Earth Fathers, chapter 22 (Patreon)

Max woke to find a heavy weight on his left side. He cracked his eyes open to find Rick taking up at least two thirds of the mattress. All those bright, black inquisitive eyes were closed and most of his tentacles were curled up under him, which gave him a squat look that hit Max's cute button. Something was different. When Max touched his stomach, he realized that most of the bruising was gone, which meant Rick had been using his healing trick again. Rick might be a computer programmer, but he clearly had missed his calling as a mother hen. 

Two of Rick's smaller eyes came open and then all the others followed.

“Good morning,” Max said.

“Healthy awakenings,” Rick returned.

“Query. Did you happen to fix any swelling and bruising while I was asleep?”

“Beds contain medical facilities equivalent to the lower lab.” Rick touched the overhead controls, and alien script filled the screen. “Technology remove toxins and reduced blood pooling at site of injury.”

That sounded like a cure for bruising. Max wasn't going to argue with that.

“The window of Max's eye has returned to normal,” Rick said.

“Correction. The pupil of my eye is not dilated.” It had never occurred to Max that Rick could read his emotional state as easily as Max could track those curling tentacles. Max had never yelled or outwardly panicked, yet Rick had known. He had taken one look at the “window” of Max's eye and known exactly how much Max feared going home. “I still need to send them a message. I don't want them afraid.”

Rick was silent for a time. “I can move ship close enough to transmit sound. Query. Will they listen?”

“I think they’re going to have every bit of technology they own pointed at the skies to listen. But even if they aren’t listening, I have to try.”

“Acceptable,” Rick agreed. “I do not hope for fear in humans. I like humans.”

“Unfortunately, humans would probably be afraid of you. You have too many limbs.” Max had pretty well let the cat out of the bag, so he didn't feel any need to hide the worst of humanity. 

“To evaluate on appearance is common.”

Max huffed. He knew Rick was trying to make him feel better, but Max was more than a little embarrassed to come from a planet where someone as kind as Rick would be dismissed as a monster.

“Others evaluate the people as undesirable for lack of symmetry. Humans are much symmetry more.” Rick ran a tentacle over Max's forehead and then down his nose.

“My symmetry is superficial. Inside, I am not symmetrical,” Max pointed out. 

“This I know. This others know. But humans’ exterior appearance symmetrical. Others find symmetry pleasing.”

“And how do you find symmetry?” Max asked. “That was a query.”

Rick pulled more tentacles out from under his body and draped several over Max’s stomach. “Symmetry is predictable. It lacks surprise or element to inspire exploration.”

Max supplied the word Rick struggled to express. “Boring. You find symmetry boring.” That did make some sense. Every time Rick turned his head, a whole new pattern of eyes and colors appeared. From a distance, he looked light green, but up close, Rick’s skin had streaks of greens and beiges. And then the undersides and ends of the tentacles were vivid reds and oranges. If someone took a hundred pictures of Rick, no two would look the same. There was a lot to explore.

“Max is not boring,” Rick said. He wrapped his tentacles around Max’s middle and squeezed. 

“I am symmetrical, at least externally.”

“But internally asymmetrical. Rick rested a tentacle on his lower stomach. “Internally, Max is random and unpredictable.”

Max narrowed his eyes. “Are you saying you find my intestines attractive?” Of all the pickup lines. Max had gotten in his life, and he had gotten a lot, that was the oddest.

“Yes.”

“You’re the weird one.”

Rick shimmied. “Max is unpredictable with actions. He is warrior who will surrogate. He is father who will claim genetic otherness as his own.” Rick stretched in his tentacle brushed over Max's half hard cock. Immediately, Rick froze, his tentacle still pressing Max's genitals, and alien pants were not nearly thick enough to hide what was going on. “Query. Would you tangle tentacles?”

Max was bordering on desperate to have sex, and his cock was getting harder by the second. However, he knew better than to crap where he ate. At least he did now. As a teen and even a young man in his early twenties, he had slept with too many people he worked with or had class with. It had made some awkward morning afters. “Tangling tentacles can make it difficult for me to leave. You said your people never stay, that you swim away.”

“Children must leave a parent. To stay with a parent is to remain in stagnant water.”

“Well, humans like water which does not move,” Max said. “If we tangle tentacles, I’m going to want the waters to not move, so it’s best if we don’t get tangled.” Max rolled away from Rick.

Most of Rick’s tentacles slid away as Max sat up on the edge of the bed, but Rick curled one tentacle around Max’s wrist. “Children swim away from parents. Young ones swim away from the city of birth. The people explore.”

Max sighed and pushed Rick’s last tentacle off. “Yeah. I get it. And that's why we shouldn't tangle tentacles.”

