April returned to Torio with the pretext of apologizing. Despite the inexplicable incidents she had witnessed, she was curious and wanted to know for sure. Who was this Morika?

Carefully she peeped into the apartment.

"Torio? Hello? It's me... April," she said rather sheepishly, to sound very remorseful from the first moment.

Admittedly, if she thought back now, her reaction a few hours ago to the frying pan was slightly exaggerated, maybe even hysterical, but this stubborn man really demanded every single nerve of her and after the exhausting days and nights the American could no longer stop her impatience for the real goal. And the fact that Torio was not very accommodating to her in this matter made her freak out and drive away.

In retrospect, she was even a little sorry to have left him alone, because basically he was a poor lonely man, fanatically searching for something that didn't exist.

She remembered the notes that she had skimmed over and that confused her a bit. The astronaut actually believed in alien beings stiffly. Perhaps the years of dogged study of aliens soon made him a madman?

She tiptoed along and finally stepped into the bedroom where she suspected he was. What she saw there she would never have dreamt of. In delight, she put her hands in front of her mouth so as not to scream with enthusiasm. She swallowed the pet names and belittlements unsaid and slowly walked towards the sleeping man. Her fingers prickled with desire to stroke this soft fluffy hairball on Torios middle.

"Oh, my God... so sweet," she whispered excitedly and bent over him slightly. The picture in front of her showed a special mood. The peacefully sleeping man with a tender smile on his lips, whose innocence was hidden under fluffy red hair.

Where did this cat suddenly come from?

April shook her head without understanding. The grumpy Russian would be the last person she would entrust a pet to, but the blonde woman was now torn between Torio's relaxed features and the animal on his lap. She decided somewhat reluctantly to retreat, not to fall with the door into the house to disturb this harmony.

The hope for small emotions of the man made her happy and confident. This time she would take it slower, not overstrain him and show him that she loved cats, which was also the perfect truth.

On the way to the kitchen she stumbled over a very bulging backpack. When she pushed it to the side with her foot, she felt the wetness on it and wet blades of grass stuck to her leg. Interested, she bent down afterwards, picked up the bag and carried it into the next room. Only in the light she could see the dirty condition of the bag. Astonished, she wondered briefly what to do with it, but then she curiously opened the zipper and pulled out some clothes. Strange? Where was he tonight?' she asked herself and reached into the backpack again. A folder appeared and when she opened the lid full of curiosity, she discovered a complete collection of Torio's notes on alien life forms. She wanted to sit down on the couch with this valuable find, but a pitiful meowing immediately caught her attention.

"Ohhh you sweet, sweet fuzzy duck", the blonde whimpered with joy, put the notes aside and crouched down in front of the animal. "What a pretty kitten you are." Her fingers reached out to the house cat. "...so fluffy and your color... so intense, very unusual. Where do you come from", she puzzled and was almost startled by the broad grin on her velvety mouth. But then the animal started purring and April melted away and stroked carefully over the red head. The cat happily lifted its little nose, wrapped itself around its legs, rubbed its wet nose on it and blinked under its skirt.

Hichan, Hichan, ... you cheeky guy', the alien rebuked itself in the body of the animal and enjoyed the honestly meant strokes. "If this American girl only knew..."

There weren't too many animals on Outland and the redheaded alien was lucky to have found one. The cat belonged to a neighbor of the astronaut, was very trusting and ideal for his purposes.

The fact to be able to stay a little longer in animals was also an advantage and so he sat now between the legs of the woman and enjoyed the view. But what he did not overlook was the conspicuous curiosity of the blonde. She rummaged in Torios private things and he didn't like that at all. Did he now have one more problem?

Or could he use April's presence for his purposes?

He didn't yet know exactly how and for what he could use it, but that would probably come naturally in the next few hours. Right now he wanted to enjoy the caresses, purr deeply and loudly from his throat and make the cat's body vibrate. This could distract the lady from her intention, otherwise he would have to become even more obtrusive, which would not bother him at all.

In any case, the owner-pet relationship should last until the Russian woke up and Hichan could be sure that the blonde could not rummage further in his things.

It was seven in the morning and the alien in the cat's body decided to wake the still peacefully sleeping one. With a heavy heart, he jumped off April's torso, who was now also asleep because the pet had followed her wherever she went. After feeding the kitty with delicious ham from the refrigerator, the woman finally had no choice but to make herself comfortable on the sofa and continue stroking the pushy cat on her chest. The documents from her backpack, which she put next to her to read through, were untouched. Hichan took care of that devotedly, with the long rough tongue of the house cat.

