Dark Matter Ascension

Jace woke up to the calming sight of starlight above him. A deep, black abyss glittering with luminous beacons and streaks of nebula. As he woke, the room seemed to come to life as well – the space scene exploding with streaking meteors, the formation of galaxies, and the arcs of the cosmos weaving in a spectacular display.

Just lying there and taking it all in was breathtaking. He took a deep breath and felt the comforting embrace of the bed around him. My own bed. He cracked a smile and could not help but laugh aloud.

Ollie popped into place above him. "Hey sleepy. How was it?"

"Great," Jace replied as he stifled a yawn. "How long was I out?"

Ollie swam around excitedly. Jace had noticed that when Ollie was happy or enthusiastic, he was quite mobile, versus when he was sad or upset when he would not move as much. "Just a few hours. Oh, and good news. You are going to have a party!"

Jace jolted up in bed, "What?"

"A party! I have invited a bunch of people."

"Who?" Jace asked as he twisted to get out of bed.

"Greg and Missy, Shhiv, Xera, and Quinn. Plus, their Wayfinders."

Xera’s coming? Huh. "Should I use Xera’s name while she’s here?"

"Nope! Use Sera instead."

Jace nodded, "I should probably get ready then."

"Yup! You have about an hour."

"I don’t have any other clothes," Jace muttered.

"You look fine. Go use the hygiene-station and the dental apparatus-"

"The what-now?"

Ollie led Jace to the restroom. The nautical themes put a smile on Jace’s face; reminding him of his few times on the boat where he’d meet Greg for courier gigs. Ollie pointed at a device that looked like a box with a small pad for a chin. "This will painlessly fix your teeth, returning them to a pristine status."

Jace put his face into the device and felt a weird, tingling sensation along his jaw, around his mouth, and face. There was a sensation of heat – a dull, creeping heat like he was slowly moving his hand towards a garbage-can fire. There was a ding noise that echoed around him, and he removed his head. The pain he had grown used to in his mouth was gone and he felt like he didn’t have to tense his jaw. My whole life my mouth has hurt. I didn’t know you could live without mouth pain. He chuckled at the lack of persistent pain. I need to bring this back to Earth and let everyone use it.

As he looked in the mirror, the realization that he had not seen his reflection like this in six years washed over him. In the windows of shops? Sure. But not an actual mirror with good lighting like this. His face was not as thin and drawn as it was all those years ago, instead filled out. The jawline was the same though; angular and sharp.

Most noticeable were his eyes – staring into them, he saw the faint glimmer of starlight inside the black space. His teeth were pristine – no longer the jagged, malformed set he had grown up with. Peering closer, his skin was much healthier and did not have the pallid, thick, dry slough of malnutrition. His hair was much longer than he was used to, and it dangled down the sides of his head.

"What’s the hygiene station?" Jace asked.

Ollie pointed to the vertical, black glass lined box at the far end of the bathroom, "That. Strip down, go inside, and push the button."

Jace nodded and did as he was told. Before stepping in, he looked at the full-length mirror and really took in his new body. From the shoulders and thighs down – he was magitech and magic. The slight blue and black prosthetic arms were close in tone, only offset by the black geometric versus gold arcane lines tracing a path throughout. The deep, crimson legs with the black geometric pattern was the most prominent, and Jace just took in the sight of his half-artificial self.

Flexing what real muscles he did have, he was ecstatic. No longer a scrawny, runner’s body – he had muscles. Low body fat. That serum is wild, he thought as he ran a hand over his improved body. This is amazing. I’m so fit! And it gave me a bigger co-

Ollie coughed slightly, drawing Jace’s attention. "Get in the pod. You have guests coming."

Jace did so, closed the glass door, and pressed the button. A wave of energy coursed over and through him…and he felt empty. Wait, did it jus-

"You might feel an odd sensation! The pod takes waste products out of you at the same time it cleans you. Oh, there is a panel in there if you want to change your hair style!" Ollie was, thankfully, staying outside and giving Jace some privacy.

