A
Amaryllis
Even from far away, the activity around the city was hard to miss: Today, it was centered on one of the roads leading away from the city. Roughly one hundred of the insectoid I'ee were working out into the daytime heat, carefully coating the road in steaming asphalt before flattening it down with a large, industrial-looking tracked vehicle. It was huge, chugging with fossil fuels, and coloured a vaguely tan-orange colour. At the top, an open-air platform was perched at the front of the vehicle, with two I'ee standing atop it. One was operating the vehicle at a control panel, while the other watched the asphalt being poured, squeaking directions to her sister. The I'ee on the ground were pouring it with buckets, then patting it neatly down with shovels once the vehicle had flattened it.
Off to the sides, in neat intervals, were what appeared to be foremen; wearing black masks with small red faces projected on their surfaces, consulting what looked like plans and giving orders to the other insectoids.
Forever inquisitive when Akemi heard the loud, continued noise outside the city he naturally had to take a look. When the Neko flew over and saw the little insect people working away he quickly headed over to a group of the important looking masked ones to get himself set up to make introductions with them. "Hey there guys, I'm one of Uso's associates. Is there someone in charge here I could speak to that isn't too busy?"
The I'ee he addressed turned to him with a surprised squeak, the mask displaying first a surprised, open-mouthed expression, before turning into a friendly smile. "Oh, hello, Mister!", she squeaked. "You should speak to Sammy. Look for the tallest." She waved an arm towards where three of the masked I'ee were chattering; one taller than the other two, presumably Sammy.
"Thank you very much my adorable instantaneous friend. You are a credit to your people and a brilliant beacon of benevolence in a vast cold and uncaring universe," Akemi casually replied, wanting to mess with the little creature while simultaneously expressing how much he was suddenly overcome with affection for them.
He then sallied on over to Sammy. "Hey there Sammy," The extremely chipper Neko said with a little wave and a big smile. "I'm Koga Akemi, one of Uso's business partners and I'm here to learn about you guys. I hope we get along well."
The Ee'ith female stood awestruck at Akemi's eloquent response, watching him leave before dashing off to one of her sisters, chattering excitedly about how the nice man had praised her work. Sammy, meanwhile, had just finished speaking with the other two Ee'ith when Akemi arrived, turning to watch him approach with a friendly smile displayed on his LED mask. "It's nice to meet you, Mister Akemi!", he replied politely, waving back to the neko. "How can I help you?"
"Well I'm just looking for someone I can casually to talk to so I can learn about your people in general and specifically your needs and wants and how we can help each other." Akemi was awful glad he had a digital brain to allow him such smooth speech.
"Oh, well that's nice of you!", Sammy commented, taking Akemi's hand in his and leading him away from the noisy construction site. Once they were a fair distance away, he let go and turned to face Akemi again. "Well, Mister, I am Sammy, as you know. I am an ambassador from the Ee'ith family, but we speak for the majority of the I'ee.", he explained. "We're here primarily for translating Uso's plans so that our engineers can build efficiently."
"Fantastic. I'm glad I'm already speaking to the ideal person so soon. So, hmm, I'm actually having trouble thinking of what to ask you since this is happening so fast. Mind if I touch your fur while I think?" Akemi's smile suddenly became an extremely poorly suppressed goofy grin.
Sammy tilted his head slightly to one side, though the artificial smile never faltered. "Of course not, Mister.", he said cheerily, stepping closer to Akemi.
Akemi noted the shifting of the head and was amused by the idea that anything could be lurking behind the mask and within the skull of the harmless looking critter. He'd potentially never know what this guy thought of him or what he was dealing with. He could be some insectoid axe murderer and he'd be none the wiser if he could keep up that cheery voice. Then another thought hit the Neko. Maybe they didn't even have the typical expressiveness of humans without the masks. Perhaps this was the best they could do.
As Akemi pondered this he reached forward and gently rubbed Sammy's back to test the texture. "So what do you guys want to do here?"
The I'ee's fur was soft, but stiff, springing back upright if pushed down. He let out a soft squeak as Akemi's hand rubbed his thorax, the abdomen behind deflating slightly. "We're here for weapons. Our older families are concerned that we lack the ability to fight external threats with our existing technology." He made a soft sighing sound. "I don't understand why we can't just be friends with people instead. It would be easier."
Sensing the sensitivity of Sammy's thorax and his apparent enjoyment of contact with it Akemi decided to focus on the area and amp up the intensity of his movements. "Well the Mishhu are basically bred to be awful so there's little reasoning to do with them other than how to kill them. I mean I'll tell you right now I even work with and employ some but ones you can actually negotiate with while being able to have real trust without needing to keep a gun to their head are really rare. I hope that changes one day though."
Sammy continued making soft squeaking sounds, timing them with each stroke of Akemi's hand, his wings twitching if touched. "That's sad... why would they be like that?" he asked, the smile on his mask turning to a frown. "I'm glad we can make friends with you, though."
Akemi absolutely loved how easy it was to make the little I'ee happy so he continued to pet him in an even softer way than before to soothe him and see what kind of technique he liked most. "Well they're artificially created beings that were made to be really aggressive so they can't really help it just like you can't help being so sweet. Anyway, I'm glad we can be buds too. Do you think you guys will make a permanent settlement here?"
