The Alien's Pet

Treasure

Treasure

Void
Name: Mishka
Age: 15-16
Race: Human
Gender: Male
Personality: Mostly quiet, but very mischievous and curious about everything around him.
History: Previously owned by a fairly well-to-do family, he had an easy life playing with their children, but as their children have moved on to other interests, he suddenly finds himself up for sale
Other: Likes to tinker with contraptions and try to build contraptions, but he's not that good at it.
Appearance: 5 foot 9 inches tall, thin build, long red hair, dark brown eyes, hands are covered in nicks and scars from sticking them where he shouldn't.
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He sat quietly in his assigned space, occasionally scratching at a growing itch under his collar. He was not used to collars anymore. In his previous household, he hadn't needed them. Now the stiff, new red collar made his skin itchy, but he supposed it could be worse. Instead of being tied to a ring in the floor, he could be stuffed in a large crate like some of the younger, less trained humans were. He crossed his bare legs, ignoring the cold of the polished floor biting into his skin. His loose, pale gray shirt covered most of his torso, providing him a little heat, but nothing could soothe the ache in his heart as he watched the exchange in front of him.

Three Ayas (the human word as they did not understand their word for themselves) stood in front of his square talking. The two adults were talking, that is. The youth was hanging back and looking around at the rows of humans all sitting in their spaces just as he was in the broad shelter. Their hands and supple limbs waved slightly as their heads tipped back and forth, and sometimes they gestured to him, but he watched the youth. It seemed only a few weeks ago, he and MeeMeep (again, his name for the other being) had been playing in their room, tussling gently or letting them brush his hair and otherwise fuss with him. Now here he was tied to a stake, and he knew deep in his soul they would not be leaving with him. Why? What had he done? He'd always played gently with the youngest child and obeyed as best he could when he wasn't distracted. Was that what had happened? Had he gotten himself into trouble one too many times and they would not stand for it any longer? He had gotten into a lot of trouble lately because MeeMeep always seemed too busy to play with him now.

The two adults seemed to have come to an agreement, and they made some sort of exchange before Mistress turned and walked away, MeeMeep following behind. He stood and tried to follow, but his leash stopped him short at the edge of his space. Neither looked back as he tried to shake off the leash. "MeeMeep?" he called, trying to pitch his voice as high as possible. "MeeMeep! Wait!"

MeeMeep glanced back then turned and kept walking. Mistress patted MeeMeep lightly, and they walked down the long row of humans on display for new owners to buy. He pulled at his collar, calling, trying to work out the release with his clever hands, but they did not slow, and at last, he stood panting and coughing, staring at where he'd last seen them. A few of the other humans gave him pitying looks, but none bothered to try to talk to him. Why wasn't he going with them? He stood trembling, his heart breaking in his chest. MeeMeep did not care about him anymore? Why?

At last, he retreated back to the thin black wall separating him from the human behind him and sat down, curling up tight. He wished there was somewhere to hide, but the Ayas did not want that. They wanted the humans on display as much as possible. Therefore, nowhere to hide, and they'd been put in front of walls that best showed off their features. Those with light-colored skin and bright hair like his were placed in front of black walls, and those with dark features stood in front of light colored walls. Not that he cared one wit about all that. He had been left. Forgotten. Passed on. What was going to happen to him now? He sat with his chin on his knees and stared miserably at nothing. For the first time in years... he missed his mother.
 
Galvonaire watched impassively as the little creature before her struggled to follow his past owners. He would learn soon enough, and she herself was cautiously optimistic that she would come to love having him around, like her friends all swore she would. A couple had humans of their own, though being an expensive and relatively rare pet, they weren’t overly common. Gal herself had never had one before, but they were supposed to be the most intelligent of animals beneath her own kind, and this one was particularly cute with his long red hair.

After he calmed down, Galvonaire approached. “Hello, pet.” She cooed to him, in the mental way that she had spoken with his past owners. She didn’t expect him to answer, as she knew her words fell on a deaf mind. Hoping to communicate more efficiently, she reached forward carefully, avoiding the teeth just in case, and patted his long, red hair. The feature that made him so beautiful... and so absurdly expensive. But any pet she would have had to be worthy of being seen. “Mishka, they said. We’ll have to keep the collar and leash for now, just to be sure. But you’ll like the house. It’s quiet, tidy. You aren’t too messy are you?” All words he couldn’t respond to. Already, Galvonaire felt... silly. Talking to a creature who couldn’t talk back. It had never been her way. But, she was trying new things... so, here it goes.

