Tepin's Muse: Gay Edition

The Krell shook her head, a gesture that she must have picked up from the Earth'nay. She began to walk past him, her long tail trailing behind her, Tepin scurrying out of her path as she paused by the edge of the planter and looked back at him. A low rumble emanated from deep in her throat as she reached up and patted her shoulder, watching him expectantly.

"What is it?" he asked, confused.

His feathers flashed yellow with surprise as he felt her tail nudge him, the appendage curling behind him and giving him a gentle pat to ease him closer. It felt like bundles of steel cables that had been wrapped in a thick layer of foam padding, its sheer mass alarming. She patted her shoulder again, and he got the picture.

"You want me...to climb up?"

She nodded her head, Tepin inching closer. Was this a normal thing for Krell? He placed a tentative hand on her tail, feeling the rough, bony scutes beneath his fingers. He couldn't help but admire her rump, there was just so much muscle in her rear, necessary to support her tail and to power her massive body along. Her dimpled cheeks were so full and round, firm and springy, at about chest height to him.

He tore his eyes away, turning them to her long spine. Her yellow eyes still peered at him expectantly, and so he began to climb, her rough scutes making for admirable handholds. He arrived at her shoulder, which was broad enough for him to perch on comfortably, his feathers fluttering in alarm as she began to move. He gripped the overlapping scales on her neck for purchase as she lumbered down from the planter, scarcely a step for such a massive creature, and out into the crowd.

Tepin gazed down as he watched the smaller aliens give way, the bustling throngs of people parting before her. How could they not? She was the biggest thing on the station, they either had to get out of her path, or risk being trampled. He began to grin as he watched a group of humans make way for her. The tables had turned.

"Where are we going?" he asked, his tail extended for balance as she plodded along. She replied with another resonating call that he didn't understand. "Oh, that's right. You can't tell me..."

Despite her slow pace, her long strides meant that she moved considerably faster than Tepin, and she didn't need to stop to rest like he did. He had complained about wanting a vehicle, and now he had one.

It was a far superior way to experience the station. He could see clear over the crowds, all the way to the horizon, which was marked by the station's floor curving out of view beneath the painted ceiling. The breeze was stronger, refreshing, and the sunlamps above were pleasantly warm. Without all of the people blocking his field of view, he had a much better appreciation for how large the station was, and how it was laid out.

As they walked, the colorful stores and sculpted facades gave way to more spartan and functional structures, the sea of civilians replaced with marching columns of black-clad soldiers. There were far more aliens in this part of the station, packs of Borealans wearing similar armor jogging past in formation, more Krell standing tall above their smaller counterparts. There were more hangars here too, huge bay doors that extended from floor to ceiling breaking up the angular architecture, people carrying weapons and carts loaded with supplies moving back and forth between them. This must be the military quarter, he wasn't really supposed to be here.

He noted that some of the Krell were wearing colored ponchos, either the same black as the Marines or a vibrant yellow. So they did wear clothing after all, but not to preserve their modesty. These must indicate their role or maybe their rank.

His new friend began to turn off the walkway, heading for a large structure to their right. It was a squat, square building that protruded from the hull of the station, made from the same white material as everything else. There had been no attempt to sculpt the exterior, it was just flat and featureless, save for a large door on the front face that was scaled up to accommodate the reptiles. That wasn't to say that there were no decorations. The front of the building and the short path that led up to the entrance were surrounded by foliage. There were plants with branching leaves, and tall trees with hanging fronds, giving the building a different feel from the rest of the torus.

The door slid aside as they approached it, Tepin ducking under the doorway, and they emerged into a wide corridor. The first thing that he noticed was the heat and humidity, it hit him like a wall. It was several degrees warmer in here than it was out on the torus, and there was so much moisture in the air, he could already feel it clinging to his scales. It wasn't unpleasant, it was actually closer to his native environment than the conditions favored by the Earth'nay.

