Cellulose & Steel | By : Not-Taylor Category: Misc Books > FemmeSlash Views: 1028 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0 |
Disclaimer: I don't own HDG or its characters and I don't make money from this work. |
Ember answers the door, since Verda doesn’t seem interested in doing so. It’s her house, but evidently she’s happy to sit and do nothing while her guests wait outside. So Ember has to answer the door. Maybe this is slavery after all. The people outside are just who she expects them to be.
“Evlen.”
“Song.”
“Good afternoon, Song,” Cia Endiwai Spelt says.
“Good afternoon. Please come in. It’s not actually my house, but I guess I can invite you in anyway.”
With an odd look, Cia Endiwai and her floret enter Verda’s residence. Evlen is wearing a loose grey sport coat, unbuttoned and without the buttons on the sleeves that would have been expected on Terra. His trousers are a matching grey, hemmed so as not to drag against the floor. His “mistress” wears a purple ballgown with a missing back that allows her vines to exist freely. The skirt of the dress is sufficiently loose that her other vines didn’t lack room to flow below and behind her. Ember is impressed with how good of an outfit that was for an affini.
As the guests look around, they seem impressed with the size of the living area. While it’s much larger than what Ember was used to in earlier phases of life, she hadn’t thought it was strange given that it belonged to an admiral, and when she’d first arrived she hadn’t been in a state to think too hard about such things. After giving the pair a moment to contemplate their surroundings, Ember directs them to the couch to sit. She sits in the usually empty chair next to Verda’s, which isn’t uncomfortable at all. The starchiness of everyone’s attitude feels very strange to her, but she just assumes that’s normal for this sort of thing.
“Welcome, both of you,” Verda says. “It’s a pleasure to have you visit us. Would you like refreshments?”
They politely decline.
“How are you today, Evlen?” Ember asks.
“I’m doing well. I tried a recipe today for something called egg salad. It didn’t have any vegetables in it, but they called it a salad. I don’t understand.”
“I think that was because salad was named for the sauce that goes on it,” Ember explains.
“Oh. I understand. That makes sense.”
After making careful eye contact with her prisoner, Verda addresses the other affini in the room in their language, saying something about a floret and a tree that Ember can’t quite translate. They start talking to one another, leaving Ember and Evlen to entertain themselves.
“Do you want to go outside? The park here is very nice. I can show you.”
“I’d like that, Song.”
“Then let’s go.”
She stands up and beckons the xeno with one of her vines as she walks to the door, careful not to smack him with the other by accident. They step out into the fresh air that’s not actually much different from the inside air, feeling the heat of the environmental lighting and a light artificial breeze. Even if none of that is “real,” it’s a lot nicer than the insides of Terran ships were, Ember has to admit. Tump synk ka-tink. She banishes the rising sensation of blindness and immobility in order to focus on her companion. She needs to make a bunch of weeds (in the literal sense of the word) seem exciting somehow.
For lack of a better idea, she takes him to the place where she’d sat after Verda’s breakdown, hoping that the musician would have returned. Instead, somebody had drawn something in chalk on an intersection in the path. Many colors make up the drawing, blending together easily into something that looks like pixel art zoomed in on too far. Backing up doesn’t provide any insights as to what that might be.
“Can you tell what that is, Evlen?”
“I think it’s supposed to be an affini. Those are the vines…” He gestures at the entire thing.
“That’s all of it, though.”
“And affini are all vines.”
“You have a point.” They smile at each other, agreeing on the nature of plant based sentient life.
“There are picnic tables this way, I think. They’re under a really nice tree that gives shade.”
She leads him away toward the place she remembers the tables being, passing between two rows of bushes covered thickly in white flowers that smell of strawberries.
“Song?”
“I actually use the name Ember. I haven’t found a good time to tell you before now.”
“It makes sense you’d have a real name other than the name you used when you…”
Ember waits for him to finish the thought.
“Thought you were a spaceship.”
“I’m sorry about how strangely I acted at the time, by the way. I remember all of it.”
“I’m glad you do, Ember. It was a bit awkward to know you didn’t know about… that.”
“Probably.”
Moving at Evlen’s pace is somewhat difficult. For the first time since she’d gotten them, she has to use her vines for balance intentionally, making sure to exchange momentum in order to compensate for the difference in their natural gaits. He watches with fascination, instantly making her feel intensely self conscious about the things that don’t really match the rest of her body.
