Page 14 of Beauty and the Alien Beast
She shook her head, pointing at her ears.
It was then that I noticed something was different. She opened her mouth and started talking, and I knew something was very wrong.
Why can’t I understand her?
What came out of her mouth was a confusing jumble of noises. It was a language, mostly in midrange tones, with a wide range of sounds and an inflection that clearly conveyed her confusion and anger.
I frowned, pointing at my ear. “Can you understand me?”
The two-armed female furrowed her brow, looking me up and down. She glanced to the spray in my hand and seemed to understand that I had cured her fabricated arousal, even if the slightest bit of affection from her had left me fervently wishing it wasn’t artificial. She relaxed slightly, though her distress was clear on her pretty face.
Slowly, she reached up and gestured at her ears. Her translator buds were missing, though her ears had clearly been pierced.
I blinked and gestured at my own ear again.
She sighed, and the frustration showed just as clearly as the disquiet had.
She has no translator. Curse it! This will make it much more difficult to explain my plan to her.
Her stare panned the room, and it appeared it was the first time she noticed Brax. She squeaked, her eyes widening.
Brax rolled over and sat up, thudding his tail against the bed. She swallowed and moved forward a little. I followed, ready to muffle any screams in case my dog got too playful. The only problem with riding dogs was when they decided it was playtime, they could wreck a whole room and cover you in slobber before getting their senses back, especially younger ones like Brax.
I moved forward to make certain things did not get out of hand. Maybe because Brax’s species was from Earth, my human was drawn to him. It could be comforting to see something familiar, even if the animal was probably ten times the normal size of an Earth dog.
Brax scooted toward her on the bed, his tail bashing against the liquid gel mattress so hard that it rippled. She proved brave, taking another step forward while glancing at me uncertainly. Then Brax lost his patience and lunged forward, leading with his tongue. With one enormous slurp, he removed most of her makeup and several crystals off her outfit while applying a liberal coating of doggy drool.
“Brax!” I yelled. Then I looked at her and saw her standing there wide-eyed and dripping, frozen in a hunched-shoulder pose, while Brax wagged his tail and play bowed.
I clapped three hands over my face.I should never have brought a near puppy on a mission like this.
I moved toward her, trying to figure out how to apologize profusely using only gestures, when I heard an unexpected sound. She laughed. The sound caught me off guard, and it intensified until she was half doubled over. She braced her palms on those lush thighs, and tears gathered at the corners of her eyes as she had what was probably her first good laugh in months. Finally, she sat on the edge of the bed.
I grabbed Brax’s harness and held him back from slobbering her again as she struggled to pull herself together. I fished out the cleaning towel and handed it to her. She continued tittering as she started absently mopping her face and hair with it. She didn’t seem to notice the little silvery trails of nanites cleansing her skin and hair before retreating to the patch of cloth.
She gave me a weak little smile and nod of thanks as she caught her breath, and then the laughing started up again. I had thought it was good humor, but I didn’t know much about human women. I paid closer attention and sat down nearby, just observing her.
When she started talking, I didn’t stop her or gesture my lack of comprehension. She rambled on, gesturing, tears filling her eyes as I realized she was too overwrought for even Brax’s ridiculous self to fix it for long.
It was like watching a jump ship’s heat stack vent after a journey, the meaning of her words less important than her using them as an outlet for what couldn’t stay inside.
So I sat and listened as her words got faster and jumbled together and finally turned into sobs. Brax whined and laid his broad muzzle on her thigh, eyebrows wiggling in canine worry. I laid a few hands on her shoulders and back.
She wept, and I struggled to comfort her. I suddenly understood a little how Brax felt. Without the tool of words, I was limited in my ability to reassure her. At least she didn’t seem offended when I touched her.
I knew beyond the shadow of a doubt that I had done the right thing by not kissing her earlier. I had absolutely no interest in a union that involved any form of slavery. Either we mutually agreed we belonged to each other or there was no future for us as mates.
When she had recovered enough, she looked up at me with a teary smile and again didn’t seem to notice when the nanites stole the tears off her cheeks. She started scratching Brax’s ears absently, and he began thudding his tail again.
The female and I locked eyes.
She hesitated, then laid her hand against her chest and said one of those unfamiliar words and repeated it. “Ella.”
Is that her name?I repeated it, pointing at her. “El-la?”
She nodded, looking slightly relieved.
I put a hand on my chest as she had done. “Teken.”
