u/Funnelchairgentleman

I wasn't satisfied with the way the last part of this crossover ended and I had a lot of ideas I still wanted to explore. These characters are, at their core, the same ones from the regular "Thawed." What we see here is simply how things could have turned out had Arthur not gotten help but instead was brought up in a society that turned all that self doubt and self hate he felt, outward.

Thanks to Scrappy for this fun little AU!

More regular Thawed will be soon to come!

For now I'm posting the link to my AO3 for this one, as it's a bit long for Reddit's tastes and definitely a lot darker than my regular work. Reader discretion is advised.

Story Here!

Part 1 Here

I’ve had this in mind for a while now. Just a silly and short little oneshot for u/bbobsillypants Ape Out Of Place AU. If you haven’t read it yet you should!

Memory Transcription Subject : Arthur Coldwater, Terrified Dad
Date : Reclaimed Terran Time : May 14th, 2936
 
Compact, multi-stage flamer?
Check.
Old Exterminator protective wear?
Check.
Sanctioned PD Officer band?
Check.
1,000 credits in exchangeable platnium bars?
Check.
 
I sealed up the duffelbag as soon as I’d finished my final inspection. My heart was steeled for the horrors ahead of me. I was an exterminator. I protected the herd. I was strong. I was fearless. I threw the strap of the bag over my shoulder and began to make my way towards the door. My ride should be here any minute. I only prayed that my sweet little baby could hold on.
 
“Daddy is coming, Munchkin,” I whispered to myself. My mind raced with images of my poor baby, trapped in a town overrun with those…. Predators! I didn’t care if they were my ancestors or not! They wouldn’t lay a single claw on my baby!
 
I hurried towards the door, expecting my old exterminator buddy to be here to pick me up at any minute. I was a hair’s breadth from grabbing the door handle when I heard a voice ring out behind me.
 
“Arthur D. Coldwater! What exactly do you think you’re doing?!?”
 
I froze in place, my hand still half-way to the door knob. It seemed my rescue operation was over before it even began. I felt a paw latch onto my shoulder, abruptly turning me around, only to face my worst fear. My husband.
 
“I was uhh…”
 
“About to drive all the way to Flaghill and embarrass our daughter in front of her herd?” The venlil accused, focusing his dominant eye on me. I let the duffel bag on my shoulder slip to the side and fall to the floor.
 
“She’s trapped there! With those… those…” I stammered, unable to bring myself to say it. Ever since the news had reached Earth about the archive reveals, my anxiety had been through the roof. My sweet Mixsel. My baby girl! Trapped on a ship with those ancestral horrors! Now she was in a town that was just crawling with untamed, bloodthirsty ancients!
 
“With her herd?” Jammek suggested with a sigh. “Arthur, she's fine. She said so herself when you called her yesterday. Besides, Flaghill has a fully functioning exterminator’s guild. She doesn’t need her father rushing in, flamethrower in hand.”
“But… she hasn’t answered any of my calls today,” I insisted, feeling more anxious every second that my baby girl wasn’t in my sight.
 
“Today?” The venlil repeated, his voice rising in alarm. “It’s only noon. How many times have you called her?”
 
“A… couple…”
 
“Arthur…” Jammek sighed in frustration, holding out his paw. “Let me see your holopad.”
 
I gave a defeated sigh, unclipping my pad from my belt and handing it over. The venlil quickly unlocked it and looked over to the call app. Almost immediately he let out a groan.
 
“You’ve called her nearly thirty times,” Jammek sighed, looking back up at me. His eyes no longer filled with anger, but instead they now held concern. “Oliver at the guild messaged me and asked if you’d taken your medicine today. He said you asked him to give you a ride to Flaghill?”
 
I silently cursed my coworker. Betrayal, from one of my closest herdmates! It was like those old Shakespearean plays! Jammek looked at me quietly for a moment, an unanswered question still floating in the air.
 
“I… I maybe… sorta… kinda didn’t take my anxiety medicine today,” I admitted sheepishly. “But don’t you think it’s concerning that she isn’t answering my calls?”
 
