Remnants of the Earth
SPACE STATIONS => TRIM => Topic started by: Rhi-Rhi on September 15, 2007, 07:51:30 pm
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Huddled on the top bunk in an otherwise empty cell, Teidra hugged the single crisp white pillow tightly to her chest as she stared at the door, waiting for...well, she wasn't quite sure. The whole day had been one big mess of confusion and so much had happened that she didn't even know what was going on anymore. The last thing she really remembered was walking around on some space station...the...Can ker? No. Cancer. Yeah. Hm. Same difference, she supposed. Anyway, she remembered that...she remembered talking to a few people, remembered talking especially to this one woman...and then...
Everything got sort of fuzzy after that, and the next thing she knew and she was being woken up, being escorted down sterile hallways until, finally, well...here she was.
One of the first things that had come to her mind while she was still groggy was that she was in a prison. It seemed likely when she was lead into her cell. The place looked like something she'd expect in a prison, the bunk bed against the wall, the toilet and the sink, except it was still so clean, not a speck of dust anywhere. Something also told her that prison wardens didn't typically wear clean white lab coats and carry clipboards around with them, and the beeping sound in the background, reminiscent of medical equipment, sounded really out of place, too.
Shifting a little, her right hoof caught at the sheets and she winced as the fabric tore with a resounding rrrrip! Oops. She always forgot that sharp hooves and cloth just didn't mesh. Feeling restless and deciding that sitting up here while restless would be a bad thing, since she'd probably end up tearing apart the mattress with her fidgiting, she set the pillow aside, sat back, held both legs up, and scooted awkwardly to the edge of the bed. If anyone were watching, it probably looked quite humorous but it only took a few seconds. Lowering her legs over the side, she simply hopped down from the top bunk and--
Well, she would have landed gracefully if it weren't tile. Another little detail she was too distracted to remember.
Her hooves hit the smooth tile and her legs immediately shot out from under her as she slipped forward with a little yip of surprise. A second later and she'd landed hard on her rump, legs splayed awkwardly and grimacing as her bottom and tail ached. Owww...darn it...tile. She hated that stuff! Never agreed with her, and it wasn't like ice at all. Her home world had a lot of ice and a lot of snow, but she had no problem walking on that; her hooves were sharp and actually had good traction on the bottoms specifically designed for gripping ice, and the toes spread to help her walk through snow. But you couldn't exactly dig into tile, so that failed miserably.
With a sigh, she drew her legs in and clambered awkwardly to her feet, slipping a few times before she managed to stand. Then she just...stood there, anxiously brushing her white hair out of her face--well, white except for the strips of black in the bangs. All right. What now?
Well...now she supposed she just had to wait. She felt awake now, finally, and once someone finally came she had a lot of questions to ask that really needed answers! If this was some freaky jail...she hadn't committed a crime! They couldn't just keep her here! Maybe it was a mix up. Or maybe she had really done something wrong...she'd been staring a lot at the humans on the Cank--Cancer--but that was because she'd never really seen any before. Maybe that was considered rude? Maybe she'd made some people mad...she hadn't meant to do that...but the humans had been staring at her just as much! And she understood that. After all, she hadn't seen any others of her kind around, and she supposed she was rather odd to a human. All white skin with black stripes down her spine and the backs of her legs and arms; fluffy white hair; two golden horns, the left one broken off; a little black and white tail; legs that were human in shape until just below the knee, where white fur grew and the legs tapered off into cloven hooves, partially hidden by long black fur; long, pointed ears.
Aside from that, she looked pretty much like them! She even dressed like them! Some human styles had reached her homeland from those of her people that had ventured out there before. She'd made sure to dress appropriately and everything, emulating human styles as best as she could. She couldn't wear pants like them, though, she had to wear shorts cut off above the knee because pants just didn't work for her legs. Too awkward.
Still, she knew she was different and she could understand them staring. She didn't mind. It just made her kind of happy because they seemed to find her as interesting as she found them.
Pawing absently at the tile and lightly rubbing her aching bottom, she bit her lip and stared at the door with wide green eyes. She'd just have to explain. That was all. They'd understand, right?
-
The day had been...well. There was no day. No Night. Time was just strange that way. He still hadn't figured out time. It was man-made, that much he knew. Still, it was just...strange. Time...distance...a ll of it was relative really. He gave a sigh as he looked to the clock. 0239. Hm. Still technically early. Had he actually gone to bed? No, he had been up for a day and a half actually. He was studying something, it was a dynamic link between two different energies that could co-exist only in someone who had the special gift of...magic.
He hated that word. It went against everything he believed in...and yet it went with everything he ever studied. Ugh. It shouldn't exist and yet it did. He couldn't believe that. Then again, there were a lot of things that shouldn't exist and yet they did. The universe was full of mysteries and he was going to crack each one of those mysteries one day.
One day at a time.
Slowly he pushed off from his large steel desk, cluttered with file folders and papers, small personal data computers scattered everywhere as well. One of them was beeping too, a red light flashing on top of the grey pad. He picked it up, yawing as he looked at the screen. He had a new assignment. Apparently they had captured a new magical being and he had been chosen to experiment on it. Ugh. Doesn't he get to rest? No. He didn't need to rest. He reached over to the desk to grab a strange needle and large bottle of some sort. He loaded the bottle into the top of the needle and pressed it into his arm. Pressing a button he sighed as the liquid streamed into him.
It was a pick me up. Not drugs. Just a bunch of enzymes and nutrients...plus a bunch of other things that would keep him going for quite a few more hours. Usually five or so, just what he needed. He put the needle away in the desk and stood up. He looked tired, but he felt more awake now. He got his lab coat from the chair and pulled it on, doing it up and grabbing some things from the desk. Instruments he used to scan and test reflexes and what not. He grabbed the pad that had his instructions on it and headed out of his room. He finally managed to find himself wandering past some people, and soon got to the Alpha Wing.
He stood in the observation room beside a few of his fellow scientists. They were all taking notes just like he was, scribbling madly on the pad with the stylus. The thing he noted the most was...she looked like a deer. A deer...It was incredibly scary. He watched her though as she awoke and started to get out, and he couldn't help but smile as she tore the sheets with her hooves. "Subject is clumsy...Female...a ny idea on an age?" He looked around at the men in the room with him, and they all shook their heads. "Age unknown then. Appears to resemble a deer." He watched his new subject carefully as she hopped from the bunk bed.
And promptly fell onto her behind.
Alright then, that was just...funny. He cracked a small smile as she slowly got back up. "Subject is unable to walk properly on tile. Alright guys. You can go to bed, I'll take over from here." He held a bit of respect, a bit of power here, but only so much. She seemed...scared really. Timid. Just like a deer. "Goodnight Doctor Mazz. Good hunting." Mazz gave a grin to the man. It had been a joke, not only because she looked like an animal, but because everyone knew Mazz hunted for the answers to some of the deepest questions out there. It wasn't his fault he was possessed he just...he had to figure out those answers. He needed to know. He just did.
He grabbed a gown from the stack on the table and headed around in the hallway. He took a deep breath. She was a person too. Not just a test subject. She was a test subject technically but still...Ugh. He hated his job. He loved it too. It was doing good for the world, but at the same time...he was hurting...and sometimes killing people. Some just said that pain went away, others told him not to think of them as people, but just as lab rats.
Of course.
None of them had once been persecuted when they were young. Absently his hand went to his arm, where a tattoo was. It was a bunch of numbers with a red line through it. A Mordecai had accused him of being a mage when he was little, and there were various tests, and they branded him...he was about ten minutes away from getting a big metal collar bolted in his skull.
Stupid fuckers.
It was also probably why he stayed up for so many days. It took away the hurt, and it made him work harder. He had to find the answers. He had to get them to stop. He had done horrible things of course but it was in the name of science and to stop the horrible atrocities.
He pressed a hand to the door console and entered a few numbers. The door slid opened and he put on his most detached expression and headed inside the room. The door shut right behind him and he looked to the new test subject. A deer woman. A fucking deer woman. He still couldn't believe it. Of all the luck...She had to be a deer woman. He had a thing for animals...they were...he wasn't sure but he liked animals. They were interesting creatures. They had colonies, packs, swarms, that sort of thing...it was amazing how they all interacted with each other and what not with each other. They even had wars and territory battles!
"Good morning. My name is Doctor Mazz. You have been brought here because you are a mage, you have magical abilities, or you display traits of a magical entity. You are in Thanatos Research Institute of Metaphysics, or TRIM for short." He neared her and put the gown on the bed before he started to write things on the special electronic pad, even taking pictures of her with the build in camera. "If you would kindly put this gown on, we can proceed. I am going to start first by writing down some of your story, then we will move onto taking samples of your hair, fingernail scrapings, imprints of your feet and fingerprints....and we will then proceed to draw blood, do some Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Electronic Magnetic Readings of your electrical fields, Deep Tissue Imaging scans..." And then I'm probably going to run you through various tests like shocking you, burning you, cutting you, applying stimuli both pleasurable and painful to various parts of your body, bombard you with painful radiation and no doubt end up killing you, he thought bitterly.
The easy tests were simple. But they had them run through mazes, starved them, injected them with new research products. Some of them were interesting. He gave a tonic to one person that had grown exception strength, speed, and senses...but the subject flew into a rage and killed itself. Tried to bite through a power cable.
A shame. She had been beautiful.
Another injection...well... That one had been locked away. The person had gained an increase in memory and intelligence. Vast intelligence. Any code and language was broken, any question could have been answered...eventual ly they found the subject dead, suicide. He had fashioned a knife and left a note in the wall before stabbing himself in the heart. Something about how he would run out of things to do, experience, think about, and his life would hold no meaning, so he wanted to die before that happened.
The things he could have learnt from that man...
That project was shut down. Too dangerous. Too tempting.
Tempting. That reminded him of one of the contractors. A strange benefactor who had very deep pockets and got TRIM to test 'Pharmaceuticals' on people. They were strange things too...drugs really...some thought they were illicit substances...but... they were paid to test, not to think for themselves. However the man supplied antidotes to also be tested. If only he could remember the name...Something like Kabua Technology or...Ubaka Industries. He couldn't remember but...luckily he hadn't been assigned anything yet to test on this deer woman.
"Please try not to fight this too much. It'll be easier if you just accept your fate. That's the only way you'll survive here."
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The door suddenly slid open and Teidra gave a skittish little jump, tail flicking nervously, before her eyes fell on the man that entered. He was a good foot taller than her--at five feet even, she was average height for her kind--so she had to look up to really get a good look at him. Human, too. Jeez. Humans were always so tall. And he even had white hair and green eyes, she noticed--just like her. That was a strange coincidence, yet for some reason it soothed her a little. Maybe that was a sign, everything was going to be fine here.
Then she gave herself a slight shake, remembering that the height and coloration of humans was the last thing she should be thinking about right now. Right. She could be in prison right now! She needed to keep thinking about that and get some answers.
Folding her hands respectfully in front of her, she opened her mouth to speak, but he got to it first.
...And answered a lot of her questions.
Doctor...?
He was a doctor? So...this was a hospital? A hospital for mages? Her eyes moved to the gown on the bed and back to him, realization slowly dawning. Oh. That made sense. So that's why everyone was in lab coats and that's why she heard that beeping--it really was medical equipment! That was a funny name for a hospital, though. Research institute of meta-whatever. And he seemed like he was taking pictures of her with that thingy, which was also weird. Hmm...maybe they did research on the people's ailments? Maybe it was a special hospital just for mages because they had specific needs? That made sense. Her muscles relaxed and she gave a small, unsure smile up at him, relieved by his explanation. Okay, so everything was all right. She wasn't in a prison and--wait, why was she in a hospital?
As he instructed her to put on the gown and listed off the tests he planned on running, most of them soaring over her head, she furrowed her brow in confusion. She wasn't sick...she didn't think. Then again, what had happened on the Cancer? She'd been talking to that woman and then...she was waking up here. Had she passed out? That would make sense. So that woman had probably called for help or brought her here. Oh no...maybe she'd gotten sick. Shaking her head, she rubbed her right temple and tilted her head. Something was weird.
"Um...pardon, Doctor, but...I'm not sick," she told him. Her voice was soft and quiet, timid, but she offered up another small smile and met his eyes as she said it, though this smile was a little shaky. "I don't think I am, at least. I felt fine earlier! I was on the Cancer I think it's called and I felt fine. I think I might have passed out though...I was feeling kind of tired, it was a long trip and maybe I wasn't used to the oxygen levels yet, I might have gotten a head rush, but really, I'm okay! It was probably just something silly, nothing to worry about. Last time I was at the doctor's they said I was perfectly healthy. I've never even had a cavity."
Then she shifted her feet a little, scraping one hoof over the tile. "At least...I think I'm fine...unless something happen--oh no!" she exclaimed suddenly, giving a sudden jerk of alarm. "Why didn't I think of it? Maybe I'm not immune to everything here. I...I thought I got all the proper vaccines, but I've never been around humans before, you see...maybe I got something...I don't know..." She chewed on her bottom lip, holding it between surprisingly sharp canines, then brushed the hair out of her face even though there wasn't any there; it was more a nervous habit than anything. Maybe she should go through with the exam, even though she hated doctor visits, all the poking and prodding and shots, blech. Yet at the same time, he might know something she didn't; nurses might have been observing her while she'd been asleep. Best to be on the safe side, right? Still, that'd be just her luck to come to a great new place and contract some nasty virus.
What he said next only made her worry more, and she gave him an odd look as he talked about accepting her fate to survive, her eyebrows raising. That...didn't sound good. It sounded like he thought she had something bad. Teidra swallowed; her hands felt clammy. "There's no need to be so dramatic, Doctor, I'll do the exam, you don't have to say it like that..." she said slowly with a shaky laugh. Erk. Yeah. If he was getting that serious about it, looked like she really should cooperate. "At least...I hope not. I mean, I hope I don't have anything...bad. Or contageous. Or anything at all..." she said, once again biting her lip as she turned around to face the bed.
She carefully picked her way over to it, her hooves slipping occassionally though she managed to make those few steps there without falling. Hospital gowns. They were the worst. So cold and breezy usually. Frowning at it, she glanced back at the doctor, then back at the gown, then shrugged and slipped out of her clothes. Her people weren't shy; there was nothing inappropriate on impure about an unclothed body. Still, she left her undergarments on and slipped the gown on quickly, as was procedure at any hospital she'd been to, at least for check-ups. She hoped it would just be that simple...
Teidra folded her clothes and set them down on the bed before sitting down as well, just short enough so her head didn't touch the bottom of the top bunk. "Oh yeah, I'm Teidra, sir." Then she paused. "...You named a lot of tests. Um...do you...really think I have something bad?"
Indeed, she really had no idea what was really going on.
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Mazz noted that same thing when he saw her up close finally. White hair and green eyes just like he had. That was terrific. Absolutely terrific. Completely unfair for that matter. She shouldn't...look like him. He'd feel like he was a Mordecai doing experiments on himself. There was a sick joke happening here. Maybe she was just an alien and after he did some tests he could release her. Please. Let that be so. Give him a new assignment, something that wasn't a deer person with his eyes and his hair and...
Fuckers.
This internal conflict was hard but he remained calm. Professional. Even though in the back of his mind he knew. Those who came here, stayed here. They didn't make mistakes in TRIM.
Oh never.
The poor girl seemed...confused.. .but the word Doctor seemed to...oh no. Please don't think it was a hospital. That...no. He couldn't...he did. He would have to tell her just what this place was. Great. How did you explain to someone that because they displayed traits of magical origins, they had forfeited their lives and were going to be test subjects for the rest of their lives, which probably weren't going to be for too long? You pretty much just had to explain it like that. He hated that part. Why couldn't they test these things on people who deserved it. Back in the old days, he read about how at first it was hardened criminals, one who were sentenced to death would be tested on. Then they got volunteers for money...but then some ass hole said "Hey, we can cut costs by taking out the middle man! And the bottom man...and the top man!" And so TRIM was pretty much taking the unruly mages and what not from different cities and doing it that way.
Hell. They probably got PAID for taking them off their hands. It was win-win for TRIM.
The woman just seemed to babble on about how she had done nothing wrong and she had felt fine and she looked...so innocent. She had to be a Doe didn't she? He could have handled it if she had been a he and he had been a Stag but...she was a doe. Beautiful, Innocent creatures from earth. Of course there weren't many around anymore, just here and there in pockets of areas, mostly mutated but...they were in books and in data recordings. Sometimes Mazz wished he had been several hundred years earlier so he could have been an animal researcher instead. Now a days there was no money there. There was good money to be made here in this field...and good scientific breakthroughs as well.
He just wished he didn't have to do this....
His thoughts were distracted slightly when she stripped out of her clothes suddenly, seemingly like she didn't care that he was in the room. He tried to keep it professional, but he was a male, and she did have a very remarkable body for that matter. He took a few snapshots of her though while she was changing, sending them right away to the database. He had taken a few aura pictures, maybe they could decide she wasn't magical. He hoped so. Maybe all these tests would show that she wouldn't be a good test subject...
When she sat down on the bed he sighed and slowly sat down beside her on the bed, folding the pad on his lap as he didn't look at her. "You're not sick Teidra...also you don't have a name anymore. You're test subject number five eight seven nine three three four zero one. That's 587933401. TRIM is not a hospital. It's a research centre. We get the cast offs, the mages and such that aren't needed anymore. The ones that are too unruly, too hard to handle, they're sent here and we...we test on them. We get various products and tonics, potions, drugs and what not and...we test them on these mages. Sometimes we get bounty hunters who sell people to us...and I guess you were unlucky enough to be caught. I'm sorry." He stood back up, taking down a few more notes and then looking to her. A doe woman. He still...
It was so unreal.
"Stand up and follow me. It will..it will be easier if you just accept this, like I said." He pressed a small blue button on the side of the pad. It would alert the guards to come and help escort Tei-Subject 587933401 to the examination room. Two men entered the room, armed up with electric stun batons and special magic resistant armour. Not to mention he'd seen the armour take quite a beating without breaking. They were all black and had large dome helmets that didn't show their face. He only knew the guards by name. Never by face. They weren't really allowed to associate with the guard. No. That was unfair. He just never associated with them.
Because he was pretty sure some liked their jobs.
"Guard Neilan, Guard Stezzen, please escort the subject to Examination room 3." They gave a nod and Mazz was off. He got there right away, while they would take Teidra to a sterilization chamber first. It was a simple room that would flash her with specials lights that would kill most germs that normal washing failed to achieve.
It took a few minutes but eventually there was a knock at the door. It was a simple room, a strange plastic bed in the middle surrounded by strange instruments. A counter was off to one side with even more instruments, needles mostly and sedatives. There was a large ruler that went from the roof to the floor, and a few scales off to one side. The ruler was to measure height and reaction time. He'd drop something and she would have to close her hand around it. The more she grabbed, the slower the reaction time, the less she grabbed, the faster the reactions time.
He saw no drugs though. She wouldn't be tested on today. He still could request a transfer or...or something.
Maybe tonight he could figure out what he could do. Maybe after this whole thing he could falsify the reports...It was hard to say what he could do at this time...but he was going to try.
The door opened up and the guards led the little doe woman into the room and he moved away from the examination table, gesturing to it. "You haven't been selected for any drugs today, that means you are going to be examined today and selected for a drug tomorrow probably. We have a back flow of mages right now...so you might just be here for a while. Please take a seat on the examination table. If your bra has metal under wire or metal clasps please remove it and deposit it into the bin over there. It could be fatal to wear while we take a magnetic resonance image." Well, not fatal exactly, but it could ruin the...well everything. "If you have any rings or metal pieces on your body, they must always be removed." He could remember one mage had a total of twenty seven rings and studs...and she had thrown each one at him while cursing his name.
He was surprised though that when he had given her something to drink, she hadn't just started leaking everywhere. That was a ridiculous thought of course, he knew it wasn't possible but still. It amused him just a little bit to think of that...but then he saw the doe woman again and...well...ugh. All thoughts of being amused left him.
He went over to one of the many trays around the room and got some equipment that would allow him to take fingernail scrapings, hair trimmings, brush her hair and collect whatever might be in her hair and tail, blood samples, retinal scans, fingerprints, that sort of thing. Then they'd move to X-rays, MRIs, EM Scans, Deep Tissue Scans, all that sort of thing.
Ugh. He was NOT going to give her a pelvic exam or anything like that. She was female, and she was humanoid, that's all they needed to know, and that's all he wanted to know.
"I'm ready to begin Subject. Please take a seat on the plastic table."
-
At first, there was a wave of relief as the doctor told her she wasn't sick. When he first sat down beside her, looking all distant, her heart had skipped a beat because, well, that was usually what they did when they were about to give the patient some very grave news like that they only had five days left to live or something like that. But then he spoke, and for all of three seconds those words were the greatest ones she'd heard that day--until he continued.
And told her she no longer had a name. Just a series of numbers.
It was like a sudden punch in the gut, except there was no physical pain. Her breath caught in her throat and she just stared at him, unblinking, as he spoke and she tried to absorb it. But that was strangely difficult. She saw his lips moving, heard the words, but it all sounded like one big, sick joke. Research center? Tested on mages? Tested drugs and tonics and chemicals on mages? Caught? Sell people? What? Her eyes began to burn from not blinking so she finally did so, but she was still staring up at him blankly, not really registering what he was saying even as he apologized and stood up. But her body had gone cold all the way down to her hooves, the blood pounding in her ears, as it slowly began to sink in. No name. Bounty hunter. Caught. Testing.
It was amazing how in so few words Teidra went from viewing the "doctor" as a kindly man trying to help her to a monster that was there to hurt her.
She jumped, wincing when she bumped her head on the top bunk, when he told her to stand and follow him, and that seemed to be about the time she woke up from her dazed shock. With a gasp, she scrambled to her feet, slipping awkwardly on the tile, but she made no move to follow him. Quite the contrary, she snatched up her clothes and scrambled as far back in the room as she could get, her back bumping the wall next to the bunk bed. "Y-you're joking...th-that's not funny. This...is a joke, right?" she said far too quietly, looking around the room desperately for some way out, and she jumped again when she saw him do something with his pad. Her heart felt ready to burst out of her chest. "W-what are you doing? What did you just do?"
That was when two armored men entered the room, complete with stun batons and everything. Teidra didn't even hear what Mazz said at that point, didn't even see him leave the room. Cold panic gripped her as the men approached, each twice the size of her at least, and all she saw were faceless predators coming right at her.
Instinct kicked into high gear.
With a small cry, she abruptly dove to the side, landed on the bottom bunk, and launched off of it in a wild attempt to get around the guards. But the moment she landed on the tile she started to slip and pitch forward, and it didn't take much at all to catch her--she practically did their job for them by falling right into them. Still she struggled wildly, hissing and twisting and trying to claw and bite them, even managing to land a kick to one, but all that accomplished was earning her a broken claw, a throbbing leg, and a warning that if she didn't calm down, they'd have to stun her. She didn't even leave a mark on their armor.
The threat of being stunned seemed to subdue her, though--or maybe it was just that she'd finally accepted that struggling was useless. But shortly after they said that, the fight just seemed to leave her as quickly as it had arrived as the futility of the situation sank in and an odd sort of shock, a strange numbness and acceptance of the situation, flowed through her. It was an odd feeling, and in a distant sort of way she recognized it for what it was; not quite shock, but a psychological defense mechanism in her kind. When there was no way out, no possible escape, all that was left was a strange, almost blissful surrender.
It was a small mercy, really. If you were about to be killed, the endorphins ensured the death wasn't too painful. If you were just hopelessly trapped, it ensured you wouldn't have a heart attack or a complete breakdown.
But by the time she'd been through the sterilization chamber, brought back out, and taken to the examination room, she slowly began to come out of her stupor as her body began to register that, no, this wasn't a life or death situation--yet. She began to shiver and perspire as she started to come back to herself, and by the time they reached the examination room and she was lead inside, Teidra was quite aware again and trembling from head to hoof, looking quite like, well...a deer caught in headlights. The sight of the examination room did not soothe her frayed nerves any, though, especially when the first things she saw were a multitude of needles and strange instruments that she didn't know the names or purposes of. Maybe it was her imagination leaping into overdrive, but they looked like medieval torture devices to her at the moment. She'd read about stuff like that in the literature other Tuathi brought back from their travels to other worlds...
And then her eyes fell on Mazz. The person who had looked like a kindly doctor at first, even had her hair and eyes...and now...now...
She still looked a little dazed and defeated as he spoke, watching him dully. No drugs today...drugs...no, she didn't want to be tested on...she just wanted to leave...
Then he was saying something about bras and metal clasps and telling her to get on the table, something about magnetic resonance...somethi ng. About rings and metal and something being fatal.
Teidra mostly registered the "fatal" part.
There was a long pause as she just stood there, blinking. Then she slowly met his eyes and shook her head, instead taking a careful step away from the table. Clearly she had no plans of listening.
"No..." She glanced around the room like a cornered animal before she once again locked her eyes on him, then acted like she was about to grab something, but that was when she remembered, vaguely, that the guards had taken her clothes away. She lowered her hands back to her sides and curled them into fists.
"You can't do this...you can't..." she whispered. She gave another fearful look around the room and took a few more steps away from the table and away from Mazz. Though coming out of it the more she moved and spoke, she still looked fairly shocked. "Father said human laws were like ours...you can't just capture people and do things to--" And then she cut off, a horrifying thought crossing her mind right before she could finish the sentence. Unless these humans were the predators of their kind. It sounded like it. The way he spoke, it sounded like they preyed on their own people, too. If that was the case, it wouldn't matter what the laws said.
If it was at all physically possible, Teidra would have paled. But her face was already white, just like the rest of her body. She did, however, start to look ill. "What...are you going to do? What's a...a magnetic...what you called it? What does it do? How many days do I have to stay here? Will you let me go if I do the tests? Nothing...nothing is going to be...permanent, is it? I...I don't want to do this. You can't...and I'm not 'Subject'...I have a name, it's Teidra..."
-
How come he never got the easy jobs?
How could he always got the ones that were either really clueless or really belligerent. He could handle the belligerent ones, they didn't make him feel...all that sorry...he still felt guilty but...he had a job to do. This was his life. He'd gone through all the tests before with the Mordecai. Honestly he was surprised none of them ever ended up in Wing Omega. That would have been a sweet day, to be able to get a Mordecai under the knife. Yet they were too smart it seemed, either that or everyone knew just not to mess with a Mordecai. Which really was probably the best idea. They had leverage after all...but TRIM could pull its fair share of weight when it came to reputations.
She didn't seem to get it as he spoke, all of the things didn't seem to matter to her. She just stared at him and he hated that. He really did. She was such a lovely creature, probably had just been in the wrong place when a bounty hunter had decided to knock her in the back of the head. If that was the case, he would have to do some cranial scans. Oh maybe he could say that's why she was no good. If anything showed up then...maybe he could pull this off.
He couldn't torment this being. Not when she looked like him...not when she was a fucking deer person.
Always animals. That ALWAYS got him.
Sad eyes looked to her when she jumped up, bumping her head and then scrambled to her feet. She was going to fight. He couldn't blame her. The Mordecai had to drag him kicking and screaming after all. No one ever went quietly cause this was not what people wanted to do. People did not want to be led to their deaths after all. "No...I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I wish this were a joke. I wish my life were like that...but no." If only a bunch of her friends would suddenly pop out of nowhere and yell surprise! If only this whole damn thing was some elaborate fucking ruse just to trick one person. "Calling security." He said simply as he waited, and of course...the men came.
He had no idea what was going to happen...well...he had an idea that she would try to escape, that she would try to fight the men in armour. The armour was amazing really, as it had shock absorbing material and was designed with that in mind. When pressure was placed on it, it would evenly distribute it to all parts of piece in question. Not to mention a psychic couldn't even breach the special helmets, using radio wave transmitters to create psychic interference. Honestly, if they could only come up with such stuff like that here.
They might actually make a difference if they came up with such ingenious stuff like that.
When the subject came in he watched her carefully. Shaking, trembling, looked spooked out of her wits. It was heart-wrenching to see her like that. The poor thing probably had led a nice life and now she was here. She had no life now...she would do what she was told and that was about it. There was no time for the 'patients' to be thinking of what their lives had been like. No. There was nothing for them now. He wished he could help her, he wished that someone would come down and say this was all just a big misunderstanding and she really shouldn't be here. Maybe he could keep her alive long enough to get into contact with her people and they could mount some sort of protest...they could get her free through political means.
"No?" This...this was going to be another forced examination wasn't it? They would tie her down, keep guards in here at all times probably and she would be forced to take the examinations. The guards were never gentle with those. Some of them even seemed to enjoy that sort of thing really. "Yes...TRIM can do this. They have a certain status...that gives them this right." After all, people really didn't get to hear about this part of TRIM. The part where people were forced in here against their wills to become test subjects for dangerous experiments and what not. His eyes were closed as he tried not to think about this whole situation. She had mentioned her family. That just hit him like a punch to the gut. Why did he have to do this.
"A magnetic resonance imager takes a picture of your entire body. We're then able to look at your body on different levels to see things inside you. ...as...as for your other questions," Mazz took a deep breath as he slowly opened his eyes. Okay. You can do this. "You're here until you die. We won't let you go if you do the tests, and we're...we're going to do them whether you cooperate or not. Things might be permanent, things might not be, it all depends on what experiments we're...I'm...supposed to test you with...and..." Mazz put the pad down and went to the table, picking up a few things to occupy himself while he said the next bit. This one he hated. Stripping people of their lives and identity was always the hardest.
"You don't have a name anymore. You're subject 587933401. There's only...one choice you get here. You can either come over here to the table...remove any metal objects...or I can get the guards to come in here and do a full cavity search of your body...and they're never gentle. Please. Don't make...don't make this harder on either of this. Right now, you're not going to get hurt. I'm just going to run some scans and a few tests to learn about you. I'm...not going to hurt you. At least...I'm going to try not to." He spoke as calm as possible, with the most soothing tone possible, but it was evident in his troubled eyes that he didn't want to do this anymore than she did.
"Please. This will be over before you know it...then you can go back to your cell." Then he would start his day. Pour over all the data he got from the test, and then he could file some formal complaints and what not. Most of them would fall on deaf ears but...he would also start researching. He had to find a way to get her out of this situation.
It would become his obsession, because technically it had to do with work. Just not with working directly. Why did she have to be so nice through all of this, or at least, try to be nice? It just pulled at his heart strings and made him feel like a complete monster. Really he was. He had done bad things, many bad things, and called it all scientific, said that he was doing this to stop the torture, to stop TRIM from continuing on like this.
Maybe that was the truth, or maybe he had begun to see it in a different light. Right now he couldn't be sure, his mind was in a tizzy at this time. There was so much right now. Work was important...this deer woman was work...but...he couldn't. He just felt like screaming and leaving, telling the guards to take her back to her cell but...that would look bad on his monthly evaluation. After all, no matter how cute or innocent the person, he had never in all his years here stopped working on a patient. This could be a first.
After a few deep breaths he was ready though. They were just simply painless tests. That was all. Except for the blood drawing test. That might prove interesting.
-
Teidra didn't actually expect her protests to make a difference, but it didn't stop her from trying. After all, he had apologized. She didn't know why he would apologize about this since he was the one doing this to her; he was the captor, he had a choice, didn't he? So why would he be sorry and why would he look upset about all this? He wasn't the one trapped...unless... he was being forced to do all this too? That sounded ridiculous, though, yet at the same time the way he was acting confused her, and she wasn't sure whether to feel better or worse because of it. Was he really sympathetic? Or was he just trying to calm her down so she didn't mess up the tests? The latter seemed likely because how many other people had he tested on here? He couldn't really feel bad if he did this for a living.
Either way, it didn't make her feel any better because she was still stuck in this situation whatever the case may be.
She expected his answer, that this place could do what it wanted, but the fact that he added that it had status--that's what chilled her the most, made the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end. Shuddering, she wrapped her arms around herself as though hugging herself, trying to comfort herself. No one had told her about this place. Here she had been assuming that maybe what they did wasn't legal, that they were just predators, but if it had status...no, that meant it was legal and that there was no hope, however small that hope would have been anyway, of higher officials storming the center and cracking down on this place. God, why hadn't anyone told her? Probably because none of the other Tuathi knew about it...
He explained what a magnetic resonance thingy was and, while she still wasn't exactly clear on what it meant or how it worked, it sounded easy. Taking pictures. But even though she did want to know what it was, it wasn't what she wanted answered the most.
When he answered them, she almost wished she hadn't asked, that she could have just remained ignorant.
Here until she died...
"No no no...you can't do that...you can't do this...you can't," She shook her head again and hugged herself tighter, but she was still shivering like it was freezing in the room. Then again, she was also wearing a thin gown with just her undergarments on beneath; that could have had something to do with it. Right now, though, it had little to do with why she felt so cold.
"My people...they'll find me...they'll get me out...please don't do this, please..." But not even she believed her own words. How would they even find her? And Mazz kept talking and it just kept getting worse and more hopeless and the more she came back to herself, the more real it all became and the harder his words hit. Here until she died. No choice. She might as well be in prison, though prison would have been preferable; at least there was a chance of getting out and they didn't take away your name--and even your body. It was like he was telling her that she no longer belonged to herself. No, that was what he was telling her...that was exactly what he was telling her...
He couldn't do that. She wouldn't let him take that, too.
It seemed that finally sparked something in her, something that snapped her completely out of her shock. "Stop calling me that, it's not my name, I'm not that. It's Teidra. Teidra! You can't take it away, no one can! It's not yours to take...it's mine...it was given to me..." she cried, reaching up to swipe at her eyes when her vision started to blur. She didn't care, though. Who wouldn't cry? And she wasn't the sort to try and pretend to feel something she didn't feel or to be stronger than she really was. But this...oh no. This was the one thing she wasn't going to let him take away.
The spark died again, though, when he brought up the guards and full body cavity searches, any momentary braveness replaced once again by cold fear and a small squeak of fright. Another shudder coursed through her and she squeezed her eyes shut tightly, still trembling. No...she didn't want that. The guards scared her, far more than Mazz did now; at least she could see his face. Mazz said he wasn't going to hurt her. For now, at least. They were just...just going to do the resonance thing, right? That's all she could remember at this point. Everything else seemed to have happened a very long time ago.
