GRETA
I wake to find my Fluff circled around my neck.
Hida sits up, yelping. My limpnut squeezes my neck tighter.
My heart won't stop racing. Did Enoch bring my Fluff here? He must have.
My friend stands up, wrapping her tunic around herself.
"I don't know what that thing is, Keon," she starts, "But there is someone speaking in the kitchen."
She pulls apart the curtain. I have never seen anything so beautiful. Tears dribble down the corner of my eyes as I take in their gray skin and purplish-white silvery hair. Their tunic is a dirt-free black that meets the ground as they stride around the small table. A giant heavy sword they carry and drag lazily across the floor.
They stand three heads taller than her father.
Hida's father stands by the tiny fireplace with his arms folded.
"I am looking for a woman," Brommy announces. I back away. "My rodent she kept as a pet. Tell me where she is. It has tracked her scent here."
Suddenly, I hear him come toward our small room. There is nothing I can do to keep him from opening the curtain. His face is riddled with disgust as he takes in my friend's meager living space.
His eyes are so beautiful though. A transcluscent silver. One is a little off in color having the faint line of a scar running through it.
"Greta?"
I cannot move from my knees. Hida jumps out of his way. I feel so ugly watching him. Shameful. All this time, he must have been a god.
"My name is Keon."
"Why are you dressed in the colors of the commune?"
I cannot stop shaking like my pet quivering around my neck. If he is alive, then that means Adler might be too.
"I am working in the ranks, Brommy. How are you alive?"
After Brommy explains to me how terrible Adler has turned, we leave Hida's home to discuss more of my concerns. I am beginning to understand why Adler has had so many women. Enoch is beautiful just like I'm sure his brother is. Just standing next to him makes me feel ugly.
I do not know the city very well. I am sure he is tired from his travels.
He wears his helmet until we enter the commune. No one comes here at night.
"What a great design," his voice echos. He looks my way sounding indifferent, "Are you going to bathe too?"
My face warms as he elegantly removes his tunic. Still, he wears my necklace making me happy.
I am certain Brommy must be a god of some sort. He may not be perfect but before we talked how gods need not be perfect in their separation.
"No," I whisper. He enters the dark water while I sit on the edge. "Are you a god?'"
"Yes."
"Answer me this, why do I still wish for death in this Elysium?"
He comes very close to me. I shiver under his touch as he sets his hands on my thighs.
"Because you're still lonely," he whispers into my neck.
His eyes are intense. They remind me of Adler's too much. His touch moves higher making me tremble as he helps me out of my robes.
"People do not live long without love."
New cuts mark his wrists and chest. Did he try to die on Ashtium during the great heat? I can only imagine his terror.
My heart flutters as I leave my tunic behind and slip into the chilly water with him. The water is very shallow at this hour. It only reaches our knees.
His unspoken sadness moves over me. I can feel it in how carefully he holds me. Brommy holds his emotions better than Adler.
He makes me feel safe.
There is another side of him I hope has gone away, for frequently, he would whip the slaves and citizens. He was miserable then. So was I.
"I want to be happy, Brommy," I whisper while watching his eyes.
I let go of his necklace letting it fall onto his chest.
I want to scream when I hear his voice. I want to hide. I scurry behind Brommy, peaking around his broad back.
"My sweet, come out! I have been watching for some time. I am not angry."
His eyes have cleared but Brommy told me on our way here the ash on our home star made them turn black.
I wish this was a nightmare. His tunic has already been discarded. He enters the water with us. It is hard to tell if he is pretending to be happy.
His skin is glorious just like Brommy's. A beautiful shade of light gray. So smooth beneath the disgusting amount of his treatch. Brommy's skin is more pure. I hug his front while Adler comes very close.
I can feel his gaze burn through my back. Reluctantly, I turn to face him.
His eyes dilate with freightening speed as he looks over my naked body. A strange tint now stains the skin of his body a dark purple. I look down and grip Brommy harder seeing his excitement.
"My sweet pearl, let me hold you too. Many days did I care for you when you were your worst."
Why must someone so evil still be able to twist my heart? Still, I cannot forget about our meaningless kiss. It must be his beauty that rots my mind and makes it cloudy as Brommy lets me go.
I stand my ground.
"I am a man now!"
"Yet, you lust after both my sons. Do you lust after me too?"
