thededfa:

“Let’s visit the planet surface! It’ll be fun!” Huhui pitched their voice higher as she clung to Jane’s shoulders desperately.

Jane leaped over a wall and kept running, her feet pounding into the ground and sending them flying through the city.

“No-one.” She panted between words. “No-one told me. That. This place was full of fucking snake space nazis!”

Huhui screeched and clawed a too close Shish in the face with her hindest claws. “We said! We said! This is a hostile planet! Hazardous!” She kicked at another pursuing Shish. “And you know what you said? ‘I’m a fucking deathworlder.’ That’s what you said!”
“I. Did. Not!” Jane grabbed a street light and swung themselves around so they were running back the way they came. The Shish’s dense weight and lack of walking limbs left them struggling to turn and catch up.

“Might as fucking well have!”

“Why did I teach you to fucking swear?” Jayne puffed as she headed back to the ship. “Goddamn nervous space cat.”

Huhui puffed her fur angrily, before remembering that made her look even more like an earth kitten. Which didn’t help the anger situation. “Well, you’re… Reckless!”

Jayne laughed and jumped the final umrat to their ship. “Start her up, I’ll hold them off!”

Huhui let out a distressed yowl but hurried to comply. “but you have no weapons!”

Jayne grabbed her “bat” and bared her teeth in a decidedly aggressive manner. “The hell I don’t.” She punctuated this by swinging the metal rod into a Shish’s face, breaking their fangs and jaw. The human accountant kept swinging, leaving broken faced Shish slithering back away from the ship. Huhui was frozen in horror until Jayne yelled at her to get the ship up.

Huhui obediently jammed the controls upwards, forcing the ship to fling itself into the air with a whine and white hot engine exhaust that effectively ended the Shish pursuit in splatter of steamed reptile. Suddenly Jayne flopped into the co-pilot’s chair, making it creak in protest. Her teeth were still bared in a definitely-not-a-friendly way and her face was splattered in pink gore. Her eyes were wide and dilated and darting around the cockpit as she laughed in a high and strained manner.

Huhui had never been this scared in her life. She didn’t recognize this Jayne. Her Jayne was funny and gave piggy back rides and screamed at hiroaks. This Jayne was wild and violent and capable of outrunning and then smashing a squad of Shish and Huhui didn’t know what to do. She quietly piloted the ship back to main barge and tried not to move too suddenly. Jayne was pacing and scrubbing at her face with a disinfectant wipe.

As soon as they had docked and Jayne was sent to the decontamination shower Huhui scurried to her room and curled under her bunk. She was shaking, ears flat against her skull as she tried to…

It was one thing to hear of deathworlders and their strength and stamina and sheer refusal to die. It was one thing to cling to a friend’s back as she not only outran one of the most feared predators in the galaxy, but joked with you.

It was another thing to see someone cave in skulls with a game piece and grin about it.

Fuck.

They could have died.

They almost-

A chime alerted her to someone at the door. She buried her head under her fore arms and hoped they’d go away.

Ting ting

Sighing, she poked her head out to look at the view screen by the door.

It was Jayne.

Fuck.

For a moment, Huhui considered leaving her out there, but for one, Jayne could (and probably would) just wait out there till she had to leave, and two, Jayne’s eyes were red and puffy and she was hugging herself. The human was in distress.

Slowly, very slowly, she inched for the door controls and opened the door. Immediately Jayne turned to her and spoke in a rush.

“It just all hit me in a rush and I’m freaking out and I think I’m going into shock and holy fuck I killed people today. Like, yeah, snake nazis, but I killed someone and I’m freaking out and oh shit you’re probably scared of me now but I just need someone and I’m sorry I’ll go now.”

Jayne rubbed her face with the back of her hand and stood up to leave.

Huhui made an impulsive decision. “You can come in. I’m just hiding under my bed.”

Jayne stared at her in shock before smiling weakly. “That sounds good.”

They crawled under the bed, a bit of a squeeze for a human, and settled with their backs resting against each other. It was warm and felt safe, though each of Jayne’s breaths nudged Huhui’s whole body in a steady rocking rhythm.

“Are you scared of me now?” Jayne’s voice was small and made Huhui feel like she was looking at an orphaned kit.

“Yes. A little bit.”

“Me too.”

Huhui mulled that over for a minute before asking. “What happened to you? I’ve never seen you so… wild.”

Jayne exhaled a short laugh. “Adrenaline.”

Her whiskers pulled back against her face in horror. “The illegal combat drug?”

Another laugh. “Yeah. Humans produce it naturally when they are scared or faced with danger.”

“Oh. That explains a lot.”

“Yeah.”

“If… if you were on Dren, why didn’t you attack me as well?”

“I wouldn’t. You’re my friend.”

“But, Dren?”

Huhui felt Jayne’s shoulders move in a shrug. “I was too worried about protecting you, and then we got away and I was so happy, but then I crashed in decon. I… I don’t know how it works exactly to be honest.”

There was another long silence before Jayne inhaled shakily and said, “You gotta tell me how it goes from here. I’m sorry I scared you and I want you to feel safe, so you gotta tell me how to help you feel safe around me.”

Huhui curled her tail around Jayne’s calf as she considered. “Well, first off, if I say a planet is hazardous you’re going to avoid it like Miira shit.”

A giggle jostled her. “done.”

“And… I don’t know. One one hand you’re the most terrifying thing I’ve ever experienced, on the other hand, you protected me even while high on Dren and also you give killer piggy back rides.”

Another giggle. “I do.”

Huhui closed her eyes and let herself feel. She was tired but warm. A colony mate at her back. Hidden. Nervous, but safe. Interesting.

“I think we’ll be alright.”

Part 1 and 2

Part 3