Shiksie growled in frustration and looked over the ocean of papers on Human courtship and mating as she tried to relax in the simple living room of her comfortable home in Draun’s suburbs. She had been working on this personal project for weeks but felt no closer to a genuine answer on how to make Martinez see her as anything but just his mentor.
Her eyes shifted from the notes on the table to the papers and active datapads strewn across the room and plastered to the walls. The fact that even with all this effort, she had no honest answer was mind-boggling, frustrating, wrong. Usually, she could find a solution to medical questions with a short afternoon of document perusing; this was starting to seem ridiculous. Her living room looked like the cork boards crazy people in Human movies used: pictures, articles, newspapers, and scrawled notes strung together in a web diagram matching her mind's attempts to grasp some logic of her feelings. While the light of the datapads illuminated the room in spotted clarity, the distances between wan and indiscernible.
Shiksie had to assure herself she was not nuts like those people. She still had her faculties. Her need to have all the relevant information she needed at her clawtips just ended up looking eerily similar to those conspiracy-ridden characters. She was just being logical about her approach, no more, no less.
Her research was as extensive and detailed as anything else that took her dedication. The page's scrawlings covered everything from gender roles, mating theories, romance novels, hook-up culture aids, erotic guides, anecdotes of success and failure, and relationship help books. They were just the basics she needed while wading through the hefty muck her heart had been trudging through lately.
They were the basics, then Shiksie looked up more explicit media over the data net, needing to grasp more than the culture but the physical aspects of Human relationships. By every star in the sky, she was not prepared for the amount of pornography she leaped headfirst into. Not just because pornography was something she had never taken an interest in, thinking watching material like that was a waste of time. At least now she knew Martinez and her would physically be compatible; she knew most things about Human anatomy, after all.
As repulsive and embarrassing as watching the videos was, Shiksie had to admit Humans were undoubtedly creative in their sexual efforts. Ever since delving into those areas of what felt like forbidden knowledge, she did her best not to picture Lysa and Martinez partaking in those bold acts; why did so much of it involve rope and other tools?
Imagining them holding each other tight and rutting was better ignored; otherwise, her heart had cold ice driven through it. Seeing those salacious acts of other Humans made Shiksie wonder what it would feel like to be on the receiving end. She had never done anything like that with anyone. Martinez was the closest she had ever been to Human kissing someone, and that was only a tiny lick on his head and a hug. But the thought of Martinez doing those things to her made her body flush, dreaming of him holding her with a tender caress and gentle, beatific smile. Never in all her life had Shiksie somewhat yearned to wear a collar or have lashings around her wrists. It's too bad his guard, Lysa, was always around.
The air was thick with the odor of her anxieties, confusions, and frustrations. To anyone else with a nose as sharp as hers, walking in here would be like entering a bog of vile death and decay after festering in her emotions for this long. The only reason the miasma did not bother her was because she was the originator.
She set her pen down and leaned back to stretch some of the fatigue from her tight muscles, having not slept well since delving fully into finding a solution to this problem, not just because of lewd dreams of Martinez but the exponentially increasing pressure that had been building in the trauma center. No one in the shop had gotten off work on time in weeks, and lunch breaks were a distant memory. Everyone slipped in snacks where and when they could, or as Martinez said, “Chow is continuous”. It was an apt term for what they had been going through for sure.
Every day, there has been at least one victim of the horrible mind-altering drug—Visage. They had become so common that Harnsis and the other Doctors had ordered keeping sedatives on hand because some of the patients were still under the first-stage effects and could not see a difference between whoever drugged them and the nursing staff.
Ivorn, Martinez, and security had already had to subdue several patients for not only their safety but the staff and other patients several times this week alone. Whatever is going on with this drug, hopefully, the police and the wider GU investigators can get a handle on it soon. Everyone in the shop was starting to look like the walking dead. Gone were smiles, jokes, and laughs between them and with most patients. No, now everyone was to the point and just wanted to get through another shift.
You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.
It pained her that that mentality carried over when Martinez went on runs with her or studied. Neither had much energy for much else. But for now, that was not her issue, at least not directly.
