CopRit Empire, Halfil
Sol 78 Of Race 3 Year 4958
Suburbs, New Baltimore
I looked back up at the shopkeeper, the small Human was trying to appear unconcerned. Not that I could really blame ‘him’- glancing over at the human I checked the chest. It was a male, the chest did not protrude and there was hair on his face.
“These.” I held my data tablet out to the human looked at it.
“Roses?” he asked a smile spreading across his face exposing his teeth.
“Roses.” I confirmed.
He moved his head up and down, a motion I was fairly sure meant he was thinking. Moving towards the back of his shop the Human opened a stasis unit and pulled out several of the plants I had shown him.
He held them out to me. Carefully so as to not clip the skin of the creature I reached out and took the floral specimens form him. Holding them in my forward talons I looked at the dainty things, it hardly seemed like enough. Nervously I shifted on my feet and looked back at the human.
“This is it?” I asked.
“That’s one order, do you want more?” he asked, being careful with his tone. Humans usually had to fight off the instinct of being terrified of my species. On average we out massed them several times over and few civilized species remained as in tune with their predatory instincts as Yrnig. This human shopkeeper was doing rather well actually barely glancing at my talons and feathers.
The descriptions I had heard from most humans were that we looked like dinosaurs, some ancient creature that had roamed their world before being forced into extinction by a cataclysmic event.
“More yes, at least five times this.” I said holding up the small number of plants.
The human quickly shot back to the stasis unit and retrieved more of the roses. Bringing them out he set them on the counter and quickly added up the bill.
I nearly blanched at the price, but then again the plants were very rare considering the state of the Human home world. Still it was an exorbitant price.
My tail hitting the ground in annoyance I waved my credit chip over the counter and picked up the plants. They were small things, and appeared to have thorns on their side. The bulbs at the top were a vibrant red, a color that humans associated with romance from what I understood.
Trudging back to my transport I carefully set the plants down in the passenger seat and looking at my data tablet frowned at the next thing on the list.
‘Chocolates’ in a box that was heart shaped, or rather shaped like the exterior back of a female human, the box wasn’t actually shaped like the heart organ. From what the list said humans associated their hearts and apparently feminine backsides with love. I suppose without talons to defend a mate or fight off rivals with they had to use something else. Still I liked the old fashioned talons representation better, it was simple and direct.
Caress the female and lover with them and slash at the rivals. It was simple.
Finding a human store that specialized in the chocolates just a small hop away I plugged the coordinates into to transport and continued to read through the list as my transport rose up into the air and joined the rest of the light traffic.
I continued to read about human love and courtship practices as the transport moved. Humans even without talons or natural weapons seemed to be just a brutal as my own species when pursing love. They had tales of tragedy and happiness, of lovers betrayed and scorned to and they even seemed to glorify relationships where the lovers died in the end.
‘All is fair in love and war’ a phrase that seemed to describe human bonding behavior was apt, and it described how Yrnig felt as well. If you were pursuing a woman, you cared only for her favor and you felt as if you were on top of the world. Humans and Yrnig felt the same when it came to love, it was hard earned and a true love was rare.
Glancing up I realised the transport had landed, getting out I was once again confronted by the smaller confines of a human shop. I couldn’t really blame them, species specialty shops were usually built to accommodate aliens of a similar morphology to the host species, and Humans were thankfully within the midrange of mass while the Yrnig were one of the largest. It made navigating areas built for them difficult but not impossible.
Careful not to knock over any of the shelves I casually looked for the next item on the list. I spotted several things in the sweet shop that were close. A complete chocolate shaped like a heart, a bottle of something called maple syrup in a heart shaped botte, some small white candies shaped like hearts but no boxes of chocolate in heart shapes like what was on the list.
Going up to the counter, and accidentally hitting a shelf with my tail making it shake I startled the small Malhin behind the counter. From a distance it looked human but the nose was different and the clothes were closer to robes, a traditional garment for the species. Otherwise though they were morphologically identical to humans.
“Can I help you?” asked the Malhin, as he, or she glanced back at the shelf as I did to confirm nothing had been knocked to the floor.
