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Apollo stared at the slop on his plate, twisting his nose in distaste. He flipped his fork around, debating the pros and cons of going without tonight.
“Psssst.”
Apollo knew that voice. He knew that voice better than he knew his dam’s. It was, almost literally, stamped on his soul (if you’re one to believe in souls and all that).
“Psssst. Dumbdog!”
Tina slid onto the bench beside him, dark eyes wide and innocent. “Guess what?”
“The food doesn’t taste like garbage today?” Apollo said. He sighed, unable to muster his usual dry sarcasm. He just sounded bored at this point.
“We’re docking tomorrow at Century station today, you know what that means!” Tina said. She shoved Apollo’s tray away from him and tugged on his wrist.
Despite himself, Apollo perked up. He turned his attention to Tina, smile twitching at his lips. “You bet I do.”
“Spa day!” Tina cheered. She dug into her jumpsuit and pulled free a plastic wrapped granola bar. “Oh, here. I gotta run!”
She tapped on Apollo’s shoulder as he grabbed the granola bar, a rare commodity, especially this far into a trip.
“Bye, Tina,” Apollo said. She darted off, tail vanishing around the corner. Apollo tore into the granola bar with relish. Thank fuck his mate had such sticky fingers and hoarded food.
He slogged through the rest of the day. Every hour he felt a comforting wash of emotions and it was nice, really, but he was just waiting to leave this cramped ship. The open air called to him.
Apollo slipped into his quarters and groaned. His whole body ached.
“Hiiii, Apollo,” Tina said, peeking her head in.
Apollo hated dealing with people, especially after a long, exhausting day running on nothing but a granola bar and a prayer.
He scrunched his nose. “Well, don’t just stand there.”
Tina’s face lit up. She slipped into the room, tail flicking happily. She fixed his messy shelves with deft fingers, distracted by the peeling posters.
“How was today?” Apollo mumbled. He stuck his nose into his bed and closed his eyes.
“Fun! But yours wasn’t,” Tina said, unnecessarily. She picked up a small action figure and fidgeted with the arms.
“Meh,” Apollo said. “Docking tomorrow morning.”
She hummed. “Want me to stay tonight?”
“Sure,” Apollo said. He shifted to make room on the bed and Tina nuzzled in, pressing her face to his neck. Tension that Apollo didn’t realize he held dissipated as her fur pressed against his.
“I’ll spend tomorrow with you,” Tina said.
“What about Hafu and Talia?” Apollo said.
“C’moooon, Apollo. No way I hang with them when the station’s got a spa specializing in furred people!” Tina said. “And, y’know, you’re sad. I gotta be with you when you’re sad.”
“’M not sad,” Apollo said.
“Okay, Apollo,” Tina said in her I’m on to you and you’re fooling NOBODY, buster, voice.
He huffed a laugh and nestled further into their tangle of blankets and fur.
The following day he expertly avoided Ellum and Steve, who were being annoying bastards. It probably helped that Tina started shouting at them whenever they approached – “Are you serious Steve, right now? Get real! We’re busy! Ellum! Are you playing? Are we in a game? Get outta here!”
There was a reason they were soulmates. And while Apollo cursed the universe on the regular, this was one situation in which he was downright grateful.
Sure, his parents were unreasonably upset that a feline was his mate, and were equally horrified that they weren’t mate mates, in the romantic or sexual sense of the word. But off planet that sort of shit didn’t matter. There were species without soulmates, species that had no sense of romance or sex, and of course species that did but chose not to.
Apollo would willingly go through the hellish early years of his life a thousand times over if he could have Tina as his soulmate at the other end.
They docked at Century station on planet Astrus. Tina bounced up and down, ears swiveling. She leapt off the ramp the moment it lowered, sharp teeth gleaming in the weak sunlight. Apollo followed, shrugging at Hafu who rolled her eyes.
She dealt with the soulmates on her ship with grace, all things considering.
Tina bee-lined for the spa. She adored spa-days and regularly took them on any planet, satellite station, or deep-space station. Whenever she could, really.
But since Apollo despised untrained hands on his fur, he avoided spas like the plague unless they had specializations for furred-folk. Tina took full advantage of Spa-With-Apollo at the scarce few stations that he could handle.
And Apollo loved spending time with Tina. Who didn’t?
They weren’t the only ones, either. While Platy declined, opting instead to drag Dk and Skadj to “hit the town” (hopefully they wouldn’t be banned by the end of the day), Janet, Talia, Koji, and Steve were joining them. Hafu and 5up were exploiting Ellum for physical labor to actually take care of the ship, like, the shit they were actually docking for.
Apollo was 99% sure Steve just wanted to be an annoying asshole and get a massage out of it.
“You ever think about how fucked up soulmates are?” Steve said while they were going through the locker rooms.