Having carried a leash with her in her other hand, she reached forward and attached the lead to the human’s collar and looked to the woman who acted as mediator in such exchanges. A brief exchange, “Thank you! Hope to see you back again,” and a nod from Galvonaire, and the sale was finalised. Galvonaire unhooked the chain which had held Mishka, “Come on, little Mishka,” she said, this time in the more common language, and turned to walk toward the vehicle awaiting them, to take her new pet home.
 
The first touch by the new Ayas made Mishka flinch, and he looked up at her, eyes narrow in distrust, but he knew better than to bite or lash out. He'd bitten one of the other children once in a fit of temper, and his punishment had been... well, he'd never done it again. This new one seemed to like his hair, and her touch was not horrible to feel. Foreign and a little uncomfortable, but not horrible. He tolerated it as she gazed at him with eyes lost somewhere in the protective folds of her skull that made the adults so difficult to read. The young ones developed the protective plates slowly, and their visible eyes made them so much easier to understand.

Then she straightened and trilled at him, a new leash now attached to his collar. He resisted a little then stood. He'd probably just hang himself if he tried to refuse to move. This one did not seem to understand humans as intimately as his last mistress. She moved a little awkwardly around him, not smoothly and confidently. So he stepped forward one reluctant step after another. She was a good deal taller than him, anyway, though their torsos were about the same length. Her long legs and secondary arms alone were longer than he was tall, but then, he was not exactly the tallest human here, either. At least he hadn't been bred to be a midget.

His bare feet made soft slapping noises as he followed the new mistress, but now and then he still pulled back on his leash. He did not want her! He wanted to go back home! Home, where he'd eaten, slept, and played for over a decade!
 
Galvonaire jerked a bit as Mishka pulled against her, a little put off by his struggle. “Little one. They said you were well behaved” she mused, before looping the leash in her hand to tighten it, and giving him the signal she’d been shown for “come.” He was, of course, following her, but only slowly and she was anxious to get him home and settled so that she could make the calls she needed to this evening for work.

Finally at the car, she opened the door and motioned for the little one to get in. When his motions weren’t quite as fast as she wanted, she lifted him, setting him inside carefully and looking him over once more to make sure he seemed... settled. “Okay. Home now.” She mumbled to herself, sitting in the front of the vehicle and pressing a few buttons to get them to her house.

It was a quick ride, and in a few short minutes they were at the house looking up at the stone building. “Here we are, little one. This is your new home. You will be happy here, I’d say.” She told him, in common, so that maybe he would at least hear. “Let’s go inside, yes?”
 
He pouted the whole ride. He normally loved car rides! But he didn't like being handled, and he did not like or trust this new mistress. When they got to the house, he tumbled out of the car as quickly as possible and nearly got himself tangled in his leash. He stood and stood and stared up at the house, taking in the new shape. There was a yard. That was nice. He liked the yard.

She was trilling at him again. He sighed deep and sad then followed her willingly. There was no point in trying to find his old family now. He had no idea where he was or how to get back to them. Mishka pulled his hair over his shoulder and started playing with it as he walked.
 
Galvonaire brought him inside and unhooked the collar from around his neck, so that he was free in the house. She wanted to see what he’d do. She had thought long and hard about the decision to get such an intelligent pet, and had finally decided that it would in fact suit her. She had the place all ready; he even had his own room, decorated in a way reminiscent of how they decorated themselves on their home planet. Garnishing him with his own room was fairly standard for human pets because they were known to need a bit of privacy to be truly happy. But she had tried to go a little overboard, completing it with pictures of him along with some pictures of other humans, groups of them especially since they were social creatures, which is why they made such (apparently) wonderful pets.

“Your room is just through there,” she said, gesturing, though she knew he wouldn’t hear her. She would have to get used to the fact that he couldn’t hear her and she didn’t need to talk to him all the time.

Then, seeing how uncomfortable he looked, fiddling with his own hair, she softened a bit. Strode over to him, and bent down to be at his eye level, then stroked his thin, pale arm with two of her long fingers, ever so tenderly. She wasn’t quite sure how delicate he’d be. “There there, little Mishka. It will feel like home with time.” It couldn’t hurt to talk to it... no one was around to hear how crazy she sounded.
 
He twined his fingers in his hair as he padded after his new misteress, looking around without much interest. This place was far different from his old home, and every little line out of place was driving the thought deeper: he'd been abandoned. Oh, not abandoned on the side of the road, thankfully, where even sometimes expensive humans ended up in extreme cases, but still abandonded. He could not figure out what he had done wrong!

