I do not own Chaotic nor anything related to it. It belongs to TCDigital.

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The Birthday in Perim

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Time 14:

It's been two months since that day. In that time, Humanity has been making its presence known throughout the various Mipedian cities, and word has since arrived that Humans are making a foothold in this world among the other three tribes as well.

Racism, or rather "tribism", is a common problem, though it hasn't been as bad as it could have been. We have King Theb-sarr to thank for that, with his proclamation that the members of the Human tribe living within Mipedian borders were protected by the same laws that protect Mipedians. Still hasn't stopped some of the nastier hate crimes perpetrated by both Humans and Mipedians, but progress is being made.

I have a full beard now, or at least its long enough to look like one. Two solid months without shaving are to blame for that. Also, thanks to workout practices forced on me by Sett, my appearance finally fits my job. Gone are the days where people would intentionally cause problems at the dew farm because they believed they could get away with it, though actual fights and slacking off still require much of my attention.

The average Human living in Mipedian borders is now tanned, with respectable muscle mass on a light frame. There are still a few overweight folk, mostly those with unlucky genetics, but Humans are no longer considered the tribe of weaklings. Some humans are even training in the Mipedian military.

We're getting used to the new calendar. A Perim year, called a "solan", is a day or two longer than half of a year back on Earth. With a little bit of math, I discover that the equivalent of my birthday is coming up. This fact does not go unnoticed by my Mipedian friends when I mention it...

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"To your forty-seventh solan!" a chorus of voices resound from my room.

The words wake me up with a start, and I reflexively grab my discarded blanket from beside me and cover myself with it. "Agh! Knock first!" I growl.

"You don't exactly have a door," Maliph's voice notes.

I flip the top edge of my blanket off my face an glare at my visitors. "Then knock the frame!"

There's quite a few Mipedians standing in my house. There's Maliph and Malvadine at the front, both wearing normal clothing rather than their usual guard armor. Sett is standing off to the side, closer to the curtain I have in place of a door. There's also around five others I recognize but don't know very well.

I look around at my uninvited guests. "Why are you all in my house?" I ask in a monotone voice.

"We're here to help you celebrate your forty-seventh," Malvadine grins.

I close my eyes and sigh. Forty-seven solan old, twenty-three and a half years back on Earth. The Mipedian equivalent for the Human age of twenty-one, finally seen as a full adult. "Didn't I tell you guys that forty-two is the age Humans have that celebration at?"

Sett speaks up, "Did you ever have that celebration back on Earth?"

I hesitate a little too long. "That settles that," Maliph says before he reaches down and pulls my blanket off.

"Ack!" I try to scramble for my blanket and cover my groin at the same time. "Get out of here, I need to get dressed!"

Malvadine chuckles, "Two months of sharing a bathhouse room with the rest of us, and now you're having an issue with nudity?"

Maliph snorts. "I think it's his morning wood, actually. Come on, Michael, we all saw it before we woke you up. We know what it looks like."

I blush bright red. The Mipedians all snicker. Ugh. My Mipedian friend can really act like immature teenagers sometimes...

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Sett is giving me a paid vacation today, and he's taking an unpaid holiday himself. Heck, Maliph, Malvadine, and the other five are all valuable time out of their days to spend it with me. Forty-seven solans must be a lot more important to Mipedian culture than I thought.

I drank actual water today! Pure water. Not mixed into or diluting another drink, not as an ingredient in a larger meal. Straight from a sealed jug to a glass, no surprises added, honest-to-goodness water. A cold glass of water has never before been so delicious.

I drink slowly, letting small sips of water sit in my mouth a while before swallowing. Oh man, I love this water. The desert is the only place where receiving water as a birthday gift could be the best thing ever.

"If only people back on Earth could realize how wonderful having water always available really is," I say after finishing the glass. "Holy crap, that was refreshing."

The others sitting around me give me confused looks. "There are Humans who take water for granted?" Maliph asks, setting down his own empty glass.

"There are entire countries that take water for granted," I exclaim, spreading my arms out and accidentally bumping one of Malvadine's spikes. "Sorry about that."

Malvadine waves my apology away. "Not a problem." He gives me a serious look. "How readily available is water back on Earth?"

"At least where you used to live," another Mipedian amends.

I look around to see if anyone is listening before leaning forward. The others lean forward as well. "Well, for one, Humans where I came from washed themselves using water."

"Well, Overworlders do that," someone says.

"Do Overworlders fill a tub this size to bathe in?" I wave my arms around in the rough shape of a bathtub. "Or stand under a nozzle and let the water fall on them?" I add. Then, to emphasize my point, I finish with, "On an almost daily basis?"

The Mipedians stare at me like I just grew a second head and started singing a duet with it. Sett shakes his head. "That's a joke, right?"

I shake my head. "And we have places like this where you can eat out, except getting water from those places is free."

Forget the duet, now everyone's looking like me like an entire choir is sprouting from my shoulders.

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Conversations like the one about how water's used on Earth continued throughout the entire day, interspersed with the various activities I was dragged into. It's incredibly hilarious to see things I see as commonplace be seen as completely foreign to my Mipedian friends.

"No mugic whatsoever?" Malvadine whispers practically in awe. "But, how do you heal soldiers on the field?"

"We don't," I shrug. "They have to be hospitalized."

"Wars must have been very short in your world's history," Malvadine mutters in astonishment.

I bite my lower lip. "Nope. Most last longer than wars do here."