Apollo groaned on cue because Steve always brought this up. “Shut the fuck up, dude.”
“I’m just saying, man!” Steve said.
Koji snickered. “You know, they are kinda fucked up.”
“Do not indulge him,” Apollo snapped.
“You don’t understand because you have yours!” Steve complained.
“Skill issue,” Koji said.
“Et tu, Koji?” Steve shouted. His voice echoed through the locker room and Apollo sped-walked out of there, hoping nobody thought that he was with those morons.
The moment Tina came into view, whiskers twitching in the steam, his shoulders relaxed.
“Ewwww, you’re all mushy,” Steve said, poking at him. Apollo glared at him.
“Oh, Steve, look at how lanky you are!” Talia exclaimed.
Steve’s attention suitably moved, Apollo sidled by Tina. “Why did we let them all come?”
“Cause it’s fun!” Tina said.
“Hmm,” Apollo said. She was right, but he didn’t want to admit it.
The day continued with minimal issues. Steve ate his cucumbers and goaded the others to follow suit. Talia did for the shits, Janet and Tina scoffed, Koji protested, and Apollo tried to fall asleep with the cacophony around him.
Later, Tina insulted Steve for being squeamish during a massage, properly instigating a verbal smackdown between the two of them.
It leads to a disgruntled Steve sitting up, to the displeasure of the masseuse, and yelling, “Dumbdog, control your soulmate!”
Apollo lazily tilted his head. “Eh? Tina? You think I can control Tina?”
“Yeah, exactly!” Tina exclaimed.
“Dumbdog,” Steve whined.
“Be nice to Steve, he’s fragile,” Apollo stated in the driest tone of voice he can muster.
Steve smiled sarcastically. “I’m a fragile little boy!”
“Shut up, you two,” Talia muttered. “This is supposed to be relaxing!”
“With our crew?” Apollo mumbled. Tina snickered.
-
It started way back on Apollo’s home planet. He lived amongst his fellow dogs on a planet filled with furry creatures. While Apollo walked on two legs, he knew many of his species who were quadrupedal.
On his planet, canines and felines existed in… tense peace. They absolutely hated the other but the war was officially, legally over , so…
Apollo studied computers, despite his utter distaste for studying and tests. Work hard for your future soulmate, his dam scolded him. It wasn’t his future soulmate that motivated him, though: it was the urge to get off this fucking planet and see the galaxy.
Apollo explored the world available to him. When he ventured a bit too far and the sky opened up, Apollo tucked beneath an old, broken, stone bridge. He curled up, arms around his bent legs as he shivered.
Rain pummeled the mossy stone bridge and Apollo flinched when a thick droplet landed on his nose.
A weak mewling hit his ears at the same time he registered rusting leaves. Before his eyes, a feline slunk beneath the bridge. She had a thick sweater plastered against her wet fur. Her ears flicked in discomfort.
She yelped when she saw him, which – honestly, was a bit of a confidence boost. He wasn't all that scary to his kin, being so lanky and awkward, so at least this feline found him frightening.
The feline sniffled, eyes wide and weepy. “I… I…”
“I won’t hurt you,” Apollo offered. “You won’t hurt me?”
“Of course not!” the feline exclaimed, sounding offended. She sneezed.
The feline settled down, looking wildly uncomfortable. From the rain or from the proximity to Apollo, he couldn’t say. Her whiskers twitched.
“I’m Tina,” she offered.
“Apollo,” he replied.
“I’ve never talked to a canine before,” Tina said. “Mostly they just… ah. Well, I’ve never talked to one.”
Apollo sniffed. “Sorry.” He winced.
Tina shrugged. “I always wanted to.”
“Why?”
“You’re different. It’s cool,” Tina said. Apollo hummed as Tina shivered violently, murmuring, "it's so cold."
“Why are you so far out?” Apollo asked. The rain intensified and he shuffled closer to the middle. Tina followed suit, and a heavy tension sat between them. Apollo’s fur stood on end.
“It’s a long story,” Tina said. Her ears lowered.
“Okay,” Apollo said. Obviously she didn’t want to talk about it. “I like your sweater.”
“Thank you!” Tina said. Her voice was bright despite the dreary rainstorm. “I like your hat.”
“Thanks,” Apollo mumbled.
Several minutes passed. The tension didn’t disappear, despite Apollo feeling – oddly – like he didn’t mind Tina. She was a comforting presence, and he could see her expression twitching even the slightest amount. As someone who struggled to read faces it was an odd realization.
“Hey, um, Apollo?” Tina said tentatively.
“Yeah?” Apollo said.
Tina took a deep breath, and said, “A bird flies south during the winter so that.”
Ice froze Apollo’s veins. Magma dissolved his nerves.
