by Jamie Hawke
“Yeah?” Charm perked up, ears twitching excitedly. “And maybe we have some beads that we—”
“Know when you’re ahead,” I stopped her.
“Prude,” she said with a playful grin.
“With half of what goes through your brain, Charm,” Twitch said, scrolling through some pages of what looked like old reports, “I think we’re all relative prudes.”
That earned some laughter from the others and Charm seemed to be proud of that fact, but before anyone could respond Twitch let out an excited laugh.
“Here we go,” she said, and we all perked up, expecting to see more images of Andromida, or something like that. Instead, we saw an image of a pyramid and a bunch of writing. “Says here… yeah, confirms the study about supers going missing in the region.”
“What’ve you got there?” Gale asked.
“Citadel records. I’ve been searching, and it didn’t come back with much. But going off of what we saw in the book back there, I was able to cross-check the information and found out the Citadel does have some stories, but no official documentation, which is why we couldn’t find it easily before.”
“And does it say anything useful?” Shimmer asked. “Like how to get there, and what we’ll be up against?”
Twitch sighed, then shook her head. “Some stuff about the supers, their backstories and all that, powers… But no. And that… Ooh, check this out—it says Ranger was affiliated with Orion Corp. before all this stuff. Maybe before he was even a super!”
“Holy shitlicking anteaters,” Charm said, rolling her eyes. “I’m going to go find something to kick.” She stood and headed for the door.
“Wait, this is fascinating stuff,” Twitch said, confused. “Where’re you going?”
“Trying to get away from all this excitement before I fall asleep.”
Gale laughed and stood. “I’m going with her. Maybe I’ll see how Charm handles herself in the ring this time.”
Shimmer shrugged, then got up to follow. “This is something that can’t be missed.”
When the door closed behind them, I turned to Twitch and said, “I actually do think it’s interesting.”
She sighed, watching the others go, then said, “Yeah, but unfortunately that’s about all there is.” After looking back at the screen for a moment, she walked over and sat on my armrest. “How could they not find all this fascinating?”
“Same as back home. My brother always thought anything related to history or mythology was boring as hell. Unless it was directly related to him—so the stuff with Ancient Greece, he loved, kinda. Studied the hell out of the Peloponnesian War while I was playing video games and memorizing lines from my favorite movies.”
“So it sounds like you were the one bored by history.”
“Not at all.” I wrapped my arm around her, pulling her off the armrest and onto my lap. “But pop culture is just as much a part of history as some warrior culture. Maybe more so.”
“You think?”
“I was raised on that stuff, as were many billions of people before me. You don’t think understanding what they were influenced by, and spent trillions of dollars making—a form of art, mind you—is relevant? A part of history? Plus, I also liked the Greek mythology and history stuff, but for different reasons. Usually not related to the military or sports aspects.”
She nodded, giving me a tired but appreciative smile.
“It’s always fascinated me,” she said, running a hand through my hair, staring off at the wall as she spoke. “The deeds of those who’ve come before us. How we became who we are. And now with this Nihilist threat… it seems more important than ever.”
“Yeah?”
“If they’re connected to us, or if they are actual aliens—either way, we should know, right? That might affect how we fight them or keep them away.”
I wasn’t sure how, but nodded anyway.
“It’s how I became a general, really,” she said, yawning. “Knowing my history, being able to use that to create tactical advantages. Impressing the right people… and of course, kissing the right asses. Not literally like Charm would, though,” she added with a chuckle.
“Yeah, don’t get all judgy. If I remember correctly, you were the first one to put a finger in my ass.”
“But I wouldn’t put my mouth down there, sorry.”
I laughed, pinching her side so she squirmed with a very uncharacteristic giggle.
“Maybe it’s playing with your comfort levels she finds so appealing,” Twitch said, scooting down to lean her head on my chest. “It can be quite fun.”
“Yeah, well…” I didn’t finish, because her eyes were closing. Instead, I cradled her head with one hand, the other arm still wrapped around her, and held her there.
“I’m just so,” Twitch mumbled, eyes still closed, “so… tired.”
And then she was out. I kissed her on the forehead, leaned back to watch our trajectory, and motioned for my controls. Double-checking to ensure we were on track and set for autopilot, I leaned back and joined her in dreamland.
9
Charm woke me with a tickle of her tail under my nose. I opened my eyes to see her playfully pulling at the front of her suit so that her cleavage was exposed. She bent over, pulling further so that the edge of her left aureola showed, and then ran her free hand across my crotch.
I was still groggy, still trying to wake up, kinda confused about what was happening. Twitch was still nuzzled up against me, and the bulge in my pants started to push against her leg.
“Another experiment,” Charm whispered, caressing me some more. “We’ve never done it while someone else slept on you.”
That caught my attention, and I fully opened my eyes now. Not wanting to wake Twitch, I didn’t move much, but my hips shifted involuntarily at another caress from Charm.
“Or are you too much of a prude?” Charm asked, fully pulling out her breast now and sticking it out for me to kiss. I went for the kiss, but as my lips met skin, her hand reached down and undid my pants.
“I’m not sure this is a good idea.”
