Hey, guys, sorry this one took so long again! Thank you so much for your reviews and kind words; they really and truly made me feel better. I'm back on track now, so the next chapter shouldn't take too long!
Wikus sat back in amazement and no small amount of confusion. "His- I- his mate? Chris wanted me to…?"
The Next-Queen nodded. "And you should count yourself as the luckiest being in this universe, human. Christopher is kind, intelligent, and hotter than the surface of this system's sun, even if he doesn't realize it," she said fiercely. "I'll admit to being jealous as hell of you. All that said, of course, it's still your choice. We have the means to revert you to your human form, either way. I considered blackmailing you into staying-" Wikus froze, but she rolled her eyes and continued, "-But Christopher wouldn't stand for it. It should be up to you, he said, and he told me- get this- that I wasn't allowed to threaten you! I said, I'm a fucking monarch, I can threaten people if I want to, but he wouldn't budge." She sighed. "So, there you have it." She glanced up at her guest. "Bit much for you to process?"
Wikus was staring distantly at a spot on the wall.
"So… he…" he looked back at her. "He… um, likes me?"
"What are you, twelve? How many times do I have to say it? He wants you to be his mate! I'd say, yes, he 'likes' you!"
Wikus just looked blank and she sighed again. "Maybe I shouldn't have told you this now. Christopher could be right; maybe you're disgusted and now you never want to see him again, much less save his life, ey?" Her eyes glinted dangerously.
"No!" Wikus snapped defensively. "No, I'm not—I'm not disgusted, I just…" He turned away, absently rubbing his left arm. "I… I just need to go think for a bit. How much time have I got til-?"
The princess glanced at some prawn symbols on the wall that must have been a clock. "…Twenty of your minutes."
"Thanks. I'll just…" he got up and headed for the door, pausing to look back at her. "Thank you, Next-Queen. For, y'know, talking and all."
She held his gaze a moment, then grinned her eerie grin. "Call me Kaz. Next-Queen sounds so dumb. I'll see you later, Wikus."
He managed to nod and exit quietly and without tripping or running into anything, which was surprising to him considering how totally detached and unfocused he felt. He meandered down the long hallway back toward the hospital sector of the huge ship, questions and emotions bouncing around in his head.
He was really gonna ask me to be his fucking mate? Is that like… a big deal with them, like getting married? Or is it more like a casual, roll-in-the-hay sort of thing? Probably the fist one judging by how everybody talked about it. Fuck, word gets around fast here, it seems. So Chris really… he really…
He slowed and came to a halt.
Does he… is he fucking in love with me? How could that even be possible? We only knew each other for, what, two, three-ish days? And most of the time I was yelling at him or we were running from MNU.
Three-ish days of running and yelling was more than enough for you, a voice in the back of his head reminded him. It was true; since Christopher had left, Wikus had been plagued by dreams and sudden, sharp longings. He'd assumed it was just his new prawn hormones playing havoc with his already-muddled brain. But if that were true, wouldn't the dreams have been about pretty much any prawn? Or at least occasionally a different one? But no, every dream had featured Christopher and only Christopher, sometimes simply holding Wikus in his arms comfortingly, sometimes doing things with fingers and mouth that made the human wake up achingly and embarrassingly hard. Every urge and waking fantasy had been triggered by thoughts of the red-and-yellow clad Poleepkwa.
"Fuck." He picked up his pace again, as if he could walk away and leave his thoughts on the floor of the hallway.
/*/*/*/*/
Doctor Gregory was waiting outside the medical room when Wikus arrived. With a curt nod, the red prawn pushed the door open and ushered him inside.
"Ready to go again?"
Wikus nodded and stood over Christopher like he had last time. Unlike last time, however, the other doctors were absent. Only Gregory operated the machine, grunting in annoyance at his crippled leg as he pushed the equipment around. Wikus glanced up.
"Where are the others?"
"Kicked 'em out," the scarlet Poleepkwa fiddled with the electrical spike, locking it into position. "They aren't really necessary for this procedure, and you don't need them distracting you. If this attempt fails, that's it. He'll either crack or sink. So it's now or never, got it?"
Again, the taller prawn nodded, closing his eyes briefly.
"Okay. I'm ready."
