Expeditions, Estimation, and Other Dangerous Pastimes, Epilogue 1 (Patreon)

Ondry huffed, relaxing as the scent of Liam’s pleasure filled the nest. Moving slow so as not to cause any pain, he slid his tail out of Liam’s body, eliciting a small moan. Ondry soothed that away by tracing small patterns in the sheen of sweat that covered Liam’s stomach. When Liam became unresponsive to his own thoughts and existed only in pleasure, he often grew cold, so Ondry curled himself around his palteia. 

Ondry’s own pleasure was so great that he radiated heat as his blood pooled under the skin, seeking more pleasurable touch. Ondry kissed his shoulder, and a small shiver ran through Liam.

When Liam had lost this ability to sink into his own pleasure, Ondry had worried. The human literature the Grandmothers had taken from the human computers described submission as a result of damage and suggested that a healthier psyche would not seek the escape. Ondry had dismissed the conclusions as ill-informed and biased. However, as Liam’s body had stopped reacting to Ondry, fear had taken root. They would engage in non-procreative sex, and two minutes later, Liam would climb out of the nest and start the day. Ondry had not wished to believe that a healthy, strong, assertive Liam would stop seeking shelter, but Liam’s behavior had made him question Liam’s biological needs, even if Ondry never doubted his loyalty.

Ondry had tried to dismiss his fears, but now that they had faded to nothing, he could admit that Liam’s reactions had worried him.

No longer.

Now Liam lay twisted in the covers, too blissed to move and smelling of contentment so strongly that his hormones permeated the nest. This was the smell of home. All the stress of trading with the Imshee finally faded. Not only was the Calti heading out of their space, but they had honored the deal to alter the humans to extend their lives. Ondry could now say with certainty that humans had a primitive and flawed understanding of their own people because Liam could easily stand up to a Grandmother, challenge an Imshee, and then return to the nest and give his body over to Ondry.

Liam started breathing faster, and Ondry shifted to give Liam more room to move. The scents even shifted as Liam regained control over himself. The lethargic crawl toward consciousness required systematic stretching of muscles and rolling, so Ondry uncurled his tail from around Liam’s leg. Liam began with his back first—arching it as he gave a low moan. Ondry found it endlessly fascinating that Liam’s attempts to wake so often sounded like the noises he made when beginning non-procreative sex. Perhaps stretching a muscle which had lain dormant for so long gave him a similar pleasure. Humans did have a long sleep cycle.

After pulling his arm out from under a pillow, Liam began to stretch his extremities, all without opening his eyes. He stretched his leg. His toe hit the edge of the nest where a pillow had tumbled down, revealing the hard seam where the metal floor met the bowl of the nest. Liam bolted upright.

“Did you damage yourself?” Ondry sat up and tried to catch the offended limb, but Liam curled up and grabbed his own foot.

“Shit that hurt.”

Ondry suspected excrement had less to do with the injury than the growth spurt the Imshee had triggered while they were extending the humans’ lives. Ondry was endlessly amused that Liam now stood a head taller than Zach Mora. As far as Ondry was concerned, his palteia deserved the honor. Even the Grandmother had paled at the insult implied by their choice to favor Liam, but she could not protest when she contributed to both palteia being injured by not sharing medical information.

“I smell no blood,” Ondry said. Intellectually he knew that swelling did not pose a significant danger to humans, but he was still uncomfortable at the thought of an injury with no blood.

“It’s fine,” Liam said. He rubbed his toe. “I just have to get used to the extra twelve inches. I keep expecting everything to be farther away than it is.”

Ondry rested his hand on Liam’s shoulder as a new thought occurred to him. “Are you unhappy with the additional size?” Ondry should have asked earlier. After all, Ondry’s own height had caused anxiety. Liam had only stopped advocating for the rotilac when the Imshee admitted that they were unsure how long humans might live, but they suspected Liam and Mora would both reach seven to eight hundred. If Ondry underwent the rotilac, Liam could outlive him. That had settled the issue definitely. But given the conflict, Ondry should have anticipated that the Imshee’s gift could cause distress.

