Chapter 12

The ringing of my alarm woke me up. I turned around to face 11-7, only to find she wasn't there. I shot up in bed, looking around my room. I didn't see her. I turned off my alarm and rubbed my head. My door was closed and none of my clothes on the floor looked disturbed. Was that really all a dream? No, it couldn't have been. It was too - nice? But I wasn't going to find out sitting in my room. I threw on some pants and walked out to the living room.

11-7 was sitting on the couch playing a video game. She was wearing a white t-shirt, like I remembered from last night. I stood there trying to think of something to say. I must have been staring because she paused her game. "Good morning Lucas." She seemed cheerful.

"Yeah, - uh good morning." I kept thinking about how to word what I wanted to say, but like usual I was blunt. "Did that happen last night?"

She adjusted her position on the couch and started fidgeting with her hands. "If you are referring to the comforting I performed... Yes that did happen."

"So that wasn't a dream. Thank god, I thought I was really losing it there for a minute."

She chuckled. "You are in a somewhat unstable condition, but not enough to hallucinate events." I suppose that was reassuring.

"You're probably right." Another pressing question came to mind. "Did uh... Did last night - mean anything to you?"

She looked at me and cocked her head. "You mean the definition of last night. The night that just happened?"

I put my hand on my face and rubbed my forehead. "No, I... how do I explain this?" I took a few moments to think it out. "Ok, what you did last night I don't understand why, did you feel something when you did it? If that makes sense."

"I do not know." She became silent and focused. Taking her time to respond. "I - knew you were troubled by something, and I wanted to help in a way I believed you would appreciate. Feel - I don't understand, I was happy to do it.

I chuckled. "Well, you were right. How'd you figure that out?"

She looked away. "I shouldn't tell, you will think it stupid."

I crossed my arms. "Come on, it can't be that stupid."

She hesitantly pointed at the tv. "One of the shows I watched on the television. There was a scene where a woman comforted a man by - cud-del-ing... Both of them enjoyed it, so I attempted it."

"That's - not surprising." I paused and looked away from her. "Look, I don't really say stuff like this often, but I really needed that last night." I looked her dead in the eye and tried to sound as genuine as I could. "I don't think I can properly express how grateful I am, but thank you 11-7. I don't think you realize how much that meant to me."

Her gaze softened and her hood tightened up. "I... you." She looked away and coiled her body in tight. "It did not require much effort to perform. I was just helping you..." She spoke quietly and trailed off.

"Shit, I don't care how easy it was. Do you know how long it's been since anyone's shown me compassion like that, - since anyone's actually cared about me? Too long..."

She started hissing quietly and continued fidgeting with her hands. "If you enjoyed it so immensely, I would do it again..."

Now was my turn to be surprised. "Do you mean that?"

What I said breathed a little life into her, and she continued. "Yes, but it would have to be in my room from now on. Your bed is too small, I could not fit on it properly, and I was worried I was going to break it last night."

I had to take a step back, I was getting the impression she didn't know what that meant. "-How much do you know about human relationships?"

She must have picked up on my seriousness because she seemed unsure again. "I understand some, the - majority comes from what I've read and seen from your media."

"Well, uh. Friends don't usually sleep in the same bed, or at all for the most part. Especially the cuddling, that's more of an - intimate thing."

Her hood stretched out and her eyes widened. "Another taboo, I did not know. I apologize if I made you uncomfortable."

I shook my hands in front of me. "Oh, don't be sorry. I liked it... I - I don't know how to explain this to you, but do you want to be more than friends?"

She tapped her chin with a clawed finger, mumbled to herself. "More - friend, extra. Better friendship?" She was silent for a few moments. "Yes, I believe so."

I still wasn't sure if she really understood, but I didn't have the brain power to explain to her the complexity of human relationships right now after I just woke up. If she was fine with what was happening then so was I. I smirked. "That quick, huh. You must have liked the cuddling too, then."

She blinked and looked away, tapping her claws together in no particular pattern. "I... Whether I liked it or not does not matter. We already have an agreement."

"Oh, we do? Should I draft up a contract for us to sign?"

She cocked her head for a moment, and then sighed. "If you must."

I chuckled. "Just joking, but if you liked it so much why did you leave early."

She started to speak but stopped for a moment. "I hear your verbal trickery. Do not think yourself clever. I left early to take care of your Advent report for you. I spoke with your manager about what happened."

She's the gift that keeps on giving. "Ain't you a sweetheart. I don't think I've ever had anyone take care of my paperwork before."

"Sweet - heart..." She repeated the word back to me slowly. "You are thanking me?"

"Uh yeah, I am. Sweetheart means you're being nice."

She nodded. "I understand. They took that photo of you and your brother for analysis. I didn't know if you wanted to allow it..."

Strangely enough I felt an ache upon hearing that photo was gone now. I didn't have many photos of my family. "It's fine, it's probably better this way. That photo has bad memories attached to it."

She tried to change the subject. "I attempted to secure you more - vacation time due to the recent incident. But your manager said that you are already scheduled for something on Monday that cannot be changed."

"Thanks for trying. It was a miracle I managed to get these two weeks off. Aw well, I had a nice life. It's unfortunate that it has to end so soon, but sometimes these things are out of our control."

She looked concerned. "You sound certain of your death. You do not need to be afraid I will keep you safe."

"I wasn't being serious (mostly), but yeah this is not good."

"You'll be transported in an armed convoy to another city. It will be..."

"Ahe! I don't want to hear about it. I'll talk to Manny later for the details. I've still got a weekend to enjoy, and I am not leaving the neighborhood until I have to."

"I understand. Staying here is the safest option." She looked around the room. "If we are staying here then, is there anything we can do for entertainment besides what you have already shown me?"

