Desert Planet Ship, page 8
Kanala smelled wonderful. He smelled like the forest after a long, hard storm, that beautiful feeling of rebirth and regrowth. I had only been a small branchling when I experienced it for the first time, and I had loved it. It was right that Kanala reminded me of that time. He was just as pure as that time was.
"Ancestors," he muttered, and I was suddenly aware that he was staring at my vine inside my mouth, watching it avidly. "It isn't a vine," he told me, and squirmed as I had my vines investigate where it emerged from, a few brave vines even dipping inside him, where the rest of his length was. "It is my-" the sound of his voice was abruptly cut off as the rest of his length came out of him and his body heaved, breathing hard. I understood what it was now. It was his sexual organ. His cock, as I had heard some aliens refer to it. It was fully out now, and I coiled my vines around it, trying to be gentle with it. I didn't want to hurt him. That was the last thing I wanted.
I tried to imagine how I would want them touched if I had sexual organs. But the thought was far too foreign to me, and I could not even imagine it. I was fully Xion and had no idea what anything else felt like. So I just watched Kanala intently as I tried my best to make him orgasm. That was the word these fleshy creatures used for it. Orgasm. I would try my best to make sure Kanala orgasmed today.
I wrapped my vines around him securely, looking into his green eyes. He was sweating now, and I had very little idea of if this was normal for a Kiilaran. But I did not want to ask him, for fear of disrupting his pleasure. I had some idea that this was a state that couldn't be achieved often, and I wanted to make the most of this opportunity. I tightened my grip around his cock and tried massaging it with the tip of each of my vines. Kanala groaned, and yet more liquid spilled out of him. He was quite vocal, and I hoped he continued. I loved every bit of the sound that spilled from his mouth, his lips.
I continued the gentle massage of his cock, but I was rather curious about something. I wanted to see if one of my vines could fit inside him. I snaked one beside his cock, and it slid into him. I waited, wanting to see if it had any ill effects, but it did not seem to judging by Kanala's groans and the hand he reached down to the vine, just holding it. Encouraged, I slid it deeper, until it could go no further. I doubled it back in itself, letting more of the vine's length slide into him, and Kanala gave a shocked cry. He was suddenly spurting into my vines, a rather greyish white liquid that I had never seen before. But it was no wonder. I had never seen any being achieve orgasm. Curious, I withdrew one of my vines from encircling his cock and put it into my mouth again, letting my scent receptors absorb the smell of it. It was just as good as Kanala was, and I withdrew it again, and summoned an unmarked tentacle to brush across his face, his hand, anywhere I could reach.
His eyes were soft as he took hold of my vine and pressed it to his lips. I could not bear the thought of leaving this moment. I wanted to surround him with my vines and hold him until he never thought of the father of his small child again. I wanted him to be mine, and only mine. "Can you lay on the bed without rooting into it," he asked as he caressed my vine. I looked at it, and thought that I could, perhaps. Even if I rooted into the bed, it would be worth it. I just wanted to be as close to him as I possibly could.
I took my vines in order, and moved closer to the bed, closer to Kanala. With a start, I realized that my vine was still inside him, feeling warm and wet from his release. I gazed at it, at where we were connected. "Should I take it out?" I asked, but Kanala shook his head. "It's too good," he said, and sighed as he adjusted it a little. "Come here," he said, and gestured at me. I hesitantly made my way to his large bed and looked at it dubiously. It did not seem nearly large enough for a Xion of my age. But he moved over a little to where he seemed dangerously close to falling off the edge, and I tried. My nearly immobile legs ended up in the air, far too long to fit on the surface. But my vines held them up, and I could enjoy the feeling of holding Kanala in my vines and doing nothing else.