“You do not understand.” Rick caught Max’s wrist again before Max could flee this very awkward conversation. “Adults do not flee from every attachment. When the people have explored enough, as elders we seek to bond with in a stagnant pairing.”

Max scooted around so he could look at Rick. “Are you saying you are old enough to pair bond?” This conversation was spinning out of control even faster than yesterday's.

“I am not,” Rick said, and Max’s chest tightened. He needed to stop emotionally relying on Rick. “But I am very willing to remain in stagnant waters, which are interesting.”

That sounded like an alien version of a pity fuck, or maybe a pity relationship. Max wasn’t exactly following the conversation well enough to tell, but pity was involved, and Max didn’t do pity. “I don't want to be the stagnant waters you endure. 

“Query. Clarification. To endure is negative.”

“Yes,” Max blurted. “And I don't want you to accept a negative because you think...” Max struggled for the words. 

“I endure nothing.” Rick pulled Max back onto the bed. “Stagnant water is pleasant to one who has traveled fast streams.”

Max closed his eyes. This was painful because it came so close to what Max wanted, and yet it was a world apart from real commitment or desire. 

“I sought offspring because I hoped for slower waters. I could not hope to find a pair bond. Query. Would you pair bond?”

Max’s brain had a full meltdown. “What?”

“To pair bond is to share stagnant waters and enjoy the condition of boring with an individual you find pleasing enough to seek repetitious experiences.”

Max blinked and tried to restart his brain. “That is the strangest definition of marriage I have ever heard,” he said in a weak voice. He cleared his throat. “Query. Are you asking me to marry you? Oh, wait. Better question. Query. How long does pair bonding last?”

“Many years. Until one seeks faster water.”

“Oh. So it’s a marriage with a built in divorce. Great.” Max definitely needed to avoid emotional entanglements.

Rick pushed himself to the edge of the bed and let half his tentacles spill over the edge. “Query. Markers for unhappiness.”

“Most humans would hope their marriage would last forever.” Max rubbed his face. “Divorce is when a pair bonding ends with the partners wanting to leave the bond before death. The pair goes to elders to request resources can be fairly divided so each can swim in other waters.” That was a big of a simplification since plenty of married people Max knew swam in plenty of other, faster waters without getting a divorce first, but hopefully Rick would see the problem. Max was built for the whole death-do-part routine. He’d grown up in a small town where people still whispered words like divorce and infidelity in mock horror as they gossiped.

“To involve elders would be seen as a lack of skill in ending a pair bond successfully.”

“I can't argue with that.” Max added a weak chuckle. “But we need to avoid tangling tentacles because humans want forever. Ending a pair bond usually includes screaming and blame and much damage.”

“Clarify. Emotional damage or physical damage?”

“Both,” Max said. “Well, most of the damage is emotional, but it is not unusual for the violence to turn physical.” Max edited out the part where people even killed over pair bonding from time to time. He had already made humans sound like psychopaths, so he didn’t want to make it worse.

“Max is never stagnant-bad even if we are stagnant-unchanging,” Rick said.

Max ran his fingers over one of Rick’s larger tentacles. “That is the nicest thing anyone has said to me in a long time.”

“Clarify. Long time.”

“Years,” Max said. “You are kinder than anyone I’ve known for years.” 

Rick shimmied. “I understand your warning of danger inherent within human pair bonds. I still wish to pair bond.”

“I don't know that it is safe for us to pair bond.” That was not technically true since Max knew full well it was unsafe. He had too many tangled emotions. Maybe that was the isolation or the children. Or maybe it was just the fact that he liked Rick, but if this relationship went sideways, Max was going to be screwed in the unfun way.

Instead of withdrawing, Rick curled more tentacles around Max. “I am smart. I am knowing that humans have dangerous instincts. I am knowing Max is dangerous. I still want pair bond.”

Max sucked in a fast breath. “I would never hurt you. I don't care how bad our relationship ended. I don't care if you dropped me on a planet on the far side of the universe. I would not hurt you.” Max's guts roiled.

“Okay.”

Max frowned because he had no idea what that meant. “I wouldn’t,” he said.

“I believe.” Rick blinked a half dozen eyes.

“I’m not afraid for you. I fear I will hurt if you choose to swim away. Me.”

Rick didn't answer for a long time. They sat on the edge of the bed and Max felt like they were teetering on some tipping point. He had already agreed to stay on the ship, so he wasn't sure why Rick was pushing for sex. “I like Max's stagnant water,” Rick said so slowly that the translation computer had to pause between words. “I like Max's stories. I like Max keeping offspring safe. I like Max keeping me safe. I like Max happy and making strange mouth noises.”

“Clarify. Laughing. The mouth noises are laughing,” Max said.

Again, Rick was silent for a significant amount of time before he responded. “I like Max laughing.”