Jace ignored the unsettling fact that certain biological functions were just dealt with automatically by some unknown technology – or magic for all he knew – and he interfaced with the panel. Scrolling through the styles by hair length, he found one that he liked.

Tapping the ’confirm’ button, he felt a slight heat around his temples, and the smell of singed hair hit his nostrils. Reaching up, he felt the shorter hair, and it was silky smooth. That’s awesome.

Exiting the room, Ollie gave him a little thumbs-up. "Much better! And to think you still made a good impression with Shhiv despite the disheveled mess."

Jace froze as he was midway through dressing. Oh. And I smiled a lot. Those teeth were in such bad shape. He chuckled. I wonder what she’ll think now? He finished dressing and left the bathroom. "What is the plan?" he asked.

Ollie floated over the table, "I pulled 10 Stardust out of your reserve – you have 2100 left – to get something called a ’Nacho Bar’. It should be here-" There was a beep from the panel next to the main door. "Right about now."

Jace went to the door and opened it. A metal cube on wheels pushed past him and into the room. Multiple robotic arms began pulling all manner of foodstuffs out of the central compartment and placed them on the table. "What are nachos?" Jace asked.

"They are chips, with cheese and toppings," Ollie replied with a slight frown. "I thought this was a common food on Earth you would find familiar."

"No, nutrisludge for most of my life…" Jace whispered as he sighed. He felt some enthusiasm and tried to let that pour into his voice, but it was still tinged with the memories that for most of his life, he had been akin to human cattle that had escaped the factory. "But it looks and smells great."

Ollie floated in front of him, "I forgot that you only had that nutrisludge and garbage on Earth. I am sorry if I offended you."

Jace smiled, "No. It’s fine…thanks. Really. I’m sure they’ll taste great." He took a deep breath as the robot rolled out of the apartment.

Jace went to the door to close it but stopped as he heard the elevator at the far end ding. The doors split open, and Jace grinned as he saw Greg arm-in-arm with a gorgeous, plump woman with olive skin and wavy, brown hair. "Greg!" he waved.

His buddy waved back as they came up the hallway. "Jace. Good to see you." He let his woman’s hand go and embraced Jace in a bear hug – still taller than and much broader than Jace – but not as strong. He let go and glanced down, "New arm?"

Jace nodded. The spider Wayfinder, Darrin, crawled into view on Greg’s shoulder and waved his small, spidery limbs. "Want to try the Earth gambling game, Poker?" Ollie asked the spider.

"Sure. Just us two is low stakes, though," Darrin replied.

"We have more coming. Come on, I have it set up." Ollie disappeared with a pop, as did Greg’s Wayfinder.

Jace chuckled and gestured to the door, "Welcome to my home." The way those words felt coming off his tongue was incredible. "My home," he whispered once more, savoring the sentence. He couldn’t hold back his grin.

Greg gestured to his female companion, "This is Missy, my girlfri-"

"Fiancé," she interrupted, smiling and holding out her hand for a shake. When Jace reached out with his prosthetic arm, she looked on, curiously, and shook it gently. "Interesting prosthetics. I’ve not seen that type before."

"Magitech," Jace said as he gestured to the blue arm and red legs. "And this one is magic," he said, pointing to the black one.

"Intriguing," she said with a faint smile. "You’ll have to tell me more. I worked at Cybronics Research back on Earth, so this type of stuff is…just amazing."

Greg looked slightly upset, "I thought we were going to reveal the fiancé thing when the other guests were here. Now we have to repeat it for everyone."

"Holy shit!" Jace said as it hit him. "You’re going to be married?!"

Greg grinned and kissed Missy, "Hell yeah."

The elevator ’dinged’ again and Jace narrowed his eyes as he saw Quinn. Why’d you invite her? Jace thought.

