Chapter 12—Rhyan
(Sena)
“A cargo ship reported to have been returning from planet Indiku with a transfer of leeri flowers and other goods, burned down in New City docking station yesterday. Officials are unsure of the exact cause of the explosion. While criminal intent has yet to be determined, it is still a variable, according to the constable. The debris of the burning craft has been contained by IMG and a further investigation will be taking place.”
“You sure know how to make an entrance don’t you, pain in my ass,” Rhyan said laughing.
I woke to the feeling of his hand running through my hair and the sound of the holo vid woke me. It was a soft familiar touch that I hadn’t let myself think about in a long time. I hadn’t realized how much I’d missed having him with me, or how badly he’d hurt me when he’d left the courtroom the day I was sentenced. His touch was a reminder of how we’d been before everything had pulled us apart.
“Why did you leave?” My voice was hoarse and I had to cough to clear my throat. I opened my eyes and looked at Rhyan sitting on the edge of my bed, his braids falling around his shoulders, different shades of colored beads lined down a few strands, the neon green strands with black roots making them stand out in a stark contrast.
His hand stopped when he heard me, keeping it settled on the top of my head. “Because I couldn’t stand watching them take you away.” He sighed, pulling his hand back. “You wouldn’t have been in that situation if I hadn’t been a fucking idiot and told you what happened that day.” His jaw clenched, and I could see him grinding his teeth. “I thought if I didn’t see them take you away, I could pretend that it didn’t happen, but that wasn’t how it went. It’s fucking impossible to ignore your absence.” Rhyan smirked. “You’re hard to forget, asshole.”
His green eyes stared down at me with the same intensity I’d remembered four years prior. Even with all this time apart, he looked at me the same way he always had. As if I was the one thing he could see in color while living in a world dressed in grey. His love had been the raft that kept me from sinking into my own anger as an adolescent. I cleared my throat again, trying to dislodge the uncomfortable emotions threatening to purge from my belly.
“My dad didn’t come to the trial,” I said, wondering if he’d noticed.
“Yeah, I know.” Rhyan shifted on the bed, his hand still threading through my hair. “Did you really think he would after everything?” Rhyan shrugged and extracted his hand and looked back at the holo vid.
I cringed, my chest constricting with pain as I remembered my mother’s death. I’d been 11 when she’d died from complications of a miscarriage. My father had lost his wife and his unborn child in one foul sweep. I didn’t remember much about her, but I had memories of her lemon scent and her sweet laughter as she chased me around the house. He’d loved her completely, and I’m sure a part of him died with her that day. I realized now how badly I had wounded my father.
“Anyways, there are more important things we need to talk about. What is the creature you brought with you?” Rhyan asked, completely changing the subject.
My head reeled and my stomach lurched harshly. How had I forgotten about La’el? I yanked at the blanket with frantic hands, trying to untangle my sore body from the material. Cool air rushed over my bare skin once I’d freed myself from the comforter, my boxers the only thing covering my otherwise naked body.
“Where is he? Is he all right?” My questions came in quick succession, my bare feet already planted on the ground.
“Calm your shit. I brought him to the greenhouse like you said. It’s been almost a day and he seems to be doing better. I set up a bed for him and made sure he was in direct sunlight with some UV lights from the ceilings to assist.”
“You don’t understand, I promised him that I would be there when he woke up. He hasn’t woken since I took him out of the cryotank. I have to be there when he comes to.” I looked around the room, realizing that it was our room, the one we’d slept in before I was sent to Indiku. Everything was the same, our photos still hanging on the walls, my possessions still scattered around the room as if I never left. It was comforting that after all this time, he’d kept a part of me in our room. The emotions were quickly followed by a bittersweet pain that questioned what we would have now that I was back.
“Where are my clothes?” I finally asked, trying to not let the room overwhelm me.
“The ones you came with were soaked. I’ve got your old things, but they’ll be tight on you. You’ve gotten bigger since I last saw you.” Rhyan got up and went to the nearest wardrobe across from the bed and pulled out some jeans and a plain T-shirt, handing them to me.
I quickly pulled on the jeans over my too large thighs and the simple cotton shirt over my chest, the material stretching to capacity around my arms and shoulders. The material had barely settled before I was walking toward the door, my bare feet slapping against the tile floor as I rushed to get out. I knew the building and I knew exactly how to get to La’el, and I wouldn’t waste any time getting to him. I walked out of the room, Rhyan right behind me. In the hallway, each door we passed was marked with a room number going down in count as we got closer to the elevator. The tower had once been a luxury high-rise hotel a couple hundred years ago. Once it became part of the ruins in Old City, deteriorating and abandoned except for squatters for over two decades, it lost its luxury like every other structure not part of New City. Rhyan and I had come to the hotel in our late teens when we had joined the residing gang that called the hotel their home base. I still remember the day Boone had taken us in, teaching both of us how to truly traverse the ruins and what a true family was like among the members of our pseudo-family.
“Where are the others? Boone?” I asked while punching the elevator button harshly, the numbers ticking up slowly from the bottom floor.
“Boone is out with some of the others. He’ll be back soon, left me in charge while he was gone. The others are milling around. I haven’t told anyone that you’re back yet. Figured we needed time to get through some shit first.” Rhyan mumbled the last part almost too low for me to hear. I ignored it, still focusing on the numbers counting up to the thirtieth floor. Thankfully, the greenhouse was only three more floors up.
