I don't own anything to Star Trek. It is all property of Gene Roddenberry and whoever has the rights to it. I don't make money with it. I'm writing fanfictions about Star Trek because I love this story. So I ask you not to sue me.

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I can't live too long without Short Treks. ^^

I continue to write Warmth for the Living even when nobody cares. But I needed something simple that I could write about. So here comes a new chapter!

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The Sehlat-Whisperer

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"This is not a good idea. This is a bad idea. This is the worst idea you have ever had", grumbled Leonard in a bad mood, staring like Jim at the elevator doors. He really wondered why he was here.

"Don't be so pessimistic, Bones", his friend tried to reassure him. "I'm just doing a busy professor a favor. Others call that beeing nice."

Leonard snorted. "I would believe you if the professor we're talking about wasn't hot as hell - your words - just happened to be single and turned you down on your last chance."

The last statement made Jim flinch and he turned to him, offended. "To help your memories, he didn't turn me down."

"Really?" Leonard answered, shocked. "Then you didn't run into the room angrily and complain that you didn't have sex? It must be my age. My memories are playing tricks on me. I'm so sorry, Jim!"

Even someone who had no idea about sarcasm would know pure sarcasm by now at the latest. Jim was used to this from his friend, however. He just turned back to the elevator door and cleared his throat. "He didn't see my good sites. That's all."

"You let him paint you naked. I wonder what he didn't see."

He didn't want to imagine that exactly. As a doctor, he had seen some naked and some had permanently damaged him.

"I fell on the bottle with my butt."

"Of course you did!"

Leonard sighed. Unfortunately there was no cure for stupidity.

"I just wonder why you're dragging me along."

Now it was Leonard who winced when he felt Jim's arm around his shoulder and saw his friend's broad grin.

"Everything is more fun as a couple, Bones. In addition, dear Professor Spock would become suspicious if I showed up alone. Since I announced you."

"Why? What's this favor about?" He got more and more a bad feeling about that.

"Nothing bad. Spock is just too busy to go for a walk with his Sehlat."

"What the hell is a Sehlat?"

Jim shrugged. "Probably the dog version of Vulcan. No idea."

Leonard stared at him in disbelief. "You offer to take out an animal and you don't even know exactly what it is?!" At that moment he would have liked to move the elevator back down. "Do you actually know that many animals can transmit diseases? An alien cattle could cause allergies in you!"

The elevator doors opened and before Jim got out, he patted Leonard on the shoulder. "Now you know why I took you with me."

You little ...

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Leonard didn't know in the end why he hadn't just pressed the down button to avoid this nonsense, but he almost certainly knew that a Sehlat wasn't a dog. How? Very easy! The cattle couldn't be overlooked when Spock asked them into his apartment. The thing slept in the corner of the living room and was ...

"We are supposed to go for a walk with a bear?", Leonard muttered in disbelief and stared at the huge ball of fluff with the big teeth. He hoped this was a joke. At least Jim looked as surprised as he did. That was definitely not a dog!

The eyebrow from the professor rose after his question and he replied, "This is I-Chaya and a Sehlat is not a bear, Mister McCoy. I understand that both species have an optical similarity. However, I assure you that the subtleties and behavioral patterns are very different."

"Really? What does this thing eat?"

Please don't say people. Please don't say people. Please don't say people.

That was actually ridiculous. Spock wasn't allowed to keep the cattle in this case, but seriously! The teeth were terrible! Who cuddles with something like that?!

The Vulcan looked at him again in amazement. "Based on the visible teeth, I assume that you can answer this question yourself."

"No shit!" How should you go for a walk with this animal? He couldn't imagine Spock keeping his pet on a leash.

"And how should we ..." Better play it safe. After all, he wanted to survive Jim's shitty idea.

But when the eyebrow stayed high, Leonard suspected something was wrong.

"Mr. Kirk assured me that he already has sufficient experience with animals and that he is not unfamiliar with a sehlat."

JIM, Leonard shouted inwardly.

"He even called himself the Sehlat-Whisperer to me."

Okay, he would definitely kill his buddy! He could do this shit alone!

But before he could even open his mouth to reveal Jim's lie, Jim seemed to wake up from his trance.

"Of course! We can do it, Spock! Bones just wants to look over my shoulder." And even when Leonard tried to take his chance to intervene, Jim stepped between them. "Don't you have to go, Spock?"

The next thing that happened was just incomprehensible to Leonard. Jim managed to keep him from opening his mouth and throwing Spock out of his own apartment at the same time. Why was the guy multitasking when it was utterly nonsensical? Now the two were alone in a apartment with an alien species they had no idea about.

