The Captain's Heart CH 51 (Patreon)

Gralgiran nodded, not trusting his voice, as concern gave way and desire returned. Jeremy had tasted good. He wanted more. But he wouldn’t

Gralgiran nodded, not trusting his voice, as concern gave way and desire returned. Jeremy had tasted good. He wanted more. But he wouldn’t even hint at it, other than how his body showed it. Jeremy deserved respect, and what had been done to him made even playful teasing suspect.

He stood once his breathing and heart rate were calmer, offering his Heart a hand. “Let’s finish washing. Then we can watch a ballad.”

Jeremy took the hand without hesitation, and he pulled his Heart to his feet, making sure not to pull him into him.

“I’m sorry,” Jeremy said, looking away. “It was just too…. I couldn’t stop it, and I…. I’m sorry.”

Gralgiran applied light pressure with a finger on Jeremy’s jaw to encourage him to look at him. “You lost a battle,” he said. “It will happen. We will learn, assess, and when you feel ready, attempt it again. We are together, Jer. We have time.”

“Thank you.”

“For what?”

“For understanding, for being patient.”

Gralgiran had to get over the confusion. “Why wouldn’t I understand, or be willing to wait for you to be ready?”

“I don’t know.” Exasperation slipped into Jeremy’s voice. “Maybe it’s because of what they did to me, or stuff I picked up watching too many romantic comedies, but I have to fight the urge to just give into what you want. Like you’re going to kick me out if I don’t let you do everything, no matter how I feel and …”

“I will never push you out of my life, Jer. You are my Heart. I can’t live without you. No matter what difficulties we will deal with, how angry we might be with each other at times. You will always be home at my side. You will never have to do something you aren’t comfortable with. Your place as my Heart won’t change if you are never ready for us to have sex.”

“Oh, we are so going to have sex at some point.”

“Jer—”

“No, Gral. I want this. Being with you, touching you, you touching me, and yeah, even having your mouth on my cock, felt good; when I’m able to keep that programming from getting in the way. So it will happen.” He motioned to the erection. “Not because you want it, or because it ‘supposed to happen,’ but because I want to feel it all.” He swallowed. “I’m just not ready right now.”

Gralgiran leaned in and rubbed his muzzle against Jeremy’s cheek. He wanted to kiss him, but there was something inherently more sexual in having his tongue in the other male’s mouth than the affection of rubbing muzzles.

They washed, separately, at first, then Jeremy offered him his back, and Gralgiran washed it, surprised at the tightness of the muscles. For someone who claimed not to be a warrior, Jeremy’s muscles were well developed.

Unless this was Earther norm? Not every species developed the same. Even when they looked similarly built. He’d have to look into it.

When he reached the ass, he hesitated, but Jeremy nodded, so he proceeded, keeping his touch clinical, even if what he wanted was to caress it.

Then he turned and offered his Heart the chance to return the favor; which he took. Jeremy dug his finger into the soaked fur to lather and massage at the same time. He lacked the skill of even the amateur, and his earlier comment about not sharing showers made Gralgiran think this was his first time exploring another’s body.

Done, he faced his Heart. Jeremy had grown comfortable enough to get another erection, but Gralgiran didn’t act on it.

“How do we rise off? This fine water’s not really doing anything.”

“Close your mouth and eyes.”

Jeremy gave him one suspicious look, then did so.

“Rince,” in instructed, closing his, and folding his ears back into his mane.

The jets of water that hit them from all sides were hard enough Jeremy cursed. They stopped a few seconds later.

“That stung.” Jeremy’s skin had turned redder from the treatment, and that was surprisingly…enticing.

“I’m sorry.”

Jeremy chuckled. “Surprise, more than anything. How do we dry off? I didn’t see any towels.”

Without fur to retain water, he could see how those would be enough. “We use air.”

“If this is going to be like the rinse, you’re going to have to hold me.”

“Can I hold you even if it isn’t the same?” Maybe slight teasing was appropriate now?

The smile confirmed the thought. “Please.”

“Tell me if it’s too much. Drying my mane takes some time.” He held him by the shoulders. At his Heart’s nod, he activated the dry cycle.

