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Homecoming

'You have ten minutes left, sergeant.'

Sairla's eyes shut as the AI gently reminded her of the time. Had it been so long already? Her mate's hand touched her cheek feathers and she tilted her head into it, her eyes slowly reopening. The orange light of a setting sun came through a large window overlooking a vast city, illuminating her mate's fair skin with a glowing warmth.

“About to head out?" Aubert asked her, his fingers brushing over the edge of her beak.

“It is time, yes." Two of her sharp talons gently slid across his side, his body making a slight twitch against them. Her fingers lifted from the tickled reaction, not wanting to cut him, then came back down to glide up again with the backsides of her claws.

“Five more days."

Sairla clicked her beak and giggled as she gripped his sides with both hands and pulled the little human on top of her, letting him lay over her stomach and nestle between her breasts. A soft purr rose out of the gryphoness, making him smile as it rumbled against his cheek. “Four more days." She picked her head up to nuzzle her beak against his cheek, her tongue slipping out to give his ear a little lick. He responded with a kiss on the side of her mouth, then on her cheek and into the thick feathers of her neck. She sighed happily and hugged his lower back, pulling him tightly against her.

“Call me soon? Something's bothering you, hon. I'd like to talk." He rested his head on her neck, half of his face buried into her feathers.

She clicked again and one of her hands moved up to his head, her talons closing around the back to embrace him fully. The sweet thing, of course he knew something was bothering her. He always said it was her eyes that gave it away. “When I get home. I need the real you." She turned her head slightly, her beak prodding into his hair, and let out a sharp breath through her nostrils. It wasn't like the real thing. She needed to have him in her hands, safe in her talons, against her bosom. Seeing what she saw in her latest deployment only made her long for it that much more.

“It's something so bad?" he asked, his brow turned up in concern.

Sairla sighed and rolled over, spilling her mate onto the bed and putting her on top of him. She held herself up by her elbows, keeping much of her immense weight off of him. “Shhh. It's not. I just need time to think, then we'll talk." She clicked several more times, right above his face, and playfully nipped at his nose, coaxing a laugh out of him. “I love you, Wee-Bear."

He smiled at his pet-name and pulled her head down closer, the tip of her beak and his nose bumping together, prompting a couple more teasing nips out of her. “I love you too, Sair." His own endearing word for her made her wings flutter and extend, fanning out over the edge of the bed. She sent them forward and around the both of them, encasing him in a protective cocoon of her feathers and shrouding them both in darkness. Her beak nudged at his lips, and he kissed her. Unable to kiss him back, her mouth opened, and she licked his lips, encouraging them to part, letting her press on.

--

Aubert's yutri pinged with a new message, pulling him out of his quiet reverie. Just in front of him, his mech's chest deck was down, letting him watch the colonial marines trickle into the New Marseille spaceport's arrival area. A quick thought through his neural interface, and his earpiece projected his messages in front of his face. The latest was from Sairla.

“Landing now. See you soon, little one."

Feeling a rush of excitement, with another thought, he made his mech look upward, and his vision switched to the mech's eyes as it looked at the holographic projections above the doors. The United Naval Ships Emerald Lake and Siberian Dawn were already a quarter through offloading their crews and infantry compliments for shore leave.

He was excited to see his mate after being half a year apart, as with everyone else waiting for their loved ones, but there was a distinct impatience and worry in the air. Some of the soldiers that were arriving still had burn wraps on them, and he would bet some of those cybernetic limbs were fresh. It was the first time he'd seen a troop rotation so soon after a battle.

Some twitching movement just outside of his vision made Aubert turn his mech's head to the side, at a rust colored kiori holding his gigantic squirrel tail across his chest, nervously brushing it with his hand. The human set his mech back to standstill and stood from his seat. He stepped out onto the deck, into the open air. An ashar was on his other side, but the huge rat didn't spare him a look. “Yours offloading now?" he asked, glancing up at the kiori.

The big squirrel's ears twitched, and his tail stopped moving as he peered down at the human, the mech's lowered chest panel about level with his upper abdomen. “Yes. From Emerald Lake." He was speaking in the chitter of the kiori's language, prompting Aubert's earpiece to translate into clear French.

“Wounded?" The caskets were unloaded earlier, only the living were marching through those doors now.

“Yes. I was told it was severe but he's well enough to walk now."

“Good! I hope you'll have a great time with him." Most anyone here were either spouses of the soldiers, or very near family. It was much more crowded than a normal troop rotation, many having taken time off work to meet their loved ones.

“Me too." The kiori squeezed his tail, the thick fur bunching tightly beneath his fingers. “They should have waited for the new soldiers. I can't believe they put them on that raid days before they were sent home."

“Maybe." The human shrugged, but the kiori wasn't looking at him now. The conversation seemed to end there.

The Merita slaver base raid was still making its rounds through the news cycles. Fleet actions into the lawless fringe worlds were rare, and were especially big news when the larger UTO navy itself joined in. This time, the 2nd Alakaesha Colonial Fleet with the United 6th initiated a large-scale action into the Tavash Fringes and attacked a major slaver nexus discovered on a moon in a backwater system, Merita. Several pirate flotillas were hunted down and destroyed while the small city of a compound was overrun by marines. It was quick, efficient, and several thousand UTO colonists were recovered before they could be lost in the fringe worlds. But, an action like that was never flawless. Several frigates were lost and nearly a hundred died among the infantry, with many more wounded.

Aubert watched the news of the attack roll in days ago, and like any spouse of a soldier, his stomach twisted into knots and his heart felt tight. Sairla, his mate, was in the 2nd, and was among the first to step foot into that compound. After the raid, it took two days before he got a call from her so she could unwind those knots and put his heart to rest. She was fine, but as usual, she never told him about the fighting she went through. He just knew she sounded distant that day.

He lingered on his mech's chest deck, watching people step out of the waiting area as soldiers walked through the doors. A wolfish lupari jumped up and hugged her massive equine neishor. A pair of asishi twins embraced, those big hyena grins across their faces. A couple of tordenchi children squealed and met their father, the family sharing a few far too mouselike squeaks of excitement at meeting each other again. A couple of mechs met, and Aubert watched both step off to the side. Their arms came up to embrace each other and the machines went still. He guessed they had to have opened to meet each other properly, but the mechanical limbs hid them from view, maybe even protected any children from falling if they came running out to meet their parent.

Seeing them made Aubert smile to himself. He couldn't wait to meet Sairla like that, to get out of this machine and into her loving hands again. He let himself daydream with the thought, and leaned on the inner wall of the cockpit, watching and waiting for her to come through.

It took a few more shuttles, but eventually a group of three soldiers came through the doors – a human mech, an asishi, and best of all, an absolutely massive jahkatian. Aubert recognized that behemoth of a woman anywhere. He jumped into his pilot's seat and was moving his mech before the chest had even finished closing.

Her wings fluttered when she saw his mech among the few civilians approaching the group. She brushed past her shorter comrades, dropped her bag, and opened her arms as her mate approached, her beak chattering and opening with a happy squawk. She swept the much smaller machine up and pulled him tightly to her chest. Her mouth bumped the side of the mech's head as it slid past to push the side of her own head against it. Aubert's arms went up and around her neck, helping him to cling to her.

“Welcome home, Sair."

She trilled happily. “Aubert," she cooed, letting out a gentle squawk to say the 'B' in his name.

She let the mech back down, and he was about to pop the deck open for the true face to face with his mate when the cackling laugh of an asishi interrupted them. “Sergeant!" the hyena like alien called as he approached them, a human soldier's mech jogging up behind him.

“Herek you idiot, she's having a moment!" the human shouted behind him, trying to grab the asishi's arm and pull him back. The soldier's mech was the off-duty model, effectively the same kind as Aubert's – short, slim, and light. The big, excited asishi dragged the mech along with him.

“What, they finished the hug! Sergeant!" He stopped in front of the couple, grinning at Aubert and giving him a little wave before looking up at Sairla. He barely reached the bottom of her breasts.

The huge jahkatian sighed and slid a hand through her head feathers. “Is this worth me ripping your arm off for interrupting, private?"

