Disclaimer: the characters and setting within are owned by Jim Henson Co., Network Nine, Hallmark Entertainment, etc
WINONA, DON'T FAIL ME NOW
A Farscape adventure
Time: sometime before "A Clockwork Nebari"
"Rygel!" John Crichton rose to his full height and stuffed the container of herbs into the pouch he had slung across his red vest. "Come on, Sparky, where are you?"
With the hum of his hovering throne-sled, the deposed Hynerian Dominar emerged from the thick foliage into the clearing where Crichton was working. Rygel seemed contented as he chewed on the root he had in his hand. In two steps Crichton was at the Hynerian's side, gripping the diminutive Dominar's arm.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" the human demanded, thrusting a plastic printout into Rygel's face. "See this? We're supposed to be gathering these herbs for Zhaan. Aeryn and Chiana have their own shopping list, and this is ours."
"Please, Crichton," Rygel said imperiously, "a royal Dominar does not debase himself with menial labor that is best left—"
Rygel cried out in alarm as John suddenly tipped the throne-sled forward, dumping the Hynerian ignominiously into the underbrush that covered the forest floor. He lifted himself up with his stubby arms, spitting out a mouthful of what looked like ferns.
Crichton grabbed Rygel by the scruff of his neck and thrust him back into his throne-sled. "We don't split up, Sparky," the human said. "The idea of searching for these herbs in groups of two is so we don't get ourselves lost alone on this planet."
"I don't see why Zhaan couldn't look for these frelling herbs herself," Rygel groused.
"She's still mourning Stark, so give her some slack. D'Argo can't come down here because his allergies are worse than mine. Aeryn dislikes you even more than I do, and we can't very well trust you and Chiana to go traipsing off together now, can we. So, I'm stuck with you." Crichton felt a tickle in his nose, and he sneezed. "Damn! I hate these forest planets!"
Aeryn's voice piped over Crichton's comms badge. "Crichton, what's your progress?"
Crichton sneezed again. "We've got almost half the stuff on our list."
"Chiana and I are nearly complete. What's your delay?" He could almost imagine the smug smile forming on Aeryn's lips.
"I'd be almost done too if I had some help and didn't have to do this alone."
"Alone? You have Rygel."
"Aeryn."
A chuckle issued from the comm badge. "Understood. We'll be heading back to the transport pod within the arn, John. Do try to hurry."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Crichton sighed as he looked at Rygel, who had found another piece of vegetation to munch on. "Come on, Sparky."
* * *
Aeryn Sun immediately went to the piloting console upon entering the transport pod and checked the power levels. The former Peacekeeper slid her lithe figure into the chair and began the pre-flight inspection. She was midway through the sequence when Chiana returned from the back of the pod, where she had stowed the pouches with their supply of herbal remedies for Zhaan's apothecary. The Nebari girl hovered over Aeryn's shoulder.
The older woman scowled as she glanced back at the Nebari. "Don't you have something to do, Chiana?"
"Like what?" Chiana asked. "The stuff has been put away. You're doing the pre-flight. All I have to do is wait for Crichton and Rygel to get back so we can leave."
Aeryn pointed to the opposite wall. "Well, couldn't you wait over there?"
"You're just grumpy because you had to spend the day with me instead of Crichton today. You guys could have paired me with Rygel, you know."
"Not likely, Chiana. Crichton and I would have had to complete your list as well as our own."
Pilot's voice over the communicator drew Aeryn's attention away from the Nebari girl. "Officer Sun, how much longer are you going to be on the planet's surface?"
"Hopefully not much longer, Pilot," Aeryn responded. "Chiana and I are finished with our list. We're just waiting for Crichton and Rygel."
"Moya's long range scans are picking up a ship at the very edge of her detection range. It's still to far away to identify."
"Thank you, Pilot." Aeryn tapped her comm badge. "Crichton."
"Yeah, Aeryn," Crichton's voice replied.
"How much longer?"
"I'm almost done with the list, but I lost Rygel."
"You lost Rygel? How did you lose Rygel?"
"I don't know, Aeryn, one minute I'm picking this orange kelbor stalk and the next Rygel is off following his tummy. All three of 'em. That little bugger can really move since he's able to hover over all this damn undergrowth that's tripping me up."
"Come on back to the pod, John. Rygel can find his own way back."
"No, Aeryn, I've got just a couple more things to get. Heemot root and fellit leaves, then my list is complete."
