Chapter 3: The Pool

Attea awoke in a sweat, eyes wide and staring. This dream had been worse than any of the others. It had changed from the aftermath of a sexual encounter with Ben Tennyson to the actual encounter itself. She'd had a vivid dream of Ben sneaking into the pod at night, holding her down, and taking what he wanted. Sitting there with her knees folded up against her chest, heart beating like thunder, Attea was terrified. She was terrified of what she felt and afraid that, if they didn't get rescued soon, they would end up in this pod, making a baby inside her stomach. She'd gone from enjoying this crazy little vacation to anger at Ben for insulting her to being out of her mind with desire. Crazy as it sounded, she didn't want Bullfrag anymore, she wanted Ben.

The certain knowledge that it wasn't Incursean DNA that had Ben Tennyson down at that pool spying on her every day had Attea crawling the walls. Worst of all, she didn't really give a damn if they got rescued or not because a part of her was happy just like they had things here, with Ben taking care of her like a man should take care of his woman. But it won't last, she thought, because I don't deserve him. He's so good, and I'm a bitch. So why would he want me?

She'd had an epiphany the morning where they'd quarreled. When Ben had come to the door of the pod, he'd been worried over her. Instead of taking advantage of her, he'd just wanted to make things ok. He still wanted to make things alright. She'd never understood what people like him did in the world–why they thought they mattered. Now she saw, and she felt even worse than before. The thought made her cry, and she spent several minutes sitting there trying to pull herself together.

Climbing out of the pod, she found Ben at the fire the same as he'd been every day. He had just finished stoking it up. "Beginning to think I should stay away from that tea," said he. "Makes me a little jittery." It was his usual light-hearted banter. When he handed her a cup, Attea almost dropped it. He did that without complaining every morning. He wasn't getting paid. He didn't belong to her, but he did it because she needed the warmth. She wanted to cry again, thinking about how nice he was to her, when she'd been a bitch to him all week. "Ben," she sighed. "Yeah, Princess," replied the hero? "What would you do if we never got found," she asked?

Ben's eyebrow went up. What was she asking? The radio was working. It wasn't working very well, but it was working. They had a signal going out. What was she afraid of? "Answer the question," Attea insisted. She's really scared, thought Ben. Standing up, he came over to her, took her hand, and said, "we'll get found, Princess. I've got crazy luck. Somebody'll get that signal and come swoop down and pick us up. Until then... Well, there's plenty of food, and I've gotten pretty good at catching animals..." That didn't really seem to help, and Ben found himself at something of a loss.

Taking a chance, Ben reached out and cupped her chin, saying, "hey... Look at me. The Attea I know never got scared of anything. We'll be ok. Promise." Much to his shock, Attea threw her arms around him and held on. Shocked, Ben found himself patting her back, wondering what was wrong with her. When that did nothing to calm her, Ben slid his arms around her and held her until she finally seemed to get some semblance of her usual self back.

Ben put together a breakfast using the remnant of last night's meal along with some spices from the ration-pack. He'd been tempted to go out and try some of the plants now that he'd gotten the hang of using the Incursean chemical analyzer to test things. There were a couple of plants that looked like they could be edible and maybe jazz up the bland food. As they sat there eating, Attea stared off into space, as if her mind was a million miles away. "Hey, Princess," said Ben. "Maybe you'd like to go out and pick some plants for dinner..." "Maybe you'd like a slap in the face," retorted Attea. Ben laughed, "I know. Empresses don't pick plants. Figured you'd at least like the walk..." Attea's mouth came open. And then she could see the possibilities.

The young Incursean woman hadn't been out in the woods much. It seemed that, though she'd been taught a hundred ways of killing someone, her father fell down on the job of teaching her useful survival skills. It didn't help that she was raised to be an obnoxious jerk. Ben's patience was tested again and again by such helpful comments as, 'are you sure you're doing it right' and 'why are we out here again'. In spite of wanting to wring her neck, Ben led the way on a rough circuit of the area around the pod. They returned roughly six hours after leaving, both warm from the exertion and carrying a small basket of edible greens.

It was a disappointing take. Ben wasn't sure if it was the season or if there just wasn't much human-edible plant-life in this forest. Maybe I need to travel a little farther, he thought. He didn't want to leave Attea by herself, but they needed more food–and more diverse food–if they wanted to stay healthy. Of course finding out that there were seeds stashed in the pod was good. He just wished Attea had piped up with that a little sooner. He didn't know when winter was coming. It would have been nice to get a head start on growing some food before the weather was too bad. It was a project for tomorrow, though. He would start work on some kind of greenhouse to keep the plants warm until they could harvest some veggies. Funny how you're not a fan of vegetables until well... you have to be a fan of vegetables, thought the Plumber.

