The Neko's Tail - 32. Communicating Between Species

“Excuse me,” Geiro said sharply as they entered the shuttle.

Artemis turned his head toward the Faro.

“What do you think you are doing?”

“What?”

They were safe here. Probably the safest they would be for the next week. The tiger didn’t see what Geiro was upset about.

“You just kissed a Faro’s Bonded! Right in front of him!”

“Oh that. Reinard’s okay with that,” Artemis said.

“Tcha! Do you know anything about our customs, our way of life?!”

“I know something of them, yes. Do you understand Egaro customs, or their physiology?”

“I understand your people are slatterns, content to sleep with anyone who comes their way!” Geiro snarled.

Artemis growled at the Faro. He was not about to let his entire species be insulted by this speck of a creature.

“That is enough you two!” Atharo snapped. “I do not know what has gotten into you two, and I do not care to know. Captain Geiro, you have no cause to use that language when speaking about anyone. Captain Artemis, from now on I will thank you to keep your private matters private.”

Artemis frowned.

“With respect Colonel, I hardly think an innocent kiss is something that needs to be hidden.”

“Humour me, Captain.”

The trio sat in the shuttle cockpit, Artemis sighing quietly. He sorely missed the days of exploration, of spending hours staring at new worlds and mapping them. All this drama he was wrapped up in led to way too much stress. Honestly, Reinard was the best thing to come of Oyhaf. Artemis hoped the Faro would be safe.

Elias startled as Reinard let out a cheer. The viewing screen on the wall turned on suddenly, moving pictures filling the screen.

“You have to pay first,” Reinard grinned, satisfied. “But hey, five credits a movie, totally worth it. They should be downloading now, a little slow, but as we get closer to home, it should speed up.”

He looked at Elias, sitting at the table.

“Do you want to watch this with me?”

Elias nodded.

“I would like that,” he said quietly.

They sat side by side on the couch, Reinard placing an arm around the neko.

“This is an older movie from the Dalmar war about a Faro pilot. I remember watching it with my segal before… well…”

Elias hugged the Faro, trying to take Reinard’s thoughts off his dead parent. He didn’t know if it worked, but Reinard did scratch the neko’s head.

“I love you, Elias,” Reinard said.

The cat purred quietly, watching the moving pictures. Reinard’s legs curled up on the couch and he leaned against Elias, both of them enjoying the closeness of the moment.

An explosion on the screen made Elias’ ears flatten, his eyes wide at seeing a life taken so callously for entertainment.

“Are you okay?” Reinard asked as the neko stiffened next to him.

Elias shook his head, horrified. Reinard paused the movie, looking into Elias’ eyes.

“What’s wrong?”

“They killed him…”

Reinard blinked.

“Yeah. It’s a war movie. If you don’t like it, we can wait for the next one to download and watch that instead.”

“But he’s dead.”

Elias stared at the Faro. Why was he not upset about this? Elias thought Reinard would care. Was he wrong about the Faro?

“Elias… You… You know they’re just actors, right? This isn’t real. He isn’t really dead,” Reinard said uncertainly.

“He isn’t? But his ship…”

“It’s fake. Like… ugh…”

The Faro sighed.

“Just… it isn’t real, okay? I don’t know how to explain it. Computers make it look real, but no one got hurt.”

Reinard held up a remote, the screen changing to display a bunch of words.

“Here’s a romance. You liked the last one we watched, right?” he asked.

Elias shrugged. If no one died, he would be happy.

Iason entered the rec room, smiling at the sight of Reinard and Elias curled up together on the couch. Reinard turned his head, meeting the Egaro’s gaze.

“We’re landing in about half an hour. I just need to get us in the atmosphere.”

“You’re not going to turn off the gravity too early, are you?” Reinard chuckled.

“I don’t know. Elias seemed to like floating in zero gravity,” Iason laughed.

The neko’s ears fluttered at the sound of his name. He grumbled quietly, burying his head into Reinard’s shoulder.

“You two should probably strap yourselves in,” Iason added, stepping out of the room. “I need to take care of something before we land.”

Reinard ran his fingers through Elias’ hair, enjoying one last touch before they had to go.

“I love you,” he said again.

“I love you too,” Elias murmured.

Their lips met gently, Reinard relishing the kiss. He wished they had time to play, but he didn’t think they should do that around Iason.

“Do you like me being in you?”

Reinard stared at Elias.

“What?”

It was such a random question. He had no idea where it came from.

“I don’t hurt you, do I?”

“No. You’ve never hurt me,” Reinard said, glossing over that time the neko had bitten him.

That didn’t count.

“It always hurt when they took me,” Elias said. “But Artemis likes it.”

Reinard frowned.

“I… I don’t understand…”

Elias lowered his head, staring at his lap.

“I saw Iason and Artemis together. Iason was in him, but Artemis liked it.”

Reinard finally got it. Elias was curious about… butt stuff...

“Oh. I don’t know what to tell you about that. I suppose if you did it right, it could feel good. But I think it would have to be done out of love, not lust.”

Elias nodded slowly.

“Artemis and Iason love each other,” he decided.

“I don’t know if they love each other, but I think they do care for each other. I honestly don’t know anything about Egaro, except that they seem to love many others. Maybe they do love each other…” Reinard said thoughtfully. “I can’t say that I understand it, but I’m not one of them. Even you, you love me and Artemis.”

Elias nodded.

“You don’t like that?” he asked.

“No, I know you’re different than me. I accept that Artemis can offer you things that I can’t,” Reinard replied. “Maybe that’s it.”

He sighed, standing up.

“I don’t know. It’s one for the philosophers, I suppose. Come on, we should go get strapped in before Iason turns off the gravity or something.”

The shuttle settled down with a bump and Artemis unbuckled himself.