Herek's toothy grin faltered, and he glanced sidelong at his human comrade as he stepped next to him. The human shrugged. “Uuhm."

Sairla clicked rapidly and she leaned forward as if she were about to gut him with her beak.

“Sorry!" he barked and jumped back. “I just wanted to meet Aubert!"

“What?" Aubert tilted his head. “Me? Why?"

The asishi looked from him and back to Sairla, then back to her mate. “She talks about you all the time and seems so happy. I wanted to see. I've never seen a human and nonhuman couple before."

“You live under a rock, Herek?" The other human shook his head. “They're not that rare."

“Hey, almost no humans go to our homeworld." The asishi, seeing his sergeant wasn't going to make good on the arm tearing threat, stepped closer. “I think it's be-“

“Herek!" Sairla squawked, her wings flaring out. “We don't give a shred. Get to the point."

The soldier's mouth clamped shut, and he looked between the two mates again. “Ah, I wanted to say…" He hesitated, eyes darting up to Sairla. One of his fangs gnawed his lip. “I couldn't believe someone like her had a human mate. But after seeing her on Merita." The alien hyena huffed and scratched at the side of his muzzle. “Well, you couldn't have anyone better." He sheepishly regarded Sairla. “Sorry for all the jokes, sergeant."

Sairla snorted and waved the apology off. “To be fair," she said, and placed her hand across her mate's mechanical shoulders. “He really is tiny, weak, and helpless and I can do anything I want to him."

Herek cackled and the human next to him couldn't hold in his own laugh. Aubert shook his head and patted her hand, a chuckle escaping him too. “I wouldn't have it any other way." The teasing was always inevitable with the nonhumans that cared the most. “But what did she do on Merita?"

“Ruined her hard-ass reputation," the human soldier said.

Herek opened his mouth to likely add to that, but Sairla's big hand clamped around his snout, holding it closed. The massive jahkatian leaned down, her big blue eyes narrowing on him. “That story is mine to tell." Not letting go of the asishi's mouth, she looked over to the human, and his mech visibly stiffened. “I think you two have gotten rather relaxed, hm? We'll see about that 'hard-butt' reputation when we cycle back up." She nodded at them both. “Enjoy your shore leave."

The two soldiers exchanged looks. “Yes ma'am," they said in unison, and turned on their heels to shuffle away, Herek's tail literally between his legs.

They both watched them go, Aubert feeling a bit of relief to have Sairla to himself again, but it was sad to see that poor asishi looking so whipped. “Wasn't that kind of harsh? The asishi seemed nice."

“He's a big ball of down feathers, yes. He also talks too much." She collected her bag and turned him around, heading off to leave the terminal. “Let's get to the car. I need to get you out of that thing."

Aubert couldn't agree more. Somewhere quiet and alone to properly meet his mate was more than welcome, and he happily kept up with her long strides all the way out to the ground shuttles. The shuttle back to their skycar was crowded as expected with the troop cycle, but there was one large seat available at the back. Sairla folded her wings to settle in, and Aubert sat between her legs. Her arms closed down around his front and pulled him against her, and her beak rested on top of his head.

One of the massive jahkatian's hands stroked his mech's chest, and a switch back to his true self let him hear the gentle movements of it just outside of his machine. It was a comforting closeness, and the urge to open up and get into her hand was tempting. But, she never liked to have him exposed in such a tightly crowded space, and he tended to be shy of excessive public affection, anyway. It didn't make him any less restless to get out, however.

He swapped back to his mech's direct control connection and tilted its head sideways to rub the side of it against her neck. The haptic feedback for her soft feathers was as close as he'd get to feeling her for now. Aubert noticed a few people looking over at them, dbut that was normal. Sairla always got curious looks. At around thirty-one meters tall, she shattered the average jahkatian height of twenty-one and a half meters. Such gigantism wasn't terribly rare, many outliers existed among the nonhumans, but Sairla was certainly an exceptional case. He used to think it was because they were a human and nonhuman couple, but people usually gawked at her specifically. Such an interspecies couple was hardly rare enough to be a curiosity.

“You're quiet and grabby," Aubert said, remembering she was the same way in their last simulation meeting. “Something still bothering you?"

She clicked once, her confirmation. “A bit. I have had a lot to think about."

She didn't continue, and Aubert knew that meant he shouldn't press it. She always talked when she was ready to talk, it was only a matter of time. But something felt so ominous with this. It made it all the more pressing to get out of this machine.

When they finally made it to the car, Sairla tossed her bag into the back while Aubert took his place at the pilot's controls. The passenger side swung up, and his mate climbed in, the seat already adjusted for her enormous size. It was still a fairly tight fit, with her knees cramped against the dash and her wings scraping the roof.

Aubert punched in the auto pilot's destination. The vehicle started up with a hum and rose up to merge into the skyway, directly above the ground traffic. The ascension thrusters switched off once it hit the contragravity field.

Comfortably in the flow of traffic now, Aubert prompted his mech to open and hopped out of his seat. Just as he walked out onto the deck, his mate's enormous, charcoal colored hand gently closed around him. His arms raised out of habit, her fingers pausing to let them up just before they lightly squeezed against his body. She slowly pulled him up and away from his mech, her right hand coming in to wrap around her left, securing him in a safe grip with her big, taloned thumbs on either side of him.

Her huge blue eyes narrowed on him as she brought him to her gray beak, letting him plant a little kiss on the end of it. She sighed, eyes closing partway, and the side of one of her thumb claws brushed at his cheek. He eagerly leaned into it. The simulations could never truly emulate the real feeling of being in his mate's hands, or even any of his nonhuman friends. The emotion of having her truly here was impossible to match. There was always a rush of relaxed comfort to being in her hands, like everything was right again. Not the falsehood of a simulation or being inside his mech.

“Stars, I missed you," she murmured, and he saw the tears well up in her lidded eyes.

Aubert quickly tried to lean forward; arms outstretched to try to brush at the more sensitive top of her beak. The motion prompted her to tilt her hands back so he was lying down, and she leaned her head down to brush the top of her mouth against him, eye closing “What happened?" Aubert whispered, holding onto the top of it.

“It was Merita. I couldn't believe it." She had a sad coo in her voice that the translator couldn't pick up, but he recognized it.

Her eye reopened, letting him gaze into it, and he wiped at one of the tears that trickled out of it. Air rushed past him when she sniffled. “Believe what? Hon, please, I want to help."

Sairla slowly, nervously clicked multiple times, her eyes staring at him, but instead of continuing, she nuzzled him once more. She then pulled him away to press him against her neck, her soft, spotted dark teal head feathers contouring around him as he sunk into them. “I don't want to frighten you, Aubert."

“That's silly, hon," he said, voice a little muffled as he buried himself into those welcoming feathers. “What could you say that would scare me? It's okay."

She squawked sadly. “I- I… suppose it's more that it scares me." Her hands pushed a tad tighter, losing him completely within them, the warmth of her body coming through stronger the deeper he was smothered.

He let her hold him like that for a few moments before he pushed back, prompting her to loosen up. “Scare you?" he asked, a small chuckle coming out the end of it. There was only one thing that frightened his overgrown mate like this. His amusement vanished with the realization. “You're afraid something will happen to me?"

She clicked, and the underside of her beak came down to rub at his back, while her thumb brushed his side. “Stars," he muttered, scratching at her underside. “I'll listen when you're ready. Let's get some dinner into you first, you're always incoherent when you're hungry, you overgrown bird."

Just as he hoped, her sob was interrupted with a laugh. She always loved it when humans teased her, finding it 'adorably hilarious', as she once called it. She pulled Aubert away from her neck, a low warble of a growl rising out of her. “And I have a little morsel right here…" she cooed, her tongue darting out the end of her beak.

Sairla couldn't smile with a beak, of course, leaving it all up to her eyes and the longer, off-color feathers of her brow to tell what she was feeling. She had an amused upturn under her eyes and her brow was raised, a familiar look of total adoration. “Oh yes, and I'm all yours, aren't I?" He opened his arms, as if beckoning her to indulge, a smile big enough for the both of them plastered across his face.

