#gemma the hover-calf

[procrastinatorproject]

Tonight, we continue with some sunny adventure that has gone neglected for far too long: We're checking in with Gemma, the hover-cow.

Context: The crew of La Sirena are stranded on a bucolic planet mostly inhabited by very large, very round, very fluffy cows that have a tendency to push off the ground, float in a gentle arc for several meters, and then crash into you to show their affection. Somewhat against his will, Rios has adopted one of these specimens, a calf about the size of a draft horse, whom he has decided to call Gemma. Right now, our intrepid heroes are trying to find a way to cross a very deadly river.

(For the first two chapters see here, the third one is almost finished, and this would be the beginning of the fourth one, I think.)

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“No.”

“I’m sure I could do it.”

“Absolutely not!”

“You have failed to come up with any other options, so what’s the alternative?”

“It sure as hell isn’t that!”

Cris took a long drag from his cigar, trying to calm down. He wasn’t having much success.

“Elnor has a point.”

Cris shot Seven an angry look. “I don’t care if he has a point, we’re not doing this.”

The xB was utterly unimpressed by his temper. “Would you rather we turn around? Walk all the way back and abandon our best chance to get off this damn rock?”

“There has to be another way,” Cris insisted, though he could tell that he was losing the argument.

“I’ll tie a rope around my waist and Soji can pull me back if I fall into the river,” Elnor suggested eagerly.

“I’m not worried about you falling in the river,” Cris snarled around his cigar, “I’m worried you’ll bash your head open on a rock. Or… get trampled. Or god knows what else could go wrong!”

“I don’t think the cows have enough mass to trample a Romulan in peak physical condition,” Agnes said, looking Elnor up and down with a pensive expression.

Cris wanted to be angry at her for this betrayal, but it was very difficult when she scrunched up her face in this adorable way she had.

He shook his head, trying to focus on the problem at hand. “You’re all ignoring the most basic problem.”

Soji tilted her head. “Which problem?”

Cris put his hands on his hips and fixed Elnor in a glare. “Go on, tell them what happened yesterday.”

Everyone turned to look at the young Romulan, but, of course, trying to embarrass a practitioner of Absolute Candour, even one as green as Elnor, was a doomed endeavour. “I made an attempt at riding one of the hover-cows yesterday morning,” Elnor said without a hint of apprehension, “but I couldn’t get her to stand still for long enough to climb on her back.”

Raffi groaned. “You might have mentioned that before.”

“I didn’t think it was relevant,” Elnor said. “I only tried it three or four times, and I didn’t have a reason to put much effort into the attempt. Now I do.” He shrugged as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“Besides,” Soji put in, “I don’t think we’ll have much trouble keeping the hover-cow still in this case.” She gave Cris a smile that made hairs stand on end, then she nodded her head down river

Cris turned around with a frown to see what she was pointing at.

There, maybe a hundred meters away, hiding bashfully behind a boulder that barely came up to her belly, was Gemma, watching him with her ever-hopeful eyes.

“Concha su —”

“Really, Cris,” Raffi scolded him with a wide grin. “Watch your mouth in front of that poor child.” She was clearly enjoying this way too fucking much.

“Is that your new girlfriend?” Agnes shielded her eyes against the sunlight.

“She’s not—”

“Yes, you can see the distinct patch of lighter fur on her left shoulder,” Seven mused.

“Oh yes,” Elnor said happily, “she’ll be perfect.”

Now that she had their full attention, Gemma apparently decided there was no point in hiding anymore. She trotted out from behind the rock and started heading towards them.

“Absolutely not,” Cris insisted. “You’re not going to try and ride her across the river!”

“Why not?” Elnor asked. “She’s small enough that I’ll have a much easier time climbing on her back, but she should still be able to cross the river in one jump.”

As if to demonstrate her prowess, Gemma accelerated her approach and broke into a loping run, that could only end one way.

“Oh, no, no-no, don’t —” Cris took a stumbling step backwards and dropped his cigar, as the others all scrambled to safety. He yanked up his arms and yelled: “Gemma, stop!”

To his unending surprise, she actually listened.

Instead of pushing off the ground to bound into him with an overjoyed gurgle, Gemma started scrambling against the soft grass, trying to slow herself down. She had built up too much momentum to come to a full stop, but instead of crashing into Cris with enough force to bowl him over, she merely knocked him a few steps backward. As soon as he had found his feet again, Cris leaned into the onslaught of hot breath and soft fur, bringing them both to a halt. Somehow, Gemma’s head had ended up under his arm, and now she was nuzzling at his side, making quiet happy noises, apparently quite proud of herself.

Cris sighed deeply, but he patted her broad neck. “Yes, well done. That was a good stop.”

He tried to untangle himself from the mountain of fur and looked around Gemma’s mass to where the others had taken refuge from her approach. Agnes was peering at him over the top of a boulder. She kept herself low enough that he could only see her eyes, but they were clearly brimming with laughter. Raffi had no such compunction. She was grinning so wide it was a wonder her head didn’t split in two.

Next to her, Seven dusted some grass off her shirt. When she noticed Rios’s look, she arched a delicate eyebrow. “Did you just call her ‘Gemma’?”

Cris could feel heat rising in his cheeks as, hidden behind their boulder, Agnes and Soji broke out in snorts and giggles. “Piss off!”