Chapter 8
T’raat
Leigh returned to her bed before the sun rose, leaving me alone in the barn. Thankfully, I now had images of her to use for self-release if I should need it. Between the sight and feel of her breasts and the image of her lips around my n’ril , I had enough imagery to last until our third date. I would no longer suffer “blue balls” while I waited.
Indeed, Leigh’s blowjob during the night might well last me until our third date. I lounged on the hay-bale bed, reveling in the lingering sensations, in the memories of her.
The screaming animal—a rooster, Leigh had informed me—began yet again when the sun broke over the horizon. This was the nature of the beast, according to Leigh, so I resigned myself to hearing the screams every morning while I remained on the farm.
Since I knew Leigh and her father would be woken by the rooster, I got up and climbed down the ladder to work on my ship. The damage from the crash was minimal, but something in the electrical system still failed every time I tried to start the ship’s engines. It was quite perplexing, and though I was in no hurry to leave, it frustrated me that I could not find the cause of the problem.
Another confusing glitch came from the communications system. I had disabled it when I left Xalan to prevent my superiors from hailing me and ordering me back, but now that I might need to request a Xalan mechanic, the system would not turn back on. Curious, but I supposed not completely outside the realm of possibility. Perhaps there was physical damage to the electronic components that I could not yet detect. Maybe the crash wrecked more than just the outer hull.
Leigh arrived one time unit after sunrise with a plate of eggs and a porcine protein she called “bacon.” I ate while I worked, and Leigh sat on a nearby stool to watch. Though we were not engaging in physical contact, her presence had a calming effect. I enjoyed the knowledge that she was near.
It did not last long. Harrison came to the barn and informed Leigh that she needed to extract dairy from the cows. Since I had reached a stalemate with the electrical systems, I offered to help.
“T’raat, you don’t know the first thing about milking a cow,” she said with a laugh. “I mean, I can teach you if you really want to help, but it’s not super exciting stuff.”
“I need practice in learning without the aid of nanites. This will benefit me, with the added benefit of providing you assistance.” I wiped electrical contact gel from my hands with a spare cloth. “I should clean up, yes?”
“Yeah. I don’t think the heifers will let you near them with the way that stuff smells, and it would probably be good for you to take a shower. Do you have showers on Xalan?”
Shower. Heated water flowing for the purpose of cleaning oneself. “Yes. We have showers.”
“Cool. We’ll go to the house, and after you’ve showered you can meet me in the milking barn. Bring a change of clothes. You’ve been in those for a couple of days now, so they’re pretty gamy.”
“I smell unpleasant?”
Her nose wrinkled. “A little. But everyone who works on a farm smells unpleasant at some point or another. It’s fine.”
I paused at the door to the barn. “Will the twins not see me?”
Leigh waved a dismissive hand. “Oh, they’re off this weekend. We don’t expect them back for a couple of days, so you should be fine. C’mon.”
After explaining the functions of the knobs and spigots and pointing out which containers were for skin cleansing and which were for cleaning hair, Leigh left me to my shower. I enjoyed the warm spray, though it was nothing compared to a Xalanite shower. Our bathing units had multiple spigots for full-coverage spray. I had difficulty rinsing some areas because Leigh’s shower only sprayed downward from above. This was not particularly conducive to rinsing between my legs or beneath my gaak . In the future, I might suggest modifications to Harrison, if he would permit, to make the shower more efficient.
I dried off with the towel Leigh provided, but when I flipped the switch on the device for drying hair, the sheer volume it emitted, combined with the stench of burning hair, was enough to convince me that I could let my hair dry naturally.
Leigh chided me for not using the device when I arrived at the milking barn with wet hair, but I dismissed her concerns.
“Xalanites do not have such devices. Our planet is mostly water, and we are avid swimmers. We go from sea to land without stopping to dry ourselves. I have never become ill from having wet hair. I do not believe I will fall ill now.”
She sighed and took me to one of the boarded-off sections of the barn. A stall. In the stall stood one of the cows.
What I witnessed next haunted my dreams for weeks.
Leigh squatted next to the heifer and began to wipe the beast’s hanging teat with a damp cloth. I did not like seeing Leigh with her hands on another creature’s teat, but she had explained previously that this was necessary in obtaining the dairy product.
Then she hauled out a machine. Connected the various tubes to the teat. Pushed a button.
The cow lowed as the machine began to—to—
I turned and retched, then fled the barn.
Leigh followed me, patting my back as I heaved to empty my stomach. “You okay, T’raat? Was it something I put in the eggs this morning?”
I coughed and spat the last of the bile from my mouth. “That was barbaric!”
She blinked and frowned. “What, the milking machine? That’s just how we get the milk out of them. It’s not painful to them or anything. Think of it like your n’ril : If their udders don’t have the pressure relieved, it gets uncomfortable for them. Painful, even. So, we help them out, and we get milk out of it.”
A gag choked me, and I coughed again. “And you do this to all the heifers?”
“The ones who still produce milk, yeah. The older girls are all dried up, so they don’t need it.”
“Must you use that torture device?”
Leigh laughed. “Like I said, it doesn’t hurt them. Besides, it’s more efficient than doing it all by hand.”
