Chapter 5
DADDY
Adrenaline coursed through this body as I feared the worst for Twink.
Now that my translation decoder had kicked in—with some glitches, it seemed, and I was only able to access the auditory component—I understood what he’d been saying during our initial interaction, and then this morning, I could tell he was a good member of his species, who didn’t deserve to be controlled by Chelsea.
As I held his wrist, I sensed his fear, but my desire to protect him was all-consuming.
I also knew I couldn’t disclose the nature of my intervention.
Chelsea would likely hear and find a way of reporting me to a larger system that might have to come in and ensure I too became their captive.
And who knew what the consequences would be for Twink?
He stared at me, the rising intensity within him and the slight tremble in his body making me hate myself for evoking his fear responses.
I was half-tempted to snatch the device from him and destroy it so it couldn’t harm him anymore, though not understanding the technology, my fears were multifold—some larger system could recognize that it had been destroyed and send security to ensure Twink wouldn’t escape its grip.
Or it could have some link within him that would detonate if he questioned its authority.
Whatever had led to his dependency on the device, I would have to find a way to destroy it without putting him at risk.
I caressed his wrist with my thumb, hoping to assure him I didn’t mean any harm. His cheeks turned the perfect shade of pink, lighting something in me that had only intensified since he’d admitted he was fertile. Our gazes locked once again.
While I was still adjusting to the lexicon and emotional language of Twink’s community, what we exchanged now with a look was something far more primal, the initial click that had piqued my interest. My new form reacted viscerally as I desired to take him right there, ravage him the way his expression begged to be ravaged, take his body and make it my own, filling him with my seed and having him caring for my offspring.
But still unaware of the customs of his species, I forced myself to release his wrist, just as a sound caught my attention—someone was entering his dwelling.
I pushed to my feet, ready to defend Twink.
Perhaps the scan results from last night had come back to Chelsea and I’d been discovered?
But then it turned out, it was someone I recognized.
“You forgot to lock your door,” he said, heading along the kitchen island. “Must’ve had a real good—oh, whoa. Hey there, Daddy.”
“Powerbottom.”
“And don’t you forget it,” he said with a wink. “Well, well, so much for heading home to get to sleep.” He eyed Twink.
I probed his emotions, sensing no harm in his words, only playfulness.
“Kind of a weird story,” Twink said, “but basically, Daddy saved my ass.”
“I’ll bet he did more than that with it.”
Twink rolled his eyes.
Powerbottom said, “Figured you might want to come get some breakfast with me before work, but I see we’re having breakfast here. Rude of you not to make me a waffle or two, though.”
Powerbottom approached the waffle contraption and began pouring the mix into the device, helping himself to Twink’s space.
“Work?” I asked Twink.
“I work at the bookstore down the street—well, in the coffee shop part since we’ve been short-staffed.
There’s this girl Monika who stopped coming in, but for whatever reason, my boss hasn’t fired her.
Something to do with corporate red tape.
Anyway, I’m not a very good barista. They need to hire someone and get on with it. ”
So many words, so many elements I couldn’t make sense of, the customs and hierarchal order of his community.
“What do you do, Daddy?” Powerbottom asked. “Some cushy job with lots of benefits, I hope. Charlie needs some decent health insurance, and the bookstore ain’t cutting it.”
Charlie must’ve been a nickname for Twink.
As Twink and Powerbottom awaited my response, I considered my options. I couldn’t say intergalactic scientist without giving too much away, so I played it safe. “It’s complicated.”
Powerbottom shrugged. “I hear that.”
“That said, if Twink must get to work, I have work I need to get to as well.”
“Oh, he works on Saturday?” Powerbottom said to Twink. “Might not be such a cushy job after all. You’re still fucked.”
“Did you want me to put these waffles in a container for you?” Twink asked me.
Again, there was this nurturer in him that assured me of what a good mate he’d make. This was clearly a man who would do a good job caring for my young.
“I would like that,” I told Twink, and he pushed to his feet.
He found a container in a cabinet—an opaque box—and placed the waffles inside. “There. Now you have to see me again to return it.” He passed it across the kitchen island. His eyes illuminated as his lips curled into that gorgeous smirk I was quickly becoming obsessed with.
I pushed to my feet and started for the door when Twink said, “Dude!”
I wasn’t sure what this was—another nickname?—so I turned back.
“You can’t go out there wearing that.”
I searched myself over, uncertain what the issue could be, since I was still in the clothes I donned the night before. I’d already been out there in them, and they had proved a success.
“What are you worried about?” Powerbottom asked. “Worst thing that could happen is he winds up getting a BJ on the way home.”
This earned a look from Twink, who approached, saying, “You are not doing a walk of shame in that.” He took my hand, guiding me into a bathroom, which connected to a short hallway back into the bedroom.