Now he stretched the long furry front paws far away from him and lifted the back part with the red-curled tail far into the air. Such a life as a cat would already please him, especially with such a caring owner. She is nice, can read every wish from my eyes and ... she tastes ... hmm ... so good.' The mouth opened wide to a yawn and it licked generously over the mouthpiece. Finally the hind legs of the animal were stretched and the alien in it shook its head. 'Stop it, there are more important things to do,' he grumbled, and to be able to think clearly again, he ran directly into the bathroom, slipped out of the cat's body and pushed his medium, which angrily sparked at him, made a hump and put up the far less red hair, out of the window. He had really enjoyed it, but the chick would give him a wide berth from now on.

A loud rumbling and the painful cry of the astronaut brought Hichan back to reality completely. Unseen, he made his way into the bedroom, followed by a sleepy April, who stared in horror at Torio, who lay on the floor a few meters away from his bed.

"Hichan! ... Where the hell are you?" cried the blond man before he saw anyone. But when seconds later he noticed the painted toenails, he just rolled his eyes and growled: "What the hell are you doing here again? Bad memories should be forgotten and not warmed up again after the shortest possible time". His words reflected the mood of the Russian, who had collapsed helplessly after a brief attempt to walk and now looked up at her with a grim expression.

"For God's sake, Torio! What are you doing? Where is your ... wheelchair?" she glanced around asking. She hadn't paid attention when she arrived, was busy with other things, like red cats for example, she didn't notice the absence of the chair. But where was the important vehicle really located?

"How on earth did you get into your bed yesterday?" You could literally hear the wheels in April's head starting to turn to drive her thoughts forward. Something was going on here, and if the American had noted down all the unusual events that she had already experienced in this apartment and would experience in the next 24 hours, she could write a book about it, and everyone would think she was hopelessly crazy.

She tried to combine. Maybe she was completely wrong with her assumption and the astronaut carried out the experiments on himself with the most different cooling articles. Did she perform Kneip cures, like alternating baths, with ice cubes, coolpats and cooling gel to treat herself? Had she possibly accused him wrongly of being an alien fanatic?

Suddenly she felt so terribly sorry for everything, the insults and her impatience with the bedtime story.

"Oh Torio! If only I had known ... forgive me ... but how was I to know... Oh, God, I'm so proud of you." She knelt down and took his face between her hands and kissed his forehead.

"Hichan!?" Torio asked confusedly as he could feel the alien. Was this one inside her? But then a pitiful meowing came from an empty corner and April immediately started looking for her new boyfriend.

"You never cease to surprise me. You got yourself a pet in the middle of the night. ... A cat then." She got up again and called for the parlor winner. "Kitty kitty... Hichan! Come to the master," she lured the animal, but her effort was over otherwise. The Alien wanted to slip back under her skirt and start purring, because she loved the blonde's strokes, but the astronaut also needed his help and strength. Without the alien Torio would not get far. The healing massages of Mori's brother were far from being enough to let the impaired person go alone.

Torio just murmured to himself. He was visibly overwhelmed with all the things that were happening around him.

"I don't have a cat... eh ... wait a minute, was she ... red?" he asked carefully. April was looking under the bed.

"Yes, redder than red and so fluffy, sweet and affectionate. You didn't give her anything to eat, did you? She got ham from me and gobbled it all up on a hab's.Hichan!"

Torio finally combined: 'The neighbor cat was his medium, of course.' Only the velvet paw was no longer there, but the alien was.

"Help me up," Torio grumbled annoyed. He addressed the alien with it, but April immediately made an effort to help him.

"Of course, where... where are you going? ...and where is your..."

"The bathroom, damn it... ...badly... I don't have it anymore."

"I'm sorry, what?" April grabbed her breath and lifted the astronaut. "You don't have it anymore? ... Where were you tonight?" she pressed her lips and didn't quite know how to get the man into the most stable position possible.

"Come on, Lord God! You have to help," Torio demanded angrily. He knew exactly that it stood next to him, but didn't lift a finger.

"Yes! ... I do... I am trying ... but ..." And all of a sudden the American found a handle that made the man's body surprisingly lighter. "Now... now I have it... Is it possible? Attention, let's go... "One more step..."

It took them at least ten minutes to get to the desired place and Torio would have loved to tear the hair out of the redhead. Should the rest of the day go on like this?

He sent April to the kitchen, hoping for a conversation with the alien, but the alien preferred the company of the blonde, standing in love in the doorway of the kitchenette, admiring every movement of the exuberant curves of her body. She made tea, looked for some things from the refrigerator and pulled the frying pan from the shelf, but before putting it on the stove, she subjected it to a close examination. Hichan smiled:

'Doesn't she know how it works?' asked the alien.

She would love to help her, but the energetic calls from the bathroom brought him out of his reverie. He probably had to wait a little longer for his pleasure...