New people! Can't get close? New people! New- Strange smell? New people!
"Zeke! Get down!" a woman with pixie-cut blonde hair ran towards the dog, who, though confused that he couldn't jump on Fireblade, was happy to meet her nonetheless. The woman grabbed him and pulled him back. "I am so sorry, he's dumb as hell, but harmless. Hi, I'm Sandra Jardin," she said as she reached out for handshake.
Beryl laughed as she shook her hand. "It is alright, he is very friendly. What kind of animal is he?"
"He's a 'dog'," Alex said, then in Trade, "A, uh, domesticated carnivorous mammalian quadruped."
"Alex, wouldn't be easier to speak in your language?" she replied in kind. "I would enjoy the practice."
"Well, I guess, but..." He glanced back at Fireblade, still regarding the dog with suspicion as it joyfully tried to find the end of the invisible wall that kept him from his new friend.
<If there is one thing I am enjoying about this, it is the near total mental solitude,> Fireblade said to Beryl. <Don't worry about not including me.> She put on something almost resembling a half smile.
~~~~+
"Well, I can run the AC a little harder than usual, no problem. We get plenty of solar power around here."
"Fireblade says she will stay in the small building beside the house," Beryl said. Sandra blinked.
"Honey, that's Zeke's," she said as she closed her eyes, and struggled not to smile, "She. Is not. Going to sleep. In the dog house. She can take the couch in the living room." She stood and waved towards Beryl, who followed her as did Alex. She pointed out a small room off the hallway. "You can have this room, Beryl."
"I'll just be right down the hall," Alex said.
"In his own room." Sandra regarded her son with a Look. "Alexander, I don't think I'm quite ready to have little blue grandchildren running around?"
"Mom!"
Beryl wrinkled her forehead as she parsed Sandra's words, then went wide-eyed.
~~~~
"Bro!"
Alex turned as a grin spread across his face. "Chris!"
If Alex fell short of the California surfer boy archtype, Chris Jones fulfilled his share of it and then some, a mop of shaggy blonde hair bleached almost white from the sun and a rich bronze tan, coupled with loose sandals, baggy flower print board shorts and a scandalously, to a loroi, wide-open shirt, complete with a cowry shell necklace dangling around his neck. "Sup, missus J!" he waved at Sandra. "How's it-?" He stopped as he noticed Beryl and Fireblade who regarded him with some shock.
"Hi, I'm Chris," he said as he turned on the charm and held out his hand, luckily to Beryl first, who shook it politely and smiled. He turned to Fireblade and proceeded to do them same.
"Ah, hold up man, not all of them shake hands," Alex said as he hurried to stop his extroverted friend before he wound up flying across the yard.
Chris lurched to a stop, put his hands up and stepped away. "Dude, this is nuts, first I hear about you meeting aliens, then you're, like, guiding a delegation of them, now here they are on your freakin' deck, this is totally wild, man!"
He bounced around almost as much as Zeke to Beryl's amusement and she couldn't hold back a grin; while Alex had been outgoing compared to most Loroi, Chris was so gregarious he made Alex seem reserved. He grabbed a beer out of the cooler and popped it open.
"Hey, but dude get this, when we heard you were back, and in town even, sweet, we had to come see you!" he said as he rushed back to the corner of the house. "Come on!" he said as he waved to someone.
"'We'?" Alex said as he halted from taking a seat.
With a sprint, a woman in miniscule scruffy blue shorts and, to Beryl's shock, a flimsy top made of little more than thin strands and two strategically placed triangular scraps of cloth stepped out from behind the house. Long flowing blonde hair, thin though well muscled, almost as tall as Fireblade, and definitely bigger in... certain ways than a Loroi, she practically jumped on Alex as she wrapped him in a hug.
"Staci?!" he said in shock. She nodded vigorously as she pulled back.
"Surprise!" she said with a huge smile.
"Wow, you're, uh, tall," Alex stammered. He turned to the group. "This is Chris' sister, Staci, she was a few years behind us in high school. Wow, you were like, barely up to-"
"Yup! Growth spurt, I'm even on the volleyball team now!" She flexed a bicep with a grin. "So who's your friends?"
Alex turned to Beryl and Fireblade. "This is Listel Tozet Beryl, and this is Teidar Pallan Fireblade," he said as he gestured to them.
"Oh em gee, it's you!" she shrieked as she recognized Fireblade. "That was sooooooo cool! When that dude, like, attacked you guys, in that park, and you did that thing, so freaking wicked! How did you do that?! Can you show me?"
Beryl struggled to relay her staccato outburst to Fireblade, who, taken aback at an alien rather than being wary of her and her abilities was genuinely interested in them, stared at the human girl unsure of how to take her reaction. Alex sat back down and shook his head in amusement at her confusion. "I believe she could demonstrate a little," Beryl said. Fireblade looked at her with a frown, then shrugged. She looked back at Staci standing by Alex's chair, smirked, and her eyes glowed for a second. To both Alex and her surprise, Staci was knocked backwards into his lap.
