The beginnings of a wonderful relationship

“Fret not, it is not rude at all,” Liy responds before bringing two of her fingers to the markings on her arms, “Think of the marks on our arms and legs as the veins that you have under yours. They’re one of our many life sources, pumping various nutrients to every portion of our bodies. The brightness of our marks overall signify our health. The brighter they are, the healthier we are.”

“So does that mean that they become dimmer when you’re close to ?”

“Well, yes, but it has other meanings along with our decreasing life energy,” Xen informs, “It could also signify our decreased energy in general, such as if we are tired or fatigued. It may also symbolize when our mood changes. For instance, Val, would you like to inform the humans on the effects of your body markings?”

Val lets out a surprised gasp before turning away from us all. Then, after a moment, her markings gradually turn from white to yellow. Is...that her way of blushing?

“No, you are correct,” Xen continues, “It would be more effective to have a visual demonstration. Good thinking.”

Val immediately turns back to her, trying to voice her disapproval of Xen's idea. But it’s too late. Xen brings a finger to the center of her stomach, pushing one of her hearts. The heart then immediately starts glowing, causing a light popping noise to sound before Val lets out the most adorable giggle I’ve ever heard in my life.

“Hmm,” Liy says, approaching the other side of Val, “Something tells me that the humans do not yet fully grasp what her markings do.”

“No, no, they do!” Val objects in her giggling fit,

“No, I do not think so, Val,” Xen disputes, “From what I can tell from reading their minds, they are still confused.”

“I have noticed the same thing, Xen,” Liy cosigns, “It would seem that further demonstrations need to take place.”

Before Val can disagree with the sentiments of her associates, they start their barrage of pokes on various points of her marks, laughing as they earn more adorable giggles as she pleads for them to stop.

“No, no, stop!” she says through giggles, “They get it! They get it! Please tell them you get it!”

“How wrong would it be to join in?” Mandy asks,

“Don’t you dare,” I reply with a smirk,

“What, are you telling me you’re not the least bit tempted to poke her little body? Or...Oooooh, I see. You’re picking your moment for yourself, aren’t you? Or are you thinking of sticking your fingers in another part of her body?”

“Mandy, are you ever not thinking of something lewd? Is there any moment in time where that’s not clouding your mind? Any at all?”

“I’m not hearing a ‘no’~”

“I’m not saying a ‘yes’~”

“You seem to forget that we’re in front of mind fucking reading aliens. Lying really isn’t an option for you right now.”

“Who says I’m lying?”

“My next question.”

“You. Wouldn’t. Dare.”

Her smug smirk widens as I glare at her. And without turning away from me, she says,

“Hey, guys, I’ve got another question for ya. What’s Alex thinking right now?”

The commotion stops with Val trying to compose herself. After moments of silence aside from Val’s settling giggles, we hear Liy say,

“Oh, my.”

Xen then follows behind with,

“Uh-...You umm...It would probably be within your best interest if we did not tell you.”

“Oh, really?” Mandy questions, looking proud of herself,

“Yes, it is...not really...appropriate.”

“Ooo. Well, now I gotta know. Trust me, this wouldn’t be anything I haven’t heard before. Enlighten me. What’s in that dirty, dirty brain of hers?”

“Well, if you insist,” Liy says before clearing her throat and quoting, “‘Are you all aware of the time Mandy was caught by everyone at our base-...um...fornicating with a make-shift ‘hunk of a man named Fiago’ with rocket models shoved-...’ Please do not make me read anymore. I just feel...dirty.”

“Also, were the mental images really necessary?” Xen adds,

Mandy stands there, head tilted in embarrassment as her shame is now known to our hosts. I give her a smirk of my own, saying,

“Well, you were right. It’s nothing you haven’t heard before.”

“You know what?” she starts, “You’re not a nice person.”

“Yeah, whatever, kettle.”

“Anyways,” Jaqui says, grabbing both of our attention, “We’re also here to study you and your culture for a few months. So would there be a way for us to follow you to your home world?”

The three girls giggle to themselves before Liy says,

“What do you mean? You are already here.”

Confused, we look out the window and sure enough, they’re right. We’re no longer surrounded by stars and neighboring planets. We’re now on solid ground with a pink sky and surrounded by really weird looking bushes. What the hell? When did we move? When did we land?

“Humans,” Xen starts, gesturing to the wonderful view, “Welcome to Deinz! It is quite convenient, is it not? Along with mind reading, we also have the ability to transport back home if we stray too far. And we are able to transport back to our last coordinates. So once your research has been concluded, we shall bring you all back with no issues whatsoever.”