"Well hurry, John. Moya detects a ship at the edge of her detection range. Unidentified, but we can't risk it being Peacekeeper in origin."
"I'll be back in about a quarter arn. I see the fellit leaves now. At least I think they're fellit leaves."
* * *
"Come on, Rygel, this isn't funny," Crichton called out, screwing closed the container to seal the sample within. "I have all the herbs on our list, no thanks to you. It's time to go back to the transport."
He stuffed the container into his pouch and scanned the forest. The shafts of sunlight piercing through the foliage canopy were taking a shallower angle. The sun was coming down off its apex, indicating the approaching dusk. The last thing he wanted to do was get himself stuck out here at night with all the night critters. He hated daytime critters enough, but the nasty nocturnal variety…he shuddered to even think about it.
Crichton came to a stop and craned his head, his eyes taking in the scenery around him. His right hand dropped to the holster strapped to his thigh, feeling the cold comfort of his pulse pistol's haft.
Damn, I'm lost, he thought.
* * *
Aeryn quit pacing and tapped her comm badge. "Crichton, it's been an arn. You said you'd be a quarter of an arn. Did you find Rygel yet?" she asked impatiently.
"No, Aeryn," was Crichton's exasperated reply.
"Well, leave him here. If he can't follow directions and stay with his assigned partner, that's his problem. Not ours. Come on back."
"Sure. Easier said than done."
"What do you mean by that? John, where are you?"
"That's the 64,000-dollar question. I think I got myself lost looking for Buckwheat."
"You think you got yourself lost?"
"All right, I am lost. Do you think you can locate my comm badge and direct me to the pod?"
"Stay in one spot, John, so we can get a fix on you."
"Okay, I'm planting my feet."
Aeryn set to work. She was calibrating the pod's sensor on the main pilot console when she heard a familiar hum. She looked up as Rygel entered the cockpit on his throne-sled, chewing contentedly on a piece of root.
Anger simmered through the Sebacean's being. "Rygel, where's Crichton?"
The Hynerian shrugged. "How should I know?"
"He was your frelling partner!"
"For a species with long, gangly legs he seems to have a problem maintaining a decent stride."
Aeryn reached out and smacked Rygel across the back of his head with her palm. The blow was nearly forceful enough to throw him off his throne-sled.
"How dare you strike a royal Dominar—"
Chiana came up from behind the Hynerian and wrapped an arm around him in a headlock. "I'd keep my mouth shut from here on out if I were you, frog-boy."
Pilot's voice piped in from the communicator. "Officer Sun."
"Yes, Pilot," Aeryn said into the communicator.
"We have a positive identification on that ship. It's a Peacekeeper Marauder. Its course seems to indicate a standard patrol vector."
"So it's not singling out this planet?"
"It doesn't appear to be. If you can lift off from the planet right now, we may be able to break orbit and Starburst away before the Marauder detects Moya."
"We can't lift off right now, Pilot. Crichton hasn't returned to the transport yet."
D'Argo's baritone voice took over. "He alone hasn't returned!"
"Yes, D'Argo," Aeryn affirmed.
"No one was supposed to go out alone. Those were the arrangements."
"I know, D'Argo, but Rygel decided otherwise. We're trying to fix in on his comm badge so we can get his location and direct him back to the pod."
"We cannot wait much longer, Officer Sun," Pilot said. "The Marauder will detect Moya shortly."
"What do you suggest we do? Leave Crichton behind?" Aeryn was not about to do that. She cast a baleful glance at Rygel.
"I would never suggest that, Officer Sun. This planet has some rings that may mask Moya from the Marauder as it passes through the vicinity. We will hide there until it passes. If you shut down most of your pod's systems, you should be able to minimize the pod's energy signature enough to avoid detection. Unless, of course, the Marauder decides to achieve orbit."
Aeryn shook her head, knowing Pilot couldn't see her gesture. "No, Pilot, there's nothing of interest to Peacekeepers on this primitive planet. Go ahead and hide. We'll shut down all systems on the pod except for our sensors."
"The Marauder may pick up you sensor signal if they get close enough."
"We need it to locate Crichton's comm badge."
"And the Marauder may pick up Crichton's comm signal as well."
"Pilot, I'm not leaving him alone on this planet at night."
"As you wish, Officer Sun. Good luck."
"Thank you, Pilot."
