The World Beyond [Gladis&Hideki](Private)

[Gladis]

Calum’s expression hardened. To denounce the existence of their gods was one thing. Calum knew he was wrong and that was that. Nothing to get upset over. To go into an aggressive rant and be a condescending asshole about it, however, was entirely different. It wasn’t enough to make him angry per see, but he was definitely getting a bit annoyed. It was fine to be of a different mind-set, but he needn’t be so rude about it. Calum felt the need to tell him as much.

 

”No one’s going to force their beliefs on you so you needn’t be concerned. No one’s going to kill you either. Are you done now?” There was a clear note of irritation in his voice, though he showed no other signs of aggression. He opened his mouth to say something more, when suddenly he felt a hand on his shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze.

 

Nan had made her way back over to them, a warm and gentle smile gracing her features.

 

”Easy now. Wipe that frown off your face before it freezes in place and becomes your default expression.”

 

”But nan-” he began to protest, only to be interrupted once more.

 

”No ’buts’ deary. Isn’t it good to see that our guest is healthy enough to be holding in depth conversations about the intricacies of life? I hardly think getting agitated over such trivialities is going to help his process of recovery, though. Perhaps the two of you should continue your debate another time?” She suggested as she turned her pale green gaze towards the platinum haired stranger, her smile replaced by a look of concern. ”Asher, was it? How are you feeling now? I wager your wounds are still hurting, but the concoction I gave you should have dulled the pain. If it gets worse again, you need only ask for more. Are you hungry? The stew’s nearly ready, so if you feel fit enough to eat you can have some.” She paused briefly before continuing. ”Calum, fetch him some more water, will you? It’s important that he drinks a lot.”

 

The brown haired youth nodded his head, picking up Asher’s empty cup as he rose to his feet. Heading over to the bucket he filled it once more before returning, holding it out to Asher.

 

”My name’s Calum,” he answered, his voice considerably gentler than before. ”Though my friends call me Cal. Feel free to use whichever.” He smiled slightly. A part of him was still a little salty about their earlier conversation, but he realized that his grandmother was right. There was little point in getting mad. Most of their problems seemed to come from their inability to understand one another. They needed to start somewhere and so Calum decided that he would try to see things from Asher’s perspective. Well, to the best of his abilities, anyway.

[-Hideki-]

He sure recognised the irritation in the man’s voice but there was no severe change in the data the device gathered about the other. “You say that but the enforcement of their believe system and the killing of unbelievers is infested in religious ideologies that always strive for world domination.” He commented again having the murderers of the emperor’s living group on his mind about whose ideology this was actually true. “However I trust that you have no intention to kill me since the data clearly suggests that you are not about to attack.” The soldier let him know before he asked:”Am I done with what?”

 

When the old lady calmed the irritated man down Ash took the time she talked to the brunette to take some deep breaths and wipe away the sweat from his face that had appeared on his damaged body. In the moment the woman asked him how he felt he immediately answered without thinking:”Pathetic and weak.” Even though he then realised that she had meant the severity of his pain. “It’s bearable at the moment. At least I don’t feel like passing out from it.” He described sounding tired. The elderly lady was right, his heated speech and the anger had not been good for his condition, it had worsened it. “I’ll do so, thank you.” The foreign man nodded at the information that he only needed to ask for something to kill the pain if it got more severe again.

 

The question of whether he was hungry and wanted to eat was probably the simplest question one could imagine, it was a basic human need after all, but to him it was difficult to answer and he didn’t quite know. Was he hungry? And did it matter if he wanted to eat? Food consumption was not about wanting something to him. “What time is it?” he wanted to know as there were regulated eating times on Xenon. Then he realised something else. “I have lost my food plan with my battleship and since I had to newly configure J.O.S.H. my personal data had been lost. I don’t know what I was supposed to eat today. If I don’t eat the right things at the right time I will either have not enough calories what is bad or too many what is equally bad. Beside that it was perfectly calculated what kind of nutrients and vitamins my body needs, all this is documented on my food plan, I will get sick if I don’t do as the food plan says. I can’t just eat anything, this is impossible. But they obviously can’t deliver me my rations to where I am now.” He was murmuring getting uncomfortable at the thought that he was supposed to decide what to eat, when to eat, to eat or not to eat, as he wasn’t sure if he would get it correctly without the security of the states system telling him what was the perfect thing for his body.

 

On Xenon every citizen got individual food and fitness plans calculated by a medical scientist that varied every month. They got their food delivered to their homes and only got what was on the plan. There was no possibility to buy food or to get something different. This was a measure to keep the citizens as healthy as possible. They didn’t accept people refusing to eat or overeating and they made sure that the citizens wouldn’t get anorexic or obese. And both size-zero as well as plus-size was seen as equally gross and was deemed unwanted.

 

The water he was offered he drank right away, he felt dehydrated and hot and sticky and his mouth and throat felt dry. The cup was empty too fast as the younger males voice was to hear again, this time he had a soft, gentle tone in it and didn’t seem irritated anymore at all. Ash nodded when he told him that he was called Calum only to get confused a little a second later. “Your friends?” he wanted to know with a questioning look.

[Gladis]

Calum was done and over with their conversation about the gods. He was well aware that he must have come off as stingy about the subject, and perhaps he was. In all honesty, he just didn’t like the way the other was talking. It felt like his contempt and scorn was directed at him, his family and their way of life. It didn’t really occur to him that in a sense, he was no different – calling the way Asher had described how things were done on Xenon sad and cold, when really he couldn't even begin to grasp its actual implications. He’d been more soft spoken in regards to it, true, but when it came down to it he was no less closed minded than the other. Even if he did like to believe otherwise.

 

To say that he felt relieved when the conversation then moved on to more important matters was an understatement. He was glad to withdraw from the conversation, if only for a short while, and the simple task of fetching water was a nice distraction. It helped him clear his mind and cool down.

Barely had Asher set the cup down before Calum picked it up, this time around entirely of his own volition. He could clearly tell that their guest was still thirsty and his grandmother was right. The man needed to drink a lot of he wanted to get better.

 

As he knelt by the bucket to fill the cup a second time, he listened to his grandmother speak with the stranger – her voice laden with concern.

 

”I don’t know about this food plan of yours young man, but your body has been fasting for two days. A third and it’ll start having serious consequences on your health. The gods forbid that anyone starve under my roof!” She didn’t sound angry as she chided him, exactly, but her tone carried a familiar warm, though strict weight to it. It was clear that she wouldn’t take no for an answer. Hearing her speak like that Calum’s couldn’t help but think back to his childhood, his lips curling into a small smile.

 

As a young lad he’d been a very picky eater. When he was at his worst, he’d refuse to eat for days. He’d always been stubborn like that, and his nan was hardly any different. This would often get them into arguments – sometimes bad enough to send pots and furs flying. Though it might be hard to believe now, Sasha had always been the more level headed and diplomatic of the three. Nan claimed that his wife and children were to blame for his change in behavior.

 

’Getting a family of their own does that to men,’ she’d said, ’gives them concerns they hadn’t even considered before’. Perhaps she was right. Ever since Anya came to the world, he’d been less keen on accepting the things he didn’t know or understand. Less keen on taking risks. Normally this wasn’t much of an issue, but it did make him easier to anger. Especially in situations like these. It was clear that he only wanted to protect the things dear to him and Calum could hardly blame him for that.

 

Speaking of, where had Anya run off to? Calum had been so engrossed in his conversation with Asher, that he had failed to notice when she left the room. One glance about was all he needed to find an answer. The door to his room was ajar, the flickering light of the lantern slipping through the crack. Perhaps she had become bored with their conversation or she was just concerned for her dad. Calum suspected it was a bit of both.

 

Standing up, Calum closed the distance between him and Asher’s makeshift bed, once again offering him the cup.

 

”Nan’s right,” he said, ”eating something is better than not eating anything at all. You’ll be even sicker if you don’t. Besides, I wouldn’t worry too much about it. We don’t have food plans or any such things, but the food we eat hasn’t made us any less healthy, it hasn’t. Nan even insisted to use meat since it’ll help you get your strength back sooner.” Normally, it was something they only ate on special occasions, since it was expensive and hard to come by. Their diet was usually limited to what they were able to grow in the fields or otherwise find in the forest. They lived close to a stream, but it wasn’t particularly rich on fish – so that was hardly an option either. Still, it wasn’t as though Calum could complain. His grandmother was the best cook he’d ever known, and these days there were very few dishes of hers he didn’t like.

 

When asked about friends he paused. Then he shook his head and smiled, though this time it was a modest and careful.

 

”I’ll explain it to you eventually, I promise, but now’s not the time, lest we’ll end up going in circles like we did before once more. Alright?” He asked softly, tilting his head a little to the side as he kept his green gaze locked on the other.

[-Hideki-]

“There are no gods that could forbid me to starve.” He said with narrowed eyebrows but his voice was rather quiet and throaty and there wasn’t that much energy and volume behind it because he simply didn’t have the strength in his bones anymore. “However I can assure you that I have no intention to starve, not in this house and not anywhere else.” The man let the elderly lady know who apparently was worried about him for whatever reason. To Asher it was odd that she was since he was a stranger, she didn’t know him and he didn’t belong to her people and was from a foreign planet on top of that.

 

The soldier was thinking about what to do, he needed to eat he knew that but could he really just eat something without knowing what it was or whether it was the right thing for his body? He had never decided to just eat something that wasn’t on his food plan. The man had grown up with getting the information of what he would eat from said plan and not having the security of a scientifically and medically approved food plan he felt insecure about eating something.

 

When the younger man returned to him with more water telling him that eating something was still better than eating nothing he figured that this was true. Eating nothing was not an option so in the end he had to eat something. And the brunette was right in the sense that neither he nor the old lady looked sick or unhealthy in anyway. So Asher bit his lower lip, gave it another thought and brought himself to make a decision to eat that food without the food plan. He nodded. “Right! I’ll eat.” The man said but then he found another problem. “But how much of that am I supposed to eat? I don’t know what amount of that food is the right amount of food for my body. Maybe J.O.S.H. has this information but I am not sure since such a function normally isn’t needed.” The platinum haired started to murmur again.

 

As the other said he would explain what ‘friends’ were another time Asher just shrugged and figured that it would be early enough for him to learn this another time.

 

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2 months later

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Asher was tossing and turning around on the bed he was lying on. He felt hot but he didn’t have a fever anymore at all and when he realised that there just was no point in trying to keep sleeping he blinked his blue eyes. It was really early in the morning and the sun wasn’t shining into the room just yet. The man was still somewhat tired but there was no helping it. He raised the blanket a little and looked down on himself and he saw what he had expected to see. His dick was standing proudly aching for touch and release. Frustrated he let his head sink back into the pillow and he would have loved to just ignore this as he had done the last few times he had awakened with a morning wood. Ever since the crippling pain had left his body this had become a problem for him. It wasn’t surprising actually. He hadn’t been able to use the device to orgasm since he had been on the mission and now it had pent up, his balls were bursting and he was basically horny all the time trying to ignore this because he didn’t have the device the health care system provided for the citizens of Xenon anymore.

