Black Velvet

"Nearly seven years now," he said in that deep, gravelly voice.

"So, you must have signed up about the time Elysia joined the Coalition?"

"That's right."

"You must have been a soldier beforehand, right? Most of the Borealans that you see around the station are, uh...less mature than you are."

"The young are usually more eager to enter into service. They see it as a way to prove themselves, a trial by fire. The older generations are more skeptical. My home territory is seeing a period of unprecedented peace, there are none who stand against Elysia. Those who come of age have little opportunity for practice besides harmless dominance bouts. Leaving the planet, and participating in the Coalition's campaigns is the only way that many will see real combat and have a chance to wet their claws."

"How about you?" Jules asked, jogging for a moment to catch up with him.

"War has become...a habit for me," he mumbled as he stared into the gloom. "Peace does not suit me. When I realized that there were no territories on Borealis that could threaten Elysia after our pact with the Coalition was made, I signed up to become an auxiliary."

"Most humans want to retire after a certain point," Jules continued, "they get a pension and go live out the rest of their days on some peaceful colony."

"Borealans were not made to wither and fade as you do," he grumbled. "Putting down one's rifle does not change one from a soldier to a baker or a farmer. My place is on the battlefield."

"So, are you between battles right now?"

"The carrier that I serve on was damaged in an engagement, it is being refitted in drydock."

"I see, you have some shore leave then."

"Three months," he growled, "I might have gone stir crazy was it not for Ash."

Jules didn't press him for more details, he wasn't sure if the Borealan would get offended, or if he would give him far more information than he actually wanted. Instead, they chatted about Araxie for a little while as they walked along the curving deck. The grizzled old soldier wasn't interested in the diplomatic side of things, but Jules could shed a lot of light on the territory itself and what he had found there. He was careful not to reveal too much, like how the Araxie villages were hidden, and what methods the Araxie used in combat. In the unlikely event that the council rejected his proposal for some reason, he didn't want to open the territory up for invasion by its neighbors.

According to Noza, there was a period of Borealan history in which the scattered desert tribes that inhabited the wastelands had banded together to fight for control over the lakes. When the fighting was over, and the dust had settled, the territories as they exist today had come into existence. Shortly after this period, the Elysians and other territories such as the Rask had sent scouting parties and teams of explorers out to survey neighboring lakes, Araxie among them. Just as Yuta had said, those who survived returned with tales of ghosts striking from the shadows. Araxie had been deemed either too dangerous or too difficult to explore and so it had faded into myth, somewhat of a Bermuda Triangle in Borealan culture. Noza did not seem to know that the Rask had recently been launching raids, and Jules did not see a reason to tell him at this juncture. It was another potential security issue that he didn't want to risk exposing.

Jules found it interesting how the warrior talked of the deserts like a human might talk of oceans. On Earth, it was massive stretches of water that separated the continents. In the age of exploration, sailors would have braved storms and scurvy to sail them for months on end in hope of new discoveries and untold riches. On Borealis, it was the deserts between the territories that had to be traversed. Noza talked of massive caravans that trekked across the inhospitable seas of dunes between the solitary oases of greenery and water, seeking out new trade routes, and making contact with new lakes.

Jules wanted to know more about the Rask, and Noza told him stories of desert bandits, the pirates of these sandy oceans who made their living raiding caravans and poorly defended nations. Until someone qualified interviewed the Rask prisoner back in Araxie, and a real investigation was launched, it was difficult to say whether the Rask Matriarch was aware of the clandestine actions of her people. But the more he learned about them, the less likely it seemed that they had abandoned their age-old profession with the simple signing of a treaty.

"This is our place," Jules said as they arrived at the door to the apartment, fishing in his pocket for the key card. He swiped it, and the door slid open, Noza entering first. He appraised the open-plan room, then waved his packmates in, Zuki still strung between them.

"There's a bed in the back room," Jules began, "you can just-"

The two Elysians ignored him, depositing Zuki unceremoniously onto the massive couch, the frame creaking under her weight. She giggled, seeming to enjoy being thrown around, mumbling to herself as she slowly drifted off to sleep and lay still.

"I guess she can sleep on the couch," Jules added.

