Stranded in the void

Chapter 10: Worn thin

by Exhausted_ambition

Tags: #cw:noncon #D/s #dom:female #dom:internalized_imperialism #f/f #Human_Domestication_Guide #hypnosis #sub:female #transgender_characters #cw:violence #drug_play #gender_dysphoria #gender_euphoria #hunger #paranoia #petplay #pov:bottom #psychological #scifi #trans_egg

CW: Panic attack, a small amount of blood and injury

Happy Holidays! And happy new year’s! hope you all enjoy this little gift.

Natalia shifted in the bed and looked at the clock on the datapad for the 12th time that night. 0342… and she wasn’t even sleepy anymore. She had tried to sleep for so long and sometimes would drift into something vaguely resembling it, only to wake once more a few minutes later. The hunger was a constant clawing agony, part of her even regretting the few shavings she had donated to Luis a few days prior. She had checked the thermostat and the radiators several times, all were at acceptable temperatures and working fine. So why did she feel so unbearably cold?

It wasn’t a good idea but taking a round of the ship to check up on some baseline systems was a tempting distraction from lying here and thinking about how hungry she was. Natalia quickly dressed and walked out into the corridor, the flashlight lighting up the darkness in a cone of white. Her steps were the only thing that could be heard, one could almost imagine that the ship was empty except for her. The flashlight caught something close to the ceiling, one of the vents close to the water filtration system had slipped…strange. It could have gotten loose during the jump, but she should have seen it before now.

Not worth losing any sleep over, a small shove was all it needed to get back into place. Natalia continued her round making sure the radiators were all doing their best and that…At the very edge of the flashlight range, there was a figure about her height. It must have seen her a second before, its face already towards her as it moved with a strange and elegant feline agility backward. A short burst of instinctive terror rushed through her veins, making her hand clutch around the flashlight. Who the fuck was —

The figure straightened up and walked into the light “hello Natalia, what brings you to wander the corridors so late?” Verek stood there like it was perfectly normal for him to be doing so.

The confusion and relief stuttered her thoughts for a moment. “I...I couldn’t sleep so I decided to go for a walk and check up on stuff. What about you?” The hairs on the back of her neck were still standing on end, uncertainty crawling up her back.

Verek moved closer, somehow she resisted the urge to take a step back “a difficult conundrum, may I say you treat it most dutifully. Lack of rest and restlessness often go hand in hand. I can walk with you while you do your round if that is acceptable for the fine lady of course.” Fine lady? She was pretty sure her hair had more clusters than most of the ships’ electrical wires.

“Yeah…sure, I don’t mind.” Did that sound too dismissive? Verek was still smiling so hopefully not, though…had she ever seen him not smiling? Natalia tried to imagine it and found the image either horrifying or severely lacking.

They began walking, Verek with his hands stuffed in his pockets. It felt very unlike him, but maybe that was just how the quartermaster was during off hours. The walk was mostly done in awkward silence, so she let her mind wander. Again, it returned to Betula, for like the hundredth time this week…she really was hopeless. She and everyone else were starved and overworked, a whole squad sick with some terrible disease, and what was she worried about? If it would be okay to ask out an affini on a date.

Verek talked while still looking straight ahead “is there something troubling you?” Natalia came to a grinding stop, how had he? “You are fiddling a lot with the button of the flashlight dear, and you look worried. I won’t pry, though I recommend speaking to someone about the issue, a worried heart is a burdened one.” A small blush of embracement rose to the top of her mind before she considered what he had said.

There was no way she could tell him, Verek was pretty relaxed around the affini but if he found out…bad idea. “Personal stuff, but thanks for the advice.” A long and awkward silence followed. Change the subject, change the subject “heard you told a pretty good story while I was repairing the generator a few days back. No offense but you never struck me as the artsy type.”….Fuck, was that rude to say? Why was she even trying to hold a conversation while her mind was this fried?

They reached the bridge, a few monitors humming happily, the viewport giving a nice window into the endless void. Verek did thankfully not look offended “I do love stories, sadly my job in the armory gives little practice in skills of that category. I still find ways to practice my craft. Like engineering, it is a skill that has to be sharpened constantly to not go dull.” A weird way to phrase it…but okay.

Verek stared out the viewport while she did a routine check of the consoles, silence once again filling the air. It was actually startling how little sound Verek made when he didn’t mean to…was he even breathing? “Is there something the matter?” He was looking the other way, how had he?

