After around a surprisingly nearly painless hour (Lee used a lot of topical and local anesthetic) they are finally finished. By some miracle there was enough tendon still intact, just hanging, to stitch it back together. The bullet that shot him in the stomach actually hadn't gone deep or even broken inside of Birch and at some point during their walk, Lee assumes, it must've fallen out on its own. The wound on his head was the least of it but still a bit nasty and needed some attention. All and all, everything turned out perfectly, to everyone's surprise.
At some point in the process, when Lee was getting needably handsy while cleaning around the wounds, Birch's tail had snaked its way around Lee's ankle. For comfort, need to touch, or curiosity, who knows?
"Alright!" Lee exclaims as he gets to his knees after making sure everything is perfect once more "Fixed!" He gives himself a proud little laugh for doing such a good job. Sure he's a livestock veterinarian but every success when it comes to stitches is like a breath of fresh air after nearly suffocating. It's relieving and brings joy to him every time. "How do you feel?" He calms his giddy nerves.
Birch nods "Fixed." he says with an unreadable expression •Since I am better, should I leave? I don't have my cloaking device...where am I supposed to go?• His tail squeezes around Lee's ankle, again having a mind of its own.
"Whoah," Lee says as the grip gets tighter "D-does it hurt? Birch? Need more medicine?"
Birch grumbles, frustrated, disappointed, scared, and dreading the loneliness he's expecting to return.
"Er, so it does hurt? I don't have any more spray here so I'll have to go-" He gets cut short when Birch speaks up.
"Stay?" He asks in a tone Lee can't quite place.
"Oh, y-yeah. Ok, I'll stay." He settles back down to the floor. "So-"
"I...stay?" Birch's ears drop just a bit, worried about the answer.
"Huh? Oh! You wanna stay! Okay!" Lee pauses "Well, I'll be honest I thought that was a givin' since y'ur still hurt." He closes his eyes and gives a comforting nod "Yes. You can stay."
Birch's ear perks up as does his face, though he quickly tries to mask his joy to avoid embarrassment.
"So," Lee gets to his feet and looks down at the mess of staining blood on both the sheet and his clothes. He huffs "I'm gonna change my," he pulls on his shirt, then pants "clothes." he scratches at a stain "gross." He chuckles then tries to move but he's still lassoed by Birch's tail. "Can I uh, can I have my foot back?" he chuckles awkwardly and wiggles his foot.
Birch furrows his eyebrows, putting together his words and gestures. •Ah. Your clothes are dirty!• he repeats, but in his own words. The clarity doesn't last long as he lacks understanding of why Lee has to go away to take them off. "Stay." He says, trying to make Lee feel like there's no reason to leave, but to Lee it just sounds like a command.
Lee freezes. His brows jut up "Look, I know you've seen me naked for-for who knows how long, but it's not exactly the most comfortable feeling. Starin' at me with those big beady eyes." He shakes his foot a little harder this time "C'mon Birch I-"
•Ah, right, I forget most other species are obsessed with covering themselves. Mother says it is unnecessary, and dumb.• He makes a pur/chuckle sound that Lee quickly takes to offense.
"Hey, what was that? Laughin' at me? Look, Birch, again, I know you've seen me-" Birch gets to his feet, holding a cocky grin. "Why're you lookin' at me like that?" he squints trying to figure out what Birch is up to. He soon finds out when Birch strips off the last of the navy blue suit that remained on his legs. Lee whips his head away so fast it about gives him whiplash. "WHOA- buddy, alright, this might be normal to you but-"
Birch snorts and gumbles •You all get so flustered by such little things. So silly.• he chuckles •Though, by human standards nothing even shows on me.• He taps Lee's shoulder gently "Safe." He says in a sly tone.
Lee huffs a laugh "Bullshit. You don't have no other clothes-"
Birch rolls his eyes and yanks Lee around with his tail so they're face to face. Meeting eye to eye, Birch juts his head as if saying "See? Told you it's safe."
Lee looks him up and down in the quickest glance he can manage. Fur, or hair, covers absolutely everything that could be considered inappropriate. "Oh." He puts simply, very much relieved he didn't have to get shell shocked by a giant alien p- "Ok. Right then. Safe.'' They stare at each other for an awkward moment before Birch glances down at Lee's clothes. "Look, I don't have fur, or at least not enough to cover everything, so I feel this is a tad unfair."
After another minute of Birch searching for a chance of Lee feeling comfortable enough to do the same as he did, he finds nothing. He huffs and lets Lee loose. He turns away a bit pouty and sits back down on the carpet with a thump.
"Good lord," Lee laughs. "It's been awhile since someone wanted to see me naked that badly." he mumbles to himself, shaking his head as he unbuttons his plaid and makes his way back into the privacy of his bedroom.
Be it for curiosity or want or some other third thing, Birch can't tell, but he steals a glance at Lee's bare, chiseled back as his muscles groove with the movements of taking a button up top off. It's...well it's entrancing. With his species muscles usually aren't that defined and even when they would be, the edges are softened by the fuzz that covers everywhere on their body besides where their sun protective hide is. And the hide also muffles muscle definition. So this, seeing Lee like this, might be a once in a lifetime view. He hopes it's not.
His tail whips up and down, flustered by his own confusing thoughts. He backtracks asking himself why in the stars he'd want to see the body of such a species so badly. Most species see humans a lesser beings. Humans are ignorant, unintelligent in comparison, nonsensical, not to mention so much smaller than his own species. So why does he wish to see one? And why Lee specifically?
