Broken Boundaries Ch. 05-06

'Can you trigger an emergency?'

She pondered for a moment. 'Yes, I can trigger a test mode of the controls.' she said and stood up in front of Alain. 'I'll need you to cut the power at that moment to the door and short the lock before it resets.'

He took a deep breath in relief. 'Good. But first we need to do something else.'

***

'Ready?' asked Asitha after she prepared the emergency test mode.

'Good to go.' said Alain at the exposed control circuitry of Tiness's pod.

'Here we go.' Asitha said and typed commands on her tablet. The lights inside her pod went out and a couple of buzzers went off. Alain cut the power relay to the door and stuck a screwdriver between two pins on the circuit board. The zap and tiny flash were followed by a metallic clink and Alain pushed with his flat hands against the door. It slid open with a little effort and Tiness stared in horror at the shadowy figure of Alain in her doorway.

He spotted her curled up on her bed and she pressed herself back against the wall at the first step he took inside. In the light from the doorway he saw her red eyes and the mess of her face. For a moment Alain kept in mind that she might lash out at him in fear but she hid her face in her arms and tucked her tail tight around her as she whimpered softly. 'You've had two days to cry, you're done now.' he said.

Tiness gasped and her heart raced when he grabbed her wrist and pulled her from the bed. There was little resistance she could put up while her whole being trembled in fear of what was to come. They would punish her for hiding the truth, just like her father and mother had done when they found out her true nature after they discovered her hidden clothes and banned books, and her diary with the things she couldn't talk about. They had thrown her out and it was pure luck that she met others like her on the outskirts of the city. She was relatively safe with them until a raid by young males destroyed the place they lived in and left everyone beaten and badly wounded.

Her fear was painful, but not as much as the guilt for betraying the two people that had trusted her and were her friends. Tears ran down her sticky cheeks while she thought she deserved what was coming to her. She couldn't even ask for forgiveness.

Alain pulled her with him to the couch and sat her down. He went to the kitchen and she feared he'd come back with a knife or anything else to hurt her. She wanted to curl up into a tight ball again but her trembling body wouldn't listen to her.

When he came back he put a tray with a full plate with her favourite foods on it on her lap, and sat down next to her with Asitha at his other side as usual. She turned on a movie and they started on their own meal.

Tiness trembled even harder from the shock of a normal routine getting pushed onto her. They didn't treat her like trash, they didn't yell at her, called her names, or hurt her.

Alain looked at her crying in her fists. 'Hey, I said you're done crying. There's no reason to feel sad or anything.'

Tiness shook her head and a her mouth quivered a smile and the words stuck in her throat. 'I'm happy.'

Alain pulled her head against him and he pet her while she cried until relief flushed all fear from her mind.

***

By the time the movie ended Tiness had finished her meal with some effort because her hands still trembled a little from the stress of the previous days. The comedy had helped to take her mind off of it and she felt like she could breathe again. Asitha poured her a drink and she took it with two hands to prevent spilling it or dropping the glass. The familiar warmth filled her and it calmed her down further. She glanced sideways at Alain and Asitha relaxing like usual. 'Thank you.' she said softly with her hoarse voice.

'Don't thank us.' said Alain and smiled a little mischievously. 'You have kitchen and laundry duty to catch up to. 'And you'd better give it your all on the next retrieval mission we have to undertake.

Tiness almost snorted her drink through her nose and rubbed it as it tingled furiously inside while she laughed. 'Yeah, I do.' She took a deep breath and let it out, and looked down with flattened ears.. 'I wouldn't have blamed you if you hated me.'

'Nonsense.' said Asitha. 'Although I don't have it as bad as you do, as a female I do understand some of how you must feel. I've heard of some of the things that have happened.' She laid her hand on Alain's thigh. 'And Alain isn't at all like our males, he's been very worried about you as well.'

Tiness glanced at him while her heart beat a little faster. 'Really?'

He blushed a little. 'I just can't have dear friends feel bad.'

Tiness smiled. 'Thank you, both of you.'

Asitha took a deep breath. 'I guess it's my turn now.' she said and Tiness and Asitha looked a little puzzled at her and she gripped the hem of her shirt. 'I've been afraid of showing this for a long time but it's nothing compared to what you had to hide.' Her heart pounded and her hands trembled slightly but she told herself she'd better show them now than being exposed later on. She lifted her shirt and exposed her belly.