Natalia snapped her sight back to the console, blushing furiously out of embarrassment “Nothing…” oh, so she was just staring? Come up with a reason “…just worried about Ari and the rest who caught Jovarian pox. You think they will make it?”

“The affini are probably taking excellent care of them, I am sure they will all make a rapid recovery once the situation has resolved itself.” That was remarkably confident of him, she had never heard of Jovarian pox before but from how Luis had described it, it was not something one just walked off.

The console showed that everything was in order, with minor exceptions like the ship’s structural integrity being impressively low. Honestly, she was glad the jump drive was offline, another attempt would have torn the ship apart. They could get repairs once they reached the station… “What do you think will happen once we get to the station?” It had been a subject of conversation for some time, though the closer they got the less optimistic the people she overheard seemed to be.

Verek turned around, flashing a confident smile “I wouldn’t worry too much about that dear. The many possible futures awaiting us cannot be determined by your actions at this juncture. We all have our part to play, my advice is to play your part to the best of your abilities. Shall we continue our round?”

“Uh…sure.” Strange advice, but it seemed to be working for him. No one else on the ship was as calm as Verek, not even the affini. They continued the round in silence, though her stomach did not hold to that same principle. Was it possible to get used to hunger pain? Because if it was she felt like she would be so by now. The rations didn’t help anymore, the pain continued and continued, and….her hands were shaking again. Keep it together, only a few more days to go.

Outside the captain’s office another of the vents had slipped slightly out of alignment “Verek, has anyone been doing maintenance on the vents?” It was not that hard to make sure they fitted adequately…sure, it was pretty hard to spot unless you had been working on them, however, that didn’t stop it from falling out and hitting someone in the head.

Verek raised an eyebrow “not that I know of, is there something wrong with them?”

Could there be something wrong with the ventilation system? “The covers are falling out, give me a minute to check it out.” Before she could begin inspecting the inside of the vent Verek placed a hand on her shoulder.

“Your dedication is admirable, nonetheless I think it would be better if I send someone to check on it later today.” Really? This was going to take 5 minutes max. “You should get some sleep before your shift repairing the relay with Betula, that task is exponentially more important than this trifling matter.” What was so darn important about the relay? Luis, the affini, and now Verek treated it like a matter of life and death. Which was very strange, the relay was superfluous at best…unless…unless it wasn’t.

Did that mean…Had she been working on the one thing that could get them out of this…that would save everyone…Fuck! She would gladly have accepted overtime if she just knew, instead, she had been treating it like any normal job. Natalia felt the tickling in her nose a second before the sneeze, it had to be dust from the ventilation systems. “I must insist you get some sleep; rest is important.” The sleepiness that had escaped her grasp for so long suddenly returned, drowning out the stress from the revelation.

“Just…” she let out a long yawn “make sure this gets a look at, okay.” With every second that passed the sleepiness got more and more intense, she was almost afraid of falling asleep right there in the corridor. Verek guided her all the way back to her quarters, when she could finally collapse upon the bed; Sleep was pleasantly instant.

>>>>>

Betula had felt better — no strike that, she had most certainly never felt worse. The disgusting rust solution was so far removed from what was acceptable intake that it rivaled the terrans' nutritional source. The lack of any proper mineralized intake was starting to take its toll. Her bark was drying from the inside out, leaves were fading in color, and she was sure that people were noticing. Root, even her attitude had probably soured.

She needed sleep and a lot of it. All the physical pain and disfigurement of her form were expected, the amount of inertia her body craved was now on a whole new level. Energy! She was supposed to have energy! Some minor feats of labor that had left her winded before were not incomprehensible to fathom.

On the way to the airlock, Betula walked past a few terrans, plummeting her mood to new lows. Betula had helped process some ferals before aboard the Vindex and seen how afraid they could be. That fear had been active and volatile, the fear that radiated from the terrans passing her was more of apathetic desperation. Wanting to do anything to relieve the pain yet having no way to do so. They hurried past, giving her mind only a few seconds to observe. During that time, every warning sign of poor health she had learned about could be seen.

Her core was filled with its own desperation, was there nothing more they could do? Waiting at the airlock, Betula considered the options available with increasing frustration. Cooperating with the terrans had been her suggestion and so far it had mostly worked. It didn’t feel like it. If only she moved faster and shut down that hyperdrive; the suffering her mistake had caused was inexcusable. She should never have chosen to be part of a fishing expedition to begin with.

