F@nService Diner: Chapter 01 Blue Dream
Here's a sneak preview of the F@nService Diner:Project Skeleton Key novel.
If you’re planning on writing a novel I cannot recommend reading Save The Cat by Blake Snyder highly enough. I wish I had read this first, could’ve saved myself a draft.
So here's the first chapter.
I'd really appreciate any constructive criticism you're willing to give me.
Slight smut warning, but I try to keep it classy.
F@NSERVICE
Project Skeleton Key
Andrés Sierra
Prologue
Axol Suloqa: “Are you sure I can't come with you?”
Xilu Tassarra: “I’d really like that. I’d like that alot, but the people need you here. They need you here to let them know it's safe, that we haven't abandoned them. They need to know that we are winning this war.”
Axol Suloqa: “We are winning right?”
Xilu Tassarra: “What? Of course we’re winning, both in space and on the ground. Why would you even ask that?”
Axol Suloqa: “I know it's just, it’s… it’s probably nothing.”
Xilu Tassarra: “Axol what is it? You usually don’t get like this.”
Axol Suloqa: “I had this horrible dream last night...and I'm, I'm afraid I might never see you again.”
Xilu Tassarra: “Hey, hey don't worry, nothing is going to happen to me or our daughter. The humans are running scared. They may outnumber us but their ships are no match for ours. We are destroying their fleets faster than they can rebuild them. They can’t keep this up much longer. It’s only a matter of time.
Axol Suloqa: “ This last fleet they're throwing at us is just an act of desperation. The war will be over soon, I promise.”
Transcript of a conversation between the Minkan Empress and her mate the High Priest that was intercepted by a United Solar Federation spy ship two weeks before the final battle of the Minkan / Human War.
Chapter 01: Blue Dream
The star-filled night sky reflected off the inky black surface of Kataqura’s ocean. Its sister planet, Minka Prime, hung low on the horizon like an enormous blue moon bathing the tropical beach in its soft light.
Beneath the waves titanic sea creatures signaled to potential mates in electric displays looking something like undersea thunderstorms. The males communicated their interest in arcs of yellow, orange and pink and the females answered in flashes of purple, green and blue.
Closer to the shore schools of bio-luminescent fish painted the shallows in a turquoise glow. Darting in and out with the waves, the tiny minnows chased each other to the ocean’s edge and darted back zigzagging along the white, sandy shoreline.
Further up the beach, forests of lightning-rod palms swayed and crackled in the tropical night breeze. Hanging clusters of the palm’s pale storm-fruit glowed with ghostly light.
Passed the sandy shores, just beyond the treeline flickering yellow light ropes festooned the sharply angled sandcrete walls and elevated watchtowers that protected a small minkan village from the nocturnal predators that would occasionally rise from the depths to hunt on land. Walls and watchtowers weren’t the village’s only line of defense. Swarms of security drones and pods of domesticated hammer wawgs patrolled the buffer zone around the village’s perimeter. The hammer-headed sharkdog creatures barked and trumpeted to each other as they followed the drones’ ultrasonic commands scouring their territory for intruders. The slobbering, toothy smiles on their wide faces conveyed the child-like joy they took in their work.
Hovering silently, high above the sleepy, jungle village floated the delta wedge silhouette of a minkan warship. Though the ship had been originally designed for space travel some minor peace-time modifications had been made.The ship’s dorsal surface was now ringed with a frosted glass guardrail interspersed with alternating storm-fruit torches and red vertical flags that flapped in the windy night air.
Atop the each of the ship’s wings had been constructed a cul de sac of rotunda huts. The two symmetrical communities were separated at the ship’s center by an artificial tide pool. Incandescent sea cucumber and starfish-like creatures lit the shallow pool in an inviting, turquoise light while a rainbow of multicolored glow fish swirled across the calm waters. A neon-purple spotted ray, who’s ^ shaped top down profile may have been the original inspiration for the prevailing minkan ship aesthetic, rippled it’s way across the tide pool’s sandy floor before burying itself in a cloud of white silt.
On one of the private balconies atop the port-side wing a newly wed couple watched the last rays of the sun retreat over the horizon before being snuffed out like a candle.
Adam Terranova, the groom,was a compact human male with tan skin, two hazel eyes and dark brown hair that was shaved short on the sides and styled up top into what he would describe as controlled chaos. He had started the wedding ceremony in a gray-blue suit but now all that remained of it were the novelty socks that made it look like two baby sharks had swallowed his feet, a traditionally minkan red lanu-silk shirt that had the sleeves modified for a single set of human forearms and a pair of crisply ironed pants that Adam couldn’t wait to get out of. Five foot six and moderately well muscled, Adam came across as the travel-sized version of a 90’s action hero.
