The Law of Glork Pt. 06

But there was no time to analyze the damage. He struggled to his feet, only to get blasted backward, the stones of the ground digging deep into his back. He grunted in pain.

And then... silence. For a sweet moment, he thought he had lost consciousness, but the pain in his back removed that illusion. He opened his eyes.

It was very dark, the clouds completely covering any sign of the stars. Still, it wasn't pitch black, to his surprise, though he had difficulty detecting where exactly the light was coming from.

As he caught his breath, he stayed tense, ready for a stray gust to knock him off his feet again. But though the wind howled viciously around him, no further gusts came.

He was... in some sort of safe spot. A refuge from the storm. He sighed and rolled over, minding his sore ribs. Oh yeah, he definitely broke something. Or maybe just a deep-set bruise.

He stiffened. There, sitting on the ground, was a figure. An outline of a person. Vilet?

With a groan, he got to his feet. Several new scrapes had emerged from the earlier beating, and they made themselves known now. He stumbled forward, only to stop upon seeing her face.

She was angled away from him, and she didn't even seem to recognize his presence. She was staring off into the clouds, her expression... relaxed? Peaceful. Content.

"Vilet?" Her head snapped towards him. "Are you okay?"

She leapt to her feet in a fluid motion. "What are you doing here?!" She seemed genuinely surprised - almost scared.

Jack pulled to a stop. "I came looking for you. But you're..." He looked her up and down. "Okay?"

"Of course I am." Any peace she had in her eyes was gone, replaced by something akin to anger. Her eyes rested on where his leg was bleeding. Her eyes narrowed. "How did you get through the Storm?"

Jack frowned. "Honestly, I don't know. I guess I'm lucky."

Vilet snorted and turned her back to him, folding her arms.

Jack shook his head. "What are you doing out here, Vilet? And what is this place?"

She sighed but didn't turn around. "I come out here to think. I have since I was a child. This," she said, gesturing around her, "Is the vrnq. The storm cannot touch us here."

Jack eyed the space around them. The wind's howling hadn't ceased, giving him an ominous sense that he was about to be blown away. If not for landing here, he certainly would have. "How did you find it?"

The wind's cry was his only answer. So it was like a hurricane after all. With an eye of the storm. But didn't the eye move? Or maybe she meant it was a specific location that was protected. Either way, her lack of obvious harm was inexplicable.

Jack took a deep breath. "Vilet, we need to talk."

She glanced back at him, her annoyance apparent. "Do we?"

"Yes." Jack crossed around in front of her, looking right into her eyes. "You're hiding things from me. Lots of things, I would guess." He softened his gaze. "What can I do to get you to trust me?"

Her glare wavered slightly, but quickly returned. "What do you mean? I trust you completely."

"Bullcrap." That he said in English, before switching back to Vagonal. "We both know that's an absolute lie."

Anger flared in her gaze again. "Oh? Care to explain?" Her voice was back to its sweet tone, lulling. But her eyes were completely emotionless.

Jack folded his arms. "I was told you were meeting with another man." No need to tell her that he had been the one overhearing their conversation.

Panic struck her face, but her voice remained composed. "Who would ever tell you such a-"

"So you claim you didn't?" Jack's voice was cold. "Because that would mean one of you is lying to me. You've hardly given me reason to trust you."

Vilet looked away, holding her hands in front of her. "Fine. Maybe I don't trust you."

Jack nodded. "Now that we're on the same page, do you 'care to explain?'" Jack mimicked her voice.

She looked into his eyes again. "No. That was a personal conversation."

Jack gritted his teeth. It sure didn't sound "personal." "Then how can I trust you?"

"You can't," she snapped. "You shouldn't," she said more quietly.

Well that much was obvious. Jack sighed. How was he supposed to live with someone - much less have sexual relations with them - if he couldn't even trust her?

"Are you being unfaithful?"

Vilet rolled her eyes. "No."

Jack stared at her, trying to gauge her sincerity. At least, it didn't seem like she was lying.

Well, that was a kind of relief. Maybe he had misunderstood - or honestly, read too much into it. The whole experience with the kntr (real or imaginary) had spooked him pretty bad. Maybe it was her dad, or a brother or something.

Still... "Won't you tell me what's going on? I-" He paused. "I want to help."

