Chapter 5
CORA
Mr. Darcy and I were settling into a late afternoon binge watch of my favorite vampire show when I heard the water droplet plink of a BMM message.
I’d spent some time exploring the app that morning and discovered I could update my status in a few different ways.
Setting it to matched would limit me to speaking with only the match of my choice, but I could also set it to courting, which allowed me to select multiple profiles I was interested in receiving messages from.
Anyone else who wanted to message me could send a request, but I could toggle those notifications off and only check them at my convenience.
I switched from available to courting, adding Qhev K and Yiri Ahlon as preferred matches.
I could always add more if things fizzled out with Yiri.
Or if things got too serious with Yiri. I could see both possibilities.
Butterflies—Butterflies??—fluttered in my belly at the sound. Ugh. What was I doing? This guy was an alien. He didn’t even live on the same planet as me. Butterflies were a sure sign that I was doing this side hustle wrong.
I opened the app, and the butterflies swooped, settling down. It wasn’t Yiri. It was Qhev.
Qhev K: Babe, we caused a scene with these eyes today. [Recording Attached: Qhev K]
The video played in a blur of colors, the camera moving too quickly to focus, and then it swung around to focus on Qhev as he held it out selfie style and fell backwards onto a cushioned surface.
He did something with his hand, and the camera seemed to hang suspended above him as he sprawled out and groaned like a very tired man.
“Baaaaabe. They love it. I’d make it permanent, but the lasers hurt too much.
I owe you for the look, though. When you find yourself a rich daernir husband, make him bring you to Venastea.
Don’t let him keep you on any of those sad little moons.
No. Come to Venastea and I’ll get you good seats for my show.
You’ll have a great time. Better yet, find a male who’s not too jealous, and we can hit the coast. I know all the best clubs.
Bring lots of makeup. Everything is lasers here, and I hate them. ”
His lip curled in distaste, and somehow it only made him more attractive.
“Another Earth female told me about tattoos and piercings, though. Do you really poke yourselves with sharp metal tubes thousands of times? And the piercings aren’t cauterized?
I mean, lasers are awful, but at least its sanitary.
She said you get infections from it all the time.
She had one in her—” he gestured to his stomach, which was bare down to his hips, and dusted with a trail of hair that had to be groomed to be so perfectly shaped into a sort of curved arrow pointing from his taught lower belly.
I also noticed his nipples were pierced.
“Her tummy zipper? No… What’s it called?
We call it the mother’s tether. They laser that, too.
Glad I don’t remember it. You call it something funny, though.
Anyway, hers was all red and blotchy. Looked painful.
At least the laser only hurts for a click or two.
What about you, babe? You got anything like this?
” He flicked one of his nipple piercings suggestively, grinning up at the camera.
“Rec me back, gorgeous. Or call. I’m stuck inside for the night. ”
Me: Did you just ask me to send a picture of my tits?
Qhev K: I didn’t, but I’ll take it if you’re offering.
Me: I’m not.
Qhev K: Pity. Call me, anyway?
I only hesitated a moment before tapping the icon to call him. What would an intergalactic call be like? Would there be video? Would it have static? I didn’t have long to wait to find out. After about fifteen seconds, my phone screen filled with a video call, Qhev still lounging on cushions.
“Um. Hi,” I said, eyes wide as I marveled at what was happening in my living room.
“Hi, gorgeous,” He said, tilting his head lazily. “You called.”
“Well, you asked me to,” I said, propping my phone up so I could be hands-free. “You’re stuck inside?”
“Yeah,” he said with a sheepish grin. “I did something naughty, so my manager is making me keep a low profile until it blows over.”
“What did you do?”
He grimaced. “Got caught making out with a famous guy’s daughter.”
“That doesn’t sound so bad,” I laughed. “Is PDA not allowed?”
His eyes went distant for a moment, then cleared. “Public display of affection? I’ll have to remember that one. Pee Dee Ayy.” His voice sounded a little different when he sounded the letters out, and I noticed his lips matched up a little better to what I was hearing.
“Is there a delay?” I asked. “I’ve never done this before.”
“Sometimes it’s delayed, but not usually,” he said.
“You sounded different for a second,” I said, frowning.
He paused, and then his face brightened. “Oh! It’s your translator. Not everyone can handle my real voice. It is very sexy, so be sure you’re prepared to declare your love for me before you try it.”
I snorted, rolling my eyes, but asked, “So I’m hearing what? A computer?”