 

The soldier clearly remembered when this had happened to him as a boy the first time and how disappointed he had been for turning out to be a sexual with a libido and how ashamed he had felt, especially since it had happened to him quite early in life and how he had consulted the scientist who had engineered him, terrified that he now had a higher potential to become lowlife scum. The man had actually managed to comfort him though. “Apparently I haven’t been able to minimize your sex drive, this happens, especially with males. It is easier having success in getting a female born as a non-libidoist. But this is no problem and you are by no means deemed to break the law or turn out badly. You’ll just probably have to use the device more often than others since you seem to have a high sex drive.” He had explained as if it had not been completely embarrassing.

Asher had always liked his scientist because the man had been so proud of him and how he had turned out and with the device he had given him he never actually had any problem with his sex drive and he never had had to get stained in any way.

 

However he didn’t have the device anymore now and he felt the strong urge to touch his hard cock that was craving attention. He didn’t want to though. What would happen to him if he did? The device only worked with the brain to make them orgasm, it didn’t stimulate his dick and it also made sure that the people who used it wouldn’t develop any sexual fantasies that could be directed at other humans. Now that he didn’t have the device anymore, would he start to want to have sex with a woman? Would he start looking at them and pursuing them? Asher shook his head. This was gross. He didn’t want to. He had seen women’s genitals and their tits in biology class and in the shower room of his division when the female soldiers had taken a shower at the same time he had. The thought of having sex with a woman disgusted him and he didn’t want to start craving or needing this. Then again the scientists and doctors on Xenon had also said that suppressing sexual urges was unhealthy and that was why they should use the device to orgasm regularly. If he kept ignoring this he would get sexually frustrated, even more than he already was after those two months of his healing process.

 

Reluctantly Asher let his badly scarred hand slide into his pants and cautiously, as if it would bite him if he touched it, laid his hand onto his pulsating dick. It felt amazingly hot and hard, he had never touched his cock in this condition. As his hand was exploring his own erection, feeling the thick veins and figuring out that it felt good if he rubbed its head and played with his foreskin, the thought whether other guys dicks felt the same as his own and how it would be to touch another man there and make him feel good crossed his mind and he wanted to slap himself for thinking something like this. Why was he thinking this? When he let his hand run over his length, stroking his aching cock a low moan escaped him and he immediately pressed his other scarred hand onto his mouth, stroking his dick with more pressure, grabbing it tighter what was making him feel even better and he felt himself automatically thrusting into his own hand. His mind went cloudy, his heart beat went up, his got body hot and sticky and in front of his mind’s eyes he was remembering the body of one of his male comrades under the shower. He imagined himself behind him, of course without the severe burn scars all over his own body, touching his attractive comrade and kissing his neck and he felt how this aroused him further and turned him on.

 

The more he stroked his thick cock the more he wanted to finally get his release. Pleasure was taking over his body and he was pressing his head down into the pillow as his muscles constricted, he bucked up into his own hands and moaned in pleasure when he came and shot a huge load of sperm, not only staining his hand but also his pants, shirt and the blanket. He breathed heavily and rested for a moment his head empty. But when the feeling of relieve and satisfaction was slowly fading and his breathe back to normal again he felt dirty and gross for having given in to his primitive instincts and having touched his own dick like this. But it had felt good, better than the device.

 

There also had been no women on his mind and he also didn’t feel like he wanted to do it with one. So he was good wasn’t he? Then he remembered his thoughts about other men and him imagining being with his comrade in such an inappropriate way and he got aware that this probably counted as well. Or didn’t it? Was it possible that he was into ..... men? And was that better or just as bad? It probably wasn’t any better aside from the fact that he could never become guilty of uncontrolled reproduction this way.

 

When his blue eyes looked at his cum stained scarred hand he couldn’t stop himself from touching his sperm with the finger of his over hand pulling it away again. He had never touched that before either. There was a hole in the device where he could put his dick in and when he came it was cleaning everything off directly for hygiene purposes. As soon as Ash saw that he had stained his clothes and the blanket too he immediately got up his torso because he needed to clean this before anyone saw it and knew what filthy thing he had just done in their house.

 

He stuffed his cock back into the pants and stood up from the bed. The Earthlings didn’t have constant water and kept it in buckets. The foreigner hastily walked to one of the buckets and wanted to clean his hand and his clothes but being way too hectic about all of this, trying to pour the water over his hand and the stained fabric to not get cum into the water just ended with the entire water from the bucket all over himself and the floor what led to him slipping on the wet floor and stumbling into a bunch of pots that were stacked over one another and when he fell into the pots it chinked and made all kinds of loud noises.

 

Freeing himself from under the pots he wanted to get into his combat suit which he had finished to repair a few days ago to get out of the wet clothes immediately, mop up the water from the ground with the other clothes and pretend that nothing had happened and he had just drunken the entire water but when he had flung out the shirt and was standing in the middle of the room with his bared muscular torso he heard footsteps on the floor and seconds later his intense blue eyes were looking into the green ones of Calum.

 

There was silence and he could feel how all colour left his face making the scars that went up like vines from his jaw to his cheek bones stand out even more. He scratched his platinum head while looking at the brunette Earthling. “I am looking forward to finally be able to work and be of help today. I would have started to help you earlier but your ‘Nan said I had to keep resting a little longer.” The man said with his bass voice pretending that the mess he was standing in didn’t exist, that there was absolutely nothing smelling like cum and that he was not completely drenched from the water he had accidentally showered himself with.

[Gladis]

Two months had passed since the discovery of Asher, and things were beginning to settle back into the usual routine. According to nan his wounds were healing nicely, and although many of the scars would most likely never fade, overall he was enjoying a remarkable process of recovery. It wouldn’t be long until he’d be able to help out around the village. A good thing was that, because the autumn harvest was coming up and for that they would need every ounce of help they could get.

 

Shortly after Asher had woken up that it was decided that he would be better off sharing a room with Calum, as opposed to sleeping on that makeshift pile of blankets, furs and pillows in the main area. A proper bed was arranged and before long Calum found himself rediscovering the ups and downs of living with a roommate.

 

Generally Calum’s would be thrown out of bed early in the mornings, often long before the sun even had begun it’s climb over the horizon. Only the nights he’d been on guard duty did he get to make an exception, and this particularly day was supposed to be one of them. But alas, it seemed like fate had other plans in store for him.

 

It was the sound of rattling pots and pans that was responsible for waking him at this unholy hour.

 

At first he sleepily dismissed it as his grandmother rummaging around the kitchen, letting out a small, annoyed groan as he buried his face in his pillow, just about ready to go back to sleep. Then he was hit by the realization that this couldn’t possibly be the case. On the night prior a man from the next village had arrived at their doorstep, seeming very much in distress. His wife had gone into labor, but there had been complications. Nan had helped deliver many babies in the past, and rarely did so without success. As such she was the most obvious choice when the need for help arose. Even if it meant traveling in the direction of the waste to get her. Having no time to waste, nan had immediately left with the man and Calum doubted she would be back yet. Traveling during the night, especially for someone her age, was never advised

 

Suddenly feeling wide awake, he shot out of his bed, hastily fumbling around the darkness. It was only as he slid his hand along the edge of Asher’s bed, his heart racing and his mind on high alert, that he came to a second realization. For one, Asher wasn’t in it, and to make matters worse the brown haired youth now had some kind of cold, sticky goo on his fingers. Scrunching up his nose in dismay, he brought his goo coated fingers to his face, sniffing twice.

 

Almost as quickly as it had come, Calum could feel the tension leave his body. He recognized that scent, and though he would be lying if he said he didn’t find it at least a tiny bit gross, this scenario could have been far, far worse. With that in mind, he simply shrugged his shoulders, attempting to wipe it back off on the already stained covers. They would need to be changed anyway, so at this point it really didn’t matter.

 

By then his eyes had adjusted to the light – or rather, the lack thereof, and he could clearly make out the unlit lantern on the bedside table.

 

Now with something proper to light the way, he exited the room only to be met by the sight of a miserable looking, half dressed, drenched Asher – standing in a mess that rivaled some of Hermis’ worst offences. He had to commend the other for still trying to remain stoic under these circumstances, but it was also part of what made the entire thing so unintentionally hilarious. Trying very hard to keep a serious expression, he nodded his head in acknowledgement of Asher’s statement.

 

”Mhm…” he paused after that, not entierly sure how to proceed. ”Well, how about we start by getting this mess cleaned up? And while we’re at it, I think it’s about time we get our bed sheets changed too,” there was a knowing glint in Calum’s emerald gaze, though so far he had more or less managed to keep a fairly straight face, ”but before all that, you should probably dry up.” Relieved that he now had an excuse to turn his back on Asher, he could feel the corners of his lips turn upwards as his expression broke into a smile. Setting down the flickering lantern on the kitchen table, he headed over to one of the drawers to take out a towel. ”Here, catch!” he yelled from across the room before hurling it straight at Asher.

 

There was a clear note of cheer in his voice and he seriously had to make an effort not to laugh – something that was beginning to make Calum question whether it really was all that funny. Well, it certainly wouldn’t have been if Asher hadn’t spent so much time preaching about abiding to ones base instincts. It was the sheer amount of irony that got to him. Well, perhaps that, a measly three and a half hours of sleep, his imature sense of humor and a grain of embarassment – the last one of which he didn’t quite want to admit he felt.

[-Hideki-]

Seeing the other male nod in acknowledgement of his statement there was a moment where he thought that he had distracted him enough so that he wouldn’t ask himself what this was all about and he also thought that the young male had no clue about what he had done. It didn’t take long though and that illusion was destroyed.

 

When he heard the other speak about changing the bed sheets and looking into his eyes with such a knowing expression Asher had to notice that the other definitely was aware of what he had done. How? Had he seen the sperm on the sheets or had it been the scent? He couldn’t tell but he felt how his cheeks turned from pale white to a slight shade of pink as he was starting to feel embarrassment. It was a strange feeling, a feeling he had only felt once before in his entire life and that had been when he had stormed into his scientist’s office because he had gotten a random boner for the first time. And now he was feeling that same embarrassment even though he wasn’t a boy anymore but a man of thirty-three.

 

The soldier didn’t know how to react now that he was certain that the young man knew that Ash had jerked off in the other’s room in the bed next to him. He tried to imagine what must be going through the other’s mind and he was sure that the young man would find him gross or categorise him at least as a hygiene threat now. “Yes, I think that would be a good idea.” The man from Xenon muffled about changing the bed sheets with his teeth clenched together as if they were super-glued onto each other and he wasn’t able to open his mouth properly.