Vilet raised her eyebrows. "It's not really your business." A lie. "And I'm sure you much more important things to worry about," she purred.

Jack scowled. "And yet, I'm not supposed to trust you," he said frustratingly. "That sounds pretty important."

She looked away again, biting her lip. The wind howled as the silence drew out between them.

She was being stubborn, needless to say. What was he supposed to do? A thought came to mind - they were alone, and she was much smaller than him. He could probably force her to tell him.

But did he want to? He pushed the thought away. He would rather deal with whatever problems arose later than stoop back to his old ways. But how else could he trust her?

Or maybe...

Jack took a deep breath. He did make a promise, after all. "Alright, Vilet, you don't have to tell me anything. You said I shouldn't trust you, and you're right." He smiled. "But I'm going to anyway."

She blinked. "What?"

He nodded. "I trust you." Just saying it helped him to feel it. "Whatever is going on, I hope you can handle it. If not..." He reached forward and took her hand. "I'll be here to help. With whatever, okay?"

She stared at him for a long moment. "You're serious." When he didn't respond, she sighed. "Alright. If you want to, I suppose that's your choice."

They stood there for a long moment, but she didn't pull her hand away.

Jack furrowed his brow. "You're freezing."

That did it. She tugged her hand from his grip. "I do not feel it."

"You... what? What do you mean?"

"Exactly what I said," Vilet snapped.

"I mean," Jack said slowly, "How did that happen?"

Vilet turned around and folded her arms, her message clear. She wasn't going to talk to him.

Jack sighed, biting back his frustration. He had married her only because it was a Bad Idea. If nothing else, he was going to try to follow it.

"Fine. If you don't want to tell me, you don't have to. I was just curious." He sat down and closed his eyes, listening to the wind.

It didn't seem to be getting any better - meaning, unless she had some secret way to get back, they were stuck here until it was over. It had warmed slightly, but it was still chilly. It was going to be a long night.

After a few minutes, he heard the sounds of Vilet sitting down as well, a fair bit of distance between them.

Thunder boomed, roaring like a great lion. It reminded Jack of the Glork that saved him back in the hunting grounds. Powerful, more like a force of nature than a creature.

Lightning lit up the sky for a brief moment. Suddenly, more bolts began to light up the sky, bright and striking with immense energy. Soon, it seemed almost as a chain reaction, spreading across the sky.

Jack felt his hair stand on end. The lightning never struck the ground, as far as he could tell, but it was terrifying nonetheless. He glanced behind him to see Vilet, her eyes reflecting the strikes. She didn't seem afraid. In fact, she seemed almost excited.

He turned away, returning his gaze to the night sky.

Mere seconds later came the thunder. It came in waves, one after another. Jack felt it in his chest, much like when he played some heavy bass on his boosters back home.

Soon, the rumbling ended, returning to a state of relative calm. The howling wind became the loudest noise once more.

Jack had to admit, it was beautiful. Nothing on Earth, except perhaps the most dramatic of moments, could compare. And here, it was relatively ordinary.

Jack held back a flinch when he felt a pressure on his back, right over his new scrapes. Vilet must have approached him during the thunder. He glanced over his shoulder to see her with her back to him, leaning against him.

Though confused, Jack wasn't about to question it. He settled against her as they waited the storm out, both reveling in the beauty of the storm.

After some time, she spoke. "I was six," she said quietly. Had she been any farther, he likely couldn't have heard. "My mother was angry with me." She hesitated, and Jack remained silent, listening. "I was... ashamed, and I ran."

She shifted slightly as the wind picked up. "She let me go, knowing I would return soon. I sometimes ran out onto the Grft, but never below, to the fggrw. They terrified me."

Jack winced, guessing how this story was going to go.

"I ran quite far. It was in the midst of my crying that I noticed the clouds. I tried to run back home, but I slipped, my foot catching on a shard of stone."

Her voice wavered from its silky tone. "I- I was scared. I have seen what the Storm can do - my father's brother was slain by it, his body strewn across several miles. I knew my fate. But I couldn't accept it."

She paused. "So I spoke to it, begged the Storm for my life. Futile, maybe, but I had no other hope. My father would never come to look for me, after all." She looked up as lightning struck. "And my wish was granted. By chance or by the will of the Storm, I found a vrnq. A refuge from the Storm."