* * *
John Crichton waited patiently as Aeryn used the transport's sensor to triangulate his comm badge's position. The former Peacekeeper wasn't anything if not efficient, and she would soon locate him. His pride may be a little stung at getting directions from a woman no less—okay, he was still very much a human male, so sue him—but he didn't relish the idea of spending the night alone with all the local nocturnal critters.
The rustle of something heavy crunching the forest's underbrush startled him. The hairs on the back of his head stood on end as he took a step away from the direction of the sound. He instinctively thumbed the release on his holster and curled his fingers around the pistol's haft.
Slowly he threaded his way through the thick jumble of trees, seeking the last clearing he had passed through earlier. The clearing was about fifty feet at its widest point, and it gave him a good vantage point to watch his immediate surroundings.
"Come on, Aeryn," he murmured. Save my ass again.
Wood cracked, and a heavy shape emerged from the tree line. Crichton gasped in surprise, bringing the muzzle of his pistol up. The creature that now stood before him was reptilian and huge, and memories of his capture by the Scarran agent on that commerce planet hit him hard. The creature before him looked too much like a Scarran for John's peace of mind, but he assumed it wasn't one of that foul race of aliens. One, this creature had no clothing and, two, it had a prehensile tail. The effect gave the creature a familiar appearance. Something Crichton had seen before in books as a kid or a few B-grade sci-fi movies or one blockbuster film.
It looked like a dinosaur.
"Son of a…."
The creature lunged. Crichton squeezed off a pulse from his pistol, catching the creature full in the chest. The beast squealed in pain before slumping to the grass.
* * *
"Aeryn!" Crichton's voice sounded.
"We're getting a fix on your comms, John, be patient," Aeryn said. "I thought I told you to stay in one spot."
"Yeah, Aeryn, but I got some damn velociraptors after me."
"Veloci-what?"
"Never mind!"
Aeryn thought she could hear the distinctive whine of pulse pistol blasts in the background. "John, what's going on?"
"I'm lunch, that's what!"
Panic threatened to disturb her calm, professional demeanor. "We're working on it, John. Just hold on."
"Yeah. Okay. Hold on. Got it." Another blast echoed through the comms, and Aeryn thought she could hear a beastly wail. "I'll hold on as long as my chakkan oil holds out."
Aeryn focused her mind on completing the triangulation, though she knew even if she found him there was little she could to for him. It could very well be too late by the time she located him and arrived at his position to help him. She slammed the console in helpless disgust.
"Oh, sh—" John's voice cut off abruptly.
"Crichton!" Aeryn shouted into the communicator as Chiana slid up next to her, concern etched on the girl's gray-skinned face. "John!"
There was no answer. The console chirped, telling her that the triangulation was complete. Crichton's comm badge was still active, though not moving. Fear gripped her heart as she imagined the worst.
"No," she murmured.
"Is he…," Chiana began, her voice catching in her throat.
Aeryn didn't respond, instead grafting the location of Crichton's comm badge in her memory before heading toward the door. Rygel hovered by, and Aeryn stopped to grip the former Dominar by the throat.
"You slug!" she seethed. "If anything happens to him, you'll be looking back at what Durka did to you with fondness!"
She slammed his head against the bulkhead and strode onward.
"What the frell was that all about?" Rygel asked Chiana as she passed by.
"You abandoned Crichton, and now it looks like something got him for dinner," the Nebari said. "I hope you're satisfied, froggy."
* * *
Corpses littered the opening in the forest, but thankfully none of them were Crichton's. Aeryn breathed a little easier at that, but she certainly wasn't going to allow herself to relax.
She counted at least eight dead creatures, all with fatal injuries characteristic of pulse pistol blasts. "He made a good showing for himself," she remarked, just to say something.
Chiana approached with a comm badge in her hand. Aeryn discerned a scrap of black cloth still attached.
"His comm," the Nebari said. "I found it near one of those dead things. It looks like blood on it, and the dead creature had blood on its claws."
"He's injured," Aeryn said. But how badly was he injured?
"What the frell are these things?" Rygel asked.
"Crichton called them velocirappers, I think," Chiana said. "There must be creatures like this on his planet."
Aeryn scanned the grass under her booted feet, gripping her pulse rifle more firmly. She saw a drop of red near the tree line. She moved to the speck of blood and dropped to one knee. Branches and other foliage had been disturbed in this area. Greatly disturbed.