To get his mind off of the frankly unnerving thoughts, he decides to get a bit more familiar with his surroundings. First he goes to what he's been intrigued about since the door was opened. The plush seating arrangements Lee had referred to as a couch at some point during the stitching process. He immediately takes the chance to sit, and even quicker, takes the chance to lay down as he feels how incredibly soft it is. The texture is close to what his own species fuzz is like, and as he lays down it sinks beneath his weight. As he rolls, it fits to his curves and never once does his shoulders jam into hard clay or scratchy leaves •Oh my stars, why can't I have this at home?• he says as he bunches his feet onto it as well. Of course he can't stretch out all the way without his legs hanging off the side or end, but it's just so comfortable he couldn't care less about it not being long enough. •I could get used to this• he smiles contentedly with a pur/giggle.
As much as he wants to stay sunken into the couch, he has more to explore. He pries himself off of it and hobbles as quiet as he can to the kitchen, but the old hardwood floors give him away. "Curious?" Birch jumps at Lee's sudden voice. His claws extend reflexively "Whoah, calm, calm," Lee chuckles nervously, putting his hands up in surrender "Just me." He cocks his head to the side, watching Birch's tail twitch, claws sink back in, and the hair trailing his spine flatten back out. He giggles and shakes his head "Just like a cat," he says internally, keeping the thought to himself since Birch doesn't like being compared to animals.
Birch furrows his eyebrows, confused and wondering if he should be offended about whatever Lee's laughing about while looking at him.
Lee takes notice and shakes his head "Don't worry, you look," he pauses thinking of the words "oddly cute." he grins, hoping Birch doesn't know that word.
To his inconvenience, Birch does know that word. Birch cocks his head this time •You think me getting ready to kill anything that makes a sudden noise is...• "cute?" he grins.
Lee's face drops and he breaks eye contact, rocking back on his heels "Alright, I uh, I didn't think you knew that word."
•Humans really are fascinating. You think something that could easily destroy you,• he purrs the word even without meaning to "cute?" he accidently takes a quick, full body look at Lee.
Lee's face morphs into something neither of them can tell what it expresses. "You think...wait," Lee screws his eyes shut, then shoots them back open, this time looking far away from Birch "Are you saying-calling me...?" he refuses to finish the sentence.
Birch's eyes widen realizing how that sentence could've been taken since Lee has no clue what he's saying...But, if he denied it, he'd be lying. They have a bit of a stare off •Mother says not to lie.• he looks down a bit more, not meaning to, it makes Lee feel like his cyan irises are piercing into his soul •I'll admit, humans...• he flicks his tail, breaking eye contact •you...are• "cute.'' He looks back at Lee with hooded eyes that emanate bashfulness.
Lee's lips flatten into a line as his eyebrows shoot up in shock. His cheeks turn the palest shade of red "Alright, well, I don't know if that means the same thing on your planet..." he just now realizes how...odd this scene is. An 8 foot tall, ass naked, curvy, male(?) alien standing in front of him, in his cabin, calling him cute...He doesn't hate it. But he hates the fact that he doesn't hate it. "Alright!" he exclaims as he walks quickly past Birch and into the kitchen "So, still curious? Wanna look around, er, are you hungry?" So, is he about to cook dinner for this alien, who is male(?) and just called him cute? He opens his fridge trying to shove the thoughts as far away as possible.
Birch flicks his tail as he senses Lee's new behavior. He has a creeping feeling he's done something wrong... he follows distantly behind Lee, taking a peek into the fridge while Lee has it open. His ears perk up and his stomach rumbles at the waft of blood that comes with the cold air. He moves a bit closer, actually, a lot closer, searching for the source of the smell. Once his head is over Lee's shoulder, his eyes are trained on slabs of fresh meat.
Lee follows his line of sight "Oh, yeah. I uh, left those out to thaw. Steak." he says as he presses down the wrapping of one of them "Thawed." He says, satisfied and pulls them out. "Good thing I took out a couple, hm?" He unwraps them on the counter while trying to ignore Birch who is hovering over him. "So uh, how do you like your meat?" he asks while preparing a cast iron skillet. He realizes if that question was asked to a human it might be a laughable moment "Cooked? Raw? Seasons?"
"Seasons?" Birch asks, confused, as he points out the window to the sun and fading green fields of late summer.
Lee chuckles "No, uh, not that season. He grabs a few seasonings out of a skinny cupboard "Flavour." He prepares one steak with a mix of seasonings "Tastes good."
"Yes!" Birch says as he figures out the translation •Seasonings!• He repeats the word in his language. Though he's still confused on why they sound like the same word in english. In his language they sound completely different.
"Huh," Lee says, high pitched "maybe I could learn a little of your language too!" he says as he slices butter into the warming skillet "Can't say any of it, but it'd be cool to learn." he nods with downturned lips in a thoughtful look.
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After the steaks are done to medium-medium rare, Lee plates them with green beans (the not canned kind) and a dinner roll, and sets them down across from each other on an old light stained, wooden kitchen table. He gestures for Birch to sit as he takes a seat himself. Birch sits awkwardly onto the skinny chair, barely able to even fit on it, but luckily there's a space in the back of it for his tail to fit through.
•This is something I'm surprisingly familiar with.• Birch speaks as he uses the knife and fork to cut the steak •We used to use our claws but since it was so messy, the matriarchy decided to let us have cutlery. One of the few exceptions to be completely natural...aside from the underground work with is the most advanced technology in existence but,• he takes a bite off the fork; a bite that's a fourth of the massive T-bone steak. •we can't use any of it for day to day life. Mother hasn't told me why yet...• he spaces off delving back down into his frequently contemplated question. If they have such advanced tech, why is it a secret to everyone besides the matriarchy and a few exceptions including himself? Why do the matriarchs refuse to let the tribe advance in stuff? Why do they still have to live primitively?