"If that will be all, then we shall head back," Noza said.

"Thanks for the help Noza, I hope that I'll see you around the station," Jules replied as he offered him a tiny hand. Noza cocked his head, perhaps not used to shaking hands with a human, but he accepted the gesture and enclosed it in his furry mitten.

"Take good care of your friend," he rumbled, then he turned to the door. He snapped his fingers, and his two companions fell in line, one of them closing the door behind him. Jules found himself alone with the passed out alien, her chest slowly rising and falling as she slept off her drunkenness. She looked so peaceful in her sweater, and he was pleased that he had been able to show her a good time. She had really been coming out of her shell since she had arrived on the station, her confidence was growing. There was nothing like a new environment to give a person a fresh start.

It looked like he would be sleeping in the bed tonight, or rather this morning, as he was on Araxie time. He gingerly removed Zuki's sunglasses, setting them on the coffee table beside the helmet, then closed the blinds on the windows before heading off to the bathroom to brush his teeth. He didn't want her to be woken up when the sunlamps turned back on.

After freshening up, he was ready for bed, opening the large door that separated the bedroom from the rest of the apartment. Even the bed was massive, it was the size of a large dining table, strewn with thick sheets and large pillows. After kicking off his shoes and pants, he climbed up onto it, realizing that it was nearly as hard as one too. It was firm and unyielding, it would have to be, considering how heavy the aliens were. He felt like a toddler climbing into his parents' bed as he wrapped the heavy sheets around himself, staring at the dark ceiling.

As he closed his eyes, images of Zuki's smiling face flashed in his mind, the playing card held against her forehead. He saw her glistening, chiseled body moving as she struggled to get the sweater over her head in the confines of the changing booth, as if he was standing before her again. He tossed and turned, trying to stave off the intrusive thoughts that were bombarding him, eventually settling into a troubled sleep.

***

Jules woke from a dream in which he couldn't breathe, as if a heavy weight was crushing his chest. He blinked his eyes groggily, still half asleep as he ran his fingers through the imitation fur of the sheets. It felt like he was being pressed down into the mattress, but they were made for Borealans, after all. Wait a minute, the sheets hadn't been imitation fur...

He looked down to see Zuki's round ears. Her head was resting on his chest, and her arm was draped around his midsection. He could feel the warmth of her breath through the thin fabric of his shirt. She was breathing slow and heavy, clearly fast asleep. He had no idea what time it was, perhaps it was day, but Zuki must have crept from the couch to the bed in a drunken stupor at some point. As clumsy as she was, she really could be stealthy when she wanted to be.

Despite her weight, she wasn't crushing him, she was merely sinking him deep into the mattress beside her. He had been absent-mindedly stroking her furry head in his sleep, running his fingers through her silky hair like she was a pet dog.

He tried to wriggle free of her, attempting to move her arm without disturbing her. She grumbled in her sleep, her brow furrowing, and he had to stifle a yelp of surprise as she pressed the tips of her claws into his side and pulled him closer. Apparently, she wasn't going to be moving any time soon.

That blackberry scent reached his nose again, and he began to relax. Her round, fuzzy ears twitched as she slept, perhaps she was dreaming about something. Jules reached a hand down and prodded one of them, watching it flick. Amused, he trapped it between his thumb and forefinger, rubbing it softly. Beneath the fuzzy fur was a silky membrane, Zuki slowly wriggling as he massaged it, loosing a contented sigh that sent more warm air washing across his chest.

She had pulled back the covers, but she was warm, still clad in her knitted turtleneck sweater. He stroked her ear for a few minutes longer, watching as she shifted and murmured, then he began to run his fingers through her hair. It was so strange to him that they had hair as well as fur. Zuki's was cropped fairly short in a kind of messy pixie cut. It was silkier than human hair, more closely resembling fur. As his fingers brushed her scalp, she hugged him more tightly. She was probably still wasted, she had no idea where she was or what was going on.

Her hair too was slightly wet, almost like she had left the shower some time ago, and it had nearly dried. It couldn't be the humidity, perhaps it was some kind of natural oil, or maybe sweat to help her shed excess heat in the roasting jungles of her home territory? Either way, he liked the way that it felt.

