A giant male, ashen black, Baxxid stands still at the front desk of his market stall watching a flock of black birds fighting over some crumbs. Every single day for the past year the baxxid followed the same routine of standing silently at the front desk, staring out into the market at the black birds fighting over the leftovers of the day. Each day passed by with very little business and very little distraction. Just him by himself, his market, and the ever-bickering birds.
After what felt like an eternity of nothing, the baxxid acquired the random thought to hire an employee. Even if his market didn’t get much business, the thought of having a set of hands around made him excited. If nothing else, the baxxid had hoped that having someone around would relieve him of his crushing boredom.
“So Tet, are you going to stare out at the dead market all day or are you gonna relax a bit and join me for a round?”
Tet’s mind snaps back to reality as the flock of black birds he was staring at disperse into the air. The giant baxxid turns its gaze to the right at a young woman sitting at a small table a couple feet away in the corner of the market stall, shuffling a deck of cards. The young woman wears thoroughly worn leathers and gear looking like a more refined version of the wild bandits you’d find lurking the hills far from the Teeth’s grasp. Her hair flows red but is messy and unkempt, a self proclaimed drifter and vagabond. The baxxid still felt overwhelmed by the woman’s sheer presence and sharp wit, the same reasons for Tet hiring her only two days ago.
“HhhnnnKaylaaa, but what iffff a cusssstomer coommmeess?” said Tet as he gently rubs the top of his foreclaws together
“ppphhfff, Tet we’re a couple feet from the front of the stall, iffin somebody needs yah they can use their own damn eyes” retorted Kayla dealing out a hand to both sides of her table, “How about for right now we just care about our sanity, ok? Come on over here and at least play me one round. Howaboutit?”
The Baxxid began to rub his forearms together a little bit harder, “hhhhnnnbut I don’t knowww how to play cardssss” “Don’t matter, come on I’ll show you the ropes yah big scaredy cat” said Kayla as she rocks herself back and forth on the back legs of her chair.
Tet takes one last gaze back at the empty market plaza before slithering over to the opposite end of Kayla’s table. Tet curls up his bottom half into a sitting position before looking down at the face down cards on the table.
“What’s wrong?” says Kayla still rocking on her chair before plopping down and looking at the table, “Oh! Shit sorry. Here, we’ll play with both hands up and I’ll deal and move cards for yah. It’ll be just like work! Hah!”
If Tet had the ability to smile he would, instead he rubs his foreclaws together an utters a, “Hnnnnthank you for your kindness” in typical Baxxid politeness
Kayla gives a simple smile back to the large armored snake in front of her. In the moment of that smile something happens for Tet. A feeling of fuzzy warmth creeps its way from the front to the back of the baxxid’s elongated skull. It is a feeling that Tet has no recollection of ever feeling before. The warmth continues along his body and claws as little pin pricks jump across his plated skin. Tet continues to replay the image of Kayla’s smile over and over again in his head.
*”It feels…..good” thought Tet slowly to himself
“Tet! Did you catch all that? Tet?” says Kayla as she snaps her fingers in front of the baxxid’s uncompromisingly still face.
“Hnnnyesss” rumbled Tet as he lookes down at the table
Kayla crosses her arms and stares at Tet unconvinced
“HnnnI meannnn nnnoooo” said Tet drooping his head defeated
Kayla lets out a sigh before dropping her arms and leaning in with a playful punch to one of Tet’s foreclaws, “You know it’s a good thing I like yah boss. Now I’ll start back from the beginning, each player starts with seven cards…….”
As Kayla rambled off the rules to Tet, the baxxid simply nodded and watched her hands move cards around. Tet picks up on the rules in precise detail as his mind wanders to other things. Tet breathes in the air, catching Kayla’s scent on the wind as he watches the way the woman before him carries herself, the direct yet unrefined way that she talks. All of it made Tet’s heart flutter; yet the giant couldn’t understand whether the feelings he felt were from years of loneliness or whether they were genuine. All he knew was that Kayla’s presence made him feel something he’d never felt before.