In stark contrast his minkan bride, Tevera Suloqa, was statuesque to say the least. She was six foot seven inches tall with sky-blue skin and an hourglass figure. In place of hair she had purple head-tendrils that came down to her shoulders before flaring outward like the hair of a 1960’s stewardess. Most of her tendrils were kept back out of her face by a silver bow-shaped pin that was actually her family’s crest. What wasn’t held back were three sharp bangs that framed her softly luminous ruby-colored eyes. Two of her eyes were where you would expect them and the third was set vertically in her forehead like the jewel on a tiara. In addition, each arm had two sets of forearms extending from her double-jointed elbows. From her lower back curled a long thick serpentine tail tipped in a leaf-shaped spade that was covered in a white silk glove.
The rest of Tevera wore a strapless, white lanu-silk wedding dress held together with an intricate web of purple ribbons. The dress was a hybrid of human and minkan fashion that walked a thin line between virginal and sultry. Despite being strapless it did an admirable job of keeping Tevy’s natural endowments, which were rather generous even by minkan standards, from becoming too distracting. Conversely, knee length slits in the skirt gave her long, powerful legs full range of motion just in case unforeseen circumstances required she fight in her wedding dress. This was a distinctly minkan design choice.
“So, that was one hell of a sunset.” Adam floated his drunken attempt at small talk.
It had been a mistake to try to keep up with her. He saw this now. But Adam just didn’t feel right about making love to a woman who was drunker than he was, especially not for their first time. Unfortunately for him a single minkan has the alcohol tolerance of the entire Arcadia fire department. Trying to match her would be literal suicide so he kept up best he could but now it was taking every ounce of focus he had just maintain a facade of sobriety. If he stopped drinking now he could probably keep up his bluff, just as long as he didn’t stand up. Previous experience had taught him that if Tevy found out he was drunk she would start toying with him mercilessly.
“Yeah it was.” Tevera replied. “So much pink and orange. It almost didn’t look real.”
“Like looking out from inside a pain, painting.” Adam stuttered and Tevera’s eyes lit up with glee.
“Aww Honey Badger, are you drunk.” She asked playfully.
“What? — No, you’re drunk.”
“Okay maybe a little.” She admitted before taking another sip.
“Oh, well to be completely honest, I’m kinda drunk too.”
At this Tevera snorted a laugh and her drink almost came out her nose.
“It’s taking every ounce of focus just to maintain this facade of sobriety.” Adam confessed.
Tevera emptied her glass in one final gulp and cracked up laughing.
“Haha! I was kidding! I’m not drunk, won’t be until I’ve had at least three more of these delicious bottles.”
She then pulled a bottle of something pink off the table and chugged it down like a valkyrie trying to prove a point.
“Then I’m gonna toy with you mercilessly.” She added as she pulled the empty bottle from her lips with a wet pop.
“Doh!” Adam channeled his inner Homer Simpson. “Hey I’m trying to make small talk here. But in all seriousness…”
“Sheriousnesh.” Tevera mocked his slurred speech.
“Hey, shtop it.” Adam joked back. “But seriously, it does look like a painting though. Just look at all those stars. You can see the spiral of the galaxy so clear from here.”
“Yeah, it sure is beautiful.”
“Yup, beautiful and alien — which in my professional opinion,” He drunkenly mumbled the word ‘professional’ while curling an imaginary mustache. “Is the best kind alien and the best kind of beautiful, just like you Tevy.”
The statuesque minkan giggled.
“Aw that’s so sweet. But look, it’s not so alien. See that yellow star, right there?”
“Right where?” Adam leaned in to better see where she was pointing but quickly became distracted when his chin brushed up against the top of her enormous breasts.
“Right over — Hey, focus.” She snapped her fingers in his face.”
“Uh, sorry. ADD, alcohol and giant boobs are not a good combination for focusing.”
“ADD — right, guess that’s the price I pay for marrying a kinetic. I still think that’s just an excuse human doctors gave a name to so they could sell pills.”
“No it’s a thing. All kinetics have it.” Adam shrugged.
“I’m pretty sure it’s not just kinetic humans that have it. You just need to try harder.”
“Well how am I supposed to focus when you’re, well…” He glances at her chest. “Looking like that.”
“Like what?”
“Like a big blue Jessica Rabbit.”
She sighed and laughed to herself. “Don’t worry, you’ll get used to it. We’re married now. You can have as much of these as you want.” She ran her finger along the inside lip of her dress’ top; giving him a brief flash of blue cleavage.
Adam gulped and Tevera replied with a knowing smirk.
“But first, focus!” She pointed back at the sky.
Adam sighed in frustration.
“You’re toying with me, aren’t you?”
“Mhmm, mercilessly. Now that yellow star — you see it?”
“I, I think so.”
“That’s Sol — your planet’s sun.”
“Wow — hey Tevy.”
“Yeah.”
“I just got the craziest nostalgia-vu.”
“You too huh?”
“Yeah, it reminds me of back when we were kids.”
Tevera completed his thought.
“How we used to meet at that old rocket-ship jungle gym at the park behind your house.”
Adam continued.
“Remember how we’d meet there at sunset so we could pretend we were blasting off as the stars came out?”
Tevera giggled.
“I remember. We were cute little buggers weren’t we?”
“Oh freakin’ adorable. You pointing at Sol reminded of a certain little blue girl pointing at a certain orange star and insisting that we set a course for it.”