 

Wordlessly and easily he caught the towel and rubbed his head and hair dry with it and then went over to drying his naked torso. He would have liked to get out of the drenched pants as well but for some reason he thought stripping off his pants wasn’t a good idea in this situation what was kind of odd for him to think. On Xenon the people usually had not problem with stripping naked in front of others no matter which gender because they usually didn’t think about each other’s bodies in a sexual way, at least not those who played by the rules and used the device regularly. But in this situation he would have felt awkward and weird about it.

 

The platinum haired man got the impression that the other found this amusing and there seemed to be no heavy judgement coming from him but then he thought that no one would find someone doing something like this in their own room amusing. Maybe he was just trying to not let it show that he was mad and judging him for what he had done there so the warrior type just went over to do what had to be done, mopping the floor dry and getting the pots in order again.

 

But even though he was trying to focus on the task of cleaning the mess he had made - what he was doing efficiently - the embarrassment wouldn’t completely leave and he felt a little uncomfortable under the gaze of the other not sure what he was thinking about him now. This whole thing was the elephant in the room and Asher stoically doing his tasks as if that had never happened was him avoiding the elephant but wouldn’t that elephant standing between the two of them get into his way at one point?

 

So he took a deep breath, straightened his back and directly looked the other man into his eyes as if he was absolutely confident even though he really wasn’t and he couldn’t get the pink colour to disappear from his cheeks completely. “I assure you that I am not a hygiene risk for you and not a threat. I wanted to clean this up and you haven’t come into contact with my....well... you know. “ he said. “I shouldn’t have done this like that but I don’t have my device here on this planet anymore and I unfortunately have a high sex drive hence I usually have to use the device quite often.” The solider tried to justify himself as if he was in court talking about his ‘high sex drive’ as if it was a really severe and rare medical condition.

He really didn’t know what the other was thinking about him now and the cheer and amusement portrait just confused him all the more.

[Gladis]

Calum wasn’t sure what he had expected the others reaction to be like, but it certainly wasn’t what he got. Even in the dim lighting he could make out the slight shift in color on Asher’s cheeks. It was a surprisingly… normal reaction to the situation at hand, and a nice divergence from the usual stoic seriousness. The brown haired youth actually found it rather endearing.

 

As soon as Asher had gone back to cleaning up the mess, Calum began tending to his usual chores. First of all he would need to get the fire going. At this time of year it didn’t get too terribly cold yet, so there was hardly any need to use the oven all hours of the day. That said, it would be difficult to cook without heat, and Calum’s stomach was just about ready to rumble.

 

The two of them worked in silence and Calum hardly thought anything of it. He appeared to be deep in thought, his mind already having moved on to more important matters. As in, how he constantly had to remind himself not to sneak too many glances in Asher’s direction, lest he’d notice. The Ashen haired male’s shirtlessness was really, really distracting, and yet he didn’t exactly feel the need to complain. It was far from the first time he was seeing him shirtless, or even naked for that matter. He was after all the one who’d played the largest role in nursing Asher back to health, and he still had to lend a hand with applying nan’s salve on his back. It was a sight he was starting to get used to, but that didn’t mean he had to appreciate it any less. Scars or no scars, it was hard to deny that Asher was an incredibly good looking man. An incredibly good looking man who’d just jerked off pretty much right next to him, and who’s cum he could still feel on his hand. As this realization was beginning to sink in, it was Calum’s turn to blush.

 

It was right in that moment that Asher broke the silence, and for a split second Calum believed it was because the soldier had caught him staring, but as it turned out his mind was still preoccupied with other concerns.

 

”With your what?” He asked, his expression shifting into a frown, only to moments later regret even opening his mouth to speak. He let Asher know that he’d figured it out with a simple ”Oh” his cheeks feeling as though they were going to burn up. Shaking his head, he waved his hand in dismissal of the others words.

 

”Don’t worry about it. There’s nothing wrong or weird about what you did.” Then he paused to reconsider. ”Okay, maybe it’s a little weird to do it in the presence of your roommate, but believe me, people have done far worse.” He shrugged his shoulders, offering a reassuring smile as he tried to appear as casual about the entire thing as possible. ”If you gotta you gotta. Just… try not to make a mess of it next time.”

[-Hideki-]

Even though he wasn’t quite sure he thought for a moment that the younger man had blushed and had seemed to feel the embarrassment that he was feeling too. Then again this made no sense. Why would he feel embarrassed? It had been Asher who had given in to his low instincts like that and the other had found out about it. For him there was no explanation why the other would feel embarrassed so maybe his face was red from anger about him? But he didn’t look angry at all.

 

When the other didn’t seem to understand what he meant he opened his mouth to speak but then the man got it and he was thankful that he didn’t have to explicitly speak about his sperm as this would be rather awkward in this situation.

He just nodded at the ‘Oh’ with a serious expression still feeling somewhat uncomfortable.

 

Surprise overshadowed the discomfort and the embarrassment when Calum reacted in a way that he hadn’t expected though. He indeed didn’t judge him, said that what he had done wasn’t wrong or even weird. The blue eyes looked at the other rather stunned at how he was handling this and how he wasn’t treating him as if he had stained himself and had sunken to a lower, more primitive level when he actually should. He definitely should judge him for this and yet Ash was glad that he didn’t.

 

His cheeks flushed pink again when the short man said that it was actually a little weird to do this while ones roommate was sleeping right next to oneself and he knew that this really had not been right and that it only made him seem more like a slave to his urges regardless of other people having done worse stuff. This was not making it better. “I apologise!” he said with his stern and strict face. “I will not do this in your presence again and I wouldn’t do this at all if I still had my device. I have never done this before in my life thanks to the device but I don’t have access to it here.” He explained and while he was saying this he found the thought about the device and using that again disappointing. To his horror he didn’t want to return to using it because stimulating his dick gave him much more pleasure and his mind started to think about how it would feel if another man stimulated his dick or whether sex was even better than this feeling that was already so much better than the device that had never stimulated his cock and given him this great erotic feeling and sensation.

 

The soldier had to admit that in the two month he had been on Earth and away from Xenon and all the technology and the control and the security that he had become aware of his basic needs and instincts. He now knew how it was to feel hungry and getting hungry didn’t always happen at the same time every day. And without the food plan he had experienced the feeling of appetite and to wish to eat one thing more than another thing and to want to eat something and not want to eat something else. And now this!

 

His eyes were still lying on the other and he was impressed and confused by the reaction at the same time when the Earthling told him that he had to do what he had to do, even giving him permission to do this again while at their home if he didn’t create a mess afterwards. The younger male was incredibly chill and casual about this, as if this was just normal and every man did this. Wait? Maybe this was normal for men on earth to do and generally not something that was judged as primitive, gross and unhygienic like on Xenon. A questioning expression appeared on the Xenonian’s face though. “You don’t judge me for doing this and this was not even a big deal for you, was it?” he asked curiously. “But why did you stare at me while I was getting that mess back into order in such an intense way then? I could feel your eyes and that gaze on me the whole time?” he wanted to know since the other definitely had stared at him what had made him think that he had starred at him because he had been displeased or even mad by what he had done in his room.

[Gladis]

By now the sun had risen over the horizon, beginning its steady climb across the pale blue autumn sky. Before long its light reached the cottage, bathing the room in a soft, orange light. It was rather pleasant, but Calum was too distracted by Asher’s apology to even notice. His expression softened and again he found himself shaking his head.

 

”Like I said, it’s okay. There’s no need for you to apologize… and there’s definitely no need for excuses.” If this really had been his first time masturbating, Calum felt kind of sorry for him. It was as though he was only now going through a phase the vast majority got to put behind themselves during their adolescence. Even the conversation they were having kind of reminded him of the one he’d had with nan ten years ago. Except, that one had been considerably worse. Here, at least they were both guys and… closer and age.

 

”Well yeah, because there’s nothing to judge. We may not talk about it openly, but pretty much everyone do-” es it every now and then, was what he’d been planning to say, but Asher’s question completely caught him off guard.

 

Guilty as charged.

 

This certainly wasn’t the first time he’d secretly been checking the soldier out, but usually he was more subtle about it. Even if Asher had noticed in the past, he hadn’t pointed it out before. Perhaps he had simply written it off as curiosity or interest. Or perhaps he really hadn’t noticed. Honestly, it hardly mattered. Now that he’d been caught red-handed in the act, it was near impossible to think of a good excuse.

 

In fact, he was unable to. Just as he was unable to tell him the truth.

 

Calum’s absolutely horrible solution to the matter was to swiftly reach for the bucket and turning his back on Asher with the hopes that the other hadn’t noticed the streak of red stretching from ear to ear. ”I’m going out to fetch water!” He declared, beginning his march towards the door. Nevermind that he was still wearing his night garments, a long white shirt that reached to anout right above his knees, a pair of loose trousers and nothing else. Not even shoes.

[-Hideki-]

Baffled again he was standing before the significantly shorter man when he told him that he didn’t have to apologise for this. Asher felt that he needed to though and he wasn’t quite sure whether it really didn’t bother the other that he had done this in his presence and in his room or if he was just lenient with the foreigner. The man was a little uncertain as to how he should categorise this reaction but he decided to use the adjective kind to describe the brunette man’s response towards him slipping up.

 

The platinum head shook his head when the other implied that he was making excuses because he really wasn’t. “I’m not making excuses, it really is like this.” He assured him. “Where I am from we are supposed to use the device to not have to resort to such measures. If someone would have caught me doing something like this on Xenon that would have had repercussions for me. They would have had to report me and I would have been sorted into a lower category of people with a higher risk for crimes such as uncontrolled breeding or for becoming a hygiene threat and would have been monitored with tighter control as a safety measure by the government you know. So maybe I was speaking in my defence here but I definitely wasn’t searching for excuses that weren’t the truth.” The solider said in a serious tone of voice, trying to make the other man, to whom this all didn’t seem to be a big deal, understand why he reacted how he reacted.

It had taken him, who was not sensible to such things, a little but he had realised that most of their disputes came from not being able to understand each other’s way of thinking and perspective and he had been forced to at least try to explain himself and to try to understand the other to a degree if he wanted to even get remotely along with the people of the foreign planet and culture. It was hard for him who wasn’t made to adjust to other people and their ways but he was trying to become better with people.

 

His theory that this could be something that every man on Earth did got confirmed by Calum only for the younger male to stop in the middle of his sentence and all of a sudden starting to act weird even though the solider had only wanted to know why he had stared at him in such an open and intense way. Ash saw the other’s face turn red like a traffic light, turn his back on him and reach for the bucket telling him that he was going to get some water.

