Stranded in the void
Chapter 9: Snuffing out the embers
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
Hope you enjoy!
Ari woke as a soft breath tickled her cheek “come on love, you need to wake up~” The voice might be sexy and sweet but there was no way she was abandoning the bed yet. Her response to the siren’s call was to turn around and wrap the blanket tighter around herself. “Ari….” The whine was not good enough “I can’t go to work without my superior….mind if I join you?~” A purely rhetorical question as a second later Madeleine sneaked under the covers.
Delicate arms wrapped around her waist “cold!” The hands were like cold iron to her warm flesh, the shock purging sleepiness from her system like a retrograde-7 virus on an old TePi operating system.
The demon pressed herself closer, hands playfully caressing her chest “awwww, is the brave soldier afraid of a little cold? It’s not my fault you are so…~irresistibly~ warm.” A teasing squeeze followed the seductive words.
Silencing a whimper Ari turned around “what’s the time?” Stars she was beautiful…the black raven hair draped over her shoulder in long silky locks.
The now much warmer demon got closer into the embrace “maybe time enough for some cuddles and..” a passionate sucking kiss was placed on her collarbone and this time Ari did let out a slight moan.
A disgruntled groan came from above “can you two keep it down? Some of us are trying to pretend to sleep.” Madeleine only grinned wider, giving her a mischievous look before leaning partly out of the bed.
She sounded proud “stop being homophobic Emanuel, it's not our fault your single.”
The helmsman sounded indignant, as usual “I’m also…you know what, just keep it to a minimum so the rest of us don’t lose any more sleep out of ‘envy’.” Ari pulled her girlfriend back before she had the opportunity to retort and cause any more mischief. The blanket was not large enough for them both, so to keep any skin from being exposed to the cold air they kept close, as they liked it. Skin against skin was enough comfort to drive away focus on hunger for a little while longer.
30 minutes of cuddling and kissing later they managed to roll out of bed. Would she regret the lack of sleep during the evening shift?…maybe. Was she regretting it right now? Absolutely not. Putting on the uniform was always a ritual. Focus, do the work, don’t slack, and don’t start any conflict. Few were as lucky as her to gain a second chance, no one got a third.
Today was worse, there was far more for her to do than just being a sub-lieutenant. The crew was in danger, Luis was….She should have noticed earlier, and done something sooner. Hopefully, they could still save him and get that parasite out of wherever it was hiding. She was in way over her head though, Duran had to be safe, one conversation and he could take command of the retaliation.
After giving the squad a quick reminder to ‘shut it’, they headed to lunch. While eating the meager half ration Ari kept a close watch on the other crew members. As usual, Natalia was far too friendly with the white wooden affini, she was definitely infected. The girl also looked to be in quite a terrible state, shivering whenever she thought no one was looking. Other than that…most looked normal. That either meant they were good and that the affini had only taken two so far…or that they were completely and utterly fucked. If that was the case she needed to make sure that Madeleine got away somehow, there was an old escape pod, but escape to where?
She could slip away from work while they worked on standard maintenance for the ship’s computer systems. The work orders from yesterday said that Duran was assigned to weapon recalibration, she could pretend to– “~ooo bumblebee~ Am I really that captivating?” Her sight focused once more, Madeleine striking a teasing pose on the other side of the table. “don’t worry babe, it’s going to be fine, we got your back.” A gentle smile and hand squeeze put her at ease, this was going to be fine.
Philip appeared in the doorway to the mess hall, what the hell was he doing here? Ari waved him over “I thought you were going to work with that affini guy, why are you here?” While the engineer was technically a part of the squad he mostly worked on other assignments-
Philip sat down at the table and shrugged “got an update 15 minutes ago, work-order changed. Told me to come here. No idea why.”
The answer came a second later, the captain entering the room with the masculine affini and the blue one behind him. Were they even trying to hide it? Sure, Luis looked normal enough but the blue affini was practically hanging over him. The trio began approaching the table…had they- no, there was no way they had figured out that they knew. Stay calm, this was going to be fine.