She giggled and gave him a playful, 'tasting' lick before she brought him back for nuzzling along the side of her mouth. “Mmm, you made arrangements for dinner?"

“At a place called 'Spotty Behavior,'" he said, back reaching up to brush at one of her nostrils.

“…Asishi?"

“You got it."

She let out a trill, eyes closing happily. A new restaurant to try, and asishi cooking at that – two of her favorite things. She shifted him into a single hand and used the other to undo the upper buttons of her uniform top, letting the plumage above her breasts fluff out, as well as revealing the light glow of her electronic ID tags. She pulled the band up and over her head and reached over to hang them from the unused pilot's yoke.

Sairla then brought him to her chest feathers, turning him around so he could settle back against her, with her hand holding him up, her thumb already moving to start gently brushing his chest. He could see the city clearly now as enormous buildings passed by. This part of New Marseille was unfamiliar to him, but he didn't pay it much mind, as he looked over at the tags.

A small, bronze heart hung next to the tags, and that was all it was. He always smiled when he saw it. A little reminder of just how wildly sentimental his mate could be, but it was always hidden in her shirts. She sniffled above him, and he reached to start rubbing the underside of her beak. “You're such a softie. Soft as your feathers, hon."

“And you're squishy if you tell anyone about this." She moved a finger to teasingly prod his chest with her sharp, avian claw tip, the movement incredibly slow and gentle from years of handling humans. Completely disarmed of any intimidation factor as all it did was rustle his shirt. “Understood?"

“Yes, dear…" he patted her claw, laughing.

--

Sairla carried her mate into Spotty Behavior, holding him with both hands, her fingers around his body. Though, once they reached the ironically striped asishi host, she unfurled them so Aubert could look more respectable. She raised him to eye level, the human standing in her palms as her hands cupped around him, as if trying to hold water.

The light furred hostess grinned broadly, baring teeth, but Aubert was completely unfazed by that as he waved in greeting. “Welcome to Spotty Behavior!" she said and checked her ledger. “Mmm… Aubert Lucas and Sairla Lakonna?

“That's us," Aubert said.

“This way, please." She guided them into the depths of the restaurant, descending a staircase into a large open-air room. Carved wood paneling adorned the walls, though the meanings of the scenes, buildings, and figures were lost on Sairla. A small garden of leafy plants with a pair of diminutive trees was in the center, with booths going around it. The hostess guided them past the garden to some larger, arkatian and neishor sized booths. “Your server will be with you shortly," she said, gesturing to their table.

They thanked her and Sairla slid into the booth, with Aubert gripped in one hand. Her wings tucked in tightly as she leaned back into the seat. Her tail curled next to her, the tuft on the end doing a little flick of satisfaction. “This is much nicer looking than the last asishi place we tried," she mused as she reached down with her free hand to pull the human sized dining arrangement from the wall like a drawer, revealing an appropriately small booth just like the larger one resting on the tabletop.

“Are you saying you didn't like the bone décor of the last one?" he asked, laughing as she placed him down next to his new seat to settle in.

“Oh no." She let out a low, sarcastic squawk. “It wasn't enough. A few skulls and some bone furniture? Please, go all out. I expect piles of skulls, a few with candles inside. Yes, that would have really done it. Skull candles…"

“The barbarian servers could have been a bit more menacing too."

Sairla giggled, a low trill rolling out of her. “Stars, that food was amazing." She leaned forward, resting her cheek on her hand, her head looming above her mate. “Let's see what they have." With a thought command to her yutri, it found the restaurant's localized menu. She activated her wrist projector and held it in front of both of them. Aubert favored the eye piece peripheral for his yutri, but he always liked checking out the 'big menu' with her. Cumbersome as it made ordering, she always thought it was sweet.

But, considering how often they'd been to asishi restaurants, as her favorite cuisine, they both already knew what they wanted by the time the server arrived to ask for their drinks.

A small, spotted asishi male approached their table, and gave Sairla a surprised look over, his ears folding slightly at the enormity of the jahkatian. “Hello," the server said. “I'm Koren, I'm your server. What would you like to drink to start?" His eyes shifted over to Aubert, then his ears flattened completely in submission and he smiled without showing a single tooth.

“Ready for food, too," Sairla said. “I'll have the peakel steak, diced up into leas grains. Extra maela sauce, please. Kansha and weashaka on the side. For the drink, I'll have a cream soda."

The server twitched his ears and smirked as he wrote on his tablet, likely a bit amused she went from iconic asishi foods to a human sweet drink. “And you, sir?"

“I'll just have the sensha with some kamaoen juice, please."

Koren noted it all and made a small bow towards them. “Thank you. I will go get those drinks." He gave her mate another look, did that smile again, then turned and left.

Sairla clicked and laughed, watching him go. “He's a training guardian. Or new. Adorable."

“How can you tell?"

She brought her attention back down to her mate. “The smiling. He didn't show any teeth. I don't know why, but some guardians I train start doing the toothless smile." She moved her hand over, presenting him with the back of her fingers.

“You can't smile, hon," he said, placing a hand on one of her claws. “You don't know how impulsive it is."

The big jahkatian squawked with a little giggle. “No, no. I mean they start doing toothless smiles with the folded ears at any human." Her thumb moved to cover the hand on her claw, gently rubbing the back of it. “How many humans do you know that are actually afraid of teeth?"

He shrugged. “None."

“Exactly. I trained this private once, he got through the course perfectly. He'd make a great guardian. I always tell the new ones, don't give a toothless smile to a familiar human like you're trying to calm them down. It's patronizing. Then he goes out and gives a toothless smile to a first sergeant." She started to laugh again.

“What happened then?"

“Hee, ah… the sergeant demanded he come close, then gripped him by the whiskers and started screaming in his face." She pulled her hand away from him and coughed in her fist, took a breath, and squawked out a mimicry. “Pussy little fox cunt!" Aubert laughed, spurring her on to mimic the English. “Man the fuck up and show some goddamn fangs!" She took another breath, trying to remember the words. “I'll rip them out and gut you with them if you do that again!" Her loud mimicry calls earned them a few curious looks around the restaurant, and she even heard some laughs. It made her wings want to flutter with satisfaction.

Aubert settled down from his own laughter when he noticed the looks, and a cute blush crept onto his little face. “Toothless smiles are really that taboo in the military?"

“Owie, humans that go through basic put up with a lot of, uhm… hazing. A toothless smile like they're a scared kit is just insulting after that." She snickered. “I also think it's to deal with the cuddly stereotype in the pairs."

Aubert scoffed, grinning. “Isn't that true, though?"

“For a few, sure." She brought her hand back down to him, this time extending one finger to slide onto his lap. “But only their guardian ever gets to smile at them like that." She rubbed gently on his stomach when he placed his hands on her finger.

He planted a little kiss on her fingertip. “Hon, that's the marines. He's just a kid. Sure, he looks like an idiot if he smiles at every human like that, but you remember what they taught us in school. He probably remembers those lessons. He'll get over it."

“Mmm, everyone forgets that by second year." She noticed Koren returning with her drink in one hand. The other hand held a proxy, the small human shaped robot itself holding Aubert's drink.

“Your cream soda, ma'am," the asishi said and placed the glass down in front of Sairla, then placed the human sized machine on the table. He ushered it forward with a flick of his fingers, the gesture commands from his glove letting him have basic, pre-programmed control of the proxy without need of a neural control uplink. “And your kamaoen juice, sir." The machine, wearing a uniform just like its controller, placed Aubert's juice down in front of him and made a little bow before returning to Koren's hand.

“Thank you," Sairla said, followed by Aubert. Koren smiled, showing teeth, and flicked an ear at her. He then promptly hid those teeth when he smiled at Aubert, complete with folding his ears again. The jahkatian rolled her eyes. “See? There it is again. Are you a guardian?"

The asishi's head tilted, taken aback by the sudden question. “Er… no. What did I do?"

Aubert snorted with amusement, prompting her to playfully glower down at him with one eye. “Sorry, you're just doing the textbook guardian smile."