 

This was an obvious attempt of distraction and a cheap excuse to not answer his question. That much he knew but he couldn’t wrap his head around why the other didn’t want to answer such a simple question. He didn’t find that his question was crossing any boundaries.

 

The man from planet Xenon reached out his scarred hand and got a hold of Calum’s wrist, feeling the other’s smooth skin, before the brunette was able to reach that door. He gently pulled the younger man back and turned him around so that he was facing him again and was close to his naked chest. “Come on, don’t be silly Calum. You’re only doing this to not answer my question and I would really like to know. I won’t be mad about this.” The older man spoke in his deep voice. “Besides, I have spilled all the water over myself and the floor, it’s my duty to fill it again and fetch new water. Not to mention that you’re in your pyjamas and you’re not wearing shoes. You can’t go out without shoes, that’s unhygienic.” The soldier let the other know with a determined face.

[Gladis]

The very moment he felt Asher’s hand wrap around his wrist, Calum knew he would not be able to weasel himself out of this situation. He cursed his own recklessness and Asher’s stubborn nature, having long since come to the realization that he wasn’t one to quickly let things go. Of course he wanted to know why Calum had been sneaking glances in his direction – anyone in his situation would have wanted to know. Yet mostly anyone else would also already have figured it out themselves, simply based on his reaction.

 

Asher couldn’t really be expected to do that. Calum was well aware, and yet that still didn’t mean he wanted to answer the Xenonian’s question. Not because he believed the other would get angry – the thought hadn’t even crossed his mind until he brought it up. No, Calum was way more concerned with the fact that there was no way of telling him without sounding weird or creepy. Especially not considering the harsh words Asher had dished out about sex and physical relationships earlier. It didn’t matter that he’d now technically had indulged in a form of it himself. His opinion wouldn’t just change overnight.

 

”Nothing wrong with going out barefoot,” he grumbled, looking everywhere except directly at Asher. The taller man’s hand was still firmly wrapped around Calum’s wrist, and he’d pulled close – far closer than the brown haired youth felt was appropriate. His heart was pounding like crazy, his breath catching in his throat. Then he paused. What was he even getting so worked up over? Asher wanted to know and he should just be honest about it. It wasn’t like him to panic like this. Anyone else he would probably have given a cheeky smile and a snarky comeback. With Asher it was different. Either because he tended to react to things very differently or because Calum actually really had come to care about what the other thought of him. Over the course of the past two months he had really grown to like the ashen haired male. He didn’t want to be disliked by him. He actually kind of feared it, yet he couldn’t exactly put his finger on why. Why did he even care so much? Why did it matter to him whether this… literal space alien thought of him as gross? Ah, it was frustrating!

 

Pulling his hand out of Asher’s grasp, he stumbled a few steps backwards until his back hit the door, effectively putting some distance between them. His grip of the bucket handle tightened. Then he spoke – though it was a mumble barely even audible to Calum himself.

 

”Not my fault you’re so damn good looking, it’s not! Distracting, that’s what it is. Maybe if you at least put on a stupid shirt I wouldn’t have a reason to be looking in the first place.” He almost regretted it as soon as he’d said it. It wasn’t fair – making it sound like this was Asher’s fault in any way because really, it wasn’t. Even if he’d technically complimented him, the delivery was undeniably confusing. He wasn’t sure which aspect of it Asher was going to pick up on, but it didn’t matter. He’d probably find some way to misunderstand and make everything even more awkward.

[-Hideki-]

Calum quite obviously avoided looking Asher into his eyes and the platinum haired man thought that he either had something to hide and this had to do with the staring from before or that he simply knew that saying that there was no problem with going out barefoot was a stupid thing to say. “Of course there is something wrong with this. You could cut your feet, you could get an infection, you will have dirt on your skin and under your feet and you really shouldn’t go outside without shoes since even though the shoes you people produce aren’t the highest standard and don’t offer any functions they still protect your feet.” The soldier said totally serious about that issue.

 

While he was holding the other man’s wrist and they were standing rather close he could sense a strong nervousness coming from the younger male and Ash really asked himself what a bad reason the other must have had for looking at him if he just couldn’t tell him and got all nervous as if the foreigner had caught him committing a crime when he had asked about the staring. It didn’t make the other seem more composed or as chill about this situation as he had been when it had been about the blue eyed man jerking off, when the other hectically pulled his wrist out of his grip and pulled strong enough that he stumbled back against the door what looked kind of funny to the soldier. “You could have just said that you wanted me to let go of you.” His deep voice commented and there was a slightly amused smile forming on his lips.

 

When the brunette did finally answer his question his blue eyes widened and he looked at him surprised. So he found him visually pleasing and merely liked to look at him? Why had he made such a fuss about this? And why has the gaze been that intense, almost piercing? Asher had thought about himself as an aesthetic man before he had been burned, now he didn’t think he was anywhere near ‘good looking’ or visually pleasing anymore. Especially his hands and arms he found really bad and it was hard to find a piece of skin on his body that didn’t at least have some scarring on it. Maybe that was why it felt good to him to hear that Calum apparently found him still very handsome regardless of the scarring.

 

He didn’t quite get the other part of the reaction though and it confused him a little. “Of course my looks aren’t your fault. I look how I look thanks to the ‘fault’ or rather the work of the scientist who has engineered me, due to which resources he used and the scars I have because I literally was on fire.” Asher said looking into the other’s green eyes. “I am not wearing a shirt because mine was drenched. I also don’t understand why you want me to cover up when you just said that you find that I am good looking and not an eyesore, this is quite illogical. Beside that no man has ever gotten distracted by my body before and I never realised that it was a distraction for you, considering that you have seen it before and that you have even nursed it. Do you get distracted by everything that you deem aesthetically pleasing? If so you shouldn’t put pictures and artwork onto your wall. What is it that you find that good looking about me anyway?” Ash said in response to the other man’s answer but then a realisation came to his mind.

 

Previously the man had only experienced ‘good loooking’ as an aesthetic appeal, something he just found pleasing to the eye and it didn’t matter if it was his battleship, the moonlit sky, a painting or a person, all of that was the same to him and not a big deal in any way. If something was nice to look at, it was nice to look at; to him this was something positive. But then there was this thing with his comrade. Ash had sometimes looked at him and he had thought that his comrade was also only aesthetic and nice to look at with the difference that he had felt his eyes drawn to the sight of the man and had been aesthetically attracted to him. At least as long as he had the device that was how it had been. But just in this morning he had figured out that he was drawn to that man’s body in another sense that went beyond a simple aesthetic attraction. He had felt drawn to that image of the man’s body he had visualised before his mind’s eye and that he had wanted to touch it like he had done in his sex fantasy.

 

His intense blue eyes stared at the short man now that this realisation had hit him. This would also explain why he had flushed all red and had not wanted to talk about this. Ash himself had been quite glad that he hadn’t had to look his comrade into his eyes right after he had had such fantasies about him and had stroked his own dick while visualising his comrade and touching his comrade’s body. It seemed like Calum was attracted to the soldier in a similar way and that he looked at him like this.

“In what sense do you find me good looking?” the soldier asked because he didn’t want to jump to conclusions and misjudge the other. “Is it the same kind of aesthetic appeal an artwork has to you? Or do you feel yourself drawn to my body? Do you long for it and want to touch it?” he tried to explain what he wanted to ask and to know before he worded it more directly: “Did you look at me in a sexual way because I am sexually attractive to you?”

[Gladis]

Calum didn’t bother responding to Asher’s arguments as to why one shouldn’t walk outside without shoes. Clearly he’d never run across a grassy plain with bare feet, because it was just about the best thing ever. Once spring rolled around, the youth decided, he would introduce Asher to it. There was nothing quite like feeling the grass and dirt beneath your feet, the wind blowing through your hair and the warm touch of the sun on your face.

 

”...” Asher’s questions about whether he was distracted by beautiful artwork as well was absolutely ridiculous. Enjoying a stunning sunset or a pretty flower absolutely wasn’t the same as finding another human being attractive. At least not in the way he did. It seemed as though Asher was able to figure that out after a while, though because he moved on to ask questions that just as Calum had suspected, made it all worse.

 

Sliding down along the door into a squat, he hugged his legs, half hiding his face behind his knees – and more importantly, his blazing cheeks. Part of him wished he could just melt through the floor or better yet, disappear far, far away from there. Yet he knew he was undeniably stuck. There was no way he could run, because sooner or later he’d need to return, and then Asher would still expect answers. It wasn’t really a solution to let them keep hanging in the air, either. So he made an effort to respond, mumbling into the fabric of his trousers.

 

”Kind of on the nose – asking like that, don’t you think?”

 

He let out a heavy sigh.

 

”I guess you could put it like that, sort of. Don’t instantly mean I want in your trousers or anything, though, so you needn’t be concerned.” That said, Calum probably wouldn’t turn it down if he made the offer. The word ”probably” being key. He still wasn’t entirely sure how to feel about all this. On the one hand he really did think that Asher was incredibly attractive, and he really liked him too. Yet it was precisely because of the latter that he didn’t want to make things awkward between them. He valued their friendship over anything else.

 

”It’s just that when you walk around all shirtless like that, my mind goes places it probably shouldn’t, so it’s distracting. Ain’t really your fault and ain’t really a problem either, but that’s why I was sneaking glances. I’m sorry…”

[-Hideki-]

Asher’s eyes widened and he got alarmed immediately when the other man limply slid down the door and ended up hugging his legs. “What is it? Are you alright? Do you feel sick? Should I get J.O.S.H. for a diagnosis then I can help you?” the foreigner from out of space interpreted this as a sign of the other being unwell and of something being wrong with him physically and got concerned. He squatted down right in front of him, being rather close to the young man. “Hey!” he said and lifted up the brunette man’s head so that he could look into his face and see whether there were visible signs of sickness or a physical problem. What he looked into were just the green eyes of an embarrassed man whose face had flushed as red as a tomato, not that Ash had ever seen a tomato.

 

The soldier let go of Calum’s chin but he didn’t get up from the floor and he also didn’t bring any distance between them again, he remained squatted down in front of the other his intense blue eyes locked with the green ones of the man when the Earthling confirmed Asher’s theory of him being sexually attracted to the Xenonian man.

At this point this wasn’t any surprise for the platinum haired anymore and his facial expression didn’t change in any way it stayed blank while he thought about this figuring out that it didn’t really bother him much. It was a little weird thinking about this but he knew that nothing that would make them a hygiene threat would happen if he didn’t let it happen. Then again something else worried and even scared him but that had nothing to do with the younger male and his feelings for him. “I am not concerned about you being sexually attracted to me.” He let the other man know in a clear voice, laying his hand on the other man’s shoulder. “To be honest I am much more horrified about myself and what path I am apparently going down since I have landed on this planet. What I have done today .... I don’t know what to think about myself anymore and what I am capable of doing.” He confessed and it was obvious that this burdened him to a degree.