That same taser-chainsaw buzz, and Christopher's body convulsed on the table, every limb gone rigid for an instant. He fell back as his eyes opened a second time and the pain ripped though him anew. His cries of agony were doubly cacophonous due to the implanted lungs, and Gregory winced and backed away.
Wikus, on the other hand, lunged forward and pinned Christopher's head between his powerful hands, shouting to be heard above the tortured screams.
"Christopher, it's me, Wikus! You have to listen to me! Look at me! Don't you dare go back under! You're fucking kid needs you, you hear me?!"
The bruised eyes locked on him. The screaming gave way to gasping, choking words. "Oliver?"
"That's right! Oliver needs you to stay awake, okay? I know it hurts; I know it hurts really fucking bad but you've gotta fight it, Chris! You can't leave your kid alone!"
Christopher whimpered and a tremor rocked through him, but he remained focused on Wikus. "I'm sor-"
"Don't fuckin' say it! Don't say you're sorry; you've got nothing to be fucking sorry about! They're gonna be sorry, hear me? I'm gonna fucking find those bastards that did this and fucking kill 'em! But right now I need you to stay with me, okay?! Just stay here with me, understand? I need you!" He shook the prawn roughly and Christopher gasped at the fresh shockwave of pain. He coughed and blood spattered Wikus' cheek, but his gaze stayed clear and attentive, didn't fade and dull like it had before.
"Wikus," he whispered hoarsely. "Wikus- are you… really here?"
For a second he didn't understand, but then it clicked in the ex-human's mind: how many times, after all, had he thought he'd seen Christopher over the three years of separation? How often had he imagined that the prawn had been standing watch over him when he'd felt the pain of his transformation; hoped that Chris would be lying next to him when he woke? It made sense that Christopher, in his nearly-delusional state of perpetual agony, had pictured Wikus at his side, something comforting to cling to. Wikus leaned in and stretched out his smaller arm's to take hold of Christopher's.
"Yes. I'm real."
Chris' bow furrowed as he struggled against the fog of pain. "No… not real. Not Wikus. Wikus is human. You're not Wikus…" His eyelids fluttered dangerously, his clicks once again becoming irregular and panicked.
"Chris, stay awake! It is me! Look, I'm…" Unsure of how to prove who he was to the slipping Poleepkwa, he acted on instinct: he pushed their faces together and brushed Christopher's undamaged antennae with his own, filling the unstable prawn's senses with everything Wikus.
Christopher jerked in the embrace, his breathing ragged, then let out an involuntary, quavering sound. "Wikus, I…" his voice was brittle and raspy. "I can't h-hold- it hurts so much. Please- please, just let me – "
Wikus cut him off, whispering harshly into his friend's bloodied neck as he buried his face there.
"Don't. Don't you give up. You can't do it; I won't let you. You're fucking strong, you hear me, Chris? You're strong and you can hold out for just a few seconds more. You still have a promise to keep, remember? You have to ask me something. You were gonna ask me, and I was gonna say yes, okay? I would've said yes if you'd asked me three years ago. I'll still say yes. But you gotta stick around so you can ask me, alright?"
Christopher gave a shuddering sob, his movements stilling. Wikus pulled away enough to look him in the eye.
"Promise, okay? Promise me you'll stay here; that you won't leave me again."
Christopher's arms came up, shaking, to wrap loosely around the other male's shoulders. "I-I promise. Wikus…"
"Good," the hybrid said firmly, then tilted his head and tangled their mouths in each other, kissing and touching as Christopher rode out the final rending jolts of agony. Finally the battered form sighed quietly and relaxed in Wikus' arms, his breathing lengthening as he faded into sleep.
Dr. Gregory reappeared at Wikus' side and patted the younger Poleepkwa on the back.
"Well done. Sure took you long enough."
"He's okay now?" Wikus looked down at Christopher's worn, dozing face. "He's not gonna… drop out again?"
"He is stable now, yes. Absolutely exhausted, but stable. And now I have to call the other doctors so we can get his physical wounds tended to. You can take a seat if you like."
Wikus nodded, suddenly weak with relief. He sank gratefully into one of the cushions along the wall. It was as if all the furious energy he'd been filled with a moment ago had been drained from him, and within a few minutes he, too, had nodded off.