The captain gave her an acknowledging nod. Was it even the captain anymore? Or was the thing in front of her some sort of xeno imitation puppeteering his body? “You are all here, good. There has been a change of plans. Alyssum has identified several parts that we need for repairing the relay, you and your squad have been assigned to retrieve them from floor three storage. Here is the list.” He, it, or whatever was speaking wanted her to go to the cargo room on floor three? That place was a massive, organized scrapyard, she hadn’t even been there in over a year.
“So why do I need to go? Shouldn’t I do something more important than cargo duty?” Philip sounded mildly insulted, though she could bet he was mostly just salty for having to do manual labor again.
As the ‘captain’ began to speak Ari had the uncanny feeling that something was off “These are rather specific parts, Alyssum advised that you would be able to identify them.” There was something different about him…it was the smell. For some reason Luis had this sweet, gentle smell wrapped all over him. It was strangely familiar, she had smelt something similar during the party….after touching the blue flower of the affini that was now standing only half a meter away from the captain.
Fucking xeno bastards! Not only had they scrabbled his brain, but the sick fuckers were also doing some sort of perverse claiming, likely a way to tell the other affini that this was her slave. A familiar burning fury soared, she should….easy…be calm, don’t let those arrogant bastards see you react. Vengeance and justice would come soon, a few well-placed shots with a plasma pistol, and the affini would be nothing but heaps of ash.
Ari put a lock on the anger and crossed her arms “so long as the computer system gets a look over soon I don’t mind.” It was also an excellent way to plan their next move, hell maybe they could even find something useful while searching through the garbage.
The ‘captain’ suddenly looked slightly uncomfortable “also, Ageratu here will be helping you move the heavier stuff. Please try to cooperate.” The huge blue affini smiled in a freakishly sweet way, giving her and the squad a little wave with a vine.
Okay, so maybe not the best time to be planning their next move…but maybe, with six-on-one and the element of surprise. That could be one of the best chances they would ever get, the other affini wouldn’t even know what happened before it was too late. “Not to worry captain, cooperation is my middle name.” Ari returned a forced smile to the affini, the xeno scum would not suspect a thing.
The affini followed them annoyingly close on the way down, luckily being a smuggler for several years had given her some experience in being silent. A quick message was written on her data pad before she covertly handed it over to Philip, the engineer's face became even paler than usual as he cautiously looked over it. After a stern stare, he swallowed and nodded. In a similar manner, the data pad was discreetly handed from person to person who after reading gave an enthusiastic, reluctant, or terrified nod. All without the affini noticing a –
The massive affini was suddenly way closer to them “Are you discussing something?” Fuck! It was more observant than she expected... though the weed did not sound suspicious or hostile.
Keep calm, play it off “just terran things, you wouldn’t understand.” What could a creature willing to break others' minds understand about loyalty or protecting the freedom of those you loved?
Ageratu continued to smile “oh! Are you planning another party? The last one was most enjoyable.” There was something more than unsettling about how the alien could pretend to be so friendly.
The door to the dusty old storage room opened “something along those lines.” She turned to the squad “we’ll split into groups of two and search for the parts. Ageratu, you stay here and wait until we call for you.” And at that point, the xeno would be walking straight into an ambush.
The affini unfurled her legs into a mass of jumbled, yet elegant vines and sat down “if that is what you want. Don’t hesitate to ask me, it can be quite dangerous for you terrans to carry heavy burdens.” The feel of the plasma pistol in her holster had become very noticeable, it would be so easy to just…stick to the plan, don’t let her affect you, you got this.
With Philip by her side, Ari began moving into the maze-like room. Four- to five-meter-tall industrial shelves, stacked sparsely with empty crates, worthless material, junk, and other things that some hopeless souls have tried to make a living off a decade ago towered around them. The Viator was not the largest ship, how such a massive room could fit in its underbelly was honestly surprising.
Philip was still pale as ash and shaking, his hand trembling across the holster of his gun. Ari stopped and put a forceful arm on his shoulder “hey. Get it together, I need you to focus. Can you do that?” The harsh whisper did not, as she had hoped, put him at ease.
“I don’t know about this, aren’t the affini invincible or something? It can fuck us over in so many ways. How are you planning to take that thing out?” She couldn’t fault him for being nervous, that thing gave her shivers as well.
