Page 62 of I'm Not Your Pet

And there were things we could get him there—that I couldn’t get him back home.

Perhaps I could buy him a new journal so that he could fill it with more of his findings? The thought made me giddy. He could have a HoverPad of his own too. A communicator. Clothing he’d chosen himself. His pick of any hobby he desired.

And I could get the damn collar off of him.

We’d need to go to a jeweler to do it—but?—

Oh.

Suddenly, memories of how he’d lit up when he’d seen the gems on our first off-planet visit came to mind.Yes. I could replace it with something he’d love. Something that was a symbol of his freedom—and not his sacrifice.

Something Huu-goh thought was pretty.

Something that made his pearly teeth smile.

That made his dark eyes dance.

Something that made him feel valued, the way he deserved to feel.

Covered in his colorful clothes—clothes he’d picked on his own—Huu-goh would find solid footing in a way he hadn’t before. He’d get to choose for himself. Autonomy that I hoped would make his life brighter—and maybe, just maybe, at the ball I could tell him what he meant to me. We could speak candidly like we should’ve the day we met.

I would get to know him on an entirely new level.

And maybe then, I could summon the courage to tell him how glad I was that he’d picked me. That he’d crossed the line that I’d been scared to. I could tell him how I admired him. I could hold him. Could touch him, the way we both craved—and speak to him at the same time.

“No way!” I screeched in excitement as I tore through the box of goodies Roark had brought me. I’d never seen anything like the contents it carried, the alien technology glistening and glowing as I pulled it out piece by piece with the help of the nanobots I’d programmed. The most exciting item of all, however, were the sets of old translators that I couldn’t wait to pick apart.

Maybe I could figure out how they worked?

And if that was the case, maybe I could alter them so that we could use them onboard the ship? It was an optimistic thought, but I clung to it—and them—as I turned to Roark to thank him.

“Yesh?” Roark looked confused.

It took me a second to realize that the last thing I’d just said had included the word ‘no.’

“Oh sorry! I forget you take things so literally,” I blinked up at him, setting the things I held down. “I didn’t mean ‘no way’ as inno. I meant ‘no way’ as in ‘oh my god, this is awesome!’” He wouldn’t understand any of that, but I gushed anyway. I hadn’t breathed since he’d shyly handed me my gift, and my lungs wheezed while I beamed at him as fondly as I could. “Thank you.” He knew that one, and melted immediately.

He stiffened up again, however, silent for a moment like he was processing something, before he spoke. “You…are…welcome.” Roark sounded out the words slowly with a heavy accent, but there was no doubt that he’d been practicing. He looked proud of himself when the words came out correctly. I wanted to kiss him. To smooch his big pink head. But he was too far away—and also—presents!

I hadpresents.

I could totally build something with the rest of this, even if I couldn’t salvage the translators. IknewI could. I'd taken robotics in my senior year of high school, and also had been captain of its robot fight club, the League For Battery Fueled Assassins. I knew feedback devices, end effectors, and controllers like I knew the back of my hand. It was why, despite the technology being new and—for lack of a better word—alien, I’d been able to manipulate the nanobots so easily. With the set of tools Roark had also given me, there was nothing I couldn’t do. No more janky fork for me, yay!

“Happy?” Roark asked. This was one of his newest words. He said it in a funny way, more like “hoppy,” but I knew what he meant. He wasreallytrying, and with every passing day we were able to communicate better and better. Every time he said a new word, he’d get the most serious, kinda constipated look on his face while he waited to see if he’d used it right way.

It was so fucking cute.

Hewas so fucking cute.

Which was not an impression I ever thought I’d have about the stoic Captain. With every passing day, I liked him more and more.

Roark let me play with the “Box of Awesome,” as I privately dubbed it in my head, for a good few hours. He even gave me a snack so I wouldn’t get hungry while I worked.

I arranged the items first by size, then by metal type, then by what I thought the devices must’ve been used for before they’d been broken. Knowing Roark, there was nothing dangerous in the box, so I didn’t need to worry.

He always had my best interests at heart.

I appreciated his protectiveness in a way I hadn’t before. It made me feel safe to know I had him watching my back. I’d never had that before. Ever.

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