Chapter 9.

Elvyre watched the Dreen steadily, until the pink furred boy lowered his eyes. Then the Talaya straightened and made his way to the washroom.

Syl shivered when the alien's warmth left him, even though the room wasn't as cold as usual, and pushed up on his elbow. His body felt weak and a lump was building in his throat.

He'd just received his first blowjob and it had felt incredible. Elvyre was very good at that. But it hadn't just felt physical to Syl. It had felt intimate. Loving. As if the Talaya treasured him.

But Elvyre hadn't been focused on Syl at all. This had all been a performance for the Dreen; to show the boy what he could earn by being a good pet.

No one had ever loved Syl. Not even his own parents. Why should Elvyre be any different?

Syl's lip quivered pathetically and he ducked his head to hide it, tugging at the glossy bedsheet to cover himself. Reja leapt up beside him and Syl started.

"Are you okay, Syl? Does it hurt?" Reja was focused on Syl's bandaged neck, violet eyes wide with concern, and Syl felt the question in his heart.

His eyes heated and he opened his arms. Reja didn't hesitate, returning the embrace with so much enthusiasm, they fell back against the bed. Warmth spread through his chest and Syl squeezed the Foll tightly. Reja cared about him. He really did.

"I'm sure you're hungry. If you're good, I'll let you eat with us." Elvyre was saying, steps moving across the floor, and Syl heard the cage door click.

"Dont let him out!" Reja's shout was so loud, Syl winced and turned his face away.

Elvyre turned to blink down at them, one hand resting on the door of the cage. "Why? Because he bit Sylvester?"

"Yes!" Reja jumped up, hackles lifting. "He meant it too. He tried to kill him!"

Syl's eyes widened and his hand lifted quickly to his throat. The Dreen had bit him. That's why he was bandaged up. He faintly remembered his throat hurting the previous night, but the pain had been so muted by drugs, he hadn't even realised what was happening.

Elvyre shut the cage door and the Dreen's turquoise eyes narrowed.

"My dear, he was only defending himself. Pain and fear is all he knows. Don't you remember what it was like being trapped in a cage?" Elvyre spoke very gently and Reja faltered, ears flattening and spine twitching.

"I do," Reja said hoarsely, "but I never tried to kill anyone."

Elvyre smiled and leaned down to pet the Foll's head. "Of-course you didn't, precious boy. And I wouldn't let anything happen to your friend. You know that."

Reja purred eagerly and licked at the Talaya's retreating fingers, but when Elvyre reached for the cage again, Reja hissed.

Syl tensed and fear skittered down his spine. He didn't want the boy outside any more than Reja did. The Dreen lifted his head and growled, haunches pressing into the bars at the back of his cage.

Reja leapt up on the nightstand and shoved an amber lamp. It shattered on the floor and Elvyre slammed the cage door shut.

"Reja!" The Talaya's voices sliced through the air and Syl flinched, but the Foll leapt onto a high shelf and knocked down a glittering yellow ornament.

Elvyre lunged for Reja, but the boy was fast; darting over the shelves, until the Talaya caught his tail and pulled to get a hold on his waist.

Reja yowled and writhed. Elvyre headed straight for the bed, gripping Syl's upper arm and hauling him up.

Syl gasped when an elbow rammed into his gut, before Reja focused on him. The Foll's pupils were blown wide and his breaths came fast, sharp little teeth flashing between his lips. He looked so stressed that Syl couldn't help reaching for him, palm smoothing down the silver fluff on his cheek.

Reja mewled needily and then he was pressing into Syl's arms, flat nose running over his jaw and snuffling behind his ear.

Elvyre left them on the couch in the freezing living room, taking the time to cover them with a blanket, even though his expression was tight with anger.

Syl lay entwined with Reja, feeling the boy's heartbeat slowing against his chest. He was shaken up too and thankful that a heavy curtain, and hopefully a cage, separated him from the Dreen.

"I hate him. I want him gone." Reja whispered into Syl's ear.

Reja's bluntness shook Syl a little, even though he'd been having similar thoughts. 

He didn't hate the Dreen, he just didn't want to get bitten again and it didn't seem fair to judge the boy so quickly. He hadn't asked to be drugged and touched. Would an abused dog have reacted any different, if you had tried to hug it too soon?

