Puppy Trahzi

Mister Dugger was a squat little barrel of a man. While Gerald and Trahzi walked, he waddled close behind them, his sharp little eyes scanning her curvaceous body from top to bottom.

"Dyson! Back straight, shoulders back, hands at your side, the little finger of your hand at the seam of your trousers," he barked.

Gerald glanced back. "Are you a protocol instructor or a drill instructor?"

"I have been both. The way you stand and the way you move is communication. It tells everyone else who you are and what you are worth. Looking at you right now, you're worth about half a credit and you know it."

Gerald sighed and adjusted the way he was walking. He hadn't seen a single spider web, and it was bumming him out. "You know, it makes me very happy to see you and the puppy are getting along," he said, turning to Trahzi.

Trahzi ran her hand along the puppy's back. "Yes, it was very difficult at first, but we are becoming more accustomed to the process. Actually, we wish to thank you. Caring for this animal has taught us a great deal about the others. Because you have to raise your young, you form a bond with them that was completely alien to us."

She looked over at Gerald and smiled. "But no longer. We find the presence of this animal very soothing. Sometimes we even long for her presence when we cannot be with her."

Gerald smiled back.

As they walked across the quad, Gerald noticed a familiar face making her way towards the parking lot. "Hey Ilrica, long time no see!" he called out.

Ilrica jumped so hard she spilled several of the tablets she was carrying.

"Oh..." she said, looking away from him, obviously flustered. "Hiya Gerald, heard you had a rough flight."

"Yeah, they're calling it a once in a lifetime cosmic event. Even blew out the aether drives on the military ships," he commented as he helped her pick up the tablets.

"Um, thank you," Ilrica said, avoiding eye contact with him as she accepted the tablets.

Trahzi looked on suspiciously.

"Dyson! We've gone over this. Always pass tablets face-down," Dugger instructed.

"Yes, drill sergeant," he teased.

Ilrica stood up, looking as if she couldn't decide to stay or run. Her tail swished around nervously.

"Why are you always carrying around so many tablets?" Trahzi asked.

She rocked on the balls of her feet. "Oh, you know, just trying to bring my grades up," she said, her tail wrapping around her leg.

"You have never cared about grades in the past," Trahzi observed.

"Yes I have, shows what you know. Big super all-knowing cosmic entity and you don't know anything about anything."

To prove her point, Trahzi swiped her hand and a scrambled window appeared. Her eyes burned with fire and the window unscrambled itself. "Here is your last test on Nanaheim history. "You answered every question by writing in 'it doesn't matter, they're dead.'"

"Wow, that was a good slice," Ilrica praised.

"And very illegal," Gerald said looking around. "Why don't you close the window with classified school documents before someone notices?"

Trahzi shrugged and closed the window. "We find your preoccupation with law puzzling."

Gerald breathed in relief and turned to Ilrica. "Are you okay? You're acting a little funny today."

Ilrica stood up straight when she looked into his eyes. "Funny? No, I feel fine. I'm not funny, you're funny."

She turned to leave but Gerald grabbed her elbow. "You just don't seem like your usual self, that's all."

Ilrica blushed bright red at his touch. Her ears stood straight up, her tail shot straight out. "Ahhh, you know what? I just realized I have to be somewhere. I'll talk to you guys later."

She broke his grip and sprinted away, tossed her tablets into the back of a rented skiv, and then drove away into the skyline, nearly hitting three cars and a taxi along the way.

"That was weird," Gerald said.

"What is that smell?" Trahzi said, sniffing the air.

Gerald breathed in. "I smell it too. Smells like cinnamon rolls."

The puppy gave off a tiny bark then nuzzled into Trahzi's shoulder. Trahzi rocked her quietly, humming to sooth her. There was something so effortlessly maternal about what she was doing, Gerald could not help but smile at it.

"Have you given her a name?" he asked.

Trahzi looked up. "Name?"

