Chapter Text
“Do you want to have a race?”
Hi'toshi tilts their head the same way Hi'zashi does and it absolutely melts Shou'ta’s hearts.
“Race,” Shou'ta repeats slower so Hi'toshi can watch his gestures. “We run from here to the big tree, and we see who gets there first. Do you want to play that game?”
He puts emphasis on the word game. Hi'toshi sometimes gets frightened when they think they’re being tested. Or trained. And from how much they get frightened, it seems that Hi'toshi’s captors tried everything to exert control over them.
Sometimes, a particular noise, smell or gesture will be enough to spook Hi'toshi, and he and Hi'zashi would have to speak to their toy while ignoring Hi'toshi, a trick they’ve accidentally found worked when the kit is scared. Rarely, they’d even have to look away as they eat, so Hi'toshi won’t throw up from the stress.
Shou'ta isn’t sure if doing so is more harmful for his kit, but the other alternative is to leave them alone while they fall into distress, reverting to old behaviors that has allowed them to survive when they were in the poachers’ clutches, but only serves to make them miserable and unable to get comfort from Hi'zashi or Shou'ta.
Those poachers died too fast for Shou'ta’s liking. Too fast and too peacefully.
Thankfully, this cycle is a good one for Hi'toshi. They bounce in place, eyes bright in excitement. Shou'ta’s glad. He has good memories racing and running around with his littermates, back when he wasn’t considered odd, and he had been hoping to share these moments with his kit.
(It’ll be useful to know how fast Hi'toshi can flee. Just in case.)
Hi'toshi runs up to Hi'zashi, slowing down for the last few steps in caution. When Hi'zashi coos at them, they hold their plush object toward Shou'ta’s partner, silently asking Hi'zashi to hold onto their most precious possession.
Hi'toshi leans over to mimic-scent Hi'zashi, only pausing briefly before making contact. Shou'ta’s partner sends him a besotted look that screams ‘they’re so cute!’ over Hi'toshi’s shoulder. He gets to preen the tangled fur until Hi'toshi deems Hi'zashi sufficiently ‘scented’ and runs back toward Shou'ta.
“First one to the tree over there. We can start running when I count to five.” Shou'ta chooses a number he thinks Hi'toshi will remember easier; with five digits on each limb, Shou'ta hopes Hi'toshi can keep track more instinctually. “One, two, three, four, five.”
Hi'toshi immediately runs off, going faster than Shou'ta expected with their tiny legs. It would still be easy for him to pass them in one leap, but he keeps close to them, sometimes falling behind and sometimes going ahead of them for a few clicks.
On the side, Hi'zashi is crowing and squawking encouragements at Hi'toshi. Traitor.
Hi'toshi gets to the tree first. They jump with their upper limbs thrown straight up in a victory dance, no sign of fear at having beaten Shou'ta.
“You want to go again?” Shou'ta asks when his kit hops to his side.
They bare their teeth in joy, before getting ready for the next race.
They go four more times, Shou'ta out of breath by then while Hi'toshi doesn't even look ruffled. That’s comforting. While his kit might not be the fastest right now, they’ll outrun anyone trying to get to them.
Hi'toshi trots around him, happy with their last victory. Shou'ta makes sure to wrap his scarf around their shoulders and rub brows together before they start getting nervous over his lack of reaction. They’re radiating excitement and playfulness, which is still a phenomenon rare and unsteady enough that Shou'ta and Hi'zashi have to protect it when it happens.
Hi'toshi wiggles a little as they lean into Shou'ta, their upper limbs twitching up before coming back to their sides. They go a little tense, the line of their shoulders hardening, but Shou'ta is quick to dispel any embers of fear by putting his front limbs under Hi'toshi’s upper limbs and touching their back.
He keeps it up until Hi'toshi relaxes and he can feel their teeth bare against his scarf—which still has his fur standing on its end, but it’s accompanied with the fondness of knowing Hi'toshi’s content—and only then does he let go of them. His back strains at the position and their eyes look at their fidgeting feet, but the pleased curve of their mouth makes Shou'ta’s hearts warm.
Sensing Shou'ta’s fatigue, Hi'zashi tells Hi'toshi he’ll time their runs. The kit immediately takes off, energized by Hi'zashi’s cheers and whatever fuels younglings. Shou'ta takes the opportunity to brush grass off his fur. Hopefully, the kit will have spent their energy by the time they get back on the ship.
He’s getting to a particularly stubborn greenish patch when he hears a thump followed by a squawk of alarm and a muffled squeak.
When he looks back, he sees Hi'toshi on their upper paws, in the process of getting back up.
They’re back on their hind limbs quickly, looking furtively around to see if anyone saw them before freezing when they meet Shou'ta’s eyes.
“Are you hurt?” There’s green stains on their garments and forehead, abrasions all over their paws and red on their knees.
Hi'toshi stays still until Shou'ta starts making his way to them, slowing down when they flinch at his fast approach, head whipping toward Hi'zashi and stopping him midflight.
“Did you fall?” Shou'ta hums, worried. “Where does it hurt?”
Hi'toshi takes a slight step back, paw hovering over their scratched knee, as if to hide it. They turn away slightly, instinctually protecting their most injured limb.
Quickly changing tactics, Hi'zashi holds the soft toy up so it hides his face.
“Our sweet nestling Hi'toshi has a small hurt on their knee! What should we do?” Hi'zashi proceeds to move the plush toy’s limbs around, agreement-shaking his head a few times with a serious expression. “We should go wash it and put a nice bandage on it, you say? Why thank you Healer Q’rrro!”
When Hi'toshi still looks reluctant—and quite a bit scared, like they think they’re going to be reprimanded—Hi'zashi adds, “We’re sad Hi'toshi’s hurt too, Healer Q’rrro. Isn’t that right, my love?”
