#my poor cat's still-untrimmed nails

[outsideyourhousewithaknife]

Just had a full-blown tear-the-house-apart Oh Shit I Neurodivergently Lost My Very Important Item (the wedding ring from my fortieth platonic marriage to my beloved best friend) :/

[do-not-burn]

Humans in Space: Suggestive Sparring (2)

Fighting can relieve or sexual tension between the right people. Humans are known to be especially sexual and aggressive - likely for a reason.

( @faeriereader )

--

Human-Erin seemed to avoid me for all of our shift. Anytime I saw her, I felt an uncomfortable tension somewhere in my cardiorespiratory system - so, perhaps it was actually me avoiding her. It wasn’t until I left to retire to my quarters that Human-Erin addressed me by forcing herself between me and my door - finding her face level with my lower chest.

“Human-Erin, I’m afraid you are in my path.”

“I know. I just wanna apologise for interrupting and startling you during your workout.” Workout is Human for exercise.

“All is forgiven, Human-Erin. You did not frighten me.” This was true. She did not scare me. My response was pure reflex as a predator species - it is rare my people are ambushed.

“I... didn’t?”

“Correct.”

“Why’s that?”

“You are small. Your skin is soft and easy to penetrate. Your teeth do little damage to your predators and prove to be a poor defense. You have no claws, wings, or tails. Your extremities are mostly bone and your bones break under little pressure - or so the manual says. I suspect that needs to be updated.”

“Oh alright.”

“You are not shocked, are you?”

“Only a bit. Every one of your kind on this ship treats the rest of the Human crew like some sort of gremlin.”

“Pardon?”

“Small, vicious creatures.”

“Much like your cats?”

“Yup. Anywho, I was also gonna ask if you would like to properly spar.”

“I just explained to you that you are not a threat.”

“And I would like to become a threat.”

“You will never be big enough to be a threat.”

“I don’t have to be big to be a threat.”

“Are you extending a challenge?”

“Yeah.”

“Alright.”

--

Human-Erin had changed into her sparring gear. Human sparring gear never ceases to confuse me - when practicing close-up combat, they prefer to expose as much skin as possible. The manual has not settled on an exact reason for this. I believe they do it to move faster and to manipulate their opponent into thinking their skin is dangerous. I have read that their skin contains oils that harm many Floraens and races like them. It does not harm my kind, so I could not understand why she only wore a “bra” and “running shorts” [I never witnessed the article run]. I discarded my gear and left my chest exposed as their males do, leaving on my uniform pants. She frowned at me as we began to circle each other - a common ritual in both of our people’s competitive fighting styles. 

“Is something wrong, Human-Erin?”

“You took off your gear?”

“I wanted to make it closer to fair for you. You have even less chance to be a threat to me when I wear protection. In all honesty, I do not need to wear it with you.”

“Is this you trying to psych me out?”

“To what?”

“Nevermind. Just don’t take it easy on me, understand?”

“Why not?”

“Just. Don’t.” Her hands opened and closed, seeming to mimic claws with her fingers.

Respecting her wishes, I started at her, my tail low and still, going in to grab her and pin her. She dodged my passive attack and dealt a blow to my core with a closed hand while simultaneously grabbing my left arm with an open one and hooking her left leg around my left, pulling my leg to her and pushing my arm down. I didn’t go down, but, rather, coiled my tail and leaned back on it, kicking at her with my free leg, careful not to scratch her with my claws. She was thrown back, hitting the ground. I was going to ask if she conceded. 

HUMAN COMBAT RULE #???:

Humans rarely concede willingly. They will not stay down unless held down by force. They have no claws, but will scratch regardless. They rarely break skin and, lesser still, scale, but they have oils and bacteria on and under what they call “nails”. Do not engage in combat with a Human with untrimmed nails.

I quickly leapt to hold her down but she rolled away and I hit the mat before I could rotate. In a matter of moments, she was sitting on my back - apparently aware of my tail - and taking hold of my arms, contorting me against my will. I had not seen this tactic used before and I was in shock for seconds before I snaked my tail around her waist and pushed her off of me. I didn’t release her of my tail until after I rolled over and applied only some of my bodyweight to her legs and arms - face to face once again. Her face was not this dark when she tried to trip me. She bared her teeth at me - I knew she did not mean well - grunting as she fought against my hold.

I dropped my head so that I may speak directly into her ear. Humans do this to be private or intimidating [it is called whispering]. I intended to be both. “Do you concede?”

I felt her turn her head to whisper back, I assumed. I assumed incorrectly. Instead of her voice in my ear, I was met with what must have been her teeth trying desperately to break past my scales. My head dropped to her shoulder as I let out a short cry of pain - one of my scales was torn from me. I was once again in shock. That wasn’t supposed to happen. And she wasn’t supposed to be able to flip me onto my back.

Her eyes met mine. She wore a grin and my blood on her mouth. I wanted to say she broke the rules, but we never put any in place outside of not taking it easy on her.

“Am I a threat now?”

“What?”

“Did I frighten you this time?”

Absolutely. I would be rude to withhold the truth from her and I was too stunned to keep fighting.

“Pty, did I frighten you this time?” Her hands started to burn me again and her skin darkened. My ears rose. This wasn’t quite fear anymore. My tail loosely circled around her waist again. “Or do you want to keep fighting?”

“Get off me, I have first patrol after breakfast.”

“Concede, then.”

I slipped my wrist from her hand and pressed my open palm to her chest, about to shove her off but pausing. Her free hand rested on my chest now. Her heartbeat was going as fast as earlier but she already caught her breath. She stared into my eyes and swallowed without eating. Her mouth opened to say something, then closed having said nothing. She made me uneasy. Her palms got hotter.

“It’s okay. I know you concede.”

She pushed off and my tail fell from her as she stood up. I remained on my back as she left the gym. I only bowed my head when she thanked me for humouring her - whatever that means. My neck was still bleeding but I could only feel the burns on my wrists and upper chest. She was right. I did concede.