Tiness gasped as she and Alain saw the wide, white and red scar of burned flesh that ran in a slight arch from her lower abdomen to her left breast.

'I was in an accident when I was young.' Asitha said softly. 'Ever since then I've been bullied and called ugly. Especially by males.'

'Utter nonsense.'

She looked at Alain, who frowned.

'This doesn't make any difference to who you are.' he said. 'To me you're still cute, regardless of this scar or not. Any male that can't look more than skin deep, or in your case, fur deep, is a complete idiot.'

Asitha looked at Tiness smiling and nodding, and blushed and chuckled. 'I hoped I had nothing to worry about.'

Alain looked away. 'But you should still cover yourself, you're a girl after all.'

She noticed his red face and pulled her shirt down fast, blushing even harder. He took a deep breath and grabbed the remote. 'That's enough about that.' he said and pulled up the playlist. 'Since we don't have enough energy to play we'll just fill our time with merry movies.'

Some time later, Asitha and Alain weren't surprised to see Tiness had fallen asleep against him. 'Can you carry her?' Asitha whispered. 'I'll replace her pillows and bed cover.'

He lifted her carefully in his arms but she mumbled softly while he moved to her pod. 'Shhh, sleep, Tiness.' he whispered. She rubbed her cheek against him and Asitha chuckled softly.

'We were really lucky to have met you instead of a couple of males that dislike us Silth.'

He blushed slightly while he laid Tiness on her bed. 'I just think I was lucky that I didn't have to deal with a couple of Silth males not unlike human males.' he chuckled softly. 'I guess we're even now.'

Asitha smiled softly at Tiness while Alain tucked a pillow under her head. They left the pod but looked back for a moment at the doorway. 'Will things change?' Asitha asked.

'Honestly, I don't know.' said Alain. 'A big secret has spilled and we'll just have to go on and see what happens.'

Asitha nodded and gave him a hug. 'Sweet dreams.' she said and stepped into her own pod. Alain went to bed but stayed awake for a while, trying to figure out how he felt about Tiness.

***

'Hey.' said Tiness as she woke up and entered the living and found Alain in the kitchen fixing something to eat.

He smiled at her while he opened a container with fruit. 'Sleep well?'

She pulled on the lower front of her shirt and nodded a little.

He held up the container. 'Want some too?'

She nodded and smiled a little. 'Please.'

He put the container on the counter. 'Don't stand there like a shy schoolgirl, I'm not going to bite or anything.'

Tiness hurried over and made herself a bowl of fruit and meat. Alain chuckled. 'Be yourself, that's all Asitha and I expect of you.'

'I'm not used to this.' Tiness said. 'The only other time where I could be myself was with my friends at home who were like me. Before we..'

Alain watched her smile fade as she stared down. He pat her head. 'That's behind you now. Nothing you can change about that. As far as I'm concerned we'll live comfortably together here with the three of us, and if they decide to stop this project I'd like it if we could find a new place together.'

She looked up at him. 'Together!?'

'If you'd be willing to put with a human and Asitha.' he said and chuckled. 'I'm not really good with people but I like to be around you two.'

She smiled. 'I'd like that.'

Asitha came up behind them and put her arms around their waists. 'What're you talking about and what're you making?'

Alain put a small cut of dried meat in her mouth. 'I said if we ever have to leave this place I'd like to find a new place to live with the both of you.'

Asitha looked at him with big eyes. 'Really?'

He nodded. 'Maybe I just want to keep cute creatures around me for as long as possible.'

Asitha sniggered. 'Trying to be the mighty male like in your movies?'

He shrugged. 'One of the few aspects of the male heroes I can agree with.'

Asitha leaned her head close to Tiness. 'Maybe we should rethink our evaluation of this human male. Seems he does have some resemblances to our Silth males.'

Tiness giggled. 'If it's just that, I don't mind staying with Alain.'

Asitha sighed. 'Then I'd better stay as well to keep an eye on things. Make sure he behaves.'

Alain smirked. 'Admit it, you want to stay for my cooking.'

Asitha huffed. 'Fine, I admit it.' she said and poked his back. 'So you better keep making tasty things.'

Alain handed her one of the bowls he made. 'It's settled then, I'm living out my life with two big cats.'

Asitha growled playfully, Careful, two very big cats can be dangerous.'

'Rowr.' said Alain and the girls giggled as they went to the couch.

***

Tiness gazed at Alain a few days later. 'Are you all right?'