Greg and Missy stepped inside, and Jace kept the door open for Quinn who gave him a slight…smile? "Hi, Jace. Sorry about…well…you know…" she blushed as her cybernetic eyes whirred in her head. "I brought you a housewarming present!" she snapped her fingers, and her Wayfinder appeared with a pop before flying over to Jace’s left arm.

Reflexively, he pulled it away. "What is it?"

Valerie, the bird, replied. "It is a Boon. I have to touch your Cosmic Power symbol." She chirped happily.

Ollie appeared with a pop. "Ah, you are here. Here, you can hand the gift to me." Ollie held out his paw.

Valerie looked back at Quinn, and the woman nodded. The bird flew up and tapped Ollie’s paw with her beak.

<<<<<>>>>>

[Gift Received: Epic (Skill Evolution) Boon.]

<<<<<>>>>>

"Wow, thank you," Jace said – stunned that she would give him something so valuable.

"You are welcome…may I come in?" Quinn asked sheepishly.

Jace nodded and gestured inside. The two Wayfinders vanished with a pop once more. Jace was just about to follow Quinn when the elevator dinged again. He heard conversation as the doors opened and saw Shhiv talking to Xera.

The two paused their conversation, and Shhiv practically ran over to stand in front of Jace. She was wearing a very form-hugging dress that left very little to the imagination and was quite flattering. She was quite well-endowed, and this new outfit showed that off in spades.

"Hi! Oh, I’m so excited you invited me! I brought something great!" she reached into a bag and produced a bottle of some type of clear liquid, "It’s called alcohol, from your world! My cosmopanel said that humans drink it. I got a lot of types! There’s this green one called absinthe that I was told tastes like candy!"

Jace grinned, "So happy to have you. Come on in, make yourself comfortable."

"Oh? Okay. Mind if I check out your place? I love seeing how places are decorated."

Jace nodded, and Shhiv went inside. Xera walked forward and nodded at him. She was slightly shorter than him, but much slimmer. Her purple, three-iris eyes all focused in on him, and her two pairs of arms were clasped – one set behind her back, the other in front of her bosom. She adjusted a pair of glasses. "You may call me Sera in this company – they won’t be able to track my identity."

"I… I wasn’t expecting you to come here. When Ollie told me-" Jace hesitated for a brief instant before reaching forward and hugging her. He felt her tense slightly, but he didn’t care. "Thank you…for everything."

The tension left her and she nodded, returning the hug with a pair of her arms, "My pleasure. Now, if you would please – you are squishing my body with your grip."

"Oh, crap! Sorry." Jace immediately pulled back and chuckled as he ran his fingers through his hair, "I forget how strong I am now. And with the prosthetics-"

She looked at his black and gold arm, "Ah, he did give you the Anathema as I requested. Excellent." She stared into his eyes, and it felt like she was dissecting him as if he was a specimen on an exam table. "The next world I will send you to is Tier 2, with numerous Complexes. A high-magic world. That arm will be invaluable in keeping you safe from magical assault, and with managing magical traps and defenses."

Jace nodded, "Just a business visit, then?"

She smiled and shook her head, "No. I’m here to celebrate your new home." She raised her hand, and Jace saw a wrist-panel like what Quinn had – but Xera’s was far more advanced looking. It hugged her skin more tightly, and when she raised it, a holographic screen expanded in front of her. "I am transferring this residence to you – permanently. This whole building, actually. So, you may invite others to stay with you – companions, if you will. The layout will shift accordingly as you desire. Just use the panel in the room to move the chambers."

Jace saw the Cosmic Power symbol on his hand glow brightly before fading to a dull, purple thrum. He felt a wave of emotion rush through him. Something he hadn’t felt since he was six, sitting on the bed with his exhausted mother as she ran her fingers through his hair. The last time he had felt any type of affection from someone he trusted. Well, save for Chroma - but that was a sibling’s love. This was...almost motherly, in a way.

"I…I…" he felt tears welling up and went to wipe them away, lost for words.

