CopRit Empire, Halfil
Sol 78 Of Race 3 Year 4958
Divsion 3 Police Station, New Baltimore
“What?”
The officer frowned and pushed the circular data tablet across the table to me. On it was an image of the woman I had met at the bar last night.
She had green skin, of a shade that would have made Kirk proud, her hair a vibrant metallic red. She was an exotic beauty, and unlike so many it wasn’t only skin deep. She and I had hit it off spectacularly and gone back to my place after only a few drinks. We had our fun and then cuddled, something I hadn’t done in a long time. We had breakfast in the morning, and then gone our separate ways.
I had her number and was definitely asking her out for drinks again; even with her odd tastes in liquor, last night was certainly the most fun I had had in a long time. We had just met, spent only a night together, but I felt like she was the one, or the closest I had ever found.
I had just gotten to work when the police officers had confronted me and dragged me downtown.
“You nearly killed her,” the detective repeated.
“I nearly killed her?” I asked in disbelief. “How?”
The alien’s many eyes continued to glare at me. He was a Yrnig, so the fact that he wasn’t blinking was biological, but still unnerving. The fact that his tail, with its many spikes, was slowly scratching back and forth along the floor had to be intentional though.
“Why don’t you tell me what happened last night?”
“Shouldn’t I get a lawyer?”
The alien muttered something under his breath, and the feathers over his body flattened slightly. “She’s not pressing charges, but we still need a report. You can bring a lawyer in if you want,” he growled, sounding resigned.
“Don’t like lawyers?”
The alien officer shook his tail side to side. “No.”
I smiled. “Neither do I.”
Leaning forward, I held my cuffed hands out to him. “If all you need is a recount of last night, take these off and I’ll skip the lawyer.”
The tail patted the ground twice at that. Reaching out, the police officer quickly undid the electrostatic restraints.
CopRit Empire, Halfil
Sol 77 Of Race 3 Year 4958
Vices District, New Baltimore
Glumly I looked around the establishment. I could see a few humanoids, but they were paired off for the most part. Groaning, I took another sip of my beer and leaned back into my booth. I had nothing against those guys that dated, or hell, married, a Nii, Twek, or any of the other hundred races that worked and lived in New Baltimore, but I preferred something a little closer to Human.
This limited me to the androgynous Malhin, the temperamental females of the Gunsil clans, the seductress’s of Unin, the genetic or cybernetic hybrids, or finally a good old fashioned Human woman.
None of them were in the bar tonight, though, and the couple behind me who were from some furry, tripedal race were fighting one another. Or mating, I wasn’t completely sure. The sound was giving me a headache, though, and the weak beer didn’t seem to be taking that edge off.
Getting up out of my booth, I trudged over to the bar, avoiding what looked like a tentacle of some sort on the floor.
“You have any Vodka?”
The bartender, a rather tame looking Ullin whom had ground his spikes down to make them less threatening, quickly consulted his translator.
“I got a mix that Humans say is like Vodka, want that?” he asked, voice scratchy.
“Sure.”
I waved my credit chip over the counter and paid for the drink. He put it in a small glass and pushed the bright pink liquid towards me before turning back to his other patrons. Turning to walk back to my seat, I paused.
A Gunsil woman had just strode into the bar. She was an unusually deep shade of green for her species, and her hair was a vibrant red. The hair had to be artificial, since I had only ever seen them with black or brown hair before. In fact, looking at it, I was sure it was dyed; it had that metallic sheen that some women liked to use.
She was in the standard business attire for most of the humanoid species of New Baltimore, although she still had her clan bracelet on, one sleeve pushed up to ensure it was properly displayed. I knew it was important to her, but I didn’t know enough about the clans to identify which one she was from.
Averting my eyes to avoid staring, I turned away and watched her out of the corner of my eye.
The tripedal species in the booth next where I had been sitting were definitely mating.
Hanging by the bar, I sipped at the pink drink. It was a little sweeter than straight vodka, but definitely had enough alcohol to take the edge off.
Looking haggard, the woman went up to the bar and ordered her own drink. Hers wasn’t pink, but it was rather large. Beverage in hand, she strode out to the bar’s balcony. I took another sip of my own and slowly followed her out.
The city was warm this time of year, and the twin suns were setting between the large buildings, casting a dim light over the city. The 28 hour days took some getting used to, but having lived in the city for a few years, I was fine with it.
The woman was at one of the bar stools that looked out over the parks far below. A quarter of her drink was already gone.