“Arthur,” the venlil replied, reaching out and pulling me into a hug, “she’s not a pup any more. She’s a big girl and a doctor now. She’s probably busy saving someone’s life and you’re over here blowing up her pad!”
 
“Or she probably knows that Dad is going to blow her holopad up so she put it on silent.”
 
I turned, finding our other little one entering the room. Sure, Toby might be a grown man working on his degree now, but those two would always be my babies. 
 
“Not helping, Toby,” Jammek grumbled, shooting him a stern look. Our son smiled, brushing some of his long, brown hair out of his face.
 
“I’m just joking, Pops,” he laughed, turning from Jammek to me. “But Dad, seriously. Take your meds and relax. That whole town is a military staging site. I couldn’t imagine a safer place. Plus she messaged me last night and said the ancestors are supposed to be friendly. She’s even gonna try and herd out with one today.”
 
That immediately sent every danger signal in my brain on red alert. I grabbed my duffelbag off the floor and began to march towards the door again. I was, of course, stopped almost instantly by my husband, wrapping his arms around me and physically holding me back.
 
“Absolutely not!” Jammek hissed, squeezing me in his arms. “You heard what Toby said! The ancestor humans are friendly!”
 
“Yeah!” Toby exclaimed, rushing over to help. “Mixsel said they’re just as emotional and kind as modern humans! Dad, she wouldn’t be trying to make a herd with one if she thought they were dangerous! Plus, she told me that there’s going to be an exterminator going out with them!”
 
That got me to relax slightly. I’d feel a lot better knowing those monsters had a flamethrower trained on them.
 
“Really?” I insisted, letting the duffelbag drop to the floor once again. Toby nodded his head emphatically in reply.
 
“Yeah! A mazic even! So like… a hugeexterminator!”
 
I let out a sigh of relief. Not even an ancient horror, like an ancestral human, would be able to take on a trained exterminator of that size. For the first time since I’d woken up that morning, I felt a sense of relief. My princess was in good paws!
 
“Now can we sit down and take your medicine? Please?” Jammek piped up, his voice having shifted from anger to concern to pleading in the span of just a few minutes.
 
I finally relented, letting Toby and Jammek lead me into our dining room. It turned out my hubby had already prepared lunch. Three bowls of lemon zest and melroot salad were waiting for us at the table, complete with fat and juicy looking mushrooms. The sight was enough to make my mouth begin to water.
 
I took a seat, eager to dig into our meal when a paw was shoved in my face, a small white pill sitting in the middle of it.
 
“Medicine first,” Jammek insisted, waiting for me to take it. I let out an embarrassed laugh, taking the pill from his paw and downing it. It was such a self-defeating loop. If I didn’t take my meds my anxiety got worse and if my anxiety got worse I’d forget to take my medicine. 
 
Once I’d finally taken the capsule, my venlil love seemed to relax, moving over to his spot at the table and sitting down.
 
“I was planning on working on my new book today,” Jammek remarked, picking up his fork and starting on his own salad. “Do you think you’ll be able to relax on your day off? Maybe not drive (1000 miles) to embarrass our daughter?”
 
The remark earned a blush from me. The meds hadn’t quite kicked in yet, but my hubby’s chastising was enough to make me realize that I may have overreacted.
 
“I’m just worried about her,” I sighed, poking my salad with a fork. “Those ancestors look terrifying. I just keep thinking how scared she must be…”
 
“I don’t know,” Jammek jumped in, picking up a small slice of melroot in his claws and tossing it into his mouth. “I don’t think they’re that scary. They even have a few… nice qualities.”
 
“Nice like what?!?” I gasped at his response. What could possibly be nice about the ancestors? Those sharp fangs and forward facing eyes… I still shuddered thinking about it.
 
“I don’t know…” The venlil hesitated in his reply, his cheeks turning a burnt orange. “I just kind of wondered what you would have looked like? You know? As an ancient human?”
 