“Yeah, I probably should have mixed it up a bit. I think Astrid and Kale were getting a little annoyed that I kept dragging us back to Kataqura. You never seemed to mind though.”
“Well, I mean, I knew as long as we were all together we were going to have fun — no matter where we went.”
“Aww, you’re so sweet. — I eat yo face!”
And before Adam could respond Tevera threw a leg over his lap and pressed down; pinning him into the back of the sofa.
“Oh, okay.” Adam’s eyes went wide as she whispered something in minkish he didn’t understand before gently raking his cheek with her vampire-like canines.
His eyelids fluttered and his breath shuddered at the unsettlingly pleasant sensation. She kissed his jawline and whispered more minkan gibberish. Adam felt he needed to say something back and struggled to put words into some sort of reply.
“Hi — I’m so glad — your family moved next door.”
Tevera stopped kissing his neck and leaned back.
“Yeah, about that. I’ve meaning been to have a little talk with you.”
“Uh, about what? — You’re not gonna break up with me are you? — Cuz we just got married.”
“What? No. — You’ve got issues.”
“Sorry, previous experience.”
“I remember, high school was hard for all of us.” Tevera thought back to the awkward, skinny but still 6’ 7” version of herself going to a school where that was almost entirely human and repressed a shudder. “But it all worked out for the best didn’t it.”
“Yeah it did!” Adam smiled as he looked her up and down.
Tevera smiled back and placed a hand on his trap muscle, massaging it as she mused.
“Yup, it all worked out. Now where was I? Oh yes…” She quickly remembered but was interrupted.
“Uh, hey Tevy?”
“Yeah.”
“What was that sexy gibberish you were whispering earlier?” Adam’s eyes were half closed as he talked. Looking as though he was about to fall asleep; he seemed to be enjoying the massage.
“Oh that. — You don’t want to know.” Tevera dismissed as she looked up and to the left.
“You can’t say that. Now I really am curious.”
She sighed. “It’s a minkan nursery rhyme my grandma used to sing to me when I was a kid.”
“Oh, what’s it about?”
“It’s about a crab that can’t walk.”
“Why can’t the crab walk?” Adam asked.
“Because it only has one leg.”
Adam stared blankly, maybe because the massage stopped, maybe not.
“That’s messed up.” He said finally.
“Yeah, it’s an older nursery rhyme, but it sounds sexy if you don’t understand minkish.”
“Tevy, you could make the nutritional information on the back of a cereal box sound sexy.”
“Aww, thanks Honey Badger — whoa, wait. Now you’re giving me ADD. It’s contagious!” She joked.
“You knew the risks.” Adam laughed back.
“Stop distracting me!” Tevera laughed as Adam tried to bury his face in her bosom.
“You first!”
“As you wish.” Tevera coiled her python-like tail around Adam and used to pull him off of her.
“Whoa, hey.” Adam tried to squirm loose but they both knew it was just for show. The average minkan is proportionally seven times stronger than most humans. Still, he needed to put up some kind of fight. Tevera quickly ended this by giving Adam a firm squeeze that forced him to make a hiccup sound.
“There, can you be serious now?” She asked.
“I don’t know — can I?”
Tevera squeezed her eyes shut to avoid laughing and coiled her tail tighter around him.
“How about now?” She asked.
“I’m not gonna lie—” He said through strained breath. “This is kinda hot.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me.”
“Well you are.”
Tevera grumbled under her breath and tightened her grip further still. Finally Adam tapped out.
“Ow okay okay, that actually hurts. Stop. You’re gonna break something.”
“Can you focus now?”
“Yeah, I guess so.”
“So — that thing I wanted to talk to you about; you were saying you were glad my family moved in next door.”
“Yup.”
“We probably never would have gotten together if we hadn’t been neighbors — if we hadn’t met as kids — and your little sister Astrid hadn’t become my best friend.”
“We have a history. I guess it was meant to be.” Adam smiled.
“Maybe, but it almost didn’t happen. Do you remember how long it took for you to ask me out?”
“Uh, too long.” Adam admitted.
“And when you finally did I had to practically walk you through the ‘Ask a Girl Out’ tutorial.”
“Thanks for that by the way.”
“Why’d you take so long?”
“I, I was nervous, you know — I was homeschooled up until high school and after the whole thing with Sara well…”
“I’m nothing like Sara.”
“I know. If I wasn’t good enough for Sara what chance did I have with you?”
“That’s not what I meant.”
Adam continued.
“First Sara breaks up with me and then I have to watch you everyday at the diner turning down guys who were taller and better looking than me.”
“You’re nothing like those guys.”
“I know!”
“No — I don’t think you do. Those guys were jerks.”
“Yeah, don’t girls go for that?”
“Look Adam, I spent most of high school on the wrong side of bad boys. They didn’t become interested in me until after my final growth spurt. But then it was too late. They had already shown me who they really were — just like you did.”
Adam looked up at her. She relaxed her tail, leaving his arms free.