“Oh! You're the first to say something! It looked good? I've been practicing." He looked back to Aubert for approval, but the human just shrugged.

“Kid, you look silly." She chuckled when his ears drooped with confusion. “Do you really think a human mated to a nonhuman would be afraid of you?"

“Uhm…" He scratched the side of his muzzle. “I didn't think about that. I thought humans liked it."

“If it's their first time off Terra, maybe." Sairla found the blush creeping up in his ears adorable, but kept a flat, mocking tone to her voice. “What are you practicing it for?"

“Oh. Er." He gripped his proxy in both hands and looked away from her. “I want to impress someone."

Sairla trilled. “You have a crush on a human? Oh no, then don't act like a guardian. Treat them like any other person, and they'll appreciate you for it. Trust me. They're not afraid of you, and they'll be annoyed at you for thinking they are."

Koren blinked at her, then looked back down to Aubert, and gave him the full, hyena grin.

The human held up his hand, his index finger and thumb came together in a circle. “I'm already swooning."

--

Not so long after the drinks arrived did Koren return with their meals, he gave Aubert another broad smile. Leave it to his wife to speak her mind like that. As much as she insisted on treating humans with the same respect as any other species, she always watched strangers around her human friends like the aptly comparable, proverbial hawk. It was of course why he and any of their human friends felt safest around her. She'd been doing that since secondary school.

She seemed content with Koren, though. Anyone that would have a crush on a human was good in her book. She was even happier with the food.

She used chopsticks to shovel her food into her mouth with an excited quickness. A jahkatian's beak and obvious lack of lips and teeth for chewing complicated things compared to the other races. It made diced food eating with chopsticks just like back on parts of Terra their favorite way to eat. Sairla was a noisy eater, constantly making these content, soft churring sounds and happily clicking. He was just pleased to see her enjoying herself so much after seeing her cry in the car before.

“So, Owie," his mate said, pausing with her sticks in her dishes. “How have the swimways been going? You said the first one was opening soon?"

Aubert looked up from his sensha, a simple dish of breaded meat stuffed with herbs and cheese. “The first one is filling up right now. It should be full of water by the time I get in tomorrow."

“I bet the amelshens are excited."

Aubert laughed, and she giggled in turn. “When aren't they? Samel offered to take me for a swim in it tomorrow."

Sairla was suddenly much more interested in that than her food, and put her chopsticks down and folded her arms together. “In one of those human transport orbs they made?" He nodded. “Well, you're going to do it then, right?"

“I'm not sure…" He watched her eyes narrow on him.

“What do you mean you're not sure? You should!" She leaned closer, clicking just above him.

“Sair, you've seen how they swim. I'd get so damn sick."

“Then remind him to go slow. Besides, even if he doesn't, you can't just pass on something like this. I taught you better than that."

Aubert rested his chin on his hand and looked up at her, smiling with satisfaction. She went from worrying about 'something happening to him' back in the car to go back to her old tricks – encouraging him to step out and enjoy himself. Perhaps all she really needed was to hold him again. Stars knew, separation anxiety was recorded enough among mixed size pairs.

Sairla let out a slow trill at his stare. “What's wrong?"

“Oh, just thinking how gorgeous your eyes are when they're boring into me."

Said eyes rolled and she brought her beak down to nuzzle the tip against the side of his head. “Just go for the swim and tell me all about it, Owie."

Her breath smelled of maela sauce, a pungent smell for him, but he nuzzled back and kissed her on the hooked tip of her mouth. “I'll try not to drown."

--

As Sairla hoped, the food was amazing. Asishi cuisine always made her happy. It set her up well for what she had to say to Aubert tonight. The ride home became a quiet one as they neared the end of the flight, the thoughts of what she wanted to say pervading her mind. It all sounded so stupid, so ridiculous, especially what she wanted to ask of him at the end of it. What a bizarre epiphany. She hoped he'd understand.

Their skycar broke off from the gravway and used its thrusters to guide itself over to their apartment building, a massive crescent shaped tower, rising eighty stories into the air in the midst of the housing district of the enormous Kalsne military base. A garage opened up on the forty-eighth floor as they neared their level, and the car deftly slipped into the opening and settled into the bay inside.

Sairla dropped her bag on the floor when she came through the door, the lights automatically coming on. Their apartment was a large open studio design, with the kitchen just in front of her, separating itself from the living room with an island counter. The living room featured a black sectional sofa and a couple plush chairs with a table in front of them, all facing the holo-entertainment center. Finally, there was her oversized bed, a full-sized beast that let a jahkatian of her overblown stature sprawl out quite comfortably, with a work desk sitting just next to it.

Aubert's mech, coming through the door behind her, turned left just as he came in and presented itself to its dock, an outstretched platform that reached its center. The mech dock, about waist high to her, was connected to a stairway that went up to her chest. It continued around the corner toward her bed to Aubert's living space, essentially a scaled down version of Sairla's space, though much of it was halfway inside the wall for the various utilities. Not far from his bed, she saw her proxy, standing in its maintenance rigging right next to his desk.

She waited for him to step out of the mech and onto the dock, then bent down to grab him, pausing a moment to let his arms go up, and lifted him in her one hand. She carried him around the corner to her bed and let out a coo of delight at seeing it.

“Stars, it's a beautiful sight," she trilled and flopped onto the bed, her hand skillfully going up with her fall to slow Aubert's own descent. She laid diagonally across it on her stomach. Sairla then lowered her mate down in front of her head, dropping him on the blanket. She tilted her neck and sucked in a deep breath through her nose. “Oooh, freshly laundered too. I love you." Her wings stretched outward, flexing out as far as they could go, and rose up toward the ceiling. She flapped them, sending air rushing past Aubert, rustling his clothing and hair, and threatening to knock him off his feet on the unsteady surface of the blanket.

“Awww, poor big bird," her mate teased and moved closer to rub under her beak, making her groan softly and close her eyes. “Naval cots just aren't good enough, huh?"

“Mmm, I'd say you try it," she said, her moving beak forcing him to stop rubbing. He made his way to her cheek instead. “But, well, you'd fit right in, you little toy of a man."

“Ahhh, envious, I understand." He brushed under her eye, coaxing it to open and focus on him, giving him a little pause as he smiled at his reflection. “It's tough being a giant, oversized chicken cat. Poor thing."

Sairla squawked with dramatically fake offense and her hand came up behind him, scooping her mate into it as she rolled over onto her back. She pressed him into her plumage, holding him against the side of her neck while her head laid back on the mattress. Her eyes closed again, happily enjoying the feeling of his tiny body shifting in her palm. “It's a miserable life being big, yes. If only I could be bite sized, too."

He pushed on her fingers to loosen them enough for him to turn and snuggle against her feathers, deeply enough for her to feel him. “If only," he repeated his little voice muffled heavily by her feathers.

“Mmm..." she hummed. They both knew being a human wasn't easy. Aubert and every other human she'd known all faced the world with an impressive confidence and lack of fear of their far larger peers. Generations of humans living like this ensured it was as normal to them as going to work in the morning. But the nonsense and even dangers they put up with regularly made Sairla eternally appreciative of her own enormity. Being a small one was awful, as far as she was concerned. Merita proved that like no other.

And it made loving a small one so much more terrifying than she ever thought possible.

Her Wee-Bear was safe. She knew that. It made what she wanted to say feel so ridiculous. It made what she wanted feel completely absurd.

“Owie," she started, and pulled him away from her neck. She dragged herself backwards with one arm and pushed herself up to rest her back against the wall. She lowered him down to her stomach and settled her hand behind him for him to lay against, his whole body resting in her palm and curled fingers. “It's time to talk."

He reached out to the thumb hovering near him and pulled it close until it rested against the side of his head. “Is it about Merita?"

She sighed and started gently brushing him. “Humans," she said. “There were humans. Nearly a thousand, stars-cursed humans."

“What?" He stopped her thumb and pulled it down to his chest to start rubbing at it himself. “In a… slaver compound?"

