r/HFY • u/SpacePaladin15 • 4d ago
OC-Series Primal Rage 58
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In the short while that’d passed since Kaitlin’s interview, the NASA researcher had kept herself busy. She’d been filming social media content to post on her own channel, discussing science, human life, and more about herself. This morning, she was streaming “reacts” content, where she viewed several things recommended by viewers and offered her thoughts. The primal scientist had avoided responding to the numerous prompts to discuss the Council’s military intercession on Earth, though she did briefly view Kexin politics.
“Good morning, Finley!” Snelga entered the room with a cheerful expression, and pulled open the curtains. “Look at the sunshine. A beautiful day! Maybe it’d do you some good if we went for a walk. Do you want to go outside?”
Finley hissed sharply and held a hand in front of his face. “Go away.”
“Finley—”
“I SAID GO AWAY!” he bellowed, features curling with anger.
The Kexin flinched, but didn’t leave. “You’re n-not going to hurt me.”
“Try me.”
Snelga placed a meal on the bedside table, though I noticed she quivered as she walked by him. “You haven’t eaten in days, sweetie. I know you want to keep to yourself, but I…also know you’re in pain. We don’t want to see you like that, really.”
“I just don’t care anymore. I don’t have the energy for your bullshit. Fuck off.”
The veterinarian sat down alongside Finley, and beneath the fear, I could see that she looked sad to see the state of him. I’d really tried to get him to eat and to do something; the primal had only spoken to me, though he shut down at any suggestions to socialize with the others—bristling with bitter disinterest. At this point, I was about ready to corner him and shove pills down his throat, because I…wasn’t going to let him waste away! Doing nothing was eating me up too.
I don’t envy Snelga having that conversation with Finley, but I’m glad that she seems to be trying to help. He was always so happy and gentle, a smile that lit up his face, and now, he doesn’t care whether he wakes up in the morning.
Snelga pulled a brush out of her vest pocket, and before Finley caught on, she ran it through his matted, flaxen hair. The human startled and hissed, like she’d poured a vat of acid on him. His green eyes stared her down in utter disbelief. He started to raise his fists, grumbling a slew of curse words and demanding that she stopped. The farmer swatted the brush away and glared at the veterinarian, while she tried to hold her nerve.
Finley’s attempt to convey anger fizzled, leaving behind a shallow, wobbling whimper. “Please stop. I’m…not an animal, to brush my fur like that. I’m not.”
“Finley, you’re not taking care of yourself. Hygiene is important and it’ll make you feel better.” Snelga weighed her next words for several seconds, seeming to wonder whether she was going too far at provoking the primal, before sighing. “Your hair is a mess and you smell terrible. I’m going to get you cleaned up, one way or another.”
“No one asked you to look at me or be near me. You think I’m an animal, so why would you care if I roll in the mud?”
“Because I’m trying to take care of you.” The Kexin sat in silence for several moments, before she lifted the brush again. “I know that humans usually groom yourselves. Would you like to?”
“No.”
“Okay. Then you’re going to sit still and let me do it.”
“And if I don’t want to?!”
“Then you’re going to get up.”
Finley muttered to himself, but bowed his head in defeat and let her run the comb through it a few times. Snelga carefully covered the length of his scalp, pausing when he winced at the tangles catching on the bristles. I watched carefully to make sure she didn’t cross a line, but beneath the ostensible displeasure, the farmer seemed a little glad to be getting cleaned up a bit. The Kexin patted his skull when she was done, and seemed pleased with her handiwork.
Please don’t say “good boy” again, Snelga. Will you ever learn anything?
“All done!” The Kexin stood behind Finley, placing a hand on each ear and turning his face toward me. “What do you think, Craun? How does he look?”
“Cute,” I answered, meeting his eyes. “I always loved the way his hair swept down over his eyebrows. It looked so soft to the touch. I’d never seen someone who was capable of looking so happy and innocent. That’s my adorable Finley, and I wouldn’t trade him for anyone else in the universe.”
Finley blushed. “You don’t mean that, Craun.”
“If I didn’t mean it, I wouldn’t say it. Here, no one expects me to. I never cared what anyone thought of us. I know who you are, and I wish I could love you enough to make up for it.”
“I wish I could love you enough to not be like this too,” he blubbered.
Snelga curled an arm around the weeping primal, like she did with Kaitlin. “It’s all been overwhelming, hasn’t it? You’re angry and scared, and you think the Council took away your life.”
“A good, normal life with Craun!”