To either side of him were more large doors, all of them open, Tepin peering into them curiously as they passed by. These must be the Krell living quarters. Each room was similar, occupied by a few lockers where the aliens might store their belongings, and racks that were presumably for their ponchos. Rather than the elevated bunks of the Earth'nay, or the room-spanning mattresses of Tepin's people, the beds were a simple bowl-shaped recess in the floor. There were four or five to a room, each one lined with pillows and cushions, large enough to fit several of the massive reptiles at once.

The corridor eventually opened up into a larger space, similar passageways that were lined with rooms branching off it, extending deep into the hull of the station. The main room was circular, big enough to be an auditorium by Valbara'nay standards, and it was packed with Krell. There were piles of them lounging inside a cluster of giant pools, partially submerged in the clear water. They weren't deep enough that the reptiles could actually swim in them, they seemed to be basking pools, the warm heat lamps in the ceiling above them baking the occupants. There were large grills in the walls that appeared to be vents, pumping in humid air with a barely audible whir.

The Krell were lazing around in huge piles, seemingly indifferent to one another's presence, the occasional burst of movement erupting as one of them shifted positions. It was as though they were soaking up the sun on a beach somewhere. Were they cold-blooded? Was that why his new acquaintance had been sleeping in the planter, to warm herself?

"You can't tell me about yourself, about how you live," Tepin realized. "So you're showing me?"

She nodded her head, then slowly lowered herself down to all-fours so that he could get off her shoulder. Tepin dropped to the floor, a few of the nearby aliens opening their eyes to get a look at him. Now that he could see so many of them together, he noted that some of the Krell were larger than the others. Their coloration varied too. Some of them were a lighter shade, and the largest specimens had the darkest scales, some so dark that they were closer to black than green. Perhaps they got darker as they got older?

One of them rose up from the pool like some kind of sea monster, the water cascading from its back, plodding its way over to him. It was difficult to determine if it was male or female, they had no external genitalia, no secondary sexual characteristics to speak of. He couldn't be sure if the larger torso and broader shoulders of this one identified it as a male, if the ample fat deposits made it female, or if it was just well-fed. Like on Valbara, females might make up all of the Krell fighting force, that would make a lot of sense. Maybe they were all female.

He was sure that his friend was female, how could she not be? She was the picture of feminine beauty.

The stranger leaned down to sniff him, Tepin resisting the urge to hide behind his friend's tree trunk-like leg. The Krell looked up at his counterpart, loosing a low rumble, the two seeming to talk for a few moments as Tepin watched the exchange.

Perhaps he was asking what Tepin was, or why she had brought him to what must be their barracks. Whatever her reply had been, he seemed satisfied, returning to his pile and lodging himself haphazardly between two of his compatriots.

His friend looked down at him, raising her hands to her face, mimicking a visor.

"You want me to paint them?" he asked, and she nodded her head. "You really are giving me the tour, aren't you? Alright, I'm sure that the people back home will want to see this."

He locked his legs and retrieved his visor, beginning to paint as she lay down on the floor beside him, curling around him in a semi-circle like a protective wall of scales. She watched as he waved his hands in the air, beginning to sketch the scene before him.

***

"What do you think?" Tepin asked, holding his visor up to his friend's eye. She huffed loudly, an expression of approval perhaps. "I really need to find out your name," he said, "I can't keep calling you Krell forever."

She rumbled again, rising slowly to her feet, her tail dragging along behind her as she began to plod away. Tepin unlocked his joints and fumbled with his carrying case, following after her as she made her way into one of the corridors that radiated from the basking area. Her destination was one of the side rooms, Tepin skirting one of the deep, bowl-like recesses as he trailed after her. She was so long that her body could be inside the room while her tail was still out in the hallway.

There was a row of lockers at the back of the room, Tepin noting that none of them were actually locked. None of the doors to the rooms were closed either, and there were several beds per room. The Krell seemed to have no concern for privacy, they must place a great deal of trust in one another.

He waited as she rummaged inside one of them, withdrawing a large, wooden box. She set it on the floor, Tepin scooting closer curiously. It was more of a chest than a box, a Valbara'nay could have lain inside it, its exterior hewn from some kind of pale wood. There were carvings decorating the lid, crude representations of what looked like Krell. Were these pictograms, the Krell equivalent of writing, or simple ornamentation? There was no way to know without being able to ask her.