"Oh, um. Let me think." As I was thinking my eyes drifted above her head, and I saw the sun high in the sky outside my window. I suddenly got an unorthodox idea. "I have an idea, but first I gotta ask: do you like pools?"

"You have a pool?"

"I do, it's in my shed."

"Swimming is an enjoyable activity, but I do not believe you have a pool."

"Prepare to be surprised." I got up, walked over to the sliding glass door, and slid it open. I immediately felt the warm glow of the sun on my skin, and heard birds chirping. I stepped out onto my deck and surveyed my backyard. I was never out here that much, so the grass was overgrown. It was surrounded by a tall privacy fence and had two features, my shed, and the stone firepit I used occasionally. I walked off my deck and to my shed. As I opened it I was hit with a musty smell, and there in the corner I saw it. A balled up pile of blue rubber and a cheap green bike pump. I grabbed both of them and left my shed.

11-7 was observing me with a confused expression, and she didn't get any less confused when I threw my inflatable pool and bike pump on the ground in front of her.

I gestured to them. "Here it is."

She pointed down at it with a claw, keeping her other hand on her hip. "That is your pool? It is not big enough."

"It's inflatable, so it's bigger than this. I've been trying to save up for something better, like a hot tub." I walked forward and spread it out on the ground. It was large enough to fit both of us, but only just barely. Perfect.

I found the air port and plugged the bike pump into it and started pumping. She watched my movements closely as I worked.

"You seem better today, more than yesterday."

I chuckled. "Yeah, well you certainly had a hand in that."

She slithered into view and asked me an unexpected question. "Do not become agitated, but what was your brother - like? I am interested."

"You're interested in my brother?" That was a strange question to ask, but maybe she just wanted to know more about him. "Uh, I guess I don't mind talking about him. I just don't like to be reminded of what happened..." I got a few more pumps in before speaking again. "- He was a lot like me. Actually, I guess you'd say we were a lot like each other."

"Were you exactly the same?"

I shook my head, and kept pumping as I spoke. "No, he was a lot less meticulous than me. When we were kids I was more strategic minded and he was always charging in headfirst. Course he always told me if I sat on my ass all day thinking about doing something, I'd never do it. Sometimes he was right. We, uh leveled each other out by working together and us being twins helped with that. But as we became older he got more stubborn and set in his ways. If he didn't like my plan he wouldn't follow it and he wouldn't compromise. He was always the one doing things, and I was always the support. I guess that meant he was more courageous than me... But we always had each other's back, and that was what was important."

I looked down and saw I had inflated the pool fully. "Oh, nice. It's full now." It was one of those rectangular ones. The sides were clear and had fish decals going all the way around the pool. I got this one because I thought it was funnier than the one that didn't have fish on it.

As I plugged the air port 11-7 made a comment. "I understand. I feel similar for my sisters."

I walked over to the green garden hose mounted on the side of my house and started unwinding it. "Your sisters? I've heard you say that a lot, how does that even work?"

I turned on the water and began rinsing out the pool as she answered. She crossed her arms and gestured to the air as she spoke. "We are like clones, genetically tailored in accordance with the elders' wishes. Our DNA is designed to produce the strongest and smartest specimens possible of our species, and it is maintained so as to not produce any defects." She looked down at me, her confident sharp eyes accompanied with an aura of cockiness.

I continued to rinse out the pool. "That's cool and all, but I'm not sure how much I'd want someone else to have control over my genome. Though the - results of that control are hard to ignore. - So, you're all like grown in a test tube? I had heard something like that before from some of my friends, but I guess that means you don't have any parents."

I saw a hint of sadness to her eyes, but it was gone in an instant. "The elders are my equivalent to your - parents. Fledgling vipers do not require constant supervision like human children, and we mature much faster."

That didn't surprise me. Having the elders as parents, - must be one hell of a family reunion. "I see, do the elders - speak to you much?"

She was about to say something, but stopped herself. "- No... they don't. They do not possess enough time to speak to underlings like me on an individual basis. Their work is too important." She wasn't looking at me as she said that, she was looking past me.

I tried to cheer her up. "Shit. Em, well you can always talk to me."

Her eyes focused on me and she smiled. "Yes, I can - can't I."

I tipped the pool over and let the dirty water flow out. Now would be a good time to change the subject. "Soo, - are you all female? I have yet to meet a viper that looked - uh - not female?"

She sighed, slumping her head forward, and seemed annoyed by that question. "Yes, we are all female. We are not allowed to reproduce normally, as your kind would. That would introduce unsupervised discrepancies into our genome, which over time could affect our functionality. So, we are all of one sex, which makes that impossible."

I sprayed some of the dirt off the top edge of the pool, and thought about that old movie Jurassic park. Life finds a way and all that, but then again they probably didn't have any frog DNA mixed in with theirs. Instead I asked a more appropriate question. "If that's the case, why are you all female? Wouldn't making all vipers male instead do the same thing?"

She looked at me like I was stupid, but quickly wiped it from her face. "I apologize, it is a good question to ask. I understand why you would be confused because the males of your species are physically superior to the females. For my species it is the opposite. The females are naturally stronger and larger than the males. - I have never seen a male of my species, but that is what I was taught."

I tossed the hose into the pool to let it fill up. "Yeah, that makes sense. Larger and stronger soldiers tend to be better... Hey can you watch the pool and make sure it doesn't overflow. I'm going to change into my swim trunks."

"Yes, I saw the control valve." She pointed over to the spout the hose was connected to.

I ran inside and changed into my black swim trunks and walked back outside. I saw 11-7 soaking in the pool, and she waved at me. The midday sun reflected off of the water and her glistening scales. She was still wearing that same plain white t-shirt surprising, guess she didn't have any swimwear. The tip of her tail was laying on top of the side of the pool. The pool wasn't that deep, but it was enough for her to submerge herself completely. I could see her orange and yellow body through the sides of the pool.

