Chapter 6

“You know, wearing your Boyfriend is kinda kinky.” Anne said as she held a tablet showing the vital signs as well as the results she got from a gauntlet of tests done to Raven.

Raven and Nevermore could only look away as a light dusting of pink covered her cheeks while Nevermore’s skin/clothing felt hotter against her own. Being reminded of how intimately connected she was to Nevermore had her feeling all hot and bothered.

“When you say it that way…” She replied, running her hands against her forearm and feeling the smooth yet warm caress of her lover and partner made goosebumps spread across her skin and crawl up her neck. She had to bite her lips when she felt Nevermore's tentacles against her skin. Both the tiny little cilia and the big ones which were touching her ever so intimately.

“God damn it girl, keep it together. Also, down boy down!” Anne scolded the two as she lightly booped Raven on the forehead and Nevermore on one of his eye stalk/mouth tentacles with her tablet.

Taking in a deep breath, she had to remind herself as well as Nevermore that there was always later. Giving him a squeeze seems to calm him real quick.

“Anyways, I’d like to congratulate you Miss Roth on your health examination! You’re the healthiest woman I’ve ever had the honor of ever testing. It’s freaky how fast you can heal. I could actually compare your biology to that of a Krogan if everything was human size and without the redundancies.” Anne excitedly replied as she showed Raven the screen. Most of the information flew over her head but she appreciated the effort Anne made to make things as transparent as possible.

“Thanks, I guess?” She replied unsure on how to really respond to this. She could also feel Nevermore beaming with pride. It seemed that it wasn’t just her heritage in play. Still, she had a couple of reasons why she couldn’t complain.

“Now Miss Roth, I’ll be administering you some shots. These shots are just the general ones that have been proven to be biocompatible with almost all the major species with the exception of species with extreme biology’s like the Volus.” Anne then said as she pulled out a small box filled with vials. Picking a selection of vials, she then loaded them up to what appears to be a jet injector with a revolver mechanism.

“Species jumping diseases are always a risk and it wouldn't hurt having a second dose of the vaccine anyways. It would have been easier if we had your medical records but you did say that you never had an Omni tool, so best to have you injected with everything.” She started looking for a place to jab the needle in.

“Nevermore.” She whispered, getting her lover's attention. Having him wrapped around her body made it hard to find a place to inject her with the shots. He responded quick enough as she felt the glove wrapping her hands part for the shot. Feeling the cold air against her skin even after just wearing Nevermore felt weird.

“Thank you… that reminds me, does Mr. Nevermore require his shots or something? His biology is weird with him… being… you know?” She hadn’t really thought about that up until Anne brought it up. Does Nevermore need his shots. He is after all quite massive and a simple shot wouldn’t be enough.

“I don’t think it would be necessary? I might just be able to copy the shots anyways.” Nevermore shrugged in reply.

“Oho? Well, wouldn't that be a sight to see. I’m still quite skeptical with your claims, Mister Nevermore but your genes say otherwise. They’re unbelievably complex and seem like an archive of every creature we’ve encountered so far on top of being a working genome.” Anne rambled on as she fiddled with the gun.

“I could just turn around and make it morning?” Nevermore offered.

“I think that wouldn’t be wise given that they seem to be getting ready for bed.” She replied. Traveling through Nevermores surface took almost the whole morning and she herself was starting to feel drowsy. She didn’t want to bother with the sun for now.

“You could but that might scare off our transport as well! He did not want to land on you. Anyways, enough with the chit chat, now to administer the shots!” She replied as she raised her injector and let the light glint of the sharp needle.

Raven held back a wince as she felt the sharp prick of the needle before feeling the liquid of the vial flow inside her. It was always an uncomfortable feeling but it was necessary.

Nevermore was focused on the site of the shot before his eyes glazed over and lost focus. A tentacle split from her cape before Nevermore produced the same color liquid in some form of biological vials.

As Nevermores eyes focused, he whistled in seeming appreciation. “Huh, that’s a lot of progress in 300 hundred years”.

“Have you been near Earth, Mister Nevermore?” Anne asked as she inspected the offered vials before sliding them in in a separate biohazard containment box for later study if she was to hazard.

“Yup!” Nevermore replied ever so enigmatically. Nevermore had been keeping some of their cards close while being obtuse with others. It seemed to keep Anne on her toes and make her wonder. Refuge in audacity.

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“Fine, keep your secrets. You did say you’re going to be releasing a codex of your own later right?” Anne asked as she pulled the used needle from the gun and disposed of it in the proper garbage bin.

“Yup. It took you guys quite a while to find us.” Nevermore replied. Nevermore had been rather cryptic these past few hours and there was some hint of fear yet he buried it well under a guise of confidence and cockyness. What spooked him enough to be quite this obtuse and cryptic?