“A box of chocolates, like this.” I held my data tablet up.
The Malhin smiled.
“Ah, we’ve got those over there.” He or she pointed over at the end of the counter where several dozen boxes of the things were stacked. Walking over to it I quickly found several dozen boxes at several different prices ranging from scarily cheap to insanely expensive. They were all shaped like hearts.
I had no idea what made chocolate a delicacy, but then getting what was cheapest usually didn’t end well. Picking up a box that was on the higher end of the spectrum I turned it over a few times and handed it to the clerk.
“That all?” asked the Malhin.
I glanced back down at my list double checking. “Yes.”
I ran my credit chip over the counter and careful of the shelves quickly exited the shop prize in hand. Their were still a few things on the list I needed to get.
Stepping out of the transport my feathers puffed up for a moment in distress, I quickly quelled the feeling though and pushed the feathers back down. I had managed to ask her for a mating contract and that had been more stressful, the fact that she was a different species had not been important. She had grown up on Ronan, been raised in my culture. She was Yrnig in everything but form. I had no reason to feel this nervous taking her out on a human ‘date’.
The fact that she was a small Human hadn’t prevented her from gaining prestige in both the Yrnig and Human communities. She worked in the embassy as a fixer, someone who solved the issue that might arise between our two species. The Yrnig and humanity had been inducted into the CopRit Empire together nearly 300 years ago and as a result we were close allies.
We still found each other alien, but the core concepts on which our cultures were built had been similar in the beginning and had remained so as we integrated with the CopRit.
Stepping up to the entrance to her dwelling I spotted the bell, and reaching out with my talon I carefully hit the middle one. It let out the correct tone for the occasion and I smiled. She might look human, but she was Yrnig in culture, as bad as my attempt at a human date might go we could always fall back on that.
The door opened and I smiled,
“Nilhin!” she leapt out and threw her arms around me, barely able to encircle my body with the limbs.
“Are you ready Takin?” I asked looking down at her face as she gazed up at me.
She was large for a Human, two meters and then some, but even so compared to my nearly three meter stature she was short.
She glanced down at her nakedness and frowned, “I have to dress.”
Humans wore ‘clothing’ and going out in public without it was something most humanoids avoided. If only because of their inefficient ability to properly regulate temperatures. With my feathers it was easy enough, and the only ‘clothing’ I had ever had to wear besides space suits were belts for holding objects. Even those got in the way of my feathers most often, which was beyond annoying. I had no idea how humanoids could tolerate wearing full body clothing all of the time and why they seemed to prefer it.
“First,” I held out the hand I had been keeping behind my back. I had seen a human male doing that before he presented his gifts to the female on one of the pictures.
Takin glanced down at them looking perplexed, “what’s this?”
“You’re Human I figured we should both try at least one Human date. See if we like it.”
Takin frowned and put her hands on her hips, a gesture that I had learned was usually bad.
“I’ve spent my whole life trying to get everyone to see me as Yrnig and you think this a good idea?”
“Well I’m not going to ignore that you’re different, we should at least try to integrate some of the Humans customs. You are a fixer after all.”
“In diplomatic and legal matters, I don’t know that much about human courtship customs!” said the irate woman.
I smiled, “you are curious though, aren’t you?”
She sighed, and reaching out took the chocolates and flowers.
For a moment the two of us stood there unsure what to do.
“So uh, did you read up on what I’m supposed to do with these?” she asked holding the plants up.
I frowned and reaching around pulled my data tablet out and looked at the list again. For a few tense seconds I read through it and I felt my plumage flatten out.
“Uh, I don’t know.”
She held the flowers for several moments and then shrugged, stepping around me she trudged out into the yard of her small home and looking around for a moment put her hands in the dirt digging a small hole.
“You got the talons you want to do this while I get dressed?” she asked.
“Sure, what about the chocolates?” I asked.
She glanced down at the box she had set on the ground next to the hole she was digging.
“I am not eating all of those right now.”
I frowned as well and glanced down at it. It seemed small to me, but then she was the better judge of her intake.