Xera reached up and wiped them away for him, smiling softly. Warmly. "You deserve so much, Jace. You have had a difficult life. It will be a hard road ahead – I warned you of that before you became my Signer…But I promise you – I won’t abandon you. You won’t go through that again…I promise…I’ll help you get to Tier 10 to bring your sister back. You have my word. I’ll do my best to keep you safe."

Jace couldn’t hold back the emotions and let them pour out. A type of compassion he had never known he was missing, that he was craving, that he wanted so badly washed over him. Someone protecting him for once. Someone watching out for him. Who cared for him not because of what he was doing but because of who he was. It was genuine. She hugged him tightly. "I’m here for you now."

This drew attention from inside as Greg, Missy, Quinn, and Shhiv stopped their conversation and stared at the display for a few uncomfortable moments before shutting the door, letting the two have their moment.

Xera separated from him after a minute, reached out, and cupped his face, "Come on, you have guests and a party to host. This is a celebration of your new home. Your new life."

Jace nodded and clasped her hand for a moment, "…Thank you…Xe- Sera."

The housewarming party was an interesting affair. Shhiv had not been to one before, so she wasn’t quite sure what to expect. It started off a little bit awkwardly – but thankfully the plump human Missy seemed to be a natural at courting conversation, and as the group indulged in the delicious nacho bar – which Shhiv had not experienced before and found quite delicious – they broke out the beverages that Shhiv had brought.

The ’liquor’ as it was called was intriguing. Shhiv’s species did not have alcohol on her home world, and she had experienced such an intoxicant on very few occasions. It brought a pleasant haze, and it seemed everyone – except for Sera, the nice-if-distant woman from the elevator – was getting ’drunk’ as Jace called it. She seemed unaffected by the drink.

Shhiv found this cleaned up version of the man even more enticing and alluring. He was all smiles – the bright, white teeth were quite prized amongst her species as tooth health was a sign of prosperity – and he laughed alongside Greg as they shared stories about harrowing adventures from their pre-Aspirant days. Something called a ’gig’ which would involve Jace running some object to a location on a timer. Sort of like a race, she thought through the alcoholic buzz.

Greg shared what sounded like war stories. Fighting people, using something called firearms – Shhiv had to look those up on her cosmopanel – and his partner Missy chided him for the risky behavior.

Shhiv kept an eye on the other two women – Quinn and Sera. Quinn was also a human, and she was politely engaging in the conversation, blushing and giggling at Jace’s words. She’s up to something, Shhiv’s intuition told her. I think she’s into him. Shhiv instantly disliked the woman acting too politely. Crowding in on the man that she wanted to snare with her affections. She’s got an ulterior motive.

Sera was different. Jace seemed to show her some deference, but at one point in the evening she patted him softly on the shoulder and even ran her hand up to the top of his head, scratching it slightly. She saw the softness and look of fond recollection dash across Jace’s face for an instant.

Is she also into him? No. It’s more…maternal. Given that display in the hallway- no, it can’t be his mother. She’s a completely different species! The woman was an enigma that Shhiv couldn’t figure out. But she’s not romantic competition, I know that much. Just turn on the charm even more.

I’ve got this.

As the food was finished off and the drinks kept flowing, Sera tapped the panel on top of the table, and it cleared from the refuse and debris in a brief flash of dull, grey light. "Games?" she asked, looking at the wall of various titles. As the games were brought out, Shhiv realized that these women were competing for Jace’s affection. This Quinn…Shhiv wasn’t sure what the motive was; but it was definitely inclined towards getting on Jace’s good side.

As for Sera, it seemed like she was just filling a parental, caring role. Based on the information she had gathered earlier, that Jace was responsible for his younger sister, Shhiv assumed that the mother had abandoned the two or had passed away. She is trying to fill that gap to…possibly manipulate him? She gave him the whole building, so she has some pull. But…she’s not romantically interested; that much is clear.