The I'ee ambassador stepped a little closer and gave Akemi a hug, pressing his face against the neko, which hid the LED screen on his face. "I'm glad we can be friends too, Mister!", Sammy squeaked, before raising his head to glance around at the desolate landscape. "I don't think we will stay here forever. Once we have doen our work here and Uso has given us what we need, we will move back home."
Akemi instantly returned the hug and swayed back and forth as he deeply embraced the I'ee. "Awww. That sucks. Will at least some of you stay? Wouldn't it be a good idea to keep a presence here and secure a long lasting alliance with Uso?" Seeing Sammy look to his surroundings he wondered if they were the primary issue. "If the land is a problem for you we can always terraform it and make it super green."
Sammy seemed to enjoy the swaying, resting his head back against Akemi's body. "What does terraform mean?", he asked curiously, looking up at the neko with the open-mouthed expression on his mask.
Deciding to take a liberty given how well things were going Akemi slowly turned the giant wasp over so it could rest its back on him while he gained access to its chest for additional experimental rubs. He was somewhat concerned the creature's wings might make the position uncomfortable but he figured it might prefer to be looking in the same direction as him instead of at his chest or over his shoulder. "It means to alter a planet to make it more livable with technology. We could figure out a way to put way more plants and wildlife all over this place. We could also clean all the water. We're thinking of doing that already since the people of this world have very primitive technology compared to where we come from so turning it into a giant resort and tourist attraction is one of the easiest ways to make money."
"Ooh!", Sammy let out a surprised huff as he was turned over, showing a surprised face on his LED mask, then began wiggling a little as Akemi rubbed at his thorax. "I-I see, Mister!" The I'ee seemed to be ticklish around where his legs joined with his thorax, as touching these spots made him squee and buck in Akemi's grasp: He did not object at all to his position, however.
"So would that be enough to get you to stay?" Akemi asked looking down serenely at the I'ee, his delicate touch unceasing.
Sammy looked up at the neko, his mask facing him upside down, tilting his head to one side. "Maybe. I don't know. It's not what's important yet.", the I'ee squeaked.
"Well what's your homeworld like?" Despite having a mask between them it was clear Akemi was staring at his newfound friend with rapt attention. "What do you guys consider an ideal environment?"
"Forests. Trees. Rivers and oceans.", Sammy mused, trying to think of more environments: Truthfully, he could only remember the place where he had spent his youth. "Maybe other things too."
Deciding not to press the cute critter Akemi figured he'd move on to something more fun. "So, since it seems I've sufficiently lulled you into a false sense of security, what do you think of Arccos? I first heard your name when I met her here."
The I'ee squeaked, confused, but didn't question Akemi's words in favour of answering his question. "Miss Arccos? She's my friend!", Sammy squeaked with a smile on his mask. "I like Arccos a lot."
Akemi chuckled lightly. "Oh I bet you sure do. She yelled at me that she'd blow my brains out if I dared to shove my face in her chest like you apparently have."
Sammy let out a whine and displayed a frown. "What? Why did she say that?", he asked, sounding concerned. "You seem nice!"
"It gets better." Akemi's eyes danced with impish glee. "She did that just because I hugged her and told her how good it felt to press myself against her. Can you believe that?"
Again, the little I'ee whined, squirming anxiously in his grasp. "B-but, she likes hugs! M-maybe you were holding her too tight?" he blurted in confusion.
Akemi looked at the little guy quizzically. "Have you ever had your head beaten with a gun and a giant metal rod shot through your leg because you hugged too hard?"
Sammy tilted his head, confused. "No. Why?", he asked, the suggestion completely lost on him.
The Neko kept on going in a grim, gripping voice. "That's what she did to me."
The I'ee let out a positively horrified gasp, which seemed to come from his body rather than the speaker attached to his mandible; sounding breathless and high-pitched. "W-what? Why did she do that?!", he squeaked.
"Because she thought I was trying to be too friendly with her." Each word rained down with the weight of the blows Arccos had delivered to his skull. "You wanna what else she did?" Sammy could probably tell by this point Akemi was going to share regardless of his answer.
"B-but, how? That's impossible!", Sammy squeaked, ignoring Akemi's question.
"Oh no little buddy," Akemi answered as if he was relishing catching some nasty noble that was just about to get away so he could decorate the beach with his brains, "It's more than possible. It happened and it happened to me. She even tried to shoot me in the back of the head. I was only saved because she had used all her bullets beforehand. She said she'd used six to kill six men earlier. And she did it while I was cuddling her."
"Oh, no!", Sammy whimpered, taking a few nervous steps away from Akemi and clutching at his head with distress. "M-maybe she didn't mean to, and it was an accident or something? I-I have to go and speak to her!" The I'ee turned and took off across the sand with surprising swiftness, not waiting for Akemi to try and follow or speak. A few of his siblings watched him scurry along with confusion, before glancing over at Akemi, then going back to their work.
Akemi quickly flew ahead of Sammy and interposed himself between the wasp and what he'd enjoy pretending was certain doom. "Are you really sure she's the type of person you want to see right now in the condition you're in?" he asked, a hand gently resting on each of the insectoid's shoulders. "You're so distraught you might make an innocent little mistake and offend her. Knowing what you know now what do you think'll happen then?"