On Attea's side, it had been the best day she'd had in a long, long time. They'd spent a lot of it just talking about nothing. Ben talked about his video games, and the things he did for fun when he was at home. She was surprised to realize that home wasn't nearly as fun as she'd imagined. For someone who seemed so happy-go-lucky, Ben spent a lot of his life on work. They'd talked about arranging a play-date to just pal around and play games, and Attea was looking forward to having the chance. Now she was in such positive spirits that she wanted to move on to the second big piece of her day.

As Ben hung their meager supply of food up where it wouldn't be chewed on by wandering animals, Attea announced, "goin' t'wash, Ben." And she strolled out of the camp just that quick. Ben finished hanging their food, but his eyes were on the trail where she'd gone. Done with the bag, he counted to thirty, giving her plenty of time to get down the trail. And then, he set off after her.

Attea came to the pool every day to wash, and Ben came everyday to watch her. It had become his obsession–the highlight of his day. She never took off her undies, but Ben didn't much care. What he did see he took to bed each night. If anyone had told him he'd be jerking off thinking about the Frog Princess and her hot little body–thinking of banging her–he'd have said they were crazy. Lately he'd been starting to think life was crazy.

Just like always, Attea stripped to her underwear. Just like always, she looked around her. Ben imagined being Empress of the Incursean Empire made you paranoid. He guessed she always had to look over her shoulder. In reality, Attea was making sure her admirer was there. She'd noticed him on the first day she'd come down. The thought that he was attracted enough to watch her actually made her hot. The more he did it, the more she wanted to tease him. Today she was thinking of taking off her underwear in the water.

As Ben watched, Attea slipped into the warm waters of the pond. Ben licked his lips thinking of how she would look when she came out with her wet underwear stuck to her beautiful body. He was horny out of his mind, and he so wanted to screw her. Part of him thought Attea might actually do it. Only the thought of Ester cutting off his balls stopped him going out there. Little did he know that events were conspiring to send him rushing headlong into Attea's arms anyway.

Ben wasn't the only one to take note of Attea's bathing. Deep beneath the waves, a deadly predator had felt the disturbance caused by her splashing and awakened from its long nap. Now as the beautiful girl frolicked, long tentacles of thick, ropey sinew rose from the lake to surround her. Even before he heard the scream, Ben was in motion.

The creature was dragging her to deep water, and Ben instinctively knew that if it succeeded, he'd lose her. Dialing the Omnitrix, he changed to Diamondhead on the run. Diving in after her, he sliced his way through tentacles to reach her side. When he reached her, he neatly sliced the long, heavy arms that imprisoned her. By now the pain-maddened creature began reeling in its wounded appendages, coloring the water red. In the chaos, Ben snatched up his Princess and swam for shore. The Omnitrix timed out, just as the Plumber reached the muddy bank, but by now the creature had already pulled its tentacles in.

With the crisis over, Ben turned his attention to Attea. She was a mess, crying her eyes out and shaking, and nothing Ben said seemed to be getting through. Scooping her up, Ben carried Attea back through the woods to the escape-pod. His nemesis huddled against him, sobbing into his shirt, and Ben really felt bad for her. As he walked, he whispered soothing words into her ear and held her close. Finally he stumbled out of the woods near the pod. He hadn't bothered stoking the fire after they came back. His need to ogle her had gotten the better of his sense of responsibility. Knowing she would be losing body-heat fast, Ben wracked his brain for some way to get her warm again.

When his eyes fell on the pod, he had his answer. With its heavy insulation the pod should still be warm, even though they had been gone hours. Ben carried the slim girl to the pod and climbed up on the rock they used as a step. Standing there cradling the shivering frog-girl, he tapped the door control with his elbow. The door wasn't designed for a man carrying a woman across the threshold. More to the point, with the pod on the ground, it leaned away from him, making for an awkward reach. Been stood there studying the door a moment. Trying to steady the door with his knee as he lay Attea inside, he ended up tripping and falling on top of her, his face going between her perky boobs.

Ben raised himself up on his elbows, offering apologies as he did so. "Thank-you," whispered Attea. Ben stared into her ruby-colored eyes, stunned by her beauty. She had a perfect figure, and her narrow, angular face was almost human–except that strange nose. Indeed, feeling her beautiful body against his was reminding him of the sight of her bathing in just her underwear, and he knew he better get off her before he embarrassed himself. As that thought crossed his mind, Attea felt the proof that it was already too late. Feeling that male reaction brought color to her cheeks. At the same time, she found herself thinking of the sexy dreams she'd been having.