"O-okay...I'm sorry..." she whispered, not finding any comfort at all in his voice or words. It sounded hollow and fake to her. She inhaled deeply, her breath catching with repressed sobs. "Please d-don't call the guards, I'll...I'll cooperate..."
She didn't know how exactly she did it, but somehow she managed to remove her bra while remaining under the gown. Well...staying under the gown was easy enough, but with how badly her hands were shaking, she was surprised she could undo the clasps at all. Slipping her arms back through the armholes of the gown, she walked forward unsteadily, keeping her head down and not looking at Mazz, and deposited it in the bin he'd pointed to earlier. Then, holding onto the table with one hand to help support herself, she stood on one leg and slipped a silver chain anklet off from around her hoof, where it had been hidden beneath the black fur there. She dropped that into the bin, too, and wiped her eyes quickly before the tears could travel too far down her cheeks. Oh no. She'd been sterilized, after all. Didn't want to make herself dirty, now did she?
For what seemed like a very long time to her, she just stood there by the table, staring at the ground and brushing away tears. Then she finally climbed up onto it, sat down with her legs hanging over the side, and wrapped her arms tightly around her stomach.
"I...I don't feel very good..." she said quietly.
-
He apologized because he didn't want to do this anymore than she did. This was a horrible thing, a horrible place, but he couldn't quit it. It had become his life, it had literally become his life. All he did was work, once in a while he was forced to take a mandatory vacation or a sick day (Or week in some cases) but he always kept on working. He looked for that one tangent, that one equation, that one tonic that might solve their problems. Mazz still could not understand why the Mordecai imprisoned mages as slaves. It just went to prove that even lazy people still wanted to get things done...just by forcing others to do so. They weren't used as energy, even though their natural energy that they seemed to command could be used, plasma and dimensional conversion energy had pretty much replaced the need for such weak energy that a made could make.
Still, he wished they wouldn't bolt the silver band right into the mages skull. That always just...it creeped him right out. This coming from a man of course who regularly watched people become hideous monsters from strange products they were assigned to test.
"It's a painless experience as long as you don't have any metals on you." That was the key. No metal, no pain. Simple enough. Nothing he planned on doing today was actually going to be harmful to her. These were all tests that would allow them to know a whole lot more about the strange woman. Maybe she had different organs. Maybe she had three stomachs, more livers, after all, she had horns and a fluffy tail...not to mention hooves for feet. You had to be careful how you described people like this, when you started talking about horns and tails, you got more into the Demon Talk.
That was dangerous talk after all.
"You would think that we can't but...this place has no laws. There's no governing body who patrols space and enforces planetary law." He had heard a superior talk like that once. Laws and morals were for people who worked on planets where ideas and society could easily reach them. Isolated on a big space station however you were pretty much above all that stuff...literally too. He did notice she was shivering, and he was wondering if it was cause of the temperature or because of the news. He wrote that down on the pad though, it could be an interesting note after all.
Mazz looked at her as she said her people would find her. He hoped so. He really did. They might want to do it fast, because she might not be alive next week. Some drugs were harmless, and some of them were really deadly. If she got a drug from that...Kabua industries then she'd be fine. None of those...pharmaceuti cals were actually deadly. Most of them were just mind trips and dependency, which seemed to be the most common theme in all the drugs they sent. Dependency. Might have been an insurance matter? He never questioned it though.
Still, there was that one tonic that had no antidote. Compliance Drug, forced people to do anything with a simple command word.
His thoughts snapped back when she began talking to him. "Anything you own, TRIM can take. Name. Body. Soul. None of it belongs to you now. That's how TRIM operates...and...it's easier on me not to think of you as...a real person. A number can't be hurt. A number can't affect me." But a person can kill me and make me drink.
Mazz wasn't one for alcohol, but sometimes it took the sting away. Mostly he just stuck to his liquid nutrient diet. Sometimes you drank it, sometimes you injected it, and sometimes he just kept an IV Drip bag taped to his arm and let himself get fed slowly all day. Taking the time to eat was just...too much of a time waster. This way he could also get a jolt of energy from caffeine, gaurana, and a few other special mixes that would give him the needed boost.
"Thank you...that...that is for the best." He had given in a long time ago to TRIM. He may have hated their policies, the way they operated, but this was how things were. He couldn't change it, no matter how much he tried there was no way they'd change. After all. He was just someone they gave a paycheck. That paycheck could be given to someone else and that would be it for him.
He was actually surprised she managed to get her bra off while still under the gown. Mazz blinked a few times but said nothing as she also removed a silver anklet and dropped it into the bin. "That's all of it then?" He asked as he pressed a button on the bin and the clothes dropped into something and disappeared. He hadn't a clue where they went though. Probably down to the furnaces to get burned. It wasn't like they would keep them after all. Still...that would have been interesting. Maybe somewhere in TRIM there was a place that had walls and walls of clothes and such. Just stored there for some unknown reason. Mazz was pretty sure everything was turned back into base elements and sold for extra money. Or used in the Ionic Propulsion Drive that made sure TRIM stay in proper orbit.
The subject, Teidra...finally sat down on the table, her legs over the side and her arms tightly around her stomach. Slowly he went over and put a hand on her shoulder. "I know...this...this will be over soon. Just sit right there." He picked up a comb and a small collector, moving around to her back and he began to brush her hair. He was collecting any samples from her hair in a small plastic container. He was also pulling dead hair for analysis. Was it like long fur, or was it actual hair? That had been a question he wanted to know really. After a few minutes of combing through her hair he was finished, screwing a lid onto it he put it onto a counter and got another small container. Mazz moved to her front, holding a small nail file of sort. "I'm going to be cleaning your nails now...I'll...start with your hooves and then move to your hands. Please try not to move." He got a small stool and sat down on it, carefully taking her hoof and raising it. He scraped and cleaned them both carefully, getting any foreign material from the cloven feet.
Next came the hands, and he gingerly took her hand from about her waist and slowly cleaned under the fingernails. Then he got a small container after the nail scraping to get a sample of saliva. One hand went to her chin, just barely touching it. "Just open your mouth please..." When she complied he swabbed her cheek with a small cotton ball on a stick, putting that into another container. "Now for a blood sample." It was a small device. They /used/ to stick needles in people and draw copious amounts of blood...but now they didn't need to. Now all the did was have a needle puncture the skin faster than the body could tell there was pain. A single drop of blood was needed, not even that really. He took a small device and placed it against her palm, pressing the black button. She would feel maybe a pinch, and that was it. No blood was spilled, as the hole was small and clotted quickly.
"Now we need to take an MRI." He helped her to lie back with her head on the small pillow. While she was down there, he leaned down, pressing a few buttons on the machine to see if she was accurately aligned. He wasn't far from her face, and he whispered to her gently. "I'm going to help you Teidra. I don't know how...but...I'm going to find a way to help you. I promise you." He made sure to be quiet of course. Though the rooms weren't bugged, still anyone could walk in and hear them so he had to be careful. "You might not be freed, but...I'm going to try to stop them from experimenting on you...somehow."
-
The more Mazz talked, the more dismal everything became, and yet, even as he said that she was just a number now, that TRIM could take away even her name and soul...no. She wouldn't let them. They could call her what they wanted and make everyone else call her what they wanted but as long as she still knew who she was, they could never take that from her. It was still hers, it would always be hers. They couldn't touch it.
Her clothes, her body, they could tear those to pieces. But not her--whoa! Teidra jumped when her bra and anklet in the bin suddenly just...fell away down a chute of some sort. Blinking rapidly and wiping away her tears to clear her vision, she leaned forward a little as though to see where it had gone, but of course she couldn't see a thing. So...her other clothes must have been put down something like that, too. Where were they going? Would she get them back? If fear wasn't keeping her mouth glued shut at the moment, she would have asked. Maybe it was stupid to worry about something so trivial now of all times, but at the same time...they couldn't expect her to wear just this gown...
Yes they could if they wanted her to, she reminded herself.
Any further thoughts on the matter were disrupted when Mazz touched her shoulder, making her jerk a little at the unexpected gesture. It would be over soon. She wasn't sure if that was comforting or not, but she gave a small nod nonetheless and sniffled. Not like she had a choice anyway. It was either this or the guards and at least Mazz seemed like he was trying to be soothing, whether it was genuine or just an act. Then Teidra blinked when he pulled out a comb and a small container, but she held still even as he moved behind her.
And started combing her hair?
What the--what was he...? Why was he brushing her hair of all things? For a second or two she was so startled that she even stopped shivering, though she did wince every now and then when the comb found a tangle--not something he could help, her hair was short but it was thick. It seemed odd that he'd want to pretty her up now, but she doubted that's what he was doing. He was probably checking her hair for lice or ticks or something--which she didn't have, thank you very much! If she wasn't so scared at the moment, she might have been a little offended, but before long it was over and he had put whatever it was he'd found into a container, come around to her front, and...pulled out a nail file. And said he was going to clean her nails.
She blinked again and reached up to wipe away stray tears as he went to work on her feet, and she just watched him. She was no longer really crying even if her eyes were still watering; something about this whole thing was just distracting...not to mention there was some strange, artificial hope that took hold as he scraped her hooves. Maybe this was all a big joke after all. Maybe he was just going to do her hair and nails and send her on her way. A forced manicure? Seemed odd and unlikely, but she needed something to hold onto, and the thought was so sickly amusing that it made her relax a little--except for the part where he collected everything in a container. It was only then that she was reminded that, no, this was for real.
Then he finished with her hooves and took her hand off her waist so he could clean under her nails, and after that it was a saliva sample, apparently, because he took her chin and asked her to open her mouth. Well, that ended the pleasant illusion of manicures and pedicures, yet it still hardly felt real...that she was really a prisoner. This was just what any doctor would do yet Mazz wasn't any doctor, he would have been testing drugs and chemicals on her if they'd been assigned to him today. By some miracle, like he said, he hadn't been assigned any today, though...that was the only reason she wasn't being tested on and was instead just being examined, and the thought instantly brought back that sickening, twisted feeling in the pit of her stomach. She opened her mouth and let him swab her cheek, though, and watched him put that sample away as well.
Right...just samples...that's all she was now to these people. Numbers and samples. She bit down hard on her bottom lip as the emotions started to swell back up within her--and the cold, harsh reality that she was, indeed, stuck here until she died.
Or until she got free. She was not going to give up...
Teidra actually whimpered when he announced it was time for the blood sample, and she instantly looked over at all the needles, her eyes wide and her body starting to tremble again. Many of those were huge and thick. Oh no, not one of those-- "Eep!" She gave a little squeak of surprise when, while she was so focused on those huge and scary needles, Mazz apparently took the blood sample. It wasn't that it had hurt--the most she'd felt was a pinch--and in fact, she'd reacted more just to the sudden feel of something cold against her palm than the actual pinch itself. Drawing her hand away from him, she examined her palm up close but couldn't even find the puncture wound. He'd already taken the sample?
Apparently so because then he was talking about MRIs and making her lay down. "That...that was it...?" she asked as she scooted up on the table and laid her head on the pillow. Maybe she could fall asleep like this. Maybe when she woke up she'd be back on the Cancer.
Shutting her eyes, she listened to Mazz fiddle with the equipment, press buttons, talk--
Her eyes snapped open when she registered the whispered words. "Wh-what...?" But if she thought that she'd maybe heard him wrong the first time, or maybe she'd been hearing things because she was hoping so much for something like this to happen, he just continued right on. He was going to try to help her. She might not be freed, but he was going to get them to stop experimenting on her. For a few long moments she just stared at him. She...wasn't sure what to make of that, though. He was whispering, so obviously he didn't want anyone to overhear, but...did he mean that?
Or was it some experiment to gauge her reactions?
But then she thought back, remembered how miserable he'd looked and how careful he'd been this whole time...and then realized he'd actually said her name just then. God, she didn't know if he was really just toying with her or not--she wasn't feeling very trusting--but that thread of hope was being dangled right there in front of her nose and she was certainly going to bite. It was all she had now. She didn't know why he would say that or why he'd want to help, but...now wasn't the time for whys.
Mazz's face began to go out of focus and she blinked several times to clear her vision. "You...you mean that...? I...you...th-thank you...thank you..." she whispered, and she reached up with a shaky hand to brush some of the white hair away from his face. It was an affectionate gesture, or supposed to be; she didn't know how else she could really show her gratitude. Besides, she also sort of just wanted to touch him to make sure he was real and actually saying that to her. But he looked and felt real, and this close she actually got a good look at his face for the first time. Sure, she'd looked at him before...but she'd never actually looked at him. He really did look sympathetic...
Maybe it had been a good sign that he had her eyes and hair.
But then, as though realizing what she'd done, she quickly drew her hand back, brushing his nose in her haste, and laid her arm back down on the table. "Sorry," she whispered, suddenly embarrassed. He was a human. Humans, she'd learned, could be very weird about the whole touching thing, whereas her people were very physically affectionate. It wasn't unusual to kiss someone in greeting, or at the very least nuzzle noses or touch horns.
And she wasn't free yet. She was still on a table in an examination room.
But suddenly, things weren't quite so dismal. He was going to help her. She still wasn't sure if he really would, but...still...
Suddenly she didn't feel quite so alone.
-
Mazz knew that things were going to seem bleak and dismal. Hell he had been through he same sort of speech personally. No life, no personality, doing whatever you were told to do and no choice in any matter. Yeah. This wasn't a life that he really liked to inflict on people, but...it helped when it was really not him inflicting this sort of thing, it was more or less just TRIM doing this...I mean he still felt the hurt and pain from all of this but...he was going to just grit his teeth at this point.
She would get other clothes to wear eventually, they had simple prisoner clothes for people to wear. They were mostly Velcro, something that the prisoners couldn't harm themselves or guards with. Mazz knew they'd have to get special clothes for Teidra, considering that she had a tail and all that. Probably just cut a hole in a normal pair of pants or shorts, whatever she chose she wanted. She only had a choice of pants or shorts though so...there wasn't too many options at this point.
"If you need to cry just cry...it'll help take the sting away. Trust me, I know that much." When the Mordecai took him, he had cried a lot. It seemed like he had done nothing but cry for that time. He even cried when they said there was a mistake and he wouldn't be taken into the mage induction program. Oh those had been tears of joy for that matter. He was going to try and make this all as painless as possible for poor Teidra, but it wasn't that painful, these were just samples after all. Nothing too harsh to do.
"You're hair is so thick and...nrgh...knots." Mazz muttered as he held the hair tight and tried to pull the comb through it without ripping it from her scalp. She really had thick hair, it was quite interesting. It felt almost like fur of some sort. "Is this hair or...is it fur? It's shaggy but...it's nice." Mazz spoke quietly as he continued to slowly brush her hair with the comb. She didn't have many foreign particles in her hair, but he was sure he found just a small bits of wood and grass. Made sense though to him because...she was a deer woman.
At least she somewhat had a concept of modesty and what not.
Mazz slowly ran his finger along the hoof, after he wiped it with an alcohol swab just in case there were any diseases on it. He retracted his finger and swore quietly to himself, looking at it. "These hooves of yours are sharp. I can't believe you have trouble walking on tile with these things." Oh he had seen her tripping up and falling onto her rear. It had been quite humorous to see her trying to walk on tile. He looked at his finger and put some strange gel on it that sealed the wound up almost instantly. Ah. Much better. "I'll um...look into getting you some sort of...shoe to help you walk." He grabbed a small scanner from one of the trays and ran it over her hooves, getting dimensions. Alright. He could probably get something made or ordered from somewhere. He sent the dimensions to his home computer system.
Her nails went a lot better. It was much easier than her hooves, which were sharp for that matter. He was surprised...she could have killed him right there. Stuck those large black feet into his neck and probably killed him right off the bat. Maybe she knew that she would get into more trouble, or maybe she just didn't think of it. Either way, he was grateful that she didn't assault him right then and there. She didn't even try to bite him when he swabbed her mouth for that matter. Those teeth looked dangerous really, almost everything about her looked really dangerous. Teeth. Horns. Feet. Those nails might have been able to do him a little damage no doubt.
How she managed to get caught he wasn't sure.
Mazz knew that she would be scared of all those needles. Most of those were for injecting things like medicines and what not, or helping the sick out. Sick people were often treated, the longer they lasted, the more experiments could be done. Most of the things in this room right now he wouldn't use on her at this time. There was no point. "Yes, those other needles are for other things. Things I don't have to do today. All examination rooms are outfitted like this, just in case." They never knew what examination room they'd be getting, and the people who cleansed the rooms never knew who was going to be in the room so they simply put everything out. "This test won't hurt you, you just need to lie as still as possible." He explained to her as he helped her get comfortable.
"I mean that." He whispered. "I'm going to find a way to help you." This wasn't a test, this was the real deal after all. She didn't seem to believe him, and he couldn't blame her for that either. It almost seemed like a test didn't it? He had never tested someone with a psychological torture like this. Mazz didn't have the heart to do this.
He smiled when she brushed hair from his face, and he did the same. He did want to help her, and he was going to somehow.
"I'll get you out of here somehow. There's got to be a way." He wasn't going to be the man responsible for killing the deer woman. He wasn't going to go down without a fight. Somehow he'd save her here. Suddenly though something happened that got his attention.
Her hand brushed along his nose...and he began to sniff. He suddenly backed up from her and he seemed to be having a small attack of some sort. "It's...ah...ah..." And then came a loud sneeze, though he covered his mouth with his arm before hand. Then another sneeze came. Then a third one. "I can't...have...people touching my nose." He held his nose with a small tissue, his eyes closed. Ah damn it. That was the worst thing. His nose made him sneeze when people brushed it or rubbed against it. H e had no idea but it had to do with the nerves.
"Ugh. Pardon me." He wiped his nose and mouth and threw the tissue away into the biological waste receptacle.
"Alright...starting the MRI machine. Please stay still...Subject Teidra." He pressed a button and a strange white bar lowered from the ceiling and slowly started from her head to her toes. It did this a few times, making a loud humming noise as it moved. After a few minutes it was done and he pressed another button. The bar suddenly unfolded until it stretched from her head to her toes. "This is an x-ray device, it's going to take photos of your bones. Just lie still." To think back in the old days this would cause sterility, but after they perfect precise radiation bombardment, there was no chance of it. A bright light flashed and the bar folded back up and receded into the ceiling.
"There. MRI and X-ray complete...I just have to take some bioelectric reading and listen to your heartbeat and then blood pressure." Mazz went around and helped her sit up gently, getting a few more instruments and placing it onto the centre of her chest. "Just relax and let the machine do it's work." He got on a stethoscope and placed the pressure pad against her back, listening. "Just take a deep breath in...deep breath out." He also had to make sure her lungs worked accordingly. Then he listened to her heart beat for a few minutes and then smiled, taking the device that was clinging to her chest. It also read her blood pressure, as well as her bioelectric pulse, so that was a two-in-one test.
"Alright your tests are completed. You'll have some clothes waiting for you back at your...quarters. I'm going...I'm going to see you tomorrow. I won't sleep tonight but I'm going to figure something out...some way to help you." Mazz went and got his digital pad, holding it and pressing the button to call the guards. Once more the guards entered and he gestured to Teidra, taking on his most disconnected and arrogant expression. "Guards, take her back to her quarters. I'm done with her for now. I take my leave of you now."
------------------------
Mazz stayed up...all day and all night. He had to inject himself a few more times with his special injections of course and was pouring over thousands of laws, documents, anything to give him an edge. He found it though. It was an idea that really he never expected. It was a request form.
For a pet.
They didn't put any specifics on it or anything like that. All it said was where the animal was currently, species, name, and that sort of thing. It never said he couldn't take a subject from here after all. So he wrote down what he knew...but he had to find out more things. Race for that matter. He couldn't put down Deer Woman after all. He was going to find out about her so he could finish off this form. He even put down he was willing to take a pay cut and lose seniority for this transfer. If all went accordingly...he might be able to save her.
Mazz bristled down the hallway, remember where Teidra's quarters were. Only one guard was posted there at this time, and he slouched a little bit it seemed. The man must have been there a while. Let's see...Guard Rizen. Ah he remembered that one. The man didn't really have the heart to be a Guard. He seemed so lazy. "You're dismissed Guard Rizen." Rizen quickly stood up straight, surprised, no doubt actually sleeping while leaning against the door. "Yes...Sir." There was a yawn and the guard walked off. A few buttons were pressed on the door console and it slid open, letting him walk inside. "Teidra?" Mazz looked around as the door slid shut behind him. Well. This was it. In a few minutes they might know if he could save her...or if it had been all for nothing.
-
Teidra wasn't feeling too talkative as Mazz examined her, pondering over whether her hair was hair or fur--Teidra only gave a shrug at the question since, to her, that was the same thing and she couldn't see the difference--and wondering at her sharp hooves, even cutting himself on one. Teidra had to wince a little in sympathy; they were sharp, but not sharp enough to cut into tile and get a good grip like they could do to ice. She only blinked blandly as he scanned her hooves. Rubber shoes to help her walk. Kind of like what they had in her world, she supposed, to use when cutting someone or something up was a risk. She didn't think much on it, though. Her mind was elsewhere, her stomach trying to tie itself into one big, horrible knot.
Still she was compliant.
There were a lot of reasons that she didn't assault Mazz then. For one, fighting simply wasn't in her nature so it just wasn't her first impulse. While she was by no means a pacifist and would defend herself if attacked, as she had with the guards, at the same time she wasn't the most confrontational creature and she tended to shy away from from conflict. If Mazz had whipped out a scalpel and asked her to lay down, or brought out some strange tonic and asked her to drink it...it would have been an entirely different story. She would have kicked, she would have screamed, she would have clawed and bitten until those guards came and held her down. But right now Mazz wasn't hurting her, he wasn't threatening her, and she knew that if she did try and resist at this point...those guards would come in and this situation would be a whole lot worse.
And where would she go even if she managed to take Mazz down and escape the room? There were a lot of guards, all of them with that inpenetrable armor. She was fast, yes, but she also didn't know the complex or even where it was. Was it out in the middle of space? Was it on a planet? Even if she did manage to evade security, avoid dead-ends, and by some miracle make it to an exit...if they were out in the middle of space, that wouldn't do her any good.
She was trapped.
And she saw no reason to make things any worse than it already was. Being told you were a prisoner, that your life was no longer yours...Teidra's breath caught in her throat, body shuddering on a sob. Another person may have fought anyway, even if they knew how futile it was, just to make a point but Teidra wasn't that person. It was a noble idea and all, to go down swinging all the while, but what did it really matter? Even if you went down swinging, you still went down. No, now wasn't the time to fight a pointles battle. She needed to clear her head and think
And doing just that seemed to pay off.
If she had tried to fight, Mazz obviously wouldn't have offered to save her, though she still had no idea why he even made the offer. Why her? It didn't matter just then, though. She didn't care. All that mattered was that he had said that...and she was going to hope it was true.
She bit her lip, blinking rapidly as tears welled up in her eyes as he brushed back her hair and said he meant it. She gave a little nod, drew a shuddering breath, and opened her mouth to speak--but then something happened.
He seemed to be having an attack.
With a gasp, Teidra sat up, wide eyed as he backed away and afraid that something horrible was happening to her one chance out of here. "Doctor--?" she began...and then...
He sneezed.
Teidra's shoulders slumped with relief as he sneezed not once but three times and explained what had happened once he was able to talk again. All that just because she'd touched his nose? The corner of her mouth actually twitched upwards, as though a smile wanted to form. It was kind of amusing...and another time, she might have laughed about it, too. But then the situation had passed, he mentioned the MRI, and she quickly laid back down and let the machine do its work. Or machines, rather, because then she was being X-rayed.
Then he was helping her sit up and explaining the last few tests, which sounded harmless. Blood pressure, heartbeat...they did that at a normal doctor's office. Filled with hope, it was a little easier to relax as he fitted her with a strange device and--she gave a little yip of surprise when he pressed the stethoscope against her back, finding it cold, but the shock of that faded and she took deep breaths in and out as instructed.
Then it was over. Mazz put the equipment away, told her he was done, and she took a deep breath and nodded. "Thank you..."
This time, when the guards came, she didn't put a fight at all. They still terrified her, she still couldn't help but cower a little, but they weren't quite as scary this time around.
This time she had hope.
-------------------------
Mazz wasn't the only one not to get any sleep--or at least not good sleep.
The rest of the day after she was escorted back to her room was horrible, but fortunately it passed in a sort of dazed blur. She was returned to her room where, indeed, some clothes were waiting for her. She ended up choosing the shorts, noted everything was held together by velcro, and then, after that...well, it was just a lot of waiting. There wasn't really anything to do to pass the time but curl up on the bottom bunk (which she chose over the top one after her last experience) and, no matter how much she fought it--cry.
Alone and with no more distractions, with no more strange machines flashing lights at her or taking samples, she finally had the time to actually think about the situation she was in and what it meant. And it also finally sank in. Here forever. Just a number...and maybe she really had gotten her hopes up. Maybe Mazz wasn't being honest. He had seemed sincere and she'd let herself believe him for those few minutes, but now that she thought about it more...now she felt really foolish. It made no sense. Why would he want to help her? He <I>worked here, this was what he did. If he helped her, he'd be risking his job, and surely he knew what he was getting into when he chose this as his profession? And why her? Why not anyone else? Or maybe there were other people...
But it was unlikely.
He probably just said those things so she wouldn't struggle, so she'd keep calm. And next time he saw her, it'd probably be the same thing. He'd tell her each time that he was working out a way to help her, he'd tell her each time that he was getting closer to freeing her, but he'd never free her. He'd just tell her all that to keep her calm and compliant while the tests just grew more and more horrendous.
He probably told everyone the same thing.
She'd never leave this place except by a miracle.
Morning brought breakfast, new clothes, a shower, and the promise of an hour of exercise later on. Apparently, they got two hours a day where they could be outside their cells to exercise and mingle with the other "subjects", but the first time Teidra actually saw the others were at the showers. Or shower, rather. The center was effecient; male and female alike, the shower was communal and they were all made to strip, enter the chamber, and get blasted by the water. That wasn't the part that bothered Teidra; she wasn't bothered by nudity, and it wasn't even the feeling of being treated like cattle that disturbed her. It was the other people. You could almost tell just by looking at them who had been here a while and who was fairly new. Some still had that spark of defiance in their eyes. Others seemed defeated. But what was worse was that some bore obvious marks, scars, and shaven heads that she could only assume was a result of various experiments. Still others had no marks at all except for an expression that said that they'd been through a lot more than anyone should, and that scared her the most.
When she returned to her cell, she couldn't even think anymore. All she could do was sob uncontrollably into her pillow, not caring or noticing that her claws were shredding it to ribbons in the process. All she could see were those people, a lot of them much bigger and tougher looking than she was. If none of them could get out...how could she?
Then the door to her cell slid open and she jumped, banging her horns against the supporting bars of the bottom bunk. Quickly she wiped her face and looked up...then scrambled backwards on the bed on her hands and knees when she saw it was Mazz. She didn't want to tear up the bed with her hooves, not because she cared about it but because she was afraid of getting in trouble for it. She was still clinging to the pillow, and after a downward glance at it--and what she'd done to it--she quickly shoved it behind her back and stared up at him like he was a lion and she was a gazelle.
"Wh-what?" she asked hoarsely, voice raw from crying and her eyes red. "More tests?" There was an accusatory note there.
After all...she'd seen what they did to people. Now she really knew. Now it was really real. He did that to people...
-
He may not have liked his job, and he wanted to be able to help her of course but still...This was his job, it was as simple as that wasn't it? This was job, and he had to do it. It wasn't like he could fight against that now could he? There were times when he tried to stop himself from doing his job, from even thinking along the lines of his job, but he couldn't. He was always curious, always trying to think things out for that matter. He wanted to know how she walked with her hooves, how good her balance actually was, how her legs worked, that sort of thing. It was his nature, it was his obsession after all, and it worked great for him. Sort of. Sure his body was complaining about the lack of sleep, the constant pumping of drugs and what not, but still...he worked.
He was always trying to work.
Always thinking like a scientist.
Never like a normal person.
Mazz wished that she wouldn't cry, that she wouldn't look like...a really sad deer. He felt so bad...even to see her just on the verge of tears like that. It was really hard to see her at this point, because...he just reminded her of him. Scared. Alone. Crying. He would help her. There wasn't going to be something that would stop him at this point. He knew how special freedom could be...how fragile it was. It could be taken away so easily too.
Mazz was glad that he could help to calm her down without threats. Just...a promise. A very sacred promise at this point. It wasn't a ruse, it wasn't a jest, he was going to save her somehow. He had all the time at this point, or in the very least, he'd have a great deal of hours.
"I hate my nose." He muttered quietly as he rubbed his nose carefully just in case. He wouldn't deny it of course, this was a pretty bad thing to have. It was just a bunch of blood nerves. He had thought about corrective surgery, but really...he liked his nose as is. It was quite a cute nose some people had said...a lot of people seemed to want to stroke it for some reason and he was defensive about that. He was getting good at his karate chops and hand blocking. Oh yes, he had to be quick after all.
"Sorry about that...anything metal in this place stays extremely cold. I did a study on that once...Turns out the sterile storage closets couldn't have any heating in them or else impurities might get in." Still, it couldn't hurt to have controlled metal pads or something like that. "Please don't thank me now Teidra...Thank me when I actually manage to free you....somehow." He hadn't a clue how this would happen...but...
There had to be a way.
There was always a way.
---------------------------
Mazz looked over every case file, every data assistant and even had to go and TALK to people about it. Of course he chose who he talked to very carefully, and he also was VERY careful not to mention names or specifics. Just a passing curiosity he called it, if someone had ever gotten free from TRIM, paperwork and what not. He was going to expend every bit of energy possible, and then shoot himself with more energy of course so he could stay awake longer. There were times when it seemed hopeless, but he just tossed away what he was doing and went on to something new.
Once in a while he went to check on her secretly. See what they were making her do. Sometimes she was in her cell sobbing quietly, there was the shower time that he stayed away from of course, and then there was the activity time. It was a horrible thing really. He hated it that they let the mages and such get to together, for even just an hour at a time but still.
That wasn't it.
It was the fact that they let them get together and be...friends.
Companionship.
It was complete bullshit.
They got to meet people, try to meet them anyways and talk to them, get to know them, and you'd secretly know that they weren't going to be alive later. You had hope that each time you went to the recreation time, you'd see them but...you'd never see them after sometime...or maybe it would be you who wouldn't come back. There was no telling what was going to happen though...and to him, it was a horrible thing to do. He was pretty sure that everyone was doing it just to give the people a false hope. Hope...that was really the only thing these people had...they didn't have their powers, they didn't have their lives or family, they just had hope, and even then it was being stolen from them...This place was sick, there was no denying that.
When he got into the cell, she seemed so scared and...she had been crying of course. Slowly Mazz went over to the bed to stand in front of it...she looked at him like...alright. She looked at him like he expected.
Like he was a monster.
Which he was...
"No Teidra...No I need answers actually." He took a seat on the bunk bed, showing her the digital pad in his hand with the Pet Adoption Request Form. "This is the answer...this is your salvation. I just need more information for the form. I need the name of your race...height and weight...and age." Once he had that, he'd send it off to the central data system for review, which should only take a few minutes...and then it'd come back to him and well...he'd know if it was denies or accepted. This was a big risk none the less...if it was denied, there would no doubt be a formal investigation. If it was accepted though, there would be almost nothing. Well. Teidra's name would be stricken from the database, replaced as Teidra, Pet of Mazz L. Tombs of section 3, Room 284.
Oh.
He'd have to get more clothes. Probably she'd want to eat food as well instead of just taking injections. Nobody really liked his way of getting sustenance, they hated it for some reason. He'd also need to find her a bed or something like that. Ugh. A female companion in his space...That would be...erm...interest ing. After all, this woman didn't seem to really care that she was naked here and there...and Mazz was always aware of his own nudity, and others for that matter. Of course, his senses for that had been dulled over the years, but he still got nervous and embarrassed for people who weren't. "So if you could tell me that sort of thing...we'll get you out of here. I promised you after all...and I never break those promises."
-
As soon as he said "no" and held up the pad, Teidra's body relaxed a little, and it wasn't much longer before gripping fear was replaced by curiosity--and, no matter what she told herself, hope. Her salvation? In that little pad? Information? Ever so slowly, she scooted forward on the bed, still on her knees and careful not to snag the blankets, until she was kneeling beside Mazz and peering over at the pad. It didn't matter that just moments ago she had been convinced he was just toying with her, and she still thought that maybe he was. Yet at the same time she was <I>desperate, and what she had seen today only fueled that desperation all the more. She listened to him list off the things he needed as her eyes scanned the device, and then she went stock still when her eyes fell on four certain words.
Pet Adoption Request Form.
"How...is that going to help...?" she asked slowly, looking up at him before looking back down at the form. Her voice was still scratchy and raw, a little thick as well from her stuffy nose, but the tears had stopped falling at least. Pet adoption. What did that have to do with her? It seemed so random, yet he called it her salvation. She may not have trusted him just minutes ago when she'd been wallowing in self pity and horrified by what she'd witnessed, but now that he had produced something solid, something she could touch if she wanted to, something he called her salvation...that feeble trust and hope had returned. Right here was a plan, right here was proof that he hadn't just been toying with her. He meant what he'd said.
And she certainly hadn't meant her question to sound rude. She just didn't really understand. But she realized it could have easily been taken that way, she she quickly dove to cover it up, just in case he decided not to help her because she was rude. She put on a small smile and lightly touched his shoulder. "I'm sorry...I don't mean to sound ungrateful. I am. It's...just been a long day. But thank you, thank you very much, I truly appreciate this. Ah...anyway...your questions..."