He looked up from his inventory sheet. 'Just a little tired from the debris I had to clear today. Why?'

She narrowed her eyes. 'Your eyes and face look a little redder.'

He gave her a smile. 'I'm thinking of taking a nap after I'm done with this, that'll recharge me.'

She nodded. 'Then we'll see you later. We're working near the rear of the ship this shift.' she said and left for the airlock above.

When she and Asitha returned at the end of the shift they found the living empty. 'Alain?' said Asitha.

'His suit is here.' said Tiness. 'He can't be outside.'

Asitha peeked through his pod's doorway and saw him sprawled on his stomach on the bed. 'Alain?' With no reaction from him she hurried inside. 'Alain?' she said again and touched his red cheek. Her heart pounded at the warmth of his face. 'Tiness! Something's wrong with Alain!'

He groaned and blinked his eyes while Tiness hurried inside. 'Asitha? What is it?'

She frowned. 'You don't look good.'

He rolled onto his back slowly while his muscles ached and a headache pounded against his temples. 'That would fit with how I feel.' he groaned. 'Looks like I caught some space bug.' He chuckled once before his headache stopped him.

Asitha propped him up with extra pillows in his back. 'Where's your medical analyser?'

He gave a nod towards a corner of the pod. 'The medical supply chest over there.'

Tiness retrieved it and strapped the band around his lower arm. The device ticked several times and displayed a short list on its screen. 'Highest probability, the flu.'

Alain chuckled once and groaned. 'Something stupid as that.'

'But how did you get infected?' asked Asitha.

Alain thought as far as he could manage through the jumbled mess of his mind, then he remembered. 'I found shards of a broken vial in my tool box a while ago. I thought it had drifted inside while I cleared a medical bay. It must've contained a pathogen.'

'The device prescribes extra vitamins and plenty of rest.' said Tiness.

'Still the only known remedy.' said Alain. 'Looks like our adventure game's on hold for now.'

Asitha chuckled. 'If that's the worst you're worried about I'm sure things will turn out fine.'

Alain smiled a little. 'Not the first time I battled with this foe.'

Asitha looked at Tiness. 'Except this time you have two partners to nurse you.'

Tiness chuckled. 'Yes, and we know what to do from the movies we saw.'

Alain saw the images of the comedies rush before his eyes. 'Please don't! I want to live!'

Tiness stuck out her tongue. 'Just kidding.' she said. 'I'll make you something nutritious and easy to eat.'

Alain sighed. 'Thanks. I'll try to sleep until then.'

When Tiness returned she sat on the edge of the bed looking at Alain's sleeping face for a moment, before putting her hand on his chest and gently shaking him to wake him up. He rubbed his eyes and smiled sleepily at her. 'Smells good.' he whispered. 'I feel better already.'

She put the tray with a hearty soup and soft bread on his lap. 'I can make lots more if that'll cure you.'

He chuckled once. 'Just not all at once.' he said and carefully sipped from his spoon.

Tiness looked around his room, thinking how despite the apparent mess of different crates, they were all organised by similar content like electronic parts, books and portable media, clothes, everyday items for use in the bathroom, kitchen, and any useful item he had found while going around the Walkurea. She though to mention it to Asitha and do the same on the Amaroth, although there probably wouldn't be much left since the Silth took few belongings with them on a mission, unlike humans who preferred to keep personal items around. She sighed at the memory of losing photos and videos from the people she had met when her portable was destroyed by a group that harassed her before she managed to get her last job.

'What's wrong?' Alain whispered.

She gave him a quick smile. 'Just something from the past. It doesn't matter.'

'Okay, but if you want to talk about things that bother you, I, and I'm sure Asitha as well, are here for you.'

'Thank you.' she said and stood up to counter the urge to crawl up to him and hold him. 'I'll pick up the tray later. There's the laundry waiting for me.'

Alain sipped his soup while wishing he hadn't been too sick to give her a tight reassuring hug.

***

Alain woke up much later with Asitha sleeping next to him. He stared at her sleeping face for a while, then chuckled silently. "What are you doing here?" he thought. "You're really like a domestic cat sleeping with its owner."

He looked at the doorway when he saw movement in the faint light and gazed at Tiness. 'I'm sorry.' she whispered as she came inside. 'Asitha said she'd check up on you before going to bed but she must've been so tired she fell asleep here. I'll take her to her own bed.'