Betula’s regretful musings were interrupted as Duran and a few other terrans rushed past her. They looked unusually stressed and concerned, one of them giving her a fearful and suspicious glare that was cast down the second they noticed she saw them. Shame burned along the edges of her core, here she was giving in to self-pity about her own inconveniences while the terrans suffered.

Vines tingled, the uncomfortable itch that followed her everywhere on the ship growing intolerably intense. One sting, one small dose and it would all be better. Betula held back, forced restraint holding her vines back from action. Did she want them to suffer? — of course not, but she couldn’t, it would break the pact with the terrans — what a great excuse, they were all suffering, she could ease it, that was all that mattered. The group rounded another corner and disappeared, her opportunity slipping away.

It went against everything she was, everything she had learned, every fiber of her core. Xenos were supposed to be helped when they suffered, leaving them in that state was intolerable. Yet as the instincts died down, her rational side knew that holding back was the ‘right’ thing to do. A sudden crack tore down her arm, dry bark splitting apart showing sparse vines and hollowness underneath.

Root! Her form needed to be whole for this, extraterrestrial radiation was no joke. Slowly the crack was stitched back together, and the rest of her bark strengthened as well. Doing such an effortless thing should have taken no time at all before, but now a whole 10 minutes were needed. Today might be fine, tomorrow venturing out to space would be reckless…she had to get the antenna fixed today.

“Betula!” The cheerful voice carried across the welded metal and stale air, washing away all her worries in an instant. She was here! Betula was suddenly full of energy once more as she turned to greet the most adorable xeno that the particles the universe had ever come together to form. Natalia bounced up to her, a wide adoring smile on her beautiful little face.

Betula restrained her vines, they were now itching from a far more pleasant feeling.“~Hello there petal~” the xeno's face lit up in an adorable blush “excited to walk in space with me again?” Stretching and isolating her bark came effortlessly, the motivation of impressing Natalia giving her more than enough energy. The blush on the terran's face became even more obvious. How could a creature be this adorable!?

Betula luckily managed to not squeal and continued the act of elegance and grace that she knew Natalia was so entranced by. Natalia needed some help getting into the suit this time, an excellent opportunity to lift her up, guide her movements and give a covert pet after making sure that no one was going to come by the airlock. The precious xeno leaned her head into her hand, savoring the comfort with a sublime look of peace on her face.

This moment was all she was ever going to need. If only she could make it last forever…her hand moved down and cupped Natalia’s cheek, and she continued to press into it, an adorable humming sound coming from the back of her throat. This was why she had to keep going, for the opportunity to cherish her like this again.

With the greatest amount of self-discipline, Betula removed her hand, the slight whimper from Natalia making her regret it in an instant. “We need to work now…I can give your more pets later, okay?” They just needed to find a silent secluded spot, a difficult task with the ship's size being what it was. Natalia’s eyes went wide, the blush flared up again and she stood still for a couple of seconds. Betula crouched down, stroking the xeno across the cheek with a finger “~would you like that little flower?~” It almost felt bad to tease her so…and so very satisfying.

Natalia shuddered at her touch, giving a weak nod before finally putting on the helmet to hide a face so red that the first time Betula had seen it she had become concerned about the little xenos health. The blush would go excellently along with a few dozen of the companion dresses that she had already imagined Natalia in. The one thing she was still struggling with was the color of the collar, she had made a few designs but had not been entirely satisfied with any of them. Clothes could be changed, a collar was forever, it had to be perfect.

“Betula? We should get to work…” There was a minor amount of stress in Natalia’s voice. The image of her sweet little flower pampered, collared, and sleeping in her vines. After making sure that everything was properly secured she opened the airlock. Betula guided the precious terran out of the airlock with her vines, resisting the temptation to carry Natalia all the way to their target. Seeing the outside of the ship was as disturbing as usual, to think that terrans had traveled in so fragile vessels all this time.

They had worked on the actual relay part of the relay the last few days. The receiving disk was far beyond repair, luckily the spire that they needed to send the message had only been broken in half. Now it stood tall, the sings of terran mingling with affini technology clear to see. They still had a few more things to do, mainly replacing some cables, adjusting the power supply, and finishing the last integration between the ship's com system and the spire. Natalia would do the two first tasks, helpfully attached to the spire via a harness of vines. It was safer than any terran cables…and allowed her to hold onto Natalia through the entire session.