 

When he heard the other admitting that what distracted him was his own mind that went to some ominous places where it shouldn’t go to Ash felt how his cheeks got warm again and the slight shade of pink was back on his pale white skin.

Having on mind to which places his own mind had gone regarding his comrade he could imagine where the mind of the other man had been and a part of him was curious what the young man had imagined to do with him but even he wouldn’t ask that. Well, maybe he would have if he hadn’t had that fantasy about the other Xenonian soldier. But since he had had it he knew that it would have been incredibly embarrassing and uncomfortable for him if that man would ask him this question.

 

“Well, my mind has been on places I didn’t even know existed today and that it definitely shouldn’t have been to too. I am certain that your mind has been to where it shouldn’t have been and that it was inappropriate but as long as it is only our minds were still good I suppose even if we apparently have a higher risk now.” The man said in a serious tone and then patted Calum on the shoulder. “Let’s get ready for work. I am really looking forward to doing something again. I don’t like being unproductive and useless. I’ll go and put on my combat suit. You won’t even see my face when I am wearing it so zero distraction!” he suggested with a small smile on his lips.

[Gladis]

Calum couldn’t help but be somewhat taken aback by how the foreigner had chosen to interpret his actions – noting once again that Asher never ceased to surprise him. His display of concern was sweet, but his actions hardly helped to make the situation any better. Yet again he had closed the distance between them, his gentle grasp of Calum’s chin enough to send his heart into a flutter. He quickly shook his head in response to Asher’s inquiry.

 

”I-I’m fine!” He stuttered out, hoping that this would be enough to satisfy the soldier. It seemed like it did, because much to Calum’s relief Asher let go of his chin. Despite his confession the other didn’t bother to move away though, which honestly Calum wasn’t sure what to feel about. On the one hand he was glad, because it meant that at least Asher didn’t find him disgusting – something he even went out of his way to confirm moments later. Yet on the other he would definitely have liked to put some distance between them. As it was right then, it kind of felt like a bunch of butterflies were throwing a festival in his stomach.

 

He listened to Asher’s concern nevertheless, the ghost of a smile crossing his features. The others words – however strange it may seem, were actually comforting to hear.

 

”Wouldn’t worry about it too much.” He said, smiling reassuringly, somehow wanting to return the favor. ”I really did mean what I said before. Nothing wrong with what you did. Ain’t nothing wrong with checking out people you find hot either, really. It’s just embarrassing to get caught doing it.” Now that the cat was out of the back, it was easy enough to talk about it. He was still embarrassed for sure, but he also felt like everything could have played out a lot worse. In the end it hardly even mattered.

 

Nodding his head in agreement to Asher’s suggestion he stood back up, stifeling a yawn in the process. Then he paused.

 

”Oh, it’s a nice thought, but you won’t be needing that,” he said with a smile. The thought of Asher wearing his combat suit for simple farm work was amusing to Calum, because it seemed rather silly. At best it was completely pointless, at worst he would end up scaring the animals. ”A pair of trousers, a good shirt and those boots you got from Sasha will do just fine. Speaking of, he did say he was going to come pick you up ’round seven, so we better get a move on. Still need to make breakfast, we do, so once you’re dressed please go to the well and fetch some water.” As he spoke, he set down the bucket by the door. ”Since I was on guard duty last night, I wa-” he yawned again, covering his mouth with his hand, ”-aaaas actually planning to go back to sleep. Don’t worry, though. Sasha’ll have you covered.”

[-Hideki-]

His eyes looked interested and questioningly when Calum said that he had been honest when he had said that there was nothing wrong with masturbating and that there technically wasn’t anything wrong with what the younger male had done, looking at and fantasising about someone one found hot, wasn’t wrong either but that it was just embarrassing to be caught doing one or the other. This gave him something to think about and he scratched his chin with his scarred hand looking deep in thought. “But if there is nothing wrong about this, if this is really not a problem in any way and wouldn’t make one a lower kind of person, why would getting caught doing what isn’t even wrong in any sense and totally fine be embarrassing? It doesn’t really make much sense to me that one has to feel embarrassed about something that was so normal and okay as you make it seem to be. I usually don’t get embarrassed about doing something that isn’t wrong but I definitely felt embarrassed about this. What do you think is the reason behind that?” he asked curiously, really wanting to know this because this seemed contradictory to him.

 

Hearing that he wouldn’t need his combat suit disappointed him a little since he had actually seen forward to wearing it again. “What a pity!” he expressed in regards of not being able to wear his suit for this kind of work he was supposed to do. But when the other mentioned the boots he knew that he would definitely at least take the boots from his combat suit. Even though his feet fit into Calum’s brother’s boots they still had a low standard and no functions and since they didn’t adjust to his feet he found them bad for his feet as well so he was determined to wear his own.

 

Scratching the back of his head when Calum said that he had planned on sleeping and wanted to go to bed again he knew that it had been his fault that the other had been thrown out of his plans and the soldier took plans and things going as planned rather seriously. “It’s my fault that you got disturbed in your sleep. Maybe I can do some of your work so that you can get the time I stole from you back for sleeping?” he offered and hoped that the offer would be taken.

 

The platinum head just nodded seeing the bucket being placed in front of the door and getting told that Sasha would be the one who would introduce him to the work. It would have been a lie for him to say that he was thrilled about having the younger man’s older brother explaining something to him and working together with him since at least until this point they just didn’t seem to click too well and did best if they weren’t around each other for too long but if that was his duty, to work with that man, he would work with him and make the best out of it so that both of them could be as efficient as possible.

 

While the brunette apparently headed back to go to catch up some sleep Asher was changing his clothes what meant that he finally got rid of the drenched pants too and put on perfectly clean and fresh ones. The only high-tech parts on him were J.O.S.H. whom he thought would be of help to him and his boots, that didn’t match the much more primitive gear he wore and stuck out quite a lot.

 

As soon as he was completely dressed he went back to where the bucket was, took it up and attempted to open the door when a realisation hit him. Where was he supposed to get the water from? Ash had never been outside of the house, he had stood at the door or sat on the window during his recovery to get some fresh air but that had been about it. The other man’s ‘Nan had turned out to be rather strict with him about his process of recovery and that he was supposed to rest.

 

Hence he put the bucket back onto the floor and walked back into the brunette’s bedroom. The soldier leaned over the other, his face rather close in front of the Calum’s face when he lightly shook the younger one on his shoulder. “Calum!” he said. “Calum!” he repeated to wake the other up again. “I don’t have a clue where I can get the water from!” the foreigner told him his problem.

[Gladis]

That was a actually good question. Why indeed did one have the tendency feel embarrassment and shame at some of these things, when they were supposed to be completely normal? Calum didn’t have an answer, and was left pondering about it as he headed back into his room. He knew not everyone was as easily embarrassed. Jack was a shameless flirt and a bit of a pervert, and more than eager to show it. He would hardly have made such a fuss about all this – nevermind the fact that his preference lay in women. Although, perhaps it could be argued that the reason Calum had caused a fuss in the first place was precisely because he had perverted desires. Yet that was just it. Words like shameless and perversion have distinctively negative connotations, so why were they used in relation to sex and desire – something that wasn’t inherently bad in and of itself? Although the Gods far from condoned more hedonistic philosophies, it didn’t outright condemn them either. Desire, to some extent at least, was considered a normal aspect of human nature, not something to feel ashamed about. What Calum didn’t realize at the time, was that perhaps these conflicting values might have been relics from a past long forgotten. Something so ingrained in their culture that he’d never cared to question it, yet now that it had been brought to light made him wonder ’why’.

 

The youth shook his head as closed the door behind himself, deciding that we was too tired at the moment to be solving any such riddles. He was half a mind to just go back to sleep at once, though he quickly dismissed that idea. After all, he had promised Asher breakfast. It wouldn’t do to send him out to work hard on an empty stomach. Furthermore, the soldier hadn’t seen much of the village yet, so Calum would have to show him where the well was. With that in mind he took out a fresh set of clothes and began to undress.

 

It seemed that per the gods whims, it was Calum’s turn to be caught half naked. Either he’d been lost in thought or too tired to pay attention, because he never really noticed when Asher entered the room. By then he was wearing trousers, but his torso – the back of which was facing the door, was entirely exposed, revealing the three long, consecutive scars that ran from right above the middle of his spine, across his back all the way to his right hip, disappearing beneath beneath the upper hem of his trousers. A similar scar could be seen across his left shoulder, though it was considerably less noticeable. Both were old and faded.

 

It was the sudden feeling of Asher’s cold hand on his shoulder that made him realize he was no longer alone. Alarmed he turned around and staggered backwards, nearly bumping into the bedside table in the process. ”For fucks sake, Asher!” He exclaimed, clearly flustered, ”At least bother bloody knocking before you come barging in here!” Then, once the initial shock had settled, his expression softened. ”I know,” he said, fumbling to put on his shirt, ”that’s why I’m getting dressed. Ain’t right to send you off without a clue of where to go. ’Nan wouldn’t let me hear the end of it if I allowed you to get lost.”

[-Hideki-]

Apparently the other hadn’t noticed him and had been startled because he jumped around and bumped into the bedside table in shock. When he yelled at the soldier that he should at least knock the man didn’t quite understand. “Knock? What is that good for?” he wanted to know. The platinum haired man had lived alone ever since he had left the government’s educational facility at age eighteen and during his time in the government’s educational facility something such as privacy had not existed just as it hadn’t when he had joined the imperial space force. In the educational facility they had slept in a room with a lot of people and the room was always kept open and everyone could go in and out as they pleased. Asher had been lucky though, he had been sorted into the room with the ten best students of his semester of the C-types and hence they had only shared it with the ten of them and had better beds and at least some comfort.

 

However there had been this one roommate who had gotten on his nerves. She had slept in the bed next to him and she had regularly snapped because Ash and another room mate had apparently snored loudly. One time the platinum head had told the other roommate that she apparently had been on her period and that they should check whether she always threw the tantrum about the snoring during the same time of the month, his roommate had agreed but she had heard it and had kicked both of them into their faces without a warning what had ended in them having a physical fight and an instructor had to force them to stop butchering each other, later it had turned out she actually had been on her period and she had demanded another room without boys but had gotten denied.

 

When the short man had calmed down again and told him that he already knew this and that this was why he was getting dressed he nodded. “I thought you planned on going back to sleep?” he asked a little confused but not negatively surprised. And then another question came to his mind when he saw the other putting his shirt on. “Those scars on your back where did you get them from?” he was curious. “They don’t look like my burn scars so you probably haven’t been on fire.” He ruled that out with a short dry laugh.

