Chapter 9: Relief Efforts.
The conference room was spacious and very regal, a huge oval shaped wooden table took up the centre of of the room, it was surrounded by large plush cushions like the type that one would kneel on, only much larger and softer looking, Liam guessed that when you didn't have legs or feet chairs really weren't a thing.
Before the meeting started he had equipped everyone there with the language pack that would allow them to understand each other to make sure this went smoothly.
"Ummm, somebody fetch the chairs we use for when the Scalathor are here," the regent said to one of the royal guards who saluted and slithered away quickly.
She glanced at Liam apologetically, "My apologies. Seeker Liam, my species don't exactly have much use for chairs really and we weren't exactly expecting guests so we have nothing prepared," the regent said apologetically as only moments later guards came slithering in carrying large wooden arm chairs with very soft looking padding, it was obvious the Serpentinus took their diplomacy very seriously.
"It's quite alright, my lady, perfectably understandable, it wasn't like we exactly expected to be orbital dropping onto an alien planet to fight alongside a species we only just met against an enemy we've never met until we crossed swords with them, metaphorically speaking of course," Liam said, making the regent smile and her long tongue flickered a few times in his direction.
"My guards inform me you're rather handy with a sword," the regent said, and Liam chuckled, nodding.
"Seeker training is rather varied, my lady, we're trained in a great many ways of combat in order to adapt to changing circumstances on the ground, it's the same with our Hunters and even our Battle Angels and Saviors, we in the Guardian Core take our role very seriously," Liam said with a smile and a nod of thanks at the cobra-like guard who brought him a chair.
Just before he sat, Jack Mason and Ryan Mason strode in along with the guards assigned to escort them, "Sorry to interrupt, my lady and members of the royal pack, but this is Jack Mason, Grand Patriarch of Clan Mason and Leader of the Seekers of Truth, and his son, Ryan Mason, also of the Seekers of Truth," the guard said, announcing them.
"Thank you, Ezzra, that will be all," the regent said, and the guard saluted and slithered off as Jack and Ryan strode in, both looking every bit the regal statesmen and accomplished warriors they both were, it often made Liam a little jealous of how easy they both made it look, they were both seamless as they strode up to the regent and offered human greetings of a handshake which Celia informed the regent was a human greeting.
"It is very good to meet you both, I'm sorry I'm not familiar with the titles you hold, do you prefer to be called Grand Patriarch or by your name?" The regent asked, and her face betrayed her surprise at again them both being male, Liam realized he was learning to read their facial expressions as well, both their eyes and surprisingly their tongues were rather expressive.
"Just Jack is fine, regent, and what about yourself, do you prefer regent, my lady, or your name?" Jack asked, taking the seat that the regent gestured to him with Ryan seated next to him while Liam was seated opposite them both, he seemed to have been seated next to Celia and her entire pack who seemed to be utterly fascinated by their guests, though more predominantly by Liam than the two newcomers if he was reading the flickering tongues and glances he was getting correctly.
"You may call me Ciri, my name is Ciri Flushscale and it only feels right to be on first name basis with someone who is responsible for protecting my home and my people like you have, an act I and we cannot begin to thank you enough for," the regent said softly, and Jack being Jack just smiled.
"You're more than welcome, Ciri, that's what we formed the Guardian Core for, to protect not only our people and way of life but to protect all innocents, wherever and whoever they may be, speaking of which, if I may, I'd like to get my wife in on this meeting, I'm afraid she can't be with us in person right now as she's aboard our flagship, the Dreamer, heading up our relief efforts, but I have with me a holosphere which will allow her to attend, so, if I may?" Jack said, and Ciri and all of the Serpentinus looked both intrigued and supremely curious.
"A holosphere?" Ciri asked curiously, and Jack produced a small silver sphere from one of his pouches and set it on the table, Liam had seen these devices when Citrus and Yoshi's hive had started producing them, all their ships and major buildings had holograph projectors and communication rigs, these was a portable version of them that used a combination of sensors and smart cameras to see their entire environment and to pick out people to be projected into a holo communicator room while projecting an image of the person or people in the room back through the orb.
"It's a communication device that lets you see who you are talking to, that's all, it's harmless, I assure you," Jack said, and Ciri nodded and gestured to the device curiously but obviously prompting him to continue.
Jack pressed a button on the top of the orb and it rolled into the centre of the table, making all of the Serpentinus jump and a flurry of tongues were aimed at it, Jack tapped a few buttons on his wrist comp, "Seeker one to Hunter one, you online for holo comms, my love?" Jack asked across the Seekers private comms channel.
"Ready when you are, my heart's star," Tik's gravely voice replied, and Jack nodded, pressing a few more buttons and the orb popped open like petals on a flower, there were eight petals and at the tip of each one a needle like emmiter began to glow, a moment later in the centre of the orb was a perfect image of a miniature Tik eleth Mason in her bright golden Hunter armor, looking every bit the proud huntress and Clan Matriarch that she was.
"Greetings, my name is Tik eleth Mason, Grand Matriarch of Clan Mason and leader of the Hunters of the Guardian Core," Tik said, turning in a circle to see and greet everyone in the room before turning to face the head of the table where Ciri was sat on her coils.
Ciri's tongue was going ninety to the dozen as she looked at the small device with a miniature Tik eleth Mason stood in the centre of it, "Greetings, Grand Matriarch Tik eleth Mason, I am Ciri Flushscale, regent of the Serpentinus and leader of the Royal Pack," Ciri said, and Tik eleth saluted.
"It is good to make your acquaintance, Regent, I wish it could have been under better circumstances," Tik said.
"As do I, I must ask this but I find it incredible that your male is here among us while you are aboard your ship, forgive my ignorance of your people or culture but to us to send males to fight is utterly unheard of," Ciri said, glancing from Jack to Ryan and then to Liam.
Tik growled softly but she was in diplomatic mode and Liam had heard the stories of how long it had taken Jack to teach her the art of diplomacy, given that Tik eleth's usual version of diplomacy involved wedging a rather sizable golden boot up the arse of the person who insulted her before tearing off their head and spending the next three days polishing said skull to a mirror shine.
"In our culture and among our people males and females are equals in all things, Regent, our birth rates included, there are as many males born as females and yes, while we do have our differences, for example, the females of my kind, the Yautja, are bigger than our males, we treat them as our equals because they are, a point proven by the fact that while as much as I would love to have been on the ground to drive those cowardly invaders from your home myself, my beloved husband and my son are there, while I am here preparing for the arrival of the reinforcements we have detected approaching," Tik said, and Ciri's face froze upon hearing this.
"I'm sorry, Grand Matriarch, I meant no offence, I am merely trying to understand your people, but forgive me, did you just say that there are reinforcements approaching our planet?" Ciri asked, and Tik nodded.
"Yes, we've picked up three frigates on approach but do not fear, regent, Guardian Core reinforcements are already arriving and are forming a defensive perimeter around the planet and its orbital stations, we have deployed both our Savior engineering teams and Battle Angel medical teams to these stations in order to see if we can not only assist your wounded people but in order to try and get your planetary defences back online, that way when the Scalathor arrive this time it will be they who arrive into an ambush," Tik said.
"Three frigates!? Can your Dreamer hold out against that kind of firepower?" Ciri asked.
"The Dreamer is top of the line, she may be classified as a heavy frigate but she's more of a pocket battle ship, seriously heavy guns mounted into a much more maneuverable frame, but the rest of our fleet are already arriving so she will have support and all of our ships are outfitted to punch well above their weight when it comes to space combat," Jack said reassuringly.
"Not to mention there will be more Hunter teams aboard, capable of boarding and taking those ships if the chance presents itself," Tik added proudly.
Ciri's brow furrowed and she nodded, "I am most grateful for your assistance in this, Grand Matriarch" she said, and Tik nodded.
"Please, call me Tik eleth, regent," she said, and Ciri nodded and smiled, flickering her tongue thoughtfully.
