Chapter 6: Steadfast Support

‘Tiness?’ asked Asitha and knocked on her door. ‘How’re you feeling?’ She knocked again and looked back at Alain when there was no reply.

‘She wouldn’t do something radical, right?’ he asked.

‘There’s an automated alarm when the environmental system detects a sudden change in people.’ Asitha said and moved away from the door. ‘She likely shut off the door control because she can’t face us just yet.’

Alain sighed. ‘How do you feel about all this?’

‘I’m not sure. I can’t say if things feel different for me now.’

Alain stared at the work list in his hand. ‘Yeah, same here.’

Asitha looked at him. ‘Our males would be furious. You don’t feel that way?’

He looked at her. ‘I just feel a little lost because I thought I got to know a little about her. Now I don’t know how much secrets she has.’

Asitha nodded. ‘Not much use sitting around and worrying.’ she said. ‘I’m going to do some work for now.’

Alain looked at his list again. ‘I’m going to get some work done as well. Maybe she’ll come out in the meantime.’

Asitha nodded and went up the ladder to get her suit. ‘See you later.’

‘Later.’ Alain said and went to the kitchen to see what he could pick up from the Walkurea on the way back.

***

Alain looked in the direction of Tiness’s pod at the end of the next day. ‘Still nothing?’

Asitha shook her head.’

‘But it’s been two days now.’ sighed Alain. ‘She must be hungry.’

Asitha smiled a little. ‘I think I can imagine her shame. Silth like her are shunned and harassed in our world. I’m glad you still call her a she.’

Alain sat back in the couch. ‘Well, technically she’s not, but I can only think of her as female. Her whole personality is just that, and although in her own way, but I still think she’s just as cute as you.’

Asitha blushed a little. ‘I think that’s part of why she’s ashamed and frightened, you are the resident male and even if you’re not Silth, she has probably only known hardship from males.’

Alain nodded.

Asitha fiddled with the tip of her tail. ‘I’m afraid for her.’

Alain looked at her. ‘Why? Could she still decide to do something bad to herself?’

She nodded. ‘Most Silth like her end it sooner or later because they can’t cope with life any longer.

Alain sat upright at once. ‘Then we have to do something!’

‘She won’t answer the door buzzer. She’s likely afraid of our reaction.’

Alain stood up. ‘Is there a way to open the door?’

‘I’m not sure.’

‘What about emergencies?’

Asitha looked up at him. ‘Oh! There is an override in case of emergencies and power loss.’

‘Can you trigger an emergency?’

She pondered for a moment. ‘Yes, I can trigger a test mode of the controls.’ she said and stood up in front of Alain. ‘I’ll need you to cut the power at that moment to the door and short the lock before it resets.’

He took a deep breath in relief. ‘Good. But first we need to do something else.’

***

‘Ready?’ asked Asitha after she prepared the emergency test mode.

‘Good to go.’ said Alain at the exposed control circuitry of Tiness’s pod.

‘Here we go.’ Asitha said and typed commands on her tablet. The lights inside her pod went out and a couple of buzzers went off. Alain cut the power relay to the door and stuck a screwdriver between two pins on the circuit board. The zap and tiny flash were followed by a metallic clink and Alain pushed with his flat hands against the door. It slid open with a little effort and Tiness stared in horror at the shadowy figure of Alain in her doorway.

He spotted her curled up on her bed and she pressed herself back against the wall at the first step he took inside. In the light from the doorway he saw her red eyes and the mess of her face. For a moment Alain kept in mind that she might lash out at him in fear but she hid her face in her arms and tucked her tail tight around her as she whimpered softly. ‘You’ve had two days to cry, you’re done now.’ he said.

Tiness gasped and her heart raced when he grabbed her wrist and pulled her from the bed. There was little resistance she could put up while her whole being trembled in fear of what was to come. They would punish her for hiding the truth, just like her father and mother had done when they found out her true nature after they discovered her hidden clothes and banned books, and her diary with the things she couldn’t talk about. They had thrown her out and it was pure luck that she met others like her on the outskirts of the city. She was relatively safe with them until a raid by young males destroyed the place they lived in and left everyone beaten and badly wounded.

Her fear was painful, but not as much as the guilt for betraying the two people that had trusted her and were her friends. Tears ran down her sticky cheeks while she thought she deserved what was coming to her. She couldn’t even ask for forgiveness.