Shifting a little and withdrawing her hand, she carefully sat back and stretched her legs out in front of her, hanging them over the side of the bed. Pointless questions aside, she'd answer the ones that counted; she figured the sooner she did, the sooner she was out of here. "Well...we're called Tuathi. My race that is. Me? Last I got measured I was five feet, with my horns. Weight...ah...I don't really check these things, but somewhere around one-hundred and seven pounds. And I'm sixty years old, even." Teidra paused. "I...think they said that'd be about twenty to a human." Another pause, this one longer. And then she just couldn't help it. She was about to burst from curiosity. "I don't mean to be rude, Doctor, but may I please ask how a Pet Request Form is going to--"
Then she stopped. Her eyes had traveled further down the screen, casually reading, and it was then that something finally clicked. Those same questions he'd asked her...they were questions on the form.
Her green eyes went wide, and she slowly looked up at Mazz. Then she cleared her throat, looked back at the pad as though to make sure she hadn't read wrong, and then looked back to Mazz again.
"...M-me...?" she asked very quietly, pointing to herself.
-
She had seen what he had done, and he wondered if she would...no longer want to be near him. He wouldn't blame her for that either, considering all he had done and such. He wasn't the best person in the world, but she was all he had. This was an answer, a way to get her away from all of TRIMs experiments and such. It wouldn't get her off this station, but it...it would stop her from being tested on. After all, pets were treated with a little more respect than the mages and psychics, even if said pet just happened to be a mage or psychic. She would have all her freedoms back, just maybe not so much in public...but in private she would. That's all that he cared about. Getting her freedom back.
"It's alright Teidra. You just have to answer the questions." With those questions filled out, he could finally finish his promise to her. He smiled right back to her, she actually...touched him for that matter. That was a good sign. She didn't...really hate him. He felt much better after knowing that, since he thought she wasn't going to want his help anymore.
"Tuathi..." Let's hope he could spell that. It sounded almost phonetic so he was pretty sure that would be able to get it right. Didn't matter too much of course. Heh. She was kinda short wasn't she? He was maybe a foot taller than her of course, but still...five feet even with her horns. He entered in her weight and then...he blinked about her age. She couldn't be sixty years old. She was so young and...how did that even work?! Then she gave human standards and he decided to enter that instead. Yes, it would be much easier to go by the human standards after all. He looked over to her when she started to ask a question and...she didn't understand it all.
At least.
Not right away.
She seemed to get it pretty quickly though and he smiled. He ah...he hoped that she wouldn't be offended of course by all of this. She was going to be a pet in the eyes of the system, but hell if he would actually treat her like that. She was a intelligent, sentient being after all. There was no way he could treat her like a real pet. Though, he did want to brush her of course, but that was the animal lover in him speaking. "I'm sorry if it seems insulting but...I'm going to adopt you as a pet. There are like...five of these requests a year, and they're not even looked at. TRIM has better things to do, so they're filed away neatly and no one bothers to look at them." With advancement came bureaucracy, and that was one of the most exploitable systems to ever be invented. Well. That and Lordship, because you could do anything you pleased and no one said boo about it of course.
"This is the best I can do but...you'll have your own space in my quarters, I can get you some proper clothes and order a bed for you...I'll start taking more desk jobs instead of...hands on jobs so I can be at home and keep you company." He really had everything planned out. Other TRIM Technicians could do the experimenting, and he'd just pour over data. That would mean he could stay at home if he wanted to, and it really didn't mean long hours either. It was basic stuff that he could do really.
Plus he was afraid that she'd go stir crazy being cooped up.
That's when he hit the send button on the form and waited. It was away. This was going to be pure torture though. Just waiting. Maybe they'd read it. Maybe they'd catch him...what would happen then? He could be labelled a sympathizer, but then again, he could just call himself an animal lover. So many thoughts and questions swirled amongst his head as he waited for some answer. After five minutes of silence finally there was a small flashing icon on the pad. He clicked it.
Request accepted.
"It...it worked. Teidra it worked!" So he hadn't had TOO high hopes but...it had actually worked. His plan had really worked! This was perfect. She almost was made out to look like an alien pet on the form, so who could really blame it for working? Mazz looked over to Teidra and smiled. "Come on. Let's get you out of here. I can take you back to my place now. They said that I should initiate transfer immediately." They just didn't know that she was already on TRIM and such. Ah. This was perfect. Mazz stood up, tucking the data pad under his arm as he held a hand out to Teidra to help her up. She was no doubt going to have some trouble walking on the tile right now but...he'd get her some rubber shoes. The order had already been placed for that matter. They'd fit her like a glove too!
-
Adopted?
As a pet?
Teidra continued to gape at Mazz, still pointing at herself, though she slowly lowered her hand back down to the bed and kept quiet as he explained. No, she didn't like the idea of being a pet. Tuathi didn't have pets, but she'd learned about what they were. Humans liked to keep lesser creatures under their control and treat them like...like children, really. Pampering them, feeding them, coddling and cooing at them--yet also keeping them on a leash. Pets weren't free. And even if they seemed to be treated well, they were still owned and at their owner's mercy.
She wasn't a lesser creature...she didn't want to be owned...the thought of being owned sent a cold chill of horror down her spine, but then she realized that she already <I>was owned now. TRIM had her. And they wanted to destroy everything about her, take away even her name.
No...owned or not, pet or not, she could see the benefit of this...adoption process. Pets were treated well, right? And being a pet would mean getting out of this horrible place, it would mean not being experimented on, it would mean living. She looked away from Mazz to stare down at the bed, gnawing on her lip again, hands clenching and unclenching the blanket. The more he talked, the less horrible it sounded, though. A place to live. A bed. Real clothes, not these prisoner's clothes or a thin gown. Her own space. And, most importantly of all, she'd be out of here. She'd be safe. But...how would he treat her? Would she have to dumb herself down? Would he be...mean?
Somehow, the idea of him being mean sounded highly unlikely. He'd kept his promise and if anything he'd been nothing but horribly kind and sympathetic this whole time. If it weren't for him, who knows what would have happened to her...if she'd gotten another doctor...Teidra shuddered at the thought, closing her eyes. Still, this was all really scary, though, since all of this was completely out of her control and, well...she didn't really know him or what was going to happen...or if she'd ever actually be free again. Truly free.
But that was a thought for another day. One step at a time. Right now he was trying to save her life, and beggars most definitely could not be choosers.
She looked over at Mazz again in surprise when he mentioned taking more desk jobs so he could stay home with her, and still all those questions were there, eating away at her brain, questions she wanted to ask but didn't dare voice. She wanted to ask him why her and why not anyone else, why he was willing to sacrifice aspects of his job for her, and just...why? It wasn't like she was complaining; she was just confused. Had he done this for anyone else? And if not, what was it about her that made him willing to risk so much? And made him care so much?
Those questions would have to be asked another time, though. Right now it just seemed rude, and she also didn't want to risk him changing his mind.
"I understand. I...just...this is all...I'm just a little scared. About this whole thing," she admitted softly, even though that was a lie. A little scared? Terrified was more like it. Her life was in his hands and she was basically throwing herself upon his mercy--the mercy of a complete stranger. And after what she'd seen, after what she'd been told...her emotions were all over the place, though luckily by now she was just worn out. Crying, stress, and lack of sleep did that. "But I believe you. You kept your promise..." she added, looking up at him again and lightly but briefly touching his arm once more, as though to try and assure him that she meant those words and the words that followed. "You...you're risking a lot, aren't you?"
Then he'd finished with the pad and they lapsed into silence, Teidra absently kneading the blanket as they waited. Please let it work. If it didn't work...no, she couldn't think like that! Just let it work. She didn't want to be a pet, but she wanted to be experimented on even less. Waaay less. As much as she didn't like the idea, God, she'd bark like a dog or meow like a cat if it meant she didn't have to be here, she didn't have to be treated like a nameless number, she didn't have to be hurt or see all those other people get hurt.
Part of her felt a little selfish. She got to go free if this worked, but what about everyone else?
It wasn't fair.
The minutes dragged by and Teidra was starting to find it a little hard to breathe as the anticipation peaked, but finally something happened. Something got Mazz's attention and he clicked a flashing icon on the pad. Heart in her throat, Teidra turned her head and tried to look, but he spoke before she could read it.
It worked.
"It did? Really?" she exclaimed, sitting up straight, but he was already standing up, already telling her that they could go to his place now, and Teidra couldn't have been more eager to get out of here. She didn't need to be told twice. Quickly, she took his hand and launched herself to her feet, but she didn't stop there. A second later and she'd wrapped her free arm around his middle in a tight, clinging hug, the fingers of her other hand interlinking with his. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" she whispered, eyes closed and throat feeling oddly tightly. Her eyes started to sting again, but she just squeezed her eyes shut tighter. Her head hurt, her nose was stuffy, and she didn't want to cry anymore...even if now they were tears of relief and happiness. If the hug didn't make that quite obvious, well, that little tail of hers was certainly wagging.
Finally she stepped back, though she was still holding his hand as though afraid that if she let go, he'd vanish and she'd be stuck in this nightmarish place. "Where's your place?"
Hopefully it was far from here.
-
She seemed surprisingly quiet about this sort of thing...
It scared him.
"Please you won't be a normal pet. You're sentient after all. In the eyes of the system and probably some of the people who live here you'll be a pet but...that's only them. We don't really care about them of course. I have no intention of keeping you like a pet." Hell, if he looked like a weirdo now for not sleeping and being obsessed weeks on end with even small questions, keeping a doe woman and treating her like a complete pet would...well they'd talk more about him. He didn't much care for that, and he couldn't treat her like she was a pet. She wasn't...
She was a person.
Deer woman...thing. Ugh.
He felt slightly horrible for this now. Why was he trying so hard to save her and not everyone else? Maybe it was because she tugged at his heart so. He couldn't...he wouldn't think on that. He knew he was a monster, and really he was fine with that at this point. He couldn't save everyone, he didn't want to save all of them...It just didn't seem like...well...He didn't want to save them. Maybe they had never sparked him so...like this deer woman.
Why did she do this to him?
They all tugged at his heart perhaps but..Teidra just...tugged differently at him. She made him want to help her. She was so innocent and so much...like him when he had been captured. To think he had met so many mages and such over his life time but this one...this was the only one that affected him. Green eyes, white hair, and looked like an animal. This was going to work. He had looked into it all very carefully and it just...it had to work. That's all there was to it at this time.
"I'm terrified personally Teidra." He was. He hid it well, like all of his other emotions. He was good at doing that, he had to do that in order to survive this whole life of is. She didn't hide hers well...fear riddled her face, sadness as well...it was all over her expression and her actions not to mention. She had a right to be scared though...she really did. "Thank you...that means a lot." When she touched his arm he gulped slightly, moving it away from her as he slowly pulled it up to show her the tattoo down the underside of his forearm, showing the tattoo of number running down the skin, a red line through hem though. "The Mordecai, a group of...people with a natural ability to ah...suppress magic came to my town one day and said that I displayed traits of mages. They took me away from my family, branded me, and ran some tests on me. I was about five minutes away from getting a metal collar bolted into my skull when they realized their mistake." He rolled it back down, hiding the tattoo once more. That's one thing that sickened him.
They bolted it to the skull.
"That's...one reason I do this. I want to stop that. People shouldn't have metal collars bolted directly into their skulls. There has to be another way really. I was hoping to find a way to do it...an injection perhaps...but the collar is efficient. It can't be removed, can't fall off, you don't forget about it but...if you could just take one injection and it would stop them forever...Maybe they wouldn't need to bolt things in their skull..." That scared the hell of him. Getting something bolted in their skull...it was a horrible thought. He didn't like that thing.
"Yes. It worked really. No kidding." He told her standing up with a smile. Then suddenly she hugged him, her arms wrapped around his middle tightly. Gah! That was...surprising to say the least. "It's alright Teidra! You're...ah...you're horn is sort of...poking me." He told her quietly as she interlinked hands with him and he smiled lightly at her as he used his other hand to run through fur...or hair gently. Though her tail seemed to moving excitedly, it was really cute to say the least. She just couldn't stop being adorable could she? He smiled more and put the pad under his free arm and started walking with her. "It's in the Main Wing. We're going to go there right away. I promise."
And that was it. They were off. They headed toward the main area. Luckily no one was really out right now. They made it to his residence without incident, letting them inside. It was such stuffy little place, and not to mention cluttered. There was a kitchen of course, a living room, bathroom and bedroom off in one corner. Most of the furniture was covered with data pads and old paper records. So many paper records he had collected over the years. Synthetic paper of course, as real paper was quite an oddity. "Here we are um...I'm going to clear the couch off for you. You'll have to sleep there for a few nights I'm afraid..." There was a package waiting in the mail slot though, he'd look at it in a minute. Quickly he gathered up the papers on the couch, straightening them all up and then putting them down beside the couch. "That device there is a remote there and it'll turn on the large screen over there. Hundreds of channels that will allow you look at news...entertainmen t, that sort of thing." He told her as he went to the Mail Delivery area and picked up the plain package.
Slowly he opened it and looked inside before smiling. Oh it arrived a whole lot sooner than he could have hoped! He took out two rubber little boots and grinned at Teidra. "Here we go Miss Teidra, we've got your rubber booties for you. You'll finally have traction on all the tile that's just...well everywhere here. Hell I'm sure you'll be able to walk up walls with these things." He said as he tossed them over to her gently. Well then. Let's hope she could...cook. He had food stuffs for when people came over once in a while but he never really...cooked much. Though he was told by some of the Biologists and Gastro-internal Doctors that he had to eat, or else his body might start eating itself. Ugh. Always telling him what to do. Damn Doctors.
He was a Theoretical Man. Quantum Physics and what not...but he had picked up lots of Medical Knowledge. After all he studied a lot for that matter.
He'd be studying more now...he wouldn't really need to study people that much anymore...now it would be different. He was going to take desk jobs, more digital work and such. That would hurt less on his heart and mind.
-
Teidra was, to say the least, shocked at Mazz's confession, at the sight of that tattoo on his forearm. He'd been a prisoner, too? Collars bolted into the skull? She didn't say anything, though. She didn't know if it was her place to say anything, and she couldn't really understand his reasoning too well. He...he hurt people to prevent people getting hurt?
She didn't think she'd ever be able to understand. And now wasn't the time to ask. She didn't want to be rude or for him to get any second thoughts, so she held her tongue. However, she could still empathize, and it did help her understand a little why he seemed to care about her so much.
There would be time to ask more about it later, though. Like when she knew him better and was more secure in her place here.
"Oh! I'm sorry," she said when he told her that her horn was poking him, and she reached up to pat his chest apologetically where her horn had been. She hoped she hadn't cut him or anything, but he didn't seem upset. In fact, he even ran a hand through her hair and that calmed her a little. Even if she was a little on the shy side, physical contact was reassuring, even from a stranger.
After that, Teidra followed Mazz eagerly as he lead the way through the station and toward the residential area, and each step away from the laboratory made her muscles relax just a little more. She never wanted to go back there. Ever. Now her next step would be getting out of this place entirely, but...she knew she had to take this one step at a time. Right now, she just had to be happy with what she had, and she definitely was. Tired still, nervous and out of her element still, but thoroughly grateful.
She kept her eyes lowered as they walked so as not to look at any of the other scientists that they might pass--not that they passed many--and her hand squeezed Mazz's tightly. Luckily for him her claws were retractable, otherwise that might have been pretty uncomfortable, especially since she kept slipping here and there and having to readjust her grip to support herself. Finally, though, they reached their destination and she slipped inside after him and looked around curiously.
The place was tiny and cluttered, and she couldn't help but smile a little at the sight. It was such an obviously male residence. It looked like he lived alone, then, but neither the clutter nor the small space bothered her; in fact, it made her feel more comfortable. It felt rather cozy and secure in here and it was nice to know that he wasn't a neat freak or anything. Neat freaks always made her nervous, like even breathing would displace something, and she preferred a casual environment.
"That's okay, I don't mind. I'd, um, take a couch over those bunk beds any day," Teidra said as she watched him clear off the couch, wondering vaguely what all those papers and pads were for. She waited patiently until he was done, gazing around the room, and then turned her attention back to him when he pointed out the screen and explained it. By that time he was also done clearing off the couch, so she made her way over to it and sank down onto it gratefully, leaning back against the cushions, closing her eyes, and making sure to keep her hooves firmly planted on the ground so she didn't damage his couch. After all the stress of the other day and part of this day, she really was exhausted, too exhausted to focus on any programs, and yet...
With a small sigh, she sat up straight and picked up the remote, pointing it at the screen to turn it on. Actually, now that she thought about it, flipping through the stations would probably be a good idea. For one, it would keep her awake and she thought it would be horribly rude to sleep so soon after being rescued, and two it would be a good way to get a feel for this place. Er, well, maybe not this place specifically, but humans in general.
And it was also a nice way to fill in the sudden, awkward silence. Now that she was no longer an emotional wreck and in a complete panic, her shyness was kicking in and she didn't know what to say or do. This whole situation was just strange. She'd been abducted, brought to a research facility, and had just barely been rescued by a scientist who she was now technically the pet of and who she was now going to be living with. Thank goodness the whole pet thing was just a cover up and she didn't really have to act like a pet and he wasn't really going to treat her like one! So while Mazz went off to do whatever it was he was doing, Teidra adjusted the volume to a lower setting and flipped through the channels. Maybe she could find a news station.
She was still browsing the channels when Mazz returned, and she twisted around to look back at him as he held up two rubber booties. "That was quick. Didn't you just order those yesterday? Oh, and you don't have to call me miss. Just Teidra is fine," she said, reaching out to catch them as he tossed them too her. Turning back around, she lifted a leg so she could work one of the boots onto a hoof. Then she gave a small laugh. "I don't know about walking up walls," she said as she pulled the other boot on and stamped both feet on the ground to ensure they fit properly. "Well, maybe if we're in zero gravity I could do it! I mean, I could try it but I think I'd just end up hurting my bum. Thank you, by the way!" she said as she stood up and walked slowly across the room toward the screen, testing them out.
The traction was good, and they held fast. She didn't slip once, and when she turned around to head back to the couch, she jogged the distance there. Not that she could jog very far as the room was tiny, but enough that she could tell that she wouldn't be falling due to slippery tile any time soon.
"Oh, these things work really well!" she told Mazz with a smile as she walked around the couch so he could see them on her, though she shifted her weight from leg to leg a bit awkwardly. "And I can sleep with them on so I don't, ah...wreck your couch. I was kind of worried about that and...oh!" She had been gazing down at the ground shyly when she'd caught a glimpse of her clothes, which were of course the clothes she'd been given to wear as a test subject. "Um, I hope I'm not asking too much, but do you maybe have some clothes I could borrow?" she asked, motioning at her clothes. "I feel funny in these..."
She didn't want to feel like a prisoner anymore.
-
Twisted logic was still logic. He hurt people to stop people from being hurt. Eventually they wouldn't need people, they would just need to use clones. Except proper cloning was so far away, at least for the time being. He only wished it wasn't...then there would be no need for capturing real people. They could just use clones. Clones had no souls, they were clones. You could clone the body, but not the soul.
Yes, Mazz believed in the soul. Even though there was no scientific proof of there being a God, Goddess, or incredibly higher power, he still believed people had a soul, that they had this...extra part of their body, this energy, this power in their body. TRIM had done more than their share to release the energy, this...higher consciousness. They were free though. He was still stuck in here though.
At least he was able to help one person.
Spare them from a terrible fate.
"No it's alright. It was just a little uncomfortable. That's all." Mazz smiled gently at her. He loved her hair...though still, he wasn't sure if it was fur or hair. Didn't matter though, it was...it was nice to pet her. He felt better when he was running his hand through her hair...fur...stuff. She was...sort of like a pet but...he had to remember she was a human being. Well. She was a sentient humanoid creature.
At least none of the people that they passed really asked questions or watched. Except when she slipped up and he had to catch her from falling. Really, this just wasn't very handy now was it? When she got her shoes things would be much better though, she wouldn't be slipping up and she probably wouldn't be cutting sheets and clothes up with her hooves.
Those things were quite deadly.
Mazz's house would probably be a lot cleaner if he didn't spend so much time on work. He could very well clean it all up if he wanted to, he had the energy, he could have just cleaned it all in one full day but he liked to work instead, well, he had to work instead. That was just it. He had to work instead, he couldn't just...not work.
"I think it folds out into a bed but I can't actually be sure..." And if it didn't, he could always order one that did. Hm. Maybe he shouldn't force her to sleep on the couch. He could sleep there, and she could sleep in the bed. Hell. He didn't use the bed that much anyway! He didn't sleep after all...What was he thinking? He couldn't just let her sleep on the couch while he stayed awake for 3 days. This wouldn't do at all would it?
At least she was...was getting used to living her in this place. Once she got used to this place, things would be better. Still. He didn't much like the idea of having to take her out of the apartment wearing a collar around her neck and a leash attached to his arm. It would feel just...wrong...yet if she wanted to go outside she would have to wear it and...at least she wouldn't have to wear a muzzle! That would be just wrong. Still, she'd have to booties and stuff though.
Mazz nodded as he looked at the package once more. "Hm. I hit the expedited package button I guess..." He told her with a shrug as he tossed the package in the trash. She had the hoof boots now and it would be all good now wouldn't it? "We all could walk up walls in Zero Gravity Teidra." He was a big fan of zero gravity, it just felt...neat for that matter. Of course, there was the matter of losing bone integrity and muscle matter so really he didn't frequent places in TRIM that were lacking in Zero Gravity.
He gave a smile as he watched her walking about. This was good! She could walk, run, jog, it was good then. The boots worked perfectly. "This is good, eh heh...right the couch..." He was about to bring that up when he said something about her clothes and he blinked. "Oh. Clothes. Right...we'll have to get you some clothes as well..." Well. He'd give her a catalogue pad and she could pick out what she wanted. Thankfully they wouldn't have to leave the place to get it. He didn't much...feel like watching her try on clothes. There were...things like underwear and what not that he probably shouldn't really...see her model for. Ahem. He went to bedroom quickly to grab some clothes for her. A blue shirt with long sleeves, green pants, and a pair of black boxers. Ahem. She'd probably want these just in case. Though, no doubt on her she could wear them like shorts.
He chuckled as he folded the clothes up carefully and exited the bedroom and handed them out to her. "Here you go Teidra. These will be temporary of course...which reminds me." He sat down on the couch, getting a pad and tapping some things on it. "We'll order you some clothes right now." It was a simple place that you could look through a catalogue, choose what you want in your size, and then you could get it delivered. "Just choose whatever you want, undergarments, dresses, skirts, shorts, shirts, whatever it is you want." Mazz said as he held the pad out to her. "It's fairly simple. You can get changed after ward though, I want these ordered before they close for the day."
-
Teidra tilted her head curiously and blinked when Mazz exited the room at her mention of clothes, wondering where he had gone but waiting patiently where she stood. Oh, he was probably going to get her some clothes to borrow, maybe. Hopefully he had something that would work, he was much taller than her, after all. Not that it would matter for now. She really just wanted out of these clothes...
He returned shortly after, though, carrying some folded up clothes, and she smiled brightly up at him as she took the offered clothes. "Thank you! These will work fine for now!" she said, peering down at them. A shirt, pants, and boxers. No bra, of course, but what she wasn't really expecting him to have any on him. She'd be a bit worried if he did. The clothes looked pretty big, but no matter! She set the pile down on the back of the couch and was about to start undoing the velcro to change right then and there, not caring if Mazz was right there--why should it matter? She'd taken a group shower earlier, perhaps these humanoids didn't mind nudity as much as she had originally thought--but that was when Mazz handed her a pad.
Blinking, she took it and looked it over curiously as he explained, then looked up at him in surprise. "Anything I want?" she repeated, eyes large. Anything? Well...he'd said whatever she wanted...and here he was, handing her a pad, giving her free range. Peering back down at the pad, she nibbled on her lip and began to browse through the categories. Oh man. This would probably take a while. There was so much stuff, and all of it looked great! She certainly couldn't wear a lot of the things they sold in this catalogue on Ren'unis, where the temperatures were sub-zero for two thirds of the year and cold for the other third. Besides, they generally had more important, practical things to worry about than fashion
Teidra glanced back up at Mazz as though to double-check that this was okay before, with a small shrug, she started to order things. She wouldn't order too many, though; she was afraid about whether or not he could afford it and she didn't want to seem selfish or greedy, which were some of the worst things you could be labelled among her people. So she only ordered a few outfits, a week's worth of clothes and undergarments, mostly shorts and short-sleeved shirts and tube tops, but a few frilly skirts also caught her eye, and a pair of barely there underwear piqued her curiosity, so she ordered those as well.
When she was finished, she handed the PDA back to Mazz and smiled softly, clasping her hands behind her back and peering up at him with her head tilted to one side. "I didn't submit the order yet, um...I...didn't want to get too much, and I thought you should look it over first in case it's too expensive," she explained. "If it's too much, I can get rid of some stuff. Thank you, Mazz. Um, I'm gonna get changed now, okay?"
Then she turned back to the clothes she'd set on the couch and, without skipping a beat, she did just that. Pulled apart the velcro, shrugged out of the prisoner's garb, and pulled on the shirt that Mazz had picked out, which was large on her as she had expected and could have covered her in and of itself if the shirt hadn't caught on her tail in the back, which she seemed not to notice or care about. The pants and boxers confused her, though. Maybe he'd given her both so she could decide which worked better for her? In that case, it would definitely be the boxers, but...there seemed to be something weird about them.
Turning around to face him again, she held the boxers up and raised an eyebrow. "Why do these shorts have a hole in them?" she asked, wiggling a finger through it demonstratively. "You don't have a tail..." But then she shook her head and slipped them on, putting them on backwards so that, indeed, she could use that mysterious hole as a tail hole.
Poor Mazz. It seemed he had quite the interesting experience in store for him.
--------------------
A month had passed since that strange day, and it had passed rather well. Being a "pet" wasn't really so bad! It was true, she missed home and the people she'd left...but at the same time, this life was--she was ashamed to admit it--better. It had started out on a frightening note, but after Mazz had rescued her from being a test subject, and after she had gotten used to living with a complete stranger--who was now no lonnger a stranger--things had just kept getting better.
She didn't have to worry about getting eaten. The temperature was perfect. Mazz gave her whatever she could need or want and took her out whenever she wanted, so she didn't go stir crazy. Sure, she had to wear a collar and leash then, but it wasn't like she had to crawl around and bark, it just meant she couldn't walk faster than him. It was a little annoying and she didn't like her freedom being inhibited like that, but at the same time she also understood: they were stuck on a research facility and it was the only way she could be kept from getting experimented on.
She missed the outdoors, though...the snow, the trees, the fresh air and unpredictable weather. Here everything was controlled and regulated and there were no trees or birds or anything. She wasn't used to that, and she didn't really like it here, but Mazz was really nice and everything he did for her made it all bearable, and he'd even started to pet and cuddle her a little, which made her feel better. At first the lack of it had made her feel alienated, since her people were very physically affectionate and it was a sign of familiarity and friendship, but she'd come to realize it was just a human thing. They got awkward about the strangest things...
It had its downsides, but it had its perks, too, because it really was a stress-free life. Kind of like what those humans called a vacation.
Speaking of which.
Teidra was sitting on the couch in the living room and leaning back against the cushions as she waited for Mazz, a small bag resting at her feet--all the things she'd need during said vacation. Apparently they were going to some sort of beach, where there was a lot of water, and that intrigued her. She'd never been to a beach before...but now she'd get to, because Mazz had been told to take some time off for once.
He really was a workaholic...and she was really looking forward to getting out of this facility, getting some fresh air, and seeing some new sights.
-
"They're only temporary I promise. Sorry I don't have any...support for you but ahm...I don't need them and such so..." And it wasn't like he had regular visits from women, leaving them here either. Mazz was a workaholic, so women were never the biggest factor for him. Once in a while he would go on a date, a coworker wanting some sort of contact, but...there was nothing more to it. Mazz wasn't sure he really liked dating someone within the tight-knit community, it could end in trouble really, and he wasn't a big fan of trouble. It always seem to show up when you least expected it.
Teidra was probably lucky Mazz was paying attention to the pad, he didn't even notice her trying to remove her clothing at this point. Had he seen her, he probably would have objected and started turning around and covering his eyes. Fortunately for him, the pad distracted her. He nodded with a small smile. "Yes. Anything you want." He didn't really see her splurging, and it didn't matter too much. He had been working here on TRIM for many years, and put in a lot more overtime than they expected, so he earned the money in his savings account. He had a limit though, he wasn't going to buy her every article of clothing in the catalogue.
He sat there patiently near her, watching her as she went through it. She was...interesting. He'd never seen anything like her, probably wouldn't ever unless of course...she wanted to go to her home planet or something like that. He wasn't really sure if they ever would, but still, if he kept being forced to go on vacations and sabbaticals...well he might want to see what is out there. Before returning to work of course because...well that was his job and there were always things to look for. He needed to learn, needed to do it. It all had to be done, someone else would do it and they might make the biggest discovery of TRIM and it would be nice if he it were him. It would make it all worth while for him.
If only.
That was just a pipe dream though. The only thing he really did was test drugs and what not on unwilling people. But there was no telling what could happen with one of the many experiments. It was the thrill of it all that kept him here, knowing that he would probably change the world somehow with a discovery or a pharmaceutical.
However that wouldn't be any time soon, at least, not now that he had Teidra.
Mazz took the PDA from her, smiling as he flipped through it. He started to blush as he got to the underwear and just...skipped passed that as quick as possible. Yes, it was all fine! Very fine! He coughed uncomfortably as he hit the submit button and nodded, "Now it's all fine Teidra. Don't worry about it. They'll ah, they'll look good on you." And of course, in the repressed part of his mind, that part he buried for the most part, he knew the underwear would look good. Of course, that thought wasn't a very conscious thought, as it didn't really matter to him. "Hm? Alright." Mazz's face went burning red as he quickly looked down tot he pad and just stared at it. S-she was getting...changed right here! [/i]HERE[/i]. How could she...and...this is irk.
"A-ahh...ah...um. T-the hole? What in the...shorts?" He tried to think without looking up but he had to take a peak up at them and he coughed uncomfortably. She was naked. Here. Just. Naked. "N-no I don't have a tail...it um..." He blinked as he noted that she put them on backward and he just. He couldn't help but smile and shake his head, laughing quietly. "That...works perfectly Teidra. Eh heh heh heh."
Life was going to be really interesting with her living here. He would have to really...change his habits.
------
It had been a rather...interestin g month for that matter. Mazz had taken it upon himself to basically keep his work at home. He didn't really like treating Teidra as a pet, but she had grown to start accepting it. It had been awkward, as she was very loose and free in her way, he sometimes had to remind her about clothing and that sort of thing. He had given her the bedroom while he crashed on the couch...when he crashed of course. He only had to sleep every three days after all, so there was no real problem there.
He had to make sure there was food for her, and once in a while he joined her for dinner or lunch. Of course, he had to take her to the exercise area, which really wasn't that bad. He would get on one of the elliptical bicycles, and she could have free reign of things like the treadmill. She seemed to like those...more so because you could adjust the treadmill's angel. She seemed to enjoy running downhill. Mazz noted that a lot of people liked to watch her for that matter. Ugh. Men. And a few of the women which...was actually a little interesting for that matter. Still. He just...cycled away while she did her thing.
Mazz learned that he should be nice to her, and by that, he should be more...erm...physic al with her. She liked to be touched, she liked to be pet, scratched behind her ears and cuddled with. She loved human contact it seemed and...at first he was a little wary of it all, but it was just that she wanted to be near someone. He figured it was because of her animalistic nature, where they stayed in close groups; deer did, so why didn't deer people for that matter? It made sense to him and he started to accept it and well, enjoy it for that matter.
It was nice to have someone there that just wanted to be around you and what not.
This wasn't as bad as he thought it might be. TRIM didn't even really seem to care either.
Of course they did seem to be a stickler for one thing about him. That was the fact that he hadn't gone on a vacation in quite a while. That worried them as always, and so they sent him a nice little message that told him that his work was 'suspended' for the next few days and that he had to go on a vacation for a week and a half. As per usual, they were going to send him to the regular place. A planet with a resort spa, and a long beach with a sparkling clear ocean. It was almost like TRIM had created it, because there were no dangerous creatures in the water or in the forests. Small things were there, vibrant less dangerous things, birds.
Plus there was a guilty pleasure...it wasn't really the planet itself but...
They gave the person their own shuttle to travel with. Mazz couldn't lie. He loved to pilot them. It was just such a rush for that matter. He didn't really know why he liked it but it was just...fun. It was part scientific, making sure the engines, shields, harmonics and such were in working order, but at the same time, it was just that thrill.
Exiting from his room with a small suitcase, he saw Teidra on the couch with a bag at her foot. She was all ready then for her trip. He strolled over to her and attached around her neck the collar while he wore the bracelet. It was the best leash, as you couldn't get choked by it or anything like that. It was magnetic for that matter, and when you got out of reach, the strength would intensify and stop the person from being able to leave the radius. It didn't attract metal objects either, as it used specific frequencies for each bracelet and collar. He reached down and picked up her bag and smiled at her.
"Are you ready Teidra? We'll head to the main room, to a docking bay, and then we'll board a shuttle and we can leave for the planet."
It took a little while for them to get onboard the shuttle, but they were finally there, Mazz in the pilot's chair with Teidra on the chair beside him. They were moving on their way now, heading off the planet. This was going to be...this was going to be amazing for that matter. Already Mazz looked better as he held his hands on the wheel, a rather pleased look on his face. "You'll enjoy the beach Teidra. I'll take you scuba diving and you can see the coral reef...all the fish...we can go out for nature walks and...you don't have to wear the collar. In fact..." He reached over to her and removed the collar with a click, throwing it and the bracelet behind him somewhere. He didn't want to even think about her as a pet.
She was Teidra now, and she would be Teidra for the week and a half.
"I hope you packed everything...if you forgot your swimsuit, we can always get one at the resort. Though...we'll have to cut you a hole in the back for your tail...that should be no problem."
-
Teidra looked up and smiled when Mazz approached, then lifted her hair up and out of the way while he fastened the collar around her neck. Nothing was worse than getting your hair caught in the clasps, after all. "Yeah, I'm ready, Mazz," she said, rising to her feet once he was finished. For the longest time she had dreaded wearing a leash and collar, envisioning them as, well...a collar with a rope attached to it, something that would choke and chaff and be horribly uncomfortable and degrading. So when Mazz had first put this on her, she'd been pleasantly surprised. It didn't choke, it didn't chaff, and it wasn't all too noticeable; the collar could probably pass for a choker if no one else knew its real function. She didn't have to worry about getting tangled up on some sort of lead, and there was no sudden jerk when she had gone too far--just a gentle stop, since the pressure only gradually increased.