As I walked up to the end of the pool opposite to her, I started to get that same feeling from before when I climbed into the bathtub with her. My instincts telling me I was "flirting" with something dangerous. I hesitated for a moment, but not because I wanted to. She slapped her tail in the pool, splashing some water on me and catching my attention. She giggled and gestured to the open pool.

Pushing those instincts aside, I climbed in and slowly sat down. The cool water enveloping my lower body as I leaned back against part of her tail and the side of the pool. I put my hands behind my head and let out a contented sigh. "Comfortable?" I heard my serpentine pool mate ask in a condescending way.

I leaned up and gently slapped the part of her body that was above the water. "Yeah actually. Anyone ever tell you that you are comfortable to sit on?"

She shook her head and smiled. "No, you are the first, but I have confirmation. I sit on - myself when furniture is not available." Her eyes darted to my phone, which was still strapped to my arm. She pointed at it. "Should you bring that here?"

I rotated my arm around and poked my phone as I spoke. "Not to worry, this baby is completely waterproof. Besides, I should always have it on me, you never know when I'll receive an important message."

"If you must have it out here, so be it."

As she was talking I realized the bottom of her shirt was wet and sticking to her body, outlining her lean abdominal muscles and humanlike snake hips. My eyes drifted upwards to her breasts, which were under their dry part of her shirt. It was pulled taught, but not enough to see more than I usually did. My eyes drifted up to her face, and she was looking right at me with a scrutinizing expression. She was squinting and her bifurcated tongue lingered in the air for longer as she flicked it out. "You are always staring... Is this a normal human behavior I am not aware of?" She cocked her head slightly after saying that.

My face felt warm, and it wasn't just from the sun. She had finally called me out on it, and I did not have a clue what to say for myself. "Um, yeah. Sorry about that. - I like to look at things - I guess."

She tilted her chin up and scratched it with one of her claws. "Hmmm. You like to look at thingsss. - Insightful." She got the same cheeky look in her eye from when we were in the tub together. "Should I give you a better view? - Since you clearly favor staring at certain things over others."

I tried to feign ignorance. "Are you accusing me of something?"

She chortled. "Don't play coy. My venom glands command your attention at times, and you do not make enough effort to hide that. I am surprised that you did not mention them when we were at the theater."

I was not letting her tease me again. This time I was determined to turn the tables on her. "Yeah, well you're right, I do like staring at them."

She raised her scaly brows as I said that. "An, admission?" After saying that she went back to analyzing me. "Why?"

"Maybe I just want to see you do it. Go ahead, take off your shirt." I could tell from her expression that she did not believe me.

Her hands immediately shot down to the bottom of her shirt. She observed me closely, but I didn't even flinch. I saw a hint of surprise in her eyes, and she hesitated to continue. We looked at each other for a few moments longer before she realized she'd be backing down if she stopped. She was obligated to finish what she started now that I challenged her, and she falsely called my bluff. In one smooth motion she pulled her shirt off and flung it into the wet grass.

As soon as her head was uncovered, she scanned my face with her crimson reptilian eyes, and I took in her now naked form. It was familiar in some places and alien in others. Those soft cream colored scaled plates that ran up her underbelly split into three directions at her chest. Two paths of scale plates made up the surface of her left and right breasts, and the one in the middle ran up past her sternum to her neck. The scaled plates on her breasts wrapped around them, and faded into her regular orange scales at her shoulders. There were some features I immediately noticed, or rather a lack thereof. She had no nipples, the surface of her sizeable venom glands were completely bare. I also noted that she had no belly button, which I really should have noticed sooner but the lack of nipples made me notice other things were missing. It was a strange experience seeing her laid bare before me. She really did not wear much besides a shirt, and seeing her now - revealed what little she did not show. I wasn't sure what to expect, but she was about as thrilling to look at naked as it normally was when she was "fully clothed".

I stared at her body and studied it. She continued to observe me and said nothing. I think she may have been breathing heavier than usual. I watched her chest rise and fall a few times before I worked up the courage to say anything. "You don't have nipples?"

She blinked twice. "What are nip-pless?"

I looked down at my own bare chest and pointed to one of mine. "One of these things. They are on breasts, usually people like to cover them up specifically... I think I know why you didn't care about taking off your shirt now."

She chuckled. "Lucas, we've been over this before, I am not from Earth. These features your species has does not mean mine will."

"Well, you do have tits, among other things, like two eyes and a mouth. That is kind of convenient."

She frowned. "Venom - Glands. There is no - milk - production."

Even though she didn't have what I was expecting, it was hard to deny that her body was easy on the eyes. She was well toned, and her body's outline was attractive. She had the look of a fit model, and it really made me ask myself again what the elders were thinking. Maybe they just had good taste.

11-7 noticed my interest. "You are truly enjoying this aren't you... you are confusing. You only want to look when you think I do not see, then I offer and you leave, and now you stare unashamedly."

"I had some - uh, hang ups about that before, but I'm over them now."

"It is good you took them down." She gestured to the air. "But, I do not understand the purpose."

I smiled. "It's simple to explain, you are - beautiful, and I like to look at you, with or without a shirt." A bit corny, but definitely an improvement over yesterday.

She leaned her head back and her eyes widened. She chuckled nervously. "You are being friendly again. Compliments are not - required we are already friends. And now... more - friend." She was unsure, but at least she didn't have a small scale freak out like yesterday.

"Yes, well I offer it free of charge. You should take it, I don't give them out often."

"If you persist, I accept." She rubbed her chin. " - What are other things you consider to equate to the word beautiful?"