[Gladis]

Calum gazed at Asher incredulously. Yes, why indeed should one knock? The youth felt that this was yet another case where the answer was so obvious, he shouldn’t have needed to explain it. Although, was it really all that obvious? Normally Calum probably wouldn’t have cared. If everything hadn’t gotten so awkward before, he would probably not even have reacted as strongly. With that in mind, his expression softened and he let out a sigh before shaking his head.

 

”No, nevermind. It’s okay. Surprised, I was, that’s all…” he trailed off, then shook his head again. ”Couldn’t make you go to work hungry, could I? Even a trained soldier like you won’t last long on an empty stomach. My cooking ain’t as good as ’nan’s, but it’ll have to do.” In fact, it was… passable at best, but beggars can’t be choosers. He doubted Asher would do any better.

 

When asked about the scars he paused, instinctively reaching for his shoulder, his fingers brushing gently against the fabric of his shirt. For a moment it didn’t seem like he was going to answer, but then he spoke, his lips twisting into a wry smile. ”No, it wasn’t fire. Ran into a bunch o’ corpse eaters once, Sash and I. Warned us many times about not straying too far east, ’nan did, but I guess you don’t really get it until you’ve experienced it for yourself. Sasha and I had quarreled so I stomped off into the woods. Didn’t think of where I was going, just kept on walking, and then there they were. Followed me, they had, leering at me from the bushes and before long I was surrounded. Would’ve died that day, hadn’t Sasha decided to go after me…” he trailed off, grimacing at the unpleasant memories as he shook his head. ”It’s been years now, but we’ve both still got our scars. Sasha came off worse. Cost him an eye, it did, and gave him an scar on the face to boot. At least we’re both still alive.” He didn’t say it there and then, but Calum still couldn’t help but feel guilty about it. If only he hadn’t stomped off, or if he had least payed attention back then, none of that would never have happened. It was his fault, and no matter how much Sasha tried to argue otherwise, Calum was aware of that.

 

Putting on a smile, he changed the subject. ”How about we go get that water now, hm?” As he spoke he started making his way out the room and towards the door. ”Don’t forget the bucket!”

[-Hideki-]

He tilted his head a little looking at the other questioningly when he said that he had to eat breakfast before he worked otherwise he wouldn’t last long. “Is that so? Never heard of that.” He said. “We always had breakfast at the same time after we had sung the anthem.” The man let him know. “And sometimes we had to work earlier than that, it wasn’t a big deal.” Ash found.

 

The soldier raised an eyebrow when Calum told him that his cooking wasn’t as good as that from his grandmother because he had never known that one could be good or bad at cooking or that if a different person cooked it might taste differently. “Food can taste different depending on who cooks it?” he asked. “On Xenon everyone’s food tasted the same when it was the same dish. We got our ratios which were prepared industrially by machines and when we cooked them to heat them up it didn’t matter who did this it always tasted the same way.” He explained a little curious if he would actually be able to taste a difference in the food the brunette man would make for him and the elderly ladies meals. He had to admit that he had come to like the food the old woman made because it tasted better than their food ratios. Maybe one could watch how she cooked and then programme a machine like that, so that the machine could prepare better tasting food too. Then again, no one in charge on Xenon had actually ever cared how the food tasted the citizens got, it was only important that it was healthy and the right thing for their bodies to consume.

 

There was silence in the room after his question and Asher just stared at him waiting for an answer and was just about to repeat the question another time when the younger male smiled wryly at him starting to tell him the story behind the scars. The alien man listened carefully and it seemed like they had been in a dangerous situations and both his brother and the short man had not been able to get out of it unharmed. However the reason for them to even be at this place didn’t make sense to him and seemed illogical and a little foolish. But there was something that confused him more and that was making him more curious than their foolishness. “What in the name of the emperor are ‘corpse eaters’ and why do they eat the dead this is unhygienic and not healthy?” he wanted to know. “Are they animals like that dog of yours? I would probably sneeze and get red eyes when they came too close to me too then. Why does that dog make me sneeze by the way? I haven’t seen anyone of you sneezing and getting red eyes when interacting with it.” He wanted to know.

 

As the other suggested to get the water now and told him not to forget the bucket he just nodded and said:”I left the bucket in front of the door.” And then he walked after the other. He took up the bucket and then stepped outside, the wind brushing through his hair. He looked around in the small village and everything seemed tiny, a little dirty and primitive to him. It had more in common with that shithole he had gotten that infect from but it wasn’t quite as dirty and low in standard as that planet after all what he was thankful for. The muddy ground felt weird under his boots and it was not comparable to the capital of Xenon where he had been born and had always lived. Asher had had an apartment in the 333 floor right in the centre near the giant and impressive square where the emperor had always given his speeches and their military parades had always ended. It had been an impressive sight he had had from the window of his apartment, seeing all the cars flying around, the bright Xenon lights at night, being able to look over to the square and also see the government buildings, even the palace where the emperor had been residing in. He had often wondered if the emperor had been to bed already or whether he was looking out of the window or standing on the balcony as well. But all of this was extremely far away since he was standing in the mud in a village on Earth and was about to fetch water from a well, not that he knew what a well was and how it worked, because they didn’t even have constant water in their homes. “Where is that machine you’re talking about the whole time? And how exactly does that well work? And why don’t you have one of them installed in every house, would be much more practical.” Ash asked Calum looking into his green eyes that he started to get found of and then he remembered that the emperor had green eyes too. He wasn’t a brunette though but a ginger.

[Gladis]

”Nasty creatures, those corpse eaters.” He said, scrunching up his nose in disgust. ”Nothing like Hermis or the other farm animals.” In fact, Calum wasn’t sure calling them animals at all was right. Naked except for a tousle of hair on the heads of some, they actually bore a greater resemblance to humans. Grotesque, terrifying and horribly deformed humans. The image of their bloodshot, bulging eyes, hollow cheeks and gaping mouths, revealing rows of sharp teeth only waiting to tear into the flesh of their victims was still etched into Calum’s mind. ”Ain’t got no fur so I don’t think they’ll cause you those kinds of problems, but that doesn’t exactly make them less dangerous. Scuttle about on all fours, they do, and they’re fast too. Got claws rather than nails, and a nose that can sniff out an rotting corpse miles away. That’s why we need to burn our dead. Wouldn’t want to draw their attention...” he trailed off, thoughtfully rubbing the back of his head. ”Couldn’t tell you why they eat corpses, though. My guess is that they’ll eat just about anything, but they’ve got a special nose for rot. Not like being alive makes you any safefer. They’re known to attack cattle and I’ve even heard tales of them sneaking into houses to steal babies from their cribs. The latter could just be rumors, though.”

 

As he spoke he stepped out onto the muddy ground, squinting his eyes at the brightness of the morning sun. There was a slight chill in the air, a light breeze gently tugging at his hair and clothes.

 

The village which consisted of little more than thirty stone hots nestled together on a small plateau was bathed in a warm, golden light. To the north and east, the village was surrounded by woods. To the west was a stream on the other side of which was the road that climbed the hills northwards and from which a smaller road broke off, connected to the one that went straight through the village in the direction of the waste by a stone bridge. To the south the plateau ended in a steep slope, with a drop of about two meters at its tallest. It looked as though it had been artificially constructed, with a wall of rocks covering about half of it. Beyond the slope became more and more gradual, where merged with the grassy fields below. They stretched far and wide, and even further beyond in the distance fells rose from the ground.

 

Nan’s cottage was located right by the edge of the slope, meaning that from within, you had a great view of the fells. From there, they almost looked like a huge, slumbering beast. Calum could still remember how his ’nan and brother had tried to convince him they were actually dragons so ancient, grass and trees had sprouted from their bodies. That was of course ridiculous and Calum never quite believed them. After all, everyone knew dragons didn’t actually get that big.

 

Like most of the other buildings in the village, the cottage had been constructed by sturdy timber, stone and clay, and the roof was covered in straw – keeping their homes nice and isolated during the harsh winter months.

 

Though it was still early in the morning, the village had already started coming to life. Their closest neighbour, Lydia, a middle aged woman with a weatherbitten and stern, yet kind face was already up and about, hanging clothes on the washing line fastened between their house and a tree. At the sight of Calum and Asher she smiled and and waved her hand. ”Good morning to you!”

 

”Good morning!” Calum returned her gesture with a grin. No doubt her wife was already up as well, though the youth doubted the same could be said for their son. He too had been on guard duty, and unlike Calum it seemed like he actually had the luxury of catching up on his sleep. Without further ado, he set off towards the center of the village, where the well was located.

 

Asher’s question was enough to warrant a raise of the brown haired youths eyebrows. ”A well’s not a machine.” He said with a frown, as the two of them came to a halt in front in front of the...well...well. He pointed at the round structure of stone and wood. ”That’s a well. And it ain’t that simple,” he continued, ”Running water’s a luxury. Nothing simple folk like us can afford. Now be so kind and attach the bucket to that hook over there. Make sure it’s properly attached, because you don’t want it falling off. See that wooden handle over there? Once you’ve attached the bucket all you have to do turn it clockwise until it doesn’t go any further, and then do the same but in reverse. Got it?”

[-Hideki-]

Asher listened with an intent face as the short male described the corpse eaters some more to him and the soldier tried to picture them in his head. But even though the younger man had told him that those creatures were not like the dog that was the form he pictured since he had no clue how any other animals on Earth looked like. So when he heard they had no fur he was picturing the dog without fur and when Calum told him that they had claws rather than nails he was imagining s naked herding dog with human hands that contained sharp claws like knifes. The image on his mind looked incredibly ridiculous much more ridiculous than it looked terrifying. “And how does one kill them in the most efficient way? What weapons should one use? Are normal bullets of any use or is their skin too thick?” he wanted to know because how to kill them off was really interesting to him and important to know on top of that since for some reasons he doubted that J.O.S.H. would have any data about those things that apparently weren’t picky eaters.

 

As he followed Calum to their destination he looked around more closely, it was somewhat different to actually walk outside than looking out of a window. He could smell all that green stuff, all those plants that had naturally grown and grew outside and not in reservoirs where no one would come into direct contact with them to provide oxygen alongside with other artificial methods of producing oxygen. The bad thing was that Ash’s nose already started to tickle and when some pollen were flying around close to him he sneezed again. The artificially bred human who was supposed to be physically flawless and who came from a high-tech world where most things were artificially made or constructed and the people also didn’t get into contact with dirt nor with nature much was quite obviously allergic to nature even though he had no clue what was wrong with him now since he had never been to a planet such as Earth and the Xenonian’s usually weren’t allergic to their artificial things and food.

 

While he was rubbing his itching eyes what only made it worse a middle aged woman with some features Asher found rather hard for a woman’s face greeted them friendly and he sneezed another time before he could greet the stranger back:”Good morning!” he said and he sounded as if he had caught a cold even though he hadn’t.

