Chapter 11.

The next day Metyn stayed curled up in the back of his cage. He didn't respond to Elvyre's caressing voices or touch the plate of food the Talaya slipped into his cage.

When he still refused eat the following day, Elvyre force fed him a syringe filled with blue gruel. The boy gagged and struggled, scratching the Talaya's wrists bloody. Afterwards, he darted back into his cage, coughing and shivering.

It was painful to watch. Syl had once heard of a dog who stopped eating after its owner passed away. He wondered if Metyn wanted to die.

Elvyre eventually took the Dreen to bed again. He permitted Syl and Reja to cuddle alone the first night, but the day after he made them include Metyn.

Just a week ago the forced contact would have made Syl feel guilty, but his personal boundaries had been crossed so many times, he barely remembered what they used to be.

"He stinks." Reja grumbled.

Cynen made a short humming sound behind them. It sounded amused.

Syl sniffed Metyn's pink hair, but he could only smell fur.

"I don't smell anything." He said quietly, mindful of Metyn's tipped ear right next to his mouth.

"He smells sour. It's that stuff master gives him." Reja wrinkled his flat nose.

Syl felt a hint a dread. "Do I stink?"

Elvyre didn't drug Syl often anymore, but the chemicals might still linger in his pores.

Reja leaned across the Dreen and pressed his face into Syl's hair. "No," he said, voice muffled, "you smell like you and me."

Syl lifted his arm and pulled Reja's soft body closer, smiling when a curved hind leg folded around his hip. Cuddling with Reja was one of his favorite activities now. The boy could purr for hours on end and the vibrations in his body were the most soothing sensation.

"Don't forget Metyn." Elvyre said, emerging from the shower. His blue skin glistened with moisture and he slid in beside Cynen, curling into his lover's arms. Reja grudgingly released Syl and settled back against Metyn with an annoyed hiss.

Syl tucked his chin against the Dreen's head and draped his arm across a thin waist, fingers burrowing into the fluff on Reja's belly. When Metyn woke up, he could easily turn his head and tear out Syl's throat.

Metyn hadn't attacked Syl since that first night, but he hadn't had a chance to either. Syl's heart thudded and he squeezed his eyes shut. He willed his body to relax and his breaths to slow. He felt a tremor run through Metyn and his mouth went dry.

He wasn't surprised when he heard a scrape of a drawer and felt the Talaya lean over him. He didn't bother to open his eyes when cold metal touched his throat.

He didn't want to be drugged, but he understood why Elvyre did it. Syl's stress affected the other pets. And Reja would never accept the Dreen, if Syl didn't calm down.

Ice flared at his pulse and Syl gasped. His last coherent thought was that he hoped Reja still liked his smell after this.

He was bathed in contentment and his muscles went soft and tingly all over. He squeezed the body in his arms, feeling sharp delicate bones beneath velvet. He rubbed his face against it. It was silky, like Reja.

Reja.

Syl's chest filled with warmth and he slit his eyes open to smile at the Foll.

Blurred violet orbs blinked at him, as if from far away, but suddenly Reja was very close and he was kissing Syl. It was comforting. His heavy eyes shut and he slipped away into peace.

....

"...had enough of this. What if he gets into the vents?" Cynen's deep voices woke Syl. His head felt stuffed with cotton and his cheek burned.

"Alright, I'll buy him a leash. Could you fetch him down, please?" Elvyre slid a hand under the Human's head, turning it gently. "Metyn took a swipe at you," he told Syl, "it's only a scratch. An improvement, wouldn't you say?"

Crimson eyes caught and held Syl's, until the Human nodded. Maybe he should have been upset, but Reja had hurt him worse than this by accident and he just felt relieved that it wasn't a bite this time.

He spied the Dreen past Elvyre's shoulder; hanging upside down in a corner on the ceiling, turquoise eyes narrowed.

Cynen fetched a thin silver switch and, in two swift steps, touched the end of it to Metyn's tail.

The boy dropped like a stone into Cynen's arms. The switch seemed to work as a stunner and Syl watched with sympathy as Cynen placed Metyn back into his cage.

"Thank you, my heart." Elvyre wiped the blood off Syl's cheek and dabbed the cuts with a healing salve. It smarted, but he didn't flinch.

"Where is Reja?" Syl sat up, bracing himself against a bout of dizziness. The drug always left him spent the morning after.

"Sulking." Elvyre wrapped a blanket around Syl's shoulders and placed him on the icy floor.

"One of these days, I'd like some time alone with you. Like we used to." Cynen clicked his tongue, eyeing Syl and then the cage.

"We're docking soon. I'll book us a room and take you out to dinner. You've always enjoyed the cuisine in Apilet." Elvyre smiled and leaned back against the bed, bending one knee in invitation. "And aren't you meeting late today?"

