In Space No One Hears You Scream
A Lesson in Chasing One’s Tail
M’Sara gave him a Katzen smile, her ears perked and
pointed forward, with a human-like nod to him before she replied, “I could not
agree more on both points.” The next thing she did was reach over to take his
hand from his lap then clap it in both of hers before she brought it up to her
bosom. “I also had no idea school could be filled with such excitement. Feel my
heartbeat, it races still.”
Before he could comment on that, a human male of average
height with brown hair who looked a bit skinny for a security officer
interrupted, “Excuse me, the captain is ready to see you now. Please follow
me.”
He escorted them past the reception desk and to the
left. They went down that hall to the end. He opened the door for them, and
they walked through. He closed it behind them from outside of the room.
Behind the desk sat a female Lehpparr, she looked to be
a bit shorter than Lursa, about in the same shape, but older with a bit of grey
around her muzzle. She was bent over her tablet still. She did not even look up
as she waved to the two seats that faced her desk then said, “Please, have a
seat.”
After M’Sara, who had to climb into her seat, was
seated, Thomas was already seated and waited for her to get seated before he
took a look around the room. He spotted a few commendations framed on the wall
along with papers that looked official. They had seals on them and they were in
fancy metal frames. It was only a short time before he looked at the Lehpparr
behind the desk and said in a bit of a nervous voice, “Nice to meet you…” He
paused and found her name plaque on her desk before he continued, “Captain
Alix. We were asked to meet with you in person. Is something up? We thought we
were here to give our statements. Did something change?”
Alix held her hand up to hold off any more questions.
She looked up from her tablet a few seconds later to read her terminal screen.
After that she gave each of them a long blank look, her ears were pointed back
and folded to the sides of her head a bit. It was as if she weighed her options
as she looked them over.
Thomas felt even more nervous, and he did not even know
why. He felt like he had been judged and found wanting. He felt M’Sara grab his
thigh and it was not gentle, it was also out of the captain's line of sight.
Even so he did not turn his head away from that steel like gaze.
Before long Alix sighed and it sounded almost human and
sat back in her chair. That was when she sadly informed them, “First I want you
to know that your parents are safe Thomas. While they were out, there was an
explosion at their residents, and it was not accidental.”
Thomas stood suddenly with an exclamation, “What?!”
M’Sara quickly yet gently took his hand in hers, and
pulled it to her muzzle, she then rubbed it on her muzzle and cheek. That
quickly calmed him down as he slowly sat down again and remained quiet.
Alix looked at M’Sara with one ear slightly raised as
she took note of her effect on him.
M’Sara lowered his hand to her leg, and held it with one
hand before she turned her ears to the sides as she looked back at her and
explained, “Sorry about that, I’m sure you understand his parents are very dear
to him.”
Alix hummed in thought as she sat back in her high-back
office chair. Her hands formed a tent under her chin as she asked, “M’Sara, you
know who his parents are?”
M’Sara’s only reaction was to slowly nod. She still
comforted Thomas and did not show a sign that she would stop anytime soon.
That was when Alix sighed and let her hands drop to the
arms of her chair before she asked, “When did you learn about them?”
M’Sara turned her head to Thomas as she answered, “It
was soon after we started to get to know each other. He wanted to make sure I knew
who I would be involved with before we got too close.” Thomas did not seem to
react to them as they talked about him as if he were not there. She thought for
a few seconds before she continued, “Before that we did not get along well, it
was because of a misunderstanding on my part. A friend of the Katzen I shared a
room with at the time had led me to believe that Thomas was a member of a group
that wanted to cause conflict within CAW. He had shown me documents and photos
that must have been doctored or just plain created to back up his story. I did
not believe him at first, but with that I started to. He told me to keep it
quiet as it would let Thomas know that they were on to him. I kept it bottled
inside me, and finally it came out as anger against Thomas.” She stopped as she
held his hand in both of hers and brought it to her face, so she could nuzzle
his palm. She soon continued again after she laid his hand back down as they
remained silent, “After I exploded, we soon resolved our differences, and because
he is such a good person it led to us growing to care deeply about each other.
It did not matter that we were different species with such different
backgrounds.”
