A mixed reaction and Nita has a knack.

As they see you coming Nuru and Abigail's heads pop back behind the door curtain. You enter soon after.

The two women are back in their ponchos and looking at each other with concern.

"What...is she doing here?" Abigail asks. She gasps. "She has no pass!"

You set Nita down on the bed and place a poncho over her thin trembling naked body. The aliens outside the glass look like they are are booing and hissing at the disgraced futa.

You turn to your new friends and motion them to take a stool. Sitting around the table you take time to explain the situation to your friends. They sit quietly and listen attentively as you lay it out. They make some comments and ask a few questions and eventually you get through to them. This was so far out of the ordinary they were struggling to know what to make of it.

"So, you own her?" Abigail clarifies once more. "A human owning an alien? That's unbelievable!"

Nuru is staring at Nita, who has put on the poncho and was huddled up in the corner, with a stern look. "You want her to live here?" Nuru asks. "Can't we have her sleep outside?"

You sigh. "Nuru...listen. If you guys don't want her here I understand. But..." You look at the pink haired girl. "...but we are a package deal now. She's got nobody else."

Nuru grumbles. "They don't care that much about us, I don't understand why we have to care about them. Why should we take care of her if even her own people won't?"

"Because we're human Nuru. It's who we are." You say. "I have **** now, but you two do."

Abigail takes Nuru's hand. "Let's go talk about this Nuru." You could sense Nuru was softening to the idea, you honestly weren't sure where Abigail stood on it. She seemed ambivalent at best and perhaps a bit jealous. They nod at each other and leave the hut.

Your left elbow on the table you put your face in your hand. This was all so unbelievable, your mind was reeling as it tried to accept it all. In your right hand, which was hanging at your side, you feel something. Looking down you see it is the end of the leash, Nita had placed it in your hand. She knelt by your feet beside the stool, looking up with her big pink eyes.

"Nita." You sigh as you drop the end of the leash.

"Happy." She responds. You are again about to correct her on the name when it hits you. What does it matter? The old you is gone forever, that person was left behind back on Earth. If she wanted to call you Happy why not let her.

She continues. "Happy." She points to you. She then points out the door. "Abigail. Nuru." She then points to the bottle on the table. "Rum. Gift." She points out the door once more. "Outside." She motions all around her. "Hut. Happy live hut. Abigail Nuru live hut." She had a strange accent but all the words were perfectly understandable.

You look at her in amazement. "You caught all that by simply listening to us talk just now? Wow!" She had an extraordinary knack for language that's for sure.

She nibbles her lip nervously and puts the leash back in your hand. "Nita live hut." She says as she stares up at you.

You put the leash down once more. Her eyes become **** and they quickly fill with tears. "Atsan tu Nita tanza!" She wails, she picks up the leash again and is frantically trying to **** it back into your hand. "Nita live hut! Happy!" She is quickly becoming hysterical despite your best efforts to calm her. She is trying to get the tether back in your hand as if her life depended on it.

Just to settle her down you finally take the end of the leash back into your hand. This calms her greatly. She grips your leg and presses her face against it, trembling once more. She was so god damned scared!

Somehow in empathizing with her fear it muted your own. You stroke her hair.

"Shhhhh." You sooth. "It's okay Nita. Happy will look after you...as best I can anyways." This statement terrifies you. You can't even help yourself and now you've taken on responsibility for someone else. This was madness.