One – Chapter 5

When Yuma returned, he looked mightily relieved, but on the same time quite down-trodden and Astral, who had moved as soon as he sensed him drawing closer again, raised an invisible eyebrow at him as he came back up to the attic.

"Yuma?" he said questioningly. Yuma seemed to only now realize he wasn't alone and shyly, blushing with what Astral sensed to be pure shame, he grabbed a piece of discarded cloth from the floor, covering his crotch with it.

Astral pitied him, and he had the decency to lower his eyes. "Will you be returning to bed soon?" he then asked innocently. Yuma sighed.

"You know, don't you? I'm 17… I shouldn't have accidents like this, not even tiny ones, and this one wasn't exactly that" he replied, voice clearly affected by his state of mind. But just as Astral was about to answer, Yuma spoke again.

"I'll get changed real quick and clean myself up a bit… But then I'd like to come join you again, if you'll have me" he said. Astral blinked a few times and couldn't help but glance at Yuma as he replied.

"Why wouldn't I? I would be very pleased indeed, if we could, what is it you call it… snuggle, for some time. But I do not wish to intrude on you. And you are ill, after all. If you would rather sleep alone, then I will… try, and find a bit of rest elsewhere…".

"Astral" Yuma mumbled, but then he smiled warmly. "Thanks partner, but as I feel right now, I think snuggling could be just what I need. I'll join you shortly" he said in a grateful tone of voice, before he started to undress, seemingly not caring that Astrals eyes were currently glued to him.

Astral, for his part, found that he could not tear his focus away from his beloved, as the young man let the cloth he'd grabbed from the floor, drop once more, revealing a large, wet spot on the front and partly down one leg, of his pants.

He hadn't removed any cloth before falling asleep the night before, so he was still in his school-uniform. Not for long though. Soon, he'd stripped down to only a t-shirt and nothing else and pulled out a plastic bag he'd been hiding from sight, finding from it a wash-cloth, which he soon started wiping down his thighs and crotch with, cleaning himself in swift motions, Astral wouldn't think possible from him, considering his still high fever.

When he was done, he dried off with a guest-towel he'd also brought up to the attic, and then put it, the wash-cloth and his wet cloth back into the bag, before setting it aside near the hatch-door. Then he put on a new pair of boxers and tossed his t-shirt to the floor, before returning to the hammock, noticing how Astrals eyes hadn't left him for even a second, as he tried masking his accident.

When he was back at the aliens' side again, he swung a leg in between Astrals, moving until his groin was right above that of his beloved, before kissing him passionately, leaving Astral completely speechless as Yumas eyes ran down his body, taking in the sight of his alien partner.

"I see you've solidified fully again" he commented in a low voice after a little, smiling and kissing Astral once more, a finger under the others chin.

"Liked what you saw?" he then asked, tracing a path down Astrals body, from his neck, over his shoulder and abdomen, before reaching his groin, careful not to touch any of the gems on the blue skin, on the way.

After a second, Yumas smile then became a smirk as he leaned down and whispered in Astrals ear "I guess I got my answer", slowly moving his fingers up and down the slit he'd found between the aliens' thighs.

It was already moist, and Yuma knew the exact meaning of that. It pleased him to no end to have achieved it, just by stripping down before the others' eyes, in a necessary task.

"Is this too, related to your time then, my love?" he asked seductively, kissing Astrals earlobe lightly. The blue being shivered and nodded weakly.

"I suppose… it would be a great way… of sharing my energy… with you… after all… Create… offspring!" he replied, saying the last word in a higher pitch than earlier, because Yuma had now proceeded to rubbing the slit passionately, though not to the point where it became painful.

Yuma laughed quietly, kissing the other again before he ran a hand up his aliens' body, letting it come to rest ever so gently over a blue gem on Astrals right shoulder, eliciting a sound close to a squeal from his lover.

"Yuma!" he cried and Yuma responded by leaning down his head and kissing the gem with warm, moist lips.

