Page 7 of Cozy Prisons (Human Pets of Talin: Origins #4)

Palathum

Despite working for the entire rotation with almost no breaks, Palathum only managed to get half her tasks accomplished. She stared at the projected supplies list, but she had a hard time making the glyphs come into focus.

Tossing down her information square, she sat back and let out an explosive gust of breath. It was obvious she was fatigued, but she couldn’t stop yet.

She looked at the three empty canisters of talsh tea on her desk.

Would another canister help? No, that wasn’t going to be enough.

She should visit Healer Falkilm for some vials of stimulants.

He would be reluctant to give them to her, but he could probably be convinced it was in the best interest of the colony.

A polite chime sounded from the door display.

She didn’t even check to see who it was before ordering the door to open.

The sounds of human music in the large communal room below filtered in through the open door as Healer Falkilm rushed in.

He was sounding a worried rumble, making worry spike through Palathum.

“I'm exceedingly concerned about the human Nataly,” he said. As proof of his agitation, he didn’t sit in any of the chairs but stood on the other side of her desk, shifting his weight from foot to foot.

Nataly? That couldn’t be right. She was one of the hardest-working humans on Arise. If there was something wrong, wouldn't she have noticed it?

She forced herself to stay calm. “What’s wrong with Nataly?”

“I don’t know,” he answered with a frustrated rumble. “That’s the problem.”

She was surprised at the healer's dramatics; it wasn’t like him. Pointing to a chair, she sounded a soothing rumble. “Please be seated and explain everything.”

He sat, but then jumped up again. “Daxus brought her to me a few marks ago. He claimed she’d collapsed.”

Palathum sounded a questioning rumble. “Claimed?”

“Nataly countered his claim and said she only felt a little dizzy. I’m inclined to believe Daxus because every time I’ve interacted with Nataly she’s downplayed any issue I’ve noticed. The problem is that I can’t find anything wrong. There wasn’t anything obvious in any of the analyses I did.”

“That is concerning,” Palathum agreed. There were so few humans in the universe that Palathum felt privileged to have a colony with over thirty of them. The thought of even one becoming ill alarmed her.

“I have to confess that when I spoke with Nataly later I might have alarmed her,” the healer admitted. “I only meant to explain that my findings were inconclusive.”

She could easily see the blunt and socially oblivious healer accidentally upsetting a human.

He frequently irritated other Talins. Supposedly, he’d been raised in one of the best creshes on Talarian.

A cresh where many politicians and diplomats graduated.

None of their social aptitude had rubbed off on him.

“I’ll monitor the situation," Palathum assured Falkilm.

He sounded a rumble of agreement. “Thank you, Admirus Citizen Palathum.”

“You don’t need to use my full title here,” she reminded him.

He didn’t respond except for another rumble of agreement. She held back a rattle of annoyance.

“I’m going to spend my spare time researching Nataly’s medical history," he said, moving to the door.

“Certainly, that—”

He was gone before she could finish the sentence. It was only then that she realized she’d missed her opportunity to ask him for stimulants. Getting up, she rushed to the door to call him back, but when it slid open, Utharium was standing there.

He let out a startled rumble. “Going somewhere?”

“I was going to chase down Falkilm,” she explained, grabbing hold of Utharium’s belt and pulling him into the room. “But this is better.”

Letting go of his belt, she pushed him against a nearby wall as the door slid shut, cutting them off from the outside world.

Grabbing the back of his head with both hands, she pulled his face to hers and started rubbing her scent glands against his. Their combined scents filled the air. They pulled the perfumed air deeply into their lungs, relaxing into each other.

“It's only been four marks, but it feels like solars,” Utharium growled, wrapping his arms around her and caging her against him. He took over and rubbed his scent glands all over her face, head, and neck.

“Four marks are too long,” she grumbled.

“Agreed.”

It wasn’t hard to understand why their ancestors had outlawed scent bonding.

It was powerfully addictive. If she had to choose between Utharium and anything else, it would always be Utharium.

