Aisha sat down on the small, made for one bed next to Jim. She had been thinking of Jim every second since she lost custody of her precious slave. Jim was a capable person, able to fend for himself and she knew that. However, it was hard to let him go, even for a little bit. She had no doubt that she’d retake Jim from Paige, either through a crafty plan or sheer force, she was certain of this. What she wasn’t so sure about was if Jim would last that long. Frightening thoughts of him becoming another crewmembers meal or worse couldn’t be ignored by her. Jim may no longer be such a rare delicacy, what with all the succulent Terran children they caught, but he was still on the menu for every able bodied Ctarl-Ctarl on board.

“Jim, something’s bothering me,” she said nervously. She played with the big brass ring at the end of her long ponytail. It was a custom she did as a child when she got very nervous or frightened. She hadn’t done it till today because of all the stress she had been going through with losing Jim.

“What is it?” Jim asked, looking the older, taller woman in the eyes. She had seemed off since she walked in, as if she wanted to ask him something, but wasn’t able to find the courage.

“When I lost you to Paige, you didn’t fight very hard to convince me to break my promise. You even said it was probably for the best. What I want… no, need to know, am I really so horrible that you want to get away from me?” Aisha emotionally asked. She knew that she wasn’t a very nice person and that not many people liked her because of her crass attitude, and if anyone had a reason to dislike her it was a Terran. She always thought that Jim might have been the exception, the one that could see past the bravo and arrogance, and see the frightened little girl inside. Underneath her tough exterior, Aisha was just a woman, with insecurities and fears like everyone else. She hated being alone, that was why she sought out Jim in her exile. She was the human contact she so dearly needed. She sniffed slightly, feeling a tingle in her eye. Ironically, her people once again surrounded her and once more, she was completely alone. She remained there, sitting next to Jim, feeling worthless, when she felt strong, small arms wrap around her back.

“You’re not horrible Aisha, you’re a sweet, kind, fun girl that I love,” Jim cooed into her ear, holding onto the bigger stronger girl tightly. In all his excitement about moving in with Paige, he forgot about whom he was leaving behind, he forgot his oldest living friend and he forgot about how sensitive she was under her tough exterior. It was no shock to Jim, seeing Aisha acting so weak. He’d known her for so long now that he’d realized that like everyone else, Aisha had her weaknesses. Hers was loneness. He hated see her this miserable, so he held her tighter. To get a bet grip on his distraught friend, Jim crawled into her lap and rested his head in her bosom. He rocked her, moving her heavy body easily. The remained there for a minute, Aisha’s heavy breathing echoing through the tiny room. Her hand came to Jim’s head and rubbed against his scraggily sandy blond hair.

“Why’d you leave Jim, weren’t we happy?”

“We were, we were, but the pressure of pretending all the time that I was a slave was getting to you. I saw it more and more, you’d stay in bed late, not wanting to face the crew and have to spread more lies about you and me. Every time someone insulted me, you’d get that fire in your eyes you always get when you’re about to punch someone. You were falling apart because of the lie you forced yourself to live. You aren’t very good at being sneaky,” Jim said and cuddled into Aisha’s bosom. The position they were in would seem very sexual, a young boy sitting in a woman’s lap, nuzzling her breasts. However, there was no sexual feeling for Jim. It was like he wasn’t in the lap of a woman, but rather somewhere more comforting, more serene.

“I’m sneaky. I’m great at being sneaky,” Aisha said playfully.

“No, you’re great at sneaking up behind people and swallowing them whole. What you suck at is being incognito.” Aisha pouted at the comment; she could be sneaky if she wanted to. She had sneaked around with Jim on the ship for many weeks now.

“Are you sure your reason to leave didn’t have to do with a certain nerdy girlfriend?”

“Paige isn’t nerdy,” Jim said in Paige’s defense. Aisha’s smile widened slightly. She had just gotten something more precious then gold, good teasing material to use against Jim.

“You didn’t say she wasn’t your girlfriend,” Aisha chuckled, catching Jim’s mistake. Jim went to correct himself, but Aisha cut him off at the pass. “I don’t mind you growing up and finding yourself a girlfriend, but if you had to date a Ctarl-Ctarl did she have to be so weak and puny?” Aisha admonished Jim.

“Aisha,” Jim whined, now trying to pull away from the mischievous cat girl, but being kept in her lap with his head against her breasts.

“I only ask one thing, try to not have little baby Jim’s and baby Paige’s crawling around. This ship's a military vessel, not a day care.” Now, Jim was blushing, his eye twitched as he thought about what Aisha was insinuating.

“I’m not going to have any kids with Paige!”

“Good then, your already using birth control.” Jim growled, but Aisha silenced him by pushing his head into her chest again. She laughed hysterically, her crackly loud voice erupting from her mouth. She continued pushing a struggling Jim’s head into her chest, even as someone entered the room.