She didn't mind it so much. Maybe it was just her tendency to accept things rather quickly and easily and adapt to new situations, but it really wasn't so bad. There was much worse--like being vivesected or something.
As Mazz took her bag and lead the way, she followed after him, no longer slipping on the tile as they made their way down all the halls, all thanks to her rubber shoes. It wasn't much longer before they were onboard the shuttle, Teidra strapped into her seat with her hands folded in her lap as she glanced around curiously and watched Mazz operate it. This was only the second ship she'd been on and she found it all fascinating; this kind of technology was really difficult to come by on Ren'unis, and space from this perspective was utterly gorgeous. Some people saw a lot of lonely, empty black space when they looked at the sky, but Teidra liked to think about all the other planets that were out there, all the people...the universe really wasn't that lonely, after all.
"Hmm?" Teidra looked over at Mazz when he spoke, then smiled and wagged her tail a few times. "Really? Well, I've never been to a beach before. I mean, we have them on Ren'unis, but it's really cold there and the water is frozen, so...we can't really go to them. Ah, speaking of which, Mazz, I..." She scratched the top of her head, just a little off to the side of her broken horn. "I can't swim. Is...that going to be a problem? I'm sorry. None of us know how, really. If we were to go in the water at home, we'd probably kill ourselves. It's not even warm in the spring..."
She really hoped that didn't mess up too many of his plans, because he sounded excited about it and she was, too, and she really wanted to see the things he was talking about, too. Maybe she could learn how to swim, though, she thought as she glanced down at her hooves and wondered if it would work.
But she didn't have much time to ponder that, because she looked up again when Mazz mentioned the collar, and then gave a little sigh of relief when he reached over, she heard the tell-tale click as it opened, and he took it off and tossed it away. "Thank you," she said with a smile, reaching up to lightly rub her neck, even though the collar wasn't actually uncomfortable.
Reclining back in her chair, she gave a little laugh and nodded at his implied question. "I have everything, even my swimsuit. I already have it on, actually, under my clothes," she explained, reaching up and pulling up the sleeve of her shirt so he could see the black shoulder strap of her top. "See?" Excited? Her? Oh no, never, as though her broad grin and wagging tail weren't any indication at all. "I thought I'd put it on ahead of time because the top is really hard to get on, it's hard to tie it in the back on my own, so I didn't want to waste any time once we got there." Then she suddenly laughed again and quickly covered her mouth.
"I'm sorry, but I just think it's funny that you guys have different suits to wear for swimming! Why would you wear clothes in the water? It's not going to keep you warm...and...do you humans bathe in clothes, too?" she couldn't help but ask, still trying to muffle her chuckles.
She couldn't help it, it was just funny. And even with humans and their strange modesty, it wasn't like these swim suits covered all that much. Well, she had seen one that at least covered the whole torso, but...it was just ridiculous. So she'd just ordered one of the ones that covered the bare minimum. It seemed far more practical than others, even if she still felt funny for wearing what was basically a lot of string. She didn't think she'd ever understand humans...
-
Teidra didn't honestly seem to mind the collar, at first she had been frightful of it but when he showed it to her afterward, she seemed to be really alright with it. It was a lot less harsher than the other ones that were rope. They instantly stopped things in motion, while these ones slowed them down gradually until the pull just became too strong. It wouldn't reel them in, it would just keep them there. It was human to say the least, plus it looked rather stylish honestly. However stylish it was though, he still hated it, she was a living, completely sentient creature, it made him feel dirty, and yet everyone accepted it, she was a pet. That was it. Baffling and yet...people accepted it.
Sometimes the people of his world were just a little too strange even for himself. Who knows what she thought of the people of TRIM! She could have hated humans for all he knew...but...
She was sweet. He liked...having someone around the house. Honestly he was lonely, he liked a bit of company now, and since he was working more at home, it was actually just a little better. She was always there to talk or play or just...curl up and watch a movie with. Though, he had to teach her some...sort of boundaries. Like showering was a sort of alone time. Not a sort, it was an alone time. That day had just...started off wrong. She saw no reason for him to be embarrassed, and yet all he could do was be flustered and blush for hours on end. She also had this need for contact which while a little odd, it was something he did because...it just seemed right.
Mazz looked over to his passenger, a large smiling across his face. She seemed so happy to be able to go on this trip. He looked forward to just unwinding for a little while, even though he left a lot of his work unfinished. "Oh...well no. That shouldn't be a problem Teidra. I can teach you how to swim after all, and sometimes they have lessons in the resort's pool for people who want to learn. You'll be fine though, and we'll have a great time. Hm, you'll probably also enjoy the hot tubs they have there. They're natural designed y'see, where they pipe in hot air from a nearby volcano to heat the waters. They're so relaxing...ah I can remember them...you just sit down in them and all your troubles melt away." Mazz gave a happy sigh, staring off for a few moments before he blinks, remembering that they were flying in a ship right now.
"You shouldn't have to wear that collar Teidra, and I really am sorry that you do but...it's just a thing we have to do to survive." One day she might not have to. That actually would...be a really good sort of thing he hoped. Mazz looked over and smiled, nodding. "Well, aren't you prepared for when we land." Mazz had told her about a week ago to order herself some swimming outfits. She was no doubt still getting used to the idea of having to wear clothes so much. Her kind would seem perfectly content to just run around naked as he understood it.
Not that...he would mind.
Her laughing got his attention, breaking his thoughts as he joined in at her statement. "As...you know we don't bathe in our clothes but...you see it's sort of a public thing. In public, we cover up because it's decency, because of cold, warm, or just plain aesthetics. People find clothes can be very stimulating for the mind, or just for the sexual attraction. It's...sort of like...we wear clothes to attract people in a way, just like birds have markings on them to attract mates during mating season." This was just...this was really hard to explain to someone. He never questioned it when he was younger. Just everyone wore clothes when you were in public. If you were alone you could be as naked as you wanted but when people were around you...well...clothe s had to be worn.
Mazz had no idea that Teidra had picked a bathing suit that was practically string. He assumed out of good nature she had just picked a normal suit of some sort, a two piece. He hadn't even really looked at it when it came in the delivery system, he just gave it to her and she happily went and put it away. He had swim trunks, modest, long, right to the knees, but in various colours. He...
He would admit something.
He was also wearing them under his pants.
Maybe he was just a little excited about getting there to swim. The water was always perfect, global sensors and atmospheric pressure devices kept the rain away for the most part. It only rained in the places it needed to rain, like in the forests once in a while.
It was a paradise.
And it was showing up on the sensors. He had gone into a Faster Than Light conduit system, and when they exited, they were close to it. He brought it up on the view screen to show it to her, smiling as he saw it. "There we go Teidra. Welcome to Omega Setti 9, the Resort Planet." From space, one could see the vast ocean, the large land masses and such. This was a planet that had evolved quickly. The inhabitants were aliens who created a sort of paradise for people. Naturally TRIM set up a station there on an island, hired workers and what not to help out, who were more than glad to lend a hand, and they made it a top notch resort destination. The planet was practically pollutant free, as the people were almost renowned for their amazing ability to recycle pollutants from the air and water.
It was amazing, more so since the planet had a stable atmosphere of oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen and carbon dioxide, and yet the inhabitants were silicon based for that matter. TRIM didn't feel a need to experiment on them, since well...they weren't mages, and they weren't psychic. Just...very technologically impressive. However, they seemed content to stay on their world. Mazz liked the people really, humanoid, and very friendly. Of course, he didn't go to the mainland much...he stayed on the resort island. The laws there were human laws.
Slowly the ship stopped in orbit, Mazz waited. That's when a message was finally coming through. Mazz clicked a button and opened the view screen. There was...a strange looking humanoid on the view screen. He seemed rather smooth, his skin was a multitude of dark colours, mostly blues, greens, and a bit of light golden colour. He almost looked like the planet's surface just swirled together. There was no hair on his head, his eyes blended nicely, but he still had facial futures of a human. Just...one that was almost completely smooth. "Mazz L Tombs, Human, 31, Height 6 standard human units of the Metric system. Weight 150 standard pounds. Life span, 100 years. And...a guest Mazz?" Mazz nodded and smiled. "Yes Tekk'allin. She's...a good friend of mine. Her name is Teidra, she'll be staying with me. Can you send a message to the resort to let them know we're coming?" The being nodded, pressing a few things out of sight of the view. "You may proceed. Safe travels and enjoy yourself Mazz L Tombs." The view screen returned to normal and Mazz began the descent.
"In a few minutes, we'll land in the hanger bay on the island, then we'll get taken to our room and we will officially be on vacation." Mazz grinned at Teidra as he unbuckled his belt, standing up to stretch. The descent was fairly smooth, and the autopilot had been engaged as standard procedure. They soon got closer and closer to an island, where Teidra would be able to see the resort itself. A very large building cut from a smooth rock face, with a volcano off to one side of the island and a lush forest between it and the resort. A beach stretched along the entire island, and one could see that the beach extended into the water as a sand bar until it dropped off. However, as Mazz pointed out to her suddenly, a vibrant coral reef stretched for miles along the entire outside of the island.
"That's the reef. It's amazing. It stretches fifty feet from the bottom of the water to very closer to the top of the water's edge. It keeps all the bad things away, and it's just...it's amazing." The ship however was soon landing inside a hanger bay inside the actual island at the back of the resort. When the door to the shuttle opened, they were greeted by a man in a red and gold piped uniform who had a friendly smile on his face. "Mister Tombs! Welcome back!" The man greeted him cheerfully as he walked onto the ship, grabbing the luggage and taking it to a small hovering trolley. The man was human, and someone Mazz rather enjoyed. "Will, this is Teidra, she's a ah...good friend of mine and she's the one who will be staying with me." Will looked at Teidra and then to Mazz and grinned slightly as he bowed to her. "Welcome Miss Teidra! I'm Will, a busboy here."
"Do you know if there are any swimming lessons happening soon?"
"Lessons? 'Fraid not Mazz, the instructor got into a bad tussle with a Reef Racer and he's on the mainland recuperating. Why though? I've seen ya swim." Mazz gestured to Teidra with a smile. "She comes from a planet that doesn't have lakes or oceans that wouldn't kill them from the chill. No matter, I'll teach her."
It wasn't long before they were in their rather luxurious hotel room, of course, a large king sized bed was the only one waiting them and Mazz shook his head. Well, he couldn't change it now...but there was a nice couch near the large television screen so he could crash there. He did go straight for the balcony though and head onto it. It had a table, some chairs, and a large umbrella to keep the sun off...not to mention it overlooked the beach and the ocean. Mazz put his hands on the railings and sighed happily.
Oh yeah.
This would be a good week.
-
The more Mazz talked about it, the more appealing the resort sounded. First there was the freedom, not having to wear a collar in public and to be able to get out in nature instead of being confined to an artificial environment. Then there was the hot tubs Mazz described, and the fact that she could learn how to swim. The swimsuit concept still baffled her, though, and she knew Mazz at least didn't bathe clothed or anything--though boy had he had a fit when she'd discovered that; she hadn't known that humans didn't bathe together, and after the communal showers with the other mages she'd just sort of assumed that was the norm. But still. Swimming with clothes on.
It just didn't make any sense...
Oh well.
Mazz's explanation about clothes only further confused her and made her wonder how, with everything he'd just said, wearing clothes was better. Humans wore clothes to attract mates? Then...how was not wearing clothes worse? Wouldn't that make wearing clothes even more distracting, and what sorts of signals was she sending with what she was wearing now? Teidra glanced down at herself, dressed in a pair of shorts and a short-sleeved shirt, and tried to figure out what it meant but all she got from it was that she was covering up her body. She'd have to ask Mazz to explain all the different meanings of clothes to her later, that way she didn't wear something that brought every male in the area running to her.
Humans were so complicated with their mates and clothes. Tuathi didn't mind nudity, and they only came into Season once a year. It wasn't complicated at all, no hidden meanings or undertones whatsoever. But the Tuathi were also a very blunt people.
It wasn't long before the resort came into view, and Teidra stared at the screen, intrigued by the beauty of it all. It was gorgeous...Teidra had never seen anything like that in her life except on TV and computers, and it looked even better in real life than on those screens. Clear blue water, free of any ice, white, sandy beaches clean of any pollutants, a green forest, bright skies...
It was breath-taking.
Teidra was overall less interested in the being that welcomed them on the screen than she was in the planet that awaited, thinking nothing unusual about his appearance. After all, she was pretty strange looking herself, and there were a lot of interesting creatures back on her own planet. She did find it odd that Tekk'alin knew so much about Mazz, though, things that not even she did. He was thirty-one? That made her blink in surprise and glance over at Mazz, giving him an appraising look. He was young. Wait. Right. This was human years. That worked different from their own idea of age. In human years, after all, she was in her sixties, but that was about the human equivalent of eighteen or so.
So technically he was older than her, physically and psychologically, even if she was older than him in regards to actual years. Tuathi aged slowly and had extremely long lifespans.
After that, they finally descended while Teidra followed Mazz's example and unbuckled her her own belt, standing up and stretching out her limbs and flicking her tail as she stared out from the shuttle to look at the resort as they grew nearer. It just got more beautiful the closer they got, and as Mazz pointed out the coral reef, she stared at it in awe. It was so colorful...she didn't know what exactly it was, but it was pretty and Mazz said it served as a protective barrier. Her attention was torn away from it, though, when they finally landed, the door slid open, and another man walked onto the ship.
Teidra smiled politely at Will as they were introduced, then placed her hands in front of her and bowed her head in greeting. "Pleasure to meet you, Will," she said softly, feeling a little shy around the new person.
It didn't last long, though, because afterwards they were off to their room in the hotel, Teidra feeling quite happy about the fact that Mazz was willing to teach her to swim in place of the instructor.
The room was nice and cozy looking and Teidra didn't blink twice at the fact that it had only a single large bed in it. She had been sleeping in Mazz's bed for the last month, after all, while he had taken the couch, and while she had felt a little bad for putting him out of his bed, he hadn't seemed to want to take up her offer of just sleeping together. The idea seemed to make him uncomfortable, and whereas in the beginning it had kind of hurt her, just as when he'd been so weird about her hugging him and stuff, she'd learned not to read anything into it. It was just a human thing.
Still, sleeping alone had taken some getting used to and she'd hardly been able to sleep the first few nights. It felt really strange and lonely, empty without having someone else's body heat to warm you, silent with only your own heartbeat and breathing to listen to. She was used to sleeping with a group of people all cuddled up. Then again, she also came from a really cold place, so body heat really helped.
Then again, heat might not really be needed here, because Teidra had noticed that it was actually pretty warm here. It may have not been too warm for anyone else, but to her, coming from a sub-zero climate...it really was.
So while Mazz headed out to the balcony, Teidra headed over to the bed and started to change out of her clothes, folding the garments and laying them out neatly on the bed. Might as well get changed now, right? They were here after all, so she assumed they'd be going out to the water! At least...she hoped. She was all ready!
When she was done, she smiled and headed out to join Mazz on the balcony, falling in beside him and leaning her arms on the rail. "Are we going to go down to the water?" she asked, glancing up at him. "I'm all ready."
And ready she was, in her black bikini. Black thong bikini, at that, the bottoms pulled down just a little in the back to make room for the fluffy deer-like tail that grew from her tail bone. Of course she didn't think anything of it. Out of all the swimsuits she saw, this one made the most sense.
-
Really the main thing was that he would be able to just...not think about things like work and hurting people. It was strange really but...this place made him forget about his cares and worries. At first when he came here, he did work still, but then less and less was the work he could do, and instead he had to actually go outside and such. He got to enjoy life, and all the fun activities for that matter. Even though he was forced to go this place, it always turned out the same way. Leaving the planet with a sigh and wishing he had taken more time off. Granted he could take a whole two and a half weeks off from work if he wanted, but really...he couldn't bring himself go that long. It would just be...strange really.
Mazz only wished he really knew what he was talking about. He had been told to wear clothes, that the body was something for private matter. Then Teidra came along and she didn't seem to care either way. Jumping into the shower with him, walking around naked and laying on the couch in that manner of undress. He had to explain that she should wear clothes while he was around. If she wanted to be...nude when he wasn't that was fine, but she couldn't just...walk around all the time without clothes.
Though, at least she liked to wear some clothing.
Simple shirts and shorts seemed to suit her well, and she at least wore undergarments as well. That was always nice. Though, he did have to get everything custom tailored to fit that tail of hers. Well. He didn't custom tailor it, someone else did that. He'd probably die of embarrassment if he had to tailor a pair of her panties. That was just...
A no-no.
"Best place to vacation any time of the year. They use special systems to control atmosphere even. Never gets too cold, I don't think I've even heard of there being snow." All the oceans however was the best part. It was a great place to swim, not a lot of salt content, zero pollution in the water, and nothing in the reef system could kill you. It was perfect! No predators either. Except the occasional reef racer but...those were rare. Sort of like snakes and sharks rolled into one. Not too big, but wily.
Mazz looked back at Teidra as she looked at him. What did...what was she looking at? Had Tekk'alin surprised her by all the information he spewed out? He just...smiled at Teidra and looked back to Tekk'alin. No need to really question it. Maybe she didn't know his weight or something? Hrm. His weight had gone down considerably since he had last seen Tekk'alin though...and after all this training that Teidra liked to do...he was pretty sure he had gone down at least a few pounds. Plus the all liquid diet kept his weight off.
While Mazz stretched he looked at Teidra, smirking all the while when he saw her tail flick. He didn't know why but he loved that strange tail of hers. It was so...adorable to say the least. It wasn't fake, it was real, and she seemed to be tickled when someone pet it. It was always a great way to get her back when she brushed against his nose. She always said she was sorry and it was an accident but...still, he wasn't too sure about that. He was just about to give the tail a small tug before he saw the reef and just had to point it out. Damn. A chance lost for now.
"Pleasure's all mine Teidra." Will grinned at the obvious shy Teidra. Mazz couldn't blame her, from what he read about Deer, they weren't big on new people after all. So a deer woman might just be the same really.
The bed issue would probably come up a little later, but for now it wasn't something he would worry about. Maybe he could...just sleep beside her and it would be fine. A part of him screamed at the idea, while another part of him sort of said it would be...fun. Whatever part of him thought that however was ignored. They were friends. It would be platonic. Right? Right. That's all it would be. After all Teidra's people didn't send out...signals like human women did.
At first that's how...Mazz had interpreted them as. Signals that she wanted to be more than friends. But...as time sort of went on he learned that it was a Tuathi thing. Their people were just blunt and abrasive like that. She saw nothing wrong with nudity or communal showers, sleeping together for warmth and snuggling up on the couch.
Just a Tuathi thing.
He was relieved by it, but also he wondered of course.
More so now, what if she met someone? What then? Would she leave with that person? Could...could she actually like people in that sense? From what she said, she had this...seasonal thing that happened. That's when the Tuathi...did their thing and made children. Maybe his worries weren't very warranted at this point. They probably weren't either.
A voice cut into all his thoughts, Teidra asking something. He looked over to her and smiled, faltered, and a blush of great proportions suddenly crossed his face as he looked away, covering the side of his eyes and making sure she couldn't see...ahm...somethi ng that happened to him downstairs. "A-Ah! Teidra! That...that outfit..." he could remember every little detail about her...and...her...r ump to say the least. He let out a small pleasured groan as he thought about it before clamping his mouth shut. No! Gah! Bad. "That isn't...you shouldn't be wearing that Teidra it's...it's really provocative...I mean...R-really." He was coughing and stuttering, trying to maintain a more professional attitude. It was a Tuathi thing. That's all. Yes. It must have been...more comfortable for her or something.
"You can't...you can't wear that though out there. It's just...you'll have every man down there trying to erm...court you...Look we'll...we'll call room service and get them to bring you a better pair. J-just...go grab m-me the phone I erm...I can't...walk properly right now." Two layers of clothing couldn't really stop him from...visibly showing his excitement, much to his dismay.
Ugh. This...she wasn't supposed to...be wearing...a thong! Of all things for her to pick it was a thong. And...with her deer tail it just looked adorable and yet sexy at the same time. Gods, he wasn't supposed to get so...flustered and excited by this! This was something that happened when you were...a teenager and early adult but...he was thirty one! He should be able to erm...control himself.
He couldn't though. Argh! This was...oh this was a great way to start the vacation wasn't it?
-
Teidra only stared blankly back at Mazz as his face turned an impressive shade of red, blinking a few times and wondering if, maybe, the warmer climate was getting to him, too. But then he promptly looked away and covered the side of his eyes, and when he spoke, he sounded flustered to say the least. "My outfit...?"
She took a step away from the rail and looked down at herself, wondering if something was wrong with it. Maybe a nipple was showing or something? Humans were so weird about that; after all, it was just there to feed children with, she really couldn't see why humans would make such a big deal about it, especially since it only seemed to be with females. The males could walk around without shirts, they had nipples, and yet they seemed almost offended by female breasts, the very things that nourished young. She didn't understand it at all. But after examining herself she concluded that, indeed, everything was covered, and a quick glance down at her groin showed that everything was covered there, too.
Flicking her tail a few times, she glanced back up at Mazz, about to ask him what was wrong, but then he explained.
She shouldn't wear an outfit like this?
It was provocative?
She tapped a hoof against the ground absently and tilted her head, trying to understand, but it wasn't until he got to the part about men courting her that it really sank in.
"Oh!" she gasped, her eyebrows rising as realization dawned. "Oh, so this outfit must have one of those patterns like you were talking about, one that really attracts other humans...oh, I didn't know that. Mazz, you're going to have to explain what all the different clothes mean to your people, what signals they send out, because I don't know them. My people don't use clothing signals. When we want to mate, we just say so, or we can tell because of our scent, and females only come into Season once a year. You humans are so much more...complicated and confusing," she said, still obviously oblivious to his intense discomfort.
Shaking her head, she brushed some hair out of her face and turned to go get the phone as instructed. Humans. It was probably a good idea to change outfits, then, because she really didn't want to get pounced by a bunch of humans, and she wasn't in Season, anyway, for another month. Her first Season. It ws going to be...interesting having it away from home, and she knew it was coming, too. She was of age, now, and there were minor biological changes that occurred as it approached. She wasn't really loking forward to it; it was perfectly natural, of course, but having it here would make things a bit...complicated.
She grabbed the phone from a bedside table and carried it over to Mazz, holding it out to him. And then she raised an eyebrow. "Mazz, are you okay? You said you can't walk...and you look pretty flushed. Are you getting sick?" she asked, brow furrowing in concern.
-
"Yes. Your outfit."
For some reason, repeating the words 'It's a Tuathi thing' just wasn't cutting it for him. Instead all he could think about was just...her and her body. More so the part that he could just...really see. Not that he didn't like what he had seen but he felt dirty that he was getting aroused from it. She was his friend after all.
What was she doing over there now? She sounded like she was shuffling about. Why wasn't she getting the phone for him? She wasn't moving! Argh. What the hell was she doing. He'd have to just explain it more to her. How to bring up that because she decided to wear a pair of bikini bottoms where her ass hung out that he wasn't...comfortable for that matter.
It was a Tuathi thing.
"No...no it's not...look they don't...it's not like a pattern or anything like that alright? Clothes hug the body and they show off parts of the body that people want to see. Accentuate the rear...breasts...gr oin, that sort of thing. You're...accentuating yourself a little...a little too much for me. It isn't...it has nothing to do with your season or anything like that. There's no scent it's just that you're showing your rear end to the world and it's..." Oh what the hell. It was a Tuathi thing. She didn't understand arousal when it wasn't a season, and she never really cared about that. It was all just...there was nothing in her mind. No desire and such.
"it's a very beautiful rear end. That's why. It looks great so..." Ugh. Did they seriously not understand arousal and sex? Would he have to give her some lesson on the whole thing? Though, she did get him the phone and he took it from her and coughed a few times. "It's...you Teidra. Look...just...This is how it goes alright? In a lot of humanoid species, sex can be spontaneous. It's generated mostly through hormone control and through the brain. When men see a pleasing erotic sight, like a woman's body in skimpy clothing, with parts of their bodies showing, the mind reacts and it sends stimuli to the body, which sends blood to the...to the..." Why him? "The groin, and the penis becomes erect. SO with you in your...thong, I got to see everything." Well there. Now if he could get a space station or a small meteor to just go through his skull and kill him, that would be fantastic. No such luck however.
"So...I just...I'm going to get you something that doesn't accentuate your rear end so much alright?" With that he called up room service and asked for Will. Through some chuckling and laughing on the other end finally he got Will to agree to bring up a pair of bikini bottoms for Teidra. Thankfully Will was a good judge of sizes. Mazz turned the phone off and set it down on a nearby table as he sighed. Alright. Things had quieted down...down there, and his face wasn't as flushed. He took a deep breath and when there was a knock on the door, Mazz headed straight for it.
Will was there, with the biggest grin he'd ever seen on someone. "Don't say a word Will. We're just friends and that's it. She wore...a thong and I can't...have her around me in that." Will grinned as he tried to look around Mazz. "Really? I could keep her company then if you want. You shouldn't force your clothing ideas on her." Of course, his voice was low and joking for that matter. Mazz just glared and took the black bikini bottoms that Will held before closing the door on Will, who went away laughing. He turned around to look at Teidra, making very sure to look above the neck at her as he held out the garment for her.
"Go into the bathroom and change there Teidra." Hopefully she would remember that whole speech he gave her about changing in the living room and...well subsequently he'd have to teach her about not being nude in front of the windows either. Ugh. Wouldn't that be something he needed. Someone to see the both of them in the hotel room with her naked. The scandals, of someone saying that they were naked together...and the one bed...He quickly shoved that thought from his mind before he'd have to sit down once again.
This day was just...going to be better afterward. It had to be.
-
Accentuating herself too much?
Er...she glanced backwards at herself, twitching her tail off to the side, then turned and blinked up at Mazz again, a sort of bewildered expression on her face. She was supposed to cover up more? But she was going to be in the water! Jeez...next thing she knew and humans would get all weird about her wearing shorts and showing her legs! Was there a part on the humanoid body that didn't get them hot and bothered? Still...she supposed it made a little more sense than the idea of every set of clothes having some sort of hidden meaning. All right. So no baring breasts or bottoms. Ever. She had it now.
Except, what he was saying made no sense. Though it did make her giggle suddenly, covering her mouth politely with a hand. "My...you think my rear's beautiful?" she laughed, and she looked backwards at herself again, still giggling. "I...well...it looks like a bottom to me. I've never had anyone tell me it's beautiful, that's...eheh...oh, you humans are strange!" she said, grinning up at him. She'd take that as a compliment, of course, even if it was a strange one. A beautiful bottom. Then if it was so beautiful, why would he want her to hide it? Ah, so many mysteries.
And then when he continued, Teidra had to muffle yet another giggle behind her hand. Oh...oh dear. He was explaining that to her like she didn't know. Perhaps many humans didn't? They were awfully body shy...
"Oh, I see, so you got an erection," Teidra said rather bluntly, smiling an almost sympathetic smile up at him as soon as she'd regained her composure. She shook her head. "Hee, Mazz, I know about all that. Tuathi males get hard, too. Hmm...but you're saying humans can mate whenever, and it's the sight of a body that effects them?" She tilted her head and tapped her chin thoughtfully, then laughed. "How strange. It's mostly scents that effect us; we're used to nudity. I'll keep this in mind from now on, though. That makes more sense, though you didn't get to see everything, Mazz."
She shook her head again, looking perfectly collected, not blushing even slightly, though she did step backwards a respectful distance away from Mazz to wait for him to make the phone call, hands folded behind her back. Something that didn't accentuate things so much then, eh? She sighed a little and waited, then looked to the door when a knock finally came, though she let Mazz take care of that. Apparently it was Will that came, and his line about keeping her company was a little odd...she already had company! Oh well. Soon enough Mazz was back, holding out a new pair of bottoms for her.
Which...huh? They...well, she could see that they covered more, but they still looked like a pair of underwear. How did that make that big of a difference? Oh...humans...
She'd never understand them!
"Thank you, Mazz," she said as she took them with a small smile before, remembering his words, she headed to the bathroom, shut the door, and changed into the new bottoms. She came back out a minute or two later, her bottom now covered and a hole torn through them for her tail to poke out--she'd apparently torn it herself with her claws--and the thong in one hand. Walking over to Mazz, she held it out to him. "What should I do with this one? Hmm...and this is better now? I can't really see too much of a difference myself, but..." She shook her head and laughed softly. "This won't bother you so much? We can go to the water now?"
-
She really didn't know did she? This couldn't have been an act. She was just so...
So...
Innocent.
At least she seemed to understand it? It was good to know that she eventually got things. He didn't really want to have to explain things three times in a row to her. He would have to get her a book though...find a way to teach her without really having to actually teach her. Mazz got flustered about that whole thing, it wasn't something that you talked about either. You learned about it in school...OH! He could get her one of the teaching disks. She could wear one of the helmets that used holographic technology to put her into an artificial environment that was like a school of some sort. That would be a good way to do it!
"I uhm..." Mazz's face went red as he coughed uncomfortable. "It's not something that...you should like. It's not something that I should like either." He had to put this the right way for her. She seemed to be very happy at this point, but his face just got redder and redder at this point. He didn't like the idea of her just...giggling and laughing. At least she seemed sort of pleased at this point. She was still giggling about it though...even as he went on. Ugh.
"Ugh. That's....that's one way of putting it." She was just so...composed. She didn't care. It was just something to her. He sighed, shaking his head. At least his face wasn't burning as hot anymore. "No...Teidra. I shouldn't...HAVE these feelings for you alright? You're my friend. Not my...girlfriend or lover. There's no...prospect of sexual relations for us. I shouldn't be aroused by you for that matter." Sure, he could get aroused by...random women and all but...Teidra was his roommate basically, someone that he had rescued. How could they ever think about...about that together? It wasn't something that he cared to think about at this time.
When he became a lot more stable he headed to get the door where Will was waiting with his snide remarks. At least Teidra didn't seem to get the remark from Will. Sometimes having her...innocent actually was a good thing.
Mazz waited for her and when she returned he coughed a few times, taking the old pair from her carefully and tossing it onto the dresser. "We'll just leave them there for now." Ugh, his face was red once more, but thankfully he wasn't aroused by it all. That was a surprise because...the fact it had been so close to her body and gah! No! That wasn't a good thing to think about. Think about swimming. Yeah. The beach. The water. There, much better.
"Well, the difference may not be noticeable to you Teidra but it is to me." He told her simply. Ugh. Why did she have to do be so...beautiful and yet naive. This was had to be a test of some sort on him. She wasn't an android, his scans had told him that, so TRIM couldn't have put it together for that matter. Whatever she was, a test or not, he still...just had to be careful for that matter.
"It won't bother me at all. Yes, let's get to the water. We'll be better off there."
It was just a little walk to the beach. Not many people were there, and for good reason. People never swam in front of the resort. They had the entire island, and very few people were allowed to actually go here after all. You had to be TRIM, or had a little sway over the Settians for that matter. There were some people from other planets, not of TRIM, but they usually stuck to staying inside or wandering the more...private side of the island. Personally, at this point, Mazz decided that it would be prudent to stay near the resort.
There was at least...four people within view. There was only one person in the waters, one of the Settian Guards just on the outside of the reef swimming around the island. They helped to ensure no one drowned, and none of the dangerous creatures invaded. Mazz headed down to the water's edge, letting the warm water and heated sand pass over his feet. Oh...
Oh that was divine.
His eyes closed and he let out a loud pleasant sigh.
"Alright Teidra. We're going to go into the water up to our waists." This is how he learned to swim Mazz mused as he walked into the gentle current of the water until he was up to his waist. Ahhh...that was good. Still, the prospect was later on, the hot tubs. After they became sore from teaching her how to swim, they could go at night to the hot tub and just relax in it. Oh that would be wonderful. Mazz looked down at the water, it was crystal clear, he could see the finite sands at his feet, and the colourful fish swimming around lazily. They were small, no bigger than a finger or so, but they were so...friendly for that matter. He gave the water a flick of his finger and all the fish scattered. Ah...that was just fun.
Ahem. Right. Teidra.
"Now, when you get out here Teidra, we're going to lay you down on your stomach. I'll hold your arms to give you some balance, and you're just going to start kicking your feet and keeping your head above the water. I'll keep you from moving forward. Then we'll move onto trying to get your hands and arms tuned into swimming, and then eventually you'll learn to move both your arms and legs. Eventually you'll learn to swim without me holding you above the water." The thing he was worried about was her legs. Her feet weren't human feet, so who knew if she would be able to move through the water just like a human.
Well, they'd find out soon enough wouldn't they?
-
The fact that Mazz seemed to feel like he had to explain himself--and his perfectly natural bodily functions--only amused Teidra more, but out of respect for him she kept her mouth shut. Humans seemed so ashamed about these things, which was so strange to her; how could you be ashamed of your own body and its reactions? In any case, he was right about one thing: there was no prospect of sexual relations for them. He was a human, after all, and she was Tuathi. They were different species. She wasn't sure that offspring could be produced between a Tuathi and another species and, thus, there was simply no point to mating. That was all right by her, too, since she never had been too keen on the idea of having children of her own. Sure, the whole community raised the children so it wasn't much work for the real mother, but the whole process of mating and carrying a child to term always seemed wholly unpleasant. It was expected, though, and natural, so if she was back home and her season came around, yes, she would do it.
But she wasn't there, so she didn't have to worry about being fought over, mated with, and pregnant for nine months before going through a painful labor and then starting the process anew a couple months after that. She felt a little selfish for being glad about that, but...it wasn't like it mattered here, anyway.
"It's alright, Mazz. I understand there's no chance of that. You're a human, I'm a Tuathi. We cannot produce offspring," was all she said with a slight shrug of her shoulders. To her, those few words explained everything. Tuathi simply didn't mate for pleasure, nor did very many form long-term relationships with one another.
