[Pup]

  She had done it!

  She had finally talked to Moose!

  It was true that the talk had been her holding up the word she had copied from him. She had wanted to tell him that she had found a quarter master for him. That the thing he wanted was here and she had found it.

  Her.

  No one else.

  Her accomplishment filled her with pride and telling Moose had made her more nervous than she had ever been. But it was a good nervous. A nervous that felt right and made her want to hum happily.

  ‘I don’t know how I feel about that new reward from Moose though.’

  It had been a shock, not receiving the coveted ‘Good girl’ she had been after all this time. That deep rumble she had spent so much time learning so that she would recognize it anywhere.

  ‘I did hear a good, so maybe it was close?’

  She had no idea what the rest of the rumble was. If it was anything at all. Moose might have just been rumbling in approval for her deed.

  Was that better?

  ‘I need to take some time and really think about this.’

  A reward was a reward. She would never be unhappy to receive one from Moose. But rewards were also things and things had a hierarchy. The major question she needed to answer was if she preferred the one word and long rumble or the two words with no rumble.

  ‘When I get lap time, the rumble is very nice. If it’s just his hand I can’t feel it as well. Does that make it less nice?’

  That was a major question: Could a hierarchy change?

  If a really good reward could change with an ok reward, how was she supposed to know what to do to receive the reward she wanted?

  If she got two rewards at the same time, could they be combined into a really really good reward?

  She grabbed her arm to stop the twitch.

  ‘Was Moose trying to tell me something or was it another reward?’

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  Had her initiative been enough to earn a second reward?

  She had certainly thought so at first when Moose had put his hand on her head. But then he did something to her ear. Something that ripped control of her tail away from her and sent it on a back-and-forth trip so violent she couldn’t stand straight.

  And the tingles!

  Whatever he had done set her ear to tingling so badly that her hand started to twitch. It was so intense she didn’t even know how to feel about it. It had scrambled her thoughts and made it hard to move. Even after he had stopped, her tail had kept going and the tingle remained.

  She could still feel it twitching weakly behind her as she walked down the corridor. Her tail sore from overwork and her hand desperate to rub the tingle at the back of her ear. Thankfully it wasn’t nearly as intense or demanding after Moose had moved his hand, but the phantom feeling was a distraction.

  ‘Maybe… Maybe if I can get that reward again I will be more ready. Then I will know if I actually like it or not.’

  That was a good plan. All she had to do was experience it again. That would tell her everything she needed to know!

  She opened the door to the room they had been in before she went to speak with Moose. The looks she saw when it opened told her these three were hiding something.

  ‘Not that they can do anything to Moose.’

  She would need to keep her eyes open. They might not be able to stop Moose, but they could annoy him. She needed to put herself between Moose and their schemes so they didn’t bother him.

  She was doing all of this so he could be more lazy after all.

  “Did you tell this Moose that we can undock?”

  ‘Ah, right. We can go now, I forgot.’

  She didn’t want them to know she forgot, but what could she say?

  “Kitty is bothering him. I could only tell him about you.”

  She pointed at the newcomer and quietly praised her quick thinking.

  “Aren’t we supposed to not bother this Moose?”

  She cursed her lack of thought.

  Looking over to the newcomer, she desperately racked her brain.

  “You can tell her that yourself then.”

  It was the best she could do. Kitty could take the blame. Kitty was good at that, since no one would stop her anyways. It seemed to work for now at least, as no one said more about it.

  “And what did you tell Mr. Moose about him dear? Arcto here has neither agreed to be hired or heard what his job will be.”

  He didn’t agree yet?

  She really had no idea how to deal with this newcomer. How do you interact with someone who would lie about enjoying pats? It made no sense. They were such an everyone thing that even Kitty liked them, and Kitty was weird. To claim to not like them would be obvious to everyone paying attention.

  She wanted to crouch and growl a bit, but didn’t want to be lower than the people sitting at the table. She didn’t want to take the time to get into a seat either. She would just need to hide her arm twitch and stare the Crova down while she was standing.

  “Question. Why do you lie so much?”

  It seemed no one was expecting that question. Did they really think she wouldn’t catch their lies?

  “Whah—young lady that is a very heavy thing to accuse someone of. You can’t just say that to people!”

  She did growl a little at that.

  “Then why do you lie at every negotiation. I watched you do it! If you don’t want to be accused of lying then don’t lie.”

  Why did Kitty make more sense than these people did? Kitty made almost no sense! If Moose wasn’t around she was completely unpredictable. But these non-slaves did the strangest things and got mad when it was pointed out.

  “You mean during negotiations? You don’t lie during negotiations, that’s illegal. You just do your best to not tell the truth. Well, don’t tell the truth unless it helps your negotiation.”

  She forgot to have an emotion for a moment as her brain tried to figure out what she was just told.

  ‘How can you possibly not tell the truth and it not be a lie?’