Sammy skidded to a halt as Akemi intercepted him, buzzing his wings for a moment. "S-sir, please get out of my way," the I'ee spoke in a shakey voice, albeit one filled with purpose; a frown displayed on his mask. "I wanna see Miss Arccos. I can fix this."
"No no, it's okay. You don't need to fix anything." Akemi replied with a soft tone and a gentle touch as he hugged the I'ee again. "Everything I said is basically true but she did those things because I'm a Neko and she's a Spacer and they often hate us and Yamatai."
"Wah? Why?", he asked, sounding hopelessly confused. "Why didn't you tell me that earlier?"
Akemi gave the giant wasp's back another gentle rubbing. "I'm sorry, I just had to have fun seeing how you'd react. This just shows if she's really nice to you you might have a very special relationship with her that few have and you should really cherish it and be careful not to accidentally test it too much."
The I'ee remained tense. "Why would you have fun by upsetting me?" he asked, sounding confused, but also a little annoyed. "I know Arccos likes me because we're friends."
"Because everything you do is really cute and I like trying to harmlessly fool around with people," Akemi answered a little sheepishly while still smiling. "I hope you aren't super mad." The Neko had a feeling he might be getting super mad.
Sammy shifted from one foot to the other, letting out a stifled, disgruntled snorting sound. "But that's... that's really mean!", he spluttered, a grumpy frown projected on his mask. "Please don't do that, Mister! I might have made a mistake!" Despite his innocent, little outburst, Sammy seemed to be conveniently overlooking that Akemi's recount was truthful in favour of his friendship with Arccos.
"Well again I'm sorry. I just wanted to mess with you for a bit while also teaching you something. Arccos might not always be alright with you hugging her if you do it really often. I have a feeling she won't let just anyone embrace her, especially if they try to put their face in her chest." Akemi rested his hands on his hips. "And isn't it mean that she hurt me so much and tried to kill me or at least made it seem like she might have just because I'm a Neko?"
"Oh, ok... Well, that's alright, I suppose...", Sammy murmured, stepping closer and giving Akemi a little hug of forgiveness. "Do you think that means she really likes me, Mister?" Sammy looked up at him with a smile on his mask, again seeming to ignore the conflict between Arccos and Akemi rather conveniently.
Akemi quickly returned the hug. "She might or she might feel a need to be really patient and nice to you because you guys seem pretty instinctual and childlike and unlikely to ever want to intentionally offend. Could be both. I don't want to sound insulting and make it seem like I'm saying you're simpleminded but that's the feel you give off. It's a good feeling. I'm just telling you to really appreciate what you have so you don't lose it because I'd kill for that kind of intimacy with her."
For a moment, the space wasp didn't say anything, hugging up against Akemi in silence. "Maybe I can make her less angry with you? Why does she not like you?" Sammy finally offered.
"Well Yamatai attacked her people and killed a lot of them because it felt threatened by them," Akemi replied, wanting to keep things brief. "It can be pretty quick to attack regardless of whether or not it's facing a serious threat. People say it even looks for them where there are none on purpose. The main thing is I didn't take part in the attack on them and I've left Yamatai and I only want to be her friend."
"O-oh... I see...", Sammy sounded shaken by the thought of Yamatai killing without reason, tapping a claw nervously on his left mandible. "I-I wanna talk to her, Mister. I can make her trust you, I promise!"
Akemi decided to try lightly touching one of the wasp's feelers. "I'd really appreciate that but don't try too hard and only try if you really want to because I don't want you to get on her bad side. What I'd really like is for you to know she might be really hurting on the inside whether she'll admit it or not so I hope you'll be sensitive to her, take note of her boundaries and use your unique position to cheer her up and maybe get her to open up to new people and things."
"Hmm... ok, Mister," Sammy said quietly, his head tilting slightly towards Akemi's hand when it touched his antenna, which responded by reaching forward and rubbing its tip over his skin. "I'll try to do that."
Akemi smiled, thoroughly pleased. Sammy was simply so wonderfully easy to talk to. "Awesome. So since I put you through all that stress and we talked about something sad why don't we talk about something happy now. What's her chest like?" The Neko wished there was a Junker somewhere spying on them so Arccos could hear him and frown in disapproval and disgust.
The I'ee squeaked inquisitively, tilting his head. "Her chest? What do you mean?", he asked, evidently not thinking much of Arccos' chest besides it simply existing.
"Y'know, her breasts. The stuff she's got up here." Akemi cupped an invisible pair where his would be if he still had them. "She said you shoved your head in them."
"Oh, is that what those are?", Sammy paused, looking nervous. "Did she not like me doing that? I didn't mean any harm... they're just soft and warm..."
"Well maybe she does like you doing that. You being so innocent and cute looking might trigger a motherly instinct in her," Akemi suggested, always wanting to present a balanced view when he was serious about something. "She might also just like the intimacy, the closeness." The man really hoped the I'ee understood concepts like cuteness and intimacy and the words he used to refer to them. "She probably doesn't think you mean anything bad by it. Generally though women get offended when you touch their breasts even if you know them well unless they give you permission." As he spoke he began to tenderly caress both antennae.
"Oooh, I see.", Sammy said, letting out soft squeaking sounds as Akemi caressed his antennae. "I'll have to be more careful with them, then..."
