Afloat in the Dark

The reception area felt warm and comfortable, as the glass doors shut behind her.

"Welcome," a matronly receptionist said, greeting her with a warm smile.

"Good morning."

Marina took off her slippers and noticed there were no signs of other guests. It confirmed a suspicion that had crept up on her that morning: had the siren rented out the entire ryokan?

Marina had grown immune to displays of wealth and power early on in her career; today she welcomed them solely for the opportunity to learn about her client's personality. Many sirens commanded considerable wealth on earth, but they were not usually so conspicuous in spending it. Like many of her clients these days--the ones that were rich enough not to have to show it--sirens tended to indulge the finer joys of life in privacy...

"Come on, step inside--you must be cold." The old woman waved her in with a smile. "It's a good day to enjoy the waters!"

"Am I the only one here?" She had to be sure.

"Yes... besides Kaito, of course."

This took Marina by surprise, as she had hoped to arrive early.

"Has he been here for long?"

The question took the woman off guard: "He's... not left the pools for a fortnight."

She stepped from behind the reception and walked over to whisper carefully: "He's not been himself lately. Best be gentle with him."

That was bizarre... but Marina had little time to reflect. The elderly receptionist began enthusiastically showing her in the direction of the dressing room. There, she set about explaining how to use the onsen, until Marina politely explained that she'd lived in Japan for fifteen years.

"Of course, of course--please make yourself at home." The woman smiled contently and bowed. "If you need anything at all, I'll be right here!"

Inside, Marina took her time getting undressed, folding her clothes, and trying to calm her mind. She reminded herself that sirens were known to be joyful and good-natured down to a fault.

Naked, Marina strode into the empty bathhouse.

She sat down by one of the shower stations to lightly wash her body in preparation of the onsen, careful to keep her carefully stylized, wavy black hair dry for the moment. As she did, she briefly gazed in the mirror.

"Hello there..."

A vigorous exercise routine had kept her looking lean and trim. She was particularly pleased with how her thin waist enhanced her breasts. What her clients loved above all were her pale blue eyes; men and women everywhere valued the exotic, and the Japanese were no different. At times, a client would stare into her eyes and become lyrical, describing clear Siberian skies, or frozen lakes, or once--a fishing fanatic--the reflection of the morning sun on the back of a river trout.

Placing back the showerhead, Marina finally got up to search for Kaito.

On the face of it, she was alone. She checked the sauna, which had been turned on to a full blaze: it was as empty as the steaming pools and the snowy terrace outside.

Where was he?

Perhaps he would show himself at a moment of his choosing. Some clients were like that. Mindful to appear relaxed and to be enjoying herself, Marina slipped out through the sliding door onto the snowy terrace. The natural hot spring steamed calmly in the brisk morning air.

Happy to be outside, Marina slipped into the scalding waters.

With a sigh, she closed her eyes.

Allowing herself to relax, she felt different parts of her body unwind, one after the other. At some point, she found even her facial muscles relaxing, revealing what could not be the most attractive look of melancholy and tiredness. How slippery, these onsen...

She yelped.

Her eyes half open, Marina had noticed something right opposite her in the steaming bath. She swiftly gripped the edge of the pool to lift herself up, then caught herself. The thing shimmering inside the hot waters took the shape of a translucent young man.

The professional in her remembered to regain her composure, and Marina elegantly sank back into the pool.

"Kaito... I am pleased to meet you. My name is Marina Sidorov."

"Forgive me for frightening you," a subdued voice came from the apparition's mouth.

It was impossible not to stare at the siren's body. Although he appeared to have fully... materialized, his human shape retained that slight shimmer, like a highway in midsummer. The torso was still so nearly translucent that Marina could make out the individual tendons and ligaments of his lean muscles. He looked no older than 20.

A velvet black bandana was wrapped over his eyes, Kaito's sole piece of clothing

"Please forgive my curiosity." Marina bowed her head slightly. "It's just that I've never laid eyes upon one of your kind before."

"Now that you have... do you wish you had not come?"

The bluntness of Kaito's soft words left her momentarily speechless.

"It's alright, look all you want," the siren offered with a vacant smile. "I'd manifest a pair of eyes for you, but it wouldn't work. We have your anatomy down to a fine art, but the human gaze remains elusive--and we may never get there. The results might frighten you if I tried."