The ding alerted its arrival, letting me rush in almost as soon as the doors spread open. Rhyan followed me, keeping silent as the doors closed. Looking at him, I could see tense lines making his face taut, his tan skin almost ashen against his strange hair and bright eyes. There was no doubt about the alien heritage Rhyan had in his background, but being an orphan, he had no knowledge of exactly what he was. Seeing the tension holding him like a drawn bow, I wanted to ask what was making him so uncomfortable. Was it my sudden return? Had my coming back been unwelcome to my lover? The idea that he wasn’t happy to have me back was more than a little painful, making the tattoo over my right pectoral burn with a phantom twinge.
The ding of the elevator broke me out of my thoughts, reminding me of someone else who I was more than a little worried about. Stepping out quickly onto the cobblestone pathway, I walked down the trail that lead to the indoor oasis. Trees towered up ten and fifteen feet, the glass dome of the greenhouse arching hundreds of feet above, keeping the indoor garden the perfect temperature and safe from the city’s damaging ozone. This had been what had drawn customers to this hotel back when it was still functioning, a wooded paradise in the middle of a metal jungle. Walking down the stone path, the smell of okhar overpowered the area, the plants growing in abundance all over the greenhouse. It was a good source of income for the people who inhabited the tower, although definitely not legal by New City laws, but their laws didn’t govern in Old City.
“Where is he?” I asked, looking in each direction before landing on Rhyan behind me.
“Over by the main window; figured it would have the most light.” I was walking before he finished speaking, taking the path due right toward the largest section of open glass with the most light. It took a few minutes to get there, but the moment I broke into the clearing of grass, I saw La’el sleeping in a pile of soft pillows and blankets, clean clothes, and an IV hooked to his arm. Walking closer, I was relieved to see the blue tint of his skin was back to its healthy bright color, his skin no longer damp with a sheen of sweat.
Kneeling down beside the unconscious zanzi, I ran a hand over his long blue mane, the soft strands familiar and calming the anxiety I’d been fighting since we’d gotten out of the cryotanks. Feeling his gaze, I looked up at Rhyan. He watched me, his green and black eyes tracking my hand as I touched La’el’s hair and moved to crease his cheek and throat in a soft, possessive pass of my calloused fingertips. “Thank you, for taking care of him.”
“Who is he, Sena?” Rhyan asked, his voice rough with an unknown emotion.
“He’s a native from Indiku,” I said, sitting down beside La’el, getting comfortable even among the warm glow of the UV lights shining down on us. The heat would bother me after awhile but not enough to make me leave. I would suffer through a light sunburn and some sweating.
“Don’t mince words, Sena. I know where he comes from. What I want to know is who is he to you? Why did you bring him back to the tower? Hell, why did you bring him to Earth?” His words became more agitated as he spoke, his nostrils flaring and arms crossing in a defensive pose that belied his discomfort.
Looking at my lifelong lover, I saw his face tense, nostrils flaring and eyes bright with turmoil. Then it dawned on me what all this could mean to him. Hot coals settled in my stomach and I lifted my hand from La’el’s body, fighting down my own anger. “Really? You’re going to pull that jealous bullshit with me? When I called you, it sounded like you weren’t having any complications getting hard for the bitch who answered your com,” I growled, the memory of the femie and her moans making my stomach roll.
Rhyan’s body sagged almost instantly, his green eyes averting as something like shame passed over his face. “I may have fucked people since you were imprisoned, but I never look at them the way you look at this alien.” His lips pressed into a firm line.
It didn’t make sense how attached to him I’d become over the last few weeks. Every minute we were together, the urges to protect him and touch him grew to an extreme that I couldn’t ignore. My hands itched to soothe and pleasure, my mind raced to calm and care for him. My stomach tightened further before rolling, my heart constricted in my chest as I looked down at his handsome face with his blue lips and sharp jawline. “I didn’t set out for this to happen.” I looked up at Rhy in time to see the flash of immense pain contort his face, his mouth opening on a whoosh of air like I’d hit him in the gut. It was only for an instant, before his features became passive and cold like the boy I’d met that first day in juvie.
“So that’s it?” he bit out, his narrow pupils dilating like they always did when he was upset.
I shook my head, not letting this get any more out of control. “No, fuck no! I-I just can’t let him go, Rhy.” My hand went unconsciously back to La’el’s head, smoothing over his warm cheek. “There is more going on here then you understand. Hell, more than I understand.” I shook my head, looking at La’el. “He needs me.”
“What does that mean?” Rhyan asked, face hard.
“It means that I need time. I didn’t plan any of this. What is between me and La’el wasn’t planned and right now my priority is keeping him safe.” I gazed up at the man I’d loved since I was thirteen—that I still loved. “I love you, I will always love you. I need your help, and I need you to give me some fucking time.”
He didn’t say anything, his attention settling on La’el’s sleeping form, tracking over his bare skin down to the long slim tail that lay over his bare thighs. “I won’t be passive for long, Senana.” He turned and started walking away. “Come find me when you’re ready to talk,” he yelled over his shoulder before being swallowed by the trees leading back to the elevator.
Sighing, I laid down beside La’el, gently pulling him to my chest, careful not to jostle the IV feeding fluids into his arm. “I’d say that went over like a lead fucking balloon,” I mumbled against his blue hair, the long strands tickling my nose as I breathed him in.
A slight movement caught my eye and I watched as La’el’s blue tufted tail twitched, moving slightly before curling around my thigh. The soft feeling of his warm appendage wrapped around my limb made me relax against him. We’d made it to Earth in one piece; now I just had to figure out how to mend my lover’s broken heart, keep La’el safe, and figure out how he’d change into a humanoid body. Most important—if he could ever change back.