The Star Within (Poohpavel)

Chapter 2

It had been three days since Pavel arrived on Earth, sent on a mission to approach the human, Pooh Krittin. But so far, there had been no sign of the person he was supposed to meet. On the first day, Pavel had waited for Pooh to come out of his room like he usually did in the morning. Then he would approach the male to introduce himself as the new neighbor. Afterwards, Pavel would mention a few things of Pooh's interests which he discovered through the observations he did before. As they got to know each other, Pavel would act like they shared the same interests.

However, all the plans had to be put on hold, as the said person never appeared. The space cat had to wait until late at night, yet the door of Pooh's condo was perfectly locked, untouched. The second day passed in much the same way.

By the third day, Pavel was starting to feel discouraged. He spent the morning waiting for Pooh to emerge, but the kid didn't, so Pavel decided to accompany the middle-aged woman he met on his first day, P'Chod, to the supermarket. She had asked him to come along, and he gladly agreed, grateful for the opportunity to do something besides waiting around for a human who seemed to have disappeared.

As they walked through the aisles of the supermarket, he helped the older woman to check all the foods and products that were on the list given by her. Pavel occasionally struggled with the unfamiliar words on the list, which P'Chod did not judge him for not knowing what in the world the fruit called strawberry looked like. The woman calmly explained what they were and how they were tasty to eat. Pavel listened intently, trying to absorb as much information as he could. He was glad that the human did not say much about his lack of knowledge about the items in the supermarket.

After they finished shopping, P'Chod invited Pavel back to her home for dinner. She cooked a delicious meal of traditional Thai dishes, and Pavel marveled at the flavors and spices he had never experienced before. The woman also made a dessert from strawberries, which Pavel was a little too excited to have a taste of. Just like what P'Chod had said earlier, Pavel found the fruit indeed tasty; he couldn't help but be eager to have more of it.

Pavel chatted a little more with P'Chod, thanking her for the food and for having him for the whole day. Excusing himself, he made his way to his own condo when he saw someone in front of Pooh's door.

That's not just someone, that's the Pooh Krittin!

The feline was internally screaming to himself as he watched Pooh inputting his door password.

4321? Who the hell puts such an easy password for their home?

Pavel was not a fan of doing his work in a rush, but three days had almost passed without any progress, so he could not help but find himself quickly walking to Pooh before the human could enter his own house.

Sensing someone near, the human turned to the person walking towards him. Pavel took the cue to introduce himself. "Hi, I'm Babe. I just moved here 3 days ago."

Up close, he could see the exhaustion clearly on the younger face. He felt guilty as he was definitely holding the person back from taking a rest. However he needed to prioritize his mission, so he shoved the feeling aside. Sorry kid.

Pooh looked at him for a while, maybe a little too long, that Pavel was contemplating if he should say something more. Thankfully, the human finally came to his senses as the realisation shown on his face. He then introduced himself.

"I'm Pooh. Nice to meet you, Phi," the human said with a smile despite the tiredness on his face. "I hope you enjoy living here yet."

"Oh, I'm quite enjoying it here. It's nice to have a gym just a couple of floors below, which my previous condominium doesn't have," Pavel remembered seeing dumbbells and other workout tools inside Pooh's room. He himself was a gym rat, so starting by using the same interests they have would be a great bait.