Now was the time to be a leader “doesn’t matter how strong or how fast, several rounds of plasma will bring anything down. Trust me I have experience with this sort of thing. We are going to find a nice place to set up an ambush, find the others and call her. By the time she suspects that anything is wrong it will be too late.” She mimicked firing with her gun “it will be over before you know it. All I need you to do is hide and fire at the huge fucking target, you can do that, right?” He took a deep breath, held it, and breathed out. The bastard was still pale, but the shivering had stopped. So long as he could fire and hit the easiest target in the world it would have to do.
A few minutes later she found the perfect place, honestly, this room was so full of excellent ambush opportunities that it was surprising she hadn’t thought of doing this before. Two rows of shelves not too far apart created a narrow corridor, and plenty of crates on both sides formed some excellent cover. Hauling one of the empty crates out, ‘the thing she needed moved’ and the trap was complete. Now they just needed to gather the others and do the deed.
Ari tried to listen for talking or footsteps, but the room had the uncanny ability to muffle sound, that or the four others were keeping really silent. Several minutes later and some frustration began to build, where were they? More tense silence followed without a single soul coming into sight. They rounded yet another corner of the maze and found yet another corridor splitting into half a dozen more. What bloody incompetent design-
The sound of plasma being discharged and searing into metal reverberated through the room. The familiar sound echoed off the sloped walls. Had it gone off by accident? There were no shouting or subsequent shots….Fuck! Either it had gone off by accident or… “MADELEINE!” Her feet had made the realization and taken action before her mind as she sprinted towards the origin of the sound.
No, No, NO, NO! This was not happening, not now, not after all this time “MADELEINE!” She bated her breath but all that could be heard was her thundering footsteps and Philip scrabbling behind her. The smell of scorched particles burnt in her nose, a fallen over crate had half its side burnt black…But except for that, there was no sign of any struggle, no sign of anyone at all. What the fuck was going on?! There was no way the affini could have gotten away that quickly.
The heaving breath finally caught up to her “you can’t abandon me like that….did you see anyone?”
“MADELEINE! EMANUEL! TERESA! HARALD!” Her voice was tearing at her throat, every fiber working to broadcast the shout…
Silence….Nothing…Nothing at all…NO! “MADELEINE!” Please no…Don’t…don’t take her “MADELEINE!”
Philip tried to say something, but she pushed past and began running again. This was not how it was supposed to go “MADELEINE!” Say something damn it! Please, she couldn’t be…couldn’t be….
The door to the rest of the ship came into view. They had to get help “Philip we need to….Philip?” Turing around revealed that there was no one behind her, the ragged breathing was gone. How? When? “PHILIP!”….no response. There was no way, she should have seen it, heard it, was it invisible?
Focus! The door, the others had to be warned. Looking around with feverish terror Ari made it to the exit. She tried to press down the handle to open the door, but it didn’t budge an inch. Was it stuck? She tried again, pressing all her weight on it…no, it wasn’t stuck. Someone had locked the door from the other side! Fuck!
It wasn’t her that had laid an ambush, it was the fucking affini. They had planned this from the very beginning, and she had walked right into it, with everyone else that knew the truth. Short breath, cold sweat, trembling hands; she was panicking. With the little resolve she had left Ari pulled the gun out of its holster, the grip was comforting, she could defend herself. One against one did not give her good odds, but there was always a chance.
Ari calmed her breath and began walking into the maze once again “come out you weed!” Inside the tight corridors, she at least stood some chance. The silence was grating against her nerves “SHOW YOURSELF!” It had to be waiting for her to make a mistake, all it needed was a slight lapse in concentration.
Focus, hold the gun steady, watch your corners, listen, and always make sure to look up —Motherfucker! The gun fired just in time, the vine that had shot forth from the top shelf was hit and blasted apart. Remnants hit the ground with a wet sloshing sound, green goo running out of them.
Ari spun around and shot two more times, both going wide of the strange creature that had hidden above her. It dodged by standing startlingly still, not veering off to either of the angels she had incisively predicted. “You need to do better tha-“ the words died in her throat as her eyes finally adjusted from the blue flash of the plasma pistol. The tremors in her hands and legs resurfaced, terror breaking through her self-discipline.
