SPHERE FIVE: MARS
Steelfur and Thornbreaker squirmed in the baptismal font as Reverend Westwind anointed their foreheads with blessed oils. Gildedtongue was beaming with pride, gently holding the infants' heads out of the water as they were both blessed. “I baptise you, Thornbreaker, child of Gildedtongue and Thallon Rosefur, and you, Steelfur, child of Gildedtongue and Thallon Rosefur in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. May they guide you in your paths towards righteousness and compassion, and the teachings of Jesus Christ and his Apostles.”
Cornfield was quiet, holding hir hands behind hir back, watching the ritual going on around hir. The baptism was a quiet affair, merely Gildedtongue, hir children, and Cornfield acting as witness and Godparent, with Westwind's approval. Patchwork was on hand as well, ready to help hir mother with hir duties.
Steelfur was passed to Patches easily enough as the teen dried off the cub, giving hir belly a playful tickle to make the grey chakat giggle happily. Thornbreaker, however, had mischief in hir mind. A chakat kitten not wishing to be caught was a difficult prey on its own, but the adults quickly learned a new lesson that day: there was little more evasive than a kitten covered in oil and water. Thorny had leapt out of Westwind's hands and onto the floor before scrambling to the back of the room. Hir tiny, sharp claws dug into a banner as shi mewled in playful defiance of the recent ritual.
Flanking the cub, Gildedtongue managed to grab the leaping kitten whilst Cornfield took the direct charge. The mother managed to wrap hir good top that Dreamweaver’s parents gave hir around the cub, letting hir have enough grip on the oily fur to keep hir still for Patchwork to come in and dry hir off. Gildy sighed, looking over hir top, claw holes through the fabric, anointing oils soaked into the weave, and a final defiant urination saturating the outfit certainly rendered the item useless. “Oh, I’m so sorry, Gildedtongue,” Westwind said, frowning at the death of the top.
“No, no, it’s okay,” Gildy said, taking off the light cotton fabric, blushing hotly at hir exposed nudity to hir friends, “I mean, I guess this is one of the advantages of the clothing optional nature of the planet; at least less things are ruined.”
The four started to laugh, Patchwork offering Gildedtongue hir cubs back, who, after their strange bath, were content to be back in their mother’s arms, especially with hir bare bosom leaving easy access to a meal. Westwind nodded to the group, leading them to hir office. Patchwork arrived with a kettle and some mugs for tea. “So, how are things going, Gildy? I mean, don’t see you too much outside of Eighth Days,” Westwind asked, nodding to hir daughter.
“I guess okay,” Gildedtongue replied, seeing Westwind pull a bag of biscuits out of hir desk, giving a couple to each of the people. “Work is, well, it’s income,” shi started, looking out of the window, “Can’t say that it is at all fulfilling. God, honestly, at this point I’d welcome the inane prattling of know-it-all teenagers too thick to let any lesson sink in rather than asking people all the time ‘will that be chip or credit?’”
Cornfield put a hand on the older chakat’s shoulder, giving a gentle squeeze of hir shoulder, “Look, I think you need to have a bit of fun. I’ve got Year’s End off; how about I take you and the kittens to the park, see the fireworks and enjoy the celebration?”
The youngest adult chakat shook hir head, “Oh, no. That isn’t possibly a relaxing evening. I’ll meet you all over there, and I’ll take a look after Thornbreaker and Steelfur.” Patchwork smiled, nibbling on a chocolate biscuit before drinking hir tea.
“Um, thank you, I’ll certainly get you some credits for your time, of course,” Gildedtongue offered, though Patchwork shook hir head, declining it fully. Gildy sighed, defeated into having to accept the charity wholeheartedly, much to the chuckling of hir friends.
“Well, if you insist, Gildy, I’ll let you buy me a drink or two,” Cornfield smiled. It did make the leonine chakat feel a load better, and less like a beggar. The group continued to drink their tea whilst Thornbreaker and Steelfur curled up to sleep.
-+-+-
“So, you were out all day, I see,” Jadestripe commented when Gildedtongue came inside, “Missing your top as well.” The tiger’s tone was more observational than accusatory. Gildy gave a grunt of agreement to hir sister, heading upstairs to hir room. Shi wasn’t quite in the mood to talk with hir sister, not that shi’d have much to discuss that wasn’t a forbidden topic. The cubs were squirming in their mother’s arms in Gildy’s bedroom, their nap had re-invigorated them for more play, which Gildy didn’t hamper, but was too exhausted to help, opting to be the perfect mountain for the children’s imagination.
