Page 66 of Stone Cold Alien

“Tonight you do,” I told him. “Unless you want someone to put a picture of you on the internet before we even make it upstairs.”

He reluctantly folded his wings as tightly as possible. Joseph opened the side door, and Sten followed me into the building with his tail curled around his waist. I unlocked my flat and hurried him inside.

His left wing struck the doorframe.

“Cloch.”

“You’re going to have to learn to duck.”

“I did duck.”

“You need to fold as well.”

“I should not have to fold myself to enter a dwelling.”

“You’re welcome to sleep outside.”

His tail slid around my waist. “I will adapt.”

Joseph carried in my suitcase and left after making me promise to call if we needed anything. Once the door closed behind him, I locked it and leaned against it.

Sten stood in the middle of my living room, taking in the grey sofa, the television and the bookshelves covering most of one wall. His wings filled far too much of the remaining space.

“This is your dwelling?”

“You don’t have to sound so disappointed.”

“I am not disappointed. I am calculating how many of your possessions I will destroy.”

“That lamp will probably be first.” I laughed and moved it away from the tip of his wing. “Please try not to take out the television. I can’t afford a new one.”

He turned towards the large enclosure near the window. Frodo had emerged from one of the tunnels and was standing on his back legs, nose twitching. Sam remained asleep inside the wooden house.

Sten crouched in front of them. “These are the rodents?”

“Hamsters. You agreed to call them hamsters. The lighter one is Frodo, and the one hiding in the house is Sam.”

“They are very small.”

“That isn’t permission to eat them.”

He looked over his shoulder. “I told you I would not.”

“You called them vermin.”

“They can be vermin and still remain uneaten.”

Frodo put both front paws against the glass. Sten leaned closer until they were almost nose to nose.

“He is not afraid of me.”

“He can’t see particularly well. He may think you’re a large piece of food.”

“That would be foolish.”

“He once tried to eat part of his wooden bridge. Nobody accused him of being clever.”

Sten watched the hamster for another moment before rising. His tail had loosened from his waist and was moving slowly behind him. The tip brushed a paperback from the lower shelf.