"Is there any place you don't like being rubbed?" The silly guy couldn't resist asking even if it might lead to an answer that'd make Sammy feel awkward. Maybe there was no place on their body they minded talking about.
"Um...", Sammy paused to think. "My mouth, maybe? You might cut yourself by accident if you touched that."
"So have you ever tried hugging her butt?" Akemi was thrilled to know Arccos was actually pleasantly soft like an organic woman. Hopefully her middling mammaries didn't contain rocket fuel.
"Her... butt? No. Why?" Sammy asked, innocent as ever.
Akemi smirked deviously. "Because it's probably really soft and warm if her chest is and it's naturally much easier to hug right?"
Sammy considered this for a moment. "Hmm, I suppose so. But what if she doesn't want me to touch it?"
"Well it's probably worth trying," Akemi answered, gears clearly turning as he spoke. "Y'know, at least once without her asking so you get to feel it before she can tell you not to and blame you for doing so. She might say no if you asked her first but have no problem with it if you do it first and she finds she has a chance to see for herself how it feels. Some people say no to things they'd probably enjoy without ever trying them after all."
The I'ee listened carefully to his words, finding the winding suggestion to be hard to follow. "Uh... I think I'd prefer not to, Mister. I don't want to upset her by accident," he finally said, preferring to be safe.
"You are such a good little guy. I'd love to give it a grab. I certainly would if I were you." Mildly disappointed the little elfin eared imp moved on to a related itch he'd wanted to scratch. "So, I gotta ask since you're so carefree about being touched, do you guys have a sex drive, like an urge to mate whenever you see a good match?"
Sammy squeaked in response to the compliment, before listening intently to the next question. "Hm. I'm not quite sure what you mean, sir. I don't believe so.", he answered. "At least, I can't remember ever having one."
"Well I'm an artificial being and she might be mostly synthetic but man the things I'd like to do to her," Akemi said before turning to look around for a nice place to sit. "I just love tall women. There's so much to hug."
The I'ee tottered after him and lowered himself down onto all six legs to sit in front of him, looking up at him. "She is very tall," Sammy agreed. "She's taller than anyone else I've met. And I do like hugging her!"
"So how comfortable are you standing?" Akemi asked as he laid down on his side. "What posture do you prefer when you're relaxing?"
"I'm alright with standing up like you do. It's easy to get used to. But I like to lie down somewhere soft to rest," Sammy answered, crawling over to Akemi and poking playfully at his face using his antennae.
Akemi giggled like the little girl he used to be as the giant wasp tickled him. "Maaan, fuck those Mishhu wanting to bully you guys. You are just so sweet. I totally see why Uso wants to wipe them out for you. You're probably the greatest latent threat to the universe because of how charming you are."
Sammy squeaked in response to Akemi's giggle, tickling with his antennae some more before relenting and letting out a snorting chuckle of his own. "Thank you, Mister. I think you're nice too!" he replied, a happy smile displayed on his mask.
"Do you guys need anything while you're here like food? There are thousands of hungry lizard people that only want to eat meat constantly digging holes. What's your situation like? Are you comfortable?" Akemi felt like he might never get anything done when he could just laze around all day chatting with the insectoid. How was he ever going to woo Arccos when this guy already had her and was killing his drive to actually do something to get anywhere near the level of closeness he had achieved? He was starting to feel pretty defeated and thoroughly cucked. Here he was simply prepping the yellow black bull, making him feel like a million bucks before he had another go at the Spacer's bosom.
"We've got enough food to last our expedition several years. A little longer even. We lost a few of our engineers when the palace was attacked.", Sammy said, giving Akemi another nuzzle with his antennae. "Don't worry about us, Mister."
"Is there nothing we can do for you?" Akemi asked, feeling awful disappointed he couldn't please his alpha wasp master. "I asked about food since I run a big restaurant and brothel type business and I'm looking to run food supplies. What's your fave type of food?" A light bulb suddenly turned on in the Neko's head. "Ohhh! I know what to ask. I could totally employ you guys so you could earn money giving people hugs for therapy. I bet people would pay just to pet you. And on top of that your kind would get to meet tons of people and eventually exotic aliens who might feel super good to be in contact with. How does that sound?"
Sammy listened with a tilted head. "I like juices.", he offered. "Sweet things taste nice." The I'ee then listened to Akemi's offer with curiousity. "Hm, that sounds like it could be nice. I know a lot of my siblings would like to do that."
"Awesome! I love how accepting of things you guys are. I personally think getting pet for pay sounds great but a lot of people would be worried about being objectified." Akemi rolled onto his stomach and reached out to rub a leg, wondering if even they were okay to touch since dogs and cats often didn't like their paws being felt much. "Oh, and another thought just came to me. If you'd like to help me with Arccos you don't even necessarily need to say anything much. Just having you by my side if I go looking to talk to her could save me from getting beat up or shot or at least stop me from getting killed if you stand by me and say I'm your friend."
Sammy lowered his head to watch Akemi touch his forelimb, moving it to grasp at the neko's hand in response. "I'd be glad to make you two friends with each other.", he replied with a squeak.
