Humans are Weird – A Little Punchy
“Yes Sir,” Human Friend Drevven said grimly into his communications unit. “Of course Sir!”
Seventh Flap paused in his flight to listen to the conversation. The human on the other peak of the wave was simply giving a series of orders in a calm voice but Human Friend Drevven seemed to be growing increasingly more agitated. His furless skin was flushing as the blood rushed to the surface and his body began to radiate heat into the chill air of the base, enough heat that Seventh Flap was tempted to forgo propriety and snuggle up against the back of the human’s neck, but he restrained himself and waited for the human to finish his call.
“Goodbye,” Human Friend Drevven finally concluded in a tight voice.
He dropped his arm to his side and spun away to march toward the door. Seventh Flap thought about calling out to get his attention but shouting in the human hearing range was difficult and if he circled around Seventh Flap could catch Human Friend Drevven’s eye just as he came into the full sunlight. Then he could get permission to land right on the human’s collar and get both the warmth from the local star and the local large mammal. He prepared to swing around between the human’s head and the door frame but stopped suddenly as the human gave a low snarl and swung his fist forward in an almost painfully slow arc.
Seventh Flap gave a pip of panic and darted forward in an attempt to stop the vector. He logically knew he could never hope to redirect even the mass of the human’s hand, let alone the applied force of the muscles but he acted on instinct. He did manage to reach the hand before it struck the wall and latched his winghooks into the soft flesh on either side of the bony framework. A moment later however the fist impacted against the wall and Human Friend Drevven gave a small grunt.
“What the-” Human Friend Drevven barked out, jerking his hand back.
Seventh Flap clung trembling to his hand, his sensory horns ringing from the force of the blow that had transferred backwards through the human’s hand. When he reoriented he realized that Human Friend Drevven was holding the hand that had struck the wall against his chest. The human’s other hand was cupped under Seventh Flap’s perch as a safety net. Human Friend Drevven was speaking to him in a soothing tone.
Seventh Flap shook out his head and instead of dropping to the offered hand quickly scrambled up and peered down at the human’s knuckles. He winced at the damage he saw but breathed easier when he noted that the blood was only seeping out from the skin and not surging as he expected from the force of the blow. Human Friend Drevven was getting more insistent in his demand for Seventh Flap’s attention.
“What was that about?” Seventh Flap demanded.
He whipped around and gave the human his best glare. It still amazed him that his comparatively tiny mass could intimidate the massive predatory species but apparently when a Winged glared they resembled some human nightmare or the other. It certainly caused Human Friend Drevven to stop talking and jerk his head back a few inches.
“What was that about?” Seventh Flap demanded again.
Human Friend Drevven glanced between his knuckles and the wall and then shrugged.
“I was frustrated,” he said.
Seventh Flap stared up at him trying to make some sense out of that.
“So you punched the wall,” he said, “you punched the plasicreet wall, with you primary gripping appendage with enough force to damage it…”
“Oh no,” Human Friend Drevven said, his face brightening up. “The wall’s fine.”
Seventh Flap serious thought about biting the human in that moment but he settled for reinforcing his grip on the flesh of his hand.
“Medical ward,” Seventh Flap snared out.
“What?” Human Friend Drevven suddenly sounded concerned. “Are you hurt?”
Seventh Flap stared down at the seeping blood and tried to fight down a sigh.
“Take me to the medical ward,” Seventh Flap said as firmly as he could, “and on the way tell me what the connection is between frustration and punching a wall.”
Thank you all so much for your updoots and feedback. It gives me the will to go on. Want to see more? Think about becoming a Patreon. Tea refuses to buy itself and the more time one has to spend on a day job the less time there is for befuddled aliens.
“Yes Sir,” Human Friend Drevven said grimly into his communications unit. “Of course Sir!”
Seventh Flap paused in his flight to listen to the conversation. The human on the other peak of the wave was simply giving a series of orders in a calm voice but Human Friend Drevven seemed to be growing increasingly more agitated. His furless skin was flushing as the blood rushed to the surface and his body began to radiate heat into the chill air of the base, enough heat that Seventh Flap was tempted to forgo propriety and snuggle up against the back of the human’s neck, but he restrained himself and waited for the human to finish his call.
“Goodbye,” Human Friend Drevven finally concluded in a tight voice.
He dropped his arm to his side and spun away to march toward the door. Seventh Flap thought about calling out to get his attention but shouting in the human hearing range was difficult and if he circled around Seventh Flap could catch Human Friend Drevven’s eye just as he came into the full sunlight. Then he could get permission to land right on the human’s collar and get both the warmth from the local star and the local large mammal. He prepared to swing around between the human’s head and the door frame but stopped suddenly as the human gave a low snarl and swung his fist forward in an almost painfully slow arc.
Seventh Flap gave a pip of panic and darted forward in an attempt to stop the vector. He logically knew he could never hope to redirect even the mass of the human’s hand, let alone the applied force of the muscles but he acted on instinct. He did manage to reach the hand before it struck the wall and latched his winghooks into the soft flesh on either side of the bony framework. A moment later however the fist impacted against the wall and Human Friend Drevven gave a small grunt.
“What the-” Human Friend Drevven barked out, jerking his hand back.
Seventh Flap clung trembling to his hand, his sensory horns ringing from the force of the blow that had transferred backwards through the human’s hand. When he reoriented he realized that Human Friend Drevven was holding the hand that had struck the wall against his chest. The human’s other hand was cupped under Seventh Flap’s perch as a safety net. Human Friend Drevven was speaking to him in a soothing tone.
Seventh Flap shook out his head and instead of dropping to the offered hand quickly scrambled up and peered down at the human’s knuckles. He winced at the damage he saw but breathed easier when he noted that the blood was only seeping out from the skin and not surging as he expected from the force of the blow. Human Friend Drevven was getting more insistent in his demand for Seventh Flap’s attention.
“What was that about?” Seventh Flap demanded.
He whipped around and gave the human his best glare. It still amazed him that his comparatively tiny mass could intimidate the massive predatory species but apparently when a Winged glared they resembled some human nightmare or the other. It certainly caused Human Friend Drevven to stop talking and jerk his head back a few inches.
“What was that about?” Seventh Flap demanded again.
Human Friend Drevven glanced between his knuckles and the wall and then shrugged.
“I was frustrated,” he said.
Seventh Flap stared up at him trying to make some sense out of that.
“So you punched the wall,” he said, “you punched the plasicreet wall, with you primary gripping appendage with enough force to damage it…”
“Oh no,” Human Friend Drevven said, his face brightening up. “The wall’s fine.”
Seventh Flap serious thought about biting the human in that moment but he settled for reinforcing his grip on the flesh of his hand.
“Medical ward,” Seventh Flap snared out.
“What?” Human Friend Drevven suddenly sounded concerned. “Are you hurt?”
Seventh Flap stared down at the seeping blood and tried to fight down a sigh.
“Take me to the medical ward,” Seventh Flap said as firmly as he could, “and on the way tell me what the connection is between frustration and punching a wall.”
Thank you all so much for your updoots and feedback. It gives me the will to go on. Want to see more? Think about becoming a Patreon. Tea refuses to buy itself and the more time one has to spend on a day job the less time there is for befuddled aliens.
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