“Nexus tech,” he said. “It renders my voice in your language. Doesn’t always get the tone and inflection right, but it’s pretty close to what I’d sound like if I knew your Earth language. Which one do you speak?” His voice changed a little as he said, “Eeng-liz? Zyah-poh-nez? Zhy-neez?”
Oh gosh, this alien was cute. “English,” I said, giggling. “You talk to a lot of girls on here, huh?”
He grinned. “Yeah, but they always get snatched up by daernir guys who actually want to get married. You’re not going to do that to me, are you?”
My features twisted with guilt. “Not planning on it.”
“Good!” He said, rolling up on his elbows. “I noticed you changed your status. We’re courting, huh?” he waggled his silver eyebrows.
“I was getting way too many messages,” I said. “My phone was going bloop, bloop, bloop all day. It was like being followed around by a school of noisy goldfish.”
He laughed, and held up a hand, “Hold on, the translator is giving me a visual of gohld fezsh.” He shook his head, bemused. “But yeah. I like you. You can only mate a daernir if he’s Venastean.”
“What about someone from Eissoi?” I was joking, but his eyes lit up.
“You’re talking to someone there? He’s loaded if he lives on the coast.”
“Oh yeah?”
Qhev nodded. “Yeah. I love it, but the cost to live there is super high. I’m visiting Eissoi this summer, though. Looking forward to it. If you break down and marry your rich Eissoini, maybe I’ll see you there.”
“Is it a small place?” I wondered.
“No, it’s huge,” he said. “But if you’ve got a guy who can afford to live there and buy himself a pretty bride from Earth, he’ll be in society, going to the galas and all that shit.”
“So you’re saying he’s probably an aristocrat?” I scrunched my nose at the thought. “People like that on Earth are pretty stuffy and boring. I don’t get that vibe from him.”
“Trust me,” Qhev said. “That’s what you’ve got. But hey, if you match up with him, he’ll probably give you anything you could ever ask for. That’s a nice life, huh?”
“Are you trying to talk me into this or out of it?”
He cocked his head, gazing through the screen at me. “I don’t know,” He said. “What’s this guy’s name? I’ll look into him for you. If he’s a cool guy, you should maybe do it. We could hang out when I’m in Eissoi.”
“I mentioned you to him, and he wanted your name, too,” I said.
“Did you tell him?” Qhev asked, seeming more curious than concerned.
“I said Qhev,” I said. “I didn’t tell him about the K.”
He chuckled. “He’s probably heard of me.”
“Because of the Famous guy’s daughter?” I asked.
“Yeah. Because of that.”
I narrowed my eyes, realizing he’d never answered my question about PDAs. “Why is that a problem, again? PDA are bad there or what?”
A voice shouted from somewhere out of sight on his end. “Not another one! Why are you like this Qhev’in?”
Qhev groaned. “My manager,” he said. “I have to go, gorgeous. Send me your Eissoini’s name. Call you later.” With a wink, he ended the call.
I looked at Mr. Darcy. “Alien boys are strange,” I said. “But honestly, about what I’d expect.” He meowed, and I nodded. “Right. You wanted to watch the Vampires.”
We watched most of the first season, and I was getting tired, so I left the TV going for Mr. Darcy and went to get ready for bed.
I slipped into a satin cami and short set and pushed my hair back with a big, puffy headband made of terry cloth.
I flossed, brushed my teeth, and was halfway through my skincare routine when my phone started burbling with another BMM call.
I swiped with my pinky to answer while I continued smoothing serum on my face.
“It’s getting kind of late for me,” I said. “I’m getting ready for bed.”
“Then I caught you just in time,” said a much deeper, rougher voice than Qhev’s.
I looked down at my phone on the counter with a gasp. “Yiri.”
Oof, he was handsome. Wherever he was, the light was a low ambient glow, throwing the hard lines of his face into sharp relief. As I watched, he reached back and pulled his shirt over his head. There was something dark on the material, but he tossed it aside before I could see what it was.
“You were expecting someone else, Aneah?” he asked, one dark brow arching as he turned to the side and faced a mirror instead of the camera. He lifted his arm and twisted, inspecting the skin of his upper flank.
“Oh my god,” I said, nearly dropping my serum. “Are you bleeding? Is that a cut?”
“I’m fine,” he said gruffly, using a cloth to wipe away most of the blood. “Who did you think was calling? Your friend Qhev?” He made a face when he said the name, but it could have been because of all the fresh blood oozing out of the cut below his arm.
“Yes,” I said. “We talked earlier. And he is my friend, actually. He’s not looking for a bride. Or a mate.”