The Neko's Tail - 29. The Whispering Eye

“Kitten?”

Artemis gripped the door as the ship shuddered. He felt weird, letting Atharo fly his ship, but they knew how to dock on a larger ship. He didn’t.

Elias’ eyes glared out from his den, the neko’s tail flicking.

“We’re landing. Atharo wants all of us on the other ship until we get to Oyhaf.”

Grumbling quietly, Elias pulled himself out of his nest, sliding down the pole to the ground.

“Elias, you know we love you, right?” Artemis asked.

His hand fell on the neko’s shoulder, a gesture he hoped would comfort Elias. Silently, the cat shrugged the hand off, walking out of the room.

Artemis sighed, following Elias. The neko was worrying him. So he had a relapse. It happened. It was no reason to push both Reinard and himself away.

They entered the cockpit as Atharo shut the ship down. Elias stiffened visibly at the sight of the Xanar.

“Are you feeling better Elias?” Reinard asked, standing.

The neko shook his head, and Reinard looked at Artemis helplessly.

Artemis shrugged.

“Give it time,” he suggested.

The trio followed Atharo off the ship, Artemis looking around with interest. He had never been on a ship with its own docking bay. Even if there were only three other ships in the bay, it was still an impressive sight.

“Welcome aboard the Whispering Eye,” Atharo said.

Artemis bit back a snicker at the name, barely. It was immature of him, but all he could think about was an ass.

That got him thinking about Elias’ ass, and the tiger shook his head.

“Sorry,” he muttered.

Atharo beckoned to a waiting Xanar.

“Take Captain Artemis and his companions to their cabin. Captain, I would like you to remain in your cabin until I come to retrieve you. Your food will be brought to you.”

“Thank you,” Artemis saluted the colonel.

Atharo returned the salute and strode off.

“Follow me please Captain,” the Xanar said, walking away.

Elias sat quietly on the bed, staring at his tablet. Words sprawled across the screen, painting pictures in his mind of tigers chasing each other in the summer heats. His eyes still hurt when he stared at the screen for too long, but a little pain was worth not having to talk to Artemis or Reinard.

He was wrong, and he knew it. What he was doing was hurting the fox and the tiger, but he couldn’t help it. The neko didn’t want them to touch him and he couldn’t even explain why. He had bitten Reinard. What if it was worse next time?

No, it was better to stay quiet and distant. They would get over him soon enough, and they still had each other.

The bed shook as Reinard climbed in next to him. The cabin was only a little larger than the cabins on their own ship, and there really wasn’t much space to avoid the two. The fox curled up beside Elias, staring at the neko, but Elias stayed focused on his story.

“Talk to me. Please,” Reinard said suddenly, breaking the silence in the room.

“Reinard-” Artemis started.

“No. I can’t handle this. I love you, Elias. And this silence, this ignoring me, it’s tearing me apart.”

Elias’ tail flicked, falling across Reinard. He felt terrible inside. Like that, his resolve was crumbling.

The neko set his tablet aside, laying next to Reinard. His arm fell over the Faro, holding him close. He was terrible at this love thing.

“Why?” Reinard whispered.

Elias ran through the reasons in his head. They all came down to one thing: he was afraid of hurting Reinard. But that’s what he had done. Maybe the fox wasn’t hurting physically any more, but emotionally he was in pain.

He shook his head, tightening his hold on Reinard. No matter what happened, he would never let the fox go.

There was a knock on the door and Artemis stood up.

“Who is it?” he called through the door.

“Colonel Atharo!” came the response, and the tiger unlocked the door.

The Xanar stood outside the room, their eyes moving instantly to Reinard and Elias curled up on the bed.

“I hope I’m not interrupting anything.”

“No, not at all,” Artemis assured them.

“Good. I want the three of you to meet your guards. I think you’ll be happy with them by your side.”

Two figures entered the room and Artemis’ eyes widened as he recognized one of them.

“Iason?!”

A snow white Egaro rushed forward, sweeping Artemis into his arms.

“I haven’t seen one of our people in over a year,” he purred.

“You dyed your hair…”

Artemis ran his hand through the blue mohawk on Iason’s head.

“That’s it? That’s all you have to say?”

Colonel Atharo cleared their throat loudly, and Iason backed away from Artemis, revealing a Faro standing behind him.

“This is Captain Geiro and Lieutenant Iason,” the Xanar said. “They will be guarding you while you are planet-side. Captain, Lieutenant, this is Captain Artemis of the IEFL, Cadet Elias of the IEFL, and Cadet Reinard of the ISFL. Their safety is to be your sole priority until I say otherwise.”

“Yes Colonel,” the two said.

“I will leave you five to get acquainted,” Atharo smiled slightly, before walking away.