"I must ask this, and again, please forgive me if I misunderstand, but how much is your assistance going to cost my people?" Ciri asked, and Tik growled, obviously taking offence, but it was Jack who spoke.
"We didn't come here to negotiate terms for a price for our assistance, Ciri, the help of the Guardian Core will not cost you a thing, we do not do this because it benefits us, we do it because it is the right thing to do, we have seen what the Scalathor are capable of first hand aboard the ship we rescued your diplomat Ms. Diamondscale from, we also rescued a male Draconis who was being held as a slave and I have seen what they have done to that boy and I will be dammed if I allow that kind of practice to continue as well as be inflicted on an innocent people, we are not in a position to dictate what a people does to its own really, but when it is perpetrated against others then we will not stand by and watch, the creed of the Guardian Core is long but the brunt of it is this, we stand for those who cannot stand for themselves, we protect the innocent, whoever they may be and wherever that may be for we are the Guardians and we will stand proud and true," Jack said, pride dripping from his voice like honey.
This set Ryan off, "I am a Guardian, I swear to seek out evil wherever it may hide, in the shadows of the night you will find me, in the deepest cave you find me..." he began, and instantly feeling his pride welling, Liam joined in.
"In the deepest ocean or the brightest sky you will find me, for evil will not hide from me, I am a Guardian and this is my oath and my vow, those who harm the innocent will face my wrath, those who spill innocent blood will face my wrath, those who would harm those who cannot defend themselves will face my wrath, I will seek them out because I am a Seeker..." Liam said, and instantly Tik showed her pride by joining in.
"I will hunt them down because I am a Hunter, I will save the innocent because I am a Savior and I will nurse the sick and the wounded because I am an Angel, I am a sword and a shield, but above all else I am a Guardian and I will hold the line and I will guard it with my life and my soul, this I swear before all the gods who hear it, this is my promise, vow and oath, from this day until the day I draw my final breath, I am a Guardian of the light and darkness shall not pass," all of them said in perfect unison.
All of the Serpentinus looked utterly amazed at this display of pride and honor for both their clan and their calling, "So you see, Ciri, in not one place does the oath of the Guardian Core mention requesting financial reposition for our help, we do what we do because it is the right thing to do, your people were in need so we helped you, it's as simple as that, if we were after something it would be for you to become our friends and allies and really that's it," Jack said to the obviously stunned regent.
"I-I find myself humbled by this, Grand Matriarch and Patriarch, forgive my words, I meant no offence, it is not my experience of people doing things like this for others without expecting some form of compensation, it truly humbles me," she said, and Jack smiled, as did Tik.
"It's perfectly fine, Ciri, I'm human and for the most part my parent species are very money and influence hungry so I know that feeling well," he said.
"As do I, there is few Yautja clans who would lend aid to another unless it benefits them in some way, either through influence, power or even scooping up prized genetic stock if a clan is going to collapse from their hunters and huntresses," Tik said.
"If I may be so bold, you are the first peoples we have met from outside of the branches of the Great Tree, once any ensuing battle is over I would like your permission for our scientists and scholars to study your peoples to get to know you better, in the mean time you will be our honored guests here," Ciri said, and Jack nodded.
"Our Battle Angels can send you any relevant medical data you need for your scientists to study, it is only fair as we have had a chance to examine one of your people in the form of Ms. Dimondscale while she was with us, though I would ask that you refrain from any invasive medical checks or procedures on any of my people, especially the Xenos, their blood is highly acidic and will dissolve any item that pierces their hides, all our checks for illness or injuries performed on Celia were with her consent and non-invasive in the form of scans and visual checks," Jack said, and Celia nodded to confirm his words.
Ciri nodded and raised her hands, "I would never authorize any form of procedures that would either harm or be considered invasive against your people and certainly nothing without their consent," she said, making both Jack and Tik nod.
"Good, I am glad to hear it," Jack said.
"We will also arrange quarters for your people on the ground to stay comfortable while you are here with us," Ciri said.
"Seeker Liam Silver can reside with my pack," Celia said very quickly, making everyone, including her packmates, turn to her in curiosity while she looked slightly embarrassed by her outburst.
"Very well, it seems that Seeker Silver has a place to stay, as for the rest of you, we will of course arrange quarters along with food and drink," Ciri said, and Jack nodded and smiled most gratefully.
"That is very much appreciated, Ciri, thank you," he said, and now it was her turn to smile.
"It is the least we can do after what you have done and are currently doing for us," she said.
"Don't worry, Ciri, the Guardian Core will stand for you, though it might be worth getting any other allies you have involved here or at least giving them a heads up of what's happened," Jack said, and Ciri nodded.
"Our only true allies are the Raptorians and we will contact them at once to warn them as well as to inform them of your existence and status as our allies," she said.
"When this is all over I would like to cordially invite you and your people to visit our world as our honored guests to see how we live, it is my hope that out of this mess that we might forge a lasting and strong alliance and even friendship," Tik said, making Ciri flick her tongue and smile.
"I would very much like that, Tik eleth, it would be wonderful to learn about your people and your way of life," she said, and there were smiles all around now.
The rest of the talks and negotiations were simply a matter of discussing how the Guardian Core would help the Serpentinus people to repel the invaders and how once they had helped them to rearm themselves and protect themselves from further attack by upgrading their defences they would depart, though there was talk of establishing an embassy on both worlds if things went well.
After all parties were in agreement the talks closed and there were hand shakes all around, "I'm going to speak with both our Battle Angels and Sela eleth to see what the status is on both the wounded and repairs," Jack said to both Liam and Ryan who nodded in unison.
"I will touch base with Shena and make sure our Hunters are all squared away as well as our Seekers," Ryan said, and Jack nodded.
"Good, make sure the palace is guarded, I want a Seeker awake and on station along with a team of Hunters at all times until we know the threat is passed, if by some miracle any drop ships sneak their way down past the Dreamer's sensors we'll spot them first," Jack said, and Ryan nodded.
"What about me, boss?' Liam asked, and Jack smiled at him.
"I want you to remain with our friendly diplomat over there, you just became the body guard of both her pack and the Royal pack, if shit hits the fan you are our last line of defence, nothing and no one gets through you, understood?" Jack said, and Liam glanced over to see Celia talking with her pack, one after the other they were glancing at him.
"Understood, boss," he said, and Jack clapped him on the shoulder strong enough to jostle his armor and shot him a bright grin.
"Show these people what Seekers are made of, alright?" Jack said cryptically, and before before he could ask him what he meant by that the Grand Patriarch was gone, along with Ryan, who just shot him a sly smile before he vanished, leaving Liam standing alone in a hall filled with Serpentinus.
Celia and her pack slithered up to him, enclosing him on all sides, their tails forming a circle around him with each of their bodies forming the points on a compass, "So, you're to stay here with us?" Celia asked, her voice sounding hopeful, and Liam nodded.
"Yeah, I am to act as both bodyguard and diplomat to both your pack and the royal pack, to make sure that both are safe and if you need anything from the Guardian Core to facilitate communication between our people," Liam said, and Celia nodded approvingly.
"This gladdens me," she said, and Liam suddenly noticed that Veme was rather close to him, bobbing her head around as if in an attempt to see him from multiple angles at once, she also seemed to be taking notes.
"Sorry, I was just observing you, I would very much like to get a chance to study your species, like for instance this tuft of fur on your head, does it serve a purpose or is it purely decorative?" she asked while reaching out to touch his head, making Liam dodge the uninvited hair ruffling attempt.
Celia hissed at her pack sister and moved in between the two, tightening her coil circumference around Liam a bit but still not touching him, Veme looked at her in surprise, "Do not touch what you are not invited to touch! This is an alien species! Do you not understand that your actions could have serious ramifications if taken the wrong way?" Celia hissed darkly, surprising both Veme and Liam.
Veme suddenly seemed to realise her mistake and bowed her head slightly, "My apologies, Seeker, I meant no offence, my curiosity sometimes gets the better of me," she said, and Liam nodded.