"Wow!" she said. "That was awesome! Did she ever have to do that to you?" she said as she turned to look at him with a pointed smirk.
"She, uh, might have," he replied.
"Ha! I knew it, you horn dog," she said and wriggled in his lap. Before Alex could protest in his defense, she shouted, "Chris! Gimme a bottle!"
Chris hesitated as he looked at Sandra, who pursed her lips then nodded with a smile. He grabbed another out of the cooler and tossed it to Staci, still in Alex's lap.
"Unf, it's stuck. Here, you open it," she said to Alex as she handed it to him. He chuckled and twisted it off, but due to the rough toss it exploded and doused them both in cool beer. She shrieked in glee and grabbed his hand to suck at the mouth of the bottle and stop the suds. They both laughed as Alex plucked at his now sticky shirt.
<I think you have some competition, listel.>
<What?> Beryl turned and stared at Fireblade.
<Nothing.> But her lips adopted a tiny smirk.
Hmmph, Beryl thought. <As if, she's far too wild for him.>
<Interesting. You know his tastes then?>
<I didn't say that!>
Having realized it was a lost cause, Alex pulled his shirt off. Beryl's mouth opened a little as her eyes widened.
<Don't have to say anything with you drooling like that. Same as you remember?>
<FIREBLADE!>
<My goodness, you are jealous! Although that feigned weakness? "Ooh, can you open this beverage, you're ever so much stronger than me!" Ugh.>
<It's... different with human women. Although I thought it was because they expect their men to pursue them, but she seems to be intent on pursuing Alex instead.> Beryl furrowed her brow in concentation as she observed Staci's behavior in growing fascination.
Fireblade rolled her eyes. Listels, she thought to herself.
"Alex, did you leave your phone off?" Sandra said. She held up a slim omnitab flickering with a call notice.
"Oh... shit," he said. He helped Staci out of his lap, hurried over to his mother, and took it from her hands.
"Ensign Jardin speaking," he said as professionally as he could manage. "Mizol Tempo? Hello, how are- ah. Alright. They're where? Shit, that's right at- Alright, I'll prep everybody." He keyed off the call.
"We got company," he said to Beryl and Fireblade.
~~~~
The twin six-wheeled carriers pulled up to a stop. Half a dozen soldiers piled out of each. Beryl frowned, raised her eyebrows in suprise, then shook her head.
"Alexander!"
"Hallo, enzin!"
Spiral and Talon followed their guards out of the carriers, waving at Alex. Something odd tugged at his perception until he realized what it was. All their guards were women.
He turned to Beryl. "Let me guess..." he said.
"Yes." Beryl stared at her two unexpected subordinates as they walked towards them. "...What are you wearing?" she actually said out loud from shock.
Talon was sporting a baggy, cropped T-shirt showing off her stomach as well as tight, low-rise blue jeans, while Spiral wore a short, billowy spaghetti-strap sundress that matched her hair, both outfits almost completely unknown in Loroi fashion, which tended towards the utilitarian or contemplative. Alex stared even harder than Beryl as he'd never seen them, or any Loroi for that matter, in anything but the standard armor or jumpsuits. Both of them carried duffle bags, no doubt full of their usual uniforms.
Spiral, who noticed him staring, did a little twirl. "You like, I think maybe?" she said as she neared. His mouth fell open, and he could only blink in reply.
<Spiral! Where are your undergarments, you leg spreader?!> Beryl sputtered as she finally broke from her usual professional demeanor.
<What? They're right there.> She looked down as she flipped her skirt up with a confused expression.
The miniscule thong nearly matched her skin, and Beryl struggled to think of a reply. <A strip of cloth that... thin doesn't look comfortable.>
<You don't notice them after a while.> Firebrand shrugged. All the loroi turned to look at her in surprise. <One of the companies Gregory represents manufactures undergarments. Though why decorative style would be applied to something unseen still baffles me.>
Alex shook his head to clear the image of Spiral flashing him as the lead soldier saluted him and held it until he realized and returned it. "Sergeant Winslow, reporting as ordered. Command wanted them to accompany you for the duration of your leave, sir," she said as she handed him a data pad. He looked it over; apparently the two of them were to stay with Beryl and Fireblade as part of a cultural attache unit. A little slim on the justification, and Alex suspected it had more to do with getting the two of them out of Mizol Tempo's hair than anything if he was reading the subtext of her message correctly. He grinned.
"Ah, it's not important, but I noticed your, uh, squad...?" he said unable to resist his curiosity.
The sergeant sighed. "Mizol Parat Tempo requested it," she said, then leaned in and lowered her voice, "since apparently they tended to be... distracting to the previously assigned men. Guards aren't very effective when they're paying more attention to what they're supposed to be guarding than their surroundings."