"You're a really great guy Sammy. I'm super happy even if you guys eventually leave you'll still be here for a while. I'll be sure to make the most of it." Akemi intended to have plenty of fun for as long he could with the little guys and would be sure to stay in touch whenever they did depart.
"I will too, Mister!", Sammy squeaked, crawling closer and giving Akemi a wasp hug. The Neko nearly sprouted a set of feelers of his own and instantly returned the embrace. Life was good.
Off to the sides, in neat intervals, were what appeared to be foremen; wearing black masks with small red faces projected on their surfaces, consulting what looked like plans and giving orders to the other insectoids.
Forever inquisitive when Akemi heard the loud, continued noise outside the city he naturally had to take a look. When the Neko flew over and saw the little insect people working away he quickly headed over to a group of the important looking masked ones to get himself set up to make introductions with them. "Hey there guys, I'm one of Uso's associates. Is there someone in charge here I could speak to that isn't too busy?"
The I'ee he addressed turned to him with a surprised squeak, the mask displaying first a surprised, open-mouthed expression, before turning into a friendly smile. "Oh, hello, Mister!", she squeaked. "You should speak to Sammy. Look for the tallest." She waved an arm towards where three of the masked I'ee were chattering; one taller than the other two, presumably Sammy.
"Thank you very much my adorable instantaneous friend. You are a credit to your people and a brilliant beacon of benevolence in a vast cold and uncaring universe," Akemi casually replied, wanting to mess with the little creature while simultaneously expressing how much he was suddenly overcome with affection for them.
He then sallied on over to Sammy. "Hey there Sammy," The extremely chipper Neko said with a little wave and a big smile. "I'm Koga Akemi, one of Uso's business partners and I'm here to learn about you guys. I hope we get along well."
The Ee'ith female stood awestruck at Akemi's eloquent response, watching him leave before dashing off to one of her sisters, chattering excitedly about how the nice man had praised her work. Sammy, meanwhile, had just finished speaking with the other two Ee'ith when Akemi arrived, turning to watch him approach with a friendly smile displayed on his LED mask. "It's nice to meet you, Mister Akemi!", he replied politely, waving back to the neko. "How can I help you?"
"Well I'm just looking for someone I can casually to talk to so I can learn about your people in general and specifically your needs and wants and how we can help each other." Akemi was awful glad he had a digital brain to allow him such smooth speech.
"Oh, well that's nice of you!", Sammy commented, taking Akemi's hand in his and leading him away from the noisy construction site. Once they were a fair distance away, he let go and turned to face Akemi again. "Well, Mister, I am Sammy, as you know. I am an ambassador from the Ee'ith family, but we speak for the majority of the I'ee.", he explained. "We're here primarily for translating Uso's plans so that our engineers can build efficiently."
"Fantastic. I'm glad I'm already speaking to the ideal person so soon. So, hmm, I'm actually having trouble thinking of what to ask you since this is happening so fast. Mind if I touch your fur while I think?" Akemi's smile suddenly became an extremely poorly suppressed goofy grin.
Sammy tilted his head slightly to one side, though the artificial smile never faltered. "Of course not, Mister.", he said cheerily, stepping closer to Akemi.
Akemi noted the shifting of the head and was amused by the idea that anything could be lurking behind the mask and within the skull of the harmless looking critter. He'd potentially never know what this guy thought of him or what he was dealing with. He could be some insectoid axe murderer and he'd be none the wiser if he could keep up that cheery voice. Then another thought hit the Neko. Maybe they didn't even have the typical expressiveness of humans without the masks. Perhaps this was the best they could do.
As Akemi pondered this he reached forward and gently rubbed Sammy's back to test the texture. "So what do you guys want to do here?"
The I'ee's fur was soft, but stiff, springing back upright if pushed down. He let out a soft squeak as Akemi's hand rubbed his thorax, the abdomen behind deflating slightly. "We're here for weapons. Our older families are concerned that we lack the ability to fight external threats with our existing technology." He made a soft sighing sound. "I don't understand why we can't just be friends with people instead. It would be easier."
Sensing the sensitivity of Sammy's thorax and his apparent enjoyment of contact with it Akemi decided to focus on the area and amp up the intensity of his movements. "Well the Mishhu are basically bred to be awful so there's little reasoning to do with them other than how to kill them. I mean I'll tell you right now I even work with and employ some but ones you can actually negotiate with while being able to have real trust without needing to keep a gun to their head are really rare. I hope that changes one day though."
Sammy continued making soft squeaking sounds, timing them with each stroke of Akemi's hand, his wings twitching if touched. "That's sad... why would they be like that?" he asked, the smile on his mask turning to a frown. "I'm glad we can make friends with you, though."
Akemi absolutely loved how easy it was to make the little I'ee happy so he continued to pet him in an even softer way than before to soothe him and see what kind of technique he liked most. "Well they're artificially created beings that were made to be really aggressive so they can't really help it just like you can't help being so sweet. Anyway, I'm glad we can be buds too. Do you think you guys will make a permanent settlement here?"
The I'ee ambassador stepped a little closer and gave Akemi a hug, pressing his face against the neko, which hid the LED screen on his face. "I'm glad we can be friends too, Mister!", Sammy squeaked, before raising his head to glance around at the desolate landscape. "I don't think we will stay here forever. Once we have doen our work here and Uso has given us what we need, we will move back home."