“Those are so interesting. They move as though they belong on you. Do they have an AI chip inside?”
“I don’t think it’s anything besides what’s needed to convert between my brain and… I’m not sure what powers these things. They certainly don’t run on the same power as the rest of my body. Or maybe they do. I literally don’t know, beyond that the only connection they have is through my interface.”
“Interface, what’s that?”
“It’s what let me fly so naturally, and it’s technically what made me sick before. Look.”
She lifts away her hair to reveal the socket that’s presently full of affini technology, the details of which she tries hard not to think about. Evlen spends a minute staring, as though he’s never seen something that’s plugged in before.
“Interesting. So that lets you have extra limbs? Maybe I should ask my mistress about whether I can have one, too.”
“Do you really think it’s a good thing?”
“Is it not?” His nose wrinkles slightly at the idea.
“Maybe. You might never be able to go back. I’m probably going to have to wear this or something similar forever to make sure I don’t revert.”
“You don’t look unhappy.”
“I’m… not.”
Ember frowns at the prospect of not being unhappy with the situation. In reality, the utilities have been quite useful and practical in a way she couldn’t have predicted or possibly even understood before experiencing it. The increase to reach and simply having extra things to grasp with that are stronger than her default arms was an improvement, but one hard to quantify. She can't figure out how to explain or even express the difference, as hard as she tries. And yet, none of that really matters. Tump synk ka-tink. Every second with the things attached leads her further from Terra and being a normal Terran. She doesn’t even know that she’d want to give them up if her sensor dysphoria could be cured without any side effects. Her head still hurts from the injection Verda had made her give herself the other day.
“That’s a good thing, isn’t it?”
“It is. You’re right. Sorry. I was distracted. Let’s keep walking.”
They continued around the park for another few minutes, looking at plants and occasionally looking at the people walking around them. There are lots of visitors today, enjoying the midafternoon warmth on the greenery. Most of the flowers were strange to both Evlen and Ember, leading to discussions of what they are and what the shapes are supposed to do. Soon, they return to a large tree by a bend in the path, which they passed early in their walk. Evlen stops to look at the flowers among its leaves, stepping off of the pavement to do so.
“I haven’t gotten used to green flowers yet. They’re everywhere and I see them all the time, but they’re still so strange. Sfpl’fth Doesn’t have that.”
“Terra doesn’t either,” Ember says, following. “It doesn’t have many flowers these days, since solar storms and natural climate fluctuations combined to cause ecological disaster. It’s lucky that we made it into space before then…”
“My mistress said something about Terra being terraformed back to how it was.”
“Maybe. I hope they don’t destroy it. There’s so much history there.”
“The last I heard, they were thinking of converting part of the palace back home into a Domestication Office.” He shudders. “I wonder where they get their ideas.”
“Probably by applying a template to every world they find. Like this tree. If you look around, everything is modeled after Terran designs on this ship. It’s really impressive how much effort they went to. When you look at the gardens, that isn’t true any more. You see plants from everywhere, mixed together without care or planning. Or so it seems. Everything matches.”
“That’s because they genetically engineer it to be compatible, I think.”
“I’m impressed if that’s true, Evlen. You know, I think having massive gardens everywhere might take some of the fun out of space travel. Certainly, it’s nice, but then the feeling of adventure is missing. There’s no power behind your expedition. It feels different to me. Less personal, in a way, if you know what I mean.”
“I think so. The way I can compile anything I want and skip the annoying parts of cooking, but it’s just different from how it felt when I did it myself, before.”
“How long have you been cooking?”
“My whole life, at least a bit. My parents used to complain that I was getting in the way when I showed up in the kitchen wanting to help. I took a break for a while, but lately, years now, I’ve been enjoying it again. At least my mistress hasn’t taken that away.”
“Why would she? It’s obvious how much you like it.”
“It’s too easy for me to break floret rules, I think. That, and she doesn’t like me playing with fire, even though it’s a lot of fun.”
“That’s annoying.”
“I understand her perspective. Thank you for listening, but…”
“All right. I think…”
Ember stops speaking, distracted by something she notices. She walks forward and further from the path, looking into the bushes behind her companion. It’s just a blue bird that flutters off as she comes too close. Turning around, she’s confronted by Evlen, who’s standing between her and the tree trunk.