“You were always a friend to me. You were always a good guy.”
“Oh.”
Adam scratched the back of his neck. It was a nervous gesture he made when he didn’t know how to take a compliment.
“I’m not finished.” Tevera added.
“But the way we got together and everything — that’s not how life works most of the time.”
“What do you mean?”
“Just because you’re a good guy doesn’t mean that good things will fall into your lap.”
“I, I know that. But you did — that’s the important thing.”
“See? This is what I was afraid of. Adam, you can’t go through life waiting for good things to happen to you just because you’re a good person and you help people.”
“That’s not, hmm —” Adam stroked his chin; reflecting on how he had lived his life. “But, I’m a Christian — and a firefighter. Helping people is kinda my job.”
“You chose that job. And that’s not what I meant but as long as we are on the subject, how much do you think corporations like OmniStellar Interplanetary are paying kinetics?”
“I don’t know, a lot?” Adam guessed.
“It’s way more than the fire department, that’s for sure. I checked.”
“You checked?”
“Well — my Mom checked.” Tevera lowered her pointed ears for a split second.
“Oh.”
“What’s that mean, oh?”
“Uh nothing. I just don’t think she likes the fact that you married a human.”
“Oh please. She likes you just fine. All she’s — all I’m saying is, with your abilities you could be making a lot more than you do at the fire department.”
“Probably, but that’s not the department’s fault. They’re good people.”
“Just like you, but at the end of the day the budget is up to the voters. As long as someone keeps putting out the fires they don’t really think about your situation. Most people are selfish.”
Adam looked down and to the side. He noticed something he had missed before. Scuttling about the pool’s edge on flippers that appeared to be too long for their bodies were creatures no bigger than his hand that looked like sea turtles with the faces of baby seals. Two of the adorable critters appeared to be playing tug-of-war with a worm one of them had dug out of the mud.
“You need to be more proactive about things you want.” He heard Tevera say and quickly turned his attention back to her before she noticed he had gotten distracted again.
“You can’t focus exclusively on helping others and expect them to return the favor. Look at how your society treats its veterans.”
Adam looked down. He thought about his best friend Kale who had joined the space force right after high school. Had Kale known civil war was about to rip the solar system in two he might have chosen a different career path. They used to keep in touch on a fairly regular basis but Kale stopped returning his messages after the battle of the Jacinto Belt. There a fleet of Outer Alliance militia and OmniStellar defense contractors halted the Galactic Union’s advance into the outer planets. It had been a costly battle for both sides but more so for The Union. Half their forces had defected or deserted during the battle. Adam just hoped his friend was still alive.
Tevera continued.
“I just want you to look out for yourself. Go after the things you want.”
Adam looked up at her and smiled.
“But I already have what I want.” He caressed her chin.
Tevera smiled in spite of herself and decided to try a different approach.
“Look at it this way. We’re married now. I am yours and you are mine.” Her voice subtly shifted into a sensual tone that gradually increased in flirtatiousness the longer she spoke.“We are one person now. Good things happen to you and that means good things happen to me too.” She uncrossed her arms and leaned in to whisper in his ear. “You want good things to happen me, don’t you?”
Adam swallowed nervously as his heart pounded.
“I want all the good things to happen to you.” He replied.
Tevera smiled mischievously as she raised herself back up.
“Good answer. So, how are you going to make good things happen to me?”
“I uh, could apply at Omni — see what they’re paying pyro-kinetics — and if they’re paying more…”
“They are.” She interrupted.
“Right.”
“You should also apply at other corporations too. Omni’s probably going to have the best offer but you never know. And having other options is the first first rule of negotiation.”
“Okay, I’ll do that.” He agreed.
“Good boy.” Tevera ran her fingers along his jawline.
“In a year.” He added a caveat.
“What?”
“Or two.” Adam smiled guiltily.
“Ugh!” Tevera rubbed the skin around her third eye; the minkan equivalent of a face-palm.
“I can’t quit right away.” Adam explained. “I just finished my firefighter 1 and 2 and courses. They sponsored me that whole time. I can’t abandon them as soon as I become useful.”
Tevera’s third eye opened and she dropped her hand from her face.
(sigh) “Loyal as ever. That’s why I love you. So, one year then?”
“Uh, I’d feel better with two.”
“One and a half.”
“Okay.”
“Okay — I’m going to remind you.”
“Good, cuz I’ll probably forget.”
Tevera snorted and rolled her eyes.
“What? A man’s got to know his limitations.”
“Did you just quote Dirty Harry?” Tevera asked, cocking her head to the side.
“Yeah, I guess I did.”
“Well — in that case — let’s see if we can find yours.”
Tevera grabbed Adam and pushed him flat onto his back; positioning him so he lay on the sofa lengthwise.
“Whoa, what are you…”
“Shhh.” She shushed him with a playful flick of her tail.
She straddled him then leaning back she reached over her shoulder and pulled a silk ribbon out of her wedding dress. Once the top ribbon was loose the rest quickly followed; cascading over her thighs in a spiral of purple silk. Freed from its intricately threaded lattice of support the dress gracefully fell off of Tevera in five curling pieces like an ivory nightshade blossom revealing black-laced bubblegum pink lingerie and the most hypnotic cleavage Adam had ever seen.
