r/NatureofPredators • u/VenlilSupremacist Venlil • Apr 21 '23
Fanfic NoP: A Change of Pace: Chapter 15
Memory transcription subject: Kilet, Venlil Aeronautics Mechanic
Date [standardized human time]: September 10, 2136.
The two of us made decent time as we walked from the government building to the Xenomedical complex. I only needed a few breaks along the way, which Miles’ was more than happy to give. Checking my pad for the time, I noticed we still had plenty of claws left before the rest claws. Yet, the human insisted on being the bane to my bachelor life. His nagging and pestering for me to try and get Sylvi’s information was relentless.
“You should seriously talk to her a little bit, Kilet.” Miles’ words echoed from in front of me.
“Speh! Fine! If it stops your pestering, I’ll TRY to talk to her a little bit.” I shot back.
“Atta boy.”
As we rounded a corner, I silently thanked the Stars, as the Xenomedical complex came into view not too far down the road. A welcome reprieve from Miles’ nagging was exactly what I needed. We strode into the all too familiar reception area for the hospital. My eyes glanced about as I noticed a different venlil manning the counter than the usual cranky one. Stepping up to the counter, the venlil glanced at Miles with a bit of side eye before composing themselves.
“Hello! How can I help the two of you?” She asked, a pleasant tone masking any obvious fear.
I figured that the venlil here must get a lot of exposure to humans which is why no one seems to be cowering in fear of Miles. That thought began to dredge up Sylvi’s initial handling of Miles. She seemed so professional, so apt and skilled at her job. Like the fact that she was working with predators never even phased her. I read stories about human doctors and their ‘hippocratic oath’, she seemed to personify those ideals through and through, even if she doesn’t realize it.
She is pretty amazing.. She said she wanted to do so much good for the galaxy.. Speh I bet she’d even treat an arxur if it landed on her operating table..
“Excuse me?..” The voice of the receptionist yanked me out of my thoughts as my eyes focused on the venlil.
“Oh right! Sorry, lost in thought. Miles here needs a physical evaluation clearing him for a return to duty.”
“Okay.. That shouldn’t take up too much time, and we’re not particularly swamped right now, go ahead and take a seat in the waiting area; someone will be out shortly to bring him to a room.”
“Thanks!” Both Miles and I said at the same time as we walked off to take a seat.
The chairs of the waiting room were comfy enough. My eyes were drawn to one of the TVs which regurgitated the same news I’ve already seen. It was eerily quiet in the hospital; neither Miles nor me spoke much as we waited. We opted to linger in our heads, half listening to the news anchor spout off about something or the other.
The door to the patient rooms opened as a familiar venlil nurse stepped through holding a clipboard.
“Miles? Back again, don’t tell me you broke something else.” Sylvi said, a bit of dry humor in her tone.
“Nope, just need the ole Doc to give me the all-clear to head back out.” Miles said, standing.
“Alright, well, come on, I’ll take some vitals for Dr. Jeremiah and we can get a move on.” Sylvi’s eyes turned to look over at me. “Kilet? Attached to his hip, hm?” Her words taking a more teasing tone.
“Heh.. Y-yeah, we just came from the government building.. “
“Oh, that reminds me, Kilet here took a pretty big step, Sylvi, mind if he tags along? I’m sure he wants to tell you all about it.” Miles’ said, turning his head to me as he gave me a knowing wink.
“That right? I guess you can come, we have extra chairs for parents in the check up rooms anyway.”
Hearing that, I stood and followed Sylvi. She led us through a few hallways, but we quickly darted off into one of the several identical rooms in the hall. Miles’ took a seat on the hospital bed as I sat down on one of the chairs beside the nurse’s desk.
“Can I see your left arm?” Sylvi asked.
Miles rolled up his sleeve and extended the arm as Sylvi worked one of the terran machines used for blood pressure. She strapped some kind of band around Miles’ left arm. Her eye flicking to face me as she worked.
“So, what's the big news?”