Lee listens to his chattering, wanting so badly to understand what the hell he's saying. "I uh, don't know what that was about... but," he raises a piece of stake on his fork "Good? Bad?"
Birch bows his head quickly as a thank you "Good."
Lee smiles and shifts in his seat, relieved and quite happy it's up to Birch's standards. "How about this stuff?" He holds a green bean on his fork.
Birch twitches and he hesitantly snags a piece. His species are omnivores but he's never been a big fan of flora. His face scrunches up as he sniffs it.
Lee chuckles, "Yeah, it smells kinda funky, but it is good." He bites it off the fork.
Birch copies him. The scrunch in his face relaxes on his first chew. "Good!" •Everything is bitter at home. This is great!•
Lee holds a giddy smile as he twirls his fork watching Birch eat with such eagerness. "Well, there's more in the kitchen if you want it." He goes back to his own meal but can't help but steal glances at the oddly cute alien sitting before him happily chowing down on his homemade meal.
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After dinner Lee gives Birch a little tour, starting with the bathroom where he awkwardly explains it's where one "relieves" themself. He pretends to sit, then flushes, giving a quick explanation on how it works. Next is his bedroom.
"Alright," he says as he walks into the room, this time letting Birch follow him "this is my room." He mozzies around pointing to things and speaking their names. Birch isn't paying much attention while his main focus is glued to the bed which looks even better than the couch. Lee grins, taking notice of Birch's lack of attention on him and more on the bed. "You can sit if you want."
Birch looks over at him, face asking "is it really okay?" even though he had no problem with doing it in secret.
"Well, I want to sit." Lee says as he demonstrates and gives a little teaching sentence.
Birch pauses, processing. "I want to sit." He mimics Lee's exact words and actions.
Lee smiles wide "Hey! I think that's your first full sentence!" he smiles even brighter when he sees Birch return a little smile "Lay." he says as he lays down, teaching Birch another verb.
Birch once again processes, and like a puzzle he puts together a new sentence "I...want to...lay." he says, a bit unsure.
Lee claps excitedly "Oh shit! That's-you made a sentence!" Lee laughs excitedly "Well, c'mon then, lay!" he invites happily, patting the bed next to him.
Birch's tail swishes back and forth quickly, expressing his joy along with a smile that's quickly starting to match Lee's. Not only because he gets to lay on the bed, but also because Lee's proud of him and he's feeding off his excitement as well. Birch lays on his back beside Lee, matching his position. He sighs happily, getting back the extraordinary comfy feeling of a plush surface "Good." he mutters as he closes his eyes, contently.
"Y'think so?" Lee chuckles after he blows a bit of Birch's long, silver-ish hair out of his face. "Guess it's not so bad." He glances out the corner of his eye at Birch who definitely seems to love it. Seems like he could lay there all day. All night. "Do you sleep?" he asks gently, curiously.
Birch flips over slowly as the bed springs creak beneath him "Yes."
Lee nods "Alright, well, you can sleep on the bed tonight, if you want." He gets a blank look from Birch "You sleep here?" He simplifies it.
Birch opens his eyes and his pupils seem to get a bit wider "You sleep here?"
"Er, well, yes, but not tonight...if you want to sleep here."
Birch furrows his eyebrows and his tail twitches •This is another human thing right? You all make simply sleeping next to each other such a big thing. Why?• "Both?" he asks, trying to make it sound nice.
Lee looks over at him as Birch once again stares into his soul, but this time his eyes take on a more gentle, innocent look. He watches as Birch curls his legs up onto the bed and shifts as he gets even more comfy. "Why? Scared of the dark, big guy?"
•Scared of the dark? Is that what you think of why I'm asking you to sleep here as well? Well...I dislike the dark but I am not scared of it. But,• He pauses, thinking of his reasoning for actually wanting to sleep with Lee "Don't...like...alone." He pieces together slowly and looks to Lee to make sure that makes sense.
"Huh," Lee thinks "Okay," he nods "Understandable I guess." he scratches his scalp "You are pretty far away from home I'm guessin'.'' he thinks for a moment "Alright," he sighs "both of us it is then.'' he gives a smile but something is stirring deep inside his mind. He nods.
Birch gets the gist and his smile returns •that looks and sounds like a yes so I'll assume such•
Lee chuckles and sits up "This is gotdamn insane." he mutters to himself once again thinking of how bizarre his situation is. "So, you wanna see the horses?" he turns back to Birch who's sprawled himself out, taking up the space Lee freed.
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Birch and Lee make their way out to the pasture with a bag of soft mints Lee snagged from the stables. He clicks his tongue to his teeth calling them over.
The first to come trotting is a hunk of a horse. A Belgian draft horse. Chestnut body with a white face and white feathers (long hair surrounding the hooves) and a fuzzy pink nose that eagerly juts towards the bag of mints. He's the first creature here that Birch can be eye level with, if they're both standing up straight.
"Ope," Lee chuckles as he tugs the bag back "gotta share big guy.'' He takes a mint and holds it in his palm "This is John, by the way." he tells Birch as John takes the treat. "He's an ol' boy. Oldest here! Biggest here too." He pets John's nose as he explains. "Not to mention most pushy," he giggles as he has to gently shove John's nose out of the bag.
Birch watches with intense curiosity at the gentle nature of such a big creature. Everything on his planet, this big, doesn't let anyone get anywhere near this close to them without going into defense or attack mode.
