#this is not beta'd because im impatient and want to upload it NOW

[showrunnerihardlyknowher]

45 & 48 sound interesting

Prompts: 45. “Shhh... just sleep... you’re safe.” and 48. *screams very loudly for basically no reason*

catmom catmom catMOM CATMOM CATMOM CATMOM CATM-

--

Ylva was not one who startled easily.

Perhaps it was in part that she was a member of an apex predator species, one of the most advanced species currently known in the universe in fact. Being alert and aware of her surroundings generally kept things from being able to get the jump on her, be it a playful crewmate or a stubborn insectoid that had escaped its holding container. There was also the added necessity of needing a steady hand no matter what procedure she was conducting on her assigned specimens, many of them having unique qualities that would spasm or be triggered by an invading instrument digging into muscles. Jumping and squealing and flinching would only serve to ruin the important vivisection she needed to draw up her reports for, therefore she almost always expected the unexpected when she brought her knife down on a squirming creature, fully prepared for a sudden spew of acid from the wound or a brain bleeding howl or tearing off limbs to escape its constraints. 

She was not, however, prepared for the heart wrenching cry coming from her human’s nesting cage.

The shriek sent her hand jolting severely to the left, effectively slicing through the tiny abdomen she had been peeling back in delicate layers. The human on her dissection tray cried out as well, though those noises were soon replaced by gurgles in its throat as tiny organs spilled out of the newly made gash running down its side. None of the noises it made phased her, not that they ever did under normal circumstances, but in this moment her attention was solely focused on the sound of despair her sweet little pet was making. Specimens could wait. They could be replaced. Her human could not.

In an instant she was rolling her chair down the length of her expansive work bench, the journey feeling like it was taking twice as long to reach the opposite end. There was no way Mibao could have hurt itself, right? Ylva specifically made sure there was nothing harmful to humans or pups stuck in the repurposed cage when she stuffed it full of bedding and cloth. She had lined the bottom of pillows, covered those with one of her old lab coats so the little one could be comforted by her scent, smushed in terrycloth towels against the bars to prevent the sweet thing from bumping its little head if it rolled around too much and finally draped a section of a fluffy throw blanket over it all for the human to curl up in. All in all, it was a pretty damn cozy looking nest and the human had been thrilled with it since sol one. It was such a well trained pup, too, Ylva could leave the cage door open all sleep cycle and it would never leave until Ylva herself came to get it, even if it was already awake.

Essentially, there was nothing in there that should have caused it any injury and the little one was behaved enough that it wouldn’t have gone without her permission and gotten into anything dangerous. Then again, it was still a pup and, be it human or Venandi, sometimes curiosity got the better of them. Her lab wasn’t exactly childproof, not with the vials of chemicals and bladed tools and live specimens and fatal heights and--

Another sob ripped her out of those thoughts before she could begin to imagine her human in the aftermath of all those scenarios, her tail puffing up significantly as the mantra of baby, baby, where is the baby ran through her mind instead. After ages, or two seconds, she was squarely in front of the cage and desperately trying to find the little human who was not immediately in her sight. There was no sign of springy curls, no bubblegum pink night dress, no wide brown eyes...but there was something wriggling like a nerve shocked invertebrate underneath the makeshift covers, muffling more choked whimpers. 

She reached her hand in the cage and pinched the corner of the blanket to tug it back, revealing a mop of curly hair and a tear streaked face with its eyes screwed shut. As soon as she saw her human was indeed still alive, Ylva relaxed significantly. That didn’t ease all of her worry seeing that something was deeply upsetting the little one, but at least it was breathing and, confirmed once she pulled away the remainder of the blanket, still in one piece. With the blanket removed, the human curled further in on itself, throwing its tiny arms over its head and crying into its bedding. It wasn’t physically hurt, that much was obvious. It was...frightened? Ylva knew that emotional response very well in her line of work when it came to dealing with sentient specimens. Frightened because it had gotten tangled under its blanket? Of the dark? Perhaps humans had the ability to suffer from night terrors as well, though this was the first she had ever seen her human succumb to one. Mibao was usually a very good sleeper, able to take naps regardless of whatever racket was going on with screaming subjects and whirring machinery.