“Alright. I guess just leave them then?” I asked.
“Yeah, we’ll do that.”
She took the box and strode back inside her home, turning back to the ground and the plants I knelt down and continuing to dig the hole she had started with her soft hands. I quickly deepened it and doubled what she had accomplished.
Looking at the flowers for a moment I tried to figure out which side to put into the ground, all of the pictures had shown the humans presenting them with the red part prominent, but then it represented love so maybe that was the part that was supposed to take root? I wasn’t sure.
Figuring I could split my losses I put half of them in the dirt red side down and the other half red side up and quickly repacked the dirt.
“I’m ready Nilhin!”
Turning around I looked over at Takin, she was dressed in the normal garb that I saw her in when she was at the embassy. A large flowing robe that was tight to her form but flared out at her waist, turning into what I think was called a dress.
It was styled to emulate a Yrnig’s feather pattern. It did not have cleanly defined feathers, but rather what you would see if you looked on at a distance, around her arms were small belts and pouches like my own for holding things.
“You look beautiful!” I said.
She smiled displaying her teeth, “Thank you.”
She shifted in the clothes and swept her hands at her hair that was cut down to her shoulders. Like my feathers the stuff regrew all of the time, but she and every other Human apparently had to cut it off at regular intervals; it didn’t molt like feathers would until it was unmanageably long.
It was also so numerous that she didn’t notice when she lost parts of it which I always found in odd places around her dwelling. Which was annoying to say the least.
Some humans particularly the women would wear paint or sometimes metal on their bodies, none of that was present on Takin though, at least not from what I could smell. I liked that she didn’t try to disguise her scent, her human physiology was very poorly adapted to hide emotions at a physiological level. Every change in her emotions gave off a different scent, a different rush of blood, every shift precipitated by something.
It had taken a long time to learn what every difference meant, but it had been worth it.
“What restaurant are we going too?”
“A Human Italitinin restaurant.”
She nodded her head, “sounds interesting.”
“All of the human date guides suggested it. The other recommendation was to take you to see a play or visual novel, but then you can hardly sit still in the embassy offices I didn’t think that would be a good idea.”
Takin made the chuckling sound, agreeing with me. She was infamous for her ability to even with her smaller stature and less predatory build match a Yrnig in strength. She lacked the same speed but then her frame was completely different. She was not inclined to be still for any amount of time, and she always seemed to be vibrating with energy.
The two of us clambered into the transport and I set the coordinates of the restaurant into the computer.
CopRit Empire, Halfil
Sol 78 Of Race 3 Year 4958
Vices District, New Baltimore
“Hello and welcome to Nellos!” said a small Human woman as the two of us as we stepped into the restaurant.
When I say small, I meant really small. She was one of the smallest Humans I had ever seen at perhaps maybe 1 and a half meters at most. Even Takin was leaning down to look at her. Humans had one of the widest natural deviations in that regard it seemed..
“Do you have a reservation?” asked the woman apparently unfazed by the two of us. Normally humans were somewhat hesitant of me, but this woman as small as she was appeared to be completely at ease glaring up at me. It was disconcerting, I had grown used to the slight reservation of the species as a way to gain the upper hand when speaking.
“Uh, yes. Nilhin.” I said stepping forwards. It had been a part of the guide, apparently some human restaurants were so popular and had so few seats that they saved them for people whom called ahead.
“Give us a moment, we’re going to have to rearrange some tables, do you need a chair?” she asked looking at me.
“No, a carpet will do.”
“Right this way then!” she said still cheery.
She listened to something on a headset for a moment and then quickly motioned for us to follow her back.
Curious the two of us looked around the establishment. Humans and quite a few humanoids were all seated at different tables. Most paired off to a table for themselves, a single candle placed in between most patrons, their food on small plates directly in front of them.
The restaurant was dim, and I was amazed that any of the humans could navigate in it. I had been led to believe that their night vision was atrocious.
I knew humans liked to eat in smaller groups then Yrnig, but I hadn’t thought that would be groups of two! One human female in a rumpled cargo trawlers jumpsuit in the corner appeared to be eating alone a small data tablet in her hand the only companion.