"And their uniforms?"
"They seemed intent on getting out of them after seeing all the different clothes in New York," she said as her smile grew, "Turns out these poor Loroi soldier girls have been stuck in jumpsuits, uniforms, and armor practically since birth." She shook her head. "That was fun at least. Ahem. Ah, we'll be taking two blocks of watch per day?"
"Oh, uh, yes, that's fine," Alex said. It slowly dawned on him that despite officially being on leave he had just unofficialy been returned to duty, and given his nominal status as an officer he had also been handed his first actual command. His expression fell as he hastily tried to bring up half-remembered leadership classes.
The NCO smiled. "Relax, sir," she said. "I'll take it easy on you. Just play 'follow the green' and you'll be fine." She nodded towards the loroi, "I think you're not the only one stuck with a surprise command."
Nearby Beryl glowered at Spiral and Talon, all of them audibly silent, but Alex suspected there was a heated conversation going on in the air given how the two newcomers were standing at some sort of attention, at least for them. If he was remembering correctly combat castes would normally not be placed under a non-combat officer, but it seemed that Loroi cross-discipline command structure fluctuated based on missions, and leadership responsibility was slightly fluid.
Fireblade, the highest ranking officer, though tasked to Beryl, mostly just looked slightly annoyed she wasn't going to get the break from sanzai she was hoping for.
He blew out a breath, then pulled himself up a little and walked over to meet the quard unit, who all came to attention in front of him. He nodded to them.
"At ease. Alright, we definitely don't have room in the house for everybody, so we'll have you set up in the backyard over there," he pointed, "Sergeant Winslow will have you in rotating twelves. I know," he said to the inaudible groans he studiously ignored, "but this is pretty light duty, gentleme-, soldiers. Simple, easy, and Teidar Fireblade is capable of handling most of it." He noticed they perked up at the mention of her name, and realized that Tempo's encouragement of Greg's idea towards making her a friendly face was already bearing fruit. "Any questions? Don't worry, you're sharp and you won't need them," he said, remembering, with a bit of heaviness in his heart, a catchphrase of Captain Hamilton. "Dismissed!"
As the soldiers split up and a pair of squad leaders started barking directions, he made his way back to Sergeant Winslow. "How'd I do?" he said.
"Not bad sir, though are you pretty used to the weather around here?" she said trying not to smile too broadly.
"Yeah, it's pretty dry, so while it's warm, it's real-" He groaned and slapped his forehead as he realized he'd given his first address as a commanding officer shirtless. So used to the chilly loroi spaceships he'd forgotten himself luxuriating in the warmth of the California summer. He'd wondered why a few of the soldiers had been struggling not to smile.
The sergeant laughed and punched his shoulder. "Hey, at least they probably couldn't smell the beer!"
Alex groaned again.
~
As the sun set and the fireflies came out, Alex rested on the back steps of the deck. English and Trade alternated back and forth by the cabins set up in the yard. He nodded as Winslow sat down next to him.
"At least two of them are fluent enough to get by in Trade," she said to him as she opened a can of seltzer. "Should be enough to have one on duty at all times, and I can get by okay too. So what's this I hear about a photoshoot tomorrow?"
Alex shook his head. "I'm sorry you got stuck with such a dog and pony show, Winslow."
"Ah, it's a nice change of pace from drills," she replied. "Uh, sir."
"Oh god, don't start that, it was bad enough trying to get the Loroi not to call me 'captain' after..." he trailed off and watched the stars twinkle into view far above the dancing fireflies.
"How about Jardin?" she said, then softer, "My condolences. That's gotta be a hell of a thing. Have, uh, they reassigned you yet?"
"No, and I'm not sure how I feel about another berth," he said as he shook his head.
"That's not up to you," she said with a sterner tone. "You know that. Although being the most Loroi-experienced person on Earth? Might wind up in an embassy."
"Oof. I don't know how I'd feel about that either," he grimaced.
"If you think this is a dog and pony show, hoo boy," she said with a smirk. "Although you'd get to spend a lot of time around Loroi and something tells me you wouldn't mind that."
Tired, he missed her hint. "Yes, ma'am, ah, sergeant," he sighed. "Honestly, I don't know I can handle all of... this." He gestured around vaguely. "Like know why the Loroi started calling me 'Captain'? Because I was the last surviving member of my crew, so technically that was my official rank at that point." His voice started to break a little. "Then their representative, actually the Mizol with them now, told me I was Humanity's diplomat with plenipotentiary powers, jesus christ, do you have any idea what *that* felt like? Diplomat? I'm a twenty year old ensign, me having those responsibilities was a complete fluke! I- I'm not ready."
"I disagree, Enzin Alexander Jardin," a voice behind him said. They turned to see Beryl standing in the doorway. She walked over, and sat down next to him as she put a hand on his shoulder. "Since I've met you, you have met your responsibilities as bravely as was possible given the circumstances every time."