“No, but I feel like a teenager trying to figure out how to use his body without knocking everything over or tripping on his own feet. I’m supposed to have grown out of this awkwardness.” Liam wrinkled his nose.

Ondry stroked the side of Liam’s neck. “You could never be awkward.”

The look Liam gave him appeared suspiciously close to exasperation. “You have no objectivity when it comes to me.”

“That is true,” Ondry admitted, “however, you are still not awkward.”

Liam stood only long enough to sit on the edge of the nest. “Did you ask the Imshee to make me taller?”

“No.” Ondry might have, but he had not realized that humans had so much variety in heights. Most of the humans Ondry saw were roughly Liam’s size or smaller. He had no idea that humans could grow significantly taller than two meters, or that the Imshee could activate a growth spurt that maximized Liam’s genetic potential. 

Liam narrowed his eyes. “Are you sure?”

“I would remember a conversation that happened so recently. They did not speak to me.”

“I thought it might be something like the Grandmother and Duke,” Liam said with a sigh. “Some changes should be discussed ahead of time.” He climbed out of the nest and headed for the toilet. Ondry followed. When Liam reached the door, he turned and considered Ondry. “You still don’t understand why Zach was upset about Duke, do you?”

“No.” It appeared perfectly logical to use the animal to test the Imshee’s understanding of Earth genetics. Creatures that evolved on one planet shared many traits, even while they took different forms. By genetically modifying the dog, the Imshee had proven their ability to adapt their methods to Earth biology, and the dog had gained decades of additional life. Not only did Ondry not understand the problem, but the Grandmother didn’t either, and apparently Mora was less than articulate when explaining his own feelings. She had implied that she would value any explanation Liam or Ondry might offer.

After shaking his head, Liam headed into the cleaning room and Ondry followed. “People are used to getting hurt and hurting each other. But children and animals don’t have a voice. Hurting them is not acceptable.”

“He was not hurt.”

Liam rolled his eyes as though that had been a particularly illogical argument. “Causing potential harm is not acceptable.”

“Duke helped assure your safety and the safety of Mora. Is his function not to protect?”

“Protect from wolves, not faulty genetic engineering.” 

Ondry imitated Liam’s eye movements. It was not a Rownt gesture, but it was a very clear expression of superiority, and Ondry appreciated the rich variety of non-verbal signals humans used for that purpose. Liam aimed a punch at Ondry’s stomach, but he put no strength behind it.

“Be grateful the Imshee didn’t make Duke bigger. Can you imagine what he would look like if he were fifteen or twenty percent larger?”

Considering that the animal would still be too small to harm a grown Rownt and large enough to kill a human, Ondry didn’t think it made much of a difference. However, conversations about the human habit of forming emotional bonds with predators rarely ended well, so Ondry changed the subject. “I believe the Imshee hoped to gain favor by giving you more height.”

After finishing, Liam washed his hands. “I guessed as much. If I ever want to go back to Earth, I’ll have a career as a basketball player.”

“Would you want that?” Ondry asked. It had not occurred to him to make such a move, but if he were the only Rownt on a human-owned planet, he would have trade advantages, even if his ability to deliver goods would be curtailed and he would be dependent upon ship Grandmothers who had no obligation to assist him if stealing his clients was more profitable.

“Nope.” Liam didn’t even hesitate as he headed for the clothing.

“If you do, I would not be opposed to living on Earth.”

Liam turned and gave him a searching look. “I would be. I am fully willing to admit that humans are much better than I give them credit for. That said, I don’t want to live on Earth again. It’s my own issue, but I am very happy avoiding humans.”

For Rownt, avoiding their own kind would be normal if solitude created greater productivity. Rownt who worked on complex electronics often isolated themselves or lived in exceptionally small villages. Ondry wasn’t sure if Liam’s desire for distance was a sign of how much Liam had adapted to the Rownt and how much was the lingering effect of the damage he had suffered at his people’s hands. At least now Liam would have a proper number of years to sort his feelings. “Given how the Imshee perceive humanity, I think the Imshee would call that wise.”