“It makes us very sad,” Shou'ta agrees, using small words so Hi'toshi won’t have trouble understanding him in their frightened state.
Hi'zashi continues with enthusiasm, “We don’t like seeing our nestling in pain, but a nice bandage will make everything aaaalllll better!”
Hi'toshi squirms a little in place, pupils flicking between Shou'ta and Hi'zashi. Finally, they take their paws away to show their wound.
The thin skin has been scratched and rubbed open by a stray rock hidden in the grass. Blood drips down at an uncomfortably steady pace, already staining the surrounding plants. Shou'ta is suddenly dreadfully aware of how fragile his kit is, all skin and no fur—nor feathers nor scales—to protect them.
Hi'zashi coos in sympathy when Hi'toshi gasps when they finally look down at their wound and see the blood. Alarmingly, their eyes well up, the pain catching up to them now that they know Hi'zashi and Shou'ta won’t pose them any danger.
“Kit.” Shou'ta tries to hide his alarm, but he can’t help but flutter his scarf around Hi'toshi’s head. “Let’s go patch you up.”
Hi'toshi’s upper limbs immediately reach toward him, digits covered in red splayed open. Shou'ta acquiesces to the silent request, lifting his kit and tucking him close. They’re going to be too heavy to be carried around like an eer’ahseer young soon.
In their ship, Hi'toshi refuses to let go of Shou'ta. He manages to twist around so the human young’s against his flank and Hi'zashi can have access to their knees. Hi'toshi hides his face in Shou'ta’s fur as Hi'zashi cleans and applies a steri-film over their wound.
“There, all better!” Hi'zashi exclaims. When Hi'toshi tries to peek at his now-clean knee, Hi'zashi places their plush toy in their paws. They press it against their sternum, squeezing it as tight as they can to release all of their fright-fueled aggression.
When they release their toy, Shou'ta smooths out their fur, taking the occasion to inspect their brow. No injury reveals itself under the grass stain. He doesn’t think the impact was enough to give their kit a brain injury.
Their paws are washed before Chiyo’s specialty topical cream is rubbed onto the red spots. Hi’toshi sighs at the cooling sensation, shiny eyes now more curious than pained as they poke at the cream. “Does it hurt anywhere else?”
Hi'toshi doesn’t answer, hiding their face in Shou'ta’s fur, effectively smearing liquid and topical cream all over Shou’ta. Their lower limbs kick out slightly when Shou'ta squeezes them tenderly between his scarf, lingering tension seeping out of them until they go limp, trusting Shou’ta to hold them up. To not let them get hurt. Taking comfort from Shou’ta.
Hi'zashi ruins the moment by tapping his talon against the ground, getting Hi'toshi’s attention, much to Shou’ta’s annoyance. “I think it’s time for a snack!”
At Hi'zashi’s words, Hi'toshi immediately perks up, jumping to his lower limbs, injuries forgotten. This is the first time Shou’ta has been surpassed by food.
It’s an accident. Shou'ta gets momentarily distracted with reading the recipe and keeping Hi'toshi and the méos out of trouble. As he reaches for the knife, he knocks the thankfully-empty pan over, which falls with a loud clang!
Hi'toshi jumps, face screwing up into a snarl, his shoulders coming up to protect his neck and his paws curved into claws. The méos immediately go running, their darting startling Hi’toshi and making Shou’ta fear for their safety until they disappear around the corner, out of his kit’s view.
He approaches them slowly, all gentle gestures. “Kit? It was only the pan. I was a little silly and knocked it off the counter, but we’ll still be able to make the dessert you like. Remember how tasty it is?”
Hi'toshi stares at Shou'ta, panting as if they’ve finished running.
“You enjoyed the drupe flavored one the most. We ate it on the table so it wouldn't get everywhere on our ship.”
When Shou'ta points at their eating place, Hi'toshi’s head jerks toward it, but his eyes remain on Shou'ta.
Suddenly, their face screws into a terribly painful-looking expression. Hi'toshi turns away, paws covering their eyes. Their shoulders shake, little choking gasps escaping from between their digits.
Shou'ta drags his paws when he pads closer, so Hi'toshi will hear him come. He touches the side of his muzzle to Hi'toshi’s cheek, purring to comfort them.
A click passes, and then little limbs encircle his neck in what should be a restraining grip, but is mostly desperate and looking for safety. Paws grab at his fur like he’ll disappear if they don’t hang on.
He scents Hi'toshi’s fur, his scarf squeezing the kit slightly.
They press as close as they physically can, their entire frame trembling.
“You’re safe. You’re on the ship, with me and Hi'zashi.”
Hi'toshi agreement-shakes, but doesn’t let go, not even during meal time.
Shou'ta helps a squirmy Hi'toshi into their new garments.
Hi'toshi steps into the rain wear a little unsteadily, only prevented from toppling over by their hold on Shou'ta’s shoulders.
It’s an odd piece, that’s for sure: the garment starts at Hi'toshi’s navel, with two tubes for Hi'toshi’s bottom limbs, the ends attached to a more fitted cloth that molds around their lower paws. It’s lined with a waterproof cloth and a grippy material is dotted on the bottom of Hi'toshi’s lower paws.
Next is the top part. It’s slightly less of a hassle to put on, a lot more loose with plenty of material. It looks like the garments Hi'zashi brought for Hi'toshi in case they visit sun-exposed planets, only with a stiffer hood and a flap in the front that Shou'ta clips on so Hi'toshi’s neck and bottom half of their face stays warm and dry.
By the time Hi'toshi has their waterproof paw wears on, they’re jumping up and down in place, too caught up in their excitement to stay still and make Shou'ta’s job easier.