Next up is a pair of Morgans. Full red coat with red manes to match. "Ah, and here are the dragons." he chuckles as one nips at the other for bumping into her "These ladies are sisters." He clicks at them to stop their hissy fits "The taller one is Morgan, and that one," he points to the shorter one, AKA the one who's been doing the bullying "is Meleys."
Birch's ears flatten to his head to avoid the ear piercing winnie that Meleys lets out when she isn't the first to get a mint. Birch watches her behavior. She's not really hurting anyone, just throwing a fit it seems. So, safe? Just annoying?
In the distance a couple more geldings stare over to the rest of their herd. Their herd which is by a new, strange, tall creature that looks a bit suspicious to them. One is a dark brown and white snow-flake print Appolusa and the other is a blue roan Tenessee Walker.
"Those two are a bit skittish. The spotted one is CC, and the black one is Onyx." He points to each as he says their names.
"Onyx..." Birch repeats as he's drawn to the gray scale color of short fur like that of what he's familiar with and grown to take comfort in, reason being all of the women of his species are such colors. The women are like the protectors and leaders being that they're 12-15 feet tall and they're responsible for nearly all of the specie's massive technological advancements. And still, with all of that, they're incredibly loving and nurturing to the tribe they lead.
"Oh?" Lee says curiously as he watches Birch's eyes train on Onyx as he cautiously steps closer and closer "Well heck he's actually coming over! Must like ya too." He chuckles and holds out a mint. "Alright, now open your hand," Lee explains as he gives a demonstration with his free hand "put it in the middle," he continues, placing the mint in his palm "then just let 'em take it." he smiles as Meleys snatches the mint with her lip. After that, he passes a mint to Birch. His fingertips brush against Birch's palm which is raised grayish pink, with the same texture as the hide on his back "Huh," Lee looks at them curiously, wondering if he can sneak a touch "They're kinda like paw pads." His fingers linger above Birch's calloused palm as they stare, both of them trying to read the mind of the other...Until Onyx buts his way in.
His white, gray-ish nose enters the scene, inching towards the mint in Birch's hand. Birch's curious, joyed face returns as he twists towards Onyx. His tail sways on the ground happily as he tries to calm it down, knowing the horse would probably get startled by it. That being said, after a minute of Onyx's nose lingering near, sniffing Birch curiously, Birch takes the massive risk of trying to touch him.
Onyx's ears jet forward, warily sniffing Birch's hand as it inches closer, so, so slow. Lee watches on, keeping completely silent and watching in a bit of awe as he never expected this from Onyx. After what feels like forever, Onyx is the one to seal the gap between them. But only for a second. But that's enough to make a kiddish smile pop up on Birch, which in turn makes Lee do the same.
He can't help but stare at Birch's smile. It's that of a predator. Teeth like full pearly white knives that could sever anything that gets trapped between them. K-9s are clearly longer than the rest, so long they hang a couple centimeters over his bottom lip. When he's not smiling they're covered by little points or flaps of skin that hang off his top lip. It's all still fuzzy, just less so closer to his eyes and what would be his lips.
Birch glances over at Lee while he looks stuck in a study session on his smile. His tail twitches and he turns his face towards Lee •Find something interesting?• He purrs.
Lee snaps out of it. He exhales a breath he didn't realize he'd been holding. He looks away quickly "Uh..." he starts, trying to come up with an excuse for his staring "Nice smile." he nods once, praying Birch doesn't find it weird.
Birch looks into the distance thoughtfully with his tail subtly swishing. He chuckles •I'm surprised you think so. It is instinctual for your species to be wary of big creatures with teeth that could kill.• He side glances at Lee who looks thoroughly confused by his odd sounding rambling •You are not like them. You are...• "In..interesting." his brows furrow the slightest bit, hoping that was the right word. It's a big one for his limited vocabulary.
Lee looks over to him "Interesting? What's interestin'?" He asks curiously.
"You." Birch puts it simply.
Lee breaths a laugh through his nose, not sure if he should be flattered, amused, or offended. "Ya think?" he rocks back on his heels "In a bad way?"
Birch giggles "No." he pauses, trying to put together another sentence in his head "not...like others...humans. Humans...scared."
Lee chuckles "Well, I was." he smiles, feeling a little silly "can't blame us though." he nods "You're not too bad though."
Birch's tail sways happily. It's funny that Lee isn't scared anymore, like any normal human would be, but he's happy with that too.
"Hell, even those little green guys seem worse." Lee says with brows raised, thinking back to the short time he was conscious in the ship.
Birch's eyebrows lower, face turning into a half angry, half annoyed look. He huffs and grumbles lowly, only understanding the words green and worse but that's just enough. "Danger. Bad. Loud...." he pauses, tail whipping angrily as he searches for more describing words for them "Sstupid. Annoy..." he scoffs "Worse."
Lee slowly turns his head towards him, eyes wide and jaw dropped. "Well shit," he breathes a shocked laugh "Didn't expect you to agree that darn much. What'd they do?"
•They think they know everything. They think they rule half the universe. They go from planet to planet raising chaos, destroying beautiful societies-some even utopias! Then force the people to follow their ways. Their species is much like yours. They crave control. Their government lacks morals. They are so much more ignorant than they look in their fancy ships and destroyed planet that looks like a shiny, chrome, lightshow with ridiculously large structures all built by citizens that are treated worse than the materials they build with." the hair on his spine raises and Lee takes a step away.