Once the issue with the bikini bottoms was resolved--though Teidra was a little surprised that Mazz set the old bottoms on the dresser instead of getting rid of them completely with how evil he'd made them out to be--they were on their way down to the beach, Teidra's hooves clicking lighty on the sidewalk until they could finally reach the sand. She'd taken off the rubber hoof-covers, no longer really needing them here. The sidewalk wasn't made of smooth tile, after all, so her hooves could handle it, and once she stepped off into the sand...it was as though walking through sand was easier on her than walking on hard, level ground.
One may have expected it too be difficult for her to walk through sand with hooves, but it turned out to be quite easy for her, maybe even easier than for a human. Her hooves were rather large, not small and dainty, and the two toes spread out as she walked to absorb the impact and make sure she didn't sink into the snow--or in this case, sand. Teidra smiled a little, enjoying the sand's warmth and the feeling of the sun beating down on her, even if it was warmer than she was used to.
But that was what the water was for, right?
It was so quiet and secluded out here, too...a bit too quiet and secluded for her, since she was used to great groups of people and the wide open spaces made her feel a little too unprotected, but she reminded herself that she wasn't on Ren'unis, and Mazz has said there were no predators here. She took a deep breath, forced the tension out of her muscles, and stepped forward and into the water until it was swishing around her hooves, warm and pleasant.
"It's so pretty here..." she murmured quietly, more to herself, as she gazed across the turquoise waters.
But that was when Mazz spoke, bringing her back to herself, and she looked up and over at him. "Oh, we are? Alright...coming, Mazz..." Nervously she watched Mazz walk into the water, but she was quick to follow after him, trusting him, even as the water crept past her knees, thighs, and finally to her waist, still comfortably warm but...that didn't stop her from being a little anxious. She was now in deeper water than she'd been in her life, as the deepest before this had been baths and the like. A good foot shorter than Mazz, she had to stop a few feet before him or the water would have gone up past her stomach, and with the gentle rise and fall of the water as the waves came and receded, it made it a little difficult for her to keep her balance.
She was so focused on staying grounded that she didn't notice the fish at all.
"On my stomach? Okay...ah, how should I--ahh!" she gave a little squeak and practically lunged forward at Mazz, latching onto his arm and looking around wildly into the water. "M-Mazz! Something just tugged my tail! Something just--"
And that was when she finally saw them. The little colorful fish swimming about, along with bits of loose sea grass. Instantly she relaxed, though she still held onto Mazz's arm with one hand, and she extended her other hand curiously and watched as the fish gathered around it to inspect it, a few bolder ones nibbling at her fingers with toothless mouths. Teidra cracked a smile and gave a soft, sheepish giggle. "Oh...it was just them. None of them bite, do they?"
"Naw, those ones are out past the reef," came a feminine voice from behind the two. Teidra blinked and glanced over her shoulder to see another woman who--what?
The first thing she noticed was the white hair. The next thing she noticed were the green eyes. Both were probably really strange things to notice first about this woman, though, considering she obviously wasn't human. Then again, neither was Teidra so of course she wouldn't care about that aspect. A human might have first noticed the hooves, small and dainty and half obscured by white, wooly fur that covered the rest of the woman's legs up to just below her knee. From there on up she was mostly humanoid, more curvy and solidly built than the willowy Teidra. Her hair was thick and curled, like wool, and was short and pulled into two loose pigtails that reached down to her jaw. Instead of human ears, a sheep's ears grew, and tufts of that same thick fur grew about her elbows.
She was dressed in a simple brown bikini with a faded floral pattern and a pair of black sunglasses were perched atop her head, and she was sitting a little ways up on the shore, right where the water met the sand.
"Heh, sorry if I'm poking my nose where it don't belong, but I just saw you guys come down and, well...can't pass up the chance to say hello to a fellow ungulate and her..." She let her eyes pass over Mazz, grinning. "Mate?"
-
That still kind of stung though. She said it so calmly.
No chance.
Well good! Right. That was good. Still, even being told there was no chance....though he chuckled a little bit. "That's...it doesn't matter if we can't produce offspring Teidra. But, we don't need to get into...that particular conversation at this time." He gave a small embarrassed cough, and decided to just drop this. She really didn't just understand this sort of thing did she? He wished there was a way to tell her about humans and their 'odd mating habits' but really that was a subject he was scared of. Sure he had partaking in sex before but...talking about you just never...it wasn't what you talked about. On dates, it was either going to happen or it wasn't afterward.
Mazz walked with Teidra, noting that she wasn't wearing her little rubber soled boots anymore. Of course, it was probably silly to think she would need them here. There was lots of wood, sand, rugs and carpet in the hotel or around it, so really she was safe from not having to use those rubber boots.
Though at this time he was pretty surprised that she was able to walk on the sand easier than him. That was just a little unfair wasn't it? His feet sunk a bit, while she just seemed to glide along it easier than he ever could. Still he...well...erm. He could swim! Yeah. She couldn't swim. He smiled a little at that thought. Of course, he would have to teach her swimming, and he would, but he really wished he could walk over the sand like she did. Plus, if some careless person had left a sharp shell or broken bottle on the ground, she wouldn't get cut...he would though.
Still, it was very unlikely there would be a broken bottle here. The Settian were good about keeping everything very clean. At least he hoped they were still really good at that sorta stuff.
"Don't worry Teidra, it'll be fine. You can't possible get hurt here for that matter, and i"m here to make sure everything is fine." Mazz smiled at her as he beckoned her to come to him, and slowly she did. He never really saw how short she really was till now, and he was amused by it. The water was much deeper on her than it was on him. "Hm? Oh, just give me your hands and then-ah!" Everything was suddenly cut short as she jumped at him, her hands latching onto his arms. Well...no claws, that was always good.
"They're just fish Teidra. That's all. Harmless and cute." Hah, just like she was too. She was cute, she was harmless, unless you counted those sharp hooves and of course the claws that could rip through his skin like they did to fabric so often...but other than that she was really just harmless. "What? The fish oh they're-" And again he never got to finish his sentence as he looked to someone who...looked...um.
Alright.
Now something was really starting to be funny. He looked to Teidra for a moment, to his own reflection in the water, and then to the woman again. White hair. Green eyes. No this wasn't funny anymore. Another...another woman of...animal influence who had white hair and green eyes. Oh no this was perfectly normal. Now he was really sure that someone was testing him. He'd have to go and talk to some of his TRIM friends and see if there was a rumour or there was something going on behind his back he didn't know about. They must be making fun of him or playing a cruel joke on him. How exactly did you find one woman who was...deer like and had white hair and green eyes and then stumble along a woman who looked...looked...
A sheep perhaps? Her ears sort of looked like it...and her pupils were squared. Alright. Sheep for now. He wasn't as...erm...homely as Teidra was. No She was a lot more curvy. Mazz licked his lips nervously, careful not to stare or look...lower. Still. He cursed peripheral vision because he could see quite a bit from here. Erg. This wasn't his day. This really wasn't his date.
However his eyes went wider and his face flushed a little bit as she spoke. What?! Mate?! That...No they weren't! "M-mate? Me? U-uh no. No no not me. I'm just erm..." Who was he? For some reason all thought was lost on him for a few seconds. "Her friend. We ah...are room mates. She lives with me. Erm...I'm ahm...Mazz, Mazz L. Tombs. It's a-ah...nice to meet you Miss..." Alright, anyone with half a brain could tell Mazz was almost completely flustered. His rigid posture, blushing face, stuttering, and if anyone could really miss it, it was all this new woman's fault. Well, it could get worse of course, he could get...get...another ...ahm...another bout of excitement. Yeah. That's what it was. Ugh. He would NEVER live that down either.
He wasn't going to imagine it, because if he did, well...there was no telling what would happen. Probably a lot of shame and those innocent quips that Teidra always had to pipe up with. She'd probably mention the hotel room incident and her thong and...Ugh. Best not to think of it at this point. Still. He had to wonder how two women that were part animal looked so...erm...beautifu l.
-
"Oh, room mates, gotcha. So you are still mates," the sheep woman quipped cooly, though she was grinning with obvious amusement at Mazz's oh-so flustered expression while Teidra just stared blankly back and forth between the two, wondering why Mazz looked so stiff and rigid and why the woman kept using the word "mate" when Mazz had clearly said they weren't. Maybe she was hard of hearing or something. And why was Mazz so red again?
"That's all I asked," the woman continued, eyeing them both slyly. "Hrm. You do know 'mate' is another word for friend, too, right? Sheesh. Chillax."
"Um...I think you misunderstood..." Teidra said slowly, blinking a few times. She glanced over at Mazz, raising both eyebrows in inquiry, and then looked back to the other woman. "See, mates can be friends, sure, but mates produce offspring together. We're not mates, miss. We are just friends that live together." Clearly she had been confused by Mazz's use of room mates, but the only meaning that word had where she came from was the definition she had stated--mates produced children. That was it. It wasn't even a word that implied a relationship where she came from.
The sheep woman laughed again and shook her head, leaning back on her hands and stretching her legs out in front of her, half burying her hooves in the sand. "Pfft, you guys act like I really care about your relationship or something. Honestly, you--" She pointed to Mazz. "--could be a john and she could be a dollar whore, or you could be brother and sister with some really messed up parents, I really don't care. Just trying to make conversation! Not many people are out here so it's kinda boring, and I always was a socialite." She gave a little shrug.
"Anyway! I'm Bianca. What about you guys? Didja guys just get here? I don't think I saw you around earlier. Well, obviously I didn't, you guys are kinda hard not to notice."
Teidra gave a little smile and started to bow in greeting, but nearly toppled over into the water when the sand shifted under her hooves. She quickly restraightened and lightly held onto Mazz's arm for support, deciding to forego a little politeness in place of face-planting into the water. "I'm Teidra, Bianca, and this is Mazz. It's a pleasure to meet you," she said, but refrained from saying more. Instead she glanced up to Mazz. She'd let him decide on if he wanted to say more or less on that subject except...well, hopefully he could talk, he'd been so flustered and stuttering. "You okay, Mazz? Another erection?"
Even though that was said quietly and concernedly--both because humans seemed to have fairly defective bodies that had weird reactions to random things and because she wanted to make sure something else wasn't wrong--Bianca still burst out laughing and nearly fell over into the sand. "Ahahah, oh yeah...not mates...uh huh..."
-
"Well...yeah I suppose...in a way we are still...er...mates." Well this was a really confusing and flustering time wasn't it? Things were supposed to be fun! Instead they ran into this...this woman who really wasn't all that...um. What was the opposite of being naughty? Like Teidra...Oh! Pure and innocent and not full of debauchery. He really preferred Teidra innocent bliss to this woman's straight forwardness.
Mazz blinked a few times, her gaze causing his face to turn red once more. "I know that c-can happen. Just you were using it in the form that mates were two people who were having sexual relations instead of just normal friendly relations." AT least Teidra was there to just have everything travel over her head. She was innocent, she was strange, she was fun to have around. It was just nice to know that she could defuse the situation for that matter.
But this sheep woman was just...
"A John?" He looked to Teidra. "Dollar whore? Wait...brother and sister? Now see that's just ignorance right there. No amount of incestuous relationships could possible form a child that looks like Teidra. That would just be impossible." See now he couldn't just let that go! Brother and sister with strange parents indeed. Pah. That was not something that could happen. But they were quickly moving onto something else. However, something rung in Mazz's mind. That word. Socialite. He had heard that word used before somewhere...on TV or something...it meant whore in his mind.
Well, I guess they weren't a couple of people that blended into the population here. On his own he might but...he had Teidra with him, a strange woman deer thing. Well...this vacation was going to be AH! Teidra suddenly moved, almost falling over, and he had to help her up a little bit and stop her from going face first into the water. Teidra seemed rather friendly and he let Teidra do most of the talking. That was until something she said made his face go really red. "W-wh-what?! N-no! GaH! Teidra! Th-that's not...that's not appropriate to say! N-not in p-public you know!" Oh this was great. He would never live this down, not ever for that matter. Mazz put a hand up to his cover his eyes, giving a small shake of his head. How...how could she possibly think that was the right thing to say?!
"It's a long embarrassing story that involves her and wearing a thong bikini. " As long as Mazz couldn't see people really he'd be fine. He just had to fight all those urges and the shame and the guilty and stuff. Ugh. Sometimes being a human was so bloody difficult. This just wasn't fair at all to him. "And w-we're not mates! Alright j-just never you mind Bianca. It really is just...ugh." At least he really didn't have another erection, or else he wasn't sure he would be able to stay like this. He'd really just have to dive straight into the water and escape from these two.
The blush however finally started to abate and he sighed. This was just..."Alright Teidra, do you want to learn to swim or not?" Great, now he had to be extra careful around Teidra didn't he? She seemed to like to just blurt things out to random people. Of course, this was really the first incident, but by the way she had said it, he knew that she was just saying it as calmly as if she were talking about the weather. He couldn't get back at her either...well he could try he supposed but right now they were just...going to teach her how to swim and he really didn't want to mess that up for her.
"If you'll excuse us Bianca, I'm going to give Teidra some lessons on swimming. She comes from a place that doesn't have any water that isn't frozen or in sub zero rushing currents." Get off the subject, and focus on something else. Like swimming. There was no way for him to get...that condition right? He would be too focused. Just as long as he didn't...touch a lot of her areas or get to see too much. A quick clearing of his throat he started to step a little bit more into the water. "Well Teidra? Are you ready? Just put your arms out to me, and I'll grip you by the forearm and then you want to lean forward and start floating on your stomach. Then just start kicking your legs. Not frantically, just a little bit."
-
Bianca only laughed harder, holding her stomach as though in pain as tears gathered at the corners of her eyes from laughing so much. Oh, this was rich! First the guy acts all offended not at the john and whore comment, not at the incestual implications, but at the impossibility of incest creating a child like Teidra, and then that chick goes and blurts out something about another erection? Oh dear lord, these two were going to kill her. It wasn't like she actually cared about the state of the guy's penis or their relationship or whatever, it was just the way the girl said it and the way he reacted that made it so comical.
Teidra, on the other hand, winced and ducked her head, slapping a hand over her mouth in horror. "O-oh, I'm so sorry, Mazz, I forgot!" she said quietly, cheeks flushing a little--though not with embarrassment at the subject matter, rather she was embarrassed by her own mistake. She really was trying to get human etiquette down, but after sixty years among her own race versus a month among humans, well...even seemingly simple things had a hard time sticking. Human etiquette was in a lot of ways the exact opposite of Tuathi etiquette. It was strange. Humans could be so abrasive about some things, yet so avoidant of other things. Tuathi weren't body shy in the least and they were blunt and to the point, saying what they meant instead of subtly hinting at things, but they were also polite. Humans were ridiculously weird about their bodies and the bodies of others, yet she'd overheard a number of them speaking in a way that made her blush from the coarseness of it all.
Indeed, harsh language and swearing embarrassed Teidra where sex and nudity didn't.
It was just tough and confusing. So many things to remember. She was still having culture shock, honestly, and she felt a million miles away from even beginning to understand how their social system worked. It was lonely. That was the first thing she'd noticed. Hardly any physical contact, and Mazz had lived alone before she'd come. It still made her feel a bit isolated. And she didn't even know where to begin when it came to deciphering whether Mazz's society was a patriarchy or a matriarchy and...oh, it was just a big headache.
She finally looked up again when Mazz began to explain, smiling sheepishly, and by that time Bianca was finally regaining control of herself.
"Ahaha...a thong, that's it?" she finally chuckled, sitting back upright and massaging her ribs. "Good lord, that's a little pathetic. I mean it's a bikini!" Then she paused, rubbing her chin between her thumb and forefinger. "You must not have seen many bathingsuits. Or women for that matter. Then again...depending on the type of thong, I could see it. Or if she'd been bending over or had her legs spread..." She gave a teasing smile and a wink, then shrugged. "But right, whatever, you're not mates. Suit yourselves, I won't bug you anymore. Get to your swimming, then."
She stood then, brushing sand off her bottom and the backs of her legs. "I just hope you two put sunscreen on or you're gonna get fried. This planet is nice and all, but there're still UV rays. Which reminds me, I need to reapply." With that she turned and started to head further back up to the shore where a little striped bag could be seen, and if one were so inclined to to look at her bottom, they'd notice that she also had a tail--only it was small and wooly, like a sheep's tail after it had been docked.
Shaking her head a little, Teidra looked up to Mazz. "That was...strange. Ah, anyway, yes, I'd love to learn to swim still," she said with a small smile, holding her hands out to him as instructed so he could help her onto her stomach. But she wasn't quite looking at him, still a little ashamed because she'd shamed him. "II am really sorry about what I said, too," she whispered, glancing up once to make sure Bianca wasn't within hearing distance. "I didn't know it'd embarrass you so much and...I forget these things."
She fell quiet again when Bianca returned, carrying her striped bag with her and resuming her position where the water net the sand. She took her sunglasses off and set them down beside her, pulled out a small, colorful bottle, and emptied some of the lotion into her hand before she began to rub it into her arms and shoulders. "Hope you guys don't mind if I watch, I've really nothing more exciting to do. Hmm...if you need help, by the way, I'm a pro swimmer! Not literally, but I can do laps around most people!" she said with a grin, starting on her chest and stomach.
-
She was laughing at them now. That was just a little mean wasn't it? Had this been someone else though, he probably would be at least mildly amused by the whole situation...but no, this wasn't someone else, this was him. Why did he have to bring someone along that would just end up making comments that...Granted at the same time he had saved her and all from a horrible death...he wondered who got the better of the bargain? Now he knew Teidra was like this, that she would make those comments, she had done them a few times after watching TV during the month. She'd say things about what she saw on TV, and most of them were harmless while others involved...things.
Human etiquette was just...different from her own etiquette, which was a whole lot more abstract and...there wasn't really humility it seemed on her planet. He had really learned that with her whole...thong incident just a few minutes ago.
"I don't...see much of those thank you." He coughed a few times, his face a little red. He really...had trouble seeing those sort of things. "N-no, I'm not one who really...er...sees a lot of women in bikinis...and...it was just a thong. I didn't...know there were types..." The next bit of her words made that blush just burn brighter on his face, his eyes closed as he groaned in annoyance. That...that wasn't...he did NOT need that mental picture. He really didn't. Not at this time, not after...not after the...the incident. Yes. "T-thank you, so v-very kind of you." Thankfully she was going to go now. Ugh...that was....well that was better.
"Sunscreen? How...primitive." Mazz reached down to his hip where just under the hem of his swimsuit was a small metal disk of some sort. "It creates a electromagnet shield that blocks UV radiation. Waterproof, invisible, and no having to deal with things like sunscreen." The woman just stood up, brushed herself off and started off for some reason. Now...alright Mazz was a man, and he did look at her behind as she walked away, and he noticed the tail. What...? It was...he wasn't sure what it was...but it was some sort of sheep tail perhaps.
So she was a sheep woman.
Did she baaah perhaps?
Graze on grass maybe?
"W-what? Oh! Yeah. That was strange." He blinked back into reality as he looked to Teidra, taking her hands and holding her by the arms as he helped her to lay on her stomach so she could learn to swim. "It's...it's...don't worry about it Teidra. I know you're sorry just...please don't talk about my genitals so...well just don't talk about them. They really don't need to know that sort of thing...remember, while you shouldn't be ashamed of your body, you stills shouldn't tell anyone about them, or really...show them off so much. At least...at least not around me. I don't need that sort of distraction." He really didn't, he hated a distracted, and he saw his hormonal attractions to be...well the biggest distraction. He even found masturbation to really be a waste of his time. He saw no point to it all. He had sexual relationships before in his time, but they were nothing more than...well really experimentation of sorts.
After all, he had to learn about that sort of thing sooner or later.
However it really never did much for him. He always got caught up in work once more. He liked work because it was doing something good for the people, in a manner of speaking. Sure he wasn't...truly saving them but one day he would...he hoped. "Er...yeah...sure I suppose it's a free planet, you can do what you like." Mazz scoffed as she boasted, and for that matter he made sure not to look at her as she started to work on her chest and stomach. Erk!
There was some sort of scary test that was he privy to, maybe she was just trying to tempt him or taunt him...or maybe she just really needed to put on some sunscreen.
With Teidra now in the water, holding her up above the water line, he could teach her. "Now, Teidra, keep your head up, and then start to kick your feet slowly. Not too fast, but keep your legs straight and start kicking them. You should feel a bit of movement forward, but I'm going to stop that from happening. And the worse thing you can do is panic. Just keep in mind that if I do let go of you, you'll be fine. The water is only a few feet deep, low enough for you to easily stand up in. So just keep that in mind." He remembered the first time he ever had lesson. Two feet of water, and he was scared to death. He almost drowned as well, because he panicked, but thankfully there was an instructor there to save him.
-
Bianca only rolled her eyes as Mazz showed off his little sun-blocking device. So her method was primitive, was? Bah! "Hah, no wonder you two are so white. Primitive it may be, but I don't want the UV rays blocked, I just want them filtered. I'm trying to get this thing called a tan. You guys could use one too! So if you wanna borrow any, this stuff is good," she said, rubbing some into her shoulders and shifting the straps to get under them. "Besides," she added, "money doesn't grow on trees and I have to go the cheap way."
It was actually true that she simply needed to reapply the sunscreen. It wasn't really a test, nor a deliberate attempt to get anyone hot and bothered, as she'd already spent the day out sunbathing and swimming and soaking up the rays. She was pleased, too, to see that she was starting to develop a noticeable tan. Yay! Unlike Teidra, who couldn't tan and simply burned, Bianca's skin tone wasn't a bleached white, but more of a peachy caucasian tone that could tan...and burn.
Teidra, of course, didn't notice and if she had, she wouldn't have cared. Right this instant, however, she was more focused on the water and the fact that she'd just been flipped onto her stomach in it. Her first instinct was to panic. She wasn't used to the feeling of weightlessness, not being able to feel anything solid beneath her, and she nearly missed what Mazz said about genitals and distractions and shame--which confused her; don't be ashamed of your body, but keep it hidden?--as she attempted to struggle and right herself, but Mazz was holding her arms and she only ended up dunking her face in the water. She came back up coughing and spitting, and then immedietely went still when she caught what he said about panicking.
Ohh...
Right...not that deep...
She gave an embarrassed smile, cheeks coloring, and coughed a few more times before she began to kick her legs. "S-sorry...I'm not used to this," she said, trying as best she could to keep her head above the water. Of course, her chin was still submerged, and she gagged suddenly when a little more water went in her mouth, which she promptly spat back out. "Ah, sorry...the water's salty!" And she crinkled her nose and made a disgusted face to show exactly what she thought of that. "I heard oceans were salty, but I didn't know it was like this. Blech...that's horrible..."
But she kept kicking her legs as she'd been told, and as it turned out her hooves were ideal for swimming. The two toes spread and there was webbing between them, making it easy to propel herself. It was probably also a good thing that she didn't tire quickly; slender though she was, she was built strong and quite used to manual labor or running long distances without cramping or tiring--that was a skill everyone needed on Ren'unis!
"So...just like this? Am I doing it right?" she asked after a moment, careful not to get any more water in her mouth.
By that time, Bianca had finished rubbing sunscreen onto her legs and had gotten her back as best as she could alone. Smiling, she put the sunscreen away in her bag, stood up, and headed casually into the water after the two. "Hmm, nice, looks like you got a natural swimmer there. Nice tail, too." She laughed, waist deep in the water by then, but she walked out a bit further until she could tread water near them. "Hope you don't mind, but this was my swimming spot before you guys came. So we'll just have to share, 'kay? Besides, you're staying at the hotel too, aren'tcha? I figure us guests should mingle! There aren't many of us, so it gets kinda lonely, eh? So where you guys from?" she asked.
-
Well maybe it wasn't that primitive, she was giving them a bit of a show after all, and Mazz couldn't truly complain about that...but he didn't really feel like enjoying it either. Not when Teidra would be so close to his groin region in a few moments. That would just go over very badly and she'd probably...well this was Teidra. She didn't seem to upset over the last time he got aroused so...huh...no telling what would happen. All he knew is that with Bianca there, it would no doubt go very badly. "I don't really need to tan, it would just go away after I leave the planet and head back to home." It was true too, and besides, Mazz prided himself on his skin.
As far back as he could remember, looking through old holograms of his family, pictures even, his family had pale white skin. He was keeping up with tradition, up with what had been great. Besides, some people had...told him they really liked how he looked...pale...whi te hair...green eyes. So he wasn't really going to change it for that matter. "I suppose not...but with several degrees and doctorates, plus an extensive library filled with blueprints, I pretty much just build the gadget like this for a fraction of the price. Getting the supplies can be difficult but...you get by." Life on TRIM was sweet, there was no doubt about that. Employees were taken care of at least.
Teidra seemed a lot more interested in the water and not having her face plunged underwater. Mazz was doing his best to help her. He probably should have told her about isometrics, using her arms to push against his and hold herself above water. Granted he wasn't too strong but the water made everything lighter at least. "Just keep your head up and push against my arms, and don't panic. Everything is fine after all." He reassured her carefully. He didn't want her panicking, and she seemed to stop thrashing a bit, her face flushing with red.
Crisis averted!
"No apologies needed Teidra." He did note that she was at least kicking probably, trying however to keep her head above water as well. He chuckled at her crinkled up face at the obvious distaste for the salt water. Hm, didn't deer love to lick salty stones? Apparently they didn't have that much in common then! "If you keep your mouth closed Teidra, the water won't get in. Try breathing calmly through your nose." There was something though that Mazz noticed. She was really good at swimming. He had to now brace himself a little bit and push forward on her, as well as keep her up, as she was getting quite a bit of thrust from her legs.
Well, apparently she was a natural swimmer then, which was always good. She'd start swimming laps with him in no time. Though, whether he would be able to keep up with her is another story. She was trained, he knew that from TRIM and the exercise rooms. She could for a long time, sprint even, and she had a lot of energy. Granted, he could stay awake for three days, but he couldn't run for those three days. Oh no, he'd die if he had to do that.
"Yep, you're doing great Teidra! Best swimmer I've seen!" She really was good, and soon they would move onto arm motions, and how to properly move your head from side to side and when to breathe. That was the most important part, more so with Teidra. Then would come floating, using natural buoyancy and what not. He wanted to teach her how to keep herself above the water leisurely and what not. "Hm? Oh yeah, you wouldn't think it by looking at her feet but they seem ideal for cutting through water." Mazz simply ignored the last comment, as it sounded like a trap.
He failed to realize that for a sheeple like Bianca or a Tuathi like Teidra, the word Tail didn't mean the behind, it literally meant...well their tail. Of course, Mazz would agree, he did really like Teidra's tail...er..the fluffy one, but her rear wasn't bad either. Argh. Best not to think about it. Luckily Bianca (Wow, luckily? And Bianca? A strange combination!) was there to cut through his thoughts and take his mind off of the whole thing. "Er...right. I suppose we will." Of course, on the way down from the beach he hadn't really seen anyone but...he wouldn't argue with her, no point honestly.
"We're from a solar system that revolves around a star called Sol. Teidra and I live on a space station near Earth and Mars. Quaint little place. I'm here for a vacation from my job. I'm ah...Doctor really." He didn't know if it would be smart telling her he was from TRIM, that he was a scientist there that conducted experiments on mages and he had saved Teidra from that life, but had to brand her a pet in the eyes of his administration and friends. Yeah, I'm sure Bianca would love to hear that part of his life story.
"I ah...suppose it does. You know if you want to, you can join us for dinner and what not later...maybe we'll go for a hot tub after." Mazz didn't really see her as anything but a lonely woman who just wanted a couple friends while she was here. He might as well be nice and extend an offer to her right? Although a little...boisterous and outspoken, she seemed nice.
What was the worst that could happen?
-
Teidra quickly shut her mouth and blushed again, a little embarrassed since that was the obvious solution to keeping the water out of her mouth. Of course, it was so obvious that she'd missed it as she was more focused on holding her head up, kicking her legs, and pressing down on Mazz's arms to better hold herself up. Then she just breathed through her nose and kept at it, feeling a little strange kicking so much but going nowhere. But then Mazz spoke up and told her she was the best swimmer he'd seen, and her blush actually deepened, though this time it wasn't with embarrassment.
"Thank you..." she said quietly, not used to the praise. And surely he was just flattering her. "But I'm sure you're much better. I've never done this before, and you're teaching me. I'm only learning from someone experienced." Of course, while the Tuathi lacked modesty in some areas, they made up for it in spades in others. It was always a little awkward, if a little secretly wonderful, to be praised for an accomplishment, though of course the proper and polite response was not to boast about it and strut about, which would only alienate others, but to downplay that accomplishment and quietly accept it--especially if you were female and the compliment came from a male.
Though, it really was strange here, and confusing, and a little obvious that the same standards her culture had didn't really apply here. She could remember the first time she'd seen a female scientist arguing with a male one and she'd nearly walked into a wall watching them, transfixed, especially when the male conceded. You wouldn't see something like that on Ren'unis. It was a little unsettling--but only because it was so different.
In any case, she still felt like Mazz was only flattering her, because she didn't feel like a good swimmer. She could feel herself moving forward, and feel him push back against her, but she still felt awkward. But hopefully she was really doing something right!
Bianca grinned at Mazz, still easily treading water out a few feet from him. "Oh, I figured she'd be able to. I have hooves, too, you know, and we certainly don't just sink! We get by just fine," she said, idly watching the two. Teidra spared the woman a quick backwards glance, flicking her ears up and forward to keep the water from getting into them, and then promptly went back to focusing on kicking her legs. Good thing she was also a bit focused on keeping her mouth shut, otherwise she might have answered the question before Mazz. After he was done, she didn't correct him. Huh. That wasn't even a lie.
"Ohh, there. I've been to that solar system before. Lovely place, indeed," Bianca said conversationally, though she didn't sound altogether interested. "I've been all over though! I was born in the Milky Way galaxy, so it's a been there, done that sorta thing. It's nice, I just tire of places quickly. I could never settle down and be a homebody. The universe calls, and I only have one life to live, and all that corny stuff," she said with a laugh, before holding her breath and dunking her head under the water. She resurfaced a second later, pushing wet, curly white bangs from her eyes. Then she grinned, eyes sparkling with mirth.
"Doctor, eh? Hot. On some nights I'm a nurse, myself." She winked and swam in a little closer, just until her hooves could brush the sandy ground. "So's Teidra your patient then, eh?"
"If I get sick," Teidra murmured, and Bianca laughed and shook her head.
"Of course. Hmm...well! You know, Doctor Mazz, I'd love to join you two for dinner and a little soak in the hot tub. That's really sweet of you! Sounds really great right about now, too, because I've been swimming all day and I am a little hungry. Well, thanks for the invitation! You're such a good sport, even after I teased you," she said, wading a little closer so she could stand beside him and pat him on the shoulder.
These two sounded perfect. Normal. He had a good job it sounded like. and they lived in a normal place. Quaint, he called it. They didn't seem psycho, either! They both seemed a little shy. Hmm...
All she really needed to figure out was when they were leaving. She didn't have much time left, after all.
-
Well, at least he was able to somehow keep her in check with blushing. She never really seemed the type to be flustered, it was odd to say the least. She looked great when she blushed though, her innocent nature just seemed to increase ten fold even. He focused on her suddenly as she started to move a little more, her grip increased slightly and she was pushing down on him more, kicking so much. At least she got used to the closing her mouth thing first of all, instead of sucking down copious amounts of salt water, which could be dangerous after all.
"Hey, you're doing much better than I did when I first started out swimming Teidra. It's almost a second nature to you." He wasn't even really peppering it on that thick either, he meant it. She was doing amazingly, better than he expected her to do. However, she didn't seem to like the praise all that much, or she didn't show it at least, but he did wonder for that matter. If only he knew more about her, but he had been so preoccupied with work....he did know she loved affection, physical affection at least. He wasn't so sure about kissing, just quick pecks on the cheeks and such but...he wasn't that bold anyway.
At least her culture shock was over. Still, she was such a curious person, always asking questions when they went out for their walks. Not that he minded, but still, it was a little tiring after a while. She just loved to ask questions, and he couldn't do anything else but answer for her. It would help her learn, though he did usually just let her have free roam of the TV. Not that he was just going to let that...er...raise her so to speak, but it would help her understand and learn human society a little better. Though, explaining to her what a cartoon and a soap opera was, that had been interesting to say the least.
"Well at least someone around here knows something. Her species is a complete loss to me. She's got features of a deer, or at least a hooved animal of some sort, but the similarities sort of drop from there." He didn't think the hooves would truly help her, but they must have had something in their hooves that allowed them to move faster. "I didn't think you would sink, most creatures have some natural buoyancy to them." There was something odd about Bianca. She seemed...well too open really. It kind of made Mazz nervous, but then again, he wasn't used to people being so...up front with him? Usually he just minded his own business, and people would mind their own, but this was a vacation spot, they got all kinds here after all.
"It's what we call home I suppose. I haven't...had much desire to go outside the system, or even leave the galaxy." Well then, she just wanted to travel? He'd heard of people being afflicted with things like wanderlust, heard stories from some of the space ship captains of ships filled with just a few people traversing the galaxies in search of exotic adventure. For Mazz, none of that interested him. oh no, the universe was a big place full of lots of predators and unknown diseases. It was much smarter to just stay home then and not worry about anything like some plague from another galaxy.
When Bianca disappeared, Mazz rolled his eyes and sighed in relief. He couldn't bear to look at her. Something about seeing a woman with white hair and green eyes..and then seeing ANOTHER one...now he wasn't predispositioned to liking women with the same colour eyes and hair, but it did...sort of help really.
Not that he was looking for a romantic interest of course!
No, he wasn't really looking for that sort of thing! That'd be wrong, more so with Teidra. She was his friend and...sort of his pet in a way? She acted like a pet sometimes after all...
"Are you now? So you've had some medical training then! That's good, everyone needs a hobby after all, and helping people can be a good hobby." Honestly, it went over his head at that point, he didn't even think that it could be dirty. Still, the fact that she said it was hot sort of got him worried but...he decided that it was best not to think of it that. "She's a friend really, but I suppose Patient is a good term as well..." Mazz smiled a little bit as Bianca waded closer to pat him on the shoulder.