"I think you should listen to her," the sergeant said. "Because admitting you're worried you can't handle everything is the sign of a good officer. Just, uh, not in front of your unit, of course." Then as she looked closer at the petite loroi focused on Alex, "He's a good boy, ma'am. I'll leave him in your care. Sir, permission to turn in?"
"Permission granted, you are dismissed, Sergeant Winslow," he said as he suppressed a laugh and returned her half mock salute. She headed towards the cabins.
He turned to Beryl. "Thanks for the support," he said.
"You deserve it," she said, and moved her hand from his shoulder to his own, taking it in both of hers. The touch of her cool skin relaxed him.
For a minute or two they sat in silence and watched the day turn to night. The stars, filling in the sky with the sun gone and the moon not yet risen, reflected off her violet eyes, and he couldn't believe just how beautiful she seemed to him at that instant, but then his doubts from the last few days filled his head. Impossibly, it seemed like she sensed his hesitation, and biting her lip she touched his cheek unasked, as intimate a movement as she had ever dared.
"Alex?" she said. "Are you alright?"
"Beryl..." he began. But in this setting, with his unexpected new responsibilities, could he risk something so precious as their friendship no matter how strongly he wished they could be more? Without any kind of encouragement from her, it was such a chance, and he knew he couldn't. Not for the first time, but by far the strongest he'd ever felt it, he wished that he could sanzai with her. In fact, he wanted nothing less than to lean in and kiss her.
"I... I should get to sleep, I'm in command, and they'll probably need me up early tomorrow," he said as he pulled himself away from her eyes. Beryl nodded without reply. He stood and went inside.
She sighed and stared out over the lush grass and to the woods beyond the cabins. She frowned and squinted. Several small green lights hovered near them, seeming to point towards where her and Alex had been sitting together a moment before.
<Those had better not be light amplification devices!> she sanzai'd in the general direction of Spiral and Talon.
"Shit!" a voice said, and with some muffled snickering the lights flicked off.
~~~~
Alex, I want you, Beryl, standing in front of him naked and beautiful, said and he wrapped his arms around her as he stared into her starry eyes.
Then she licked him.
"Goddamit, Zeke," Alex mumbled as he woke up and shoved the dog off his bed. "Very funny, mom!" He got up and stumbled out of his room with Zeke happily in tow.
"Pancakes," Beryl said as she popped up practically in front of him, sporting a huge grin and a heaped plate. She even had a little syrup on her face.
"Good morning," he said. He struggled not to wipe the spot off her cheek.
"This 'maple syrup' is incredible, so rich and sweet and flavorful!" she said as she crammed another forkful into her mouth to his surprise.
"Yeah, it's, uh, good," he said a little stunned.
"Your mother made them from misesa flour, and got really into it when she saw we liked them, then she started making pancakes for the soldiers as well when she saw they were going to eat field rations, so she offered breakfast to them and Sergeant Winslow, she's at the table by the way, and then Spiral tried to help but she was a little unsure on the measurement volume, because the leavening in them is much more than is common for our breads? So we ended up making a lot more, and there's a lot of soldiers in the dining room. You should put on pants, I think?"
Alex blinked. "Ah. Okay?"
Beryl shoved another fork loaded with pancake and syrup into her mouth. "It is ten time periods, hours, into your local cycle by the way," she burbled around the mouthful and spilled crumbs on the floor, which Zeke eagerly cleaned up. "But Sergeant Winslow said it was alright to let you sleep as you are obviously under a a small amount of unexpected stress and should be allowed to still treat this mission as leave. Oh and Chris called and said he would meet us at the beach, as well as Gregory, and when I told him Spiral and Talon were here too, he wanted to know if they would be interested in taking part in the shoot, I think he was just being polite, but..."
Note to self, apparently maple syrup is a mild stimulant to loroi, he thought.
~~~~
Shopping!
~~~~
-Beach volleyball! Loroi versus human! Shirts versus skins! Scratch that last part, Spiral, get your top back on, you leg spreader.-
"Fireblade says she is sorry, but she cannot participate," Beryl replied to Staci's visible diappointment.
"Aw, why not?" she said.
"Because... Because, she says, it wouldn't... be fair," Beryl said as she avoided eye contact.
"Um, we're both on a state ranked team, and she's never played the game," Kim said. She raised an eyebrow at the tall loroi.
Fireblade smiled back at her. With a flicker of her eyes the ball snapped out of Kim's grip and into her hands. Another flash of green and she jumped twice her height in the air to spike it across the net from well behind the court.
Kim and Staci stared gape mouthed. "She says it is similar enough to a Loroi... children's game," Beryl said, visibly awkward.
"You know, I wonder if we could sneak her in as a ringer in the fall tourney," Staci said, recovering first.
"I don't think I own enough foundation," Kim replied.
~~~~
"Chris!" Kim snapped.