Even if the entire colony was at stake. The Talin Empire could be under threat and she’d still save Utharium and let everything else burn.

These feelings scared and intrigued her.

“Do you want to join the humans or retire to our domicile?” he asked, holding her tight and sounding a low, sensual rumble.

“At the moment, I can’t do either,” she admitted. “I need to at least finish the report to the Committee for Pet Welfare. If I don’t send it tonight, it won’t reach them before the deadline.”

“This is ridiculous," Utharium grumbled. “You need help.”

“Everyone needs help,” she countered. “There simply aren’t enough of us to do everything that’s needed. There are more settlers arriving on the next delivery. That might help.”

“How many?” Utharium asked.

“Five Talins and one human,” she answered.

Utharium sounded a rumble of surprise. “A human?”

“The human was found by chance,” she explained. “Iris and Damascus docked to have some work done on the ship, and the human was sent with the crew. It wasn’t hard to purchase the human's labor contract.”

“How long is the contract for?” Utharium asked.

“Six more solars,” she answered. “The human seemed upset, but won’t explain why.”

“They’ll probably settle once they realize they aren’t going to a worse fate than being worked half to death under a labor contract,” Utharium said.

“Hopefully,” Palathum agreed.

Utharium and Palathum fell silent as they held each other.

She didn’t want the embrace to end, but she needed to finish her work.

She started to pull out of Utharium’s hold, but he tightened his arms around her.

She didn’t fight the embrace and half hoped Utharium continued to insist she stop for the night.

“I have an idea,” Utharium said.

She sounded a questioning rumble, her face nestled into his neck. Instead of explaining, he picked her up. She relaxed into his grip; her trust in him was absolute.

It was a little awkward because of the way he held her, but he carried her across the room and sat in her chair, then arranged her in his lap so her back was against his front and her legs dangled on either side of his.

“Perfect,” he announced, picking up her information square and holding it up in front of them. “Now I can help you with your work.”

She sounded a rumble of amusement and plucked the square from his hand. “Very helpful indeed.”

She sent a quick message to Daxus to come see her at his convenience, then opened the report she’d been putting together for the Committee for Pet Welfare. Utharium’s rumbles vibrated against her back, helping her relax and concentrate.

“Maybe one of the new arrivals can act as your second,” Utharium said as she finished the report and put it in the queue to be sent through their interstellar comms array satellite.

Setting the square on the desk, she sounded a rumble of agreement. “They’d need to be knowledgeable about all the intricacies of dealing with empire politics and bureaucracy."

The door chimed. Once again she didn’t check to see who it was before ordering the door open. Utharium grumbled about her working too hard as Daxus walked into the room.

“You wanted to speak to me?” Daxus asked, taking a seat across the desk from her.

He didn’t say a thing about her and Utharium cuddling together.

Anywhere else in the empire their interaction would be at least surprising, if not cause them to be reported to various authorities.

On Arise, they were free to show affection.

“Healer Falkilm informed me about Nataly,” she explained. “He said you’re the one who witnessed her collapse and might have more insight.”

Daxus didn’t make a sound, no words, rumbles, or rattles. Palathum let the silence stretch before speaking again.

“If you’re worried about betraying Nataly’s confidence, then I won’t press you for details,” she said. “But I want you to reprioritize your tasks to make her a main focus.”

He sounded a surprised rattle. “As much as I want to do that, I’m in charge of the new land-based array assembly.”

“You can’t start on that until after the next supply ship arrives, and that will come with more help,” Palathum said. “Until then, do the bare minimum that’s required of you and center your attention on Nataly instead.”

“I might not be able to give you any insight,” he warned.

“That doesn’t matter,” Palathum told him.

“It’s more important that you be a friend and companion to her.

She’s well-liked among the humans but seems to spend most of her time by herself.

She might simply need help adjusting to a new environment, and the other humans are busy with their own adjustments.

You were a mediator mavin before coming here, which means you’ve been trained in communication strategies. ”

“Yes, that’s true,” he agreed. “But I won’t interrogate Nataly.”