“Mind if I sit here?” I asked, pointing at the seat next to her.
She glanced up from her drink and frowned. “Go away, Human.” She mumbled, not venomous but dejected.
I sat.
The woman turned to glare at me. “I just told you to go away! Are Humans always this infuriating?” she asked her voice a little more temperamental now.
I shrugged. “Sometimes.”
She mumbled something under her breath and took another deep sip of her drink. Reaching up, she played with a lock of her hair for a moment before viciously tearing at it, ripping the strands away. She looked at the bunch of hair in her hand for a moment then tossed them over the edge of the balcony with a sign and watched them float away in the wind.
“I’ve never seen a Gunsil with that hair color. Is it natural?”
The woman snorted. “Hell no.”
She hesitated.
“It is natural for Humans, though, is it not?” she asked turning to me.
“Uhh, we have red heads sure. This shade is a little more artificial though, metallic.”
She blinked. “Oh.”
I took a sip of my drink.
“So this is not attractive to a Human?” she asked.
I choked on my drink. “What?”
“The hair, it is not attractive?”
“I wouldn’t say that. Most Humans go for any hair color. I can’t imagine it would be a determining factor for all but a few.”
She frowned.
“Am I attractive by Human standards?”
I glanced over at her, and then down at her drink.
“How much alcohol have you had?”
She sighed. “Not enough.”
I chuckled at that and took another sip of my own, draining the glass.
“You’re attractive by Human standards, yes.”
“Then why would a Human reject my advances?” she asked, leaning over towards me.
“What?”
She blushed, her skin darkening on her face.
“I mean, for what reason might a Human reject me? What is deficient about me?” she raised her arms up.
“Personality?” I said, the alcohol in my system letting the words out.
She shook her head, making the metallic red hair swing and partially obscure her face. “No, he had expressed fondness for me before.”
“I’m going to need context then if you want me to answer the question.”
The woman frowned. “Alright. I’m an artist, graphic designer for myself.” She paused apparently sorting out her words. “Humans have called me a ‘freelancer’?”
I nodded. “Right.”
“I was working on a project with a Human, for the reclamation office. We were designing murals to be put up in the parks,” she said, gesturing at the small parks far below us. “We have been working together for several weeks now, and in doing so we showed each other some of our private works. He had a whole folder devoted to nudes. Pictures of Human women without clothing that he had drawn. He seemed embarrassed when I asked him about them, said they were not supposed to be in what he had given me to look at.”
I nodded, “Alright, a little embarrassing for Humans, we have a nudity taboo. Especially at the workplace.”
“He explained that. He also went on to explain that Humans like to create art depicting naked females?”
I smiled. “We do. Have for thousands of years.”
“Despite the social nudity taboo?”
“Because of it.”
The woman frowned and took another sip of her drink. “Interesting.”
“So what happened?”
“We were finishing the project, and I had been leaving him clues that I was interested in him. I even looked up what Human women would do. The fragrances your females use, the clothing,” she gestured at what she was wearing, “none of it seemed to attract his interest. The hair was my final attempt. All of the nude drawings he had done featured a woman with red hair.”
She sighed.
“It appears he does not find me attractive.”
“The same woman for all of them?” I asked.
She nodded.
“Did this man have a metal ring on his hand, here?” I asked, holding my hand up and tapping my ring finger.
“He did.”
I groaned and tried to keep my face neutral.
“Why, what does it mean?” she asked.
“He was married, and he must be extremely faithful to his wife if you were throwing yourself at him looking like this.”
“Married?” she asked slowly.
“I think you’ve got something similar… bonding?” I asked.
“When one pledges to serve only another?” she asked.
“Something similar, yeah.” I said.
“Oh.”
She looked down at her drink, and raising the glass, quickly downed the rest of it.
“So he would not have even taken me for a tal-hin?”
“A what?”
She frowned, and her blush returned. “He would not have had me for even a night?”
I chuckled. “Humans would say a one night stand, and no. Having sex with any woman for any reason would go against the vows he took.”
She leaned down and put her head on the small counter in front of us.
“I feel like a fool.”
I smiled. “Better to have loved and lost, that to never have loved at all.”
“What?”
“It’s a quote. Humans think it is better to have at least tried to find love, then to never try and find it.”
“My people have a similar idea.” She grumbled sounded dejected again.
Both of us were silent for several minutes. Nothing but the sounds of the city around us, and the last sun setting. I felt a small gust of wind and shivered. Without the suns, it was going to get a little chilly.
