CopRit Empire, Halfil
Sol 78 of Race 3 Year 4958
Athletic Complex, New Baltimore
I jumped to the side, dodging the attack. I felt the breeze as the weapon passed my abdomen; it missed me by only a few millimeters.
Twirling to the side, I brought my foot up. Reacting with amazing speed, my opponent also twisted to the side, in a motion that would have broken a Human’s spine. He curled back, leaning on his large tail to retain balance, his torso bent back almost 90 degrees. I hadn’t know about his ability to move like that; my attack sailed right over him.
Twirling the staff he was wielding in one of his hands, he struck out at my leg, breaking my balance and sending me collapsing to the ground.
I quickly rolled and regained my footing, despite the wind having been knocked out of me. In the process, I retrieved my own staff and pointed the end towards him.
He was a Byln, and one of the smallest specimens of the species I had ever seen. Bipedal, with a large, dextrous tail that tapered to a stub and was normally curled on the ground. They were spindly, with four thin arms connecting to two shoulders; each arm had an extra elbow, compared to Humans, and their hands had just three fingers. With all of their biological advantages, Byln were known as expert fighters.
Although they weren’t amazingly strong, they were agile. Landing even a single hit on them in combat was difficult. His hairless head was vaguely Human-like, although more angular, the mouth jutting out and filled with serrated teeth. Two small eyes were on each side of his face, and a thin flat slit higher up on the forehead was his nose.
Swinging out with my staff, I tried to connect with his brown skinned torso, but he again managed to contort out of the way, his feet remaining firmly planted as his entire chest moved out of the way. Apparently they have a multi-jointed spine as well.
“Are you alright?” he asked even as he casually twirled his staff in his two right hands, passing it back and forth in an intricate figure eight.
“I’m fine,” I growled before lunging at him. Forgoing the staff, I tried to get my hands around one of his feet, or better yet the tail.
He hopped out of the way and swung his staff down, hitting me dead on my spine. Were it a Human striking with the same advantage, it would have been a powerful enough hit to end the match, but in the hands of a Byln the staff weapon lacked the power.
Not to say it didn’t still hurt. It just wasn’t a devastating hit. Rolling to the side and standing up once again, I stared at him.
“Seriously?” he asked, surprised I was standing.
“You’re hard to hit; I can take the hits.” I growled.
His head tilted side to side, bending on his neck almost like a snake. “Indeed.”
Ignoring my staff completely now, I slowly circled towards him. He struck out with his staff and I raised my arm, blocking and deflecting it. It stung like hell, but I kept my face neutral to drive my point home. Sometimes the intimidation alone was enough to get those with less nerve to surrender, and if I could get the weapon away from him and force him to grapple, I would have the advantage.
He spun around and whipped his tail out, hitting my knees from behind, making them buckle. Once again I was forced down to the mat.
He was moving before I even hit the floor, jumping over to me with his staff raised. He brought it down on my shoulder with the combined force of all four arms. Something cracked. He paused, looking at his staff.
I rolled, grabbing his legs as I went throwing him down onto the mat next to me.
Now on top of him, I held down all four of his arms, two in each hand pinning him in place.
He struggled for a moment, but in a contest of pure strength I was assured victory.
“That’s the match!” shouted Sam.
I glanced up at him, rolling my eyes as I slowly stood.
My Byln opponent slowly stood as well, still looking like he was trying to get his breath back.
Match over and adrenaline dissipating, I groaned. It wasn’t his staff that had broken.
“Ah,” I groaned and put a hand to my left shoulder. I could feel something beneath the skin was out of place.
“God damn it, Amelia. What did you break this time?” Sam stepped away from the wall of the training room and onto the mat, looking more annoyed than worried.
I gently probed at the bone, feeling it. “Collar bone, I think.”
My sparring partner, the Byln, dropped his staff and looked over at me horrified. “I broke a bone!?” The small completely blue eyes shifted towards a green color.
I chuckled. “I’m fine.”
The Byln glanced over at Sam, the only other Human in the room, who nodded. “She’s fine. This is the third bone she’s broken this month.”
“Second. That other one was a fracture,” I growled.
Sam rolled his eyes, ignoring me.
“But, a broken bone! Should we not be rushing her to a hospital?” asked the Byln.
“No, we just need to take her to the onsite clinic,” said Sam, still unconcerned.
