“Do you hear that?”
Quilx’tch clicked his mandibles in confirmation and adjusted his warming stone underneath his thorax.
“What do you think the humans are up to now?” his younger companion asked, poking her eyes out of her blanket cocoon.
“I don’t know,” Quilx’tch said, carefully stretching out one leg after another, being careful not to stick his paws out of the ‘fleece’ the humans had provided him with.
He had his apprentice were sitting facing the data kiosk in the middle of their common room. Both were wrapped closely in the bright red blankets gifted them from the other exploratory species on the planet. The color contrasted with the various dust colored shelves and containers they held.
“Should we go check on it?” She asked eagerly.
“Do as you wish,” Quilx’tch said amiably. “I for one, will be waiting here, under my blanket, until the base temperature reaches acceptable levels for the day.”
Tas’ka started to shrug off her blanket but shuddered as the air hit her mass and quickly pulled the fleece back over her head. “I can wait,” she said.
The odd double beat of approaching human feet heralded the arrival of one of the younger, more eager humans. His bright red face nearly filled their low door as it opened at his signal.
“Hey Task! Do you want to come out with me?” The human called.
“Out in the cold?” Tas’ka asked.
“Yeah, it snowed last night!” The human said.
“Frozen precipitation has fallen every night for the past forty night cycles,” Tas’ka pointed out, adjusting the blanket around her mandibles and eyes.
“Yeah, but this is packing snow!” The human insisted. “First time that has happened.”
“I am staying under this lovely blanket until the base reaches optimum temperature,” Tas’ka said firmly. “No matter what type of frozen precipitation has fallen.”
“Fair enough,” the human said with a grin. “I will give you the play by play when we get back in.”
The door closed and the human’s footsteps receded.
“Packing snow,” Tas’ka mulled over the word. “I wonder what that means…”
“They will tell us,” Quilx’tch said, sinking down onto his warming stone with a sigh. “They will not doubt tell us.”