"BIG CHILL!"

Oh, how much he had missed turning into alien!
As for why he chose his Necrofriggian form of all the heroes he had available, well ...

"Ben-Ben-Ben ... !" the reason at that moment was squealing in his arms.

The celebrations for Attea's coronation were finally over and the new royal couple had been able to retire to their rooms for the night.
Attea had been locked in the bathroom for a while, so Ben had decided to take advantage of that moment of relative tranquility it trying to understand where and how to arrange his Little Chill (yeah, he still had to find a suitable name for him).

In truth, the hero wasn't sure if turning into Big Chill was really the best choice to take care of his baby, since he feared that the Necrofriggian's instinct could push him to abandon the child again.

In fact, the first thing that actually crossed the giant blue moth-like alien's mind was trying to encourage the child to fly away on his own, which the little one didn't seem to want at all.
And Ben could already feel his Necrofriggian side starting to grow impatient.
Sentences like: "Child is too weak to survive, you have to let him go" or "Child has to go back to his brood, if he can't do it then he will die, nature must decide" began to swirl in his head -No, no, stay in control of yourself Tennyson …- Big Chill thought, forcing those instincts into a distant corner of his brain.
-… You are NOT a real Necrofriggian, you are human! And you won't abandon your baby, not this time!-

So, after taking a deep breath and tidying up the ideas, the wielder of the Omnitrix began to think about what Little Chill might need.

"First of all, you need a comfortable place to sleep" he decided "Let's see ..."
He thought of "furnishing" the corner of the part of the bed that faced the wall, near the window.

Big Chill made room by removing the bedside table and, with his freezing breath, created a sort of improvised cot causing the ice to take on a raised concave shape.

For a moment he wondered if Attea would get angry about those small changes, but it was a thought that he quickly liquidated -Well, this is also MY room now, isn't it? And I have the right to arrange my side as I want- he tore apart, not without some satisfaction, some metal cutlery that he had ... er, "borrowed" from the buffet and threw them in the cot.

Instinct told him that the little Necrofriggians a bit older fed on metal, and having spent about two years Little Chill must have already changed his diet.

"There we are" Big Chill concluded admiring his work "What do you think?"

Little Chill, who was napping on the bed, hearing himself called immediately raised his head in his direction.
"Ben-Ben-Ben!" the baby squeaked clapping his hands and extending the small antennae towards the frozen cot.

"Aaawwh, do you like it?"

A green flash surrounded Big Chill's body, just as he took the baby in his arms, transforming him back into Ben.

"Ben-Ben …!" Little Chill continued, making a sound like a little giggle.
"Let's see if you're comfortable" Ben smiled putting him in the cot "I'd say it's good, tomorrow I'll ask Jades if she can get me a colored cover or a sheet, so your corner will be even more pretty, huh? How about Little Chill?"

"Ben-Ben-Ben!" Little Chill happily exclaimed, beginning to gnaw on one of Ben's metal bits.

"Tomorrow we'll also have to think about your name" the hero affirmed, stroking his head "I can't keep calling you Little Chill, I mean, it can be fine now, but you won't be small forever, right?" he continued "One day you will grow up and it would be strange still calling you that way ..."

The noise of a door that opens and then closes attracted the boy's attention to the bathroom.

Attea was finally out ...
... in a nightgown ...

… A nightgown with a transparent skirt!

Attea wore a nightgown, consisting of a lace brassière from which descended a long purple transparent skirt, which showed the slender legs and the thin black panties.

He must have assumed a shocked expression because he saw Attea grin provocatively.

"Well? What is that grim look, husband?"
Attea pronounced the last word in a ironic, almost playful, way, as if she weren't actually wearing a nightgown, as if they weren't about to share the same bed at least, and as if the entire ceremony in which he had been forcedto marry her, it had been just an innocent performance.

Nothing important.

But Ben's anxiety came mostly from not knowing what the empress's intentions were exactly since, technically, that was their wedding night.

And during the wedding night usually the bride and groom did ...

"N-Nothing, it's just ..." Ben's gaze inevitably fell on the bed, while he tried to swallow the lump that had formed in his throat "Okay, listen! You wanted get married to be crowned empress and blah, blah, blah ... congratulations, you did it! You achieved your goal and now I'm stuck here (probably for the rest of the my life) but it's not like we need to ... well, CONSUMMATE the marriage, right?"
"Soooo?" she hummed absently, continuing to look herself in the mirror.

"Well, it's not necessary! I mean, it's clear that you are not interested in me in THAT sense …"
Or at least he hoped so … damn it! Why did he feel so stupid to say it out loud?

It almost seemed like he was trying to convince himself more that her.

"And surely nobody will come to check it, right?" the human moistened his lips suddenly become dry "So …"

"I remind you that you voluntarily accepted to marry me, no one pointed the conquest ray to your back during the ceremony so your complaints are completely out of place" Attea interrupted, waving a hand carelessly, without even turning to look at him.
As if the prospect of having to "make love" with him doesn't mean anything to her.

Ben stiffened at those words and, albeit for a moment, the thought of having to exchange something more than a kiss with Attea made him feel sick.

It wasn't the idea of doing it with an alien that disgusted him, after all, in his own family there were several alien components, starting with grandma Verdona, or because he found her repellent on a physical level, on the contrary.
He could say anything about Attea, except for she was, in her own way, attractive, even by what were human standards.
The problem was another.
Ben knew perfectly well that he had never been a particularly romantic guy, however even he knew that sharing one's intimacy with another person was a very important step, specially if it was their first time and that wasn't exactly how Ben had imagined his.

