Sooo…update. Spelling error in previous chapter…FIXED! I really hate spelling errors, especially my own. Please continue with the luuurve and support; it is better than toast! And that is saying something.

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Christopher rolled over restlessly on his king-sized mattress, his legs shuffling and kicking at the blankets. He couldn't sleep. It wasn't that the bed wasn't comfortable; it was the comfiest thing he'd slept on in twenty-two years. It was just the agitated state of his mind keeping him up. The prospect of going home, which he'd thought he'd buried, had reared up and filled his thoughts. To walk on the soil of his planet, among the colossal forests of his home…for Oliver to finally see his world, in its entire seven-mooned glory. And yet…his joy was tinged with grief, a nagging shadow at the edge of his mind. They would leave Earth, and the district, and Wikus…

He cringed, his antennae flattening against his head and his eyes closing tightly for an instant.

Wikus will be fine. Once our kind leave this planet, he will be safe. MNU will have no reason to continue hunting him. He will be free to return to his mate. He can be happy. He can forget… Christopher's hands curled involuntarily at the memories of the human as they flew through his mind's eye: their first unpleasant encounter, the surprise break-in, storming the lab, the slow, unwilling building of understanding, sympathy and even trust, the one night-

Put it from your mind, he told himself angrily. There's no point in dwelling on it. He's clearly moved on. So move on.

He sighed heavily and rolled over again, lying on his right side. He lay in contemplative silence for several minutes, trying to will himself to sleep. His eyelids had just begun to droop when his door creaked open. He looked up, expecting to find that his son had come to crawl in with him, and was instead greeted by the sight of Wikus, silhouetted in his doorway. The human stood completely still for a moment, his arms hanging by his sides and his face an obscurity of shadows. He took a step into the room and shut the door behind him.

Christopher tilted his head and let out an inquisitive click. "Is something wrong?"

Wikus didn't answer but made a soft noise in the back of his throat and took another step. His face came into view, his eyes wide and intently focused on Chris, his mouth a dark slash. Christopher was becoming worried.

"Wikus? What is it? Are you in pain? What's happened?"

The human swallowed and glanced down, his stare skittering over the alien's form, sprawled on the bed, legs tangled in the sheets. "I, uh…" his voice was raspy. He ran his tongue across his lips, shuffling forward another few feet until he'd reached the edge of the mattress. "Chris, I--god," he looked down, raking a hand through his hair. "Fook." He took a deep breath and his gaze flicked back up to the prawn's face. He saw Christopher shift uneasily, disconcerted by the sharp gleam in the former MNU worker's eyes.

Pre-dawn light lined the bedding in silver as Wikus knelt on it, his hands brushing down Christopher's legs with ghost-soft touches. Chris shivered.

"W-Wikus?"

The prawn's questioning clicks were cut short when the human slid forward and lay down in one fluid motion, pressing their forms together as he buried his face in Christopher's chest. The alien paused and tilted his head once more in confusion. His logical brain began to postulate that Wikus was doubtless just relieved to finally be free of the district, or that maybe this was some strange human ritual of farewell. The illogical, emotional part of him knew that something was wrong. He started to sit up fully, to ask what was going on, but again Wikus' actions halted him. The human's hot breath whispered against the hard plates of the creature's abdomen and his tongue swiped into one of the sensitive crevices between them. Chris arched reflexively, a shocked rattling sound flying out of him. Wikus moaned in reply and ground his pelvis against the prawn's.

Christopher sat up sharply, pushing Wikus away in spite of the hot curl of electricity that wound around his belly. "What are you doing?"

"I thought it was pretty obvious," Wikus rasped, slightly miffed.

"Have you gone mad?" Despite his harsh tone, Chris' eyes were pulled back to the human's form, and he shuddered once again. Wikus took this as a good sign, and he ran the fingertips of his left hand down the alien's narrow stomach. Chris shook himself and grabbed Wikus' hand, maybe a little too hard, halting it before it reached the ochre cloth that covered his hips. "Wikus!"

"What?" The human's voice was petulant, like that of a reprimanded child.

"Why are you doing this? Your mate is three rooms away! Why do you not go to her?" There was anger, confusion, and- was it? –jealousy in the prawn's clicks. The corners of his ember-bright eyes tightened.

"My- Chris, Tania's not- we're not together anymore. We're not in love." Wikus couldn't deny that it had hurt, knowing that she'd done all right without him, but to his surprise it hadn't hurt as much as it probably should have. He'd been all right, too, even if he hadn't realized it.

"I will ask again. Why are you doing this?" The extraterrestrial's tone had a dangerous edge to it, his gaze harsh and scrutinizing.