It was only a matter of seconds before Alix grabbed her
tablet and touched and swiped it several times. It was a few dozen seconds
later that she showed a reaction as she read the tablet in her hands. Her ears
went down and off to the sides of her head as her eyes narrowed. After that she
slumped back in her chair and tossed her tablet onto her desk so that it spun
around half way and came to rest just over the edge in front of M’Sara.
After M’Sara let go of Thomas so she was able to take
the tablet in both her hands, for her it was too large to use with one, and
read it. Her personal one was smaller, of course.
That was when Alix started to explain, “He left Mars ten
rotations ago. He is registered as boarding a ship bound to Terra. That would
give him enough time to have been involved in the incident.”
M’Sara looked very distressed as she read the tablet.
Behind her, her tail swished like a whirlwind and her ears were back and folded
down onto her head.
Alix reached towards M’Sara for her tablet, “I would not
worry about it, the past is past. Besides, as nothing notable happened at that
time, we would have no reason to question or suspect him. How would you have
known that he could have been a member of the very organization he convinced
you Thomas was a part of? A pretty good way to cause a distraction that is.
They are one step ahead of us, we need to catch up to them and fast.”
Alix stroked the side of her muzzle as she gazed at
Thomas before she got his attention when she hit the top of her desk with the
palm of her hand. Her hand pads and fur did not sound the same as a human hand
as it was a much softer sound, however it was still effective.
Thomas jolted in his chair, startled by the sudden sound
that broke the silence and he looked at Alix with his eyes wide open.
When Alix had his attention she informed him, “Sorry, I
needed you back with us, and time is of the essence. I wanted you to know we
are going to send an undercover CAW security force to keep watch over your
parents. I imagine they would attempt to harm them again if they had found out
they failed. We have released a statement for that area’s local news to
broadcast that they were killed in the accident. They will have to keep out of
sight and out of contact with anyone. They are being transported to a secure
secret location. They agreed to stay out of sight until they are informed, we
think they are no longer in any danger.”
Thomas looked worried, he sighed, turned his head to
look at M’Sara, then back again to look at Alix as he told her, “I see. So,
this organization or whatever decided to attack my parents.” That was when he
turned his head to look at M’Sara, who was still in a sorry state, to mention,
“I just realized something. The one who kidnapped us, who I assume you have in
custody, did not recognize M’Sara. He did not know who she was, we heard him
admit that to his boss. That was when he got really upset.”
Alix nodded while she picked up her tablet and got to
work on it. As her finger swiped on it, she committed, “I see.” After a few
minutes she looked up from it once more and asked, “Anything else you can
remember?”
Thomas answered right away, “I don’t know if this
matters, but both the kidnapper and his boss had thick accents, like they both
just learned CAW common. I’ll let you know if anything else pops into either of
our heads.”
With authority in her voice she said, “You do that.”
After which she dropped her tablet with a flat flump back on the desk. “You two
are dismissed. We will keep you in the loop, worry not. Believe it or not I
respect your parents Thomas, what they did for us all is really something I
admire. It is the reason I’m on Mars.”
With that Thomas stood up, and beside him so did M’Sara.
Alix stayed at her desk and watched them leave. M’Sara followed him out the
door he had opened to leave.
They walked down the hall past the back of the lobby
area. When they turned the corner to head out Lursa appeared behind them.
When she caught up to them, she got between them and
placed a hand on each of their outside shoulders before she told them, “Good, I
got out here in time to see you off. I’m worried about you guys. The Togartz we
have is currently cooling his jets in the holding cell does not seem to know
anything. He was about to be sent back to his home colony; he was flunking his classes
before he got involved. It seems he was hired at the last minute. We don’t know
why this was planned out like that. The incident back on Terra, evidence so far
points to it being well planned out. Except for your parents changing their
plans at the last minute. If it were not for that… Well…”
Thomas and M’Sara stopped and turned to look at each
other at the same time. That was when Lursa squeezed them together in a group
hug. “I’ve taken a liking to you two you know. I hope we get to go out again.”
M’Sara pushed away, and coughed once, it sounded forced,
before she exclaimed, “You know I don’t mind the smell, but I would like to be
able to breathe.” Her ears were off to her sides, but her eyes had a grin in
them.