“And I’m sure it is.” She pouted, pulling back and running a hand over her breast, eyeing me seductively. When I didn’t say anything further, she knelt, pulled out my cock, and went down on me right there with Twitch still asleep.
“Go with it,” a whisper said in my ear.
“What was that?” Charm said, mumbling the words as her mouth was full.
“Um, just keep doing that,” I said, in a loud whisper, almost a moan. A hand squeezed my side, and I glanced down to see Twitch open her eyes briefly enough to wink and then pretend to be sleeping again.
Was she getting off on this as much as Charm was?
The door behind us slid open and Shimmer and Gale entered, their chatter stopping as soon as they were likely close enough to see Charm’s head bobbing up and down. A glance at the display showed them in the reflection, slowly backing out of there.
I wasn’t sure if I should be embarrassed or turned on, but then Twitch’s hand was moving, going over to Charm’s head. Shaking my head, I tried to get a hand over to Twitch’s to stop her, but too late—her hand found Charm’s head, and started pushing and pulling, grabbing her by the hair and getting really into it.
Charm yelped, gagged, and then moaned, apparently loving it. When she looked up she saw what was really happening and I thought she was going to back off, but instead she grinned, pulled out my cock to show it to Twitch as she ran her tongue along the bottom, from base to tip, then engulfed it again. Her eyes moved from Twitch’s to mine, then back again as she put on her show.
Twitch’s hand left her head alone, moving instead to cup my balls, and then Twitch was sliding down my body and Charm gave her room, so that they were taking turns watching each other.
“Cum for me,” Charm said, taking it back over again, but this time Twitch waved a finger in her face, took my base in her hand and gave Charm the middle, and the two of them moved in together, b
oth stroking me and almost French kissing each other as they licked my tip, waiting for it to happen.
Their pink and green hair, and the sight of them both going down on me was making me want to last longer, but as my back tensed up and arched, I knew there was no fighting it. I gripped both of them by the hair, cautious but guessing correctly that they’d be into it based on Twitch’s earlier move on Charm, and then let loose. They shifted it back and forth, licking it up as I came, and when it was over they took turns taking me in their mouths and ensuring I was clean.
“You aren’t usually so eager for that,” Charm said to Twitch, still holding me as I sat there, panting, barely able to keep my body from having a spasm.
“All that history talk,” Twitch said with a wink.
Although Charm laughed, I wasn’t totally convinced it was a joke.
Clapping sounded behind us, and I saw in the reflection on the display that Shimmer and Gale were back again. They hadn’t actually left. Or, wait, was that… “Popcorn?” I asked.
“We needed something for the show,” Gale said with a grin. “You all want some to help get rid of the taste?”
“I’m good,” Charm said.
Twitch smiled up at me, but I could see her eyes moving over my shoulder toward them.
“I won’t be offended,” I said. “Seriously.”
“It wasn’t bad,” she said. “Honestly. Not quite the pineapple taste Charm describes it as.”
“To each their own,” Charm said, smelling her hand. “I’d wear it as perfume if I could… but no, that might weird you people out.”
“It would be a bit weird to me,” I admitted.
The other ladies were just grinning, eating their popcorn. Charm and I shared a moment, but then the image of that superhero academy entered my mind, and I was reminded of how weird she’d acted. My curiosity was piqued, but I knew this wasn’t the right time to ask her about it. Instead, I stood and helped her up, taking her and kissing her neck.
“Come on,” I said. “Now I’m hungry, and maybe after I eat some food, there’s something else I could eat.”
She rolled her eyes at my corniness but nodded.
We all made our way to get some breakfast after Twitch checked the ship’s course. Having coffee on board was always a huge relief, and as I chugged some down with a bar that claimed to be a mixture of nuts and fruit—but tasted more like tar than the coffee—I was glad to have a moment to take Charm aside.
“Oh, going for dessert now?” she asked.
I’d totally forgotten about my comment from earlier, so I frowned, confused. “Actually, I’ve been meaning to ask you. What was the deal with Supraline’s? You seemed so weirded out when we were there.”
She scratched her brow, hard enough to draw a thin line of blood, I couldn’t help but notice. “I don’t know what you mean.”
“I’m not trying to pry, I just… are you okay?”
“That place… it wasn’t one I thought I’d be going back to anytime soon.” For a moment I thought she was going to walk away, but then she hesitated and looked at me in a sideways glance. “You know, not everyone gets life handed to them on a silver platter.”
“You think my life was easy?”
“Maybe, maybe not. But I think you didn’t have to deal with these,” she ran her hands along her fox ears, then twitched her tail, “or this.”
“No, you’re absolutely right.”
Her eyes shifted, then she turned to fully make eye contact. “They really don’t bother you?”
“No, and they don’t bother the other ladies,” I pointed out. “Nobody has anything like that where I’m from, so of course I was surprised at first. Like my buddy, Jayden—growing up he had a gap in his teeth, you know, up front? For some people, that might not have been their thing. But the lady he settled down with thought it was cute. Adorable, I think she said. It was part of him, so she loved it.”