"It looks like several of the creatures followed him into the trees here," she said.
"Do you think he succeeded in escaping?" the Hynerian asked.
Aeryn rose to her full height and spun around, aiming her rifle in Rygel's direction. "For your sake he'd better."
"One of us should go back to the pod in case he finds his way back," Chiana suggested.
"Rygel," Aeryn said.
Rygel's earbrows rose. "Me? Go back alone? With those creatures roaming around?"
"Why not? You left Crichton alone."
"I didn't know about those…those things before."
"Well now you do, so I advise you to be careful."
Grumbling about Peacekeepers in general, and Aeryn in particular, Rygel headed back in the direction of the transport pod. With the Hynerian's voice fading in the distance, Chiana slowly crept to the disturbed plant life.
"We must prepare for the worst, Aeryn," she said.
"If Crichton can kill eight of those things, I can take out more if we have to," Aeryn said. Noting the rifle in Chiana's grip, she added, "And you may actually hit a few too."
"That's not what I meant, Aeryn. I meant that maybe the ninth or the tenth creature got him. The sight won't be pretty. I saw a friend of mine torn to pieces by the keedva on the—"
"That's enough, Chiana."
"Just be prepared for the worst, okay."
"I'm a soldier, Chiana, I'm always ready for the worst."
"That's not a battle companion out there, Aeryn, it's John."
Aeryn knew that only too well. Adjusting the heft of her rifle, she plunged into the foliage.
* * *
"Are you certain, Pilot?" D'Argo demanded.
"I am not mistaken, D'Argo. The Marauder is heading for the planet's orbit. The planet's rings are effectively masking Moya, but if the Marauder achieves orbit the Peacekeepers may be able to detect the transport pod on the surface."
"Aeryn said the Peacekeepers wouldn't have any interest in that primitive planet. Do you suppose they detected the pod already?"
"I don't see how they could from their distance."
"We should warn John." D'Argo's fear for his friend—and Chiana—stirred within him.
"I can send a brief message to the transport. Any longer and the Peacekeepers will pick up the message stream."
"Do it."
* * *
"Aeryn."
Aeryn grimaced as she fingered a broken sapling. "What, Rygel?"
"I made it back to the transport pod."
Damn, he didn't get himself eaten by one of those velocirappers after all. "Good for you."
"I thought you should know, Pilot contacted the pod."
"And?"
"He sent only one word. 'Peacekeepers.' Now what the frell does that mean?"
"The Marauder is probably heading for the planet after all," Aeryn said, rising to her full height. "Look, Rygel, shut down all power in the pod. Everything. The Marauder's sensors may miss it if it's not giving off any energy readings. And it's imperative we keep communications silent. Do you understand?"
"Yes," Rygel replied half-heartedly. "And if the Peacekeepers find the pod, and me?"
"There's nothing we can do, Rygel. If the Marauder finds the transport, they'll contact their mother carrier—most likely Scorpius's. The command carrier's sensor sweep of the planet will pick up our life signs shortly after it arrives in orbit."
At which point, Aeryn knew, Scorpius would know where on the planet John was. Assuming, of course, he still had life signs to detect. Scorpius's single-mindedness meant that once he located John, he would ignore the others and take the Human into custody. John would be taken from her and there wasn't a damn thing she could do about it right now.
"We have to find him, Aeryn," Chiana said, voicing her concern.
Aeryn grunted and silently moved toward the next marker.
* * *
"John."
Crichton, leaning back against a tree trunk, glanced around him. The voice couldn't have come from his comms. The device had been torn off him by one of the attacking velociraptor-looking critters—God, he hated critters—leaving behind a row of slashes across the left side of his chest. The wounds weren't deep, but they seemed to be festering already.
A dark figure seemed to appear out of nowhere before him. He raised his pistol and fired, the bolt passing harmlessly through the figure to strike a tree trunk beyond. He squeezed the trigger a second time, but nothing happened. Damn, the chakkan oil cartridge was empty.
"Come now, John, " Scorpius admonished.
"You again," Crichton murmured.
"You must survive, John. You must avoid these carnivores and survive."
"Sure, no argument there. How do you propose I increase my odds, Scorpy? Are you going to scout ahead for me?"
"You know I can't do that, John."
"Then what the hell good are you?"
Crichton released the spent cartridge from his pistol and let it drop to the ground. He reached to his belt with a left arm that was quickly becoming numb and took out the one and only spare cartridge he had brought along. He set the cartridge into the pistol.
