Page 46 of Cozy Prisons (Human Pets of Talin: Origins #4)

Nataly

Despite the ferry being packed full of people and Talins, Nataly only had Daxus with her when she stepped off it. She could feel everyone's eyes boring into her back from where they stood, staring at her from the open ferry door.

It was disconcerting!

Even Palathum was there. At least she had one foot on the ramp leading out of the ferry, but she wasn’t making any move to continue down.

Standing at the end of the ramp, Nataly turned to face them. “Really?”

“Step on the damn planet,” Grace shouted, making Maeve laugh and repeat the words damn planet several times.

“Grace,” Merrick admonished. “Language.”

Grace ignored him and continued talking to Nataly. “If you feel anxious, we’re leaving. If you’re fine, we’re staying, so take the last step.”

She could hear bots and voices in the distance. While they’d been en route to Kalor, Palathum arranged for builders to start on their new settlement. At the moment, the port was nothing but a clear field with several dirt roads leading away, but Nataly could already see the potential.

Unlike Arise, with its forests full of massive, tall trees and not much else, Kalor had dense forests full of life and dark, fertile soil. There were fewer mountain ranges, so more room for building, and lots of small ponds and lakes all over the planet's surface.

Arise was nice until it became unstable, but Kalor was better.

The whole thing almost made Nataly giggle. She’d gone from living in the slums to being snobby about living on a gorgeous planet.

Daxus stepped off the ramp and turned to face her. “Nataly?”

She met his eyes and gave a little shrug. “What if it doesn’t feel right?”

Daxus sounded a soothing rumble. “Be at ease. There’s no point in creating scenarios in your head when we can discover the truth with one little step.”

She hated this. Hated that everything was on her shoulders.

It was due to situations like this that she rarely told anyone anything she was feeling until they’d ended up on Dandilow II, and there her intuition was the difference between life and death.

Everyone knew then and were constantly looking at her for guidance.

It was the worst! She didn’t want to be responsible for the failure or success of everything and anyone.

Several of the crew from the ferry were already on the ground. They’d gathered under it, supposedly to pull items out of a storage compartment, but in reality, they were watching her.

“I heard she was a Conduite,” one of the crew said.

“That can’t be right, she’s a pet,” another argued.

“The ancestors can influence other species," a third said. “It’s not our place to judge their wisdom.”

She tuned out the chatter behind her and focused on Daxus. He was holding out a hand, patiently waiting for her to take the final step onto the planet.

Sucking in a breath, she grabbed his hand and jumped the small distance from the platform to him. Her feet hit the ground.

She could’ve sworn everyone held their breath with her.

Nothing happened. No sense of anxiety. No underlying tension that pushed her to do something like hide things away. No feeling of impending anything.

She let her breath out with a whoosh and looked up at Daxus with a big smile. “It’s fine.”

There were whoops and cries of joy from behind her. Daxus pulled her to the side as everyone flooded out of the ferry to head down the road to their new home.

She and Daxus fell in behind everyone. It was a perfect walk. The weather on Kalor was as temperate as Arise, perfect for the average human. Although it might get a little chillier here at night.

Flocks of large, colorful birds flew overhead, and brush rustled in the forest on either side of the rough road as they passed. It felt a little like the happy fairytales her parents had told her when she was little.

Rounding the last bend revealed their new home. It was a large manor house that was built in the Talarian style. When Palathum told her that, it hadn’t meant anything to Nataly, but now she was impressed.

The place was massive, with obelisk towers reaching high into the sky at the four corners.

It looked like it was made from light colored stone bricks that were probably imported.

She knew from sitting in on several meetings with Palathum and her contractors that the stone was only on the outside; the inside layers of the building were made from the same synthetic material they used for the outside of warships.

The manor could take a direct hit from a ship in orbit and remain undisturbed. But the material of the building was only a secondary protection. Each tower held a shield generator that linked together to create a powerful electromagnetic dome.

Nataly found it concerning that Palathum didn’t feel the need for these protections when she was settling them further away from her homeworld.

She decided not to ask Palathum about it.

She’d already dealt with more anxiety than she wanted to for a lifetime.

This time, she wanted to be ignorant and blissful.

There weren’t any other buildings yet, but it was clear where they were going to construct the "enclosures" for the humans.

The ground had been cleared, and energy lines were laid out.

Palathum assured them the enclosures were only for appearances, or if anyone wanted to sleep outside in nice weather.

Nataly wasn’t sure she was ready to be in the same building as everyone else. She needed a little space. She wasn’t happy with the enclosures either; they were all close together.

It was nice to be part of a loving community, but the way everyone kept asking how she felt about everything was becoming too much.

She and Daxus watched Palathum lead everyone into the manor. The happy, noisy group disappeared inside, but the two of them stayed outside. Daxus knew her well enough to know she wasn’t ready to be indoors now that they were finally off the ship.

A wiggle in her pocket made Nataly let go of Daxus’s hand so she could pull the little jeweled lizard out. Carefully cupping the beautiful creature in both hands, she held the lizard up between them.

“Let’s find the perfect place to let her go.”

“That’s an excellent idea,” he agreed and guided her around the manor house and to the thick forest beyond.

Walking the cleared perimeter of the property, they found a narrow path leading into the woods. It was clear it had originally been created by native animals as it wound its way through the forest without any rhyme or reason.

