The House Sitter

in Scholar and Scribe28 days ago (edited)


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       "Would you be interested in minding the place while we're gone?"

       The opportunity was something that Hahdir needed and the extra tokens would be accepted gladly. Also, it gave him a chance to spend some quality time with Grux - the Zun-Mutta - a squat quadruped with fine hairs coating him, which felt like silk.

       Personality-wise, the creature was calm, but at the slightest sound of someone outside, Grux would turn from a lovable fool to a ferocious defender of his home.

       "Okay, I'll look after the place for you," Hahdir said happily.

       The face of the homeowner, Denbani, turned from carefree to serious within a few moments. "You know where the stash is, right?" He asked, leaning closer. "There's a few things in there, from Fog to Haze. Take some for yourself, within reason. No parties, no going crazy. You're here to mind Grux, and watch the stuff."

       "Don't worry about it, I can handle that." He didn't want to mention that Denbani would actually be doing him a favour by letting him stay for a few days. He couldn't return home due to a confrontation with his neighbours.

       The dust should be settled enough to return by the end of the house sit. Hahdir thought to himself, as Denbani sank back into his couch, and the small tension in the room disappeared within moments.

       Denbani leaned into the arms of his girlfriend, M'Tiar, Triskani. On multiple worlds throughout Free Space, relationships between different races were taboo. Humans and Triskani were vastly different, and the average person seemed to take a doable look, due to how uncommon of a sight it was.

       Jex was different from most worlds. Nobody really cared. It was one place where nobody cared much about anything. The noise, blinding lights, and break-neck speed of living a life in the mega-city meant that most people didn't have the time to think of anything else, other than their own life.

       Within two days, they had left to run their errands. Hahdir wasn't bored for a moment, and it didn't take him long to get himself comfortable. There was no shortage of food, and he was able to sleep for as long as he liked. It was the first time he actually felt relaxed in a long while. After every nap, or long period of sleep he woke up feeling fresher than he had in a long time.

       The days passed quickly, and before he knew it, Denbani and M'Tiar were back home. There were small pleasantries upon their arrival, but they wasted no time in getting unpacked. While they went to their room, Hahdir stayed on the couch stroking Grux who happily lay beside him.

       "Where is it?!" He heard Denbani shout from the other room, and soon two pairs of footsteps rushed back to the sitting room.

       "Where's what?" Hahdir asked as he sat up.

       "The stash!" Denbani shouted.

       "The Tokens are gone too! What did you do with them?!" M'Tiar asked, her scales shuddered across her whole body, and she paced the room as if preparing to pounce.

       "I didn't touch the stash, or the tokens, I just slept, ate, and hung out. I didn't even leave the house." Hahdir argued as he stood up. With that Grux started howling.

       He was most likely confused by all of the shouting, and rather than pick a side to attack, Grux stared at the wall while continuing to howl.

       "Do you know who that money belongs to?!" Denbani shouted. "Razor-Jax." He said while raising a hand to his forehead. "He's sending some people around to do a pick up, and drop off some more supply."

       "You were the only one here, Hahdir, so this is on you," M'Tiar added.

       "Me?! I didn't touch it, this isn't anything to do with me!" He tried to fight their accusation, but there was no use in doing so. They'd made up their mind and were going to make him the main suspect.

       The screaming, panic, and accusing went on and on. Throughout it all, Hahdir started to think that they'd set him up for this fall, but there was no way for him to prove it.

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I like how you use the token economy here. Economic systems is one of those concepts that doesn't come easy when I write sci-fi because economics tends to be a dry subject, if you delve too deep. But it's a very cool topic and good to see it in your tale.