***Disclaimer***
This story is set in the same universe as my "Enemy Lines" story. I recommend reading that first for a little more context, though the actual stories are completely unrelated at this point.
All Human characters depicted engaging in sexual activity are 18 or older. All alien characters depicted likewise are fully mature adults.
***/Disclaimer***
Tetra scowled and gave the vending machine a solid kick. It wouldn't do much in the way of removing the graffiti, but the damn thing deserved it for all the trouble it was giving her. Some idiot had decided to give the machine a cheeky little makeover during the last class period. The graffiti in this case taking the form of a caricature of a Human in Overlord armor, complete with a cartoonishly huge, veiny dick sticking out of his codpiece. And worse yet, the kid (she assumed it was a kid, but who knew with Humans) had used a sintering pen, likely stolen from one of the shop classrooms, forcing Tetra to chip off compacted metal rather than scrubbing away simple ink or paint. She hated this job like the plague but there was nothing else around for a Sha'dee of her age, and if she didn't work, her Colony would starve. Tetra didn't complain, at least not to anyone but herself: Sha'dee were social creatures above all else, putting the needs of the Colony first and foremost was second nature. A behavioral trait which their Human masters exploited shamelessly.
As a Sha'dee Tetra was humanoid but smaller than most Humans, with a slender figure, deep crimson skin, large eyes, mobile, pointed ears and a long prehensile tail. She stood around five foot six, though a good portion of that was made up by the long neck which contained her complex voicebox and gizzard. She had four fingers and toes to the Human five, and her nose was very slim, with little "<"-shaped slits on either side instead of hooded nostrils, an adaptation which kept sand out of her nose but made her a terrible swimmer. She was tall but slim for her race, with the exception of her broad, rounded hips, one feature which she took guilty pride in. Tetra was a rare breed of Sha'dee, with irregular spots of a darker red than her base skin going up and down her body. They started big along her sides and got smaller before petering out as they reached the center, until they resembled freckles on a Human.
As she sighed and started to hammer away at the drawing again, the electroneural lines on her flanks detected something organic and humanoid moving quickly towards her. Tetra turned to see who it was, but she was too late. The Human cruised past her at full speed, snapping her viciously across the lower back with a rolled up stack of papers. She squealed in surprise and pain, eliciting a cackle from her assailant and the gaggle of other Humans watching from the other side of the cafeteria. She turned and glared at them, clamping her lips shut to avoid hissing or baring her teeth as her eyes watered from the sting. Hissing at a student (or any Human, really) was a one-way ticket to getting defanged without anesthetic.
"Eeny weeny whiny wail, catch a rodji by the tail! If she hollers then she fails!" The Humans chanted, slapping the runner's outstretched palm as he skidded to a halt next to them. Tetra turned away, forcing herself to stare at the vending machine as anger welled in her chest. Little bastards, she snarled to herself, attacking the clumps of metal with her chisel and pretending they were the faces of the Human children.
"One rodji, two rodji, three rodji, four! Stripy rodji, spotted rodji, plain rodji, more!" The chant continued, to the beat of kids slamming their palms on the lunch tables. Tetra screwed her eyes shut, flattened her ears and tried to ignore them. Something pokey hit the back of her neck, leaving a sting. She forced herself not to react, and kept hammering away at the machine. After a few more minutes of taunting and slurs, her tormentors got bored and wandered off. The Xeno girl turned and slumped against the machine, rubbing the welt on her neck and reaching down to pick up the missile, a paper airplane. She unfolded it, took one look at the crude drawing of a Sha'dee being kicked out an airlock by a giant boot with the caption "ET go home!", then balled it up and threw it angrily at the nearest trashcan.
She sat there and fought back tears for a while, then got to her feet and finished the job. She ended up scratching the machine's paint, but at this point she didn't care.
Pushing her cart down the hallway, Tetra made her way to one of the study labs. She opened the door and dragged the cart inside, before she noticed that the room was not empty. Seated alone at a table was a Human boy, engrossed in an augreal display that her glasses didn't have access to. His fingers flew across the desk, the haptic sensors implanted in his fingertips interacting with the augreal keyboard. He was a senior, probably about 18 in the Earth Standard Years used by Humanity. Of average height, he was thick in build, not overweight or bulging with muscles, but solid. He had a broad, honest-looking face, with brown eyes and drab, sandy hair pulled back into a short ponytail. He was wearing thick-framed augreal glasses (a strange affection, as most Humans used retinal implants), a pair of ratty jeans and a grey t-shirt with a golden-yellow vest.