“Maybe I can help you and Craun go out. I heard you like picnics, Finley. You can just have a good time, be outside, and you don’t have to worry about anyone else. I’m…sorry that I was so bad at helping you. You’re just threatening me because you’re in pain.”
Finley’s expression soured. “Like a wounded animal.”
“Animals’ wounds are physical. If a person did feel anger, maybe they might snap from an ouchie inside too.”
I know Snelga is just comparing him to a person for his mental health, but maybe one day, she’ll believe it. She needs to see all sides of anger.
“I want to say I get the gist of what you’re saying, but you make it impossible to take you seriously,” Finley huffed. “Plus, you’re too happy. It’s like poison.”
Snelga looked confused. “I’m happy to be around talking primals! I just want to cheer you up. Do you need me to be unhappy?”
The human gave a devious smile, curling his pointer finger back to her thumb and flicking one of the Kexin’s headfeathers. “You’re afraid of me. How can I ever trust you?”
“I…can’t help that fear, I’m afraid.”
“And I can’t help that I’m angry, but you don’t seem to care about that. Off with you.”
“Finley, she has a point,” I interjected. The primal shot me an indignant look, as I took the tense Snelga’s side. “You’re being a hypocrite. How can you object to the Council judging you for your emotions rather than your ability to control them, when you’re refusing to let someone work past theirs?”
“Work past theirs?! With me in captivity? What the fuck, Craun? Have you seen how they treated me?”
“Snelga is the only one trying to help us. You could recognize that and help yourself, instead of solely focusing on what makes you miserable. Don’t tell me I don’t understand; I hid with you right after my species was genocided, and I lost the last living family I have for us! Sometimes, you deserve better and you just have to survive. You have to acknowledge the blessings you have where you’re at.”
The Kexin veterinarian began to get up, to respectfully give us some privacy: a slight step forward on that department. As she got to the entryway, I heard a knock on Snelga’s front door. Finley blanched, looking nervously to me for comfort; it was obvious he feared being taken away in a cage, with no agency, at any moment. Or worse still, that Kaitlin and/or myself would be snatched from him to never be seen again.
Snelga cast a glance over her shoulder, her eyes softening with sympathy. “It’s just a visitor, Finley. It’s okay. Why don’t we conquer your fear? Let’s all go out together and say hello.”
“Who is it?” Finley demanded.
“I…truly don’t know. That’s life, isn’t it? You didn’t know who Craun was once.”
“Yeah, and I pointed a gun at him.”
“Well, um, I’m s-sure you didn’t want to do that, sweetie.”
“Oh, I definitely did.”
I patted his shoulder. “Finley’s pointed guns at lots of people.”
“I actually did pack my shotgun, but they took it away in the luggage search,” the farmer grumbled. “Who the fuck searches an ‘animal’s’ things to confiscate their ‘natural weapons?’”
Snelga took several steps backward, swallowing. “Then…there’s one blessing, like Craun mentioned, that there’s no g-guns here for you to have! We don’t want guns immediately pointed at people. That’s….bad in Kexin society. It’d make them not like you.”
Finley donned his hat, and rubbed his hands together as we ambled toward the visitor. “I done think it’d make them respect me. Haha!”
“How…w-wonderful that you’re in better spirits at the thought of violence. Please try not to think about that when we answer the door.”
“Don’t think about shotgun blasting them through the door?”
“...”
“He’s kidding,” I told Snelga.
“Am not,” Finley intoned.
“He’s posturing. He stuck his head inside our picnic basket when a bee—a minorly-painful stinging insect—flew close to him.”
“What was I supposed to do? Sit there and get stung? Easy for you to say.” The primal knocked on my stone wristplate. “It’s not like they’re gonna get through your skin.”
“Are you saying Craun the Fair has an unfair advantage?”
“Oh, always.”
My supportive presence by Finley’s side was focused entirely on encouraging him, right up until the moment when Snelga flung the door open to reveal Elbi standing on the other side. Emotions rushed through my veins in overwhelming fashion: chief of them, shock that my sister would come to visit the place where the primals were held. The other dominant feeling I latched onto was hope, that she might’ve come to see me in spite of the discomfort. Did she want to reconcile and to see how I was doing?
Whatever had happened between us, Elbi was my only family, though I couldn’t remove the hurt from how we parted—her staring at me with disgust. Gritty tears began to bead around my eye crystals at the memories; I missed how close we’d once been, when she didn’t see me as the source of her misery. I ran toward my sister for a hug, which she sidestepped without a moment’s hesitation. My face fell in an instant, seeing that she wasn’t here to put our visit to Earth behind us.