Year’s End was around the corner, and the town was already decorated heavily. The alien planet operated under a different time measurement than Terra, longer days, more rotations of the planet per longer revolution. However, this didn’t stop the primarily Terran population’s desires for familiar holidays. Year’s End became a sort of amalgamation of Christmas and New Year’s. It was a time of merriment and gift-giving, quickly commercialized by the merchant class. Still, not one mascot had been chosen for the holiday, many opting for a chakat in Father Christmas garb.
Such iconography were absent in the streets of Hume. Of course there were lights and tinsel in the shops and around the doors of homes, but the gaudy twinkling lightshows of the late 20th and early 21st centuries became largely a thing remaining on Earth. The shops’ soundtracks kept up the usual Pop music, save for the occasional attempt at Year’s End carols, which came off as forgettable. Despite all that, Gildedtongue had to remind hirself to not wish people a Happy Christmas, feeling the siren’s call of the Yule.
Getting such an importantly lucrative night off would not be easy. The store owner, Mr. Ichario wanted most of his manpower when people would want quick access to snacks, soda, liquor and contraceptives. “You’re a good worker, Gildedtongue. I’m not sure how I’d feel with you not on the floor. I can keep the kids outside changing powercells, but you’ll work fine in here at the register.”
Taking a deep breath, the chakat responded to the ferret, “I understand that, however you must have noticed I work better in the mornings. I think you’ll find that if I worked both the morning of Year’s End, as well as First Landing, where we’ll have the mostly hung-over and otherwise under-the-weather customers things would work out better for you, since they’d be promptly served and happy in times when they’d otherwise not be happy at all. This would also allow for you and the rest of the crew to sleep in that day.” The proprietor ran the numbers in his head for a moment, the lanky critter contorting his spine slowly before sighing.
“I'll think about it. Don't say I've never done anything for you,” he said to the older employee, who couldn’t help but smile and nod. Gildedtongue stepped out of hir workplace, a small spring in hir step that didn’t stop when hir toes crushed the fallen snow heaped around the station.
As the front door opened, Gildy saw Jadestripe in the den, playing with Steelfur as Thornbreaker was taking a nap on one of the cushions. “Well, you're in high spirits today,” the white tiger smiled, “What's got your tail touching the clouds?”
“Oh, it's nothing, I've got time off for Last Day's evening, and, well, I think I've been asked out on a date.”
Jadestripe smiled, cocking hir head, “Oh, a date? Well, didn't take you too long, I see. So, who's the lucky one?”
Gildedtongue blushed again, stroking some of the red and silver hairs out of hir face, frizzled from the melting snowflakes near hir scalp, “Cornfield, shi's an officer of the police department.”
“Hmmmm, a police officer? Well, it is certainly a useful member of society, and glad that you're courting a chakat. Was getting worried with you being with badgers and fox'taurs and humans all the time.”
“Is there something wrong with other Terrans?”
Jadestripe gave a diplomatic laugh, “Oh, of course not, for the most part. But, you and I both know that chakats do need other chakats and chakat-kin to survive. You should know more than anyone else, aren't I right?”
Gildedtongue paused, hir ears flicking as shi crossed hir arms, “Jadestripe? How much do you know about the way I got here?”
By this time, Steelfur had run out of hir own steam as Jadestripe set hir with hir twin to sleep, “I was approached by one of my co-workers in Immigration. Your name had been brought up at prospected candidate for a political refugee, and Karole asked if I would be your sponsor. Well, that wasn't a hard decision. Though, did take you a long while to get here.”
The younger chakat nodded, the conversation having gone into the kitchen as Jadestripe poured hirself another steaming glass of voxxee. “I see. And sorry about the wait, but, as you know, pirates tend to put dampers on anyone's trips.” Gildedtongue was satisfied that Jadestripe was just another pawn in this whole mess.
“Was there something I was supposed to know?” Jade asked, hir own curiosity piqued.
Gildedtongue shook hir head, “No, no, not really. I guess I was just wondering how you reacted when my name came up, I guess.”
“Just happy that you were leaving that awful place and coming home.” Jadestripe smiled wide, putting hir hand on Gildedtongue's, squeezing it.
“Yeah, thanks. Anyway, Jade, I think I'm gonna take a nap. See you later this evening.” Gildy made hir way upstairs to hir room. Shi wondered about the scientists that were going over what little data they had from the ship, and shi got worried about what they found, if hir friends aboard the Purgatorio were safe.