“I’d be a predator!” I whined, shuddering at the thought. “Jesus be praised that I wasn’t born like that! I couldn’t imagine being a threat to my own family.”
 
“Come on now, Arthur!” Jammek insisted, giving his ears a frustrated roll. “You’d still be my Arthur. You’d never hurt us.”

Memory Transcription Subject : James Tobias Coldwater, Annoyed Son
Date : Reclaimed Terran Time : May 14th, 2936  

I typed away furiously into the chat box, still listening to my parents argue about the positives and negatives of ancestral humans from the other room.
 
*Damn it, Mixsel! I know your pad is on! I can still see your location in Herd-tracker! Answer me!*
 
The message was sent and I waited a good, long moment for a reply. I watched the bottom of the message app, waiting to see if those tell-tell dots would appear, announcing my sister’s reply.
 
I was nearly ready to give up when I saw them appear. I grabbed my pad and waited with bated breath. Her response felt like it took an eternity. I could still hear Papa in the other room, trying to defend his “interest” in the human ancestors. Prophets please, let my sister answer quickly. I did not want to focus on that conversation.
 
*Please tell me this is you, Toby?*
 
The reply finally came, making me fume about the century it felt like she took to reply.
 
* Yes it’s me! Did you really think I’d let Dad use my pad? What are you doing?*
 
*Had an amazing trip to the local museum. So much of what we thought we knew about the human ancestors was WAAAY off the mark. Why is Daddy trying to blow up my holopad?*
 
*Didn’t take his medicine. Panicking about you being trapped with the “vicious predators”*
 
*Of course. I kind of figured as much. I’ll call him. Maybe I can send him a picture of me with one of the ancestors? Maybe that will calm him down?*
 
*Maybe? I don’t know. Just please do something. I can’t stand it when he gets like this.*
 
I sighed, setting the holopad down for a second and rubbing my temple. Mixsel was sooooo lucky she got to move out and get a cool job with the Reclamation Alliance. I couldn’t wait to get out there and start working myself. I didn’t want to be a doctor like her, riding on Alliance warships into danger. I’d rather have a job in the Diplomatic Corp. Less threat of death that way. The sound of an incoming message pulled me out of my thoughts and I picked back up my holopad.
 
*I’ll send him a message soon! I promise! Just keep him calm until then, please!*
 
*You better.*
 
Was all I sent in reply. Nothing else I could do about it. Mixsel always had… well she’d always done what Mixsel wanted. I could only hope she took a minute out of having cool adventures with a human ancestor and actually messaged our dad. 
 
“Lucky sivkit,” I grumbled to myself as I stood up and headed back towards my room. I paused as I heard Dad’s holopad go off in the next room. I felt a brief moment of relief at the sound before I heard Dad leap from his seat and rush towards the door.
 
I ran back into the room, finding Papa trying to wrestle his bag out of Dad’s grip. I looked back towards the dining room, finding Dad’s holopad still on the table. I hurried over, wondering what could have set him off. What greeted me was a picture of Mixsel, shoving her way into some blonde-haired, female human’s lap. I could see a startled zurulian, nearly falling off the woman’s lap as the ancestor held her mouth open in shock.
 
“Mixsel…” I groaned, looking down at my sister’s smug face.

Guess who's back? Shout-out to u/Julianskies for keeping this train going. Also praise to u/maxh007 and u/budge_emu_5552 for proofing this thing. I'll get to the point of reposting the older chapters eventually. But this will do for now.

Memory Transcription Subject: Izra, Amused Arxur

Date: [Standardized Human Time]: February 17, 2137

I stepped through the back door, a trio of glasses filled with ice water sitting on a tray in my claws. Onio and Arthur had been going at each other for a few hours now. The pair had finally collapsed onto the grass to rest. Arthur looked rather rough, covered in smears of dirt and grass stains, as well as a few spots on his skin starting to turn an angry shade of purple.

I walked over, gently placing the tray down on the grass next to them before taking one of the glasses atop it for myself. The two men offered a quick thanks, gratefully taking the offered cups and gulping down the cool water.