“Verda was nice enough to let us go out without her. I’m surprised she isn’t spying,” she tells Evlen.
“If she wanted to spy, couldn’t she just use the ship’s internal cameras?”
“Maybe. I have no idea how many of those there are. Do you think we’re being observed right now?”
They both look around, trying to see if there’s anything suspicious tucked away somewhere that can see them. Aside from a green bird sitting in the tree, nothing seems duplicitous at all.
“Maybe there isn’t anything, Ember.”
“Then I’m finally not being spied on. That’s so nice.”
“That sounds like something a feralist would say.”
“Does it? I just enjoy privacy. Even if you’re not doing anything wrong, it’s nice to be able to keep what you’ve been up to a secret if you’d rather, isn’t it?”
“You might be right.” Tump synk ka-tink.
He blinks and smiles, looking at Ember in a very particular way. She takes a step forward, pressing her chest against Evlen’s. At this distance they can still maintain eye contact. He looks down at the actual feralist with a growing smile. His hands rise, meeting her elbows and she returns his gaze. The sound of his breathing fills her ears and Ember smiles back, allowing herself to lean forward just a little.
Evlen joins her in a kiss, one that’s pure and clean, and not weird and disgusting and yiff at all, because Evlen is a person rather than a cartoon, and a good one, and handsome if Ember is willing to admit that, even if he’s technically a xeno. For all the weird thoughts racing through her mind, Ember devours every sensation of the almsit man in front of her. She leans in further as Evlen allows himself to be pressed back against the tree, his hands sliding onto Ember’s waist. Her hands climb up his chest, finding a grip between his quills, which move gently out of the way as she touches them. The pleasant scent of floret wash fills her nostrils as she lets herself be pulled even closer. He moves his head away for only a second, showing his cute xeno smile to Ember.
The muscles in Evlen’s arms tense as he returns his face to where it belongs. Vines reach up Evlen’s back and around his neck, locking him into place, ensuring that he won’t be distracted. One of Evlen’s hands slides down Ember’s back, moving her hips even closer to his. She gasps but doesn’t move away. The fluctuations of his quills, the little movements of his nose, even his breathing are so cute, how could she even think of stopping that?
As the pace of Evlen’s heart increases, Ember begins to feel a pressure against her leg, one she recognizes in an instant despite never feeling quite… In no way was it unexpected. Rather, it’s evidence of the rightness of what’s happening. Everything is in harmony. Tump synk ka-tink. Time must be passing, but Ember isn’t watching it go by. Evlen fills her senses, including the touch sensors of her vines.
Yet nothing is eternal and eventually the pair separate slowly and reluctantly. The roughness of Evlen’s breathing is clearly audible and Ember’s isn’t particularly more orderly. He looks at her with the same smile as before, clearly pleased with what’s been happening. Unfortunately, Ember has to be the one to explain that that can’t continue.
“I promised Verda that we’d be back sooner rather than later.”
“Right. Back soon.”
She leads the way back to Verda’s house with Evlen following closely behind to make sure he doesn’t get lost. Ember doesn’t think that’s a serious risk, but she doesn’t know his sense of direction and she’d just as soon not take any risk of being separated. As the house approaches, they check themselves to make sure nothing is out of place.
The door opens as Ember touches the pad, letting her and her spiky companion into the front room. Verda and Cia Endiwai are sitting together on the couch, chatting in their native tongue about something that probably doesn’t concern Ember much. As they notice the new arrivals, they stop talking and Verda waves.
“I’m pleased that you found your way back punctually, darling. How was your walk?”
“There are a lot of nice flowers out today. It was nice.”
“It was nice,” Evlen confirms.
As they near their “owners,” Ember wonders what’s going to happen next, since she obviously doesn’t want to deal with Verda or her attempts at wit. Evlen doesn’t seem to have much opinion either way, since he’s happy to see Cia Endiwai. In light of his complaints, the fact he has a positive opinion of her is very strange and Ember is suspicious of it. She’d be furious if he were being hurt somehow. Since this isn’t the time to make that determination, she simply leans against the back of one of the chairs and waits.
“I’m glad. Ember, would you like to discuss domestication techniques with us? I’m certain that you would find the opinions of Evlen’s mistress fascinating. She’s apparently, before meeting Evlen, had eleven of a single species sequentially, a majority of them feralists. You’d learn a lot, and I know you’re curious about the subject.”