"I-" Wikus fumbled for words to explain himself, to explain to Chris the terrible emptiness he had to fill—"I just- I need…please, Chris, I need to…"

So that's what it is, Christopher realized grimly, disappointment clanging hollowly inside him. His wife rejected him, so he went, in his desperation, to the only other body available. He must know how easily he can manipulate me, how hard it is to say 'no' to him…The Poleepkwa cursed his emotions; the urge to reach out and welcome the human into his bed was almost overwhelming.

"So," the alien's voice was like a distant drumroll. "I am a replacement; something to prove to your wife that you no longer need her."

Wikus looked genuinely shocked, and Christopher felt his insides wrench with guilt and resentment. The ex-MNU operative shook his head. "It's not like that, Chris, I sw-"

"I do not want to be a release of tension or built-up frustration like-" his voice faltered briefly, then continued sternly. "-like…the other time. A one-night stand, you call it. A quick, easy fuck."

"For fook's sake, Christopher, it's not like that at all-!"

Chris let out the equivalent of a bitter laugh.

"Don't try to convince me that you're doing this for me, either. Using my desires against me could hardly be called doing me a favor."

"I'm doing this because…" Wikus' mind was racing with too many emotions to recognize the meaning behind Chris' words. He swallowed again and persisted. "I'm doing this 'cause I'm- selfish, and, and greedy and scared and I-I don't want you to leave me. Please, Chris, don't leave me. I can't-" his voice cracked and he dropped his head, shaggy hair obscuring his eyes. "I can't…lose you. D'you have any fooking idea what you d-" he choked, biting his lip. Dammit all, he just couldn't bring himself to say what needed to be said. Don't fucking cry, not again.

Christopher's resolve broke down, as it always did when he and Wikus argued. Somehow, he just couldn't stay mad at the human. He sighed despairingly and reached out a cautious hand to brush back the loose hair from Wikus' face.

"I…thought you would be happy."

"Happy." Wikus said the word blankly, as if it didn't make sense. "Why the fook would I be happy?"

Christopher's antennae flicked in consternation. "Because you are free of the district, soon to be free of MNU, reunited with those you care for. You should be happy. How many times have you spoken of returning to your former life, once we'd left your planet? I would think you'd be more pleased than I, not moping about and tormenting me!"

The former field operative sniffed and wiped a palm across one eye. "I-I'm not trying to fooking torment you, I just wanted to-to…" To try desperately to seduce you into staying here with me, 'cause I'm too pathetic and gutless to just fucking tell you—I don't want you to see how weak I really am. I don't want to beg. He glanced up miserably, at a loss. "I wasn't trying to hurt you." He knew it wasn't entirely true, and he winced uncomfortably when he saw Chris' eyes soften.

The alien gently ran a hand down Wikus' back, as he had done when the crippling pain of the transformation had made the human sob and scream in helpless agony, and the only comfort available had been the warm touches of a creature that had every reason to hate him. Filled with self-loathing and persistent, residual lust, Wikus curved his spine, arching into the contact. He felt Christopher pause, felt the tension creep back into the prawn's arm. He leaned up urgently and crushed his mouth against Chris' undulating tentacles. He wasn't sure what, exactly, he was trying to prove at this point, but the labrum slid tentatively against his bottom lip, and the powerful being trembled against him, and he stopped caring. He opened his mouth and stroked the tendril with his blunt human tongue. Chris made that lonely, hoarse sound that Wikus had only ever heard from him. The human moaned, his breath catching as a second tendril joined the first, twining in and out, tracing the roof of his mouth.

They broke apart, but remained lying in the same position. Christopher's gaze was drawn to the human's wetly shining lips, slick with spit and the oily, slippery chemical that coated the prawn's mouthparts. Wikus let out a shaky breath, trying not to imagine how those mouthparts had felt on his body, the restrained, feathery touches down his torso that first hurried time. He had to say something, had to break the silence yet again.

"Um."

"We…should discuss this later," the alien clicked quietly before the human could speak. "Once we have both gotten some rest."

"Yeah. That sounds- yeah. Right. Okay." Wikus started to roll away, prepared to stumble back to his room, but they both realized that Chris still had a hand on the former MNU employee's back, holding him in place. "Uhh…"

"Sorry," Christopher pulled his hand away and glanced down, suddenly shy.

Wikus took a breath, released it, and decided to make a gamble. He lay back down, lower body on the mattress, head and shoulders draped across the alien's chest. Christopher only tensed for a moment before relaxing, even putting a hand on the human's spine once more.

"Discuss it later," Wikus agreed sleepily.