I was too hard for him to place his head on my body comfortably, so he rested it on a cushion and looked into my eyes. "I loved this," he told me quietly. "It has been so long since I..." his face crumpled, and tears started leaking from his eyes. I curled my vines around him, trying to hold him and comfort him. "For the longest time, my cock did not even come out of me," he told me when he had regained the power of speech again, looking at me again with his bright green eyes. "I just could not even think of it for years. And when I did, I couldn't make it about me. I just wanted to give pleasure to someone else. I don't really need it, as some Kiilarans do. I just want it, sometimes. It helps to feel close." He raised his head to see me, and the liquid tracked down his face. I touched him with my vines, doing the best I could to embrace him.
"I never thought that I would be able to do this again. But it is only right that we have. I want anything you can give me, Uduliiiiin. I know that your people do not usually have bondmates. Even if we never share a bond. If all I have is being with you for the next few years until you root, I will be happy with it." He smiled up at me, and my heart hurt for him. "I can always find you when you are rooted and speak to you. You will not be ancient within my lifetime. I can live with this. If you want it, Uduliiiiin. You must tell me if you do not." I twitched my vines, unable to do more than that. I longed to caress Kanala with my hands that had long grown hard and unable to move. But they only creaked slightly when I tried and did not move at all. So I used my vines. I used my vines to scoop up Kanala and place him atop my body, using all his cushions to intersperse them between my hard body and his soft one. I did not want to hurt him with my bark.
"I would love nothing more," I told him when he was seated comfortably atop me, looking down at me with his arms folded beneath his head. "I just worry. Would someone of your own kind not be better?" He shook his head.
"I can't bear the thought, Uduliiiiin. My mother lied to me. My closest friend lied to me. How can I trust any of them? The only ones I do not resent are Axa and his mates, and my sister. They knew nothing of this, and I cannot blame them for it. That blame has been assigned, and I rather doubt I will ever find another Kiilaran that can unfreeze my heart enough to them for me to make a true attempt. No," he said, his voice strong. "I cannot do that again. I will not. I do not particularly need love. The love of my son is more than enough to sustain me. And who can tell? Perhaps I can adopt other children and share my love that way. It is an idea. But no," he said, returning to my original question. "I will not take another Kiilaran as my partner. As my bondmate, even. It can be done with the water elementals, but do you want it?"
I had some idea of these water elementals. We had received news of them as most of the Kiilarans' allies had. And I could not help but feel that they were perhaps sister species to us. We were creatures of wood and they were of water. It was only right that we should be allies. But we had received no word from them or their hosts, and so it had been deemed unimportant by the others. But I could not escape the thought that they were important to us Xion somehow. Water was the second most important element to us apart from the earth. But the work with our branchlings and our mother plants always continued, and we were too lost in it to think much of the future. We did not visit the Kiilarans much, anyway. It was something I wanted to change, but how could I? I was one among millions of Xion.
"I do, Kanala," I told him. "I want it more than anything else. I just worry that I will not be enough. No Xion have friendships, much less take one of another species as a partner. I do not truly know what it means." He extended his arm down to my face, and I reached upwards as much as I could with my head. But it wasn't very much at all, so instead I just extended my vines and covered his hand and arm in them. "All it means is that we speak from the heart, Uduliiiiin. And we are each other's closest friend. Or at least it is for our people, anyway." He smiled down at me, his eyes tracing over my face.
"And we share pleasure, of course. That is one of the best things." I moved the vine that was still inside him experimentally, and he gasped, clutching at my vines. I held them steady as he grasped them but didn't move it again. "More," I asked hesitantly. But he nodded quickly, and looked down at me as I withdrew my vine from him slowly, before creeping it back inside him ever so slowly. He writhed, and I tried to imagine what it would feel like. His hand went underneath him to grasp at his sexual organ, but my vine was faster. I wrapped it around his cock, rubbing it slowly even as my other vine plunged inside him again.
