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“It’s a chall,” Jessia said, her lips pursing. “A pest. It sneaks into the dining area and steals food off our plates.”
“If you fed it, it wouldn’t need to steal food.”
Her head tilted, and I could tell she was intrigued, not horrified by the suggestion. “Interesting idea. Why would we feed it?”
“Other than to keep it away from your meal? Because it would reward you.”
“I don’t see how a chall could reward me with anything.”
“It reminds me of little creatures we have on my home planet called a cat. It’s fluffy like them and it looks soft in a glassy way.” Would its spiky fur lie down if and when I patted it? Who was I kidding? It was a wild, feral creature. It wasn’t going to let me near it. “If I can tame it, it would be my friend.”
“We’re friends with each other.” Jessia continued to frown. “Though I can see the benefit of keeping it away from our meals.”
“Come on, little chall,” I cooed, tiptoeing toward it with the plate extended.
Its gaze trained on the crystal yummies, it lifted its nose and sniffed.
When I got within five feet of it, I stopped and placed the plate on the floor.
“You’re feeding it?” Aizor sounded completely puzzled. “I don’t understand.”
“This is a way to show it I don’t mean it harm. Back on Earth, I volunteered at an animal rescue. It was common for us to take in feral creatures like this. We made sure they were healthy, neutered them, then released them back where they came from.”
“Neutered?”
“Cut off male balls.”
His face blanched. “Please tell me you don’t intend to do anything like that here.”
I shot him a grin. “Behave and your balls are safe from me.” I lifted my fingers and made a snipping gesture like I held scissors. “Misbehave and you’ll need to sleep with one eye open.” Not really. He was too adorable and too sexy to contemplate something like that, but it never hurt to keep a guy on his toes.
The other guys slipped away from us and with wide eyes, hurried toward the kitchen.
I turned back to watch the chall creeping closer to the plate. It kept a sharp eye on me and the others, though it must be used to seeing Zuldruxians around all the time if it regularly snuck into the building to steal food. When it reached the plate, it started gulping it down, chomping through the crystalline chunks with its thick jawline and needle-sharp teeth.
Stooping down, I extended my hand toward it.
Aizor hissed but remained with Jessia. The chall shot him a growl but only studied my hand while tilting its head to chew through a long piece of food with the side of its mouth.
I eased closer.
It scowled but food won out and it kept eating.
When I was near enough to touch, I gently ran my fingertips across the top of its head and down its spine. Its crystal fur was surprisingly soft, and I created static with the rub.
Its tail whipped back and forth, and it eyed me while gnawing through its growl.
“Take care, mate,” Aizor said. “I wouldn’t want it to bite you.”
I could only imagine how painful that might be, but I kept stroking.
The chall finished the meal but remained where it was, cocking its head to watch my hand stroke its spine.
“What should we call you, little one?” I asked.
“No one names challs.” Aizor’s hand landed on my shoulder, and he squeezed. “Please be careful.”
“I will. I’ve done this before. Many times.”