Maliph and Malvadine stare at me with their eyes open very wide. Before either can say anything, Sett announces, "And our last stop of the day!"

It's the bar Sett always goes to. How predictable. "I can't drink-" I begin to say.

Sett points at me. "You claim you can't keep it down? I'll need to see proof before I leave you alone about it."

I groan. Well, it looks like my first drink ever will be at a bar in Perim.

The nine of us sit around one of the bar's larger tables. Sett orders a round of drinks, not the hardest kind like he usually does. The barmaid takes the glasses to our table. Everyone's eyes turn towards me.

I gingerly take a hold of the glass and look in it. It's a bright red liquid, and it's so opaque that the edge of the glass disappears immediately upon touching the drink. I take a deep breath, lift the cup to my lips, and tilt the glass.

It tastes like slightly overripe mangoes. It burns my throat on the way down.

Sett grins. "See? Not as bad as you thought, right?"

I wonder if I can force myself to vomit. No, they'll know I faked it.

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We've been at the bar for half an hour. I... think so, anyway. I'm having to much fun with the fuzzies to be keeping track of the time. There's fuzzies all over my body. "Why are there so many fuzzies?" I ask while I pull at a particularly thick fuzzy.

"That's your chest hair," Maliph snorts.

Oh. I leave the fuzzy alone.

One of the Mipedians points at me. "Look at how red his face is!"

"That is a drunk Human," Malvadine smirks. "Nobody give him any more."

Any more? Any more what? Alcohol? Nonsense, I don't drink. Do I?

I feel a hand on my shoulder, and I turn around. There's a female Mipedian behind me. I can tell because she has breasts. Heh, boobies. Why do the lizard-women have boobs?

"You having a good forty-seventh?" the lizardy-woman says as she puts a hand on my other shoulder and starts rubbing them.

"Yeah," I nod with a wide grin. "I'm having fun."

The woman leans forward and traces a hand down my chest. She's wearing a loose-fitting dress with a low top. "I'm glad," she says softly. "Every boy deserves to have fun the day he becomes a man."

Ooo, this lady is hitting on me. I like it. Another part of my body really likes it.

Lizard-lady look down at the bulge in my Egyptian-skirt-thingy and grins. "I see you're ready for a little excitement." She sits down sideways on my lap and puts an arm around my shoulders. The strap of her dress slides off her other arm, fully revealing her breast. "Maybe I can help you take care of that," she whispers into my ear before licking her lips.

A voice behind me says sharply, "He's not carrying money on him."

Miss Mipedian suddenly looks disinterested. "Ah. Well, I guess I'll see you around." Then she stands up and disappears. Whoa, how did she do that?

Maliph grabs my shoulder. "You don't want to mess around with prostitutes around here, Michael. Especially ones like her."

"Like who?" Who is Maliph talking about? "Was I talking to somebody?"

"Yeah, you've had enough to drink," Maliph sighs as he takes away the glass I'm holding.

"But I don't drink," I say in confusion.

Maliph puts his face in his palm for some reason. At the same time, I can hear Sett's voice coming from the bar. "Remember, my forty-seventh, Rasha?" he says the the red Mipedian behind the counter.

The red lizard Rasha sighs. "I'm Shasta, not Rasha."

Sett doesn't seem to have heard. He climbs over the bar. "That night, it was just me and you in this room, and we made love behind this very counter."

Shasta-not-Rasha steps back. "Did you have more that you were supposed to, Sett? Your pupils are so wide that your eyes look black."

Sett grabs Shasta-not-Rasha's upper arms. "Wasn't that a wonderful night? The two of us embracing each other, you taking me into your body? Remember how we cried out in the empty room as I came with you?"

Oh dear, this sounds incredibly private. I bury my face in my arms. My cheeks feel incredibly hot.

The Mipedian to my left, I think that one is Malvadine, mutters, "Um, Maliph? I think we might have a problem."

Maliph looks over to Sett, as do I. Sett has Shasta-not-Rasha in an open-mouthed kiss. Aw, how sweet. But why does Shasta-not-Rasha look scared instead of happy? Is that the problem?

"That's not good," Maliph says as he slowly stand up. He looks around. "Was anyone counting how many drinks Sett had?"

Shasta-not-Rasha begins struggling. Sett tries to keep him from doing that. They both fall behind the counter. Moments later I hear Shasta-not-Rasha scream.

"Oh s***!" Maliph rushes to the bar, as does Malvadine. Maliph leaps over the bar and disappears for a moment, only to reappear a moment with his arms wrapped around the waist of a thrashing Sett. A thrashing, naked Sett.

Malvadine leaps over the bar and stands between Sett and the far side of the area behind the counter. "Are you okay, Shasta?" he calls out behind him.

"Y-yes," Shasta stammers as he pulls himself to his feet. "He didn't hurt me."

I stare in bewilderment. What's going on?

Maliph grimaces as he tries to keep Sett from thrashing. "I'm so sorry, we were all distracted by Michael's forty-seventh. I should have been keeping an eye on Sett."

Shasta leans on the counter and breathes heavily. "It isn't your fault," he pants, "I've lost track before too. Don't worry, he didn't manage to... you know."

This isn't fun anymore. Shasta looks scared, Sett looks crazy, and everyone in the bar is looking at them.

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Up next: The Tenth Time

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Like I said before, Chaotic belongs to TCDigital.

That turned sour veryquickly.

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