“Yes." Her free hand cupped the side of her beak as she shook her head. “Many more nonhumans, but nobody expected that many humans." The only thing the general public knew about the liberated in the raid was 'several thousand' were rescued. It was standard to keep quiet about who was rescued until families were contacted and people were quietly returned home, if they didn't need any extra processing. And so many of the humans needed that processing. The news of how many human captives there were would break soon enough, and it was bound to shock many.

“What… what were slavers doing with humans?" She felt him shake in her hand, and her fingers curled more snugly around his body, hugging him tight and quietly letting him know how safe he was. The fear of abduction was the unspoken nightmare scenario of many humans, including her Wee-Bear.

“Training them to be… pets? Little amusements? I don't… I don't know. It's not something I want to think about." She brought him to her chest, and laid him against it, one hand closing around the other to keep him securely hugged against her. She could feel her heart racing as she thought about what she saw. He could surely feel it too. She was sorely starting to wish she took her shirt off, so she could feel him properly against her fur and feathers.

Apparently, Aubert wished the same as he snuggled into her palm, rather than her chest. “I'd guess it became an 'all guardians on deck' kind of situation?"

She cooed with a quiet affirmative. “Every experienced guardian in the fleets was sent to the… the pens." She wanted to wretch. They were more like tiny little boxes stuffed full of tiny people, apparently a part of 'breaking' them, but Aubert hardly needed to know that. “I was a part of the infantry assault, of course, so I was one of the first to arrive."

She paused, collecting her thoughts. Aubert stayed silent. She wasn't sure how much to tell him. She didn't want to scare him with a horror story. “I started emptying the pens, letting them get some fresh air and light. Other soldiers brought blankets; the humans were leaving their mechs to talk to the captives. It was a big mess, humans starting to fill the floor." The little ones on the floor, of all places, was something that even someone without a shred of guardian training would be disturbed by. But there were just so many of them, they couldn't keep them together anywhere else in such quick timing.

“My platoon and some others cordoned the area off, made a circle around them to keep watch, make sure nobody could run off and get lost. They were just… sitting around all these humans, talking to them, trying to calm a few down, holding them. I and some others just kept pulling humans from the pens."

Sairla grinded her beak with frustration. She needed her mate against her fur and feathers. Right now. She lifted him from her chest and placed him down between her legs. Her fingers deftly undid the buttons of her shirt, completely opening the front. She then reached behind her to pull the magnetic bindings above her wings open, completely freeing them from her shirt and letting her pull her top completely off as if it were a jacket, and toss it to the floor. She then pulled the magnetic fabric of her sports bra's shoulder straps apart, along with unzipping the front and letting her pull it off with a single tug.

Her breasts heaved free of the tight top, coming to a looming rest above her mate, but the little male barely even paid them much mind. He just raised his arms again for her to grab, and she pulled him back against her chest, squeezing him against the tawny, feline fur and plumage between her breasts. It was a lovely bed for him to rest. Her fingers laid over his legs, while her thumb slowly stroked his back. This time, he snuggled into her feathers and fur, making her hum quietly with satisfaction. “What happened then?" he asked, his voice just barely loud enough for her translator to pick up.

“Then… then I found the pens with the children." She let out a low, bawling trill. She felt her mate tense up, and she brought her other hand to rest on top of him, doubling up the smothering comfort. Or, more, her own comfort with knowing he wasn't going anywhere like this. Nobody could touch him. “Some had parents among the others, but so many… we couldn't find their parents. We put them in their own little area. Some of them were so young. There was so much crying. I wanted to give each one some attention to try to help them feel safe, but we needed more guardians. I was doing what I could, but… stars, bless the lupari."

She almost wanted to laugh. “I was holding three in my hands, cupped together, cooing at them to try to calm them down. It wasn't working, they wanted their mothers. Who can blame them, right?" She sniffled, and blinked, finally realizing she had started to cry. “These two lupari came over, not even guardians. They push up against my cheeks and look at the kids with those ridiculous… 'puppy' eyes as you call them and they make all these sounds, sniff playfully at them, let them pet their noses and nuzzle them right there in my hands. They were laughing in no time. We played until other guardians could take charge."

She swallowed and finally looked down to her mate again and nudged at him with her beak. It clicked with amusement. “I went on that tangent about smiles, but stars, I'd never seen a time where the sensitivity training was more important."

Aubert stroked the side of her mouth. “The world always feels right and safe when literal giants fret over our wellbeing."

Sairla cooed and nosed at him again, nuzzling at his cheek. Humans hated being babied. Respect and love went much further. But, 130 years of them being among giants had shown not much calmed their fears better than the caring attention of a far larger nonhuman. In turn, few things warmed the soul better than being the source of comfort for a human. Despite hardly being true in every case, it was the phenomenon that came to define and romanticize many guardian and charge relationships.

It made what Sairla saw so nauseating to think about, seeing the exact opposite of it. She couldn't imagine what it had to be like for the human slavers among the nonhuman ones. What was life like for them when that trust in nonhumans was so violated every day? “Stars, Wee-Bear, I know. I'm happy we could make them feel safe again. But they should have never been there."

“Hon, you can say the same about anyone there, not just the humans."

The jahkatian sighed and picked him up from her chest, letting her roll over onto her front and deposit him on the pillow just in front of her. “I know, I know…" She lowered her beak down to nestle it between his legs. “You're right. But you know how I get."

Aubert placed both hands on top of her mouth. “Of course," he said, and leaned down to rest his chin on her beak. Her eyes had to narrow to look at him. “We called you Angel for a reason."

Sairla churred with satisfaction as he hugged at her mouth, her eyes slowly closing. 'Guardian Angel.' That was the teasing nickname her human friends gave her back in secondary school. Before secondary, human and nonhuman children were kept separate, only meeting to play in simulations on an equal scale. Naturally, the first day, seeing the humans in their new mechs, many were pining to meet them for 'real.' Outside of simulations, outside of machines. Many already had outside of school. But there were always those that were too pushy, too curious, too inconsiderate. Those people tended to make her feathers stand up in anger. She was already oversized in school. She used that to run those types off, and it set her up to end up with a lot of human friends. She was hardly the only one to do this, many were destined to be guardians - it always showed itself at a young age. But she was the oversized bird with feathery wings. The nickname made some sense after they explained it to her.

But those days of being Aubert's guardian angel were broken now. Her half year long stints, a hundred days, in the colonial fleets made sure of that. The year of dwell time she'd get was fantastic, but there was always another hundred days where she couldn't be here for him. “Owie," she said, nudging him gently to prompt him to lift off her before she picked her head back up. “I… I couldn't stop thinking of you."

“Oh," he sighed low, as if that was ridiculous. He was sympathetic, she knew, but it still made her feel ridiculous. “Sair, that's-“

“Absurd, I know," she said, interrupting him, and looked away. She wrapped a hand around him, but didn't pick him up, she just wanted to feel him if she couldn't look at him. “You're safe on Alakenna, I know. I knoooow," she let out a long coo. “Stars I've been telling myself that for days." Alakenna, as the hub world of the Alakaesha region of UTO space, was as safe as a non-homeworld could get, with one of the four Alakaesha colonial fleets always in-system. “It's… not been helping."

“Look at me." She felt him tug on her thumb. “Look, hon." She turned her eyes back to him, her ears dropping low. She felt like such a fool already. It just wasn't like her to worry like this. Stupid. So stupid.

He pulled on her thumb, hugging it closer to his body in a silent request to hold him a little tighter, a little securer, let her know he's going nowhere. “All those humans, Owie. They were so close to just… being lost. Forever. So small, trapped with some… some monster of a person. Locked in a pet cage like some seroba. At least a nonhuman could… have some hope? Somewhere? A human…" She sighed and sunk her head low, eyes closing. "Wee-Bear, what if someone just… took you?"

She felt his hand on her beak again and she opened her eyes to see him stretching his arm out to her, fingertips barely brushing at her. "Then the story of my Angel coming to save me would be the stuff of legend."

