In less than an hour, the Paru had come into contact with every member of the unit.
Unfortunately, those who were most fond of him were those he didn't want such attention from.
The Commander, Roka, was one of those who interacted the least with the Paru, which was a shame.
Other than Roka, there were three other females inside the ship.
Rea, the Navigator. She was mostly carefree and disinterested in most of what was happening.
Raya, who had been tasked with helping Kris look through the database for information. Because of the white blouse she adorned, the Paru assumed she was some kind of scientist or engineer.
The last was Liz. She was shy, and mostly kept to herself.
'She's cute, but they mostly see her as -Quiet- instead of -Shy- which is kind of annoying.'
As for the males, the Paru didn't really care.
The mechanic, Bak, was obviously important.
Kris would always hug or pat the Paru, so it was unavoidable that the Paru would remember him.
As for the others, El and Jay, the Paru didn't bother even remembering their names.
Once it was time for them to take their meals, the crewmates separated, and the Paru was taken by…
'Oh, for fuck's sake!!'
A piece of meat was dangled above the Paru.
"I wonder what it eats…" Kris whispered. "Should we give it a name?"
"Yes! Let's call it… I'm a bad bitch and I've won at life!!'
"Mm?" Kris scratched his head before turning towards the Paru. "It's nicer than the one the Commander brought that time… I like this one."
"Oh, who cares about a damn pet! We've won at life, Kris! Agh… I can barely believe it when I think about it." Jay muttered as he let his body sink into the chair's rest. "We'll be Heros once we're back. Absolute Heros." Jay talked just loud enough for the table at which the Commander and the other females were seated to be unable to hear him. Since most of the crewmates had died, the cafeteria was empty, and there was enough space for them to spread.
"What's your point, Jay?" Kris asked after the piece of meat he had been dangling was grabbed by the Paru.
The Paru, trying to look as cute as possible, grabbed the piece of meat with its left pincer, lowered it, then used its right pincer to cut a small part of it off, and held that small piece to its mouth, slowly eating it. The attempt at looking cute was a success.
'So cute!'
"Ha? Don't you get it?" Jay smiled widely. "We'll be Heros. We'll have status! I'm sure we'll be flooded by rich gals wanting a piece of us! We're going to get rich! I can already see it… A bunch super hot women who are also super rich… I'm going to drown in marriage proposals!!"
"Uhu…" Kris nodded without really listening.
"I'll live an easy life, spending her money! The dream life is mine! I've won! Oh… Even if she's not the hottest, that would be fine too. I can always divorce her and get a bunch of money! No matter how much I see it, this is such a win!!"
Kris eyes narrowed, and his gaze moved from the Paru to Jay repeatedly.
"You're kind of a whore, aren't you?"
"Nahahaha!"
The Paru started walking away from their table.
'Can't say I hate Kris. This Jay guy really is… Meh. They've been at it for a year and a half. I suppose anything to get them through it is nice to think about.'
The Paru wandered randomly without leaving the room.
'I doubt whatever they eat would have any special properties… They won't give me enough to develop any Skill in the first place.'
"Oh, by the way!" Raya shouted as she rose from her seat. "Everyone can take showers! Hot water is back on!"
"Oh... Finally."
"Yey!"
"Let's-"
"Mm? We're low on energy. Why would we waste it this way?" Roka interrupted as the guys cheered.
"It's no issue! The forty hours' worth of fuel I calculated took into account the energy spent on leisure."
"Mmm…" The Commander scratched her chin. "I suppose it's alright then…"
"To the showers!" Jay shouted as he pointed, cheerfully.
"Maybe we should wash… Huh, where is…?"
'Fuck no! Fuck. No. I am not washing with the guys!!'
"Come one, Jay! It's been too long since we last had a hot shower."
"Uh…" Kris looked around the room for a bit. "Alright."
The Paru only left its hiding place once the guys were out of the room.
"Hiding under the table?" Rea asked as she crouched. "You do need a wash, to be honest. My god you stink…"
'Probably the blood.' The Paru thought to itself.
"So, Roka." Raya started. "What are we going to do about this? The guys don't like you a lot. Maybe I should assume the role of Commander. I get along with them just fine." She said in a joking tone.
"That's only because you never disagree with them." Rea muttered while looking away.
"What was that?" Raya's eyes narrowed.
"I think we should just focus on the mission…" Liz whispered.
"Yes." Roka scratched her head, an annoyed expression on her face. "Thankfully, there are no intelligent beings where we're going. But that's also the problem. There's no way of communicating with them."
"Because of our first time there, we're lacking in ammo." Rea grabbed a piece of meat and threw it a couple of steps a way for the Paru to eat. "But we can use our Plasma guns."
"It uses the same fuel as the ship, but we don't really have a choice. Using them will allow us to gain more time and get more fuel."
"But the more we hurt a Granilith, the more there are of them who die, the more of them come for us. That's what happened last time. Killing them might not be a good idea." Raya argued.
"Do you have a better plan?" The Commander asked.
"Ha! Coming up with plans isn't my job. Well, except if you want it to be."
"Ugh…" Rea pushed herself off her chair. "This bitch is so annoying. I'm going to take a shower."
"I'll… I'll go too."
"Huh? I like showering alone."
"I… Uh… The baths are made for multiple people, so it should be fine." Liz argued.
"Fine, fine." Rea shrugged.
The two walked away from the table, and the Paru followed them.
…
'Ugh…' Rea pushed the large bathroom's door open.
Of course, there were two large bathrooms.
Liz was already inside.
'Annoying that someone has to be in with me but…'
Rea tried closing the door behind her, but it was stuck.
"What are you doing…?" She asked while staring with narrow eyes at the Paru trying to enter the bathroom. "I am not showering with a pet in the room." Her bare foot pushed against the Paru's shell, and the room was closed.
'Hpmh. This is troublesome.' The Paru stared at the closed door. 'Two beauties showering beyond this door. I can't let the opportunity go. At the same time, I don't want them to see me as a pet. It's fine for the guys, but I do want the girls to see me differently somehow. My body will keep changing, so, at some point, I will definitely… Mm…' The Paru thought for a bit. 'I guess there's only one way, really.'
The Paru used its Heat Vision Skill, and stared at the scene through the door.
'Fuck… The hot water and steam make it useless. I wanted to enter once they've already started showering, but might as well just go in now.'
The Paru stealthily and quietly wrapped the end of one of its tentacle arms around the door handle and entered the room.