Not a threat to my plans. Focus on the goal.

Jace nodded and stood up, "Hmm…how about this one?" He pulled down a game depicting stacked blocks, opened it, and handed the contents to Greg and Missy. Jace began reading the instructions, and everyone leaned in, listening to the details.

Ok. You can win this. Show him you’re better than these other women. Shhiv was supremely confident in her body control – despite her inebriated state. Glancing at Sera, she felt a twinge of fear as the woman’s multiple pupils made eye contact.

The black-skinned woman smiled, "I will opt out of this one, since I would be playing with an unfair advantage. Inebriation and drug-induced states are impossible for my physiology."

The rest of them played the game, and in the end, it was Shhiv versus Jace. His fingers moved with mechanical precision – to be expected from the prosthetics – and Shhiv ultimately lost. But I beat her! She thought triumphantly as she looked at Quinn.

This same process played out over the hours into the night. Alcohol flowed, games were played, and in all except the strategy games – the finalists were Shhiv and Jace. The strategy ones ended with Quinn facing off against Sera. The ones that relied on trivia from Earth; well, Shhiv lost those. Greg and Missy were the best at those, as they had consumed Earth’s media. Quinn tried to keep up, but Missy was a fountain of knowledge in Earth’s various eras. That game was particularly unfair in Shhiv’s eyes. But, she did not complain.

Greg and Missy excused themselves and said their goodbyes as the night grew late leaving Jace, Sera, Quinn, and Shhiv playing a card game focused on making humorous statements. Something called ’Cards against Creation.’

I have to outlast them, Shhiv thought as she eyed her two opponents. Quinn was showing signs of tiredness, and the holographic, falling snow above lent an even more calming atmosphere that made sleep threaten to take her. Quinn’s eyelids fluttered shut several times before she jolted awake once more. Come on. Just give up and go home!

Eventually, her wish was granted, as Quinn stood up and smiled softly, "Thanks for the party, Jace. Sera…Shhiv…good to meet you both."

Jace stood up and gave her a gentle handshake, "Thanks for coming. I’m not going to abuse that discount, by the way. Maybe just a few times a month."

"Once a month," she countered, her demeanor still jovial but with an undercurrent of seriousness.

"Deal," Jace replied. He made some hand gesture to her that Shhiv didn’t understand, and Quinn returned another. The woman departed, and Jace returned to the table with Sera and Shhiv. "I’m starting to get tired. I may have to call it quits," he said.

Sera stood up and nodded, "Of course." She gave him a soft hug, all four of her arms wrapping around him. "Remember," she whispered – so quietly that Shhiv barely picked up on it. "I’ll never abandon you."

Jace nodded and the black-skinned woman left. Leaving Shhiv and Jace. Perfect! Shhiv thought as she unintentionally licked her teeth. She began cleaning up the board game. "This has been a lot of fun!" she said with her biggest smile. She tried to keep her tail from swinging back and forth – a sign of excitement in her species – but it was hard to do. Damnit, tail! Stop it!

"Yeah. It was fun…I’ve not had real friends before. This…was nice." He smirked and chuckled, "I’ve never had my own place, either." Lowering his gaze, he raised an inquisitive eyebrow, "I’ve also never realized how good I was at skill-based games. You’re pretty damned good yourself, you know that?"

Shhiv finished boxing up the game and nodded, lifting her arm and flexing her muscles. "That’s what happens when you work out every day. Body control. Extremely precise control." She lowered her arm, leaned forward with her elbows on the table, and couched her chin with her fingers.

"That’s neat," Jace commented. He leaned forward and mimicked her hand and arm movement. He glanced at the nearby bottles that were mostly empty, "Thank you for the drinks. They really livened up the atmosphere." He grabbed the green-colored bottle and drained the last few drops, grimaced, and put it down. "Tastes good but bitter at the same time."