Max's defenses were crumbling faster than he could shore them up. The fact that he wanted a connection made it hard to stick to his stoic celibacy. He shrugged. “That’s not the worst reason to pair bond.”

“Query. Max pair bond Rick.”

Max knew he should say no. He should retain some semblance of independence. He just didn't want to. It was tired of being alone, and that feeling was much older than getting lost in space. He whispered his answer. “Yes.”

Rick's tentacles quivered before curling around Max torso.

Almost immediately, tentacles crept up and under Max's shirt. It wasn't an unusual response to accepting a proposal, but Max didn't know what to do with his hands. He stroked a tentacle, but he had no idea what passed for an androgynous zone on an alien. “I don't actually know what to do,” Max admitted. He hadn't said that since he was twelve years old and had discovered porn. Porn had given him a lot of bad advice, but at least he was doing something, even if it was the completely wrong something for the situation.

“Tangle tentacles.” Rick reached around with one of his larger arms and curled it around Max's wrist. All of those mini tentacles along the underside tangled around Max's fingers. Max stretched his fingers and then closed his fist. Rick shivered.

“If that's what does it for you, I can tangle some tentacles.” Max shifted to the right so that he could lean back and pull his legs up. He caught one of Max's tentacles between his two legs and then locked his ankles together in a wrestling move. Rick gave a full body shiver. 

Then Rick was pulling at the shirt so hard that Max feared having underarm bruises. “Hey, don't tear it. It’s the only one I have.”

“We fabricate more. Many more.” Now Rick blurted the words out almost too fast for the translator.

“Yes, but you're going to bruise me.”

Immediately Rick stopped pulling the fabric. Apparently buttons weren’t his thing, so Max shook his hand free of the tentacles that held him. In a second, he had unfastened several buttons. Rick got the message because several tentacles detoured away from pulling duty and started unbuttoning. He shoved the shirt off Max’s shoulders, but it got caught right around Max's elbows. “I can take it off,” Max offered.

Rick moved to Max’s pants without giving Max time to wiggle free of the clothing. Max reached in and unbuttoned his pants before Rick could do any damage. It had taken him forever to get the computer to fabricate a decent crotch and he really didn’t want to lose a pair of pants.  As soon as Max got the zipper down, tentacles crowded his hand out. 

Tiny finger tentacles grabbed his cock, and Max arched his back, but Rick tightened his tentacles around Max’s arms, thwarting any attempt to flail. And Max did attempt. Strenuously. His cock turned painfully hard before Rick had even started pushing the pants down around Max’s thighs.

“Oh shit.”

“Query. Am I being shitty?” Rick asked, all his tentacles freezing in place.

“No!” Max nearly screamed the word. “You’re awesome. Shit is an expression of strong emotion. In this case, good emotion.” Very good, actually. Max might regret this later when he got his heart broken, but right now his body enthusiastically approved.

“I do not approve.”

“Yeah, well just don’t stop,” Max said. Slowly the tentacles started moving again, undulating against Max’s bare skin. A tentacle rested right over Max’s left nipple, then suction pulled on his skin. Rick experimented, sucking first hard and then soft. Max threw his head back and panted as his awareness narrowed to the narrow piece of flesh where Rick experimented with different sensations. Finger tentacles slid over his skin and then a dozen suckers all went to work. Max groaned as tentacles writhed and contorted, knotted with each other and then darted around Max’s arms and hands, his legs and neck and finally his cock.

The sucking sensation was everywhere, some soft enough to tickle and others so strong that Max squirmed under the onslaught. He reached out and grabbed a handful of tentacles, holding tightly. Rick gave a full-body shudder and then Rick curled his tentacles around Max’s fingers and wrist. When the tentacles pulled his right hand up, the shirt still caught around his biceps tightened and then Rick dragged Max up the bed. Rick shifted so his huge head rested over Max’s thighs, the heavy weight pinning Max to the bed. 

Then tentacles encircled his ankles. Max used his limited mobility to hook his ankle around the tentacle and pull on it. Rick’s shiver was smaller, but with his weight on Max, Max felt it and a shiver went up his own back. That made Rick shiver again. Rick’s tentacles had explored much of Max’s body, those suckers teasing him everywhere, but now they returned to Max’s nipples,. One tentacle covered both nipples and sucked hard. Max bucked. He dug his heels into the bed and lifted Rick into the air, but Rick was heavy, and Max collapsed back down onto the bed. However, in the time he had his ass up off the bed, tentacles had darted under him. 

Rick wrapped a thick tentacle around the small of Max’s back. It left Max’s ass suspended a few inches above the bed, and this was the most vulnerable, hottest sex position Max had ever experienced. Max shook his right hand free of the tentacles around it before he grabbed a thicker tentacle the way he would grab a rope during PT. He circled the tentacle until it was wrapped around his forearm and then he grasped it firmly. Smaller tentacles twined around their joined arms. 

