Diplomacy Squared

by Sydney Blackburn

  Rudy snickered and Wilma scooted over to sit next to him. "Not us, you, oh captain, my captain. Although I'm surprised they know you on sight. I guess Administrator Portya's boyfriend is a kind of celebrity."

  Boyfriend, huh. Diego had used "lover" in his head, but not "boyfriend." Did the Antho have a word that meant the same? Maybe sessra mi meant boyfriend. 'My boyfriend', if he understood the mi part correctly. If it were two words and not one.

  Wilma chuckled. "Diego, what the hell? You are so inside yourself."

  "I know, I'm sorry. I'm just trying to figure this thing with Portya out, you know? Like, Antho have these pheromones, sex pheromones, and—"

  "They what?"

  Even Rudy leaned closer and said, "This I've never heard."

  "When they get aroused they emit pheromones, which makes the sex really, really spectacular."

  Wilma raised an eyebrow, not at him, but at Rudy. Her words were directed to Diego, though. "You know you and Portya are the only same sex interspecies on station, right? And from what we've heard, the first. All the other Antho-Human relationships have been Antho male, Human female. Because those dicks, wow."

  "I hear that some Antho males wear special cups in their pants, to make their dicks look bigger. Some kind of fashion thing, I guess." Rudy nudged his chin at Diego. "Administrator's dick as big as it looks?"

  "That's none of your business," Diego replied, his face heating up.

  "It is. Damn. You know, half the Anthos in here are sure he's a cup guy."

  "Were you in on the betting pool?" Diego asked, his voice dry. He rubbed his cheeks, one swift motion, as if he could force his colour to fade.

  "Nope, but I wish I had been." Rudy's brow furrowed. "Actually, no, I'm not ever betting on the size of another guy's dick."

  "Het-boy."

  "All the way."

  Diego shook his head, trying not to smile. He raised his glass and drained half of it. Antho beer was damned good stuff.

  When he lowered the glass, an Antho was seated across the table staring at him. He was small, smaller than Portya, and dressed in loose, flowing clothes. Diego dipped his head in the little sway he'd learned from Portya as an Antho greeting.

  It was slowly returned. "You what Administrator end up with."

  Wary, Diego asked, "Is the Administrator not well liked?"

  "Not know him to like."

  "Does he do a bad job?"

  A negative shoulder roll, different from what Diego had seen but still understandable. "Portya very good administrator. Bad breeder."

  Diego blinked, taken aback. "Surely that would be between him and whomever he chose to, uh…" He didn't know if the Antho had spouses or mates, or if either term would be recognized. Portya indicated that apart from the diplomatic staff, most Antho were only taught enough Syncrete to do their jobs with Human co-workers. "Whomever he chooses to breed with?"

  "Not matter who he choose. No one want him. Bad blood. Born funny. Sick all time. No one want to pass bad blood to…" The Antho's Syncrete failed him and he held up his hands, one palm up near the table, the other raised up thirty or forty centimeters, palm down. "Little Antho."

  "Children?" Diego guessed. He hooked his arm as if cradling a baby. "Children?"

  "Children. Result of breeding."

  TEN

  Two security guards met Diego at the wide entrance of the Antho hospital. He hesitated to call them that, armed with nothing more than their own strength. Still, they were so much bigger than him, he supposed it didn't matter. They passed him through a scanner, though what they thought he might be carrying, he couldn't guess.

  Finally, one on either side, they led him down a corridor that seemed to lead away from the main hospital. Stenciled on the door ahead was an Antho word or phrase and the words, "Human Quarantine Area."

  Zaya had said that the Antho doctors would treat Humans in an emergency—though without Human medical records, he didn't like to think how well that would work—so this must be where they would keep such patients. It looked like a hospital ward, not exactly like Earth, no—pale pink walls, pink uniforms in place of the more usual white in Human hospitals. The equipment he recognized was subtly different. He hadn't spent much time in any hospitals to know if the rest were radically different or not. It doesn't matter.

  A doctor, Portya's doctor he assumed, had called early in the morning saying only that he was to come. He hadn't questioned it, although he now wondered if Portya's mysterious ailment had taken a turn for the worse. He paused only to thank the graces that he hadn't drunk himself silly the night before.