She looked down again, clasping her hands around her knees. "The Glorks are not our judges," she said bitterly. "The Storm is."

Jack waited, but she said nothing more. So... she didn't believe in their religion? No wonder she didn't like him - in her eyes, he was a fraud. A phony. Lucky, perhaps.

Her comment about the Storm frightened him a little. Back on Earth, he had been nothing but an atheist. No higher power, no supernatural, nothing. He had thought any aliens would be even more rationally minded than humans, more invested in technology.

But instead, despite being an ancient civilization with no apparent limit to their lifespans, they were superstitious. And, since beginning the trip here, so was he.

He didn't want to be - honestly. But if he hadn't been, they never would have even arrived here! Sara would probably be dead. He never would've married Vilet. Perhaps he would have died to that first kntr in the fggrw.

Even Vilet seemed superstitious. She prayed, and the Storm heard. Just a few hours ago, Jack had uttered a prayer for the very same thing - her safety. The comparison was chilling.

A particularly brilliant flash of lightning drew him from his thoughts. Vilet's hand quickly took hold of his arm. Confused, Jack turned to look at her.

Her face was completely changed. She didn't look excited at the lightning anymore - she looked scared. Their eyes locked. This time, neither of them looked away.

As lightning started to chain across the sky again, Jack could only stare at her. For the first time, he felt he could see some of what she was trying to hide.

She was scared. Panicked, even. It was the face of a girl that was lost, fighting desperately against the world to hold onto herself.

No wonder she was so angry when he arrived. For once - just the once, probably, given that she was the daughter of a councilor - there was a place where she could be alone and unbothered, untouchable to the world around her.

And he had, against all odds and every sense of rationality, invaded that safety. Here she was at her most vulnerable.

Her eyes softened as the lightning died down. A faint ghost of a smile began to lift her lips.

And then the thunder hit. She burrowed forward into Jack's chest, and he quickly wrapped his arms around her. She returned the embrace as the booms filled the night, resonating down to their cores.

"Oh, Vilet," Jack whispered solemnly, "What can I do to make you trust me?"

She sank into his arms, but her only response was a sigh. He held her as the thunder echoed, slowly fading away back into the wind's shrieks.

She pulled away quickly. She turned to look away, her face flushed.

Jack caught her chin with his finger. Her eyes widened as he leaned forward, capturing her mouth in a kiss.

Lightning cracked as her eyes fluttered close. She hesitated, but it was only a moment before her resistance began to fade away. One of her hands slid down to his, taking it.

It was better than he remembered it. That first night had seemed so long ago, so distant until this moment - memories filtered back through quickly. Her sweet vanilla scent filled his nostrils again.

She shivered, but not from the cold. When Jack finally pulled away, she sighed.

Jack smiled down at her. "You remember our first night? I couldn't understand you then." He leaned down to place a kiss on her cheek. "I think I understand you better now."

She smiled sadly. "I thought you were an idiot."

"And now?" Jack asked, cocking his head.

"You're a fool, but you're no idiot." She spoke coldly, but her eyes were affectionate.

Jack laughed. "I would have guessed both, honestly." His smile faded as he noticed her sad smile. "Vilet? Are you alright?"

Rather than respond, she took the opportunity to lean up and kiss him, one hand moving to the back of his head. She didn't kiss him passionately, or with fervor. Gently, kindly.

Jack consented. She would tell him when she was ready, or she wouldn't. At least, he hoped so. That's what his feeling said, and they'd gotten him this far.

He took her in his arms once more, holding her tightly as they kissed. She melted into him, responding in a like manner, unspoken words flying between them - just like their first night together.

For better or for worse, she was his wife. Nothing on Earth or here in the Storm could change that. And he wouldn't have it any other way.

She tugged at him, pulling him beside her to the ground. He relented, but he pressed on with kissing her.

She pulled away again, taking a moment to catch her breath. Jack smiled and brushed a strand of hair over her ear. He rested his hand against her cheek, stroking it with his thumb. "This isn't a normal Vagonal thing, is it?"

She sighed. "No. It isn't. The first time you attempted it, I thought you were trying to kill me."