Then she touched him. He jumped at the touch, shrinking away instinctively, then stopped, looking up at her. Her touch was soft and gentle. It was not the correcting touch of his old mistress or the rougher playing of the children. It was... kind. He stood still as if frozen, staring at her, not even bothering with his room. Not yet.
 
Galvonaire made an expression which she hoped would indicate to the little animal that he was safe here, though she wasn’t very experienced at such expressions. Humans were so expressive with their faces, and she wasn’t used to this. But she would try. “Your family... MeeMeep...” she paused, watching him for a long moment, taking in his reaction. They had told her that’s the sound he made for their little one, though it was such a strange sound, and very low. Hard for her to make, but they said he had been able to make sounds they could hear when he was littler. A skill lost in the past few years as he became closer to human maturity, no doubt.

“MeeMeep told me how you like to... build,” she tried again, this time walking toward his room, hoping he’d naturally follow. She of course had many empty rooms in the home, for it was a home befitting her position in life. The one she had designated for him was pretty central, on a different level from her own sleeping space. Not that he wasn’t welcome there. It’s just, she enjoyed the full floor of her own personal space.

Inside the room, there were many things. But the one she was most interested in showing him was a small model of a glider, one of the simpler forms of transportation on Galvonaire’s home planet, Arocx. The model was not put together yet, and she figured it would make a good puzzle for her new pet. She hadn’t figured out how to instruct him in it, as the instructions were of a mental variety and she knew all humans were mind-deaf. They either could not or would not open their minds to communication. So he would have to figure it out for himself. She picked it up, still in the little box she’s left it in, and held it up to show him, “You can play with it!” She said, though her shrill voice would probably land on deaf ears even if she did use the common language.
 
He could not help brightening a little when she came close to saying MeeMeep's name, but then she went on, and he lost the thread of what she was trying to say. Or do. Or whatever. For such a smart race, Ayas were sure dense! It was so unfair! So wrong! So... oh.

He'd stepped into his new room and froze. Things! So many things! And all new! So many toys! Now he wouldn't get into trouble for taking apart home appliances. He stepped forward, his fingers finally dropping his hair as he gazed around in wonder. It was almost too much!

Then she held out the box to him, and he took it, examining it curiously. "Flying," he mumbled, not bothering trying to make her understand him. "Flying thing. Yes, a box of parts! Put them together and fly? I have never flied. I like car rides."

He sat down where he was, all else forgotten as he worked out how to open the box and started examining the contents. If this had been the human world, Galvonaire might have likened the scene to that of a parrot having found a new trinket, or perhaps an occtopus trying to get to a treat inside a puzzle.
 
Galvonaire laughed in triumph, no sound for the human ears, but a joyous fluttering inside of her. She knew he would be happy here! “There, you see? It will be a good home for you.” She said, sitting beside him and watching, intrigued. She’d only watch for a few minutes, and then she’d leave him to his own devices so that she could get some work done. But now that he was actually doing something other than looking like she’d crushed all of his dreams by bringing him here, he was a much more fascinating critter.
 
Mishka muttered to himself as he dug everything out of the box and started slowly sorting out the pieces. There were so many parts! Some moved, some didn't, and there was a bit of cloth for the sail. He didn't really pay attention to his new mistress, more than used to being the source of entertainment. He rarely disappointed!

"This goes here, that goes there. Why is this bendy? Ooo! Cloth! Ah, this is a boring color. Where does... no, that's a... right," he grumbled as he checked the picture often and slowly laid out the pieces just by sight.

Then, unable to resist, he took the pieces and used them to create a triangular tent, draping the cloth over it dramatically. A tent! He crawled inside, laughing to himself as he sat inside his house within a room within a house! The tent wasn't very stable, but he figured he'd make the glider when it fell down.
 
Galvonaire watched, a little horrified at the way her new little friend decided the vehicle parts should be used. She reached out and took a couple pieces, scanned the front of the box it had been in, and put the two together. Only the smallest bit of the puzzle, but she hoped he would pick up how he was meant to use it. It wasn’t for building houses. They already had a house.
 
Hearing the soft click of the pieces fitting neatly together, Mishka poked his head out and watched his mistress curiously. Ah, so now she wanted to play? Was that why she had brought him? To play with her? He sat cross-legged in the entrance of his "tent and watched her for a moment, the sadness creeping back into his heart. The children used to like to play with him. How long until she stopped wanting to play with him and sold him on? He thought they were supposed to stay together forever, but he supposed he had been wrong. So very wrong.