“Have you found love?” she asked.
I chuckled. “No, never even come close.”
“Then you are not married?”
“No.”
I held my hand out showing the absence of a ring.
“You find me attractive?” she asked.
“I already said I did.”
“Right.”
Sitting up, she grabbed my shirt and pulled me towards her, faces inches apart. I stared at her, surprised by the sudden movement.
“This is something I know for a fact our cultures share.”
Leaning forwards, she pressed her lips to mine. I returned the gesture. We remained still for a moment, until she broke the kiss and turned away.
“Wow.” Was all I could manage.
She blushed and dropped her head back down to the table.
“That was dumb,” she groaned.
“A good kinda dumb,” I said after a moment. “Although I usually know a woman’s name before I kiss her.”
He blush deepened. “Valis of clan Bahef.”
“Just Valis okay?”
She nodded.
“I’m Henry.”
“Humans have such odd names.”
“I didn’t say anything about yours.”
We both silently stared at our empty glasses for a few moments.
“Do you want to tal-hin?”
“Are you asking me for a one night stand?”
She shrugged.
“This is the first time I’ve had a woman be so blunt about it.”
“If you do not wish to…”
“It’s not a bad thing, just a little off from Human cultural standards. Our cultural image is for women to play coy,” I said, cutting her off.
“Ah, sounds difficult. If an unbounded man and woman wish to have a, uh, one night stand, they simply agree to and enjoy one another’s company in my culture.”
“To be honest, that sounds a heck of a lot easier than what mine does,” I said. “You sure I’m not a rebound?” I added.
“Rebound?” asked Valis.
“You didn’t get the guy you were after, so I’m the outlet for the emotions?”
Valis sighed. “Perhaps, but you also explained Human culture to me. He never did that.”
“I’m not going to object.”
Leaning up, Valis planted another kiss on my cheek. “Good.”
CopRit Empire, Halfil
Sol 77 Of Race 3 Year 4958
Midtown, New Baltimore
I wasn’t nearly as drunk as I usually was when I stumbled back from the bars. In fact, by this point, I was mostly sober. It was odd, the break in my routine. Usually me and whatever female I ended up with would both be so inebriated that we would simply end up losing our clothes at the door and somehow in a haze make it to the bed.
Instead, the both of us were remarkably lucid. I felt like a teenager again for some reason, almost embarrassed to have a woman in my home.
Valis looked around the small apartment with polite interest. Her head immediately snapped to the small pieces of art I had hung up. I was by no means an artistic genius, and I was sure what I had up was in no way matching.
“That is Earth?” she asked, pointing at the painting.
I glanced over at it. “Before the pollution, yeah. Doesn’t look nearly as nice now.”
Valis nodded. “I’ve seen pictures.”
I kicked at the floor as she continued to examine it for a moment. Nodding to herself, she turned away and looked at me.
“Oh, sorry!”
“It’s alright, I’m, uh, just not sure what you want to do. I’m not used to women just directly stating they want to have sex.”
“What do you normally do when you return home?”
“Shower, watch some programs.”
“Well, I would be perfectly fine showering with you. From there I’m sure we can figure things out.”
Walking across the room, she quickly unbuttoned the jacket she was wearing and, turning to smile back at me, tossed it to the floor.
I blinked. I had to give the guy she had worked with some credit; how he had remained faithful to his wife, I had no idea. Valis was practically oozing sexual appeal at this point.
She stepped into the bathroom and I heard the shower start.
The rest of her clothes were then thrown out of the bathroom a moment later.
I stared at them as they hit the floor. She was nothing if not direct. Then again, different cultures and all that. Or perhaps because neither of us knew the cultures of the other to a great extent, we could toss the rules they usually enforced out the window.
Shaking my head and wondering why I hadn’t already joined her, I quickly stripped out of my own clothes and stepped into the bathroom. Steam was already in the air, and I could see her blurred form through the frosted glass door. Slowly opening the door, I was treated to an alien Aphrodite. Her green coloration wasn’t uniform; much like a human, it paled and darkened at certain spots. Unlike a human, though, there were dark green spots running down her arms and legs. And between her legs…
“You really used the dye everywhere.” I said.
She blushed. “I like the contrast, the green and the red.” Cocking her head, she looked me up and down. “Your coloration is odd as well, I can see your veins in places.”
I glanced down. “Yeah, I’m a little paler than normal. The suns here don’t give off as much UV as the Earth got. Human skin darkens to protect against it.”
She nodded, reaching out put her hand to my chest. “You are not female are you?”
