"Fine fine. We didn't start on a good foot. My name's Rika. Who are you?" Rika sighed and I almost decided to slap her, but figured out that wouldn't be such a good thing.
"My name's Moon. You're right, we didn't start off on a good foot. So, what did you join this boat for? Going somewhere?" I asked slyly, putting on a fake smile and shoving my hands inside my pockets.
"Duh. Of course. I'm going to Harmony, hoping to go with this group you guys have. You think that would be okay with you guys?" She flipped her bangs to the side so that they'd stay out of her eyes, which I considered cute for some reason.
"I think that would be fine, I mean, there are halfers on this boat like us, so I think it would be acceptable, yes," I told her as kind as I could.
I still didn't trust her, even if she did come from the lab. All I did was let my guard down a little so that it could seem to her that she had my trust.
"Perfect! I can't wait to hang out with you guys! It's going to be so much fun," Rika smiled sweetly and things became a little awkward.
"So... you're a leopard half-breed?" She asked, I knowing it wasn't exactly a rhetorical question.
"Yes, and you're a hyena half-breed?" She nodded as I heard another explosion come from the engine room and the humans came out coughing. Rika waved the smoke out of her face, and I realized she was exceptionally cute.
"Does anybody here know any mechanics?" I heard one of the workers ask, and I rose a hand.
"You! Come with me!" I nodded and I heard Rika following me as I went over to where the engine room was and stripped off my hoodie, and showed my stained, sweat shirt.
I followed the guy down to the engine room, Rika staying on the stairs that led down to it, and somebody handed me a wrench.
It didn't take long for me to fix what was the big problem, but it would still be about an hour until it started up again. I told the workers that and headed out of the engine room, Rika following behind.
I tried to wipe off the grease off my arms as I put my hoodie against a lawn chair, with Rika looking at me differently.
"What?" I laughed with a real smile on my face as some guy gave me a wet rag and I tried to get the grease off me, which was a little harder than I expected, which also made me realize something else. Was I just barely starting to trust Rika?