"I'm not frightened by you," Marina reassured him.

An eyebrow arched up on the siren's brittle young face. There was a melancholic tenderness in his manner that invited sympathy, as if he was carrying some heavy burden.

"It does feel a little... surreal to sit here with you," Marina offered, having found that frankness could be disarming. "I'm not even sure how to address you; what are the customs for this kind of meeting on Enceladus?"

Was that a grin?

The siren licked his lips. "You know what my biggest problem would be? Eye color. Infinite varieties, and I'm sure that none would be as stunning as yours."

Marina felt Kaito stare at her naked body, even though he had no apparent eyes with which to see.

"All of Japan bathed together in the old days, didn't it? Before the Westerners came."

"Konyoku were the norm," she agreed. Here was a cultural ambassador indeed. "A separation of the genders came to be seen as something desirable. The Japanese adjusted quickly to the outside world..."

"Why do humans hide their bodies?"

"I suppose it's culture," Marina began, startled by the sudden change in conversation. "Humans have a long history of regulating sexual relations: nudity sends off sexual signals, and clothes help maintain these regulations. Then there's cold and the scorching sun, of course..."

Kaito nodded thoughtfully.

"No clothes on Enceladus, right?" She laughed.

"No... no need to protect us from the elements. We are the elements."

This gave Marina pause.

"Isn't this a bit hot for you, compared to Enceladus?" She nodded at the waters.

"It's agony," Kaito said. "But it suits my present state of mind."

Marina was at a loss for words--what kind of creature liked being in agony? She looked again at Kaito's form, which seemed caught in some kind of violent tremble, as if containing a huge amount of energy that ached to get out, breaking apart this young body.

She remembered why she was here. To entertain.

"What can I do for you, Kaito?" Frankness had never failed her before.

"I'm in search of a... feeling." Kaito cocked his head, and she felt his gaze intensify. "Your world is beautiful beyond description, but life has lost its luster recently. I have tried everything else; this is the last solution I can think of."

The puzzle pieces clicked together in Marina's mind. That old grandfather on the train had been right: Kaito was homesick, desperately so. She had dealt with many expats stationed in Tokyo and the signs were unmistakable.

She playfully edged around to the other side of the pool to sit down next to him. Despite the blazing heat, Kaito's leg felt cool to the touch.

"Do you experience pleasure the way humans do?"

"No, we do not," Kaito said flatly. "But perhaps I could, in this form. It's an experience I was hoping you could help me with."

Kaito took the initiative to press his cold lips upon hers.

Marina received him warmly and felt Kaito's body shake, as she guided his hands over her waist. For a while their tongues danced.

Then Marina took a slow, deep breath of hot air, laughing at her lightheadedness.

Kaito appeared to share her dizziness and gripped the edge of the pool to steady himself.

"Do you know why I called for you?"

Marina wiped the sweat off her brow. She leaned back languidly and nodded her chin, suggestively, at the stiff cock that almost pierced the surface.

Kaito shook his head. "This physical form feels... awkward to me. I was hoping you could help me make sense of it by letting me witness your own pleasure, as much as you can manage from an encounter such as this..."

Now Kawashita's words about surrender made more sense: the siren wanted for her to let herself go, to enjoy herself under his gaze.

"I think I understand, and I would be happy to give it to you."

"Then let's head to the sauna," Kaito said, rising from the waters with an erect cock.

Marina followed him back inside the bathhouse. A waft of steam escaped when she opened the sauna door and she quickly closed it behind her and Kaito. It was even hotter here than in the pool, almost painfully so.

For a moment they just stood there, Kaito's lean body quivering in the heat.

Marina felt a bead of sweat roll down between her breasts towards her belly button.

Kaito reached out, cold fingertips touching her bare neck. He leaned in to kiss her, far more deeply than before. His velvet blindfold brushed up against her cheek.

Marina surrendered, and closed her eyes. Embracing him, she felt her nipples press against his cold chest. Everywhere her hands reached, she found Kaito's muscled form, which seemed sculpted according to some classic ideal of the human male anatomy. Each part of him was perfectly designed to invite forgetfulness that the creature inside did not hail from Earth... so perfect that it was eerie.

