Page 79 of Caveman Alien's Touch

“That’s what I thought.” He moves off on both hands, his lack of legs not stopping him from getting around.

Bronwen and I get on the middle platform, and it stays just a man’s height or so above the ground. The closest platforms hang just a little higher, and the outer platforms hang the highest. That way, everyone can see the bride, which is apparently important. And I must admit it is nice to be the center of attention with Bronwen.

The frit flows, and the alien women have brought food from the Borok tribe, so everyone eats their fill and the mood is jollier than I’ve ever seen it in the camp, despite the funeral yesterday.

After a long party, the clansbrothers lower their platforms and go to do their various chores. We have divided the things that must be done among us all, giving everyone in the clan more to do except Brak, Sprisk, and me. The three of us have fewer duties now, instead of doing practically everything like before. And the clansbrothers seem to enjoy it.

I lean into Bronwen and sniff her hair. “Perhaps we can try the oven today.”

“I was hoping we could,” she says. “We just have to find some drap roots and maybe other things.”

“I wonder if maybe we have what we need,” I tell her. “Shall we look?”

She looks up at me with an excited smile. “Let’s go.”

We get to the baking oven. There’s still no roof over it, but the clansbrothers have been busy here.

“There’s so much!” Bronwen exclaims. “Dried drap roots and dried fruits and… I not know the names!”

“Neither do I,” I confess. “It was Kerek and some of the others who knew about these. I never thought of asking them until yesterday, and then it turns out they know everything about every plant in the jungle. Here’s the special foam. Here’s something that is supposedly sweet. These fruits are not dried, but have a stickiness to them that Kerek thought might be useful. Here is water. These are ground nuts. The other things… You’ll have to ask Kerek to tell you about them.”

Bronwen practically jumps from joy and embraces me again and again. “This is wonderful! I never thought could be this good!”

“Oh, and there’s firewood. Shall I light the oven?”

She rubs her hands together. “Yes, please. Just a little wood first. We can add later. Oh, these pots be very useful…”

I stand back and watch my wife enjoy herself. She hums and talks to herself and sometimes looks around for me, giving me an adorable smile every time she sees me. It warms my heart to see her this happy.

Finally she has a pot full of a sticky mix of most of the plant items Kerek and the others prepared. She brings it to her nose. “That smells right. We’ll leave it for a while as itrises.”

“What does that mean?” I ask, suspicious. “Will it explode?”

“Only if I did it right,” she chirps. “No, my love. I don’t think will explode. Letting something rise is… oh, it’s what happens tothiswhen I take off my clothes.” She touches my shorts right at my crotch.

“And that pot will do the same?”

She grins. “Exactly the same. Except I can keep my clothes on.”

“How long will it take for it torise?”

“Not long. But probably long enough for what you’re thinking.”

“Oh. You saw it?”

“Just now, actually, because you keep look up at it. But thatisa platform hanging from that tree, right?”

“It is,” I admit. “And it was put there for us to use. Shall we see if it will hold us?”

“All right.” She slaps her hands together, creating a small, white cloud of baking ingredients.

I lower the platform from the nearby tree and let Bronwen get on. Then I hoist us all the way up, the way she both fears and likes, once we get there. “We never got a chance to check if a platform like this is good for proper Mating. And it’s the kind of thing a married couple must know.”

“It really is,” my wife says and gets comfortable on the heap of skins and furs I’ve placed here. “Oh, there’s a rock up here.”

I sit down in front of her, reach out, and touch her cheek. “I will need a rock or something to hold every time we Mate. Because when the good feelings come, I can’t control the special gift.”

“I noticed the bangs and light, and the rocks that split,” Bronwen tells me. “But it nice. I make you lose control.”

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