“Will this work?” asked the small woman pointing at a table where a chair had been removed and an intricate looking carpet placed on one side of it on the opposite from the chair. It clashed slightly with the rest of the décor, a mat with hugely complex and symmetrical designs with tassels on two sides of it.
“Yes it will work.” Said Takin.
“Perfect, your server will be out in a moment for your orders.”
The woman placed two data pads down on the table and listening to her headset again quickly rushed off.
Takin and I glanced at one another, going over to the table first I relaxed down on the carpet which put me at a reasonably approximate height of the other Humans in the room. Takin muttered something under her breath and taking the chair moved it around the table so she was right next to me instead of across the table from me.
I liked that. Even if it wasn’t exactly the Human custom I was used to sitting next to her at the common table. She paused and turned to glare at me expectedly, I consciously flattened the feathers on my side and smiling she leaned in against me.
“What do we do with these?” she asked picking up the tablet that the woman had left.
“Ah, I read about these. The cooks will prepare what you request from the tablet at these types of Human restaurants.” I said. As I picked up my own showing her the variety of meals.
“Seems wasteful,” she said with a frown.
“It is, Humanity never went through the kinds of food shortages we did though. Your home world was always much more plentiful in the way of food.”
A Yrnig table would have all of the guests at a public eatery sitting around the same table, food being whatever was available and had been prepared for all to share.
She looked at the ‘menu’ for several moments I glanced back at my own as well, although it was translated I still had no idea what most of the things were despite my research. Human cuisine as insanely complex, a result of the fractured cultural development of the planet. Different humans in different geological areas had developed different foods based on the materials available to them.
“I have no idea what to get. I’ve only heard of a few of these things.” Said Takin as she flipped through her own, she looked just as perplexed as I felt.
“Let me check something,” I pulled out my own tablet and quickly scrolled through the list I had been going off of. Curious Takin leaned over to read it as well.
“We can ask for the chief recommendation.” I said pointing at the line where it detailed the scenario where neither member of the date knew what to order.
“So that would be what the cook thinks is best?” she asked.
“Sounds like it.”
“Let’s go with that then.” She set the tablet down.
A human, male this time came over to our table.
“Can I start the two of you off with drinks?” he asked. “We have several fine vintages of wine, or I can bring out champagne.”
“Just water,” said Takin.
The man nodded, “Alright, would you like to hear our specials?”
“Specials?” I asked, “Whatever the chief recommends is what we’ll have. Neither of us have had Italitinin before.”
“Italian,” corrected the man, “the current recommendation is a meat based pasta dish, Pasta Milano would that be agreeable with you?”
I glanced over at Takin, she nodded. The Human took the two tablets with the menu, and turning picked up some other stuff off of a tray and put it down on the table before bustling off.
“Is that dinner?” asked Takin looking down at the rectangular foodstuff and the small bowl of separated liquids.
“I think it’s an appetizer, something humans eat before the main meal.”
“Ah, alright.”
Reaching out Takin picked up the small bowl and sipped at it.
“Bleh!” her face scrunched up producing a few dozen more wrinkles in it and she coughed.
“No to that.” She put the bowl down.
Looking around the restaurant I saw several humans looking at us oddly, one human who was sitting so he was directly facing me very pointedly reached out took a piece of the rectangular foodstuff off of the main hunk in front of him and dipped it in the bowl before eating it.
I politely raised and lowered my feathers quickly in thanks and emulating him reached forward to rip a piece of the rectangular foodstuff off. Looking down at the bowl Takin had taken a sip of I dipped the spongy material in and popped it into my mouth.
It was oily, and very salty. Not overpoweringly so but defiantly an alien flavor. The texture was especially odd.
“So that’s what it is.” Said Takin watching me.
She copied me and I watched as she chewed on the food curious.
Her eyes widened and she smiled, “that’s good!”
I chortled my tail slapping at the ground, “This is your species food I think they would have what your taste buds will like.”
“I guess so.” She mumbled her mouth still full of the material.