"DAMNIT! RUN YOU PIECE OF SHIT!" The Human yelled in exasperation, slamming his fist into the desk. Tetra cocked her head, and inched closer, listening. "Oh come on! I did everything in the book!"
She noticed another augreal panel floating next to him, a public one this time. It was showing an excerpt from one of the textbooks entitled "Coding exercises for Simulated Intelligence development". As she leaned in to see what chapter he was on, her tail swiped absently across a desk and knocked something over. She winced, and was about to back up, but he heard it and turned his head to look at her.
"Oh! Sorry, I didn't see you there." The Human said apologetically, grinning. Tetra was taken aback. Did he just
apologize
to her? A Human apologizing to a Xeno? "I'm just having some issues with this programming assignment. I can leave if you have work to do..."
"N-no, that's fine." Tetra assured him, backing up and grabbing her cart. She paused, then something she'd never been able to explain or justify came over her. "I-if I'm not being out of place... What's giving you trouble?"
The Human scooted his chair around, facing her. Tetra blinked, recognizing the character on his shirt and grinning internally. It was the supporting protagonist of an animated TV show she was exceptionally fond of, and one of her favorite characters.
"we're supposed to write an SI to parse record directories and synthesize pertinent information, but I can't get the thing to run on the pi chips we need to turn it in on. I don't suppose a janitor knows much about programming though..." He explained sheepishly. Tetra ventured closer, tentatively.
"Actually, I've been learning in my spare time." She explained, worrying her hands nervously. She was having a conversation with a Human! She expected him to lash out at any moment, but her natural curiosity got the better of her fear. "One of my sisters is teaching me. I want to get a job doing that instead someday."
"Oh yeah? That's cool." The Human boy said, smiling. "I don't want to get in the way of your job, but, would you mind having a look at this?"
He grabbed the augreal panel (or, rather pinched the empty air where their glasses were projecting it) and moved it over so she could see, then tapped it and flicked his hand towards her. Tetra's own augreal system asked if she wanted to accept, and she assented, revealing the panel. Her powerful eyes zoomed across the lines of code, taking it in. Some of it was a bit clumsy, but it should be perfectly functional.
"May I?" She asked, walking up to him and gesturing at the panel. He nodded, and scooted his chair over.
"You wanna take a seat?" He asked. "My name's Ed. What's yours?"
"I'm Tetra." She said as she pulled out a chair and sat down, using the abbreviated version of her name that other species could pronounce.
"Nice to meet you, Tetra. I really don't mean to take time out of your day..." He said warmly.
"No, no it's no problem. I can take a quick look." She assured him, swiping up a search box and finding the sections of code she was looking for. "Ah, here we go. You used the default drivers for your rig, but the pi cards don't work that way. You've gotta modify some of this to operate on the card. It's a pretty common mistake."
"Damn, that was quick!" The Human laughed, leaning over to look at the code she had highlighted. "You're good at this! Say, uh, you can say no, but would you mind walking me through it after school? I need to pass this class or my dad's gonna freak."
Tetra narrowed her eyes. This had to be a trap. He was leading her on, there was no other explanation. Nobody was this nice to aliens. He noticed the look on her face and appeared puzzled.
"Is something wrong?" He asked.
"What's the catch?" Tetra asked, trying to keep the tremble out of her voice.
"Catch?" He seemed genuinely confused.
"Why are you being so nice to me? What's the trick?" She demanded.
"Trick? There's no trick..." He blinked in surprise. "Why would you think that?"
Tetra froze, searching for the words to say, but before she could come up with something, it dawned on him.
"OH! You think I'm fucking with you because you're a Xeno, right?" He asked, sounding... embarrassed. "I'm not, I promise!"
"Really? No tricks?" She asked, voice softening. He nodded emphatically, reaching out a hand to her.
"No tricks."
She cautiously took his hand, and shook it. It was strong, rough and very warm. It felt good. They both smiled.
"My parents split up when I was really little." He explained. "My mom took me with her to a colony out on the frontier. It was a little colony, no Xenos. I'd never actually seen an alien in the flesh before mom died and I came here to live with my dad."
"I'm sorry..." Tetra said, earnestly.
"It's fine. I'm pretty much over it by now. And I got to see more of the Galaxy and try new things this way, so there's that. Like this: I've never touched a Sha'dee before." He grinned at her. She blushed involuntarily, hoping he wouldn't notice.
"I'd be happy to help you." She said, finally. You had to take a risk every now and then, she figured, and there was something about this guy that made her want to trust him.