  The ward was also very empty. Diego was led to a door, which opened. His guards waited, so he walked in. They didn't follow. The only thing in the room was a bulky bed and in that bed—"Portya!"

  Portya was sitting up, his glorious hair free, but draping his shoulders without its normal volume or lustre. An ominous machine was attached to his wrist by opaque tubing. "Diego." He opened his arms.

  Diego flew across the room, flinging his arms carefully around Portya's neck, practically pulling him off the mattress. "Are you okay? They wouldn't tell me anything," he said, talking into Portya's neck.

  Only Portya's arms around him kept him from moving as he realized he must be smothering his lover.

  "I am fine. Now. Is truth," Portya said, eyes crinkling as he released Diego with obvious reluctance.

  Without taking his eyes off Portya, Diego grabbed a stool and wheeled it across the floor. Then he caught up Portya's hand. "I had Commander Zaya call. All they would tell her was that you'd be released soon."

  "Yes."

  "So why am I here? She explained why no Humans are allowed in an Antho hospital."

  "Doctor comes. He have better Syncrete. We agreed you should know."

  Diego must have learned more Antho body language than he'd suspected. Portya's posture or something told him that agreement had not come without conflict.

  "I missed you, Portya."

  Portya's fingers curled around his and squeezed. "Say you lissande."

  Before Diego could ask what that meant, the door slid open. The Antho who came in was tall, taller than Portya. Though Diego had revised his initial estimate of Portya's height. At 170 cm, he frequently assumed everyone he had to tilt his head back to look at was practically a giant. This Antho had a barrel chest fully covered with a thigh-length striped tunic in reds and pinks. His hair was mostly black, with red and white streaks that looked more like dye than nature. The solid pink jacket marked him as a doctor, and his stiff posture was all serious, which helped offset the impression created by his colourful clothing. "Captain Bahaghari, I am Doctor Filas. Portya-curialaysels says you are lissande." He gave Diego a sceptical look.

  Portya squeezed Diego's fingers again, and Diego nodded, hesitant to verbally agree to something he didn't understand. "More or less," he added aloud, remembering Dr. Filas might not understand a nod. "What's wrong?"

  "Nothing, now. Portya's body was…adapting to your," his face formed an Antho expression of disgust, "seminal fluid."

  Diego gaped. "Adapting?"

  "Antho bodies are not made to accept alien seminal fluid. His body reacted."

  Horrified, Diego turned to Portya and said, "My semen poisons you?"

  "Not now," Portya said. He pressed his thumbs into the center of Diego's palm and moved them in small circles. "No more."

  "Not poison. Like…allergy. His body has adapted," Dr. Filas repeated. "It not possible. It should not be possible. But no Antho before has," he gestured with one arm, a broad gesture compared to most Antho body language, though not one Diego could read. It didn't serve to make his words any clearer.

  Diego covered Portya's hand. "There is—I mean, I never thought to use a condom because I was told we couldn't catch each other diseases and— But we could—"

  "Is okay," Portya said, his eyes crinkling in amusement, his voice a soothing rasp.

  Dr. Filas said, "Yes, he is fine. Portya," and the rest of his
words were in Antho. Diego thought he heard lissande again, and pesserantha, but the doctor's sibilant words flowed one into another, making it difficult to be sure.

  Portya's reply was likewise lost on him, until he finished with, "Okay."

  Filas turned to Diego, his expression unreadable. "Bahaghari, I would talk to you alone. In next room."

  Portya squeezed his hand again and said, "Is okay."

  Reluctantly, Diego released Portya's hand and got to his feet. He kissed Portya's forehead, feeling the reassuring warmth, and catching his familiar scent.

  He followed Dr. Filas out the door and into a smaller room furnished with an Antho style sofa and chairs, a water dispenser, and one of the cylindrical units that served as bathrooms in private quarters. "I not waste your time. You may or not be lissande, but I must ask what you intend."

  "I'm sorry? Why are my intentions any of your business?"

  "Health reasons," Dr. Filas replied, a slight agitation in his shoulders indicating his annoyance.

  "Are you saying I should break things off with Portya for his health?"