He held the vine that was inside him and pushed it inside him rather ineffectually. But I did far better than he had wanted. I slid more of the vine's length into him, coiling it inside him until he cried out, his cock spurting a greyish white liquid that covered the vine around it and my chest. I couldn't help but caress his head as I watched his flushed body cool from the exertion. The vine inside him was pleasantly snug, and I rather enjoyed the feel of it inside his warm body. It was just... different. My vines were more used to holding me up, not being inside a person like this. It was nice. Very nice. I could see how biological beings liked this. If my vines had been made for a sexual purpose, perhaps I, too, would find it stimulating. But they weren't, so it was just nice to hold my vines inside a warm Kiilaran, sliding my vine to the side as his cock retreated into his body again.
When I looked into his face again, he was watching me with hazy eyes, and I could tell he would be asleep soon. "This is the best part of having a partner," he said, so low that I could barely hear him. He was asleep within moments, and though I tried to stay awake, I was drawn into our own version of sleep.
Chapter 22
Kanala
June 9th, 2638
Something was poking me. Or, rather, poking into my slit. It was a rather unpleasant sensation, and I rolled to the side, not remembering that I was on top of Uduliiiiin. At least I fell onto the bed, I thought gloomily as I thumped down onto it. I just lay there for a moment, trying to catch my breath, and then rolled over, wanting to see what had been poking into me.
It certainly hadn't been his vine, as that had apparently fallen out of me as we had slept. For Uduliiiiin was still sleeping, his eyes closed as he dreamed. The sight of the verdant burst of greenery on his stomach made me stare. There were small flowers there, flowers that I had crushed by lying on him, but were now moving and regaining their true form, small petals outstretched as if just waiting for Uduliiiiin to move into some sun. And there, just where my slit had been, was a flower. A flower that was a little worse for wear after trying to grow into me, but a flower nonetheless. In only a few moments, it fully unfurled, and I stared at it. At him. No Xion had flowered, ever. I rather dimly recalled Uduliiiiin telling me that at some point. How could this have happened?
I touched Uduliiiiin, but he slept on, oblivious. I shook his rather hard arm, but he still didn't wake. And then I saw the vine that had been inside me. It was covered in flowers, and I looked at it in disbelief. And then another vine, that I guessed had been around my cock, was covered in yet more flowers. I couldn't understand this. I couldn't. The Xion had never flowered before. They couldn't. But the sight of the flowers covering Uduliiiiin was mute denial of my thoughts. They obviously could flower. And he had. I let out a nervous laugh, and that woke him. It was lucky, since my next action would have been to shake his entire body as best as I could. He needed to be awake.
His eyes opened slowly, and I could feel his confusion as he became aware. "Careful," I told him, scooping up the vines next to me before he could use them as his feet and showing them to him. His eyes widened until they were nearly double their previous size. He took them from me, moving them closer to him as if he couldn't believe what he was seeing. I still couldn't believe it, either.
“You have flowers, Uduliiiiin!” I exclaimed, unable to keep it inside any longer. He brought his vine to his face in amazement, seemingly breathing in the scent of it for a moment. “Does it smell like anything?” I couldn’t help but ask. He seemed enthralled by it, at the very least. He just guided his vine to me, and when it was in front of me, I smelled it. It was like no other plant I had smelled before, that was for sure. But in a way it was all Uduliiiiin. Just as clean and fresh as he was.
It was when he tried to get up that I realized something was wrong. The mattress stuck to his back, and I realized with a start that he had rooted into it. Uduliiiiin had realized too, and he was panicking, small, panicked sounds coming out of his mouth as he thrashed to get free. I seized hold of as many vines as I could and told him to stop. He stared at me, eyes wild. But he stayed still, frozen, half upright. I went for my knife, that one I had bought when I had been afraid of this. I activated it, and Uduliiiiin moaned, a low, helpless sound. But when I looked up at him, he gave as much of a nod as he could and angled his body toward me. I did nothing less than what was needed. He didn't want to root.
Chapter 23
Uduliiiiin
June 12th, 2638
Even many days later, my body was awash with the pain of having all those newborn roots cut away. A part of me had not wanted to be rid of those beautiful roots, but I had no choice. They would have been my cage. As much as I treasured that part of my body, they had to be gone. And so I was rid of them by Kanala's hand. It was only right that they were. He was the closest person to my heart. And yet, if I could have spared him, I would have. It was not an enjoyable task, cutting away all those roots that were a reminder of what I would become.
