The Neko's Tail - 8. The Tiger's Master

Artemis sat in the pilot seat, staring at Elias.

“I told you that you can pay me back whenever you want. There’s no rush.”

The neko glared at the tiger, his hand dangerously close to his pocket.

“It really isn’t much. If we take a detour over to Asla 3a, we can mine some of the asteroids. That will pay back at least half of what I’ve spent so far. The reward from finding your planet will pay the rest. But we are not leaving today. I’ve spent three months in the black. I want to sleep in comfort tonight. If you want, you can stay on the ship. Or I can buy us a room with two beds for the night. It won’t cost any more than I’ll already be paying.”

The neko was feeling powerful. Artemis was happy for him, though he worried about his neck. Had he given himself to a trigger-happy cat?

The tiger stood up.

“Follow me if you want. If not, make sure you lock the ship. I don’t want anyone breaking in.”

Artemis headed back into the port, searching for an inn. He noticed Elias following him at a distance, and hit a button on his bracelet, ensuring the ship was locked.

During his trip, the tiger made sure he kept Elias in sight at all times. He let the neko walk on his own, basking in the freedom of choice while the tiger shot glares at anyone who approached the cat.

A large alien stepped in front of him, a Scylid with the body of a mantis and the legs of a tauric creature.

“Are you lost?” the alien asked, blocking Artemis’ path.

“Perhaps. Could you tell me where the nearest inn is?”

A sharp blow struck Artemis’ face.

“How dare you speak to me in such a manner? Where is your master? I would have words with him.”

Artemis’ hand flew to his cheek, then dropped to his collar. Fuck…

The neko froze as Artemis was slapped by the alien. Passerby were giving the two plenty of space, watching curiously as they walked.

Artemis’ hand touched his collar and Elias gulped. He may be in a different culture, but he realized that even here slaves didn’t walk without their owner nearby.

And he held the remote to the tiger’s collar. He was Artemis’ master.

Pressing the button on the remote, he winced as Artemis yelped. Taking a deep breath, Elias strode toward the tiger, as he had watched his owners approach him before.

The alien looked at the neko haughtily, a green chip glowing in a bracer on his arm.

“Are you his owner?” he asked.

“I am,” Elias replied with a confidence he did not feel.

He was surprised when the bracer repeated his words for the alien, in the garbled tones of the trading language. Brushing it off, the neko turned to his “slave”.

“You should have known better than to walk so far ahead,” he said sharply, trying not to let his inner fear show.

“Sorry sir,” Artemis said, turning to face Elias.

The neko slapped the tiger, knowing that it wasn’t strong enough. Artemis played along, wincing as he rolled his head with the blow.

“Do not look at me.”

“Feisty, isn’t he?” the alien smirked at the tiger.

“I’m still breaking him. His previous owner was far too lenient with him.”

“Clearly. You should keep a tighter leash on him.”

“That I will do,” Elias assured the alien, his heart nearly beating out of his chest.

“Have a good day,” the alien said, nodding to the “master”.

“Thank you. You as well.”

Shoving Artemis, Elias hurried toward an alley, pausing once they were out of sight. His stomach was a mess, nerves all tied in a knot.

“Thank you,” Artemis said quietly, rubbing his neck.

Elias sat against a wall, taking deep gulping breaths. He never wanted to do that again.

They made it to the inn with no further incidents, Artemis checking them in. His neck still stung from the collar’s shock, but the pain was worth avoiding being caught by an actual slaver. It was something he hadn’t thought about, buying the collar. He needed to act more docile in public.

Elias was quiet as they entered the room, retreating into himself once more. Artemis had been surprised that the neko took charge like that. It was so sudden, so unexpected, so… so hot.

Artemis shook the thought out of his mind, turning on the screen on the wall. Elias stared at the screen in interest, taking in the moving pictures, and the tiger smiled. It was so refreshing to see the neko’s almost childlike wonder at things he took for granted.

Sitting on the bed on the left side of the room, Artemis let out a moan, sinking into the mattress. It was great to be off the ship. He loved his job, but sometimes he just needed to get away, even for just a night.

“We have the room for twenty-four hours, so don’t worry about waking up at a specific time,” Artemis said.

The tiger slid under the covers of the bed, staring at the wall. The news was playing, something about some emperor in the Narax arm of the galaxy getting a little jumpy about his sons. Artemis hated having background noise while he slept, but Elias was so enraptured with the device that he decided to deal with the noise for the night.

The tiger woke up in the middle of the night, hearing whimpers over the news. He looked over at Elias’ bed, where the neko was laying rigid in bed.

“Elias, are you okay?” he asked.

The neko muttered something, his eyes shut tight. Artemis stood up and crossed the room, kneeling beside the neko.

“Elias?”

He reached out and shook the neko lightly, and Elias’ eyes flew open. The neko looked around wildly, panting, and Artemis put a hand on top of his, hoping to calm him.

“You’re okay,” he said. “You’re safe.”

The neko flung out an arm, smacking Artemis in the nose before curling into a ball against the wall beside the bed.