I chuckled. "Well, I don't exactly have a list on standby, let me think for a moment. Um - full moon, water falls, maybe - flowers..."

She cut me off. "A celestial body, moving water, and colored plants. All are completely different, but are connected by that word, interesting." She looked me up and down, smirking after she was done. "Should I offer you one? Is that not how these transactions go?"

I actually felt embarrassed that she had something to say about me. "It's not like a trade, you don't have to."

She snickered. "But I am offering it free of charge."

Is she a parrot, or a snake? "Lay it on me then."

Her sharp eyes drifted to look at the side of my head. "Your ears are - mmm cute."

I was not expecting that. "My - ears?" I touched them both as I said that.

She nodded. "Yes, the cartilage structures on the side of your head that are for hearing." She flicked one of my ears from behind with the tip of her tail. "I like the way they are shaped. My kind do not have a structure like that for hearing." She turned her head and pointed at a hole in her hood behind her eye. "This is my - ear."

"Uh, thank you." I think I was getting a taste of my own medicine here: getting complimented on an aspect of myself I had never thought about before. I think I liked that. I started to feel something stir in me. I wish I could say it was just in my chest, but there was also some down below. Probably from all the staring I was doing.

"You are welcome. It is reassuring to see you can be pushed off balance by words." She crossed her arms and smirked, covering up her breasts in the process.

"Are you becoming conscious of being naked finally?" I joked.

She shook her head. "No, you are enjoying yourself too much. I can tell."

I really hope her ability to sense heat isn't that sensitive. "Don't worry I was just - studying them."

Her eyes sparkled and that smirk turned into a genuine smile. "Ah, so you do have interest in my kind?"

That wasn't quite what I meant, but I'll roll with it. "Since I've met you I have become curious."

"Your compliment is well placed. I am happy to hear I have influenced you and given you a taste for knowledge seeking."

Time to tease her now. "Yes, but observation may not be enough to really grasp an understanding. I should examine you closer, to learn about your species better of course."

She cocked her head. "What are you meaning?" I made a grabbing motion in the air with my hands as a response. "Oh, you mean touch. I don't know about that..." Her hood contracted slightly and she looked away.

She's always flicking me and touching me. I should chase her around as a joke. I stood up, which immediately caught her attention, and I lunged at her. She looked surprised and dodged to the left, which caused me to slip and ram my face into the side of the pool. It didn't hurt because it was inflatable. I stood up, she wasn't moving, so I lunged at her again.

This time she didn't move and grabbed my hands with her hands. We locked fingers together and she held me back easily, but I wasn't giving it my all - yet. She looked scared. "Lucas, why are you attacking me! Did I offend you?"

I shook my head and smiled. "No, I'm trying to play-fight you."

"Play - fight? You mean a contest of strength?"

"Uh, probably, - whatever that is."

Her pupils widened and she smiled. "How brave you are challenging me, - I will not go easy on you." What have I gotten myself into.

Before I could respond she stopped pushing against my arms and yanked me close to her. She leaned back and snapped forward, slamming me into the ground. I was surprised she went into it right away, and I was dazed for a moment. While we were both underwater I was able to slip out of her arms and tried to get behind her.

Part of her body bumped into me and knocked me off balance. She spun around and lunged forward at me. I dove into the water and attempted to slide under part of her body. My leg touched her, and she clamped down with her body, holding me in place by one of my legs. I opened my eyes underwater and saw she was moving into position to pin me. I used my free leg to push off of her body and free myself. It worked, and I was out of the water again.

I needed a plan, I was way out of my league here attempting to wrestle with what equated to a large tube of pure muscle. One misstep and she would coil around me and the game would be over. My only chance would be to get her in a headlock and hope she couldn't fling me off. I didn't get much time to think because 11-7 shot forward and attempted to wrap around me. I grabbed her shoulders and vaulted over her. She chased me around like this for some time. Attempting to pin me and at the last moment I would slip away. I'm sure the water was helping with that, but every time she moved, water would slosh out of the pool and onto the overgrown grass, so I was quickly losing that advantage. I was biding my time and waiting for an opportunity.

That opportunity came when she made a mistake and attempted to pin me against the side of the pool, which didn't work because it was soft. She brought her head close enough that I was able to slip behind her and get her in a headlock with my arms.

I was breathing heavily, and so was she. She didn't struggle once I got her in a headlock. "Impressive - I was - unaware you - had combat experience?" She paused every few words to take a breath.

"No I just - wrestled with my brothers - all the time back when I was living on the farm." I had to take a few breaths while I spoke too.

She craned her neck to look at me with one of her crimson eyes. "Hmmm, if I was one of your brothers you may have won this contest, but I think the fun is over."

She grabbed my wrists with her hands and slipped her tail in between my arms and the front of her neck. I tried to pull my arms tighter, but her tail was significantly stronger than both of my arms. As she moved her tail through it got wider and gradually pulled my face into her hood and my body into her back. I held as hard as I could but her tail was unyielding, it was like I was trying to fight against a log. She forced me to let go, and once I did she shoved me onto the ground and pinned me.

She threw a lot of her weight on me, pressing into my waist and legs with her body, and holding my wrists against the ground. There was not much water left in the pool after our "contest of strength", so I was able to breath. Her head a few feet away from mine because her arms were long enough to pin mine from a distance.

We both stayed like this breathing for a few moments. I squirmed and tried to free my wrists, but there was no way I was getting out. I let out a defeated sigh. "Alright, I guess you win."

She smiled. "Normally the loser of a contest of strength would have to give the winner some of their rations, but since you already share your food I will make an exception in your case."

"You win these often?"

She shook her head. "Not often, I was one of the youngest in my barracks ." She noticed my defeated expression and smirked. "Do not despair, your effort was valiant. But, you'd be foolish to think there would be a different outcome."

