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The Cohen Clover

Angie Mae & Anin 4

copyright comidacomida 2020

Dinner had been the norm for Angie Mae and Anin for over a week, and the pizza was a pleasant bonus. They each ended up having two slices, which was quite a feat for the Otter considering he was scarcely two thirds the Human's size, yet, once he managed to master the stringiness of the cheese, he was able to keep up with her on eating. After that, they deviated from their usual routine when Anin suggested going for a walk.

The remained in the courtyard between the two research departments, strolling at what was a more-than-leisurely pace for Angie Mae; Ikali didn't walk quite as quickly on two legs and Anin wasn't about to go down on all four because, in his own words: "That would be rude of me if we're talking."

He'd spent so much time telling her all about Riparian Earth that she'd almost expected more of the same until he surprised Angie Mae by asking her about her own home. He wanted to hear her talk about Land Earth and so, after a short pause and several steps, she started telling him about her home in the mid-west of the United States. The young woman spoke about her family, and what it was like growing up. She described the scenery and the long stretches of flatness, the weather, what it was like standing in the middle of a large field of crops, and what it was like going to school.

Throughout her monologue Anin just walked silently beside her, attention focused wholly on her-- enough so that he ended up running into a small, squat earthenware vase by the side of the path used as a planter. He let out a surprised churl, followed by what she recognized as a mild Ikali curse, no worse than an English "Darn it!"

At that point she decided it would be smarter to sit and talk, and so she led her partner over to a low cinderblock accent wall built around the roots of the large tree taking up the center of the courtyard. According to rumors, the tree in question was a transplant from Land Earth, brought by Dr Cohen himself. It was really just hearsay, she realized, since the tree was far too old to have been planted when Station Zero was founded.

A lot of legends, she realized, were built on falsehoods, but she still appreciated hearing about them. The wonder and mystique of it all made her smile and gave her something to think about-- and even as she considered that, she looked down at Anin, who was staring right back up at her, whiskers quirked in an upward angle to indicate his positive mood. Once he realized he had her attention he added "Thank you. It is a lot easier to talk when I am not walking at the same time."

She found herself smiling. "You're welcome, Anin. So... where were we?"

He didn't miss a beat. "You were telling me about your first time using an automobile. Those sound... amazing."

Laughing at his childlike wonder, she admitted that they were most certainly amazing. The discussion ended up taking a detour at that point since he had questions about cars and she couldn't help but satisfy his curiosity by explaining them as best she could. From there, they switched topics from electric motors to the more antiquated power systems which worked off of a chemical reaction.

His eyes grew as large as saucers. "Wow... 'Internal combustion'... that sounds dangerous. Was it dangerous?"

As part of her answer, she had to backtrack to discuss engineering, and machining, and review elements of physics. Angie Mae often wondered just how much of what they discussed managed to find a permanent home in the Otter's brain; surely they covered so much ground in their meandering talks that he wasn't able to remember it all, but he never bothered interrupting her or asking her to repeat herself. Sometimes she thought that maybe he was just humoring her-- he definitely didn't ever go into such detail.

That consideration made her pause. Angie Mae had just finished telling him about jet engines and was starting to transition into aerodynamics, lift-and-thrust-and-drag and flight itself when she thought back to one of many things Dr. Cohen had mentioned with regard to the Ikali. Falling silent, she looked to her partner, who, whiskers still perked upward, was looking at her with interest. "Can I ask you something, Anin?"

He was immediately all-smiles, tail curling into his lap as he rested a paw next to her hand where it sat on the cinder blocks between them. "You are always welcome to ask me anything, Angie Mae."

She had a specific trajectory in her mind for her question but, despite the flow-chart she was formulating in her mind, she decided to start at the beginning. "Do you think the Ikali would ever make use of cars or airplanes like what Humans have?"

His muzzle spit into a huge smile. "Oh! I would very much love to ride in both!"

Angie Mae realized that he must have misunderstood her meaning. "No... that's not what I mean. What I mean is, if you learn how they work, do you think Ikali would start building them and using them on Riparian Earth."