  Dr. Filas growled, dropping his head slightly forward. "He become very sick, through this adaptation. If you abandon him, he may become sick again as his body reverts to normal."

  Diego opened his mouth and closed it without speaking. He didn't really understand what the Antho doctor was saying. Both he and Portya acted like Diego'd been overreacting by calling his semen poison, but now it sounded like something just as serious. He stared his confusion at Filas.

  The doctor returned the stare.

  "I have some questions, then. One of the dockworkers told me that Portya," he paused, choosing his words carefully. "That he was born sickly and nobody will go out with him for fear of having sickly children."

  Dr. Filas continued to stare at Diego for a long moment before he said, "The northern continent of Beresh was long time gone connected to southern continent by land bridge. Not correct to say we all the same people then, but closer. Then changes—climate, planet—land bridge not there anymore. Thousands of sun cycles go by. Northern Antho and southern Antho change significantly. Now, almost not cross-fertile."

  "Portya's parents were one of each," Diego said, guessing the reason for the history lesson. The "almost" had not been lost on him.

  "Yes. Portya only child, rare among Antho., Difficult birth. Portya mutant," he said, whirling his hand over his face and chest, where Portya was most different from other Antho. "Childhood diseases much harder for him than other children, hospitalized much. No one want to initiate physical bond, because emotional bond easy to fall into. Pheromones. No one want sickly babies who might die."

  "And how do you know all this?" Was Dr. Filas a relative of Portya's? Surely not his personal physician?

  "All in his medical records. Rest is logical assumptions."

  A mutant, huh. "No wonder he doesn't believe me when I tell him he's beautiful."

  Dr. Filas made a sound Diego couldn't interpret, but he didn't much care what Dr. Filas might think about Portya's relative beauty, or Diego's opinion on it.

  "You mention pheromones. I want to—"

  "They not affect you."

  "But they do, and I wanted to ask—"

  "Not possible!" Dr. Filas's body language went from defensive to defeated so quickly Diego had no time to be pleased to have figured it out. "Should not be possible."

  Diego wanted to ask if the way the pheromones drove him to perform sex so aggressively was normal for Antho but wasn't sure either he or the doctor would be comfortable talking about his sex life. Instead he asked after his more pressing concern. "Could I be addicted to his pheromones? Like a drug addiction?"

  "No," he said firmly. Then his neck loosened a little to let his head fall slightly to one side. "I not know. It should not be possible." Dr. Filas reached out a hand towards Diego. "I would examine you, but it not help." His hand dropped.

  "Why not?"

  "Without access to Human medical records, yours specific, I have no baseline for normal. Can't tell what then is abnormal. Why this worry you?"

  "I-I've never felt this way about someone before. Anyone, ever. And it scares me, and I want to know if it's me or something…else."

  "Not sure what difference would be."

  A warm feeling bloomed inside Diego, spreading throughout him like a starburst of emotion, an epiphany. It manifested as a broad grin. Didn't Earth scientists say love was just a matter of brain chemistry? "Now that you put it that way, maybe none."

  ELEVEN

  Portya was released from the hospital the next day and Diego was outside the doors to meet him. He looked much restored to his former self, walking with his elegant, confident stride, his hair only partially pulled back. He would look gorgeous with a wind breezing through those silky strands. Part of Diego wished he could see that.

  Portya pulled him into a full-body hug. Diego sighed happily, eyes closing as he rested in the warmth and strength of Portya's embrace.

  "I have a surprise for you," Diego said, when Portya released him. He grabbed Portya's hand and they walked toward the pneumolift. It had felt weird to visit Portya's quarters when Portya was hospitalized, but he had gone in earlier to finally cook up the ingredients he'd brought from Earth.

  "I hope you don't mind I came in here to cook."

  Portya's nose twitched at the smells filling his quarters. "If taste as good as smells." He angled his head slightly toward Diego and added, "You always welcome in my quarters. You lissande."

  "What does that mean?"

  Portya's eyes crinkled as he let Diego lead him to the table. "If I knew equal Syncrete word, I would say it."

  Diego laughed. "Okay."

  "When I ask Syncrete teacher words for sex, he—she—look at me oddly. Now I need ask words for…relationship?"