“You put up a good show, Master Coldwater,” Onio sighed as he lowered his glass.

“A good show of what? Getting my ass kicked?” Arthur replied with a laugh.

“It is a learning process. You’ve started to catch on to my movements and how to predict how an opponent might react,” Onio assured him.

“And you really displayed that human endurance,” I added after a second. “I’ve known arxur who wouldn’t keep going after getting a beating like that.”

“Thanks, I think,” Arthur chuckled, leaning back in the grass as he propped himself up with one arm.

“I… apologize for that first blow, by the way,” Onio added sheepishly, for what must have been the eighth or ninth time that he’d gone over this.

“Ay yi yie,” Arthur groaned, rolling his eyes. “I told you it’s fine. Just an accident.”

“Still, it sounds like a most unpleasant experience.”

“Well, I wouldn’t exactly volunteer for it to happen again,” the human laughed, taking another sip of his drink.

“Have you heard anything about the adoption?” I inquired, trying to steer the subject away from the primate’s genitals.

“Yes, actually,” Arthur replied excitedly. “Was planning to go up to the concierge and have a chat with Bilon later! He said he needed to talk with Jammy and me. Probably about the adoption, I’d imagine?”

“Hopefully to tell you that it is finalized,” I suggested, feeling a bit of apprehension on my friend’s behalf. This seemed like a long time to wait for the adoption papers to process, and I remembered overhearing Islatta talk about how quick and easy the process had been when she adopted Immel.

“DADDY!” 

Our little group turned as one to find Mixsel bolting through the back door, a small and fluffy bundle in her arms.

“Look what I found! Can we keep him?!?!” The sivkit bolted to Arthur, her tail whirling like a top behind her. As she got closer, I could finally make out the small animal in her arms. The creature seemed remarkably calm, simply looking about at all the new faces from its safe little nest in the pup’s arms.

“Where in the world did you find that, Cher?” Arthur laughed, tentatively reaching a hand out and petting the top of the creature’s head.

“In the park.”

Jammek came stumbling through the back door, looking like he was out of breath from chasing the overjoyed sivkit.

“Moonshadow and Lance seemed to think it was some sort of domesticated… thing?” 

“Probably,” Arthur agreed, pinching one of the creature’s ears gently between his fingers and rubbing it. “A wild rabbit would never let someone just carry it around like that.”

“So can we keep him?” Mixsel asked, practically bouncing with excitement.

“A pet is a good way to teach a hatchling responsibility,” I suggested, shooting Mixsel a coy look.

“Arxur had pets?” Arthur asked, grinning over to me as he wiped some of the grass stains off his chin.

“My Isif had a pair of Longshore icchi. They’d follow him everywhere when he went into the field. The patterns on their wing membranes were absolutely gorgeous! And when their feathers would molt, we’d keep them to make into decorations. They were such clever sky trackers. Isif would have them patrolling the fields for predators or loose cattle.”

“No idea what those are, but I agree. A kid should have a pet,” Arthur laughed, giving Mixsel a wink. “But before we keep him, I think we should go to the concierge and make sure that nobody lost him. After all, we don’t want to take him away if he already has a family.”

Mixsel seemed to wilt a little at that, the poor youngling already clearly having her heart set on keeping the fluffy creature. Jammek looked a bit less enthused about the whole idea, and I noticed the venlil shooting the tiny mammal several nervous glances. What a shame his species never domesticated any animals. Having a pet was such a rewarding experience. I could still remember how our icchi would snuggle tiny Azna after she was born, guarding her cradle like she was their own hatchling.

“Okay…” Mixsel replied deflatedly. 

“Let me take a shower and we can head right over there,” Arthur suggested.

**Transcript time skip requested. Advancing memory by 1 hour**

Once Arthur had finally managed to clean the dirt off himself, we left for the concierge as a group. Onio had suggested that he and I could watch Mixsel while Arthur and Jammek spoke with Bilon, if needed. I was surprised at how willing the harchen had been to watch the girl and made a mental note to ask him if he’d ever had any hatchlings of his own.

