Chapter 7 : Reap What You Sow.
Murphy took a huge deep lungful of the fresh air that smelled so wonderfully like forest, not the pine smell but that deep rich earthy and sweet sappy smell, "Ahhh, smell that air, would ya? Good for the soul so it is!" Murphy said, grinning at Monty as the pair stood taking in the sight before them.
The older Scotsman grinned, making his major league mustache bob, "You got that right, laddie, kinda reminds me of home in a funny way, just wish they had some nice lochs or lakes to do some fishing in," Monty said, and Murphy laughed.
"What is it with you Scotsmen and your fishing? I swear to Jesus you boys get so much as a sniff of a fresh water lake you start twitching," Murphy said, and Monty started laughing.
"Well, I can tell you one thing, at least I won't be hooking no fucking shopping trollies or old wellies in the lakes I'm gonna find here," Monty said.
"Maybe not, but I'll just wait 'till I see you running back to camp like your arse on fire being chased by one of those big Yautja girls with a hook in her arse or her mandibles to tell you fishing was a bad idea," Murphy said, and Monty laughed again.
"Could be worse, you could get your hook stuck in one of those big lassies, then not only do you get chased like Indiana fucking Jones running away from a giant bolder, only this one follows you and not only that but your fucking hook melts too," Monty said.
"See? What did I tell you? obsessed I tells ya so I do, you got one of those big girls chasing your arse and you worried about your fecking hook," Murphy said.
"Hey don't knock a good hook, laddie, do you know how hard it is to make a good fly, laddie?" Monty said, making Murphy laugh even louder.
"You know, I actually kinda wonder what it would be like to be chased around by one of those big lasses, you know, it's kinda nice to be on the reciveing end for once, to have the ladies chasing us for once," Murphy said, indicating over to one of the groups that seemed to be forming up all around, there was a human male they both recognized as a civilian called Mark, he'd been dropped in only six months before the end, he was a quiet softly spoken man but he was hard working and dedicated, he was a librarian in his past life so not exactly much use 'till he'd started writing the chronicles of their lives since arrival.
He did everything they told him and helped in every way he could, he was a tall, wiry guy who looked like a stiff breeze would knock him off his feet, but right now he was leaning up against a crate with his back to it, kinda looking flustered and like a deer caught in headlights at the same time, leaning over him with her forearm resting against the wall was one of the Yautja girls, her skin patterned in orange and red, she was speaking to him and slowly and surprisingly tenderly she reached up with her free hands and very slowly stroked the side of his face, brushing his long bangs away from the side of his face.
"I think it's safe to say young Mark there has himself a fancier," Monty said, and Murphy grinned as the big Yautja girl slowly and tenderly leaned down and she seemed to be seeking his permission before she stroked the side of his face with her mandibles before drawing him into the deepest kiss either of the men had ever seen in their lives.
"I wonder if any of those big lassies would be interested in the more mature gentleman?" Monty said thoughtfully, and Murphy laughed.
"I think the word ye looking for is old there, grandpa," Murphy scoffed, and Monty eyed him.
"Ye wanna know why Scottish whiskey is the best in world, laddie?" Monty asked.
"My arse it is but go on, indulge me, grandpa," Murphy said, grinning at him.
"Because we know the benefit of letting things mature properly, you let something age just right, laddie, and you be surprised just how much tastier the flavor gets," Monty said, and Murphy laughed.
"They gonna feck ya or eat ya?" he asked, and Monty laughed.
"Sometimes it's both," Monty said, smiling and twirling his mustache.
"So, you got your eye on anyone, grandpa, I don't see any of these Yautja girls sitting down to do some knitting or playing bingo though, just so ya know," Murphy said, making Monty scoff and shake his head.
"Nah, laddie, I prefer just to see what happens, I didn't really come here to find love, just to have a new life is all, everything else is just a bonus, so if it happens it happens and I'm not saying I won't welcome it with open arms if it does," he said, and Murphy nodded.
"Yeah, I hear what you're saying, ya know, I think I'd rather like to take a walk on the wild side, ya know? Human girls been nothing but problems for me in me years, so I think if the opportunity comes along I'll just open me arms and say have at me," he said, making Monty laugh.
"And what if it's one of those big queen lassies?" he asked, and Murphy followed where Monty was pointing, noticing one of the big Queens carrying a load of crates over to where Mark was still being utterly seduced by the big Yautja girl.
"Feck it, ya know, just more girly to love, how do the bloody yanks say it? Go big or go fecking home, well, they don't get much bigger than one of those lassies now do they?" Murphy said, and Monty shot him a surprised look.
"Well, I must say, I wasn't expecting that level of open mindedness from ya, laddie, I'm impressed, especially after you Irish boys spent so long fighting over who's version of Jesus is better," Monty said and Murphy laughed.
"Feck Jaysus, think I'll throw me lot in with this Paya lassie that Jack seems to have a fecking bat phone to, super powers and pretty alien girls? Yeah, I'll take that boat if ya don't mind and now ya mention it, there is kinda something glorious 'bout those big Xeno girls isn't there? I mean, just look at her, she could tear ya in half just because she wanted to, but there's just something regal about 'em, ya know?" Murphy said, and Monty raised a bushy eye brow.
"I'll take ya word for it, laddie, the Xeno lassies ain't quite my flavor but we all like what we like, right?" he said, and now Murphy smiled.
"That we do, grandpa, that we do," Murphy said, watching the queen as she bent over and placed the crates she was carrying like they were simple potato sacks on the ground with a bang and then seemingly as if knowing she was being observed she literally turned on the spot and seemed to look right at him, though given they didn't have any eyes it was hard to tell exactly where she was looking but it was the way she cocked her head curiously like a giant dog that got his attention, he just smiled at her awkwardly, she was a suddenly a lot scarier now that she was looking right at him.