Picking up the small bowl again she poured the liquid over the hunk of spongy foodstuff and dividing it up handed 3/4ths of it to me. Both of us quickly and efficiently devoured the alien food, I still wasn’t completely sold on the taste but the texture was at least pleasant.
Finishing her food first Takin leaned against me, careful to not disturb my plumage to much she relaxed and sighed. At meals she would usually settle against me for warmth, a practice that most Yrnig mates enjoyed and one I was particularly glad seemed to be shared with humans.
Several of the humans in the restaurant were staring at us, for what I had no idea this time but whatever it was it had to be a minor faux pa since no one looked scandalized, just stunned.
“You know, this was a nice idea. Learning more about Humanity beside the laws and how they interact with the Coprit. It will be useful in fixer situations.”
I turned my head to look at her, “You’ve never been curious about them? They are your kin.”
“I’ve been curious sure, but most of them seem to be convinced that they need to fix me and make sure I’m human inside and out. I’m Yrnig on the inside,” she raised hand and turned it around in front of the both of us. The dull half talons on the ends of her fingers flashed in the dim light.
“On the outside I’m human, on the inside though I’m something different. You’ve always been able to see that, and I can’t help but feel like I’m incredibly lucky.”
I was silent for a moment considering. My tail gently came up and careful of the spikes I let it wrap around her. She put a soft hand on it.
“I do see you as Yrnig, but you’re human as well. That’s not something you can deny. It’s part of the reason I thought we should try some human things, I don’t love you because you’re a Yrnig in a human body, but because you’re you.”
Takin looked up at me and I noticed a small amount of liquid around her eyes, something I had only seen when we had to attend a burial ceremony for a friend.
“Takin?” I asked not sure what to make of it.
She moved her head side to side, “I’m fine. The tears are for any large emotional response.”
She hesitated, “Are you serious Nilhin?”
“I am, you don’t have to prove you’re Yrnig, not to me or anyone. If you want to try some human things, or something from any other culture I’m perfectly fine with it.”
She nodded, “It’s hard though, being stuck between two worlds. Sometimes I feel like I don’t belong anywhere.”
I was silent for a moment considering her words. She leaned further into me and I felt her breath tickling at the very lower reaches of my plumage.
“You belong with me, I know that much.” I said.
She snorted and ruffled my feathers, making them stick out at odd angles.
“That was incredibly cliché.”
“So? Besides you set me up for that one, how could I not?” I asked as I tightened my tail around her.
Takin simply tilted her head up and closing her eyes smiled. Her face looked almost the same as it did when she slept, an innocent blankness on it.
“Your dinner.” Said the man from before, I glanced up at the sound of his voice looking away from Takin.
He was carrying a large tray on which the food sat. Balancing that he quickly set the two plates of food down in front of us and bowing slightly exited with the tray. For several moments the two of us looked down at the food, I had to be completely honest it looked like the entrails of an animal. White in color, full of what looked like intestines and with odd chunks of meat.
The aroma it was giving off was delectable though offsetting the odd appearance.
“So you have to use utensils for this right?” I asked reaching out and picking up the metal instruments the other patrons were using.
It was difficult to do so with my talons though, the metal so small and thin. Takin of course had no issues picking them up.
“These I know about, I had to go to some Human diplomatic functions. A whole heck of a lot of the food Humans eat needs them.”
She fumbled with the utensil for a moment trying to seat it on her hand correctly before apparently satisfied she stabbed the metal into the food in front of her. Most of it slid away from the metal but she managed to spear one piece of the food.
Raising the metal and the food on it up to her mouth she carefully bit the food off. She chewed it for a moment and smiled, “It’s good!”
She put the utensil back down again stabbing another piece of the meal.
Turning to my own plate I decided to forgo the metal thing. Being careful I stabbed a talon into the mass of food and speared some of it. Looking at it again, trying to get past the fact that it looked slimy I felt my feathers go flat.
This had been my suggestion after all, I couldn’t back out now at trying some of the odd human food.
Biting the food off of my talon I quickly chewed at it, I had been right it was slimy, and very salty. The pasta thing at least. The meat that was mixed in with it was alright if somewhat soft compared to what I usually had.