Akemi instantly returned the hug and swayed back and forth as he deeply embraced the I'ee. "Awww. That sucks. Will at least some of you stay? Wouldn't it be a good idea to keep a presence here and secure a long lasting alliance with Uso?" Seeing Sammy look to his surroundings he wondered if they were the primary issue. "If the land is a problem for you we can always terraform it and make it super green."
Sammy seemed to enjoy the swaying, resting his head back against Akemi's body. "What does terraform mean?", he asked curiously, looking up at the neko with the open-mouthed expression on his mask.
Deciding to take a liberty given how well things were going Akemi slowly turned the giant wasp over so it could rest its back on him while he gained access to its chest for additional experimental rubs. He was somewhat concerned the creature's wings might make the position uncomfortable but he figured it might prefer to be looking in the same direction as him instead of at his chest or over his shoulder. "It means to alter a planet to make it more livable with technology. We could figure out a way to put way more plants and wildlife all over this place. We could also clean all the water. We're thinking of doing that already since the people of this world have very primitive technology compared to where we come from so turning it into a giant resort and tourist attraction is one of the easiest ways to make money."
"Ooh!", Sammy let out a surprised huff as he was turned over, showing a surprised face on his LED mask, then began wiggling a little as Akemi rubbed at his thorax. "I-I see, Mister!" The I'ee seemed to be ticklish around where his legs joined with his thorax, as touching these spots made him squee and buck in Akemi's grasp: He did not object at all to his position, however.
"So would that be enough to get you to stay?" Akemi asked looking down serenely at the I'ee, his delicate touch unceasing.
Sammy looked up at the neko, his mask facing him upside down, tilting his head to one side. "Maybe. I don't know. It's not what's important yet.", the I'ee squeaked.
"Well what's your homeworld like?" Despite having a mask between them it was clear Akemi was staring at his newfound friend with rapt attention. "What do you guys consider an ideal environment?"
"Forests. Trees. Rivers and oceans.", Sammy mused, trying to think of more environments: Truthfully, he could only remember the place where he had spent his youth. "Maybe other things too."
Deciding not to press the cute critter Akemi figured he'd move on to something more fun. "So, since it seems I've sufficiently lulled you into a false sense of security, what do you think of Arccos? I first heard your name when I met her here."
The I'ee squeaked, confused, but didn't question Akemi's words in favour of answering his question. "Miss Arccos? She's my friend!", Sammy squeaked with a smile on his mask. "I like Arccos a lot."
Akemi chuckled lightly. "Oh I bet you sure do. She yelled at me that she'd blow my brains out if I dared to shove my face in her chest like you apparently have."
Sammy let out a whine and displayed a frown. "What? Why did she say that?", he asked, sounding concerned. "You seem nice!"
"It gets better." Akemi's eyes danced with impish glee. "She did that just because I hugged her and told her how good it felt to press myself against her. Can you believe that?"
Again, the little I'ee whined, squirming anxiously in his grasp. "B-but, she likes hugs! M-maybe you were holding her too tight?" he blurted in confusion.
Akemi looked at the little guy quizzically. "Have you ever had your head beaten with a gun and a giant metal rod shot through your leg because you hugged too hard?"
Sammy tilted his head, confused. "No. Why?", he asked, the suggestion completely lost on him.
The Neko kept on going in a grim, gripping voice. "That's what she did to me."
The I'ee let out a positively horrified gasp, which seemed to come from his body rather than the speaker attached to his mandible; sounding breathless and high-pitched. "W-what? Why did she do that?!", he squeaked.
"Because she thought I was trying to be too friendly with her." Each word rained down with the weight of the blows Arccos had delivered to his skull. "You wanna what else she did?" Sammy could probably tell by this point Akemi was going to share regardless of his answer.
"B-but, how? That's impossible!", Sammy squeaked, ignoring Akemi's question.
"Oh no little buddy," Akemi answered as if he was relishing catching some nasty noble that was just about to get away so he could decorate the beach with his brains, "It's more than possible. It happened and it happened to me. She even tried to shoot me in the back of the head. I was only saved because she had used all her bullets beforehand. She said she'd used six to kill six men earlier. And she did it while I was cuddling her."
"Oh, no!", Sammy whimpered, taking a few nervous steps away from Akemi and clutching at his head with distress. "M-maybe she didn't mean to, and it was an accident or something? I-I have to go and speak to her!" The I'ee turned and took off across the sand with surprising swiftness, not waiting for Akemi to try and follow or speak. A few of his siblings watched him scurry along with confusion, before glancing over at Akemi, then going back to their work.
Akemi quickly flew ahead of Sammy and interposed himself between the wasp and what he'd enjoy pretending was certain doom. "Are you really sure she's the type of person you want to see right now in the condition you're in?" he asked, a hand gently resting on each of the insectoid's shoulders. "You're so distraught you might make an innocent little mistake and offend her. Knowing what you know now what do you think'll happen then?"
Sammy skidded to a halt as Akemi intercepted him, buzzing his wings for a moment. "S-sir, please get out of my way," the I'ee spoke in a shakey voice, albeit one filled with purpose; a frown displayed on his mask. "I wanna see Miss Arccos. I can fix this."