“Oh all of my yes.”Adam frantically removed his shirt and tossed it away as though it were on fire.
But before the shirt could touch the ground a flying creature that looked like a pelican made out of left-over pterodactyl parts swooped down from the roof of a neighboring hut and pouched it like a stolen fish.
Adam watched stunned as his shirt flew away.
“What the — did you just see ?” Adam asked, unable to form full sentences.
“Yeah, that was a Sakadoro. Your people call them peledactyls.” Tevera explained. “They’re all over the coast and they’ll eat anything they can fit in their pouch that isn’t nailed down.”
Adam glanced back at Tevera, noticing how the pink push-up bra contrasted with her blue skin.
“You know, I was probably never going to wear that shirt again anyway.”
He grabbed her by the waist and pulled her close. Kissing her neck, he closed his eyes savoring the sensation her smoothness and her breasts swelling against his chest. This was too much, she was driving him insane.
“Oh…haha, there you go. Mom was right. Human men are so eager.” Tevera laughed as Adam, having kissed his way down her neck, traced his lower lip across her collar bone stopping to rest in the hollow of throat.
He breathed her in; filling his nostrils with the citrus and spice perfume of her alien pheromones. He gasped as the sudden rush of adrenaline and dopamine he had Pavlovianly come to associate with her sent his heart racing and his head spinning. He shuddered as his skin flushed and his nerve endings tingled with anticipation. Apparently minkan males needed more incentive to get in the mood.
“You know it’s funny.” Tevera commentated as an overstimulated Adam, breathing as though he had just run a 5k, stared down her cleavage.
“Huh — wuh?”
“This.” She ran her fingertips along his spine, causing him to shake uncontrollably. “Wow, you’re really sensitive.”
“It’s your fault.”
“I hope you last long enough to make it worth my while.”
“Don’t worry. I recharge really fast.”
“Lucky me. But that’s not what I was going to say was funny.”
“You’re going to have to be more specific.” He gasped a deep breath. “Right now everything’s funny — and nothing is.”
Tevera’s eyes widened and she smiled with glee.
“Ohmahgosh! Are you in heat? It sounds like you’re in heat!”
“What? No, humans don’t have heat. I’m just a guy making out with — well — you.” He pointed at her big, blue sex-goddess figure.
“Oh, okay.” Her ears drooped slightly. “Human’s are weird.”
“Yeah, pretty much. So what’s funny?” Adam let go of her waist and laid back as he tried to calm down enough to hear what she was saying.
“What’s funny? All this.” She waved her arms, gesturing to the hotel resort that had been built on the dorsal surface of a decommissioned minkan warship.
“Yeah, this is a really nice hotel. Remind me how did we afford this?”
“Don’t worry about it.”
“Don’t worry about it?”
“Yeah, Mom’s paying for the honeymoon.”
“What?”
“It’s a minkan tradition.”
“Yeah but being indebted to your scary and, let’s be honest, probably a little bit racist mother does not lend itself to not worrying.”
“Don’t worry, the debt is repaid when you give her a grandaughter to carry on the family name.”
“You’re not helping. — Oh you’re joking right now. You were joking just now right?”
Tevera pressed her lips together to avoid laughing as she looked up and to her right.
“Oh, try to make our daughter a kinetic like you.”
“What? I don’t think it works that way.”
“A minkan kinetic would be seriously OP. If our family had the honor of producing the first one you know I think it would not only cancel out your debt for being human but also mine for being such a disappointment as a daughter.”
“You’re a monster.”
“Yeah a sexy monster.”
Adam sighed.
“You’re lucky you’re so hot.”
“Don’t you forget it.” She bopped him on the nose.
“And you’re not a disappointment…”
“Shush.” She put a hand over his mouth. “You’re derailing me again. Now where was I? Oh yes; this hotel, built on a minkan warship, you and me getting married.
“Mew anth my.” Was Adam’s muffled attempt to correct her.
“Shhh, your human grammar is not my concern. I know it’s wrong. I just think my way sounds better.”
Adam rolled his eyes.
“Anyway all this, you’ve got to admit it’s funny. If we’d met sixty years ago we’d probably be trying to kill each other.”
“That’s not funny at all.”
“I’m just saying it’s funny how much things have changed. Sixty years ago our peoples were mortal enemies. Seeing one of our ships in the sky about one your planets probably meant the end of the world coming.”
Adam furrowed his brow in contemplation.
“And now we’re going to have sex in it.”
Adam snickered.
“Yeah, that is kind of funny.”
“It just puts everything in perspective, you know.”
“Well it does help that your people stopped trying to conquer humanity.”
“Did we know?”
Adam raised a confused eyebrow.
“Maybe we’ve just adopted more, subtle, tactics.” Tevera flashed him a knowing smirk as undid the front clasp of her bra.