The air that buffeted them was warm and strong enough to push his mane into the air. Jeremy chuckled, watching. His own hair was short and barely reacted to the jets.

“That’s a lot more hair than I thought you had,” he said, raising his voice. “I thought it would be short like your sides.”

“The sides are trimmed, and the rest is styled to keep it from being inconvenient.”

“I like it.”

The compliment made him unreasonably proud.

When the jets stopped, his fur was barely damp. The time it took him to groom would take care of the rest.

“I guess I’m going to need to find someone who makes what I need,” Jeremy said, as Gralgiran brushed his mane. “I didn’t think to pack a travel kit before they threw me in a cell.”

“Does your skin require specialized tools?”

“A razor to shave—what?”

He stared at Jeremy, the irrational thought that Earthers were a furred species that purposely shaved it off. That would have come up in the files, wouldn’t it? “You shave…what?”

He had coarse hair around his cock, and softer ones over his balls, but nothing else.

“Chin,” Jeremy said, running a hand over it. “Human men can grow beards and mustaches. I’ve never been a fan of them, so I shave them off. You must have seen some of us with beards before.”

“I didn’t see many Earthers while at the station. And those I did didn’t have them.” He tried to envision what Jeremy might look like with them, and it looked odd. He liked him with hair only where he currently had it.

“I’m going to need that, as well as a brush, comb, toothbrush.”

“Those can be made easily. There might even be a design that works for you. We have a wide variety of fur, so different models. Toothbrush are the same, at worse you might need a model for younger Kelsirians who aren’t on their adult teeth.”

Jeremy smiled, rubbing his arms. “You have two sets of teeth, too? That’s interesting. Is it my imagination, or is it cooler than it was when we came in?”

A command brought up his apartment’s settings. “They are as they were. Is something wrong?”

Jeremy grabbed his pants. “It’s chilly.”

He took hold of the hand holding them. “I can make it warmer.” His ears burned. “I like looking at you like this.”

Jeremy raised an eyebrow. “Oh. You have a thing for naked Earthers parading around?” He stepped away with a laugh, dropping the pants and swayed, the ass moving back and forth in a way that had Gralgiran salivating.

And hard.

“Not Earthers,” he said, voice thick. “You.”

Jeremy turned and startled. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean—”

“Don’t. I like it. Very much.”

“But I didn’t want to make you think I wanted…”

Gralgiran’s laugh was a mix of mirth and exasperation. “I’m an adult, Jer. I can want you, badly, and not act on it. I’m not a Saladin, who has to act on it once they are excited.”

“Okay. I should know better.” He seemed to search for words, then settled on tapping the side of his head. “I’ll undo all this.”

“I know you will.” He raised the temperature by three degrees. “It should adjust in a few minutes. Let me know once it’s comfortable.”

Another three degrees, and Jeremy borrowing his brush to put his hair in place, and they moved to the bedroom, where, again, Jeremy stopped in the entrance. Only this time, instead of uncertainly, he pointed to a corner.

“What are those?”

Gralgiran glanced at the two banners attached to the wall. “My namesakes.”

Jeremy approached, then studied them. “I saw something like that, but with a flower, at some intersections.”

“That is Danirag’s banner. They identify the leisure alleys.”

He kept studying them. “I wouldn’t have thought seeing that would make those two feel familiar, but I have this sense I’ve seen them before. Are they also at intersections?”

He chuckled. “No. Helrarvnir’s banner is only used on planets. They’ll mark paths to hunting grounds. Gralgiran’s will sometimes be used as part of identifying justiciars, but that’s my role as captain.”

“And you have them here because…?” Jeremy stepped away.

“To honor them. To welcome them in my home. To complain directly when I need to. Since I bear their names, I feel…entitled to make demands of them, and it’s safer to do that without the others listening.”

Jeremy sat on the edge of the bed. “But aren’t gods everywhere at once? Aren’t they always listening and watching?”

“Is that how your history says Earther gods were?”

“A bit. I only vaguely remember what was said about them.”

“Ours are busy with…god businesses. The banners are a way to attract their attention. For what we say to be sent in their direction.”