A tentacle slid across Max’s inner thigh before brushing Max’s cock. Max gasped. The tentacle felt slick and the small finger tentacles teased the sensitive skin.

“Humans and the people much compatible,” Rick said in a low and rumbly voice. Max agreed, but he didn’t have the brain cells to form words. Gentle suction teased Max’s cock and the tiny fingers tormented him, exploring the head of his cock. Max tried to thrust up, but Rick had captured both of his legs and the tentacle around the small of his back had curled around his hips so he was firmly held. Max suspected Rick was using his strong leg tentacle to bind him, but the tentacle around Max’s throat made it impossible for him to look down to check. 

“Please.” A needy moan escaped, and for a half second, Max tried to maintain some sort of dignity. But then Rick tightened his hold on Max’s cock while dragging a tentacle across his hole. Max threw all restraint out and thrashed. “Fuck. Yes. More.” His one word demands ended when Rick thrust a tentacle deep into him.

Pleasure crashed through him. Max’s cock was so hard that it hurt and he would have come if not for the tentacles wrapped tightly around the base. Max didn’t want to be an inconsiderate lover, lying back while the other guy did all the work, but his limbs were tangled in tentacles. He could only writhe in need. A tentacles passed over his lips, and Max sucked at the pale skin. At first he kept his explorations tentative and gentle, but when Rick shivered, Max sucked harder.

The tentacle in his ass pushed in. Rick’s limbs were cool, which contrasted against his hot body pressing down against Max’s belly and thighs. The tentacle pressed harder, forcing Max’s body to stretch until muscle strained and stung.

“Wait!” Max cried. Everything froze. Rick’s tentacles still held him in an iron grip, but nothing sucked or teased or pushed. “Query. You aren’t putting more offspring in me, are you?” Max asked. The blind lust faded. Fuck, did women have to worry about this every damn time? How the hell did they ever get their rocks off?

“No. I would not use Max as surrogate without conversation.”

“Good. You ask before you put babies up there, and you ask when I’m not so hard that I’m going to die if you don’t shove more tentacle in me. I would pretty much agree to anything at this point, including carrying a whole litter of offspring, so get your tentacles moving.”

Unfortunately, Rick didn’t budge. “Clarify. More offspring in future?”

“Many more, but right now, move your damn tentacles.”

Rick shimmied and then shoved his tentacle in so hard that Max screamed in pleasure. The tentacle around Max’s cock sucked and teased in time with the one in his ass. Every time the tentacle in his ass pulsed or bulged or thrust, the one around his cock would suck harder. Caught between the two sensations, Max cried out in pleasure.

The tip of one of Rick’s tentacles probed the corner of Max’s mouth, and Max turned his head toward it. He sucked at it and ran his tongue along the red underside where Rick had his tiny finger tentacles. The tentacle explored Max mouth for a few seconds before Rick thrust the tentacle farther in and twined it around Max’s tongue. Max pushed and sucked in a battle for his mouth that mimicked the one going on in his ass, but he was happily losing on both fronts.

Rick pulled his legs farther into the air and the tentacle in Max’s ass suddenly felt twice as large. He screamed around the one in his mouth, and then he was coming. The pain made the world white out, but then Rick loosened his grip on Max’s cock, and Max had the most glorious orgasm of his life. His muscles jerked and he fought Rick’s hold. The tentacle around his leg slipped free, and Max dug the heel into the bed as his whole body turned into one over-stimulated nerve.

The hot, blind hunger slowly faded, and Rick lowered him to the bed while Max panted. Rick pulled his tentacles out from under Max, but he left the one in Max’s ass in place. Max felt like he was skewered, and he liked that far more than he would have expected. When he’d left toys in, they’d been uncomfortable, but Rick’s tentacle just fit. Max pushing himself farther up the bed, and the way the tentacle was dragged along with him was completely hot. 

“Did you come?” Max asked before adding a belated, “Query.”

“Clarify come.”

Max didn’t have the brain cells for this. “Query. Did you reach maximum pleasure?”

“I am still feeling pleasure,” Rick said, and the tentacle in Max’s ass gave a little shiver. 

“You are really fond of my intestines, aren’t you?” Max asked. He hadn’t properly marked that as a question, so he didn’t expect an answer. He got one anyway.

Rick shifted so his head rested on Max’s chest, although his tentacle was just as deeply buried inside Max. “I am very fond of your intestines. They are beautifully asymmetrical.”

Max laughed and held his hand out, fingers spread, and Rick coiled one of his smallest tentacles around his fingers. Despite all their differences, they were pretty damn compatible.

Chapter 23: https://www.patreon.com/posts/earth-fathers-23-24253737 

Epilogue: https://www.patreon.com/posts/earth-fathers-24266071