“Oh gah — I — think the warship was more subtle.” Adam struggled to form words. “Ha — have you seen yourself?”
Tevera flicked the bra away and her tail preemptively swatted the peledactyl that dove for it. The coastal pest honked in surprised outrage as her spade connected with the center of its shoulder blades and almost knocked it to the ground.
Meanwhile Adam gibbered, completely transfixed by the heavenly sight of topless Tevera. “So big — so shape.”
“I bet you say to all the girls.” Tevera teased before wrapping her arms around and falling on him.
Adam lay underneath his bride. Paralyzed with pleasure; his mind raced with more thoughts and sensations than he could process. Tevera whispered more sweet, minkan nothings in his ear. Two hands teased his chest and stomach while two more were undoing his pants. As if that wasn’t enough her tail was slowly snaking its way around his waist, up his chest and now her spade was massaging the back of his neck. This was too much input and yet was afraid that if he was able to focus on one sensation they would both find out what his limitations were. He did not want to have to cash in on his quick-recharge perk so early in their relationship. It would not set a good precedent. He just needed to calm down. Think about something else, anything else, anything other than what was happening to him right now.
“Oh, look at that.” He thought.
One of those peledactyls was circling overhead. He wondered if it was the one that ate his shirt. Hmm, it looked like it was getting closer. “That can’t be good — wow, she felt really — no! Not yet. Give her more time.” He thought. “Focus, focus on that damn bird. Yeah, it was definitely getting closer. Maybe it was one the Tevy slapped.” He’d heard of solar crows holding grudges and he hoped these peledatcyls didn’t share that trait. Well if it did try to get revenge while Tevy’s back was turned then Adam would just put his kinetic powers to work and increase the gravity enough to drop the bird out of the sky. It was nice to be useful. The dactyl continued to circle like a vulture, dropping in altitude with each loop. Adam flexed his fingers, readying to exert himself. Then the bird dove.
“Guhck!” Adam choked as Tevera wrapped her mouth around his windpipe. Her muffled laugh reverberated into his throat as her canine fangs pressed against the pulse of his carotid artery. His vision darkened as his brain’s blood supply was squeezed to a trickle. Minkans are predatory by nature so this kind of foreplay wasn’t out of the ordinary for Tevera’s people. It was a form of power exchange usually reserved for committed mates that cemented bonds trust, so long as the one doing the biting didn’t get carried away and kill their mate. For a thin-skinned human the act was, to be honest, rather dangerous and unsettling.
Adam struggled to focus. Where was that damn bird? Adam saw movement out of the corner of his eye. He turned his head as much as Tevera would allow him to. The dactyl had landed and was shuffling along on all fours like an oversized bat. However it seemed to be oblivious to the preoccupied couple making out on the sofa. Its attention was focused on the pair of seal-turtles that were still fighting over a worm. The dactyl loomed over the unsuspecting creatures. It’s long beak opened a slit, revealing a pink frog-tongue that was primed to lash out.
“Huck! Evy!” Adam choked his plea for Tevera to release him.
Completely unaware of the plight of the aquatic munchkins about to be devoured she responded with a sensuous moan as she ran her tongue over his Adam’s apple. This was not helpful.
The dactyl’s tongue lashed out faster than the human eye could register and yanked the nearest seal-turtle into the air where the bird swallowed it in two snaps of its up-turned beak. This happened so quickly that the second seal-turtle hadn’t had the chance to let go of the worm and now hung from the side of the dactyl’s beak like a strand of spaghetti. Still the persistent little creature refused to let go, much to the annoyance of the dactyl which shook its head in an attempt to dislodge the tiny stow-away. Adam saw the peledactyl’s pouch distended by a frantic, flapping motion. The seal-turtle was still alive and fighting to escape. Adam needed to do something.
“Hnuh! Evy…shtop.” He wheezed.
Tevera giggled and pressed into him, squeezing tighter still. Darkness encroached on the edges of his vision. He was about to pass out. With his last ounce of strength he wrestled his left arm out from under her and pointed an accusing claw at the devil bird. He activated his powers. His fingers curled in righteous determination as the whites of his eyes shaded over oil-black and his irises glowed like neon green rings. A twenty foot shadow-dome exploded outward from his body and pulsed with a dark violet ripple that matched his heartbeat.
“No — you —don’t!” Adam thought, as he was incapable of speech at this point. He flexed with everything he had left — and the murder-bird was completely unphased. It must be just out of his range. “Well vreck!” Adam thought as he surrendered to oblivion.
Just as this happened the peledactyl finally succeeded in shaking off the second seal-turtle which landed in the sand, on its back. The poor creature flapped to right itself and let out a heart-piercing, infant-like cry of distress. Tevera’s ears perked up and she released Adam’s throat to focus her attention on the source the cry.
“Hey! Bad doro! You leave those little guys alone!” She scolded the dactyl who ignored her.
Blood rushed back into Adam’s brain and he knew instantly what he had to do. He combat-rolled off the sofa and dropped into a three point Iron-Man landing that put the peledactyl in range of his gravity field. The motion must have spooked the bird because it lowered its head and raised its wings to take off.