Lursa looked surprised, her ears dropped a bit when she
said, “Oh dear! I’m so sorry, I’m not really used to being around someone so
small.”
That made M’Sara huff, but Thomas broke in. He laid a
hand on each of their shoulders before he explained, “This is what we know as
breaking the tension with humor Lursa.” He looked down at M’Sara before telling
her, “I don’t know if she can keep up with us love.”
That was when M’Sara’s ears suddenly perked up just
before she hopped up on one foot to pat Lursa on the shoulder. When Lursa
looked at her, M’Sara gave her a wink before she added, “Just give her time
mate of mine.”
Just When You Think You Got It All Figured Out
Thomas and M’Sara rounded the bend as they left the
municipal area and just about ran into M’Lar when M’Sara and Thomas entered the
intersection. That caused M’Lar to yelp in surprise, and Thomas snickered while
M’Sara gave her best attempt at imitating him. Thomas could tell she had spent
time practicing.
M’Lar turned to face M’Sara, and stood there with her
ears out to the sides when she told her, “You really are starting to act just
like him! If you ask me, you have been spending way too much time with him.”
Thomas looked around and noticed it was fairly crowded,
a class or three must have just let out. Of course, it did not take many to
crowd corridors that were not that wide.
M’Sara wrapped her arm around Thomas and got even closer
to him. Her ears were only half lowered, and they faced forward when she said,
“I am, and it is on purpose. On the second point, I am not. One more thing, I
did not ask you.” She ended that with her tongue stuck out at M’Lar.
M’Lar raised her voice as her ears went down, “You are
losing yourself! You never used to act like you do now.”
M’Sara in answer rubbed her face just above Thomas’ hip
and he answered for her, “Maybe she has just found herself, and this is who she
has become. Maybe what you are saying now is actually hurting her feelings. Did
you stop and think about her, what she wants?”
After he said that M’Sara let go of Thomas then wrapped
her arms around M’Lar and gave her a long hug, “I love you like the sister I
never got to have but always wanted. That will never change. I know we hardly
get to spend much time together lately, with our schedules being at odds and
all. You are just going to have to get used to the idea that I’m in love with a
Terran. I know, we never thought that would be possible, but I had never met
someone with such an attractive brain before either.”
M’Lar sighed then returned her hug. After she let go,
she took a step back when she said, “I have to go, I’m due in the med bay for
my training. I’m sorry I got upset, I’ve just been so lonely this past twenty
rotations. I miss getting to hang out with you.”
M’Sara reached up and patted M’Lar on the shoulder when
she told her, “Don’t worry about it. I understand. One more thing, we met
another mixed couple, and we are on our way to becoming friends. I hope we can
all get together so that you will be able to meet them. Mateja could be your
date.” At the end she snickered, and after she did that she bent over in
laughter, using M’Lar as a brace so she did not fall over.
M’Lar sighed again and looked up at Thomas who just
stood there and watched them. He had remained quiet with a stoic look on his
face. Just then he broke it and laughed. He bent over and picked up M’Sara by
the waist took a few steps back and spun her around as he spun in place. He
held her aloof in the air by the waist, her limbs flailed in the air with her.
Her toes spread apart as she pointed them out words. She also made joyful howls
as she flew through the air. After almost three times around he slowed to a
stop and let her down to stand. He let her go when she had her toes planted
firmly on the ground.
M’Lar could only just stand there and watch, she was in
such shock that her mouth was ajar.
A few that passed by had stopped to watch the spectacle
as well and that cleared up space for them.
M’Sara giggled then finally stopped, an odd interrupted
murr sound and with two sets vocal cords she can make sounds humans are unable
to. She patted M’Lar on the shoulder before she told her, “You see, that is
what is known as spontaneity.”
M’Lar gave her a grin and rolled her eyes before she
turned around and padded down the hall that she trailed with an exhausted, “I
give up. You win.”
As soon as she was out of sight M’Sara turned around and
gave Thomas a hug around his waist, her muzzle nuzzled against his tummy. Then
she let go and took a step back to look up at him, he grinned down at her when
she said, “Thank you, that was fun.”
