Fic: Altered Trajectory (cont.)
Poor, poor Matt.
“Hello Matthew, Terinu,” Rufus said, holding out his prosthetic paw, while in the corner of his vision he could see Hazel’s eyebrows rise up to her ear tips.
“Oh, uh, hello Mr. Brushtail,” Matthew said, his face turning bright red as he shook Rufus’ and Hazel’s paws in turn. “Teri, you remember Mr. Brushtail, right?”
“Sure,” Terinu said, taking his turn to shake. He looked wildly different from when Rufus has last seen him aboard the galapagos cruiser. The leather assassin’s kit had been traded for a loose linen pants and tunic, embroidered with a sea shell design along the cuffs and dyed a light blue. That complimented his blue black hair, which had previously been cut short but was now allowed to grow out a bit to his collar, with the arrowhead tips on his braids traded for bright jewels. The nasty gouges in his wide tail spade, where his twin had done a bit of malicious surgery to remove the artificial razors that had been embedded there, were nearly healed over completely, the scars almost faded. “It’s nice to see you again, sir, and a pleasure to meet you, Miss Swiftfoot.”
Matt, face still flushed with embarrassment, unclipped the leash from Terinu’s collar. If the ferin child resented its presence he gave no sign. Indeed, he was smiling faintly at Matt, tail and head spurs raised up attentively as he looked at his human… friend… lover… keeper? Rufus wondered.
“Um, have you eaten?” Matt asked. Not giving Rufus a chance to let him know he wasn’t hungry, he said to Terinu, “Teri, could you get us some tea, and maybe those little sandwiches Miss Namatjira taught you to make? A big plate, please.”
“Sure Matt.” Terinu’s smiled widened. He gave the human boy a sort of half bow and headed off presumably in the direction of the kitchen. When he was out of sight, Matt shoved the silver leash into his pocket and collapsed onto the couch, looking like he wanted to sink into the cushions and disappear.
“So, that’s a ferin,” Hazel said into the silence that followed. She was smiling in a way that Rufus had learned recognize from his lady mother as, I am beyond pissed off, but I’m not going to start yelling when there are children about. “Cute little fellow. And he’s your…?”
“Friend,” Matt said firmly, face heating up again.
“Interesting friendship.”
“It’s a bit complicated,” Lance tried to explain.
“Yeah, well from what Rufus had told me I thought he was a little whirling engine of death. Looks more to me like a pet cat that’s been de-clawed.”
Matt rubbed his face with both hands. “It’s not what it… I mean it is but it’s not because…”
Lance finally came to his rescue. “Look Miss Swiftfoot.”
“If we’re talking to each other you may as well call me Hazel.”
“I’m Lance then. Look Hazel, from what the Gene Mage has told me, the way Teri is right now is kinda what ferin are supposed to be like. They bond to their, um…”
Hazel’s voice went politely frosty. “Owners?”
“Owners, yah. When they do, they want to be helpful and follow them around everywhere.”
“Before, when he was with Lady… with Mavra Chan, he’d bonded to her,” Matt said. “We had been friends since as long as we’d both been on her ship, and then one day she wanted him to prove his loyalty to her by killing me. You have to understand he was really crazy back then. Serving Mavra had made him all paranoid, because anyone who wanted to attack her had to first go through him, and his most vulnerable point was me. The last couple of years before he… before she was killed…” The boy looked ill. “He was trying to protect me, I know he was, but he was hurting me too.”
“It’s the truth, Hazel,” Rufus cut in. “Going by what little Terinu and Leeza Blake’s twins saw when they were Chan’s captives, the relationship between Matt and his Terinu was rather twisted up emotionally.”
Her expression softened a bit. “He’s certainly not like that now.”
“No, because he managed to switch his loyalty to me, to keep from having to follow Chan’s last order. The Gene Mage said that shouldn’t be possible, but he seems to have done it. It kinda broke his brain a little, reset it closer to what a ferin is supposed to be like. So now he’s mine, I guess.” Matt sighed, glancing down the hallway where Terinu had disappeared. In a much softer voice he added, “I hate this.”