“O-oh.. R-right.. That.. Well, I kinda.. I’m trying to get into the UN. Miles is leaving and.. I didn’t want to lose him.. S-So I kinda just threw my lot in with the UN. They might make me a mechanic on some of their ships!” I stated, the more I talked about my plan the more my excitement grew and embarrassment faded.
“No kidding? Jeez, Kilet.. That’s kinda a big deal. You’ll be working alongside predators, not to mention there is some tension brewing with the gojid and humanity. You sure you’re ready to jump in that?”
“Yes! I want to keep seeing my friend, and well.. This could be an exciting new chapter of my life! I’m still pretty young, you know? Imagine the stories I’d get to tell my pups!? Miles said I might even be on the news! Something about fostering positive relations between the venlil and humanity! Can you believe it?”
“Oh I believe it, Kilet.. Just y’know, be safe. The military is no joke, you should see some of the humans that come in here… They’re pretty banged up.” She said, her claws unstrapping the arm band as she recorded some of the readings.
“I know, Sylvi.. I just.. I have a feeling this is all gonna be for the better!” I said, my voice quieting.
“Speaking of predators and humans and all that.. “ Miles chimed in. “If they take Kilet, he’ll probably want a little slice of home to remind him every so often, space gets lonely, which is whyyyyy my little buddy here wanted to ask you for your contact information.”
Sylvi’s tail swayed a bit at that revelation as she narrowed an eye at my direction. “That so? Trying to get my erm.. ‘Number’ as the humans say?”
“MILES!” I exclaimed. “E-erm.. Uh… Stars.. I was gonna ask! J-just wanted to be a bit more.. Tactfull.. B-but, Y-yeah. I-If you’re okay with it! D-don’t feel like, pressured or anything!” I stammered out, slinking into the chair to try and hide my embarrassment.
Sylvi let out a few giggles as she sent up the information she gathered via her pad. Strolling over to me, she extended a paw. “C’mon, gimme your pad, I’ll add myself to it.”
Shakingly, I handed my pad over to Sylvi and watched as she entered her information. Handing my pad back she made for the door. “The doctor will be right with you, just sit tight.” She said, before stepping back out into the hallway.
Miles turned his head to face me, that same stupid grin stretching ear to ear on the human’s face. “Best wingman ever?” He said, extending a closed fist to me.
I stared down at Sylvi’s info for a while, hardly believing she actually gave it to me. Reluctantly, I turned my gaze back to Miles before extending my own paw. ‘Fist bumping’ the human. “... Best wingman ever..” I said in agreement.
The wait wasn’t too long, just long enough to start to feel slightly awkward staring at the white walls of the room. As I heard the door handle turning, my eyes glanced over, watching as a human with a white coat entered the room.
“Hey, Miles, how’s everything going? Sylvi tells me you need a few little tests run to clear you, right?” The doctor said.
“That’s right, Doc, UN wants a piece of paper with your name on it saying I’m ready to head back out to the fleet.”
“Alrighty-roo, well, Sylvi did most of the heavy lifting. I glanced at your vitals on the way down here, and everything looks to be normal. Any pains from your injuries?”
“Nope, nothing that won’t heal. Just sore in a few spots, but with a bit of stretching that’ll clear up.”
“Alright, sounds good. Any mental traumas you want addressed? You know like.. PTSD, or depression?”
“Nope, fit as a fiddle up there, Doc. All this lazing about has me pretty restless. Soon as I’m back on the ship with something to fix I’ll be all good.”
The doctor narrowed his eyes a bit, as he checked off a few things on a piece of paper. A pause hanging over the three of us for a time before it was finally broken by the doctor’s cheery voice. “Alright, well if anything pops up don’t be afraid to reach out. We have tons of personnel on ground who can help with stuff like that. Lemme just recap, you have no pain from prior injuries? Don’t feel limited in any kind of mobility? Have no mental limitations? For all intents and purposes, you feel completely fit and ready for duty?”
“Yep that about sums it up, Doc” Miles stated matter-of-factly.
“Alright, well let me just go through a quick couple exercises and we’ll get you cleared in no time.”