"Oookay..." Lee says, trying to get Birch's mind away from whatever he's thinking "That's enough 'bout those guys, hm?" he pets John's nose as he looks into the horizon. He sighs "Already gettin' late. Falls comin' round." He mumbles to himself, thinking of all the extra work that comes with being a rancher and a freelance farm vet in the colder months. Turns out he's gonna have one more big thing to deal with in those months.
"I better get these guys put up," he continues, starting his walk towards the stables. He doesn't bother telling Birch to come along as he's already known to follow his every step. It's cute though. Like a puppy following you everywhere. The horses follow alongside their owner, whether for the safety and warmth of their stables, or just for the mints, Lee can't tell.
Birch on the other hand is even more distraught at the dark and chill that's already returning. He was told the weeks, or was it days? are 24 hours and he was too distracted by tech when he was supposed to be learning about the climate. His tail curls up close to him as he practically can see the sun dipping. "Dark...soon?" He asks with a clearly nervous tone.
Lee looks back at him, his body language ever more tense than it usually is "So you are scared of the dark." he chuckles.
•No!• Birch's voice is filled with annoyance and panic •I didn't expect the 'tonight' to be so soon! I honestly thought I wouldn't even be here long enough to see tonight! Yes I don't like being alone but here...I need to be alone at night!• the tuft of his tail makes a whipping sound as it swishes so quickly. •I was under the impression we'd be sleeping while it's still day! That's-that's what we do on my planet!•
Lee backs away as he listens to Birch's odd voice and language get louder and gruffer. It's starting to bring back the hint of fear he had of him before...but there's something more. Birch doesn't just look angry, who looks scared as all hell. And now Lee wants to help and run away.
"Dark-" Birch grumbles, finding it harder to put together words while he's in a panic "When dark?!"
"Oh!" Lee jumps at his shout that has an undertone of a growl "Uh-uhm, in about half an hour!" He replies as quickly as possible.
Birch's eyebrows furrow, not fully understanding that "Hour?" that's all he got but still doesn't know how long that is in his language.
"Half hour!" Lee corrects, loud but gentle "Why-why scared?" He tries to put it simply, in a way Birch will definitely get.
Birch growls high pitched but quiet, frustrated with the language barrier "I-get-" he grumbles again "bad! Dark...bad me!" he gestures to himself, then frantically searches for somewhere to hide.
Lee puts his hands out both gesturing for him to chill, and trying to understand what Birch's sentence meant "Whoah," he pauses "I thought you said you could be with me after dark!" He says, fully confused "Wait, you turn bad after dark?!" Now he is scared. "Holy shit-" he gets why Birch is panicking. "What-how do I help?"
Birch whips his head to Lee. "Hide." He says in a voice that sends chills through Lee.
Lee backs up, ready to dart but Birch grabs his arm, desperation in his eyes. "N-no-Hide me!"
"You? You need to hide? From what? I thought you were the one turnin' bad!"
"Yes! Hide-" he runs his hands through his hair, screwing his eyes shut and forcing words to come to mind "me hide from me! You hide from me!"
Lee matches his expression "How the hell can you hide from yourself?! Wait-" his face drops "Are there more of you coming?!"
Birch groans, understanding 'more of you' and gets what it means "No!" he shouts and realizes the shade of the sky has already gotten dimmer "Hide me now!" Lee stares at him, stunned for a second when Birch's hands crash onto his shoulders with a look of fear in his eyes. A chill comes with a gust of wind and Birch's eyes widen in the direction it came, hoping a creature made it, but to his terror...it's just the weather. "Cold." he mutters. He darts as soon as he sees a shed far in the distance of the pasture. It's broken down but it's far and he might be able to barricade the doors if he's fast enough.
"Oh fuck-" Lee says as he sees Birch fall "Birch, your leg! Just-I can lock you in my room or in the garage!"
Birch switches gears to all fours. It's not as fast but staying in the house is too close. He knows normal locks wont hold him while he's in...that state.
Y'see, his species goes into a sort of mating mode when the climate drops and the dark envelopes their planet. A certain hormone floods them that both warms them and triggers a certain feeling that makes them desperate for a certain type of connection. But it only affects them after 9 hours of it being completely dark and under 75 degrees, but...it's different for younger ones...like Birch. Puberty is a thing for their species too. The irregular, raging, unpredictable hormones and their inability to control them as well since they're still getting used to them.
He then realizes, one more thing that was in that little bead, were suppressants. He thought it was ridiculous when he was made to pack them but now it makes sense. But, they were destroyed when the bead was...
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When he's finally in the shed the sky is already dark blue with only traces of orange and purple left. It's beautiful but the things that will come with it terrify him, if he can't get them, or rather, himself, under control.
He slams the old wooden doors behind him and they almost break off their hinges. He immediately begins breaking down debris to shoved in front of the door but when patterns of bright cyan lights dot his hands, forearms, feet, shins, end of tail and cheeks, he realizes he's too late. •No! It's-• he growls lowly scrambling into the corner of the room as he can practically feel himself heating up already •Too early!• his teeth grind and for half an hour it all gets worse. He doesn't even try to hold back the strained, pained, and pitiful mewls that claw out of him.
As the night gets colder with the fall air coming in, it still gets worse. Half the ceiling is caved in so cold wind is seeping through as well. But Birch's body is hot with the hormone that floods his blood and mind. He curls into a ball in the corner, praying that his own heat will be enough for him, but of course, it doesn't work that way.
At around 1AM his lower abdomen is rock hard and bulging; private straining painfully against the vent that holds it in while it's not needed. Birch is panting with growls coming out with every breath as he tries to resist bursting out the door and running for Lee. His mind is irrational and since he does indeed find Lee the slightest bit cute, his mind is making a mountain out of a molehill. Making Lee seem like the most irresistible being in existence.