"Apology accepted, Veme, but I would have to agree with your sister here, while curiosity is a fine thing it would be much better to ask permission first, while humans may be rather temperate for the most part, our brothers and sisters of the Yautja are not, touch one of them without permission and you are likely to lose the offending limb and if you touch a yautja's claimed mate without permission...yeah, just don't do that, it's a whole universe of bad," Liam said an apologetic note in his voice.
This actually seemed to brighten Veme up and she began scribbling notes again, "So the Yautja are more aggressive than humans?" she asked curiously, and Liam smiled and chuckled, making her bob her head slightly as well as flick her tongue.
"That there is the understatement of the century, they're a species born of violence and strength, they seek to pit themselves against the strongest of prey, to hunt it and to kill it, the Yautja species as a whole live in nomadic tribes they call clans and they roam the universe looking for the perfect prey to hunt and test themselves against, the Yautja of Clan Mason have learned to channel those instincts in very different directions fortunately," Liam explained as Veme scribbled furiously.
"Fascinating! I simply must hear more!" she exclaimed.
"I'd love to fill you in on the details but if you don't mind I'd kinda like to get some rest, it's been rather a long day and if there's more to come I need to be ready to face it," Liam said, rubbing his hand through his hair at the back of his head which seemed to make Veme scribble more.
"Good idea! We shall retire to our quarters, come, sisters, let us show Liam some Serpentinus hospitality," Celia declared quickly, and before Liam had been even introduced to her other two pack mates they were off, shepherding him away through the royal palace towards what appeared to be the living quarters for all who worked in the palace.
The place reminded Liam of pictures he'd seen on the Clan Mason Internet about human history, more specifically ancient castles, long corridors made from stone lit with modern torch equivalents mounted on the walls to give a modern twist to an old world feel.
It seemed that the Serpentinus honored their history greatly but liked to move with the times too, it gave the place a unique feel, the Diamondscale living space was huge but then none of these girls was exactly small so that made sense, a large braced wooden door unlocked with what was made to resemble an old style key but was actually an electronic key chip mounted inside an oversized case.
Leading them into a large, spacious room that wouldn't have looked out of place in ancient Babylon with harem girls and dancers lounging about on the huge red cushions that littered the floor around a large table.
The dead giveaway of the modernness of the room was the giant TV in the corner mounted to the wall that over looked the table, "You'll have to forgive the mess, I'm afraid we weren't exactly expecting visitors and since Celia's kidnapping we've all been in such a panic that cleaning really didn't come to the forefront of our minds," the large, cobra-like female said, it was only now that Liam noticed that she was dressed in a while lab coat and had almost medical like scrubs on under it.
"Its quite alright, I understand perfectly and honestly I'm just glad to be a guest in your home and I ask that you forgive my intrusion," Liam said, and the Cobra girl flared her hood, making Liam almost jump back as her head cocked and swayed and her tongue flickered at him, her hood retracted and she looked at Celia.
"You were right, sister, he is well mannered," she said, making Celia look somewhat flustered at having been caught out talking about Liam behind his back, he was curious as to what else she'd been saying about him.
"I'm sorry but we haven't been properly introduced," Liam said, holding his hand out towards the large cobra and she looked at it curiously.
"It's a human greeting and a sign of trust," Celia said, proudly displaying her new found knowledge of human culture, this seemed to perk up the little green tree-snake like woman who instantly slithered off before coming back with her own tablet to write notes on.
"I'm Leba Diamondscale, chief biologist at the royal academy for medical sciences, it is good to formally meet you, Seeker Liam Silver Mason," she said, flicking her tongue at him, Liam now noticed her voice was deeper than that of Celia and he also noticed that she had two slight bulges in the roof of her mouth when she spoke, indicating that she might have fangs, he wondered if she was venomous.
"Please, just call me Liam," he said as she stuck out her hand, copying his movement and the surprise she got when he clasped it and shook it caused her hood to flare out again, it seemed to flatten her whole neck and head as she did it, he also noticed those bulges in her mouth moved, indicating that she had possibly readied her fangs.
"Fascinating! Please, tell me what this gesture is meant to symbolise?" the small green tree-snake like female said, quickly sticking out her own hand in the hope that Liam would shake it as well, he did so and noticed how much smaller her hand was to the others.
"It's a throwback to our ancient past, it was meant to show that we weren't concealing a weapon and that our intentions are honorable, a greeting of peace, which is why its primarily done with the right hand as the vast percentage of humans are right handed," Liam explained, having learned this from Jack.
"Fascinating! This indicates tribal or possibly warrior heritage! Oh, I'm sorry, how rude of me, my name is Sev Diamondscale and I'm the chief historical researcher at the Royal college of history," she said, smiling up at him, her head was smaller than the others but her eyes seemed to be the same size which made them look huge and very bright.
"It is good to meet you, it's good to meet all of you, in fact, when Celia informed me that she lived in a pack of four I had wondered what you guys would be like, especially when she said that you were all different genus," Liam said.
All of them seemed surprised by this, "Don't humans live in packs then?" Sev asked, and Liam shook his head but before he could answer Celia got there first.
"Humans are solitary, and get this, they only mate with one person, one male each! Can you believe it?" Celia said, and now the others looked at him, utterly amazed.
"One male each? How positively extravagant! I cannot begin to fathom what such a society would look like," Sev said.
"I know! That's what I said, but I've seen it with my own eyes aboard their ship, I saw a human male mated with one of their Xenomorph females and another who was being courted by a Yautja female, it was incredible to witness, and what's more, I saw their quarters aboard their ship, built for one but with room for two! Just two, can you believe it!? One male and one female!" Celia said happily, and Liam was feeling kinda flustered now, he sensed the questions coming.
So he headed them off quickly, "Umm, not to be rude but may we sit down before we begin what I get the feeling is going to be a lengthy interrogation?" He asked jokingly.
"Oh, of course! I forget about your legs constantly, please forgive me, you must think we're terrible hosts, please, pick a cushion, any one except the royal blue one, that is Leba's, it was a gift from the regent after she saved her life from a terrible illness once and she's very territorial over it, so if you don't want to find out if she can bite through that armor of yours avoid it at all costs," Celia said, shooting her sister a playful and devilish look.
Leba's hood flared in embarrassment and she hissed and this time she did bare her fangs and they were huge, about the length of Liam's hands from his wrist to his middle finger tip, pearly white and utterly smooth looking too.
"I am not!" she declared, but both Veme and Sev nodded in unison, "Yup, utter pillow whore," Veme said.
"Queen of the blue pillow," Sev said, and Leba's hood looked like it was trying to turn into a discus, it was so spread out now.
"He doesn't need to hear this! Honestly, you invite a male into our home then immediately begin to reveal our private pack business! What happened to good first impressions!?" Leba exclaimed, obviously embarrassed, which was made worse by the fact that she slithered over and immediately coiled herself up on the large blue pillow to sulk.
Liam resisted the urge to laugh and make her feel worse, "May I offer you a drink, Liam? Some tea perhaps?" Celia asked, and he smiled.
"Thank you, that would be lovely," he said, walking over to the pillows and looking for one to sit down on.
"Here, take this one," Veme said, gesturing to a large, soft looking red pillow, Liam nodded his thanks and sat down on it cross legged with the table right in front of him and the still sulking Leba opposite him, Sev and Veme snagged the cushions to either side of him, boxing him in against the table, he could positively feel the air next to his ears being vibrated by the flickering tongues.
A moment later Celia returned, carrying a tray of drinks and Liam instantly noticed her expression sour somewhat as she noticed her sisters were sat next to him, but she threw on her best diplomat face and set the tray down and started handing out brightly decorated mugs to each of them, each of the mugs seemed to reflect the personality of its owner in some way.
Leba's was kinda shaped like a heart and not a cutesy love heart but that actual organ complete with a drinking spout made from an aorta, next up was Sev's which seemed to be shaped like a book compete with pages, Veme's was shaped like a what looked like DNA but it was a little off having three strands in a kinda pyramid shape which was interesting and finally there was Celia's mug which was plain white with a multi colored circle on it it running the entire way around it.