It was fastened shut with a length of frayed rope, the Krell unwinding it before hooking her claws beneath the lid and lifting it up. Inside were several compartments, each one of them full to the brim with odd trinkets. There were colorful beads that seemed to be made from glass, a wide variety of seashells, small tokens that had been whittled from different kinds of wood. There were colorful feathers, more spools of hairy string, small strips of fabric.

"What is it?" Tepin wondered aloud, leaning closer to get a better look. She sat on the floor beside him, her weight making the deck shake, gesturing to her hoard. "Is this yours?" he added.

She patted the floor beside her, gesturing for him to join her, but he locked his legs instead. His people did not like to sit down if there were no seats available. As he watched, she leaned over the box and began to pick out some of the items, making a small pile on the floor. He had no idea by what criteria she was selecting them, but it wasn't random, there was some kind of reason to her behavior. She kept pausing to size him up, as though her choices related to him in some way.

"Are you going to make something?" he asked, the Krell pulling out a long loop of string. Only now did he realize that there were holes drilled into all of the items. The beads, the shells, the wooden carvings. Each one had a small opening. The Krell picked them up and began to carefully thread the string through them. She was so much more dexterous than one might have assumed from her appearance, her seven-fingered hands moving with practiced speed, selecting a charm from the pile and slotting it onto the string. This wasn't random either, there was some kind of pattern or order to it, but Tepin couldn't discern what it might be at a glance.

Before long, she had assembled a long strand that was packed with all manner of colorful and strange objects. The centerpiece was a wooden fetish about the size of his fist that had been carved with some kind of alien rune. It was surrounded by shiny beads, spiraling shells that looked as though they had been collected on a beach somewhere, and colorful feathers from exotic birds. He thought that it might be a necklace at first, but it was far too small. It might serve as a bracelet, or maybe a piece of jewelry that hung around the forehead as was popular with males on Valbara.

The Krell held it out to him, Tepin glancing first at her open hand, then up at her expectant face.

"For me?" he asked, his feathers flaring pink. She nodded, Tepin bowing his head as she placed it gently around his neck. He felt her hand on his sheath, the Krell taking the opportunity to examine what to her must be a very unusual appendage. He probably looked like he had two tails coming out of the back of his skull.

She let one of them sit in her palm limply, gently prying open the slit that ran down its length, exposing the pink mucous membrane and the folded feathers contained within. Tepin flexed his muscles, the sheath going rigid in her hand, the Krell watching with fascination as the feathers began to rise. He showed her how they were layered, and how different colors could be exposed, the alien admiring the iridescent eye-spots.

He examined his new necklace as she drew back, weighing the wooden charm in his hand experimentally. It was rather heavy, but not uncomfortably so, and she had made it specially for him. This was her equivalent of a painting, her way of returning the favor, perhaps. He'd never gotten a gift from an alien before.

"Thank you," he said, the Krell loosing a happy warble. She climbed to her feet again, closing the lid of her trinket box and fastening it with the rope, stowing it back in the locker. There were more wooden boxes in there, he couldn't guess at what they might contain.

Next, she wandered over to a rack from which several ponchos were hanging. Some of them were jet black, like Marine armor, laden with ammo pouches and plate carriers. Others were yellow, made from some kind of shiny, moisture-resistant material. Were those engineering uniforms? He had seen several of the Krell wearing them on the torus.

She pulled one of the yellow ones from the rack, holding it out for him, Tepin taking a step closer. What was she trying to show him? Her claw pointed to a metal badge on the breast, inscribed with Earth'nay text.

"Theesah," he said, reading it aloud. It wasn't a word that he recognized, and it was followed by a series of Earth'nay numerals that might be a serial number. "Is that your name?" he asked, and she nodded her head adamantly.

He had never heard a Krell name before. Earth'nay had two names each, one that denoted their lineage, and one that was used informally by close acquaintances. They used a lot of honorifics too, like Lieutenant, or Captain. Borealans preferred harsh Zs and Ks, they had names like Zakza or Tazi. It was rare for them to use a family name, since each Borealan was expected to make their own mark on the world, noble bloodlines being the exception to the rule. Valbara'nay had names made up of three segments, each given by one's parent flock. They had various meanings, some parents named their children after flowers or native animals, others gave them names that expressed some kind of aspiration for their future. What did Theesah mean? Was that her only name? He doubted whether he would ever find out, but at least he had something to call her now.