She got up and walked around the table, trailing her hand along the edge, swishing her tail gently behind her. Just keep up the allure. She stood next to him and gently held his hand. "You are more than welcome. I’m so happy that you invited me over." She traced along the outline of her torso with a finger – a sensual display that she had discerned from her research into humans as being a ’turn-on’.

Jace’s face went flush, "I…uhm…thanks, I…"

Ease him into it. Shhiv ran her fingers through his hair as he had spotted the Sera woman doing in the hallway earlier. She sensed an immediate shift in the tension as he relaxed.

Ah. Fuck it.

She leaned down and pulled him by the back of the head into a passionate kiss. Not having lips meant that she couldn’t follow the cosmopanel-human guide exactly, but she approximated the gesture as best she could given her physiology.

He fumbled a bit as he returned the passionate gesture. Shhiv pulled him up and slowly walked him to the bedroom, still wrapped in that enrapturing bliss of physical contact with lust laced behind it.

He was larger and stronger – she could feel that difference. But he was letting her take the lead. His prosthetics were oddly warm and felt like they were part of him; not cold, unfeeling metal as she anticipated – and she tried to make sure her swishing, sharp tail did not swing towards his limbs.

She knew the layout the apartment and maneuvered to the bedroom. "We’ll have to practice your kissing," she said coyly as she separated and pushed him onto the bed. "I know it’s tricky when I don’t have lips; but we’ll figure something out."

Xera stood in her command center, sipping a mug of what the humans called ’coffee’. The bitter, black drink was a nice change from the sweet alcohol earlier. To her left was a monitor that showed Jace and the Churkun woman Shhiv-zal entwined in an embrace, disrobing each other.

"Josie, I don’t want to watch this." Xera waved her hand and shifted away from the lovemaking-in-progress of her Signer. Focusing on Greg and Missy, she observed the two had safely made it back to their apartment. Good, they weren’t attacked. That was one of her concerns, was that other factions had picked up on Greg’s importance to Jace.

His only real weakness might be these connections. I can’t remove them, because then I would be a villain to him. I wonde-

The noise of passion and carnal pleasure caught her attention, and she wheeled around. She saw Josie looking at the two on the screen, engaged in their tumultuous activity. And the volume was seemingly maxed out. Xera blushed at the activity and shouted, "Josie! Really?"

"What? It’s hot, inter-species action. Want some popcorn?"

"Mute the audio. I don’t want to hear that!" Xera sighed and turned away, pulling up a panel to observe Quinn as the noise faded away. She took some deep breaths to calm herself from witnessing such a basic, primal display. It filled her with a sense of revulsion, that some species still engaged in such barbaric acts.

The smell of the buttery substance was alluring, though. "I would like some of this popcorn you talk about. Earth food, correct?"

"Yup!" A tendril held a bucket in front of Xera, and she munched absentmindedly on the salty, buttery treat. They have some great food, she thought as she focused on Quinn once more.

The Aspirant was up to something – Xera was sure of that. She was a Signer for the Star Council, after all, and she had a hunch that Star Father told her to vie for Jace’s affection. To manipulate him.

Thankfully, it seems like he’s made a choice, Xera thought as she glanced back at the screen Josie was watching. A soft smile graced her lips. Now I have another method of keeping him in check. I just have to keep her safe so she can’t be used against him. She was not able to be harmed while in The Eternal City – willingly harmed – by Aspirants, Ascendants, or other Civilians…but capturing someone without causing pain was still doable.

She thought back to her encounter in the hallway. The way that Jace seemingly broke when she said the slightest reassurances of her concern and compassion.

It left an…odd ache in her chest. A deep sense of sorrow that a person could experience life in such a way. It almost made her regret the manipulative nature of it.

Almost.

Quinn walked into the Star Council headquarters and went past the front desk, waving silently at Casey, the spider-woman in attendance. Going up to her apartment and keying in, she entered the bedroom and sat on the bed, heaving out a sigh.