But, Marina was prepared for a little eeriness. She relaxed her body against Kaito's and was beginning to selfishly seek pleasure, as he'd instructed.

Kaito began to hum deeply, sliding his firm hands down from her waist to her hips, then cupping her ass to pull her more firmly against him.

Marina gasped and felt Kaito's dick press against her cunt. His deep humming captivated Marina, as did the brush of his nose past her cheeks, her lips, and then along one of her eyebrows. She giggled at the unexpected tenderness.

Sensing her pleasure, the siren playfully continued to tickle her with his nose, then pushed her back against a bench, where Marina sat down and let the alien take control. One hand held her neck, while the other brushed her cheek. Seated, she felt the worst of the sauna heat retreat a little.

All Marina could think of as her lips cupped his dickhead, was how cold Kaito felt. His hands gently pressed her head closer, and she closed her eyes. Blowjobs were a great teasing device and she spent some time building up the pressure by occasionally retreating, before commencing again in earnest.

Then, Kaito stopped her.

"There's no pleasure for you in this," he stated flatly.

His comment caught her off guard. She kissed his translucent cock and coyly looked up along the shivering shaft.

"Is this not what you desire?"

Kaito staggered away, collapsing on a bench next to her and clasping his head.

"No, no, this is all wrong..." He looked at her, utterly deflated. "Why are you not enjoying this? I thought--is this not how humans do it?"

Marina carefully took his hand, massaging the tense muscles. She reminded herself that Kaito was looking for her pleasure... had she not seemed eager enough?

"How do you think humans have sex?" she asked.

Kaito shook his head, frustrated. "I've studied petabytes of stored cultural knowledge. Is this not how the exchange begins in most cases?"

Marina realized what had happened and tried not to burst out in laughter: here was an alien ambassador with unfathomable talents and resources, who had used these to create a perfect distillation of what could only be bland internet porn.

Marina chose her next question carefully. "Is it important to you that I enjoy myself deeply?"

"What's the point otherwise?"

"Then would you like to try again? Perhaps I can guide you a little."

Kaito nodded apathetically.

Marina raised his hand to her face and licked his strong fingers, before slowly guiding them down between her gleaming legs. She shivered with pleasure at his cold touch.

Kaito was visibly moved and proceeded, very slowly, to massage her vagina.

Marina leaned back and closed her eyes, trying now to lose herself into a fantasy that this was an encounter she had chosen for herself; one that she could enjoy fully.

"Kiss me between my legs," she said softly.

Enthralled, the siren sunk to his knees.

"But begin down my leg, and slowly work your way up," Marina instructed.

Very gently, Kaito planted a kiss on the inside of her thigh, close enough to her vagina that she shivered in anticipation. He kissed her again, closer up.

He seemed as caught up in the act as she was.

What was a vision in her mind, little more than a tentative desire, slowly began to take shape in the rhythm of Kaito's kisses. Up, up, up along her thighs before circling in on her pubic area.

In the midst of the blazing sauna, the touch of his lips refreshed her. His tongue, tentatively flicking out, was positively cold to the touch.

He grabbed her ankles, and slowly spread her legs apart a little further. Marina leaned back and felt a growing desire for this strange creature. She reached out to grab Kaito's hair, as his hands slid up her legs.

She felt his head, cool to the touch, lean in. His lips brushed hers, before kissing her thin line of pubic hair. Marina sighed deeply and arched her back. He was toying with her, moving so very, very slowly...

The tip of Kaito's nose touched her clit and she heaved a sigh.

"Now kiss me down there!" she commanded.

The siren leant in, his lips and tongue feeling like a cool shower in the sauna's inferno. Almost religiously, he began exploring her most sensitive places. He nibbled on her clit, ran the tip of his tongue up and down her labia, and before long she felt his tongue sink deep inside of her.

Marina smiled as she realized that unexpectedly, she'd almost come right there and then. Her smile turned to moans and she pulled Kaito's head closer between her legs. When was the last time someone had gone down on her like this...?

As his tongue toyed away with her, the siren's cold hands took away the worst of the heat, gently massaging her abdomen to assist the stimulation of his tongue. Unburdened by the need to simulate some video, he seemed to know exactly what she wanted.

Like a natural... how did he know?