“Yeah, because of you, Matilda, Saldura and Thallon, Susan, Zajac and the rest are probably on a Federation Gulag, and it's just a matter of time before they come for you,” Creekstripe chuckled in Gildedtongue's ear.
“If they did, wouldn't they have come for me first? They know exactly where I am. Living with a government official doesn't make me inconspicuous.” Gildedtongue told hir personal spectre.
“They might be biding their time, finding out what you know.”
Gildedtongue was momentarily worried as shi scared hirself, then shook hir head, “Why waste time? They can probably forcibly glean whatever's in my head if they really wanted to. We've seen how... grey the Federation can be.”
Whether it was true or not, it did seem to shut up Gildedtongue's subconscious, letting the leonine chakat curl up to sleep.
-+-+-
Gildedtongue took the long way around Hume island to Mephidae park. Stopping at the Church of Eden with Thornbreaker and Steelfur in toe. Patchwork was there as the cubs gurgled at the sight of their frequent Eighth Day cubsitter. “Thank you again, Patches. Though, why aren't you out celebrating today?”
Patchwork smiled, taking Gildedtongue's shoulder bag as the two made their way inside, leaving the cubs in their warm flank-pack home before they crawled themselves out. “It's not a problem, really. Heh, I know it's boring, but, honestly a bit of a homebody, I guess. Besides, I've got a lot of studying to do. University acceptance exams are next week and I better have all of my Ts crossed and Is dotted.”
Nodding, Gildedtongue smiled, giving Patchwork a hug, “Well, I know getting into the Federal Monastery was a bugger, but I'm more than confident you'll do well!”
“Thanks!” Patches smiled, “But, you'd better get your butt back to the PPTV. The AI isn't gonna sit around forever! I'll see you in the morning! 0900!”
Gildedtongue nodded as shi heard the transport give a warning honk of its horn, bidding Patches, Thorny, and Steel a good evening before jogging hir way back to the stop and back on.
Cornfield was in hir civilian outfit, waiting by the stop as Gildedtongue stepped out. Shi gave the red-haired chakat a hug and it made Gildy almost melt in those strong, powerful arms. “Glad you made it. I think you had the right idea, I think my parking space is further away than my house is from here.”
Gildy laughed, “Well, I'm glad to see you too, Cornfield.” Shi purred as the hug was disengaged, looking around the snowy hills behind the waist-high wrought-iron fence.
The park was full of bustling activity. Vendors at booths were calling out to sell drinks, food, and trinkets. Entertainers danced and played music with some acrobats performing feats of agility and grace. Cornfield held onto Gildedtongue’s hand, chuckling at the older ‘kat’s look of awe and wonder. “Did they not have any festivals in the Kingdom?”
“Oh, several,” Gildedtongue blinked back to reality, looking back at the off-duty police officer, “but, I guess it’s still rather new to me to see so many other chakats and other morphs.” Gildedtongue paused as shi looked around, “Well, morphs engaged in the festivities. Most of the time they're the ones cleaning or the target of games.”
“Target?”
Gildedtongue shrugged, “I mean, nothing horrible. Dunk booths, paintball galleries, that sort.”
The officer shook hir head, “Seems our definitions of horrible aren't quite the same.” They stopped in front of a food booth, and as was promised, Cornfield let Gildedtongue buy the two chakats a beer. “Thanks, mate.”
“No, thank you, Cornfield. Seriously, I've been helped and supported and almost coddled my entire time here, that I was feeling as useless as a newborn cub,” Gildedtongue looked down at hir plastic 'stein' of amber, “Just need a few things to say that I'm not totally helpless.”
Laughing, Cornfield patted the older chakat's shoulder, “Well, I'm certainly not one to turn down a perfectly good beer, no matter who it's from. But, I understand, and I know you're not just some helpless cub. Time are just tough.”
Gildedtongue nodded as they walked through the crowd. A stage was set up in one part of the park for several bands to play for the crowds. Checking hir watch, it was only 17:65, the night still was relatively young. “So, Cornfield, I'm glad you invited me to this, but, don't you have any mates that would want to be here with you?”
Cornfield blushed, taking another drink of hir beer, “Ah, no, you've caught me between companions, really. So, I'm kinda single right now. Not that that's too odd, really. Heh, the Force doesn't leave too much time for dating.”
Gildedtongue nodded, “And, well, my mates are off in space right now...”
“Yeah...” Cornfield trailed off. Gildy looked around for a moment, moving closer to the officer. It was hard to pick up hir emotions empathically, with how untrained shi was. The number of people surrounding them didn't help either. Shi reached to hold Cornfield's free hand, the officer looked back into Gildedtongue's face as they stood in silence for a moment, Gildedtongue taking in a deep breath.