It didn't take long for everyone to go from sleeping on the ships or in tents to living in houses, well, cabins really, but they were nice and cozy and warm.
Muphy's family had been farmers for generations, including his parents and grandparents with a farm that grew all sorts of vegetables and also grains, it was essentially in their blood, some families claimed to have whiskey or metal working or carpentry in their veins, well, with Murphy's family it was dirt.
The standing joke in Murphy's family was that his father could grow rocks if he planted them, he was truly an amazing farmer, not so much green thumbs, more like green arms, now that the 'fighting for his life' part was kinda over Murphy figured it would be a good idea to maybe take up the family trade once more, there was supremely fertile soils all around this place that they were calling home, you only had to look at the utterly giant trees to see that, but planting next to the forest would be fool hardy because of the size of the root networks that kept these trees alive and upright, they would be like sponges sucking up the nutrients from the ground, so he began to scout more suitable locations for such a place to be built, he'd deliberately had his house put up on the edge of the town closest to the plains for this very reason.
Murphy sat on a rock overlooking the plains, chewing a sheave of grass watching the huge herd animals grazing in the distance, he was trying to visualize how he could turn the section closet to him into fields that could be used to plant vegetables, suddenly he got the distinct feeling of being watched as all the hairs pricked up on the back of his neck, glancing around himself he noticed the very long grass to his right that almost reminded him of bamboo, it was so tall, rustling, and he tilted his head to listen harder, suddenly a huge, crested head burst out of the grass, making Murphy fall backwards off his rock and his hand snapped to his pistol, drawing it as he rolled backwards into a crouch and he snapped it up in one clean move like his training taught him.
He got off two shots but the fire tiger was faster, dodging the first shot and getting clipped by the second which just seemed to make it angrier, it was like trying to hit lightning with a fucking pea shooter, the tiger was on him before he could he adjust for a third shot and Murphy's fear response went into pure overdrive, his heart was hammering in his chest like it was trying to get as many beats in as it could before it expired, the tiger leapt at him with a roar and pure rage and anger in its blood red eyes, the last thing Murphy saw before he involuntarily closed his eyes at his impending death were its wicked claws and teeth flashing in the sunlight.
But the impending pain and death never came, instead there was sickening and wet crunch above him along with a howl of pain along with what sounded like four very angry howls, as something wet and hot with a faintly copper scent splashed onto his face Murphy's eyes snapped open and above him was the fire tiger, but it appeared to be floating in mid air, kicking its legs and trying to find purchase but it found nothing and for a moment Murphy couldn't understand what was happening, that's when he saw the huge spike impaling it.
The tiger was lifted into the air and like a whip being cracked the queen, whose tail had the tiger impaled, sent the dying tiger cart wheeling into one of the others that had emerged from the long grass, instantly Murphy went into combat mode as did the queen standing over him, she let out a bellowing shriek that must have carried for miles, a fact that was proved only seconds later because as the tigers began to circle the pair a thunderous shot tore through the air and one of the tigers seemed to utterly implode as what must have been a .50 shell hit it square between the eyes and turned its entire head inside out, at the exact same moment there was two huge crashes and the two other queens came tearing out of the forest to their left and boy did they look angry.
They were on the tigers before they could even move, the one called Citrus, easily recognized by the shape of her head crest, in fact, the shape of their head crests were the easiest way to tell them apart, well, to those that paid attention to such things anyway, it was kinda like a fingerprint, but she kicked the closest tiger to her so hard it folded up and seemed to turn into a tiger shaped boomerang as it sailed away into the distance, the other queen named Zara grabbed the closest tiger to her and literally tore it in two with a roar, a roar that was echoed by the other person who had come tearing out of the forest along with the queens and was not going to be outdone.
Tik eleth, like a physchotic Amazonian princess, flung herself through the air and landed on the back of the final remaining tiger, then, looking like an alien cowgirl, began to stab the tiger that was trying to buck her off over and over with her wrist blades 'till it collapsed under her.
"Holy fecking shit," Murphy exclaimed to himself.
"Are you ok, sister? Are you or your human harmed?" Citrus asked, checking her sister over.
"I am fine, thank you, my sister, and he is not my human, I heard the yell and the gunshots and I came to his aid," the queen who had saved him said with a soft hiss.
"And thank god ya showed up when ya did, lassie, less than a second more and I'd have been done, feckers caught me royally off guard so thank ya kindly, big lassie, ya saved me arse," Murphy said, looking up at the big queen who seemed to be smiling, the other two queens seemed to share a meaningful look that went right over his head, how can you interpret a look when the one doing the looking has no eyes?
"That's what being in a clan is all about, Murphy, each and every member looks out for and cares for every other member as if they were their own family, we protect one another from all threats and when one calls all who hear it come running," Tik eleth said, standing up from tearing out a couple of the tiger's teeth as a trophy, he'd seen plenty of Yautja do this, it seemed every kill they made meant something much deeper to them, it was like it was on a spiritual level.
"Couldn't have said it better myself, my love," Jack said, emerging from the forest with a huge AS50J rifle mounted propped on his shoulder, well, now Murphy knew where the shot had come from, only someone like him could have pulled a shot like that off from in-between a huge over grown forest.
Tik went to his side and she gripped him and growled at him, following it with an odd purr, there were a lot of whispers among the humans in the camp that if you really wanted to get with a Yautja girl and get her fired up take her hunting, it seemed to really get them going, Tik eleth seemed to embody this rule, right now she had a look in her eyes that was one part predator and one part needy, something told Murphy that Jack was getting dragged off deeper into those woods when this conversation was done.