By now any that had stopped and watched had gone about
their business. He reached down and gave her head a gentle rub when he told
her, “Anytime. Well almost anytime.”
*****
When Thomas entered their room, he noticed that the blue
LED on his terminal monitor blinked. M’Sara who followed him into the room had
headed for the refresher room. He could hear her inside, as the door was still
open. When he looked back around to go to his terminal, he noticed that her’s
blinked too. So, he told her with an attempt to sound like an ancient Yahoo phrase,
as he walked to his to sit down, “You have mail.”
After he logged into his, he touched the new message
button on the screen. It read, “This is Terry the dorm coordinator. I’m writing
to inform you that you are going to be moved to the couple’s wing. Yes, the
staff knows you two are a couple. We have an open room there now, and we need
yours for new students. The rooms are smaller however, though because it is all
shared space, there is more open space. Your keycard will stop working on your
current room in two rotations from the time you read this message. Your key
card will work on the new room by this time. That room number is in residential
section C room six. Thank you for your cooperation.”
Under the text of the message was a map to their new
room, it also had instructions on how to get to the new room from the one he
was in now.
*****
Thomas sat his stacked boxes down beside the door to their
new room. He waved his keycard by the reader and it beeped. That caused the
door to unlatch and open. With M’Sara still holding her boxes in a stack, he
picked up his boxes and walked inside. M’Sara followed then passed him as she
entered the room. She sat her boxes down beside the boxes that were already
there, then waited for him to do the same. He brought his boxes in and sat them
on the floor beside her boxes.
By the time Thomas stood back up M’Sara was standing
beside him. Thomas placed his arm around her shoulders before he said, “It does
look like there is more room even though it is smaller. Maybe because there is
just one bed over a double wide desk next to one set of wide drawers in the
wall. It sure will be nice to sleep in a slightly larger bed. We have over two
more years here, we may as well enjoy a little comfort before we are stuffed
into a large metal can in space.”
With a sarcastic tone she said, “Yeah I could sleep
sideways and use your belly for a pillow. When we get in space I’ll just sleep
between your legs, with my head on your belly.”
He chuckled and replied, “That is assuming we get to
stay in the same room.”
She grinned back up at him, “Oh, we will, we are a
couple, so they will put us in the same room, a room of our own.”
That was when he pulled her close in front of him, and
with his other hand ruffled her head fur between her ears with a huge grin on
his face. Even though her body fur was short, except from her chest to down
below her belly, he still thought of her head fur as her hair as it was just a
bit stiffer on her head.
After they unpacked and got more comfy clothing on, they
had just enough time for each of them to log into their terminals and personalize
them before there was a ding that let them know that someone was at their now
closed door. Thomas started to get up before he felt M’Sara’s hand on his
shoulder, she was already behind him, so he sat back down.
M’Sara padded to the door still wearing just one of
Thomas’s T-shirts that he had brought from Terra, it was so large on her it
draped just past her knees and the neck draped half way down her chest and one
shoulder. She palmed the pad on the wall beside the door. On the other side was
a tall Togartz male beside an average sized human female with her arm around
his hip. She had to take a step back and bend her head way back to see the face
of the Togartz as he was tall even for his species. As she did, she committed,
“You’re a big one, huh.”
With that he only looked down at her and smiled in the
Katzen fashion, with his ears.
The human female introduced them, “Hi I’m Alix, this
wall of muscle is T’Larz. We share a room beside yours. We learned that we were
getting new neighbors, and thought we would come meet you. Also, nice T-shirt,
I just love Deadpool.” Alix pointed at the shirt M’Sara wore.
M’Sara looked down at her front, and grabbed it at about
her knees so she could hold it out far enough for her to see the front, she let
it drop back before she answered, “Oh is that what that is. Thomas loves those
comics. I just grabbed the first one my hand landed on. I also like the black
and red colors.”
Alix wore a plain yellow colored top and jeans, and
T’Larz wore what looked like native Togartz garb. It was a thin knit in a v
shape on the front with what looked like animal fur in a thin strip outside
that, with no sleeves. Around his waist and upper legs was a skirt made out of
what looked like leather that was cut on each side about half way up.