“So it doesn’t mean they’ll hear.”

“Oh, they’ll hear. But that doesn’t mean they’ll take notice. I might feel entitled to their attention, but I don’t think myself so important that they’ll listen to what I say over the countless others talking to either of them. It just makes me feel better after a long day to give them a piece of my mind.” He reached for Jeremy, who nodded, and pulled him against his side before letting himself fall back.

He settled until he was reclining and called up the ballad lists. “What do you want to watch?”

Jeremy’s chuckle was nervous. “I doubt you have the stuff I used to watch with my friends, and I really don’t want those kinds of comedies. What do you enjoy?”

“The classics.”

“Okay, hopefully I have enough Kelsirian after one session to get the gist of what they’ll say.”

If they were going for the classics, he might as well start at the beginning. “Play Thuruksamian’s Turn.”

He snuggled his Heart against him and settled back to enjoy how his people came to be again.

    *

Thuruksamian stood over the world that stretched before him. The others had placed what they’d wanted over it. And creatures moved everywhere; played, stalked, frolic, died. Anything was permitted, they’d been instructed, but the cycle had to be respected. Even Gez, who delighted in being contrarian to everyone, had obeyed, although she had pushed to the border of what could be done. He loved his sibling as much as anyone could love being constantly annoyed, but he didn’t think her creation would survive.

He had nothing on the world yet.

He wanted something…different.

He returned to his workshop and looked over his attempts. Four legged and eight, large and small. Variations on what his siblings had made, trying to put his own touch on them. They had served as stepping stones toward what he felt he wanted.

Two beings were on the bench, unmoving, and male and a female. He wasn’t ready to give them life. They weren’t complete. Unlike his sibling’s creations, they would walk on two legs, the way they did. He hadn’t commented, but he’d felt their choice to put them on four was to keep them below them.

He didn’t want that for his creations. He wanted them to aspire to the heights. He would be delighted if, in their future, they made their way to his workshop and asked him questions.

He had made them quizzical, but also fierce. His siblings had put many creatures on the world that would challenge and threaten any others, and he wanted his creations to measure up to those. Let Hel marvel at the hunts his creation gave his. Maybe they’d turn the odds, and they would sometimes be the ones to hunt, instead of being prey.

But something was still missing.

He turned to another bench and set about tinkering. He wanted something special for them. For each pair. Something that would give them strength, ensured they did more than procreate. He wanted them to thrive and for that; they needed something…more.

So he tinkered, and tinkered. And tinkered some more.

“And what is my sibling up to that has him vanish from the forest?” The female’s fur was dark and messy. The fur of someone who not only didn’t bother grooming, but abhorred it.

He smiled. “Come see, it’s done.”

On the bench, his two creations waited for the last part, their chests open.

“What are those?” she asked with the usual disdain for anything she hadn’t made.

“My offering to the world.” He took what he’d tinkered on for so long.

“Oh, and you think there’s a place for them after all this time?”

He shrugged. “They’ll make a place for themselves. I gave them a little of you, after all. They’ll be able to think of things no one else can.”

Her pride was short-lived, as she hadn’t been the one to think of giving her creation that. She’d cobbled her creations the way see did everything, without apparent thoughts. She’d let the pieces tell her where they belonged, and when she was done. And then, she set it out, much to the laughter of the others, except Thuruksamian. He never laughed. She loved and hated him for that.

“And what are those?” she demanded with the air of someone who understood how unimportant it all was.

He smiled with pride. “Those are their Hearts. The center of their lives, that thing which will give them happiness and pleasure in more than survival.” Carefully, he placed the Heart in the male. It didn’t move. He hadn’t granted it life yet. But something changed. The features softened and something like contentment showed.

“Happiness?” she demanded. “What do you think they’re going to do with that?”

“Whatever they want.” With just as much care, he placed the Heart in the female. “They will be the masters of their destiny.”

She snorted. “They won’t survive. Happiness doesn’t see to feeding, or did you forget the rules?”

“They will be part of the cycle, just like the others. Just like yours, he added, unable to keep from making it a light jab.”

“Ah! They are still there.”