"Are you absolutely crazy?" Leonard whispered angrily. Without the Vulcan, he didn't want to wake this monster. "Sehlat-Whisperer?! Seriously?!"

Jim shrugged and replied in a normal volume, "Relax! How bad can that get? Spock couldn't have kept I-Chaya if she hadn't been tame."

Leonard got angrier, however. But he kept whispering. "Relax?! How am I supposed to relax when a bear is in the room with me?! Have you lost your mind?!"

"Now you are exaggerating." Jim went to the sehlat. "Hey! I-Chaya! Wake up girl! Time for your round!"

All colors left Leonard's face and he was already thinking intensively about the rules of conduct in the event of a bear attack. But Jim was apparently not only good to win people over in no time. He seemed to be good with animals too, because the Sehlat woke up without much growling and yawned heartily. ...God! These teeth!

They actually managed to get this thing outside without much difficulty in the end and enjoy a normal walk. ... Well, Leonard tried to imitate Jim, but he could not imagine this bear as a teddy bear and expected a catastrophe any moment. What would they do if it got hungry?

To his surprise, the coming apocalypse was more banal than expected. I-Chaya found a suitable place and pooped. ... ... and what a shit she made.

"Good girl!", praised Jim her. "Then that's done."

He wanted to continue the walk with I-Chaya until ...

"Is that your sehlat?" ...a stern female voice said to them from behind.

When the two turned around, they saw an elderly woman in uniform. ... Damn!

"Yeees?" Jim answered hesitantly.

The lady screwed up her eyes. "Then I can ask you to remove your pet's sshit from the sidewalk."

"We are supposed to ...?" Jim pointed awkwardly at the huge pile of dung and at both of them.

The good woman nodded and crossed her arms over her chest. "Anyone who keeps an animal has to take care of everything." She made a welcoming gesture. "Gentlemen!"

Leonard could see that his buddy wanted to argue and cause trouble, but he knew as well as he that Spock would definitely not like it if Jim caused a stir or uproar with his sehlat. Well, then he could cancel his chances with the Vulcan. Unfortunately, the professor hadn't shown them where he kept the poop bags in his apartment. So the question was how to dispose of the shit.

He should have known, of course, that Jim would have an idea. That he'd like that was something else entirely, of course, because his buddy suggested they use their jackets as poop bags to throw the dung heap in the nearest trash can. How he actually managed to convince Leonard would forever remain a mystery. Of course, he threw away his jacket at the same time. To clean it up would have been an impossibility for him and he really didn't want to carry the stench with him the whole time.

"I can't believe what I'm doing for you just so you can get laid!" On the way back he grumbled, leaving Jim and I-Chaya a considerable distance.

Jim just called after him: "I love you, Bones!"

For Leonard there were only one answer when he could hear his mate's delight. He showed him the middle finger.

At least the rest of the time, he could relax in the Vulcan's apartment. I-Chaya was really easy to care for and Jim did whatever Spock probably asked him to do. Should the bastard come home, he shouldn't have anything to complain about. His sehlat had his walk, was fed and Jim even cuddled with him a lot. Leonard still didn't know if that was brave or stupid. He was just relieved when he heard the door and the Vulcan professor appeared in the living room.

Finally!

But before Spock said anything, he let his gaze wander briefly. Leonard suspected that he was looking for signs of whether something had gone wrong. When he turned his gaze to Jim, the tension seemed to have left him a little.

"Thank you gentlemen for your support."

"Always with pleasure!", Beamed his buddy at the long-eared figure and scratched I-Chaya's ears for a while. Leonard thought for a moment that the Vulcan's gaze was softening at this picture, but he could also imagine that. He wasn't even really listening anymore when the two started a conversation. He just wanted out and into bed.

"Always my pleasure. Just let me know", Jim said goodbye and Leonard couldn't help but growl.

Bite me, Jim! Never again!

After his buddy tried to flirt subliminally, they could finally leave. That day and the shit pile of a sehlat were clearly burned in his mind. He hoped he didn't have to repeat the experience.

"Did you see that?" Jim asked excitedly from the side.

Leonard just gave a tired shrug. "Seen what?"

"He smiled at me! That day was a great success!"

"Jim, I doubt the guy knows how to twist the corners of his mouth into a smile."

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Seriously! If sehlats are pets to some Vulcans, did they go for walks? Removing the shit from the street ... I think of this as a challenge. XD