"Whup!" he said and quickly turned away even as two photography assistants, experienced with Fireblade's relaxed attitude towards nudity, hurried to hold up reflective screens around the two cheerfully unabashed loroi.
Fireblade rolled her eyes. <You two are shameless.> She threw a top that smacked Spiral in her grinning face.
<Hey, he is cute,> Talon said glancing towards Chris.
<You should be more concerned with how the red haired female is looking at you. She does not appear to be happy.>
~~~~
<Ah! A denza zoshreil!> Talon clapped her hands, and Spiral seemed to understand as well.
"'Wave rider'?" Beryl said confused, "Oh!" She watched as Chris suddenly stood up on the board, and curved back to the beach against the swell of the wave, all the way back to the sand. Beryl hurried to catch up to Talon and Spiral as they ran and crowded around him. They turned back to Beryl, then back to Chris.
"They are from a planet mostly covered by ocean," she told him.
"Wait, so you, like, surf?" Chris said. "Far out!"
<Can we try?!> Talon gleefully eyed his board. Understanding, he held it out to her. She took it in hand and turned it over and back, inspecting it. Spiral looked it over as well, and they seemed to confer together over it. They both looked up at Beryl.
"She wants to know if she can try," Beryl said, "and if the... wave... flow... pattern? I am sorry, they are using terms I am not sure how to put into English. My home planet lacks any kind of surface water, so..." She shook her head.
"Ah, it's okay, I think I can show it," Chris said. He squatted down and began to draw curvilinear forms in the sand. Talon and Spiral recognized some forms in the sand, and between his drawing and Beryl's translation, they managed to work it out. Spiral and Talon did a little hand game, which Spiral won with glee. She took the board from Talon, and hefted it.
<Light! Is it sturdy?>
"Is it strong?" Beryl said.
"Oh yeah, you're pretty light too, so you should be fine," Chris replied. Spiral nodded, and ran into the surf. She quickly reached the swells, and within moments was upright and riding a strong wave across the water. She made it back, and handed the board to Talon, who waited as she watched the water in the distance, saw her chance, and diving into the water repeated Spiral's ride, though for quite a bit farther.
<I always could pick them better than you,> she said to Spiral with a smirk.
<Pssh, as if biscuit graveyard!> Spiral replied. Talon stuck her tongue out as she returned the board to Chris.
"They thank you for the opportunity," Beryl passed along to him. "They have not ridden in many years, and are very grateful for the chance to do it again."
"Whoa, really?!" Chris eyes widened as he gave them a thumbs up, "You still got it. Hey," he turned back to Beryl, "you wanna try it?"
"Well, maybe," Beryl taken aback, stammered. "But I do not know how."
"Nah, it's cool, come on," he grabbed her hand and pulled her into the surf. He guided her in the water, and as a wave approached got her up on the board, with a bit closer grasp than she was entirely comfortable with, but understood was necessary. Together, they slid across the water on the board, and Beryl looked towards the beach to see if Alex could see her. She frowned as she found Staci sitting close to him, and Alex turned towards her talking. They both seemed to be laughing. A rough spot shook the board, and she lost her balance and fell in with a brief shriek. As she made her way back to the shore, Beryl saw Alex waiting for her.
"I apologize for that," she said with a blush.
Alex looked confused. "For what?"
"Chris had to hold on to me to keep me upright," she said.
"I'd hope so," he said. "It can be dangerous, especially for beginners. Was it fun?"
No jealousy? "..Yes, very much." She searched his face for anything untoward, but came up empty. She glanced at Staci.
~~~~
"Like, I know you two have something," she said. Staci drew lines in the sand with her finger as she spoke. Even in the emotional moment Beryl filed that away as part of the human tendency to be so *physical* in their communication. "And, I wouldn't want to, like, come between you. He talks about you. I mean, he talks about Loroi period, because, like, he's gonna be a diplomatic attache or something cool like that, if you ask him? But he mostly talks about all the stuff you've taught him. And you." She gave a sad smile at that.
Beryl didn't reply. He talks about me, personally, to others? She was surprised by that. "But he doesn't have to limit himself," she said.
"What?" Staci said as she looked at Beryl suddenly both confused and a little upset if Beryl was reading her expression correctly.
"Well, he's a male, he doesn't have to be-"
Staci laughed as she slapped her head. "Oh em gee, right, you guys only have, like, one guy for every ten girls! Beryl, no. We... we don't work like that," she said with a wan smile. "It may seem selfish to you, but, like, I don't want to... share?" She brushed the sand off her fingers. "And I wouldn't want you to think you have to, even if, like, you'd be okay with it?"
"I am not sure, I cannot tell for certain if he feels that way though," Beryl said.
"Ha! Even if we can't read minds and all of you look like beautiful elves, we human girls can still hold our own when it counts," Staci said as she smiled and stood up. "Come on, the way he looked at you when he, like, saw you in that bikini?"