"No no, it's okay. You don't need to fix anything." Akemi replied with a soft tone and a gentle touch as he hugged the I'ee again. "Everything I said is basically true but she did those things because I'm a Neko and she's a Spacer and they often hate us and Yamatai."
"Wah? Why?", he asked, sounding hopelessly confused. "Why didn't you tell me that earlier?"
Akemi gave the giant wasp's back another gentle rubbing. "I'm sorry, I just had to have fun seeing how you'd react. This just shows if she's really nice to you you might have a very special relationship with her that few have and you should really cherish it and be careful not to accidentally test it too much."
The I'ee remained tense. "Why would you have fun by upsetting me?" he asked, sounding confused, but also a little annoyed. "I know Arccos likes me because we're friends."
"Because everything you do is really cute and I like trying to harmlessly fool around with people," Akemi answered a little sheepishly while still smiling. "I hope you aren't super mad." The Neko had a feeling he might be getting super mad.
Sammy shifted from one foot to the other, letting out a stifled, disgruntled snorting sound. "But that's... that's really mean!", he spluttered, a grumpy frown projected on his mask. "Please don't do that, Mister! I might have made a mistake!" Despite his innocent, little outburst, Sammy seemed to be conveniently overlooking that Akemi's recount was truthful in favour of his friendship with Arccos.
"Well again I'm sorry. I just wanted to mess with you for a bit while also teaching you something. Arccos might not always be alright with you hugging her if you do it really often. I have a feeling she won't let just anyone embrace her, especially if they try to put their face in her chest." Akemi rested his hands on his hips. "And isn't it mean that she hurt me so much and tried to kill me or at least made it seem like she might have just because I'm a Neko?"
"Oh, ok... Well, that's alright, I suppose...", Sammy murmured, stepping closer and giving Akemi a little hug of forgiveness. "Do you think that means she really likes me, Mister?" Sammy looked up at him with a smile on his mask, again seeming to ignore the conflict between Arccos and Akemi rather conveniently.
Akemi quickly returned the hug. "She might or she might feel a need to be really patient and nice to you because you guys seem pretty instinctual and childlike and unlikely to ever want to intentionally offend. Could be both. I don't want to sound insulting and make it seem like I'm saying you're simpleminded but that's the feel you give off. It's a good feeling. I'm just telling you to really appreciate what you have so you don't lose it because I'd kill for that kind of intimacy with her."
For a moment, the space wasp didn't say anything, hugging up against Akemi in silence. "Maybe I can make her less angry with you? Why does she not like you?" Sammy finally offered.
"Well Yamatai attacked her people and killed a lot of them because it felt threatened by them," Akemi replied, wanting to keep things brief. "It can be pretty quick to attack regardless of whether or not it's facing a serious threat. People say it even looks for them where there are none on purpose. The main thing is I didn't take part in the attack on them and I've left Yamatai and I only want to be her friend."
"O-oh... I see...", Sammy sounded shaken by the thought of Yamatai killing without reason, tapping a claw nervously on his left mandible. "I-I wanna talk to her, Mister. I can make her trust you, I promise!"
Akemi decided to try lightly touching one of the wasp's feelers. "I'd really appreciate that but don't try too hard and only try if you really want to because I don't want you to get on her bad side. What I'd really like is for you to know she might be really hurting on the inside whether she'll admit it or not so I hope you'll be sensitive to her, take note of her boundaries and use your unique position to cheer her up and maybe get her to open up to new people and things."
"Hmm... ok, Mister," Sammy said quietly, his head tilting slightly towards Akemi's hand when it touched his antenna, which responded by reaching forward and rubbing its tip over his skin. "I'll try to do that."
Akemi smiled, thoroughly pleased. Sammy was simply so wonderfully easy to talk to. "Awesome. So since I put you through all that stress and we talked about something sad why don't we talk about something happy now. What's her chest like?" The Neko wished there was a Junker somewhere spying on them so Arccos could hear him and frown in disapproval and disgust.
The I'ee squeaked inquisitively, tilting his head. "Her chest? What do you mean?", he asked, evidently not thinking much of Arccos' chest besides it simply existing.
"Y'know, her breasts. The stuff she's got up here." Akemi cupped an invisible pair where his would be if he still had them. "She said you shoved your head in them."
"Oh, is that what those are?", Sammy paused, looking nervous. "Did she not like me doing that? I didn't mean any harm... they're just soft and warm..."
"Well maybe she does like you doing that. You being so innocent and cute looking might trigger a motherly instinct in her," Akemi suggested, always wanting to present a balanced view when he was serious about something. "She might also just like the intimacy, the closeness." The man really hoped the I'ee understood concepts like cuteness and intimacy and the words he used to refer to them. "She probably doesn't think you mean anything bad by it. Generally though women get offended when you touch their breasts even if you know them well unless they give you permission." As he spoke he began to tenderly caress both antennae.
"Oooh, I see.", Sammy said, letting out soft squeaking sounds as Akemi caressed his antennae. "I'll have to be more careful with them, then..."
"Is there any place you don't like being rubbed?" The silly guy couldn't resist asking even if it might lead to an answer that'd make Sammy feel awkward. Maybe there was no place on their body they minded talking about.
"Um...", Sammy paused to think. "My mouth, maybe? You might cut yourself by accident if you touched that."