"In this clan we all watch each others back, Murphy, and I expect no less from everyone here as I would expect from myself, so if you ever see someone in need just help, it's that simple, whatever the problem is, big or small, and if you hear an alarm or a call for help drop everything and run, if we all work like this we stop simply being a clan and we become a family," Jack said.
"It sounds like a perfect hive to me," Citrus said, and Zara nodded in complete agreement.
"A good hive is one big family and all are important and are all cared for equally, every member of the hive makes the hive stronger, if but one member of the hive has a problem then the whole hive suffers and it falls to the others to fix it," Zara said.
"Well, I can't thank ya all enough, you did me a real good turn so ya did, and I won't forget it, and if there is ever anything I can ever do to pay you all back then don't even hesitate to ask," Murphy said, and suddenly Jack got a rather odd smile on his face and he gestured for Citrus and Zara to come to him but gestured for the other queen to remain where she was which was odd, and the queen obviously thought so, whipping her long tail around in annoyance as the group huddled up and whispered.
Then they broke and Jack strode out towards them, "Well, we've all talked over and if you're serious about wanting to pay us back then we have a way to do it, if you're serious that is," Jack said with that award winning smile of his that apparently made Yautja girls swoon and go weak at the knees and hot under the collar.
"Umm, yeah, I'm serious, so what can I do?" Murphy asked curiously.
"Excellent, well then, it's decided, come to my house tonight, we'll get it all set up," Jack said.
Murphy was confused as hell, "Umm, not to sound ungrateful but I've learned my lesson on walking blindly into situations without any forewarning, so what exactly am I showing up to?" Murphy said.
Jack's smile widened, "A wise practice, and I would have honestly thought less of you if you hadn't asked, we're going set you up a very nice private dinner date so you can show a very nice girl who's been feeling kinda down and lonely a nice time and at the very least show what it's like to go on a date with a human," Jack said.
Murphy was floored and shocked, but his curiosity got the better of him, "Umm, sure, if you think I can help I'd be happy to show a pretty alien girl the charm of the Irish and show her a good time, but I'm curious, who will I be dating?" he asked, and suddenly all of them were pointing at the stunned looking queen stood next to him.
"Her," Jack said, and both Murphy and the huge queen stared at one another in utter surprise.
"Well, we're all heading back to town now so you two get a chance to talk and get to know each other a bit," Jack said, and before he could say a word they vanished like someone had just farted, leaving him and the equally stunned queen.
Murphy turned to the huge queen who now suddenly looked utterly flustered and nervous, she was wringing her little chest hands nervously and her bigger hands began to follow suit, "So, umm, hey there, big girl, thanks for saving me arse back there, I'd have been tiger chow for sure," Murphy said, looking up at the big queen.
"You're welcome, I'm sure you'd have done the same for anyone you'd have seen in that situation, I'm just glad I arrived here when I did," she said, and Murphy was kinda surprised at how soft her voice was, which seemed to just glide through his mind like a silk thread.
"So, umm, I didn't catch your name, sweetheart?" Murphy said, and the big queen cocked her head.
"No offence, but I doubt you could pronounce it, human, Xeno names are very long compared to human ones and they're fine to pronounce telepathically but verbal language makes them difficult, that's why most of the other queens have adopted humans their kings have picked for them, but I have no king so I don't have a human name," she said, and Murphy cocked his head.
"No name, huh, well, that's not right, every pretty girl should have a name and one that fits her so, hmmmm, let me think a moment," Murphy said, making the queen look taken aback and surprised.
After a second it just popped into his mind like someone whispered it in his ear, "I got it! Aine!" Murphy said, and the big queen tilted her head again.
"Aine? That's a really pretty name, I'm not sure I deserve it though," she said, and Murphy smiled at her.
"It's the name of an Irish Celtic goddess of love and summer and I have no idea why but somehow I could just imagine you in a summer dress with a little ring of flowers on your head," Murphy said with a kinda embarrassed smile on his face and Aine looked utterly stunned at this little revelation.
Suddenly Murphy felt a little pulse of embarrassement, "Well, umm, I'd better head off for a bit to get ready for our date, thanks again, Aine," he said, and with that he shot off in the direction of his house, his heart slamming in his chest with every step, why in the name of hell was he so flustered and nervous? He'd never been nervous around women before, hell, the Irish charm had always been his friend, mainly around American girls, but right now he felt like a teenage boy who'd just discovered what girls were.
As he fought the urge to break into a run he glanced back and he saw the obviously confused Xeno queen still standing there watching him leave, he kinda felt bad for just running out on her, he didn't want her to feel that he was running from her because she was ugly or something, granted Xenos were definitely not going to be everyone's cup of tea, to most they were most definitely not going to be super models, though it would be kinda fun to watch one strutting her stuff on the cat walk.
So Murphy turned back to her, trying to force himself to calm down and he gave her a wave and in response he saw her return the gesture with one of her little chest arms, it was kinda like having a T Rex waving at you, a surprisingly cute and nervous T Rex at that.
Murphy washed himself up and cleaned each and every single inch of his body 'till it was nearly shining, he kept glancing into his own eyes in the mirror in his bathroom and he kept seeing what he ascribed a fear shimmering in those bright blue orbs staring back at him, he ran a hand through his thick curly red hair, still not believing that he was about to do this, he was going on a near blind date with the queen that had saved his life, he never in a million years thought that he would ever date an alien, granted he'd come here with that thought that it could happen, but he hadn't really come here just for it, he'd come here just because what Jack Mason had promised them all, a freedom like they'd never known, a chance to forge their own destiny with the sweat of their own brows, answerable only to the Clan and with equal chance to build a life they could be proud of.
