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Hunter was miserable. He had found nothing on his hunt, not even a single lizard, and it was pouring down rain. Thankfully, it wasn’t heavy enough to be lethal, but it was still freezing cold after the stormclouds had rolled in over the mountains. And, of course, he was drenched. Hunter hated the feeling of water in his fur, and it made him even colder. The wind blew the rain straight into his face, occasional strong gusts knocking him off balance.
He could barely see five feet in front of him as he trudged back to the colony tree. He must have been getting close, because he could occasionally see the silhouette off in the distance through the sheets of rain when lightning struck.
“F-fuc- ugh!” Hunter muttered to himself through chattering teeth. Can’t even curse straight. This sucks. Shouldn’t have gone out today. Shoulda known this would happen when all the prey vanished, they hide from rain.
He wasn’t even looking forward to getting back to the tree, even saliva from cleaning himself gave him that wet nasty feeling.
At long last, Hunter saw the tree. The door was securely covered with a thick canvas tied down at each corner. He picked up the pace for the last stretch and was soon able to pull the knot at one of the corners apart and duck inside the tree.
Looking inside, he saw Spearmaster sitting inside the common area that the door opened into. They immediately perked up upon seeing him, getting to their feet and beginning to sign.
“You’re back! I was worried, are you alright?”
Hunter just looked over, teeth chattering. The look on his face must have told Spearmaster all they needed to know. They rushed over as Hunter tried to secure the door covering again, but much to his frustration, his hands were shaking too much to tie the knot.
“I’ve got it, just come over here and take off that spear holder.”
Spearmaster tied off the canvas and moved over to Hunter again.
“You look like you’re freezing. Can I dry you off?”
“Y-yeah.”
Hunter wondered how Spearmaster planned to do that without a tongue as he stood dripping in the small puddle he'd created. He’d never really paid much attention to how they did things like that, as the purple slugcat seemed to get along fine. He supposed it must be easier for them to dry considering they did not have the short coat of fur that the other slugcats did, including himself.
Hunter soon had his answer as Spearmaster walked out of their room carrying what looked to be several towels. He sat still as they began drying him, starting with his head and moving down to his tail. He couldn’t deny it felt nice, he even felt more dry than when he used his tongue.
He was still cold though, it wasn’t much warmer inside the tree than outside. It was slightly better now that he wasn’t wet and exposed to the wind, but he would still probably have to just huddle in his blankets until his body heat eventually warmed him
It looked like Spearmaster had noticed that too, as they stood in front of him and began signing once they had finished hanging up the wet towels.
“You still look cold. I have some lanterns in my room, do you want to come warm up?”
Hunter looked over at them, surprised. He had never really gotten to know the purple slugcat, despite knowing the sign language they used better than some of the other colony members. They had seemed to avoid him recently, and this was certainly a sudden shift in behavior. Still, he decided it was worth a shot. He might get to know them better, and it sure beat sitting in his room freezing. He nodded and stood up to follow.
Spearmaster led him over to their room, pushing aside the hanging curtain that separated the common area and their room. Spearmaster and Artificer were the only ones with rooms on ground level, as they had first set up at the tree. Hunter, Survivor, Monk, and Watcher’s rooms were all higher in the tree, in ascending order.
The first thing that Hunter noticed about Spearmaster’s room was the carvings all over the walls and ceiling. They seemed to mostly depict Spearmaster’s journeys from Seven Red Suns to Five Pebbles (including a drawing of Five Pebbles reading a bloody pearl with a very rude word written underneath him), and some more recent events like moving into the colony tree. Hunter also saw a corner with a rumpled blanket and lantern with several drawings of himself from various angles near the floor.
Second, he noticed that there was no window, contributing to the warm and sheltered atmosphere. He had one in his room, and while he appreciated the view, the canvas covering always flapped in the wind and kept him up while it was storming. Already the sounds of the storm were much quieter in Spearmaster’s room.
The room was lit by many lanterns, some suspended at the ceiling by netting, and some in the corners and on various surfaces. The room wasn’t very large, containing only a bench, workspace, and a bed. Each piece of furniture was carved out of the walls rather than being standalone pieces like Hunter’s workbench. He had built his out of carved wood and a metal sheet he had found near the iterator complex, but Spearmaster’s was more of a flat ledge in the wall.
Hunter also noticed that Spearmaster’s bed looked very strange. He usually slept curled up, using his tail as a pillow, and so his bedding and blankets were just a rough circle on the floor. Spearmaster had a long flat ledge along the wall that their bedding was spread out over. He would have to ask about it later.
Spearmaster gently guided him to the bench, which was also carved straight out of the wall, and carefully sat him down. They grabbed a neatly folded blanket from a nearby pile and a lantern from the desk area before sitting down next to him and draping the blanket over them both.
Hunter snuggled up to Spearmaster, who was already quite warm and holding the lantern. The two slugcats were about equal in height, although Spearmaster had a much thinner frame than Hunter. Spearmaster wrapped their tail around Hunter, and he put his arm around their shoulders. He was already feeling much warmer, and the sound of the storm outside was almost calming. The two sat like that until Hunter worked up the courage to start talking.
“Spearmaster, can I ask you a question?”