“Captain Artemis,” the Faro saluted, his voice rich and smooth.

Artemis returned the salute.

“I will be in charge of your security. You and I will travel together while Lieutenant Iason stays with Cadet Reinard and Cadet Elias. Our hope is that any assassin will mistake Iason for you. It is admittedly a slim hope, but a hope nonetheless.”

“Our primary mission is to stop a war between the two planets, but if we can catch the person or persons working to start the war, we will do so,” Iason added.

“Cadet Elias, Cadet Reinard, you will need to learn basic self-defenses. If you would follow me.”

Geiro turned on his heel and walked briskly out of the cabin. After a brief moment, Elias and Reinard followed the fox, leaving the tigers alone in the room.

“Why don’t we catch up on lost time?” Iason said, looking at Artemis with a smile.

Reinard ducked under a swing, his tail fluffed in alarm. Geiro was not pulling any punches. His body was sore from several punches, but every time he tried to block a punch Reinard got kicked instead.

He saw Elias dodging a Xanar on the other side of the room, and he frowned. This wouldn’t be good for the neko’s opinion of Xanar.

A fist caught the Faro in the jaw and he fell to the ground with a cry.

“Pay attention to our fight,” Geiro said.

Reinard touched his jaw, wincing.

“Why? You and Lieutenant Iason will be with us, right?”

“What if we’re not? It’s better to be prepared and not need it.”

The captain helped Reinard up.

“Take a moment,” he said.

Reinard saw Elias crumple to the ground, and he rushed over to the neko.

“Are you okay Elias?” he asked, helping the cat to his feet.

The neko nodded, tears streaming from his eyes.

“Captain, do you think we can switch partners?” Reinard asked.

Geiro thought for a moment.

“That sounds reasonable. I could use some practice against larger opponents.”

Reinard leaned into Elias gently.

“You can do this,” he whispered.

“Alright, break’s over.”

Elias backed away from Reinard. The Faro turned and faced his opponent, a Xanar Geiro had introduced as Sergeant Maero. They were taller than Reinard by at least a foot, and their six arms possessed a threat the Faro hadn’t needed to deal with earlier.

“Are you ready?” the Xanar asked.

Reinard spread his legs, getting into a lower stance. He nodded, watching the Xanar warily. A sudden lunge and the fight was on.

Elias limped after the Faro, his body aching from several bruises. He hadn’t hurt this bad since the day Danuva bought him in Astara. He could still hear the rustle of the bed, feel the human’s rod shoving deep inside him as he bit back cries.

Elias flinched as he realized it wasn’t just a dream. He could hear moaning from their cabin…

The neko darted past Geiro, his soreness forgotten. Opening the cabin door, he found the tigers in bed, their clothes scattered through the room. Artemis was riding Iason’s rod, a look of pure joy on his face.

Elias let out a squeak, closing the door quickly. He hoped Master didn’t punish-

The neko shook his head. No, he was not falling back into those thoughts ever again.

“What’s wrong?” Reinard asked, placing a hand on the neko’s back.

“A heat. I was not aware it was Iason’s time,” Geiro frowned.

He walked past the door, knocking on another door next to their cabin. Opening it, the Faro nodded in satisfaction.

“This will do for now. You will stay here until we reach Oyhaf. I will deal with Iason personally. He should know better.”

Reinard entered the room, scanning it for threats as he had just been taught. Elias followed the Faro into the cabin, immediately falling onto the unmade bed. He was tired and lost. Artemis was getting fucked in the next room and he was enjoying it.

“Did you see him…?” Reinard asked quietly.

Elias nodded as the Faro sat next to him.

Reinard’s hand pressed into the neko’s back, sending tingles through his body. Elias sighed quietly, closing his eyes as Reinard began massaging his body.

“He does not follow the same customs as you or I,” Reinard said quietly. “Are you upset that he’s having sex with someone else?”

Elias thought about it. He himself had been fucked by many others. If Artemis enjoyed it, why shouldn’t he have the same chance?

No, he was fine with the tiger having sex. But how did he enjoy it? Sex had always been painful for Elias, aside from sex with Reinard, but that was different. Reinard said he was supposed to stick his rod in him. Artemis didn’t have a hole like the fox.

The neko buried his face in the mattress, confused. He could hear the tigers in the other cabin, Artemis grunting in pleasure as he was taken. It just… it didn’t make sense. Maybe this was just a tiger thing. They certainly seemed to be sexual creatures.

A hand brushed against his neck, before running slowly through his hair. Elias purred quietly, the gentle tugging of his hair taking his mind off Artemis and his sex. Reinard was here, rubbing his head and his back. Elias was safe, comfortable, the aches in his body beginning to fade as he slowly drifted away.