“We’re heading to the base’s hotel first. We’ll get two rooms. You two are staying in the same room, for Artemis’ protection,” Atharo announced. “I need to meet with Fleet Command, but after, I want to set up a press conference with you Artemis. It will show everyone you are okay. I figure in about a week’s time, we’ll rejoin your friends.”

The tiger nodded, anxiety building. He really wasn’t good at public speaking. What was he supposed to do, imagine everyone in their underwear? If it was Elias standing in front of him, Artemis would have no problem with that. But a bunch of random Faro?

There had to be a better way. But try as he might, the tiger was stumped. Well, if it was going to stop a war…

He followed Atharo and Geiro through the base, his mind wandering as he tried not to think about talking to a bunch of news reporters. Elias came into his mind, and Artemis sighed. That wasn’t much better; now he had to fight his body.

Atharo motioned for the two to follow them past the hotel counter.

“I have two rooms permanently reserved. I was here quite extensively a few years ago,” they explained.

“Reinard told me about that. He saw you once, I think,” Artemis said.

Atharo handed Geiro a key as they stopped in front of a door.

“Stay here, and whatever you do, keep him safe.”

“Yes Colonel,” Geiro saluted.

Atharo strode away confidently, leaving the Faro to open the door.

They found themselves in a spacious suite, lounge the first room they entered. As before, when Artemis checked the bathroom, he found no actual bath or shower, just a toilet. The beer that had been in the last Dalmar hotel room was present, and Artemis smiled. If nothing else, he could drink the stuff and relax a bit. Screw what Geiro thought of him.

The bedroom held a single bed, and the tiger groaned. Yep, he was definitely getting wasted.

“You get the bed. I’m not used to the comfort,” Geiro sneered.

“Thanks,” Artemis said, refusing to rise to the bait.

He grabbed a cup, pouring himself some alcohol. The sooner he got buzzed, the sooner he wouldn’t have to deal with Geiro.

It tasted as bad as it had the last time he was here. But then, beer had never been Artemis’ favourite drink. He preferred stronger drinks. If he was going to get drunk, the tiger didn’t want to have to wait.

Not that he got drunk that often. Today was a special case.

Artemis drained the drink quickly, making his way into the bedroom. He removed his shirt, sitting on the bed with a sigh. Part of him knew he was just trying to get a rise out of Geiro, but at the moment he didn’t really care. The Faro was an ass, judging him and Iason for things out of their control.

That got Artemis thinking about Iason, about the Egaro’s strong arms around him. Shivers ran through his body as he remembered what they had done on the ship, the exact feel of the white tiger’s rod filling him. He was going to miss that feeling.

Ceirel ran to Reinard, throwing his arms around him.

“You’re back!” he cried happily.

“For a while,” Reinard smiled nervously.

He had no idea how Ceirel would take the news. Would his Mara be upset that Elias was the segal of his kites? There were other things he needed to explain as well.

“I heard about Artemis. I’m really sorry,” Ceirel said.

“What about Artemis?” Reinard asked.

“He’s dead. The news said he was poisoned. They think a Dalmar did it.”

Reinard shook his head.

“I’ll explain everything in a minute, but Artemis isn’t dead.”

Iason cleared his throat quietly.

“Oh, um, Mara, this is Iason. He’s a friend of Artemis’,” Reinard said.

“It is a pleasure to meet you,” Iason smiled with a nod.

“You as well,” Ceirel smiled back, ever the gracious host. “And Elias. It is good to see you as well. I trust you have been taking good care of my kit.”

“He has Mara,” Reinard smiled at the neko.

He reached up and kissed Elias, the cat smiling back at him.

“Why don’t we go inside? We have a lot to talk about.”

Elias sat on the couch between Reinard and Iason, the tiger observing the room with a wary eye.

“So Artemis was poisoned?” Ceirel clarified with a frown.

“Yes, but Elias and I got him to a med pod. We are almost positive it was a Faro that poisoned him. Most likely as retribution for delivering the tankers to Dalmar.”

“And he’s on Dalmar now? Why did he come back at all?”

Iason cleared his throat again.

“We believe the poisoning might have had another motive other than revenge. Most likely someone is trying to restart the war between your people and the Dalmar,” he said. “Artemis came back in an attempt to avert bloodshed. He sent me with these two because he doesn’t want them involved.”

Ceirel nodded slowly.

“In that case, I am glad to have you here,” he said.

“There’s um… There’s one more thing…” Reinard said.

Elias took the Faro’s hand, squeezing it gently.

“I’m pregnant.”

The room was deadly silent. Elias held onto Reinard through it all, comforting him silently. Then it finally came.

“You’re pregnant? How?”

“Well, Elias loves me and I love him, so I let him shove his-”

“I know how Reinard,” Ceirel said, exasperated. “Just… He isn’t a Faro. Is the kit even viable?”

“We don’t know. I just know I’m pregnant and they seem to be quick growers,” Reinard said.

“They?!”

“Yeah, there’s two kites in my stomach,” Reinard smiled.

“Congratulations. I hope everything turns out well for you,” Ceirel smiled.

Elias frowned at the words. They sounded strange to him.

“I hope so too. I want to go to the doctor tomorrow and get checked. And Elias still needs glasses,” Reinard said.

“It sounds like you have the day all planned out. But I’ll tell you one thing. You will not be leaving this planet until those kites are born, for better or for worse,” Ceirel said. “Now, Iason can have the room Artemis shared with Elias last time he was here. I’m assuming you and Elias have no issues sleeping in the same bed.”

“None at all, right Elias?” Reinard smiled.

Elias nodded. He and Reinard stood up, heading for the stairs. Iason followed closely, keeping a watchful eye out. He was officially on the job.