Jules roamed lower, rubbing the back of her neck, finding the thin fur there just as damp. It so closely resembled skin when it was wet, so pleasant to the touch...

Zuki's reflective, green eyes opened for a brief second, her long lashes fluttering. Jules pulled his hand away in a momentary panic, worried that he had crossed a line. Zuki seemed to have no clue that he was even there, mumbling something about fries and then shifting her weight in the bed. The springs creaked as she pushed her wet nose into the nape of his neck, her breath tickling his skin. She wrapped her arm around his chest and tugged him closer, pressing his shoulder into her bosom, Jules feeling her flesh yield beneath her sweater.

He didn't know what to do. His skin was tingling, like his senses had been kicked into overdrive, and he was hyperaware of wherever her velvet coat was brushing against his skin. She nuzzled, perhaps dreaming that she was sharing a bed with one of her own kind, her fuzzy tail coiling around his nearest leg possessively like a furry snake.

He wasn't sure if he would be able to wake her if he tried, and escape was clearly impossible. Instead, he closed his eyes, listening to the rhythm of her deep breathing and the pulsing of her massive heart as he let her body heat permeate him. There were worst places to sleep, he thought to himself, resting his hand on top of hers.

***

The next time that Jules opened his eyes, he was met with a pair of green orbs peering back at him. He sat up with a start, Zuki pulling away as her round pupils shrank back down to feline slits. She was still lying beside him on the bed, propped up on her elbow.

"Were you...watching me sleep?" he mumbled as he rubbed his eyes.

"Is that bad?" she asked.

"Well...we don't usually invade other people's personal space. I'm surprised you're still here, I figured you would have left when you woke up."

"Why?" she asked, cocking her head at him.

"You came in here drunk last night, I assumed that you didn't know where you were."

"I knew where I was," she replied cheerfully. "Oh...you don't look happy. Do humans not sleep together as Araxie packs do?"

So that was it, Araxie packs all slept together in a heap, and he had told her that the two of them were a pack. In her mind, he might as well have left the door open in invitation. It wasn't as if her motives weren't honorable, it was just a...cultural misunderstanding.

"It's alright," he said, trying to reassure her. "Do you not have a hangover? You were really putting them away last night."

"Putting them away?" she asked curiously.

"I mean that you were drinking a lot. You out-drank that whole pack of Elysians. That Noza guy was pretty nice, he and his friends carried you back here. You don't have a headache then?"

"Nope," she said with a shake of her head.

"Okay then," Jules mumbled. "Fuck, what time is it? This nocturnal schedule of yours is fucking with my sleep pattern."

"Nighttime," she replied.

"Very helpful," he grumbled, swinging his legs over the edge of the bed and hopping to the floor.

"What are we going to do today?" Zuki asked, following behind him as he made his way out of the bedroom and into the kitchen.

"Damn it," he complained, looking over the empty cupboards and the derelict fridge. "The first thing we need to do is go get some coffee and some cereal at least, or I'm not going to survive this. Let me just get a shower, and I'll go out and pick up some food. There must be a general store or something around here that's open late."

"Shower?" she repeated.

"I need to bathe," he clarified.

"Oh, me too. I was going to ask you about that. Is there a spring or a lake somewhere that I can wash in?"

"On a space station?" he asked, giving her a sarcastic look. "That's what the shower is for. Come on, I'll show you."

He led her into the bathroom, which was cramped for a Borealan, Zuki bumping into him with her wide hip as they jostled for space. It was downright king-sized by Jules' standards, however. There was a toilet and a sink in one corner, along with a shower cubicle in the other. The floor was tiled, and there was a grate in the middle where excess water could drain away.

"This glass box here is the shower," he said as he opened the sliding door and stepped inside. He detached the showerhead on its flexible tube and began to type at a waterproof touch panel that was mounted beneath it. "The water comes out of here, and then you use this panel to control the flow and temperature. Let's say that you wanted a slow flow of water at...thirty degrees Celsius, you just change the sliders here, and then..."

Zuki's eyes widened as a stream of water began to flow from the metallic showerhead, Jules interrupting the jets as he ran his hand beneath it.