Thomas turned back to his monitor to get back to work on
the reply to the email from Terry to let her know they were moved into their
new room.
M’Sara took two steps back and stood beside Thomas but
did not turn away from them. She motioned with her hand to let them know they
could enter as she told them, “Come on in, please. I’m M’Sara, and this is my
mate Thomas at his terminal.”
Alix let go of T’Larz and entered first, she went to the
far wall from the bed and pulled out one of the bench seats made to fit two and
sat. T’Larz followed her and stood beside Alix after she sat down. After Alix
brushed off her jeans, she smiled at M’Sara before she said, “How long have you
two been together?”
Before M’Sara answered she looked down briefly in
thought and pulled the sides of the shirt she wore out and back a little a few
times, she was a bit shy. Finally, she started to vocalize, “We have been
together for just over a twenty five rotations now.” M’Sara turned her head to
look at Thomas who was still typing on his keyboard, his head right beside hers,
and could see a smirk on the side of his face that faced her. After she turned
back to them, she continued, “How long have you two been together?”
Instead of giving her an answer right away Alix turned
to look up at T’Larz as she poked him in the side of his leg before she told
him, “I told you, it was right after the fight they had in class.”
T’Larz still wore a calm smile, it never even faltered
and he kept his gaze on M’Sara as he spoke, “I was really surprised to see that
it was the two of you that I saw in class that day, that would be the couple
that moved in beside us. I am also pleased to learn that the dispute you two
had, had been worked out. Though I am surprised to also learn that you two have
become a couple.
One more thing, we have been a couple for about a year,
and I don’t know how Dr. Tyson knew, or if he actually did not and it was all
just a coincidence. He had us work together on that project too. The two of us
met on Terra as I studied there.”
M’Sara placed her hand under her chin in thought as she
listened for a few seconds after he was done before she answered, “So you two
met like Thomas and Mateja did. Mateja is a female Lehpparr, Löwe hybrid that
is most highly regarded by Thomas as a dear friend. They met the same way. The
difference of course is that they never became anything more than very close
friends, even though they were roommates on Terra for a couple of years.”
Alix turned to her left again to T’Larz as she grabbed his right arm with her left hand before she told him, “We went to the same school together! I thought I recognized Thomas! Now I know where from! That must have been Mateja I saw him with every time I saw him too. I’ve even seen them hitting each other playfully in the hall. Such a small world. This is exciting, we could all get assigned to the same ship. Would that not make for some excitement?”
The only response T’Larz gave her was a pat on her
shoulder.
Thomas coughed to hide his chuckle as he had something
to add as he turned the seat around to face them, “They will often assign
couples on the same ship, but the odds that all of our friends would end up on
the same ship are a bit high. That is of course unless you know someone.”
M’Sara bounced up to stand as she said with excitement,
“I know someone!” That was when she turned around and placed her hand on
Thomas’ shoulder, “I know Thomas!”
Thomas let a sideways grin grow on his face as he said,
“That will get you places, yes it will indeed.”
T’Larz and Alix turned their heads to face each other, they
did not seem to understand the significance of that statement.
Take It Easy on Me
Thomas walked behind M’Sara as she carried her tote bag
just as he carried his. He enjoyed watching her tail sway as she walked. They
were headed to the gym for a workout. In each of their bags were the outfits
and gear so they could spar together as they wanted to work on their martial
arts skills. That included the one Thomas had custom fit for M’Sara from
before.
When M’Sara got to the entrance door for the gym she
dropped her bag and reached up with both hands and grabbed the door handle. She
walked backwards while she held onto it and the door opened. The gym used a
door that had to be opened manually for various reasons.
Thomas nodded his thanks to her as he walked inside. He
returned shortly after and stood beside her so he could hold the door open for
her. She grabbed her bag and padded inside with a nod of thanks. Neither said a
word once they drew near the hall that led here. They were on the lookout for
trouble this time and did not want to distract each other.
Once she was inside Thomas keyed the code to mark the
room occupied before he followed her in and he let the door shut behind him.
They had reserved the room again, for just the two of them. He looked around
and noted that they were alone. He stripped down to his underwear and donned
his dobok.