"I'm just surprised I managed to get you in a headlock. You sure you weren't going easy on me?"

She flicked her tongue at me. "I did not attempt to bite or scratch you if that is what you imply."

"That's true... Could you let me up? I'm getting tired of being pinned." I tried to sit up and inadvertently pushed my hips into her. "Uh, sorry about that..."

Her expression changed immediately. She looked focused and stared at me with knife edge pupils. She started breathing heavily again, and did not stop pinning me.

She didn't say anything so I did. "Are you there 11-7?" I began to feel nervous.

She slowly leaned her body forward and gradually pressed against me more, bringing her face close to mine.

I was definitely feeling something stir in me now that she was basically laying on me. Tits squished up against my chest, and weight on my groin. I didn't know what to say now, so I didn't say anything. It was like she was inspecting my face, taking her time to examine every feature. She looked unsure of what was happening, I felt uncertain about what was happening. This was uncharted territory for either of us, assuming that's what this was. I didn't want her to think I was scared, so I offered her a reassuring smile, which I think she took. She opened her mouth to speak, but no sound came out. She closed her mouth, and went back to observing me. After some time, she leaned her face forward. Her pink bifurcated tongue flicked out a few times, lingering in the air longer than usual. She was close enough for her tongue to lightly brush against my face a few times. After thoroughly tasting the air around my face, she touched the tip of my nose with her lips. Then she closed her eyes and mashed her face into the side of mine. She rubbed against it forcefully for a while, undulating her neck to do it. I think she was trying to - nuzzle me. Strange, but also cute.

She pulled her face away from mine and examined my face again. I offered her another encouraging smile. Her eyes drifted down to my lips and back up to my eyes. She looked like she had made up her mind about something, and seemed determined. She closed her eyelids until they were half closed. The way she moved them was like she was trying to mimic something, rather than it being a natural action. Her lips parted ever so slightly and she calmly leaned forward, giving me a sensual look through half lidded eyes as she did. When our lips were inches from touching each other my phone started ringing.

Her pupils widened and she practically leaped up off of me. She slithered to the other side of the pool and I sat up to check my phone. Dammit, why now? I had a message from Ron of all people. He wanted to meet up at the bar here in my neighborhood, alone no bodyguard. Said it was urgent. Ron wasn't one to kid around like that, so I should probably go.

I looked up from my phone, 11-7 was coiled up at the other end of the pool, and averting her gaze from me.

"You alright? Sorry if that spooked you."

"No, I apologize. I do not know what came over me. That was irregular and unprofessional of me to do."

"Hey, I was cool with it."

She looked up at me with a serious expression. "This is not ok, you could get in trouble for any interaction. Your career was almost destroyed by rumors of this, and we were doing something out in the open." She peered around and looked around my backyard and at my neighbors' houses.

"Don't worry the fence is pretty high, and I'm never in my backyard."

She leaned her head forward and stared at the bottom of the mostly empty pool. "I do not understand what happened. I was enjoying the game, and I won. When you were pinned I wanted to - do..." Words came flying out of her mouth, and she didn't give me time to respond. "I don't know, I touched your face, I couldn't - control that." She mumbled to herself for a few moments and looked up at me expectantly. "Is that normal?"

"Wha..."

"Is that normal!"

"Uhh, if you mean the seeking touch thing, yeah. For humans anyway."

"Hmmm, - no it doesn't matter. Anything is dangerous for us both."

She was freaking out, so I tried to calm her down. I stood up and walked towards her. "I enjoyed that you know. It's not like you hurt me, we're both fine."

She held out a hand and exclaimed. "Stay back." I halted in my tracks. She looked at her open hand and closed it into a fist. "I... require - time to understand this." Then she pointed at me accusingly. "and you need to be more concerned about your - image." Before I could respond she changed the subject. "What did the message say?"

I explained to her what Ron asked me to do. She liked the idea and told me I should go. Well, she basically pushed me out the door once I changed into regular clothes. So, here I was walking down to the bar wondering what Ron wanted to talk about urgently, and wondering what the hell happened with 11-7 back there. She must be pretty shook to shove me out the door to go to a bar. Maybe she didn't know what a bar was?

Either way, she keeps giving me mixed messages. One day she's cuddling and flirting with me, and the next she's freaking out because she nuzzled me. She said something about not being in control when she did that though... I'll just give her some space. I'm sure she'll be fine when I get back.

It really was a nice day outside. The grass was green, and the trees were budding. The neighborhood was lively, people were out and about doing stuff. Some people were out walking, others were getting into cars and driving to the city. I stepped off the sidewalk, and let a group of kids ride past me on bikes. They were yelling and talking to each other all the way down the road. I smiled, it was nice to be reminded that there are actual people living in this neighborhood. Sometimes when I walk around it's like a ghost town and the houses don't even look like they're occupied.

10 minutes of walking later, and I was at the neighborhood's strip mall. As far as I was aware, every neighborhood in the city had one, but they weren't all the same. Ours was one building with a line of a few stores built into it that sold essential goods, and one restaurant. The Crab Shack, it was a bar and grill, I never went there that much because the food sucked, but at least the drinks were cheap.

The parking lot in front of the strip mall wasn't packed surprisingly, and the building itself was just made out of metal and that Sheetrock material Advent used to make the new buildings they didn't care about.

I walked through the parking lot, weaving in between a few cars, and stepping over some concrete barriers to get to the Crab Shack. I took a moment to admire the digital sign above the door, before entering.