“Can’t I shower first?”
The Byln looked at me in shock, his eyes now a brilliant emerald green.
“No. Last time you delayed going to the clinic, you freaked out some Mordil in the showers. Go to the clinic now.”
“Fine. I hate you.”
My trainer simply held up a hand in annoyance and turned to the Byln trainer. To his credit, the Byln trainer, although looking slightly panicked, didn’t have anything but a small tinge of green panic in his eyes. He had been around long enough to have acclimated to the amount of damage Humans could take, although it plainly still distressed him.
Stomping over to the edge of the mat, I grabbed my water bottle and took a sip of the water, before upending it and pouring the rest of the bottle over my head, eyes closed. Relaxing for a moment, I dropped the bottle and ran my good hand through my hair.
“You need to get to the clinic!” said the Byln, sounding panicked.
I opened a single eye to glare at him. He had followed me and was right next to me. “I’m fine. Seriously, you can leave.”
His tail tapped the mat several times in quick succession. “I have broken a bone – that is unforgivable! What must I do to atone?” The poor guy sounded desperate.
“You want to atone?” I asked.
He nodded his head side to side again. “Yes!”
“Carry my bag to the clinic for me,” I said, pointing at it on the floor.
Turning before he could argue or insist I had to demand something else from him, I stomped out of the training room and into the main hallway.
The athletic center was one of the modern marvels of the city. Outfitted to cater to nearly any species of the Empire, it had everything Humans had ever imagined – swimming pools, rock walls, weight training rooms, treadmills – and things we had never thought of, like wind tunnels for the species that could fly, or hunting grounds for those who still practiced catching and eating prey without the aid of tools.
For my exercise, I brawled. Pure and simple. True, I did cardio and weight training on occasion, but the fights were what I enjoyed. There were only a few species that fought hand to hand like Humans had, most preferring to use blunt weapons in combat. Which was understandable, given Humans abnormalities.
“Please, there is more I must do!” said the Byln as he quickly caught up to me a short ways down the hall.
“Look, what’s your name?” I asked.
“Montook.”
“Montook, what do you know about Humans?”
He hesitated. “Not much beyond what I can see.”
I nodded. “Alright, Montook. What are your bones made of?”
“A natural carbon-iron composite lattice, like most species. Why?”
“Not Humans.”
He frowned. “What are your bones made of?”
“Hardened calcium for the most part.”
His four eyes blinked at that. “Calcium? The mineral?!”
“Yep.”
It took him a moment. “Then your bones are incredibly weak. It is no wonder I broke one.”
“Incredibly weak, sure. We’ve got blood vessels and hollow chambers inside of them, too.”
He looked even more alarmed at that. I couldn’t help but chuckle. I was being mean to the poor guy, but he was cute, despite the serrated teeth.
“Meaning, our bones heal naturally over a couple months. What’s it take for you, three or four years?” I asked.
Montook nodded. “Yes. Really, just a couple months to heal?!”
“Yep.”
“But still you weather hits. Even after the attack that broke a bone, you fought. Had I broken a bone, I would not have been able to continue fighting!” said Montook.
“We can ignore pain. Your endocrine system produces adrenaline, right?”
“It does, but that does not help me ignore pain.”
I nodded as we stepped up to the clinic. “Talk to some of the exoskeletal races, it’s similar with them. They don’t feel pain from injuries until sometime long after the injury. Same thing with Humans. I could feel it, but didn’t notice the pain in my shoulder until the fight was over.”
Montook tapped his tail to the ground several more times. “Amazing.”
The physician on duty, a Yrnig with vibrant black and purple feathers by the name of Hulhin, was a familiar face. “Again?” she asked as she looked up from her tablet, sounding almost exasperated.
“Blame him,” I said and pointed at Montook. His eyes flashed to yellow and he stammered something.
“I’m not blaming that poor man! I swear you Humans just like scaring everyone with these injuries.”
I shrugged, and immediately winced; my collarbone was broken after all.
“Step up on the scanner, let me check it,” Hulhin ordered and pointed at the analysis platform.
I stepped up onto it and let the machine quickly pass around me. The machine buzzed and she glanced down at the results.
“A clean break, I’ll give you a stimulator. I do not want to see you here tomorrow. I don’t care how fast you heal, even with the tech. You need to let your body adjust,” the proto-bird-dinosaur like creature growled.
