GRIGHRI
Rah-bee’s strange barking caught my attention, and I turned to see if I could figure out this latest vocalization. His eyes were darting wildly between the teapot and the cups for some reason. Was he afraid I was about to poison him? Then I noticed the way the corners of his mouth were lifted up. Ah…was this a happy sound? I picked up the teapot, and it stopped its calling.
“Tee,” he gasped out. “Ahnduh seengeng teektl!”
I turned my attention back to what I was doing so as to not burn myself. One thing was now for certain. Poor Rah-bee had been stolen from another people less advanced than mine. His surprised marveling at such a simple thing as a calling kettle proved that. It was no wonder he’d gazed around in awe as we entered the mountain and he caught his first glimpses of our village.
I let the chkha steep while I unstoppered the glymel nectar we used as a sweetener, the bottle a lovely polished glass one made by the Clan of the Crashing Waves using sand they pulled from the bottom of the vast ocean they resided by. I added some to each cup, wondering as I did so if his people lived in houses at all. Perhaps they were like our ancestors, who lived in snow caves as we did, or huts of shrana wood as the Clan of the Crashing Waves did, or portable homes made of hide like the Howlithi did.
I stirred the chkha to evenly disperse the nectar and restoppered the bottle. Once the leaves had resettled into the bottom of each cup, I took them over to the table, placing one in front of each of our places.
He’d stopped his sounds of excited but gleeful surprise and was now eyeing the chkha before him warily.
“Hmm,” he hummed, peering at it. A look of resolution crossed his expressive face, and he lifted the cup, taking a taste. “Mmm!” he sighed, making a contented sound before taking another, less wary, sip. I turned my attention back to my meal, satisfied that he was content.
His blunt nailed hand reaching across the table to tap the surface close to my plate had me look up.
“Weev gahttoo goe bahk,” he said earnestly, worry once more etched in plain sight across his features. “Mihye fhrendz weel fhreze tuh dehth.”
He pointed to himself. “Rah-bee.” Now he placed two fingers on the tabletop, having them stand upright, fingertips down, then used his other hand to point to the fingers. “Rah-bee.” Now, he had his other hand place all five of his clawless fingers in a similar stance, next to his ‘Rah-bee’. “Rah-beesz fuhrendz.” The Rah-bee fingers walked away from the ‘fuhrendz’. “Rah-bee goh.” He pointed at me. “Rah-bee goh wif Gree-Gree.”
Ah. So there were more like Rah-bee at the downed grak? It was good that more warriors were on their way. I copied his strange representations of people with my own fingers. “Rah-bee’s fhrendz.” I walked my other fingers over to them. “Grighri’s people.”
He stared at my hands for a moment before his entire face lit up. He got up, rushing around the table to throw his arms around me. “Thayhnk yoo! Aye dohnt wahnt theym too dieye!”
I patted his back awkwardly. ‘Fhrendz’ appeared to mean others, such as himself, perhaps fellow tribesmen. His concern for their welfare was admirable. What was not was my reaction to his touch. The press of his body woke up my primary cock, causing it to fill and distend from its pouch. I sucked in a deep breath and the stench of his unwashed body caused it to beat a hasty retreat. After our meal, we were going to the bathing pools, no two ways about it. There was no way I was going to share my sleeping space with that. The smell would sink into the linens and furs, and permeate the air of my sleep den, and would linger for days, if not weeks.
Not happening.
Ignoring the way his back felt firm beneath my hands, I pushed him gently away. “Go drink your chkha,” I told him, wincing at how gruff my words came out.
His cheeks pinkened even more than the chapping from the frigid breezes had caused. “Sahwree. Ahll goh driinnkuh maiye cha-kah nohwh.”
I chuffed happily at him, pleased that he’d already picked up some of our words. I was able to figure out from what he’d just said that he was agreeing to go finish his chkha..
As he sat down to do just that, I made short work of the remainder of my own meal.
“We will go bathe after this,” I told him, miming washing.
His eyes lit up. “Ayy bahthuh? Yeh-ess!” He exclaimed.
My tail reached out to curl around his ankle, and he glanced down in surprise, but said nothing. Inwardly, I preened. I’d made my Rah-bee happy. Though he was only my Rah-bee until he could live on his own, I reminded myself. If that ever happened, a tiny voice in the back of my head added. I was a very bad male, as I was already hoping that never happened, or that he’d choose to stay with me anyway.
“Noh moar cha-kah!” he chirped, tilting his cup to show me it was empty except for the leaves stuck to the bottom as I scooped the last of my food into my mouth. I finished the rest of my own.
I gathered our dishes and placed them in a basket with a carry handle, along with the used pan and utensils. Handing it to Rah-bee, I went to fetch us clean clothing to wear and drying sheets. These I placed in a second basket as he followed me, peering through the opened drapery into my sleep den as I did so.
“Iz thot yur bedruohm?” he said, a lilt at the end of his words letting me know he was asking me a question.
“I’m getting us things to wear after our bath,” I explained. “First, we will go to wash our dishes.”
Taking him by the hand, I led him from my home.
12
ROBBIE
I hated not being able to easily communicate. To say it was beyond frustrating would be putting it mildly. I wanted desperately to ask him so many things: when would his friends bring my fellow abductees back? Where would all of us stay? Were we even welcome to stay long term? I wasn’t able to ask any of those things, or rather, I could, but he wouldn’t understand a single word of it, just as he hadn’t when I asked him if that room had been his bedroom.