"It- it was probably because it is the most I have... shown myself to him, and he was surprised," Beryl said. "But you bought it for me, why would you when-"
"Because it was, like, a nice thing to do!" She reached down poked Beryl's nose to her shock. "And you look gorgeous in it! Human men have to be captured, they aren't just, like, lying around waiting for you to jump on them with your legs spread!"
Beryl began laughing, so hard that she fell back and held her sides as she lay on the sand. Staci just smiled and reached down. Still getting used to all the physical contact with which humans seemed to be enamored Beryl hesistated, then took it and let herself be pulled to her feet.
"I'm guessing I said more than I thought I did?" Staci said, still smiling.
Beryl wiped her eyes. "Yes, 'leg spreader' is a very crude and pointed insult to us, implying the person is good at nothing but..." She shrugged her shoulders and spread her hands apart.
Staci barked a laugh. "Same here. Sorta."
"Also," Beryl said with a wry grin, "Loroi men usually are just lying around waiting for the next mating encounter. Well, not really, but it's the... stereotype."
"Hmmph. Well, I don't think you need to worry about us human women being too interested in them then," Staci said. "Certainly not the way ours seem to go after you loroi."
"Well," Beryl grimaced a little, "This is Spiral and Talon's first shore leave in over a year. I don't think Kimberly has too much to worry about them though, they are both pretty intimidated by her given that she resembles Fireblade so much. Although they are a little disappointed she won't share Christopher with them."
Staci laughed again. "Hoo boy, yeah, he's been struggling to, like, not pay too much attention to them since he got an eyeful at the photoshoot." She raised an eyebrow. "They really would be all over him if she didn't mind huh? And wouldn't be troubled by each other?"
"Not in the least. I feel pity for them because they were due some leave on Seren when we got swept up in the offensive," Beryl said as her smile faded a little, "And their service record definitely indicated they deserve some access to a male." She shrugged. "To be honest, I should let them have some time with Alexander. I don't think he would mind as I believe he finds them physically attractive."
Staci's mouth fell open. "Jesus christ, no, I don't think he would mind at all, although he'd be pretty surprised." She shook her head as she chuckled. "You really do have a different way of looking at romance, huh?"
"It makes sense when you think about it. I know they find him attractive as well, they've already spent a lot of time in his company so it would be more emotional than just sexual which always makes an encounter more enjoyable, there's no risk of pregnancy..." Beryl stopped and looked down at her feet. She dragged a line in the sand with her toe and caught a glimpse of understanding the emotional release such actions gave humans.
"But I'm guessing that's, like, actually a downside for you," Staci said with a soft tone.
Beryl didn't reply. She smiled thinking of the comment Alex's mother made when they'd arrived, her semi-serious concern about "little blue grandchildren". Utterly and wholely impossible. Even if Humans and Loroi were so uncannily similar due to ancient Soia genetic manipulation they might as well be Pilopsid despite appearances. What if Alex wanted a child?
~~~~
"You've never seen a sunset over an ocean then?" Alex said as he sat down next to Beryl.
"No," she said her voice soft in awe. The clouds in the sky were practically glowing with purple fire and the crests of the waves shimmering flares of a shattered, rippling orange sun. "It's so vibrant."
"Even here a sunset like this isn't common, but we got lucky," he said.
"I suppose Talon and Spiral have seen things like this, but I never have," Beryl said. "Thank you for showing it to me." She leaned against Alex, who hesitated, then put his arm around her. His warmth contrasted with the cool ocean breeze made her smile even in the fading heat of the day.
"The colors are just so incredible," she sighed. "So beautiful."
"Very beautiful," he said.
She turned and realized he was looking directly at her. On all the golden sky Beryl wished she could sanzai with him. "Alex, let me try," she said. "Just one more time." Gesturing to him to lean forward a little, she did the same, and just like in the shuttle she placed her forehead against his. His warm skin, his breath on her face, but nothing more. She sighed and looked up into his eyes. "I thought with a stronger personal connection than before..."
"..It still isn't enough?" Alex finished.
"No, I'm sorry," she said.
"But at least we have a... 'stronger personal connection'." He smiled.
"We do, I think, maybe? At least, I feel something. Do... you as well, Alex?" Beryl said as she glanced up at him hesitant and vulnerable. Shred this reliance on verbal communication and longing looks! How did human women manage this?! she wailed in her own thoughts.
"Since the first time you called me 'Alex' instead of 'Enzin Jardin'," he said.
She closed her eyes, and the relief filled her. "How do humans do it?" she whispered.
"Do what?" he said, as he reached out and stroked her ear.
"Learn how someone feels about you," she replied as she touched his hand, and looked at him, "without sanzai. To put so much at risk. And this emotional attachment! It's so... intense. It almost scares me, and the fact I couldn't tell how you felt about me certainly did."