They began to work, and it did not take long for her to grow frustrated with the task at hand. The affini and terran tech integration was mindlessly tedious and required precise focus. The worst cause of this was that she had almost no time to admire Natalia, the nebula forming a beautiful background to her adorable form….one picture couldn’t hurt. Her flower seemed to be taking the work quite seriously today, she always did that when she found the task fun….so cute!!!

It was wrong that any of the xenos had to work yet working with Natalia in this way was a true delight. So often back home she had felt the need to explain her actions and ask for help or clarifications. With Natalia, there was no need to talk at all unless absolutely needed. She even felt confident enough to explain parts of the technology, something she would never have dared before. It probably helped that Natalia was a very clever little sophont, listening attentively and following her directions meticulously.

Following several hours of work Betula gently tugged at the vine harness that helped Natalia stay attached to the spire “We should take a small break, why don’t you come down and rest.” The terran held fast to the structure, resisting the tug.

“I-I’m fi-fine. Almost done here, I can-” Her voice was shaky but resolute “I can finish this, just give me a minute.” There was something wrong, something very wrong. Betula shot up, her vines pushing her to where Natalia was clinging to the spire.

Detecting biorhythms in the vacuum of space was next to impossible, but she did not need it to see that Natalia was anything but fine. Her body was shaking uncontrollably, the exhaustion in her voice painfully apparent “I don’t think that is a good idea, we can finish this soon, but you need to rest.” She gave the harness another tug, trying to pull Natalia into her arms.

Natalia hung on “no, I need to finish this! Everyone is relying on me to fix this and…I don’t know-….” It sounded like she had started to cry “If I don’t do this today I don’t know if I- if I can ever…sorry, I’m sorry, just let me…” The desperate pleas were too much.

Betula sent her vines across Natalia’s arms and hands, gently forcing her to let go of the spire. She protested but had no strength to resist. Natalia was safely cradled in her arms, vines wrapping her terran ever closer. They drifted down to the ground “you need to breathe, in and…out….in and…out.” Slowly the breathing became less hectic “good girl…can you tell me what is wrong?” She needed to know, once she knew she could fix it, she had to fix it.

“We need to fix this relay to survive, don’t we? There is no station….” The drawn-out silence answered the question.

“It is.” What a clever little sophont….

“Then I need to work.” Natalia’s body was filled with tension, she had begun to shiver again “My body, it- it feels like it is falling apart. I can’t sleep, I’m hungry all the time, I’m so cold I feel like I am going numb and…and nothing feels like it’s supposed to. I don’t think I can continue to work much longer, but if I don’t…”

“Shhhh, it is going to be okay. You have done more than enough.” Her body began to morph, expanding around the sophont in her arms until she was completely enclosed “I want to give you something that will remove the pain…is that okay?”

“Please…” Carefully the helmet was removed, the airtight space holding the vital oxygen inside. A vine tipped with a blooming flower moved and with a sting injected a strong dose of class-E into her neck. Natalia let out a surprised gasp and then as the drug began to take effect, a sigh of relief. Her pupils expanded and the tension in her body disappeared.

Betula wiped the tears away with a vine and stroked the terran’s cheek “I am so sorry that I didn’t realize earlier.” A singular question burned in her core “Could I take care of you from now on?” She could not let her suffer any longer…please say yes.

Natalia stared up at her, clumsily grasping one of her vines “mhm.” Thank the Everbloom!

An enormous sense of relief washed over her “Thank you so much, I promise everything will be okay from now on.” A second vine slipped into the suit, injecting Natalia with a dose of class-Z. Natalia let out a long yawn, smiling gently up at her before finally falling asleep.

Having something so precious fall asleep in her vines felt right, even if the situation was so very wrong. Betula indulged herself by giving the sleeping terran a few headpats, a few sleepy and adorable sounds were made in response.

It did not matter how Natalia had figured it out, the important element was to put her worries at ease. That couldn’t be accomplished while the work out here was left unfinished. After forming a comfortable cocoon inside her form, Natalia was placed inside. Her vines spread out across the spire, each one beginning to work on a separate problem. An increasing amount of pain tore at her vines, her form wanting to reject the new speed and multitude of actions.

Minutes turned into hours and yet Betula continued to work. The faster she fixed this, the faster she could get Natalia and all the other terrans the extensive help that they needed. For that, any type of pain could be accepted. Frequent checks were made on Natalia, and so far she was sleeping peacefully, with not a hint of pain coming from her biorhythm.