The concierge was vacant today, with only a few UN guards milling about near the entrance. The front gate was, thankfully, empty as well. It seemed that the last of the protestors had finally gotten tired of loitering about beyond the fence. That boded well for when the UN finally left and the town opened up. In the distance I could spy a small crew of humans with some heavy machinery, beginning construction on the first new buildings that would upgrade our little community into its own town.

We made our way inside, the chill of the building’s cooling system sending a shiver along my scales after so long outside in the warm sunlight. Almost immediately we spotted Eva, talking with another human woman that I didn’t recognize. She had long, black hair that trailed all the way down to her waist, arranged in an elaborate braid. She wasn’t dressed in the uniform that the UN guards sported, instead wearing a red-and-white plaid shirt and a pair of tightly fitted, blue pants.

“Well, speak of the devil and he shall appear,” Eva laughed as she caught sight of us. “This is Lily. She stopped by the camp because one of her rabbits escaped.”

I could practically see poor Mixsel’s heart break at that news, her arms wrapping tight around the rabbit. The little animal leaned its head back, snuggling against her chest in reply.

The woman, whom we now knew to be Lily, turned and eyed us. I wasn’t the most skilled with human expressions, since their kind seemed to show so much through the tiniest facial movements, but something about the look on her face made my scales itch. Her eyes seemed to light up when she noticed Arthur and Jammek and my instincts were screaming that something was off.

“Well isn’t this the cutest thing I’ve ever seen?” the woman cooed, stepping over to Mixsel and kneeling down. The grin on her face felt… wrong. It wasn’t like the ones I’d seen Arthur make. This one felt like there was something malicious behind it. Everything in me wanted to leap forward and push her away from the hatchling.

“Does he weally have to go?” Mixsel whined, tenderly running a paw along the creature’s back.

“Well, I was going to bring him back,” Lily spoke, cocking her head towards Arthur. “But I think I’d feel bad about it at this point. I wouldn’t want to rip him away from such a nice new home…”

“We wouldn’t want to inconvenience you,” Arthur answered sheepishly, looking a bit crestfallen himself. I got the distinct feeling that he wanted to keep the rabbit almost as much as Mixsel did.

“Nonsense,” Lily replied, grinning even wider. “I have a whole farm full of rabbits. I’d love for one of them to get a good home. I even have some food and a cage out in the car I can give you.”

“You just happened to have that with you?” Onio jumped in. I looked down at my lover, and felt validated to see the same suspicion I felt, mirrored in his eyes. 

"Well, I had to get him home somehow,” Lily replied dismissively, waving her hand as if swatting the question away. “I’ll go grab that for you folks.”

“I really appreciate that,” Arthur said, grinning from ear to ear. He turned his attention to Mixsel as Lily made her way towards the exit. I followed the woman with my eyes as she left, still getting a bad feeling from her.

“So what are you going to name him?” He asked, reaching down and ruffling the fur atop her head affectionately.

Mixsel paused, looking down at the rabbit in her arms as her features narrowed, the sivkit wracking her brain for a good name.

After several long moments, her tail gave a happy waggle. “Bob,” she announced proudly.

“BOB?!” Eva cackled as she came over. “Why Bob?”

“I wanted to give him a human name,” Mixsel explained, giggling as the little creature squirmed restlessly in her arms. “He just looks like a Bob.”

“That is an extremely odd name,” Jammek remarked, looking down at the tiny creature.

“Hate to tell you, Amour, but that’s one of the most common human names around,” Arthur chuckled. “I like it though. Bob the bunny it is!”

Once the laughter faded after the short exchange, Eva shifted her attention to Arthur. “It’s good that you’re here,” she remarked. “Bilon said he wanted to speak to you.”

“Yeah, he sent me a message this morning,” Arthur responded, smiling excitedly. “I’m hoping he’s going to tell us that the adoption went through.”