As soon as the last piece is snapped into place, Hi'toshi darts toward Hi'zashi to stare him down, no doubt trying to silently encourage him to go faster.
Shou'ta does not have any qualms ignoring Hi'zashi’s plea for help when the latter did the same to him not even a cycle ago.
Dressing a plushy is quite more difficult than anticipated.
(Best Jeanist is to blame. He’d talked about how, in species who use garments, having the same wear for kits and their favorite toy is quite a common custom.
They’d thought it to be unnecessary, until they’d noticed Hi'toshi’s gaze lingering on a picture of a as’gh kit holding their toy proudly, both dressed in the same pink and yellow garments.)
While it does get annoying sometimes, Hi'toshi’s happy expression and their now excited disposition to wear the garments Shou'ta offers them is worth the struggle. And the 5 000 credits they spent on personalizing a second set of garments for Q’rrro.
Hi'zashi finally finished shoving Q’rrro‘s tail through the opening. Hi'toshi grabs their toy and races to the decontamination room.
Shou'ta and Hi'zashi put on their own waterproof garments. They know, from experience, that Hi'toshi can send mud farther and higher than one might expect.
Shou'ta wakes up in the middle of the night.
His first instinct is to reach out for Hi'toshi. His scarf fumbles in the dark for a few clicks until he realizes that his kit isn’t here.
The smell of urine and the slightly damp cot hit him second.
He shoots up, hearts thundering. Tamping on the rising panic, he strains his ears to find Hi'toshi. The acrid smell burns his nose, but he can’t wind his scarf around his face to tamp down on the smell.
Shou'ta does a quick scan of the den. It’s more difficult than he expects; the room is filled with various knick knacks Shou'ta would have considered junk if Hi'toshi hadn’t been the one to bring them in the den. They had to buy a case to hold all of his collection, so a stray rock or piece of plastic wouldn’t be turned into a projectile in the unlikely event of a ship accident.
When there’s no sign of Hi’toshi, he lifts up Hi'zashi’s wings in case the kit took refuge there. When he can’t find them, he picks Hi'zashi up to move him to the dry edge of their sleeping cot, and stalks out into the rest of the ship.
None of the alarms are on, which is why he hears a muffled shaky inhale.
He makes his way toward the sound, calling out for his young. The sniffling immediately stops, the ship once again falling into silence.
“Kit? Where are you?”
There’s no answer. There never is.
They don’t quite know how old the human kit is. They can walk by themself, eat in a way that demonstrates fine motor skills, and they’re so smart, Shou'ta sometimes gets the urge to brag about them.
Although, worryingly, they haven’t spoken a single word. Hi'zashi and he talks to them all the time, whether it be in See’krtshish or Eer’ahseerish. At first, he’d been worried the kit had been rendered deaf and no one had noticed, but they turn their heads when Shou'ta or Hi'zashi make noise, and they still get startled by loud sounds.
He calls for them again, interlaced with promises to keep them safe, but they stay hidden.
Rounding the corner, he finds them tucked behind the couch of the share room. Water trails down their cheeks, breaths coming in heavy, but they don’t make any other sound. The sharp acrid smell has followed them.
“Oh, Hi'toshi,” Shou'ta signs, making himself small against the ground, “I’m not going to hurt you.”
Hi'toshi tries to melt into the wall, tucking their limbs as close as they can while hiding their face in their shoulder.
“Did you have a nightmare?” Hi'toshi curls into themself even more. “That must have been scary.”
Hi'toshi sniffles, rubbing their eyes. “Sorry.”
Their gesture is shaky and small, their paw immediately retreating into the safety of their chest. It’s Hi'toshi’s first word with them, and normally, it’d be a cause for celebration.
Right now, all Shou'ta can feel is sorrow.
“It’s okay,” he reassures. “I know it was an accident.”
Hi'toshi lets out a trembling breath, before throwing themself at Shou'ta, burying themself in his fur and scarf. They press as close as they can, their hind paws freezing cold. Shou'ta tucks them against his stomach. They must have forgotten to put their paw warmers on again.
He rubs his scent glands over Hi'toshi’s fur, stroking their trembling back while he makes his way to the washing room. He prepares the tub, a task which requires more agility when more than half his limbs are occupied by a distressed kit. Once the water is comfortably warm, Shou'ta manages to convince Hi'toshi to separate long enough for Shou'ta to help them take off their soiled clothes, before clinging back onto Shou'ta.
He looks into the water, stares at the top of Hi'toshi’s head, his kit who can’t handle the loud harshness of the sonic wash, and steps into the tub.
He shudders when the water soaks into his fur. He’s forced to sink more of himself into the dreaded water so Hi'toshi will be submerged. The kit soap Hi'zashi found is slimy and it foams when he rubs it into Hi'toshi’s fur. The kit doesn’t seem to mind, but with their droopy red-rimmed eyes, Shou'ta doubts Hi'toshi is in any state to protest.
He can’t dwell on the disgusting feeling of water seeping between his limbs. He tilts Hi'toshi’s head backward to rinse off the soap, supporting their back and neck with multiple limbs like Hi'zashi does when he’s washing Hi'toshi. The kit drowsily washes the rest of themself in the meanwhile, the warm water and late time making them sleepy.
Shou'ta is less careful when he rinses off his scarf. He carries Hi'toshi to the sonic wash, inputs the kit drying function—which takes more than three times longer than the normal setting, but comes at a more manageable noise level—and covers Hi'toshi with the softest garment they own.
Hi'toshi is already asleep when he gets back to the den. He tucks the kit near Hi'zashi, strips the sheets and throws away the dirtied pillows. Once the cot is clean, Shou'ta places Hi'toshi’s toy in their paws, gathers his kit in his scarf, and promptly falls asleep.