“Now, normally, we would be within bounds of our launchpad, but because of Liy’s inability to study, our landings are always randomized,” Val says, earning an agitated look from Liy,

“Must you take any and every opportunity to point out my flaws?” Liy huffs,

“Must you take any and every opportunity to make it easy for me?” Val responds with a smirk,

Liy grumbles in defeat as Val basks in her victory. Oh, she’s just a peach. These guys are certainly interesting. To think that they come to us for entertainment. But there’s a pretty obvious concern of mine looming about.

“Uh, what about our ship?” I ask,

“Oh, it is right out there,” Xen answers, pointing outside, “Not only can we teleport ourselves, we can also teleport any objects within range if we willed it.”

We look at the ground and, sure enough, there’s our ship, sitting right there in all its glory.

“Yes, your ship may be here, however, the reception could not carry over with it. We are five galaxies away from Earth, after all.”

“Five galaxies?!” all four of us say in unison,

“Worry not,” Liy assures, “Like Xen has informed you, when the time comes where you have all of the information you need, we will gladly teleport you back home. And we will continue watching your planet.”

“Well, that’s nice of you,” Mandy says, “And a bit creepy when you put it like that.”

The three girls chuckle as Xen pushes a button on their controls. Once she does, a buzz is heard throughout the ship before the side wall disconnects from the ship and slowly descends, forming steps as it gets lower to the ground. Aw, why can’t we have that technology? Once the wall makes contact with the ground, Xen gestures to the exit, saying,

“Shall we?”

We accept the invite, heading down the stairs and onto the foreign land. Right as my foot makes contact with the ground, I notice a few things about it: it’s so warm. And it’s so soft. It has the look of concrete but the consistency of grass. I then notice that there’s light increments of a fog-like substance low to the ground. I kneel down, getting a better view.

I lower my hand, getting a feel for it. Ok, this is strange. The fog is kinda cold, but the ground is warm. I love it. The contrast between the two oddly makes it work perfectly. It’s so...soothing.

“I see you find our halcyon mist interesting,” I hear, snapping me out of my trance, “It is essentially the source of our tranquil nature.”

I look up to see Val standing above me with her hands behind her back, beaming at me with her adorable smile. But while I’m trying to focus on her smile alone, my eyes can’t help but admire her gorgeous body, her wonderful c-cup chest, and her-...

“O-oh, really?” I say, snapping myself out of yet another trance, “Wow. That’s-that’s really cool. A planet with natural pacifying mist. That’s...that’s just...wow.”

Yeah. Of course. “That’s just wow”. Why not just go full on idiot and say, “DuRh yOu So PrEtTy HhEhe” while you’re at it? Dumbass brain.

“Quite the vocabulary you have there, Alex,” Jaqui taunts,

“You really want me to show you the extent of my vocabulary, Jaqui?” I reply,

“No thanks, I’m good.”

Val giggles at our exchange, making my heart melt. God, her voice is just so cute. And her laugh is just to die for. I could hear it all day. Xen then interrupts my thoughts, placing her arm around Val’s shoulders, making her markings turn yellow again.

“Well, how would you all like a tour of our world?”

We all voice our approval of the idea and we get started. We traverse the planet of Deinz, learning about the lore of the Deinlites and how they came to be. While they’re telling us about their cultures, origins, and miscellaneous information, we do our individual jobs and record everything we can. Dani’s in charge of notes, Jaqui’s in charge of video taping everything, I’m in charge of snapping photos of everything interesting, and Mandy’s in charge of collecting available artifacts.

As we travel around the world, we start to pick up on a few things: there’s not a single car or motor vehicle in sight, no one seems to be in any kind of a rush, no factories are present, the streets are clean, there aren’t any weapons, and there doesn’t seem to be any kind of government or authority figure. Plus, everyone we come into contact with is very inviting. Everyone. I mean, yeah, it’s because of the mist and I should know this, but it’s still such a nice change of pace.

But before we know it, night eventually falls. We decide to take a break from learning for the night, giving us time to review everything we’ve learned and seen. I’m not gonna lie, I definitely need this review. Half of the things that were said basically went over my head. I just couldn’t stop looking at Val. Her adorable face, her short light pink hair, her cute freckles on her upper lip, her perfect curvy body, the way the sun expanded on it by giving her a gorgeous gleam, she really is a sight for sore eyes. I even found myself drawing her, masking it as me putting my take on pictures I took.

“So, how do you feel about our planet thus far?” Liy questions,

“It’s amazing,” I reply,

“Nothing like I’ve ever seen,” Jaqui agrees,

“Loving it so far,” Dani piles on,

“It’s out of this world,” Mandy comments, earning looks of disdain from everyone, “I refuse to apologize for exercising my rights.”