He whines desperately, sounding more like a cry when his one and a half foot glowing cyan cock bursts free from the vent. He slurs together all of the curse words that exist in his language as the cold air grazes it. It needs warmth. The feeling is horrifically primal and animalistic. He loses himself within it. His head slams against the already splintering wooden floor and his claws sink into it with terrifying ease. He can no longer stand just doing nothing while it lays on the chilling wooden floor and painfully throbs, so he does the only thing he can do to get even the slightest bit of satisfaction. He coils his tail around the entire shaft and pumps...
Meanwhile Lee is sitting in the cabin listening to the concerning sounds coming out of the shed. Sounds of pain and...something else that he convinces himself is anger. He goes over their conversation, trying to pick it apart. Birch sounded more scared than threatening and he even said he wanted to hide from himself. What if it's a mental thing? What if he needs help?
Lee chews his thumbnail pondering whether or not he should go and check on the big guy, but Birch, who could very clearly be a threat if he was some different form of himself, told Lee he needed to hide from him as well. But he's not that dumb...
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That night, Lee gets about an hour of off and on sleep, and Birch gets exactly none. Not a second.
It's a weekend so Lee's alarm takes the day off as well, but he's still woken up shortly after the sun has fully risen.
He hears an exasperated "Lee'' just beyond the door and springs off the couch to open it. Birch is standing with the worst posture one could have standing up while he holds the messy fluffed out tuft of his tail in front of his (even more messy) belly and long fur that covers his groin. His hair is a bird's nest and he's got dirt and dust in patches all over his front side. His eyes and ears are droopy which is a telltale sign he got absolutely no sleep last night. His stomach, tail, and legs are matted with some pale cyan fluid Lee can tell Birch tried to clean off, and his chin has crusted over drool trailing it as well.
"Jesus christ..." Lee whispers to himself, looking Birch up and down "What the hell happened out there Birch?!"
"Shower." Birch breathes, thankfully remembering that word from Lee's house tour.
"What?" Lee asks, taken back that that's the first word Birch says.
Birch sighs and pushes past Lee, not wanting to look in his eyes or even at him while those dirty thoughts of Lee still linger in his mind like a bad aftertaste. "Shower." He repeats, beelining to the bathroom quickly.
Lee runs behind him, "O-ok! I jus' -I need to start it for ya Birch!"
Birch stops in his tracks, not turning around but letting Lee go first since he admittedly doesn't know how to work the thing.
The second Lee explains the metal knobs as "hot" and "cold" Birch shoves past him, twisting the hot as far as it can go and completely ignoring the cold. He scrambles into the shower and sits down immediately, sighing like he hasn't sat down in years.
Lee looks at him with a dropped jaw and wide eyes, wondering how the hell Birch enjoys the literally scalding water. "How in the fuck..." he mumbles watching Birch's posture relax. Birch opens his eyes and looks at Lee, still filled with exhaustion. "Does that not hurt?" Lee asks, feeling the steam radiating from the shower.
"No." Birch says, monotoned as he leans back, dropping his tail and letting the water rain down on the mess he knows Lee isn't aware of what exactly it is. "Good." he says, glancing over to Lee with hooded eyes. The water temperature truly is the closest he's gotten to a summer day on his planet.
Lee's eyes shoot up with a surprised, downturned smile as his posture straightens. "Well, if you say so." he tries to ignore how exposed Birch starts to look as all his fuzz slicks back and the fluff covering his groin flattens, showing the shape of what's underneath. It's flat...So, he's not a boy? Lee silently questions.
Birch notices his staring at that certain place and grumbles as a flashback of last night intrusive fantasies come back to mind. He swipes his tail back in front of it and Lee blinks out of his curious gaze.
"Oh, er," Lee stumbles on his words, seeing how unamused Birch is "I wasn't..." he sighs, feeling too embarrassed to continue. He turns away, heading out of the bathroom. "Oh, and, it won't stay hot for long. Gets cold eventually." he closes the door silently behind him then sighs, tired and confused. Confused but too tired to think.
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After a little over half an hour he hears Birch slip and scramble out of the bath. He chuckles knowing that the cold hit him.
"Cold!" Birch swings open the bathroom door which makes Lee jump and a hand clutch his chest in shock.
"Jesus!" He exhales "Yeah I told you-" he notices Birch dripping like a wep mop on the ground, already making a puddle around his feet. "Ssshit-" he carries out as he rushes to grab a towel that he forgot to lend. "Back in the shower!" He shouts as he rushes over to Birch with two towels in hand. One for the floor, one for Birch.
"Cold!" Birch yells again, tone telling he thinks Lee is crazy for even suggesting that.
Lee huffs but can't be too mad at the situation, cause how was Birch supposed to know? He skips trying to explain and just lays a towel out in front of Birch "You," he points at birch, then at the towel "on here." Birch follows along "Good." Lee says, thankful Birch actually got it. He hands the other towel to Birch "Dry."
Birch furrows his eyebrows thinking Lee was just stating the fabric was dry.
Lee picks up on that and takes the towel back gently, then demonstrates, then hands it back and Birch follows the tutorial as Lee mops up his puddle with an already half drenched towel.
After the chaos has died down Lee flops back on the couch and flicks on an old flat(ish) screen TV. Birch joins him once Lee pats the couch beside him. The two watch TV and nap for the majority of the day aside from when Lee has to do his usual chores while Birch sluggishly follows.
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After the first week of this endeavor with roughly the same thing happening every day and night, Lee kept to himself even though each returning morning Birch seemed to be getting more worn out, and of course he was getting more concerned.
