Panting softly, the large quadruped lumbered his way through the mess hall. Training always took a lot out of him, but by this time of day he was usually ravenous, anyway. Squeezing his way past the long lines of humanoid crew, he found the door to the kitchen and pushed it open with his head.
As usual, most of the kitchen crew gave him looks ranging from amusement to disdain, depending on how much they treasured regulations about cleanliness. He was not a dirty creature, but in between the patches of bone plating that protected his most vulnerable places, he was covered in metallic-grey fur with jet black stripes and swirls. He was also shedding.
Sniffing about for a familiar scent, a pointed ear perked when he picked up a familiar voice, instead. Waltzing up behind his favorite cook, he sat behind her, his head almost level with her ribs. Reaching forward, he grabbed the back of her shirt in his teeth and tugged.
The woman whipped around, startled, only to take a deep breath and frown when she saw who it was. “Kalua! How many times have I told you not to come back here?!”
The quadruped smirked, green eyes narrowing accusingly. “And yet, Jenn, every time I show up, you feed me. You’re not dissuading me very well.”
She sighed, shaking her head as she turned around. Skilled hands tended the stove as she spoke. “Yeah, well. I know what a pain in the ass self-serve has to be. But you’re still not supposed to be back here.”
“Oh, I know.” His sharp tail flickered behind him, conveying his amusement. “As much as I enjoy getting fur in your food, I would be happy not to bother you if someone would prepare a meal ahead of time.”
Jenn gave him a coarse look over her shoulder, shook her head, and turned back to her work.
He tugged at her shirt again. “That was a hint. You know, a clue.”
Sighing heavily, Jenn reached for a burger patty and flipped it into the air over her shoulder. “Catch, puppy.”
Kalua did just that, hardly chewing the meat before inhaling it. Smacking his lips, he gave Jenn a sour face. “If you weren’t feeding me, I’d say something really rude right now.”
She smirked. “Go pester Roger. He’s on break. He can get you a tray and load it up. I’m busy.”
“Gotcha.” With a self-important smirk, Kalua trundled off through the rest of the kitchen. He was sure to accidentally-on-purpose bump into his least-favorite chef on the way out, knocking his cell phone into the pot of boiling grease he was supposed to be tending.
Roger was asleep, face flat on the break table.
When pulling at his shirt didn’t wake him, Kalua turned around, carefully aimed the flat side of his blade-tipped tail over Roger’s head, and smacked him.
Roger sputtered as he startled awake, his hands grasping the top of his head and his eyes clenching shut just as soon as they’d opened. “Owwww!! What the hell, man?!”
Kalua tilted his head to the side, pouting. “I has a hungry.”
Frowning heavily, the human cook leaned back in his chair, hands still on his head. “And you couldn’t wait five minutes? I have an alarm on my phone, you know. Unlike you, I actually give a shit about keeping my hours.”
“I apologize,” Kalua stated flatly. “See, without opposable thumbs, life as fenako quickly becomes bleak. We cannot serve ourselves food, play video games, or surf Overnet for pornography. To cope, I become crass and uncaring.”
Roger scowled, shaking his head as he stood slowly. Kicking his chair away from the table, he stomped out of the break room, heading toward the mess hall.
Kalua followed with, tail dancing happily behind him. He followed the human through the line, to the trays, and along the self-serve counters, pointing with his tail to what he wanted. Piles of mashed potatoes soaked in gravy, piles of meat patties in gravy, and ice cream. In gravy.
Finally, at the end of the line, he poked at Roger with the side of his tail. “Hey, grab yourself a drink and a sandwich. It’s on me. Charge it to my caller.”
Roger blinked, turned around, and gave the quadruped as untrusting a look as he could manage. “What’s the catch, asshole?”
Kalua smirked. “Wise, but there is none. I’m just grateful.”
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