When the unbidden desire came for Kaito to squeeze her breasts, the siren responded instantly. She shrieked with pleasure, as he grabbed her with just the right amount of pain.

Was he reading her mind--?

His secret out, perhaps, Kaito began to respond even more brazenly to the unspoken, unconscious needs that welled up inside her. He appeared to be as eager as her. Where her body called out, he responded infallibly, teasing, caressing, squeezing her body to lead her to eyewatering levels of pleasure.

Marina bent and twisted on the sauna bench, moaning with abandon as she surrendered all resistance to the honey-sweet coldness of Kaito's affections. She had already come twice, crying out with delight... a third time?

Marina breathed in the singeing sauna air, feeling heavier and heavier as her body snaked its way into its own oscillation, pressing over and again against the steady pressure of Kaito's hands and tongue.

God, yes.

Kaito was humming deeply now; some animalistic rumble that she did not understand but which deeply added to her excitement.

Deeper and deeper she sank into the rhythm of his touch. Was it the contrast of hot and cold, or the deftness of his hands or--was she hyperventilating?

Through closed eyes, Marina became aware of golden threads of light curving into fireworks, or flowers perhaps, dancing geometrically in front of her shut eyes. The light grew more bright, and she suppressed a sense of panic. She couldn't stop now; she was so close...

"Make me come!" she cried, seeking to shake off her hallucinations.

Down below, she felt Kaito inch back his fingers, nose, and tongue--for a long, teasing moment--before softly circling his tongue around her clit to make her come at last, all of her built-up tension set loose in one great tidal wave.

Marina's body convulsed and the golden visions dissolved to make way for a transcendental calm.

She saw the winds blow some snow off the tree branches outside. A bird was heard, and Marina had the distinct sense that she could understand its song. For a moment, she became intimately aware of the sacred autumn day outside. Everything vibrated with such intense... aliveness.

The sound of her own sobbing pulled her back, and Marina returned to a body that still spasmed with pleasure.

Sweaty hair stuck to Kaito's forehead, which he'd rested gently against her leg to look up at her with a mixture of fascination and naked joyfulness.

Marina gasped for air. "What was that?"

But Kaito remained silent, softly nudging the tip of his nose against her knee.

"Enough... enough," she whispered hoarsely.

She could tell Kaito had relished making her feel good, but it was more than that. How deeply he must have intuited her pleasure to draw that kind of orgasm out of her...

"So, this is how you do it?" he smiled hesitantly. "It's so natural, almost as if you... feel your way into it. There seemed to be so much ritual involved in what I've seen."

Marina deeply breathing in the dry sauna air. Yet as she felt her orgasm ebb away, something switched in Kaito and his mood rapidly darkened.

He got up and left the sauna without a word. Unfazed, Marina got up and followed him all the way outside, where she watched him collapse in the snow.

Kaito's frame looked haggard, his shoulders shaking as tears came rolling down from underneath the bandana. Save for his faintly transparent skin, he looked distinctly human in that moment.

"Hey, hey..." Marina whispered as she wrapped her arms around him and pressed her head against his arm. "What's wrong?"

"It just--it worked for a moment..."

"What worked?"

For a while Kaito cried silently. "I'm so sorry, it's just... I feel so lost in this world, and I don't know what to do with all these feelings. I was hoping to find delight in the human experience, and you were certainly lovely... but being with you seems to be having the opposite effect that I'd hoped for. I feel more confused than ever."

Marina positioned herself behind him, letting his body collapse against hers so she could slowly massage his temples. Finally, she said: "Humans are usually not in agony when having sex."

"Agony is the only thing that helps me keep this body together."

Marina's felt the snow crush and melt underneath her. Both of their bodies were steaming but the cold beginning to creep up through her shins. Was this how Kaito felt in the heat...?

"You don't have to look human for me, you know..."

This caused Kaito to shrink away from her touch.

Marina stroked his hair. "I think... I think that as long as I stay with you, you won't fall apart when we leave the heat. How about we get you to your room?"

Kaito finally consented, and Marina helped him up. Seeking out Kaito's clothes, she helped to dress him and walked him out of the bathhouse--catching a wide smile and two thumbs up from the old lady at the counter.

She followed Kaito's mumbled directions and led him to his room. There, she prepared his futon, closed the curtains, and laid him to rest in bed.