'It's okay, I don't mind.' Alain whispered. 'If she's that tired let her sleep.'

Tiness nodded. 'How are you feeling?'

'Still tired, but I think the headache and fever are lessening.'

She smiled a little. 'I'm glad.' she said, looked at Asitha, and then at Alain again. She pulled on the hem of her shirt. 'I'll go back to my bed then.'

Alain noticed her looking at Asitha again and her ears drooping. 'You want to sleep here with us?' he asked and her ears went up quickly.

'Would that be all right? I mean, you know, I'm not..' she muttered and her ears drooped again.

Alain raised an eyebrow. 'I'm offering, aren't I? Or do you doubt me?'

She quickly shook her head.

He pat on the empty side of the bed. 'Enough room for one more.'

She smiled and laid down next to him. 'Thank you.'

'No need.' he whispered and yawned. 'Sweet dreams.'

'Sweet dreams.' she whispered and closed her eyes, hoping the beating of her heart wouldn't keep her awake.

***

Tiness woke up slowly while realising where she was. "Oh shaz!" she thought while trying to keep her heartbeat under control. "I took his arm and snuggled up against him in my sleep! He won't like that!" She pulled back carefully pretending to wake up clueless in case Alain woke up, and gently pulled her tail that had curled up on his hips from underneath his arm. She glanced at him and was glad he was still asleep, and got out of bed. She looked at Asitha, who'd snuggled up in the same way on his other side. "He won't mind her.' Her chest tightened and she left to get ready for the shift and take her mind off of things.

Asitha woke up soon after and pressed herself against Alain's arm as she stretched, then chuckled silently when she noticed what she had done. She smiled softly at his sleeping face and slipped her tail from underneath his arm. She touched his cheek and thought his temperature had gone down. She would check it later when he was awake and slipped from the bed. She heard noise from Tiness's pod. "Ah, she's awake." she thought and headed for her own pod. "I'd better begin on the meal since she'll take the shift while I stay here with Alain."

Alain slowly let out his breath and pushed himself up while his bladder nearly burst. He just couldn't disturb the girls and wake them up while they slept and he felt so good between their warm and soft bodies. He was also glad he was too sick for the usual physical state to occur in the morning and them seeing it.

He sat on the side of his bed when Asitha came in a little later. 'How is it now?' she asked.

He sighed. 'A little better but I feel dirty and am trying to find the energy to take a shower in my bathroom.'

She sniffed the air. 'Indeed.'

'Don't smell me!' he said and she laughed at his flustered face.

She smirked. 'Don't worry, we're already used to your human scent. Our nose is more refined than yours.'

He blushed at the thought of just how much of him they could small and stood up. 'All the more reason for me to take a shower.' he said and stood up, but his legs disagreed and he wobbled on his feet.

Asitha quickly put her arms around him. 'I'll help you.'

He blushed even more. 'I'll be fine, you don't have to.'

'And risk you slipping in the wet shower and breaking your neck? I don't think so.'

He knew she was right but there was another risk if she joined him. 'I'll feel embarrassed to have you help me.' he muttered as he looked away.

She chuckled. 'You have a case of the human pride?'

The sensation of her body against his reached his limit. 'No, I'm a man and you're a woman and that might make things awkward.'

This time it was Asitha who blushed. She hadn't thought about that but seeing him naked would have obviously pointed it out to her. 'Ehm, yeah.' she said. 'But then you can't get in by yourself.' Her own lingering hesitation to show her bare fur, especially to the one male she might allow into her life was another reason for things to become awkward, but she wanted to help him. 'How about I'll stay at your back so you won't see me and I won't see you?'

Alain couldn't think of another way, especially not while his head was still stuffed and painful. 'All right.'

She helped him towards the small bathroom of the pod and pulled up his shirt, then pulled down the shorts he'd slept in while he held on to the rungs at the side and felt even more embarrassed.

Asitha blushed at seeing him naked again while the memory of their first encounter popped up. She suppressed it and focussed on helping him through his illness.

Alain turned the faucet and jets of warm water sprayed him from the sides, two in front and two from behind. 'Are you okay with the temperature?' he asked.

'It's fine.' Asitha said but the warm water accidentally set too high caused a wave of light-headedness over him and he swayed backwards. 'Alain!' she said and pulled him tight against her.

'It's okay.' he said when the dizzy spell faded. 'It's just from feeling weak right now.'