“I wish that was it,” Eva sighed, suddenly getting serious. “There’s been some pushback. A lot of parties in this new Sapient Coalition thing are worried about humans adopting alien children. With you two being in the media recently… well… you’re under a bit of scrutiny.”

Almost instantly, the air in the room seemed to still. The hopeful, joyous atmosphere shifted. 

“D… does that mean I’ll have to leave?” Mixsel asked, her eyes growing wide with panic. “I don’t wanna leave! I wanna stay!”

“Nobody is making you leave!” Jammek huffed, leaning down and wrapping the sivkit up in a hug. “Nothing in the whole universe is taking you away from us, Humdrum!”

“Where’s Bilon?” Arthur growled, his expression hardened by the news. “I want to talk to him, now.”

“He’s in his office,” Eva replied. “He’s with a patient right now, but you can talk to him as soon as he’s done.”

“We’ll watch Mixsel while you two talk it out with him,” I offered, reaching a claw down and gently patting the girl’s head.

“Don’t worry, Mixsel,” Onio added in, stepping up beside the girl and speaking with a confidence that seemed unique to him in that room. “Your fathers won’t let some cowardly scoundrels take you away!”

Jammek looked over, his ears perking up in a sign of gratitude. My heart silently hoped that the harchen’s optimism wasn’t misplaced.

Memory Transcription Subject: Jammek, Heartbroken Father

Date: [Standardized Human Time]: February 17, 2137

My brain refused to accept what was happening, even as Arthur and I stepped into Bilon’s office. This couldn’t be happening. Everything had been going so well. We were a tail’s breadth from our happy family, and now the universe wanted to rip that right from our paws.

The zurulian doctor sat in an oversized, wheeled chair on the far side of his office. He’d opened his mouth to greet us as we shut the door behind us.

“What the hell is going on?” Arthur demanded, cutting him off as soon as the latch was closed. “Why are they getting in the way of us adopting Mixsel?” My human was livid, growling the question out.

“Arthur…” Bilon sighed, hanging his head. “You know why. They’re framing it as a concern about ‘dangerous predators’ getting their hands on pups.”

“Arthur is an amazing father!” I exclaimed, my blood starting to boil at the sheer injustice of it all. “Mixsel loves him! They have no right to decide if we can adopt her or not!”

“What is the UN saying?” Arthur asked before Bilon could respond, the desperate strain in his voice only making my own fears bubble up. “Surely they won’t just roll over and give up?!?”

“Please,” Bilon groaned, gesturing to a small couch on the other side of the room, “take a seat and calm down. Both of you. This isn’t something that’s been decided yet.”

We moved over and sat on the couch as he asked, though I found myself fighting the urge to leap right back to my feet. 

“Some of the more conservative parties in the newly formed SC are raising concerns. Concerns that I won’t pretend aren’t due to prejudices. The UN has managed to talk them into negotiating.”

“Negotiating how?” I pressed, taking Arthur’s hand in my paw and squeezing it as a small seed of hope began to sprout amidst my despair.

“The conservative parties have agreed to interview prospective human parents. They’re appointing a mediator to come in and make a decision.”

“It isn’t their damned decision to make!” Arthur hissed, his lips curling back in a decidedly unhappy snarl.

“I won’t argue that this whole farce isn’t a travesty,” Bilon replied, taking a deep breath. “In my time here on Earth, getting to know humanity, I’ve come to be quite fond of you. Exposure to humans makes it impossible to see you as the monsters that the federation taught us you were. Your species is more emotional and empathic than many prey I’ve known. But that’s just the problem. The wider galaxy still has had minimal contact with humans. Aside from the venlil and zurulians, most other species out there only know of you from what the federation and the media have shown them. They’re afraid. It’s wrong. It’s ignorant. But it is, unfortunately, the way things are.”

“What do we have to do?” I asked, that sprout of hope starting to wither. I felt defeated and worn down. The whole universe was filled with crazy people, and my little family were the ones constantly paying the price because of them.