“Not today devil-bird!” Adam shouted as he narrowed his focus so as not to hit Tevera or the inverted seal-turtle with his gravity attack.
“Yeah! Kick his ass Sea Bass!” Tevera cheered him on from the sofa.
The dactyl flapped its wings just as Adam punched the ground. A cone-shaped wave of 3x normal gravity traveled out from Adam and the confused dactyl fell on its face as it tried to fly. The creature had no frame of reference for the bizarre gravity distortion that anchored it to the ground and instinctively kept flapping its wings to no avail. All the while it did not cough up the seal-turtle which was still fighting to escape its pouch.
Adam cautiously approached the downed bird, careful not to lose focus and let it escape with its victim. As he got closer the peledactyl honked and snapped at him as if it knew he was to blame for whatever was wrong with the gravity.
“Noted.” Thought Adam. He stepped behind the creature, out of range of its sharp beak, and put the bird in a choke-hold. He closed a hand around the creature’s beak before he dropped the gravity field.The goose-sized dactyl flapped furiously, beating Adam with its large wings.
“A little help here please!” Adam begged Tevera who was reclining on the sofa, apparently enjoying the show.
Still topless, she checked left and right for potential witnesses. She was about to stand up when she noticed the 5 silk sheets that had made up her wedding dress. She grabbed one and tied it around her chest . Once she was satisfied the girls were secured she jumped out of the sofa and jogged to her husband’s aid.
“Can I kill it?” Adam asked through gritted teeth. In the time it took for Tevera to cover herself Adam had taken quite a beating from the creature’s clawed wings. His forearms and stomach were etched with bloody scratches from the dactyl’s talons.
“Don’t be a baby.” She teased. “Hold its head.”
Adam leaned on the creature, pinning it in the sand as he repositioned his hand to control its head. Now with its head under control Tevera went to work. With two hands she pried open the creature’s beak and with other two hands she reached inside the pouch and gently extracted the seal-turtle which proceeded to cry like a human infant as soon it breathed the outside air.
“It’s okay Little Guy. We wont let it hurt you.” She cooed as she caressed the crying creature’s face with her finger. Adam thought she had never looked more beautiful. He was knocked out of this sublime moment by a vicious slap from one of the bird’s wings.
“Gah! Dammit!” He pointed the devil-bird safely away from Tevera before shoving it away. Expecting it to whip around and attempt revenge, Adam instantly adopted a defensive boxing stance. Fortunately the peledactyl had had enough and flew off towards the sea with one last defiant honk.
Adam caught his breath and turned towards Tevera.
“Hey Tevy.”
“Yeah.” She continued petting the seal-turtle.
“Were you quoting Dumb and Dumber when you called me Sea Bass?”
She considered this.
“Yeah. I guess I was.”
“Oh — okay then.”
She walked over to the other seal-turtle that was still trying to right itself and grabbed it by the sides of the shell to flip it over. It stopped crying and began shuffling away in the direction it was currently pointed, which was away from the water. Tevera corrected this by turning the turtle towards the pool.
“There you go.”
Once she was satisfied it was heading in the right direction she descended the wave-worn, smooth stone steps into the pool. Adam gawked at the sight of her lit from underneath by the dancing turquoise light. Tevera lowered her cupped hands into the clear, cool water until it raised the little critter off her fingers. The turtle floated passively for a few seconds as it adjusted to its new surroundings. Then it flapped its flippers and dove for deeper water much faster than you would expect given how clumsy it moved on land. Tevera watched the baby seal-turtle until it disappeared under a coral outcropping. She noticed that her makeshift top was beginning to come loose and took a second to readjust herself.
“Hey Tevy.”
“Yeah.” She looked over her shoulder to address Adam.
“You know that feeling you get — when you’re listening to a song really like — or you’re driving down the highway and there’s a beautiful sunset turning all the skyscrapers gold, no wait — that feeling when you’re listening to a song really like while you’re driving down the highway and the sunset’s turning all the skyscrapers gold?”
“Sure.” Tevera looked confused.
“And, and you feel like, this is it. This is an almost perfect moment.”
“Almost?”
“It’s just missing one thing.”
“What’s that?”
Adam stepped closer. With Tevera’s calves submerged underwater and Adam still standing on dry sand they were almost the same height. Adam savored the moment looking deep into her now eye-level ruby-colored eyes. He smiled and put his hands on her waist.
“Someone to share it with.”
Tevera looked down and saw the bloody scratches the sakadoro’s talons had left on his forearms.
“Ohmahgosh! Honey Badger!” She squealed. “You’re bleeding.”
“Oh.” Adam looked down. Apparently this was news to him too, but he had other things on his mind. “Nyah, I don’t care.”
“I forgot how thin your human skin …merfmmm.” Adam interrupted her with a kiss. After a brief second of wide-eyed surprise she returned the gesture. Adam massaged her hips against him as their combined breathing grew heavy. He gave her slick, purple lower-lip a gentle tug as he came up for air.