Cynen's red eyes sharpened and he approached the bed slowly. He straddled Elvyre's chest and gripped the headboard. Elvyre's hands slid over Cynen's scaled hips, guiding them forward.

Syl started for the curtain, face burning. Sometimes, the Talaya could be as openly affectionate as Reja, but it still made Syl uncomfortable to witness it.

He pushed past the heavy curtain and clutched it a moment, blinking black dots from his eyes. When his vision cleared he saw shattered glass on the floor and a torn up cushion on the couch. He looked up and spotted a grey tail dangling from a shelf.

"Goodmorning." Syl said. He didn't bother to raise his voice, because he knew the Foll's sensitive ears could catch a whisper in the next room.

The tail flicked once. Reja really was sulking.

"It was just a scratch." Syl touched his cheek. The healing salve worked fast and it barely stung. "I'm fine."

Another flick.

"Reja." Syl sat on one of the fuzzy heating mats Elvyre had placed around the cabin for him. "Please come down. You weren't next to me when I woke up. I missed you."

Syl would never have dared say something so vulnerable back home. Because he would have been ignored.

With a grumbled hiss, Reja turned and jumped off the shelf. He landed on the table, knocking off one of Cynen's work tablets and watched it crack on the floor expressionlessly.

Syl held out his arms, without comment. He no longer tried to reason with the Foll, he distracted him instead. Syl wasn't sure if it was compulsive or ingrained in his species, but Reja broke things when he was upset. Cynen knew better than to leave anything valuable within his reach.

Reja approached him, ears low, but he moved into Syl's embrace and rubbed his damp nose behind Syl's ear. His rough tongue started licking.

"I'm sorry." Reja lisped, breath warm between licks. "I wanted to stay in bed with you. I get so stressed. I can't help it."

"I know." Syl stroked Reja's nape and kissed his temple tenderly.

Reja took loneliness very seriously, because he knew how it felt. He would never hurt Syl deliberately.

Syl felt a strong surge of affection and kissed down the Foll's cheek, smoothing his lips over grey down.

Reja started to purr, arms slipping around Syl's shoulders and claws kneading his back, very gently.

"Are you in heat?" Syl breathed, letting Reja ease him back against the mat.

"No." Reja whispered against his mouth and pushed the blanket aside, letting his full weight rest on top of Syl.

So soft and warm. A slight shift of hips allowed the Foll's cock to slide between Syl's thighs and rub against his hole. It was already hard and sticky with the fluid Reja's nubs produced.

Syl moaned when it nudged inside. His sphincter used to burn and tear, but after a visit to the clinic he stretched easier.

He wrapped his legs around Reja's hips and squeezed them encouragingly, until Reja pushed deeper.

Once a month, Reja went into heat and the spikes on his cock would sharpen upon release, hooking into his partner to ensure a breeding. Elvyre had explained that Foll matings could be violent and the hooks allowed the males small cock to stay inside.

Reja hadn't known it would hurt Syl, but they had learned to time their couplings now. The Foll still loved sex when he wasn't in heat, he just couldn't reproduce those times. Not that he could have bred Syl anyway.

They moved together, panting into each others mouths, hands clutching and hips grinding. It felt so good to be raw and feral like this. To let go of any selfconsciouness and just feel Reja in the most primal sense.

He knew Reja wouldn't judge him, no matter how shameless he acted. He didn't even think Reja could feel shame.

The Foll came first, hissing and shuddering. Syl kissed him through it, fingers combing through silky fur as Reja's spine curved, and his own orgasm started to build. He spurted against Reja's belly, matting his fur.

Afterwards Reja helped Syl onto a chair and they cuddled, kissing and nuzzling, until Elvyre brought their breakfast, sighing at the state of the room.

....

Days later the ship docked and Syl was to visit a foreign planet for the first time. Elvyre had purchased Syl an outfit for the trip; a white bodysuit in a slinky material that felt warm and velvety.

Cynen had a meeting of some sort and he left first with Reja and Syl. Elvyre would arrive later with Metyn.

Pressed against the Foll, Syl could feel the boy's tension. Reja hated new places.

Syl understood; he hadn't left the cabin in weeks, except to visit the clinic, and the idea of new surroundings had his gut churning. He was used to a routine now and familiar faces. What would this planet be like?

"Where are we going?" He asked Cynen as he stroked Reja's hip.

"Apilet." Cynen answered shortly, scanning his wrist on a door. Syl watched the Talaya expectantly, but that seemed to be all the information Cynen was willing to share.

He greeted seven other Talaya, one of which also carried a pet. A boy with hairless skin, blue eyes and matching hair. He almost looked Human and he and Syl stared at each other.

Reja's fur bristled and he growled deep in his throat, showing the tips of his sharp teeth. The Talaya holding the blue haired boy chuckled and exchanged a look with Cynen.

"What's wrong?" Syl whispered, smoothing Reja's pelt back into place with his palms.