"I thought the same," he said. "But we're... from different worlds, I was afraid it was impossible."
"Then there is the fact that, well, it's not normal and even discouraged for loroi to have romantic feelings," she said. "Yet despite the insanity of it I want them!"
"Is... that a problem? For us?" he said, his face abruptly turning sad. "Will this cause you trouble?"
For us. She smiled at his words, and shook her head. "You can't... reproduce with me. Therefor, the basis for the taboo, preventing access to a male, isn't relevant."
"But really, from the shuttle?" she continued. "That fast?"
"We call it 'love at first sight'," he said, then with a sly grin, "Or maybe I realized how adorable you were when you snored in your sleep."
Beryl's jaw dropped as she blushed. "I do not snore!"
"Like a tiny chainsaw."
At first confused and a little dismayed at such a comment in the moment, she saw his mischieveous lip bite. She couldn't hold herself back and burst out laughing as she poked his chest. "Your human sense of humor is terrible!"
"I like hearing you laugh even more," he said.
"I have not had much opportunity to do so," she replied as she wiped her eyes. "It has not been a happy time lately."
"What if I said I wanted to do everything I could to make you happy as much as possible?" Alex said as he leaned down.
"I would want for nothing, I think?" Beryl replied.
Smiling, he closed his eyes and slowly leaned down and planted a gentle kiss on her lips, and after a solon she closed hers as well to relish the sensation. The slightly odd taste, the feelings of heat and pressure; of his hot arms caressing her body, his hands darting ever so briefly under the edges of her clothing to her amusement. She stopped him first, and pulled back. She opened her eyes and found he looked the saddest he ever had.
"Was... that okay?" he whispered.
She smiled, and stroked his stubbled chin to subdue the fear she believed he felt. With a grin and a wink, she lunged forward and stole another kiss, then jumped to her feet.
"Far more than 'oh kay', Alexander Jardin," she said.
Beryl stepped away from him into the foaming surf, let the sea wash over her bare feet, and smiled at how the chill of the ocean felt to her versus how cold it probably seemed to him. As the final burst of burning gold passed below the horizon and beneath the curtain of the stars, Beryl knew moments of joy had to grasped and held forever. She let her loose overshirt slip from her shoulders, and her skin sparkled from the rippling swells touched by the light of the moon. She turned to him and smiled, then slipped one side of her top off, then the other, pulled them down, and the same below. Alex felt his mouth open a little as he watched her step out of her suit, and slowly walked towards him. He did the same as he shed his trunks with purpose. When they met he reached out, and took her chin in his hands as he drew her close. Vanilla lips touched his again, and they drank each other in as they embraced, then drew back, unsure.
Under the pale, hue-sapping light of the moon she realized his skin seemed almost the same cerulean shade as her own. She smiled and pulled his arm next to hers, and he saw it as well, and smiled back as they interlaced their hands. Without words, without sanzai, they knew each other, and that the distance of their worlds mattered little in their moment.
"So much alike," he finally said.
"So wonderous," she said. "A miracle. I have studied-" She stopped, realizing her listel nature was about to start her babbling again.
"You can say whatever you want, for as long as you want" Alex said as he cupped her chin. "I don't mind. It's one of the things I love about you."
Her skin darkened, but she nodded. "It just seems so improbable to find a species that nearly mirrors us."
"And that I would find love so many light years away..."
"That we would find each other," Beryl replied, so close now she could smell him, the rich "earthy" aroma she'd known for so long, first wondered about, then accepted as matter of course, then somehow, irreversibly and without reason, desired and looked forward to each day.
Together they lowered themselves to the sand, and Alex grasped Beryl tightly as they kissed, as if he was terrified she would jump to another star. Beryl smiled with her eyes closed as she accepted the close sensation of being wrapped in his arms, and the star crossed lovers from two distant worlds found the heat of each other with smooth skin against smooth skin.
Afterwards, they lay on the sand next to each other with their chests heaving. Alex reached over to stroke her hair, then rolled over and kissed her lips. She replied in kind, but as he trailed down her body through the sweat-stuck sand glittering in the moonlight, and began to caress her again she pulled back and gently took his hand away.
"I think," Beryl whispered, "We should consider heading back to the house."
Alex withdrew his hand. "Yeah, I could use a shower, if I'm being honest."
"Yes, the sand is finer and more pleasant than on Mezan but..." Beryl said, finally noticing the wet grit covering both of them. He laughed and nodded.
"We can get it off quick before we get in the car, actually," he said as he gestured up the beach towards a small bulding. "There's some showers by the parking lot."
"Thank goodness," Beryl said. They pulled on their clothing again, and made their way to the hut. Both men and women's showers were available, but given the late hour she followed him to the men's side.
"Whoo," Alex exclaimed as the frigid water hit him. He glanced over at Beryl unbothered by the chill. She noticed him, and smiled.
"Cold?" she said.