Anin's little round ears flittered back for a moment and his whiskers dipped down, vibrating in thought. The consideration lasted scarcely two seconds. "Oh no... I don't think we'd have any use for them."

After all she'd explained, plus his interest in riding in them, the thought that the Ikali wouldn't have use for them didn't make any sense to her. "I know your people don't travel much, but wouldn't it help you get around easier?"

He shrugged in response, and slowly shook his head, whiskers taking on their upward trajectory again as he smiled. "We're doing just fine walking right now, aren't we?"

There were dozens of other questions she wanted to ask to make her point about how useful proper transportation would be to the Ikali, but she had to stop and remind herself that Nathan was very much right about the otter-folk; they looked at life and the world differently. Instead, she pulled back to her original line of thinking and asked "If you're not going to bring the knowledge of vehicles back to Riparian Earth to share with the other Ikali, then why bother learning about them?"

Anin glanced down at his paw next to her hand and gently brushed her pinkie with his. "Two reasons... first, because I enjoy learning..."

Angie Mae followed his gaze down to where their respective digits were positioned and slowly slid her pinkie onto his. He let out a faint, happy churl, but said nothing else, prompting her to ask "And the second reason?"

The Ikali looked back up at her, slowly entwining the rest of his fingers with hers and he grinned. "Because you were smiling when you were talking about it. You looked happy, and that made me happy."

She was honestly surprised by his statement, not just because of how naively altruistic it sounded, but because she was astounded that he could be paying so much attention regarding what she was saying that he could ask meaningful and cohesive questions all the while paying attention to how she was speaking and what affect the discussion was apparently having on her without her even noticing it herself. The thought that made it to her mouth was much less involved. "Oh."

As per usual, Anin changed the topic on a dime. "Did Dr. Nathan give you copies of the apartment floor plans too? He told me I should review them so you and I can talk about it. I think that's a good idea... don't you?"

It was, and she said as much. Standing, she slowly slipped her fingers free from his grasp, brushing her cheeks once she realized she was blushing. "Um... yes. That IS a good idea. I have a full binder back at our apartment."

Still all smiles, he gestured her onward in a way that almost reminded her of the 100+ year old movies involving well dressed gentlemen and refined ladies. His follow-up comment was reminiscent of the same. "After you!"

The conversation had switched gears that quickly and, all the way back to their apartment Anin was explaining that he'd only taken a look at the first floor plan because it reminded him of the apartment they already shared, and he had plenty to say about it. By the time they were stepping into their shared accommodations he was concluding his meandering train of thought with "... so I guess it makes sense that they would be setting up the digging and mixing machines for building all of it on Riparian Earth. It's going to be SO AMAZING watching them build everything!"

She couldn't help but titter at the statement, turning around the close the door before addressing his statement "Well, we have to assume they've already done a fair amount of building since we'll be moving soon... but I suppose we'll be there early enough to watch SOME of the construction if you want."

He was all smiles, whiskers perky and vibrating as he hopped onto the sofa and circled around once on all fours before slinking his hind legs off of the cushions so he could sit properly. He tapped the spot next to himself. "Oh yes! I hope we get a place near the construction site so I can watch them in my spare time."

Angie Mae did join him on the sofa, taking a seat beside him as she rolled her eyes. "Oh boy-- I don't want anything that close. Construction is noisy."

Anin paused at the statement. "Oh... it is?"

She nodded, picking her satchel up off of the end table where she'd left it before they went out to dinner. "Mmm-hmm. Most of the machines they use are very loud. There are laws in most places on Land Earth about what hours construction can take place because of how much noise it makes."

The Ikali's whiskers twitched as his ears flicked in thought. He looked down at his paws, which sat folded in his lap. "Oh... then... maybe we should find a building close enough that we can go look at it without being too close. I know you do not like to get up early."

The Human wasn't able to hold in the indignant sound that escaped her; out of just about every other one of her classmates Angie Mae usually woke up the earliest. She managed, however, to make her point without being too insulted. "Ikali and Humans keep different schedules. For most of us we don't like waking up before the sun rises."