  "I could try to help out, but those words don't have meanings as clear as sex words," Diego said as he set the table and checked the garlicky arroz caldo. The Philippines might not exist as a nation anymore, but Diego had been born and raised in the city of Manila and loved the flavours he'd grown up with.

  Portya ate with such solemnity that Diego felt a sense of relief when the meal was over. He had said it wasn't a marriage ritual, but clearly it meant something. But all Portya said beyond normal dinner conversation was in the form of compliments to Diego's cooking skills and appreciation for the taste of the food.

  "I'm glad you liked it." He thought he might mention Commander Zaya's warning. Except, he didn't really grasp what she was warning him against, and Portya already seemed more serious than a home-cooked meal ought to make someone. Filas, too, had seemed to be warning him.

  Right now, Portya was looking at him with a familiar expression, one that had his cock twitching in anticipation. Later, he could ask what pitfalls might lay in continuing this relationship.

  Portya rose to his feet and held out a hand toward Diego. "I show you more appreciation."

  Diego took the hand and let himself be drawn up. He loved the heat of Portya's hands, the thick soft fingertips. He looked from where their hands were intertwined, up to Portya's golden eyes, crinkled slightly.

  As was his habit, Portya wore a jacket that left most of his chest bare, and trousers that showed off an impressive bulge. Why he never seemed to get hard until he wanted to mystified Diego.

  "Come, sessra mi. You wear too many clothes, as usual."

  Diego grinned.

  *~*~*

  "This isn't a tourist stop, Captain!" Commander Zaya's eyes sparked anger as she gripped the edges of her desk with white knuckles.

  "I'm not asking to run regular groups through!" Although Starways had certainly hinted Diego should ask exactly that. "Just my family, and just one time."

  "And the rest of your crew? Won't they want their families to visit, 'just one time'?"

  Diego felt a blush rise on his face. "I want them to meet Administrator Portya. When the rest of the crew start dating aliens, they can make their
own petitions to you."

  "By the Graces, Bahaghari. It's not I who has to sign an exemption. It's Ambassador Nihla and Ambassador Karim. If they both agree, then—"

  "So you'll ask them?"

  She closed her eyes and pushed her fingers through her hair. "I'll help you draft a petition."

  It was two weeks—a rapid turnaround for diplomats—before Diego got official notice on his comm station from the Ambassadorial offices of both worlds.

  "That is you sad look," Portya said when he came to pick Diego up.

  Diego gave him a wan smile. "I was hoping to get permission to bring my family here. At least my parents." He took Portya's hands in his and brought them to his mouth, kissing knuckles no longer strange to him. "I wanted them to meet you."

  "You say—you tell family of me?"

  "Not yet." Diego released Portya's hands and smiled at him. "You're so beautiful." He brushed fingers across Portya's cheek, into the silky strands of hair. The proportions of Portya's face—broad cheekbones, flat nose, thin black lips and big golden eyes—were different, alien. But as with Human attractiveness, Portya's features had a symmetry that Diego's mind insisted was beautiful.

  "Not beautiful," Portya replied, the sexy rasp of his voice hitching a little.

  "You really are, at least to me."

  "Hungry."

  Diego laughed. The way Portya would change the subject whenever Diego called him beautiful was funny as hell. "I suppose we shouldn't linger then." He hooked his arm through Portya's and guided him back towards the door. "Where are we eating tonight?"

  "Rainbow." Portya cocked his head. "That true not like Earth eating place?"

  He was referring to the neon-lighted restaurant that was supposed to appeal to Humans. Like the Pink Pearl, it was more of a misunderstanding of various aspects of Earth culture. "It isn't. When we come back here, I'll show you some video of places back home." Video. Hmm. A slow smile curved his lips and he cocked his head in imitation of the Antho question expression. "I think I know how to introduce you to my family after all."

  *~*~*

  It wasn't the first time Diego had recorded a video message to his parents, but it was the first time he was introducing a boyfriend. An alien boyfriend. Although the more he thought about it, the better the idea seemed. If his parents reacted badly, Portya wouldn't see it and be hurt by it. And for his parents, they would have time to react and get over it before meeting Portya in person.