They would sit as a human brushed their fur and ranted about a bad day. They sat as other humans quietly held their hands, sometimes rubbing their furry arms. This was normal for the life of a companion. If you didn't like being touched constantly, then working with humans was not for you. But they, sometimes had bad days, too, and needed someone to rant to.
But, sometimes, THEY needed someone to hold, to rant to, to cry to, about their problems. And when the human saw them struggling, the human picked them up, sat down in a quiet corner, and said, softly. "Go ahead and let off some steam, I'll listen. You need it, and you're always doing it for me, it's my turn to help you." -- Anon Guest
Humans are friendly. They will pack-bond with anything. They're famous for it, but it's always a surprise when the pack-bonding evidences itself seemingly out of nowhere. Companion L'mell was constantly surprised by her Humans, and today gave her another one.
Human Oss physically picked her up and sat her in the quiet corner, then fetched her favourite comfort beverage, some treat food, and a blanket. A very soft and fluffy blanket.
"You're having a day," said Oss. "I'm here if you need to talk. Heck, I'm here if you need to punch something. I can take your weenie Havenworlder punches, no sweat." A very careful smile, not baring their teeth. "Go on."
L'mell was still processing what just happened and said, "What?"
"You're wilting on the job," said Oss, as if it were the most obvious thing in the known universe. "You're having a day. Specifically, a bad day. You've put up with all of our horseshit and now it's payback time. Vent. Get it off your chest. You'll feel better. Trust me."
"This... is not your job."
Then Human Oss said it. "We're friends, aren't we? We do this for each other, when we're friends."
L'mell needed another minute, and sipped at her tea so she would have that time. "You are not a trained therapist."
"If you need one, I can fetch one, but... I'm here for you now. Do you really need the therapist?"
L'mell thought, I'm the therapist. Physician heal thyself. Then again, the Humans could press themselves to any task they put their minds to. Usually fists and feet first, but those weren't apparent now. "It has been a day of inconvenience. My alarm malfunctioned, then the food printer failed and the buffet had turned cold by the time I got there. I have been late for everything, the inner-ship transits have been slow, late, or too early, and further... I have not been able to do a single thing correctly all day. Look, I am even failing at my work!"
"Sideways day," Oss summarised. They were already on their datareader, tapping out a message for the crew. "I hate those. We can repair the systems for you, or at least give them a kicking."
Ah. There was the Human solution. L'mell relaxed a little. Her Humans were back. "Please do not destroy anything in the process."
"All right, we'll only argue with it. Meanwhile, what else do you need accomplished, today? We'll take up the slack."
L'mell remembered in time how enthusiastic Humans could be about helping their pack-mates. And how they often left a trail a mile wide in the process. "Not a lot," she allowed. "Simple messages and some moving of light objects."
"Leave it all to us," said Oss. "We got'cher back."
All the instruction books were right. Humans were terrifying.
[Image (c) Can Stock Photo / Sandralise]
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