Baby steps, she thought. Just take baby steps. You’ve got a foot in the door. Just…slowly nudge it open. She undressed as she replayed the entire night using her Cybermind Mk. 4. The recorded memories played across her vision as she got into her bed and snuggled under the covers. She analyzed the different interactions and came to three conclusions.

First, was that Greg and Jace were natural friends. She wasn’t sure the depth of their friendship before their Aspirant Trial, but they were seemingly peas in a pod from different plants.

Second, was that this shark-woman, Shhiv, was obviously romantically interested in Jace. The way she dressed made it apparent that she knew what she wanted. Going through the Broker interface in The Cosmic System, she found Shhiv’s file and quickly perused it.

Not much information was relevant, but the one bit that was relevant was that she had used a bypass request – a way for Civilians to circumvent the bureaucracy of The Cosmic System and redeem Boons of a minor level. She had…almost a hundred Common Boons saved up?

Boons could be saved up and converted to a higher rarity version if they were the same. For instance, 3 Common (Equipment) Boons could be turned into a single Uncommon (Equipment) boon, and so on ascending upward. Civilians only ever received Common boons. She spent 27 Common Boons for him? The woman had to have some ulterior motive…but Quinn couldn’t guess at what it could be. She was a nobody.

Unlike Sera. Whoever that woman was…she had power. Political power. She had a Civilian Symbol just like Missy and Shhiv…but the fact that she could get an entire building assigned to Jace meant that she had friends in high places.

And how did Jace meet her? Was she a random Civilian? The Cosmic System had a record of a Sera who matched the description…but she was just another office grunt. She must have built a massive social network with tons of favors being pulled in. But even then…why use so many favors on Jace? Why would a Civilian with that much pull be intereste-

She paused. What if Sera is the leader of this Dark Between Stars faction? No one would ever suspect a Civilian as a faction leader. It couldn’t be this Shhiv woman – she was not rich or well-connected enough.

But Sera? It could be her. And it wasn’t like Civilians couldn’t form a faction – just not be in them. Thinking back to her encounter with Star Father, he didn’t have the coloration on his fingers marking his faction designation, so she knew that faction leaders did not have the markings. Maybe…Dark Between Stars was just a code-word for the faction run by Civilians who were…working on behalf of The Cosmic System?

Sera might be the current faction leader. Since she’s locked to 150 years like the rest. It’s something worth looking into.

Jace woke up, the night sky above in the recreation of the Starlit Sea, a dazzling display that filled him with a sense of wonder. He felt the soft breathing next to him, wrapped up under the covers. The slightly rough skin pushing against his prosthetics and torso.

What a night, he thought as he replayed the events from the prior evening in his head. He’d never…been with a person in that way, before. It was fun, and exhausting…and quite enjoyable. Those butterflies in his chest persisted throughout the whole encounter, only fading when they both collapsed, exhausted, and fell asleep in each other’s embrace.

‎

‎ She shuffled a little and nestled into the crook of his arm. Still sleeping and fidgeting slightly as her tail slipped around his leg. The sharp blade on the end made a slight scuffing noise against his prosthetic – and would have sliced his skin open if it wasn’t made of magitech metal. Unfortunately, thanks to the CIF, he could feel the blade as if it was touching his skin – and he unwittingly winced. Shuffling his feet, he was able to kick some of the sheets over the swishing tail so it wouldn’t bump against him.

‎

‎ That was one concern he had when they had first started to disrobe each other. How would she react to the prosthetics?

Well, it turned out to not be an issue at all. Even despite a species difference, apparently, she had done research into humans and how to make things work between them. And despite Jace’s inexperience with all things dealing with romance and the lustier side of that – Shhiv was kind, gentle, and took the lead.

It was definitely a learning experience for both of them, and there was just as much passion as there was awkward laughing as they tried to figure out what worked and what wouldn’t. Never thought I’d be in bed with an alien shark-lady.

Jace fell back asleep in her warm embrace, a grin etched on his face.

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