Chapter 240: Human Customs and Rituals
Raguk, leader of the most powerful Uugazt horde, shook his head in confusion. "I am not worried about the Alliance. They have been strangely quiet since they put out that wanted notice on you."
"Look at that; you can teach an old dog new tricks," I sneered. It was about time the Alliance stopped trying to ambush me and started to play least in sight. But no matter how hard they tried to hide, it wouldn’t save them from me.
However, the expression on the orc’s face caused me to almost burst out laughing. He looked so confused over my statement.
"Don’t worry about it," I chuckled, unable to completely resist. "I’ll have my second send you the coordinates to our current location."
"Understand, Tahetoln," grunted Raguk, cutting off the link between us before I could ask him what that last word meant. My translator couldn’t identify it.
"Jun Li?"
"On it," grunted Jun Li as I stood up. Folding up the fur that had been draped over my lap, I placed it on the chair I just vacated. It wasn’t that the command bridge was overly cold that I always wanted to be covered; I just always liked being under a blanket of some kind or other. The weight of one, no matter how hot it was outside, never failed to make me happy.
Turning to look at GA and Midnight, I opened my mouth, "Should we go save them?" I asked with a smirk on my face. Da’kea, Tha’juen, and Ye’tab were wading knee-deep through Earth’s social media and dating apps, and I would admit that I did feel a bit bad about it.
Midnight laughed low; the vibrations of his chest echoed around us like waves lapping at the beach. "Honestly, I am more than a little intrigued about what they are looking through. The concept alone is so different from anything that we know. It would be interesting to look at your... profiles, too."
I raised my eyebrow at his statement as he walked toward me and wrapped his arm around my waist. "I am not nearly as interesting as someone like Pippa," I answered, nuzzling my face into his chest. Taking in a deep breath, I could feel the tension in my body practically melting away at his nearness.
"I don’t know about that," smirked Midnight, placing a gentle kiss on the top of my head. "I find you plenty interesting, just as you are."
"And he isn’t the only one," grunted GA, coming toward us.
The three of us left the command bridge, talking quietly amongst ourselves as we walked down the corridor toward the living room, where the others were doing their research.
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Da’kea felt his eyes burn as he continued to look through the information on the human females that Jun Li had pulled up. The rituals and customs of the human race were unlike anything he had ever seen before from any other species in the known galaxy.
Tha’juen let out a low groan as yet another video began to play of some type of mating ritual. "Human males are..." he started, not knowing how to describe what he was seeing. This particular male was naked, his fragile skin exposed to everyone. There were some sort of green tribal markings on his chest and face as he screamed his challenge.
The yellow drink in his cup spilled all over the place as he and the humans around him seemed to be screaming in... happiness?
Ye’tab scoffed at Tha’juen’s remark. "I have seen less skin at the pleasure house on Demmar Prime," he grunted as he showed the other males a picture of Pippa. She had three small pieces of cloth on her body—one on each of her mammary glands and the last one covering the mound between her legs.
There were many other females dressed the same way, and Ye’tab could see a large body of water behind them.
"Human females are the only females on Earth that go out of their way to attract a male and not the other way around," said a female voice. Ye’tab looked up from the screen of his tablet as Mei Xing and her other two males entered the common room.
"You mean your males don’t try to impress the females to show off their suitability to produce offspring?" asked Ye’tab, cocking his head to the side. He blinked a few times, the concept so foreign to him. All males competed for the attention of the females. It was just the way it was. After all, they needed her to pass on their genetics.
"Some do," shrugged his mate as she curled up on the couch in front of the fireplace. It was her favorite spot on this ship, outside of her nest. "They are normally the most desirable ones. But females compete with each other for the most desirable males."
She pointed to the picture on his tablet. "They are at the beach," she explained. "And those bikinis are designed to attract males as well as provide the least amount of tan lines."
"Do you have one?" asked Midnight, cocking his head to the side to study the picture in front of him. The female in question, Pippa, was nowhere near as attractive as the one standing in front of him, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t be interested in seeing his female in something like it.
"I do," admitted Mei Xing with a secretive smile on her face. "And I think we have a pool of some kind or other on one of the lower floors."
"The saltwater pool that you had asked to be installed has been finished for a while," pipped up the AI, cutting into the conversation. It was off-putting the first few times he did that. Au’dtair was not used to the idea that someone was always listening, but now they were all used to it.
"I asked for a pool?" wondered his pet, the look of confusion on her face making the Saalistaja hunter want to chuckle.
"Well, asked for might be a bit of a stretch, but you did mention on Earth that you picked your habitation because it provided you with the chance to go swimming whenever you wanted to," said Jun Li, and Au’dtair could have sworn that he hear embarrassment in the android’s voice.