"Water comes out of there?" she asked in disbelief. "Where does it come from?"

"I guess you guys don't have indoor plumbing? There are giant tanks in the station that purify the water, and then it's pumped through pipes in the walls until it ends up here. What you use will drain away, and then it will be purified again for later use. When you take a shower, just try not to waste too much of it, or the bill will be astronomical."

She reached for the showerhead, and he passed it to her, Zuki taking it by the handle and turning it over as she examined it. She tapped at it, her claw clicking against the metal, the alien smiling as she ran the jets over her furry hand. She accidentally angled it towards Jules, spraying him in the face and soaking his shirt.

"S-Sorry," she began, but he raised a hand to silence her as he spat out a mouthful of warm water.

"It's alright, I was going to take a shower anyway..."

***

Jules finished drying his hair with a towel, buttoning up his shirt and slipping on a pair of shoes. It was so liberating to be able to wear loafers once again, rather than the boots that the UNN had supplied him with. When he stepped out into the apartment, sliding an arm into the sleeve of his jacket, Zuki was once again flipping through articles as she sat on the couch before the large monitor. She seemed to fill every free moment with research, she was quite the student. Once she had learned the basics of how the Coalition functioned, then he might be able to start teaching her more advanced laws and regulations to further her goal of becoming a real diplomat.

"Do you want to come with me and pick out some food?" he asked.

"No, I'll bathe while you're away," she replied with a shake of her head. "Can you bring more fries back?"

"I'll bring you more fries," he laughed, closing the door behind him on his way out.

***

Jules set his shopping bags down on the step outside the door to the apartment as he rummaged in his pocket for his key card, swiping it across the sensor. He stooped to retrieve his bags, the door opening automatically, a wave of humidity washing over him as he stepped over the threshold. Immediately, he began to sweat. It was like being back in the jungle again, the entire apartment had been transformed into a sauna.

"Zuki!?" he shouted, searching for her through the thick haze of steam. "What did you do?"

He could hear the loud sound of water impacting tile, so he made his way towards the bathroom. The door was ajar, and when he leaned inside, he saw Zuki sitting in the shower cubicle beneath a stream of water. It was so hot that it created an obscuring haze around her. She had removed her new clothes, clad only in her leather shorts and her vest, which were apparently waterproof. She opened her eyes when she noticed him, smiling happily, blinking through the sheets of water as they cascaded over her head. She was soaked to the bone, relaxing in the heat.

"You're back!"

"Zuki, what are you doing? I thought I told you not to waste water?"

"I-I'm not wasting it," she stammered, confused by his reaction. "If you turn the red bar all the way up, it makes steam. Isn't it nice? The air isn't so cold and dry anymore."

Jules ran his fingers through his now damp hair, sighing in exasperation. There was no point in being angry with her if she didn't understand what she had done wrong. Looks like he'd be trying to pass off the water bill as a business expense too...

"Alright, let's turn off the water now, I brought back food."

"Fries?" she asked, her ears pricking up.

"Yes, I got fries."

She climbed to her feet excitedly, slipping a little on the wet tiles before finding her balance. She tapped at the touch panel with a padded finger, and the flow from the showerhead slowly abated, Zuki stepping out of the cubicle as droplets of water rained from her sodden fur.

"I'll get you a towel," Jules said, "just wait here and-"

She suddenly shook herself violently like a wet dog. The shiver passed from her head to the tip of her tail in a wave, sending hot water spraying around the room. Fortunately, Jules was able to take cover behind the door, avoiding the worst of it. He peeked out from his refuge, frowning at her.

"Sorry," she said with a grimace, "do humans not like water?"

"It's not that we don't like water, but we generally don't like getting our clothes wet, no. Stay here while I get you a towel, I'm not having you walking around the apartment while you're wet."

"Give me a minute to change," she said, moving towards the door. She slowly closed it in his face, almost apologetically, and then he heard a click. She must have locked it this time, she had figured out how that worked. By change she probably meant that she had to reapply her bandages. His curiosity was getting the better of him, he would have to ask her what they were concealing eventually. Whatever it was, she seemed self-conscious about it.