Memory transcription subject: Maeve, Temporary Resident of Venlil Prime.
Date [standardized human time]: Sept 15th, 2136. Early 3rd Claw.
We left the hotel room in a far better mood than when we had entered and made for the bar on the ground floor. I saw Ulmic’s familiar white spines on dark brown fur, with his grey-tipped ears and fading muzzle, nursing a glass of some translucent pink liquid alongside another empty glass. Valek halted a moment when he saw him, but continued after a gentle nudge from me.
Alvi whistled over the space for his attention, prompting him to disconnect a call he was in the middle of with hushed words. We exchanged our pleasantries as he led us back to the elevator down to the parking garage, and I was tickled at the similarities to earth. One thing I noticed were thicker walls and pillars, with a taller ceiling to allow space for arches. Thinking about it for a moment, it made sense they would need such changes in a higher gravity.
As we passed the rows of vehicles, I noticed Ulmic was leading us toward a tall white van, similar to the utility vans I would see back home. Valek and Alvi saw it as well and both stopped in their tracks, Valek becoming more incensed as Alvi started to visibly tremble. I quickly moved to their side, holding fast to Valek’s shoulder as I flipped the hem of my burka over Alvi to give her some kind of cover.
“Ulmic, uh… do you think you could have chosen a better car?”
He looked back at us with resignation and scratched the fur under his chin. “Yeah, but the only way I could get this approved was if I were ‘escorting a dangerous predator’ to the starport. It’s just a patrol car, never carried anything ‘tainted’, and it’s not carrying any gear. Kevros’ orders; ever since that debacle at Fed Cuisine, we’re under orders to be unarmed when dealing with humans.”
“It’s not just a patrol car, it’s the same kind of car you’d bring people in to get diagnosed. I’m trying to trust you, Ulmic, but you can’t seriously think-”
“It’s fine.” Valek’s voice was hoarse and grating as he walked ahead of us, making to pass Ulmic. “Besides, if he does decide to take us in, at least it won’t be a surprise.”
His tail was high and idle, but I could see the wool on his shoulders standing on end as his words dripped venom, “Right, Ash-breather?”
Ulmic glared at him with flared quills as he passed, before looking at me with thinly veiled fury, “He sits in back.”
Valek whipped around, striding back to Ulmic and standing tall, “Like Darkness I am! The only reason your sternum’s still intact is because Maeve is giving you a chance, but not me. I won’t let you get one tail closer to them than I have to!”
Ulmic stood over Valek, stepping up and nearly knocking him over, “I’m trying to be civil to you, pup, but you’re starting to prickle my quills; keep this up and we’ll see how thick that skull is.”
“Stop!!” Alvi’s shrill bleat halted the two and sent a jolt up my spine, cracking off the walls of the garage as I knelt beside her. Her ears and tail were pleading as I opened the burka for her, “Please… can we just go?”
Valek shrunk as he realized what he was doing, and Ulmic gave a huff as he plodded toward the driver’s side of the patrol car. Valek paused for Alvi and I to catch up to him, before going with Alvi to the rear-passenger door and helping her in, while I buckled my harness as we got underway.
We wove through the city cells, flowing with the rest of traffic while pedestrians had their own roadways for the most part. I watched Venlil at crossings talking with others in their herd, some looking at their pads before joining another conversation. It was… nice. Seeing people not being afraid.
How many people out there would burn you alive with a wagging tail?
I took a deep breath to stave off my anxieties and thought to fill the silence, “How’s Bernia doing? You two do anything fun since we talked?”
“Well that little incident in the breezeway meant I needed to tell her what was going on. She didn’t like that you and I talked.”
“Oof, hope you’re not sleeping on the couch for that.”
“Well she ain’t happy, but she trusts me.”
“Seems you have a talent for that!”
“It’s what happens when you’re honest. I got her some Nana’s as an apology, and we watched a few episodes of Thorns; she does love a taste of home!”
I leaned back and looked up at the glass skyscrapers sliding past. “I think we watched some of that yesterday; that’s the rural Gojid period romance right?”
