him.

It doesn't go unnoticed to me that he only calls me by my name when we're around clients.

His arms and hands flail around as if he's fighting off something in the game. "Go feed Precious. I've been starving her this whole week so she would be wild for tonight, but the buyer just canceled."

I quickly head off to the pantry, anxious to get away from his loud screaming.

All the different kibbles and dietary pills are stored in this large closet. That includes the live bait for the larger animals.

I grab a hunk of mysterious meat from the cooling box and head over to the room where all the larger creatures are kept separately.

Shifting my hand into my Terrian form, I place the fleshy fingers on the door scanner. After reading my fingerprints, the light at the top turns green, and I let myself inside.

The lights are kept low, and the ground, walls, and ceiling are all made of a very hard metal. In here there are bars around the cages instead of the clear walls like the ones in the other room.

Precious is a large, scaly creature that has only been with us for a year or two. Her body is one large shape with short sturdy limbs. Her thick tail is the length of her entire body and is always curled around the bars of the cage. She has an innocent looking face; big black eyes, simple nose slits, and she's an inconspicuous-looking green color.

The real danger is her tongue and teeth. She has a large tongue that can stretch almost five times her body length—her teeth are sharp enough to tear apart some of the toughest meat.

She's unfortunately a carnivore.

She hears me enter and turns her head towards me.

Tivan has been making me feed her since we've got her. He refuses to get near the bars of the cage.

Why he got her is a mystery to me.

"Hey, precious. It's okay, I'm just bringing you food... like all the other times I come in here." I nervously turn off the lights and tear the plastic off of the meat in my hands.

She bares her sharp teeth at me and makes a strange noise that I know means she's hungry.

Tivan selfishly left me on my own to figure out how to feed this huge beast when she first arrived. I had struggled so many times on not being eaten, so I finally figured out a solution.

With all the lights off, I begin to shift into a different form, one I do not know the name of.

It's the form of an old friend of mine from the refugee home.

My skin starts to glow purples and blues and pinks—the colors of the galaxy. My skin shifts with the passing stars, planets reflect across my face. My eyes are replaced with black holes and my hair turns into stardust.

I peer into precious' eyes and I am delighted to see that she is entranced by my glowing body. Her eyes track the shooting stars that follow along my skin.

The only way to get the large beast calm enough for me to feed her, is if I entertain her with the galaxy.

My guess as to why this particular form is so enchanting to her, is that back on her home planet, the atmosphere must have been quite thin, so she could see the whole galaxy from the ground of her planet.

I let my form float and sway, barely letting my feet touch the ground. I slowly unlock the cage and place the meat inside.

Precious hasn't even noticed the food—she's still too entranced with the colors of myself to be bothered with eating.

As I lock the cage, I back up and let my new features bleed into my old ones. The grayish color of the new form chases out the bright ones, causing the galaxy on my skin to look dying.

Precious notices and begins to show her teeth to me, when she picks up the delayed scent of the food and completely forgets about me. She turns around and begins gnawing on the meat.

Before she remembers I'm there, I slip out of the room and wash my hands before going back to Tivan.

"I have fed Precious, master." I bow when I approach him, despite the fact that he will not see.

"Wonderful. Help Namlin with the chores; I have an important business proposal to answer tomorrow and they're  coming here. Don't want to make a bad impression, do we?"

I bow once more before leaving, "No, master."