Now here he was, about to go out on a dinner date with one of the strongest and most feared creatures on the planet, how the hell do you do something like that? How do you impress a girl who could kill you just by rolling over onto you in bed, let alone if you pissed her off and she decided to use that tail of hers on you.
But Murphy had never been one to let a girl down, he knew how to treat a lady because at the end of the day it was about mutual respect, you respect them as a person and earn their respect, respect opens far more doors than intimidation does after all, and Murphy had never broken a heart that didn't deserve to be broken, to be fair, sometimes he'd actually found himself thinking that he'd treated the women in his life too well, that they'd got used to receiving the absolute best of him and had abused it and taken advantage of him and his gentle nature towards the fairer sex, he'd been played more times than he cared to admit to himself but he was kinda proud of the way he'd just kept going and held onto his pride when time after time he'd found himself humiliated.
So maybe it was time to try something different, if he'd had absolutely no luck with his own kind why not take a step out of his comfort zone, take a walk on the wild side and see if his huge alien girl was deserving of his heart, couldn't be any worse than he'd already experienced at the hands of his own kind, so why the hell not give her a chance?
So finally with his hair brushed and slicked, wearing the best clothes he had, which wasn't an outlandish suit or an expensive set of togs, but rather a simple set of jeans and a shirt with his best shoes polished up to a shine, when he made his way up to the big house at the top of the hill that overlooked the whole town where Jack and Tik eleth lived Murphy was as nervous as all hell, as he reached the gates he found Jack waiting for him, "Ahh, there you are, I was beginning to wonder if you were going to show up," Jack said teasingly.
"Well, here I am, and I'm not ashamed to tell ya I'm more than a little nervous 'bout this," Murphy said, looking at Jack and the softly spoken but larger than life Dream Warrior simply clapped him on the shoulder and pulled him inside, falling in step with him as he steered him towards the large garden behind the house, "Don't worry, Murphy, you're gonna do just fine, just make sure you show this big girl a good time, yeah? She's probably more nervous than you are," Jack said, making Murphy raise an eyebrow at him.
"What the hell has she got too be nervous of? It's not like if she doesn't like the way the date's going she has to sneak out of a toilet window to get away from me, she can either just stick me with that tail of hers or throw me out of the toilet window whether I'll fit or not," Murphy said, making Jack laugh.
"Wanna know what scares her the most?" He said, looking at Murphy and Murphy nodded eagerly and Jack tapped Murphy's chest.
"This in here, the human heart, this is what scares her," Jack said, making Murphy stop and look at him curiously.
"Oh? And how do you figure that then?" He asked, and Jack just smiled a little sadly.
"Becausee she craves it and doesn't believe she's worthy of it, she's watched both her sisters find their kings and plan out their hives and she yearns for it, she yearns to have a hive of her own because to her it's more than just a place to live, it's their place in the world, it's their own little slice of this dream of ours where they can raise their family and keep their chosen king safe and happy, to them it's a symbol of their freedom and their true acceptance into this family of ours, why do you think that they don't just build themselves a hive then bring a king in once they find one?" Jack said, and Murphy shrugged.
"Because they want it to be built with him at their side, for him to be as much a part of it as they are, to express their unity and their togetherness and most importantly their love with their king, for it to be as much a part of him as it is her," Jack said.
Murphy looked at the clan leader with a surprised look, "Ok, that I get, but what I don't get is why me?" Murphy said, and Jack grinned broadly and leaned in close.
"Because she likes you, Murphy, her sisters have been watching her and they noticed that she's been watching you, every day when you'd go out to that field and just sit and look out over the plains she was watching you, how do you think she was able to respond so fast when you were attacked? Because she was watching you but she was just to nervous to approach you because she was terrified of how you'd react and that you'd just out and out reject her because of what she is and how she looks, but she's hurting and she's lonely and she's craving what we're all craving, Murphy, a place in this world and a special person to share it with, do you think you can be hers?" Jack said, and Murphy through his amazement looked at Jack.
"You're the Dream Warrior with that bat phone to the gods, you tell me," he said, and Jack just laughed.
"I have, and here you are," Jack said finally before, with a single movement, he steered Murphy through the garden gates and with that Murphy just froze and had the very breath stolen from his lungs, there she was, as large as life and twice as deadly but now three times as beautiful.
It appeared that Jack and Tik and most likely Aine's two sisters had set up, there was a large circular table that was big enough for the big queen to sit at but small enough for them both to be right together, there was even a special chair that kinda reminded Murphy of one of those booster seats for toddlers but he swiftly realized that it was for him, the whole place was surrounded with candles and lanterns, giving the place a warm rich golden glow.
Aine was sat at the table, clutching what appeared to be an oversized glass of wine, she looked utterly incredible, she had a crown of flowers arranged on her crested head, they appeared to have made her a dress of some kind out of a billowy white fabric that really popped against her jet black skin or hide, whichever it was, but on her it looked amazing, she looked amazing.
That's when she noticed him standing there and she looked up at him, "You came!" she exclaimed, looking actually rather surprised to see him and it hit Murphy like a slap that she genuinely believed that he would prove to her that she wasn't worthy of a human heart to hold for herself, "Aye, Aine, here I am, and I gotta say, lassie, you look amazing, you sure scrub up well, that dress looks good on you," Murphy said, smiling a warm and real smile at the huge queen.
She looked down at her new dress and smoothed it with her large hands, "You truly think so?" she asked, and he smiled and nodded before stepping up into his seat and joining her at the table.
"You look beautiful, Aine, I guess I got to see you in a summer dress after all," Murphy said, and Aine smiled broadly at him but also rather shyly and that amazed him, he never imagined a creature like her as truly powerful as her ever being shy but here she was, doing just that.
