Day 2 Starry Cat/Tsundere (Irina, Ge Jewhe)

a/n: Irina is helping out a prickly Wrothian. She kinda feels for the kid. Ge Jewhe and her friend Vi Sezha are from the mission "Until the End."


"Hold still," Irina said, as the Wrothian ducked her head away from the bandage spray for the third time. After several hours of repeated battles, the sharp beak of an auravis had finally hit its target. Irina had managed to shoot down the bird before it could strike Ge Jewhe a second time, but the younger fighter was initially a little stunned from the impact. Irina had insisted on a pause before continuing their mission.

"I don't need your help," the feline alien hissed.

"Your request on the missons board says differently," Irina replied. She turned her own head and quietly spat out some errant fuzz. "Look, I won't yank on your fur..."

"I would kill you!"

"I said I wouldn't," Irina retorted, "but you have to stop moving for the spray to work. You've got a lot of fluff up here."

"Psst," Ge Jewhe scoffed, but she finally sat as still as a statue, allowing Irina to target what Irina hoped was the center of the Wrothian's wound. "Human medicine probably won't work on us," said Ge Jewhe.

Irina was silent. She wasn't concentrating on the first aid so much as mentally counting to ten to control her own temper. "We developed it with your medical team," Irina said finally.

"Oh." No sign of contrition. Irina counted a little higher.

When the treatment was over and the medi-pac stowed away, Irina reviewed their situation. "All that fluff did a good job of protecting your skull, so I think you're good to go. But we've cleared five auravis already. Please tell me you're satisfied."

"No! Not until we find ..." Ga Jewhe broke off. She reached towards the blond fur at the top of her head, then stopped herself again. "I hired you for a full day. I'll let you go when I'm satisfied," she growled.

Irina looked at the fearsome warrior with the face of an American shorthair. Must not pet our allies, Irina reminded herself. "Look, you've clearly got a plan, and I can help you better if you let me know what it is. Communication works like that."

Ge Jewhe growled so low that it was barely audible. "Fine, since you insist. We are looking for an item."

"Details. I need details."

"It's a bracelet, if you must know."

"Your bracelet?" Irina said with shock. She had been on an earlier mission to retrieve both that trinket and its owner.

"NO! I keep it safe, always!" Ge Jewhe's hand flew to her wrist, touching a heavy gold band. She shrugged after reassuring herself. "It's for Vi Sezha. I mean, it's just a bracelet," she corrected herself.

"For your friend," said Irina slowly.

"She didn't want it," muttered Ge. "So I tossed it aside somewhere near here. But then an auravis snatched it."

"Of for heaven's sake," muttered Irina. This didn't sound right. On the earlier mission, Irina had seen for herself how worried Vi Sezha had been when Ge Jewhe went missing. She had seen the tears filling the Wrothian's eyes when she'd begged a human team to help, and she had seen the renewed tears when Vi Sezha had wrapped her arms around her friend during their reunion. "Just out of curiosity, how did you offer her the bracelet?"

"We were on patrol. She didn't want it."

"How exactly did you phrase it?"

"I asked if she wanted a bracelet I had found, because otherwise I would throw it away."

"Did you say bracelet or did you say something else?"

"I may have called it old."

"And?"

"Old junk that I had found."

"Mm hm." Irina indicated she was unconvinced.

"It is old!" Ge Jewhe said defensively. "From my grandmother. And it is junk, because if Vi Sezha doesn't want it, it will never be valuable to me."

Irina got to her feet, hoisting her assault rifle a little higher. "Come on, we've got auravis to snipe. Maybe we could even set out something sparkly as a lure." She glanced at Ge Jewhe sharply. "Not your bracelet. And once we get Vi's bracelet back, we're going to practice how you're gonna give it to her properly."


a/n: My teen and co-author improved this measurably.

Next up: Invasion of inkpots/oversized prop.