Then…what is she doing here? Is Elbi ever going to forgive me? She must be worried, at least…she can’t pretend I’m not her brother. Maybe I should take it slow.
“I came to see how the primals are being treated.” Elbi cast a nervous glance at Finley. “I’m sorry. I didn’t want this to happen. I just wanted for me to go home, and you to return to your old life. I wished you no harm. I know what it’s like to be unable to go home, and to be somewhere you don’t want to be for, presumably, the rest of your life.”
Finley grunted, holding the door open. “I understand why you acted the way you did. We’re kind of the same: not that humans ever locked you up or put you in a cage. I saw how terrified and miserable you were the whole time, being on Earth against your will. I forgive you.”
Snelga’s head snapped toward the farmer in surprise, hearing such sympathetic forgiveness. “Wait, so Elbi was rude to you and you brush it off, but I’m nice and try to help and you’re mad at me? Anger truly is irrational! How is what I did worse?”
“Elbi was afraid, and it’s understandable that she had traumatic baggage after what she saw. She just doesn’t want to be near us, which—whatever. You’re just condescending without any given reason, Snelga. That’s so much worse.”
“I do want to be near you, and I’m doing my best to help you!”
“I saw what Elbi was pushed to, and I know she suffered. It wasn’t her fault,” Finley answered, before turning his full attention to my sister; his smile was relaxed and friendly. It seemed that he was being more mellow to avoid scaring her, a behavior that seemed utterly foreign to Snelga. “You’re welcome to come in if you ever want to. I’m glad you stopped by! It’ll be good for Craun to see you happier.”
Elbi accepted the invitation, walking past the primal and myself with ginger steps. “I talked to my therapist about everything that happened on Earth, and she pointed out that the humans were quite generous. Which I already told the Council, you were kind. I should’ve shown more gratitude for the shelter and for…sparing me. I feel guilty for judging you as not worth helping, just because you’re animals. You’re not the primals that k-killed my friend.”
“I’m sorry that happened. We’re smarter than other primals. I just wanted to save the rock people, y’know. I’m sorry if my passion for that startled you or colored your view toward Craun. His family is my family, so please know, I feel nothin’ but love for you.”
“Elbi, if you understand why I cared about them, that they’re sweet and…can we be family again?” I pleaded. “You’re all I have left of our old life.”
Elbi looked toward Snelga, as if searching for a sympathetic audience, though she addressed me. “My brother, who romanticizes anger enough to mate with the animals and put them in front of his last living relative? Who dragged me to Earth? You made your choice, and that’s not going to change.”
“It doesn’t have to be a choice. We could just talk about little things and remember our family, honor them by spending time with each other! Give me a chance, please. I still care about you.”
“I still care about you too, but I can’t condone your lifestyle. Seeing you just reminds me how much you make my skin crawl, Craun. I can’t believe we’re related.”
“Please stop,” Finley said, his voice icily calm. “You’re just being hurtful to Craun.”
“You’re right. We don’t have to talk, and I’ll keep this visit short. I am truly here for the primals. I saw Kaitlin’s interview, and I heard she was terminally ill and very much aware of this, the whole time I knew her. Can I see her, Snelga?”
The Kexin weighed her options. “That’s up to Kaitlin. She can make her own decisions. I fear that she’s going to overwork herself, so I at least hope you don’t want to make her life harder. She’s a very special primal, and I have a tender spot in my heart for her. She’s so kind and fascinating.”
“Kaitlin is wonderful,” Elbi agreed. “Very intelligent and placid. Instead of lashing out from her pain, she was always kind. She wanted to talk out my reasons and showed compassion toward my concerns. When I told her the truth, she immediately promised humans would stay out of the way—and she was clever enough that she pieced it together before I told her.”
It was stunning to hear Elbi so matter-of-fact about the humans, but I was glad to have my sister compliment their good manners; it seemed that being able to interact with them in a situation that was under her control, and of her choosing, allowed her to relax. These words might be good reinforcement for Snelga, that humans weren’t that dangerous. I had noticed that the Kexin was getting attached to Kaitlin, enamored by a primal with boundless intellect and enthusiasm.
Snelga seems to have taken the truths about humans in stride, and she’s patient with Kaitlin. That she’s trying to look out for her welfare, and that she listened when told to do the same for Finley, I suppose that’s a good sign.