“Ow,” Artemis muttered, rubbing his nose. “Okay. I get it, no touching. I’ll be right here if you need me, okay?”

The neko didn’t answer, not that Artemis expected him to. The tiger sat back, leaning against the bed as he waited.

Elias stared blindly at the wall, ignoring the splashed of colour that came from the wall with the moving portraits. Trembling, he tried to fight off the nightmare, the scream of the woman as the laser sliced through her.

It wasn’t the first time he had been through this nightmare. It haunted him over the past three nights since they had left his planet behind. What gave him the right to take her life? Had he really saved Naia? Wouldn’t Danuva have found a way to save her without him?

Rolling over, he saw Artemis sitting against the bed, his head bent tiredly.

“I’m here if you need me kitten,” the tiger said quietly, not looking back.

He needed him, needed to be held and comforted. But he couldn’t.

Thoughts of all the times he had been taken poured into his mind and Elias shuddered, squeezing his eyes shut. Tears fell down his face, and the neko bit back a whimper.

He had the collar, didn’t he? If Artemis touched him, he could stop the tiger.

Slowly, the neko’s hand reached for the tiger. He touched Artemis’ neck, running his fingers through the coarse fur.

Tugging lightly, the neko guided Artemis into the bed with him, his heart pounding. He pulled out the remote with his other hand, keeping it away from the tiger’s grasp.

Artemis was careful nestling down beside the neko. Placing an arm over Elias, he hugged him against his chest, spooning him. Neither cat said a word, just moving until both were comfortable.

Elias’ fingers skipped nervously over the remote, but he didn’t press the button. This was a bad idea, he just knew it. But it felt good, and Artemis was being gentle.

Artemis’ free hand rested on Elias’ headm gently stroking the neko’s hair. It felt so good, the fingers running through his hair, playing with the little curls. Elias was surprised when the big tiger started purring, the rumbles spreading from Artemis into his own body.

Slowly, the neko’s eyes closed. He felt Artemis reach over him, taking the remote from his grasp, but he was so tired, so warm, he didn’t care.

Yawning, Elias drew further into Artemis’ arms. He was asleep a minute later.

Artemis woke slowly the next morning, warm and comfortable. An arm was draped over his stomach, and he followed it to the neko it was attached to, still sleeping peacefully. He was so cute, snoring quietly, ears twitching gently with each breath.

Artemis stayed the way he was for as long as he could, not wanting to ruin the moment. Who knew when Elias would allow him this close again? But he had to empty his bladder.

Sliding slowly out from under Elias’ arm, Artemis stood and silently padded to the bathroom. When he returned, he found Elias sitting up, turning the remote to his collar over in his hands.

“Good morning Master,” Artemis grinned.

Elias jumped, dropping the remote. He scowled at the tiger, and Artemis held up his hands in surrender.

“Okay, okay, I’ll stick with kitten,” he laughed.

The tiger reached over to ruffle Elias’ hair and the neko dodged his hand.

“Are you okay?” Artemis asked, pulling his hand back.

Elias hesitated before shaking his head no.

“Nightmares?”

The neko nodded.

“You want to talk about them?”

Elias shook his head again, and Artemis sat on the bed beside him.

“Okay, well, if you ever want to talk, I’ll listen,” he said. “So, what do you want to do today? We have two more days before we have to head out again. I don’t know about you, but I am enjoying these beds.”

The neko’s gaze was drawn to the screen still playing a news feed and Artemis sighed.

“Okay, we can keep watching the news,” he said. “Just wait until we get back to my world. They have televisions there, like these but not built into the wall. There’s movies and shows and even sports for you to watch.”

There was a knock on the door and Artemis stood up, leaving the neko to watch the news. Unlocking the door, the tiger stared at the grey alien on the other side.

“Scholar, what a surprise,” he said. “Can I help you?”

“I was just checking on Elias. Apparently someone was having trouble with a slave last night,” Scholar G’tara said, staring at the tiger’s collar. “I don’t recall seeing a slave collar on you yesterday.”

“Um, yeah…” Artemis glanced at Elias on the bed. “Let’s take this outside.”

He stepped past the scholar, making sure the door closed behind him.

“So, the collar. I got it to help Elias. He doesn’t like to talk because of his past, and I want him to feel comfortable speaking his mind around me. If he gets scared by me, he can let me know.”

“I see… It’s not that bad of an idea, except that it requires you to act as his slave. He is comfortable with this arrangement?”

“He… well, he hasn’t said otherwise at least.”

“I doubt he would. Scholar Fontar and I finished running through the data we gathered from him. We feel that testing for Fleet might benefit him.”

“Actually, I was hoping to skip testing. He doesn’t need to go through that,” Artemis frowned.

“Even with a recommendation from you it would be hard to get Elias into training without testing.”

The tiger sighed.

“He’s not ready yet. I want to give him more time to discover things before approaching him about actually joining the Fleet.”

Scholar G’tara nodded.

“That would be for the best,” he agreed. “Nonetheless, it might help him to have some direction in his life. He’s probably lost right now.”

“There’s no doubt about it. Thank you for your advice Scholar. I will discuss it with Elias when the time is right.”