“Yeah, well Imshee have issues.” Liam twirled his finger at his temple. “Serious issues. The big Imshee said it was the same person as the little Imshee, so there is something going on there. I just don’t know what specific brand of craziness they indulge in. The fact that they are freaked out by humans is like item number fifteen on reasons why they’re weird.”

“They’re alien.”

“From my point of view, Rownt are aliens, but I never felt that way about your species.”

“The Grandmothers always said that humans were surprisingly Rowntlike.” Ondry said. When he had last met the Imshee, he had been an eggling incapable of appreciating the vast chasm that existed between different species. When he had first met Liam, he had been struck immediately by how Rowntlike he appeared—although he had looked like a small, angry Rownt and acted like a statusless eggling. Now that Ondry had traded with the Imshee, he could understand the Grandmothers’ wisdom. Some believed that an unknown species might have intervened in the past, leaving human DNA on Prarownt or Rownt DNA on Earth. The Cy were the oldest species the Grandmothers knew, but they could not rule out an older one tinkering with life on other planets.

Liam pulled a shirt over his head and leaned against the shelf as he appeared to consider Ondry’s words for far longer than they deserved. Finally he said, “I didn’t believe that until I met the Imshee. But if you put Imshee, Anla, Rownt and Earthlings on the same stage, I can see it. We are more alike than humans understand. More than Zach understands.”

Ondry believed that, although he did not know if Mora would learn better. When confused, Mora continued to seek out Liam, so Ondry suspected he would not immerse himself in Rownt ways of seeing the universe. Perhaps the animal also tethered him to humanity. Ondry did not understand emotional relationships well enough to judge. 

“I like Rownt and humans better than Anla and Imshee,” Liam said. “Although honestly, Rownt and humans both have their own problems. I’m just glad we aren’t as weird as Imshee. Who do you think the Imshee were trying to impress?” Liam reached for the jeweled cuffs. They were tight, but they still fit his new frame. Ondry would need to find a jeweler to rework the metal to make them more comfortable. And Liam new clothing. His shirt barely covered his torso and when he moved, pale skin appeared above his waistline, and his pants ended well above the ankle.

In terms of who the Imshee hoped to impress, Ondry had no doubts. “Humans.”

“So, they think we’re insects poised to devour them, but they want to impress us, and they do that by altering someone who lives with Rownt.” Liam frowned. “That is missing the logic boat by about a mile.”

Ondry was happy to hear Liam return to his use of illogical metaphor. When he policed every word so carefully that he sounded Rownt, he lost something of himself. Ondry preferred this less cautious version of his palteia. “Do not expect our logic to apply to Imshee,” Ondry warned.

“No danger of that,” Liam said. He stepped closer and rested his hand on Ondry’s arm. In the years after Ondry had declared his independence from his mother, Ondry had told himself that he didn’t need touch. Now that he felt the heat of Liam’s hand warm his arm, Ondry could not imagine a world without touch. He rested his hand on Liam’s shoulder, his face tightening when he had to reach up significantly higher. Imshee might be illogical and odd, but Ondry appreciated them.

“Would you prefer to seek a meal or listen in the temple?” Ondry asked.

“Do the Grandmothers discuss any issue that would affect us?”

“Which mining operations to visit in order to acquire the goods to fulfill the human contract.”

Liam stood a little straighter. “If they return to Prarownt, this could be an opportunity for the Tura mines.”

Ondry pulled Liam close and curled his tail around Liam’s leg. “Spoken like a tuk-ranked trader. We go to the temple first.”

As they headed out, Liam curled his fingers around Ondry’s waistband so his knuckles pressed up against Ondry’s back. Never again would Ondry live without touch. When the Grandmothers in Janatjanay had issued soft warnings that Ondry was too invested in a human trader—too easily fooled by an alien—Ondry had put his faith in Liam. He had believed a small human who would reach out to brush his hand against Ondry’s arm when every rule told him to keep a distance. Today Ondry appreciated that Liam’s touch was neither tentative nor fleeting. Instead Liam pressed close, sure of his right to be at Ondry’s side. And together they would force a profit out of these old Grandmothers. After all, they knew exactly which metals they needed and in what quantity. Ondry could smell profits on the air. 

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