Again, Astral squealed, but just then, a knock was heard on the, now closed, hatch to the attic and both Yuma and Astral were so startled by the sound, that Astral froze solid in the hammock and Yuma nearly fell out of it, face first, only narrowly avoiding doing so, which instead resulted in him hanging awkwardly across Astrals chest, rear to the hatch and head turned to the wall.

Moments later, the hatch was opened, and a head poked up through it, glancing around the room searchingly. When they came to rest, it was directly on Astrals, and the alien felt himself blush, holding his breath out of embarrassment and worry.

Yuma groaned as he moved about until he fell out of the hammock completely, and got himself turned around so that he could see the head in the opening to the attic. "Grandma!" he exclaimed, blushing crimson and quickly stumbling to his feet to find a t-shirt and throw on.

But Haru just chuckled quietly to herself, before she spoke. "You seem better Yuma" she said "can I come up?".

Yuma glanced at Astral, but when the alien didn't seem to react much, he just nodded, after which the old lady moved up into the attic on remarkably nimble feet, considering her age. In one hand she held a plate of food, in the other a thermometer.

"Off to bed with you now Yuma! Kari told me everything. Oh, and it's nice to finally meet you, Astral" she said, locking her eyes on Astral again as she spoke those words and sending him a smile.

At first, Astral did not react. But as she started moving again, heading for the table with her plate of food, he suddenly blinked and then babbled out "Nice to meet you too, Haru-Sama!". Haru glanced at him again, sending him another smile as she put the new plate of food on the table, removing the old one.

Then she turned her famous 'fierce eyes' to Yuma, who was crawling back into the hammock, gesturing for Astral to move over a bit which resulted in the Alien taking off and crossing his arms over his chest as he moved to hover over the TV, still with rosy cheeks.

"Yuma, I am very disappointed to see you haven't eaten any of the food I prepared for you. I expected you to eat something when you got home. Don't you like your grandmothers cooking anymore!?" she said, in a deeply saddened tone.

"Ah!" Yuma gasped, startled at the sound of her voice, but then replied with "of course I do Grandma! Your cooking is awesome! I just wasn't hungry is all, really!".

Harus' eyes seemed to narrow impossibly at that, as she said "wasn't hungry? You?!". Then she seemed to rush over the floor, before all but brutally forcing the thermometer into her grandsons' mouth. Yumas eyes widened as she did, but he didn't have a chance to protest, so he just gave in.

Meanwhile, Harus' keen eyes had spotted the bag near the hatch and she moved over to it, opening it and glancing inside. Yuma made a sound as if to stop her, but one glare from her send him back onto his back in the hammock, where he stayed very still, until the thermometer finally beeped. Then Haru was back at his side, taking it out of his mouth and reading the numbers on it.

"Hmm, 39. It's pretty high, but then again, judging from what I saw when I came up here, there might be an entirely different reason for this altogether after all… Still, Yuma, I want you to eat something. You haven't eaten for a whole day by the sound of it and I can't have my grandson starve himself to death.

What wouldn't your parents say if they knew!" she said, then placed the thermometer on the table, before grabbing the plate of food from it and handing it to him. "I assume you're capable of sitting up and eating it yourself? Otherwise, perhaps Astral would help you?". Before Astral could reply though, she was moving on to the subject of the bag of wet clothes.

"Kari told me you had been in bed since yesterday afternoon and seing as none of us heard you get up in the night, I assumed you might need a bit of washing done. I'll just bring this downstairs. I needed to get some laundry done anyways" she said, still moving about the attic.

"Grandma, you don't have to" Yuma protested, cheeks flushed red again, though this time it was from shame. Astral clearly felt it radiating off of his partner and he couldn't help but pity him. Still, he didn't say anything, just remained quiet near the wall.

"I can clean it myself…" Yuma added quietly, but then he started coughing again and Astral was immediately at his side, grabbing the plate of food and moving it out of the way, placing it on the table again, as his lovers' body cramped up in rhythm with the coughs.

"Yuma…" he said worriedly, feeling an immediate sensation of energy loss as his mate rode out the fit. Haru also turned, silenced and observed Yuma until he could breathe properly again. Then she sighed.