“Really?” I groaned.
“Really,” she repeated, her voice firm.
Reaching into a cabinet, she extracted a small metallic device and adjusted some settings. Pulling my shirt to the side so she had access, Hulhin put the device on my skin. It let out a small beep and the smell of ozone.
She glanced back at her circular tablet and nodded. “Alright, you’re all good.”
“That’s it?” asked Montook.
Hulhin glanced over at him. “That’s it.”
“I still need to atone for the injury I caused! I must pledge myself to your aide until you are healed!” proclaimed Montook.
Hulhin glanced over at me and I rolled my eyes. She let out a warbling chuckle. “With the stimulator, that will be a few hours.”
His mouth fell open comically, revealing something I hadn’t noticed about his species before: a second set of flatter teeth inside the serrated ones. I had always thought they were exclusively carnivores, apparently not though.
“A few hours!?”
“I’m Human. Seriously though, I’m fine. I don’t need an aide,” I said as I moved to exit the clinic.
He shook his head. “I am honor bound!”
I groaned, but nodded. Sometimes it was just easier to go along with differing alien customs. I could get the Fixers involved, but after sparring and everything else it was easier just to tolerate him for a few more hours rather than getting the diplomats involved.
Besides, his worry was kind of cute. It was totally opposite of the intensity he had displayed when we had been sparring. There he had looked purely predatory.
Hulhin looked back and forth between the two of us, trying not to laugh. I could see the feathers on her body going up and down. I glared at her, not saying anything, but that only seemed to amuse her more.
CopRit Empire, Halfil
Sol 78 Of Race 3 Year 4958
Athletic Complex, New Baltimore
“Should you not be going home to rest?” asked Montook, looking distressed.
“I’m fine. Besides, it’s a perfect night!” I put my right hand out, almost hitting another pedestrian on the crowded streets of the metropolis. Montook was trailing behind me, carrying my bag as well as his own.
“Where are you going?” asked Montook.
“I’m going to grab some TanTun for dinner, and then head home. That alright?” I wasn’t really asking.
Montook looked as if he wanted to argue again, but seemingly figuring out that it was a fruitless exercise, closed his mouth.
“You will go home after that, then?” he asked.
“Yes, yes, although seriously this is fairly common! Us Humans are on the weak end of the spectrum for species, but our healing, especially with tech, is quick!”
Montook didn’t look convinced, but the pedestrian traffic was thickening as we moved closer to the center of the city. He was having to work to make sure that he stayed close enough to me.
It was always interesting in the city. The hundreds of different species intermixing in an area was always bound to be different, no matter how well integrated we were as a society. Most of them, for example, had the old fashioned New Baltimore attitude – turn the translator to vulgar, and if anyone gets in your way, you push them aside.
Not to say that people were mean. Just like any large city, the inhabitants were direct and singularly focused on getting on with their own lives. Above the jostling crowds, the transports moving through the city buzzed and purred, the antigravity systems that kept them aloft occasionally crackling with static discharge.
Making it to the seedy looking restaurant on my route home, I stepped inside. Montook stepped in after me, barely avoiding two sprinting dog-like creatures with vibrant purple skin, only keeping his balance by slapping his tail on the door frame.
“Amelia!” shouted the massive creature behind the counter.
“Yantz!” I said, smiling at him.
“What did you do this time?” he asked, pointing a yellow tentacle at my shoulder. His species saw the infrared spectrum, so even beneath my jacket he could probably see the lump of colder metal.
“He decided I needed another broken bone,” I said, jerking a hand back at Montook.
Yantz sloshed his monstrous girth back and forth slightly, his form of a laugh. A reddish tentacle shot out from behind the counter and hit Montook on the shoulder in a friendly way.
“She give you a good scare?” asked Yantz.
The other customers in the small shop were now staring at us.
“Uh, yeah!” said Montook his eyes yellow again.
Yantz jostled again and turned his eyes back to me. “Feeling adventurous today? Or you want your standard fare?” he asked, gesturing at the menu and the cages in front of him.
Looking in at the insects for a moment, I examined the small creatures. “Are those Monlin worms?” I asked, pointing at the greenish worms about as thick as my finger and as long as my arm on the top of the stack.