The hero growled, clenching both his fists at his sides so hard that his knuckles whitened -Race of hypocrite, lousy, blackmailer ...- he thought.

"However" the new empress continued, finally turning to face him "I assure you that it's not my intention to give birth an heir too soon so you can rest easy, we will NOT do that" she reassured him "Nevertheless we still have to sleep in the same room AND in the same bed, for appearances of course, I'm sure you understand, right?"

Ben had to make a huge effort to refrain from sighing with relief, well, he had escaped THAT at least.
He shouldn't have touched her more than necessary.

"... Speaking of appearances, now that you are officially my husband you must starting to follow some rules"

The last sentence was enough to bring Ben's concerns back to the surface.

"Rules?" he repeated in fact, stunned.
"Yes, RULES" Attea stopped straight in front of him "If you respect them, I assure you that your stay here will be as peaceful as possible"

-It's up to the rules- the boy thought, although Attea's proposal seemed good.

Always better than being locked up somewhere for the rest of his life, perhaps even treated as a kind of toy-boy.

He was sure he wouldn't last long in those conditions.

"The royal palace is your home now, so you can go ALMOST wherever you want" Attea began "You must know, however, that there will be times to be respected about the meals since you will eat with me, so you must be punctual" she explained "Same thing applies to the moment we go to sleep: Breakfast at 8:00, lunch at 12:00 and finally dinner at half past seven …"

Ben just nodded, without saying anything.

Be punctual at meals? Ok, he could do that, as much as the idea of having to present himself to attention at any place as if he were his soldier annoyed him a lot.

"If you need something you already know you can turn to the servants" the Incursean continued "You are free to occupy your time as you like but without making trouble and unless I need your presence by my side of course"
"My presence?"
"In case my duties as empress lead me to have to attend peace councils or other political or public commitments of a certain importance" Attea clarified.
"Ah ..."

So he was free to do whatever he wanted until Attea felt the need to expose him to important guests as if he were a damned trophy …

… Hooray.

"Was I clear enough?"

"Crystalline" Ben hissed.

"Good …" Attea looked towards Little Chill "I see that you have taken the liberty of arranging your little bug"
"Yeah, do you have a problem with that?"
"… No, that's fine"

Several moments of tense silence passed.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" Attea snorted.

"To do what?"
"You don't want to go to sleep dressed like that, do you? I don't think Armand would like to know that you wrinkled his outfit …"
"ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!"

It turned out that in the closet drawers there were already some singlets and light pants he could use to go to sleep.

Ben settled into his side of the bed as far away as possible from Attea.
-I can't believe it- the human thought, sighing disconsolate.

The only positive thing: He was so tired that he fell asleep almost immediately …

Attea was awakened in the middle of the night by a series of strange complaints.

The new empress of the Incursean empire turned over in bed, narrowing one eye and yawning.
"Uhmm, what's going on?" she murmured looking towards the side of the bed where Ben was lying "Tennyson …?"

The human looked like he was still sleeping, however, judging by the expression on his face, he didn't seem to be very well.
"N-No … no, p-please no …" drops of sweat slid down his temples and the neck line.
He jerked his head, his eyelids tightened as if ...

"... is he having a nightmare?" Attea wondered, blinking, now fully awake.

"Please …" he jerked his head again "J-Just, hurt me … n-not them …"
Every second that passed he became more and more agitated, so much so that Attea began to wonder if it was appropriate to wake him up.

She went to Neptune when similar incidents happened to her.

...

"Lady Neptune ..." a little Attea, just six years old, whispered.
She had sneaked into her father's and his wife's bedrooms without being seen or heard by anyone, she had had such a bad nightmare that she just couldn't manage to be alone in the darkness of her room.

"Attea ...? Is it you?" the gentle voice of her stepmother answered in a whisper so light that Attea hardly heard it "Is there something wrong?"
"I … uh, I had a nightmare" the little girl.

Indeed, she wasn't even sure if she was more afraid of the nightmare she just had or of risking to wake up her father.
Maybe it wasn't a good idea to go there.

"Oh dear, the same as the other nights?"

Attea nodded.
"I dreamed of mom then ... then she disappeared ..."

"Come here"

"But father …?"

"He won't notice anything, I promise"

Attea climbed to the side of Neptune's bed, who held her close in a comforting embrace, and fell asleep.
The next morning the princess woke up in her own bed.

...

"… NO! No, please! Stop …!"
Ben's screams brought her back to the present.

"Shh, it's all right" Attea murmured, cautiously approaching him "It's okay, you're okay I promise, nothing bad is going to happen …"
She ran a hand through his hair, in a shy caress.

Wow, Tennyson's hair was so curly and fluffy …

"Please …"

Attea blinked, pulling her hand back …
… That ... that was stupid.

She had never been good at comforting people and it wasn't like he could hear her anyway.

The empress was about to retire into her side of the bed, determined to ignore the matter if it wasn't that Tennyson had actually stopped fidgeting.
His expression serene again, perhaps the nightmare had passed ...

-Better for me- Attea thought -At least I can sleep in peace …-

...

Well, we know Ben suffers from nightmares sometimes and it seems that Attea is not SO bad after all.
As for Big Chill and Little Chill (soon you will know his name), I always wondered why Ben never worried about the babies he gave birth to, or why he never named them at least again, apart that episode with Ma Vreedle, then I thought Big Chill's instincts maybe had something to do with it.

It's clear that Necrofriggians have no problem entrusting their children to natural selection since they let them go alone in space (a bit like the sea turtles that lay eggs on the beach and just leave them there), so I figured Ben would have to fight those instincts to take care of Little Chill.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter ^^

See you next time!