She had said yes! Despite the stress and terrible situation, a part of her could not depart from the idea that Natalia had said yes. So far the concept of owning the girl as her floret had been more of an idea. Now it was suddenly very real. Although, she had only said yes to be taken care of, not to become her floret. That was a question for the future, for now, she had plenty of work to do.

>>>>>>

“That can be arranged, is there anything more that you need?” The friendly terran looked up at him with an unwavering smile. Alyssum took a last look at the data pad and nodded.

They were soon finished “I do not believe so, once the computer system in the coms room is completed the relay will be operational.” Then they could send a message, find rescue, and finally end this miserable predicament. He would soon be home, back with his little wonder…it could not happen too soon.

Verek put away his own data pad “most fortunate. It appears our cooperation has come to an end. It has been a productive partnership, that is certain. I would hope we could have a future and similar relationship; however, the impending situation might not allow for that.” That was a shame, working with the strange and mysterious terran had proven to be more fun than anticipated.

The bleeping from a warning light indicated that the airlock was opening. Alyssum watched Betula enter the ship with anticipation biting at his vines. While they waited one thing became alarmingly clear. Firstly, Natalia was not coming in with Betula. Secondly, Betula looked absolutely terrible, her form rugged and worn. Had something happened? Had they entered some covert asteroid field? Had some piece of debris hit Natalia?! O, please say that the terran was fine!

As soon as the door system allowed it Alyssum rushed into the room “where is Natalia? Did something happen?”

Betula leaned against the wall and slowly slid down, her midsection opened up to reveal the terran engineer, fast asleep. “She is fine, at least for now.” There was an unfamiliar glow in Betula’s eyes, though only unfamiliar for the young bloom’s face. Alyssum had seen it in plenty of fellow affini; A protective determination. “I am going to take care of her…” Natalia was taken out and cradled in her arms, vines gently stroking through her hair. There was something beautiful seeing the terran wrapped in vines, safe and cared for. Unpleasantly it did spark hints of jealousy.

“You need to release her, immediately.” Frost! Verek was staring at Betula, a concerned quality tainting the smile. “Her shivering has ceased, you drugged her.” Rot of the world! It could not go wrong now, not when they were this close. Verek could not be allowed to say this to anyone…maybe Ageratu could take care of him.

Betula stood up, Natalia held protectively in her arms “she needs my help!”

Verek took a step forward “should any of my compatriots see this, riots are the most likely outcome. I would recommend placing her back inside you and hiding in her quarters, the access override code is O-3-9-3-P.” Alyssum halted the vine he had prepared with a full dose of class-Z gas. He talked with an eerie calm “I do not believe that you affini will hurt me, please make haste before someone with a more hostile attitude becomes an observer.”

He and Betula exchanged a glance before Natalia was hidden and the youngbloom left the room in haste. Verek had been one of the most cooperative non-floret terrans he had met, especially for a feral. “Thank you…it is good to know that at least one of you understands that we only want to help.” The terran was strange for sure, the perfect kind of strange. A kind of strange that ~they~ were sure to like…maybe…

This was not the time, Focus! “Will you inform your captain?” There was no way they would react well to this and there there was so little time until they could send that message. If possible they could hide this until the terrans could be put to sleep while they waited for help to arrive.

The quartermaster hinted with his eyes towards the left upper corner of the room “that is unnecessary. He already knows.” A small primitive camera stuck out of the corner “planned mutinies is a reliable precursor to increased surveillance.” A tiny smirk joined his final remark “our dear captain can only observe, not listen. A mistake in my opinion, you seldom see people sneaking up behind you.” That made things….a bit more complicated.

“I have a meeting with him soon, I will sort it out.” Wait…how did Verek know about the mutiny that the adorable little terrans now safely in Ageratu’s vines had planned. “Can I ask how you knew about the mutiny?”

“The information was shared between me and the captain in confidence. I think the matter was handled flawlessly.” Verek and the ‘captain’ did share a lot of meetings, they had likely bonded strongly as terrans were known to do. Poor thing, knowing that had probably been quite scary, such a brave little sophont. The quartermaster quickly added, “The deception you crafted was also superb, did you design it?” A sour aftertaste, much like the one from the rust solution filled Alyssum’s core.

“I did not lie, only your captain did that.” Had that come out too harsh? Verek had meant it as a compliment. Hopefully, he was not upset.

Luckily the terran seemed more intrigued than upset “that is correct, none of you affini have spoken any falsehoods on this entire journey. Am I right to assume there is a cultural imperative against direct deception?”