"He's probably scared, like Elvyre said." Syl replied, swallowing past his tight bandages. "Did you see him yesterday? He looked half dead. It was horrible."

"I don't care." Reja hissed, but there was a tremor in his voice and his spine began twitching again.

Was it because he was worried about Syl or was he remembering the horrors in his own life, before Elvyre had found him.

Syl stroked Reja's sides and kissed a velvety spot just under the boy's ear, that was much softer than the rest of him. The Foll shuddered and turned his head to catch Syl's mouth in a kiss, tongue pushing past his lips.

They were still kissing by the time Elvyre brought them breakfast and the Talaya touched Reja's nape.

"I'm very disappointed in you. We're having a talk when Cynen comes home." Elvyre said quietly. Reja looked pained and he pressed his face against the human's shoulder, making Syl's arms tighten protectively.

Elvyre considered the boys a moment, stare lingering on Syl. The human smiled uncertainly and worry curled through his gut. He couldn't read the alien's expression, but the look in his crimson eyes wasn't warm.

.....

They rest of the day was quiet and blissfully uneventful. Elvyre was preoccupied with the Dreen in his room and Syl was lost in big amethyst eyes and soft purrs.

He discovered that the Foll loved to have his belly touched, in slow circular motions or firm scratches. It was a bit jarring to find six nipples beneath his fur, but rubbing them and seeing Reja's pupils widen, made Syl accept them quickly.

At one point, a male Talaya arrived to clean up the cabin and change the bedsheets, but aside from that they had no visitors.

That night, when Cynen returned, Elvyre left with Reja and the Dreen both safely sedated in his arms. Cynen wasn't happy to be left alone with Syl, but he accepted it with a buzzing grumble.

Syl sat crosslegged on the bed and watched Cynen undress. Elvyre had adjusted the temperature, before he left, and the room was now pleasantly warm.

"This heat. How can he stand it?" Cynen muttered to himself and swiped his fingers across a screen on the wall.

Cold air immediately blew inside and Syl pulled the heavy bedsheet around his shoulders. He felt nervous around Cynen. This alien was a stranger and he didn't seem to share Elvyre's fondness for pets.

Perhaps, Syl should have been more concerned that he was accepting the term pet so easily.

But that was what he was, in this world. Their size difference alone made it obvious who was in charge, and aside from the Dreen's attack, and Elvyre's occasional pinches, Syl had received more love here than he ever had back home.

He knew there was more to it than just pinches and bites, but thinking about that made breathing difficult. So he didn't.

"We're used to different climates, I guess." He responded quietly and Cynen turned his head, looking startled.

"Yes. Yes, I suppose so." Cynen pulled a burgundy tie from his hair, letting the long white strands fall against his spine. The scales on his lower back flashed purple and green as he walked to a cabinet and filled a cup from a black tumbler.

Syl cleared his throat and attempted a conversation. "What's your home like?"

The Talaya lifted the cup to his lips and sipped. Cynen inhaled deeply and his eyes closed, savoring the drink. He took so long to answer, Syl's attention had drifted to an artwork on the wall, that swirled with gold and white light.

"It's an aquatic planet." Cynen finally murmured and Syl looked back attentively. "Made of water and ice. Our sun rises just once a year."

He turned and walked to the bed, sitting beside Syl. He was completely nude and Syl couldn't help peaking curiously at the Talaya's soft penis, nestled between his hairless thighs. It was long and thick with fine scales curling over the shaft, and no visible glands.

"But beneath the ocean, we have cities shining in the dark." Cynen's white lashes nearly eclipsed his eyes and his hand shook lightly, when he lifted the cup to his lips. He looked so weary that Syl's heart twinged a little in sympathy.

He liked Cynen's voices, now that they weren't raised in anger. They were low and rich. Not as soft or melodic as Elvyre's, but calming nevertheless.

"How do you reach the cities?" Syl asked, just as quietly.

The Talaya's own laughter seemed to take him by surprise, voices drumming through the room. "We swim, of-course."

Syl was puzzled and intrigued. "You live underwater?"

"Yes." Cynen flashed Syl an indulgent smile and skimmed his fingers across his ribs. "See these marks? They filter oxygen out of water."

The dark lines on the Talaya's ribs fluttered and lifted from his skin. They were gill filaments, pulsing like the sides of a shark. 