“Hello Matthew, Terinu,” Rufus said, holding out his prosthetic paw, while in the corner of his vision he could see Hazel’s eyebrows rise up to her ear tips.
“Oh, uh, hello Mr. Brushtail,” Matthew said, his face turning bright red as he shook Rufus’ and Hazel’s paws in turn. “Teri, you remember Mr. Brushtail, right?”
“Sure,” Terinu said, taking his turn to shake. He looked wildly different from when Rufus has last seen him aboard the galapagos cruiser. The leather assassin’s kit had been traded for a loose linen pants and tunic, embroidered with a sea shell design along the cuffs and dyed a light blue. That complimented his blue black hair, which had previously been cut short but was now allowed to grow out a bit to his collar, with the arrowhead tips on his braids traded for bright jewels. The nasty gouges in his wide tail spade, where his twin had done a bit of malicious surgery to remove the artificial razors that had been embedded there, were nearly healed over completely, the scars almost faded. “It’s nice to see you again, sir, and a pleasure to meet you, Miss Swiftfoot.”
Matt, face still flushed with embarrassment, unclipped the leash from Terinu’s collar. If the ferin child resented its presence he gave no sign. Indeed, he was smiling faintly at Matt, tail and head spurs raised up attentively as he looked at his human… friend… lover… keeper? Rufus wondered.
“Um, have you eaten?” Matt asked. Not giving Rufus a chance to let him know he wasn’t hungry, he said to Terinu, “Teri, could you get us some tea, and maybe those little sandwiches Miss Namatjira taught you to make? A big plate, please.”
“Sure Matt.” Terinu’s smiled widened. He gave the human boy a sort of half bow and headed off presumably in the direction of the kitchen. When he was out of sight, Matt shoved the silver leash into his pocket and collapsed onto the couch, looking like he wanted to sink into the cushions and disappear.
“So, that’s a ferin,” Hazel said into the silence that followed. She was smiling in a way that Rufus had learned recognize from his lady mother as, I am beyond pissed off, but I’m not going to start yelling when there are children about. “Cute little fellow. And he’s your…?”
“Friend,” Matt said firmly, face heating up again.
“Interesting friendship.”
“It’s a bit complicated,” Lance tried to explain.
“Yeah, well from what Rufus had told me I thought he was a little whirling engine of death. Looks more to me like a pet cat that’s been de-clawed.”
Matt rubbed his face with both hands. “It’s not what it… I mean it is but it’s not because…”
Lance finally came to his rescue. “Look Miss Swiftfoot.”
“If we’re talking to each other you may as well call me Hazel.”
“I’m Lance then. Look Hazel, from what the Gene Mage has told me, the way Teri is right now is kinda what ferin are supposed to be like. They bond to their, um…”
Hazel’s voice went politely frosty. “Owners?”
“Owners, yah. When they do, they want to be helpful and follow them around everywhere.”
“Before, when he was with Lady… with Mavra Chan, he’d bonded to her,” Matt said. “We had been friends since as long as we’d both been on her ship, and then one day she wanted him to prove his loyalty to her by killing me. You have to understand he was really crazy back then. Serving Mavra had made him all paranoid, because anyone who wanted to attack her had to first go through him, and his most vulnerable point was me. The last couple of years before he… before she was killed…” The boy looked ill. “He was trying to protect me, I know he was, but he was hurting me too.”
“It’s the truth, Hazel,” Rufus cut in. “Going by what little Terinu and Leeza Blake’s twins saw when they were Chan’s captives, the relationship between Matt and his Terinu was rather twisted up emotionally.”
Her expression softened a bit. “He’s certainly not like that now.”
“No, because he managed to switch his loyalty to me, to keep from having to follow Chan’s last order. The Gene Mage said that shouldn’t be possible, but he seems to have done it. It kinda broke his brain a little, reset it closer to what a ferin is supposed to be like. So now he’s mine, I guess.” Matt sighed, glancing down the hallway where Terinu had disappeared. In a much softer voice he added, “I hate this.”