M’Sara removed all of her clothing except her underwear
while he changed. She stood there and waited for him to get done. He removed
her gi from her bag so he could put it on for her. She watched him intently as
he put her gi on her before she committed, “I may be able to do this myself
next time, however I do so enjoy watching you dress me. So, I may have you do
it anyway.”
It had been about ten rotations since they moved into
their new room and they thought it was about time they went to go do that
workout that they had yet to do.
M’Sara stood very still as he placed the gear over the
gi. He started with her arms, as those were easy. He had her sit and got down
on his knees on the floor so he could put on the leg and foot gear. The padded
gear that normally went over the foot, he had resized so that it went just over
her toes. The shin and ankle guard went over both her shin and the upper part
of her foot where it was upright. He had sewed the part he cut off the foot and
added it to the end of the ankle padding with some other adjustments. Her foot between
the ankle and toes was elongated and her shin short compared to a human her
size. Her ankle did not rest on the ground either, and it was not bent at a
right angle while at rest as a human ankle would, at rest it bent at close to a
forty five degree angle. He had modified both the foot, shin and ankle pads the
first time she used her gear because of her digitigrade feet. It was not the
first time he had done the same for Mateja back on Earth. The rest of the gear
went in the proper places. After he was done, she helped him with his gear. He
sat on the bench after they strapped his foot and leg guards on so she could
help put the rest on him. That way she could even reach his head so that she
could help him strap on his head gear.
Thomas got the mat out of the storage locker and placed
it near the back of the room on the floor as M’Sara stood nearby and watched
him. Finally, they were ready, she hopped onto the mat and took a ready stance.
He soon followed suit as he walked to the opposite side of the mat to stand at
the ready as well.
M’Sara and Thomas bowed to each other, he had explained
about the ancient tradition of the human show of respect to one’s opponent. She
liked the idea, so she adapted it. After that they each took a step forward before,
they each took a defensive stance.
Suddenly M’Sara launched forward, she put her weight on
her forward foot as the opposite side hand in a flash went from her hip to a
forward thrust as her hand rotated. At the same time, she put the other foot
forward just as her fist hit the padding on Thomas’ arm near the wrist from a
well placed block.
Thomas followed with a counter, he leaned back to fold
up his forward leg before he thrust it forward at her hip, and it landed on her
arm as she swung it down for a low block. This was repeated more than a few
times.
They both took a step back and took a defensive stance
again. They also both wore a smile, though M’Sara had on a Katzen one, her ears
up and forward, but relaxed and they were rotated just a bit to the sides, with
her tail curled up as it bounced behind her. Her eyes were relaxed too, that
was how he could tell she wore a smile. They both enjoyed themselves quite a
bit in fact, and they really needed the practice, as they were also both still
not completely used to the lower gravity of Mars.
M’Sara took a step back, then suddenly, almost faster
than Thomas could follow, leaped forward and down to the matt on all fours.
With a magnificent leap she turned around then launched into the air towards
him, yet over him. She bounced off the three meter high ceiling as soon as she
touched it. In midair she twisted around so that she faced him and was headed
almost over him while upside down.
Thomas had no idea what to do. He just stood there and
watched, almost like he was fascinated and he wanted to see what would happen
next. The last thing he saw before he was suddenly pulled backward by her hands
on his shoulders was her upside down face, ears flat to her head with that
smile still in her eyes.
With her hands she grabbed onto his shoulders as she
flew over him, she used his weight as she pulled backwards on them, that pulled
him back with her. At the same time, she twisted around again, using the pull
of his weight again, so that her feet landed on the mat as Thomas landed with a
thud onto the mat on his back in front of her.
After a moment Thomas regained his senses, and looked up
to see that M’Sara stood next to his side and waited for him with her arm
extended with her hand open palm up, her pink paw pads in plain sight, for him
to take. He took hold and with a yank she helped him stand again. She was about
as strong as a human male twice her size and in great shape.
M’Sara took hold of him as soon as he stood. She wrapped
her arms around his waist and hugged him tightly as she told him, “Thank you so
much. I have wanted to try that again since our first fight. I really think I
have started to get used to the gravity here. This time it worked. I assume you
are unhurt?”
