The purring stopped, which Asa had to say had been somewhat of a comfort, and when the claws imbedded in his skin began to move upwards, Asa let out sharp sounds of pain and irritation, all until the boy repositioned himself with his arms wrapped around Asa’s neck, and his legs wrapped around his waist, leaving his tail to just swish behind him. It was basically the piggyback position, and Asa couldn’t recall ever doing this with someone. Or maybe...just with his brother? Regardless, Asa found himself forced to hold up the boy’s thighs to keep him from falling.
“Well, Mr Sayre, I have to say...this worked out better than I thought.” Asa had nearly forgotten about his boss standing just outside the room, and when he turned to face the man, he was given an amused smile. “I’m sure the girl will warm up to you sooner or later, seeing as how her brother has already imprinted on you so quickly. Until then, I have a secluded home that you’ll be moving to in order to watch over these kids. Ms Noam will visit occasionally in order to receive reports that you compile. For now, you are to return home to pack essentials, and then return here. I’ll give you a file that details everything you are needed to do.” The boss gave him a cheerful smile that Asa returned with a glare.
He shifted the boy’s weight on his back and stood up taller, prompting a cheerful chirping sound near his ear. They purr, hiss, and chirp? Asa ignored that for now, in favor of processing what he had just been told. “I don’t recall accepting this assignment, sir.” He could feel his temper leaking through his words, and the sarcasm dripping from the word ‘sir’ was nearly tangible. His boss ignored it in favor of shrugging before gesturing to Asa.
“I figured this was a done deal, Mr Sayre. Afterall, the boy seems to already like you. If you don’t agree to this task, and I will not force you, then the only other person available will be...Mr Ovi.” Asa felt an uncomfortable shiver run down his spine. Nasir?
Now, for the most part, Asa didn’t mind Nasir. Sure, he wasn’t his biggest fan, and Asa refused to call the other man a friend, no matter how untrue it tended to seem at times, but Nasir wasn’t….terrible. A bit insufferable, sure, but Asa had gotten used to that part of his personality over the five years they worked together, and had only broken his arm once, although…that had been due to a series of other...circumstances. Still, Asa wasn’t sure if Nasir was capable of taking on such a task as looking after children, let alone ones of the non-human variety.
The boss didn’t need Asa to say anything to know he had made up his mind, and some part of that had Asa twitching in irritation. “Fine,” he nearly growled. “I’ll do it.” His boss clapped his hands together and smiled.
“Perfect! While you gather your things, I’ll prepare the children for transportation, as well as the file with all of your instructions. I thank you dearly, Mr Sayre. This is...very important for this company. I’m sure you won’t do us wrong.” Asa felt as though he was selling his soul to the devil with those words, but the soft chirping coming from the boy again, and a glance at the girl still shoved into the corner of the room made him brush past the feeling. Maybe something interesting could come of this, he wasn’t sure. But for now, his main priority was trying to remove the boy from his back so that he could go home.
— — —
It didn’t take long for Asa to realize he had a slight problem. A problem that came in the form of a one year old black cat.
Asa sighed. After returning to his apartment after his rather…interesting morning, he’d taken to haphazardly throwing his most used clothes into a duffle bag he’d found in his bedroom closet. Asa wasn’t one for shopping. He bought what he needed, and he kept good care of it so that it wouldn’t have to be replaced for a long time. That meant he owned only about four pairs of dark wash jeans, three pairs of business slacks (one of which he was wearing), six button up shirts (for variety), three dark polos, three plain t-shirts, a handful of underwear and socks, and a variety of random accessories, ranging from watches to belts.
He figured he should have felt some type of way over the fact that it took very little effort for him to be able to pack up his belongings. Other than his clothes, the only things he cared for where his laptop, an old mac that had seen better days, his phone, a relatively new model, a few pictures, some with his mother, but most of him and his brother, and…
Meow.
Asa wanted to curse this day and banish it into the shadow realm. As he slowly turned around, his eyes fell onto Nova who stretched her paws in front of her, mimicking the familiar halloween cat pose that tended to be silhouetted everywhere in his neighborhood the weeks surrounding that particular holiday. He sighed heavily, running a hand roughly over his face as if attempting to wipe away his memories as well.
He wasn’t sure what to do. Nova was his cat. He couldn’t, wouldn’t, just abandon her and leave her in the apartment all alone, though Asa figured she would be able to take care of herself quite well. But also, would it be acceptable to….bring her along? The third option was to leave her with someone else during his however many weeks (months? Years?) away from home. But this provided another problem: who to leave her with? The only two options were his brother or Nasir, but Eli was out of state and Nasir was….well, Nasir.