I sputtered again. “By hand?”
Taking my arm, Leigh guided me away from the milking barn. “Okay, so maybe milking isn’t your strong suit. We’ll steer clear of that for now. How about … I know! You’re mechanically inclined, right? Maybe you can help with some of the farm equipment that needs repairs.”
“Not milking machines, I hope!”
“No.” She chuckled. “How about tractors? We’ve got a couple that aren’t running right. I know it’s Earth tech, but give ‘em a look for me? If you can fix them, I know Dad would be elated to have them working again. Having only one working tractor for hauling the manure and hay bales is a pain in the ass.”
I wanted to point out that discomfort in the gluteal area from strenuous activity could be a sign of a herniation, but then I remembered that humans are not as literal as Xalanites. Perhaps his buttocks did not truly feel pain with these activities.
“All right. I will look at the tractors. Anything but the milking machines.”
The smile Leigh gave me was reward enough for any work I might do, but she offered payment regardless. I respectfully declined.
“Earth money does not spend on Xalan, and I have no expenses here. Perhaps a trade? I have consumed your food and am residing on your property. In exchange for that, I will do whatever work you need of me.” I paused. “Except milking.”
“Careful what you offer. Dad might take ‘whatever work you need’ to mean shoveling all the shit on the farm.”
I contemplated her words. “I would accept that. It is still preferable to milking.”
Since Leigh could not leave her task to watch me, I worked on the tractors alone. The Earth technology was surprisingly simple, and I found the malfunction in both vehicles rather quickly. One had a large, deceased rodent in the machinery that was jamming things, and the other had a rotted fuel pump. I could not find a spare fuel pump among Harrison’s supplies, so I manufactured one from spare parts on my ship.
Harrison arrived just as I was finishing the modifications on the second tractor. I stood back with anticipation as he inspected my work. The tractor started smoothly, and I heaved a sigh of relief.
“Not too shabby, T’raat. I didn’t realize that pump had a hole in it. Nice catch there.”
I beamed with pride. “I am glad. And it did not explode!”
Harrison paused, his pale human skin blanching an even paler tone. “What do you mean by that?”
“Well, I used Xalanite parts. I was unsure if they would properly adapt to use in your Earth machine.” I smiled and gave Harrison a pat on the back, which I had learned was a sign of affection and encouragement in human society. “But they did work, and we are both still alive! Reason enough to celebrate, yes?”
A fit of coughing took Harrison, and I worried that perhaps I had patted his back too strongly.
"Are you all right, Harrison?”
He nodded between coughs. “Yeah, ahem! Yeah. I’m fine. You just scared me for a minute there. I didn’t realize you were joking about the tractor blowing up.”
My brows knit in confusion. “I was not joking. It was a very real possibility. But I am glad it did not happen.”
He cleared his throat again. “Erm, T’raat, next time you think something you’re working on might explode, keep it to yourself. I think you took about ten years off my life with that. Us humans don’t like to know we were about to be blown to smithereens.”
“What is a smithereen? My nanites do not know this word.”
Leigh arrived at that moment with a metal pail and some cloths. I noted that she had changed her garments to an outfit that was more revealing than her usual long pants and shirt. The pants, especially, were quite short and seemed … unfinished.
“It means bits and pieces. Blown to smithereens is an expression.”
“Ah! Then I will remember not to mention the possibility of becoming smithereens in the future.”
Leigh sighed and handed me the pail. “Here. Now that the tractors are fixed, I figured we could wash them. I brought towels and stuff for it. I just need your help dragging the hose over here. It’s a bit heavy for me.”
“That sounds like an excellent idea, Leigh.” Harrison patted her on the back, confirming that it was a positive act. “You two can’t get into too much trouble with that. I’ll leave you to wash this one here while I take the other to distribute the hay and feed to the right pastures. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do!”
Harrison mounted the second tractor and left us with the first. Leigh giggled at his parting words, but I did not understand the humor she found in them.
With my help, Leigh started filling the pail—bucket—and poured some liquid into it that began to form curious bubbles as it combined with the running water. A strong chemical scent accompanied the bubbles, and I asked Leigh what the substance was.
“Oh, it’s just detergent. The foam helps loosen up the dirt and grime that’s on the tractor. Makes scrubbing easier.”
“And we must scrub the tractor to clean it?”
“Yep. We’ll wet it down first with the hose, then scrub with some of the rags here that I’ll soak in the detergent, then once we’ve gotten the worst of the dirt off, we’ll rinse again and wipe it down with the towels.” She smiled up at me. “Be grateful Dad doesn’t want us to wax the thing. That’s a pain in the ass.”
“Metaphorically?”
She laughed. “Yeah. Metaphorically.”
The act of washing the tractor wasn’t entirely unpleasant. Leigh even made it fun by playfully spraying me with the hose and starting what she called a “bubble fight.” We tossed soaped-up rags at each other until we both became soaked, and I reveled in the peals of laughter from Leigh. I enjoyed the sound of her joy.