Thomas gave her a gentle rub on her back as he answered,
“I’ll recover, I don’t think you damaged me.”
With a purr in her voice she continued, “That is good.
The next part of that is an axe kick to the face or chest, as the first part
leaves the victim defenseless.”
With a grunt he answered, “I don’t see how that would be
physically possible for me to accomplish. Unlike you, I don’t have a tail. I
also can’t jump three times my height even in gravity that is thirty eight
percent of Terran gravity. No wonder your legs are so large for your size. Also,
I’m too tall to have room for that in this room, even if I could. I’m also not
even close to as coordinated as you, your tail is another matter. You know I
bet Mateja could use some practice too. We learned martial arts together you
know. The Taekwondo instructor had to use his imagination to adapt to her
abilities as well as her physical characteristics. He was happy to take the
challenge too. He was a very nice fellow who grew up in Korea. Anyway, Mateja
and I have not had time to spare together since we left Terra. We should
schedule the next one with her, to do a three way.”
With a nod M’Sara agreed, “That could be fun. I have to
work out more than you do to stay in shape in this low gravity and working out
on a machine is just not the same. I think I’ll ask if she would also like to
spar with just me. I could show her some Katzen martial arts such as the move I
just did. Though she may be a bit tall for that in this room.”
About Time for Some Good News
Thomas sat at his desk chair that faced out from the
desk and let a sigh leak out. They had just returned from the cafeteria; they
had gone out with their new neighbors they met ten rotations ago now. They were
doing great in their respective classes too. M’Sara was top of her class in
grades, and he was right behind her. They had some different classes as well,
because they had taken some at different times before they met, as they had
been at the school for over two cycles already. They had fun, but they were a
bit tired too after their workout before that. It was a good day, full of
exercise and good times. Now they had some alone time again. They both had a
class on the next rotation too, that was going to be fun he was sure, not. He
was still stressed out about what had happened to his parents so it would be
hard for him to concentrate on his studies, but M’Sara helped him think about
how important their studies were for their future to keep him focused.
M’Sara got his attention when she sat on his legs. He
looked down to see that her face faced his just as her body did, as she looked
up at him. She gazed into his eyes for a short time before she gave him a warm
nuzzle on the cheek. After that she reached over his shoulders with her arms so
she could give him a tight hug. He stooped so her muzzle could go over his
shoulder. She soon noticed that the alert light flashed on his monitor. She let
go and sank back down into his lap before she let him know, “It seems you have
a new message. You sure are popular today.”
Thomas waited for M’Sara, and she made no move to get
up. After about ten seconds around the chair went with her in his lap to face
his desk. He looked down at her and smiled before he reached around her to
operate his terminal. He could see it over her head without any trouble as long
as her ears were not in the way. She sat there quietly and laid her head softly
against his chest as he typed.
After a short time M’Sara felt him suck in his breath
quickly before letting it back out slowly. That got her attention as she lifted
her head to look up at his face. Her ears were forward and her tail started to
sway slowly in the air behind her under his desk. She could tell that what he
read did not sit well with him.
It was not long before Thomas looked down at her, he could
feel her tail brush against his leg every so often. He felt such affection for
the Katzen that currently sat on his legs. He did not want this moment to end,
but he had something important to tell her. His hands migrated to her shoulders
and as they rested on them, he started to explain, “I had just received a
message from someone I had hoped to never hear from again. I don’t know how she
found my contact info either. This person has informed me she intends to attend
our graduation ceremony. Her name is Monika Simms, she is a human girl I had
dated during high school, and for a short time after. I broke it off, though
she did not take kindly to that idea. She would stop by my parents’ residence,
and pester them. She would not accept that our relationship had ended. Finally,
after Mateja had confronted her, she finally stopped her attempts to contact
me. I broke it off when I found out she was interested in me because of my
status. I found that out when I confronted her about how Mateja had seen her
with another guy. I asked her about it, and she denied it so much that I became
suspicious, so I checked with a few people we both knew and she had been
involved with this guy behind my back. While I was at the Taekwondo school with
Mateja, it was when she was at this other guy's home. So, you see, it was a
toxic relationship. She pretended to be so sweet and kind around me or my
parents but when she was not around them, she was like a different person.