“They are! Just got them in again,”
“I’ll take those with some Teriyaki then. Montook?”
He looked at me. “Yes?”
“You hungry?”
He looked at the insects in the display case for a moment, considering. “I’ve not eaten this before.”
I shrugged. “Your loss.”
“I’ll take whatever is recommended.”
Reaching into his bag, Montook extracted a credit chip and held it out.
“I’m paying for yours as well,” he said, looking at me.
“Are you?” I asked challengingly, taking a step towards him.
He remained still, not moving. Apparently he was figuring out that if he wanted to get something, he would have to stand firm.
“I am.”
Before I could say any more, one of Yantz’s many tentacles shot out, grabbing the proffered chip, scanning it, and depositing it back in the startled Montook’s hands, effectively ending the disagreement.
“Thank you for your patronage.”
Yantz, having already chopped up the worms, was mixing them with the vegetables and other ingredients in a large frying pan. I wasn’t exactly sure what everything was called, but it went well with teriyaki, so I didn’t really care.
Within moments, the two meals were done and sitting in their disposable food containers. Montook hesitantly took them while I grabbed some utensils. I waved back at Yantz as we stepped out of the restaurant.
“Now will you go back to your home and rest?” asked Montook. He was definitely stubborn.
“Yes. We’ll go back home.”
Montook’s eyes shifted back to blue and he looked relieved.
I rolled my own eyes, and started fighting through the streets towards my apartment complex. We reached the building before long, and I waved my hand for the biometric scanners, unlocking the front door. I pushed it open and held it for Montook. He stepped into the bottom floor of the apartment complex.
Another Human and a green skinned woman with red hair were in the elevator. The doors closed before I could react. Walking over to it, I hit the button to call it back down, and waited.
“You live here?” asked Montook, looking around the rather dingy looking first floor.
“Yeah, why?” I asked.
“I don’t know, it’s… different than what I was expecting. I live in a commune with the other athletes of my species. I guess I was expecting the same.”
“Humans like to have private space.”
His eyes went green slightly. “Do you not wish for me to be here? I can leave!”
“We invite people over all the time, Montook, and I don’t think you’re much of a threat to anyone. Despite your ability to fight.”
Montook looked confused at that, but the elevator arriving interrupted any response he may have had. We stepped inside, and the elevator began to go back up. He looked slightly apprehensive as we rose up into the building.
“You OK?” I asked.
“I do not usually accompany others to their homes. Especially not women.”
I smiled. “Don’t have some lady friend back at your commune?”
“No.”
“It’s not against the rules, is it? I can tell you with the amount of adrenaline that goes through the Human athletes, you wouldn’t be able to keep them celibate.”
“No, not a rule.” He leaned back so most of his weight was on his tail, the end of it curling up almost like a snake would. “I just haven’t found a wife yet.”
“What, with your fighting skills? I’d expect the ladies to be lined up for a piece of you.” I glanced down at my collar bone. “It’s been a while since someone’s beaten me that easily.”
Montook shook his head. “You were a most difficult opponent, and I did not beat you; you pinned me. I have never faced a creature that can simply endure. My fighting style, and that of my people, is to try and win in the first hit.”
I chuckled. “With Humans, you have to have a better weapon or surprise your opponent to win in one hit. Otherwise it takes quite a few hits to beat one into submission. Trained fighters can go at one another for several minutes completely unarmed!”
Moontook considered my words. “A strange thought. Still, in answer to your question. I do not have females waiting to court me… or rather I am not yet ready to court them.”
“Why the hell not?” I asked, looking the alien up and down. It was difficult to judge bodies of other races with any accuracy, or the tendencies of the culture, but muscled and toned was usually attractive. And Montook, despite his meek demeanor, was not lacking in musculature.
“I am small. Most of the females do not wish to have a mate the same size as themselves.”
I looked over at Montook. He was a little taller than I was, but compared to the others of his species, he was about a half meter shorter.
“You know, when guys of my species say that, they mean something else.”
The elevator opened, and my front door automatically unlocked half way down the hall, sensing that I was close. Trudging down the hall, letting poor Montook continue to carry everything, I stepped inside and kicked off my shoes.
Montook somewhat hesitantly peered into my apartment.
“You live in this?!” he said in almost pure horror.
