Looking disappointed, Linn’ar turned back to Paz and said, “Perhaps you can pick one after the feast. It’s about to begin.”
Everybody took their seats. Sitting on my other side was a Maeleon I didn’t recognize. He had purple scales and was slightly smaller than Zat’tor.
“Let us begin, Maeleons and humans!” Zat’tor announced.
The rest of the Maeleons let out that dolphin-trill sound in reply, then began eating.
I blinked. There was no formal toast or speech. Everything felt so casual. After all the dull seminars and useless meetings I’d attended on Earth, it was kind of refreshing. What Zat’tor told us earlier seemed to be true. There was no leader here, at least not in the way we humans were used to. There was no one special Maeleon running the show and giving everyone orders. Everyone was equal.
“Levi, are you all right?” Zat’tor asked. “You haven’t eaten anything.”
“Oh, sorry. I was just distracted.”
I looked at the spread before me. Stone plates and woven baskets were full of oddly shaped, fleshy things.
“What are these?” I asked.
“Fruit, I assume,” Jaeyoung said, examining an oblong magenta thing. He sniffed it, then took an exploratory bite.
“How is it?” Paz urged.
We watched as Jaeyoung swallowed the bite, then paused. “Sweet, with a little tartness,” he finally said. “Pretty good.”
If the smart guy gave it the green light, I wasn’t waiting any longer. I grabbed the same kind of fruit and took a bite.
Holy fuck, it was divine. The explosion of rich sweetness and sour edge made me moan. Maybe it was because I was starving, but fruit never tasted so good. I scarfed the whole thing down.
Zat’tor smiled, showing off his teeth. “Do you like it?” he asked eagerly.
I nodded. “Ugh, it’s so good.”
He handed me another. “More. Eat.”
I sure as hell wasn’t about to refuse. Consuming one of the fruits kick-started my appetite. Good thing there was a veritable buffet in front of me.
I wolfed down the food. Each time I finished one fruit, Zat’tor handed me another. I felt like a prince lazing in a chair, being hand-fed grapes. I was a total glutton, but I didn’t care. Who was I to refuse free food during a feast in my honor?
My anxieties drifted away. As the delicious fruit filled my stomach, I forgot about the crashed ship, the botched mission, and all my other responsibilities. I didn’t realize how high-strung I’d felt until the taut string of tension within me snapped and unravelled.
I felt relaxed. I feltgood.
When was the last time I’d decompressed like this? It had certainly been a while. When I wasn’t doing pilot’s training or dealing with boring administrative duties, I spent my little downtime worrying about the future. About this very mission.
But now that the worst had happened—crash landing on the wrong planet due to my own negligence—it felt like I could finallybreathe.
I leaned into Zat’tor’s strong arm beside me. His presence was like a balm on my soul. He was just so big and comforting and nice. All he wanted to do was make me happy. I couldn’t ask for a better partner than that.
Wait... partner?
We weren’t that close, were we? Although he did keep calling me his ‘filum,’ whatever that was.
My gaze slipped over to Zat’tor. I assumed he’d be partaking in the feast and having a good time, but he was just fondly staring at me.
“Enjoying yourself, Levi?” he asked, smiling.
My mouth was full of fruit, so I nodded. A bit of juice dripped down the corner of my lip. Without missing a beat, Zat’tor whisked it away with his thumb, then I watched his long tongue lick it off.
An aroused shiver rolled down my spine and pooled straight into my balls.