“You like it?”
“I’m not sure yet.” I said and reaching down I stabbed another piece. “I am going to have to get something else after this though, the portions a little small.”
Takin nodded, “You’ve got the mass of two or three humans. I got some Yanhin back in the stasis unit at my home you can have some of that afterwards.”
“Does that mean I am going to get to come back inside when I drop you off?” I asked.
Takin smiled and put a hand down on my tail, “It does. You were right about this being a good idea, I should learn more about being Human.”
She put the fork down on the table, “Still some things are done better the Yrnig way.” Reaching out with her hands she picked up the food and a sparkle in her eye popped it into her mouth.
CopRit Empire, Halfil
Sol 78 Of Race 3 Year 4958
Vices District, New Baltimore
Stepping out of the transport Takin groaned.
“You alright?”
She nodded, “The Human food has a lot of spices in it. I guess I’m not handling it very well.”
Shaking her head again as if trying to rid an annoying insect she trudged up to her front door which sensing her approach automatically opened. Following her in I streaked towards the kitchen, the human food had been alright but the sliminess was too difficult to get around. I had only eaten maybe half of the already meager meal and it only made me hungrier.
Reaching into her stasis unit I pulled out the offered Yanhin, a solid chunk of meat which had been cured. Slicing it with my talons I quickly ate half of it.
“Ahh, that’s better.” Said Takin, I glanced around to see that she had taken the coverings off displaying her skin again. Why the humans wore things like that I had no idea, she certainly seemed to be more comfortable without them on.
“We’ll have to do something like that again,” she said as she stretched and bent her body in what was apparently a relaxing manner. It always amazed me how flexible she was, something that we both enjoyed when it came to other activities.
“I agree, even if the food was weird.”
Takin nodded and reaching into her stasis unit took out the oddly shaped box containing the chocolates. Popping it open she extracted one of the small brown things and popped it into her mouth. Her eyes widened slightly and she moaned in a way that I had only ever heard from her in the nest.
“I take it they’re good?” I asked.
She nodded and pulled out another one quickly devouring it.
“I can see why the human males bring these to prospective mates, a woman might fall for him just with chocolates alone!”
She offered me the box, “No thanks, I’ve had enough of the human food.”
“Your loss.”
Closing the box and tossing it back into the stasis unit Takin glanced back at me and slowly walked out of the room putting an exaggerated bounce on her steps making the flesh of her body move. She glanced back at me and very deliberately ran a hand through her hair, making it stick up slightly. The signal we had agreed on offered arousal since she didn’t have the appropriate feathers to signal it naturally nor did she output the same pheromones.
Slowly I put the food back in the stasis unit, and braving the box of chocolates snagged one and quickly popped it in my mouth.
It was a sweet little thing, with an odd nutty flavor. I could definitely learn to like them though.
Closing the stasis unit I followed the woman who would one day be my wife towards the nest. She didn’t look back at me as she strode forwards, playing coy.
It was a trait that judging from the males of almost any species I had interacted with appeared to be fairly universal much too every male’s annoyance. The teasing of females went across almost all of the species in the CopRit. An evolutionary thing most likely.
I paused at the entrance to her nesting room, she settled in the small bowl that was her nest. It was one of the few examples where her human tendencies were most evident. Instead of the cool sand or small rocks that were traditional for Yrnig bed hers was lined by a multitude of pillows and other such soft materials.
It was at least not a human bed, I couldn’t imagine curling up on one of those flat things.
Standing at the entrance to the room I let my tail scratch back and forth along the floor as I waited. Takin finally settled into the nest looked over at me and smiled.
The invitation made I reached over and calmly turned off of the lights for the nesting room and slowly stalked forwards. Her eyes were not as well adjusted for darkness as my own, her species had evolved on a planet where on all but a few nights they had a night time sun, so their vision did not deal with complete darkness well.
My own planet nestled inside of a nebula hadn’t even seen the stars until we developed infrared telescopes.
She extended her arms in the darkness and I settled in next to her. The two of us for several minutes simply reveled in the warmth of one another. The nights on my world were cold, sand and desert scrub not retaining heat very well.