Shiksie stood up and languidly went to the fridge to get a drink. She needed something to soothe her drying throat and just a break from reading; her eyes started to hurt hours ago. The last five hours had gone by so quickly she did not even notice the sun had gone down, and it was hours past when she usually would go to bed. But she needed to find a solution and then draft a plan to execute. Martinez was leaving with Lysa to her parent's home in only a few weeks, and once that happened, her window of opportunity was gone.
From all the books, articles, and hours of non-graphic videos, Shiksie had absorbed knowledge from time running out. She knew quite a lot about the typical steps in Human courtship and romance. When a Human takes the step of verifying a relationship and having received acceptance by their partner's parents, unless there is a massive jostling between the potential mates, their future might as well be set: cohabitation, marriages, and eventually children.
Shiksie did not know if Martinez and Lysa could have kids, but even if your species were incompatible, there were options for gene sequencing and other possible routes for a facsimile. Gene sequencing works for everyone so long as you can stomach that the child is, in a way, not yours.
The gene specialist will take each species' genes, splice a viable embryo, egg, or whatever the species needs, and force the traits of each onto their future child. The embryo or egg would then be inseminated into the mother.
The only universal constant of the process was that the child that resulted from gene splicing would always be of the mother's species.
For those without the stomach or money for that process, there was always adoption. Shiksie knows that better than most, having grown up in an orphanage after her parent's untimely deaths.
Shiksie sucked down her drink and breathed a sigh of relief, the burning in her throat abating. After a moment, she donned her jacket and stepped out into the brisk evening air. Going on a walk or exercising has always been good for her when it came to relaxing and processing haunting thoughts, so long as she was alone. When Martinez had been around the last few weeks, their workouts only made her yearn for him more: seeing his muscle flexing, bark-colored eyes, sweat rolling, and pine scent—made her body ache for him to grab her, especially after delving into Human pornography. It was strange she had never felt this way for anyone, but Martinez’s boldness, confidence, and scent just flipped a switch in her.
She glanced around the vacant street, leaves feathering across the area, carried off by a caressing breeze. The deep, intoxicating scent of the browning trees and encroaching rainstorm filled her lungs with lush comfort. Shiksie always enjoyed this time of year; pleasant memories of her parents were constantly dredged up in autumn.
Her mother had always insisted on them going on picnics or hikes during autumn just to see the changing colors of the woods. Shiksie's Father did not care for it but did so to keep her mother happy. Even with that knowledge, Shiksie adored those happy times. Sipping warm drinks while they all cuddled under a blanket, the chill breeze trying to crawl in to ruin their evening, but neither Father nor Mother would let the tiniest breeze touch their giggling daughter's fur. By the stars, she missed them.
Her walk in the calming breeze was enjoyable and just what she needed, though it did not give her a new perspective or anything like that. The time stepping back and looking at the whole picture let her categorize everything and put into perspective what she did and did not control and what else affected her planning how to seduce Martinez.
Lysa was the main issue, blocking Shiksie from getting too close to her Ruh'ah. With her around, making any attempt was out of the question. Shiksie could hardly make eye contact with the intense gothic woman. Every twitch and subtle squint of Lysa’s four eyes were threats covered by subtle hints of fangs and sharp nails. So, if she wanted to prise an answer from Martinez, Lysa could not be around.
The only thing Shiksie did control was the times they exercised or studied together. So she would have to make her attempt during those times. She could easily control the venue at her home or elsewhere through that avenue. Anywhere would do, just not Martinez's apartment; there was too high of a chance of Lysa being there, and she could take no other steps to stack the deck in her favor.
By the time Shiksie returned to her home, she had not settled on every detail. But she had made several choices already. Firstly, she would try to do it right after his midterm to celebrate his hard work. Then she could make an easy excuse to pose a dinner as them doing something else and lure him into a bit of a trap. Was it ideal? No, but it was the only choice she had.
Now, all Shiksie had to do was adjust her chosen course of study to focus on how to initiate being more intimate and cook food similar to what Humans enjoy. With such a short amount of time left until her day of reckoning, in lieu of going right to sleep, Shiksie returned to her studies. To lay out the details of her rough plan.