"Thank you, Murphy, you have no idea how much that means to me," she said, and he smiled at her, realizing that compliments were probably not something she was accustomed to but it seemed to genuinely mean the world to her by the warm smile on her face.
Suddenly Tik eleth appeared, looking like a waitress which utterly amazed Murphy because the mere thought of this battle hardened Yautja berserker acting like a waitress was so utterly outside of the realm of crazy that Murphy's brain just couldn't comprehend it, but here she was, handing them a set of hand written menu's to choose their dishes from and they both chose the steak with a side of mash and Tik just smiled at them both before vanishing to deal with their food order and Murphy just couldn't get over how surreal this was, but it swiftly changed when he realized how surprisingly easy Aine was to talk to, to simply break the ice Murphy just began to speak to her.
Before he knew it, whether it be the gift of the Irish gab or just because she was so easy to talk to the pair were chatting away like they'd known each other their entire lives and Murphy just couldn't believe how much he'd warmed up to this idea in just the course of the hour or so he'd been sat there eating and chatting with her, once they'd finished their dinner they both thanked Jack and Tik eleth for the most amazing evening and they left together.
"Can I ask you something, Murphy?" Aine asked, glancing at him, and he shot her a warm smile.
"Of course ya can, missy, you got questions, just fire right at me," he said, hoping his openness would help her to not only understand him but to draw closer to him because throughout the evening he had realized that, yes, he did indeed want to try to have something real and meaningful with this utterly amazing woman, she had charmed him so completely in such a short space that it just utterly amazed him.
"Why do you sit in that same place every day and just stare at the plains? I feel like you're longing for something but I cannot for the life of me figure out what?" she said, and Murphy smiled, deciding to tease her a little here.
"Spend a lot of time watching me on my favorite rock, do ya, missy?" he asked, and she seemed to flush, realizing she'd been caught out.
"I, err, umm, ahhh, well..." she began stammering, but Murphy, sensing her embarrassment and finding it incredibly cute, placed a hand on her long powerful arm, causing her to look at him.
"It's alright, hun, I'm just joshing with ya, I already knew you were watching me thanks to our tame Dream Warrior and I honestly don't mind, in fact, I'm very glad you were because otherwise I'd be tiger scoff," he said, and she smiled gratefully.
"Thank you, Murphy," she said, and he patted her arm.
"No, thank you, Aine, but to answer your question I'm planning out me farm that I'm gonna make," he said, and she cocked her head curiously at him.
"A farm?" she asked, and he nodded.
"I come from a long, proud line of farmers and we always used to joke that my pa could grow rocks if he set his mind to it and now that's what I want to do, I done my soldiering and fighting, now I just want to settle down and make things live and grow, I want people to know that every time they eat a meal like we just had that at least a part of it came from Murphy's farm, that it was planted, nurtured and grown and finally harvested right here by yours truly, I wanna feed these people so that I can help this idea grow, that every child born on this beautiful place will grow big and strong and will have the strength to defend it in part thanks to my efforts to make sure they have good, healthy food in their bellies, Jack and Tik have planted the seeds of this place and of the people here, now I want to do my part to help them grow," Murphy said, and by the look on Aine's face she seemed genuinely touched by his words and his passion.
"This is a very admirable goal, Murphy, one that I both admire and would very much like to be a part of, I believe I could quite happily build my hive based on these foundations," Aine said, and Murphy looked at her in amazement.
"Ummm, are you saying what I think you're saying, Aine?" Murphy said, and the big queen turned towards him and stepped forward, placing her smaller chest hands on his shoulders and leaned forwards so he was peering right up into her face.
"Well, if you think I'm asking you to be my king, Murphy, then you are correct, my sisters always said that I needed to be more forward and more decisive if I wanted to get the things I want in life so this is it, this is me making decisions for me and my future and I'd really like you to be a part of it, Murphy, I believe that our dreams and goals are aligned and we could forge a future for ourselves together, but obviously the choice is yours, I would never pressure you or force you but I want you to know that I think you are incredibly attractive and after all this time watching you and now getting to truly meet you, I genuinely believe that you are the male for me, so now, what is that human saying I keep hearing, ahhh, yes, the ball is in your court," she said with both obvious nervousness but also obvious determination in her voice.
Murphy's heart was going like a jack hammer in his chest, he just utterly couldn't believe that this was happening, this incredible creature was offering him a chance to not only be with her but to build a life with her, this was the chance he'd been looking for, this was the universe offering him that sign he'd always been looking for, all he had to do was reach out and take the hand of fate.
Slowly he reached up and took her hands off his shoulders but rather than release them he held then tightly in his and he looked up into her large, hopeful face, craning up on his toes and using his grip on her hands to counter his weight and with that his leaned forward and placed a kiss right on Aine's soft, large lips.
The big Xeno seemed to utterly freeze in place, it was almost as if she'd expected him to let go of her hands and run for the hills, but instead here he was, kissing her on the mouth, she made a soft surprised little whimpering noise and when he pulled back he looked at where her eyes would be, "Does that answer your question, big girl?" he said softly, releasing her hand and stroking her face, relishing the incredibly soft feel of her hide.
"It does, Murphy, consider yourself claimed, my little human king, from this moment forwards I am your queen and you are my king, you will belong to no one but me as I will belong to you, come, my little king, let us celebrate our union, shall we?" she said, and before Murphy could even answer her she used those little chest arms to display her truly surprising and rather scary strength by gripping him and hoisting him into a bridal carry against her chest before turning and heading towards his small home.