“Dammit! Are you serious!?” exclaimed Kayla in frustration standing up from the table
Tet snapped back to reality, looking out at the market as the sky had grown several shades darker since Kayla started dealing cards
“You beat me five times in a row! I haven’t been beaten in years!” said Kayla
“Sorry” said Tet hiding the tip of his muzzle behind his claws
“Sorry nuthin! I don’t know if they even allow baxxid to gamble down at the bars but we really should get you in their sometime, you’d probably wipe the table’s clean your first try!” said Kayla with excitement.
Tet straightens up, “Hnnnn I don’t thhhink thhhhey let us in for thhhaat exact reasonnn”
Kayla yawns and leans back in her chair again, “Hmm that’s a shame, whelp…. we going to close shop for the night or are you expecting some late night discount tool shoppers to come around?”
Tet looks around the empty shop before sighing, “Hnnnsure let’s clossse it up”
Kayla sets her chair back on all fours while looking quizzically at the baxxid, “Tet, why do you run a market? You sound so….sad. Why are you doing this to yourself?”
Tet slithers away from the table and pulls down the curtain for the front window of the store, “HnnnnnIam not sssure, my family hassss alwayss beennn of merchants. It jusssst kinda felt like the only thinnng to do”
Kayla collects her cards off the table and stands up, “But that’s not true…you don’t have to do this”
“HhhhnnnnI knnnnow” said Tet pathetically lowering his head
The two stand in silence for a couple minutes before Kayla walks over and places a hand on one of Tet’s foreclaws, “goodnight Tet” she says in a quiet tone. Tet nods his head as Kayla walks out of the stall and into the rapidly darkening night. Tet leans down to the foreclaw Kayla touched and breathes in the faint smell left behind. Tet feels a shiver go along his spine before turning around and leaving into the night.
Tet tosses and turns in his undergarden den unable to sleep for the past couple hours. Tet lets out a sigh as his mind is filled with the image of Kayla. Tet raps a foreclaw against his head trying to free the image from his mind. No matter what he tries, Tet can’t help but feel an attraction to the harsh spoken human. Tet tries his best to analyze the situation with a good round of baxxid mathematics. After about an hour of contemplation Tet feels like he finally found the answer. Tet didn’t feel so much attracted to her physically as he did mentally. Everything about her was so unrefined and direct. Kayla’s energetic attitude just felt so….so……..refreshing. Tet’s entire life had been mostly spent around other baxxid, often surrounded by the common over polite and anal ways of his fellow brothers and sisters. Tet withdrew from life, following in his family’s footsteps rather than creating his own. Kayla, it seemed was the first person in his life to challenge all that.
*”But a human…….reallly?” Tet thought miserably to himself, “There’s no way she’d ever agree to go out with me……I mean, a human...that’s just absurd….right?”
The empty den gives no reply to Tet’s thoughts.
*”Maybe my loneliness is just driving me slowly mad…forcing me to want her” thought Tet staring up at the ceiling
A pebble falls from the ceiling and bounces off the front of Tet’s face
Tet sighs and coils himself up once more as the scent of Kayla wafts lightly to his nostrils. Tet brings the foreclaw that Kayla touched earlier up to his face an breathes in the faint scent. Tet’s muscles relax as he feels his mind calm down. Tet groans in frustration as he slowly begins to drift off to sleep.
The next couple weeks roll by in a marathon of selling the likes Tet had never seen before. The market place remained bustling week after week and Tet’s sales were higher than ever before. Tet began to feel useless as energetic Kayla bounced around between hauling heavy freight, managing the backroom, and haggling with customers. Tet simply sat back and stared in amazement as Kayla haggled the customers with clear precision and skill. As much as Tet tried to stay by the sidelines week after week and keeping thoughts of Kayla at bay, incident after incident had him swept off his back claws. In one incident Kayla had fallen off a high shelf in the back room. With lighting speed Tet had caught Kayla in his arms. “How sweet, my night in shining armor has come to my rescue” said Kayla playfully giving Tet a peck on the side of the face before jumping down and rushing back to the front to help a customer. In that moment, Tet felt like his mind snap as the same familiar warmth caressed along his head. No more would Tet suppress his feelings of attraction for Kayla. Tet no longer cared that she was a human. He wanted to be with her, no matter the cost. Tet was going to show Kayla that he wanted to be with her.