“There’s more of you?” Anne asked with a dumbfounded look.

“Maybe. Who knows?” Nevermore replied as he waggled her eyebrows at Anne.

“Stop speaking in riddles oh mighty spirit.” Anne replied as she raised her hands in surrender.

“Nah, I’m just messing with you. Don’t worry about it. Once we get some omnitools, I’ll be able to write about my species. I should probably write some advertisements about my beaches!” Nevermore boasted.

“The beach was nice. No annoying seagulls or jellyfish.” Raven added. It was peaceful really. She was now back in the mood to read some of her novels under some coconut tree.

“Maybe I should come back after the expedition for a vacation. The purple plants must look quite lovely as a backdrop for a white sand beach.” Anne said dreamily, making Raven curse out. She was really getting back in the mood to laze around.

“Well, that’s for later. Anyways Miss Roth, you have a clean bill of health and got your shots updated. Will you be staying for dinner?” Anne asked.

She briefly thought of declining but she had been eating nothing but fruits and the random roasted birds for the last few days. She wanted to eat something else for once.

“Yes.” She replied. She was hungry, she couldn't say no.

“I really should try making a pasta tree.” Nevermore thought out aloud.

She snorted in amusement at the mere thought of it. It would be quite a novel plant and she didn’t doubt him one bit on the matter of if he can make one.

“You know, a meat plant would be easier to make plus you wouldn’t have sauce dripping on people.” Anne noted. She was right about that one. Raven would have hated having to remove Spaghetti sauce from her hair.

“Not a meat plant, meat plants wouldn’t be that fun. A meat mushroom on the other hand...” Nevermore replied.

All this talk on food finally got to Raven and Anne. The sound of growling stomachs resounded inside the room. This got her, Anne and Nevermore to laugh loudly together.

“Well, I think that’s a signal that we should get to the mess hall or wherever you guys are going to eat because I want to taste that pasta! I’ve been smelling it non stop ever since they started cooking!” Nevermore shouted as Raven nodded. Hopefully, the upcoming meal wouldn't give them too much of a surprise.

-x-x-x-

“So… you’re half something and your boyfriend is the planet we’re standing on.” Asked the Major as she ate with Raven and Anne.

“More or less.” Raven replied as she happily ate the pasta before her. The meaty taste of sauce paired well with the cheese they’ve brought with them. Her lover seemed to be enjoying himself as he slurped up the noodles into his tentacles.

“Not the weirdest pairing I’ve seen to be honest. You two wouldn’t be out of place with Hanar-Human couples or maybe Hanar-Asari couples except more intimate cause you two are the kinkiest couple I’ve seen so far! You two take the cake.” The major laughed out, making Raven turn scarlet.

“If we’re not the weirdest couple then who is?” Nevermore asked curiously.

The captain looked him dead in the eyes before replying “An Elcor-Batarian couple. They were quite famous actually… especially after a certain video leaked out.” she answered.

Anne gagged at that as she was about to shovel in a fork full of pasta while people from the other table choked.

She didn’t have any context on what that an Elcor or Batarian was but the curious mortification that Nevermore felt was quite telling on how exotic such a coupling would be.

Nevermore raised a tentacle before slowly putting it down. “Oh… huh, neat.”

The Major nodded as she returned back to her meal. There was some silence between them for a while as they ate in peace with the annoying feeling of lust here and there but she suppressed those and ignored them.

“So I’ve been meaning to ask, what’s your purpose here exactly aside from scientific exploration?” Nevermore asked.

“Ok, I’ll be completely honest with you. We really wanted to check if your surface was habitable but we didn’t expect you to be well… like you. We saw the huge tentacles outside and well, that seems like enough evidence for a living planet and a sapient one to booth. We can’t exactly colonize you? Like, it’s like an ant colonizing an elephant. Sure they can do that but the ants could benefit more with having the elephant be a friend if you get what I mean.” the Major answered truthfully. Raven was surprised with the answer.

“Hey Raven, would you be ok if we have neighbors.. Wait, would it be neighbors if they’re living on my surface?” Nevermore then asked.

She wasn't against the idea oddly enough. Without the looming threat of her father over her shoulder, whispering his poisonous words of how she’ll be the key to his returns and be the herald of destruction and the death of worlds, she didn’t need to fear making connections with others.

“They would still be your neighbors Nevermore and you know… I wouldn’t be against having other people.” Raven admitted.

“Well, that settles it! We would need to talk about minor details with governments and what not, but I’m open to having people live on top of me.” Nevermore then said as he pulled in the Major and the other explorers into a more in depth talk.

Raven found it oddly comforting that she’d have neighbors soon but for now, she’d be enjoying her pasta.