I turned to pick up a fallen rag, and Leigh startled me by aiming the hose directly at my back. I gave a shout and jumped before turning back around to face her. Her blue eyes glimmered with mischief, and I advanced on her with the rag.
“No, T’raat! Wait! I’m already just about soaked!” She ducked behind the tractor.
“I missed a spot,” I said with mock seriousness. Grabbing the hose from her hand, I slapped her cheek lightly with the rag before turning the hose on her. Interestingly, her white upper clothing became transparent when wet, and I froze mid-play as my eyes locked onto her heaving breasts.
“Tsk, tsk.” She grinned and moved closer. “Now look what you’ve done. I’m so wet.”
“A-apologies,” I stammered as my body heat rose. “I did not intend to fully saturate you.”
“Well,” she glanced down at her thin shirt, “look at that. You can see clean through it! What was it I said about what you can see?” She licked her lips and pressed her chest to mine.
My n’ril hardened at her proximity. “You stated that whatever I can see, I can touch …”
“Mm-hm.”
I reached up and cupped one teat with my free hand, dropping the hose as I did so. The hose flopped and sprayed us wildly, but I had completely lost interest in any of my surroundings that weren’t Leigh’s teats.
“You know,” she murmured as she leaned close and licked around my gills, “this could kinda be considered our second date. I mean, we’re spending time alone together, and Dad won’t be back from the fields for another hour at least.”
I did not know until that moment that my gills were erogenous zones. Xalanite women did not stimulate our gills during mating, so I doubted many Xalanite men would realize what such stimulation could do to us. I moaned and pulled her close. “What activities might a second date entail?” I asked.
“Well … I have an idea, but we should probably get up in the cab of the tractor in case Dad drives by.”
My n’ril throbbed at the thought of engaging in activity that we must hide from Harrison. I picked Leigh up and carried her into the cab of the vehicle, laying her on the damp seat. I moved to lie on top of her, but she stopped me.
“Wait! Help me get this shirt off.”
I paused, confused. “Why? I can already see through it, thus I can already touch your teats.”
Leigh’s eyes rolled back in her head, and she began to peel the soaked garment off her skin. “You can’t fuck ‘em through it, though. And you’ve gotta find a better word for them than teats. Breasts, boobs, tits, jugs, hooters, anything other than teats.”
Her words made no sense. “There are no orifices on your … hooters. How will I fuck them?”
She propped herself up on her elbows and shot me a dubious look. “I thought you guys had porn on Xalan. How do you not know what titty fucking is?”
“We have mating programs, yes. They are our primary import from Earth.”
“And you’ve never seen one with titty fucking?”
I shook my head. “No.”
Leigh rested back against the seat with an exasperated sigh. “Fine. I’ll explain it as we go. First, straddle my chest so you’re sitting just under my boobs. Be careful not to put your full weight on me. I’m not in the mood to be suffocated.”
Though there was little room to maneuver in the cab of the tractor, I followed her instructions. “And now?”
“Put the big n’ril in between them.”
“And then?”
She huffed out another sigh. “Then thrust, silly.” Leigh pressed her breasts together until the wet mounds engulfed my lower n’ril . “Here, I’ll hold ‘em to make it easier. You just move like you’re having sex, but instead of being inside me—which I’m not quite ready for yet—you’re between the boobs.”
I cocked my head to the side. Something about this did not make sense. “And you derive sexual pleasure from this act?"
Leigh shrugged. “I guess? I don’t know for sure. Never done it before.”
“But if you do not—”
Releasing one breast, Leigh reached up and grabbed my chin firmly. “Fuck. My. Boobs.”
The desperation in her voice combined with a commanding tone that stirred me into action. I slid my n’ril deeper between her breasts until I could go no farther, then backed almost all the way out. Back and forth I went, taking my time at first. Before much time had passed, though, I began to thrust faster. I panted and moaned as her wet breasts rubbed my n’ril on all sides. Leigh arched her back with a sigh, and when our eyes met again I saw her desire. Perhaps her breasts were erogenous zones for her, much like my gills or my n’ril were for me.
Encouraged by her expression, I abandoned caution in favor of passion. I put a hand on the seat to either side of her head to brace myself and began to rut. The tractor rocked and creaked in time with my fevered thrusting, and my moans turned to feral grunts. Fire blossomed in my belly and spread through my body, radiating outward until I feared I would ignite.
As my movements became more frenzied, Leigh tilted her head forward and began to catch my tip in her mouth with each forward thrust. She sucked for a brief nanosecond until I pulled back out, and this new stimulation proved to be my undoing. The fire settled in the base of my spine, and my gaak tightened. I slammed into her chest again and again, shouting as my climax burned through me. With my tip in her mouth and my shaft surrounded by her soft boobs, I stilled as my seed shot down her throat. She sucked harder and swallowed, moaning as I emptied into her.
As soon as she released me with her mouth, I lifted my hips to give her space to breathe. She panted and gasped to catch her breath.
“I did not suffocate you, did I?” I asked.
“No,” she said between gulps of air. “No, that was just … intense. I didn’t expect to find that as hot as I did. I guess I do derive pleasure from that.”
These words made me grin. “I have pleased you.”
“Oh, hell yeah!”