He shot her a glance, the little twinkle in his eye belying his obvious mischievous intent. "That's alright, Ammy... I won't hold it against you."

In general, Angie Mae hated having her name shortened; any number of people tried calling her Angie over the course of her growing up and she would have none of it. Ikali, on the other hand, used name length to present familiarity and affection. Anin had always made a point to call her Angie Mae however so the newly shortened version of it surprised her. "Did you say 'Ammy'?"

He looked up at her, chrring happily as he nodded his head, quite obviously pleased with himself. "Yes. I know you do not like being called Angie, and so I was hoping to combine both of your names in a portmanteau... Angie and Mae, combined into 'Ammy'. I hope you don't mind if I call you Ammy."

She was taken aback, not only by the fact that he knew about portmanteaus, but by his rather straight forward explanation. Numerous objections ran through her mind, as well as the understanding of the significance. 'Pet names' of that sort were usually reserved for family or really close friends... or something more. Rather than address what he said she instead reached forward and pulled the binder of apartment options out of her satchel. "So... you only looked at the first option?"

Without missing a beat, Anin scooted closer to the edge of the cushion so he could look at the binder which she opened, switching gears without objection. "That is correct. I did not know if I was supposed to look at everything without you and was looking forward to doing it together. Was I wrong to wait?"

Angie Mae cleared her throat, feeling her cheeks begin to blush again without completely coming to grips as to why. "No... not at all. I actually haven't looked at any of it so you're ahead of me. Sorry."

His thick, muscular tail thwacked a pillow behind himself as he smiled at her. "Oh-- that's alright, Ammy. I don't mind."

She hadn't realized she reflexively apologized until the moment she heard the Ikali's dismissal of it; Anin didn't consider it worthy of concern and, as she flipped open to the first page she let that concern go. Motioning to the presentation of the apartment option she gestured to it. "This is the one you saw already?"

He nodded his head eagerly, pointing to the second half of the page. "I did. Yes. The main difference in the apartment we're in now is here-- the bedrooms are back to back instead of on opposite sides of the floor plan."

She saw that he was right. "Oh... so it is."

Angie Mae flipped to the next one which they reviewed together similarly. It looked as though it had a slightly smaller square footage of the living room and no extra lounge but, in return it had a marginally larger kitchen and an extra room. Anin was the first to identify the reason. "This looks like one of the apartments they would have in mind for partner groups that include Humans and Ikali with a Phin."

Considering the statement, Angie Mae pointed out what she considered to obvious. "I think most of the partners will be Ikali and Phin... not many Humans are going to make the transition since the Riparian Earth isn't connected to Land Earth."

He smiled at her, reaching out to turn the page. "Well, I am very glad that I get a Human partner, and I'm glad that it's you."

Feeling her cheeks redden yet again she focused on the next page; it was a single bedroom apartment-- the distraction only made things worse. Angie Mae quickly turned the page. "Let's see what else..."

Anin let out a questioning chirp. "That apartment looked like it had a study and an office."

She nodded, but didn't turn the page back. "It was a one bedroom apartment."

The Ikali turned to regard her. "Is that a problem?"

Feeling a little uncomfortable, the young woman tried to reason things out from the Ikali's point of view and, when she failed, she instead chose to get clarification without trying to sound too off-putting. "You don't want your own room?"

His smile never faltered. "I grew up sharing a room with my entire family... it does not bother me to share, but if you want your own room then you can have the bedroom and I can sleep on the couch... or in a chair... or on the floo-- oh! I bet I could sleep on the table! That might be fun to try!"

Despite taking a moment to translate his word-choice she couldn't help but laugh at that. "On the TABLE? Why would you do something like that?"

He shrugged. "I've never slept on one before... it might be fun to try."

She shrugged in response. "I couldn't imagine it would be comfortable... tables aren't made to sleep on. Besides, if it's an option why not find an apartment where you can have your own room?

The Ikali continued the train of shrugs. "I want us to find an apartment that you will enjoy. I do not care where I am as long as I get to be with you."