Hi'toshi stalks the critter, silently parting through the long grass as they crawl after it, Shou’ta following not far behind. He pulls their lower limb protectors back in place again, much to the kit’s annoyance, but Hi’toshi doesn’t even tries to bite like an eer’ahseer kit would. His youngling has such good self-control.
Hi'zashi stays far away, because while he can be silent in the air, he has chased away enough of Hi'toshi’s prey by accident for the kit to get frustrated.
His kit settles half a tail length away from the critter, eyes riveted on it. It’s not a dangerous one, nor is it poisonous, so Shou'ta has no qualms letting Hi'toshi try and catch it by themself, although the kit hasn’t tried to catch any of his prey yet, content to observe them.
When Hi'toshi does the same for multiple critters, Shou'ta is confident enough that his kit won’t accidentally eat a poisonous animal. He’s content to watch Hi’toshi roam around without having to hover.
He’s thinking about the next meal’s preparation when he’s interrupted by high pitched calls that makes Shou'ta’s hearts thunder. He gets up with an alarmed hiss, until he realizes Hi'toshi’s only excited and not hurt.
He walks toward Hi'toshi slowly, but his kit is in such a good mood that they whine for Shou'ta to come faster.
When he arrives at their side, he finds them cooing softly, cupping an insect between their paws.
“Little little baby,” Hi'toshi says, holding the terrified insect between their paws.
Shou'ta recoils at its sight. With its developed wings and markings, it’s definitely a sko’o. The only reason Shou'ta doesn’t smack it out of Hi'toshi’s paws is because its head spine has somehow been damaged. Already, it rubs its head in a corkscrew motion against the soft skin of Hi'toshi’s paws, searching to bury itself into their flesh.
Oblivious to the insect’s unsuccessful attempts to bury itself into their body, Hi'toshi peeks between their fingers, happily whispering to it in Humanish. No doubt telling it it’s a ‘cute kit’. “Show Hi'zashi?”
Shou'ta’s trying to find a way to have Hi'toshi let go of the sko’o without making them feel nervous when fluttering wings land next to him.
“Whacha whispering about?” Hi'zashi leans in close to Hi'toshi’s closed paws. “Is it another treasure?”
Hi'toshi squirms in excitement. They’d clearly jump around, but they’re surprisingly careful with the insect in his paws.
“Hi'zashi, it’s a—“ Shou'ta tries to warn, but too late.
Hi'toshi lifts a few digits quickly to show Hi'zashi. “Cute baby!”
Hi'zashi squawks loudly, feathers flared as wide as they can. His crest rises in a threat display, the start of a death rattle vibrating the air.
Hi'toshi doesn’t notice, cooing at the sko’o. Much to Shou'ta’s amusement, his kit is using the same words Hi'zashi usually reserved for them or their toy proxy. Hi'zashi is, of course, horrified.
“Maybe we should let it go, right Shou?” Hi'zashi has shuffled away from Hi'toshi and is climbing onto Shou'ta’s back, his grip faltering for a moment when Hi’toshi, in an unwanted attempt to give Hi’zashi a better view of their prey, lifts their cupped paws up.
At Shou'ta’s encouragement—he has to suggest to Hi’toshi that the sko’o might want to rejoin its family unit, despite the parasite being a solitary insect—Hi'toshi lets the parasite go with a sad, “Bye bye!”
Maybe Shou’ta laid it too heavily with the sko’o’s fictional family unit. However, pride surges through him at his kit’s empathetic nature.
Splayed on his back, he feels Hi'zashi shudder in disgust.
Shou'ta wakes with a startle.
He’s disoriented, caught between the remnants of his dream and the covers of his cot. He turns on his front, shaking the fur out of his eyes, when the fur on his nape rises at the feeling of eyes bearing down on his shoulders.
His ears can’t pick anything up. He shifts, looking around for an enemy, or for Hi'zashi to have forgotten to close the mirror again.
When his eyes land on a shadowed corner of the den, he almost passes away from fright.
Two wide eyes bore through him in the dark. They hover at the edge of his cot, unmoving and unblinking.
“Hi'toshi?” His hearts are still beating erratically, thrown off their rhythm. He’s wide awake. “Kit?”
As soon as he says the word, Hi'toshi darts closer, wiggling under the covers and pressing against Shou'ta. They sniff two times, burying their face in the lower joints of Shou'ta’s limb, which creak at the pressure.
“What’s wrong?” He overlays his scarf around them. “Was it a nightmare?”
To his surprise, Hi'toshi shakes his head to indicate Shou'ta’s wrong.
That’s when he notices the smell. “Hi'toshi?”
“Hurts,” they whine, holding their stomach.
Shou'ta immediately gets up. Even in the low light, Hi'toshi looks sickly pale, sweat dampening their fur. He shakes Hi'zashi awake, turning on the lights.
“Something’s wrong with Hi'toshi.”
His partner tumbles out of their cot, cooing at Hi'toshi. It stutters when Hi'zashi’s eyes catch on something near the hatch, which he points out with worried feathers. “What is that?”
Hi'toshi immediately breaks into huge heaving cries, water falling out of their eyes at a fast pace. “Sor-sorry!”
Shou'ta is stunned into place when he sees the liquid slowly eating at the metal. Hi'zashi falls to their side, crooning reassurances. He manages to get what happened out of Hi'toshi; much to Shou'ta’s horror, his kit expelled whatever that toxic liquid is from their mouth.
They hurry to the med bay, where Shou'ta inspects Hi'toshi’s mouth, looking for ulcers or bleeding. Hi'zashi hooks up the scan, ruffled feathers flaring out from stress.
“It’s okay, kit,” Shou'ta says, grooming their fur when they apologize again. “You’re going to be okay.”
The machine beeps to indicate it’s done scanning and analyzing the data. There’s no internal bleeding, and all of his organs are working as expected, much to Shou'ta’s relief.