The mug she gave to Liam seemed to be shaped like a miniature Serpentinus, it was a female and of the python genus like Celia and you drank out of the top of its head, he accepted it gratefully and took a sip of the incredibly sweet brew.
They were all watching him curiously, including Leba who was still kinda sulking, "How is it? To your liking?" Celia asked, flicking her tongue at him along with the other three.
"Its sweet and tasty, thanks," Liam said, making her smile then she turned to her sisters.
"I sampled some of their food on their ship, it's truly incredible, they make this meat dish called pulled pork and it's so utterly sweet and tender that it literally falls to bits, it's like it was designed for us, so easy to eat and digest," she said, making both Leba and Sev reach for their notes.
"So, how many different species of sentients live on your homeworld?" Sev asked.
"On Clan Mason's home world there are three, humans, Yautja and Xenomorphs, each very different but united by our singular purpose and dedication to the clan and its principles," Liam said.
"Are there sub genus or are all of you the same?" Veme asked.
"Oh, there's a whole variety of us, humans come in all shapes, sizes and colors but we're all human at the end of the day, same with the Yautja, same species, different skin patterns and colors, with the Xenos it's a little different, until kinda recently the only way they could reproduce was through parasitic implantation, which left unchecked resulted in their birth killing the host which they took a section of DNA from changing their overall appearance, but in recent years the hives of Clan Mason with the dedicated work of a human scientist managed to overcome this problem and gave the Xenos the freedom they deserve," Liam said.
"Fascinating," Leba, Sev, and Veme all said at the same time while Celia smiled proudly.
"And that's before we even get onto the Dream Warriors, trust me, sisters, I think we may have actually solved the myth and mysteries of the Ghost Slitherers, the things that Liam can do and some of what he explained to me match the legend perfectly," she said, making Sev's face light up and her tongue almost turn into a little propeller sticking out of her mouth.
"Seriously? The Ghost Slitherers?" she said, disbelieving but curious.
"Ok, tell me, Sev, you're the historian, what and who were the Ghost Slitherers and what could they do?" Celia asked, looking at her pack sister.
Sev looked thoughtful and then she rose from her cushion and slithered over to a book shelf and Liam had to admit that Celia was seriously fast when she wanted to be.
"Well, the Ghost Slitherers have been mentioned in many ancient texts but the most comprehensive reference to them was in the Dadus, the book of tribes, it mentioned individuals with powers beyond comprehension, speed and strength beyond measure that it was said that they were like a one Serpentinus army, but people were scared of them and they hunted them for fear that they were possessed by evil spirits, but no one knows whether or not anyone ever managed to kill one of them, they simply vanished from the world, but every so often one would be referenced somewhere in an obscure text or two," Sev said, selecting a huge, very old looking book from the shelf near the top.
Liam watched curiously as she rose up on her tail to collect it, when she got back down she turned and scowled when she realized Celia had pinched her cushion next to Liam, but rather than argue with it she simply slithered over to the one that Celia had occupied and sat in it, placing the large, leather bound book on the table with a loud bang that made them all jump.
She began flicking through it, turning the old, yellowing pages carefully until she found what she was looking for, there was a section that led off with an illustration of a Serpentinus female with what appeared to be ancient tribal style gear, she appeared to be surrounded by a cloud of brightly coloured energy and was holding what appeared to be a smiling skull.
"They were also called Necromancers because it was believed they could commune with and control the dead," Sev said, pointing at another illustration that showed another Serpentinus surrounded with energy talking to see through ones that were obviously spirits of the dead.
"Hmmmm, seems to me that you indeed have Dream Warriors on your world, because what you've basically just described is a Soul Knight," Liam said, making Sev's head snap up.
"Wait, isn't that what you are?" Celia asked, and Sev's head snapped between the two of them as Liam nodded.
"Yeah, and Jack Mason as well, we have four Soul Knights down here and four Tamers, Jack is the leader of the Soul Knights and Ryan is the Leader of the Tamers, but Jack is the overall Leader of the Seekers of Truth and is in charge of the Seeker temple back on our homeworld, he's the leader of all the Seekers given that he's not only the most powerful Dream Warrior to ever live but is touched by the Gods themselves, it was him that met your Great Tree along with Analise who's the second in command of the Tamers under Ryan Mason," Liam said, and all of them looked confused and utterly amazed, except for Celia who smiled smugly at her sisters.
"W-W-Wait, are you saying that Ghost Slitherers are real!? And you are one of them!?" Sev exclaimed.
"How did you think I put the language you are currently able to understand in your head? Normal humans can't do that," Liam said, and they all went silent.
"Wait, those are two totally different things, that could be a simple case of telepathy or something, it's long been theorised that many alien species could have severely advanced prefrontal cortex's that would allow them to communicate telepathically," Veme said, and Leba nodded her head in agreement and Celia smiled.
"Show them how you move, Liam," she said with a grin, and Liam smiled as he got where she was going with this, a slight crackle of energy lit his hair briefly and then Liam tapped Leba on the shoulder, making her turn around before doing the same to Veme and Sev.
Each of them turned around and looked behind them in confusion, they turned back and found Liam with his drink in his hand, smiling at them innocently, "Wait, I felt his hand on my shoulder!" Sev exclaimed, and then Liam got a devilish idea and he'd been aching for an excuse to use this ever since Jack had taught it to him, he began to focus his mind and his eyes began to glow brighter and brighter as he summoned his energy to him.
"Souls of the honored passed, shield me your humble brother from the sight of my enemies, let me walk among them unseen, let them not see me or feel me pass, cloak me in your spirit and let me move unseen and unnoticed," he said to himself softly, but their hearing was sharp enough to catch every word right up until a swirl of grey smoke encased him and he vanished from their sight.
Standing up from his pillow he saw the four utterly amazed women flicking their tongues at where he was once sat but they obviously couldn't taste him in the air there anymore but to be sure Sev waved her arm through where he sat and found nothing.
"T-T-That's not possible!" Leba and Veme stammered in perfect unison as they both leaned forwards and waved their arms through the air where he'd been while Liam chuckled softly, knowing they couldn't hear him, the Cloak of Souls allowed a Soul Knight to pass unseen and unheard through any enviroment, it was basically like they existed in the spirit realm temporarily, the four of them fanned out and began waving their arms about looking for him.
"I can't even smell him!" Veme exclaimed, Liam brushed his hand over the back of her shoulder, making her jump out of her scales, "Something touched me!" She squealed, and Liam darted forwards and brushed Leba's arm, making her hood shoot right out in alarm.
"And me!" she yelled, and Liam emerged from a cloud of smoke in the middle of them all, grinning like an idiot as the four of them instantly locked onto him.
"We call it the Cloak of Souls," he said as the four of them slithered right at him and coiled loosely around him, all poking at him at once, he heard their fingers tapping his armor and that's when he got another devilish idea.
Suddenly another Liam walked out of a second cloud of smoke, "he's not the real Liam Silver, I am," he said.
"So am I," a third said.
"Why are you listening to them, I'm the real one," a fourth said, and the four Serpentinus girls looked amazed until Celia noticed the real Liam's eyes glowing and she placed her hand on his shoulder.
"This is the real one, his eyes glow and I've only seen that when he does something that uses his abilities," she said, and Liam grinned as the other Liam's vanished like smoke in the wind.
"Very observant, Celia, color me impressed, no one has ever seen through my Soul Split before," he said.
"This is truly incredible! What else can you do?" Sev exclaimed, leaning her body out while keeping her tail in a loose circle around his feet to retrieve her notes, Leba did the same and now even Veme had magicked up a note pad from somewhere, the three of them furiously scribbled.
