The Neko's Tail (Book 2 of Astara)

Cats In Water

Elias sat at the kitchen table, his tablet showing lines of letters and words. His eyes were on fire, but still, he pushed onward, reading and rereading lines until he was sure he knew what they said.

Well, he knew what they sounded like, at least. He had no idea what they meant.

Curious, the neko tried saying one of the words out loud.

"Agato..."

His translator immediately picked up the word, changing it to cat. A small smile appeared on the neko's face, and he tried to read the sentence.

"Di agato... esar-esair... di fina..."

The cat jumped over the fence.

Someone smirked behind him, and Elias whirled around.

"So, what backwards planet did he pick you up from?" Commander Hawke asked, conjuring a cup of liquid.

Elias frowned.

"My... My planet moves forward..." he said.

"Ugh, enough. My chip doesn't have the room to learn your tongue."

The human sat across from the neko, drinking. Elias lowered his gaze back to his tablet, trying to read the next sentence.

"Di... acadi? Di acadi deso- desoar-"

"Desoir," Hawke grumbled. "Di acadie desoir di fina."

The dog digs under the fence.

Elias was learning. But his company sucked.

Sighing quietly, the neko stood. Picking up his tablet, he left the room, letting the commander drink in peace.

Artemis panted as the toilet flushed. He was lucky his body couldn't really differentiate between a hole and his hand. Dealing with his heat most days was as simple as just releasing tension in the privacy of the bathroom.

Speaking of the bathroom...

The tiger unlocked the door and stepped out. Checking the kitchen, he found Hawke sipping on a drink.

"Have you seen Elias?" he asked.

"Yeah, he left with his tablet about ten minutes ago. I assumed you were too busy to care."

Artemis scowled.

"Look, Commander, you are on my ship. I have dealt with your bad attitude as much as I am going to-"

"But you will deal with it for a couple of days more. I owe you nothing anymore, and I will not pretend to like you or the little cat toy you travel with."

"Anymore? What did you ever owe me?"

"Oh, I don't know, it's not like you rescued me from the vacuum of space or anything. Did you think I spent the credits I did to save your slave just out of the kindness of my heart? We're even now. In fact, by military protocol, I outrank you. So there will be no more discussion about my "attitude" as you call it," Hawke snapped.

Artemis grumbled, turning to leave the room. The neko clearly wasn't here.

The tiger passed down the hallway, poking his head into the cabin. Elias wasn't there either. Sighing, Artemis returned to the cockpit, bringing up the ship's hologram. He found the neko in the med bay.

Stepping into the bay, he heard a voice whispering words.

"Deci... Decia arte issi..."

The tiger paused, listening to Elias' voice as the neko puzzled out the words. He hadn't planned on getting Elias to read out loud until Hawke was gone. Artemis was happy the neko beat him to the punch. His pronunciations were a little off, but they could fix that later. For now, the tiger just listened to Elias' voice.