Now, Murphy's little cozy home wasn't exactly designed to house a full size Xeno queen and after he opened the door watching her squeezing herself in through the doorway was pretty funny but he held off laughing at her for fear of offending her, but with surprising spacial awareness and flexibility she managed to squeeze herself into his house and even managed to move about without knocking everything over everything in the house by wrapping up her tail around her waist like a belt.
Aine looked around at his home, "You have a beautiful home, my king, but now you are my king, I will build us a hive that both of us can be proud of and space for us both to move around freely as right now I am very glad that my kind are very good at fitting into small spaces," she said with a smile on her face.
Murphy chuckled softly and nodded, "Well, I'm not going to argue with more space, that's for sure, but I am rather fond of me little home here so I am," he said.
Aine moved towards him and reached out to cup his face in her hands, "But every king deserves a castle, my king, and I swear to you I will make us both a castle that you can be proud of, I will prove to you that you did not make a bad choice by letting me take your hand and your heart," she said, and Murphy smiled.
"You get a lot more than my hand and my heart, Aine, I'm an all or nothing kinda guy so I am, so you get all of me or none of me, it's that simple," he said, and Aine smiled, moving forwards to loom over him and her little chest arms reached out and cupped his face, so very tenderly stroking his cheeks with her long fingers.
"More beautiful words have never been said to me and tonight I will prove to you that I am the very same way, tonight and on every night from then on you will have every part of me, the very best to the very worst, all will belong to you and I will show you my love," she said, making Murphy's heart blow up in his chest like someone had hooked it up to the mains.
She guided him backwards towards his bed and gently sat him down on it, "You know, I have waited a lifetime for this night and this moment, to find someone special to share my heart and soul with and tonight I finally have that, I finally have my king and tonight I will prove to you that I am your queen and not only that but that I am worthy of being your queen," she said in a voice so soft and silky that it sent shivers down his spine, it was like she was spinning a little web of pure silk throughout his mind that wound itself around every synapse and neuron and every nerve ending, sending little sparks and tingles throughout his entire body, so already she'd made him feel like no human woman ever had and she'd not even really touched him yet.
Even in these tight confines, Aine moved with such confidence and fluid grace that it took his breath away as she moved onto the bed, straddling him, placing her utterly huge legs to either side of his body, her small chest arms very gently pushed him backwards, lowering him down on to the bed flat on his back before running those smaller hands across his chest and she made soft purring little hisses and growls as she felt his permission being given to her to take him and to enjoy him as he wanted to enjoy her.
Those long, dexterous fingers slowly began to undo his shirt buttons, revealing his bare chest and torso, she fanned her hands out over his flesh and he actually felt a shiver pass through her as she experienced the pleasure of touching him properly for the very first time, she obviously loved the feel of his skin as she gently eased him out of his shirt, her hands slid slowly up and over his chest and onto his shoulders, she hissed very softly and lowered her head to meet his, displaying her incredibly flexibility in bringing her lips to his and kissing him again.
Her saliva was a lot thicker than he was used to and as her thick inner mouth wormed its way into his and began mouthing his tongue his senses seemed to spark and overload as he got his very first taste of her, he felt her little hands slip down his toned stomach and very gently undo his trousers and pulling them down his legs, taking his boxers along with them, leaving him naked and vulnerable below her, she was purring and hissing very softly in his ear as she extended her inner mouth and began to nibble his ear.
"Relax, my sweet one, I will be gentle with you, I swear it to you, I would never hurt you," she hissed so very softly as star bursts of tingles were shooting down his neck from where her inner mouth was busily working on his flesh, Murphy felt a burning need to touch her and to explore her body, slowly he ran his hand up her huge legs, sliding them up under her dress and by the soft hisses he was hearing she was rather enjoying his attentions.
Her hide was so incredibly smooth and soft to the touch but he could feel the iron like muscles hidden barely below it, he kinda got a little thrill knowing that her blood was an acid more than powerful enough to turn him into a fizzing pile of goo if it got on him, if getting hot and heavy with a Xeno wasn't a thrilling dangerous enough thing just adding this tiny fact on top of it added even more.
An interesting thought shimmered its way through his brain, he wondered to himself if Xeno girls had hymens and he really hoped that was a no as otherwise he might be losing a part of his anatomy that he really didn't feel like losing so he decided to ask, "Umm, Aine, do your kind, umm, have a hymen?" he asked kinda nervously and slightly embarrassedly, it was kinda a rude question to ask a girl and if it wasn't for his own safety he'd have never dreamed of asking.
She gently stroked his face, "Don't worry, my sweet king, I know my blood is dangerous to your kind but don't worry, if I even slightly thought that I could hurt you this way I'd never even dare to risk it no matter how much I wanted it and trust me when I say you have no idea how badly I want you, my whole being yearns for you, even your slightest touch sets my whole body on fire," she purred softly, putting him at ease and burning him up with desire, he just couldn't believe he could want another being as badly as he wanted her.
His hands crept up over her huge thighs and he tried squeezing them but it was like trying to squeeze steel cables made of sprung steel and rebar, but he eventually reached her alien hips and utterly adored the feel of her as she was so utterly different to a human woman but at the same time it was like his instincts somehow still recognized her which was when he got a very delicious idea, he figured that since she'd fallen for a human then he would reward her with a very human aspect of love.
So, using their size difference and his flexibility to his advantage, he gripped the rear of her thighs and with a swift movement he slid down the bed and vanished from her sight, vanishing under the hem of her dress, "What are you doing, my king? Where are you going?" Aine asked in surprise as he vanished from her grip, but her words barely registered with him because right now he was looking at something so utterly incredible and beautiful that it took his breath away, before him was a perfect set of jet black lips, he was staring right into her Xeno womanhood.