"Umm, a whole host of things really, I'm much stronger and faster than a normal human, we can also see things before they happen to some degree, plus, we can read minds, but it's kinda complicated," Liam said, before he could say anything more the four of them guided him back to his cushion and sat him down, both Leba and Sev moved their cushions around to his side of the table and he found himself surrounded on all sides now.
"Alright, well, it begins with which type of Dream Warrior you are..." Liam said, and he began to explain about the differences between the different type of Dream Warriors and how their powers were based, all the while the four of them scribbled furiously, well, three of them did, one of them just watched him, smiling.
"This is incredible! All this time, all this time these stories were believed to be just myths and legends but they could have been real! Our people could have had their very own Dream Warriors, hell, we still could have them hiding in the shadows for fear of persecution, by the Great Tree, do you realise what this could mean for our people!?" Sev said.
"Well, as long as your scientists don't decide they want to study and dissect them like lab rats I'd say pretty good," Liam said, and Leba held a finger to argue then shut her mouth very quickly as she realized just what it was she was about to argue to them.
"But how are we supposed to learn about them and how they are different from normal Serpentinus if we don't study them?" Veme asked.
"Simple, you observe and note, our people have highly advanced medical scanners that can spot a single cancer cell in a whole body of healthy ones and they will tell you one thing, there is no biological difference between a normal human and a Dream Warrior human, it's the same with the Yautja too, unfortunately science really won't tell you why we are what we are because it's nothing to do with science, you can't create Dream Warriors artificially, we are the products of the Gods themselves, souls touched by the Gods and blessed before we're even conceived, chosen to be the way we are and not even we know why we're chosen because that is one secret the Gods always keep," Liam said.
Both Leba and Veme looked lost at this, it was obvious religion wasn't really their thing and Liam sensed it, "Look, I get your dedication to science, I really do, trust me, if you ever visit my homeworld I'm going to take you to visit the hives of Queen Citrus and King Yoshi as well as Queen Zara and King Cortez, Citrus' hive is our tech centre, there isn't a problem those guys can't figure out, and Zara's hive is the birth place of our Battle Angels, it's basically a giant teaching hospital specialising in saving life no matter whose or how and I'm sure they'd be thrilled to get to show off for you and trade knowledge with you, it's what we're all about as a clan, unity," Liam said, making them both smile at the prospect of sharing their knowledge with others like them.
"Well, at least we still get to study an alien species in the form of yourself, you are so vastly different to us, it's quite amazing really, and I don't mean the legs, all the other species of the Great Tree have them, save for us, but fur and skin? An evolved mammalian species? Utterly amazing and impressive, there is just so much to learn, like is your body temperature self regulating or do you have to heat bask? Does that fur serve a purpose or is it decorative? To name but a few," Leba said, and Veme nodded in agreement.
"It's decorative really, our bodies are covered in a light fine covering of it, thicker on our males than on our females but then our females tend to remove it for aesthetic and comfort reasons," Liam said.
"It's on your body too!?" Leba said, lowering her head to chest level and flicking her tongue at his chest plates like she was trying to taste the hair through his armor.
"it would have been for survival purposes and heating once upon a time but now in the age of clothing it's kinda redundant really, we're the only sentient species that we've encountered that does have it actually, both the Xenos and Yautja don't," Liam said.
Leba and Veme began to scribble furiously, "Is it all over you body or in just certain places?" Leba asked.
"All over, here, look, it's even on my hands," Liam said, holding out his hand for them to see and before he could say a word in protest both Leba and Veme grabbed his hand and began to study it so close that he could feel their tongues almost tickling his skin as they made the light fine hairs on his hand move.
"Incredible, his species are exothermic! Feel how warm his skin and blood are! Most likely he could survive in low tempretures and even sub-zero ones with the right protection!" Veme said, and Leba nodded excitedly.
"And feel how soft his skin is, it's obviously self sealing and healing by these scars, so his blood must have a high degree of clotting ability, oh, how I would love to get a look at it," she said, and Liam raised an eyebrow at her, causing her hood to flare again.
"Y-Your healing process, I mean, obviously!" she exclaimed hurriedly, a little too hurriedly.
"Honored guest, Leba, not a science experiment, he's not going to cut himself just so you can see his body heal," Celia chastised her sister, and Leba's hood retracted and she nodded, releasing his hand as did Veme.
"Sorry, Seeker, I meant no offence obviously, I would do nothing without your permission and I would never do anything that would cause you harm or wish harm upon you," she said softly.
Liam chuckled softly, he honestly thought that her curiosity was endearing, plus, that thing she did with her hood when she got flustered was surprisingly cute, "It's alright, Celia, curiosity is a given here really, I mean, you're sat with an alien species in your apartment, it's only natural to want to understand to see the similarities and the differences and then wish to understand those differences, I am as equally curious of your kind," he said, smiling at her, and out of the corner of his eye he saw Leba lift her head again.
"If you have any questions please ask them and we will answer all we can," Sev said, and they all nodded.
"Well, the first thing I'm going to ask, and please don't take this the wrong way as I know about your birth rates, but where are all your males? I haven't seen one since we arrived," he said.
"We don't have a male, not yet anyway, but we're always hoping to meet the right one," Celia said, smiling at him warmly, and he also noticed she never blinked when she said that, looking right at his eyes when she said it.
"Umm, I believe he means where are all the males, Celia, I don't think he's auditioning for us and a place as our pack male, are you?" Leba said, her hood flaring and her attention switching from her sister to him at that last part.
"Ummm, no, no, I was wondering where they all are is all," Liam said quickly, feeling a little flustered and instantly both Leba and Veme's eyes widened and they both lunged forward, getting right into his face, their large heads dancing about in front of him, startling him.
"Incredible! Simply incredible! His skin seems to change color as part of an emotional response! Do your species communicate through colors as well as words?" Leba asked, gripping his face in her hands and he felt the coolness of her skin through her fingers and she rotated his head left and right to see him better.
"Ummm, somewhat, it's a reaction to an emotional state, a form of non-verbal communication or body language," Liam explained.
"And what emotional state causes a red flush like this?" Leba asked.
"Ummm, a couple of things, but the most common is embarrassment," Liam said quietly, and suddenly Leba let go of him but she smiled slightly and somewhat slyly.
"It is a very pretty color on you," she said, and Veme nodded in agreement while Celia seemed rather flabbergasted by her sister's sudden change in demeanor.
"And to answer your question, our males are under protection, whether they like it or not they are our most sacred commodity, without them there will be no next generation and it is the duty of every female among us to protect them, so when the alarms would have sounded every pack with a male in their number would have rushed them into hiding to protect them, shelters and protection sites were set up many generations ago after an incident where Draconis commandos tried to sabotage our specie's future by kidnapping and killing our males, a team of raiders posing as merchants infiltrated our society and kidnapped a number to be taken as slaves on their homeworld and killed those they could not take because they were unable to isolate them from their pack, it was cowardly and dishonorable, it is why we have no contact with them and if their ships enter our space they are fired upon without warning," Celia said.
This little fact horrified Liam, to attempt to propagate a genocide by attempting to rob a species of its ability to reproduce was truly horrific but their history fascinated him so they continued to talk for quite some time about species differences, everything from strength differences where Liam wound up arm wrestling Celia, first using his regular human strength where he lost badly and this seemed to please the Serpentinus girls to know they had an edge on strength, well, that was until he challenged her to a rematch and used his Dream Warrior strength and flattened her.
"How is that possible!? She beat you the first time, how do you now win?" Veme exclaimed.
"I wanted to show you the difference between a regular garden variety human and a Dream Warrior, what we look like and what we are is very different, but it's kinda like a mental switch, I flip it off and I'm a regular human, I flip it on and I'm a Dream Warrior," Liam explained, and they scrabbled to take notes.
Liam noticed Celia rubbing her wrist, "I'm sorry, did I hurt you?" he asked, and she shook her head.
"My pride maybe, males are weaker than females here so for a female to lose a test of strength to one is unheard of," she said, and he nodded, understanding somewhat, pride was a big deal to them and he could see that intentionally wounding the pride of a Serpentinus woman was not wise.