The aesthetic of the inside was completely different from the outside. It was dimly lit, grimy. The top half of the walls were painted green, and the bottom half was made up of this light colored wood paneling. There were various things hanging on the wall placed seemingly at random. Bits of sports paraphernalia, car parts, neon signs, old photos, instruments. It was like the owner just took whatever he could find from the old world for cheap and used it as a decoration. The floor was made of this tacky red linoleum. As soon as I walked in I was assaulted by the smell of cooking oil and alcohol. Despite all that people loved coming here. This place was well taken care of, but the feel of it was tailored to be a callback to what your average dive bar would have been like. Everything is so perfect and sterile nowadays that coming into a place like this was ironically a breath of fresh air, one with some real character.

I looked around the bar and saw Ron sitting in the corner at one of the many cheap looking wood round tables. He was wearing his usual outfit: a plaid button up shirt and a pear of jeans. He had on a bass fishing cap and his thick glasses. He was nursing a large glass of beer, and waved me over when he noticed me.

I walked over to one of the shoddy metal chairs across from him at the table, and felt the cheap fabric of the cushions as I sat down. "How's it hangin Ron?"

"Low, considerin my age." He laughed after saying that, and took a drink from his beer.

Before I got to say anything else a barmaid walked over. The main feature of her outfit was a large black apron that had Crab Shack written on it, with the bar's crab logo. It covered up her uniform, which seemed to be just a black shirt and jeans. "Can I getcha anything?"

"I nodded, yeah I'll have a beer, Advent pale lager."

Ron piped up. "Bring me another, I'll have this un' finished in a few minutes."

"Be back in a few." She turned away from us, and Ron noticeably stared at her rear as she went to get our drinks.

He looked back at me. "She's single ya know, I was chattin er up before ya got here."

I chuckled. "For me, or for you?"

"Ya know I can't bring a lady back home with me, she'd never get along with my wife."

We laughed, and the barmaid set our drinks down. "You boys just holler if you need anything else, or go to the bar for refills."

"I will miss, but before ya go how's Ernie?"

She looked surprised, but responded. "Oh he's out today. He doesn't stay here much since he hired that new manager."

"Too bad, haven't heard from the guy in a while, but I'll letcha get back to work."

She smiled and nodded before walking over to another table.

"He's a funny guy, but real bad at cards." He looked over at my drink as I took a sip. "Only one, yer always knockin em back faster than me. Ya becoming a teetotaler?"

I really shouldn't stumble home drunk. It wouldn't be good, especially if 11-7 is still freaking out. "Uh, I just don't feel like getting that drunk right now, it's like the middle of the day."

He shrugged. "Suit yerself."

"So, why'd you ask me to come down? You made it seem important."

"Always straight to business, no time fer fun." He got a serious look in his eye. "Ya don't have anywhere to be do ya?"

It felt like he was accusing me of something. What it was I couldn't say. "Uh, no, not really."

He leaned back in his chair. "Good, because I was plannin on knocking back a few myself before we got to that."

We chatted for a bit, eventually getting on the topic of what life was like pre-Advent. I hadn't drunk much of my beer, but Ron was on his third."

He raised his glass and set it back down. "I'll say this it's the boomers' fault fer not preparing us fer somethin like this, and draggin all their wealth to their graves." He took another drink, and adjusted his bass cap.

"I mean how much can people prepare for something as unexpected as an alien invasion?" I reasoned.

"They could've done better." He pointed at himself. "I could've done better, with that useless education my parents convinced me to get."

I chuckled and took a sip of my beer. "I've never heard anyone talk so much about a specific generation before. What generation are you?"

He chuckled. "Millennial, born 1980 right on the edge. What generation are you?"

I thought for a second. "I don't remember, but I think my dad told me once."

"If I had to wager a guess, I'd say you were in the last generation born to free parents, betcha feel special."

"About as special as anyone else living today I guess. Only a few years of my childhood were before Advent, and I can barely remember them."

"That's a shame. And ya know, maybe yer right. Not all boomers were the same, my pa was all in this shit. I used to think he was nuts always talkin about the communists invading. Even after the USSR collapsed he'd still talk about China. I never listened to a word he said about it or anything else until I joined the military." He chuckled and leaned back. "Turns out my dear Ol' daddy got it wrong. We weren't invaded from over the sea, we were invaded from space."

"If you weren't worried about an invasion, why'd you join the military."

"Same stupid reason a lot of people joined: ta pay off my student loans. I know that doesn't mean anything to you, but back in my day we had to pay for a useless degree. Nowadays people get them for free, but Advent has to approve it."

"That's weird, I never would have guessed. I always figured you cared about that stuff because you call Advent space commies sometimes."

He chugged the last third of his beer before responding. "Oh, there's so much we'd called em when I was garrisoned. Space commies, xenos, star twinks, xrays, LGM's short fer little green men, teacups, ET's, shit sometimes we'd even call em space niggers. Used to shitpost about it on an image board too, back when it was still a conspiracy theory, good times." He looked wistfully at his empty beer glass.

I didn't know how to respond to that. "That's a lot."

He laughed heartily. "Oh, I got plenty more in me, can't remember em too well. But don't let Advent catch ya saying shit like that. They'll string ya up and parade ya around town."

He ordered some more beers and I kept sipping mine.

"It's funny." Ron speaking caught my attention, so I looked up from my glass.

"What?"

"How much I turned out like my pa." He took a drink from his beer and continued. "I was so determined to not be like my pa when I was younger, even forced that on my kids too. Now they're more like him than me."

"Is that really a bad thing?"

He shrugged. "Would be the worst thing possible to me when I was younger. - Now, maybe it's for the better. My point is the war, if ya could call it that, it changed us, all of us. Shit was getting wild up to before it. Everyone was going coocoo for cocopuffs. People used to be at each other's throats over the smallest things, and trust me I was no exception. When the war started it reset everything. Well at least for the people, state governments and officials were tripping over themselves to betray each other and us. Our squabbles and our movements we all championed seemed so petty when we were faced with Armageddon. For a few months people were the sanest I'd ever seen. Then it as quick as it came it was over, we lost, people didn't learn anything, and now our kids 'll grow up loving Advent and whatever else they tell em to in school." He took another drink and sighed. "I'm rambling though, I'm sure ya don't want ta hear all this."