Alain pulled her with him to the couch and sat her down. He went to the kitchen and she feared he’d come back with a knife or anything else to hurt her. She wanted to curl up into a tight ball again but her trembling body wouldn’t listen to her.

When he came back he put a tray with a full plate with her favourite foods on it on her lap, and sat down next to her with Asitha at his other side as usual. She turned on a movie and they started on their own meal.

Tiness trembled even harder from the shock of a normal routine getting pushed onto her. They didn’t treat her like trash, they didn’t yell at her, called her names, or hurt her.

Alain looked at her crying in her fists. ‘Hey, I said you’re done crying. There’s no reason to feel sad or anything.’

Tiness shook her head and a her mouth quivered a smile and the words stuck in her throat. ‘I’m happy.’

Alain pulled her head against him and he pet her while she cried until relief flushed all fear from her mind.

***

By the time the movie ended Tiness had finished her meal with some effort because her hands still trembled a little from the stress of the previous days. The comedy had helped to take her mind off of it and she felt like she could breathe again. Asitha poured her a drink and she took it with two hands to prevent spilling it or dropping the glass. The familiar warmth filled her and it calmed her down further. She glanced sideways at Alain and Asitha relaxing like usual. ‘Thank you.’ she said softly with her hoarse voice.

‘Don’t thank us.’ said Alain and smiled a little mischievously. ‘You have kitchen and laundry duty to catch up to. ‘And you’d better give it your all on the next retrieval mission we have to undertake.

Tiness almost snorted her drink through her nose and rubbed it as it tingled furiously inside while she laughed. ‘Yeah, I do.’ She took a deep breath and let it out, and looked down with flattened ears... ‘I wouldn’t have blamed you if you hated me.’

‘Nonsense.’ said Asitha. ‘Although I don’t have it as bad as you do, as a female I do understand some of how you must feel. I’ve heard of some of the things that have happened.’ She laid her hand on Alain’s thigh. ‘And Alain isn’t at all like our males, he’s been very worried about you as well.’

Tiness glanced at him while her heart beat a little faster. ‘Really?’

He blushed a little. ‘I just can’t have dear friends feel bad.’

Tiness smiled. ‘Thank you, both of you.’

Asitha took a deep breath. ‘I guess it’s my turn now.’ she said and Tiness and Asitha looked a little puzzled at her and she gripped the hem of her shirt. ‘I’ve been afraid of showing this for a long time but it’s nothing compared to what you had to hide.’ Her heart pounded and her hands trembled slightly but she told herself she’d better show them now than being exposed later on. She lifted her shirt and exposed her belly.

Tiness gasped as she and Alain saw the wide, white and red scar of burned flesh that ran in a slight arch from her lower abdomen to her left breast.

‘I was in an accident when I was young.’ Asitha said softly. ‘Ever since then I’ve been bullied and called ugly. Especially by males.’

‘Utter nonsense.’

She looked at Alain, who frowned.

‘This doesn’t make any difference to who you are.’ he said. ‘To me you’re still cute, regardless of this scar or not. Any male that can’t look more than skin deep, or in your case, fur deep, is a complete idiot.’

Asitha looked at Tiness smiling and nodding, and blushed and chuckled. ‘I hoped I had nothing to worry about.’

Alain looked away. ‘But you should still cover yourself, you’re a girl after all.’

She noticed his red face and pulled her shirt down fast, blushing even harder. He took a deep breath and grabbed the remote. ‘That’s enough about that.’ he said and pulled up the playlist. ‘Since we don’t have enough energy to play we’ll just fill our time with merry movies.’

Some time later, Asitha and Alain weren’t surprised to see Tiness had fallen asleep against him. ‘Can you carry her?’ Asitha whispered. ‘I’ll replace her pillows and bed cover.’

He lifted her carefully in his arms but she mumbled softly while he moved to her pod. ‘Shhh, sleep, Tiness.’ he whispered. She rubbed her cheek against him and Asitha chuckled softly.

‘We were really lucky to have met you instead of a couple of males that dislike us Silth.’

He blushed slightly while he laid Tiness on her bed. ‘I just think I was lucky that I didn’t have to deal with a couple of Silth males not unlike human males.’ he chuckled softly. ‘I guess we’re even now.’