"I believe we should eat, none of us have eaten for days, we've been so worried about you, Celia, plus, our guest must be famished and what sort of females would we be if we do not offer a male in our midst a hearty meal," Sev said suddenly, and Celia brightened.
"Oh, I ate aboard their ship, here's a fun medical fact for you, humans need to eat every day, three times a day to keep themselves healthy," she said, and both Leba and Veme looked amazed.
"Is this true? You eat every single day?" Leba asked, and Liam nodded.
"Yes, our metabolisms are not like yours, we require on average two thousand calories a day as a Guardian due to the incredibly strenuous nature of our job," he said.
"They also eat a lot less than we do in a sitting, not even a quarter," Celia said, and both Leba and Veme wrote it down.
"Well, we will make a traditional Serpentinus meal for you and you can sample our local cuisine, do you have any dietary requirements that we should be aware of?" Sev asked, and Liam shook his head.
"No, I can eat pretty much the same stuff you guys do but I have a scanner with me so please don't take offence if I scan anything before consuming it just to err on caution's side," he said, and both Leba and Veme nodded in agreement.
"A wise male indeed, many would have jumped in ignoring caution and safety for fear of offending but it is a much bigger offence to endanger your guest, this male is wise, sister," Leba said, smiling at Celia who smiled back.
"Told you so, and honorable too," she said, making Liam flush slightly as he remembered her words to him earlier and Celia noticed the color change and a sly smile raised on her face and her tongue flickered, she obviously remembered as well.
"Perhaps you would enjoy a chance to freshen up while we prepare food?" Sev said, making Liam nearly jump out of his skin as her voice snapped him out of the stupor that had over come his mind.
He was about to answer that he was fine but Celia got there first, "Wonderful idea, sister! I will show him to our bathroom and how everything works, their bathrooms are very different to ours, there's no sand, can you believe that?" Celia said, clapping her hands together and moving like lighting to pull the surprised Liam up from his cushion and to begin guiding him through their dwelling.
"No sand? How do you keep your skin soft and smooth?" Sev asked curiously, but before he could answer her he had been ushered through the dwelling and into a large room that had a huge shower inside it, in fact, half the room seemed to be shower, the room was divided in two, they had a rather odd shaped and large toilet, a sink and mirror setup and then a huge glass sliding door that separated the other half of the room.
In this side there were large rain dropper heads all along the ceiling and smaller jets in the walls, "You want to stay away from these, they will spray you with sand and I can't imagine they would be too good for your skin," Celia said as she locked the bathroom door behind them quietly and then slithering into shower side and pointing to them.
"Yeah, they will most likely strip my skin off," Liam confirmed, but then Celia slithered out of the shower side and right up to him, her bright eyes shining, her tongue was flickering constantly.
"That armor of yours is very pretty, you know, Liam, I like the way its colors make your skin stand out and it compliments your hair and eyes," she said, winding loose coils around him, again not touching him.
Liam's heart was beginning to beat so hard in his chest he was beginning to worry that it might set off one of the Battle Angel alarms as they constantly monitor the life signs of all active Seekers and Hunters as well as all active and operational personnel, if you had to take your armor off you had to inform them otherwise someone would get a flatline and punch a panic button, then moments later the door would go in hard and the place would flood with panicked Battle Angels looking for a casualty to attend, you don't fuck with the Battle Angels when it comes to protecting people, they are every bit the warriors that the Hunters and Seekers are, hence their name, they fight to defend, if someone stands in their way to protecting and the innocent or their charges, then they go through you with zero hesitation.
"Since you need to take a shower now would be a very good time for you to keep your word to me and restore my honor, don't you think?" Celia said with a soft hiss in her voice, Liam felt his mouth go dry and the hairs on the back of his neck prickle but she was right, this was as good a time as any, even if she had orchestrated it, he nervously looked at his feet and nodded, blowing out a held breath.
"Alright, Celia, I am a man of my word," he said softly, then he tapped his wrist comp and triggered the privacy mode which sent a code the Battle Angels aboard the Dreamer that his bio sensors would be going offline, it bleeped to confirm the code was received and then he shut it down.
Liam's fingers began trembling again as he began to unhook his armor, there were a series of hisses and clicks as the mechanisms that sealed him inside unlocked it and he began to remove the outer plates, first the gloves and arm pieces up to the elbows unhooked, then the full chest piece complete with shoulder pauldrons that still had his plasma casters on their gimbals attached.
Then it was his magnetic boots up to his knees and finally his main pants, all the metal pieces were placed in a neat pile near the sliding door, now he was left standing in his jet black, skin tight thermal undersuit, this helped to regulate his body tempretures for use in all environments, including space itself.
Liam nervously shifted his weight from foot to foot as he nervously played with his hands before taking a deep breath to steady his nerves, he reached behind himself and unzipped the suit right down to his waist before slowly peeling it down his chest to his waist, he could once again see Celia's tongue flickering in and out of his vision as he began to to peel the suit down his body to his feet, leaving him stood only in his boxers.
It was time for the final piece, only his boxers were left to preserve his modesty and Liam's feelings were once again swirling, on one hand he was kind of excited about being seen in all his naked glory by a very beautiful alien woman, on the other hand he was kinda worried whether he would be perceived as too alien for her to even think of him as attractive despite him thinking of her as very much so, not to mention the fact that it felt kinda forced in a way.
But his honor demanded reconciliation and he had indeed seen her in all of her naked glory and now it was his turn to reveal himself so with a final deep breath he pulled his boxers down his legs and kicked them into the pile with the rest.
Liam stood there with his breath held and his hand cupped over his groin, "Move your hands, let me see you, all of you," Celia said, her voice kind of husky, almost sensual but also rather commanding, he guessed this was the dominant side that all females of this race had, being the dominant gender on this world, but some part of him responded to it, like it craved her approval, so he did as he was told and moved his hands apart, revealing his most sacred treasure to her for her to scrutinize.
Celia moved closer and coiled herself around him once more, though this time her coils were much closer to him than ever before, she was almost touching him on all sides and she leaned down to look at him closely and this time he did feel her tongue brush his skin once or twice, "You are very beautiful, Liam, I do not know why your nakedness makes you embarrassed in this way, though I will not deny that color really suits you, it is very pretty," Celia said in a soft voice.
That's when he noticed that she hadn't even looked at his manhood yet, she seemed to be savoring the experience, taking her time to look him up and down, she started at his neck and face, moving hers very close to him and moving down his chest and stomach, he felt her tongue catch his hair more than once, "I'm not exactly used to showing my body off, you know," he said, his voice trembling slightly, he noticed a very covetous and hungry look in her eyes as she glanced up at him.
"I do not know why, for my eyes you have nothing to be shamed by, if you are an example of what your species can produce on the male side your females should be always smiling and proud, I cannot see a single part of you that is not a delicious and sweet treat for female eyes, wait, is that your maleness?" She said, and he felt the air around his manhood vibrate like her tongue had come very close to it, her words flattered him but his feelings were still twisting around in his head like two greased eels wrestling.
He nodded without looking down, knowing where she was instinctively, "Wow, what an unusual shape, is the tip flared like that to give a female more pleasure, and it's on the outside of you body, how do you protect it, and are those your seminal sacks? You have two?" she exclaimed, he nodded again.
"It looks so soft, how is a female supposed to be able to insert this into herself I wonder?" she asked, though he didn't know if she was asking him a question or just speculating.
"It becomes erect when aroused and fills with blood, making it harder and bigger," Liam said in a nervous voice, he was actually beginning to feel kinda humiliated here.
"It gets bigger!? How much bigger, please show me, I wish to see it big!" Celia said, and Liam swallowed hard and that little voice in the back of his head told him to do as he was told but another voice in his mind spoke up now, the voice of his pride and it told him to resist.