“I’m going to interview the two of you,” Bilon offered, reaching across his desk and grabbing his holopad. “I can give an honest evaluation of you both in an effort to bolster your chances. Then in a couple of weeks, a representative from the SC will come, and then they will interview you as well, along with the other humans in camp trying to adopt. Hopefully we can convince him to overturn all this fed-brained nonsense. It’s the best I can do.”

“We won’t give her up,” I replied, my tail slamming on the floor in frustration.

“I truly hope it won’t come to that,” Bilon replied, his stubby ears laying back. “I truly do.”

**Transcript time skip requested. Advancing memory by 6 hours**

“Dinner is served!” Arthur announced, doing his best to put on a happy face as he began to pass out plates around the table. Bowls of warmed greens and seasoned rice for Mixsel and me, a plate of dark brown meat, cut into slabs for Izra, and a mix of the two for himself.

He sat down beside me at the table, doing his best to give me a smile. I knew he was just trying to keep his ears perked for me and our pup, but that somehow made it hurt worse. Mixsel, sitting across from us at the table, seemed to pick up on it as well, and I could see her ears lay back as she began to silently pick at her food. The usually excitable and optimistic pup, now doing her damndest not to look sullen.

The others began to eat, the room feeling uncomfortably silent without the usual dinner banter. No one felt much like talking after the news. For a moment, I merely looked off toward the living room, at ‘Bob’ in his cage against the far wall. The tiny animal sat and chewed on a bit of straw that Lily had given us, returning my gaze with his blank little eyes. I turned away, looking back into the silent dining room. My eyes drifted down to Arthur’s plate, landing squarely on the brown slabs of flesh and their light pink centers that sat on his plate.

That was the reason the universe decided to try and steal our happiness. These SC speh heads could hide the truth behind their vyalpic about Arthur and the humans being aggressive, but this was the truth of the matter. Something so absolutely asinine. Something so inconsequential as what the man I loved wanted to… no. That wasn’t right. What he had to eat. Want had nothing to do with it. He could no sooner live without it than a shadestalker could.

This was what made the universe decide that he wasn’t fit to be a parent. The entire galaxy had lost its collective mind, and we would be the ones to suffer for it. The thought did as thoughts often do and slowly led into another. A memory of how Arthur had told me about his parents and his religion. About how they had viewed him as an abomination. Something that was just ‘born wrong.’

My despair began to give way to something darker. Rage. I felt an urge to fight the whole galaxy at that moment. This was MY family. This was the thing I’d longed after for so long. The thing I’d given up hope of ever having. Then the universe decided it would give it to me, just to have it yanked away?!?!

“Uhh… Jammy?” Arthur asked, his voice soft and uncertain as he reached out a hand and placed it gently on my shoulder. “Are you ok, Amour?” I paused, my hate-filled thoughts halting like jammed gears in a motor as I felt a small drop of dampness making its way down my cheek. My body moved on its own. Be it blind rage, instinct, or simply a stuttering brain sent into panic mode, I shot out a paw. I snatched one of the slabs of flesh from Arthur’s plate and tossed it into my mouth.

“JAMMY!” Arthur let out a gasp, looking at me in disbelief. “What are you doing?!?”

For a moment I couldn’t answer as my jaw busied itself by grinding the slab of flesh between my teeth. It was denser and chewier than I had expected, and with my rather blunt teeth, it took several seconds of masticating before I could soften the piece enough to swallow. It tasted… salty? There wasn’t much to the piece of flesh beyond that. It was just a flavorless slab of chewiness. By that point the entire table was looking at me in shock.
“I’m tired of it!” I exclaimed, doing my best not to shout even as I felt the rage and despair inside me threaten to bubble over. “Why?!? Why is the whole universe concerned about this?! I just ate it! It didn’t hurt me! It’s so stupid!”

Arthur froze for a moment, simply staring at me as my vision grew ever more blurry. Finally, the human lunged forward, wrapping his arms around me and pulling me tight against him.

