Published: February 12th 2022, 8:25:03 pm
Pt. 1+2 Pt. 3 Pt. 4 Pt. 5 Pt. 6 Pt. 7 Pt. 8 Pt. 9 Pt. 10 Pt. 11 Pt. 12 Pt. 13
I was grateful for the blanket as we pressed through the crowded open air market of whatever planet we were on, whatever country, state, city we were in. The rough stone buildings and sun-faded stalls gave everything a tawny pall, a broken in feel once again at odds with my imagination of an advanced spacefaring civilization.
But the reason I was grateful for the blanket was all the eyes of the throngs of creatures looking our way. I didn't want their first impression of a human to be of a helpless diapered pet. I'd had enough bad first impressions with Daddy and all the creatures he called his family. The blanket, at least, shielded me from that.
"Look, over there," said Daddy, pointing toward a stall selling baby clothing. "Maybe we can find you some new things..."
"Uh..." I looked doubtfully at the adorable infantile garments - everything from bodysuits made to look like other animals, to onesies, and snap off pants - in every size, shape and color imaginable. "Um, can't we use the replicator?"
"Sure, but this is more fun, don't you think? Nothing can replace the experience of shopping at the market for goods. That's why we do it!"
He wasn't wrong. I looked around at the market. Even if I was just thinking of the sheer variety of shapes that existed to clothe creatures - whether they be for musteloids like Daddy, the dinosaur-like creatures roaming around, or even the ones that looked like fuzzy orange balls - Every place we passed seemed to have something surprising and interesting to catch my eye.
"What do you think, Spot? Anything catch your eye?"
I looked up and down the selection of clothing. There was no way to see it all from one side. But something did catch my eye.
"There!" I pointed.
"Oh! You want some shoes! I guess you would need those at least some of the time, huh? Okay, let's pick out some shoes."
Daddy and our two attendants greeted the owner of the shop first, and that was interesting in itself. He was a ring-tailed creature with a generously cut robe with notably wide sleeves. Apropos to a clothing shopkeeper, he was swimming in fabric. It practically swallowed him.
"Good morningtide to you, brother," said Daddy, inclining his head.
"Good morningtide, o banded one of the Beringas Clan how may I host you?"
I tilted my head slightly at the awkward translation. That drew the attention of the shopkeep.
"Oh! Silly me. I shouldn't have even asked. My, oh, my, and what have we here? I don't know what it is but it certainly is adorable!"
"He is a human! From an entirely unexplored section of our galaxy. And he's quite intelligent, believe it or not. You can talk to him and he'll understand through his translator. And yes, he is adorable, isn't he?" Daddy stood a little taller as he told the shopkeep of his new exotic acquisition, though I noticed he avoided mention of just which sector he had found me in.
"Well, bless my stars, a brand new species! How exciting is that? Hello, hyoo-mon, I am Vek." The shopkeep, a diminutive (though still quite tall) ringtail of the blue persuasion, smiled down at me. "I hope to see more of your kind around here soon!"
I did my best to smile back, though I certainly hoped that wouldn't be the case. I didn't want more humans to be captured like me, especially if they didn't already like to play baby in their free time.
"He's shy," said Daddy, patting me on the head. "May we take a look at your wares and try them on our little one?"
"Right this way!" The shopkeep led us around to a section that had all clothing in my species size range, and to the shoe section. Cleverly, they had some sort of rotating display area for each type of clothing. It reminded me of a rotating rack, except that objects seemed to wink in and out of existence from fixed areas as customers swiped items left and right, only to be replaced with other alternatives. It was the only way to fit such a broad selection into a single (large though it was) stall.
Mercifully, there were no more awkward conversations and no high pressure sales because the shopkeep left us to our devices once we got to what we were looking for. I felt my heart skip a beat as Maffy began to move my blanket and check my diaper, looking around to see if anyone was watching.
"Hmm, quite wet, this one," said Maffy.
"We'll change him at the pet store," said Daddy. "They always have accommodations for that."