Syl's eyes opened wide in fascination and he leaned closer, but in the next instant the flaps snapped shut. Cynen coughed, as if winded, and some of the drink sloshed over his fingers.

"I think I've had quite enough of this." Cynen frowned down at the cup. "Though it's a shame to waste it." He looked at Syl. "Care for a taste?"

"What is it?" Syl's head was still whirling from the discovery of the Talaya having gills (did that make the man a fish?) and he met the alien's eyes thoughtlessly.

Cynen's arched brows lifted, giving him a slightly vulpine appearance, but his voices were mild when he spoke. "It's called luceat. It's usually saved for special occasions."

He lowered it to Syl's mouth and tilted the cup. The drink was golden with bright little specks swirling inside. It smelled sharp and fruity and Syl sipped cautiously. Ice ran through his teeth and coursed down his spine, followed immediately by a wave of heat that brought out a sweat on his brow.

Syl gasped and shuddered, but then the burn faded and his mouth bloomed with the taste of sugared berries and warm spices.

"Do you like it?" Cynen was watching Syl intently.

"Yes." Syl's head felt light and his lips tingled. "Can I have some more?" He reached for Cynen's arm boldly, fingers touching smooth skin.

The Talaya huffed with laughter and clicked his tongue. "No."

Syl's shoulders slumped in disappointment. Cynen pulled his arm away and stood, placing the unfinished cup out of reach on a tall shelf. Then he left for the washroom, without another word.

Syl shivered and tugged the sheet tighter around his shoulders. It might have been his imagination, but the room felt even colder than usual. His nose was icy, but his mouth was still warm from the drink.

He'd tasted champagne, and shots, at parties before and he hadn't particularly enjoyed either. He wasn't old enough to drink, but celebrity events weren't monitored too closely and he'd only done it once or twice, out of boredom. His father didn't care, as long as Syl didn't embarrass him.

But none of those drinks compared to luceat. He wasn't even sure if it was alcohol. He hoped Cynen would let him try it again one day.

He sneezed and his nose started to run from the chill. There was nothing to wipe it with and he guiltily used the edge of the bedsheet. It was a good thing the sheets were changed daily.

Cynen entered the room in a waft of damp air and sweet scented soap. He dimmed the lights and Syl felt the bed dip with the alien's weight. The covers rustled and in no time at all, Cynen's breaths gained the slow cadence of sleep.

The Talaya hadn't thought to cover up the human with a blanket, like Elvyre usually did, and Syl curled up at the foot of the bed, tugging the sheet over him. The chill in the air snuck beneath the fabric and with the darkness came an awful familiar loneliness.

Syl missed Reja. He missed the boy's sinuous warmth. His sweet little nuzzles and raspy kisses.

He wished he'd asked Elvyre when they would be back, but the atmosphere between them had been strange all day, and the words had remained stuck in his throat. He had a feeling that the Talaya was angry with him. But he didn't know why.

Was it because of the Dreen? Did Syl do something when he was drugged, that he shouldn't have? Or did Elvyre just prefer the new boy with his long lashes and pretty fur? 

Would Reja prefer him too? The Dreen resembled a Foll more than Syl did. Reja had never had any friends before and maybe he wouldn't want Syl, when he discovered he had other options.

Syl eyes stung with tears and he took a hitching breath. He knew he was getting himself worked up and that worrying wouldn't change anything. It would only make him too stressed to sleep.

The cold was starting to creep into his bones and Syl sat up, wiping his cheeks. He sniffled and looked blindly towards the Talaya. Maybe, if he was careful, he could lie beside Cynen and share some of his warmth.

He crawled slowly across the slippery sheets, taking his time to place his hands and knees. But when he bumped into the Talaya's leg, he lost his balance and sprawled on top of it.

Cynen's breaths cut off and then expelled in a swarm of buzzing wasps. Syl froze and his stomach cramped in fear. The leg beneath him shifted and Syl pushed up on his arms, scrambling backwards.

Strong hands caught his waist and dragged him over the covers, lifting him against a broad chest. The covers pulled over him, leaving just the top of his head exposed.

Syl trembled, until Cynen's palm brushed over his hair and scratched his scalp lightly. His muscles softened then and he breathed out in relief.

The Talaya's skin felt hot, but the air in the room was cold and fresh. Syl settled his cheek against Cynen's clavicle and closed his eyes.