"Yes, as the one raising her, it is your privilege to choose the name she will be known by."

Trahzi held up the puppy before her. It yawned sleepily. "You others place a great deal of emphasis on names. It is something we are trying to understand. From what we have observed, it seems like the choice of what someone will be called forever after is a lot of power to give to one person."

"Well, most people are pretty responsible and don't give their kids names like North West or Chris P. Lettuce, although I did know a girl named Cristal once..." Gerald shuddered.

Trahzi held the puppy against her red cheek and thought. After a moment she resolved something deeply within herself. "We will name her Trahzi."

"Trahzi?"

"Yes, it means we accept her as one of us. There can be no greater compliment."

"But if you name her Trahzi, people will get confused."

"That is their problem, not ours."

Gerald looked at her with a light rebuke.

Trahzi rolled her black eyes. "Very well, others may call her Puppy Trahzi."

Gerald reached up and patted Puppy Trahzi on the head. "Puppy Trahzi it is."

Trahzi accepted this and they began walking again.

"I would have named her Nikki. Nikki is a good name."

"Mr. Dyson! "Walk two feet behind her, not at her side."

Gerald dropped his chin and grumbled to himself. "I have to walk alongside her, or else I'll start staring at her."

"What was that?"

"Nothing."

Gerald dropped back and kept his eyes fixed forward. Even in his peripheral vision, the raw sensuality of her body was immediately distracting.

"You must understand that normally only spouses walk side-by-side, so you will walk two feet behind her."

"Yes sir," Gerald said, mocking a salute, his eyes flicking for an instant to Trahzi's deliciously shaped backside.

"Mr. Dyson, a gentleman does not ogle his lady companion."

Trahzi turned around. "And yet, you have not taken your eyes off my butt since we began."

Mister Dugger looked away. "Umm, well, I... err..."

Trahzi turned back, giving Gerald a knowing glance. "At least Dyson has the courtesy to try and control his gaze."

Gerald cleared his throat and tried to change the subject. "But, yeah, since without you the puppy would not survive, it is assumed that you care enough about her to give her a good name."

"Care..." Trahzi repeated, looking intently at the puppy, her black eyes searching. "Yes," she brightened up. "We do care for her. We do not wish any harm to come to it. And if it did, we would miss her greatly."

"That's the spirit." Forgetting himself, he gave her friendly slap on the shoulder.

She looked at his hand.

"Oh, sorry, he said, pulling it away.

"Do not apologize," she said, looking confused. "It's just that..."

"What is it?" he asked, concerned.

She took her free hand and clutched it over her heart. "We are not sure."

"I didn't hurt you, did I?"

She bit her lip and shook her head. "No, you did not hurt us."

"Yeah, I guess after the rifle thing that is kind of a dumb question."

Her eyes were wide. "This is... something else."

"What is it?"

She became a little bashful. "When your hand touched us, we felt a tightness in our chest, and now our heart is beating very fast. There's a funny little twinge in our tummy."

She looked up, confused. "What is this?"

He reached up and scratched the back of his neck. "Um... well... I..."

"DYSON!" Mister Dugger barked. "What did I tell you about grabbing your neck like that? Unless you're a Zurinite or an Uzagto, it's considered a clumsy gesture."

Gerald's eyes went wide. "Zurinite... hey, what happened to Zurra?"

* * *

The sky dripped red like blood. The ground writhed like decaying flesh on top of dried cracking bones. Carrion creatures of black and blade whipped through the skies and prowled on the ground, circling in closer, always circling in closer. Their bodies covered with countless eyes, staring out menacingly, reflecting a soulless hunger. In the sky, instead of a sun, hung a gigantic black spider, as big as a planet.

Zurra backed up against a rock, clutching a dried bone like a club. Cadbury was wrapped around her leg, squawking frightfully. Zurra threw her head back and screamed up at the sky.

"Where the heck am I?!"