"I know you can Yuma" she said "but I might as well wash it with the rest of the laundry, don't you think? Less waste that way". In the end, Yuma just nodded weakly and Haru smiled faintly.

"You make sure he eats that food now Astral. I leave him in your care for now, but if you need anything, I'll be right downstairs" she said, then placed the plate of un-eaten food from last night, as well as the bag of wet clothes, next to the hatch, before opening it and taking it with her one at a time, out of sight, leaving the hatch open as she did.

Once she was gone, Astral let out a with-held breath he didn't know he'd been holding and all but collapsed to the floor beside Yumas hammock, legs out to either side of him and hands on the floor in front of his groin, head lowered, and eyes closed.

"You said it Astral" Yuma groaned in the hammock above him, rolling onto his side, back turned to the alien. Astral felt himself shiver violently, but he did not speak. He wasn't feeling well. In fact, he found himself wishing to return to the key, hide away from the world, despite his current… obstacles.

But Haru expected him to make Yuma eat and he too, knew that it was indeed important to achieve that. So slowly he rose, tottering slightly, though he soon took off, hovering to fetch Yumas plate of food, before returning to the other again.

"Yuma" he said hesitantly "here. You must eat something, or you will never get better". He placed a gentle hand on Yumas up-turned shoulder then, sitting on the edge of the hammock, though he did not place any weight on it, so that it wouldn't accidentally tip over, tossing Yuma to the floor once more.

"I'm not hungry" Yuma mumbled. Astral shivered again. "Please, Yuma" he whispered and this time, the tone in his voice made Yuma roll over again, until he could look at him.

What he saw made a wave of anxiousness wash over him, as he felt the shivering in his lover and saw the obvious paleness of the others skin, which seemed to only have faded further, since he last looked at him. "Astral" he said fearfully "what's wrong?".

Astral didn't meet his eyes. "Please" he simply breathed and Yuma, scared now, took the plate and started eating very slowly.

"Astral… I need you to speak to me… I need to hear that you are alright" he said quietly. "I… I don't feel so good… Yuma" the alien replied, and only now did Yuma realize that the other was fading.

"ASTRAL!" he exclaimed "what's wrong?! What is causing this?!". "I think… I should retreat to the key… for a little. But promise me… you will eat your food" Astral replied and Yuma swallowed hard, then nodded.

"I promise. Now, go… Get well again. I'll be right here when you need me" Yuma responded and moments later, Astral vanished in a shimmer of light.

Left alone in the attic, Yuma felt silent tears slide down his cheeks. He couldn't be certain of what was causing Astral to act like this, but he assumed it had to be related to his time. It HAD to be. Because if it wasn't… then how was he supposed to help him with whatever else it might be?

Without a sound, he returned to his food, though he was lost in thought, his chest ached, and he felt more alone than he had for years…

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WRITERS COMMENT:

Thanks a lot, to those readers that follow this story every time I post a new chapter. I hope you are enjoying reading it, as much as I enjoy writing it :)
Writing is my escape from the world, and I'm not used to getting feedback on my texts, so thanks for the reviews I have gotten so far (^_^)

I can reveal that there is a LOT more to come in the future (I have more than 100 pages of this story in my word program, and I'm not done yet ;) )

To thor: I am very grateful for your comments and I'm pleased that you are still following the story - I hope you will keep doing so! :)

But sadly, I am not planning anything with tentacles and I already decided that Astral will become pregnant (in the world of seahorses, it is the male that carries the eggs, which is why your suggestions make a lot of sense :) But I thought of it more like Astral, being an alien, possibly having the ability to change his body according to which type of partner he is with (in this case, another male, who, because he is human, can't get pregnant) (maybe that is more like snails, than seahorses, I don't know xD)

I am, however, considering re-writing one of the scenes in my story JUST for you (as a thank you for your loyalty ;) ) though the jury is still out on that (I have never written anything like that before, so it would be a challenge for me, but one I might be willing to attempt at a later point :)