Her jet black outer lips were splayed open, revealing her glistening insides, the inner lips were bright green and almost seemed to be glowing and drawing him in like the light of an Angler fish, not only that but there was the smell, a sweet, sweet musky scent was filling him up and was fuzzing all of his senses, his head was warm and fuzzy and suddenly he felt like a little humming bird being presented by the biggest, sweetest, tastiest flower that they had ever seen in their little life and it was drawing him in, the promise of sweet, sweet nectar was calling to him and like the strongest of instinct it drew him to taste it, so he did.
Murphy craned his neck and brought his hands up to splay those soft, rubber like lips even further than they already were, making the glistening inner ones open up like the petals of the most beautiful flower he had ever seen, she gasped and squeaked loudly as she felt his fingers tracing those incredibly sensitive inner lips, splaying them, and before she could say a word he slid his face into place, feeling those lips gripping his cheeks, lightly coating his face with her warm, thick nectar, without even stopping to think about it he stuck out his tongue and began to caress and taste her insides.
Aine shrieked in pure ecstasy as pleasure the likes of which she could have never imagined burned through her as his tongue began to squirm and pulse and slather all over her super sensitive insides, Murphy quickly found a solid nub of flesh which he realized was her clit and he dug it out from its fleshy little hood and drew it into his mouth and began sucking on it powerfully, above him, made invisible by her dress, Aine was rearing her head back and her inner jaws were snapping and biting at the air as pleasure was overwhelming her brain.
"Ohhhhhhh! Ohhhhh, my king! My beautiful king! Please don't stop! Please, I beg you, don't stop! This is so fucking good!" Aine wailed loudly as Murphy continued to swirl and suck on her large clit and he happily honored that request, swirling her clit around with his tongue and making her hips grind and making her lips smooth over his face and leave a trail of her thick nectar over his skin, suddenly she let out a shriek, "OHHHHHH, MY KING!" She screamed, and a flood of her nectar filled his mouth and forced him to swallow every drop.
Aine sagged forwards and panted heavily before pulling Murphy out from under her and jamming her inner mouth into his, "Oh, my king, my beautiful, beautiful king, I have heard whispers of the beautiful things humans do for their beloved ones but I never dreamed I would feel it first hand, what you gift me with I will now gift you with, my beautiful king," Aine purred, planting kisses all over his body as she moved down him 'till she began to send powerful tingles through his body as she nibbled his manhood.
She very very tenderly pulled back his foreskin and exposed his glans and before he could say a single word she opened her inner mouth and swallowed it whole, making his brain short circuit as nothing but the purest pleasure smothered his senses.
He could feel every single bump and ridge of the walls of her inner mouth as she sucked on him, holding her big head still and moving her inner mouth up and down his shaft, taking it from tip to hilt inside, squeezing and milking it, making him gasp, moan and squirm as her main arms held him in place by the shoulders and her smaller chest arms slipped under him to grip his buttocks on in each hand, Murphy had never felt anything like it and it blew his mind, under this kind of stimulation there was no way he could hold on, before he knew it he just erupted, it just came like a bolt from the blue and as his mind became a whiteout of pure pleasure Aine was swallowing every drop of what he gave just like he had for her.
Eventually Aine released him and she gently crawled her way up his body, planting kisses as she went 'till her face was hovering over his and now it was his turn to kiss her, "Oh, my sweet queen, that was utterly incredible, I've never in my life felt anything like that," he purred softly in between kisses.
"There is more to come, my beautiful king, I am going to show you the true Xenomorph heart now, I am going to show you the woman I am and what you mean to me, I'm going to mate with you, to make love to you as you humans say and we are going to be one, my beautiful king," she half growled half purred.
"Take me, my sweet queen, you've already won me and me heart so you have, so claim what I give to you freely and happily, me whole self," Murphy said, and Aine's face lit up.
"As you will have from me, my love," she purred, and she reached down his body and very gently stroked his manhood back to life with very little effort, once he was fully erect and standing proudly up Aine lifted her dress up over her head and now as naked and beautiful as the day she was born she lowered herself onto him and slid every single inch of him into the tightest and hottest heaven he could have ever have imagined.
Aine growled in pure pleasure as her liquid silk insides gripped him and wrapped around him, each and every movement was true and utter heaven for both of them, he gripped her thighs and he couldn't help but watch this magnificent woman as she moved, every single movement made those iron solid muscles flex and twist below her hide and made him truly realise just how incredibly lucky he was, she was holding back her incredible strength in order to ensure she did not hurt him and that she was as gentle as she had promised him she would be and he loved her for it, a woman of her word to him was worth her weight in gold and wth her that would be an awful lot of gold.
His bed creaked and protested under her weight as Aine moved but Murphy couldn't hear it, his mind was utterly lost in the cloud of pure heaven he was in as he watched every inch of his pink and white human manhood vanishing over and over into her jet black Xeno womanhood, that utterly beautiful alien flower gorging itself on human flesh, before they even noticed time had simply swallowed up in their ecstacy and pleasure and before they even knew it both of them were reaching a state of pure orgasmic bliss as together they climaxed, sending reverberating waves of pleasure bouncing back and forth into one another.
Finally Aine just collapsed down next to him, panting hard, "M-M-My king, that was the most incredible and beautiful thing I have ever experienced, please tell me I brought this joy to you as well, please," she said desperately, and Murphy gripped her beautiful face and began planting kisses all over her.
"I simply don't have words strong enough to tell you how good that was, or even how utterly beautiful you are so I'll simply say this, you arent just my queen, you're my angel," Murphy said, and Aine gripped him and clung to him, shaking and silently weeping with pure joy.