"Are you going to do more than stand there looking smug, Scorpy?" Crichton snapped.
"I can do better, John. I can tap into your subconscious and help you remember the way back to the transport pod."
"Why didn't you do that before I was jumped by the velociraptors?"
"I was hoping your friends were capable enough to help you, but it looks like I have to once again—as you say—bail you out. Really, John, you can be such a challenge to keep alive."
"Hey, if it were up to me I'd be more than happy to settle down in a nice quiet town. A woman. Children." One dark-haired former Peacekeeper woman in particular, he thought, and since they were genetically compatible….
"You can muse about Officer Sun later, John," the Scorpius image said. "For now I think you should start remembering how to get back to the transport."
* * *
Chiana put the chakkan oil cartridge into Aeryn's palm. "It's empty."
Aeryn stared at the empty cartridge. She hoped John carried a spare.
"Look over here," Chiana gestured. "A pulse blast on the trunk of this tree."
"But no carcass. He either missed with his last shot or he merely injured it."
"We can't assume he was killed, Aeryn. There's no blood here. If the creature had killed John and eaten him, it would have been messy."
"Shut up, Chiana."
"I'm just telling you there's still hope."
Aeryn appreciated the Nebari's attempts to look at the positive, but Chiana didn't have to be so graphic in describing John's possible demise.
The former Peacekeeper scowled, moving toward a snapped branch on a nearby sapling. She fingered the compromised branch, looking into the woods. She felt her breathing become easier.
"I haven't seen any sign of the creatures the last few metras," she said. "Furthermore, it looks like John has turned back."
"Back to the transport pod?" Chiana asked hopefully.
"Perhaps." Aeryn wasn't going to be too hopeful. Crichton's latest direction change was probably only blind luck.
* * *
Crichton emerged from the forest into a clearing, and he instantly froze in place. Four faces—very human-looking faces—stared back at him from where they stood in front of their vessel. On this side of the galaxy, and with their craft being a Marauder, the quartet were definitely not humans. They were….
"Peacekeepers," Crichton said. How had the Scorpius image known the Marauder would be here? Maybe it didn't. Maybe the figment had restored his subconscious memory of the path to the transport pod, but he had stumbled on the Peacekeepers by sheer luck. Really bad luck.
Four pulse rifles came up, leveled at Crichton.
"Ah crap!" he exclaimed. "Frell! Frell! Frell! Frell! Frell!"
One of the Peacekeeper commandos seemed to stare directly at Crichton, his eyes widened with fear. A commando showing fear?
The commando fired, and Crichton dived to the grass. The pulse blast passed harmlessly overhead.
"You idiot!" Crichton cried. "Don't you know Scorpy wants me alive!"
Another commando fired, this time off to the side. Crichton rolled to look behind him, and his eyes fell on a dead velociraptor. He scrambled away from the carcass as the scenery around him seemed to erupt with the lizards.
* * *
Chiana cocked her head to one side. "What the frell is that?"
"Pulse blasts," Aeryn said, her heart thudding in her chest. "From multiple weapons."
"You don't suppose the Peacekeepers found Crichton, do you?"
"Perhaps." Aeryn knew Crichton wouldn't surrender himself alive. He would try a suicide charge against a company of commandos before allowing himself to be taken alive to face the Aurora Chair again.
She urged her legs to a sprint, knowing that by the time she arrived at the battle scene it would already be too late. And then she would expose herself and Chiana to the commandos. She didn't care, however. She wasn't about to stand by idly while Crichton was captured.
* * *
Crichton stood alongside the Peacekeeper commandos, joining their fight against the horde of velociraptors. The irony would be amusing if the entire damn episode weren't so deadly. The human fired off bolt after bolt at the seemingly endless parade of attackers until his cartridge was empty. Ejecting the spent cartridge, he retrieved a replacement from the commando standing beside him.
"What the frell are these things, human!" the commando captain growled.
"This is your side of the galaxy, pal," Crichton replied, firing point-blank into a creature's maw.
The captain had both his rifle and pistol out, one in each hand, and stepped forward to unleash his barrage. A half dozen creatures fell under his onslaught, but another lizard came from his right side and pounced on him. In less than a second the captain's head was gone. The commando standing to the captain's left fell as two lizards pounced on her. Crichton shot both creatures dead, but there wasn't much left of the commando. The third Peacekeeper had already disappeared under the attack of several reptiles and was torn apart.