Ari had seen plenty of the propaganda showcases of the affini, the xenos had so far never looked as bloodthirsty or terrifying as the ones in the videos. The creature on top of the shelf proved that the propaganda did not know half of it. Eight long and spindly legs, ending in sharp points dug into the shelf. A body that was about the size of a car, covered with blue flowers overlaying each other like chitinous armor bristled slightly. The front held four arms tight to its chest, each ending in two long digits that themselves ended in razor-sharp claws. Coming up from behind, a long vine mimicking a stinger rose, its end dripping with golden poison. Worst of all was the ‘face’, a shield-like shape with no mouth or nose, instead, there were eight glowing golden eyes staring down at her, each one inspecting her individually.
“Sta-stay back!” She began backpedaling, holding her gun aimed at the terrifying monster. This was the affini’s true form, not sexy plant people but huge insectoid terrors. The affini disobeyed her command, slowly crawling forward and down between the shelves.
“PuT THe GuN DowN DEaR, wE doN’T wAnT yoU To hURt yOuRSelF” The words were human, the voice anything but. She had heard people try to speak with their lungs full of blood, this somehow sounded worse.
The gun trembled in her hand “what have you done with Madelaine?” Please…
The affini stopped, the eight eyes blinking at different intervals “yOUr PiNnATe iS SafE, gIVe ME tHe GuN oR I wIlL have To tAkE iT FroM yOU.” Pinnate? What was it talking about? No matter, if there was even a chance that Madelaine was still alive she had to kill the affini now.
The eyes were watching her, waiting to see what she would do while the monster slowly moved forward. Either she would surrender, or it could stall until it was certain that the next attack would hit home. There was a third option, one that was quickly approaching…just a bit closer…closer…closer—“got you.”
It was close enough that there was no way for it to avoid the shots, so she shot. Her finger pressed around the trigger and blue light filled her vision. She pressed it again, the heat warmed against her hand and face. Again! Again! Again! Again! Again!…her finger pressed around the trigger one more time and nothing happened.
Her eyes stung, and a wrenching-inducing smell of discharged plasma and burnt plant matter hung in the air. It had to be dead, it had to be, nothing could survive that many shots. Had it happened to a human there would not be enough left to do a DNA analysis. Finally, the smoke cleared, and her eyes adjusted to the light.
The monster in front of her had seven large scorch marks on its form, not a single one had burnt through the outer layer. As she looked the black spots slowly regrew into a vibrant green, and as to insult her blue flowers bloomed where their predecessors had been annihilated. Nothing, a full volley had done absolutely nothing. She might as well have punched it.
The last vestiges of bravado melted away before the terror. They hadn’t stood a chance, the worst damage the ambush could have done would be if they shot each other. There was absolutely nothing she or anyone else could have done — they were fucked from the moment the affini boarded the ship. She was going to die, everyone was going to be killed or worse by these monstrosities and there was nothing she could do to stop it.
The gun fell to the floor, spent and useless. The affini was still just staring at her, it hadn’t moved at all since she opened fire “GoOd GiRL, eVerYtHinG Is gOiNg tO bE fine.” Run! — Where? — Don’t look at her! — Just run!
The stinger hit her in the shoulder, her feet having only taken the first motions towards impossible escape. It had been so fast her mind struggled to fully grasp what was happening as the vine pumped a numbing poison into her. The feeling was warm, her limbs becoming heavy and then limp. Ari tried to keep her eyes on the affini, but they refused to stay focused. The green-blue shape shrunk, eight golden stars turning into two “sta…stay…” Her mouth moved so slowly, any urgency or panic was drowned by the warm feeling that had spread into her legs and head.
Suddenly she was staring up at the ceiling, something carried her, the lights above passing by one by one. “shhhh little one, you need to sleep…” Sleep? She shouldn’t… “that’s right~…there you go~” ….fuck it, another hour couldn’t hurt.
>>>>>
Blue…an ocean of blue, Ari woke up and found her face buried in a deep fluffy blue cloud. It was sooo comfy, and warm. She snuggled herself deeper into it, soft!! And that smell was so sweet and comforting. Sweet? Blue?! There was something very wrong. Hmmm? An almost unnoticeable feeling appeared in the back of her mind before it gently floated away.