"Well, no reason we can't be friends, just a little teasing after all. All in good fun right?" He didn't think she'd really go through with it, but he was still going to ask her. You might as well make a few friends while you're here. It wasn't really like he would actually see her again after they left, so you could make all the friends you want...or in the case of one of the scientists back on TRIM said "have as many lovers as you want too." Apparently the man had a thing for the inhabitants, and not to mention the residents. Of course, he ended up getting married after knocking up one of the vacationing TRIM employees. He had a good laugh at that, during the wedding mostly. It just seemed so funny.
"So ah...Say, six o' clock then? I mean, that is if your leaving, if you're staying we can all go in one big group." Probably the best part was you didn't actually have to change. You could get food, go to the veranda and eat in peace there. No insects on this planet. Just naturally occurring animals, and some created animals from Earth's history...no insects, they were told how annoying they could be.
What was he getting himself into? At least he could keep his hormones and thoughts in check, unlike some other people that he knew back on TRIM. All he saw were friends at this time, well, and this Bianca. He wasn't sure what to think of her. Probably best not to think about that. "Alright Teidra, that's enough kicking for now." Slowly he helped Teidra back up into a standing position. Hrm. Probably best to show her just how to use your arms. Then she could just start practicing that way. She had the leg moving down pat, which was probably one of the most important things after all.
"Now I suppose I'll just demonstrate how to stroke your arms. Remember, you've got to use your legs to kick as well. Using arms and legs in conjunction." With that Mazz dived into the water. The moment he did, everything flooded from his mind. It was just focusing on two things now. Striking his arms out, fluid motions through the water while his legs kicked, propelling him through the water. There was nothing else in his mind, just the water. He seemed pretty good too, the way he cut through the water, his body acting like a torpedo as he did a few laps back and forth, about twenty feet or so in the two directions.
After a few minutes he stopped, wading carefully back up over to Teidra, running a hand through his hair. "Ah, haven't done that in a while...if only we had a pool back on the station." Mazz seemed a little more relaxed now, all that nervousness just seemed to slowly be melting away from him. The warm water was apparently doing him some good then. "It's basically like your trying to scoop through the water almost, you've got to cup your hands likes this," He showed her, cupping his hands that allowed him to basically propel him through the water. "And after that it's all a matter of just moving your head in time, allowing you to take a breath, then submerge so you can rotate to the other side, take a new breath, and repeat. You're going to be trying to extend your arms pretty far, so just do what you saw me doing, and moving your head in time to your strokes." He explained to her carefully, hopefully she got the gist of it from
his demonstration.
"Just remember, stay in the shallow water here, just in case. That way, you won't panic. Alright?"
-
Second nature? Teidra wasn't so sure about that, but she accepted the compliment quietly nonetheless. It certainly didn't feel like second nature, but maybe it was a latent instinct? She felt terribly awkward, but she also wasn't sinking. Smiling a little, lips pressed together to keep the water out, she focused on going through the motions though her ears were pricked to listen in on he and Bianca's conversation--and then she couldn't help but laugh at what Mazz said, though that soon turned into a cough as she sucked in some water in the process. Spitting it up, she tilted her head to keep her mouth above the water and gave another soft laugh.
"I've told you already, Mazz, I'm Tuathi," she reminded him gently, amused. Bianca raised an eyebrow, obviously none the wiser as to what a Tuathi was. "And you know I can tell you anything you want to know. You just have to ask." And when she said anything, she certainly meant anything. There was no such thing as forbidden knowledge or taboo subjects among her kind--unless it put them in jeopardy, that is. But aside from that, no subject was off limits, and Teidra certainly didn't think Mazz would put the Tuathi in any danger.
Thus, she felt comfortable telling him anything he asked, because goodness knows she asked him a lot of questions about his society and she still had plenty more questions to ask.
She just tried to spread them out. She didn't want to annoy him and besides, she had surmised a good bit just from watching Mazz and the other scientists--and from watching TV. Mazz certainly couldn't do the same thing to learn about Tuathi, but maybe he'd learned something about her over the month they'd been living together?
"Iiinteresting," Bianca said. "No idea what a Tuathi is, but I guess that's her so...huh. Anyway!" She rolled her eyes as he said he had no desire to go outside the galaxy. "How boring. Aren't you even curious about what's out there? Ah, whatev, it's your life. I know I'd go stir crazy, though."
Teidra pursed her lips and kept kicking her legs, even though Bianca's words had hit home. Stir crazy...she was starting to feel that. This whole trip was a huge relief to her because she finally got to be outdoors, to feel sol beneath her hooves and fresh air against her skin, to hear birds and see clouds. Tuathi were never meant to live behind steel doors in a sterile environment, with tile and controlled temperatures and no sunlight. And she missed home. She really did, and just thinking about it made her heart hurt a little. She didn't miss the predators, or the Others, but she missed her community and the sense of belonging.
She missed her friends. Even though she did have a new friend here who made her feel welcome and safe.
Her ears drooped a little and her kicks slowed, but then Bianca spoke up again and she picked up her pace again. She was finally starting to grow tired, but she kept on going stubbornly. She could run a lot longer without growing fatigued, but the water provided an added resistance that she was unused to.
"Not sure if you'd call it 'training', since I was self taught," Bianca said, grinning wryly and deciding to play along with Mazz. Either he was really that clueless or it really had gone over his head. She'd see how far she could go before--if--he got it. "But anatomy was always my favorite subject so I took to it quickly. I've also been a cop and a nun in my time. I like to work from the bedroom," she added with a wink, while Teidra only continued to kick, the comments soaring over her head and into the great beyond.
Then Bianca clapped Mazz on the shoulder again and barked a laugh. "Yep, all in good fun, no harm done. Glad you got a sense of humor! In that case, I'll just hang with you guys until six. I've got nothing better to do, and the only other folks around, really, are old folks. I like sticking within my own age group, we have more fun, eh? Anyway, I'll shut up for a sec, let you do your thing," she said as Mazz suddenly drew Teidra back up.
Teidra squeaked when she was righted and clung to Mazz for a moment which she got her bearings, breathing a bit heavily and shifting from one leg to the next as they ached a little from doing something they weren't used to doing. She did let go of him, though, when he mentioned demonstrating arm strokes, and then she watched him when he took off swimming, cutting through the water effortlessly. Bianca gave a short, playful whistle as he did his laps, and when he finally returned, Teidra listened intently as he explained the process.
It didn't look too hard...cup your hands, move your head, kick your legs, breathe. Scoop the water? "Then it's kind of like digging?" Teidra asked, tilting her head. "That doesn't seem that hard..."
"You might wanna show her doggy-style first," Bianca piped up with an impish grin before laughing and shaking her head. "Sorry, doggy paddling, I mean. It's easier for a first-timer. Try this first, Teidra. Don't worry about moving your head and stuff, just...swim like a dog." When Teidra gave her a blank look, she shook her head, waded deeper into the water, and began to demonstrate, kicking her legs, keeping her head above water, and paddling with her cupped hands. "Just like this. Really easy. Get the hang of that first, then go onto the fancy stuff Mazz showed you. But first, you might wanna get your hair out of the way."
Making her way back over to Teidra, she tugged the tie out of one of her pigtails and moved around to Teidra's back. Before Teidra could protest, she gathered up her hair and pulled it through the tie and tightened it at the nape of her neck. Teidra winced and yelped softly, and Bianca rubbed the back of her neck apologetically to soothe where she'd accidentally pulled at her hair. "There ya go. Now it won't get in the way. Sorry about that, but wet hair's a pain to tie up. Well, have at it!"
Thanking Bianca and looking to Mazz as though for guidance, Teidra lowered herself into the water until it was up to her chin, sticking right where she was in the shallows, and started to kick and paddle with her hands as she'd been shown, though she did more splashing than she did moving, flailing more than anything as Bianca giggled. "A-ah, this is more difficult when I'm not being held..." she gasped, finally getting herself under control and not splashing so much. Panting, head held above the water, she awkwardly and slowly managed to swim her way over to Mazz before she stood up again, face red from exertion and breath coming in quick gasps.
"I...I think I did it. Did I do okay, Mazz? Bianca?" Teidra asked between gasps, brushing wet bangs out of her eyes.
Bianca cleared her throat and coughed into her hand. "Nice...heh...rack, Teidra."
"...Rack...?" Blinking a few times, Teidra glanced around herself in confusion for a moment before she finally looked down--and gasped. "O-oh! I'm sorry!" she cried, quickly grabbing her bikini top and pulling it back up to cover herself. "I'm so sorry...I don't know how that happened..."
Bianca, however, did. But she just feigned innocence and gave another little cough.
Nope. She hadn't loosened the string around her neck when she'd tied up her hair. Not her!
-
She didn't seem to like the fact that he was giving her compliments, but he just wanted to bolster her, make her feel better about it, but that didn't seem like it was going to work out very well. He'd let it go, just focus on helping her to swim. Not like they didn't have all the time in the world after all, she'd get the hang of it. Plus there was...Bianca, and she seemed to know how to swim so perhaps she could be of use. Just...not the use that she really seemed to want at this time. Thankfully. He wasn't going to give into that of course. No, he was...he was stronger.
"I remember that Teidra, just...I don't know much about your people. I wish there was a book or something..." Mazz gave an uncomfortable cough however. "Well um....I don't...I think it's kinda awkward to ask someone about their people, I'd rather just...read about it instead." It would give him something to do on the late nights after all, but...maybe he would just have to talk to her bout it. "We'll see what happens though...I might just have to ask you things, find out more about your race and culture." That way he wouldn't feel so awkward around her, not knowing how to act, or how he probably should act with her.
Not on Vacation though. When they got back, that would be best, he had all the time though.
Mazz smiled a little bit, laughing a little as he shook his head. "Me? Curious about what's out there? Well no...I'm curious about what's close. That's why I'm a scientist. I'll work on what's close, once I find out that stuff, I'll move out more and more. I'll get there Bianca, I just have to...wait." That...well that was something. Stir crazy. He was comfortable of course but...well Teidra...what was going to happen with her? He was pretty sure that taking her to this vacation resort was a good idea. He realized that he would need to take more vacations, get her off the station so she can run free.
He needed to try and get her back to Re'unis...er...well um...one day.
Well at least Mazz caught on to poor Teidra getting a little tired from all the kicking. Swimming was a great workout, but after the bikini issue, he wasn't sure that he wanted to make a requisition for a swimming pool at TRIM. People watched Teidra as is during her exercise time in the gym...put her in a bikini with all those people...No. Not gonna have that. He couldn't...he wasn't sure he could handle that.
"Self taught? Well that's pretty amazing. Not many people are able to teach themselves to be a nurse." He honestly didn't get the naughty connection, that was until she started talking again and then he suddenly blinked a few times...then he sighed. Oh. He got it now. She was...she was talking about being dirty. "Oh. I see." Yeah, right, she wasn't a prostitute. Either that or she just really seemed to enjoy sex and didn't care how she got it. Ugh. What sort of diseases had she gotten before? What did she have now? Ergh. He felt dirty just being touched by her.
Mazz nodded slightly, just a little disturbed that she was going to hang around till six. "Well, we're glad to have you then Bianca. Eh heh, thanks." Well, she was going to voluntarily shut up? If only she would turn that into something permanent, but alas he probably shouldn't get her to do that. After demonstrating how to swim with his arms, and hearing that little whistle from Bianca, which he ignored, he came back. "No, not that hard at all Teidra, it's quite easy." He looked to Bianca, ignoring her comment but nodding about the doggy paddling. "That might be a little better, but I was hoping to train her how to swim, but I suppose that might help at first." He let Bianca start doing the teaching, that would probably be a little better...not as fancy but...it would have to do wouldn't it?
Hm. He watched Bianca suddenly help Teidra with her hair, knowing that would actually probably help a little bit. Mazz stepped forward when Teidra suddenly yelped, concern spread across his face, but Bianca seemed to have it under control and Mazz just coughed. Ahem. Not like he really cared he just...well...no he cared, he really cared. He didn't like Teidra in pain, it just...pulled at his heart strings. It was that whole white hair and green eye thing that got to him. "Yeah, that's probably a better idea. Once you get all that under control...you probably will be better at normal swimming." still, the doggy paddle just looked so...well like flailing but...it was best to let her learn slowly.
Mazz had his arms crossed, watching Teidra as she practically flailed in the water, trying to get the hang of it, but eventually she seemed to get it, if just a little bit. Mazz was holding his chuckling, but he was smiling, as it was actually a little funny for that matter. She was getting it though! That was always good. When she finally stood up again, Mazz went stock still, his face turning red and he was staring for only a moment before he turned around, covering his eyes. "Teidra!" It was a startled sort of choked cry. "O-okay! I think it's b-break time!" Mazz rushed to the shore so he could sit down on it and sit in just a way that he could cover himself.
Let's just say he was a little...erm...Alri ght, so he was pretty darn excited down there, just a bit hard to hide. Best for him to just...relax, take his mind off of it all. Why did this keep happening to him anyway? Ugh, he never had this trouble before! Mostly because he was able to move himself away from sexual relationships at work, since they held no real importance to him...but now with Teidra it was just...she was so carefree about herself.
Mazz made sure to keep his legs up and near his chest, and his arms crossed somewhat over his stomach. Irk. This was so embarrassing. "So er...Bianca! Why don't you tell us about yourself? Where did you come from? What made you come here?" Just get them off the topic of what was going on with him. He sorta was scared by this whole thing...he didn't...he didn't really like to acknowledge that he wanted sex, that wasn't him. It wasn't his sort of thing.
-
As Mazz choked and rushed to the shore, Teidra could have sank into the water and vanished right then and there, not because she was embarrassed for flashing him, but because she'd done it again. It had been an accident, but...but still...she'd completely humiliated him yet again even after he'd just explained human things to her and to keep herself covered. She hadn't meant to...but it had still happened. There was no getting past that.
With a long sigh, she did her best to tie the strings back around her neck, double knotting them to be safe, checked to make sure her breasts were all in her top, and slowly picked her way back up to the shore, ears laid back, head bowed, and tail lowered like a scolded dog. She'd messed up again...
Bianca, on the other hand, was grinning behind her hand and trying hard not to laugh. Jeez, the guy was exciteable! She couldn't say she'd ever run into a guy that got bothered that easily, and didn't he say he was a doctor? Maybe he only dealt with male patients, because otherwise...that would be awkward. She nearly laughed again at the thought, far too focused on Mazz's face at that moment to notice anything else, and the truth was she didn't care about anything else. Pulling that little stunt had been, well...just a prank. It had been too tempting! The bikini strings had been right there, Mazz was right there...way too tempting! Granted, it had been a little mean, she'd admit, but she was a prankster by nature and had a hard time passing up a good opportunity.
...Of course, that tended to land her into trouble, too, but that was beside the point.
She was still trying not to laugh and feign innocence as Mazz practically curled in on himself on the shore and made an obvious attempt to get off the subject. Ahaha. Was he seriously having issues that badly? Jeez!
Clearing her throat, Bianca was about to speak and make some goofy reply when she finally noticed Teidra, who had taken a seat some distance behind Mazz, sitting indian-style with her chin resting in the palm of her hand. Er...she didn't look happy. In fact, she looked pretty miserable. But it had just been a little joke! Jeez! No harm done, right?
Bianca shifted from one foot to the other, the water swishing around her, before deciding to not make the comment she'd been about to make. Maybe she had gone a bit too far? After all, it wasn't like she knew them, they'd just met, and there was teasing and then there was teasing. Alright. Reining herself in. Embarrassment was amusing, but making someone look downright miserable, on the other hand, wasn't.
"Hm, about me? Oh, well, there isn't too much to say!" she said with a smile, pushing the little pang of guilt to a far corner of her mind. She flicked at the water idly. "Where I came from...hmm. Well do you mean where was I born or where did I just come from? Ah well, I'll just answer both. I was actually born on Earth. What a dump, no wonder I like to explore, eh? As for where I just came from, oh, just a little solar system not too many light years away. I've been planet hopping for a bit, and I came here to take a little break and recharge my metaphorical batteries. Never been here before, but I heard it was a quiet little place, so it sounded good to me."
That sounded about right.
"So, how'd you and Tuathi-girl end up together? Traveling together, of course. As platonic room-mates," she said with a wink, though it was meant in a more good-natured way than a suggestive one this time.
It was then that Teidra stood up, having been both brooding and waiting for her body to dry off, and reached behind herself to tug the hair tie out of her hair with a small wince. She tossed it over to Bianca, who caught it. "We're not mates. We can't be mates. Stop shaming Mazz. Mazz..." With a sigh, she walked around to his front and bowed deeply from the waist, hands in front of her and eyes closed. "I'm really, really sorry, Mazz. I keep messing up and...I'll...I'll make this better somehow. I don't yet know how, but I'm in your debt." Then she straightened, forced a crooked smile, and turned away. Clearly she took it for granted that someone else might not know what the heck she was talking about.
"I'll...um...go change for now. I can't be trusted wearing what I am now."
Bianca blinked several times as she re-tied her loose pigtail. "Oookay then."
-
Well that was a might odd wasn't it? Mazz noticed that Teidra was the one acting the most shamed right now. That didn't sit well with him. Had he done something wrong instead? Maybe he wasn't suppose to turn away from her? Was he supposed to compliment her instead? She certainly wasn't shy after all, she didn't seem to care that she had shown him her breasts, nor had the thong even phased her. Something must have gone wrong...argh, if only Bianca wasn't here he might be able to find out what was wrong, speak a little more open to her instead of this...having to hide everything.
Why was he hiding everything anyway?
Perhaps a little scared at this time. Many people knew about TRIM, and he hated that he was so heavily associated with them...he was looked at like he was a monster sometimes. He had been in a few fights here at the resort over that matter...
Bianca looked pleased as punch, like a cat that had gotten the canary, which was a little worrisome. She seemed too highly focused on the sexual nature of things, like the nurse thing, this whole...flashing incident...and the fact that he had ahm...been excited earlier. So much for a nice relaxing resort visit, he was going to have to deal with this Bianca more than he would have liked. She was the complete opposite of him though, unafraid, highly sexual, and yet...Teidra was almost the same way. Teidra was a bit skittish though, and while not sexual, she was more of an innocent pervert, who didn't know what shame was. Mixing it all together that they were both highly attractive (Most notably because of their hair and eye colour) things didn't really look good for him.
Hopefully Bianca or Teidra would just play along and get off this subject. He wished he could just burst into flame right now and disappear. That didn't seem to be happening so he would just...have to wait. Mazz looked over toward Teidra, his face still burning red as he made sure to keep his eyes up. She seemed more miserable than even he was!
Now he just felt horrible.
Probably almost looked it too.
"Oh...born on Earth." So then she would know what a sheep was...so was she a mutant? No...no he'd seen mutants before. This looked more like...like one of those druid crossings. A person who got too close to nature and ended up being one with nature. The result would be a child who was...half human and half animal. Even if there was no sex between the species, it could still happen he was told. He didn't really want to go into that sort of subject really. "Ahh...yeah this...this is a good place to relax. Good vacation spot." Hopefully he could continue to bring Teidra here in the future, or maybe to some other galaxy for a nice stay at some of the other planets, resorts, or just...wherever that was away from TRIM.
"Well that's a bit of a story really we-" Suddenly Teidra interrupted him, causing him to look over at her with surprise. Wait? Ohh...room-mates...mates. HE almost didn't catch that for a moment. Mazz continued to stare as she just walked to him and bowed. "No Teidra!" His hand came out, grabbing her wrist gently to stop her. "It's...it's alright. I'm just..." How exactly did you sum it up? Well he wasn't good with nudity, he wasn't good around women, a life time of being told to be ashamed of his body from his parents and from everyone around him, coupled with the his job and what not...
"I'm not exactly good with...nudity and such. I know in your cultural there's...a lot less to be ashamed about but...with my upbringing it was...different. Human culture is just...very different. You didn't offend me or anything and...while I am ashamed I just...you don't have to go change alright? Everything is under control." All this talking and such had actually helped to ah...alleviate his problem. "Besides, it was an accident, the string came loose and...Bianca is just a little blunt...well...perh aps not as blunt as you are but if you understood human colloquialisms and double entendres you might...know that she's a bit like you." Of course, Mazz preferred Teidra.
Teidra at least didn't know what she did wrong.
Mazz then pulled Teidra down suddenly to sit beside him, one arm going around her shoulder and running his other hand through her wet hair for a moment. "So just stay here will you? Bianca is...curious about us." This was more of a platonic gesture than anything. Her kind was highly physical, so he hoped that being close to her like this and using some soothing gestures would help to calm her a bit and make her feel better. "Ahem. Alright Bianca...about us." Well how to manoeuvre this so it wasn't really a lie, but at the same time didn't tell her the full truth.
"Like I said I'm a doctor, Teidra was one of my patients. She...didn't have a home, so I took her in until I can get her back to her planet safely. There's...a bit of an embargo you could say on her kind." He kept his arm somewhat about her, his hand moving up and down her back in slow circular motions. He had to keep that in mind. Be physical, be calm, soothing, nice. "So I invited her to just live with me, so she stays at my place, helps me around the house, I make sure she's healthy, and well...my company told me that I work too much and that I needed a vacation so they sent me here. I couldn't leave Teidra there, so I decided to take her with me." At least she hadn't asked him about his life growing up...it was a little strange to say the least.
-
Teidra jumped at Mazz's exclamation and then gasped when he grabbed her wrist, stopping in her tracks. At that moment all she really wanted to do was escape and change, because at that moment she felt like it was the only way she could stop causing him shame. If the problem was her body, she'd cover it up. She didn't understand why humans were so bothered by something so completely natural, but it wasn't her place to complain or judge. The fact of the matter was that she was causing him to stumble, so she would remove the source of his stumbling. She wasn't among other Tuathi now, either, but among humans and, thus, she had to live by human rules and human customs. That was simply how things went and what she was brought up knowing. It was the polite, proper, and honorable thing to do.
But he obviously wanted her to stay, and so she held still, nibbling on her bottom lip and watching him guiltily. Her body was tense, but it gradually started to relax as he spoke, as he assured her that he wasn't offended, that he understood the differences between their cultures, and that it was all an accident. "Yes...it was an accident. I wouldn't do that on purpose, not now that I know how it makes you feel," she agreed quietly, and laughed weakly and shook her head when he said Bianca was like her. "Oh no, she's not much like me at all. She's shaming you on purpose, Mazz. I may be blunt, but I don't--ah!"
She gasped again when Mazz pulled her down beside him, and she had been on the verge of protesting when he wrapped an arm around her shoulders and began to run his other hand through her hair. Her protests died on her tongue, her body going still and her eyes widening in surprise for a moment, before she slowly began to relax. Mazz...was holding her? For a few seconds she was too stunned by this turn of events to move, but then finally and carefully, as though testing the waters, she leaned a little against him...and then a little more, though she was still a bit rigid. Teidra didn't want to make him feel uncomfortable, but at the same time it was Mazz that had initiated this.
So obviously he was okay with this? Or did he just want to make her feel better?
She listened idly as he spoke, as he told their story but altered it for obvious reasons, but it wasn't long before she was only half listening. Mazz's hand was moving along her back in soothing, circular motions, and her eyes began to drift shut. It had been so long since someone had held her like this...
She hadn't realized how much she'd missed it, or how lonely she'd really felt.
With a soft sigh, she leaned her head against Mazz's shoulder and, whether Mazz wanted it or not, she wrapped both arms around his midsection and cuddled a little closer to him. If she'd had any doubts that he'd forgiven her, this cleared it all right up, but she'd still have to ask him if this meant she was cleared of her debt. That could wait, though. For now she was just happy because, even if he'd explained human things to her already, it still felt like he'd just finally fully accepted her.
In fact, she was so happy that Mazz would probably be able to feel--and hear--the gentle vibrations emanating from her chest. She was purring.
Bianca had waded out of the water while Mazz and Teidra got all cuddly, and she took a seat in the sand across from them as Mazz explained how they wound up together. She watched them cuddle, grinning all the while, and when he finished she gave a little giggle.
"Awww! That's so cuuute!" she exclaimed, clapping her hands together. "A doctor-patient relationship! Aww. And by relationship I mean friendship, of course. Friendships are a type of relationship, and I know how touchy you two get about this 'mate' thing. Methinks you doth protest too much, but that's beside the point! Anyway. That's really adorable. And quite kind of you, Doctor Mazz. Boy, I wish all my old doctors were like that, taking me on vacations and stuff like that. But they weren't much for small talk, they were kind of jerks. Just hooked me up to the stirrups, shoved on the gloves, and pried me open. Always had cold hands, too, the bastards. But that's probably TMI. They were never cute like you, either," she said, tapping her chin.
"But that's beside the point. Anyway, adorable story. And you know, I suppose, now that I look at you two, it was probably silly to assume you're mates. I mean seriously, is she purring? And you're like petting her. It's more like she's your pet. A little lost kitten you brought in out of the cold. D'aaw," Bianca said with a smile.
Teidra's eyes fluttered open and she almost giggled, but instead clamped a hand over her mouth. Wow. Was Bianca spot-on or what?
-
Mazz knew he had to relax, that he had to just...well chill out a little bit to say the least. She didn't deserve this, she really didn't. She was used to a whole lot more contact, and to a lot more freedom, and here he was just...making her his pet, stifling her. He could do this though, he could relax...He just had to look at it a different way. Like a Tuathi! Not like a human. He was a little scared about it, but at the same time, he could just take it really slowly. Hopefully Teidra would also learn to be a little...well human in return. Really the whole physical thing just was different, usually people weren't this...physical unless they were in a serious relationship.
Well, that's how he saw it anyway, every person was different.
Mazz nodded slowly, smiling calmly at her. She looked so tense and so guilty for that matter. It was adorable really, though it scared him because she was...well labled as a pet...and she was acting sort of like it too. He felt...that really scared him, that's all there was to it. He didn't want to treat her like a pet, he wanted to treat her like she was a human being...er...well it was all relative! Yeah. Ahem. "Exactly, it was just an accident. I know you wouldn't do that. You're not that kind of person after all." Bianca was, and thankfully she was keeping her breasts covered, because he could not handle that much all in one day. "Yeah, she is shaming me on purpose isn't she?" He shot Bianca a rather disapproving look before going back to paying attention to her.
Like a deer in the headlights though when he held onto her. She just seemed to sit there with him, stunned. That felt kinda nice, knowing that he could surprise her this much. He didn't feel too bad with her leaning against him, it was nice, she was warm, and she was familiar at least. He wasn't sure he could let Bianca do something like this.
Ugh, she'd make it sexual no doubt.
Teidra was keeping her comments to herself thankfully during the story. Perhaps she understood he couldn't just say everything out loud, tell her everything about them...or...as he glanced at her, he figured she was barely listening. Did rubbing her back really do all this for her? Ah whatever, at least she was happy. Hrm. Maybe he'd inquire later about her sleeping alone...maybe it really was hurting her, not having someone there with her.
No! Best not to think of that right now.
There was a sudden pressure as he looked down to the arms about his midsection. Well that was unexpected. At least he wasn't excited anymore. He felt sort of relaxed with her hugging him, she was warm and this was soothing. Well if this didn't show her that he had forgiven her for accidentally flashing him, well then nothing could! Well at least he hoped so. Maybe it would be smarter to just tell her...maybe.
There was something suddenly strange about her. It was...it felt like his muscles were twitching...no...no she was...It was Teidra! She was purring! That...alright that wasn't something he expected. He knew cats purred...elephants did too...and a few other creatures were able to purr but...Teidra? That...well that wasn't something he expected.
"Yeah...er...well her people are a physical race." However she kept talking, at first he blushed because she said he was quite kind...and then...because of what she said. Great. He knew what that meant too. The blush changed once more, deeper as she said he was cute. "Eh heh..yeah just...a little too much Bianca. I didn't...I really didn't need to hear those things. Too late to go back on that though." Mazz sighed, shaking his head and trying to clear the blush from his face, and the mental pictures. After all, she was in a wet bathing suit at this time, it wasn't that hard to...er...imagine that whole thing. He coughed uncomfortably, his blush slowly disappearing finally. Whew. Alright.
"Eh heh, the Tuathi are a little bit animalistic Bianca. They crave attention." How the hell did she get that? He had to be careful, what kind of a deviant would he look like if he admitted that he had...made her a pet. She'd probably try to report him or something like that. "Well, she had no one when I met her, so I suppose she kind of like a little lost kitten." At least that part he could admit to that sort of thing. Just...he didn't really need to go into that. Ugh, this was going in a very strange direction...Mazz looked down toward Teidra with a small smile as she moved her hand suddenly to her mouth.
"So Bianca uh..." Mazz shifted a little, his head turning to look at her with a small, nervous smile on his face. "Any idea what we should do to kill time till dinner? Just need something for us to do. Maybe go to the recreation room and play one of the games there or watch some TV perhaps...they've got something like forty five movie channels here..." Plus if Bianca was right about it being mostly old people, they wouldn't be down there watching movies. They loved the hot tubs during the day, the relaxing outdoor games, and then bed at seven or so.
Though, if they were going to the recreation rooms, he was definitely changing. He didn't...really want Teidra lounging on him while they were scantily clad. And who knew what Bianca would be up to. The couches were meant to have people sit close after all...
Ugh.
Why was this happening to him? He could...he could go with Bianca...or he could go with Teidra. Hm. Or he could just take one of those hormone stiffening injections that stopped his rampant hormones from going all out, and he wouldn't think about sex for the rest of the time! Nah. That was stupid.
He had a shot after all...right?
-
"Physical, eh? Animalistic? Huh. Sounds hot. Guess doggy-style was the way to go then! Swimming-wise, of course," Bianca said with a wink, all too amused at Mazz's blushing. Poor guy, maybe she should ease up on him a bit before he burst a vessel nd bled to death? Bah, she couldn't help it! She was drawn to shy people like a fly to honey, just because they were so damned hilarious to be around. They were so easily flustered! So easy to get a, heh, rise out of. It was a lot more entertaining than being around someone that didn't respond at all to her jokes, like those folks that just sort of rolled their eyes or asked her if she was still six years old. People that actually laughed about it and joked back, or people that got all exasperated and red-faced...they were the best.
Of course, she also had no idea of what she'd just said regarding the "pet" thing. It was a casual comment, just another joke, and Teidra kept her mouth wisely shut about it. Teidra knew the pet thing bothered him, he'd explained it to her. It had bothered her, too, at first because she'd been afraid that she was going to be treated poorly, like a slave, but that hadn't turned out to be the case at all. He treated her with respect, and only collared her when they had to go out in public and maintain the charade.
That was another reason she was really glad that they could be away from TRIM for a while. Not only could she go outside and walk on actual soil, but she could be herself out in public. No collars, no leashes (even if they were invisible)...it was nice. The petting was nice, too, and she was glad--even if still surprised--that Mazz was doing this. She would have liked to return the favor, too, but she just kept her arms wrapped around his midsection and her head rested against his shoulder. She didn't want to freak him out because he'd explained that physical affection made him uncomfortable. So while he seemed all right doing this to her...she didn't want to scare him.
Hrm. But it seemed wrong for only him to do that, especially because physical affection was meant to be shared.
Bianca grinned over at Mazz as he spoke, then shrugged. "Well, sure, any of those sound good. Better get out of the sun, anyway. I think I got a little burned," she said, lifting the left shoulder strap to check her skin. There was a definite mark there, the skin beneath it being a lot lighter than the rest of her skin, which did look a little on the pink side. "Baaah. Must've missed a spot. Anyway!" She let the strap snap back into place. "A movie would be a good way to kill time, eh? They last an hour or two, plenty of time to rest up, relax, maybe get to know each other a little more..."
Teidra smiled. "That sounds fun. Do they have cartoons? What kinds of games do they have?"
"...Eh. I'm sure they have cartoons, but why wouldja wanna watch those? That's the kid stuff. We should see if there're any comedies or action flicks. As for games...it's an arcade of sorts. Lotsa simulators, virtual reality stuff, some crazy dance game..." Bianca shrugged. "We'll probably have the place to ourselves! Hell, if the movies suck we could still just talk. But we should probably go in now, because the sunscreen bottle lied and was so not a fifty SPF! Bastards."
Teidra just gave a little smile and nodded, thinking it was probably best to agree. Huh. Cartoons. Kid stuff? Well, Mazz had explained it, but she didn't really care. They were funny and she liked them better than the live action programs. Some of those shows were so...graphic, with blood and death. Even if Mazz had explained that it wasn't real and no one was really hurt, it still bothered her a lot. It brought up a lot of unpleasant memories, it reminded her of the Others, she just...she preferred watching the cartoons. It was obvious those weren't real, and whenever someone got smashed, blown up, shot, or cut up, they just magically repaired themselves. No blood, no one died, it was all comical. That was nice.
"Just no scary movies," Teidra said quietly, then blinked when she realized she'd started to trail her hand lightly up and down Mazz's back, imitating his own motions. She quickly stopped and started to pull away, biting her bottom lip nervously. "I'm sorry, Mazz. Is...is that okay?" She didn't want to weird him out.
-
His face only got redder and a rather annoyed groan passed his lips. How could anyone be so...so...vulgar like this? She was cute though so...he just had to really let it all slide. If it got under skin there would be a little too much trouble, and he wasn't really sure what it was at this time. "Alright, those were the wrong words and I guess I'm paying for them now." Life was actually gonna be...sort of fun Mazz mused. Sure this was all a little uncomfortable but at the same time...well refreshing really. Teidra and Bianca were really the breath of fresh air Mazz needed, something to break him from his habits. Even though they flustered and maybe scared him a little bit from their...bluntness.. .
And her rather scary guessing for that matter.
How she managed to pinpoint exactly what Teidra was he'd never know but...at least they weren't really confirming that, Bianca would be really none the wiser. If she...well if she found out he'd explain it to her. Hopefully she wouldn't...well not like he cared if she liked him or not of course...but he didn't want her thinking ill of him. Who knows what rumours would spread...ugh. Luckily when he registered here, he listed Teidra as Guest +1 instead of pet...