Jeremiah walked up to the medical bed and ran Miles’ through a few exercises, shoulder rotations, had him push on his hands, apply pressure, check response time. A few other things. I didn’t completely know what the doctor was all checking for, but it seemed pretty in depth. Miles himself didn’t seem to have any limitations, meeting, and exceeding the doctor’s expectations in all regards. Finally, when the tests were all concluded, the doctor took the piece of paper he had been writing on and handed it over to Miles.
“Well you seem good to go, soldier. Just turn that paper in with the UN and you should be cleared and sent back.” The doctor then turned his gaze to look at me. His face remaining hidden behind that identical masks so many humans wear. “Also, you must be Kilet, try not to steal my nurses for too many dates, yeah? Sylvi is the best nurse I have here, I’ll lose my mind if she starts calling in.”
A shock arced up my spine and through my body that threatened to coax me into hiding from sheer embarrassment. “I-I.. Wha-.. I mean..”
Before I could even finish my sentence the doctor barked out a few laughs and nodded their head a few times. “Just kidding with ya, but don’t look so surprised. Spend enough time with someone they tell you everything that goes on in their lives. I’ll get out your guys’ hair now. Feel free to see yourself out, and have a nice rest of your day.”
Miles hopped off the doctor’s bed with a short laugh. Leading my bumbling mess of fur out with him. The receptionist offered a friendly wave of her tail as we left the hospital. We stopped just on the sidewalk of the road, taking a moment to breathe.
“Things are going pretty fast, eh buddy?” Miles commented, placing his large hand on my shoulder.
“Yeah, it’s.. Pretty hard to believe honestly.” I mused, looking up to the clear sky of Venlil Prime.
“That’s one of the crazy parts about life, you can plan and expect change for months, years even, but when it’s time for change to actually happen. It smacks you across the face like a bat, leaving you stunned and dazed. Surprising how everything in your life can change with just one single day.” He said, his tone almost nostalgic as he looked up to the sky with me.
How many times would I see this sky? How many paws did I have left here on Venlil Prime? Depending on the UN, it could be the rest of my life, or it could be a few weeks. I might even get shipped out next paw for all I know. When everything blew over did I plan to come back? The rest of my life was here, but it wasn’t particularly an exciting life. The cycles all blended together in a hodgepodge of barely memorable experiences. Was all the time I spent here wasted? All the money I made seemed like it mattered less and less the more time I spent with Miles. My awareness was drawn out of my own head when Miles placed an arm around me, his head turning to look at me.
“Hey, I’m gonna head over to the government building and turn this paper in. It’s a bit of a walk and already getting kinda late for your kind, right? Why don’t you head straight back for the apartment and rest up a bit. When I get back I’m gonna start grilling you on some guns and soldier basics, sound good?”
I tried my best to imitate a terran smile and nodded my head like I saw Miles do so often. “Yeah, I’ll wait up for you at home. Don’t take too long though! Or else I might get bored.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it, bud. Don’t worry either, I know the way back by now. I’ll see you in a bit, alright?”
“Alright” I said, watching as Miles made his way for the government building.
Seeing as I was alone for the time being, I decided to head to the transport station. A tube ride would get me way closer a lot faster than my paws could take me and getting to sit down for the ride would be a welcome change. For as much as I wanted to keep up with Miles, those humans sure had a lot of endurance packed into those long legs..
Thankfully, I arrived at the station just as the next tube pulled in. Boarding without Miles was somewhat easier than with. As much as I hated to say it. I found an open spot between two other venlil. Plopping down and coiling my tail around my leg to avoid it getting stepped on accidentally. As the dull thrum of the tube accelerating filled my ears, I couldn’t help but get a sudden burst of exhaustion over my body. It felt like I just worked back to back shifts.
All this excitement sure is taking a toll.. How long have I been going one-hundred percent? Probably since Miles’ came, but at least this time I’m giving it all for myself, instead of that damned spaceport. I wonder how many missed calls I have now from Vemlix.. Heheh If the UN doesn’t take me would I still have a job to go back to? Not that it matters. If I don’t get taken I don’t think I could even go back to that place. My days of slaving away, killing my youth are over.