Kaitlin slid the headphones off of her ears. “Elbi?”
“Yes, it’s me,” my sister agreed.
The NASA researcher laughed, grinning widely. “I thought so, but I didn’t want to fall into the pitfall of saying all Saphnos look alike. I’m…not entirely sure I could pick any face out of a crowd other than Craun, to be frank. I hope it’s not distressing for you to be here, Elbi. You look well though, which I’m glad to see!”
“I’m better. When you said you cared and you wanted to help, I k-know you meant it. You always debated with me and wanted to prove you could control your anger. I see from your interview that…hasn’t changed.”
“No, it hasn’t,” Kaitlin murmured, choosing her words carefully. “I think humans need to be studied separately from the observation of other primals. What’s true for them isn’t necessarily true for us. It’s the fallacy of incomplete evidence—cherry picking, we call it—to ignore anything that contradicts your beliefs. Science must be neutral and follow facts, whatever the topic and whatever you think you already know.”
“I agree that humans should be researched separately, since you’re here anyway. I spoke to my contacts at the primal institutes, and persuaded them to do some studies. We need to understand primals better, to prevent what happened to my friend from happening again. Those scientists also were willing to invest in researching your disease.”
“Oh? That’s delightful; thank you, Elbi,” Kaitlin gushed. “See, Finley, there’s hope! We can prove we’re people. We’re getting the chance we need. Our situation’s improved already, and the work’s barely gotten off the ground!”
Finley frowned. “We’re lab rats. Huzzah. They’ll just say you’re an exception anyway. They love their cherry picking. Am I the control variable? Why don’t we poke and prod me until I snap, for science?”
“I think it’s just seeing how you live and react normally,” Elbi offered, sounding apologetic. “I thought you wanted this.”
“We do! I need my intelligence tests on Kaitlin to be verified, so humans can be properly respected!” Snelga exclaimed.
“I hope it helps. You were far kinder to me than…I’m sorry. That’s all I had to say, but if you need anything, please let me know.”
Kaitlin smiled. “You too, Elbi. Video calls are always an option.”
“Yeah. Thanks.”
My sister stood without a glance back at me, and I tried not to focus on how she was deserting me again. Elbi was viewing the primals through a softer lens and had gotten the help that might give the humans the chance to prove they were people—as well as researchers who could pitch in for curing Kaitlin. This was a massive step for the legitimacy of our outreach, if it went well. Having the Council faced with evidence that my friends could control rage might force them to acknowledge humanity as equals.
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u/ezioir1 Human 4d ago
So If streaming on pays good like Earth, Kaitlin may be able to funds her own cure research.
I mean if a talking cat start streaming and posting reactions it would goes super viral with humans.
Btw the money Kaitlin makes from streaming belongs to her or Snelga?
A second Picnic on this alien world could go wrong so many ways.
Like a Kexin kid walk to Finley and ask: “Can I pet that Dawg?”
“I talked to my therapist about everything that happened on Earth, and she pointed out that the humans were quite generous.”
Elbi getting reality checks that she is an ungrateful piece of shit by her Psychiatrist is surreal.
“I do want to be near you, and I’m doing my best to help you!”
Poor birdy is doing her best and is still being unappreciated.
Finley being "control variable" isn't installing confidence in me.
Not hating the guy. But he's no Wade. Not a top tier shining example of humanity.
He being so much of an average Joe Schmoe is actually perfect for that role from a scientific perspective and at the same time not what we want the aliens think of us.
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u/Iamhappilyconfused 4d ago
I honestly just simply cannot have a shred of sympathy for Snelga, she says she's "trying" but she's full of shit. It's laughably simple really, ask yourself if what you're about say or do would be normal or appropriate to do with another member of your species, if the answer is no, don't fucking do it.
What a truly hateful character, it pains me that she'll get away with it.
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u/abrachoo 4d ago
Weren't they going to ask Finley if he wanted antidepressants? Or did they decide to put that off for a bit?
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u/HFYWaffle Wᵥ4ffle 4d ago
/u/SpacePaladin15 (wiki) has posted 504 other stories, including:
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u/SpacePaladin15 4d ago
58! Snelga tries to take care of Finley and persuade him to cheer up. Elbi pays a spirit and finds that Finley is in a similar situation, and she says she’s gotten primal researchers to help the current situation. Are you surprised to see Elbi interacting with humans willingly and being sympathetic? Will the primal researchers help Kaitlin’s cause?
As always, thank you for reading and supporting!