One of her hands began absentmindedly playing with a ball of blue fluff, her fingers moving through the tiny strains of blue matter. It was connected to something green and plantlike. She had to get out of here, warn the others. Warn about what? Oooh, she totally had to tell the others about these fluffy blue flowers.
She had to pick some and give them to Madelaine! Maybe she could kiss her and take her out for dinner and ancwaokncaw. Her feet shuffled happily at the thought….wait, where was Madelaine?
The world beneath her began moving “~awake so soon little petal?~ Let me have a look at you.” The entrancing voice sounded familiar and warm. The affini! The flowerbed squished her gently before lifting her up, right into the arms of the xeno.
This was bad, she had to get out! “Are you…going to hurt me?” The words felt very silly the second they had left her lips. Why would the plant lady be mean to her? Because they were the enemy? Another couple of unpleasant thoughts floated away.
The brilliant eyes of the affini started to shine brighter than usual “no of course not, I would never hurt you little flower.” The words slipped into her mind, it was such a wonderful sound…She would never hurt her “I am taking care of you and your friends, everything will be fine.” Yes…Everything would be fine…friends?
Looking around Ari saw that the affini had several clusters of vines coming out of her, each ending in a flowery blue bed similar to her own. On one of them Madelaine was snoozing happily, the rest of the squad occupying the four others. They were safe! Madelaine did not look injured in the slightest, thank the stars…hmmm, why did she feel so relieved? The plant lady would never have let any of them get hurt…strange.
Who cared? Madelaine was right there! Ari tried to wiggle out of the affini’s arms “hold on little one.” The massive form easily stopped her from getting away, Ari letting out a soft whine in protest “shhhh, I know you want to be with your pinnate and you will be soon. I just need to make sure you are adjusting properly.” But…she was right there, the affini was being totally unreasonable.
<she is acting far less feral…and yes,> the plant lady seemed to inspect her eyes <the class-J is coming into effect. Now what about touch?> A hand reached down, landed on her head and-and-mmmmmmmmmm. As it began petting her, waves of indescribable pleasure surged for each point the fingers touched. It felt so good! Ari pushed her head further into the hand and was rewarded with more pats along with a few scratches on her scalp.
Her mind buckled and collapsed blissfully under the pleasure, all other senses becoming irrelevant as the affini continued to destroy any frame of reference that had existed before. How had she lived without this? <awwww, what an adorable little xeno you are. Oh, I am sure you will make your owner very happy.> Ari was placed down into a flowerbed, the hand squishing the last of her thoughts away before retracting.
She was about to whine and ask for more when something next to her stirred. Madeline turned and her eyes fluttered open. There was a glossy sheen to them, the pupil's way larger than normal…What had it done to her? She was so cute! A careless smile formed on Madeline’s face “~bumblebee!~” Arms wrapped around her and pushed her close…so nice. Madelaine began stroking her fingers through her hair and again thoughts began to disperse underneath the gentle and pleasurable sensation.
A beautiful cooing noise came from the affini “you two are so….so utterly adorable. I am sorry to say that it is sleepy time for both of you, but there will be plenty of time for cuddles later. Sleep well.” Madelaine’s eyes went wide, Ari felt the sting on her arm a second later. Before they entirely fell asleep the bed made sure they were snuggled close…no, stay awake…one more nap couldn’t hurt.
>>>>>
Watching the two adorable xeno fall asleep in each other’s arms filled Ageratu with an immense sense of joy. This was how xeno was supposed to act: happy, cute, and free of worry. The limitation of their actions had been insulting from the beginning, now it was as exhausting as the lethargy that followed every time she woke up. Affini were not made to live in these conditions either, without proper food or the ability to give all the xenos within vines reach all that they needed. The experience of starvation was a new one, the feeling of being stretched for energy at any given moment frustrating beyond what she had imagined.