“We affini don’t lie, those types of social mechanisms are a product of oppressive societies. As you will come to learn there is no need to hide the truth in the compact.” In retrospect, the amount of misdirection and half-truths he had to participate in the last few days was part of why this situation was so frustrating. Had it not been in the direct service of saving the poor xeno’s lives he would never have accepted that.

Verek looked thoughtful “that sounds…alien to what I am accustomed to. Lies are essential to a vast array of social functions, I can scant imagine a society without it. Can I inquire why you hold this negative outlook on deception?”

“When I lie to you, I withhold information from you, and in that way, I control you without having gained consent to do so. Everyone has a right to the truth, anything else would be unjust and unequal.” The quartermaster chuckled, a different smile appearing for a brief second.

“I do not wish to cause offense, but no one wants the truth, it is far too restrictive. Indeed, what is more oppressive than one singular premise that we all have to accept? Lies give us the freedom that the truth witholds. People can claim they want the truth, or with more arrogance claim that they possess it already. Alas In my experience ‘the truth’ is simply a shield used to defend and sustain the lies one wants to believe.” What a ridiculous line of arguments.

A nice philosophical conversation was just what he needed to clear his mind before the impending meeting “That is a very cynical view, I seek the truth even if it should be one that I am disappointed to find. Furthermore, you mistake freedom for power. Lies give power to the once deceiving and remove it from the victim.”

Was it slightly petty to discuss philosophy with a species this young? Maybe. But it was already proving to be a great enrichment for the little sophont “What about the lies, or should I say stories, that we tell both others and ourselves? Why we do what we do, why we want what we want, and why we think how we think. All central elements of one’s identity, seldom based on truth. Instead, we believe it because we choose to believe it. You affini do not lie, that I can accept. Should you happen to have no stories then you are more alien than I can comprehend.”

Alyssum pretended to think before he replied. Verek was standing comfortably close, their biorhythm betraying an excitement that was absolutely adorable. There had been a few moments like this before when they entered an area of conversation that the terran found interesting…the urge to give the adorable xeno a headpat was reluctantly pushed down.

He looked up at the roof for about five more seconds “So, you don’t believe there is anything wrong with lying? That the truth is irrelevant or maybe even non-existent?”

As Alyssum looked down he saw that Verek had pulled away “not at all dear affini. The truth exists and every good lie, and every good story, should hold a nugget of it within. The truth can be the most deceptive lie of all.” He pointed to his data pad “Now I have my business to attend to and you have yours. I hope to see you at lunch, as usual, have a good afternoon.” With a tiny bow and a smile, the quartermaster walked of and rounded a corner.

Strange…what a strange little sophont. Every time he felt like he was about to discover some fact, value, or hint of Verek’s past he would slip away. Alyssum took out a notepad and wrote a small note, the philosophical values and tendency towards lying would have to be worked on by Verek’s future owner. On the way to the meeting, the terran data pad made an annoyingly distracting sound; a message from Betula.

[Pendula, Betula, N/A, #28]: Natalia is safe and still sleeping, the xenos were busy so I do not think anyone saw me enter her quarters. The class-E will wear off soon, what should I do?

As he typed a message another one came in.

[Pendula, Betula, N/A, #28]: Also, I fixed the spire of the relay.

That explained why Betula had looked so haggard, fixing it all by herself in that span of time…Were all youngblooms this reckless?

[Percu, Alyssum, N/A, #29]: stay put and rest, I will talk to the captain and sort it out. Should she wake give her another tiny dose of class-E.

Alyssum hesitated before knocking on the ‘captain’s’ office door, it would be good to prepare an approach. Ageratu had told them that Luis likely had gender dysphoria so certain language was best to avoid. They were also likely not pleased that Betula had helped Natalia in th –

The door opened automatically, swinging inward accompanied by the sound of screeching metal “come in.” Luis’s voice did not sound patient, with an exhausted irritated tone at its edges. An uncomfortable shiver ran its way down his vines, being observed in this manner was unpleasant, to say the least.

The office was a mess, not tidied at all since the last meeting...or any meeting at all really. The tiny office desk was completely concealed under old papers, data pads, notebooks, and some discarded clothes. The greatest mess in the room however was the terran sitting behind the desk. Painfully unwashed, obviously malnourished, and clothes that somehow were both pasted to the body and hanging off it. For once the hat was only resting on the desk, revealing fetid unkempt hair, a disastrously grown beard, and eyes that were full of red streaks with large black bags underneath.