After that night the pair were utterly inseparable, Aine was as good as her word and the very next day she went out onto those plains that Murphy sat and watched every single day and began to build their hive, it was like watching a giant queen wasp making a hive on her own, but what she built for them blew Murphy's mind, it was Xeno architecture with a human touch, their bed chambers were a perfect replica of a human bedroom, with a giant super comfy and soft queen sized bed, in which they made love every single night after they moved in, it was also in this time that Murphy started the pain staking process of turning the plains around the hive into farmland.
Upon seeing what he was doing Jack and Tik loved the idea and said that when they went to Earth to recover the new human applicants to Clan Mason they would also recover farming tools and seeds for native earth fruits, vegetables and grains, so soon it was Murphy found himself with ploughs, sprinkler and irrigation systems, composters for making fertiliser, anything he could think of, which really helped the sons and daughters of Yoshi and Citrus's hive to improve on, which also helped when they began to have their own sons and daughters after Aine had her first batch of eggs that were born of their love and then of the beautiful sacrifice of the volunteers who brought them into this world.
Soon Murphy and Aine had themselves a whole army of helpers who, under Murphy's gentle guidance, gained a whole new reverence for the beauty and wonder of life as they nurtured their first crops to grow and bear food for the ever growing population of this world, it also had some interesting side effects as well, because in the early days they had a real problem with their seeds being dug up and eaten by these bloody big four winged crows that looked like a mutant crow got its hands on an eagle and had some seriously fucked up offspring, well, the last laugh went to Murphy and Aine because after seeing her King's anger and despair at his on going battle with the eagle crows, Aine took action, she sent a batch of her facehuggers freshly born and instructed them never ever to harm or implant any sentient being or any being protected by Clan Mason I.E Boo the cat, and set them up in the fields as guard dogs.
So when the eagle crows came to eat the seeds a nasty shock they got when a pack of facehuggers hit them from all sides and latched them, suddenly they had a whole new group of sons and daughters, only these ones were slightly smaller than a normal Xeno and were blessed with wings and the power of flight, they made incredible scouts and messengers, though apparently Grand Matriarch really didn't like them perching on her roof which was frustrating to them as her house had such a beautiful view over the growing town, but these flying Xenos were a welcome addition to the Clan and both Murphy and Aine were so incredibly proud of them, as bird brained as they could be at times, Murphy lost count of the amount of times they'd flown into the windows in the top of the hive, forgetting to open them first.
Very soon Murphy and Aine's hive was responsible for feeding the whole Clan healthy and nutritious food, every vegetable, root, fruit, grain, ect was grown and lovingly nurtured on the vast farm, lovingly tended and cared for by an army of Xenos who had nothing but the greatest respect and care for each and every life.
Soon enough they had such a surplus that when friendly relations were established and alliances forged with other races like the snake-like Serpentinus or the little velociraptor-like Raptorians they began to trade with them and soon Murphy and Aine's lovingly grown produce was feeding people from far away stars and sitting on the dinner tables of homes of people neither of them knew or would ever meet and nothing other than his growing brood of now naturally born daughters and sons made Murphy and Aine prouder, they were making people full and healthy across the stars.
In what felt like the blink of an eye Murphy's four hundred years were up and his time came, they had so many children at this point that not even a quarter of them could fit into their bedroom as Murphy lay on their bed where they had all been conceived, his beautiful queen was at his side, cradling him in her arms and holding his hands in hers, "Please, my king, please don't go, please don't leave me all alone, I'm begging you," Aine wept, clutching him to her chest.
"I'm sorry, my queen, I wish I could stay, I really do, but you won't be alone, every one of these beautiful faces is a living testament to us and what we did together, each and every one of them make my heart ache with love and pride, I could never have imagined a pride or a love so strong or fierce before I met you, you and they have filled my every day with more love and joy than I could ever have dreamed possible, but know this, my heart's purest star, where ever it is I go now I'll be waiting for you and this time I'm going to build you a hive just as you built for me, it'll all be there waiting for you to join me, but don't you dare come to me one single day before your true time, you hear me? You promise me that you will spend every day with our beloved ones and you let them know every day how proud you and their pa are of them, you nurture them, every one of them and watch them grow, just like our love did every day," Murphy said.
"I will, my king, I swear this to you on my soul," Aine wept, and she clutched him tight, letting out and agonized howl of grief as with one last drawn breath he left her.
As Murphy stood watching his queen with his heart filled with grief he felt a hand on his shoulder and found Jack Mason standing there and it was obvious that he could see him, so this is what it meant to be a Soul Knight as he called them, he could see him as real, "Someone is here to meet you, Murphy, someone who has waited a long time to meet you," Jack said softly, and he turned to reveal a truly beautiful human woman who smiled at him.
"Hello, Murphy, my name is Aine, I'm the one you named your mighty and wonderful queen after, as payment to this honor I have set a place for you in my realm, I have watched all that you have done and all the love and joy you have made together, the lives you have nurtured and this prize you have earned, I also want to tell you something else, me and the others of the council are making plans for one of us to step up and to adopt the Xenomorph peoples, they deserve to have someone watching over them as each of the hives here has proven to us what beautiful and wonderful things they are capable of when they are nurtured and grown right, so soon enough they will have a Guardian of their very own, a place for them to go when their time comes, but as for you and your queen, you've earned your place, so come with me now and just as you promised, get it ready for her to join you," she said, and with one final silent thank you to Jack Mason he took her hand and was gone.
Lush green endless fields are what met him, a place of true piece and tranquility, Murphy nodded as he sat on his rock and looked at his hive, it might not be Aine's craftsmanship, but being able to control nature and turn a tree and all the nature around it into a living, growing, breathing home was like nothing else and Murphy steeled his soul, when she arrived he was going to have this ready for her, grown and nurtured and made as his life with her had been, with pure love.