She spent a few moments simply admiring the cute xeno fast asleep in her vines. It was almost like being back at the café. Oh, what a relief it would be to get back, Hosta and Holly would have to stop her from spoiling the new batch of xenos absolutely rotten. Making them all their favorite meals, picking out cute outfits, plenty of xenodrugs, and in the end finding them the perfect owners. What a delight it would be
There was something sad about the café slowly emptying and saying goodbye to each floret-to-be was always tinged with some regret….Hosta and Holly had two florets in their care…The image of the brood mother safely snuggled in her vines had entered her mind several days ago and was appearing with increasing frequency. The instinct to take them as hers was growing stronger though part of her still wanted to reject the idea.
All these past blooms she had told herself that taking care of many was better for her and the xenos, that she was simply suited better for being an operator of a café than an owner. From time to time a xeno in the café had caught her attention more than the others, but in the end, she decided to let all of them go. She had more than enough skill and expertise to take care of a floret, that was not the problem. It was simply a matter of who was best suited, and she had made sure that every single xeno in her care had gotten owners that could help them flourish.
For the brood mother it was different, there were so many problems, so many latent issues in health of both the physical and mental variety. Something deep in her core told her that only she could be trusted to scrub them away and transform the ‘captain’ into the wonderful floret hiding underneath all the edges and protection…or was that petty rationalization for the feeling that she had not felt in centuries. The brood mother was supposed to be hers, every fiber of her being screamed that the xeno needed to belong to her, be wrapped in her vines for the rest of eternity…
Ageratu let out a gust of oxygen and drank in the air, calming the vines that had begun to wiggle. These untempered emotions were beneath her, she was not some youngbloom obsessed with her first floret. Right now, she had work to do; taking care of these adorable misguided xenos for a few days. To think that they had been so afraid that they wanted to attack her. The rest of the xenos were perhaps not within her reach, but these would be washed, clothed, fed, and doted on to the best of her abilities.
A swish from the door grabbed her attention as she was adjusting the bedding the xenos were sleeping on. The brood mother walked in, a bucket in one hand, a cup in the other “hi…brought you some ‘food’ and tea. How are you holding up?” They tried to sound courteous, but the sheer tension and tensed nerves made it sound more than a little forced. That the brood mother was concerned about her brood was natural and bringing her not only food but tea as well was an adorable gesture.
She needed to put them at ease, prove that no one had gotten hurt and that everything was alright. Yet her core could only focus on one singular fact; the brood mother was in an absolutely terrible state. Disheveled hair, aching limbs, unwashed, starving, badly hydrated, mentally exhausted and the few glimpses she caught of their eyes showed them to be seriously bloodshot. Unacceptable, utterly unacceptable! Had she seen any sophont in this state aboard a ship she would first have taken them to be immediately domesticated before lodging a harsh protest against the local bureaucracy on the grounds of incompetence.
There was too much pain, too much stress, too much of everything that could be possibly wrong. She needed to…needed to….slow down…needed to be calm “I do not know quite how to answer your question, but the plan was followed without any issue. While I am grateful that you brought me water you should not burden yourself with such tasks.” The ‘captain’ placed the two containers on the ground in front of her, their eyes darting from one brood member to the next.
Some of the stress in their biorhythm abated “so no injuries or accidents?” She shook her head gently while starting to drink…Everbloom, she had needed that. “Good, the crew seems to have bought that the squad caught Javorian Pox from one of the old crates. You affini cant contract it so a perfect excuse for you three to watch over them.”
“Jovarian pox?” She had taken a basic two-year course in human medical conditions before transferring onto the Vindex, the name of this illness drew a complete blank.
“Airborne, extremely infectious, knocks the patient out cold, has a full list of uncomfortable symptoms, and is completely fictional.” They furrowed their brow “Selma raised an eyebrow, but I think she will stay silent.”
“Won’t the crew believe that you have become infected now that you have visited?” The brood mother must have forgotten in their worry.
“….its 0332 hours, the entire crew is asleep.” Was it that late already?
The worry she had suppressed in her core lashed out “but…you should be asleep, staying up this long is not healthy at all.” Was proper bedtime another of the societal concepts that the terrans had never figured out?
Luis shrugged, drawing attention to how horribly tense their shoulders were “a fourth of the crew and a third of our technical expertise have been incapacitated. It’s been a nightmare to rearrange the work orders and schedules. The crew might have bought the pox story, but morale is in the gutter. Overheard two separate conversations worrying about being sent back into the war once we reach the station. Everyone is tired, hungry, and wants to be done fighting this star's forsaken war….I can’t blame them for that.”