“Mibao,” she cooed, two fingers reaching back into the cage to rub at its trembling back, “it’s okay, sweetie…”

The unexpected touch and voice caused the human to gasp, eyes flying open and scrambling away from the perceived threat. Ylva would be lying if she said that reaction didn’t sting just a little bit. Never once had Mibao ever been afraid of her, not even back on earth, but she reassured herself it was just prey instincts to flee from predators that could easily take advantage of their sleeping form. If it didn’t trust Ylva then it certainly wouldn’t have followed her around back on its home planet, mewling and snuggling all the while.

It took a moment, but soon enough the little one was able to blink through the haze of tears to recognize the person in front of it. She would have thought that would have brought the poor thing some comfort given that it had been attached to its beloved “kit-tee” ever since it had run up to her unprovoked, yet a fresh wave of tears were quick to start streaming down its plump cheeks. This time, however, it raised its little arms in her direction and warbled something softly and Ylva didn’t need a translator to be able to tell exactly what it wanted.

“Aw, come here, baby,” Her hands cupped around Mibao and pulled her out, instantly pressing the little one into her chest that was erupting with purrs, “What happened, hm? Was it a bad dream?”

Though the human was probably only nuzzling its face into the material of her uniform, it almost felt as if it was nodding in agreement and for some reason that made Ylva’s heart soar. The sheer idea that soon enough they would be able to understand each other if the linguistics department ever stopped dragging their feet.

“Do you want to stay with mommy for a little bit? Yeah? We can take a little break…”

She leaned back in her chair with a sigh, smiling with the warmth of the sun as Mibao shifted itself into a more comfortable position while laying against her, gripping two itty bitty fistfuls of her dress to ensure Ylva would not be putting it down any time soon. Not that she had any intention, of course. Her hands closed more snuggly around the tiny body, rubbing her thumb down its hair before briefly pulling one of her hands away much to its dismay. As soon as she had tugged the glove off with her teeth and returned her hand to its previous spot the whines stopped in an instant, save for the occasional sniffle. Touch was an important factor in human bonds, she had observed. The ability to truly feel one another, their warmth and scent unhindered by thick materials, brought many earthlings great comfort. Even Edix’s human preferred his touch over anyone else’s on the ship, though that may have more to do with familiarity than anything, the shy little thing that it is.

Once the tears seemed like they had tapered off, Ylva quieted her purring in favor of humming a little tune, rocking her chair side to side to entice the human to close its eyes. The swaying and melody of her voice was certainly urging it to slip back into dreamland, but every time it caught itself drifting off it would whimper and squirm, still too shaken up by its nightmare. 

“Shh…” she murmured, stroking her finger down its back and tapping gently, “just sleep, you’re safe, mommy’s right here…”

It took a little more convincing for Mibao to fully give in to the throes of slumber, but when it did it was out like a light, tiny snores making Ylva stifle her giggles to keep from waking the human up again. Now, the most logical thing to do would be to set the human back in its nest, cover it up, and clean up her workstation to prep the next specimen and redo the vivisection she needed to document before the end of her shift. Realistically, there was no fucking way she was going to cut this cuddle time short with her precious little Mibao and instead lost herself in thought while she pet the human pup, thinking perhaps a playdate was long overdue between hers and Edix’s pet. Oh, maybe she could print out a few more dresses and tutus for the little one to wear, too. A new stuffed toy or five would be good, it was critical to have a stimulating environment to amuse itself in for when Ylva was too preoccupied with work to play…

Yeah, she thought to herself while wheeling her chair over, human in tow,  towards the printer in the back corner of her lab, those things sound way more important right now.