“With Tark as the male lead, yeah.”
“Well, I don’t know who ‘Tark’ is, but that younger farmhand’s gonna be trouble.”
“Dol-nah? You don’t think he and Surmi are going to make it?”
I waved my hand dismissively and he seemed to balk at that, “Nooo. Ten-to-one, he’s gonna get with Tulna and there’s gonna be a pregnancy scandal arc; I’m betting like… six episodes from yesterday.”
Ulmic rumbled a belly laugh through his words, “Don’t let Bernia hear you say that! Ain’t enough anuana in Dawn Creek to heal her broken heart if Dol-nah doesn’t pair up with Surmi.”
I started laughing along with Ulmic, while Alvi piped up behind our mirth, “Well you better start loading up your freezer, ‘cause that ship ain’t leaving the launch pad.”
The car was a din of barking, huffing, and whistling as we laughed ourselves breathless. Ulmic asked me how I was so sure what was going to happen in Thorns, and I told him about human soap operas and how popular they are in many cultures.
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I was just talking to him about a few of our older ones when they were still novels, when Valek interjected, “What about The Exterminators? You watch that one, Ulmic?”
Ulmic fell silent and his ears went flat to his head as he watched Valek in his rear periphery, “No. No we don’t.”
I could hear Valek’s sneer in his words, “Why, you jealous of their competency?”
The air stank with silence, before Ulmic took a deep breath to answer, “They don’t show you what it’s like to burn a den. They always show some… big ol’ cave… that the team can surround, and get to whatever’s inside. In my almost [ 40 solar years ] of service, I never saw that; not ‘round here or Dayside, anyway.”
Another long silence, but electric; we were all hanging on his every word, so tightly that we didn't notice him pulling into a parking lot as he finished, “What I did see… far too many times… were little burrows, for little predators; the biggest predator I ever saw - here or Dayside - came up to my knee. A problem, sure, especially for pups that don’t pay attention, but… Anyway they never show you what happens when you find the pack. The cubs, they… They don’t hiss… or growl… or roar. They scream.”
He drew a shaking breath, staring at the steering wheel as he put the car into park, “They just scream.”
I didn’t know what to say to that; words failed me as I watched Ulmic seem to disconnect from this world, only to snap back, like only just remembering reality. He sniffed away some muck and cleared his throat, quickly undoing his harness. “We’re here! There’s a, uh… a hill looking over the Creek there. I'll be able to keep an eye on ya from the bench here; you three… Take as long as you need.”
Ulmic was out of the car and had closed his door with his final word, leaving us to our silence; after a moment he stood straight and walked confidently to a nearby bench, his confidence undercut by nearly collapsing into the empty seat.
Valek’s voice was weak behind me, “I… I didn’t mean-”
“No, Valek; you did.” I didn’t mean for my words to be so hard, but they were. I looked behind me and saw he was downcast, and I regretted what I said; Alvi looked apologetic as she took his hand into hers. I was suddenly drowning in the claustrophobia of the car, so I hastily unbuckled my harness which prompted the other two to do the same.
We gave Ulmic a wide berth as we marched off to the hill, Alvi leading Valek and I. A rush of wind greeted us as we crested the hill, billowing my burka behind me so much, I needed to pull my veil down to keep anyone from seeing me. I watched Valek as he stood facing the wind, letting his shaggy wool flicker and flow as he opened his mouth slightly, tasting the breeze as it came. Alvi flopped onto the turquoise grass with a sigh, splaying out so all of her dark wool could soak up everything that the sun would give her. I reveled in their relief, taking in the sight ahead of me as I breathed the cool air. A broad, slow river bent around the grassy hill and I could make out a few herds walking on the undoubtedly SoftStreet path at the water’s edge. The Venlillian sun was a kaleidoscope of light bursting sunbeams from billowing clouds as they raced away from it, in their constant migration toward the cooler Night. The sun burned red like a disk of hot nickel in the sky, wreathed by yellow fire and bathing us in its white light, filling the world around me with what color I could discern through my veil.