Calming his core Alyssum walked forward and ‘sat’ down. He attempted a reassuring smile “good afternoon, slept well tonight?”

The ‘captain’ looked down at the blend of old papers “that is not your concern…” oh Everbloom, that did not sound like a yes. “I spent the night securing a contingency plan or two in case the relay takes more time than expected. Speaking of, how close are we to sending out a message?” His sight was naturally drawn toward the papers to piece together what these contingency plans were about. Alyssum averted them, he did not need or want to know.

“Betula and Natalia have finished repairs on the spire system outside the ship. All that remains is a few more calibrations with the computer and related sub-systems and it should be ready.” The dead tired and determined eyes gained a flicker of light.

Luis smiled, a genuine hopeful and adorable smile “that…that is great news!” It was hard to not share in the enthusiasm. “If there is anything more that you need, just ask.”

Oh…that. “You might know that Natalia is quite ill and Betula needs to be there for her. I will not ask Alister to help me with all three shifts, so I can work them alone. All I need is-“ Luis displayed his palm toward him “…the access codes for the data system, is there a problem?”

“I can’t let you work alone, Selma told me that Natalia is still within the limits to work should she wish so. Unless that has changed by tomorrow’s check-up she and Betula will work the morning shift. I will try to arrange for someone to supervise you for the night shift.” Without a second lost Luis began to turn on data pads, eyes searching through endless lines of schedules and timelines.

A few of his flowers bristled “that sophont needs medical care, not more work. Natalia is to stay in Betula’s care until she gets better.” Placating the terrans paranoia was one thing, allowing it to go at the expense of a sophont was very different.

Lui’s teeth grided together “she will not get any better, not unless you affini can synthetically produce the hormones that she needs to survive. Her well-being and chances of survival are dependent on us fixing that relay, she will work if she feels she can.” Hormones, so that was the problem.

The ‘captain’s’ suggestion had been sarcastic but there was a chance “I have a class-G graft though not the one that she needs, wait one moment while I message the others.”

Waves of shock, followed by regret vibrated from Luis’s biorhythm “you are serious? Please, go ahead.” Betula answered first, nothing. Ageratu took three tense minutes to respond, she didn’t have any either.

The tentative hope disappeared from Luis’s face “I take those wilting flowers to mean you do not have any ‘class-G’,” The terran uttered a silent curse “she will have to work.”

“Luis, I can’t allow you to force he-” The subdued biorhythm of the terran suddenly trembled with frustration.

The prosthetic fist hit the table with furious force “DO YOU THINK I ENJOY THIS?!” Their face had turned a light shade of red, and not in the amusing way that it often did for terrans. “Natalia knows her own health and capabilities best, if she thinks she can work tomorrow then she will. You affini have no right to determine anything about my crew! Do you understand me?”

He had done it, he had done the one thing Ageratu had reminded them not to do; make Luis feel like they were threatening the crew or undermining their control. Cooperating with the terrans had gone so well, but he could still not shake the feeling that it had been a mistake. Exactly for this reason.

What Luis needed was a dose of class-Z, some emotionally relaxing class-E, probably a regimen of class-G, a great deal of therapy, and a doting owner. Instead, the charade of them having control over this vessel had to be maintained. The terrans had proved that they were beyond proper negotiations when the domestication program started, yet here he was: negotiating “we can accept that Selma watches over Natalia, then I and Betula can fix the relay during my shift with Alister. I imagine we can send the message in two to three days.”

The ‘captain’ slumped back into the chair, considering the offer “and if Natalia works? How long until we are finished then?” The calculation was completed in his mind faster than Alyssum would have liked.

There had to be a better way “a day and a half…at maximum.” He quickly added “if you would just trust us to work alone then we can fix it in the same amount of time.” No small amount of frustration slipped into the words.

Luis folded their hands and looked at them for several seconds “I would like to…the problem is that your people started this war, you are the reason I have had to edit the crew list more times this last year than any year before.” Their voice sounded hollow, ready to break “every transfer to frontlines unknown, every conscript forced away from their lives, the rationing and overwork I have had to enforce, every death I have written down, is ultimately the compacts fault…would you trust the entity that did that with the fate of the people you care about?”

Alyssum was not sure what to do, giving the terran a hug was near the top of the list, it was unlikely to be apricated “I am sorry this has happened…we only want to help, please understand that.” How could he convince them that the domestication programs worked?

