Page 27 of Cozy Prisons
“Get away from her!”
The roared order was followed by a flurry of motion. Nataly pushed the chair off her and sat up to see Daxus pinning Hale to the wall. The human wasn’t fighting or trying to explain. If anything, Hale looked relieved.
Daxus sounded a loud war rattle. “I could kill you for attacking her!”
“Do it, Talin.” Hale managed to taunt him even though they could barely speak past Daxus’s hold on their throat. “Do it!”
Daxus was being overprotective and Hale had a death wish; she needed to break this up!
“They didn’t do anything," she called, scrambling awkwardly to her feet and rushing to them. “I fell over, Hale didn’t push me!”
“You were on the floor and they were over you,” Daxus growled, never looking away from Hale’s face. “How could that have happened if they weren’t violent with you?”
She grabbed one of Daxus’s arms and tugged. “Because Talin chairs are dumb, and I’m clumsy. Hale surprised me and I fell over backward.”
Daxus slowly lowered Hale and let go, but didn’t step away. “Is this true?”
“Whatever,” Hale snarled, and shoved at Daxus.
After the second shove, Daxus let them pass. Nataly let go of Daxus and watched Hale stomp out of her domicile.
“Tragedy averted,” she muttered.
“Tell me exactly what happened,” Daxus asked, facing her. He still seemed agitated but was also purring.
She ran fingers through her shoulder-length hair. “Hale asked for my help,” she explained, then went through everything with more detail than he probably wanted. By the time she was done, Daxus’s claws had retracted and his quills settled back down against his arm.
“When I walked in, it looked like they were attacking you,” Daxus explained. “I might’ve overreacted, but Hale has a reputation for being combative and aggressive.”
“Maybe, but I think they’re dealing with something,” she said, then remembered the data crystal. “Could you see if they’ll come back in here? I think I was able to do what they asked.”
Daxus sounded a rumble of agreement. “I’ll try, but I doubt they’ll listen to me. Even if they didn’t do anything wrong, I won’t allow you to be alone with them. They’re destructive. That means they can’t be trusted to make good decisions for themselves or anyone else.”
After what she witnessed, she had to agree. “You’re probably right.”
“Are you sure you’re not hurt?” he asked.
She laughed. “It wasn’t a big deal. I’ve done more damage when I’ve tripped on my way to the elimination unit in the middle of the night.”
“I’ll talk to Hale, but either way, I’ll come back here when it’s done.” He pointed to a medium-sized carry bot standing justoutside of her open doorway. “I came with supplies to make your domicile perfect again.”
“Great,” she said. At least nothing required her to leave the house. She was feeling a little shaky and ready to focus back on work.
“And I noticed another cup of tea on your workstation even though we agreed that you’ve had enough. We will need to discuss that,” Daxus said, then left.
Nataly moved back to the workstation, righted the chair, then sat down and downed the cold tea before Daxus could reappear and steal it from her.
Daxus
Guilt was a hard emotion to deal with. Daxus thought he was finished with it when he quit working as a mavin on Talarian.
He’d been wrong. It ate at him as he left Nataly, even though he wanted to sweep her up in his arms and hold her close. Guilt was probably the only emotion that would make him leave Nataly.
He didn’t need to go far. Hale was where the narrow path from Nataly’s door intersected the wider path that circled the inner compound. The human stood there, back straight and arms at their side, and watched Daxus approach.
“Decided to finish me off?” they asked.
“No, I want to apologize for my hasty action,” Daxus said, keeping his distance from Hale.
