The handle on the poewai ball was smooth and slick, it was difficult for Amida to keep a grip on it as she glided through the cool water. She braced the soft object against her chest with one arm and kicked through the water with only her feet. Large flippers had been attached at the Terran’s legs that enabled movement more on par with a Mielyu or Xa’a-ackétøth.
Beside Amida swam a Xa’a-ackétøth whose colors were a beautiful salmon orange. A smile adorned their face as they watched the Terran swim through the water almost as naturally as any Mielyu.
Most prominent in Amida’s mind, however, was anxiety. She needed to tell Moomomi she intended to take a break but The Terran had no clue how they would react to the news. Moomomi seemed nice, but what about when they were put under pressure?
“Why is the ball so slick?” Amida said, struggling not to giggle at just how hard the poewai ball was to grip.
“The handles are for Xa’a-ackétøth players, Mielyu hands are too big for them,” Moomomi said, wrapping a barbel around the ball and pressing their body against Amida to wrest it free, “But if Mielyu do have small enough hands, the handle is slick so they can’t get much use out of it. I’d wager Terrans are somewhere in the middle?
“How so?”
“You can probably clutch the ball to your torso or use the handle, you just need to train your grip strength.”
Amida clenched a fist then unclenched it. That wasn’t something she had ever really considered. It was true, though, her grip strength wasn’t the best. The Terran stretched her arm and looked around. Lily Pepper members were paired off around the sandy field practicing drills using balls identical to the one Moomomi held. A mielyu and a xa’a-ackétøth were paired off grappling each other. The serpent was curled around the mielyu wresting a ball from their chest. Both of them were smiling ear to ear. Another group of three mielyu were throwing a ball back and forth. Poewai balls didn’t travel very far when thrown but tossing them was still an important aspect of the sport.
“If you want to get back to the team you can, I don’t want you to have to spend too much time with a rookie,” Amida said.
“No! I’m having a ton of fun! It’s been a while since I’ve worked with a rookie. I only regret that there aren’t more learning materials for Terran poewai players.”
“Nah it’s fine, I’m learning,” Amida said, giving Moomomi a thumbs up (which the serpent correctly assumed was a Terran affirmation) and a smile.
“You’ll have to write the book on it!” Moomomi giggled, throwing the ball back to Amida.
“I’ll have to get a bit better before I go writing any books,” Amida said, catching the ball and clutching it against her chest.
“It takes time! You’re doing a great job. Honestly, I didn’t even know Terrans could swim as well as you can.”
“Competitive swimming and diving were popular in the Accord. We’d have large scale competitions called ‘The Olympics’ where people would compete to see who could swim the fastest.”
“So it’s like cross-country or a track sport?”
“Not like what aquatic sophonts would consider either of those— closer to a track sport. Terrans swim on top of the water in a big concrete pool.
“Seems inefficient!”
“Not for us landlubbers,” Amida said, sticking her tongue out.
Moomomi smiled with a devilish gleam in their eye. The serpent swam at Amida, wrapping their body around the Terran. Amida giggled and compressed their body into the ball, kicking in order to propel herself toward the goal. Moomomi constricted tighter, causing Amida’s legs to buckle. With no method of propulsion Amida began to sink toward the sand. She would have to either stick an arm out and paddle or go on the complete defensive.
With one arm braced across the ball Amida freed her opposite hand and used it to crawl forwards through the water. It was little use, but at least she was going somewhere.
Moomomi snapped into action, sticking their head up against Amida’s chest and wrapping a barbel around the ball before yanking it from the Terran’s grip with little to no effort. Amida tried to grab it back, but almost as soon as Moomomi had it they darted away.
“And that’s why I won’t be writing a book anytime soon,” Amida laughed, free floating in the water.
Moomomi tossed the poewai ball back to their companion. “Are sports big in the Milky Way?”
Amida nodded and stretched her arms, “Terrans have a big culture around sports. In my region badminton and table tennis were big. They’re sports where you, like— hit a ball over a net back and forth.” Amida paused for a moment, “Actually that makes it sound kinda boring.”
“Do you have any big-time sports? Any super popular ones that everybody plays?”
“Football. Maybe battam. Football is a game where you kick a ball into a net, battam is a zero-gravity game where you— uhh, also get a ball into a net. More expensive to play but really popular to watch.”
“Why so many balls and nets?” Moomomi giggled, wiggling their barbels.
“Iunno. They can be thrown pretty easily, I guess. And nets can catch balls easily,” Amida said.
Okay, it was time to break the news of her haustoric-induced sabbatical to Moomomi. She had put it off for too long and it had been itching at the back of Amida’s mind since yesterday evening. Amida pushed the cool afternoon water through her gills and relaxed her muscles. She didn’t want to do this but she trusted her owner’s words of encouragement more than the pit in her stomach.
“Moomomi, I got domesticated yesterday!”
“Oh congrats Amida!” Moomomi said, rushing forward to wrap their body around Amida and give the Terran a tight squeeze. Amida hugged the Xa’a-ackétøth in kind, clutching the serpent in her arms. They were so warm, and Amida could practically feel the excitement radiating from their lengthy body.
“Thanks Moomomi! Heh,” Amida giggled. She wasn’t sure if that excitement would last much longer.
“When are you getting your haustoric?”
“That’s actually what I wanted to talk about, my appointment is this week so I probably won’t be coming to practice for a bit,” Amida said, wincing. She braced herself for what was coming next.
“Oh that’s totally fine!”
“Oh! Wow, okay.”
“Something wrong?” Moomomi asked, tilting their head.
“No, I just thought— like, you’d kick me off the team or something.” Amida shrugged and giggled. Thank the stars Moomomi wasn’t mad. Quite the opposite, in fact— they seemed elated.
“Of course not! This is a big moment for you, I know you must be just— so excited to get your implant,” Moomomi beamed.
“I am! I talked it over with my owners last night.”
“Wow, multiple owners?”
“Yeah, two! Heh. I’m really lucky,” Amida said, her face blushing bright red.
“If you need anything while you’re recovering you make sure to let me and Raksala know, got it?” Moomomi said.
“I don’t thi—” Amida paused, “Yeah actually, I will. Thanks Moomomi.”