His relief doesn’t last long. Hi'toshi goes even paler, before pushing Shou'ta away, leaning over the medical cot, and expelling the same liquid out of his mouth.
It’s an awful sight that must, realistically, only last clicks, but feels like cycles. Hi'toshi makes an awful pained noise as their abdomen contracts. The moment it ends, Hi'zashi and Shou'ta rushes to Hi'toshi, avoiding the metal-eating puddle. They hoist their kit away, wiping their mouth with a rag.
“Here Hi'toshi. Drink this.” Hi'zashi hoists a cup of water at the kit, his padd already in his wings. To Shou'ta, he signs, “I’m calling Chiyo.”
Shou'ta can’t stop trembling. His kit might be dying and he doesn’t know what to do.
He strokes Hi'toshi’s head, scenting and re-scenting their fur as he purrs as loud as he can, hoping it brings his kit comfort and a modicum of healing.
He almost falls apart right then and there when Hi'toshi goes limp in his scarf. “Hi'toshi?” His kit’s eyes open when he shakes their shoulders. “How are you feeling?”
“Made a mess,” Hi'toshi whispers, looking at the liquid worryingly.
“It doesn’t matter,” Shou'ta signs shakily. “Don’t worry about that. Does anything hurt?”
If his kit dies in pain, Shou'ta would never forgive himself.
A knot lodges itself in his throat when Hi'toshi knocks their brows together as they think. “Feel better now.”
“I’m glad,” Shou'ta signs in response. Miraculously, some colour has indeed returned to Hi'toshi’s cheeks. He squeezes his kit against him gently and waits for Hi'zashi to return with news from Chiyo.
“What do you think they’re doing?” Shou'ta asks, ears perked up.
Hi'toshi’s whispering in their human language, voice barely audibly. They move their toy as they say something, before changing the pitch of their voice while moving a yellowed-by-use rag they’ve found.
“Playing, I’d guess.” The skin around their eyes isn’t pinched in stress, and their chatter sometimes goes up in volume when they forget themselves in their excitement before going back down to a lower pitch.
They freeze when they notice they’re being watched. Shou'ta purrs in encouragement, before pretending to fiddle with his padd. Hi'toshi relaxes a fraction, going back hesitantly to his game only when Hi'zashi does the same with a coo.
Eventually, Hi'zashi goes to make some food, leaving Shou'ta to supervise Hi'toshi. They’ve tried having the kit participate in meal making, to give him little tasks such as mixing ingredients together, but Hi'toshi had been almost frantic in their attempts to help. They would’ve gotten burnt several times if it weren’t for Shou'ta or Hi'zashi’s fast reflexes. In the end, they’d judged that Hi'toshi was getting too distressed and they’d try again when the kit’s older.
Hi'toshi stops playing to follow Hi'zashi’s departure with wary eyes. He only looks back toward Shou'ta when Hi'zashi disappears from view.
“Hi'zashi is going to prepare a meal,” Shou'ta explains, enunciating every word. They aren’t sure how old Hi'toshi is; they can walk without difficulties, they have good coordination, and they seem to understand Hi'zashi and Shou'ta, but they very seldom speak. “You can continue playing. I will stay here.”
They hesitate, glancing up toward the doorway a few times. Shou'ta can tell they’re tracking him, studying his expression. After a few feeps where Shou'ta ignores them, they shift half a tail closer to him, before resuming their play. Shou'ta waits until they’re engrossed in their game to watch them.
They’ve taken the pillow Hi'zashi has given them to sit on and placed their plush toy on it instead. The off-coloured rag is also on its own pillow. Hi'toshi alternates between whining while moving the plush toy and growling while trotting a piece of modeling compound back and forth.
The tip of Shou'ta’s tail curls in amusement when Hi'toshi takes out a small rock out of his miniature satchel bag and hides it from the modeling compound, behind the pillow. The modeling compound stays unaware of the rock, as it’s moved over the plushy and yellow rag a few times
It’s only when the rock ‘jumps’ out and Hi'toshi starts beating the modeling compound with it that Shou'ta gets it; it’s a recreation of Hi'toshi’s rescue, with the toy, Q’rrro, momentarily taking Hi'toshi’s role, the rag being Shou'ta, the rock, Hi'zashi, and the modeling compound standing in for Hi'toshi’s captors.
Hi'toshi lets out a few sounds that resemble a victory crow as he gathers his plush toy, the rag and the rock, ‘flying’ them while making woosh noises.
It’s amusing to watch Hi'toshi mimic them, especially with their human ability to recreate voices. They talk in a higher pitch when moving their plush toy for some reason, but they’re adorable with Shou'ta and Hi'zashi’s voices; he gets rumbles and kit-like meows inserted between human words, while Hi'zashi gets accurate sounding chirps and caws.
Hi'toshi pauses when they notice Shou'ta’s attention isn’t on the padd anymore, stilling like a prey animal for a few clicks. Shou'ta forces himself not to react to Hi'toshi’s fear. He chirrups softly in encouragement, scarf shifting to show he’s calm. They slowly resume their reenactment, worried pupils flickering back toward him every so often to gauge his reaction.
After a lot of squirming for which Shou'ta is about to scent his kit or give them a blanket and a snack, Hi'toshi turns their head to stare at him. He waits a few clicks before making his way toward his kit, all the while they keep unblinking eyes on him. The once terrifying display only gets a small curl of his tail nowaday; it’s his kit’s way of asking for something, too shy or scared to outright make their demand.
When he reaches their sides, they hold up the rag to him, with a half fearful, half hopeful expression, silently asking him to join them in their game.
It’s uncharted territory for Shou'ta. He’s never done this even when he was a kit himself; his litter mates quickly outgrew him and even if they hadn’t, Eer’ahseers don’t have this type of play.