Ahem. Still. He would in way shape or form ever admit that she was a pet, at least...not to anyone that wasn't a higher ranking TRIM employee of course. Eh heh. It just made sense!
"I've got a skin regenerator back in my hotel room if you need it, it'll regenerate the epidermis and fix the skin cells." If she noticed, Mazz was watching her as she checked it, he looked perhaps a little hungry. It was subconscious though, he barely noticed what he was doing. It just didn't register with him at this time. However something broke his stare. She actually baaaah'd like a sheep! He grinned slightly. "Well then baaaah to that." Now he had something that he could hold over her! Somewhat, who knows right?
"I don't really remember much here but...I uh...I remember the dance simulation for that matter, and I also remember a few of the simulators as well." He coughed uncomfortably as he shifted in the sand. He might have had a...high score on the dance machine. MLT on the machine...it wasn't the highest score of course but it was up in the top five at least. Sometimes there was just nothing that he could do here but just...entertain himself. Now though he had Teidra and now Bianca was here as well...
Just as long as he kept it...clean.
"Cartoons actually sounds kind of nice." He knew why she wanted cartoons. They didn't scare her. Whatever happened to her on Re'unis, she had been scared of things...he had tried to watch some classic horror movies with her, old movies that were horribly cheesy and yet they still scared her. However, she liked cartoons, they didn't bother her, she smiled a lot from that and she laughed...he liked to hear her laugh. It was...sort of nice, having her around the house when she was in a good mood. Not to mention during that month she didn't get...irritable or moody like some woman would from their ah...monthly time.
He was still waiting for that to happen, because he had no idea what she would turn out like. He hoped she'd just be a little weepy.
"Yeah, no scary movies, that's fine by me." Maybe action, those weren't too bad by him, they were kind of...ah! What the hell was going on! It was...kind of nice...He quickly realized what it was. It was Teidra, rubbing his back. He looked over to her, suddenly smiling at her. "No it's...it's fine Teidra. Thanks." Slowly though Mazz stood up, helping Teidra and then Bianca up. "Alright well...Teidra and I will go change, and we'll meet you in the recreation room.
It was only twenty minutes later and Mazz was walking with Teidra down the hallway of the hotel. He had gotten dressed in a simple button up shirt with short sleeves and a pair of white pants with a drawstring. He didn't wear slacks much with...with a zipper there were a lot of bad times with that. Ahem. He had his arm draped casually about Teidra, his soft sandals making very little noise on the marble floor. Turning into a room it was indeed empty of anyone. Though it was a large room, with various chairs and couches around some rather impressive flat TVs along walls, and there were various machines and strange simulators. There was also that accursed dancing machine by a corner. They had upgraded so more than two people could dance, it looked like four people could now. Ugh.
Still...the simulators looked interesting. He might have to try them out later! However right now it was movie time. Picking up one of the remotes from the table and taking a seat on the couch, right in the middle of it, knowing that he'd have...two people with him after all. Turning on the TV he started flipping through the channels, looking for something that Teidra would like. Hm. There were some good cartoons, expertly drawn ones, he couldn't remember what they were called, but they were more professional than the normal silly ones. "How about one of these Teidra? They're a little more serious than the cartoons you're used to but no one get hurts. Looks like this one is about Vampires, Demons, and Angels. Could be good yeah?"
-
Teidra headed down to the recreation room with Mazz, tail wagging idly. Her own arm was looped around Mazz's waist as they walked and she'd also changed out of her swim suit and into some casual clothes: a pair of shorts that reached mid-thigh and a tube top. She was wearing the rubber booties on her hooves, as well, and was currently enjoying the fact that Mazz was being so touchy lately, even after all of her mess-ups. Perhaps it was even more perplexing that he was being affectionate after everything she'd done, even if they had been accidents. Ah, it was so hard to read his signals sometimes, though! They were all so confusing...mixed signals, and she wasn't sure how to interpret them.
Still, she'd learned. When she'd gotten changed this time, she hadn't changed on the spot like she normally would have. She had gathered up her clothes, gone into the bathroom, and shut the door to get changed in there. It was a little strange; she felt oddly awkward doing that, a little ashamed like there was something wrong with her and that was why nudity weirded him out, but she knew it wasn't her. Mazz had explained that he wasn't good with nudity because of his upbringing, and she couldn't help but wonder how he'd been raised. How could a person's most natural state be shameful? Did humans never see themselves in the mirror?
It was all too weird. Oh well. She would still respect his wishes no matter what, and that was all there was to it.
As Mazz took a seat in the middle of the couch, Teidra sat down to the right of him and, after a small pause, she scooted a little closer and leaned her head against his shoulder. Hopefully he didn't mind that, though if he did of course she'd move. As usual, the gesture was completely platonic, though. "Hmm? Oh, that's fine, Mazz," she said when Mazz stopped on a channel with an animated program of some sort. It looked a little more realistic, but it was still drawn and still very clearly fake. "I don't mind that. They're not real people, and it does sound interesting!" Even though she did shift even closer to Mazz, cuddling up against him. Demons and vampires? Ick...
"Hey, nice! That's a good one, I saw it when it first came out," came a familiar voice from behind them.
Bianca had finally come down, hooves clicking on the marble floor. It had been a little more difficult to see her hooves when they'd been on the beach, as they'd been partially buried in the sand, but they were cloven like Teidra's--though they were much smaller and more dainty, quite unlike Teidra's large, sharp hooves. She was wearing a simple brown sun dress that stopped just above her knees with thin straps that seemed to like to slip down off her shoulders. It had a red mushroom pattern on it, and Bianca wore a couple of cheap plastic bracelets on her left wrist. Her hair was still in the loose side pigtails, though it was now dry and fluffy.
She hadn't taken Mazz up on his offer to use the skin regeneration device, quite adamant that the minor sunburn would eventually heal and turn into a tan. It wasn't bad, anyway, and she'd rubbed some aloe lotion on it back at her room.
There were more effecient treatments, certainly, but she preferred to go the natural, botanical route. That's just how she'd always been!
"Sweet, you even saved me a seat!" Bianca said with a grin as she skirted around the couch. Her smile turned wry as she noted that Mazz was conveniently positioned right in the center of the couch. Iiinteresting. Was that a strategic move? There was no way she was going to believe it was coincidental. the guy was so skittish, she half expected him to take a seat near the arm and use Teidra as a shield. "Well, don't mind if I join ya," she said before plopping down on Mazz's left, smoothing out her dress once she'd gotten comfortable and crossing one leg over the other in a surprisingly demure manner.
"Ah, love this one. There's a pretty hot scene toward the end between the angel and the vampire, too. Ah! But I didn't say anything. Sorry about the spoiler, but it doesn't give anything away and--"
"Shhh..." Teidra whispered, eyes fixed on the screen and still cuddled up to Mazz.
Bianca blinked at that subtle order, then shrugged. "Right, right. Being quiet," she said before she shifted sideways onto the couch so she could stretch her legs out on the couch a little. Then she also leaned her head against Mazz's shoulder. "Ahh, cuddle piles. You'll keep us safe from the big bad vampires and demons, eh, Mazz?"
-
Well, he wasn't too pleased about the attire, short of a full body outfit like a professional scientist's outfit that they wore at TRIM was just enough cloth for Mazz. Anything else was too much skin. To put it gently really, Mazz had a hair pin trigger when it came to sexual things. His mother had been very strict about that sort of thing...even after she had explained the ah...birds and the bees to him, he still believed he had been a test tube baby from the way she behaved. Still, in only one month, Teidra was managing to slowly pull Mazz from that strange grip. One half of his brain told him to do something impulsive and to be more accepting, while the other wanted to chide her for her...naive nature and innocent perverse ways.
At least this time she had gotten changed in the bathroom, he couldn't have dealt with that at this time.
Mazz was conflicted as Teidra sat beside him and scooted closer. Of course his arm was still about her shoulder, holding her close against him but...he wasn't sure what he felt. It was supposed to all just be platonic. They were friends. Not even close to benefits...well...h e wasn't sure about that part, normal friends didn't change in front of each other and...probably didn't get aroused by them either. No doubt to Teidra this was all normal platonic stuff, things the Tuathi had been engrained with but for him it was...well he was human. "Well alright then, we'll watch-" Mazz's head swivelled as a voice cut in suddenly.
It was Bianca.
She looked...a little...better really. The ah...The dress she wore cause his mouth to become a bit dry and he had to lick his lips. "You made it, I was wondering if you were gonna show." She looked...well she looked like a sheep person. He kinda liked it. It was different, it was out of the norm, it was a strange change of pace from the regular stuff he was sued to. Her hair looked almost exactly like wool, it was fluffy but still had that rough aspect to it. Her skin seemed a little tanned though, burnt here and there maybe, she should have used the skin regenerator but...
He wasn't a scientist here, he could just order her to.
Matter of fact, he liked the fact she said no to him. It was a great change! She actually said no to him. She actually was able to say no to him. Truly this was a vacation full of simple pleasures for Mazz and...maybe some strange complex and utterly confusing pleasures as well. "What? Er...yeah. Sure." Well alright, so Mazz picked the couch that was really more of a love seat, that would sort of make it so they had to sort of ah...snuggle up to him. "No not at all...join away." As if he could really stop her, or for that matter, like he actually wanted to stop her.
Oh no, that would be rude after all, and no matter how...dispositioned he was to her lifestyle, she was still to be treated like a proper lady, just as his parents had taught him. Respect and help those you can. He hadn't...really been helping many people lately, save for Teidra but...this wasn't the time nor place to get into his failings.
Mazz was about to say something to Bianca about being quiet but Teidra suddenly spoke up instead and shushed her. He forgot about that with Teidra...she was a strange one. She had no focus, she couldn't multi-task. Mainly he believed it was her deerish sort of...animalism? They were always looking out for predators, so they never focused on one thing. Sadly this was something Mazz couldn't, and didn't want to break. There were two reasons really. The first being that...well there was the hope that he would get her back to her home planet.
If he got her there, and she wasn't looking out for...for predators...best not to go down that path at this time. And just in general, she seemed to always get captured or some such. After all, she had been kidnapped on Libra rather quickly, she had let her guard down and trusted people too much.
Mazz looked over toward Bianca who was suddenly leaning up against him and he sighed. Great. Now here he was stuck in the middle. If anyone came into the room it would be...it would be a strange sight. You had one woman who seemed content but utterly focused on the movie while snuggled up to one side, while another woman seemed more content to bug the person in the middle...and the man in the middle who looked a bit uncomfortable and really...well he just looked a little out of it. He still couldn't get over the fact that they all had the same coloured hair and eye colour really. That was probably the strangest part of it all. White hair, green eyes...yet different species. "Shh Bianca. Just want the movie." Without really even realizing it though, his other arm moved so he could bring Bianca closer to him, wrapping his arm about her.
For a man who wasn't comfortable with contact, he seemed to be the king of contact right now. Strange how that worked. He was just trying to be nice!
-
[...if this is crappy or doesn't make sense, I blame my sickness. Dx]
Indeed, Teidra had trusted people far too much on the space station. They were humans, and from what she knew of humans, they didn't kill and eat other humanoids. With that worry out of the way, she'd believed the best of them and felt quite safe; Tuathi didn't steal from each other, they had honor, and they didn't kill or hurt each other save in rare circumstances--which resulted in exile. There was no kidnapping; only predators kidnapped. It had never once occurred to her that there was a different sort of predator lurking among the humanoids, not the sort that raped and butchered, but the sort that would literally sell out others for their own benefit.
And she'd learned since then from her own experiences and from watching TV that a lot of humans were quite nasty, that some of them were predators--the only difference was they didn't eat their prey. But that was only some of them, and perhaps that made it even scarier. On her planet, you knew who was bad and who was good, who was a predator and who wasn't just based off their species. Here it was a lot different. You never knew. Mazz wasn't, of course, and she really wasn't too worried about it because she was with him, after all.
He was a male, and males were the protectors and leaders in Tuathi society. She felt safe.
Especially cuddled up to him like this now, watching a movie that was clearly not real but was still a little scary--still, he had his arm around her, and that felt nice. The sucking blood from necks thing was a little...that was a bit disturbing. But it was just fantasy so that was all right. The "demons" were pretty creepy, too, but she really liked the angels. They were nice. Without even really realizing it, she nuzzled her cheek against his shoulder and wrapped both arms around his middle. For the most part she was relaxed, but whenever the film grew tense, she tensed with it.
She jumped a few times, too. Well, more than a few times. Stuff kept popping up in the movie, and she couldn't help it if she was jumpy. Sudden movements tended to trigger that response--it was a survival thing.
On Mazz's other side, Bianca couldn't have been more relaxed. Mazz hadn't objected to her sitting beside them and he had put his arm around her--that was unexpected, all things considered. She did roll her eyes when Teidra told her to hush and Mazz agreed, but then she just contented herself with cuddling up to Mazz, much like Teidra. Hmm...this was interesting. The guy seemed so nervous before, now he had his arm around her, and she had to bite back a grin. Seemed like the cat was in the bag if she'd earned his trust this early on.
Now she would just need to find out what ship was theirs and when they were leaving. That could make or break this whole deal. Blech.
But for now, she focused on the movie and--
"Eep!" Bianca jumped when Teidra let out a little yelp when some vampire or something suddenly appeared, and then she grinned when the girl squeezed Mazz as though for reassurance. Hmm...right. Some guys really did like being the big, bad protectors. Maybe she should pull off the damsel act, too, since he seemed to like that girl well enough. At least...he didn't seem intimidated by Teidra like he did with her.
...Except, that would have only worked if it was a scary part in the movie. It actually wasn't. It was the...ah, intimate scene.
This should be interesting.
"Oh, this is the good part," Bianca said with a grin, lightly stroking Mazz's arm. "I always did have a thing for polar opposites getting it on. It's pretty hot. Nice dynamics and all that," she murmured before laughing. "Heh heh...come to think of it...the angel guy kinda looks like you, Mazz. Lookit that. White hair. Too bad this scene is so short and censored."
Teidra had relaxed again and was watching the screen curiously, blinking blankly as the angel and the vampire, well, made out. "Um...what are they doing...?" she whispered, nudging Mazz lightly. Luckily for Mazz the scene ended after a few breast gropes and when the clothes started coming off and the film switched to the morning after--which left Teidra even more confused. They looked happy in the morning, waking up in bed beside each other, but it had looked to her like the vampire female was attacking the angel male. Only...not. The angel hadn't really been fighting back, and it was sort of weird to attack with kisses. Still, it had seemed aggressive to her.
"I don't get it...why are they happy? Weren't they fighting? But they were friends, then they were fighting, now they're happy again? But they're enemies...she's a predator. How could they be friends and...I don't get it." Augh, it was confusing!
Bianca was silent for a few moments as what Teidra said registered. Then she burst out laughing. "Wait wait, you're kidding, right?" she managed to get out, unable to believe that someone who had so bluntly pointed out Mazz's penis issues was seriously asking something like that. Did she seriously not know what sex was if she'd pointed out that? "They made out and had sex. I thought it was pretty obvious, if only implied."
"...That was sex...? That...didn't look like it...it looked like strange fighting..." Teidra said, still staring at the screen. "This movie is weird."
"Tell me she's kidding, Mazz," Bianca said, looking over at him and raising her eyebrows.
-
Yes, perhaps he was a little calmer about the whole touching thing. Maybe his hormones were getting the better of him at this point? He had cut himself off from society, led himself to an isolation of sorts because of his work, but now there were people. People! They wanted to be around him, they wanted to be with him! They wanted him to touch them and to be close with them and...and it seemed like a good idea! He didn't...he didn't really expect it really go anywhere, at least with Bianca it could.
He was still wary about starting any relationship other than friendship with Teidra.
She was wrapped pretty tightly about him. How could she not have feelings? Even just...slightly romantic feelings? Probably because her people had no idea about romance, or at least, they didn't really delve too much into romance. They had their mating season, everyone was a community, and that was it. Hard to really be romantic when your species delved into a frenzied orgy once a year, and you had to fight tooth and nail for survival.
Maybe he could teach her about romance? or just...put on soap operas every day for her to watch.
Yeah, that would be better.
Every time Teidra jumped a little, Mazz would shake with a small start, not expected it either. However Teidra seemed to almost leap from her spot. It was kind of cute really but...if he thought too much into it then it wasn't as adorable. Still. He was trying to focus more on the movie. At least everyone was pleased right? Teidra seemed to like the movie, and the closeness while Bianca just seemed to like the closeness of it all.
The only reason he wasn't too nervous right now was the fact that he had clothes on, that they all had some degree of clothes on. Mazz had made sure to dress casually but at the same time...inconspicuou sly. Just in case he had another er...moment of excitement, it wouldn't be that noticeable. Uncomfortable as hell of course but not noticeable...depend ing on the circumstance.
Suddenly though everyone jumped during the movie. Well, Teidra yelped, Bianca jumped, and his heart pounded furiously as he also gave a start. What the hell just happened there? "Wow ah...didn't see that coming." Mazz coughed, shifting in his seat as he pretended to try and get comfortable again. Well, maybe not pretended...they had all jumped after all! Plus he noticed that with them like this, they all kept their body heat together. It was...well it wasn't cold but he did like to be warmed up, and there was nothing like being warmed up like this.
Mazz's face began to blush as he realized what part of the movie they were at. To him, it was obvious as to what was going to happen. Sometimes you can just see the romance scenes coming...and with cartoons like this, censorship was a bit more lax so they could...go into more detail. He had seen a few shows like this before...they had been interesting.
"They're not...totally polar opposites...if the demon and angel had an affair then it would be..." Mazz coughed uncomfortably, noting the sudden affectionate rubbing of his arm. What the hell was she up to anyway? She was trying to egg him on perhaps, or trying to arouse him? He didn't really know. "A lot of people seem to have white hair." Mazz muttered to himself quietly as he tried not to get too...entangled into the scene. However that wasn't the case for him as he crossed his legs slowly, trying to make it seem casual.
Ugh. Worse...position ever.
Sitting down, caught between two women like this. That just wasn't fair at all. Mazz twitched slightly at Teidra's nudge and question. He squirmed a bit, trying to just...mentally project his thoughts at Teidra, hoping she'd understand what just happened. Yeah. That didn't work because he wasn't that lucky and a psychic. "No Teidra they weren't...they weren't fighting it...they...they were..." Bianca's laughter saved him from some embarrassing answers thankfully, and he was actually glad to have her there for that time...and of course then she went on to explain it.
"She doesn't...understand Bianca. You have to remember for um...for the Tuathi it's...it's all about erm...well there is no passion...it's all technical and by the book." Oh hell his face must have been redder than a cherry by now and he was stammering with his words. Not to mention his pants were uncomfortably tight at this time, but damn if he hadn't double knotted the drawstring and worn a belt just in case. His pants weren't going nowhere. Going the bathroom might be a bit of trouble but he'd burn that bridge when he got to it.
"So er...can we just go back to watching the movie please?" It was almost over, but he wanted to get away from this subject. It was just too...unpleasant for that matter. How did some people do this? Squished between two women, after watching a somewhat pleasant love scene, and all the while your blood flow diverted south of the border so to speak...some men must just have a willpower of steel.
Granted he couldn't act on anything, as he wasn't sure what would get him labled a pervert from who and what...and he really didn't want to be known as the TRIMmer who got kicked off the planet for having a public threesome. Oh he'd never be able to live that down, no matter how far he ran!
-
[Sorry this took so long! Dx And sorry if it's crap! Ahhh!]
If Mazz thought he was being subtle with the leg crossing, well...he was. Most people might have missed that cue, but Bianca couldn't help but be suspicious. He'd proven to be rather sensitive to certain things, and given the nature of the scene and how easily he was ruffled, Bianca wouldn't be surprised if even that did it for him. Amused, yes, but not surprised. She smirked a little and may have made some comment about it, but luckily for him Teidra's questions had saved the day.
For the moment, at least.
Fortunately for Mazz, Teidra was oblivious to Mazz's discomfort--not to mention the reason behind his squirming. She did frown at both he and Bianca when he said that the Tuathi were without passion, though, her tail flicking irritably. "We're not without passion, I have passion. You have to have passion for living to survive long on Ren'unis, for one. But I'm passionate about a lot of things. So are other Tuathi..." she said with a slight grumble, unaware of how ironic that statement was. Mazz was right, after all. When it came to Tuathi and mating, it was for reproduction and not pleasure, so Mazz was correct when he said it was without passion, and Teidra was only confirming that by completely missing that he was referring to sex.
Sure, while there were those Tuathi that Bonded and had romantic relationships, they were few and far between. Most Tuathi simply couldn't understand that sort of relationship or see a point to it--or they didn't want to, because getting that deeply attached to someone could only be painful in the end.
Bianca had stopped chuckling and was instead staring at the two with raised eyebrows, disbelief plastered on her face. "Wait, you guys're serious?" she asked, looking back and forth between them while Teidra just frowned at her. "So what, you mean it's all just like..." She made a crude motion with her hands, creating a circle with the thumb and index fingers of her left hand and inserting two fingers from her right hand into it. "...That? And that's it? Wham, bam, thank you ma'am? No foreplay? Well, that's lame. And kinda sad. And you haven't been tempted to show her the light, Mazz? Rut her good and proper? Jeez, man, are you really male?" Bianca asked, playfully slapping his arm.
"Of course he's male, he--" Teidra stopped abruptly, remembering herself. Right. No mentioning anatomy and the like. "He's male," she finished, shaking her head. "Ugh, and you make no sense, calling him a man and then asking that...and rutting...I already said that wouldn't work, he's a human and it's not my season..."
"I didn't mean it literally and--hum?" Bianca glanced back up at Mazz. "Movie...oh, right. Do you really wanna see the rest of it? It's kinda obvious how it ends, and I think this is more important and more interesting, don'tcha think? I mean seasons? What? What are you talking about, Teidra, you don't have to just 'mate' during your season. You can 'mate' whenever you feel like it and--augh! I can't believe you haven't taught her better, Mazz! You're a doctor. You should educate the poor thing. You--"
"I'm not a poor thing, I'm not in season, and there are no Tuathi here. I can't mate. And Mazz has been doing a fine job educating me. Don't talk down to him," Teidra cut in with a soft growl, and Bianca had to blink a few times before she could actually properly register that. Growl. Teidra had actually growled, and it wasn't a human sound, either, but a low, threatening rumble, a warning. Teidra's eyes were narrowed as she stared levelly at Bianca, and for that moment the meek little 'deer' girl that jumped and yelped at the 'scary' parts in an animated film didn't look all that meek at all, even if she was still curled up against Mazz.
Bianca was quiet for a moment, taken aback by the sudden change. Then she cleared her throat. "Erm...right. Sorry. I wasn't talking down to him, I was just saying...never mind." Teidra seemed to like that response for she relaxed again, smiled a little, and lightly nuzzled Mazz's shoulder as she got comfortable again.
Mazz may not have realized it--and Bianca sure didn't--but Teidra had been defending his honor.
Bianca was a female, and females just didn't speak like that to males--well, at least not in her society, at least not without repurcussions. Teidra didn't think Mazz would put her in her place, so instead she did before he could be embarrassed by getting walked over.
Yeah, she still hadn't come to terms with the fact that strict gender divides and hierarchies didn't exist here, and that the Tuathi's concept of honor and shame didn't hold true anywhere but Ren'unis.
Sighing, Bianca turned back to face the television screen, leaning her head back against Mazz's shoulder and rolling her eyes. "Bah, whatever, let's watch the rest of the movie, I guess. Though I dunno how you can sit here like this, Mazz. You seem fidgety. Either you gotta go pee or your pants are too tight, and I'm sorta guessing the latter. You need to loosen up, literally and figuratively, or you're gonna like...I dunno, burst a vessel somewhere unpleasant."
"Burst a vessel?" Teidra blurted, suddenly sitting up, ears forward and eyes wide as she stared up at Mazz. "For wearing tight pants...? Ahh! Mazz, what are you doing?" And then, much to Bianca's mutual horror and fascination, Teidra unsheathed her claws--and promptly attempted to slice through the drawstring of his pants. "You need to stop torturing yourself! First you don't eat, or sleep, and now...humans! Do you not want children?!" It wasn't meant to sound threatening; it was simply a comment on the pants', well, tightness. Of course, considering her claws were out, it might have come across the wrong way.
On Mazz's other side, Bianca could have died right then and there. But instead of dying, she was laughing.
Dear god...was this chick serious?
-
No one seemed to notice his excitement! Thank whatever being was watching over him!
"No Teidra it's not...Oh Teidra. You're adorable but damned if you aren't clueless." Mazz gave her a little squeeze with his arm, chuckling lightly. Really she was silly, he couldn't help but be both amused and a little...scared by the whole thing. She was so...out of touch. Children learned this stuff in school, they even learned about crossbreeding for crying out loud, but she seemed to understand nothing about that. It just...it just was her raising and what not. The Tuathi didn't have time for that whole thing after all.
And so he did...want to teach her a thing or two he couldn't...
"That's how I understand it..." His face just seemed to darken as Bianca talked and did her little actions. "What?! Rut her?! No! I-" Teidra cut in though and he blinked a few times as the discussion suddenly left him out and went between Teidra and Bianca. The one thing he could have taught her about though was probably that Tuathi could mate and what just plain sex and romance and passion in love and sex were but...honestly that was not part of his expertise. His...sexual flings had just been a spur of the moment thing or just to experiment...he wasn't sure he was qualified.
Bianca was more qualified...perhaps a little over qualified actually...
His thoughts were ripped from his head as suddenly Teidra growled at Bianca. She growled and it sounded like a warning, a threat from the woman, it actually make him look to Teidra, and then to Bianca. How was this possible? This didn't seem like the Teidra that he knew...why was she doing this? He wasn't sure why but...wow...he kinda liked it...Gah!
No! Not thinking about that!
He was already having trouble getting rid of his excitement after all.
Still...had she been...actually defending him? He knew that on her planet males were the leaders, they were the ones that kept the females got taken care of and were safe but...things were different here. They were equals after all...for Mazz though with a woman who was forceful and put more pressure on him he sort of...well crumbled. Well he was scared easily of course when people put a lot of pressure on him.
Ugh. Pressure. He just shouldn't think about that!
"Yeah best to put this all behind us." He agreed, thankfully Teidra decided to calm down as well, getting comfortable once more against him thankfully. Phew. Crisis is averted then isn't it? Still when he got a free moment he'd teach Teidra about how the hierarchy that she knew didn't exist here, that everyone was...sort of equal.
"What? I don't have to do anything I'm just" He jumped suddenly as Teidra suddenly blurted something out, causing him to jump. Mazz didn't even have any real response to her, nor to the fact that she was unsheathing her claws and going straight for his pants. Now...just like with any man, the thought of claws and his genitals never really came into play anymore, more did it really register for the moment.
That is...
Until his mind put everything together. Claws. Pants. Erection. Yeah that spelt trouble...and he didn't want to lose blood, though it would solve his problem downstairs, he was still not going to have it go down that way. "Ah! No! I don't want children or claws near my pants!" However it was too late as her claws made short work of pretty much his pants, the drawstrings, and well...underwear for that matter. He should have worn stronger material. Like steel.
Mazz went to cover himself, bunching up his pants and underwear as much as possible to hide himself, but a lot of things were showing. "GREAT HELL!" Mazz was pretty much gone now, running as fast as he could to get through the halls, taking a longer way because it was less frequented at this point in the day. Finally he got to his room, locking the door and leaning against it. His face was red from running, his chest going up and down rapidly as he started to hyperventilate.
"Oh...oh...oh no...no...no..." Quickly he went to the dresser and grabbed a bag, putting it to his mouth and taking breaths into it. He hadn't hyperventilated since...since he was young. This was just...how could...he had just shown Bianca and Teidra...Teidra had sort of seen it before and she didn't care but...but...but Bianca...great! Just freaking great! Slowly he began to calm down and he closed his eyes. He...he was just...
There was a knock on the door.
"Mazz, what the hell was that? Just saw your ass streaking through the halls buddy! Didn't know you had it in you!" Oh great it was Will. "Will go away...I'm not coming out...Teidra slashed my pants up...and just...there was...please go away Will!" There was a bit of laughing from behind the door. "Alright fine Mazz. Should I bring you some new pants?" Will asked him. Mazz sighed, wondering if he should get a new pair..."Yeah, alright Will...just leave them by the door." Will was gone, dropping the pants off, noting that his two...'friends' weren't there yet. "Alright Mazz, leaving them out here for you. Have a good night buddy." A few minutes later Mazz slowly opened the door, just looking out with his eye in case Teidra and Bianca were there.
"Teidra? Bianca? Are um...are you out there?" He asked quietly, wondering if they were there yet. Ugh. At least his...problem had gone away. That was always good right?
-
Teidra wasn't sure whether to take that comment as a compliment or an insult, considering he'd called her both adorable and clueless in the same sentence. Clueless? What was she clueless about? She was only telling the truth...
Of course, a lot was probably lost in translation--and a lack of communication--because Teidra did know about cross-breeding. She knew it was possible and that it happened, but...but it wasn't a good thing. The Others, the Iannu, sometimes forced Tuathi to mate with them. She wasn't sure if any Iannu females ever forced Tuathi males, and she shuddered to think of what the result of that would be, but there had been those rare times when Tuathi captured by the Iannu had managed by some stroke of luck to escape and come back. It didn't happen often; a captured Tuathi was almost certainly doomed to die, and there was no way for them to rescue them without getting killed themselves--there were more Iannu than Tuathi. But on even rarer occassions a Tuathi female had managed to escape and come back...pregnant. By an Iannu.
The children didn't live past their first breath, if they weren't miscarried before that by an herbal drink or a stumble and fall; it was sad, but they had to be destroyed. They were an abomination.
No, Teidra understood more about topics like that than most people could imagine, given her somewhat clueless nature. Mazz would probably be shocked about what she knew.
Kind of like how he was shocked at her growling.
And even more, how he was shocked when she started to tear his pants.
Teidra honestly hadn't meant to rip them so much; she'd only meant to cut the drawstring and maybe the hem, just to loosen them up a little so he didn't go impotent. But in her rush to "help" him, she'd apparently gone a little overboard and cut way more fabric than she'd intended.
As a result, she ended up seeing a lot more than she'd planned on seeing--not because it bothered her--she didn't bat an eye or even blush at what she glimpsed; nothing she hadn't seen before, and she had walked in on Mazz in the shower before--but because she knew it bothered him. As soon as he bunched up his pants and yelled, making her gasp and jump back in her seat, she knew she'd made a huge mistake...but it was way too late to correct it or even apologize. About all she had time to do was feel a horrible sinking sensation in her gut before he was off and running.
"Ah! Mazz! W-wait!" Teidra yelped, leaping to her feet while Bianca was still doubled over and giggling helplessly. She paused only long enough to glare at the woman. "Bianca, stop that, it's not funny! Please Mazz! Wait!"
Teidra took off after Mazz with surprising speed, the rubber soles she wore gripping the tile and saving her from an embarrassing fall. Even for her small stature there was no doubting that she was fast, but Mazz had gotten a head start on her and he was desperate on top of it all. Oh no, oh no...she'd blown it. He'd hate her now! She'd shamed him badly, she'd done exactly what he'd told her not to...why was she so stupid?!
She rounded a corner, skidding a little on the tile, but ahead of her she just caught sight of Mazz darting into their room and closing the door behind him.
Too late.
"Oh no..." With a sigh, Teidra slowed from a run to a walk, and then finally to a stop, staring down the hall toward that closed door. Gnawing on her lip, she shifted from one leg to the next, trying to think of what to do now. Go to the door and knock? Would he even answer it? She'd actually driven him off. She'd sent him running from her. That...that wasn't good...
"What have you done, Teidra..." she muttered to herself, tugging at a lock of white hair and starting to pace the hall, hooves clacking on the tile. Would he leave her now? Give her back to TRIM? How was she going to apologize for this? She'd never driven him off before and...and what had she been thinking?! She hadn't been, that was her answer. Oh no... ah...maybe she should just leave him alone. Wait out here and...and he'd have to leave the room eventually, right?
She leaned against the wall and watched only half interested as Will appeared from the other end of the hall and went to talk to Mazz through the door, grimacing a little as her ears picked up on bits and pieces of what was being said. Will seemed to find it funny, but Mazz sounded mortified. God, how was she going to apologize for this one? She'd just...she'd just have to...
"Haha! Whoo, Mazz sure is packing, ain't he? Kinda...scary but...kinda interesting too. Lucky girl!" Teidra gave a little squeak and a jump when Bianca fell in beside her suddenly, nudging her with her elbow, but the surprise quickly left her face, only to be replaced by narrowed eyes and slightly bared teeth.
"Please don't do that," she said softly before she looked away and heaved a sigh. "And I'm not so lucky right now."
"Sure ya are! Pffft, if he's upset he'll get over it. Hell, he probably liked it. Some people are into that. I sure know I am--"
"Please, Bianca...be quiet. I...I don't want to talk right now. Please," came the terse reply, and Bianca blinked. It was polite as usual--well, save when she'd told her off about Mazz, huh--but even Bianca knew when to leave someone alone. Teidra was obviously upset.
And she had claws and teeth. Best not to upset her further.
So while Teidra brooded and stared toward the door, fidgeting, Bianca shrugged and watched amusedly as Will returned with a pair of pants, setting them by the door. Finally, though, Mazz retrieved the pants, dressed, and opened the door.
And called for them.
Smirking, Bianca opened her mouth, about ready to call back to him--and likely with some teasing comment--but then it wass her turn to jump when, with that same surprising speed, Teidra pushed past Bianca and raced full speed toward Mazz, leaving her in the dust with her mouth still open.
"Mazz! Oh God, Mazz, I'm so sorry!" Teidra skidded to a stop a few feet in front of him, a tormented look on her face as she peered up at him. Her green eyes glistened, betraying the fact that she had been holding back tears, and her white face was flushed with red--she was actually blushing. She felt utterly humiliated, beause she'd humiliatd him. She clasped her hands in front of her, still fidgeting, and she had to look away toward the ground as she continued. "I can't apologize enough, Mazz, I really can't. I don't even know how to tell you how sorry I am, I...I just wasn't thinking, I forgot, Bianca said those things and I was worried and--no, there's no excuse. I just...I...I..."