"Very," he replied as he rubbed his shoulders and hugged himself.
"Then come over here," Beryl said and stepped back a little in her stall.
They warmed the water together.
~~~~
As they slipped inside the house, as quiet as they could, Alex noticed Beryl concentrating on something.
"What is it?" he said as he open his bedroom door as slow as he could to forstall the squeaking hinges.
"It's a surprise," she said as she followed him, and sat down on his bed. She nodded when she realized it was foam on a solid frame. "Good."
"What is?"
"It won't make too much noise," she said with a saucy look.
Before he could respond he heard giggling in the hallway. He turned and found Spiral and Talon smirking at him through his door.
"Wait, did you tell them about-?" he said stunned and a little hurt that she'd already told them.
"Alex, I probably told any Loroi within the cove," Beryl said with a slight blush. "We can only control our sanzai so much, especially when we are... distracted, and, well..."
"I bet Tempo hold it in," Spiral said as she entered the room with Talon close behind.
"Well, she's a Mizol, she could muffle her sanzai if she wanted," Talon replied, then with a leer towards Alex, "I would like to see if she could with Alexander rutting her though."
"Ha! I know she have some idea about him on seat cushions in shuttle," Spiral said.
To Alex's shock they began to disrobe as they walked towards him. "Whoa, what are you doing?" he said, but Beryl came up to him from behind and put her chin on his shoulder as she wrapped him in a hug. Adding to his amazement he couldn't be sure but was almost certain she had taken her suit back off as well.
"Alex, I know this... isn't your way," she said, then turning more serious, "but given their duties over the last year both Spiral and Talon have earned an... encounter with a male, and are long overdue." Now fully naked, both of the loroi stopped in front of him, Talon bold and staring into his eyes, while Spiral looked him up and down with a grin.
"So with nearest Loroi men long distance away," Spiral said, "and Listel Beryl... strong vouch for you, we thought-"
"That you could help us, maybe?" Talon said. She frowned slightly, and adopted a more serious tone as Spiral's smile faded a little in turn. "We... won't force you. I know this is strange to you, and you feel humanly romantic only to Beryl, but..."
Spiral stepped closer to him and touched his chest with the tips of her fingers. "We trust and respect you, Alex. What form between male and female loroi is near same, even less maybe. No very strong attachment like human do."
"So do not fall in love with us," Talon said with a smirk, then softened a bit, "Unless you want to."
"Pfft, not me, too much hassle," Spiral said, and Alex suppressed a laugh.
"How could I not feel the same," he said. "I mean, it was the two of you who saved my life." Talon and Spiral glanced at each other, then hugged and kissed him on opposite cheeks. They pulled back and began to help him out of his clothes.
~~~~
Alex awoke to Zeke licking him again. He pushed him off, then realized he was still pinned beneath two light blue arms, Spiral on his left and Talon on his right. Despite the heat of the California summer, given their cool skin and his pleasant exhaustion he had slept through the remainder of the night. Talon mumbled in her sleep as she hugged him closer. Beryl was nowhere to be seen. He sighed and slumped back, and glanced at Spiral. Eyes half open, she smiled at him.
"Good morning," she said as she leaned forward and kissed him. "Was very, very good last night, enzin Jardin."
"Yes, uh, very," he managed to say. She snuggled her head under his chin.
"Very nice to sleep with," she said.
"Normally we wouldn't get this luxury," Talon said, now awake as well. "Usually when a mating encounter ends, male and female part ways in short time. It is mostly just ranking torrai that get to spend a whole night with a male. To stay with you and lie together is fun luxury, I think?"
"Oh no, seedhead falling in love," Spiral said. A pillow slapped her face in reply.
The previous night's shower at the beach had rinsed the sand away, but Alex still felt a bit sticky from sweat, among other things. He extricated himself from the playfully squabbling loroi and shuffled to the bathroom. A bit of a splurge, but his mom had installed a large shower complete with wall nozzles, and he was looking forward to the massaging spray; his muscles were beginning to ache from the previous night's exercise. He turned it on, but just as he checked the water and was about to step in, he sensed someone behind him.
Several someones. Beryl standing in the doorway, with Talon's arms around her from behind as Spiral peeked around the door. "Is ship practice we shower together to save water," Spiral said innocently as Talon tried and failed to keep a straight face and Beryl rolled her eyes.
~~~~
"We aren't hungry this early," Talon said. She kissed Alex on the cheek as she headed out, as did Spiral, and they left by the back door.
A few moments later scattered cheers and claps erupted from the guard's encampment. He put his face in his hands as Beryl choked on her coffee and failed to conceal her amusement.
"They are never going to respect me again, are they?" he said without raising his head.
"Actually, it appears they are quite impressed and are inquiring about the specifics of-," Beryl halted and looked away as she sipped at her coffee again. Alex moaned into the table.
~~~~
Deleted some negativity. I'll fix this up later.