The thought suddenly filled Tet with dread.
Tet was no skilled linguist or romancer; he was just a lonely baxxid with a shop. How would he go about letting Kayla know his intentions? Tet had never felt this way about anyone. He thought on it for a while before coming to a conclusion.
….A very baxxid conclusion
During the following weeks, Tet tries to follow every form of baxxid mating and etiquette whenever in the shop with Kayla. Many of the changes Tet makes to his stance, width of his mandibles, position of his foreclaws are normally lost or too subtle for humans to pick up. Similarly, Kayla was lost as well, often making a witty remark whenever Tet tried to indirectly show his affection until one day….
“Hey big guy, Me and you. Let’s go on a date” said Kayla matter-of-factly
Tet’s mandibles droop as an electric shock goes up his spine, “Hnnn…I….uh….a date? Withhhh me? uhhhh hhhhnnnnn” Tet rumbles quietly
Kayla rolls her eyes, “Oh don’t play stupid, you’ve been getting flustered and acting weird all past week
“Hhhhnnnnnflustered?” weakly rumbled Tet as he covers the front of his face with his foreclaws
Kayla smiles, “Yeah, just like that. You know, you baxxid are pretty easy to read once you observe one long enough”
“Hnnnnnnyou’ve beennnn observinnnng me?” said Tet hiding even more of his face.
Kayla walks up to Tet and raps a knuckle on one of Tet’s foreclaws, “ Hey, I didn’t make it this far by letting small details and body language slip through the cracks”
“Hnnnnnoooohhh nnnnoo” whimpered Tet as he hides the rest of his face from view.
“And after all these months of watchin yah, you know what I see?” said Kayla putting her hands on her hips.
“Hhhhhnnnnnn?” Tet muttered as he began to shrink down into the floor.
“I see a baxxid in need of a friend”
Tet slowly moves his foreclaws away from his face, revealing to him Kayla standing with a helping hand reaching out.
Tet remains still, unsure of what to do next, “Hhhnnnnfriend?”
“Or yah know, maybe something more iffin yah play your cards right” said Kayla with a wink.
Tet feels the surge of warmth along his head once more as he hides his face in embarrassment behind his claws
Kayla sighs, grabbing a chair from a nearby table and sitting down next to the baxxid, curled in a defensive pile on the floor.
“You know, I get it. I am a human. Maybe I am coming on too strong or maybe I just look hideous to you but I am who I am and there ain’t no changing that. I thought that between that indirect display you’ve been putting on for the past couple weeks it’d be easier for me to just up and break the ice first. Iffin nothing else I just thought we could have a little fun” Says Kayla with her arms resting on her knees.
Tet slowly uncovers his face and brings himself upright, looking at Kayla, “Hhhhnnnnyyoou liiike me?”
Kayla nods, “And whatabout you mister snake? You like me right? Human girls not off the menu?”
Tet nervously rubs his foreclaws together, once again trying to obscure his face, “Hhhhhhhyyyyesssss” Tet quietly hisses out.
Kayla jumps up from her chair and links an arm with the baxxid, “Well, its settled then, you come on out with me and have some fun. I promise not to push you into anything you don’t want to do. No pressure. Sound good?”
“Hnnnngoood” agreed Tet with a nod
Tet could feel his head swirl with waves upon waves of new emotions he had never felt before in his life. He felt energetic, eager, light headed, alive.
The two quickly shut down the shop before walking in the direction of the bars.
Kayla wraps her arm through Tet’s once more, leaning on him lightly, “How about me and you try see if we can sweep the tables at the bars till they throw us out, then we can grab some drinks and head out by the scenic water for a start.”
Tet lets out a rare chuckle, feeling full of bravado, yearning to do something stupid and fun
“Hhhhhnnnnnsoundsss funnnnn…..Thank you Kayla” says Tet
Kayla jumps up and gives a quick peck on the side of Tet’s head. Tet in a burst of spontaneity, scoops Kayla up in his arms. Kayla bursts out into a fit of giggles as Tet quickly follows suit, the two moving off into the night full of joy in each other’s beautifully odd company.