And although he’s been the audience for the Yamada flock’s kits, he’s never been asked to partake in their little plays. They all know Shou'ta’s no good in performances. Really, Hi'toshi would be better off asking Hi'zashi.
Nevertheless, Shou'ta cannot deny his kit. He takes the rag.
He’s observed Hi'toshi enough to know the main guideline of their game, but he can’t help being slightly nervous. He doesn’t want Hi'toshi to be disappointed if his performance is lackluster.
Hi'toshi, for once, doesn’t pick up on Shou'ta’s uncertainty. They go back to the beginning of the ‘scene’, this time signing instead of speaking their human language, much to Shou'ta’s surprise.
“I am trapped. Help!” Hi'toshi signs, face scrunching up in false fear.
It’s almost more words than Hi'toshi has spoken the entire time they’ve been with Shou'ta. He doesn’t have the time to celebrate this accomplishment; Hi'toshi starts to curl up into themself when Shou'ta doesn’t move.
Awkwardly, Shou'ta shakes the rag lightly. “I will help you?”
Hi'toshi brightens, before schooling his features. “How? I am trapped. Many bad people around me.”
The pillow is the cell. One of the ‘bad people’ is the lump of modeling compound. Shou'ta looks around, but can’t figure out where the other ‘bad people’ are.
Shou'ta decides to treat this like a training thought exercise; he is on an enemy ship, with an unknown number of foes. For the sake of simplicity, he knows the ship’s layout and Hi'toshi’s location.
“I will create a diversion.” Shou'ta wiggles his scarf around half a tail away from Hi'toshi’s toy. The miniature measurement doesn’t make any sense, so he figures Hi'toshi won’t care. “While the guards are distracted, I will sneak toward you.”
Hi'toshi waits until Shou'ta has dragged his rag to the pillow, all while letting out exaggerated incredulous and panicked cries as he moves the lump to Shou'ta’s tail.
“I’ve reached you,” Shou'ta signs. He places his character so it faces the plush toy, unsure if it’s where the imaginary door is. He’s careful to not cross the borders of the pillow so as to not accidentally infringe on the invisible walls. “Do you know how to open this cage?”
“Yes,” Hi'toshi signs and doesn’t elaborate.
There is no object representing a code pad. If the cell isn’t manned with one, a key should logically be with a guard.
Before Shou'ta can make up a plan, Hi'toshi brings the lump of modeling compound back. “You are here? I will put you in cage also!”
Relieved at being given a direction to work with, Shou'ta signs, taking inspiration from those unrealistic shows the Yamada flock enjoy. “I will defeat you first. You will not succeed.”
Hi'toshi makes a series of sounds, making the enemy guard jump and twist. Shou'ta follows their lead, feeling slightly ridiculous.
After a few back and forths, Hi'toshi lets out what disturbingly sounds like agonizing breaths and flesh being ripped apart. He smashes the lump into the ground and declares, enthusiastically, “Dead!”
It’s not the guard speaking, seeing as they’re out of the game, but Hi'toshi didn’t move the plush toy or the rock when saying it. Shou'ta can’t tell who the new character is.
Hi'toshi doesn’t give him the time to figure it out. He makes his toy leap out of the cage—much to Shou'ta’s dismay as he hasn’t ‘opened’ the cell yet—pressing it into Shou'ta’s rag. “Thank you!”
If the rag represents Shou'ta, and the toy, Hi'toshi, then in this situation, Shou'ta would scent him. He decides to do just that, rubbing the rag over the toy’s head, between its ears. “Are you hurt?”
“No, because you help me,” Hi'toshi states. He lets go of his toy, picks up the modeling compound, and signs in alarm, “Oh no, more bad people!”
So the modeling compound can represent different characters. That’s good to know.
Shou'ta pretends to defeat the ‘bad people’, until Hi'toshi leads him back to the pillow, which now represents a ship. How confusing.
“And now, we are okay,” Hi'toshi concludes. They add the rock onto the pillow, making it caw. “All together.”
Hi'zashi chooses this moment to announce that the food is ready. Hi'toshi leaves everything behind, but for his plush toy, pressed into Shou'ta the entire way to the table.
From there on, Shou'ta is roped into participating in Hi'toshi’s plays.
They exchange roles and do different scenes, mundane activities like eating and drinking while talking about whatever catches Hi'toshi’s fancy. However, Hi'toshi always goes back to the same scenario; a meeting under dire circumstances, a rescue, and a death.
It’s slightly unsettling, especially since Hi'toshi can’t seem to let go of the scenario. It isn’t until Hi'zashi shows him an as’gh kit development blog talking about how partaking in this specific type of play sometimes help younglings with traumatic events that Shou'ta can breathe in relief.
Hi'toshi hasn’t invited Hi'zashi in their game yet, which is a shame because Shou'ta’s partner is better at mimicking voices, but they don’t hide their makeshift toys from him anymore, which is already a step in the right direction.
Shou'ta almost gets used to it when the unexpected happens.
It starts as one of the mundane scenarios, the one where one cooks different types of dishes to eat and the other has to compliment their imaginary culinary skills.
Shou’ta, much to Hi’zashi’s amusement, has cut up and sewn rags to his and his partner’s image. He even stuffed their representations with fur and feathers so they’ll bring comfort to Hi'toshi when he scents them. Hi’zashi helped choose the colours.
(Hi'toshi now carries them with them all the time. Shou'ta would curse himself for making every excursion harder than it should, if it weren’t for the way Hi'toshi had brightened when they’d first laid eyes on the repurposed rags.
They try to scent the new toys constantly, and they always take the time to place their three toys in such a way that they can ‘eat’ or ‘sleep’ next to each other.
It does things to Shou'ta’s hearts.)
