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The equipment being transported in was at least quiet. Julian directed Jabara and a few ensigns to ensure it was set up properly, and then shooed them out, warning Jabara that he would be holed up here for awhile.
He paced, fidgeting so everything was just so and yanking on his own sleeve cuffs every so often. Kukalaka herself was sitting atop a bookshelf, the only outward show of anxiety being her flicking tail.
"Do you want some water?" Julian asked, quietly.
"No. Hm." Garak was laying down, brow furrowed. Julian had shut off the implant after everyone had left. He'd refused a blanket earlier as well, and the offer of another pillow.
Suddenly, a sharper reason for the uneasy feeling snapped into place.
Kukalaka stood as Julian turned to Garak. "One last question, I promise. Where's Itzik?"
Garak was already groggy. Julian probably wouldn't even need to use a delta wave inducer. Still, upon hearing Julian's voice, his eyes cracked open for a moment longer. "I don't know."
Julian stood over him as Garak’s eyes slipped closed again, and his breathing faded into an easier rhythm.
Kukalaka paced for a moment, circling around his legs and bumping her head on his shins before turning. Julian sighed and opened one of the wall panels- this one, after a few yards, should have an opening into a jefferies tube.
"Don't get caught."
"I never do."
If they ever did get caught, for this at least, they had a few lies ready. The first was that they weren't seperated; Kukalaka simply had an abnormally large range of movement, as many serval daemons did.
The second was a variety of excuses about how they had been separated.
It hadn't initially been obvious that Itzik had been absent. It would have, at first. But after two years, it was patently obvious that Itzik and Garak were separated, though Itzik often stayed close to Garak anyway- and when he did, he had what others found to be a frustrating habit of finding a high up perch and managing to hide despite his brilliant color. Simply, it wasn't odd for Itzik to be out of sight.
Kukalaka herself liked finding high up perches, and similarly was deemed frustrating. Though, unlike Itzik, she never sprung down near people and cackled when they jumped, no matter how rude or loud they were. While their humanoid halves sat at lunch, the two of them had found a shelf in the replimat that fit them both- and allowed them to watch the flow of promenade traffic.
She turned about in the tube upon finding a fork. Where would he go?
Garak's ill advised attempt with the triptacerine, while potentially fatal, hadn't been seeking immediate release. So it wasn't necessarily that Itzik had found somewhere he felt safe dissipating into dust.
They were in pain. They were coming to terms with dying soon, if they hadn't already.
Kukalaka picked the left.
This panel, she could nudge open with her head, though engineering would surely bolt it down with a vengeance if they ever found it, for the crime of introducing humidity into their domain.
There were a few small, scattered greenhouse spaces on the station. This one was one of the quieter ones.
Kukalaka crouched and peered into the dark corners between the clay pots, looking for blue. Itzik wasn't one of those daemons whose size made you frightened; he was about the size of a fist and then some. This was still perfect for him to hide.
"Itzik. We're helping you. Won't you come out? It'll be easier if both of you are together."
Silence. She kept prowling.
"We aren't going to let you die. You must've felt that." She hopped onto a row of shelves.
"I don't believe either of you haven't thought about seeking out the great unknown. Such an adventurous pair."
Kukalaka poked her head into a hole near where the non-sequitur had come from. She caught a glimpse of blue tail feathers and looked up.
Itzik had half buried himself in the peat moss next to a flower. On its own, it was poor camouflage; he was still all brilliant blue and white and black and magenta. At a glance, terribly and wonderfully living.
"Maybe we have." She put her paws on the lip of the pot and stood so she could meet his eyes. "We can talk about it on the way back, if you like."
That obviously wouldn't happen. Itzik was awake, but he looked just as dazed and groggy as his other half had.
"We've been reading up on parts of the world that you're from, you know."
"Oh?"
"Is it true cats guarded the underworld of your ancestors?"
"Not the way you're thinking. A movie made that up." Kukalaka tilted her head, considering. She would have to be very gentle... or perhaps- didn't she see a rag hanging off the shelf? "We guarded other things. It got conflated."
"Ah."
She started to go to find the rag, but something dug into her paw. She looked back.
Itzik was grabbing her with the little fingers at the bend of his wing.
She nudged them with her nose. "I can't carry you with my teeth. I'll be back."
Itzik's fingers tightened. He had a strong grip, considering the look in his eyes was still hazy.
Kukalaka nudged his head with her nose. "Can you move?"
"No."
"Then let go so I can find something to carry you in."
"No."
Kukalaka chittered with frustration. Twit. She closed her eyes a moment.
"I'm surprised-" Itzik started, before shutting up with start. Kukalaka had licked him on the top of the head. Like a kitten.
The action rattled him enough that his grip loosened, and Kukalaka turned to find the rag. Just as it'd been tugged down by her teeth, she heard a small thump. Her ears flicked flat.
Itzik had tried to follow her and only succeeded in landing in a lump on his side.
She rolled out the rag as best she could next to him, and began rolling him over with the top of her head. Itzik let out a few sounds of annoyance before she had him sprawled on his belly in the center of the rag.
Kukalaka gathered the corners in her teeth and set off with her prize.
Itzik was just small enough that she didn't need to worry about the complications of dragging him over the ground, though her jumps were more carefully considered. He was quiet, now; she wondered if the sway of being carried had made him fall asleep.
As Kukalaka pushed through the panel into Garak’s quarters, she was reminded of something rather grim.
Normal housecats that were allowed outside often brought dead birds home.
Julian turned to her as she entered, gently taking the rag by the corners. He'd replicated a pillow and put it on a small side table; he set Itzik down on top of it.
Julian turned back to one of the equipment monitors he'd hooked up to Garak, his brow furrowed.
Kukalaka waited until Julian was fully looking away before jumping up to join Itzik on his pillow.
One of his eyes cracked open. Stubbornly, he was still awake.
She laid down, her legs bracketing him on each side. She looked him over with a critical eye.
"What?" He croaked.
"You're covered in moss." Kukalaka began licking him again.
Julian turned and froze in shock. "Kuks."
She stopped a moment. "What? You're allowed to touch him." She flicked her head towards Garak before resuming grooming Itzik. It her, it seemed that he was too shocked to say anything; or perhaps he was just tired, and the shamelessness that made him nip her also made him enjoy it. Whatever it was, he hid his eyes behind his wing. After a moment, he began making a small, perhaps involuntary, trilling noise.
Julian was deliberately looking away from them now, embarrassed with Kukalaka, and by extension, himself.
As though you didn't try to lead Garak to the infirmary with a hand on his waist, Kukalaka thought. If Garak had gone along, there would have been rumors flying around the station for weeks about which exam room they'd drunkenly done who-knows-what in.
She felt Itzik gradually relax, dropping off the sleep like his other half.
Julian hadn't had any untoward intentions when he'd touched Garak, and neither had Kukalaka for Itzik, of course. She laid her head atop one paw, still keeping an eye on his sleeping form. They were simply unfortunately, terribly fond of the pair, and drew comfort from touch. They responded in kind, offering touch.
Julian sat heavily. Kukalaka's gaze flicked to him. He was holding the remote that controlled the implant in Garak’s head. Staring at it.
"When this is over, I suggest we chuck that thing in a furnace. Or an ocean- all four of us."
Julian looked up at her with a wan smile. "Should we bring along a cake when we do?"
"Bring two. A smash cake and a normal one." That got a genuine laugh. There had been one memorable occasion when Itzik's dive had targeted a pastry instead of a person.
The air soon soured again. With the remote in hand, even that memory felt grimy. Was Itzik really so shameless, or...
Kukalaka's tail began flicking again.