Page 26 of Alien Peacock

“Finally,” he groans as he rips many branches and stalks off the wall we've reached. “A door.”

It's hidden behind deep layers of greenery and flowers. Petals and leaves fly as Arelion goes at them like a weed whacker. It's another glass door, and one press of the control panel makes it hiss open with a screech of metal. The mechanism can't have been maintained for decades.

Arelion staggers out, and I follow. The air outside feels much thinner than the soup-like atmosphere in the greenhouse, and after the door hisses closed again I can feel how my head is clearing up.

I kind of wish it wasn't. Now I'm struck with the full wave of horror after how I behaved in there.

“Sorry, Arelion,” I begin. “I don't know what came over me. I shouldn't have just taken my clothes off and practically begged you to…”

“No no,” he interrupts. “It'sIwho should apologize. The air in there… I wasn't in control…”

We start blabbering our regrets.

“No, I really should have behaved with more class. You must think I'm a terrible…”

“Absolutely not! Oh, I can't believe that I… are you all right, Maeve? I didn't cause any…”

“I'm fine! What you did was nice, I wanted it. I'm just… it was great, but now, I'm so embarrassed…”

“I had to dosomething, but what I actually wanted was really too much and…”

“You showed perfect restraint, Arelion. It isIwho went too far…”

“No, you had no choice, with those chemicals in the air! And the water was even worse. I know you were not yourself, and neither was I.” Arelion takes a deep breath. “Now let’s find out where we are.”

The room is a total mess of alien items that have a vaguely scientific look to them. Most of them are old and broken, strewn around the floor as if someone has abandoned a laboratory in a hurry, leaving it open to vandals and looters. Nothing looks like it has any value.

“I hope there won’t be any more craziness,” I sigh. “I have to get off this station and continue on my way.”

“Leaving could be a challenge,” Arelion says as he walks around the room, pieces of broken equipment being crushed under his boots. “The owners of the station are looking for us, and I suspect they know where we’ll reappear from this section.”

I straighten my clothing, trying to ignore the unpleasant feeling of my wet panties. At least no moisture is seeping through my jumpsuit and embarrassing me further. “And they’re probably watching the hangars really well.”

“Probably,” Arelion agrees as he looks out of a glass door across the room. “But I see no adversaries yet. Bring your stick, and we’ll see how bad things get.”

“Arelion.”

He turns and raises his eyebrows. “Maeve?”

I look down, feeling self-conscious but wanting to say this. “Thanks for rescuing me. Again and again. And for saying I’m attractive. I really appreciate it.”

“You did well in the labs,” he rumbles. “Without you, I’d still be stuck in that mirror room. Your attractiveness is just a fact. But perhaps it should be stated more often, since you appear to be in doubt. Shall we go?”

The door hisses open, this time without much protest. Arelion looks outside. “No obvious dangers.”

We end up walking through several rooms and halls, all deserted and full of various alien items I can’t identify. Weird contraptions hang from ceilings or stick out from walls, and I’m sure these rooms have also been full of experiments.

My embarrassment had left me as soon as it came. I’m fine with what happened back in the greenhouse room. If given the choice, I would have been fine with even more happening. Arelion is a remarkable male, and I’m not ashamed of being attracted to him. He’s a bit of a jerk, sure, but he has a nicer side, too. I think he really had to fight himself to not just ravish me back there, and while it would have been okay with me, I do appreciate the way he showed restraint. I think it speaks volumes about what kind of person he really is.

Another door hisses open, and Arelion peers out. “Finally a hallway. Nobody there.”

“Nobody thereyet,” says a voice behind me.

I yelp and duck instinctively.

Arelion takes two quick steps closer until he’s between me and the voice.

There's an alien standing behind me, leaning up against the wall. He’s a tall and spindly humanoid, but his skin is too orange for an Earthling. Pale eyes peer at me from behind a mass of white fur, which is some kind of beard as big and thick as a lion’s mane. He’s wearing long, black robes and looks seriously old.

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