She chuckled weakly and leaned closer to let him pet her proper, then even closer to gently touch the hook of her mouth to his face. She playfully rubbed him with it before opening, letting her tongue slip out to lick him. "If someone took you, I'd rip their spine out and strangle them with it," she whispered so closely to him, as if to sound romantic over maiming people.

It earned a laugh out of him, and he kissed the side of her beak. "The big hero." He reclined back into her hand, her fingers curling over him again. "I wish I could say more, hon. But, I'm not going anywhere. I'll be here every time you come back."

She hummed and took in a deep breath. Just telling him all of this made it feel better. He was the only one she could ever let the 'tough bird' personality drop around and speak her heart to. He always listened, even if he said little. "I know, Owie. I know." She swallowed, bracing herself for the big question. "Thinking about this, it's made me realize something, Wee-Bear. It feels so ridiculous. I saw those horrible things those humans went through, and I thought of this." She hesitated and scrutinized him, trying to judge if he knew what was coming, but she couldn't tell as he just watched her, clinging to her curled fingers. "I realized there's things I'd regret forever if I lost you, Aubert. Things I wished I could have done with you."

"Sair…" he said, the realization certainly hit him now. "You don't have to force yourself."

"No," she said, and held up a finger in her free hand, pointing a claw at him. "Shush. The simulations aren't good enough. They're not real. They're not even like the real us at all. Owie, you're not meant to have me like another nonhuman. It's just pretend. We should have tried this a long time ago. I know that now. You were right." She lowered her finger, and realized he was blushing. She cooed, her heart doing a little flutter just like her wings. Humans were the cutest when they blushed. She composed herself with a quiet cough. "Love, would you like to try real sex?"

She felt him tensing in her hand. He'd first proposed the idea not long after they married, just after he graduated from university. They'd already been having simulated sex for a few years before then. He seemed interested in trying the real thing with her, but she thought it was too dangerous and not worth the risk, and told him she might propose it herself one day. Now, after her second deployment during their marriage, here it was.

"Sairla, I…" He looked afraid. He should have been. But it scared her too. It was her Wee-Bear in danger, and it'd be all up to her to keep him safe. "Yes," he finally said. "Let's try it."

Her ears flicked, and she nodded at him. Real sex between a human and a nonhuman was far from rare. She'd seen the pornography, and Sairla had certainly heard of it enough times from her comrades. Macrophilia and microphilia were well studied and documented. She knew it could be safe, but it didn't make it any less intimidating to risk her mate like that. It didn't quite help that she wasn't exactly attracted to human stature, as far as she knew. She thought Aubert was absolutely handsome, but his tiny height didn't quite make her sexually excited. They had tried true size sex in the simulations, but it didn't get a rise out of her. Though, in a matched size simulation - her still a few heads taller than him, of course - she'd happily ravish him every time. "I'll do my best to protect you, Owie. Please don't be scared."

He laughed and patted her thumb. "Hon, I think you'll be the terrified one here. We can start looking into it tomorrow, if you're confident."

Sairla rolled her eyes and lowered her beak down for another lick at his face. She never admitted to being afraid. She was the strong one for her Wee-Bear, his guardian. But he was right. Her tiny, frail little mate was going to be the strong one here. She had no doubts about it. She just hoped she could overcome her fear of it, of hurting him. They would have to read into how to do it, learn what to buy to make sure it was totally safe, even what to do to provoke arousal from both of them. It'd be an interesting extranet search. Maybe then she could enjoy what their size disparity could bring at the deepest possible level of intimacy.

She could hope.

--

Aubert walked over the glass above the newly built amelshen swimway, watching his coworker, Samel, rocket through the water below his feet. The massive otter did some loops, kicked off the walls, spun and twirled. A few people crossing over the glass walkway stopped to watch him.

"You're a real show off, you know that?" the human said, chuckling as he kept walking along, right on top of the glass. Sensors on the bottom of his mech's feet and scanners hidden behind its opaque, full faceplate reported the status of the glass, detecting any minute give or near silent shifts that regular vision couldn't. This had all been done plenty of times before, through proper inspections rather than the personal tools of an engineer's mech, but he was always a man of caution.

"Perk of the job, Aubert," Samel said, his specialty throat microphone letting him speak clearly underwater. "A brand new, empty swimway, all to myself!"

Aubert stopped and leaned over to watch the amelshen float up beneath him, on his back, and wave up at his coworker. "Uh huh. Are those flips a part of your inspection?" The human waved back, shaking his head.

"Of course. Testing the current!" The amelshen kicked his paws up, touched them against the glass and pushed himself back down into the depths.

"Ah." Aubert continued walking along the glass. "Of course."

"I'm coming out at the exit ahead. Come on, I'd love to take you for a swim, Aubert!" Samel rushed ahead, his form streaking by in a sprinting swim.

"Fine, I'll do it," the human said, picking up his pace to meet the big otter. "Sairla talked me into it." Ahead of him, the glass of the swimway opened up like a wave, acting as a cover for the water below. It looked fantastic to him. He and Samel designed it together, a bit of an artistic flair to it that mixed well with the sculpture garden in the plaza nearby, along with the glass and metal facades of the buildings rising up around it.

Accommodating amelshen infrastructure had certainly been the most exciting part of integrating the Astejean Tripact. The race of mustelids was about half otter types, or zalashen, with the rest more akin to weasels and ferrets, or orashen. As a result, making swimway infrastructure was a very important part of attracting amelshen citizens to Alakenna. The cervine sareshna and the red panda-like wasaya weren't nearly as tricky to accommodate. The only comparable change to infrastructure for a new species were the bat-like kalkanari over half a century ago, due to them being fully flight capable. Of course, integrating his own species 130 years ago was likely never going to be superseded in terms of complications. Being only as high as the digitigrade ankles of the smallest aliens certainly took the prize for trickiest integration. The Astejean Tripact races were distinctive for being the first triple integration, however.

But the United Treaty Organization was built around unity and cooperation, and they always made it work. Alakenna itself always tried to stay ahead of the curve by investing heavily in drawing in new member species. Aubert was proud to be one of the civil engineers updating infrastructure for their new friends. The amelshens were definitely an exciting bunch.

Samel was certainly an example of that excitable amelshen playfulness, right up there with the lapine viliti and their own energetic nature. Aubert went through the door into the swimway station just as his coworker emerged from the water, plodding up the steps with moisture spilling from his fur. "Hey, hey!" he called, doing a quick shake to get the water off. He was wearing a wet suit with bright yellow reflectors, the outfit reaching just above his elbows and down to his knees, with his plantigrade paws exposed. He also wore a utility belt, with waterproofed pouches for his gear. Today, he had a diving orb attached to it, specifically meant for a human.

"Have fun?" Aubert asked as he approached Samel, looking up at him. He was only about level with his shoulder.

"About to have even more! I've been aching to try this thing out." He patted the diving orb.

"Ahhh, can't say I have."

The amelshen placed his hand on the human's shoulder, giving it a slight squeeze that could be felt through Aubert's haptic feedback. "Hey, relax. I'll take it easy for you. I'll only do quick maneuvers if you ask. Fair?"

Aubert sighed and slipped out of the otter's hold and strode over to the wall. "If I puke, have fun cleaning the thing out. Let's do this." He turned back around, now that the mech was out of the way. He undid his work vest, exposing his mech's chest, and dropped the deck. As he walked out onto the railed platform, Samel approached while taking the orb off of his belt.

The otter turned a wheel on the side of it, letting him open the door, and presented it to his diminutive coworker. "Okay, I made sure its air tanks are filled and its water sealing is good." His whiskers twitched and he twisted his head. "You're sure you're willing to do this?"

Aubert waved for him to bring the ball closer. "Yeah, yeah. Sairla wants me to do it anyway."

Samel pressed the orb against the mech's deck, its entry way open and ready for Aubert. The contraption, being a sphere, wasn't like the human carriers he'd been in before. Those were usually a pod shape that could clamp onto a rigging on a nonhuman's chest and it'd be perfectly fine. Those were fairly simple and meant for carrying whenever normal holding wasn't safe. Such as when the human was drunk, something Aubert had tested out a few times. It had earned them the nickname of 'drunk tanks' to many humans.

