Page 8 of Alien Abduction for Professionals
They didn't see the little tribitt until they finally reached us, which explained the shocked looks on their faces.
"A pet?" Havel asked before his surprised expression turned into one of adoration. "It's soooo cute! Can I hold it?"
"It's a male," I grinned and handed the green bunny to Havel.
"You've adopted another male?" Xil growled. "Aren't three enough for you?"
I stared at him, but then his scowl cracked and a wide smile appeared on his face.
"Just messing with you. He's adorable. I wondered if you'd buy one after we'd talked about it a while back. I wasn't sure if you'd remember."
"I couldn't resist." I watched as Havel petted the tribitt, rubbing it between its ears. The furry creature purred and sighed in contentment. Awwww. So cute. I was dying of cuteness.
"Does he have a name?" Havel asked, repeating Matar's earlier question.
"No, let's do that later. What did you guys buy?"
Xil didn't meet my eyes. "I'll show you back on the Jade. Let's not do it in public."
"Yeah, let's not," Havel chuckled. "But I can show you mine."
He handed the tribitt to Xil, who immediately grinned goofily and started muttering to the animal. The tribitt seemed to be enchanting everyone. I had no idea why they'd gone out of fashion. I couldn't imagine a cuter pet.
"Hold out your hand," Havel asked and rummaged in his pockets.
Curiously, I did as he'd asked. Had he bought some kind of bracelet for me? Or a ring? Was he going to-
He pulled out a wrist communicator, similar to the ones he and the other guys wore, but smaller and on a leather armband rather than metal. Small pearls had been woven into the material, turning it into jewellery. He slid it over my wrist and fastened it.
"We can set it up on the ship, but I thought it was time for you to have one. You'll be able to control everything on the Jade, communicate with us and whoever else you want, watch those Periton videos you like, use it to-"
I hugged him tightly, pressing a kiss on his cheek. "It's perfect. Thank you."
He wrapped his arms around me and pressed me tight against his chest. I breathed in his scent and wished we were on the Jade already. I needed to thank him and Matar for their gifts, plus I was curious about what Xil had got for me. It had to be something naughty if he couldn't show it in public.
"Maybe I give you mine now so I can get a hug, too," Xil grumbled from behind me.
I laughed and took the tribitt from him. "Later. I promise. What else is on our shopping list?"
My new little pet yawned and wiggled its head into my armpit. Its ears were flat against its head and its eyes slowly fluttered close. Despite the noise around us, it had fallen asleep. No idea how it did that, but I guessed he was used to being surrounded by noise and people. He might even get scared on the Jade where it was a lot quieter, with only the hum of the engines and our voices. Sometimes music, too, but I didn't care much for the Kardarian rock the guys loved so much, and I hadn't been able to convince them of listening to Earth music, either.
"Clothes for you," Xil said. "And we should get some parts for the ship. Matar, that's your job. Didn't you say you needed some kind of special bolts?"
"I did," Matar replied grudgingly, clearly not happy about it. "But can't we get them together after we've been clothes shopping?"
"You've already had alone time with Trish," Havel snarled. I looked at him in surprise. Why was he so angry?
Xil put a large hand on my shoulder and steered me away from Matar and Havel. "Let's get you some clothes. I saw this Ferven female earlier with a very fabric-less outfit. It reminded me of that lingerie you told us about."
I laughed when I remembered how they'd tried to make their own lingerie once. In a misguided attempt to seduce me, they'd cut holes in their clothing. I still didn't know how they could have been that stupid, but I believed it was due to the ridiculous lessons the Intergalactic University had taught them. A lot of what they knew about humans was wrong. Very wrong. Hell, they didn't even get the name of our planet right. They called it Peritus, although apparently it had been given that name long before the first life had developed on Earth. Still, it felt weird to call good old Earth by another name.
"Shall we get you some?" Xil asked eagerly.
I shook my head but stopped immediately when the tribitt started mewing in his sleep.
"I think I could do with some proper clothes. You know, jeans, shirts, jumpers, maybe even some bras. But nothing too fancy.” It's not like we were meeting a lot of other people. I grinned at the thought of other spaceships docking with the Jade in space so we could have a cup of tea with random aliens.
While the guys had some friends outside of their trio, most of them were back on their planet, just like their family. One day, we were going to travel to Kardar so I could meet their parents, but not yet. Kardar was far from Earth - Peritus - and we had better things to do. That's what Xil said, anyway. He hated his father, but I didn't know why. He'd only mentioned his mother once or twice, and I hadn't wanted to pry. He'd tell me at some point, I knew that. We had no secrets from each other, but some things didn't have to be discussed.