When we had first entered into our extra-species relationship it had taken some experimentation to find what was most pleasurable for my little human.
With a Yrnig female the stroking of the feathers on the back of the neck, legs, and tail were most often the key to success. With my little human though it was a little different.
With a single talon that I had purposefully ground down slightly to reduce the edge I stroked her hair and scalp. She smiled and slowly rolled on top of me, her breath on my chest and her hands moving around to stroke the feathers on the back of my neck.
It was amazing how thin each individual strand of hair was, her hair was almost like a liquid moving in every direction as I stroked it.
She let out a contented sigh and I slowly brought my tail around letting it wrap around one of her legs. She glanced up at me but didn’t say anything. Keeping the talon on her skin I slowly moved it down her back. She twisted around slightly granting me access to the area on her chest that I had only discovered quite recently would illicit the most dangerously enticing sound from her when stroked.
They were mammary glands, one of the sexual dimorphisms of the species. The human females would produce a nutrient rich liquid from the glands if they became pregnant and gave birth. Human offspring didn’t completely developed before birth due to issues in human maturation and extremely large heads for their evolutionary path needed to continue to rapidly develop after birth. The nutrient liquid the females produced aided that process of development in the young after birth.
The mammary glands were also extremely sensitive, and in most human cultures a sexually attractive trait. From what she had told me she had slightly larger than average sized ones for her stature, and as such had been told by other female humans in the embassy to not to let the males stare at them for too long.
Lightly I trailed the dulled talon first over the right one, and then the left careful to keep my touch gentle. Even dulled I could easily breach her delicate skin, and although we had several healers inside the nest underneath the many cushions I didn’t particularly enjoy injuring my mate.
She had tried to convince me that we needn’t stop out mating for small cuts but I was loathed to allow that.
She squeaked as I brought my talon over the small point on top of the mammary gland, and turning to me barred her teeth and growled.
Smiling I slowly removed my talon.
“You done teasing now?” she growled.
I looked up at my at my human mate the feathers around my face flattening out, “I can’t be called negligent in giving my mate attention can I?” I asked.
“No, but you certainly do drive her insane!”
With that she rolled back over and with only a small twist of her hips brought us together.
“Now it’s my turn to tease!” she hissed.
I looked up at her fearing the delicious torture she no doubt had in mind for me.
CopRit Empire, Halfil
Sol 78 Of Race 3 Year 4958
Vices District, New Baltimore
Waking up I stretched and let my feathers puff out.
I could hear the cleaning apparatus that Takin used, the shower as it was called running. Only a species that had evolved on a planet with so much water as Earth would clean themselves with it.
The rain of New Baltimore was bad enough to deal with, but intentionally wetting my feathers? I shuddered and slowly extricating myself from her nest crawled along the floor moving towards the door that led to the small back yard and stood.
Stepping out into the cool air of the morning I went over to the sand enclosure, she had replaced it only last week so it was still fresh. Lying down in it I slowly let the grit filter in through my feathers and I carefully began to scrub, reaching out I grabbed some of the perfumed salts that I had stored and added them to the sand.
The sand slowly heated as the sun rose and I filtered it through my feathers cleaning myself. I whipped my tail through it as well cleaning that and its scales polishing them to a shine.
Standing up I shook the sand away and went back into her nest room, Takin was out of the shower a towel around her head drying her hair.
“Good morning!” she said.
“Morning” I grumbled.
She smiled, “I’ve got the Helnit brewing.”
I perked up at that and followed her to the kitchen enticed by the smell of the brew.
Picking up a cup and pouring some of the invigorating beverage out I watched as Takin reached into the stasis unit and drew out the box from yesterday.
Smiling she opened it and popped a chocolate into her mouth.
Chewing on it for a moment she leaned over to me and pressed her lips to my lips. It was a human gesture, one that I had learned to enjoy.
I raised my Feathers in joy and let out a contented sigh tasting her kiss on my lips. It held her scent and taste, enhanced by a small bit of the chocolate’s sweetness.