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Antok cubsitting had become a pretty regular occurrence since Keith had finally warmed up to him. Sometimes, it was because Thace and Ulaz were busy, and sometimes it was because their shifts happened to overlap on that day. Since Antok’s job mostly consisted of making rounds throughout the base, there wasn’t much harm in having a small cub padding along after him, holding onto his tail like it was some kind of makeshift child leash.
And then, sometimes, it meant that he had to try and keep an eye on Keith while giving reports to Kolivan or his superior officer, Major Rei’an. Keith spent most of these meetings perched atop Antok’s shoulders with his tiny hands buried into the thick fur on Antok’s head, right around where his crest would have been if he had had one. The alternative was Keith yanking on his ears, but he had slowly been breaking Keith of that habit. The real draw for Keith to sitting on Antok’s shoulders was that he could see everything in the room and what everyone was doing. Antok could remember Keith telling him on at least three separate occasions that he was the ‘best’ place to sit.
Now, if only Keith could learn how to sit still while riding on someone’s shoulders—what a miracle that would be.
Instead, he pawed at people constantly, especially when he wanted attention, or felt he wasn’t receiving enough of it. Thankfully, he didn’t knead that often, and even when he did, he lacked the tiny, needle-sharp claws that would’ve made the experience unpleasant. He did, however, yank on fur and ears, and whine until someone acknowledged him. It seemed to happen mostly because he was still small and wanted to be included in everything, even the adult conversations that meant very little to him.
Clearly, since this meeting involved Antok mostly talking to himself with only the occasional input from Kolivan, Keith had assumed that Antok needed someone to talk to. He had been pawing at Antok’s face constantly, batting at his nose to get his attention every five doboshes or so.
“Yes, cub? What is it this time?” Antok asked, trying to remain patience with the little drisiil. He attempted to lean his head back, carefully supporting Keith with his free hand against the cub’s back so that Keith didn’t fall.
“This is important!” Keith insisted, kicking his little legs.
Antok’s ears twitched in amusement as he heard Kolivan try to bite back a sigh of exasperation—not for the first time, either. It wasn’t that Kolivan was angry with the cub, but Keith had already interrupted the meeting as least five times to insist that something was important. The cub’s comments were redundant, but Antok listened anyway and tried to humor him.
“Oh, you think so?” Antok asked.
Keith nodded. “’Cause Ani says so!”
A deep purr rumbled in Antok’s chest as he stood straight again, before reaching up to ruffle Keith’s messy headfur. “You’re a smart cub…”
“Antok… the report,” Kolivan said, rubbing his brow as his patience began to wear thin. “You can play with him later…”
Antok’s tail tip thumped against the floor once, twice, before he turned his attention back to his datapad to continue giving the report. However, before he actually could, Keith pawed at his face again, smacking his hand against Antok’s nose harder than he needed to. Antok bit his tongue to keep from sighing before leaning his head back again.
“You know you’re not supposed to hit people,” Antok scolded, although it was half-hearted.
Keith stuck out his tongue, and Antok copied him after a tick. Then, the cub started with the demands. “Down!” he insisted, before beginning to repeat the word over and over again.
Without any further prompting—and before Keith started whining and yanking on fur—Antok took hold of the back of the cub’s shirt and gingerly lowered him to the ground. He expected Keith to go running off because he had seen a bug he wanted to chase or something like that. Chasing small critters that had managed to stow away on the supply ships was something that Keith really enjoyed, even if his poor sense of smell meant he couldn’t track scents as well as most cubs. However, Keith actually plopped down beside Antok’s leg and started trying to catch Antok’s tail. He must’ve heard it when it had thumped against the floor. To give the cub something to do while he continued giving his report, Antok lightly swished his tail across the floor.
Kolivan bit back a snort, clearly trying to stifle it. “Well, he’s certainly easier to entertain than you were,” he said dryly, watching the cub with a hint of fondness as he tilted his head to the side.
Maybe it was just because they hadn’t had a young cub on the main base in well over a decade, but most of the officers found there was something oddly endearing about Keith. Watching Keith tumble around the floor after the tip of Antok’s tail, trying to catch it in his tiny, clawless hands, Antok found he couldn’t agree more with that statement.