Mateja really was like the sibling I never had, but had always wanted. She
looked out for me, and not just by protecting me from bullies at school either.
Just as I looked out for her in other ways. Though now that I think about it,
after I started to spend most of my free time with Mateja no one really
bothered me anymore. I’m glad you two have become buddies too.”
As M’Sara listened as her right hand migrated from his
side to his shoulder. From time to time her hand clasped his shoulder tightly
as he explained it to her. By the time he was done both her hands were on his
shoulders. Her ears were also partly folded and turned partly to each side of
her head as her tail whipped the air behind her under the desk.
Thomas sat patiently for M’Sara to respond. He watched
her tense up as he talked and when he was done, she slowly relaxed. He could
see an idea had formed in her head. Her ears were half way forward and up now,
with a slight turn to them. He also noticed her tail, which was about the same
length as her torso, curl up slowly into the air behind her.
M’Sara suddenly lifted her hands off his shoulders and
clasped them together right in front of his chest before she told him her idea,
“We should send the photos of us together along with a letter from each of us.
If that is not enough, I’m willing to send her a video message with us
explaining the situation and how it would be foolish of her to waste any more
of our time with her. As our plans are to spend the rest of our lives together
in space. Also, I think I’ll wear some native garb in the video in the hope it
will make her more uncomfortable.”
Thomas smiled a little sad smile and nodded as he
agreed, “That sounds like a good plan, we will email her. We should do it now,
get it out of the way, and out of our minds. Also, yeah, I could just picture
you wearing nothing but a skirt or shorts.”
M’Sara patted his shoulder before she told him, “Not
quite, I want to wear what we wear on our home planets while not in the company
of off-worlders. Nothing but a belt and harness. That should upset her I would
think.”
With that he chuckled as he removed his hands from her
and placed them back on either side of her and he started to type. He attached
the two photos of them together they had taken for his parents. After a few
minutes he saved the draft when he was done with his message. When he was done,
he gave the Katzen that sat on his legs a hug as he told her, “Alright, I saved
the draft message. Ready for you to write your message that will get attached
to it.”
M’Sara nodded to let him know, “Alright, I am ready,
stay still, I’ll use your terminal.”
With that Thomas sat still as she lifted her left arm
and leg up, spun on his legs, then stopped to sit forward while she remained on
his legs and her tail went up between them to lay on his shoulder. She switched
users in his terminal so she would be able to type up her message. Her message
read, “This is M’Sara, the Luchs in the two photos that are attached to the
message. They are of my coupled mate Thomas and I. I understand our mutual
friend Mateja attempted to explain to you that Thomas did not want you in his
life anymore. I want you to understand that is still the case, and will not
change. I plan to live the rest of my life with Thomas even though he is human.
I love him dearly as he has many traits I admire and he supports me in ways I
never had thought anyone would before. Just as I support him. I think of him as
my equal. Just as my right hand is equal to my left. I have not read the letter
he wrote for you; I had my back turned as he wrote it. This is how much I trust
him, something any good relationship requires to exist as such. He may be
reading this over my head as I type this though as I am sitting in his lap. I
was with him when he got your message because we share a room with one bed that
we sleep together in.
If you are unable to understand the situation still, we
will take the time to record a video of us explaining to you why it is best if
you stay out of our lives. That will be all we are willing to do to explain the
situation. Any contact of any kind after the video is made will not be welcome,
and met with hostility. We do not take kindly to others that take our time away
in an unwelcome manner.
Thank you for reading this. Now go away and leave us
alone, please.”
M’Sara softly patted his leg that was under her when she
was done before she let him know, “I am done, it is saved in our shared folder,
attach it to yours and send the message when you are ready.”
She had even logged out, so he wrapped his arms around her and logged in. As he did that, she rested her arms over his. He sent the message with hers attached, it was now on its way to earth and should arrive in about fourteen minutes. After Thomas logged out himself, he wrapped his arms around her chest and rubbed his chin on her head between her ears as he told her, “How about we spend the rest of the night with some private playtime, what do you say?”
M’Sara wrapped her arms over his arms that were still over her chest and put her fingers between his as she held them close to her as she answered, “I say, what are we waiting for?”
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