“So anyway,” Liy continues, ignoring her, “I apologize, but none of us own any shelter. We have found it infinitely better to sleep outdoors and gaze at the stars. You are more than welcome to find a place to rest for the night. Your currency will be converted to ours, so that should not be a concern. Plus, the rest stops here are immensely affordable, so expenses should not really be a concern, either.”

“Nah, we’re fine,” Jaqui says, “It’s like we’re camping back at home. Nothing better than a huge canvas of nothing but stars. I just wish we could make s’mores.”

“If you insist.”

They make their own means for shelter as Mandy, Jaqui, Dani, and I go over everything we’ve learned so far and holy hell, was it a lot. I’m still trying to figure out their science. How is anything with our language confusing to Liy when almost everything about this planet just beats the ever living fuck out of all of Newton’s Laws? Sometimes pushing one way results in a 90 degree angle, carbon doesn’t make fire here, but water does, reflections don’t exist unless you move, inertia speeds you up, their planet doesn’t have a core, and for some reason, echos don’t exist.

But aside from their weird logic and physics that bully ours, their history and day of life is so intricate. Their ability to befriend other beings, not just in their solar systems, but within SEVERAL galaxies is unreal. What’s even more unbelievable is how they manage to develop cures for every last one of their diseases within months of learning about it. Not to mention the fact that they’ve managed to create an infinite food source, which is still racking my brain. And that’s not even a quarter of the things that Dani wrote.

This world is gonna take some getting used to. And we’ve just got a measly 6 months to not only grab this information, but to actually digest it and really learn about it. Is it gonna be enough? Probably not. But is it gonna get easier? Definitely not. But at least they’re better teachers than Earth’s, so that’s assuring.

Hours pass and everyone’s . But since I’m such a night owl and so determined to catch up on everything I’ve missed, I’m nowhere near tired. Plus, I have no idea how I could possibly sleep with this view. Due to our light waves being completely different from theirs, the night sky is a variety of colors instead of just black. There’s violet with a hint of blue, specks of green, and deep orange on the horizon. Not only that, but their luminous leaves and vibrant city lights inspired by Earth make the scenery so much better. It’s kinda like I’m back at home. But with their creative takes on it and the leaves dancing in the air, it gives the different atmosphere that demands appreciation from the viewer. And I will happily concede to those demands.

After reviewing everything, I just drop everything and lie back, drinking in the scenery. I take a breath, observing the beauty in front of me. It’s quite neat.

“Quite neat indeed,” I hear a familiar voice say, taking me off guard.

I turn to see Val, who’s lying right next to me on her stomach with her head in her hands, brightening my night with her signature smile.

“Jesus,” I announce with a chuckle, clutching my chest, “Someone should just put a bell on you.”

“I apologize for startling you. I am unable to sleep.”

“Why’s that?”

“I am just so thrilled to have outsiders not only visiting our planet, but also enjoying it. My heart will not stop racing.”

“Yeah, I guess it would be pretty sweet to have foreigners show interest in you and your culture.”

“It is.”

Moments go by of us staring into the beauty before us. She then breaks the silence with,

“So, Alex, I have a question for you now.”

“Go for it,” I reply,

“I have noticed that you have been constantly comparing your planet to ours and your comparisons with Earth have always been negative. Do you hate your planet?”

“That’s a good question. But the answer might just confuse you.”

“Why is that?”

“Ok, well, you remember how Liy said that Earth’s mixture of chaos and beauty is what keeps it interesting?”

“Yes.”

“Well, the way that I look at Earth is that exact same way. You can’t have chaos without beauty, you can’t have light without darkness, and you can’t have love without hate. With how the planet works, there’s a perfect balance of everything. For every meaningless war occuring due to leaders with a constant need to have a dick measuring match every five minutes, there’s a country willing to aid the damaged country in its time of need for the innocent. For every abusive relationship where one fears the other, there’s a relationship where both participants end every single day with a cuddle. For every idiot bitching and whining about the slightest thing and bringing our species backwards, there’s a kind-hearted soul doing things that push our species forward. For every Twilight series, there’s a Kung Fu Panda series. There’s always an opposite to everything, but the world makes it so that one never outweighs the other. For light to work, there needs to be something to light. And that’s where darkness comes in. The way I see it, there’s three ways of looking at it: you’re either seeing it through rose colored goggles and it’s glass half full, you see through blood-stained contacts and it’s glass half empty, or you just see it for what it is: a half cup of what the world has to offer. The comparisons that you saw were just my frustrations with the Earth and how easy it would be for all of negativity to be gone, but then realization set in about how impossible it would be to maintain it all if it were this positive. But that’s just my thoughts on it. Ask the other girls and they’re probably gonna say something completely different. And that’s the best part about Earth. Different perspectives can create such a different view of the same picture. Oh, sorry. I’ve just been rambling, haven’t I? A simple ‘no’ would’ve sufficed, wouldn’t it?”