It was a touching sentiment to be sure, but it also gave the young woman a moment's pause. "Well, I want you to have an apartment that will work for us both without you having to compromise..."

Angie Mae held onto the recent page she'd turned in the binder but she jumped when Anin's webbed paw found its way to rest atop her free hand, which lay on the sofa between them. She looked down at it, then up at him; he was looking at her. He offered her a polite smile-- one that didn't cause his whiskers to raise, and they quickly wilted despite his continued smile, a sure-sign that he was uncomfortable. "I... have found that I have trouble with things like this I think, Ammy."

Although she was wary that she knew what he meant she was willing to play stupid. "Choosing an apartment?"

He slid just a little closer, slowly lacing his fingers with hers. "Understanding how Humans express interest."

Her heard began to beat faster in her chest. He WAS interested in her, wasn't he? Was she interested in him? She wasn't sure, or at least tried to convince herself that she wasn't. He made her smile, and helped her forget so many of the harsh things that had happened to her in the past few years. He was playful and funny and, despite being frustrating at times, he rarely failed to make her smile. Despite that, she couldn't bring herself to presume she was misreading something, and continued trying not to read into anything. "Express interest in... what, Anin?"

He let out a squeak as he raised one paw to rub his forehead, the other still holding her hand tightly. "Raisin? Prune?... a wrinkly dried fruit-- Date!"

She had understood what he was getting at and she found herself blushing again. "You want to know about dates?"

The Ikali nodded. "Yes... but... not the food kind. I-- I know that Ikali are not allowed to, but if I could I would offer you a thumb chit."

There was no misunderstanding that statement. Among Ikali, an interested party would pay the object of their affection for their time. If the recipient of the offer accepted the money then it would be a business deal; if they refused it then it was presumed that the affection was returned and it would be a purely personal endeavor of likeminded, consenting adults. Angie Mae knew that a non-response was the proper way to turn down such an offer but Ikali weren't allowed to offer Chits due to misunderstandings among those unfamiliar with how it worked. "Oh."

Those thoughts and more ran through her mind and, despite her lack of response, Anin quickly spoke up, immediately removing his paw from her hand. Angie Mae couldn't recall the last time she heard her partner fumble over his own words as he quickly added. "But I didn't offer you one because I know that wouldn't be right and we aren't supposed to do that with a Human or a Phin so I was trying to figure out the best way to do it and let you know that I really like you and thought that the right way to go about it would be to give you a date and see what that is and how to ask you about it and what a date involves and how to give you one or do one with you or... have one together?" He finally paused to take a breath, shrinking in on himself as he finally added in a much quieter, much slower tone. "Once I find out what it is..."

There was something disarming about his complete and total lack of knowledge, not because he was incompetent, but because he was so blatantly honest about it. Angie Mae knew that he was presenting his vulnerability in the matter and it was both calming and endearing; she was flattered. Giving his paw a gentle, comforting squeeze, she replied "A date isn't anything difficult or complex, Anin... it just means spending time with someone you like. I mean, technically the time we spent together at the Parlor and in the courtyard could have been a date depending on whether or not we think of it that way."

The Otter, who seemed to have been holding his breath, nodded in much the same way as he did when he was learning something during a research session. He remained silent for many seconds and Angie Mae could practically see the gears turning in his head. Eventually, once he did speak, he asked "Is... that the way I should think of it?"

The discussion immediately went back into that uncomfortable territory. Although she wasn't NOT interested, she didn't know how to proceed and, if she was being honest with herself, she was scared. In that line of thinking, she replied as truthfully as she could. "I really hadn't thought about it, Anin... I mean... is that the kind of relationship you're looking for?"

Anin shrugged. "I don't know. I DO know that I enjoy spending time with you and I like you and you make me feel good and I like it when you smile. Is that a good enough reason for a Human to look at a relativeboat?

Despite the seriousness of the question the wordplay came naturally to him; what worried her more was that she didn't even need to think about how 'relativeboat' translated to 'relationship'. Letting out a deep breath, she slowly slid her hand out from beneath his paw; a half second later, realizing she already missed the touch, she placed her palm atop it. "I like you, Anin... Everything you said about me is the same I think about you... I'm just.. not sure I'm ready to put myself out there."