“It’s gonna be ok, Jammy,” he assured me, his voice soft but certain. “I love you. I love Mixsel. Nobody is going to split us up.”

I tried to say something. To offer some meaningful reply to his assurances, but all that came out was a pitiful sob.

“We’re a team, Mon Amour. Remember? We got this.”

I tried again to say something as the frustrated tears began to pour in rivers down my cheeks. The best I could muster was a pitiful bray, only serving to make me feel worse. I felt something wrap around my leg, making me shift my head and look down. I found our little sivkit, her arms wrapped around my leg in a hug, her eyes closed tight and looking as though she wanted to cry as well.

“Daddy is wight,” she whined, scrunching her eyes up as though to fight through the tears that were clearly coming. “I’m not leaving. I’m staying with you!”

That was it. The dam finally broke, and I burst into a sobbing mess. I wasn’t alone though. I had Arthur and Mixsel, and they were now in the same basket. I barely even registered when Izra moved around the table, silently wrapping her arms around both Arthur and myself, pulling us all together in one massive hug. 

Even as I let out the frustration and anger from the news, a part of me still felt a spark of hope. A part that wanted to hold onto that hope despite all the odds. We were a family, no matter what the rest of the universe wanted and we would get through this. Together.

Memory Transcription Subject: Brim, Savior in Exile

Date: [Standardized Human Time]: February 17, 2137

“I don’t get it,” I sighed, shaking my head as I watched the footage from this little resistance cell’s infiltrator. I struggled to see the point in keeping me around if they could already infiltrate the camp.

“There’s a big difference between being able to sneak a camera in and being able to do something meaningful, Lambchop,” Herring taunted, earning him a hard glare. “This is just gathering info while we bide our time. We want to have as much info as we can for when the UN pulls out.”

“Why wait?” I huffed, watching the screen as the view shifted to the underside of some bush and the feet of what appeared to be a child. Planting a monitoring device in some stupid animal was hardly the most effective way to gather intel to begin with.

“‘If you fail to plan, you plan to fail,’ is an old saying here on Earth,” Luther replied with a smirk.

“Just keep watching,” Lily added as she came back into the stuffy little room, carrying a bowl of some fluffy looking, white puffs. “I think you’re going to really like the next part.”

I fixed my gaze back on the screen, still fuming. It seemed the animal that these humans had hidden the recording equipment inside of was just cowering under a bush as one of the local pups jabbed it with a stick. That was until a new figure pushed their way into view.

I recognized the pure, blessed white of the child’s fur immediately. The girl who had been with that wretched soot-wool and his pathetic human! My reaction must have been obvious as I heard Lily let out a laugh.

“Thought that would catch your attention,” she teased, tossing a few of the white puffs into her maw. “I was trying to pull damage control when I went into the camp, since I figured the first thing they would look for would be to see if the rabbit was chipped. Imagine my surprise when I got in there and saw who’d picked it up! Sweet little thing was over the moon that she would get to keep it.”

“I still say that was a dangerous gamble,” Herring grumbled, shaking his head. “But I guess all’s well that ends well. We have a direct view inside one of the homes, and hopefully the damned rabbit will overhear something useful.”

“Still can’t believe they made that bayou dwelling hick the town sheriff.” Lily snorted, dropping a few of the puffs on the floor.

“Agreed,” Herring chuckled, turning his attention back to me. “But hopefully getting to know his enemies might make our new friend here happy.”

“It will at least make waiting around for the UN to clear out more bearable,” I answered irritably. I’d rather have my paws around that species ruining freak’s neck right now. I could be patient, though. It wasn’t like I had anything else left to do. As I watched the screen shift and the soot-wool come into view, I thought about my revenge. I’d kill his precious primate first. Just so I could see him suffer for it. Suffer like he’d made our entire species suffer. Then he’d come next. I’d spare the child. Hopefully the pup wasn’t too corrupted by being around those Solgalik cursed creatures for too long.

“Quit looking so damned intense,” Herring chuckled, giving me a soft slap on the shoulder. “Have some popcorn and just enjoy the show.”