This one was a transparent sphere for the sake of its stabilization system. It was two spheres, one within the other, with the outer being unmoving, incredibly impact resistant, and equipped with the mounting system. The inner sphere was meant to keep the human occupant oriented in the direction their otter partner was headed, whether they were swimming or simply walking. However, with a switch inside, it could be changed over to full gyro-like stabilization, making it so the swimmer could do rapid loops and the sphere would keep the human perfectly level. It didn't do a thing about the feeling of being lurched around, however.

Aubert stepped into the orb and settled himself into the seat. He buckled the harness over himself as his coworker shut the door and raised him to eye level. The massive otter smiled broadly at him, his fangs bared with excitement. "Are you ready? Are you going to use the stabilizer?"

The human glanced at the panel in front of him, equipped with the few controls the diving sphere had, then shook his head at the amelshen. "Nope. That would just give you more of an excuse to do your tricks." Plus, Sairla had indeed 'taught him better than that,' as she said. It'd be more fun without the stabilizer. Samel had been his workplace guardian long enough that he was at least mostly confident that he would keep the swimming tame.

"Can't blame me for trying, yeah?" The amelshen laughed, lowered Aubert down to his chest, and attached the sphere to his rigging with a deep click of automated clamps. The human watched the otter's huge hands pull on the sphere on either side of him, tugging to make sure it was locked in tight, then he tapped on it with a finger. "Looks good. Are you alright in there?" His voice came through in his charge's earpiece.

Aubert craned his head back, looking up at his guardian. Samel had a massive smile on his face, and his nose was twitching with his whiskers. The human held up a thumb. "Yep, let's do this."

The amelshen tapped the sphere once with approval and turned to pad over to the swimway. He went down the steps, wading into the water. Aubert watched the water line rise up and engulf his shelter, his muscles tensing up with a brief worry that some of it would spill in. Samel paused, holding still in neck deep water. "Any flooding?" he asked.

"None I can see. Seems sealed."

"Alright, I'm going in." Samel fell forward, submerging himself completely. Aubert was forced back into his seat when the otter pushed away from the steps with his paws, kicking off into a steady, lazy swim. The clear water of the swimway began to streak past, flickers of particles and bubbles flowing over the orb. The daylight coming from the glass above cast rays all the way down to the bottom, streaks of highlights flickering around as the gentle current streamed through. The orb gently rocked as Samel moved his hips to swim along with his broad tail.

"Are you feeling alright?" Samel asked through his throat microphone, his voice distorted, deeper than it typically was. "Am I going too fast?"

The rocking from his swimming turned out to be far more pleasant than Aubert had anticipated. It was even relaxing. He loosened up in his seat, letting himself sink down and watch the tunnel pass him by. "You're doing good. It's calming, actually."

Samel didn't say anything back, but instead started to take more broad movements through the water, exaggerating the undulation of his body to gently move his charge side to side. The walls of the swimway were barren of decoration, but they were plastered white, primed for future work.

"When do the murals go up?" Aubert asked.

"The first artists are coming in at the start of the next quarter." Though the walls were still unpainted, the amelshen drifted closer to them and slowly rolled sideways to swim along them. "Kassma is going to be the first one. I can't wait to see what he'll do. He's my favorite underwater artist. He likes to do full scenes and landscapes."

"I actually saw his work in some of the planning documents, it does look really good." Aubert tried to imagine the walls lined with all of these murals. It was a long standing tradition for the amphibious subspecies of amelshens to paint underwater, using specialized mixtures. The impracticality of doing it submerged was not lost on them, but apparently that didn't matter in the pursuit of art. It was the fact that it was done completely under the water that made it particularly special to them.

"I'd like to bring you down here again to see them when some of them are done." Samel drifted away from the wall and leveled out again. "Just float up to them and let you look at them. Wouldn't that be fun?"

"You're just hoping I'll want you to do more crazy maneuvers next time." Aubert chuckled when the giant otter lowered his head to look down at him, upside down from Aubert's perspective. His guardian bared some teeth in an impish, knowing smile. "I'd think I'd like that, actually," Aubert continued. "And I'll do you one better. Go on, let's do some rolls."

Samel's mouth opened, letting out a submerged gasp of air with a rush of bubbles that blasted against the front of the sphere. He pulled his head back up, rising from the water for a moment to take in a fresh gulp of oxygen before slowly diving back down. Aubert felt his guardian's torso twisting as he started to turn into a slow barrel roll. Aubert had his hand on the switch for the full stabilization, but Samel kept it slow all the way through, all the way into the next roll. He kept the lazy rotation going several times, until Aubert finally spoke up. "I thought amelshen were fun. What is this, a nursery? Go faster!"

His guardian suddenly leveled out with a lurching twist and dove straight down, the bottom of the swimway coming up fast. The human gripped his arm rests tight, suddenly hit with the thrill of an amusement park ride. Before he struck the bottom, Samel pulled up high, and paddled his tail to flip him around, sending his charge's world into an upside down spin as he backflipped. The sunlight of the glass was nearly blinding, and Aubert saw a few people looking down through it, watching the amelshen go. He whooped with excitement as the loop straightened back out and Samel started to swim as fast as he could, his hips lurching side to side, rocketing him through the water, assisted by the current.

He did a series of quick rolls, dizzying his charge as the water tunnel became a blur flying past Aubert's vision, the streak of light from the glass a flicker with each spin. Before it became too nauseating, Samel slowed himself until he came to a stop on his back, the front of his body facing upwards. The diving orb settled itself upright, treating Aubert to the big grin of his guardian. "I see you didn't vomit, good!" the amelshen said. A few bubbles escaped his mouth, but it otherwise didn't move much.

Aubert rocked his head back, looking up at the ceiling. He held up a single middle finger and waggled it at the giant otter, which prompted a bubbling snicker from him. "That was fun, I'll give that to you."

The ceiling of glass opened up as Samel paddled into the next station, the roof of the place rising above them. Samel floated back up to the surface, letting the sphere break out into the open air, the water spilling down around it in a heavy flow. The amelshen settled into a lazy float on his back as he drifted towards the station's steps. "I knew it would. With all of the things you told me about Sairla and what you get up to with her… you're an adventurous type. You just pretend not to be."

"And why would I do that?"

Samel shrugged and planted his hands on either side of the orb. He twisted it a little and pulled it off of the mounting to move it to his stomach. He kept both hands on it to ensure it stayed steady. "I think you're a little shy."

Aubert scoffed, indignant. Indignant, because he was partly right. All the way back to secondary school. Sairla was always so comfortable with taking risks, socializing how she pleased, putting herself out there. It was contagious. He tried his first hiking trip thanks to her, when she encouraged a few humans to join her and a bunch of nonhumans to head out with them. In that same trip, she managed to get Aubert and the others to go out into nature without their mechs. Under the watchful eyes of their nonhuman companions, of course. He never would have done anything like that without her, and it ended up bringing both friend groups together.

Ever since, she'd insisted on encouraging Aubert to take risks, enjoy himself, meet people, see where life took him. That pressure only increased when he married her.

"Not… shy," Aubert muttered. "But yeah, Sairla taught me to not to be afraid to have fun. Nonhuman friends like you are there to make sure things are alright."

Samel's mouth dropped open slightly, his lower fangs baring, taken aback, and he averted his eyes. Aubert thought he could see a faint blush in the otter's ears. "It does feel rather nice to help and be kind of, um." His little ears shifted as he thought. "Be protective?"

"That's what a lot of guardians say, yes."

The amelshen turned his head aside and held the orb with one hand on top of it while the other scratched his cheek. "I can't believe so many of the stories of being with humans are true."

Aubert laughed. "What, all the weird feelings, feeling like you're turning into a lupari?"

"Yes!" Samel tapped the top of the sphere, making the inside rattle. "What in the stars makes people act differently around you humans?"

"Hey, don't look at us." Aubert held up his hands. "I do things with nonhuman friends that I'd never do with another human. You do weird things to us, too. It's one of the great mysteries of life." He shrugged. "Besides, not every nonhuman reacts like you. It's probably because you do that you went and got your guardian certification so quickly. Some people are just meant to be guardians. And those people are weird."