"No, I believe I have upheld my word to you, Celia, and your honor is restored, now, please, if you do not mind, I would appreciate some privacy to shower," he said, and the big Serpentinus female came up sharply, looking into his eyes from point blank range, he saw a mixture of thought flickering through those bright golden eyes of hers all at once but then like someone flicked a light switch off on her head they cleared and the look was replaced by one of surprise and horror.
"I-I apologise, Liam, it...it was not my intention to make you feel uncomfortable in your own skin, I-I simply wished to admire you and you have indeed honored your agreement to me and in fact, now I find that I am the one who has sullied you honor, you got but a glimpse of me and here I am utterly scrutinizing you, I was captivated by your alien and masculine beauty, you gave me a gift of your word and I abused it, I must make this right," she said, and before Liam could say another word Celia's clothes had joined his in the pile and she was as naked as he was.
Liam's brain utterly froze like someone had hit the fucking pause button, none of the commands that were being expected by his mouth and his muscles were received, in fact, the only part of him that seemed to still work were his eyes, which roamed over the incredible mosaic of interlocking scales which flexed and shifted, revealing the taught muscles under them, her large, soft looking breasts swayed and shifted with her every sway and movement, her hips shifted and highlighted the indented triangle that held the soft looking scaly lips of her alien womanhood which glinted and glistened as the light hit it, wait a second, was she wet?
Another part of his anatomy went into auto pilot and diverted some of his blood supply and no sooner had the last of her clothing hit the floor than she noticed it and her eyes went wide, "You were not exaggerating! That thing is incredible!" she exclaimed, looking right at his manhood and Liam felt a flush of both pride and also embarrassement.
"I, errr, umm, thank you, I guess," he said, and Celia chuckled softly.
"Humans are a strange bunch, you feel embarrassment of something in which you should feel pride, your pack would be forever smiling here, though you may be a little sleep deprived at times," she said in a husky voice, and suddenly she struck forwards and gripped his hands at the wrists, preventing their target of covering himself up again.
"Humans are not used to nakedness around others, especially strangers, it is frowned upon in our culture, it is supposed to be something kept for our beloved ones," he said.
Celia noticed his discomfort and the diplomat in her kicked in, "Well then, given you are not on a human world I should show you the Serpentinus way of doing things, believe it or not, we too are not comfortable with nakedness outside of our pack, for they are our sisters and we are equal in all things, my sisters are a part of me as I am of them, only they are aloud to see me as I am now and so would our pack male when he is claimed into our pack, but pack mates do all things together, come, I will show you, you were kind enough to give me a look into the lives of your people, now I will do the same, you will be our honorary pack mate and not just our guest," Celia said, still holding his wrists with a grip like iron, though not painful.
Then before Liam could protest or argue he was pulled into the shower side and the door closed behind them, Celia instantly coiled herself around him and this time her coils did touch him, "Pack mates often shower in twos, it helps us to maintain proper hygiene as some parts of our bodies are hard to reach and clean, so we help each other," she said, and before he could say a word she flicked the button to start the water.
It was like being inside a rain storm, a fucking ice cold rain storm, ice cold water dropped on them from the multitude of shower heads, Celia squealed loudly and her coils tightened around Liam, pinning his arms to his sides as the glass smooth scales of her large coils tightened against his flesh, he could feel her body leaching heat from him, "Sorry, I forgot about that, it'll warm up in a moment," she said, laughing as cold water cascaded down over them both.
Liam was about to protest and to ask her to let go until what his eyes saw short circuited his brain and made his manhood throb, it also made his body produce even more heat which her body was actively seeking, the water was cascading down the valley of her breasts, making them shine and look like fresh mountain streams which just begged to be drunk from, his brain was just creating images of scenarios in which he placed his face between those insanely soft looking scaly mounds and drank deep.
But then just as she promised the water warmed up and she loosened her grip, "Sorry, I hope that wasn't too uncomfortable for you, our cold blooded nature means we seek out heat where we can get it and you are just so incredibly warm, it's like having a beautiful walking talking heater, especially when you're embarrassed, it makes all that deliciously hot blood of yours rush to your skin," she said kind of playfully with a flick of her tongue which scattered water drops that hit it.
That actually made Liam laugh, "Never been described as a space heater before," he said, and Celia smiled at him.
"Thats because you've never had a cold blooded woman to appreciate it before, but trust me, when my kind figure out that your kind are not only beautiful but warm too I can imagine humans are going to become very popular among maleless packs, exotic, delicate looking, small and cute, pretty to look at with colorful plumage to feast the eyes on, but then hot blooded and able to warm them through cold nights, oh, yes, I get the feeling humans are going to be very popular," she said with a sly smile that made Liam tingle all over, was she actively trying to seduce him?
Celia capitalised on the silence to grab a long looking shower scrub, it looked sort of like a loofa like he used himself back at home, only rougher in its contraction, obviously being designed for scale and not skin, "Here, I'm not sure if this will work properly on you but don't worry, I will be gentle with you," she said in a very soft, husky voice before she turned him around in her coils and using a sweet smelling soap on both the loofa and her hands.
She was using just her tail and her coils to keep him in place and Liam was aware that he could have escaped her any time he wanted, with his Dream Warrior strength on hand he could have simply walked out of there, but he didn't, his mind was so utterly frizzed he just let her place her large hands onto his back and begin to rub him with both her hands and the loofa which scratched his skin gently.
"It's not too rough, is it?" she asked right in his ear, her tongue flickering and tickling his ear lobe.
"No, it's fine," he breathed softly, feeling his heartbeat reverberating through his ribs and against the densely packed muscle of her tail, she ran the loofa and her hands all over the muscle of his back.
He felt the stress and tenseness washing out of his muscles as she worked her way down his back and onto his buttocks, "So smooth and so soft, and this delightful plumage, how is a female supposed to resist these delights you tease us with?" Celia whispered softly.
"I'm not trying to tease anyone, I'm just existing," Liam laughed softly.
"I know, and it boggles my mind that there were creatures as generous and strong, not to mention beautiful, just lurking around the corner in space from us and we never knew," she said.
She finished up washing his entire back before turning him around and Liam's heart began to beat even faster as she reached up to his head and began to rub the sweet soap into his hair, "So soft," she murmured as Liam's mind began to fog up again.
The cascading water managed to wash the soap out as fast as she could put it in, leaving his hair flat against his skin, she rubbed the soap over his face and he closed his eyes, not seeing the smile she gave him as he opted to trust her, she tilted his head back to allow the hot water to cascade down over his face, taking the soap with it, next up was his chest and he could feel her fingers lightly coiling and twirling his chest hair, being extra careful not to pull any out.
"It's like touching hot silk," Celia whispered huskily, and she continued down his belly, loosening coils as she needed and tightening others to keep him in place as she worked, when she had done his legs she had reached around him to do his fronts as well so now all that was left was his pelvis and his manhood.
Her hands danced around it, deliberately not touching it, she moved her upper half around him to look directly into his eyes, that's when he understood, she was seeking his permission to touch this treasure of his, although she had thoroughly explored the rest of his body she understood the sacred nature of this part of him, to touch it without his permission would be to assault him and he could see it in her eyes that she understood this, without saying a word he met her eyes and nodded and a smile crossed her face.
Her large hand encircled his manhood and it felt like it was encased in soft glass, the smoothness of her scales was utterly wonderful and the feel of her coolness sapping heat away from it before it spreading throughout her hand was so incredibly alien to him, "So warm, so incredibly hot," she murmured softly as her hand stroked slowly up and down his length, she gently squeezed it, testing the hardness of his muscles, again she refrained from using the loofa on this delicate part of him, her other hand slipped under his balls and gently rolled them, sending tingles and electric pleasure up his spine, making his hips buck and push him deeper into her hand.
"Human bodies are so honest," she whispered in his ear, making him gasp as his mind was flooded with fog that felt like warm clouds in his head, "Now it's your turn," she whispered, and with that she let go and his eyes snapped open, had she just been teasing him?