“No, no, I do not mind at all. The entire point of a question is to have it answered, right? That actually kind of resonates with my views of Earth. The others and I constantly discuss things about the Earth and we always come to the same conclusion: it’s perfectly imperfect.”

“Well, I’m glad to be able to answer a question of yours for a change.”

We share a laugh before returning to the scenery. After a few moments, something that I’ve been wondering for a while suddenly pops up. And I need to know the answer or I’ll go insane.

“So speaking of questions being answered,” I start, “You got room for one more?”

“Always,” she replies,

“Your markings: were you guys born with those designs or do they just form after a certain point?”

“Well, we actually create our own designs. We also create the noise and the effects it can have once activated. It remains for a few years, then we create another whenever we desire if we so choose.”

“I see. Wait, so you actually wanted to be tickled?”

“It was-...as you would put it, a ‘drunken dare’. After a few generations of watching the Earth, we stepped down to obtain some of your . Soon after, your ancestors created the method of tickling. Now, with us not fully grasping that it was intended as a form of , it was brought up during a wager that you humans would just exterminate yourselves during that time. And clearly, I was wrong. But I got my . Xen thought that you would not discover technology until the 25th century. And now, she has paint brushes that allow the activator to have her do anything they wish.”

That’s just hilarious. Even aliens aren’t exempt from the temptations of and dares. I laugh before saying,

“Woah, that’s hardcore.”

She joins in my laughter, saying,

“My intention was never particularly meant to be nefarious. In fact, it is the reason why we specifically requested qualified, mature, intelligent females. I just had her grab me some of your food.”

We share another laugh as I blush. She thinks I’m intelligent? Aww. But I guess we kinda missed the maturity mark with Mandy.

“Also, the effect of our markings are only as potent as the activator wishes. Which is why the level of was so grand earlier.”

Hm...interesting.

“So you’re saying that there’s a way to make it more pleasu- uh- I mean, pleasant for you?” I ask, fumbling the hell out of my words,

“Yes,” she answers, “It just requires a gentle touch instead of merciless pokes.”

Uh-huh. So she just needs a gentler touch is all? Well, with the that she endured earlier, surely she needs someone to alleviate that torment. I shift my body to face her, hesitantly raising my hand, saying,

“So-...So you mean if I just-...”

She grins, rolling over on her back, saying,

“Go on. I do not mind.”

That’s all I needed to hear. I bring my hand to the heart at the center of her belly, causing the markings to glow. This time, instead of a popping sound, it creates a humming sound as her body lightly vibrates. Val lightly giggles in response to my touch, looking me in the eyes. Don’tthinkabouthercutenessdon’tthinkabouthercutenessdon’tthinkabouthercutenessdon’tthinkabouthercuteness!

To keep my mind off of it and to hopefully dissuade her from reading my mind, I start circling my hand on her tummy. But the results of it are far different than I expected. Instead of giggling more, she...moans. I stop my hand movements and she stops giggling. This may not have been such a good idea. She then cements my thoughts of this being a bad idea with her markings turning from white to yellow. I remove my hand, relentlessly apologizing my ass off,

“O-oh my- I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I didn’t know th- it was an- I thou-”

“I-it- it is perfectly fine,” she profusely accepts, sitting up, “It was only an accident. You had no idea of knowing. I should have informed you better. Please, forgive me.”

“No, no, you did nothing wrong. There’s nothing to apologize for. I should’ve been thinking before I acted. It’s my fault. Touching you was a big mistake from the get go.”

“But...I-...I was not...opposed to your touch.”

Now it’s my turn to blush. Before I can say anything else, she says,

“Listen, the past is the past. It happened and now we can either dwell on it, or move past it.”

Ok, good. She’s not too disturbed by me practically molesting her.

“I agree,” I cosign, “There’s no point in putting energy in something we can’t control.”

“Exactly. So how about we pretend that that never took place?”

“You read my mind.”

We share a laugh before laying back down on the ground, simply enjoying each others’ company. But now it’s completely different. I swear, I can feel...something with her right next to me. Not only that, I swear, she just said something. But I couldn’t hear what. Which is impossible. She’s right next to me. Even the slightest whisper wouldn’t be that quiet.

[An Outfox Stories original by Eccho25. See more of Eccho25's stories & continuations here]