Ageratu had observed this type of behavior before in terrans, she believed the correct term was ‘ranting’. She patted an overturned crate and Luis sat down, all the air and energy seemed to have completely left them “I even had to do maintenance on the computers myself, darn things gave me a headache. Ari is the one that usually does that stuff, she is the one that understands all the redundancies and how to get around the crashes.”
They looked around the room and the walls, their voice affectionate and melancholic “problem with these old ships is that you can’t just stick a new crew in them and expect it to work. The systems are so old and the jury-rigging so plentiful that without the people that know it, everything falls apart.” They breathed in heavily “I think this will be her last voyage…”
She did not notice it at first but after a few seconds of mournful silence, Ageratu saw the brood mother had begun to cry. “You care a lot for this ship…” This was the most vulnerable she had ever them, the raw emotions present in their biorhythm and voice needed affirmation.
“I have not stepped foot outside her hull for over eight years, I can’t properly remember how the wind feels. She is more than a ship, she is everything I have. And I am not sure how to live without her, without…. There is nothing of value for me to return to and once I get the crew to safety, away from this conflict…” The brood mother was silent for a long while before chuckling sadly “is it strange to say that I am afraid of sunlight?” Oh…oh frost…
They needed her help, not later, now. Several of her vines tingled, their tips already secreting small amounts of xenodrugs that would relieve the pain. She needed to make this better, for the brood mother’s sake, for her sake. Yet, she was the one creating the fear and uncertainty, their boarding had set everything into motion. Like when…no, this was not the time…the brood mother needed her help, not now of all times.
Slkt’kree’s many clear black eyes stared up at her {are you okay? Your flowers are…wilting.} The obsidian stone was all around her, the smooth carved surfaces creating a nice circular room. Ageratu looked down, where wilted faded blue flowers covered the ground.
This was not right, she was not the one that needed help “I-I…I’m fine, you are the one that…} The vibrations died and collapsed, this was not…Why was this happening now? She was the calm one, the orderly one, she was fine {y-u-o…” What language was she even trying to speak? Was that a crack in the wall?! Had it happened yet? Could she still —
A hand grabbed around one of the vines that had detangled from her form “hey…easy, everything is fine. Ageratu, look at me.” Luis was staring up at her, bloodshot eyes and behind him gray welded metal “there you go…did something happen?” All the other emotions in their biorhythm were muted, concern for her pushing the other problems aside.
What kind of affini was she pretending to be? Having to be calmed down by the sophonts she was supposed to help. It was improper at the best of times “sorry, I don’t know what came over me. You should not have needed to see that.” The hand around her vine was more comforting than she wanted to admit, its slight pressure subduing the ebbing panic in her core.
Luis looked towards the door and then back to her “There is nothing to apologize for, we all panic from time to time…” they continued after a brief hesitation. “Would you mind if I slept here tonight? - To keep watch over the squad, of course, make sure they are alright- not that I don’t trust you-” Were they blushing?~
“That would be greatly appreciated, captain.” They were doing this for her, to make sure that she was fine. Prideful sentiments told her that it was wrong to accept the offer, she was the affini in the room. As Luis sat down next to her and willfully leaned against her, still holding onto the vine in their left hand the voices went quiet. This was right, the brood mother belonged to be at her side “I hope you are aware that you are a truly wonderful sophont.” The only problem she could think of right at this moment, except for all the others, was that the irritating hat was shielding the xeno from some well-deserved pats and head scratches.
The brood mother yawned, making an adorable sound in the process “I am just doing my duty and watching out for my crew.” Her vine received a tiny squeeze “And as captain, I order that we both get a well-deserved night's rest. Good night Ageratu.” They leaned into her further and within seconds were making more adorable sleepy terran noises.
Ageratu formed her side so Luis could sleep without discomfort, adoring the sight of the terran every moment. The boarding of this vessel had been an absolute disaster, and never before had she felt so lucky to be part of one.
Strong plamts need their emotional support terrans, that is just how this universe works
nice