This time around though, Hi'toshi makes his plushy push the plate away. They make a whiny noise, brows furrowed in displeasure. “No, Q’rrro don’t want!”
Their features smooth back into their own expression as they watch Shou'ta’s scarf, waiting for his response. Despite the surprise at the deviation, Shou'ta is quick to improvise. “Why doesn’t Hito—Q’rrro want to eat? It’s delicious. Very tasteful.”
Shou'ta knows that, while Hi'toshi calls their plush toy Q’rrro, it’s actually a representation of his kit. It still makes things confusing.
The toy crosses its upper limbs. “It’s not good.”
“Why doesn’t Q’rrro take one bite, and then if it’s not good, I will eat it?” Shou'ta reasons.
Hi'toshi pauses a little, debating whether to follow Shou'ta’s suggestion. Suddenly, they make the plushy ‘throw’ the plate on the floor with a firm ‘No!’
Before Shou'ta can make his character react, Hi'toshi grabs the rag representing Hi'zashi and starts hitting Q’rrro with it. “Bad! You are being very bad!”
Shou'ta stays frozen, shocked by the sudden show of aggression. He moves into action when Hi'toshi shakes the plush toy and hits it across the cheek with their actual paw.
“Hey, Q’rrro isn’t being bad.” He takes the toy from Hi'toshi’s paws and ‘scent-marks’ Hi'toshi’s plushy with his character.
“See,” he says, monitoring Hi'toshi’s reactions, “Q’rrro isn’t bad. And even if they were, Hi'zashi wouldn’t hurt them.”
Hi'toshi’s face scrunches up. “But Q’rrro is bad.”
Shou'ta has to admit that intentionally throwing a plate is not what he wants his kit to do. With a Yamada nestling, he’d simply give them a warning, but he oddly feels like this is a test. “Throwing a plate is not appropriate.” Hi'toshi’s blank look at the last word means they don’t understand it, but Shou'ta is too stressed to look for a better one. “But no one should ever, ever hurt Q’rrro. That is very important. Hi'zashi and I are not allowed to hurt Q’rrro. Do you understand?”
His kit’s eyes are huge and shiny. They agreement-shake as they look at their toy, squeezing it in affection against their sternum. Their paw strokes its head as if comforting a real kit.
Shou'ta scent marks his kit, stroking their head the same way. He barely has to prompt them to make the toy apologize to Shou'ta’s rag and help ‘clean’ the plate, the kit bouncing back quickly.
For the rest of the cycle, Shou'ta can’t make himself let go of Hi'toshi.
He either made a mistake or reacted appropriately, because Hi'toshi almost stops the ‘rescue’ scenario completely in favour of the ‘punishment’ ones. They’ll start a mundane scene, only to make his toy act ‘naughty’.
Shou'ta wouldn’t call it that. Most of the time, Hi'toshi’s plushy makes a mistake, or simply acts like a normal kit.
Hi'zashi, more experienced with these types of social games, figures out it’s a way for their kit to test what Shou'ta will do in case they make a mistake.
He’s impressed with Hi'toshi to have figured out such a method, although he doubts the efficacy of it until the hatch incident.
Hi’toshi is running around the share room, pretending to be, of all things, a méo. They jump around on all four, sometimes making eer’ahseer kit noises for some reason. They’re darting around in a surprising show of agility, until they overestimate the distance they need to slow to a stop.
“Hi’toshi!” Shou'ta cries, but it’s too late; the kit slides too far, their eyes widening in shock, right before they slam into the hatch.
Thankfully, they’ve managed to turn so their shoulder impacts the metal instead of their face.
Shou’ta runs to them, fretting his scarf around their shoulder. They’ve fallen on their backside, a shocked look on their face.
“Hi’toshi? You’re okay?” Shou’ta knows his kit is a lot sturdier than others, but it doesn’t stop him from worrying.
Their pupils turn to the hatch, widening even more, before liquid starts coming out of their eyes. Shou’ta lets out a surprised yelp when he follows their gaze to see the dented metal, exactly where Hi’toshi slammed into the hatch.
He doesn’t have the time to linger on the implications. When he turns back to Hi’toshi, they flinch away, upper limbs come up to shield their head, lower limbs tucked around their abdomen. Shou’ta is shocked into stillness, until Hi’toshi signs fearfully, “Sorry. Hi’toshi is bad.”
“You’re not bad, kit,” comes the instinctual answer from cycles upon cycles of doing reenactments with Hi’toshi. “I’m not going to hurt you, I promise.”
Hi’toshi sniffs, lowering their upper limbs slightly. They still look like they’re expecting Shou’ta to punish them harshly.
“It’s like with Q’rrro, isn’t it?” Shou’ta says, desperate to erase that frightened expression off his kit. He holds up the toy, having been in charge of keeping it while Hi’toshi was playing. “Even when Q’rrro makes a mistake, what happens?”
Their posture loosens. “Assess the situation,” Hi’toshi repeats with Shou’ta’s tone. They look at the door with a flinch, but even though they’re trembling, they trudge on. “Hatch broken. Not dangerous?”
“That’s right,” Shou’ta says in encouragement. He lays down so he isn’t taller than Hi’toshi. “And then what?”
“Injuries. Shou’ta and Q’rrro are not hurt. Hi’zashi is not hurt,” they enumerate, getting a slightly anxious look when they mention Shou’ta’s partner.
Shou’ta manages to slide closer without frightening his kit furthermore. “What about Hi’toshi?”
They touch their shoulder without a grimace and shake their head. They move on to the next step, “Go look for Shou’ta or Hi’zashi.”
“Good job,” he praises. He risks grooming Hi’toshi’s fur. His kit leans into his touch. Using the same words he uses during Hi’toshi’s plays, he signs, “That was quite scary. I’m glad you aren’t hurt.”