I looked around. There were a few empty food containers, laundry, and other items strewn about. It wasn’t horrible, and definitely was not as bad as it had been when I was in college.
“It’s not that bad. I’ve been busy!” I said, defending myself.
Montook carefully stepped over something on the floor and grimaced. “This is… unsanitary!”
Putting the bags of gear down, he kept the bags holding the food in one of his four hands and started looking around. Spotting some severely disused cleaning solution, he grabbed it, sprayed off a section of my counter and carefully placed the food on it.
“Montook, can you wait for me to shower before we eat? I must smell horrible.”
“May I clean?” he asked, sounding desperate, his four eyes darting around the apartment.
“Whatever makes you happy. You don’t have to.”
“I need to!”
Rolling my eyes, I stepped into the bathroom.
I had a four armed space brawler with a head like a lizard and a dextrous tail cleaning my kitchen. What a time to be alive.
Stepping out of the bathroom wrapped in a towel, I quickly darted into my bedroom and started sorting through all of the clothes that were on the floor, looking for something clean. Finding some old sweats, I pulled off the towel, rubbed it on my head once more to try and get rid of the moisture, and dropped it on the bed.
Turning away from it to dress, I paused.
“Montook.”
The four armed alien was standing in the other corner of my bedroom, clothes in his hands that it looked like he was in the process of folding. His eyes were now a bright blue, moving towards white. He was frozen in place staring at me.
“Yes?” he squeaked.
I glanced down at my state of undress. No point in freaking out now, although judging by his reaction his species did at least have a nudity taboo.
“Out.” I pointed at the exit to the bedroom.
He quickly scrambled for it, his tail hitting several things in his haste. The door slammed closed behind him and I smiled.
There was no way in hell he had intentionally been trying to catch me naked, not unless he was a lot more bold then he had let on. Slipping the clothes on, I sighed and followed the alien out into the main room of my apartment.
“Wow.”
It had been at most twenty minutes, but in the time most of the mess had been cleared away. Or at least organized in some manner. The surfaces were clean, and it looked like he had even managed to get the automatic vacuum to run. The thing had been stuck for the past few days on something and I hadn’t bothered to find it.
My small, rickety table had the meals that we had ordered, set on nice plates and not the take out boxes that I would have normally used.
“I uh, didn’t have time to clean the kitchen area quite yet. It doesn’t look as if it has been used in a long time,” said Montook, sounding nervous. His tail was curling and uncurling apprehensively. No doubt he was waiting for me to start yelling at him.
“It hasn’t. And you really didn’t have to go to all this trouble.”
“I would hate to think you were struggling because of an injury I caused.”
I chuckled and sat down at the table. “You’re not going to pledge your life to me or anything, are you?” I asked.
Montook hesitated and sat down across from me. “That would have been the deal if we were of the same species, and it were perhaps a few hundred years ago. My people,” he hesitated, “have a very regimented way of operating. We do not advance forwards until all other objectives have been cleared. Had I injured you to the point of no longer functioning properly, then yes my life would be yours, only in so much as I had to help you. If I had killed you, then your family could demand I take my own life, and I would have had too.”
He paused and looked down at his food. “Of course these days, with our culture intermingling with aliens, we are no longer so regimented, but the spirit of these deals remains.”
“Well it’s good you only broke one bone, then. I once thought it would be smart to brawl with a Utihilic. The thing charged me and broke half my ribs. Even with stimulators and being laid up in a hospital, it took me a week to recover and a month until Sam let me fight again.”
“Half your ribs!?” said Montook in alarm.
I nodded. “Yep. Didn’t even win the fight. The Utihilic wanted to make me a member of his pack, though. He was impressed that such a small soft creature was able to even match him!”
Montook slapped his tail to the floor in amusement. “Humans seem to have a knack for impressing everyone.”
“We just adapt well. Our own world came up with some weird cultures. Most of this alien stuff makes more sense than they did!”
Montook looked positively alarmed at that. His eyes turned a brilliant, vibrant green.
“It’s true. Now, eat your bugs.”
Montook looked down at the food for a moment before he hesitantly reached out for his utensils. He was using two flat sticks, similar to Earth chopsticks but much wider. With one in each of the hands on his right side, he efficiently trapped food between them.
I was using a good old fashioned fork.
Silently, the two of us ate. The worms were perfect, not that Yantz would have let anything less leave his shop.