"No, I'm listening. It's interesting to hear a pre-Advent perspective because I don't remember much from those days. I know Advent does stuff I'm not aware of that's shady, but is it really any different from how things were before? I mean wasn't the war at least partially our fault, they did come in peace."

He frowned and looked me in the eye. The brim of his hat blocking the dim light and darkening his face. "You really believe that?"

He looked dead serious, so much so it caught me off guard, and I kinda froze up. "I... uh, - y-yes. But that doesn't excuse their actions."

He looked surprised. "Then it's already happenin. Time'll pass, the people who saw it 'll die, and it'll be the truth." I was about to respond, but he kept talking. "I know I ramble a lot, but if you can take away something from all this make it this. I heard a quote once that was somethin like: if you tell a lie enough, and enough people believe it, it becomes true. Don't know who said it, but I've seen so much shit that applied to it, it ain't funny."

I think I understood what he meant. "I'll think about that. I mean it." We silently drank our beers for a few minutes before I spoke again. "I gotta ask: did you really bring me down here to rant about Advent? We've talked about them before, there must be something else?"

He looked up from his glass and sighed, adjusting his thick glasses before he spoke. "It's about time we got on to the business... I'll keep it - straightforward. I know what's goin on - Between you and the snake."

Fuck, this isn't good. How the hell did he find out? Before I could defend myself he kept talking. "Now I don't have any evidence if you're worried about that, an maybe you don't even rea-lize it yerself, what's going on. That's why I'm talking to ya about it. I seen some of it driving you, but until last night I thought it was just you tryna be nice. On the drive home the way you two were talkin an gettin all chummy... it don't take a genius ta see what's happenin between you two. And it didn't sit right with me."

I looked around the bar. There weren't any people close enough to listen in on what we were talking about. He kept talking. "I can see you're nervous Luke, but we've been friends for what, 5 years now. That may not be a super long time but that's got ta count for somethin. I'm tryin to help you here."

Ron definitely wasn't the type to go talk to Advent about stuff, so I figured I'd share with him. I nodded and took a large gulp of my beer before continuing. "Yes, something is happening."

His eyes widened, and he took off his hat to scratch his balding grey hair, leaning back in his chair as he did. "Shit - If yer admittin to it, it's serious." He put his cap back on and drank some more of his beer. "Can I ask why?" He looked up at me and raised an eyebrow.

I chuckled. "Do I really have to explain? You've seen her. She's got a rockin' body: hips, smooth stomach, soft scal..."

He waved his hands. "Christ I don't need to hear all that." He rubbed his forehead. "Luke, she ain't human. Yer gettin close to crossin a line ya can't uncross."

I pointed accusingly at him. "You are a hypocrite, old man. I remember the first thing you said to me when you saw her, large - knockers." I joked.

He smiled and shook his head. "Don't bring me inta this now, that was different. It, it - was surface level, and I was sorta jokin. You know me, you put a pair of tits like that on anything and I'd take notice. But what yer talkin about is somethin else." He paused for a moment to take a drink of his beer. "She's a monster you don't know what she's capable of. She sent you to the hospital with one little bite for pete's sake"

"That was - an accident. She's not a monster, I know her way better than you do." Hell maybe the sense of danger made interactions with her more interesting.

"You - can't understand her, and she can't understand you. You're too - different."

"On the contrary, I think she gets me better than anyone."

He shook his head and sighed. "I can't expect ya to understand, ya haven't seen what I've seen." He drank half of his beer quickly before continuing. "Remember when I told you I needed to be drunk enough to tell you a war story, I think I've reached that point."

"You're not gonna make me change my mind."

"It doesn't matter, ya need to hear this. A few weeks into the war I was garrisoned at a base close to a small town. One night we caught word from the higher ups that somethin was going down at that town, so we strapped up an moved out. When I stepped out of the APC I couldn't believe what I was seein, the place looked like a war zone. Fire, buildings destroyed, mutilated bodies laying in the street. A lot of em had guns in their hands, but they never stood a chance. I swear I'll never forget that sickly sweet smell, of burnt meat..." He paused taking another drink. "This wasn't Iraq, this was a rural town in the middle of the country. They shouldn'ta had to deal with that. We were ordered to fan out to search for survivors and remaining hostiles. Me an' a guy I was friends with went inside this hair salon. Inside we found 12 bodies..."

He started to choke up a little. "Some of - them were - children..." He stopped for a minute and took a deep breath before continuing. "At the back we saw one of those vipers. It had a pair of scissors stabbed in its eye, and was leaking this yellow gunk everywhere. We pointed our guns at it, but we weren't sure if it was alive. It looked up at us and my buddy told me not to shoot because it wasn't armed. It was hurt and looked scared. My buddy thought we could take it in because it must be sapient because it didn't attack us outright. He pointed his gun down and started talkin to it. Tried to convince it to come with us quietly. As soon as he was close enough it leaped forward and bit his arm. I gunned it down as soon as it started movin. My buddy was injured and there was this green stuff all over the wound. I called him an idiot, and as I picked him up we heard fightin outside. When I drug him out of the building, it had started raining, bullets and plasma were wizzing back and forth across this street, there were guys getting gutted by these bug things, and fresh bodies in the street. We were losing, and everyone was retreatin to the APC's. I dragged my friend as fast as I could, but another one of those Vipers came after me. I tried to shoot at it with my sidearm as I kept dragging my friend, but I missed with the whole clip."

