by Robin Roseau
He paused, then nodded. Amanda put on some music, and I opened my arms for the very, very cute Loris. He came to me cautiously, and I perhaps understood what a man feels when holding someone my size. “First, you should relax. I won’t hurt you.”
“I know you won’t.” He paused. “I couldn’t have done this before my afternoon with Danette. Prudence, may we invite her?”
“Of course, Chervil.”
“We’re only swaying, Chervil,” I said. “But do you feel how I am guiding us?” I added just a little musicality.
“Yes,” he said. Then he pulled away and looked up at me. “You are worried I wish to lead, and that I don’t know how?”
“Most women are accustomed to dancing with a human male, who is much more massive than we are. He barely moves, and we feel it through our bodies, much like I imagine you felt with me.”
“And I must push you with all my strength to accomplish the same thing.”
“Which seems exhausting. Good dancers can dance with anyone, but if you lead for women who aren’t accustomed to a light touch, you won’t necessarily have a good time.”
“Could you teach Aventurine first?”
“All right.” I turned to her and opened my arms. She stepped to me. “You lead,” I whispered. “Start swaying, and add.”
It wasn’t all that difficult for me. Her lead was clear, right from the beginning, and I found myself relaxing. “This is nice,” I whispered. Around us, others were also taking the opportunity. But then I whispered, “Dance like this with Chervil.”
She nodded, and I released her to him. The two looked very sweet, and I watched them for a minute. After that, he danced with Carolina and each of the humans. It would be later when I found him with Makiko, but she was the largest partner he accepted.
I then turned to Forever Twilight and Oberon Veil Nebula. “I won’t be able to lead either of you.”
“I believe we understand,” Oberon said.
“Particularly clumsy men can be quite forceful on the dance floor. I don’t care for it, and I don’t think most women do. You are both even larger.”
“We will be very gentle,” Forever promised.
“All right.” And I held my hands up. She stepped to me, and then Amanda was there for Oberon. “Start simply.”
She did, first gentle swaying. She was huge, absolutely huge, at least to my reference. I felt like a young girl dancing with her father. But at the same time, it was nice. I felt safe with her, and she held me perfectly, or as perfectly as she could, being so much taller.
We danced two dances, and then I pulled her to the side. “You are more graceful when dancing with someone nearer your size,” she said.
“Frankly, I don’t care,” I replied. “That was lovely. I enjoyed dancing with you as much as I might with absolutely anyone else, and other human women will, too. Some will prefer you. Our evolution causes us to look for strong, powerful men, and while you’re a woman, you are clearly strong and powerful. That resonates with us in a very primal way.”
“I think I like dancing,” she replied.
* * * *
I managed to dance with all of them, and I thought Felicia and Amanda did, as well. None of us were going to win dance competitions, but it was nice. More importantly, they all gained confidence.
When the last song ended, I was with Carolina. My emotions were all over the place, but it had been an amazing afternoon. I kissed her cheek. “Please take me swimming again sometime.”
“I will. I have a wetsuit coming for you. It should be your size. We contacted a human dive company and answered all their questions. I had no idea it could be so complicated.”
“I didn’t know, either.”
“When it comes, we’ll try it somewhere easy first, and if it goes well, I’d like to take you further.”
“I’d love that.”
We separated, and then Prudence said, “We have had a lovely afternoon. Two of our humans have evenings planned, and I imagine they wish to prepare. Amanda, did you have plans?”
“No, not really. I want to talk to my husband for a while, but otherwise I am free.”
“Would you have dinner with my sister and me?”
“I’d love to.”
“Then we will collect the three of you from your bungalows in an hour,” Prudence declared. “Is that sufficient?”
“Ninety minutes is better,” Felicia answered.
“Ninety minutes,” Prudence confirmed. “The two of you are easy.” She turned to me, and she was holding a black scarf. “Who wishes to tie this over Taisha’s eyes?”
Her sister snatched it from her hands and ran over to me. I heard a variety of sounds I presumed were alien expressions of mirth, but I held still as Verity tied the scarf over my eyes. But it was Forever who claimed my arm.
* * * *
Felicia and I smiled at each other. “Looking good,” she declared.
“The Martians again?”
“Oberon, actually.”
“Oh, the big and manly Luxan,” I replied. “He seems very nice.”
“I think so, too.” She gave a head gesture. “Balcony while we wait? The sun is setting.”
“Perfect.”
Together, we stepped outside and to the railing, leaning against it, looking out over it. We could see the open Atlantic, the sun setting into the ocean. “I have never spent this much time anywhere remotely this beautiful.”
“Yeah, me, either,” she agreed. “On the other hand, I’d miss the Bay Area.”
“I suppose.” I thought of it while watching the sinking red sun. “I have a pretty shitty apartment that costs an arm and a leg. I’ve had a few short months where I’ve swiped a limb or two from work, but my landlord didn’t seem impressed.”
She laughed. “I bought a house a few years ago. Taisha, be patient. We all have options. I presume you have stock options.”