“LA LA LA TA DEE de Tee DA DOO YATTA VATTA WATTA!” echoed loudly inside of Gildedtongue's head, making hir clutch hir skull. Cornfield also faultered, splaying hir ears as the remainder of hir beer was crushed in hir palm.
“Jesu, Maria et Josef! What the hell is that?” Gildedtongue asked as hir ears splayed some more. Many of the other people were stopped dead in their tracks as the psychic noise rang through their brains.
“Some jag-off telepath is probably utterly smashed and 'singing' at the top of their projection...” growled Cornfield. This continued for several more minutes that masqueraded as eternities when it was stopped as suddenly as it began. “Ugh, I think our people found them.”
“That must be difficult,” Gildedtongue said, flicking hir ears despite the original annoyance not having passed through them.
Cornfield shrugged, “For a non-telepath, yeah, but if you've got even an inkling of the talent, you can learn to recognize and follow a source. Still, takes some practice.” Cornfield looked over hir top, covered in beer, “Well, I'd say this top has seen better days.”
Gildedtongue nodded, chuckling, “Well, an old Terran proverb says that a party that doesn't send you home ragged and dripping wasn't much of a party at all.”
Laughing, Cornfield ruffled Gildedtongue's mane as the two resumed their walk. Stopping at a skunk'taur's booth, they tried their chance on a ring toss. Both cut their losses after a small handful of FedCred coins were lost and they had a keychain to their spoils. “I think hy dyed hys paw-mark black to hide his telekinesis...” grumbled Cornfield, but neither pushed the topic.
“ATTENTION ATTENDANTS! THE FIREWORK DISPLAY WILL BEGIN IN TEN MINUTES!” another 'voice' rang through both chakat's ears, making them both grumble.
Growling, Gildedtongue flicked hir ears gently, “I'm going to assume that would be an authorized use of a mass telepath message?”
“Probably,” Cornfield said, sighing softly.
“Still annoying, Cornfield.” Gildedtongue said, looking around for a moment as they made their way up the nearest hill to watch the display. “So, um, should I just keep with 'Cornfield, or is there any nickname I should know about?”
“Oh, around the station, I'm often called C.F. or 'Fie.'” shi smirks close to Gildedtongue, “Call me Corny and you'll get a stunner shoved so far up your tailhole I'll be zapping your tonsils.”
Gildedtongue meeped quietly, but the officer started to laugh, letting Gildedtongue chuckle as well. The first boom started the firework display. Bright flowers of red, gold, green and indigo became a bouquet in the sky. Gildedtongue looked over at Cornfield, the explosions in the air illuminating hir golden fur.
Shi had to act. The mood was right, there wasn't any other distractions. Gildedtongue took in a deep breath and leaned against Cornfield, getting the officer's attention as shi turned to look at Gildedtongue. The older chakat closed hir eyes pursed hir lips and pressed them against Cornfield's.
Shi could feel Cornfield's shock. It didn't dissipate, but rather filled with awkwardness as Gildedtongue pulled back. Cornfield's face was flushed as hir blue eyes looked away. Gildedtongue's ears splayed, slumping forward like a released marionette, “Sorry,” shi could only mutter.
Shaking hir head, Cornfield petted hir friend's shoulder, “No, no, it's not your fault, Gildedtongue. I just, well, I don't quite feel that way. I'm sorry if I was leading you on.”
“I guess I should have figured. I mean, well...” Gildedtongue stammered, barely hearing anything else under the cackling of Creekstripe as hir long tail drooped onto the cold, wet dead grass.
Taking Gildedtongue's hands, Cornfield shook hir head, “Gildy, you're a good and pretty chakat. I just, well, I just, I'm not much for parenting, really.” Cornfield sighed quietly, looking away, “Not that I don't like you, and not that I hate Thornbreaker or Steelfur, but, I just really don't see kittens as a part of my future.”
Gildedtongue opened up hir mouth for a moment, about to respond with 'give it time, you might feel differently later,' but shi managed to catch hirself in time. It's the same sort of dismissive platitude that Jadestripe would say about Gildy's faith, the same sort of thing that the child-free chakat must hear all the time hirself. Taking in another breath, Gildy smiled to Cornfield, “I understand. I hope at least we can still be friends, though?”
The light in the officer's eyes grew brighter than the fireworks going off nearby, “I'd really like that.” The two stood quietly, watching the end of the fireworks show. The chakat felt a rumble in hir pocket as shi pulled out hir mini datapad. Jadestripe was calling as Gildedtongue blinked, answering it.