“You just did,” Spearmaster teased, “but go ahead.”
“Hmmph. Well, anyway, why is your bed like that? Do you not sleep curled up?” Shit, was that rude?
“Oh, it’s just a preference of mine. When I was little, I used to partially extrude needles from my tail in my sleep, and I would poke myself if I curled up like slugcats normally do, so I took to sleeping stretched out. I don’t do it anymore, but I still feel more comfortable sleeping like that.”
“Could I ask you a question as well?”
“Well, you just did,” Hunter smirked, “but go for it.”
Spearmaster shook their head in amusement. “How did you learn sign language? No other slugcat I’ve met already knew it, except for you.”
“Long story short, I was taught it by my creator. I don’t know if I ever told you this, but I am also what the iterators call a ‘purposed organism,’ like yourself. I was created by No Significant Harassment to bring a package to Looks to the Moon.”
“No, this is the first I’ve heard of that! You’ll have to tell me the story of your delivery later.”
“There’s just one more thing I’d like to ask; how did you get this scar?”
Spearmaster gestured to the large scar covering Hunter’s upper back.
“Yeah, it’s not… something I usually like to talk about, but… I feel like you deserve an explanation. I, uh, a long time ago, I was sick. Uhh, badly. I thought I was going to die after I finished my delivery.”
Spearmaster hugged Hunter tighter in an attempt to comfort him a little. He sighed and leaned on their shoulder.
“Have you seen, uh, Five Pebbles’ interior? The, um…”
Spearmaster nodded in assent.
“Yes. I had it inside me. Pebbles helped. He told me that he had found a way to get rid of it, one that he had been using on himself. But, it didn’t fully work. On me, I mean. I think he’s cured now. Anyway, he had to… manually remove it from me. I could barely move for several cycles.”
Hunter sighed again and nestled into Spearmaster’s arms a bit more. Sensing that Hunter was done talking, they slowly brought their paws up to sign.
“I may have to… reconsider my views on him then. You can read Ancient writing, correct?”
Spearmaster gestured to the drawing of Five Pebbles holding the bloody pearl.
Hunter chuckled. “Yep.”
“That pearl was in my chest.”
Spearmaster pointed to a drawing of themself prone and clutching their chest near the drawing of Pebbles.
“That was my only perspective on him. Now that I know what he did for you… well, I don’t hate him anymore.”
Spearmaster slouched into the bench and adjusted the blanket before putting their arm around his shoulders. They adjusted so he could still see both of their paws to sign with.
“Are you feeling better now?”
“About… that, or the wet and cold?”
“Well, I intended to ask about the storm, but the other one applies too.”
“…yeah. On both counts.”
“…Thanks, Speary.”
Spearmaster was incredibly glad that he couldn’t see their blush from his position on their shoulder. They must have looked like a white lizard with the way their face felt.
Spearmaster wanted to just stay like this, but they were tired, and they would need to go hunting tomorrow because Hunter’s expedition had failed.
“I think it’s bedtime for me.”
“same here,” Hunter mumbled as he sank deeper into Spearmaster’s. He thought about his room. From what he could tell, the storm was still raging, and the window covering was sure to be noisy. And it would be cold, and dark, and… empty. He didn’t really want to go anywhere at all, it was warm and safe here.
“Can I stay here tonight?” Hunter said without really considering it. He immediately blushed as he realized how it must sound.
Spearmaster immediately perked up at the suggestion. They would never admit it, but they had been secretly hoping to get closer to Hunter for a long time, and tonight had certainly satisfied that itch.
“Of course, you’re always welcome with me.”
They got up and stretched before beginning to collect the lanterns strewn about the room, leaving the one they had been holding on the bench.
“If you’re willing to sleep in this weird position, of course.” They gestured to the bed as they retrieved a lantern from the ceiling.
“Eh, it don’t matter to me.” Hunter slowly rose and began re-folding the blanket the two had been using, gently placing it back in the pile and picking up the lantern on the bench.
Spearmaster covered the top of the clay vase they had been putting the lanterns in with a thick cloth, leaving the lantern Hunter was still holding as the only light source. The room was comfortably dim, shadows dancing across the carvings on the far wall. They took a moment to admire Hunter, who was rubbing his face with one hand while loosely clutching the lantern with the other.
He blinked a few times before focusing on Spearmaster again, who started slightly before moving over to the bed and climbing in, beckoning Hunter to follow.
Hunter awkwardly walked over to the bed. He wasn’t really sure how to do this, so he just mimicked Spearmaster and laid down in front of them. Thankfully that seemed like the right thing to do, as they tucked a blanket over both slugcats before taking the lantern he was holding and putting one of their arms on his chest and the other on his head. He sighed quietly in contentment, and he felt the rise and fall of Spearmaster’s chest against his back as they did the same.
Hunter could feel the warmth of the lantern radiating out from where Spearmaster held it against his chest. It felt… freeing, to not be under expectations. All his life, he had needed to be on guard, whether watching his own back or protecting others. He had always been a hunter, a protector, someone who lifts the burdens of others. Here, though, he could simply relax into Spearmaster as they held him through the night.
The storm outside raged, muffled into a quiet white noise. Hunter drifted off to sleep, warm and content in the embrace of Spearmaster.