“(gasp) Maybe, maybe we should, uh — go back to our sofa.” He suggested.
Tevera responded by pulling away.
“Whoa, hey.” He objected.
She slowly walked backwards into the pool, smiling mischievously as she bit her lower lip.
“Remember what we talked about Honey Badger?” She asked him.
“Uh…”
“Don’t think I’m just going to give you the honey because you did a good thing, that’s not how life works.”
Adam cocked his head to the side, looking confused and a little annoyed.
“You have to come get it.” She elaborated as began to untie the sheet of silk that covered her breasts.
Adam’s eyes grew with realization. Tevera unveiled herself, leaving Adam’s heart pounding and the white sheet swirling in her wake as she backstroked away.
Driven mad with lust Adam almost forgot to check for witnesses before proceeding. Their balcony had been private, the pool was not. He didn’t see anyone and the lights were out in the neighboring huts. He decided it was worth the risk. He stepped out of his boxer briefs and looked for a place he could leave them where they wouldn’t get covered with sand. Ideally this would be close to the water so he could retrieve them quickly should witnesses materialize. He noticed a large boulder by the waters edge and tossed his underwear it. An omnipresent peledactyl swooped it up before it was halfway there.
“Aw come o…” Adam stopped himself and shook his head. He should have seen that coming. “Oh well, nothing to do about it now.” He thought as he stepped into the inviting, turquoise pool. He walked until the water was up to his hips before diving under. Bubbles filled his ears. The water tasty salty but just barely, like a sports drink minus the sugar and fruit flavor. A school of distorted glow fish swam over to investigate before quickly darting away. He scanned the pool. Bioluminescent anemones were strategically scattered in a random appearing fashion that evenly distributed turquoise light throughout the pool. How far could she have gone? Knowing Tevera, she might have snuck back onto land while his eyes were closed just so she sneak around behind him and pounce when he least suspected it. That was not out of character for her. Adam rose to the the surface for a gulp of air and to see if his suspicions were correct. His vision filled with stars as the water drained from his eyes. He quickly looked behind, so sign of Tevera. He was interrupted by a familiar, feminine laugh.
“Polo.”
He looked in the direction of the voice. Rounding the corner of the curved pool he saw Tevera reclining on a stone Baja shelf like a mermaid poised to lure sailors to their doom. Adam dove under again, trying to make as little noise as possible. He hugged the bottom as he swam towards her. A cloud of white sand exploded in his face as his proximity panicked a delta-ray that broke cover in search of a better hiding place. Adam’s lungs burned. The distance had appeared much shorter from above. He quickened his pace, kicking frantically to close the gap before he ran out of oxygen. He was almost there when a large, blue tentacle curled into his path. His heart jumped in his chest and he instinctively raised his fists to fight. “Giant squid!” He thought. “Or at least the Kataquran version of it — oh.” Now he felt stupid, but relieved. He reached out and grabbed Tevy’s tail just above the spade. She coiled around his wrist and pulled him up onto the Baja shelf with no visible effort. Adam gasped for breath and let the water run from his eyes. He felt that he was lying on something slick and soft yet firm, like slippery wet gelatin layered over tight muscle.
“Tevy?”
“Hi Honey Badger.”
She traced her fingertips lightly over the nape of his neck sending a full-body tingle through him. He rubbed his face along her voluptuous curves, savoring her smoothness. He felt her thighs tighten around his waist. This was it, he couldn’t take much more. He opened his eyes to look down at her. Her own wide eyes looked back at him in a way that seemed to indicate the feeling was mutual. Adam pressed forward and Tevera gasped softly. Her eyes half-closed like little upside-down crescent moons as she arched her back. She was everything he had imagined and more. Every little thing she did, the way she moved, the noises she made, it was like she was reading his mind and knew exactly how to drive him mad with lust. Once Tevera had him positioned exactly the way she liked she began to undulate her body in forceful waves that felt as good as they looked. Her tail, now coiled all around his body, prevented him from pulling back and getting any relief. Not that he wanted any but he could tell the current situation was unsustainable.
“Tuh — Tevy.” He groaned. “Slow down — I…”
“Aww, poor Honey Badger.” She teased as she patted his cheek. “What’s wrong, too much honey?”
Adam half shuddered / half gulped as he found himself unable to make words.
Cupping her fingers around the back of his head she pulled him in, pressing his face against her chest. Her undulating body waves did not let up.
“Well that’s that. I tried, and now I’m done.” Adam thought as unbearable pleasure pulled him over the event horizon. This would be embarrassing but at least they were married now. He would have his entire life to make it up to her.
“Sorry Adam. I wish I could slow down but we’re out of time.” Tevera’s voice sounded frantic.
“What? Wuh, why? What are you talking a… Oh no!” Adam arrived at a horrible realization.
As if triggered by this revelation, Tevera’s words became garbled and incoherent.
“We’ve been dispatched to help the purple princess 512 the undying worm union.”
“No Tevy! Don’t go!” Adam pleaded as the sensation of her heavenly touch faded away to the bland embrace of pillows, sheets and blankets.