He stared. He respected his sibling, but Gez tended to get carried away until…well, until she went too far. He hadn’t expected her first attempt to survive.

“I’m glad. You seemed to like them.” He looked at his creations with fondness. “They’ll make interesting neighbors.”

“They’re not going to survive,” she repeated, almost petulantly.

“Maybe not. But it will be of their own making.” He raised his voice. “Salmialie!”

The male appeared in a shower of stars, shorter than both, leaner, but so much swifter. His creations ran faster than any other. Jumping mountains and over oceans.

“What can I do, sib? Oh, what are those? They’re pretty. Hel’s creations are going to love them. Are they going to be tasty?”

Thuruksamian laughed. He’d made sure there was some of Salmialie in his creation, too. He’d put something of all his siblings. They might be his creation, but he wanted them to be a little of everyone.

“They are going to the world. So I need you to be ready to take them there.”

They could all go to the world, but Sal was the swiftest of them, so the one tasked with moving their creations there, and he delighted in the journey, the chance to run with his creation, challenge them to races.

“Oh. I’ll be ready.” He looked at Gez. “do you need me to take anything there?” he asked hopefully.

She rolled her eyes. “They’re going to die,” she said, yet again, then wasn’t there.

Salmialie sighed the way Thuruksamian knew well. He wanted Gez to see him, see the male that he was.

He didn’t comment on the uselessness of his sibling’s desire. Gez only saw those who could overpower her. And there were few among the family able to do that.

He gathered his creations. Enough to fill a part of the world. And from there, who knew?

“There. Handle them with care.”

“I always do. I’ll tell them you made them with care.” And he was gone.

But not to the world. Salmialie stopped by his workshop first. This was an excuse for him to also bring another of his creation. He shouldn’t, but who’d notice?

“Hello, Sallie,” a female said, and he turned, surprise to see her there.

“Err, hi, Gezbiliam.” He searched for something to say. A way to impress her. “Do you need me to take something to the world, too?”

The smile made his legs weak. “Oh no. I wouldn’t demand something like that from you. I’m here for you.” She stepped to him, ran a hand through his star filled fur. “I’ve seen how you look at me, you know?” she leaned in, rubbed her dark muzzle against his bright one. “I like you too,” she whispered, and he whimpered. “Let me show you how much.”

She took him with the madness only Gezbiliam could muster, and once she was done, he lay there, sleeping and satisfied in a way he might never be again.

She took advantage of his slumber to take what he carried out. “Ugly little things,” she said, looking at what Thuruksamian had made. “He thinks he’s so smart. Happiness.” She snorted. “All that’s going to do is leave them weak and malleable. Not ready at all.” She snorted again. “I’ll show him what they should be.” She took two out, she couldn’t tell what they were. Genders had been part of the rules, but she’d made hers so it was obvious. The males so much larger than the females. They’d take what they wanted.

These were…the same.

Of course, they weren’t going to survive. They’d be too happy.

But that was easily fixed.

Nothing got in the way of happiness like want.

And what better thing to make his sibling’s creation want, than their own Heart?

She took it out of the one and swapped it with the other. Then she did the same with another pair, and another, and another, until they were all swapped. That way, even if they were able to reproduce, the pattern would continue, forever they would have to search for their Heart if they wanted to be happy.

Once she was done, she left without a second look at the male she’d used.

When he woke, Salmialie was too satisfied to wonder how he’d let his package go. He gathered it, hoped he’d get to see Gezbiliam again like this, and set out to make his delivery.

Outline section 

No outline

Addition 

Continuation from Gral’s side

The big thing I wanted to establish with this is that Gral’s an adult. He’s not ‘driven’ by his needs. He feels them, but he controls them, and he’s able to put someone’s comfort above them

Beyond that, it was about letting the scene flow and characters be who they are.

The ballad about the creation of Kelsirians is something I’ve wanted to incorporate since Gral and Jeremy met. In draft 0 it’s being told to Jeremy, but I thought depicting it might work better. I’m pleased with the result. If I can think of them, and pull off that type of storytelling, I will see about adding more of them as a way to establish Kelsirian beliefs