“I do.”
“Not very many companies attract this kind of attention from the aliens. That should tell you something.”
“I know, but at the same time, we’re so far from achieving what we’re trying to build.”
“General purpose AI is a hard problem, harder than making a robot that doesn’t fall over.”
“I wonder if that’s the side I should have gotten into.”
“No way. You’re way too hands-on for that. It takes a team, Taisha.” She turned to me. “Consider something.”
“Okay,” I said slowly.
“Consider what we can do right now.”
“You’re talking hardware?” She nodded. “All right.”
“Now consider what Bay can do. That’s the gap we still need to figure out.”
“You’re not talking about the brain interface? That’s bio. I don’t do bio.”
“I’m talking the sensors, and the ultra-fine and responsive motor controls. I’m talking hands that feel like hands.”
“That’s not important for anything but sexbots. I didn’t get into this to make sexbots.”
“You’re wrong,” she said. “Nursing home care.”
“Oh,” I said. “That’s a huge business, and everyone has to compromise because of the amount of staff it can take.”
“It’s certainly not due to the room size per patient,” she replied. “Some of it is due to health monitoring, things like that. Even here they use living doctors, although I have no idea how much they rely on their machines and their AI.”
“But for, I don’t know. Making beds.”
“Wheeling people around.”
“Powered chairs can do that now. It’s another AI problem.”
“Maybe, but I bet it would be more meaningful to the patients with the right robotics. And consider this. Consider not a human-appearing bot, but one that looks like a Catseye.”
“Oh my god!” I said. “Muriel. You’ve seen how Jasmine carries her.”
“That’s where I got the idea. Patients always need help transferring, or just a steady hand getting them
to the bathroom.”
“And a few extra tentacles could make that a whole lot safer and more comfortable.”
“Have you talked to Finley about it?”
“No,” she said. “I wanted to run it past you, first. You like the idea?”
“I absolutely love the idea. We may want to make sure the Catseye wouldn’t be offended.”
“Yeah. Do you think we could do it?”
“We don’t have the AI, but you’re talking the robotics?” She nodded. “You know what? We should ask Bay if he could do it. If he could do it, then we could, eventually.”
“Yeah,” she agreed. “See? That’s why I wanted to talk to you first.”
“We should tell him the whole thing,” I said. “And Jasmine should be there, so she can give him permission on how much he can answer.”
“Good plan. Tomorrow.”
“What is happening tomorrow?” We both turned. There was a very tall Luxan standing in the doorway to the balcony.
“A conversation with Bay and Jasmine,” Felicia replied. She stepped to the Luxan. “I want to ask something. Is this a romantic date?”
“In the human style,” Oberon said.
“Good. I like being touched, but not mauled, on my first dates. Do you think you understand the difference?”
“Yes,” he said. “I think I do.”
“Good.” Then she pulled herself up and kissed his cheek. It was a long way up, and he had to bend a little for her. Then she hooked his arm.
I followed them. Amanda, Prudence, and Verity were in our living room, but I set my focus on the Niecor, walking up to her. “Did you hear the conversation between Felicia and Oberon?”
“I did.”
“Is this a romantic date?”
“It is.”
“Good.” I stepped closer, and she bent to have her cheek kissed. I caressed while I was at it, then slipped my hand around her neck and held her. “I am very pleased to spend this evening with you,” I whispered.
“As am I.”
“So,” Felicia asked, “Is this like a big, multi-way date?”
“No,” Prudence said. “We’re eating in the restaurant here.”
“We’ll share a jumper,” Oberon said. “And we’re going to the same restaurant.”
“But then we will separate,” Forever added.
“After dinner, I would like to take a walk on that beach again, where Carolina took me. May we do that?”
“Yes. May I invite the others?”
“Yes.”
“We’d love to,” Felicia answered. We all looked at the Tutors and Amanda.
“I haven’t seen this beach,” Prudence declared.
“I don’t know anything about it, but a walk on the beach sounds nice.”
* * * *
Four of us took a ride to a village. The ride was about as long as the ride to The Center, and I thought the same general direction, but I didn’t ask questions.
We set down, and then once we were on the ground, I gave Forever my hand. It disappeared in hers, but I smiled up at her.
Oberon actually put his arm around Felicia, down across her shoulder and cupping her far ribs. She then adjusted his hand, and I wondered if the fingers were a little too close somewhere. But she smiled and didn’t appear too put out.
They walked ahead of us. Forever bent her head towards me. “Is that how you want me to hold you?”
“Right now,” I said. I lifted our hands, which required her cooperation, and kissed the back. “This is nice. If you held me like that, it would also be nice.” I looked up at her. “What is important is that you are respectful, Forever, and I’m not sure you could ever be anything else. I don’t want to feel like I am fending you off. Do you see the difference?”
“Yes.”
“You must have had other encounters.”
“Niecor do not date in the same fashion as humans,” she replied. “We are one of the species that require a conquest.”