Jack's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Right. The fangs." He had nearly forgotten about that part. "Well, we don't have them, so you don't have to worry."

She averted her gaze. Jack cocked his head. "Vilet... Do I have to worry about that?"

"No." She spoke sharply. Her eyes returned to his. "You don't."

"Good." Jack took the opportunity to capture her lips again. This time, there was no holding back.

Vilet gasped as his tongue probed at her mouth. She opened quickly, releasing all to him. Her tongue met his, making brief contact before he continued, brushing his tongue over her lips, seeking deeper entry.

She whimpered in delight as he continued his ministrations. Boldened, Jack decided to go one step farther.

Her cry was music to his ears as his tongue pushed its way in farther, nearing her throat. He retreated after a moment, resuming in a gentle sort of way, relaxing her as his hands gripped her waist.

Then, once she fell back into a rhythm, he tried again. Her body trembled, and her nails dug into his already aching back, but he ignored the pain. She moaned into him, her swelling breasts pressing into his chest.

He pulled away again, but this time, she was ready. She pushed forward, capturing his tongue with her own. You want to go? Then let's go.

He pushed her onto his back as their tongues danced, each pushing for the other's pleasure. Skilled as she was, he was more experienced. Still, she put up an impressive fight, one that sent shivers down his spine.

After several minutes of struggling, she gave in with a sigh and surrendered. He pulled back, only to move up and place a kiss on her forehead. She glared at him, but he could tell she didn't mean it.

He laid beside her, wrapping his arms around her once more. She moved in, resting her head on his shoulder as they laid there, listening to the wind howl. His back was aching, but he ignored its protests.

"Jack..." Vilet said hesitantly.

"Yes, Violet?" He looked at her.

She wouldn't meet his gaze. "Can I ask you for a favor?"

"Anything."

She took a deep breath. "I want ptr flowers. From the hunting grounds." Her voice had a hint of false sweetness to it.

Jack frowned. "What for? Is there a reason?"

She shrugged. "I just like them, that's all." She met his gaze.

Her eyes were empty, flat. She was lying to him.

Jack scratched his neck. "Are you sure? Maybe something else..."

"No. It has to be ptr." Her eyes flashed with resolution. "Do this for me." Her eyes flickered with emotion. "Please."

Jack bit his cheek. "Alright, I'll see what I can do."

She sighed in relief, confusing him more. "Thank you."

They laid there in silence for a few minutes, the exhaustion starting to catch up with them.

Jack groaned. "Vilet, I forgot. I haven't finished our first night yet, have I?

She opened one eye. "What do you mean?"

"Your vlp."

Her eyes shot open and she looked away. "You don't have to if you-"

"Vilet, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." Jack sighed. "Human women don't have vlps. I just didn't know that we weren't finished, I promise."

She looked at him, puzzlement and confusion in her eyes. "They... don't? Then how do they have children?"

He blinked. "I mean, it's all just kind of the same hole for us."

"Oh." She laid back down slowly. "So... You just didn't know."

"Right."

She bit her lip and looked at him. "You want to do it here?" Her eyes danced with an emotion he couldn't place.

Jack winced. "Probably not tonight. I'm... not up to snuff right now."

"Snf?"

"Don't worry about it. I'm just not feeling well."

"What do you - OH MY!"

Jack rolled over to show her his back. "Is it bad?"

"Jack, why didn't you say anything?" she accused. Her fingers brushed against the scrapes and tears in his shirt. "That must be quite painful."

"There wasn't a good moment!" Jack protested. "And it's not THAT bad." He paused. "Right?"

"It will recover in a few days. But I suppose tonight may not be a good time for... such activities."

Jack rolled back over and grabbed her hand. He kissed it. "Maybe not all of them."

She scoffed and pulled her hand away. "I do believe we've had quite enough of that."

Lie. Jack grinned and pulled her down next to him. "Somehow, I don't think you believe that."

The storm howled its protests as Jack kissed his wife long into the night.

It feels good to be back! Sorry for no lemon, I thought I'd save that for next chapter.

Speaking of which, since tomorrow is going to be a recovery day for him, what do you want to see happen? Think of it as a filler episode with a bit of plot sprinkled in - any fun ideas you guys have could happen tomorrow! Comment down below :)