“...”
“I’d be happy to provide a bit of insight regarding xenodrug paletes, if you’d like. Although different species seem to respond very differently, there are a few commonalities that once you’ve learned them make finding an optimal balance more individual than species specific. I see in your eyes what you want, Ember. You can’t fool me or Verda.”
She’s lying, but saying that is probably a really stupid idea. In fact, saying anything is probably stupid. Ember knows better than to test Verda when they have an audience. And then she realizes that Verda’s primary concern is her image, basically the one thing that can’t be compiled in huge quantities. All of her actions start to fall into place at the moment that Ember notices how long she’s been staring into space. Poor Evlen, this must be extremely awkward for him.
“I’ll think about that. Thanks for the offer. We… should go, shouldn’t we, Evlen? A big conversation takes up a lot of space.” Ember thinks that’s an extremely clever thing to say.
“We should.”
With that confirmation, Ember leads the way into Verda’s bedroom, the only place in the building that’s properly sealed off from Verda and her jabs and vines and nastiness. The door closes, leaving the two who certainly aren’t affini and aren’t interested in domesticating others alone. Tump synk ka-tink. With how good Affini soundproofing is, they won’t hear much from outside. That knowledge is a relief, perhaps as much as the knowledge that they won’t be overheard if they say something politically incorrect.
Ember allows a vine to trail down Evlen’s arm, encouraging him to follow her deeper into the room. Ideally, he’ll follow her to the bed, where they’ll be able to sit and talk comfortably. Turning, and sitting down, Ember sees that Evlen’s drifted to a stop in the middle of the room, his eyes fixed on her. After a moment, she asks, “Is anything wrong?”
“No.”
He steps forward, one pace from the side of the bed, where he stops and reaches down for Ember’s hand, which he holds in his. She joins him, standing and taking his other hand. They’re close enough in height to see each other easily. In the depths of Evlen’s eyes, the reflection of the muted light of the window is visible. Ember could look at them all day, against the backdrop of the subtle motion of his face. Even though she’d known he was coming to visit, she hadn’t expected this. It’s so different from anything else on this ship, so pure… Tump synk ka-tink.
The almsit chef stands before her, returning her gaze with equal intensity. His mouth twitches into a smile and Ember’s body screams a response. She ignores it, focusing on allowing the moment to continue. Stars, if only it could. He pulls her in again to kiss her, but she retreats after a moment, letting her limbs continue to maintain their hold on the cute xeno. Tump synk ka-tink.
Something feels different. As Ember looks at Evlen, his features soften and the thing he was about to say fails to come out. The sound of his breathing is magnified as the pair simply stand there, looking at one another. Neither feels like breaking eye contact. Evlen’s pulse and breath and everything about him seem tangible, almost pliable. Ember leans in again, feeling everything.
Once she withdraws, their breathing is locked, giving her a feeling of harmony entirely foreign. Ginger couldn’t do this, she thinks in a moment of lapsed focus. Then her mind returns to the hedgehog at hand, the one so like a work of art in front of her. Stars… Tump synk ka-tink.
In a moment of inspiration, Ember contracts a muscle deep within herself, or deep without, she doesn’t care which, tugging an invisible thread binding two things she knows little about. To do so simply feels right. Her lungs inflate of their own volition, filling with air that makes her feel more alive than ever. Did she really stop breathing for a bit just because of Evlen? Tump synk ka-tink.
The thought dissipates in his embrace as he wraps his arms around her and nuzzles her neck, kissing upwards until he reaches her mouth. Ember could easily resisttrail of hot tactile sensation, but she doesn’t. This is exactly what she was hoping for. She reciprocates, resting a hand on Evlen’s face as everything simply works. Tump synk ka-tink. A pulse of some numbness passes through Ember’s brain, suddenly revealing something had been missed before.
Pulling back, Ember looks at the adorable, handsome xeno, taking in every bit of his appearance, knowing that he is just as fixated in turn. He’s so cute… Tump synk ka-tink. His jacket falls off with a gentle push and the buttons of Ember’s vest are undone. Inspiration comes again, and Ember raises a hand to chest level, elbow forming a right angle. Never breaking eye contact, Ember gestures downward, and Evlen instantly drops to his knees, taking hold of Ember’s hips and pants button, just as planned. By then he’s no longer looking at ter face, but only in the interest of following through.
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