"It's just you and me now, man," Crichton said to the last remaining commando.
"Our only chance is to escape," the Peacekeeper said, nodding toward the Marauder. "Get in."
"I don't think so, pal. You're just going to take me to Scorpy."
"Would you rather die?"
"Death by lizard or the Aurora Chair? I'll take the lizards." To punctuate his point, he shot a creature through the chest.
"Suit yourself, Crichton."
The Peacekeeper turned to head into the Marauder, but a creature took him from behind and bore him to the ground. Crichton killed the creature, but it was already too late. The commando was a bloody mess.
John looked around at the carnage, noting only ten, maybe eleven velociraptors lurking around the clearing, warily eyeing their dangerous prey. He kissed the side of his pulse pistol.
"You did me good today, baby," he murmured. "I'll have to call you something. How about Winona? Yeah, Winona."
The creatures seemed to have steeled their nerve, for they were starting to move toward him. Crichton looked at the Marauder. The lizards would be on him before he got halfway to the boarding ramp, and he would suffer the same fate as the commandos. Well, he was probably going to suffer that fate anyway, so he may as well make a run for it.
He ran toward the ramp. Out of the corner of his eye he could see the velociraptors surge forward. Damn, this was it.
A pulse blast echoed in the clearing, then another. Crichton skidded to a stop and whirled around as Aeryn and Chiana emerged into the clearing, their pulse rifles firing. John raised his own weapon and fired. Winona added a few more creatures to its score.
The creatures were no longer a threat, all dead. Crichton smiled at the luminous former Peacekeeper as she strode purposefully toward him.
"You saved my ass again, Aeryn," he said.
"Don't I always?" she replied. She looked him over, her gaze falling on his wounds. "We have to get those injuries tended."
"I agree," he said, turning on his heel, away from the Marauder. "Follow me."
Aeryn gripped his arm. "I thought you couldn't find you way back, John."
Crichton frowned. "I remember how to get to the pod now. Don't ask me how I remember."
"Okay." She had a skeptical expression on her face. "Before we go anywhere we're going to use the Marauder's medical kit on you."
John relented. Aeryn went into the Marauder to retrieve the kit. A moment later she emerged and told him to sit. He complied, and she knelt in front of him.
"This was quite a battle," Chiana remarked.
"Yeah." John winced as Aeryn applied an antibiotic to his wounds. "Winona never failed me."
"Who's Winona?" Aeryn asked.
How could he explain to her that he had named his pistol? "Never mind."
She grunted in acknowledgment, but he knew she wasn't satisfied with the answer.
* * *
Aeryn found Crichton on the mess deck nursing a beverage. His left arm was still in a sling, and he had one foot propped on the ledge he was sitting on, his blue eyes gazing out the view port at the stars beyond. Aeryn poured herself a beverage and sat on the ledge across from him.
"Does it still hurt?" she asked.
"Nah," John replied. "Zhaan gave me this painkiller that works wonders. It works as well as morphine, but none of that foggy-headedness that goes with it. But some people on my planet actually enjoy that foggy-headedness."
Aeryn smiled. Yes, he was babbling inanely, but the point was he was alive to babble inanely.
"Who's Winona?" she asked him. "You never told me."
"It's not important, Aeryn."
Her ears became warm. Jealousy? He had said Winona hadn't failed him. Someone else had come through for John when she couldn't. She should be grateful to this unknown person who saved John's life, but it bothered her it wasn't her. And who was Winona? One of the Peacekeepers who had died on the planet under the onslaught of creatures?
He looked at her, noting her intense gaze. "Oh, all right. But you'll think it's stupid."
"I won't," she assured.
"Winona is what I named my pistol."
Aeryn paused with her cup near her lips. "You named your pistol?"
Crichton shrugged sheepishly. "It's something we do sometimes on Earth. Well, the males of my species tend to do that. We name our cars, our trucks, our airplanes, our guns, our…." He trailed off, glancing down toward his waist. "Well, you know."
"Oh really." She set her cup aside and slid closer to him. He was truly an odd creature, but that was John. And she secretly loved him in spite of that—or because of that. When she next spoke, her lips were within a dench of his ear. "Well, considering I know your…you know…rather intimately, don't you think you should tell me its name?"
He turned his face toward hers, his cheeks reddening.