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“Mrow?”
Arthur turned his head to meet a pair of glowing eyes staring at him from around the corner.
Once again the cat found him. Over the past few weeks Kalymos seemed to have developed a grand obsession with her favourite protoframe, finding him not just in the endless halls of the mall, but even out in the streets, during stakeouts and attack operations. At least she had enough sense to dull her purring as Arthur tried to stealthily perform his duty.
Here she was again, staring him down defiantly.
“I'm not Eleanor, I can't read your mind, Kalymos. What do you want?”
She meowled again and impatiently flicked her tail. Arthur sighed and rubbed his forehead.
“Is it food? Haven’t snacked on enough Techrot yet?”
Kalymos yawned.
“Fine.”
Arthur rose from his seat and followed Kalymos, who led him down a lengthy amount of stairs and corridors to a single massive door, locked tight. Then, she sat next to it and waited.
“Thought you're a big enough girl to open the doors yourself, aren't you?”
Kalymos gave him no honour of the reply, while he pushed open the door, and she exited the premises for a hunt.
***
“Mrrrrow!”
Arthur opened one eye to look at Kalymos.
“No.”
The kavat, as he was rightfully corrected by the Drifter, sneezed.
“That's still a no.”
For the next twenty minutes, Kalymos stared at him, and he could feel her piercing glow even with his own eyes closed.
“Fine, where to now?”
Arthur returned to his nap after Kalymos graced a room in the back with her visit and immediately proceeded to walk elsewhere, leaving Arthur disgruntled and alone.
Not only did the “Good Doktor” leave him with a permanent heritage of Infestation, he was now becoming the Doktor’s cat’s, no, kavat’s handler. The Drifter was little help in taming the beast and seemed ever more amused by her attachment to Arthur's hip.
“She just really likes you,” they said, petting Kalymos on her bald head.
“Can't figure out why she chose the least friendly bloke to like.”
The Drifter smiled mysteriously. No, no help at all.
***
Arthur decided that if the kavat was set on adopting him as her prime favourite, he might as well try and befriend her and enjoy the benefits. He watched her from above the Drifter’s balcony. Down below, Kalymos was happily curled up on a luxurious pillow.
“Kalymos,” Arthur called from the balcony, startled by the sweetness of his own voice. This is what kavats did to people, he realized. Even his broody voice could not withstand the charm of the futuristic alien cat. “Kalymos, hey. Come here?”
The kavat opened one eye lazily, measuring his worth. Clearly, the worth was not there as the eye closed again and Kalymos neither moved nor even flicked an ear in his direction.
“Hey. Come here.”
Arthur found himself thoroughly ignored.
“Fine, be like that,” he grunted, turning away and standing up straight as the Drifter was across him, watching him with a most amused smile on their face.
“Still no luck?” they said as Arthur walked away from the cursed balcony.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Marty.”
The Drifter chuckled, and Arthur made himself busy with his nikana. That pristine weapon clearly needed another polish.
***
Arthur woke up with a feeling so tight in his chest, he wondered if the Scaldra had finally collapsed the building, and only the sheer will and strength of his Protoframe body kept him alive. He attempted to move, but had little luck. Something didn’t feel right, but it didn’t hurt either.
Then, something dug into the softer part of his body, and Arthur felt suddenly thankful for all the metal and armour.
Kalymos.
Arthur’s vision adapted to the darkness and he could now see a massive coiled shape of the kavat, curled right over his chest. She made it right at home on top of him, warm like a bonfire and whirring like a badly oiled engine. And there was certainly no chance of moving.
“Comfortable?” the Drifter beside him laughed quietly, watching Arthur’s predicament.
“Oh, very,” Arthur responded mockingly. “Can you tell her to pretty please let Uncle Arthur sleep in peace?”
“It’s your kavat now, I don’t think I get a say.”
“Drifter, I can’t breathe.”
“Doesn’t seem like it.”
“You have far too much fun at my expense, Marty.”
“Someone has to humble and un-brood you. Might as well be the kavat.”
Arthur sighed and leaned back his head, staring at the ceiling. The Drifter was stubborn, the kavat even more so, and Arthur retreated into his sleepy mind to decide just how stubborn he was going to be. He didn’t get to the end trail of that thought, however, falling right back asleep with Kalymos still on top of him and the Drifter’s loving lips pressing a kiss against his forehead.
Some family they were.