"So have you ever tried hugging her butt?" Akemi was thrilled to know Arccos was actually pleasantly soft like an organic woman. Hopefully her middling mammaries didn't contain rocket fuel.
"Her... butt? No. Why?" Sammy asked, innocent as ever.
Akemi smirked deviously. "Because it's probably really soft and warm if her chest is and it's naturally much easier to hug right?"
Sammy considered this for a moment. "Hmm, I suppose so. But what if she doesn't want me to touch it?"
"Well it's probably worth trying," Akemi answered, gears clearly turning as he spoke. "Y'know, at least once without her asking so you get to feel it before she can tell you not to and blame you for doing so. She might say no if you asked her first but have no problem with it if you do it first and she finds she has a chance to see for herself how it feels. Some people say no to things they'd probably enjoy without ever trying them after all."
The I'ee listened carefully to his words, finding the winding suggestion to be hard to follow. "Uh... I think I'd prefer not to, Mister. I don't want to upset her by accident," he finally said, preferring to be safe.
"You are such a good little guy. I'd love to give it a grab. I certainly would if I were you." Mildly disappointed the little elfin eared imp moved on to a related itch he'd wanted to scratch. "So, I gotta ask since you're so carefree about being touched, do you guys have a sex drive, like an urge to mate whenever you see a good match?"
Sammy squeaked in response to the compliment, before listening intently to the next question. "Hm. I'm not quite sure what you mean, sir. I don't believe so.", he answered. "At least, I can't remember ever having one."
"Well I'm an artificial being and she might be mostly synthetic but man the things I'd like to do to her," Akemi said before turning to look around for a nice place to sit. "I just love tall women. There's so much to hug."
The I'ee tottered after him and lowered himself down onto all six legs to sit in front of him, looking up at him. "She is very tall," Sammy agreed. "She's taller than anyone else I've met. And I do like hugging her!"
"So how comfortable are you standing?" Akemi asked as he laid down on his side. "What posture do you prefer when you're relaxing?"
"I'm alright with standing up like you do. It's easy to get used to. But I like to lie down somewhere soft to rest," Sammy answered, crawling over to Akemi and poking playfully at his face using his antennae.
Akemi giggled like the little girl he used to be as the giant wasp tickled him. "Maaan, fuck those Mishhu wanting to bully you guys. You are just so sweet. I totally see why Uso wants to wipe them out for you. You're probably the greatest latent threat to the universe because of how charming you are."
Sammy squeaked in response to Akemi's giggle, tickling with his antennae some more before relenting and letting out a snorting chuckle of his own. "Thank you, Mister. I think you're nice too!" he replied, a happy smile displayed on his mask.
"Do you guys need anything while you're here like food? There are thousands of hungry lizard people that only want to eat meat constantly digging holes. What's your situation like? Are you comfortable?" Akemi felt like he might never get anything done when he could just laze around all day chatting with the insectoid. How was he ever going to woo Arccos when this guy already had her and was killing his drive to actually do something to get anywhere near the level of closeness he had achieved? He was starting to feel pretty defeated and thoroughly cucked. Here he was simply prepping the yellow black bull, making him feel like a million bucks before he had another go at the Spacer's bosom.
"We've got enough food to last our expedition several years. A little longer even. We lost a few of our engineers when the palace was attacked.", Sammy said, giving Akemi another nuzzle with his antennae. "Don't worry about us, Mister."
"Is there nothing we can do for you?" Akemi asked, feeling awful disappointed he couldn't please his alpha wasp master. "I asked about food since I run a big restaurant and brothel type business and I'm looking to run food supplies. What's your fave type of food?" A light bulb suddenly turned on in the Neko's head. "Ohhh! I know what to ask. I could totally employ you guys so you could earn money giving people hugs for therapy. I bet people would pay just to pet you. And on top of that your kind would get to meet tons of people and eventually exotic aliens who might feel super good to be in contact with. How does that sound?"
Sammy listened with a tilted head. "I like juices.", he offered. "Sweet things taste nice." The I'ee then listened to Akemi's offer with curiousity. "Hm, that sounds like it could be nice. I know a lot of my siblings would like to do that."
"Awesome! I love how accepting of things you guys are. I personally think getting pet for pay sounds great but a lot of people would be worried about being objectified." Akemi rolled onto his stomach and reached out to rub a leg, wondering if even they were okay to touch since dogs and cats often didn't like their paws being felt much. "Oh, and another thought just came to me. If you'd like to help me with Arccos you don't even necessarily need to say anything much. Just having you by my side if I go looking to talk to her could save me from getting beat up or shot or at least stop me from getting killed if you stand by me and say I'm your friend."
Sammy lowered his head to watch Akemi touch his forelimb, moving it to grasp at the neko's hand in response. "I'd be glad to make you two friends with each other.", he replied with a squeak.
"You're a really great guy Sammy. I'm super happy even if you guys eventually leave you'll still be here for a while. I'll be sure to make the most of it." Akemi intended to have plenty of fun for as long he could with the little guys and would be sure to stay in touch whenever they did depart.
"I will too, Mister!", Sammy squeaked, crawling closer and giving Akemi a wasp hug. The Neko nearly sprouted a set of feelers of his own and instantly returned the embrace. Life was good.