With a sigh, Asa looked around his apartment for anything that could help provide a quick and easy decision for him. Spotting a decaying looking quarter at the edge of his coffee table, he grabbed it and flipped it. When it landed on tails, his eyes shifted to Nova.
“Well then…” He muttered
— — —
Thankfully, Nova was an adaptable cat, and she had no problem curling herself up on Asa’s lap as he drove the short distance back to work after throwing his stuff into the backseat, as well as a bunch of supplies to make Nova comfortable. Wherever they were headed, Asa prayed there would be a separate room to keep Nova, and prayed even harder that the…children would get get along with her.
When he arrived, the boss was already waiting for him, cheerfully smiling as he swung a rather thick manila folder in front of him. It looked heavy, and Asa dreaded having to go through that much paperwork.
Nova balanced herself carefully on his shoulder as he made his way out of his car before laying across the back of his neck, tail swishing back and forth lazily. She had a habit of making herself comfortable no matter where she was, even if it was inconvenient for others.
Asa steeled himself as he walked over to his boss who’s eyes seemed to drift over Nova for a brief second. “I see you’ve brought a friend.” The older man said. If Asa was okay with losing his job, he would have glared at the comment, but today was not the day. Instead, he forced a smile.
“Well, it seems I was not given enough time to properly prepare for this assignment, so certain decisions were made.” He said tightly. His boss merely smiled even wider.
“I’m fucking with you, Asa. The cat’s allowed, as long as you keep….him or her away from the kids. Yunno. In case they kill it.” Asa flinched at that and raised a hand to scratch carefully over Nova’s head. “And speaking of the kids, we’ll be driving separately. While I trust you to watch over them in closed quarters, traveling is an entirely different story. We’ll take care of moving them. I’ll give you the address to your new residence and we’ll meet you there. Maybe you can take some time to settle in and read this file.” He handed Asa the thick stack of papers that nearly slid to the ground in a fluttering heap before he managed to close his fingers over the exposed gap.
He flipped through the papers casually, catching the amount of small text jammed onto some pages. Asa wasn’t opposed to reading, but he had limits. “Do you mean to say that you’ll be arriving after me?” He asked with a hum, looking up from the folder. The boss nodded.
“We have a few last minute tests to run, some medical and otherwise. It’ll only take about two hours, and your new residence is only a half hour away. We’ll also be fitting them with some prototype translators. It might not make their speak completely understandable, but it should help with basic things. Theirs will be surgically attached and yours,” Asa nearly flinched back as his boss pulled out what looked like a metal collar from his pocket. How it had fit, he had no idea. “It’s detachable.”
Asa took it as it was offered, feeling the rather hefty weight balanced between both hands. It was black with a smooth matte finish, looking more so like a metal choker than a translation device. Asa felt like he was in the future as he slipped it on to test it out, taking care not to jostle Nova around too much on his shoulders. Nothing truly felt different, and when he went to speak, the sounds he was were not the sounds he heard. Instead, the normal rumble of human consonants and vowels were replaced by alien clicks and growls. What had meant to sound like ‘feels okay’ came out as three chirping sounds followed by a guttural sounding hiss.
Asa yanked the collar off as quickly as he could and held it as far away from his body as possible. “What the fuck?” He whispered. Thankfully, his voice sounded the way it always had, albeit slightly higher than usual in his startled state. His boss merely laughed at the sight of him, arm coming down to wrap around his middle as he bent over slightly, as though what had happened was the funniest thing he had ever seen in the world. Asa was more than merely annoyed and was tempted to toss the metal device at the man in front of him who continued to double over in humor.
“My! That’s the best reaction we’ve ever gotten when testing those things. It’s safe to say that it does it’s job. Good to know.” The boss said after he managed to calm down the laughs that were wracking through his body only moments ago. “Well, enough fun and games for now. We all have things to do, places to be. Vera will visit once a week to retrieve a written report from you. You’re exact instructions are in the folder, but if you have any questions, call either Vera or myself. I wish you the best of luck with this task, and Mr Sayre,” Asa felt himself tense at the change in tone. Even Nova herself seemed to stiffen up in her position. “Remember. This is not just a normal job. It is of the utmost importance. This job takes precedence over everything else in your life. Do you understand?” The only thing Asa could do was nod. The smile on his boss’s face returned and the tense atmosphere seemed to melt away. “Good!”
With that, Asa was in his car again, this time with Nova taking over the space of the passenger seat. Her body seemed to blend into the black upholstery of his car, but he still dragged a hand through her fur for a few seconds, trying to calm the insistently loud beating of his heart. He had truly not been expecting any of this upon his arrival this morning. Within two hours, he had somehow been given custody of two alien children and a house to raise them in. Things were weird. Too fucking weird.
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