He paused staring thoughtfully at his beer, before taking another drink. "He was unconscious, and I knew he wasn't going to make it with that green shit in his veins, even if I got him some help. So I left him, and ran like hell, didn't have time to get his dog tags... Managed to get on one of the last APC's and that was it."

I took a sip of my beer. "Damn, I can see why you needed a drink."

He nodded and adjusted his glasses. "All of my stories are like that. We went in, saw some shit, got fucked, an' retreated. That's why I'm always sayin it wasn't much of a war. We were just buying time, doing our required duty."

"That's a fucked up situation to be in, but she's loyal to me. It's her job to protect me."

"I'm not empty-headed enough to think one story 'll change yer mind. I want you to know what I've seen, to know what they're capable of. I'm trying to warn ya she's loyal to Advent, and if they order her ta do somethin she'll do it. God knows, maybe she's done some war crimes herself. - But do what ya want. It's yer life I don't have any control over it more than I do my kids lives."

I finished my beer in silence and said one last thing before I left. "I'll be starting work again on Monday. See you then?"

He raised up his glass. "See ya then, buckaroo. Don't die on me." He took a drink and I left.

He had given me a lot to think about, but a lot of it I had already considered. I didn't have the time to look into everything Advent has done that's wrong, but maybe I should. I trust Ron, he isn't the kind of guy to lie about this stuff, and if he tattled to Advent he'd be in a much worse position than me. If I learned anything it's that I need to be more careful to make this thing work. If anyone finds out, I'm ruined. I checked my phone, I had been gone for a couple hours, maybe she's ok now? I really hope I never put her in a situation where she has to choose between Advent and me. I know all too well the pain of making a decision like that, and the hardest part has always been living with the consequences of it... Well, I mean It would really suck if she chose Advent over me.

As I walked home, people were still out and about. Happily doing whatever, oblivious to my problems. It didn't take long to walk home, and I walked inside. 11-7 wasn't in the living room, but I noticed the door to her room was closed. I figured she still wanted space, so I gave it to her. I put away the pool and bike pump, and watched some tv. After a few hours she still hadn't come out of her room, and it was getting dark out.

I should check on her. I walked over and knocked on her door. "Hey, are you gonna hide in your room all night?"

I heard her groan, and she said something. "I am, so disperse." She sounded tired.

I thought about doing what she said, but then I remembered yesterday. She didn't leave me alone, so maybe I shouldn't leave her alone. "I think you've done enough hiding for one day." I went to jiggle the doorknob to get her attention, but found it was unlocked. The door opened, and I got an eyeful of her room for the first time. Everything in her room was bathed in this faint blue glow, even though the lights were off. The walls were as bare as I remembered, but her plasma rifle was mounted by the bed. There was a desk by the window with no chair, it had some kind of computer terminal on it. There were chords of various thicknesses strewn about on the floor. And some kind of angular square black thing in the corner that emitted a blue light from randomly placed lines on it.

Her bed took up like half of the room, maybe more. It was covered with various blankets and pillows that were grouped up to make some sort of a nest. They were all so different her bed looked like the aftermath of a slumber party. Soon after I opened the door I saw something stir in the blankets and one of them slowly lifted up. An orange arm reached up and pulled the blanket down, revealing 11-7's face.

She blinked a few times and yawned. "Was the door unlocked?"

I turned to look at it, and back at her. "Apparently. Are you ok?

She nodded. "My condition has equalized."

"Uh, good. You want to talk about it?"

She slumped back down on her bed, resting her head on her arms. "There is not much to discuss."

I walked over to her bed, and sat on the side of it. "Then this won't take too long."

She looked away from me and sighed, burying her head in her arms. "I am concerned about hurting you, again, - but not with venom. The last time I made a mistake you went to the hospital."

"We did have a pretty serious wrestling match today and you didn't hurt me."

She pulled her head out of her arms and focused back on me. "I'm aware, - but I could have..."

I shook my head. "I could interact with anyone, or anything, and there's always a chance I could get hurt, but I'm not afraid you're gonna hurt me. And, if it makes you feel any better, I think you're worth the risk." I winked at her after saying that.

Her hood contracted slightly after I said that. "Oh..." She didn't speak for a few moments and stared at the angular black - blue light thing. "Thank you Lucas. My concerns will never disappear, but your words are comforting."

I might be getting better at this. "Happy to return the favor." I looked at the door and sighed. "I'd understand if you wanted to be alone tonight, I just wanted to check up on you after what happened."

As soon as I said that, one of her hands shot out from under a blanket and grabbed mine. "No!" She released my hand and bashfully looked away. "The - agreement. You can stay if you want to."

I chuckled. "You know what, I think I do." I got up and shut the door. When I turned around she lifted up one of the larger blankets that had a white fluffy texture to it, and patted the bed in an empty spot under that blanket next to her. I took the hint and climbed in.

It was probably like 80 degrees under these blankets. "Jeez you really like it hot, huh."

She snickered. "My bed - my rules." Her tail snaked around the outside of where we were laying, and she pulled it in so I was laying against part of it. I grabbed the nearest pillow and got comfortable.

She let out a content sigh, and closed her eyes. As I watched her cute sleeping face, lit by the blue glow coming from that thing that was probably an Advent nightlight, I wondered what the hell I was getting myself into. This was by definition weird. If you had told me like 3 weeks ago that I would be sharing a bed with an alien I would have told you to fuck off, and yet here I am. It wasn't going to be easy, Ron made that apparent to me today. I was playing a dangerous game, but I was determined to make it work however I could.

I reached out and rubbed the back of her hood gently. She smiled and wrapped her arms around me, but didn't open her eyes. Yeah, it was worth it. Sleep came easily tonight.