Apollo gaped at her, and said, “ So that the eggs hatch safe and warm. ”
-
Soulmate phrases are oft confusing and unrelated to the couple. Many studies have delved into the intricacies of phrase creation, but Apollo never bothered himself with it. He, along with much of the population, thought up a phrase in his youth and tucked it close to his chest.
A bird flies south during the winter so that the eggs hatch safe and warm. It dawned on him like a glowing sunrise, something he always knew, something imprinted on his ribcage.
Saying the words aloud was like grating his skin raw. Nobody asked for it, nobody questioned. Fear clung to him in a way where Apollo wondered, late at night, if he’d ever find the courage to say the words at all.
-
“Do you ever miss home?” Apollo asked.
Tina, clicking away at some shooter game, hummed noncommittally. “Not particularly. I miss my sisters, sometimes, but they’re not at home.”
“You never want to go back?” Apollo said.
“Maybe for the dried sardine bits. Nowhere else does it like home,” Tina said.
Apollo worried his lip in thought.
“What about you?” Tina said. “I didn’t think you liked home all that much, no?”
“I’ll only go back if you wanna visit,” Apollo said.
Tina grinned, her canines peaking out behind curled hips. “I can show you Cat-topia!”
“Not what it’s called,” Apollo mumbled.
“It could be so fun,” Tina said.
“Eh. We’re on the other side of the galaxy anyway,” Apollo said.
“Well not right now! We still have work!” Tina said.
“I bet we could import the dried sardine bits,” Apollo said.
Tina grinned. Before she could say anything, someone pounded on the door.
“It’s open,” Apollo called out lazily. He scrolled through his tablet without much thought.
Hafu peaked in, then sighed in relief. “Sorry, I thought someone else was in here.”
Apollo raised an eyebrow. Who would warrant knocking on the living room door? “Who?”
“Nobody,” Hafu said, brushing his question off. She flopped onto the open couch with a sigh of relief.
“Hafu, wanna play?” Tina asked, gesturing to her computer screen.
Hafu tilted her head. “Oh, sure.” She stood and stretched before moving to another one of the computer setups.
As she set up, her fingers stuttered. “Hey, can I ask you guys a personal question?”
“Yeah, shoot,” Apollo said. He ripped open a bag of mostly-terrible crackers.
“How long did you guys know each other before you knew you were soulmates?” Hafu asked.
“Like ten minutes,” Tina said.
“Ten minutes?” Hafu repeated, sounding surprised. “That’s it? How’d you know? Apollo?”
“Don’t look at me. I had no idea,” Apollo said, shrugging. “That’s all Tina.”
“What!” Tina said. “You totally felt it, too.”
“I thought it was just like, the storm,” Apollo said. “Or the fact that you were a feline and you were scared of me.”
“Oh, wow, I want to know the story now,” Hafu said. She clicked a few things in quick succession. “Tina, add me.”
“Adding,” Tina said. “And I can’t believe you, Dumbdog! I wasn’t scared of you!”
“Uhuh,” Apollo said.
Tina grumbled. “’S not my fault canines were so mean where I lived…”
“We were caught out in a storm and took shelter beneath the same bridge,” Apollo explained for Hafu. “Ten minutes in, boom, Tina said half of the phrase.”
“That’s incredible, Tina,” Hafu said. “Me and David didn’t know until like, three years into knowing each other.”
“I dunno. I just… it felt right,” Tina said, shrugging. “I’d never felt so right before. Especially around a canine. And I’d heard so many stories about cross-species soulmates… I think it really hit when I tried to say the phrase and it didn’t hurt or anything. It just flowed.”
“Still,” Hafu said, making a small, impressed noise. “You’re lucky, Apollo.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Apollo said. “Tell that to my parents. Shit, if I had to hear one more word about mixing cats and dogs I’d launch myself into space.”
“Cats and dogs don’t mix, it’s unnatural!” Tina mocked, voice high-pitched.
“Now I gotta go throw myself out the airlock, thanks Tina, ” Apollo said.
“Nooo, if you do that my heart will break in two!” Tina said.
“Apollo, you better stay on this ship for the good of our navigator,” Hafu said.
“Wow,” Apollo said. Hafu cursed as she died in game.
“Deserved,” Apollo said.
Hafu flipped him off. “Fuck you.”
“Guys, ” Tina said.
Apollo rolled his eyes and stretched out on his couch. He propped a pillow up for his head.
Tina and Hafu’s voices faded to the background as he plopped big headphones over his large, unwieldy ears. Apollo settled, waiting for his soulmate to inevitably tire. She’ll crawl onto the couch and squeeze between Apollo and the back cushions. She’ll curl up in the small space and Apollo knows he’ll be mostly asleep by then, so he’ll adjust with muttered sighs, and in the morning Steve will wake them up in a uniquely obnoxious way with the help of Dk.
A faint smile touched Apollo’s lips. Lucky.
Yeah, Apollo knew he was pretty damn lucky.