Sabi nila may aswang daw sa barrio. Two newcomers arrived by bus recently, a girl and a... really handsome guy. Are they lovers? Students? The town is abuzz to find out more about the two interlopers.
Inday landed softly on a building roof a few kilometers away from where she had her meal. The cement floor was damp from the morning dew. An empty clothesline ran across the area. The line swung gently as it felt Inday's descent.
Martinez leaned on one of the walls of the roof deck, his arms crossed. He waited for Inday to talk, although he knew he wouldn't get a word out of her unless coaxed further.
So, he did. Coax further.
"Grabe siya," Martinez feigned pain in his chest. "Wala man lang, Hello Martinez, good morning Martinez." He walked up closer to Inday now, after the dust settled from her arrival.
He stood in front of her, solidly. His darkgray tank-top contrasted the harsh morning light that reached them on the roof-deck.
Martinez looked at Inday's face for a response, though Inday wasn't even looking at him, she was preoccupied with tucking her wings back in. Inday took her time with this. She liked it when her wings were out, so there was no harm in enjoying the breeze a little longer.
Martinez took her in his sight - Inday's leathery wings, her neatly tied ponytail, her never-changing bored expression. This situation would probably look weird to most humans. Horrifying, even.
But Martinez wasn't human. And neither was Inday. So Martinez took in the view: of this girl he was stuck with, as she started her morning, tucking in her leathery bat-like wings silhouetted by the light-blue tinge of the morning sky.
Martinez took this in. And then Martinez went right back to work. The work, of course, was getting a reaction out of Inday. So he leaned in close to her face, making sure Inday made eye contact. And when she did,
he winked.
And smiled. He leaned back to give Inday a more comfortable distance. She raised an eyebrow, but her expression remained unchanged. Well, that was good enough for Martinez.
Inday opened her mouth to say something, but decided it wasn't worth it. Martinez turned around and started walking away, towards the roof-deck's staircase.
"Tara na ganda," he started on the first three stairs, "bukas na yung bakery. Ikaw palang nakakapag-breakfast."
He looked at her from the staircase, for confirmation, and Inday held his gaze from that distance. Wordlessly, Inday followed him down.
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