Life on the Neverside

Chapter Two

Authors Note - Disclaimer: If I owned Wizards vs Aliens, do you really think I'd be writing about it on fan fiction?

The first rays of sunlight crept into the shack, dappling it with broken spots of light. Lexi woke, disoriented at first and having to take a moment to recall her surroundings. Outside she could hear distant birdsong and a constant rustling of undergrowth. It was light enough to make out the silhouettes of primitive furniture: poorly crafted chairs, a dilapidated table and a spit over the smouldering fire, the embers still smoking slightly. There was a smoky smell in the room from the cooked meat on the spit. Lexi tried to breathe slowly through her mouth, trying not to gag at the unfamiliar smells that dominated her senses. Although Nekross had highly refined and stronger senses than humans, they also were able to block out nasty scents. Humans had no such feature, so every smell was acrid and over powering here.

Across the room from her, where Tom had slept last night, she could see only empty sheets. She fought the urge to call his name, needing any company right now, and instead swung her legs out of bed. Her trainers were soft and weak, Lexi guessed they wouldn't last long. And the clothes she wore - what was their purpose? They were liable to rip on every second branch. Nekross armour was made to last. Stop thinking about Nekross, Lexi, she told herself, feeling a lump in her throat.

Lexi stood up, nearly falling over again. Without the rigid armour to keep her straight and upright it was very hard to stay standing tall. She supposed she'd get the hang of it. She had always admired human culture and ritual, and indeed would spend many hours studying up on the Nekross ship, eagerly discovering more and more about what appeared to be an exciting, yet meaningless life. What would that be like, to just live life without purpose? Without having to hunt to survive? But there were certain things about the human body that seemed to serve no purpose. Hair, for instance, like she had mentioned to Tom yesterday. She fingered her own, Tom had cheerfully informed her that it was blond. Lexi found herself brushing it out with her slender fingers, still marvelling at the smoothness of her human skin.

"Lexi?" Tom stood in the doorway, looking at her in confusion. Lexi was standing in the middle of the cabin, fingering her hair. She immediately stood up straighter, smiling and acting like nothing had happened.

"Hello Tom. Did you, er -" What did humans talk about in the mornings? What was the end of the sentence that had automatically slipped out of her mouth?

"Have a good sleep?" Tom prompted her, smiling. Lexi nodded gratefully.

"Yes. That. Did you?"

Tom smiled ruefully. At least Lexi assumed the expression on his face was rueful, she wasn't great at reading human expressions yet. "It was all right. I kept waking up, thinking I was at home."

Lexi knew what that felt like. But her home couldn't be further from this - place, there were almost no similarities at all.

"Yes." Lexi stopped speaking, feeling a lump in her throat again and feeling confused. Did that serve any purpose? Tom seemed to understand, as he nodded at her and left the shack. Lexi was left trying to figure out what everything meant. Being human was hard work.