Hi’toshi hesitates, before mimic-scenting him.
“Sorry,” they say, words trembling small and with clinging tinges of fear.
“I know it was an accident,” Shou’ta sighs, nuzzling his kit’s fur to his bared teeth when they get that doubtful look. As if it has ever stopped violence from befalling them before. “No one is allowed to hurt you, remember that?”
Hi'toshi makes a noise of agreement in his scarf. “I fix the hatch?”
“Yes.” Shou’ta finds himself unwilling to let go of his youngling, so he simply picks them up. “Let’s go fix that hatch.”
“”Hi'toshi?” Hi'zashi asks blearily. He brightens the lights, shaking any remains of sleep away. “Are you okay?”
Hi'toshi chews on their toy nervously. They have wet marks on their cheeks, their mouth pressed tight. They don’t answer, eyes flickering around the room, never staying long enough for Hi'zashi to see what caught their attention.
“Is Q’rrro okay?” Hi’zashi throws out.
Hi'toshi’s pupils finally settle on Hi'zashi. They hide their mouth behind the plush toy, looking away when they speak. “Q’rrro is okay.”
A fine tremor shakes their entire body.
Hi'zashi coos softly, petting Q’rrro‘s head between its ears and Hi'toshi’s paw at the same time. When they don’t pull back, he starts preening their head fur with one wing while the other does the same movements with Q’rrro. They lean into his touch like a skin-starved fledgling. “Did Q’rrro have a nightmare? A bad dream?”
Hi'toshi’s head shakes in affirmative.
“Was it about the poachers?”
Hi'toshi sniffles, their shoulders shaking even more as they cry silently.
Hi'zashi brings the lights up more. “Q’rrro should come closer so I can protect them.” Hi'toshi reluctantly pushes their toy under Hi'zashi’s wing. “I think Q’rrro is still a little scared. Why don’t you come here too, to keep them safe?”
Hi'toshi immediately clambers closer and does their best to burrow themself under Hi'zashi’s feathers, squirming close until they’re practically under him.
“I’m never letting them hurt you again, Hi'toshi,” Hi'zashi promises.
Hi'toshi makes a doubtful noise. Hi'zashi braids some of their fur.
“Remember how scared you were of me?”
Hi'toshi flinches, curling up apologetically. Emphatically, they sign, “Not scared anymore.”
“It's okay nestling, I know.” He keeps himself soft while he preens Hi'toshi’s fur. He waits until his young has relaxed into his touch before speaking again. “But I want you to know that a lot of people—who aren’t you or Shou'ta—are very scared of me.”
The space between their fur brow wrinkles. Hi'zashi passes his feathers over it to smooth it out. “Me and Shou'ta are very strong. Very scary to others. That means that they don’t want to take you away, and if they try, we’ll save you. Just like in your story game, right?”
Hi'toshi shakes their head so enthusiastically, the covers fall away from Hi'toshi’s lower limbs. Hi'zashi pulls them back on fondly. “Yes!”
Hi'zashi’s on his second braid. “Do you think you can fall asleep?”
A pleased exhale falls out of Hi'toshi’s mouth. They let their head fall back down. “Uh huh.”
“Then sleep, nestling,” Hi'zashi coos. “I’ll watch over you.”
Shou'ta wakes to small paws patting his shoulders in a rhythm he’s pretty sure he’s heard Hi'zashi beat on his drums. He opens one eye to peer at his kit, who’s way too overexcited this early in the morning. “Mrp?”
“I bring food to you. Wait,” Hi'toshi signs sternly. When all Shou'ta can manage is a muffled sound, their face bounces back to excitement quickly, a bright enjoyment-teeth-showing expression gracing their flat muzzle. “Okay!”
They run away with their plush toys tucked under their upper limb, still quiet even after all this time. Shou'ta flicks his scarf to find an empty space where Hi'zashi usually sleeps. His partner is already up.
Reassured that Hi'toshi will be supervised, he closes his eye, sighing back into easy sleep.
Only for his sleep to be interrupted by metal pans clanging against each other.
Shou'ta is about to go see what Hi'toshi is doing when little paws come running back.
“The food is finished!” they exclaim. Shou'ta is dragged out of the den, Hi'toshi whining for him to go faster.
When he gets to the kitchen, he’s greeted with a pile of lopsided, unevenly cut pieces of meat.
Hi'zashi opens his wings to frame the food, feathers flared wide, and shakes them between pronation and supination repeatedly.
Hi'toshi watches Hi'zashi’s gesture, carefully placing their upper limb in the same position, paws facing Shou'ta with the digits splayed out. They shake them choppingly.
Shou'ta would normally tuck his scarf back into its slit to hide his pleased flush and silently show his appreciation, but all the interspecies kit handling blogs put clear communication in the forefront of all their advice. He’s at a loss as to what he should say, until he realizes he can simply use the script from those false scenarios he enacts with Hi'toshi. How useful. Now that he understands their purpose, he’ll have to create more scenes. “It looks delicious. Who‘s the chef?”
“Our cute nestling is,” Hi'zashi coos. Hi'toshi smiles shyly, twisting their garments with the tip of their claws.
“I cut!” they say, excitement making his words trip over the other. “And I mix.”
“My little chef,” Hi'zashi says while preening Hi'toshi’s fur.
Shou'ta takes a piece under Hi'toshi’s watchful eye. As soon as he places it in his mouth, he hums in appreciation. “This is very good. My compliment to the chef.” When Hi'toshi points at Hi'zashi, Shou'ta adds, “And the sous-chef of course.”
Hi'toshi throws themself in a complete, but quite incomprehensible, recount of the entire meal preparation.
Shou'ta feeds Hi'zashi over their head, scenting his partner’s feathers.