“This is interesting. It is sweeter than I expected,” said Montook after a few minutes of silence.
“You like it?” I asked.
“I’m not sure. Is this food native to your world?”
I shook my head. “Nope, although there’s not much left from my world. We destroyed most of it before we joined the Coprit. We’re getting some of it back, but by this point I’m used to everyone else’s food.”
I held up the head of the worm.
Montook looked at it for a moment, and waggling my eyebrows, I crunched down on it.
He rolled all four of his eyes.
“It’s protein, but I think I prefer actual meat,” he said as he took another bite of his, which was something closer to mealworms.
The two of us continued to eat in silence.
“So why are you a brawler?” I asked between bites.
Montook blinked. “What?”
“You don’t seem like the normal type of brawler.” I paused, searching for the right words. “You’re a little too nice.”
His eyes went dark blue. “I, uh, did some training when I was small. Or rather, smaller. I had issues with some of my peers when I was being reared.”
I smiled slightly at that. “Schoolyard bullies?”
He frowned and listened to his translator for a moment. “Something similar.”
He sighed and put his utensils down.
“I dropped it when I went into higher education. I just received my Proficiency in structural engineering. Now that it’s ticked off of my accomplishments in life, though,” he wiggled his tail side to side, “now I’m ready to find a wife. I’m small, so it’s difficult. I hardly measure up, and the few times I’ve gone in for matching, the Matchmaker’s have all but laughed at me.”
“What happens if the Matchmakers don’t find you a wife?”
Montook paused, a piece of food half way to his mouth.
“Then I don’t get a wife. My species has a limited number of females. Humans have the more common 50/50 division of the genders, yes?”
I nodded.
“We have a more skewed split. 75/25 of males to females.”
“That’s quite a divide,” I said.
“What about you?” he asked.
“What about me?”
“Do you have a husband, or the Human equivalent?”
“No, I don’t have a boyfriend,” I said, looking down at my food.
“Are you looking for one?”
Smiling, I shook my head. “Not at the moment.”
“Why not?”
“I don’t know, I just haven’t found the right guy.”
“What is it that a Human male needs to impress a female?” asked Montook.
“That’s a question that Human males have been trying to answer for centuries. For most women, though, it’s simple. A nice guy who appreciates her.”
Montook frowned and his tail curled up. “That is difficult for Human males to do?” he asked.
“You’d be amazed how difficult they make it out to be.”
Our conversation was interrupted by a small beep.
I glanced down and pulled my shirt to the side slightly. The indicator on the stimulator was green.
Reaching into my shirt, I pulled it off of my skin and set it down on the table.
Montook looked at it and then at me. “You’re healed?!”
I raised my left arm in response and rolled my shoulder. “Yep.”
“Wow.”
Frowning, he took the small stimulator off of the table and quickly sprayed it with a bottle he produced from somewhere, disinfecting it and the table.
“You’re good to go now, debt repaid,” I said.
“I guess so.”
He remained still for a moment. “Are you telling me to leave?”
“Nah. If you’re going to keep cleaning, I might just keep you!”
His eyes darkened at that, his version of a blush I guess.
“It’s getting late. If you want to crash on the couch, you’re welcome to it.”
He looked over at it. “I uh, sure.”
He paused.
“Can I clean it first?”
“Yeah, you probably should clean it first.”
Montook nodded. “Thank you in any case.”
CopRit Empire, Halfil
Sol 08 Of Race 4 Year 4958
Downtown, New Baltimore
“Ow! Stop!”
“You need to remain still!” said Montook as he pushed me back down onto the couch.
“I’m fine, you’re the one hurting me!” I growled.
The alien glared at me for a moment. That would have distressed him on the first day we had met, but now he was immune to most of my complaints.
“Hulhin said you need to rest, and not put any pressure on the lacerations while they heal,” he growled.
“Both of you are overreacting aliens. A cut isn’t even as bad as a broken bone!” I complained.
“Amelia, just let me do this, alright? I injured you again!”
I rolled my eyes. “I was the one that told you not to hold back when we sparred. I am fine!”
Montook glared at me, and pointed back down at the couch.
“You will stay on this couch, and not move until the food is here!”
“Montook!”
“You will not move!” he said, thumping his tail on the floor to emphasize his point.
The two of us stared at one another for a moment.