I glanced down, “No, pretty sure I’m not.”
She put a finger to one of my nipples. “Then this is?”
“Vestigial. Human men get them, but they don’t do anything.”
“Odd.”
“The spots you have?” I asked putting my hand on her arm and similarly exploratory her.
“They are what used to be natural camouflage. My planet had many predators.”
I nodded, tracing between the spots with my fingers as my hand moved down her arm, our fingertips passing through each other as my hands moved down. Finished examining the differences of our different species, we let our hands roam over one another.
Valis grabbed my shoulders and pulled me towards her.
CopRit Empire, Halfil
Sol 78 Of Race 3 Year 4958
Midtown, New Baltimore
“Humans apparently have much more stamina then their outwards appearance would suggest,” said Valis.
I smiled and ran a hand through her hair. “We used to hunt our prey down by running it to death. Persistence hunting.”
“Well this was a much more enjoyable display of that persistence.”
“I agree.”
My alarm had gone off a few minutes ago, and it had woken both of us.
She was still wrapped in sheets and her metallic red hair was very enticingly knotted and spread out over the pillow next to her.
“What now?” asked Valis.
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“You said that in your culture, this one night stand is accepted. With mine it is the same, although if both feel like the relationship should continue afterwards, courtship proceeds apace.”
I paused a moment. “You saying you like me?”
“I would think that is fairly obvious.”
“Usually a one night stand is just for the sex, but I think we should follow your culture on this one.”
Her eyes widened and she let out a small squeak. She jumped on top of me again and kissed me. Wrapping my arms around her, the two of us quickly re-enacted some of the more pleasurable activities from last night, and I abused my persistence… much to her delight.
Gasping and rolling apart, I glanced at the time.
“Alright, you shower quick. I’ll make breakfast. I would join you, but then I’d end up being late.”
Valis groaned. “Alright.”
Rolling out of bed, I pulled on some shorts and glanced back at her.
Alone in the rumbled sheets, still breathing heavily and her hair even more dishevelled, I had to resist joining her again.
I heard the shower turn off as I finished whipping up breakfast.
She walked into my small kitchen as I finished, sans any clothes. I couldn’t help but stare.
“Something wrong?” she asked smiling as she sat down.
“You’re really playing with my culture’s nudity taboo.”
“That a bad thing?”
“Hell no.”
Sitting down across from her, I placed the plate down between us.
“What are these?” she asked.
“Pancakes.”
Taking one, I put it on my plate. Drenching it in syrup, I took a bite.
“Earth delicacy.”
Frowning, she reached out and took one. Tearing off a small piece, she tentatively tasted it.
“They’re good!”
“Try them with the syrup.”
I handed her the bottle and the tried that as well. “Ugh, no,” she said.
“Really, no syrup? You really do have alien taste buds, the syrup is the best part.”
She shook her head and happily ate the pancakes without the syrup.
CopRit Empire, Halfil
Sol 78 Of Race 3 Year 4958
Divsion 3 Police Station, New Baltimore
“Stop,” said the Yrnig officer.
“What?”
“The syrup. It was something she ingested that poisoned her. Usually if a species finds something repulsive, it might be bad for them. What’s in syrup?”
“Sugar for the most part, she can’t have sugar?!”
The officer shook his head. “Most biologies use sugar. What else is in it?”
“I don’t know.”
Grumbling to himself, the officer pulled the pad back to himself and started searching through it.
“The artificial sugars, they are flagged as toxic for her species.”
“Oh. Didn’t know that.”
The officer growled and swiped his tail through the air.
“I know that, I’ve smelled enough lying Humans. You’re free to go, but if you’re going to be feeding your alien food to others, check their biologies. Which you should be doing even before mating.”
“We were caught up in the moment. Do you know where she is? What hospital she was taken to?” I asked.
“She’s recovered. We had to drag her here after she had a recovery treatment. The doctors reported it as a possible poisoning, so we had to investigate, even though she insisted nothing malicious had taken place. There have been cases of Humans intentionally poisoning others.”
I nodded. “We’ll be more careful. Thanks.”
He swished his tail again and I stood, quickly exiting the interview room.
Stepping out, I was immediately caught in a hug, which judging by the distinctive red and green blur I saw just before it could only be one person.
“Sorry about that,” she said.
“I should be the one apologizing.”
Vasil chuckled. “We’ll figure it out.”
“No more pancakes, though,” I said.
She shook her head. “Lots more pancakes! Just no more syrup.”