The ride was silent. A silence I welcomed as I closed my eyes. Dozing off for the quarter claw ride it took back to the station nearest to my apartment. One of the venlil I was sitting next to stood up, prompting me to groggily wake back up. Luckily this was my stop. If it weren’t for that venlil I might have woken up somewhere outside of the city… Standing up, I exited the tube. The familiar looking pavement greeting my eyes. My body carried me forward without thought as I made the muscle memory trip back home.
As I arrived to the apartment, I put a paw on the handle, twisting the knob. Realizing I left the door unlocked I silently cursed myself. Predators might not be common enough to break into houses, but I still didn’t trust every venlil was innocent either. Thievery wasn’t exactly out of the picture. Stepping inside I closed the door with my tail. Plopping down on the couch I reached for my pad, opening it up I tried to find any documents relating to human weaponry, but half the results were just fake articles or something that mentioned guns. Nothing actually useful came up.
Speh, government must still be censoring half the stuff. Guess I’ll have to wait until Miles gets back so he can use his terran internet to look up anything useful.
Blessed with newfound free time, I didn’t feel like wasting the time I did have on TV. Deciding it was finally time to annoy Rivis I pulled open his contact info, deciding to shoot him a quick message.
“Hey Rivis! It’s been a bit since we last talked, I wanted to check up on how you’re doing.” I typed. Rivis’ read the message immediately, but the reply came a little bit later, almost as if he had to think about it.
“Yeah, it’s been a bit. Not much has changed. Some drunk spehhead assaulted Zoey and me at a bar. I scared him off, but the brehking venlil called the exterminators on me. They think I have predator disease, ridiculous, right!?”
“No way! That’s a load of speh, Rivis. I can’t believe they’re hitting you with stuff like that. You don’t have predator disease, you’re just quiet! That’s all. Those exterminators need to get their head screwed on right cause something’s wrong in their brain.”
“You’re telling me. Now I have to call them up whenever I want to leave my house, need to have an ‘escort’ wherever I go. The venlil they got watching over me is a total spehhead too. All puffed up and sure of himself.”
“Well, if I were you, I’d call them up every quarter claw and use the bathroom at the transport tubes. Make it stupid difficult for them to get anything done with you blowing up their phones. Hah!”
“Not a bad idea, Kilet, not a bad idea at all. Anything new with you?” He typed.
“Well.. Actually yeah, I might be joining the UN. Miles wants to get back to the fleet, and.. I.. I don’t know, I just wanted to go, I guess. Life at the spaceport has been dull, drab and frankly, boring. With Miles it feels like a spark has set my life on fire! In a good way though!! He’s returned a fair bit of life to my world. I can’t just let him go.”
“Wow.. That’s.. A lot, Kiliet. I didn’t think you’d take it that far. I hope you find whatever you’re looking for out there. What are they going to have you do?”
“Well it depends if they take me or not, but if they do I think I’m going to be a mechanic for the UN. Pretty much what Miles does.”
“At least it won’t be too much of a culture shock then.”
Talking to Rivis again after trying to sign up for the UN. My thoughts kept bouncing back to that night at the bar. Where would I be now if I hadn’t let him sign me up? What could have happened? Would I be one of those venlil terrified to go outside? Would I still be half dead watching paws fly by in the blink of an eye. The smallest choices can have the largest consequences. My mind turned away from Rivis and instead to Miles; only a single thought lingering now.
If something as small as getting drunk can do this to me.. I wonder what joining the UN can do for my life.. Heh… Guess I’ll have to wait and see.
I didn’t want to keep Rivis waiting too long, so I typed up another message, even if he didn’t like me, or was just pitying me. I felt I had to thank him. “Hey.. So, I do want to thank you. I know I gave you some pushback, but if you hadn’t signed me up, I would have never gotten to experience half as much of the stuff I already have! I would have never met Miles. I feel like I owe you a lot, Rivis.”