A rather peeved face was on the other line, Jade's stripes were screwed to a scowl as shi growled quietly, “Come home. We need to talk.” With that, the image was blipped out. The two chakats on the other line remained dumbfounded for a few moments.
“Well, I guess it's been a good evening,” C.F. said to hir feet, feeling more awkward than earlier. “I mean, I'm sure things should be okay, right?”
Gildedtongue shrugged, “I guess things should be okay. I mean, I certainly didn't leave a mess or anything.” Shi and Cornfield hugged tightly, smiling a little, “Still, I'm glad we shared this, Cornfield. I'll talk with you later?” Cornfield nodded as Gildedtongue took off.
The ride home was interesting, to say the least. The PPTV was more or less a drunk-tank, ferrying people back home less than able to do so under their own volition. At least people tended to not try to lean on the chakat as they kept to themselves in their parts of the vehicle. Shi thought of going to the church to pick up hir children, but Patches wasn't expecting hir until the morning. If things weren't going poorly, shi didn't want to worry Patchwork, and if they weren't going well, shi didn't want hir children nearby.
The lights were still on when Gildedtongue got back to Jadestripe's home. Hir hearts were both pounding as shi walked the stone pathway to the front door. “Hello? I'm back. What's wrong, Jade?”
Jadestripe was in the den, looking up at hir younger sister, “I received a call earlier. A call from a church that said they were looking after your children tonight.” Jade started to approach Gildedtongue, “Really, a church? Are you trying to get your children as fucked up as you are?”
Gildy realized shi was caught, that shi was expecting this, but it still felt like a slap in the face. “I really don't think that the church is going to fuck them up. The Reverend is a good person!”
Jadestripe grumbled, starting to pace around, “I can't believe it. I really can't. I swear, you staying there so long has utterly corrupted you, thinking that some human blight would possibly do anything but horrid things!” shi sighed, “As your sponsor, I'm to report back that you are becoming more rehabilitated and suited to live here. I honestly can't, in good conscious, report that if you're doing things like this!”
Gildedtongue's claws dug into the carpeting beneath hir, “You don't bitch about the Caitian faiths, you don't complain about the Rakshani's, the Voxxan's. But if there's a Christian, a Jew, a Buddhist, a Muslim out there, then you come out claws bared! What the fuck?”
Rolling hir eyes, Jadestripe grumbled, “Because have you seen what humans have done? The wars, the killing, the hatred? You of all people should know this more than anyone!”
“And everyone else in this galaxy, their hands are clean? You're more delusional than you think I am if you think that!”
“Of course not, but they're so much older than humans, they have more to teach than Earthlings could even comprehend.” Jadestripe sighed, “Humans just don't have the drive to better themselves like that, especially ones who cling hopelessly to such... fairy tales.” The white tiger folded hir arms, “Proudroar is en route now to save your cubs, and tomorrow the Society is going to try and stamp out this blemish on our island. It had its time coming, but this expedites our plans.”
Gildedtongue was gobsmacked, blinking as shi felt like shi was listening to the mad ravings of one of Saldura's crappy B-movies, “P-plans? You're sounding insane! What the Hell do you mean by 'plans?' The church isn't doing anything malicious, and take it from me, it's certainly the most liberal church I've been to. Why are you doing this?”
“Because,” Jade started, putting a hand on Gildedtongue's shoulder, “Sometimes educating people requires a firmer hand than others.” The sound of Proudroar's PTV crunching snow came from the door as Gildedtongue's ears drooped. “We will discuss this further later.” The black maned chakat came in, both of the twins were sleeping in hir arms as Gildedtongue reached out for them.
“I think,” Proudroar looked down at the sleeping cubs, “It might be better if they slept in the communal room. They should start getting acquainted with such practices.” Jadestripe nodded in agreement, putting hir hand on hir mate's shoulder. Gildy's arms felt like lead weights as they came crashing to hir sides.
Jadestripe smiled to hir younger sister, “Of course, you can join us, Gildedtongue.” the older chakats made their way upstairs as shortly after, Gildedtongue plodded hir way up as well. When shi made it to the sleeping chambers, shi saw hir sister and hir mate already naked and cuddled with each other, the twins between them. Taking a few steps forward, shi caught Jadestripe's glance to Gildy's top, then back to hir sister's face. Gulping, Gildedtongue slowly shucked hir shirt, crawling onto the mass of cushions.
Despite the body warmth all around hir, a cold chill ran through Gildy's spine.