She handed him the loofa and the soap and then rotated her coils to face away from him, Liam felt like he was in a trance as he took them and began to slowly rub the soap into a lather before placing the loofa against her scale and began to rub, it felt like he was rubbing cool, polished glass, he felt her steel like muscles twisting, shifting and flexing as he began his journey from the top of her smooth head down her back.
He found himself surprised that she actually did seem to have buttocks and they were like two glorious globes of smooth heaven and she murred softly as his hand rubbed them, parting them slightly and to his surprise he found an anus in there winking at him.
He managed to tear his eyes away from it and continued down her long tail and she spun on the spot, making sure he got all sides as he moved, before as he came back up he found himself facing her front, now he saw her beautiful golden eyes watching him closely and more than a little hungrily as he washed her pretty face, her tongue flickering out and catching his face a couple of times, he actually found himself tempted to try and catch it with his mouth, he washed down her chest and her found himself looking at her breasts.
She nodded in the same way he did, silently giving permission as his hands lifted each of the surprisingly heavy orbs of scaled flesh and began scrubbing them, as he watched her huge nipples began to extend out from between their scaly prisons his fingers very gently touched the soft, cool, fleshy nubs and Celia's eyes closed and a beautiful expression crossed her face.
"Soooo warm," she gasped, and suddenly Liam realized that now the shoe was on the other foot so to speak, now he had the power to tease her a little like she'd teased him, so he played a little more, obviously sending little sparks of pleasure through her before he released her and began washing again, starting on her stomach.
Her eyes snapped open and she looked at him with a sharp look of disappointment and surprise, he just smiled at her sweetly as he worked his way down her belly towards her pelvis and her most sacred treasure, she squeezed him tighter in her coils as his fingers inched ever closer and closer and again their eyes locked and again she nodded her consent.
Liam could feel it, her want, her need, it was powerful and it was bleeding through into his mind as his Dream Warrior abilities began to light up all on their own, it was like those coils of hers were not only winding around his flesh but his soul, he also knew that she could feel his too because he could feel echoes of it bouncing between them, he'd never experienced anything like this in his life, was this love?
Suddenly his fingers found something incredibly soft and silky and Celia's eyes closed again and that expression of bliss returned to her face, he had never touched a woman like this in his life and here he was, having his first sexual experience light years away from his home in the shower of an alien with an alien girl.
His finger lightly tickled and brushed along the outer surface of her scales before lightly slipping between them and he felt the tremors passing through her, "So warm, so warm, so nice," she gasped softly, he very lightly moved them a little deeper between those scale covered silken lips and she gasped in pleasure.
That's when there was a loud knock at the door which startled them both, making Liam yank his hand back and Celia tighten her coils, trapping him again, "Celia, Liam, food is ready, come on," Sev's voice called.
"O-O-Ok, we're coming!" Celia called back, and then she locked her eyes on Liam's and he smiled.
"Saved by the bell again," he said, and with that she shut off the water and released him from her coils.
The pair dried each other off before Liam put his inner suit back on and was about to put his armor on when Celia stopped him, "You won't need it to sleep, leave it off," she said, and Liam nodded.
The pair emerged from the bathroom and found the lounge empty, the others were in the kitchen and Celia told Liam to wait here while she went to help her sisters in bringing in the food, Liam nodded and retook his seat on the cushion, his mind was whirling at what had just happened between him and the ambassador, he could hear hushed voices from the kitchen, there seemed to be a hurried exchange going on between the girls, they were probably gilling Celia about why she'd been in the shower with him, maybe they were angry with her, he hoped that he hadn't caused some kind of diplomatic incident here and he silently cursed himself for not resisting her.
He had to push this fog from his mind, he had to clear it and recenter himself, so, while they were discussing things he began to push his mind back into focus, began the breathing exercises that Jack had taught him, he let his power flow through him until it filled his every breath with light, his body became as light as the very air he breathed and he didn't hear them reenter until heard Leba's exclamation right next to him.
"He's floating!" she exclaimed, and when Liam opened his eyes she saw her right next to him, swaying her hooded head back and forth, examining him, still holding a tray laden with dishes, her bright eyes were rapidly darting everywhere, suddenly her other sisters appeared and they all did the very same.
"Incredible! Simply incredible!" Sev said, running her hand through the gap between him and the cushion, Liam lowered himself back down, exhaling and allowing his power to reign back in.
"Sorry, it's Seeker focusing technique designed to give us mental clarity and focus," Liam said, giving her a soft smile.
"What else can you do?" Leba asked, and Liam laughed.
"Now it's not much fun if I give away all my secrets now is it?" he said kinda playfully, and Leba looked a little surprised and then her face broke into a wide smile as she realized he was just teasing her, flicking her tongue at him as she did.
Leba and Sev grabbed the seats next to him, annoying Celia again as she sat opposite him, this time being defeated by the need of the table to place the food on, the food looked absolutely delicious and smelled wonderful, there were a huge assortment of dishes and back home this would have fed half a hive of Xenos, these girls had one serious appetite, they all ate and they talked as they ate, they were barraging him with questions about his homeworld and what it was like to be a Dream Warrior as they ate and suddenly Liam had a tremendous idea, something he'd been taught early on as a Dream Warrior but had never had chance to use.
"You want to know about me, about my life, you know, it'd be easier to show you than tell you," Liam said, and all of them looked at him curiously.
"Join hands," he said, and they looked at one another curiously and unsurely.
"Trust me," he said softly, and they did so, forming a circle, Liam focused his mind and he pressed his hands to Celia's face, "See it now, see me," he said softly, and with that he pushed his entire mind into theirs and took all of their memories in exchange.
All of them sat there in stunned silence, staring into space as memories, not their own, flooded their minds, it was raw, unfiltered and powerful, it was one of the Dream Warriors most powerful tools when misunderstanding and suspicion threatened to rear their heads, their were no lies in the memory transfer.
"I-I-It's beautiful, is this your homeworld?" Leba exclaimed, seeing something that he was not privy to as it was happening inside her head.
"Yes, and that place with all the trees and plants is the Seeker temple," Liam said proudly.
"This is incredible," Veme said, and Liam was silent as now he was processing all of their memories, his mind was unraveling the four twisted, knotted threads that were their minds, he saw Leba's struggles with depression, he saw Sev's self consciousness and nervousness, he saw Veme's battle with crippling shyness and he saw Celia's anxiety, but he also saw their pride in one another, the closeness of their bond and it warmed his heart.
He turned to Sev first, "You don't need to be self conscious, Sev, you are a beautiful, young woman, your pack is proud of you," he said, surprising her, then he turned to Leba.
"Your success is more than enough to make your pack proud of you and to be associated with you," he said.
He turned to Veme whose wide eyes were tracking him, he reached out and placed a hand on her cheek, feeling it rob some of his heat away, "You don't need to be shy, Veme, take it from an alien male who's never met your species before, you are a beautiful member of it, be proud of yourself and your pack loves you very much," he said, and finally he turned his attention to Celia.
"No, I don't regret it and you didn't go to far, I'm a Seeker, Celia, if I wanted out not a single one of you would be able to see me, let alone catch me, I'm happy to be here with you," he said softly.
The four girls were utterly stunned to silence, then the three of them looked at Celia, "You were right, I agree, I'm in," Leba said, her hood flaring and she looked embarrassed.
"Yeah, I agree, I'm in," Sev said.
"M-Me too, I want this," Veme said, and Celia suddenly looked like she had won the lottery and suddenly the four of them were looking at him and all of them were wearing the same hungry expression.
"Umm, guys?" Liam said, and that's when the memories he had stored finished unraveling in his mind and he saw what they'd discussed in the kitchen and he felt his skin turn into molten lava.
"Oh," he said as the realisation hit him like a slap.
"Wash up tomorrow?" Leba said quickly, and the other three nodded and the four of them moved like lightning, lifting him from his pillow.
"Whoa! Hey!" he exclaimed as they hoisted him into the air between them and slithered at full speed towards what turned out to be their bedroom.