In the second week, he tried to talk to Birch about it but didn't get anywhere. Birch basically told him he wouldn't get it because he was human, and he pretended to drop the subject.
Another event that stood out the week was on Friday Birch got a little delivery from his home planet. Before opening it he seemed ecstatic but wouldn't explain much of the details in english. By the end of listening to the projection of a being that looked very similar to him, but a bit older, he was very sad. He looked a little destroyed at the same time as panicked. It was the same look as the first night Birch realized how short the days were and how he'd have to hide himself away and deal with...whatever he was dealing with all alone in the shed at night. Birch's vague summary about the video was that his family wouldn't be able to help him yet because they are extremely busy with something.
Sunday of the following week was the final straw of Lee just standing by. He couldn't stand seeing Birch come back to the cabin every single morning looking worse and now just wholly depressed.
Sunday, the first day of October, and the last day of Lee staying in the dark... Following the sounds all the way to the shed in the dead of night with his steps making minimal sounds on the half dead grass, he finally stands right outside of the door to the unknown. Birch's sounds stop and everything is blood chillingly silent as he can tell Birch has sensed him.
A low rumble comes with his voice "Lee..." Birch says. Part of it sounds desperate for something, the other part sounds threatening. And in Birch's mind it is indeed both. Terrified of what he might do if Lee stays but also wanting Lee to take a step inside and only leave when he's relieved of all of his suffering. "Lee," Birch cries "please..."
At the sound of his distressed voice that's filled with agony and desperation Lee feels like barging in and almost does so "Please, what? Do you need help?"
Birch shudders at the sound of his voice. "Yes," he forces out in a breath as his cock jumps while wrapped up in his tail. His mind fights itself, choosing between morals and the awful control his hormones have on him. His claws sink into the wood as he hears the door knob's metallic creak "No!" He shouts.
Lee freezes, "Er, you sure bud? It really sounds like you need help and I've gotten this far without you doin' somethin' bad." he gulps as his nervous chuckle couldn't seem to get out.
"I can't-I need..." Birch's mind once again fights. The agonizing headache that his hormones have built up throbs with all his indecisiveness.
"C'mon, give me something to work with here. I want to help, Birch." Lee says with a nursing tone.
"No..." Birch's voice is trembling "You...dont. You," he heaves a breath "can't...won't want to." He grinds his teeth, the horny portion of his mind not accepting the fact.
"I do though!" Lee groans, seeing this is going nowhere and remembering how awful Birch has been getting and how even worse he seems now, the man needs help whether he wants it or not. How bad could it be, right? "Fuck it." he mumbles under his breath before swinging the door open.
At the very first frame of Lee in his line of sight, Birch loses it. Lee only sees a flash of white and glowing cyan before he's tackled to the ground. Birch, with only a glimmer of control over himself, trembles and drools above Lee.
"Oh fuck." Lee mutters with terrified eyes as he suddenly realizes he may have made a horrible mistake. "B-Birch," he stutters, and crawls back on his hands trying to get out from under the monster "You're uh...you wouldn't eat a friend, right?"
Birch's tail coils around his leg and yanks Lee right back to his place. What sounds like a pur and a growl erupts with his voice and his mouth creeps lower to the space between Lee's shoulder and neck "No..." he tears up at his own awful thoughts "worse."
Lee scrambles as he feels Birch's steaming hot breath creep closer to him "S-so just kill me? Wh-what could be worse?" Trying to get a better look at Birch's weak spots or gaps he could squeeze through to get away, Lee catches the problem. "Oh sweet mother of Mary what in the hell-" over a foot long of what looks like pure uncut, glowing cyan muscle throbbing and dripping with pale fluid hanging right between his legs. He gulps heavily, freezing with mixed emotions about the situation he now sees in a different light. Strange, horribly amazing thoughts run through his mind like a violent lighting strike. He slams his eyes shut, now with a bit of blush shading his face. He even wonders if this is some effect that Birch's breath or drool has on anyone that gets around him when he's like this. Then his mind curses him with the fact that he has started to like Birch in a certain, strong way after all their time together and Birch's accidental, oblivious flirting.
Another one of his curiosities is, where the hell did that massive thing come from? He's completely flat literally all the time which made Lee think that fluff was just covering an alien vag...so he's also questioning his sexuality...oh yeah, and Birch is a literal alien from outer space so also questioning his sanity.
Also, still, what could be worse than death? "B-birch?" He clears his throat, now panting a bit too. Reasons being his mind is running with gre-awful thoughts and he's still got a monster on top of him and death has not been ruled out. (Neither has been getting laid).
Birch whines and his hands creep to Lee's toned waist "I...need..." he says through hitching breaths.
A shock runs all through Lee as solid, warm hands gently take his lower waist. "Oh fuck-" Lee says under his breath. "Wh-wh-what do you need?" his stutter gets worse the more flustered he gets. Flustered by the growing feelings in his lower region as Birch's tail spreads his leg a bit further from the other.
Birch whimpers as he tries to resist his urges but Lee's new scent seems to be making it harder to "You." it's a mere whisper right into Lee's ear with a growl like pur.
Lee curses a thousand times in his mind "O-o-ok, what do you, uh..." his brain temporarily shuts off when Birch's thumbs slip under his waistband, trailing his v-line. "What-what do you need...from me?" he screws his eyes shut and squirms hating how he's actually getting turned on by the situation.