It had come time to make a choice, and I dreaded it. It was the first time I had been rooted, but it would not be the last. It would only be the last the moment when I accepted the rooting and did not call to my other Xion to help me free myself. Or that time when I would choose a particular planet, and let myself settle into the ground, without my vines underneath me. And I was terrified at the thought. I was not one to want eternal life stuck on a planet, my thoughts growing ancient and slow in the way of our parent trees. I wanted to explore the universe, and I did not mind the idea of dying one day. Perhaps I should have been born as a creature just as fleshy as Kanala. The idea of it was not as terrifying as I had once thought it to be.
I touched the flower on the middle of my body, still amazed by it. The vine fit underneath it, and I pointed it upwards so I could see the pollen glistening on the edges. I still could not understand how this had happened. I could not. Nothing about Kanala spilling himself on me should have caused this, and yet... I could not avoid the thought. The knowledge that it had been him that did this. But I could not wish for anything else. I brought the vine with its own flower up to the flower on my body, and they touched for an instant. I had no idea what else to do with them. They were far too unusual, and I could do nothing about them. All my fellow Xion had looked at me with enormous eyes, unable to believe them. And I could not blame them. I had very little idea of what I was, either. I only hoped it was not the start of the end for me. I could not take to rooting right now. Perhaps I never would. But I certainly didn't want it right now.
I ] sat on the branch, absorbing all the sunlight I could. It was dappled here, shaded by the trees above me. I had not chosen the very intense sunlight of the higher branches today. I was rather afraid that the flowers would crisp up and die if I put them through stress. And I did not want that to happen at all. I was the first Xion that had flowered in living memory, and I did not know what would happen to me if they died. Some plants lived after their flowers died, but with others, the whole plant died. I did not want to try it. I had no wish to leave Kanala alone just when we had started becoming closer as friends. I could not. As isolated as he was from his people, I could not imagine how he would fare all alone. The thought was horrifying.
And some part of me just hated the idea of him alone. Kanala deserved to have people around him. He deserved to have all the cats he wanted, all the fleshy beings that he trusted around him. He should not have to be virtually alone here, among my people. There were Kiilarans here, yes. But he kept himself apart from them, not wanting to connect with them on a deeper level. Oh, they spoke. But mostly of their children, and nothing more. I doubted that he would find comfort in that sort of conversation. He needed people that he knew, and who knew him. It was a conundrum, but I was beginning to understand what I must do.
Above and below me, my brothers were absorbing the sunlight just as I was. But I was brought to my surroundings by a voice. A rather sweet voice that hung in the air. It took a few moments before I realized that it was my name the person was saying. When I looked at the place where the branch met the main body of the tree, I saw the Kiilaran that I had been thinking of. Kanala. His sleek hair shone in the light, and he stood so straight and tall, with his bright eyes. It took me a moment to understand that he was looking down at the rather tangled vines from other Xion that were on this branch with me and taking experimental steps to try and clamber over them. But luckily he did not attempt it, and just looked up at me again.
I moved rather quickly, since he looked rather unsteady on his feet in such a place. He was right to be. He didn't have any of my flexible and strong vines that could be extended to catch onto anything if he fell. He just had two rather strong and nicely formed arms, but they were no match for my long and flexible vines. I quickly moved from my spot and slung my vines around the body of the branch to avoid disturbing the other Xion as I moved to Kanala's side. The forest floor below was rather far, and I could see why Kanala was nervous. He could never survive such a fall, and neither would I, in all fairness. It was simply too far.
But there was no worry of me falling as I pulled myself up to the end of the branch and went inside with Kanala. "We need to talk about something," he said quietly. "Here?" I asked, still aware of the Xion behind me. If we spoke about my flowers, I did not necessarily want anyone else to hear. It was too strange. "Let us go to my room," he told me.
