Gabe’s eyes fluttered open. At some point during the contest, he had fallen asleep in Captain’s room. The alcohol didn’t lead him there, it barely had an effect on him. Since he wasn’t drunk in the slightest he remembered exactly how he got there. At some point, The buxom captain ‘coerced’ into somehow getting into bed with her.

Looking at the snoring wolf girl, Anaya somehow managed to use his left shoulder her personal pillow.

Waking up next to a bombshell should have made him happy. But instead, he felt nothing. Something inside him just felt very wrong. Like something was missing.

Gabe tried to shrug off the thought by continuing to lay down and remember the past, to see if it’d bring him happiness. Even if he was battered, bruised, And almost sold as a slave. Last night was almost the best he’s had in almost a week, time on Earth included. So what if he’s probably not going to see earth again, He fought and killed the equivalent of Ridley.

Captain Anaya’s soft snoring oddly made him feel homely. Actually, maybe one day he’ll go and take them to Earth, maybe. Right now though he couldn’t exactly trust anyone with anything.

He scratched the back of her head, Her face twitched into a sleepy smile.

Rhenixa decided to stop a few drinks in, She realized her body weight set her limit pretty low, so she stuck to what she could handle, besides this was pretty entertaining.

Gabe slammed the drink on the table. Giving Anaya his best shit-eating smirk.

This action infuriated the captain. She tried to imitate him, her drink was much slower, the only thing that was successful was more alcohol going into her head.

She slid the cylindrical pitcher back over to Gabe. Catching it he tried to tilt to pour but only managed to get out enough to fill a third of his cup.

“Empty.” He put the cylinder back down.

“Well, Go get another, the kitchen is right behind yah.” She leaned back in the chair the front two legs became suspended.

Gabe stared into her eyes, she was unwavering. He got up and walked away to the kitchen. It didn’t take him long to actually find where she kept the drinks. The kitchen was pretty small. It had a small two basin sink and a refrigerator.  

Once he left, Rhenixa spoke up. “Hey, Captain.

Anaya made a grunt of acknowledgment as she slowly rocked with one foot.

“Back when we got captured… Yah said you had a plan?”

A plan? Gabe could overhear the two wolf girls talking from the kitchen. And this peaked his interests.

“Oh, Yeah. It went well, more or less.”

Rhenixa’s expression changed to one of you’ve-gotta-be-kidding-me. “What was it?”

Anaya came back from the chair’s back legs allowing the front to touch the floor again. “The plan was to test him.” She squinted one eye and threw up a hand. “I’m not stupid. like I would ever fall for one of Zelgrek’s plans. Though I didn’t think he’d end up dying. That was pretty impressive.”

Gabe had no idea what to make of this. At first, he felt used like he was a tool. But then, on the other hand, she literally trusted her life, Blitz’s life and Rhenixa’s life on someone she’s literally only known for a couple of hours. He began to feel an overwhelming sense of pride and as if he was wanted.

He decided now was the best time to come back into the area of celebration. He returned with two large cylindrical tubes one steal with an orange liquid beneath a glass lid and the other with a purple liquid. “Ready?”

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They had another round of ‘shots’ before Anaya inevitably lost. At which point she ended up getting extremely angry. Using her brute strength to pin him to a wall, calling him a ‘son of a Lemrex’ and dragging him to her room.

She eventually just passed out with him still under her. He didn’t really complain about it mainly from the fact that he didn’t have a room for himself or  A few hours later and this is exactly how he got in this situation now.

He took a deep breath in and out. Maneuvering his body to move overtop of Anaya most of his arm became free without disturbing her too much. But his forearm and hand still remained trapped underneath her back. Using his dominate hand he lifted her up slightly to slip from her.

He slid from her bed and walked to the door. Turning around to check on her one last time before he left. She didn’t even stir, maybe the drinking contest was a little too much. He gave a slight smile and pressed the door release button.

He continued to the bridge, spotting a familiar squid alien.

“Heya, Blitz.”

The tentacled creature turned around to the sudden noise. “Hello, Gabe.”

“You weren’t partying?”

“My body doesn’t require physical nourishment.” He left his tentacles to absent-mindedly toy with the console that was now behind him.

Gabe nodded. There was an awkward silence between the two. He placed his hands in his pocket. “What are you doing.”

Gabe’s Caloricean has gotten much better than he was when he first learned it. Mostly from just hearing the way he heard various people speaking.

“Some minor calibrations, As I also do not need to sleep. I keep the ship in check while the others are…” He paused to think of a better choice of word. “Busy.”

Then a beeping went off. A light flashed on the console. Blitz turned around as if he was reading something.

“It’s someone called Valik?”

Gabe remembered the brown haired Caloricean, it was kind of hard to forget someone who openly makes a threat to your face.

“Oh, It’s for me.”

The squid man nodded and pressed the button. The larger screen that was in the front of the cabin went from a flat black to an image of a well-dressed, excellently groomed and well-mannered wolf man.

“Ah, My boy!” He extended his arms as if he was giving a virtual hug. “I knew I could count on you!” His voice had been very enthusiastic

Gabe continued to stand with his hands in his pocket. Not really wanted to speak to him.

“With how fast Zelgrek’s men were leaving the station, I swore it was going to explode.” He gave a wide and toothy smile. The whole unnerving smile thing must’ve been a race trait. Because no matter who he saw they still looked like the big bad wolf.

“My sources tell me you fought one on one with Zelgrek, Now tell me, boy, how did you accomplish that?”

Gabe just shrugged. Some things were better left to the imagination. Especially since whoever told him about Zelgrek probably saw him holding his severed head.

“Well, my boy, I called to give my thanks, But I must go and expand my network, Toodles.”

He began to get up from his chair before he stopped midway. “Oh and one more thing. If you ever need my services to clean up some warlord’s, It's free of charge.”

The feed was cut to black. Gabe stood still, he didn’t exactly want to make hunting criminals a hobby of his.

An arm came across his shoulders giving him a freight.

“Oh, yah made friends with Valik, did yah?” A familiar mature voice came from his left ear.

“You know him?”

Gabe looked to the left to spot Anaya’s face inches from his. Her breath smelling like a tropical fruit bar.

“He isn’t my preferred source for intel, but I heard he’s good at what he does.”

She walked over to her chair and sat down. She had been wearing what she fell asleep in, a tank top without a bra underneath and a pair of black shorts.

“Hey, Captain Titties, I want to talk about that deal you agreed to.”

“Did yah want to be captain?” She said that answer without a moment of hesitation.

“No,” Gabe said just as fast. “I want collar off.”

“That’s simple.” She gave that race trademark smile. “Just pull it apart.”

“Explosives?”

“Do I look like I trade in slaves? That collar is just a tool.”

He guessed she had a point. She seemed more like the raid a cargo ship and sell the goods back to them at a higher price kinda gal.

Gabe did as he was told. The collar came off without a problem, today already was starting off pretty well.

“Hey, Blitz.” She called out still lounging in her chair.

He had been effortlessly tapping away at the console. “Yes, Cap”

“Can yah find Gabe a uniform that would fit him?”

Blitz didn’t answer back he just finished his calibrations and slithered off somewhere.

She turned back to Gabe, “Welcome to the family.” She smiled.