"Body." Birch rushes out when he feels that Lee isn't at all trying to run and even still wants to help. His thumbs press down a little as they go even deeper into Lee's boxers. "Yours..." Taken back by the pleasing pressure, Lee moans the slightest bit. His face runs hot and cherry red with embarrassment but it just seems to spur Birch on. Birch's cock jumps again, and leaks with natural lube as he gets to the hardness between Lee's legs, merely teasing it with the tips of his thumbs, even though it literally, physically pains him not to shred Lee's pants off and go to town. "Please..." Birch cries.
Lees breath is forced out of him as he hears such a desperate crave for his body come from such a massive being "O-okay, jus-" he furrows his eyebrows, remembering what gay sex usually entails "just don't...put that in me."
At Lee's consent Birch lets himself loose and does indeed shred his pants. Nails hooked onto the waist line and lifted to where no skin gets caught in the process. It still scares the hell out of Lee though. Birch stares for a second with satisfaction, ecstatic he'll finally be able to get this pent up energy out and wholly lusting for the view of Lee stripped bare and blushing for him.
Lee's heart skips frightfully, for a second sure he was going to die by those claws, but when his pants are shredded his heart is still hammering just by seeing the ease of those things shred through thick denim. He's terrified in a different way when he sees his bare self so hard for whatever the hell is happening.
All thoughts disappear when Birch's almost 5 pound and nearly burning to the touch cock lands with a wet thud so close to his own dick it makes him jump "Oh dear lord help me-" he slurs from a heavy exhale staring down at the member that's almost as big as his thigh. He watches as birch's tail coils around both his thighs and pulls like a lasso, pinning them together as tight as physically possible. It's all happening so fast he can't get another word out, let alone a coherent thought. Birch pumps in and out of his thighs a couple times, using his natural, translucent lube before roughly forcing Lee's thighs and knees to his own body, creating a tight, long canal for his shaft to run through. He whimpers, finally getting what he wants. Though, Lee has the air forced out of him at the sudden bit of hard core yoga.
It's not long before both of them are on the edge. One expecting it like walking straight into heaven, the other one trying to hold it in to avoid even more shame he's bestowed upon himself. Don't get it wrong though, he loves it and would hate for Birch to stop now, but he despises that fact exactly. He hates that he wants to be used like this until his back and legs are splintered from being rubbed relentlessly against the wood floor, until he's covered in whatever fluid this alien has to give, until he's sweaty and overheated and crying from overstimulation, until he's absolutely milked dry. It makes his stomach churn.
But that feeling is quickly replaced with utter shock when Birch's body shrouds him as Birch growls and whimpers and moans. Birch's forehead lands with a hard thunk as his horns crash against the wood floor boards. His mouth is agape and drooling over the nook between Lee's shoulder and neck. His jaw is trembling as he refuses to let his urge to bite down win as he teeters on the edge of complete bliss.
Lee is paralyzed, watching and listening to Birch's animalistic, crazed noises of pleasure and his entire body trembling which Lee can tell means he's holding back. He feels the very tips of Birch's teeth land light as a feather against his skin like needles right before a shot. He closes his eyes and clenches his teeth, getting ready for those deadly teeth to finally do what he feared. He knew he was playing with fire but didn't dare try to put out this roaring flame. But...the pain he was preparing for never came, instead, came a trembling, massive hand of Birch's replacing the teeth's spot. Then Birch bites down on his own hand.
Birch whimpers, sounding shockingly human. "Lee...Leee!" he whines through the gap between his teeth. And that is the final fucked up straw that breaks Lee. His arms crash against the back of Birch's neck as his hips buck up, matching Birch's pacing, creating even more friction. They're both coming in a matter of seconds. Lee moaning and tearing up as shame and ecstasy hit like a bittersweet ending and Birch doesn't have a thought behind his eyes. He's just growling and whimpering as he spills over Lee, in the moment only caring about his pleasure alone...until every muscle in him goes slack and he crashes on top of Lee.
Lee once again has all the air forced out of his lungs when Birch's giant body lands directly on his chest. He can't even calm himself before he's struggling to get out from under Birch whose dead weight feels like a cow laying on top of him. "Holy fuck-" he grumbles as he takes shallow breathes, trying his damdest to get Birch off of him. Though, his post nut strength isn't helping much. After a while, as soon as he's able to get at least his chest out from under Birch's weight, he gives up with an exhausted sigh.
After catching his breath he looks down to Birch. His hair is strewn all over the place and his face is in... Lee grimaces and moves his gaze away from that gross, inconvenient mess. Birch has never looked so relaxed before. His breathing is slow, like he immediately fell into the deepest sleep possible. Lee huffs a laugh at how different the after experience is for them; he can barely breath while Birch looks half dead sleeping.
After a few minutes he feels Birch shift the slightest bit and his tail slinks out from under him, it strangely roams the ground, seemingly searching for something to tether to. A tail. If Lee was of his kind, Birch's tail would instinctively wrap around his. Of course, Lee doesn't know that, but he does know Birch seems very adamant on keeping his tail wrapped around his ankle, but his ankle is currently trapped underneath Birch's body. Once his tail slithers close enough, Lee runs his fingers near it, giving it the chance to steer away or wrap around. It takes the later option. Birch shifts again, seeming to cuddle against Lee's body as his tail coils Lee's entire arm. This time it's not at all tight. It's like a gentle, comforting cling. And then he starts purring. Birch's throat and chest vibrates with the deep lulling hum. For a minute Lee actually wonders if Birch's puring is magically putting him to sleep because of how fast he seems to be slipping.
Eventually, seeing as how Birch isn't waking up any time soon, Lee gives up on stressing about the mess and lets the loud but comforting brown noise that is Birch's purring, put him to sleep.