Asitha smiled softly at Tiness while Alain tucked a pillow under her head. They left the pod but looked back for a moment at the doorway. ‘Will things change?’ Asitha asked.

‘Honestly, I don’t know.’ said Alain. ‘A big secret has spilled and we’ll just have to go on and see what happens.’

Asitha nodded and gave him a hug. ‘Sweet dreams.’ she said and stepped into her own pod. Alain went to bed but stayed awake for a while, trying to figure out how he felt about Tiness.

***

‘Hey.’ said Tiness as she woke up and entered the living and found Alain in the kitchen fixing something to eat.

He smiled at her while he opened a container with fruit. ‘Sleep well?’

She pulled on the lower front of her shirt and nodded a little.

He held up the container. ‘Want some too?’

She nodded and smiled a little. ‘Please.’

He put the container on the counter. ‘Don’t stand there like a shy schoolgirl, I’m not going to bite or anything.’

Tiness hurried over and made herself a bowl of fruit and meat. Alain chuckled. ‘Be yourself, that’s all Asitha and I expect of you.’

‘I’m not used to this.’ Tiness said. ‘The only other time where I could be myself was with my friends at home who were like me. Before we... ‘

Alain watched her smile fade as she stared down. He pat her head. ‘That’s behind you now. Nothing you can change about that. As far as I’m concerned we’ll live comfortably together here with the three of us, and if they decide to stop this project I’d like it if we could find a new place together.’

She looked up at him. ‘Together!?’

‘If you’d be willing to put with a human and Asitha.’ he said and chuckled. ‘I’m not really good with people but I like to be around you two.’

She smiled. ‘I’d like that.’

Asitha came up behind them and put her arms around their waists. ‘What’re you talking about and what’re you making?’

Alain put a small cut of dried meat in her mouth. ‘I said if we ever have to leave this place I’d like to find a new place to live with the both of you.’

Asitha looked at him with big eyes. ‘Really?’

He nodded. ‘Maybe I just want to keep cute creatures around me for as long as possible.’

Asitha sniggered. ‘Trying to be the mighty male like in your movies?’

He shrugged. ‘One of the few aspects of the male heroes I can agree with.’

Asitha leaned her head close to Tiness. ‘Maybe we should rethink our evaluation of this human male. Seems he does have some resemblances to our Silth males.’

Tiness giggled. ‘If it’s just that, I don’t mind staying with Alain.’

Asitha sighed. ‘Then I’d better stay as well to keep an eye on things. Make sure he behaves.’

Alain smirked. ‘Admit it, you want to stay for my cooking.’

Asitha huffed. ‘Fine, I admit it.’ she said and poked his back. ‘So you better keep making tasty things.’

Alain handed her one of the bowls he made. ‘It’s settled then, I’m living out my life with two big cats.’

Asitha growled playfully, Careful, two very big cats can be dangerous.’

‘Rowr.’ said Alain and the girls giggled as they went to the couch.

***

Tiness gazed at Alain a few days later. ‘Are you all right?’

He looked up from his inventory sheet. ‘Just a little tired from the debris I had to clear today. Why?’

She narrowed her eyes. ‘Your eyes and face look a little redder.’

He gave her a smile. ‘I’m thinking of taking a nap after I’m done with this, that’ll recharge me.’

She nodded. ‘Then we’ll see you later. We’re working near the rear of the ship this shift.’ she said and left for the airlock above.

When she and Asitha returned at the end of the shift they found the living empty. ‘Alain?’ said Asitha.

‘His suit is here.’ said Tiness. ‘He can’t be outside.’

Asitha peeked through his pod’s doorway and saw him sprawled on his stomach on the bed. ‘Alain?’ With no reaction from him she hurried inside. ‘Alain?’ she said again and touched his red cheek. Her heart pounded at the warmth of his face. ‘Tiness! Something’s wrong with Alain!’

He groaned and blinked his eyes while Tiness hurried inside. ‘Asitha? What is it?’

She frowned. ‘You don’t look good.’

He rolled onto his back slowly while his muscles ached and a headache pounded against his temples. ‘That would fit with how I feel.’ he groaned. ‘Looks like I caught some space bug.’ He chuckled once before his headache stopped him.

Asitha propped him up with extra pillows in his back. ‘Where’s your medical analyser?’

He gave a nod towards a corner of the pod. ‘The medical supply chest over there.’