Draft #180
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***
They decided to test their theory the next day.
Kohgrash looked like he was going to pass out from concentrating so hard. His face was slowly turning red as he glared at the nearest Outkast, who was sneering at him with Turrkn's face.
Rulshkka elbowed him, "Relax, my little Kohgrash. You're going to alert them."
He slumped, dropping his gaze and furrowing his brow rather adorably. The Outkast closest to him was not too happy with his lack of fear, stepping closer and glaring at him with his mother's skin. He feigned fear, forcing himself to bury any fondness he held for Kohgrash at the moment.
"Not my fault it's so fuckin' hard to change fears. How'd you do it again?" Kohgrash hissed the moment they had any sort of privacy.
"I thought about how terrifying it was to almost lose you," Rulshkka admitted in a murmur. Kohgrash pressed against his side.
"So, needs to be real terror to change fears. Got it."
Kohgrash went back to staring at the closest Outkast, eyes squinty and jaw set. Perhaps Rulshkka shouldn't have been surprised when they took the shape of his beloved.
He swore he felt his heart snap in half, and he had to look away from the sight even though a small part of him rejoiced that Kohgrash had finally gotten. To see his mate here, in a place where he's felt nothing but sorrow and fear, only reminded him of what he was missing, of what he had lost.
The presence of grief must have been just as delicious as fear, however, as many more Outkasts came to their little section of the Buffet. He and Kohgrash were unable to talk about their progress until the lights switched out in their room, and they were enveloped in darkness for what seemed to be the hundredth time.
How long had it been since they had been taken, he wondered. He had counted at least sixteen times the lights switched on and off - but were the Outkasts bringing them out to the Buffet multiple times a day? He had asked Kohgrash, once, but he had miserably told him that time-keeping had never been his forte and clammed up shortly after.
Probably something to do with the Ring of Wonders. Everything always did.
Kohgrash spoke first, voice a guilty whisper, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have thought of Thruul."
Rulshkka sighed into the human's fur, closing his eyes and trying to imagine what his mate was doing right now. Was he sleeping? Was he cooking a meal for their hatchling? Did he miss Rulshkka, like he missed him? It was like a knife to the throat, a spear into his heart. There was nothing he wouldn't do to see him again, but he did not want the Thruul that Kohgrash saw.
"At least we know you can do it, too," he said after a few minutes of silence. "I do not know if I can muster up anything else. I cannot think of anything I find scary."
"Jeez, brag it up, tough guy," Kohgrash joked. It made a slow smile curl on his face, at least, so he succeeded in his endeavor. "I wonder... I bet I could make them into something weak, Vok'Rul."
"How can you be afraid of something weak?" he asked, having some difficulty wrapping his mind around the concept. Vokkrus were only afraid of things stronger than them. If you could defeat someone in battle, there was no reason to harbor such terror.
Kohgrash scoffed at him, like he was being ridiculous for asking such a question. At his stubborn silence, the human squinted at him incredulously. "Are you serious? Sheesh, you've never been afraid of like, bugs or something?"
YOU ARE READING
The Autobiography Of An Alien
Science Fiction!! Sequel to In Search of Home. If you haven't read that, you'll be a little confused! !! After the humans invaded - somewhat; it was his fault, really - his planet, they left a gaping hole in his heart. It took the form of one Kohgrash. Rulshkka ha...