"Brommy is not your son. You are filthy."
Water glistens off his chiseled chest.
"Not entirely," Adler coos while watching me down his nose.
His hands are soft on my ugly breasts. They move down my sides and stop on my waist. His eyes have a strange fog in them. It makes me feel pleased and I don't know why.
Out of old, shameful, habit, I lay my head on his chest. Brommy stands behind me. I can feel the heat of his body as he rubs my back.
"Sweet pearl," Adler babies. I want to be angry but I also want to be loved. Not in here though. I rub his chest fondly, amused by ability to change his skin color. This is really the first time I am seeing a pure-blooded Krexbin just like me. "Where is a good place we can...talk?"
"Not in here," I whisper.
Brommy's hand falls from my back. "Where then shall we meet?"
"Enoch gave me my own chamber. Where is your clout now, Adler?"
I hold his arm watching the water miraculously rise off the ground. It condenses into a huge blanket of white fluff! My skin tingles when he kisses my neck. It feels different now that I have my adult body.
I feel excited in a way I know I shouldn't be around him. I feel like he knows so too.
By the time we get to my chamber, his mystical cloud has condensed into a nice huge bed. It drifts very low to the ground. I crawl onto it relishing its softness. Wisps of cloud travel around my legs making me giggle with glee. I lean back, letting the wonderful fluffs cushion me. I decide on laying down. Adler does not join me. Neither does Brommy.
I become still, wondering what fun it is to watch me hoard the luxurious bed to myself.
"Does my nudity disturb you?"
"No," Adler answers quickly. "We have just never seen anything so...beautiful."
He joins me slower than ever on the bed. I am not here to stay long. I told him so on my way here. I am to retrieve my pet's cage and then leave.
I do want to hear how things are going with Cephine first before leaving.
Adler lays down beside me. "I've missed you dearly, my sweet. May we cuddle, please?"
His smile turns mischievous the moment Brommy leaves earshot. I do like Adler's cuddles very much.
I can feel how much my body has missed being touched. I burrow into his chest feeling strange as he rubs his body against my own. It is much different now that we are naked. Warmer and more promising.
Brommy returns. He scatters blankets over us. Adler wraps me up in the soft cloth. It makes me feel more inclined to lay against him when I am cocooned in this thick fabric. I smile hearing Brommy snoring behind me. It feels like Adler is sniffing the top of my head. He begins crying. His tears make my hair wet. I place a kiss on his chest. He squeezes his arms tighter around me while stuffing his wet face in my neck.
I gulp feeling him leave a burning kiss while rubbing my back to no end.
"I cannot sleep, Adler, when you hold me this tight."
Finally, he pulls away but my heart won't stop racing.
"Goodnight, my little baby."
For a long time, I close my eyes falling into a restless nap. Something tickles my face. I feel like he is watching me. My body trembles finding him very much wide awake when I open my eyes. He is sitting up, the fluffs of cloud making a backrest, as he watches me laying beneath.
His smile is toothy.
"Did you wake up?" he babies. A large urkmink egg sack sits on my belly. He dangles the mother beetle in front of my face. I should not have kicked my covers off. I can see hundreds of tiny little bodies swimming around the egg sack as he lowers his glowing spyrt. "Isn't it beautiful?"
"Yes," I breathe out.
He lowers the mother on top of the egg.
She looks so cute sitting on top.
"This is why I knew you would love boiled eggs so much. I imagine you were very lucky to find these in the desert."
I pet the mother carefully with the light pressure of my finger. Yes, these eggs were the greatest joy I could find. Memory makes my fingernails ache as I remember digging very hard the days my belly screamed in pain.
Adler pinches the mother beetle, bringing her body and the egg into my mouth. I blush, sharing the delicious snack with him in my mouth. His eyes roll into the back of his head coated in the lining of silver when I settle against his body as his tongue twists tightly around my own.
His arms circle around me while the rest of him remains unmoving. It feels wonderful to be held like this as our kiss deepens. Adler lays me down bringing his face to rest between my breasts. His weight squashes me but there is something about it that keeps me warm and safe. I love it. I know I shouldn't. Just this once, I will let him be closer than I would under the eyes of anyone else.
He has fallen asleep.
☁️
A/N: Should Greta remain independent or dependent on Adler's family? Stay tuned...