Jack was easing into bed when S'haar came into the room. After Jack's umpteenth "near-death" experience earlier and S'haar's activities with the would-be assassin, neither was in the mood for anything other than being close to each other. Once Jack was adequately covered so his leg wouldn't get cold and cramp during the night, S'haar crawled in and pulled him close. They sat like that for several minutes, neither saying a word but communicating volumes.
Eventually, S'haar relaxed her hold, and Jack eased a little some blood flow back into limbs that were getting dangerously close to falling asleep. As she watched him stretch and move, S'haar smiled. "I know I said it earlier, but thanks for what you did back there. With everything going on lately, we haven't had much time alone, and it started to feel like a distance was beginning to grow between us. So it means a lot that you reached out to close the gap a little."
Jack smiled wanly as he flexed his wrist. "Well, I had a bit of sense knocked into me today, first one way, then another. I've been so caught up with what might happen in the future that I've neglected what's happening in the present."
He sighed. "When this all began, my goal was to repair the ship and leave, but my desires shifted over time. For a while now, my brain and heart have been pulling in different directions, one pushing to return where I came from, the other wanting to embrace what I've found here. It's just taken me some time, and an argument or two, to decide which of those goals to finally let go of."
S'haar looked at him quizzically, hiding a small smile behind mock seriousness. "So, what did you decide?"
Jack leaned into S'haar, who welcomed him back with a hug as he continued. "As if there was any doubt, I'm staying here. This is my home, these," Jack waved out toward the outpost, "are my people, and you, Em'brel, and Angela are my family. There's nothing up there that compares what I have down here."
The smaller man felt himself being squeezed tight enough that he knew he'd have trouble breathing if it lasted too long, but as he expected, S'haar eased her grip after a moment. "So then, if this camp isn't about escaping this planet anymore, what is it?"
Jack smiled and shook his head. "I don't think it's been about that for a while now. It took my brain a little time to catch up with where my heart's been leading it. I'd like to make the facade real. Turn this into a proper permanent village of its own."
Jack could feel S'haar's confident grin even without looking as she spoke. "I think that might be possible..."
A few more moments passed in comfortable silence before S'haar spoke again. This time her voice held just a hint of mischief. "So you were still thinking of leaving the planet, huh? And what were you going to do with me? Leave me behind? Or were you going to bring the big, scary barbarian female to the stars to show off to all your human friends?"
Jack knew that, despite the jovial nature of S'haar's voice, his following words must be chosen carefully. "Well, as much as I'd like to show off my big, scary girlfriend, I'd be too worried you'd fall for some other cute human out there. So instead, I was thinking about having Anglea freeze you and keep you in storage so I could thaw you out and have fun whenever it struck my fancy!"
The pillow that flew into Jack's face let him know that, although he'd pushed a button or two, S'haar was still playing along in good fun. "Oh, you were going to imprison me, were you? Maybe it's time I remind you that I'm the alpha predator in this relationship!"
Jack grinned as the night's energy shifted in a new direction. "We both know that I might fall behind in the begining, but you’ll beg for mercy first!"
S'haar flashed a toothy smile as she pounced. "Bold words, now prove them!"
-
Grim was following his new mom around like usual. She picked up lots of the small eating surfaces and moved them into one spot. She let Grim lick the last bits of food the other pack members had neglected before submerging them in the bad-smelling water and pulling them out with less attractive scents. That was ok, though. Grim was starting to learn the scents would return with more scraps to be cleaned later. He'd just have to be patient.
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Once he was done licking the surfaces, he knew his mom would be submerging the surfaces for a while, so he checked on the other new pack member still in the room, the one who was hurt.
Grim could smell the fear/pain on the new pack member. He remembered experiencing that same fear/pain not long ago when his first mom pushed him away and stopped feeding him.
It hadn't happened quickly. At first, life had been good. Mom and dad would leave, and Grim would play with his brother and sister until they returned. Then mom would feed them, and they'd sleep. That had been life forever. But then mom started running out of food before Grim was full, and the play fights with his brother and sister had become real fights for who got to eat their fill. Grim lost these fights by a little at first, but his brother and sister grew bigger over time, and he lost the fights quicker and harder. Soon, he started sneaking around to get his food while they slept, until his mom had started pushing him away.
It was just a little after that time that his new pack had found Grim. At first, Grim had been sure he would die like his brother and sister had. After all, they were so much bigger and stronger than Grim, but they'd died. What could Grim do? But instead, his new pack fed Grim and took him with them. They even gave Grim his new name.
But now, this new pack member had the same pain/fear Grim had gone through. Maybe her mom had abandoned her too, and Grim's new pack adopted her like they had him. Perhaps she was still scared and lonely and didn't realize this pack meant safety.
Well, Grim was going to do his best to show her the same care his new mom showed him. So he came over to the hurt/scared one and nudged her with his nose to say "Hi."
The female flashed her teeth at Grim. At first, Grim had thought showing teeth was a threat like it was from his brother and sister, but eventually, he realized teeth often meant food or scritches in his new pack. There were many new things to get used to, but food and scritches made learning fun.
After accepting Grim's greeting with her teeth, the new pack member began following through with the promise of scritches, and Grim settled in, resting his head in her lap as she groomed him.
More than anything, this was Grim's job. When he came to pack members and let them scritch him, he could feel their fear/anger lessen, so Grim spent as much time as possible going from one pack member to the next, getting scritches in the process.
His mom and the new pack member sang at each other as Grim performed his duty. Eventually, the fear/pain faded, and the new packmate calmed down. Grim was just about to fall asleep when he noticed his mom had finished her task and started heading for the moving wall that led outside.
Grim hopped up to follow his mom but immediately felt a spike in the new pack member's fear/pain. She sang at his mom, who sang back. Grim wasn't sure what the songs meant, they were so much more complex than the rumblings of his old family, but the fear/pain was clearly growing.
Finally, wanting to add his own voice to the song, Grim offered a whimper to his mom before looking at the other female. Trying to explain the fear/pain to his mom so she could fix it for the new pack member, like she did with Grim.
There was more singing, but it was softer this time. Finally, both his mom and the new packmate started walking in a different direction, and Grim followed.
They passed one moving wall that smelled like the pack matron and the small, squishy male. The matron was scary but offered safety to the pack. She radiated a confident danger like Grim's old mom and dad had, but she only punished Grim with a flick to the nose when he did something he shouldn't, like play too rough or bite.
The squishy male was fun. He invented all sorts of clever hunting games, like chasing the stick or finding the hidden treat. He also smelled of pain/fear sometimes, but not as strong as the new pack member. Maybe this was a pack of healing.
They walked through a different moving wall, but this one led to a smaller den than the first room. The new packmate climbed onto a soft raised nest, and Grim's mom made another nest on the ground by the door. Once she was settled in her nest, Grim cuddled up next to his mom, so they could share heat.
They stayed that way for a while, with his mom and the new packmate singing back and forth. Eventually, the new packmate must have overcome her fear because she left her nest and sat down next to Grim, placing him between his two packmates. She reached over and held onto Grim, and after a while, her breathing eased, and she fell asleep.
In her sleep, she squeezed Grim tight from time to time. Once during the night, her fear/pain spiked, and she cried out in her sleep. Grim licked her face until she woke up. At first, she was startled, but as was his duty, Grim laid his head in her lap, and the new packmate scritched it. Soon, her fear/pain started to fade again, and after a while, she was able to go back to sleep. His duty complete once again, Grim fell back to sleep as well.