I sat on the ground beside Alvi and pulled at Valek’s paw to sit with us, after which he resumed his wind-swept reverie while Alvi repositioned herself to lay her head on my lap, and I adjusted my legs to make it easier for her. We sat there for a long time, enjoying the moment of… simple quiet. The city had been so much, even setting aside the more unsavory parts. It was good to just take a moment.
Eventually, Valek laid his head against my shoulder, “I lost it again…”
Alvi and I gave him our attention, letting him continue, “I’m sorry for what I said. To both of you, and to Ulmic. I… think I know that I’m not okay… But I am trying to be better. I know your graces have their limits, I know you can’t be - shouldn’t be - patient with me forever. But I hope… I hope you can see that I’m trying.”
Alvi reached up and took his hand in hers as she blinked slowly, just like Valek had done so many times for her and those around us, while I laid my good hand over theirs.
We sat there a long time together, watching the river, until I felt Valek’s weight sag down the front of my shoulder, startling him awake as he gave a deep yawn; Alvi giggled from my lap and yawned herself, before I succumbed to the tightness under my eyes and yawned as well.
“This is nice…” Alvi all but whispered.
Valek and I voiced our agreement before he continued, “I can’t begin to tell you how excited I am to get home. I’ve always loved the city; Hidden Plains, Dawn Creek… I love the activity and the noise, the people and all the things to do! But this trip has been…”
His words hung in the air, and I was the first to catch them, “We started out really well! The Arcade was just amazing, and I was glad to try more of your food. I’m glad I’ve made a new friend, even if the circumstances of it were less fun. But I think my favorite part has been waking up with you two.”
Alvi mewled as my nails found the skin of her shoulder, her voice lazy and flowing as she fought her own fatigue, “I don’t know how you two get out of bed in the morning when this is what you have to leave behind…” before her eyes snapped open and urgency sparked through her voice, “How’re we going to tell your parents?”
Valek lifted from my shoulder to look out at the river, his ears swaying worriedly as he thought. “... I don’t know. Mom would be fine with it, I think. Dad’s really warmed up to you, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t worried. I don’t want to keep this from them; honestly, I’m not even sure I could if I tried!”
I spoke with a lilt of humor in my voice, “Well, they’ve had to have noticed something by the time we left, they’re not clueless!”
“No…” Valek sighed, “They’re not; they might have caught on to Alvi and I, but you would be a surprise, Maeve. And I’ve had enough surprises this harvest…” his voice faded as he trailed off in thought.
“What if…” Alvi spoke up from beneath us, “What if we just gave it a paw or two? I’ll miss sleeping with the both of you, but that’ll just give me something to look forward to! We get back, check the winds, and decide from there?”
I grumbled in annoyance, “I don’t like to make current problems into future problems, but you make a good point. What do you think, Valek?”
Valek huffed a chuckling laugh, “Let my parents make the first move, letting me not have to worry about dropping this on their heads? Wring my tail, why don’t ‘cha.”
Alvi affectionately clawed his leg which made him wince, prompting them to stick their tongues out at each other which made my heart melt, “Oh, just kiss already. Geez, with how much you all use your tongue I’m amazed Valek was so surprised the first time I kissed him.”
“Well, excuuuse me, if we think biting each other’s faces wouldn’t be a love language,” Alvi shot back in her high sing-song sarcasm, “Teach us, oh wonderful enlightened predator, how does one chew their mate’s face properly?”
Valek was laughing along with her by now, but I was happy to educate, “First off, if your kiss involves ‘chewing’ you’re probably doing it wrong. We mostly use our lips, and sometimes tongue if we want to be more intimate. Kissing in general is for established couples; you don’t kiss your boss or your parents, not like you would your mate.”
“I think Alvi may need a demonstration, Maeve.” Valek chuckled beside me.
“Not in a public park with a cop over our shoulder.”
The reminder made Valek stop mid-laugh, only whimpering a small,
“Ah. Right.”