When they finally emerged next to a small pond, the air full of flying bugs, Nataly stopped. “She’ll love it here!”

Carefully, she set the jeweled lizard on the ground near a bush and stepped back.

The creature had been perfectly still and content the entire time she’d been with Nataly, but with startling speed, she scaled a nearby bush.

Once she was at the top, she started catching bugs with a frenzy of tongue flicks.

“Look at her!” Nataly exclaimed with a little happy hop on her toes. “She’s so happy!”

“Of course she is,” Daxus agreed. “She’s home.”

Nataly turned to face him. “That makes two of us.”

Daxus opened his arms, and Nataly accepted the invitation. She nuzzled her face against his chest. “I don’t want to live in the manor.”

“The enclosures will be finished soon. They’ll have power and nice shelter spots with nests. We could claim one of them.”

“Still too close.”

“What about out here?” he asked.

“You mean live in the forest, like one of the animals?” She’d miss having access to elimination and cleansing rooms, but the idea had merit. As long as Daxus was at her side, she could probably do anything!

He sounded a rumble of amusement. “I meant we could build a domicile out here. We’d need to live in one of the temporary domiciles first, but once more supplies came, we could build a real home.

There aren’t any large predators to worry about on Kalor, and you already know which plants to avoid from the information Palathum distributed.

We could use solar captures on the roof for power and get supplies we might need from the manor. ”

“Visits and goodies, otherwise we get to be by ourselves,” Nataly said, liking the idea more and more. “You’re smart for a Talin.”

He sounded another amused rumble. “Thank you.”

Nataly chuckled, then turned a circle, taking in the forest around them. “Do you think Palathum will let us live out here in the forest?”

“Palathum is eager to give you anything you ask for,” Daxus assured her. “She’s still going to want you to sit through meetings though.”

Nataly didn’t mind now that she had the promise of some privacy. “That’s fine. I never have anything to add, but she doesn’t seem to care. I fell asleep during that last one.”

“I noticed,” Daxus said.

Nataly felt her face flush red with embarrassment. “Let’s pretend I was simply resting my eyes.”

Daxus drew her close to him, sounding a quizzical rumble. “Isn’t that what sleep is?”

“Never mind,” Nataly said, hugging her hands around his waist. He leaned over and rubbed his scent glands into her hair. The scent of lemon candy filled the air, making the moment even better.

“Can we set up out here tonight?” she asked. “I’ve spent enough time stuck indoors and then on the ship here.”

Daxus purred loudly. “It shouldn’t be a problem as long as we respond when they ping my Ident. If Palathum tries to object, simply tell her you have a feeling that it’s important you live out here.”

Nataly laughed. “Oh, there’s so much potential to that.” She put a hand to her forehead and closed her eyes tightly. “I’m getting a strong feeling we need to find a regular supply of cocoa and have it shipped here.”

Daxus picked her up. Purring, he cradled her to his chest. “Let me carry you back. The sooner we ask and get supplies, the longer we’ll have to find the perfect site.”

She snuggled into his arms. “Deal.”

His purring echoed across the pond as they headed back to the manor.

Sil, the jeweled lizard.

After eating her fill of tasty, tasty bugs, Sil found a good spot in the sun to rest. She didn’t have a sense of time, so she didn’t know how long she’d been in the small place. All she cared about was the here and now, which her ancient instincts told her was the right place to be.

The food here moved, triggering her to eat more than she had in the small space. It also tasted better than the other food. The here and now was better than the there and then. Not that the small place was horrible, but nothing felt as good as the sun warming your scales.

Sil had to move three times to keep herself in the sun before she heard the others again. The one that carried her and the bigger one. She liked the soft-skinned creature that carried her. Her body had been warm, and her touch gentle.

The two passed, and Sil laboriously climbed down from her sunny spot and followed. They walked for so long that she almost gave up, but they finally stopped and set down their burdens.

Finding a good-sized bush, Sil climbed back up and found a small spot of sun.

Her stomach was still so full it had hurt to keep up with the two, but Sil was glad she had.

She watched as they made themselves busy.

Soon, there was a domed structure with a bright, red-and-orange thing flickering in front of it.

The sun was too low for her to bask in, so she moved closer to the dancing warmth.

“Daxus, look!” the smaller one picked her up. Sil closed her eyes, enjoying the warmth. Ahh, this was nice. Almost as good as a warm rock in the sun. “Her pattern is just like Sil’s.”

“That must be a coincidence," Daxus said. “We left Sil by the pond.”

The smaller one rubbed a finger in the spot between two of Sil’s jewels. Yes, that was the best spot!

“We passed by there to get here. Maybe she followed us.”

“Maybe,” the big one said. “Even if this one isn’t Sil, she seems to like you, too. You must have an affinity for jeweled lizards.”

Sil drifted in and out of sleep as the two talked, then ate.

The soft-skinned creature held Sil for the rest of the evening until it was time for them to retreat into their strange little shelter.

Instead of leaving her outside, they laid her out on a pad that was similar to the floor of the small place.

Sil decided this was fine, but preferred the soft-skinned creature or the sun.

“It’s good to be home,” the smaller one said to the bigger one as they settled down on their beds.

Sil couldn’t agree more.