Anin nodded, his furred brows furrowing slightly as his whiskers drooped. "Oh... I understand... It hurt to hear about what happened with Jackson Robberts. I see how you'd probably need time after--"

She was so surprised at his statement that she didn't even bother letting him finish. "What about Jackson? What do you-- HOW do you know about--" she remembered at that exact moment that Dr. Cohen had provided her with Anin's complete student file; he had said that Anin would get hers as well. "--did you read my file?"

The Ikali nodded frankly and spoke with just as much openness. "I DID read some, but I learned about Jackson Robberts when I spoke with Roller. He told me about Jackson Robberts because I asked him when he said that you were hurt recently."

It took her a moment to realize that her leg was fidgeting; her heel was reflexively tapping against the floor and, she also noticed, her hand was shaking. Angie Mae knew that Phins were honest and open about everything; in their native language lying wasn't even possible, but she didn't realize that Ikali were so nosey. She felt violated. "What gave you the right to ask him about me?"

Anin cocked his head, rotating it not unlike a dog that heard a strange sound. "You're my partner. We're supposed to know about each other. I have your file."

She removed her hand from his paw; her heart was beating as if she were in fight or flight mode-- she wanted to do both and neither at the same time. Angie Mae knew innately she was acting irrationally but, despite being a rational person she couldn't bring herself to stop her emotions. Standing up, she turned and confronted the Otter. "Then why didn't you just read the god damn file?!"

The Otter sank into the cushion, recoiling from her as he let out a soft squeak. Looking like a chastised puppy, Anin responded in a quiet tone "It's important stuff... too important for paper... and-- and I wanted talk to you first so you could share it personally."

Although some part of her felt bad for causing him such distress, she couldn't forgive him for such a breech in trust. "But you still talked to Roller about it before coming to me."

He offered a helpless shrug, wrapping his tail into his lap so he could hug it like some kind of safety blanket. "I... know that Humans can be... uncomfortable about certain topics... so I... wanted to approach it correctly."

She realized that she had no right to fault him for that, but she did anyway. "Well congratulations... you failed."

Turning her back to him, Angie Mae clenched her hands tightly at her sides, her entire body shaking with a combination of embarrassment, rage, and what could have been sadness-- she was so caught up in the moment that she didn't even know herself. She DID know that she was making the issue worse but some deep seated masochism made her stick to her guns, not unlike picking at a bleeding scab.

Anin let out a quiet sigh and slowly stood up behind her. "I'm sorry, Ammy. I see now that I didn't have a right to ask him and I should have asked you directly."

His personal name for her actively hurt-- mostly because she realized that she was treating the naive Otter with far too much anger, but she couldn't stop. She reinforced the situation by addressing him with his full name. "You are right, Anin Quick-Brow. You should have."

With that statement said she finally gave herself leave to exit and began making her way to her room. Anin followed right after her. "I AM sorry... Angie Mae. I didn't mean to hurt you and I didn't want to--"

She opened the door to her room, keeping her back to him. Tears were already starting to leak from her eyes and her fingernails bit into her left palm even as she gripped the door knob with her right hand hard enough to make her knuckles turn white. "Stop apologizing."

Anin's follow-up statement was as matter-of-fact as it was pleading. 'You... haven't accepted my apology... and I am TRULY sorry, Angie Mae. I don't want you to be mad because I didn't mean to--"

She spun around to face him. "Fine. I accept your apology, Anin-Quick Brow. I am NOT going to say that it's okay, because it isn't... but I accept your apology. Now leave me alone."

The Otter stood before her, looking in all ways devastated. He lowered his eyes as he whispered his response. "Okay... but it doesn't seem like you have."

With nothing further to say, Angie Mae entered the room and closed the door between them, controlling herself enough to avoid slamming it. Standing with her back to the barrier she stared at the ground in front of her, the image of her Ikali partner's face full of failure and defeat. She had trouble holding onto the anger and indignation while, in the meantime the sorrow, embarrassment and self-reproach only grew.