I pulled the blanket over my lap again at the earliest opportunity to hide the diaper. Did he say we were going to the pet store? Like a bow-wow meow meow pet store? I shook it off, knowing that it couldn't possibly mean the same thing as it did on our planet. I was mostly right.
Soon, Daddy Marten and the two blue otter brothers were grabbing shoes that they thought might look good.
"What about these?" said Maffy, slipping on a pair of thin, velvety shoes that curled up at the toes.
"I look like Aladdin," I said, shaking my head.
"What?" asked Maffy, cocking his head and looking to the others, who shrugged.
"It means no," I said. He understood that, and he quickly took them away, his smile never faltering as he looked for something else.
"How about this one?" asked Laffy, putting a wooden shoe with a single post in the front - some traditional version of sandal. I shook my head before he even put it on me.
"Looks too uncomfortable," I said. "Is it okay if I pick?"
Daddy had been patiently waiting to put on a pair of his own personally picked shoes, and insisted he try them on me first, though. A pair of baby booties that were much too soft to serve as anything but house slippers. Comfortable as they were, they wouldn't serve my purpose.
"I like them, so we're definitely getting these, and you can pick a pair as well, young one." It seemed to me that Daddy just had to assert his authority before allowing me to choose. Maybe humans and musteloids weren't so different after all.
I remained seated while the three furry creatures went to the trouble of putting any shoes I showed the slightest interest in on my feet. I felt like a king as they knelt down and placed the shoes on me. It felt kind of nice. No. That wasn't right. I wasn't supposed to be happy about my situation. I was supposed to be mad, wasn't I?
Finally, I decided on the nearest thing to a sneaker that was available - a more modern-looking shoe with a thin sole and some mesh like top that conformed to my feet so it felt like I wasn't wearing anything. The only annoying thing was that they had a cute little seal-like creature embossed on the tongue, and a 3-d red nose-bauble attached. The alien equivalent of a circus seal, I imagined.
"Those are cute. What a good choice, little one!" I couldn't help but beam at the praise as Daddy petted me. Literally, it was like my body was sending off pleasure signals like crazy and I had to smile.
I was still smiling as we found our way to the shopkeep once more. After a quick greeting, Daddy and the shopkeep clasped hands as if to shake, and lowered them so the sleeve tumbled over both their arms. They stared at each other intently, neither of them saying a word, but occasionally trading an expression of surprise, satisfaction, or reluctance.
"That's how they bargain," whispered Laffy. "With hand signals in the sleeves so no one can see what they agreed to."
It seemed a clever way to do it, and I wonder who taught them the system. Did they learn it in school? From family? Trial and error? Soon, they were both smiling, and shaking hands. I smiled as Daddy made the purchase, his hand in the long sleeves of the shopkeeper's coat, but cocked my head again when Daddy whispered something to the shopkeep, who grinned and nodded, looking my way as he did so. Uh oh. I wondered what Daddy had told him.
"Oh, yes, we can do that sort of item too. I'll let our tailors know what you like and have it to you in a quarter cycle of the second moon."
"Come back any time!" said the shopkeep, inclining his head.
"I'll see you in a quarter cycle if not sooner," said Daddy.
"Deal made. Come back anytime. We hand make most of our items, and we can make custom wear for your hyoo-mon, whatever you require!"
There was no point in torturing myself trying to guess at what that meant, and besides, I was still wearing my new shoes as we rolled off. Perfect, I thought.
"Alright, Spot," said Daddy. "It's time to get you changed. And you must be thirsty, too!"
How could I be thirsty after all that juice they fed me not half an hour ago?
"Not to worry," Daddy continued. "We can find you a snack and a drink at the pet store."
The otters looked excited for our next stop, and I wondered if I would enjoy it as much as they did. I could only hope that whatever we got wouldn't make me even more helpless and restrain my movement to crawling or something. Still, my tightening diaper told me that at least part of me hoped that it would.