“Fine,” I said, leaning back into the couch.
Montook looked at me for another moment, and apparently satisfied that I wasn’t going to move, he looked around the apartment.
“Really?” he asked.
“What?”
“You have somehow managed to undo all of the cleaning I did.”
I looked around the apartment. “It’s not that bad.”
“It really is,” he said as he got up and quickly started cleaning.
I leaned back into the couch and groaned. The cut down my chest wasn’t deep, but it was long. Montook’s staff had actually broken this time when I blocked, sending a shard of material at me. Still, I was fine, and he was overreacting.
“You made any progress?” I asked.
“On?” he asked as he picked up the remnants of last night’s meal with his tail and very carefully, as if it were radioactive, placed it in the trash.
“The wife.”
“Oh.”
He paused for a moment. “I went to the Matchmakers again.”
“And?”
“They gave me a one in thirty chance.”
I paused at that. “One in thirty isn’t never.”
“Feels like it,” he mumbled.
I paused, thinking. “What about aliens?”
“What about them?” he said, annoyed.
“Can you have an alien wife?”
Montook looked at me as if I had just sprouted another head, something that was usually impossible for most Humanoids.
“I, I never really thought about that.”
He looked down at himself. “What species would find me attractive besides my own?” he asked.
I shrugged. “You don’t look that weird to a Human. You got some extra arms, a tail, and your face is a little predatory, but nothing really that weird from our perspective.”
Montook glanced over at me. “Do you find me attractive?”
“I don’t not find you attractive,” I said, evading the question. “What about me? You were the one who snuck into my room while I showered.”
“I was putting clothing away!” said Montook, his tail going up and eyes yellow, distressed.
I smiled. “That’s not an answer.”
“Your breasts are larger than the females of my species, and your head is odd, especially those tendrils on it.”
He tapped his tail several times on the floor. “I repeat your response. I don’t not find you attractive.”
The two of us looked at one another for several more moments.
“So,” I said.
Montook started to clean again, albeit a little more slowly.
“Do you have something a little less permanent than ‘wife’?” I asked.
Montook nodded. “Yes. When a Matchmaker is not involved, the two are mate-seekers.” He paused, and turned away from me.
“Humans have something similar: boyfriend and girlfriend.”
“What would that entail?” asked Montook, not even bothering to put off the pretense any longer.
“Going out to events together, maybe living together, getting to know one another… sex…” I said.
Montook dropped the bottle of cleaner he was holding. “Sex?!”
“Yes,” I said slowly, unsure how to interpret his response.
“That, that is unexpected,” he said.
“The females of my species only allow copulation after marriage. They do not wish to be taken advantage of.”
“Your species is a Matriarchy?” I asked.
He listened to his translator. “The females lead, yes. That is why the selection process is so strenuous, they have a large pool to choose from.”
“Huh. With modern Humans, they usually have sex before pledging to share their lives. We’re fairly equal in demographics, so we need to ensure that we’re compatible with our mates in all things.”
“Including sex?” asked Montook.
It seemed that even if he hadn’t had sex, he was still male.
“Including sex.”
He absorbed this information and his eyes shifted towards blue.
“Amazing, but are we compatible?” asked Montook.
“That’s up to both of us. I think we are. Fair warning, though, you might get stuck helping me clean, it’s been a personality flaw since I was a child.”
Montook looked down at the floor. “As far as flaws go, it is a rather small one.” He paused and took a step towards me.
“I think we’re compatible.”
I smiled. “Good.”
“Are you ready?” asked Montook from the other side of the bedroom door.
“One minute!” I shouted.
It seemed that given the prospect of breaking a celibate streak, Montook was a little eager. Hopefully the same amount of vigor he demonstrated in our sparring sessions would hold out here, without the broken bones.
Peeling the last of the bandages from my skin, I looked at the cut. The rapid healing substances had done their job; all that remained was a faint pink irritation which would fade by morning. Peeling off the rest of my clothes, I considered grabbing the one sexy set of lingerie I had, but then I wasn’t sure if Montook would like it or not, and he might lose his nerve having to take clothes off of me.
Walking over to the door, I pulled it open.
Montook blinked and looked down at me. “You are naked.”
“Do you not get naked for sex?” I asked.
“The males do, females not very often.”
“Well I’m Human, we don’t like to do the nasty with clothes.”