Theesah returned her uniform to the rack, then began to make her way to the door, gesturing for him to follow her. Tepin did as she asked, the wooden charm on his new necklace bumping against his chest as he bobbed along beside her dragging tail. When she patted her shoulder again, he quickly scaled her back on his springy legs, returning to his perch. It seemed as if they were done with the barracks, where were they headed next?

***

The distinct sound of splashing water reached Tepin's ears as Theesah lumbered into a massive, open facility. To the left of the entrance was a body of blue water that reflected the halogen lights above, rectangular in shape, at least fifty meters long and maybe half that in width. There were ropes along its length, floating on the surface on plastic buoys, dividing the pool into a dozen separate lanes. Said lanes were occupied by various aliens. Earth'nay wearing clinging swimsuits swam up and down, turning around when they reached one end and heading back the way they had come. Borealans emerged to take a breath, their wet hair floating on the surface as they lurked, before plunging back down into the depths. There were Krell too, the amphibious creatures floating along the surface like dead logs, the sluggish movement of their muscular tails propelling them along lazily.

To Tepin's right was a gym, the floor strewn with various kinds of exercise equipment that he didn't recognize, enough for maybe a hundred people to make use of them at once. They were mostly occupied by Borealans, the already muscular aliens hanging around in groups of five or six, lifting weights and stretching their limbs on padded mats. He had read somewhere that the felines hailed from a high-gravity planet, and that they needed to exercise frequently so as not to shed muscle mass and bone density in what was to them a low-G environment. It was just like the crew on the Teth'rak's Fang, they too had to exercise on the carrier's habitat for a certain amount of time per day to avoid the adverse side effects of working in microgravity.

Theesah headed for the pool, Tepin becoming a little apprehensive. The Krell were no doubt powerful swimmers, but the Valbara'nay avoided deep water. Bathing in a shallow lake was one thing, but his people were not designed for swimming, they relied on their hollow bones and their system of air sacks to keep them afloat.

"My people don't swim well," he warned as she approached the edge, his feathers flashing in alarm as she crouched beside the pool. "I'm still clothed!"

He shut his eyes tightly, awaiting the frigid blast of water as she plunged into one of the lanes. He heard the splash, his stomach lurching as he clung to her scutes, yet he remained completely dry. When he opened his eyes again, he was sitting on her back as she floated along, incredibly buoyant despite her immense weight. The water level was a good few inches below him, Tepin leaning across to peer over the side of her scaly flank, reaching down and running his fingers through it as Theesah floated along.

He could feel her muscles moving, even beneath the thick layer of her leathery hide and her bony scutes. Her tail waved left and right, acting like a giant oar to propel her effortlessly through the water, her arms and legs tucked flat against her sides.

The Krell seemed to have their own designated lanes, probably so that they didn't get in the way of the more animated humans and Borealans, who seemed to be swimming for exercise more than leisure. Tepin watched as a Borealan in an adjacent lane rose to the surface, their mop of rust-colored hair floating on the surface as they peered at him with a pair of green eyes, before sliding silently beneath the water again. It was a little unnerving, giving him the impression that if one of the creatures wanted to sneak up on him and snatch him away, he wouldn't be able to do much about it.

He let himself relax a little, watching the aliens as they swam up and down the length of the pool, a Krell that was blocking Theesah's path submerging its massive body like a submarine so that they could pass over it. It was almost like a leisurely boat ride on a lake. He was still getting his head around how such a facility could have been built on a space station of all things. They could scarcely fit a tub for bathing on the Teth'rak's Fang, but there must be hundreds of thousands of gallons of water in this room alone. Who knew how much was used in all areas of the station, how it was pumped to where it was needed, how it was purified and recycled. He remembered how awed he had been by the carrier and its habitat when he had first laid eyes on it, but now it seemed like a toy, its fascinating technologies rendered quaint.