We reached the restaurant. It took no time at all for us to be seated. We ordered drinks and were promised bread baskets. And then I reached across the table and collected Forever’s hand again. I looked down at it, tracing patterns in the back with one finger. “Tell me about Niecor… mating habits, I suppose.”
She paused. “We do not tend to mate for life. That is actually fairly uncommon, although several of the species here in human space do.”
“What do you do instead?”
“There is a conquest. One partner must win the other.”
“Is she a willing participant?”
“Not always. Conquest is a requirement of our biology. An unwilling participant is a cultural expectation.”
“She has to be unwilling?”
“Well, no. But she is treated as if she is. That isn’t entirely uncommon. Several of the species here have mating rituals that may involve an unwilling mate. There is at least one species in which the mates tend to remain unwilling.”
“Fuck me,” I said. “Um.”
“I understand,” she said gently. “Do not fear, Little Human. I do not believe you have met anyone from that particular species. They do not waste their time with such worthless occupations as linguistics.”
“You sound bitter.”
“My species prides itself on thinking. Our scientists are our most revered people. We treat them not unlike you treat movie stars.”
“And this species?”
“They are very good warriors.”
“Oh.”
“The galaxy can be a dangerous place,” she explained. “We accept them into our federation in part because that is better than to fight them. But they hold little respect for any species that cannot best them in physical combat, and there aren’t many of those, not in raw hand-to-hand.”
“I think I understand. You were explaining about Niecor habits.”
“Well, we require a conquest.”
“Do you do female-female pairings.”
“I am here with you.”
“How does that work? Don’t you require… to be, um. I don’t know the word. Conquested? That’s not a word. But I’m not going to beat you at anything. No human woman is going to.”
“I would claim you, Taisha, not the other way around. We do not have gender roles. It is not that the female must be claimed. One must claim the other.”
“Oh. I was probably thinking too much like a human. You said you do not mate for life.”
“Some of the species write a contract. They agree to stay together for a specified period. The Kitsune do this, as do Tutor and some of the others. The period is typically tied to childbearing. They come together to produce a child, and then remain together until the child is an adult, perhaps. Or they may produce a child and remain together only another year or two, but then share the child like humans who divorce, or perhaps not share. The agreements can vary.”
“Niecor?”
“We come together for as long as it remains healthy, but there is no cultural or biological imperative for longer.”
“What is typical?”
“Typical? I’m not sure that word is fair.” She paused. “Conquest can be recreational, although it is still a commitment, perhaps a year or two.”
“So, your version of a human one-night-stand is two years?”
“Yes. I require the conquest to feel the passions of mating. I suppose, because it is short, a person could have many such relationships over a decade or three. I never have, although I am relatively young and have had little opportunity. So perhaps in pure number, this is the most common. But typically, if we dare use that word, our relationships involve childbearing. We prefer to raise our children together, so even when two people grow apart, they will remain together for the children.”
“How long?”
“Perhaps two to three decades.” She paused. “You must remember, Taisha, that our lives are quite long. Mated for life used to be more common in our distant past, but we have long outgrown that need for biology
, security, or raising our young.”
“How long is quite long?”
“Centuries, Taisha. We do grow old. We grow tired from the weight of memories. We can keep our bodies young forever, but at some point, we just… die.”
“That’s a little sad. Is there warning?”
“Excepting for accidents, yes, always. It is a process.” She paused. “There is one more thing you should know, related to this. It is another form of our biology, and it is very difficult to ignore.”
“Oh?”
“We are aware of other Niecor, and in areas of sparse population, we tend to produce more children. When we are ample, we may not have more than one.”
“And I bet there aren’t very many of you within twenty light years.”
“No.”
I laughed. “And other species don’t count in this?”
“No, but it is also tied to available resources.”
“Earth is pretty full.”
“The station has room, but it is beginning to feel full. There are resources here. This area feels sparse, in spite of Earth’s overall population. On the station, there would be only a moderate drive for children. Here, it would be stronger.”
“You want kids.”
“It’s begun pressing at me for a while, but I didn’t want them on the station. That could change if I were to become mated.”
That was when the waiter returned with our breadbaskets. There were two, and as she set them down, she cautioned me, “Do not sample her food.”
“Is it poisonous?”
“Not to be in the same room, or at the same table,” she replied. “We don’t serve any foods here that are the equivalent of peanuts to people with peanut allergies. You wouldn’t die, but you would have an upset stomach, and you wouldn’t care for the taste, either.”
“Thank you for the warning.”
I took a small piece of bread from my basket. I nibbled at it then set the rest down. Forever was watching me. “You do not seem upset.”
“I have no reason to be upset, and every reason to be pleased,” I replied. “I am here with an interesting woman. I’m learning about her and her people. Later, I’m going to have a nice walk on a beach. I have every reason to expect some wonderful cuddling. Tell me, is that a reasonable expectation?”
“I believe I enjoy cuddling humans.”