Turning around I strode back towards my bed and sat down on it.
Montook slowly followed, his eyes flicked over to the mess of clothes in the corner but he wisely said nothing.
“I’m assuming the anatomy translates well? The breasts and the sex are both erogenous zones?” asked Montook.
I blinked. “Yes, although you don’t have to be so clinical. In fact, please don’t be.”
He nodded, and attacked.
Jumping forwards, he threw me back onto the bed, and pinned my hands to the bed with two if his own.
“Montook!”
He paused and looked down at me. “Yes?”
“What was that?”
He looked scared now. “I uh, did what I was taught! The woman is to be pampered and the man is to take all responsibility for the pleasure of an encounter.”
“You learned?” I asked.
“It is one of the many skills a prospective mate is expected to learn.”
“Tell me you didn’t go to a class about how to treat a woman in bed,” I said, laughing slightly.
He nodded. “I did.”
I blinked.
“Your culture is weird, although I can think of quite a few Human males who should probably take the class.”
He looked at me quizzically. “I thought I did something wrong, though!”
“You surprised me, no offense but you haven’t been very aggressive up until now. For Humans, though, we try to share the pleasure of an encounter.”
Montook nodded his head, taking this in.
“Alright, what should I do then?” he asked.
“Well you’re doing fine. Like I said, you surprised me.”
“Continue, then?” he asked.
I nodded.
Keeping my arms pinned, Montook slowly brought his other three finger hands up to my breasts. Weighing them in his own hands, he slowly moved them around. He had said mine were larger than the ones on his own species; rather amazing, considering mine weren’t that large – the amount of brawling and fighting I did restricted them in size. Still they seemed to fascinate him.
A finger passed over my nipple and I gasped.
“Good?” he asked.
I nodded.
He smiled and continued his ministrations, his hands experimentally stroking my skin. His eyes were now almost completely black; it was interesting looking up at him as he experimented. His focus was solely on me, despite his obvious excitement.
“Montook?”
“Yes?” he asked.
“I’m going to surprise you.”
“What?”
I didn’t respond instead I quickly broke his grip and spun the two of us around on the bed. Montook’s tail lashed out in distress, but he otherwise didn’t react. Half a second later he was where I had been, and I had two of his arms pinned.
“Amelia, I don’t know what to do here!” he said, sounding faintly distressed.
“I do!” I purred down at my alien.
Slowly, very slowly, I moved his pants down, and raising my hips up lowered myself on him. Montook’s four eyes went very wide and he let out some sort of strangled honk.
“Wow!” he breathed.
“Wow indeed, you’re not short!”
“I am short though, I’m a meter below average,” Montook said, confused.
I smiled, and looked down at him. “You’re not short.”
Yawning, I opened my eyes to see the bed beside me was empty.
Sitting up, I looked around, wondering where Montook had gone. I very much doubted he had run off.
Grabbing an overly large shirt from the floor, I stumbled out of my bedroom. Montook was in the kitchen; he glanced up as I walked towards him. Half of the contents of my stasis unit were on the counter.
“Montook?” I asked.
“Half of the food in here has gone bad! I have to throw it away!” he said.
“Alright, but why are you sorting my stasis unit?”
He frowned. “Ah, I was going to make breakfast for us! But you didn’t have anything beyond meal bars. So I ordered out for something I thought you would like.”
As if timed, there was a knock on the door.
Going over, I opened it. Some alien species with a lot of quills and shaped like a dog held up a box to me.
“Your order!” it grumbled.
“Thanks.” I took the box and the creature trundled off; Montook had apparently already paid.
Looking down, I groaned. The Chinese I had ordered last night was sitting by the door, no doubt spoiled now. Picking it up and adding it to the pile of trash that Montook had created, I set the box of breakfast down on the table.
“What did you get?” I asked.
“Something from Earth I thought looked interesting!” said Montook. Hurrying over, he popped the box open.
“Donuts?”
His tail stilled. “Do you not like them?”
Reaching in, I grabbed a cinnamon one and bit into it.
“Sweet.”
I offered it to him and he took a bite, carefully avoiding my hands.
“This is a breakfast?” he asked as he smacked his lips.
“We like sweet,” I said, defending Humanity.
“You certainly do,” muttered Montook as he leaned over and kissed me.