 

It didn’t take long and they arrived in the centre of the village and he tried to make out the machine but there wasn’t one. He looked around a little confused but then the younger one answered his question and Ash raised an eyebrow. “Not a machine?” he asked unbelieving but then the short man already pointed at a hole that was surrounded by some stones. It was incredibly primitive and Asher was kind of disappointed when he looked down into the well. “But that’s just a bloody hole!” he exclaimed his voice echoing because he was leaning over the stone wall and into it. When he felt the urge to sneeze again and couldn’t hold it back his eyes widened in shock for a moment because he was about to fall into the hole but could balance himself out and support himself on the stonewall around it but that cured him from leaning his upper body in there and he stood straight next to Calum again listening to his instruction.

 

It wasn’t complicated, it was rather easy and while he was doing as he was told his mind was focussing on something else.

“You said simple people like you couldn’t afford constant water in their homes, does that mean that some people on your planet actually do have constant water? And why does your government only give it to them then and not to you? That sounds rather unfair to me. And if you are a simple person what are non-simple people then?” The platinum haired said because he found it to be a mischief if the technology for constant water was available on their planet but only a few had access to it. He also couldn’t understand the distinction between simple people and another group that was unknown to him. And water was a basic need to survive after all. “Why do those people get constant water and you don’t? What is the reason behind this?” the alien wanted to know.

 

On Xenon everything was controlled by and hence belonged to the state and they distributed it to their citizens and every citizen automatically got everything that was necessary for them to have a healthy, fulfilling and decent life with a reasonably high standard for the work they did according to the abilities they were bred for. Only those who got a distinguished service cross from the government for their accomplishments for the planet and its people got some privileges and luxury, meaning stuff that wasn’t necessary or important for their health and well-being - because everyone got those with the exception of prisoners who lost all their rights – but things that were simply nice to have, such as an apartment with an incredible view as Asher had had it. The government’s educational facility worked similarly since everyone got the same unless they did something special for said facility by being one of the ten best students for instance. “Our government would never distribute our resources that badly and unequal. There must be a flaw with your planets government.” The soldier said as he sneezed another time. “Damn it!” he cursed. “I think I am going to wear my combat suit anyway since the mask filters the air. Something here makes me sick!” he said when he pulled out the filled bucket again and took it off.

[Gladis]

Upon being asked about how to best kill the monsters, Calum paused briefly to ponder. Then he spoke, squinting up at Asher with a thoughtful tilt of his head to to the side. ”Ain’t easy to kill, but a gun should do the trick. You have to make sure to hit them right, though, because otherwise they’ll just keep coming. Resistant to pain, they are, so even when lethally wounded they can be very dangerous. Liz says that sometimes it’s safer just to sever their head from their necks, because then you can be sure they’ll stop moving.” That was how his brother and the other villagers had dealt with them back then. Shuddering at the memory, he was glad when they moved on to talk about something a little more pleasant.

 

Calum had to hold back laughter in response to Asher’s surprise. So surprised in fact, that he nearly toppled over the edge. For a moment the youth’s eyes filled with concern and he instinctively reached for the other, yet stopped himself from grabbing hold of him just as quickly. It seemed his worry had been for naught, because Asher managed to regain his balance on his own just fine. ”Of course it’s just a hole!” He said, ”That’s what a well is!” Asher’s question caused his forehead to crease in a slight frown. ”Wouldn’t call it constant, but some have got it in their homes, or so I’ve heard. In the cities, mostly. Don’t really see the point of it, though. Not like the walk to the well is far or anything, and Liz says ours is cleaner anyway, so I ain’t gonna complain. As for ’simple folk’ it’s just an expression. Ain’t got much, we don’t – not in comparison to some. I don’t see much of a problem with it, though. ’Nothing like a day’s worth of good, hard work to keep your bones from going stale!’ As ’nan often says.” He smiled, watching Asher pull at the lever. ”Though what non-simple folk would be is hard to tell. Maybe nobility and scholars and such?” He suggested thoughtfully. Then he paused again. ”What’s a government?” It was another of those complicated words he couldn’t quite wrap his head around.

 

Although he had yet to bring it up, Calum hadn’t failed to notice how the environment was affecting Asher – so when he brought up that he might be better off wearing his combat suit after all, the brunette nodded his head in agreement. He was just about to speak when the sound of approaching footsteps caused him to glance in the direction of the community building, which was the largest construction in the village, and in front of which the well was located. Coming around his corner was a tall, well built man with the same shade of brown hair as Calum, and he was heading straight for them. It was Sasha!

 

”Good morning, brother,” he said as he came to a halt, ”Good morning, Asher,” he nodded in the other man’s direction. There wasn’t a single trace of the animosity he’d held towards the man when they first met, though Calum was sure that his brother still hadn’t forgotten what had transpired that night. The smile he wore was warm and yet Calum swore he could detect something aking towards suspicion flicker in his gaze. Then he turned his attention back to his younger brother and all traces thereof were gone. Perhaps it had just been a trick by Calum’s imagination after all?

 

”Thought you’d still be sleeping but when I couldn’t find either of you at ’nan’s, I figured this is where you’d gone. Seems I was right.”

 

”You’re early,” Calum said, ”haven’t even had time to make breakfast yet!” He wasn’t going to let Asher go hungry, was he? It seemed that Calum’s fears were unfounded, however, because his brothers expression split into a warm grin.

 

”Well, he can count himself lucky, then. We only just got him back on his feet – wouldn’t want him to go back down with food poisoning now, would we?”

 

”That ain’t fair! Cooking is difficult – I bet you couldn’t do much better!”

 

”Aye, brother. Cooking is hard, but not nearly as hard as the bacon you served us the other day!”

 

Calum glared at his older brother, sulkily folding his arms across his chest. This was clearly amusing to Sasha because grinned at his reaction, reaching out to gently ruffled his hair. It wasn’t nice, making fun of him like that! Yet… Calum also couldn’t argue with him, because he knew Sasha was right.

 

”Ellie has made enough to feed all of us two times over, so we’d be very pleased if you were to join us for breakfast.” Sasha said, turning his gaze back towards Asher. ”And since you’re here,” he said to Calum, ”you might as well join us too.”

[-Hideki-]

Getting informed that the corpse eaters were resistant to pain made him curious and he thought that vita’s scientists would probably murderer to get their hands on such specimens to study them and figure out what it was that made them completely resistant to pain since they had been trying for many years to bred C-types who were resistant to pain. However it had never completely worked. They were able to reduce their sensitivity to pain drastically but they had never managed to make their soldiers resistant completely when the pain got too severe. Asher had experienced this first hand now. When he had been burned and also in the process of recovery the pain had taken his breath away and had made him pass out. That he was much less sensitive to pain than the original type of human from Earth and even other categories on Xenon hadn’t helped there. But when the younger male talked about chopping off those creatures heads he let the subject of pain resistance go and focussed on that again. “Mmmh.... sounds bothersome if they appear in herds. It would be much more efficient to blow them into bits and pieces with a grenade or a bomb.” The soldier noted.

 

Again he was disappointed when the constant water wasn’t really constant after all and on top of that filthy. He couldn’t keep himself from screwing his nose in disgust. From his perspective the water from the well already wasn’t the cleanest; he had made J.O.S.H. check this and on Xenon water like this would have never flown through their water pipes into their homes without being cleaned beforehand, not to speak of drinking this. To hear that somewhere else the people had water that must have been outright filthy then was repulsive and it made him cringe. “Are those people very unhygienic in general? Do they transmit fatal diseases?” he wanted to know because he now felt like he didn’t want to come close to those non-simple people from the cities then because they apparently drank filthy water what made them predestined to be gross, repulsive and having contagious diseases.

 

The soldier raised an eyebrow again when the short man said that in comparison to other’s they didn’t have much but that he didn’t see the problem.

One thing about this confused him and the other one he still found unfair and for someone coming from his planet it seemed illogical as well. “What do you mean with you don’t have much? Are you trying to say that you claim this house and this land as your own property? And those other people just come along and claim even more things to be theirs? How? Shouldn’t every institution, land and living space be property of the state, the public so that it can be controlled and smartly and usefully distributed to the citizens for the good of the national corpus and the efficiency of said national corpus?`” he asked baffled at the mere idea that the citizens claimed parts of the nations ground. “I have never really had my apartment or rather the apartment I lived in. It was given to me by the state but the public had stayed the owner.” The alien pursed his lips before he spoke again. “I agree that working hard and giving the best for the greater good of the planet and its people is an honour, however I don’t understand why one type of people should generally get more than another type of people who do another type of work, since all those working types of people and their work are needed and valuable for a society to function.” The platinum head said looking at Calum who couldn’t see why Asher found this unfair and a flaw in their system.

 

His blue eyes looked at the short man when he told him who was considered to be non-simple people using one term he had never heard before. “What kind of working field is nobility ? I’ve never heard of that.” Asher wanted to know looking at the Earthling curiously. “And scholars are teachers and instructors are they not? Why are teachers and instructors considered to be of more value to society than you or other people? On Xenon the type teachers belong to is just as good and gets just as much as every other type as well.” The man asked.

 

Everything fell out of Asher’s face when Calum asked him what a government was. This was something so essential. Something that every society needed to have to function, how could he not know what a government was? “The government consist of the people who govern or reign to use another word a state, nation or planet and all the citizens of said nation or planet. The government deals with internal and external policy. “ he explained and to this point that was pretty much accurate for all kinds of governments. “The government is in charge and control of everything and makes sure that everything and everyone runs in the correct direction and that our planet always does the best it can and progresses into a wanted and desirable way. The head of the government is our emperor, our supreme leader, a wise man whose words the government and the citizens follow and who holds all power and influence over all three powers on the planet.” He continued his explanation but was now talking about the Xenonian’s totalitarian dictatorship that was from Ash’s point of view the only correct way to run a planet or a nation. This was what he had grown up with and the only thing he knew and to him this was ideal and how it should be. Having someone questioning that or trying to change this even would have been a threat to their lives and security to him. He couldn’t see anything wrong with totalitarianism and a dictatorship and to him having an overly strong government that controlled and owned everything and had all the power on the planet whereas the people had no real power at all, weren’t free, didn’t have private property and were generally seen as a part of a collective working force contributing to the greater good and had no right of self-determination or being treated and seen as an individual. But even if someone had pointed this out to the platinum head he wouldn’t have seen why this was supposed to be bad at all. The idea of freedom that Calum had explained to him once had actually been a terrifying though to him especially considering that from what he had learned all of his life humans were irresponsible if left to their own will and ended up becoming self-destructive hence control was the only option to prevent another apocalypse. “Our emperor is true greatness. He came to Xenon fleeing from the dying Earth and he has sworn to protect Xenon and its people from such a horrible fate. He only lives and breathes for us, for our wellbeing and regardless of his greatness he is a humble man. He is the best and wisest human who had ever exited and I’d die for him.” The soldier told the shorter male some more about their head of state and it didn’t only sound like he was adoring, worshipping and idolising the man, he also seemed like he was in love with him and wanted to hump the emperor every minute even though he would never even dare to think this. Though he had felt funny when the emperor had shaken his hand and had patted his shoulder, but which Xenonian wouldn’t have at such an honour and from being touched by the emperor?