Ben wasn't the only one who was obsessed. As frightening as those dreams were, Attea frequently woke up with her panties soaked through. Just having him here like this, his body against hers, was bringing back all those feelings and more. It was like the dream from this morning where he'd taken her in a fit of passion. Actually having him here with her just made the feelings worse. Attea had spent hours each day scheming on how to convince him to join her in the Empire and formally court her. Fate had a different plan in mind for her, and now she knew it.

Attea caught his face with her hands and drew his lips to hers. Moments later, they were rolling around in that pod, kissing and caressing, exploring each other's bodies. Within just a few minutes, they were helping each other out of their wet clothing. Minutes after that, Ben was making love to his former nemesis as Attea clawed his back and sides and thrashed beneath him. As his body surged against her, she screamed his name, burying her face in his shoulder. After, they rolled around in the cushions enjoying the moment.

When sleep took them, Attea snuggled deep into the arms of her hero. The two of them dozed off and on for hours, nestled deep in the pod's comforting embrace. Likely they would have been asleep all night if Ben hadn't heard one of the planet's nasty little natives prowling around outside. Rising, pulling on his boxers, pants, and shoes, Ben slipped back out into the darkness. Turning the dial on the Omnitrix, the Plumber called up Heatblast, using his flames to light the area for a quick glance. Then he turned his attention to their campfire.

He'd seen a rather large and nasty predator out there staring back at him from the edge of the clearing, and that told him that he needed that fire going to keep the wildlife at bay. Closing the pod door just to be sure Attea wouldn't get hurt while he was gone, Ben changed to Four-Arms and went out and knocked down a couple of decent-sized trees for firewood, using his formidable strength to break the logs into manageable chunks. Returning to the clearing, he got the fire stoked up and lay his soggy clothes nearby to dry. Then he went back to the edge of the pond to retrieve Attea's things, taking a chance that the creature that attacked her was gone.

Returning to camp, Ben sat down in his boxers by the fire to warm himself and reflect on how crazy his life was. He'd just lost his virginity with Attea. He'd just banged the Empress of the Incurseans–and found her smokin'-hot. So what now? They were still enemies, and they would likely be back in conflict the minute they were rescued. If that wasn't enough, Ben had a girlfriend. What was Ester going to say? He'd have to tell her. She deserved to know what he'd done. At the same time, he felt like a jerk. He'd taken Attea's virginity too, and though she seemed to like it, that didn't change the fact that he'd kind of taken advantage of her when she was scared out of her mind.

Unfortunately, there were no easy answers, and Ben found himself dozing off and on through the night, as he struggled to keep the fire burning. In the end, as the first rays of the sun were lighting the distant sky, Ben finally drifted off, leaving the fire to die down to coals. That was how Attea found him–chilled to the skin, laying against the side of the pod. Remembering how she'd taken the pod for herself, the little Royal was ashamed. Did he get out because of that? Or did he leave because he was embarrassed about what they'd done? She wasn't sure which it would be, and she feared the answer. That was everything she'd ever wanted in one moment–love and attention just for who she was and not for her throne or her riches.

"Ben," called Attea? "Huh," Ben rumbled. Climbing out of the pod in the buff, Attea shook him, calling, "Ben? Wake up." Ben's eyes popped open, and he yawned and stretched. He was a little startled to find Attea there still in the altogether, but he stayed calm and kept his eyes on her face. "You should... put something on," said he. She gave him a look that said he was thick. Her clothes were still down by the pond–and she sure as hell wasn't going down there to get them. "I took care of it," said Ben as he pointed to her favorite jacket and her tights. Attea blushed. That was sweet. Leaning in, she gave him a hot kiss that almost made him forget all about Ester. His heart was pounding in his chest when she was done. He was torn. He was torn between his love for Ester and the growing attraction he felt for the little Empress.

Attea could see in his eyes that she was having an effect on him. Finally, Tennyson, she thought. "Cold out here," said she. "We should get back in the pod." "We need to eat," replied Ben. Much as he was tempted to follow her back inside, they couldn't survive on sex. "I'm gonna' go scare up some food," said he. "Ok, Ben," said Attea. "I'll go back to monitoring the radio." Rising, she went to climb back into the pod. "Put some clothes on," said Ben. "I personally like the bare-ass look, but you're gonna' get sick, Frog-Princess." Attea blushed and smirked all at once. Then, lashing out with her tongue, she flicked his ear. Gathering up her clothes, she climbed back into the pod.