Suddenly she bowed to him, a deep bow from the waist with her hands resting on her thighs and her mostly white hair falling in a curtain over her face. Her eyes were closed tightly. "I'll repay my debt, whatever it takes to make it up to you. Anything. Just please, please accept my apology...don't send me away...I--"
"Whoa...someone sure takes these things hard." Teidra gave a little gasp and a jolt when Bianca suddenly spoke up and lightly placed a hand on her shoulder, but her hand wasn't there long. Teidra jumped away from the woman, tail raised, eyes wide, and body stiff and ready to flee, but then she relaxed when she saw who had spoken and touched her. "Yeesh. Jumpy, too."
"You...you startled me. I'm sorry. I...I told you not to do that," Teidra said softly, sounding a little out of breath and not at all terse as she'd been before. She didn't mind being touched, of course, but she just liked to know who was touching her first. She couldn't help it if she was skittish; she had a reason to be.
With a sigh, she looked back to Mazz and took a deep breath. "I'm sorry..."
"Oh God, like he's gonna ditch you for pantsing him..." Bianca muttered, rolling her eyes before giving Mazz a little grin. "Actually, I think I should be thanking you, Teidra. Gave me quite an...heh...eyefull. Nice, Mazz," she said with a wink.
-
Teidra was fast but at the same time, Mazz was running on pure adrenalin and just a little bit of fear for that matter. He could hear her behind him running after him, but he was still faster if but by the grace of God or the skin of his teeth. Mazz wasn't sure if he was more disturbed by Teidra or Bianca at this point. Teidra wasn't...ever really bothered by that sort of thing, nudity to her was nothing but...Bianca was the other side of the scary story at this point. Still, he wasn't sure if she was following, and he could just imagine all the things that she would say. Ugh.
After calming down from the panic attack and what not, not to mention getting new pants once more. He was pretty sure he could...he could handle this. At least he hoped that he could...it was going to be tough but the only thing he had to deal with at this point was basically one thing. Humiliation. He hated having to deal with that sort of thing. This was worse than having your boss see you drunk or answering something that everyone knew except for you but damned if you weren't going to fake it anyway. This was just....
He showed his genitals to them.
Granted he didn't see this as Teidra's fault. This was all his fault. He should have been able to hide it better, or not even get aroused for that matter. He should have been able to control himself but he had failed and now he paid for it.
As he stuck his head out the door, he didn't expect for Teidra to suddenly come running up to him. She...she didn't look so happy. No she looked...ashamed and...her eyes had tears welling up in them. Why was...why did she feel about this? She was even blushing. She suddenly bowed to him as well, talking about accepting her apology and repaying her debt...this was just...why would he send her away? Huh. How was this even possible?
Now he felt bad.
He felt really bad about this whole thing.
How did she manage to do this to him?
Suddenly of course Teidra jumped when Bianca approached, and not to mention that he also jumped as well. This was really...really just...everyone jumpy, it was insane. He looked toward Bianca, wanting to glare at her. Things could be nice between Teidra and he if it weren't for Bianca being here to ruin every moment. Still...at least he wasn't having to think about anything at this time.
"It's...Teidra it's alright. You be quiet though Bianca." He shot the woman a glare, a rather annoyed one. At least he only had to deal with her for the next week or so but after that Teidra and he would leave and she would just be a scary memory really. "Look just...Teidra you didn't do anything bad, you were just worried about me, and...thanks but...look. Let's just pretend this never happened, I'd really prefer if we just...not bring this up anymore." Mazz suddenly hugged Teidra, smiling just a little bit at her. He wanted to show her that nothing was really wrong, that everything was fine. He didn't want to get her upset...just...he didn't want to really think about this whole thing.
"Look. Let's all just...we're going to go to dinner. This whole thing never happened and I'm not mad at anyone alright? Teidra you didn't do anything and...Bianca I guess I'm not mad at you either but...no more comments about anything you saw alright...please Bianca?" He really didn't want her going around telling everyone about that. ugh. Rumours about that going around? At least Teidra was always vague, perhaps a little blunt but still vague. At least it was always just 'Mazz had an erection!' or 'Mazz doesn't like taking showers with me for some reason!'
"And I'm not mad at anyone, nor am I going to send you away Teidra, you should know that. You're my favourite patient after all, even if you are a little bit naive." He told her as he gingerly put his arm about her shoulders. He could do this, he just had to keep telling himself this was all platonic, not sexual, nothing like that.
Ugh.
"Okay now just..." He coughed uncomfortably as he left the room, closing it behind him. "Let's go eat." That was all there was to it! Move away from this topic and get onto one that didn't involve genitalia and awkward moments. He wanted to hurry along, so now with both of his arms around one woman he started walking again. There could be nothing awkward at dinner thankfully, too many people right? Bianca wouldn't try anything and Teidra would remember to be on her 'human manners' and such.
It was quiet now though...he made sure not to talk, or let anyone talk as they went to dinner. He just wanted to get this horribly awkward experience behind him. They got a table at the restaurant, Mazz opted to get one instead of just getting dinner and going out on the terrace. More people here after all. "I'll give you three a moment to think about what you want to order, and I'll be back with some waters." The waiter said as he hurried off to get them some drinks. It was a booth table, of course it was, and Mazz as usual picked...the middle.
He had to figure out why he always did this. He always picked to sit in the middle but...maybe deep down he liked it? It was hard to say. It was just instinct, his parents always made him sit in the middle, and when he went to dinner with colleagues he ended up sitting between people. He had no idea. Just right now it was a lot more...awkward. Though the silence between the three of them at this time was just as awkward.
"So...Bianca...what do you do for a living? I mean...from what I'm piecing together you've probably...been to a lot of planets right? Have you left the galaxy before and visited a planet there in that galaxy?" Ah, this was a safe topic right?
-
Well, at least everything had been resolved! Mazz didn't ditch Teidra for the pantsing (not like Bianca thought he would, Teidra just seemed a little overdramatic) and Teidra looked a little less upset after he told her everything was all right and hugged her. She still looked stiff and tormented, like she'd committed some unforgiveable crime punishable by death, but Bianca saw the girl relax a little and rub at her eyes, most likely to wipe away tears. It was kind of interesting, and Bianca couldn't help but wonder what on Earth would give the girl the weird idea that she'd be abandoned for something like that, or punished.
It was strange and a little suspicious.
And she still wondered what kind of patient Teidra was. Mazz was a doctor and Mazz had called Teidra his patient (his favorite one just then, too), but...what was wrong with Teidra, then? Was she sick? Had some mental issues? She'd never heard of doctors taking their patients on week-long vacations to fancy resorts, and Teidra didn't look ill (maybe a little off in the head, but it could have been cultural).
Something felt a bit off.
Bianca mused over it the whole time they walked to the restaurant, with Teidra meekly thanking Mazz, promising never to mention that whole ordeal ever, and clinging a little closer to him than she thought was normal for a "patient". Hm! Oh well, then again, Mazz had put his arm around her, too, so whatev! Not like she minded and, in fact, she wrapped one arm around his waist in turn. This could be easier than she thought. He seemed to be warming up to her, so if he stayed at ease with her this whole time and everything else went according to plan, she could get a free ride off this planet and onto a new one without leaving any tracks behind!
They all got seated at a table, with Mazz in the middle, and Bianca handed out the menus the waiter had left them before he'd gone to get them their waters. She flipped open her own menu, hungry, and began to scan it for the vegetarian options. At least until Mazz spoke, and she lifted her eyes and looked at him with her strange eyes--given their pupils were rectangular, being a sheep and all.
"Mm? Oh! Well, I do a little of this and a little of that," she said noncommitally, smiling. "You could call me a jack of all trades, and you're very right! I travel a lot, wanderlust and all. I get restless if I stay too long in one place. The galaxy's a big place, and I don't wanna waste my life being a homebody! But if you want specifics, my last job I worked tech support. I'm good with electronics."
The waiter came, bringing them their waters, and Bianca set down her menu on the edge of the table as he asked for their orders. "I'll take the veggie burger, please. Pepperjack cheese, mayo on the side, and extra tomato and pickle. Hold the onions. I'll get a strawberry margarita, too, if you got 'em." The waiter nodded and thanked her, picking up the menu, then looked to Mazz, who was next.
Teidra had been very quiet the whole time--ever since they got their menus, actually--and as the waiter paused for Mazz, she flipped through the menu vigorously, biting her bottom lip anxiously. She didn't know what any of that was! She looked at the pictures, and it all looked strange and she wasn't sure what would taste good and what wouldn't. The beverage pictures also looked strange! Colored drinks with lots of bubbles. She would have said it was juice, but juice didn't bubble. What was a strawberry margarita, anyway? Well...it must taste like strawberries, obviously. That sounded good. She liked strawberries.
It didn't help that she couldn't read the menu, relying only on the pictures, and that she had no idea what alcohol was.
When the waiter turned to her, she looked up at him like a deer caught in headlights, green eyes large, before quickly pointing at Mazz. "I-I'll have what he's getting," she said nervously, before adding, "And a strawberry mar-gur-ida."
-
As if Mazz could ever leave Teidra. It had just been...a faux pas. Granted it was a faux pas he wished to NEVER EVER have to relive again but...it was just a simple mistake. God damn Bianca. He didn't...really blame any of them though, Bianca had just been making a...sexual comment and...of course then Teidra misinterpreted that and well...sigh. How could things be this strange? How could they possibly end up like this? At least these misunderstandings wouldn't...happen too much? He just had to be careful about...er...his condition. Sure it was a natural male condition but he really didn't like it.
It was just too embarrassing.
Mazz and Teidra would just have to be quiet though about their...real relationship. Luckily she was following his lead, she was being good about it and...keeping quiet about what kind of patient she had been and...what kind of a monster he was. She didn't know the full extent of what he did, she knew he...experiments on people and what not but...ugh.
No. No work here.
Best not to think of work.
Mazz may have been uncomfortable as the three of them walked, but he couldn't just start acting...well...sca red at this time. He just...it was three friends walking along. So they were women? Big deal! Lots of men had women friends right? One might have been able to see the nervousness in Mazz's face as he walked, it was there, but he was doing his best to just smile and walk along with the two of them.
Mazz started to read through the menu, wondering what to get. Hm. The steak might have been good...he wasn't sure though, there was something about steak, it was just odd. Tough even. Ooo. Pork. Hey now, that might have been something! He was hoping that Bianca would give him a better answer, would give him something that he could put a better...er...face on. So all she was doing was just...hm, interesting. She was just an all around trades person then. Well, there was nothing wrong with that, but she seemed almost...dodgy.
Well, they all had their secrets.
While she started to order from the waiter, Mazz looked back into the menu to look for something to eat. Hm. Veggie burger? Interesting choice. Well. He was going to have some meat if he could. Oh ho! Fish and chips. Yeah alright, fish could be back on the menu then! "I'll have the fish and chips, extra chips please, and for a drink I will have a Viter Greenroque Slushie." The Viterran people had a very...interesting look to alcoholic drink. You never really tasted the alcohol, and for that matter all the drinks were very colourful, glowing even, and they loved the sensation of bubbles.
Mazz handed his menu over to the waiter, looking to Teidra when she stuttered out her order. Did she really want fish and chips? He thought for sure she might have herself a steak or something. Then again, she didn't seem to mind fish when he served it at home, well...when he brought it home for her. This would actually be the first time that Teidra would see him eat, like actually eat some solid food.
It would be one of the strange things he'd be doing while on vacation.
When the food came, Mazz explained everything to Teidra. Things were a little different than the salmon he had given her before. This was cod in a batter. It was butter and crunchy, Mazz liked it, but he loved the french fries. And indeed, his drink seemed look almost...well...it was strange! It was green, it seemed to have a strange glow to it, and despite the fact that it was thick and crushed ice, bubbles still seemed to fizz uncontrollably from the bottom. He still loved it though, oh how he still loved it. Raising it to his lips he took a small drink. Ahhh! It bubbled all the way down, kinda ticklish. Mazz seemed all the more amused by it. Of course, he knew to pace himself.
After all, he was a cheap drunk, and he knew around Bianca, he should probably be careful. She seemed a lot more...er...loose? Still, he even didn't like the idea of Bianca getting drunk. Teidra would probably be just hilarious when she was tipsy and drunk, he wouldn't have to worry about...er...anythi ng strange right? Like a wanton need for erm...carnal relations. Mazz coughed quietly as he took another sip of his drink.
Just had to relax...that's all. Things would be fine.
-
Teidra had no idea what chips were, but she knew what fish was, and it was tasty. Of course, they didn't have the same sorts of fish here as they did on Ren'unis, and fish was far harder to come by on Ren'unis, anyway, save during their short spring when some shallow pools melted to reveal that delicacy. Sure there was ice fishing, too, during the winter, but it could be difficult to cut a hole deep enough in the ice to reach the chilly water below.
Though, when their meal finally came, the fish looked kind of...strange. It was crumbly, and she wrinkled her nose at it and poked it tentatively in its basket with a finger. Did they overcook it? She was about to ask Mazz that, but he beat her to it and began to explain it all to her. Ohh. So it had bread on it. That was strange. And those golden wedges, those were the chips? And what was he drinking? She was most interested in Mazz's bubbly drink, which was green like algae. Why was it bubbling, anyway? He'd called it a slushie, she remembered, but she wasn't so sure a drink should bubble like that, or fizz. It looked kind of dangerous.
She looked over to Bianca, who was busy cutting her veggie burger in half, then looke back to her own food—and her drink, the mar-gur-ida. It was pink, and that fact interested her the most. Squinting her eyes a little and bringing her face level with the drink, she dipped a finger in it, testing the waters, and then sucked the juice off her finger. It was cold and icy, hmm...and it did taste like strawberry. She went to do it again, only this time to figure out what te crystals on the rim of the glass were, but Bianca grabbed her wrist.
"Hey hey, that's not how you drink those things. We're in a restaurant, chick-a-dee, you don't use your hands in places like these. Not polite and all that," Bianca chided gently, while Teidra's eyes widened. She quickly pointed to Bianca, who was eating her burger, yes, with her hands.
"But you're using your hands..."
"Uh. Heh, so I am. Well, what I got's finger food. You don't drink margaritas with your fingers. Just take a sip, it won't bite you."
Bianca set her burger down and took a drink of her margarita for show, and, cautiously, Teidra did the same. And shivered all the way down to her hooves. It was like drinking ground up ice! That was strawberry flavored, only...there was something else to it, too, something more bitter beneath the sweet strawberry flavor. Teidra couldn't put a finger on it, but it wasn't bad. Just unusual. She licked the sugar off the rim of the glass and took another long sip, enjoying the sweetness and the chilly sensation, considering it was so hot here.
"Might wanna go a little slower there..." Bianca murmured, looking over to Mazz. The girl was from a different culture, right? Had she ever even had alcohol? But Teidra finally stopped when about half the glass was drained, licking her lips and smiling sheepishly.
"That's really good," she said, muffling a hiccup behind her hand, before turning her attention onto her food. But she only took a few bites—which were tasty—before turning her attention back to the margarita. Fish she'd had before, even if not breaded, but this was completely new! And she'd admit, she had a major sweet tooth. Sweets were hard to come by on Ren'unis.
Although, she was starting to feel oddly dizzy. And that was starting to show as she began to slow down and lose steam. Before long, the margarita was drained, Teidra's food was only a third gone, and she was leaning her elbows on the table staring down at the tablecloth.
Bianca had almost completely finished her burger and her own margarita was almost gone, but she? Heck, she didn't feel a thing, yet.
She was hardly a light weight. It took a couple before she started to feel it.
"Nngh...I feel funny, Mazz..." Teidra murmured after a pause, head still lowered.
-
Mazz kept his mouth shut as he watched Teidra try to figure out the margarita. Everything about Teidra just had to be adorable didn't it? He liked it though...so innocent and yet...he had learned she wasn't even close to that. She was...er...well versed after all. He just shook his head, deciding he'd let Bianca help her out with the drink. He understood she was testing it, after all, it was pink after all, it wasn't a normal drink like she would have been used to.
Mazz just drank his own beverage, looking between the two girls sitting at his table. It was...he had felt so nervous at first being with the two of them, and after the incident earlier really it was...it was...he had no idea what to feel. Though after he started to drink really...he felt more relaxed. He felt GOOD. He didn't mind that at all...there was still this feeling of dread in the back of his mind but...
Just enjoy the food, and the drink.
That's all he had to do.
Yes, things were going to be strange over the next week. If he could just...control himself, he'd be fine. Hah, as if he couldn't control himself! He was Mazz, he had...he had control. It was going to be a little strange, sleeping arrangements. He had at one point thought about sleeping with Teidra in the bed but...now it was really not going to be a good idea. No, he'd take the couch. And make sure to keep his pants belted. Ugh.
He didn't even want to think about the small part of his brain that said ah...he should have fun with Bianca. She was rather beautiful after all, and he had seen her in the bathing suit after all...Ah! No, actually that was a bad idea! A relationship, a horrible thing really! Not even that, it was just a fling wasn't it? It wouldn't...no...he didn't think like that.
He came back into the moment when he noted that Teidra was REALLY going after her Margarita. She was really into it wasn't she? She finished and gave a hiccup and trying to finish her food. Mazz gave a sigh, shaking her head. Just soda next time. He didn't like the idea of her having too much to drink after all.
Mazz never thought of the idea of Teidra never having had a drink before. It didn't make sense, her people should have had some sort of alcohol in their culture. Anything really. Though now by the way she looked he was...worried. This was bad news. He had heard some tales about women who had been drunk before and....that was bad after all. He didn't need to have a drunk Teidra on his hands. Ugh. Though, if Bianca stayed herself from her drinks, then he wouldn't have to deal with her. Teidra would be fine really, she wasn't interested in...bad things after all.
"It's alright Teidra." He reached over to her, putting his hand on her back and slowly rubbing in circles. "This is just...It means you're a bit tipsy. That's what alcohol does to you. You'll be fine." He was hoping she didn't feel queezy...because if she did then...yeah. "You might want to not have any more Margaritas. Maybe just water." Mazz took that moment to call over the waiter and order a nice large glass of water for her. "You want anything else Bianca? I..assume you can hold your alcohol." Please say you could! He didn't want....that temptation.
-
"Tipsy...?" Teidra repeated, blinking up at Mazz with wide eyes as he rubbed her back. What alcohol did to you? So that's what this feeling was called? Well, she hadn't known it made you feel weird and head-spinny and if she'd known in advance she wouldn't have tried it. She didn't really like how it felt and she hadn't even known that drink had alcohol in it. "There...was alcohol in this...?"
Of course her culture had developed alcohol, but it was for males and typically only drunk after a successful hunt or in rituals before the mating season. Never smelled good, anyway, and this had smelled and tasted so sweet. She would have never thought...and...wow, no wonder the males acted so funny after drinking it.
"Oooh...I shouldn't have drank that...I didn't know..." Teidra moaned, flipping her ears back and sinking her face into her hands. Her face which had turned quite pink. Yes, Teidra was actually blushing and it wasn't just because of the liquor.
Bianca arched an eyebrow, never having quite witnessed that sort of reaction to drinking alcohol, but Mazz spoke and she looked from Teidra to him and gave a relaxed smile. "Mm? Naaw, thanks, I'm good. I can drink like a fish but one's enough for me," she said with a wink, leaning back in her chair. "Besides, I got my drinking days outta my system as a teen. I'm a social drinker now. Refined. And anyway..." She nodded to Teidra. "She doesn't look so hot."
"I'm okay," Teidra mumbled, shaking her head, face still hidden, though when the waiter brought the water she finally raised her head, grabbed the glass, and took a long swig. When she put the glass down she looked up at Mazz, confusion written all across her face. "Why'd you let me drink that?"
-
"Yeah...didn't you read the menu where it said 'A splash of liquor' right?" She could read, he knew she could, he had at least taught her that much. He rubbed the back of his neck as he sighed. Apparently Ren'unis didn't have it, or at least Teidra hadn't tried any of course. That actually...might have made sense. Maybe it was for the older people, she was technically...er... pre...season? Oh god. He was a paedophile wasn't he?
No no, not in his culture. Maybe....er...she just hasn't had a season after all...Which of course didn't have to really do with anything...After all, women had periods around thirteen, but hit a sexual peak, almost like a season, at about fortyish? Yeah. Okay. That was alright then. Still, it worried him a little. Er, no it didn't, cause he wouldn't have sex with her. Hah, yeah, that's right. Ahem.
How could he forget? It must have been the Greenroque Slushie.
Mazz gave a small nod of his head at Bianca. "That's...er...good to hear. Very good." He was very relieved by that too. He had already had...oh lord two very very embarrassing incidents with Bianca around. He was sure she was teasing him too during those times but...one had been involuntary and the other was just...bad wording. No one was at fault for any of that. Well. Bianca...might have tried to be behind that but...she couldn't have known how Teidra would react so...it must have been a freak coincident.
"Are you sure?" Mazz asked as he observed her carefully, leaning slightly toward her to make sure she was, a hand resting on her back as he studied her for a moment. Well, at least she was smart and took a drink of the water. "W-what? I didn't...I mean that...I thought you had...I uhm..." He rubbed the back of his neck, sighing. This...he...No, he wasn't at fault...was he? "I just thought you had at least...known it was...usually you ask me these things..." He coughed quietly as he looked to Bianca, almost helpless at this point, then back to Teidra. "Er...just keep drinking the water Teidra, you have to rehydrate yourself, and have a bit more to eat but...if you feel nauseous just close your eyes and tilt your head back."
-
Teidra shook her head at his question. No, she hadn't read that part. She hadn't read the menu at all since she didn't know what any of the stuff even was. Instead, she'd just ordered what they had order, and Bianca had ordered the mar-gur-rida while Mazz had ordered the fish and chips, so she'd just taken something from both of them and trusted they knew what was tasty. Which they had! Both had been really good.
She just hadn't known about the mar-gur-rida!
"Sorry," Teidra whispered as Mazz worried over her, rubbing her face, which felt quite hot. From the way he was acting, he seemed to think it was his fault or that he'd done something terribly wrong, since he was acting so concerned and awkward again. That was when it occurred to her that, maybe, he just didn't get it. Maybe it was another cultural difference. Wait. Bianca was drinking the mar-gur-rida, too, and they both had the same things in it, right? And Bianca was female...and she was also currenly giving Teidra a strange yet curious look, one eyebrow arched.
Teidra sank back in her seat and her blush deepened. Maybe this was normal here. Why else would Bianca drink it, too?
She took another long gulp of water, hunched her shoulders, and grabbed a fry and took a bite.
"Sorry, Mazz...I didn't mean to worry you. It's just..." She flicked her eyes toward the margarita. "I've never had it before...only males drink alcohol on Ren'unis, and only during certain times. Sometimes females, too, but not much." There were female hunters, after all, those females that were built larger and stronger than the average short, lithe, and delicate Tuathi female. The reverse was true, as well--some males were built more delicately. While gender roles were rather strict in Tuathi society, sometimes exceptions were made.
Swallowing down her fry, Teidra tilted her head back and closed her eyes while Bianca smirked. "Heh, you got the poor girl all gender confused now, Mazz," she commented with a snort. Cute as the Tuathi girl was--she was also very, very strange in Bianca's opinion and too much of a door-mat from what she'd witnessed of her behavior.
Those kinds of women drove her insane. Mainly because she'd been one at one point in her life, and she sure as hell wasn't going back. She pushed her plate away from her and folded her hands on the table. "So, what're your plans for the rest of the day?"
-
Well at least Mazz knew from all of this that she would in the very least start reading the ingredients. He'd rather have her ask him a bunch of questions then getting her drunk. That would just look really bad, and more so with his mind telling him to let loose. It was a vacation after all. Though, she didn't look like she had hated the drink or the food at least. He was glad that she liked at least something then.
"What? I-it's okay Teidra. You don't h-have to be sorry or anything y-y'know." He told her, his hand still making small circles on her back. He didn't want her to think that he was mad at her. He still did think it might have been his fault though considering....well he should have asked her but...it...he just...never crossed his mind. Argh. He'd have to be a lot more careful really. A lot...more careful.
"Oh well...most of er...human culture it's alright for any gender to enjoy alcohol." Some...enjoyed a lot more of it. But he wasn't really worried about Teidra becoming an alcoholic. That was just silly. Besides, her people probably looked down on that sort of thing, just like his own people did. Though, the fact that only males got to drink it was a little confusing but...then again that's what her whole culture was all about. Having the men reigning over the females. He didn't like it but that was just...how her people acted.
"What? It's...I mean...our culture isn't like...that. Genders aren't oppressed after all...well...not as much." There were some places, like Aedolis after all, but that was...just one place. For the most part, he believed, the Sol System was equal opportunity. That's how he had been raised anyway. Mostly by his mother, and she was a strong, very scary woman. Very...scary.
Mazz rubbed the back of his neck as he looked to Bianca. "I don't...really know I mean it's getting late...well...It's only seven but...I don't know?" He coughed, folding his hands in his lap as he looked downward at the table. What could they go do? The resort was going to be quiet now, and it wasn't like...well...it wasn't dangerous so they could go for a walk! Yeah, that was a safe little topic wasn't it? He could do that. Besides, a nice cool night, walking through the sparse forest of the resort? That had always been a nice time as he remembered.
"Well I was thinking of going for a walk. It's not a big island but the scenery is nice, and the air is always a nice cool and comfortable temperature." Mazz told her as he looked up finally. If they didn't want to come with him that would be okay really. Though of course, he'd really want them to come with him, well, Teidra anyway. As for Bianca he wasn't really sure but...she was being nice enough at least right?
-
Teidra wrinkled her nose and stared at Mazz in confusion. Oppressed genders? Huh? That flew right over her head as, honestly, she simply had no concept of 'oppression' or 'inequality' and didn't even know what it meant. All she knew was hierarchy, and she'd observed that even humans had their own hierarchies. Mazz deferred to other scientists just as Tuathi females deferred to males and all Tuathi deferred to their elders. To her, it was all the same thing: it was all a matter of respect and power balances, only in her society it was based on age and gender and in Mazz's it was based on...well, she hadn't been able to figure that out yet.
Mazz's hierarchy didn't make too much sense.
"We're not oppressed, either, in my culture," Teidra said slowly, frowning. Mazz didn't understand, but she couldn't expect him to. They were both literally worlds apart in their thinking.
It was the sort of statement that made Bianca want to take the girl by the shoulders, give her a good shake, and tell her to wake up. She'd observed the submissive way she behaved around Mazz and it irked her to no end. Bloody door-mat women. Eugh.
She refrained, however. It wasn't her business nor her problem and she wouldn't be knowing either of them for very long.
Bianca raised an eyebrow as she listened to Mazz speak--which was a complete mess as he tripped over his words. Why, she hadn't a clue; he was acting all flustered and unless she'd really missed something, the dinner had been as tame as tame could be. While getting him riled had been entertaining, him acting all nervous for seemingly no reason was a little...bothersome . It was almost making her nervous. Finally, though, he seemed to gain control of himself and speak in a steady, normal fashion and she relaxed a little.
"Mmm, well, a walk sounds nice to me. It's always a good way to work off the calories after a big meal!" Bianca said with a smile, rising to her feet and arching her back as she stretched her arms over her head. Ahh, sitting for too long always made her stiff. "You can be the tour guide, eh? Since it sounds like you've done it before. Well, once you get the tab, at least."
That she said with a sly wink. "Thanks for dinner."
-
Mazz just didn't really know how to explain it to her. She just didn't understand it. Her society, males were the dominant ones after all. Here it was just...everyone was...well...mostly equal. In different places it really was uh...well...differe nt. Aedolis had it's own ways, Edanith, Teinar, TRIM...hell, a lot of the people that he deferred to were women. He was also much more likely to listen to his mother, who was a whole lot scarier than his father, who was a bit nicer...
"I know it's...uh...just different with my people. Our people would think that yours oppress women in a way...but um...never mind it's not really important." Mazz told her as he rubbed the back of his neck. Ugh. How awkward was this anyway? He had no idea how to explain it to her. Maybe it was best to not.
It was a little worrisome, with Bianca being around with Teidra. Bianca didn't look like one who would be um...dominated. She was very outspoken, very...uh...well. Yeah. She was very forward after all. He really hoped that Bianca didn't decide to try and set Teidra straight, or that she started giving her a lot of ideas...after all, he was having a lot of trouble just introducing her to a bunch of new ideas. It was ending up to be quite a lot of um...well, strain on him.
Ah! Not like that of course!
"Well, I've walked this island quite a bit...they rotate all the fauna and designs every year so it's never the same." That was something amazing really. They were just able to change up the flora and animals every year. Sometimes there were repeats but the island was never the same. He smiled as a waiter came over to him, running his hand over a data pad, allowing him to painlessly pay for the meal. The drinks were always a little expensive but...he was the one who wanted to take them out for dinner.
A blush spread along his cheeks as he coughed uncomfortably. "It's no problem Bianca...I'm glad you enjoyed it. Are you okay Teidra? Are you up for a walk?" He really hoped she was. He didn't like the thought of going outside with just Bianca. That seemed like a very...bad idea. It was really surprising how this was all turning out to be. He'd make it through this week, he would have to. It was going to be a very difficult one, with all this temptation around him. Ugh. Teidra had been bad enough but then...Bianca was a whole other variable. One of those very scary ones.
"It'll be nice to get outside. The night air is just perfect."
-
Bianca stared at Mazz as he blushed some more, and then looked down at her clothes to make sure everything was tucked in where it should be. Yep, she was still covered, all right, so why was he blushing? She'd just thanked him for the meal. Oh, hell, maybe he was still blushing over that stunt he'd pulled with Teidra, you know, making her lose her bikini top and everything. She had to admit, that had been a pretty cruel stunt to pull on a total stranger and it wasn't something she would normally do, but she'd also been bored out of her mind and it was easy entertainment. She'd needed a good laugh.
In retrospect, it hadn't been a good idea because now she couldn't have a normal conversation without him blushing. It was going to drive her nuts, but she'd just grin and bear it. She wasn't after him for his personality or looks, after all--well, looks to a certain extent. He looked well off, and if he could invite a random stranger to a nice dinner and pay for everything including some pricey drinks, that meant he had money. Even better. That meant when she sneaked on board his ship, the destination would be nice. Excellent. She'd have to find out more about that.
But for now, this target sounded promising--and not psycho and creepy, at least. She had other targets she was monitoring on this island, as she liked to keep her options open, but most of them were staying longer than he was and that automatically put him more in her favor. She had to get off this damned planet as soon as she could, and it didn't really matter where they were going, as long as it wasn't, like...TRIM.
The easy thing to do, of course, was to just ask if she could hitch a ride, but she didn't really want to do that. That meant being a passenger and having to socialize more and all that crap, and even if she was being social now, it was only so she could get information on her potential transporters and keep dibs on them, make sure they weren't leaving earlier than they'd said. Once she had that, she could go back to ignoring them for the rest of the week.
Unless she got bored.
She peered down at Mazz and clasped her hands behind her back, rocking a little on her hooves. "Well? You're sure talking a lot about this nice walk thing, but you gonna get up and actually take us on it or what?" she asked, sticking her tongue out at him. "Stop telling and start showing, man!"
Teidra looked over at Mazz when he asked if she was okay, then nodded and, like Bianca, slowly rose to her feet. She had to hold onto the back of her chair for balance as she was still a little woozy, but she didn't feel that sick anymore. The water and food had helped dilute the alcohol some, but she was still feeling the effects.
Getting out and going for a walk would probably help. Fresh air usually did feel better, and she liked the outdoors more. Something about this place felt rather artificial, but it was still a drastic change from TRIM, where everything was metal and plastic and the "sunlight" was from fluorescent light bulbs.
Rotated flora and fauna, though? That sounded bizarre. "Are the plants and animals real?" she asked, rubbing her head. "And...there are no predators, right?"
-
Mazz was going to, he hoped at best, to try and subdue his blushing. At least when they were outside he could blush because it was cool, or in the very least, just stop blushing. The walk would help him insanely he was hoping. All the night air and stars would clear his mind at this point. He smiled lightly, trying to get rid of that damned blush. He looked toward Bianca, who just looked...adorable as she rocked on her feet...er...hooves, with her hands behind her back like that. "Oh right...I will then." He really didn't want to say 'I'll start showing alright.' because that would be just...yeah it would...um...be bad. It was dirty.
This is what happens when your child grows up with very little contact.
He was in his thirties, he should be able to control himself. He was having troubles but damn it he would figure a way to do it. He just had to keep his mind off of everything. Not read deeply into anything. That way he'd be alright!
He could handle that...yeah.
"Yes, all the plants and animals are real, and there are no predators. It's a predator free zone." After all, this was a vacation spot for employees, it was meant for people to relax. If you put a bunch of vicious creatures here, it could end in disaster, like sending even more stressed out employees back to the station. The whole object was to relax them so when they returned, they could be at peak efficiency once more.
Mazz took a deep breath as he led the ladies outside, careful with Teidra as she seemed a bit unstable still. It was crisp outside, this must have been later in the year, it was a bit cooler than he remembered, but it wasn't bad, it was nice, just right even. He could hear small insects and nocturnal animals all around them, even from inside the hotel compound still. It was only a short walk until they were on a dirt path into the forest. A few glowing objects darted lazily in the forest, the fireflies and such with their luminescent bodies. Things were just so peaceful here, there was no worry, no tests to run, nothing. It was just...
Enjoyable.
"See, no predators out here Teidra. It's just us, the small critters and bugs, and then the stars." Ah, he enjoyed the stars. To think how far away some of those little points of light were. He was rather...happy right now. His blush had faded, and he seemed...calmer. His muscles weren't tensed, he already started to seem much more relaxed than he had been inside the restaurant.
There were people there after all, and with...Bianca and Teidra around, it was not a very...good place to be. In case any more...accidents happened. Like Teidra shredding his pants again. Ugh.
No, don't think of it. Just relax.
He took a deep breath as he walked, smelling the sweet air as some of the nocturnal flowers opened into their bloom. So peaceful.