 

The silhouette of Calum’s brother was rather sobering after his thoughts and memories of the emperor and even though he wasn’t feeling hostile towards him and he couldn’t sense open hostility from the other male either there had always been this tension between them after their first encounter and he couldn’t say that he liked the other around or was fond of him in general. Asher automatically straightened his back and made himself big and when Sasha nodded into his direction he nodded back with an expressionless face his eyes directly looking into those of the other. “Morning!” he returned the greeting in a solid tone though he still sounded as if he had caught a cold and he didn’t look too well with his red eyes either.

 

Asher didn’t quite understand the little banter about the food the two of them had going on considering what cooking meant on Xenon and the food they aet this didn’t make much sense to him. “Why would someone put poison in my food who didn’t try to murder me? That doesn’t make sense. Beside this J.O.S.H. would detect the poison before I’d even put it into my mouth.” He commented casually.

 

At the friendly and extremely welcoming invitation he got from Sasha to come to his house and eat his wife’s cooking as well there was a smile playing around the male’s lips while he crossed his arms and raised his head a little looking at the older brunette. “How could anyone decline such an offer when the host has expressed his hospitality in such a welcoming manner.” The soldier said in an amused voice using sarcasm without even knowing the definition of sarcasm while there was a one sided smirk on his face that made his scars strain and itch what he could feel quite clearly and he was asking himself what the emperor would say or think if he was ever to see him again. Would the man find him ugly and insulting to the eye how he looked now? Would he still be one of his favourite war heroes? Calum at least had said he was still good looking but was he good looking enough for the emperor or would he only be a disgrace to him the way he looked and was now, adding the fact of what he had done in the morning?

 

Shaking his head ever so slightly as if the thoughts were to fall out of his mind this way he tightened the grip on the bucket and then said:”Let’s get the bucket back inside. I’ll change into my combat suit and then we can take your brother’s invitation that so obviously came from the heart.” He laughed a quick laugh and then headed for Calum’s home.

 

After he had placed the bucket where it belonged, he headed straight for his combat suit and this time he just stripped off of his clothes without a thought again as he usually did to put on the combat suit. Asher’s body and face was completely covered now and he also got J.O.S.H.’s information concerning everything in his environment now since Ash had installed the system back into the suit where it belonged. The combat suit looked a little damaged, there were quite some stains where the fire had changed the colour and a damn lot of scratches and bumps but that didn’t affect the suits abilities.

Dressed like this he accompanied Calum to his brother’s house where they waited in front of the door for it to be opened for them.

[Gladis]

Calum watched the exchange between Asher and his brother with a slight weariness. On the one hand, despite his initial display of distrust, Sasha really did seem to make an effort with smoothing things over. They’d had a rough start – that much was for sure, and yet Calum had never known Sasha to be one for holding grudges. With anyone else this would have blown over already – Asher was the exception. Whatever it was, something in the others behavior seemed to rub him the wrong way. For one, Calum couldn’t help but notice that Sasha too straightened up and push out his chest, clearly not wanting to be shown up by Asher. Yet despite his best efforts to make himself large and intimidating, he still only came up to the ashen haired male’s nose, the corners of his mouth twitching in mild irritation. The sarcasm, intended or not, clearly didn’t sit well with his brother, and yet he still made the effort to smile.

 

Right then, Calum almost felt the urge punch them both. Perhaps that would knock some sense into their stubborn heads. Was it really that hard to get along? Yes, Asher had absolutely hurt Sasha’s pride – something the older male clearly still felt was threatened or he wouldn’t have acted like a such a hopeless buffoon. Asher on the other hand didn’t exactly make things better. His wording and even more so the tone of his voice could be considered incredibly rude.

 

Nevertheless, Calum confined his urge to a discrete roll of his eyes and crossing of his arms. Idiots, the lot of them!

 

”No one’s going to poison you, Asher,” he said, ”it’s a manner of speech – a way of saying that my cooking is terrible. Terrible enough to make you sick. ’Course, that’s an exaggeration. It ain’t that bad. He’s just messing with me ’cause that’s what brothers do.” He shot Sasha a pointed glance, who’s lips curled into a smile, his dark brown eyes glittering with amusement. This kind of banter between the brothers was nothing new, and Calum was sure Asher had to be more than used to it by now.

 

In response to Asher’s suggestion, Sasha gave a nod of his head, his smile becoming somewhat strained. ”Very well. We’ll be expecting you.” So saying he turned on his heel and walked off with long, decisive strides.

 

As the two of them made their way back to ’nan’s cottage, Calum silently mulled over the things Asher had told him earlier. Most the man’s ramblings had gone completely over Calum’s head – as often was the case when they spoke, the alien opted to use words and expressions that were just as much a mystery as the man himself. And still the youth did his best in trying to understand. At last he broke the silence.

 

”I never got around answering your question from before,” he started, hesitating a little, ”but the truth is, this land ain’t ours. Belong’s to no one, it does. Borrowing it from the gods, we are, so that we may live…” he trailed off, for he knew full and well that Asher disliked when he brought up their deities. Quickly, he changed the subject. ”Don’t think we have a government like the one you’re describing. There’s the chief and council, I guess, but when a big decision needs to be made, we just get together and vote on the matter anyway. Things are supposed to be different in some other places, like the cities I mentioned, but I honestly don’t know what they’re like. Haven’t ever gone too far from the village, really.”

 

Once they had reached ’nan’s cottage and Asher began to undress, Calum respectfully looked in another direction. Though he didn’t think Asher particularly cared, he still wished to give the man some privacy. Besides, there was no need to repeat their blunder from earlier that morning.

 

Together they set off towards his brother’s home, though Calum could not help but smile to himself at how silly Asher looked in his combat suit. Silly and perhaps a tad intimidating. More so than any seeker Calum had met throughout his life, barring perhaps his own father – who had been both of a similar height and build as Asher, but also had possessed a wild rowdiness about him that the newcomer evidently lacked. Instead he was guarded and composed, which perhaps made sense considering his origins.

 

The woman at the door greeted them with a warm and welcoming smile. Her thick dark hair had been died back in a loose braid, revealing a fair face set with full lips and a pair of large and kind hazel eyes. Her belly was visible beneath the fabric of her skirt, round and firm. A child who appeared to be somewhat younger than Anya clung to her skirt, eyeing Asher with large, curious eyes that matched his mothers.

 

”We’ve been waiting. I hope you managed to at least catch a few hours of rest,” she told Calum, pulling him into a tight embrace. He could only snort and smile somewhat wrily response. ”I’ll live.” He said, hoping he didn’t come off as all too grumpy.

 

For a moment it appeared as though she wanted to hug Asher was well, but it seemed that his geared up state made her think twice. Instead she beamed at him warmly. Anya, who came rushing through the hallway and squeezed past her mother through the door seemed to have no such reservations. She raced straight at them, flinging her arms around her uncle. He picked him up with a laugh, his mood almost instantly improved. The girl peered suspiciously at Asher over his shoulder.

 

”Who’s the metal man?”

 

”Asher.” Calum said, unable to keep himself from smiling at her question. ’Metal man’ indeed.

 

Anya’s expression almost instantly lit up. ”Asher!” She exclaimed excitedly, struggling out of Calum’s grip. Her bare feet made a thumping noise as she landed on the dirt, though she hardly seemed to care, and she flung her slender arms around his legs. Needless to say, the child had grown rather fond of their visitor the last two months. ”Mom has made apple pie and it’s the best in the world!” She informed. There wasn’t a shred of fear in her bright eyes, he mouth curved into a wide grin.

 

”Now, now, Anya,” said the mother, ”give the poor man some space.” Then she turned to Asher. ”It’s a pleasure to finally meet you. I am Ellie, and this is my son, Tommen,” she laid a gentle hand on the young boy’s head, who still shyly clung to his mother’s skirt. ”What do you say when you meet a new person, Tommen?” She asked the child, gazing down at him expectantly. The boy hesitated. Then he mumbled something aking towards a ’hello’ before slipping back into the house, out of their sight. Ellie smiled apologetically. ”Please forgive him, he’s very shy.” Then she beckoned them to follow her. ”Come on inside. The table is already set.” Turning on her heels she sauntered inside. Anya finally let go of Asher, following at her mother's heels whilst chatting away with her usual cheer.

 

They entered the main area of the house, a room bathing in warm sunlight with a long but low table in the middle. It was set with a rich assortment of seasonal fruits, nuts, freshly baked bread, honey cakes, porridge and mead. And of course, Ellie’s famous apple pie. It was clear that they wanted to make a good impression on Asher. They were no chairs, though furs had been laid out on the floor around the table. Sasha was already seated on one of them, speaking softly to Tommen on his lap. An elderly couple were also seated at the table, and a bit further to the side, a young woman Calum knew very well. His face lit up.

 

”Liz! You’re back!”

 

Elisabeth turned to look at him, but she did not smile. She was not particularly tall, but stoic all the same. Her black hair had been arranged into a sidecut and the left side of her face was heavily lined with scars. She appeared tired and weary, and perhaps rightfully so. Out of all the seekers that had set out on their last mission, she was the only one present.

 

Calum’s mood dampened, a look of concern spreading across his features. ”What happened?” He asked, hesitantly.

 

”Savages,” came Liz’s response, her lips pressing together into a thin line. ”Lot’s of them. Only barely managed to escape alive, I did. The others…” she trailed off, shaking her head. Ellie, who by then had moved over to her side, laid a comforting hand on her shoulder.

 

The elderly man sighed, a troubled look on his face. ”Been having a lot of trouble with them lately. Villages to the south have had to deal with them for ages, but they’ve never come this far north. Troubling times ahead of us, it seems.”

 

Elizabeth reached inside her jacket, pulling out a crumpled envelope which she pushed across the table towards Asher. ”I have a message for you,” she said, her dark brown eyes locking on the tall man. ”From the witch of the waste. Written in a foreign language, it is, but perhaps you’ll be able to decipher it.”

 

Calum started. The ”witch of the waste” as the called her lived a considerable distance from the village, in the direction of the waste. She was well past her prime, and everyone thought her mad to live so close to danger, but she hadn’t died yet so most likely she was doing something right. They called her a witch because she possessed knowledge far beyond the people of the Myre´s capabilities, and gadgets just as mysterious as the person who created them. Yet she was a useful asset to the seekers, and her hut a popular stopping point on their return to the village. Whatever could she be wanting from Asher? And how had she even come to know of him in the first place?