On one side of the hall, clothes were hung up opposite two dressers, and Twink sifted through the drawers of these dressers before handing me a few garments. “Here. You can throw these on.”
I stripped out of the clothes from the night before, and Twink’s gaze went right to my reproductive organ, which pleased me. If only I had a better handle on the mating ritual that was expected of me, then I might have been able to impregnate him immediately.
No—this was my primal Furker impulse. I couldn’t bow to it. I had to repair my ship and get back home, despite how enticing he was.
By the time I put on a T-shirt and shorts, Powerbottom had joined us with a plate and waffle. He cut a slice of the waffle and popped it into his mouth. When he finished swallowing, he said, “Did you really think that shirt would fit him?”
I figured this had something to do with how my belly was exposed under the article of clothing.
“Yeah, well, it’s the biggest thing I have.”
“Eh, pink looks good on you, big guy.”
Big guy. Another nickname. I would have to adjust to the multitude of nicknames this species gave one another.
Twink struggled with the shorts as well, unable to get the top button closed, so he offered a belt that would disguise what might’ve been offensive to other members of his species.
Then he led me to the main door, directing me on how to get to the first floor, before he said, “Oh, and I almost forgot, I need to get your number.”
He retrieved the Chelsea—it must’ve given them each identification numbers. Perhaps now he was finally onto something being wrong with me.
“I…”
“Or I could give you mine? Here, give me your phone.”
I didn’t know how I would get out of what could potentially be an attempt at verification.
“Oh, I don’t have it on me.”
“I guess it wouldn’t have fit anywhere on that thing anyway,” Powerbottom said, stepping into the doorway. He took another bite of waffle.
“Yes, that was the reason,” I said.
Twink’s expression twisted up. “Well, then I guess…”
I feared he might discover my deception if he realized I didn’t have this mysterious number, so I quickly found my best way out. “I must hurry, but I will find you again, Twink.”
I started off, though not moving so hastily as to rouse any concern that I might have been intentionally evading providing a number.
*
I returned to the alley, but the Kaylog was missing from the spot where I’d left it. After the reboot, it must’ve found a better place to conceal itself.
I fondled my strap, and a shine in a vent alongside one of the buildings caught my eye—the night before, that had been an open space.
Covering that space with a vent was a suitable disguise that would likely prevent its detection.
I scanned my strap, and the vent popped open.
I crawled inside and perused the damage in the main cabin before inspecting the system unit.
Wires were strewn about, popping with electricity. Fried communications board. I had to repair it if I wanted to access my ship’s communication panel and send an SOS. I confirmed my translation decoder was still damaged, meaning I would have to make the best of it before I managed to repair it.
I was supposed to be focusing on fixing my ship, but a Furker cannot fight its biological cravings.
All I could think about was this beautiful creature who triggered every primal impulse in this form.
I wouldn’t have thought I could encounter such a breedable member of this species so quickly, but judging by the way my cock kept stiff as I worked on repairs, it was impossible to deny.
I stuffed another waffle into my mouth, a treat delightful to this form, yet one that would have been repulsive to me in other forms because of the texture.
But the way it satisfied these taste buds…
It also kept my mind on the interactions we’d had—most importantly, when he assured me he desired to be impregnated.
I wondered how many of my babies he could have…
one, two, a few dozen… It made me uneasy to think of too many more babies than that, given my experience with my ex, but I wondered if he’d insist…
I tried to shake off those cravings. This was not my mission here.
As a member of the exploratory council, I’d been assigned to a planet in a sector of the Hector-5 E cluster galaxies.
I was to collect data about the life that had been discovered there recently.
This, of course, was interrupted by my ex, who clearly had other plans for me, weaponizing my biological impulses to distract me from my research.
However, now that I escaped, I would need to report back to the Council and provide them with the information I’d gleaned about her planet and, evidently, inform them of this new planet I crash-landed on, to determine if further exploratory missions were required.
But guilt nagged at my conscience, seemingly much stronger in this form than in my previous ones.
Chelsea was holding this beautiful, kind man captive.
It wasn’t my place to interfere in local circumstances, no matter how bleak, but my instinct was to find a way to free him from her grasp, maybe because of the violation against my own freedom that I’d recently escaped.
Of course, what would that matter once I was finished repairing my ship?
What if freeing him from her control meant he would be ostracized from his group or worse?
It was possible that to participate in this society, he must be controlled by her, but surely, like on other planets, the robots did not have their grip on every member.
Perhaps if I spent time here, I could find some resistance movement where I could keep him safe.
I would be, after all, on this planet for some time, if only to find parts for my ship.
Would it do any harm to at least attempt to keep him safe?
If there were no alternative options, that would be one thing, but if I could, wasn’t that my obligation?
No, I had no obligation to this man, just as I had no obligation to Powerbottom. This sort of thinking was what always led to me getting into trouble. I would make repairs and head home.
And in the meantime, I would avoid Twink at all costs.