“In four days, we run out of food, in three days the crew will expect us to arrive at a station that does not exist. Already morale is at rock bottom, several people are in the infirmary because of hunger pains. We get that relay online ASAP or people will die. My orders stand, unless there is something else to speak about you can leave.” The ‘captain’ gestured to the door with his right arm.

Prolonging the meeting was not a good idea…yet “We should discuss the contents of the message.” A sudden contortion of pain suddenly crossed Luis’s face and the arm was slowly lowered. “Did something happen?” Alyssum had moved to help before even uttering the question.

Luis stood up; a small spot of darkened liquid had begun to spread from underneath the shoulder of the right arm “that will have to wait for tomorrow.” They stuttered out a curse along another contortion of pain “I need to go to the infirmary.”

Alyssum covered the last of the distance “let me see that” There was only some feeble resistance as his vines tore off the jacket arm. One of the internal metal supports had broken, the sharp edge stabbing into Luis. Any further movement was sure to make the wound worse “Hold still, try to breathe.” Surprisingly Luis obeyed, gritting their teeth as he used vines to delicately break the support. In one clean movement, the metal part was pulled out, the terran making a very understandable grunting noise of pain.

“Cheap garbage…thanks for the help” and with a slightly more irritated tone “…would have been nice if you asked first but I am coming to realize you affini only do that when it suits you. How does the wound look?”

Dabbing away some blood away revealed that it was nothing critical. “It should heal fine once treated. Mind you, I am no vet so take it with a grain of sodium chloride.”

Luis raised furrowed his brow in confusion “Vet? Like for goat and sheep?” letting out a humorous sigh before dismissing their own question “forget it, I suppose I deserve that. Sorry for getting so angry…and accusing you of wanting this war.” They fell back into the chair, their voice more exhausted than ever “we can talk about the message now, the sooner the better.”

Sitting in the chair, the ‘captain’ appeared small, fragile, and utterly helpless “it can wait for tomorrow and I apologize for aggravating you. Is there anything I can do to help?” He should have been more tactful, and less confrontational. Blaming the terrans for their frightened and ingrained protective reactions was unproductive and downright petty.

“Help with what? You are already working, what more can I ask of you?”

Alyssum crouched down next to Luis “I mean, is there anything I can do to help you?”

Once the terran understood he could spot the longing, the want for vulnerability and support buried far behind hard bloodshot eyes. “Like what? And please don’t say ‘hug’.”

He chuckled “Fair, that was one of my suggestions…what about I help to clean the office while you sleep for a bit? All this mess must make it difficult to do anything productive and it’s so easy to make mistakes when exhausted. You spent all night working; you should sleep now.” Alyssum laced the words with some of his biorhythm, a tiny nudge in the right direction.

The ’captain’ gazed at the desk “That would be-…no. You have a shift soon and I can keep going…” ~so adorably and uselessly stubborn~.

A vine guided the terran to look him in the eyes “~I would love to help, and you can continue later. It's just a tiny little nap~” Very little force was needed, pushing any harder would cause the tiny xeno mind buckle completely.

Already Luis was breathing slower, their eyes ready to close “what if something happens…I need to…” Still holding on? Their future owner had a lot of work ahead of them…Ageratu was a perfect fit.

The force was amplified, words pressing deeper into the xeno’s mind “need to do what? Everything is fine, you are safe; you need to sleep.” Some more words were muttered but finally, the resistance died out and Luis’s curled up in the chair. “Such a good xeno~ There is no need to remember this conversation when you wake up, you decided to let me help and take a nap all on your own.”

“…on my…own.” Awwww, they were repeating, so cute! After making sure that the terran was in a comfortable position Alyssum gave them a small whiff of class-E and -Z, treating the wound, placing the jacket over them like a blanket, and lastly giving a gentle affectionate cheek rub. Having ensured that the xeno would sleep well for the next two hours, he began tidying up.

His ’shift’ was in little over an hour, the office would be spotless by then. Cleaning while a cute xeno slept in the room gave a sense of nostalgia. It was not quite the same…but it did fill him with a fulfillment he had not felt the since the ship had jumped. It was impossible to not think about ~them~, and the longing to get back was as strong as ever. But perhaps he had been too focused on getting home, there were cuties here that needed him as well.

Rescue is close at hand, but rescue by whom?

Find out in chapter 11, coming soon

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