“And you…”
“Lo—oh…” I glanced around, confused, realizing I had almost used the “L” word. There was nothing wrong with that, I guess, but part of me struggled with it. Here I was in some foreign galaxy with four women all sleeping with me. Somehow, using the word felt odd, even if referring to her ears.
That moment of hesitation wasn’t lost on her, and she turned to storm off.
“I love them,” I said, reaching out so that my hand gently took hers. Fuck it, I thought, taking a step closer so that I was able to whisper into her ear, “And I love you.”
She stepped back, frowned, and laughed. “What?”
“I…” Damn. “Did I say something wrong?”
Her eyes were wide, confused, and maybe… damp? The light from behind glimmered in her eyes and my reflection stared back from them. Boy did I feel like an idiot.
“Let’s just not talk about this,” she said. “Pretend it didn’t happen.”
Her tail swayed gently as she walked away, leaving me baffled about what had happened. I was the one who was supposed to have had a hard time with that, not her. Not Charm! She was always all over me, always eager to please, eager to show affection.
This didn’t make sense.
And yet, in the back of my mind, it did. For all the reasons I didn’t feel comfortable with it, she likely felt the same. Of course she’d reacted that way. What had I been thinking?
“Everything okay, hotshot?” Gale asked, walking past.
“I don’t know,” I admitted, and took a step to walk with her.
“Whoa, I’m gonna use the little ladies room and you’re not coming with. Sorry.”
My laugh felt forced, and she could tell. “But soon as I’m done, you and me, heart-to-heart, deal? That coffee runs right through you, though.”
Even though my mouth opened, no words came out. I nodded instead, and realized I needed to take a piss too. Instead of waiting around to chat, I walked around to the other side of the ship where a second bathroom was located, where I then took care of business.
Washing up, I stood in front of the mirror for a moment, wanting to punch myself. “You love her?” I said, shaking my head and being careful not to speak too loud. “Lame, man. Pull yourself together.”
I splashed water on my face, shook it off, and exited.
Shimmer was darting past and only paused to give me a cursory glance before waving me along.
“What’s going on?” I asked.
“Hurry, we’ve found something!”
All thought of my embarrassing moment with Charm faded, and I jogged along with Shimmer to the bridge. Everyone was waiting, and Twitch had the display up as she spoke.
“Looks like this is the spot,” she said, indicating a space station that resembled a can of tuna fish after being hit with a shotgun blast. Nothing was intact, and large parts were hanging off, some in the distance floating away.
Ships floated by as well, giving the whole place the feel of a graveyard. As we approached the space station, we saw there wasn’t even a point going in to investigate. Whatever had been “in” was basically now out. Completely viewable, and as we passed the other side we saw corpses in various states of dismemberment floating off.
“It must’ve just happened,” Gale said, voice small like she was afraid of waking a ghost.
“I’m scanning the area,” Twitch said.
“Hoping to find what?”
“That…” Twitch leaned back, confused. She pointed to the dot on the screen and enlarged it, showing a ship that reminded me of blown glass. “Right there. What the hell is a Citadel ship doing out here?” A thought occurred to her and she started pressing buttons, followed by a pinging sound.
“You’re hailing her?” Gale asked.
“On Citadel frequency,” Twitch replied.
“Might want to hurry,” Gale said, indicating the flashing signal that showed the Citadel ship had locked on us for attack.
“Hurry, hurry, hurry,” Charm started chanting, but Gale grabbed her and covered her mouth.
“Thanks,
” Twitch said, still working.
“You don’t think it’s her?” I leaned in, as if that would help me figure it out.
“It’s her all right, but if she’s in a Citadel ship, I’m thinking…”
“Hello?” a voice said, and it wasn’t the Blue Lady—or, I guess, Andromida, as we were apparently calling her now. It was another voice, one I thought I recognized from recently, but couldn’t place. Since I hadn’t heard a lot of voices in the last few days, it had to be one of those with Drew.
“Drew? Is Drew there?” I blurted out.
“Chad?” Drew’s voice chimed in. “What the fuck?”
“Where are you?”
“We’re at the Citadel, about to… well, it’s complicated. Are you here?”
“No, but we think we’ve found your friend, Andromida.”
“Hi Drew!” Charm interjected. “Miss you already!”
I gave her a suspicious glance, but she waved it off with a grin. “Say hi! Is that Navani?”
“Yes,” Navani said. “How…?”
“It’s what I do,” Twitch said, grinning as if they could see her. “Figured that if she had a Citadel ship, you all might have stopped by there. Glad we caught you!”
“Wait,” I said, my heart thudding. “You all… you’re not an Elder yet, are you?”
“Jealous?” Drew asked. He let it linger, then laughed. “No, not even close. You realize you have almost twenty levels on me?”
“This is cute and all,” Andromida chimed in, and for the first time I noticed the enemy ship was still locked on us. “But what the fuck’s going on?”
“Right,” Twitch responded. “We understand there’s a shared destination between us, and were hoping you could help us along.”
“The pyramids,” Charm said, bubbly. “You did say something about them, right?”
Andromida took a moment, but then said, “Follow me.”
The ship slowly began to turn, and we all shared excited looks. As we followed Andromida’s ship, I leaned back and called out, “I can’t believe we all made it back here, Drew.”