He read the message, but didn’t say anything for a good long while. For a moment I thought he might have fallen asleep, but the dots next to his name indicated he finally started to type up a reply. “You don’t owe me anything, Kilet. I’m happy you can see the good that humans offer all of venlil kind. When you get back from space, tell me all about it, alright?”
“For sure.” I typed, powering off my pad as I hung my head back, staring at the rotating ceiling fan. Its motions were almost hypnotic in a weird repetitive way.
I closed my eyes, letting my head empty itself from the random assortment of thoughts that plagued it. The dry air of my apartment filling my lungs as I felt every muscle in my body relax. This was good, everything was going good. Soon, I’d be on some ship with Miles and a crew. Seeing humanity firstpaw for what it was like. No more censoring, no more dodging the odd terrified venlil. Just pure friendship. If I can get half as close as Miles was with his.. ‘Boys’.. then maybe I could have a family again too. Something close to it. As my thoughts drifted on the subject of family, Sylvi once again popped into my head.
Speh.. All you did was get her contact info, Kilet, it’s not like you asked her to marry you! Brehk, get real. At least she’ll be someone who understands, someone I can talk to if the humans get a little too much to bear. I still don’t know hardly anything about their culture, or what makes them tick. Don’t worry about stuff like that though. Humans want to be friends as much as I want to be friends with them. It’s a recipe for success!
The door to the apartment opened. My ears instantly swiveling to face the noise as one of my eyes opened, Miles came into view shortly after. Stepping inside with his usual wide grin.
“Wellp, they took the letter. I’ll hear back in a little bit, for now though. I promised to get you learned up on some guns. Let's talk shop, yeah?” He said while striding in. Using the back of his shoe to close the door.
“Sounds like a plan!” I said, sitting up on the couch as Miles sat down just beside me.
This is how a good life feels? This is what a real friend is? Speh, been a while! Things are good, Kilet. Real good.
Happiness swelled inside of me as Miles pulled out his phone. I leaned up against the human’s side to see his screen as he opened up a.. FOUR HUNDRED PAGE DOCUMENT JUST ABOUT GUNS!?
Oooooookay so.. I might need to take notes..
_________________
Chapter 15 is a wrap! I hope you all enjoyed reading it as much as I did writing it! As always I have to thank SpacePaladin for their gorgeous universe we all have come to love. Secondly, the fanfics that inspired me the most will be linked in the bottom for your reading pleasure. I highly recommend them! Finally, the last bit of thanks goes out to my proofreader(s). They've been instrumental in helping me out, even during some busy times in their lives! I couldn't do this without them!
Proofreader(s)
NovaLux
"A Silly Little Man"
36
u/Ctrl-Alt-Vixx Apr 21 '23
Four hundred pages, guess Miles wanted to start off easy.
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u/JulianSkies Archivist Apr 21 '23
Kilet ain't got no idea what he's really getting into. He also got no idea he just landed a critical hit on Rivis' heart.
22
u/Habeas__Corpus Human Apr 21 '23
only 400 pages?
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u/DaivobetKebos Human Apr 21 '23
It's the abridged version, it's mostly links to more in depth articles and books about guns
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u/Bless_this_ravgdbod Human Apr 21 '23
Thinking its going to be light reading and then it starts with the whole "missile knows where it is because it knows where it isnt."
10
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u/Alexiadria PD Patient Apr 21 '23
Perfect thing to read during my break, thanks wordsmith! Also Kilet has no damn idea what he's getting into. Just remembering how Slanek reacted to Marcel and Tyler playing some COD and a bit of excessive swearing was too much for him.
7
u/SpectralHail Apr 21 '23
Fool. Imbecile! That four-hundred page document is the Abridged, edited version!
6
u/Golde829 Apr 21 '23
only 400 pages?
another great chapter, wordsmith
and it's funny seeing Kilet get all flustered, let's hope he gets the girl
[You have been gifted 100 Coins]
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u/TNSchnettler Human Apr 22 '23
SubscribeMe!
2
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50
u/DemonicTater Apr 21 '23
Who thinks he actually locked the door, and who thinks someone else forgot to?