He picked up the next piece and placed it next to his mistress, watching without much interest to see what she would do. His tent, meanwhile, slowly began to list to one side, its unsteady supports slowly giving out.
 
Galvonaire watched him, a little confused. Didn’t he want to put it together? She could have just bought one that was already assembled if she was going to have to put it together. But, then, maybe he just needed a little encouragement. “Mishka, you do it.” She said, pointing to him with one arm while handing him all of the parts with three of her other hands.

Maybe she needed to arrange him a play date with one of her friends’ humans. Was this one fixed? Galvonaire supposed not, he was still very young. She would need to take him to a pet doctor soon to get him all checked out anyway, and she supposed they could tell her about the procedures of such things. For now she just wouldn’t leave him alone with female humans. But he could have tons of free time with males! Maybe she should have bought two... but she’d already hesitated to buy the one. Well, it was all a learning experience. She’d just have to see how his interests developed.
 
He stared at the pieces for a minute. Oh, did she want him to do it? He no longer felt like playing, but he did not feel like testing his new mistress' patience, either. He took the pieces and started slowly sorting through them once. This piece went here... and that piece went there... after a couple of satisfying clicks when the pieces joined properly, his eyes brightened. He could do this! This was easy! Far easier than trying to put the trash/compost/recycler back together when he'd taken it apart.

The frame seemed to magically appear under his fingers as he rapidly assembled the thing without any instructions. Finally, he only had the cloth left. He took the large piece of fabric and studied it. Hmm... how did this fit together? He laid it over the frame, scowling and grumbling. Oh. He was supposed to slide it on before assembling those last two pieces. Ugh! He started trying to figure out how to take it apart without destroying the whole thing.
 
Galvonaire nodded approvingly as he began putting the vehicle together. This was exactly how it was meant to be used. So maybe he was smarter than he seemed. Once he’d gotten going, she left him in the room, leaving the door open so that he wouldn’t feel caged, and headed upstairs to get some work done before the day was over. Half a day of work would be all she’d get done, but that would be okay for today. She had a pet to care for now.

A few hours later, Galvonaire’s friend Stravoine called her, to chat about the little monster. “Oh, shit. I’m not going to lie, I’d forgotten he was here!” She gasped, standing to head back down the stairs to check on the little one. The house had been quiet and she’d gotten into a groove, and within hours of bringing him home had already forgotten she had a human now. She’d have to work on that. Switching the phone to video so that her friend could see directly, she headed down to find him.

“Mishka?” She trilled, walking toward his room, her voice high and clear. She wondered if he’d stayed in there. And if he’d left, would he come back? There were fines for letting pets wander alone... not that she couldn’t afford it, but she definitely hadn’t planned on it. With any luck, he’d still be inside...
 
Mishka had finished the glider some time ago. The fabric was upside down, but it was on and would probably work. Probably. That was close enough for him. He left the glider and investigated his room more. There were a lot of interesting things in here! Toys and knickknacks and an assortment of other things to occupy his time. He looked forward to trying them all out, but for now, he was curious.

Abandoning his toys, he left the room and started prowling about the house. Part of him still wanted to curl up and cry, but his curiosity was stronger than his homesickness. He started in the hallway and poked his head into every door he came to. Cautiously after something in the closet fell out and nearly caught him on the head. The kitchen area was the most fascinating place! There were all kinds of tools and gadgets in here. He knew what most of them were for, but that didn't make them any less interesting. He looked at everything, got into every drawer and cupboard, leaving several things out on the counter or floor.

The bathroom was last on his list. When Galvonaire started looking for him, he was sitting on the edge of the bathing area carefully making shapes on the wall with the mouth cleansing paste. They didn't mean anything, they were just fun to see on the wall!
 
Galvonaire walked into her kitchen and balked a bit, concerned by the amount of things that were out. “What have I gotten myself into?” She wondered, calling for her little pet again as she started tidying. Having lived alone since she reached adulthood, she wasn’t used to messes she didn’t make. She had never needed to clean up after anyone else. This was going to take some getting used to.

“Mishka! Where are you!” she called, louder this time. The mess had her a bit cross.
 
Mishka paused, the paste plastered all over his hands. Oh, he was being called, and she didn't sound happy. He debated on not answering but decided not to make her angry. He dropped the tube of paste into the sink and trotted into the kitchen. He stood in the doorway and whistled to get her attention. Here he was!
 
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