Page 19 of Gravel and Grit

His features were put together with enough familiarity that she didn’t think anyone would find him completely foreign and off-putting, once they got over the shock of seeing an extraterrestrial being, but she recognized that she may very well be the only human to say he was outright attractive. That insight made her wonder if physical contact with him had sparked some kind of reaction in her own physiology that was responsible for what she was feeling.

Can’t completely disregard the possibility that my… interest in aliensmakes me more susceptible to finding them appealing.

Regardless of the cause, she couldn’t deny she found him magnetically attractive. The ruggedness of his features and the magnitude of his muscles correlated in her mind to virility. Whether that was accurate for his species or not, she didn’t know, but her hind brain was sending a clear message that he was a prime mate candidate.

Interesting. I would’ve assumed that, by virtue of being a differentspecies, sexual attraction wouldn’t be a factor if I ever got the chance to meetan alien. Oh, what I wouldn’t give to be able to run a full work up on him andmyself to see if this attraction is quantifiable.

Dismissing that for now, she scooted back on her knees to examine the shape of its arms and chest. To her disappointment, the musculature wasn’t visible since the statue was carved wearing a suit, but she could see that the structure was slightly different than that of humans, as well as being much bigger than she was accustomed to seeing. Yet, even with the bulk it didn’t have that almost unnatural look of bodybuilders. The size looked completely natural, which she thought was due in no small part to its large frame.

Following the arms down to the bare hands, she ran a finger along one of the curved stone claws tipping each of its digits. Its hands were also different from humans’, but the similarities were what struck her. There were five fingers and each sported three joints, though they were thicker and looked to be almost reinforced with a layer of thin muscle.

The top portion of the suit was separated from the pants, revealing a thin portion of its stomach. That small strip of defined muscle was a thing of beauty, scientifically speaking of course. The abdominal muscles were thicker and wider, but they fit its body perfectly and led her gaze down to a prominent and sharp iliac furrow, better known as an adonis belt, above the top of the pants.

A phrase she’d overheard during her college years popped into her head,

the sharper the V the bigger the D, alluding to a defined iliac furrow correlating to a large phallus. She knew that was patently untrue, but did that stop her mind from supplying her with an image of a long, thick penis hiding under its suit pants? No. No, it did not.

Her cheeks heated at that mental picture, but she couldn’t stop herself from glancing down at the statue’s groin.

Don’t be a perv, Mira.

Scooting down farther, she began examining its bare feet. There, on the left foot, was what looked like a wound. That was the moment the elusive thought from earlier finally became clear. The memory of him going through some kind of rapid metamorphosis and turning his leathery wings to rock, seemingly at will, flashed through her mind.

This isn’t a statue…

Choking on a sharp gasp, Mira scrambled backward onto the couch then kept going until she flopped over the back and landed on the hard floor with a thud. Ignoring the pain of impact, she immediately sprang up to peer wide-eyed over the top, staring at the statue that wasn’t a statue as if it would spring to life at any second.

All scientific aloofness vanished. The half-ecstatic, half-shocked thought bouncing around in her brain was,holy shit, I touched the alien!

The fact that she’d been pressed against his chest and stomach while trapped in the kangaroo pouch he’d made of his wings as he ran from the underground lab of Area 51 didn’t matter. She’d touched it just now thinking it was lifeless, not an alien that had encased itself in some kind of stone. The shock of realizing otherwise sent her scampering away like a scared rabbit.

Pulse pounding in her ears, she watched it closely for any signs that it was about to magically turn back into a living, breathing being.

After a few minutes, when it—he—didn’t so much as twitch, she slowly began to relax. It took a bit longer to brave coming out from behind the dubious protection the couch provided but, eventually, she tentatively climbed over the back and carefully lowered herself onto the cushion.

Mira stayed poised for a second, crouched and ready to scurry back to safety, but curiosity ultimately proved stronger than caution.

Stretching a leg out, she hesitantly poked his side with the toe of her ballet flat, then quickly jerked it back and held her breath, waiting to see what happened.

Nothing happened so she poked him harder then tapped his middle with

the bottom of her shoe. Still nothing.

Feeling more confident now, she did her best imitation of a slinky and melted off the couch onto the floor, then paused there for a second to see if her approach set off a resurrection where her tapping hadn’t.

He didn’t suddenly become flesh, so she crept closer, squatting in a tight ball and waddling forward on her tiptoes. She felt like a mouse approaching a trap. She knew it was a bad idea, but she wanted that cheese, dammit. Except the cheese was an alien, and she wanted to finish her inspection, now, while he was presumably comatose and unthreatening. Who knew when she’d get the chance to examine an extraterrestrial being again? This was too good an opportunity to pass up. Besides, he hadn’t hurt her. The opposite in fact. He’d saved her life, taken her to what was, hopefully, a safe location, then treated her wounds.

Pep talk complete, she waddle-shuffled to his other side, opposite the couch, so she’d have room to run if needed, then leaned closer.

It didn’t take long for her to lose herself in the examination. He was fascinating. She started at his feet, taking note of their large size and the claws on his long, blocky toes. The wide structure and thick sole of his feet, visible even as stone, made her wonder if his natural environment were either sandy or jagged.

Possibly both. Having a wide surface would be beneficial for a shifting orunstable surface, and the thicker sole would protect from heat and cold aswell as anything sharp. I wonder what their shoes look like, or if they evenwear shoes.

Wanting a record of her observations, she patted her pockets, looking for the recording device she used to keep her notes, before remembering it was in her purse.

“Which is back in my lab. Wonderful.”

Reluctantly looking away from the alien, she scanned the cabin for paper and a pen, but it was just as bare as it had been when she woke up.

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