Page 72 of Teaching the Kot'oll Coach

“No way, I fed him in the morning. Not to mention the auto feeder is on. He is fine. He’s just...” I lift my taco to dodge from Ossa’s paw. “He’s just here to make sure I won’t get anything done too easily. You know? Like an orange cat.”

“You must love him.” Telke pats Ossa when he is still enjoying his taco. Maybe I want more hands just for that purpose. Then I can keep Ossa away from my workplace while still working.

Ossa meows and finds his way over to Telke’s lap.

“Whoa!”

I laugh, almost spilling my food. “Right, be careful of your balls. Ossa hasn’t learned to be mindful of that with me.”

“Yes, I can see that.” Telke carefully keeps Ossa sitting further away from his stomach and his crotch. “I can understand that. How did you end up with this cat?”

I finish my mouthful of food before I choke. I pick up the soda water and gulp down on it. “I... He’s been here for quite some time already.”

He blinks. I know I’m not answering the question, but he can’t blame me for that. If it’s up to me, I don’t want to mention that, and I don’t want a reminder of my past; our past.

I take another bite of my taco. “If you don’t want your taco, I’ll finish it for you.”

“No way.” He takes another bite, but... He is thinking about that now...

I don’t want to keep hiding things from him, but there are things I don’t want to remember. It is fine not to tell him everything. He’s not telling me everything about his life anyway.

The tacos disappear soon enough. I’m full from the serving size. The last bit is quite some, but the taco is so great that it’s not much of a stretch to finish it.

“Telke, are you full?”

“Yes.” He pats his stomach with a grin. “I love that restaurant, but it’s designed for bigger beings. Your feet probably won’t touch the floor if we sit at the bar tables.”

“Are you mocking my height?”

“You mocked my arms and how I’m a monster too.”

I huff and roll my eyes. “That’s different.”

“Right, you’re just envious of the things I can do with my arms.” He flexes and turns to me.

Ossa shudders and hops off Telke’s lap, probably finding something strange is going on. Ossa goes to the kitchen where the auto feeder is located.

I get off the couch. The autofeeder should be out of cat food by now. I’ll have to refill it.

He grunts. “So, both of you are leaving, huh?”

I laugh. “I’m feeding the cat. Don’t worry, you aren’t that influential.”

“Haha.” He sits back with his arms folded, putting up a failed grumpy face when a smile lingers on his face. He can try to mess with me, but he won’t succeed.

I open the cupboard for the bag of cat food when a shadow hovers over me. I duck to the side in case that’s Ossa trying to hop onto the counter, only...

“Be careful.”

I run into Telke’s arms...

“Maybe you’re the one who should be careful. Geez... You walk like a ghost.”

“Now, I’m not a monster but a ghost.”

“Yeah, you scared me. Showing up without a noise, huh?”

“I want to help you.”

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