Samel leered at the little human. "So, I'm weird?"

Aubert grinned at him. "Did you want to pet me when we first got paired up at the office?"

"Well…" He rubbed the back of his head. "Not entirely?" Aubert leaned back in his seat and folded his arms. The amelshen smiled sheepishly. "...Yes."

"You're weird."

Samel scoffed, and grabbed the orb in both hands, pulling it closer toward his face. "Okay, so if guardians are weird, what does that make you charges?"

"Also weird."

The guardian narrowed his gaze on the human, then pulled the orb even closer and turned his head sideways to focus more closely with one dark brown eye. Aubert watched the pupil dilate as it looked at him. He couldn't keep his grin in check, and snorted with a laugh.

The otter pulled his head back and pushed the orb back onto his stomach. "You're such a tail tugger!" He kicked his paws, making a large splash that speckled the top of the sphere.

"I'm not! It's true. I'm just saying, we all act less like ourselves when dealing with the other. I'd let a nonhuman friend pet me, but not another human." Aubert smirked. "And you don't coo at your nonhuman friends."

"But I don't coo at you!" The amelshen looked even more exasperated, starting to wriggle in the water.

"No, but you want to."

"Oh, stars help me." His head plopped into the water. "My coworker is cruel. And here I thought before we joined the UTO, humans would be the ones getting teased."

Aubert laughed at his frustration. "We're equal opportunity. You don't have to be afraid of teasing back, Samel. It's okay to tease a human over our size or, er, cuteness." He shrugged. "It's part of the fun. We all learn it eventually."

The amelshen's disgruntled movements petered out and he picked his head back up to look at his charge. "So you're saying you weren't always a tail tugger."

"Oh yes. There was a time when I was too anxious about upsetting a nonhuman."

The otter pulled the orb close again, both eyes looking closely at Aubert's face. "What happened?"

The human shrugged. "School? Once I got to secondary school, we got our mechs. So the human and nonhuman students started mixing together. For many of us, it's the first time we'll have in person friendships with the other size. You end up with two types of kids. Those that are too shy around the other, and those that are too fascinated with the other. Usually it balances out after some exposure to each other. I was one of the shy ones. Sairla was one of the fascinated ones, but she was better about keeping it in check. She was my first real nonhuman friend and, well, she encouraged all of her human friends to not be afraid to snark at her. Or else she'd threaten to step on us or something for being cowards. It actually took me a few years to liven up."

Samel bit his lip with a fang. "...Step on you? Did it ever happen?"

"Stars, no!" The look on the otter's face was adorably hilarious, but Aubert kept himself to only a chuckle. "She's one of those nonhumans that get highly protective instincts over humans. All she could ever get herself to do were angry looks, but those just make her look cute, so it didn't work too well."

"Cute!" Samel pulled back, obviously not believing that. "She's a giant! She's cute when she's angry?"

"Oh, no, she's terrifying when she's angry. She's just so bad at being angry at humans that it's cute. She's really afraid of doing anything dangerous with us outside of the norm."

"Outside the norm?" Samel scratched the side of his head, rubbing at one of his ears. "Like trust exercises?"

"Especially like trust exercises."

"Why?"

"She doesn't trust herself to be careful enough." Aubert looked down to his feet. "Risking me like that terrifies her. It took a year after our marriage before she opened up to sleeping in bed together." He smiled, but his brow furrowed with a dash of sadness. "She didn't sleep at all, just stayed awake watching me all night between her breasts. I didn't find out until the next morning. We never tried it again. Sad, really. I heard her heartbeat in my dreams. It was the best sleep I ever had."

The amelshen frowned. "Hmm, we should head back." He returned the orb to its mounting, ratcheted it into place, then slowly rolled over to tail paddle into the other channel flowing in the other direction to the previous station. His swimming was slow. Aubert hadn't seen many of the zalashen type amelshens swimming, but it didn't take an expert with the species to realize he was thinking too much. Perhaps he revealed too much about Sairla and him.

"What are you thinking, Samel?" the human asked, the orb having oriented itself to the direction they were swimming. The steady movements of his guardian's body were relaxing after managing to upset himself.

"I was just thinking about how different it would be to be mates with a human. Normal intimacy like sleeping in the same bed becomes so dangerous. I don't think I'd be comfortable with that at all. How do you do it?"

Aubert hung his head back, having to think on that. "We just have a different 'normal' intimacy. But, you're right, it is a lot more dangerous. I think that's what makes it feel so special to me. She has to take so much care with me. Yeah, as the human, I'm the one in danger, but she has to put more into the relationship to make it work. She's the one watching herself, being so careful and mindful. The fact she wants to put up with all of that to be with me, it says a lot. It says a lot about my nonhuman friends, too. Unless I'm in a mech, having me around is… well, it's inconvenient. But they'd rather have me outside of the machine anyway."

"So you mean you always know when you're wanted?"

"Yes, that's right," Aubert said. "I know during your guardianship training you learned about how quickly human and nonhuman relationships develop due to trust and all that, but there's more to it than that. That's just psychology's explanation." He hesitated, taking a second guess on how to explain himself. He knew how ridiculous it could sound, especially from an engineer. "I think certain humans and nonhumans form special bonds. I mean like a bond of the soul, if they're real. There's just too many, ahhh, how to say." He paused again. Samel looked down at him, watching him curiously.

"Strange phenomena. Not every human can bond, not every nonhuman can bond. But you know when it's there. All of the unusual losses of inhibitions, the desire for physical contact, the comfort in one another's presence, the desire to make one another happy in unusual ways. With tighter bonds, like experienced pairs and mates, there's things like crippling separation anxiety. The nonhuman seems to get a sixth sense of where we are around them, just able to pick up when we're nearby. I've even read that when sleeping together, the nonhuman seems so aware of our presence, barely moving, knowing when we move."

If only Sairla believed that one. That thought gave him another pause. Sairla was so afraid to experiment, to put his safety in question in any of their interactions. Including sex. If the bond were real, it seemed to inject that unconscious care into the nonhumans. Sairla needed to learn to trust how much she cared for him and how that affected her instincts about protecting him. Would such instincts keep her from even clenching on him too hard on accident? The stories of human deaths from the negligence of a nonhuman they're close to were so few and far between. It was easier to find stories of accidents between strangers.

"Aubert?"

The charge blinked a few times, not realizing he meandered off into thought for so long. "Uuuhm… I mean, most humans will know if a nonhuman isn't making this bond. That it's not going to work. Nonhumans will know when a human isn't going to bond, either. Some people just don't seem to have it in them, or just fight it to keep things professional, I don't know. All I can really say is I've never had a bad nonhuman friend. I just have a better sense for realizing which ones will be the good ones after knowing them for a bit and, er, identifying this bond's presence or not. A human just knows, a nonhuman just knows. Because of it, we know when we're wanted, and it gets so strong that more sacrifices are made to maintain it."

Such as the lack of real sex in their marriage, Aubert thought. If he got too spiritual, he could wonder if this bond was strained from the lack of testing its durability. But that was too ridiculous even for him. Mostly.

It was Samel's turn for a long silence, the big otter slowly swimming along, digesting his coworker's words. It had to sound so stupid. He was probably just wondering how to word his rebuttal without sounding like an ass.

"I think I can believe that."

"What?"

Samel looked down at him again and smirked at the surprise on his coworker's face. "I said, I think I can believe that. Not spiritual or anything, it has to happen at the instinctual level. Think about it - Terra has all of those small, quadruped versions of our races. There's some kind of relationship already. I still can't believe nobody can explain it without getting religious or sounding like total sci-fi, but that relationship is there. Maybe it's instincts left over from old, old evolution. Stars, it's mind boggling to think about. But, what can I say? Terra is bonded to the rest of the galaxy with that commonality. And besides, I can't say I don't feel something for you. I like you, and want to keep you safe, and let you have fun swimming with me, even with this tumor on my chest. I don't exactly want to do anything like that with my other coworkers. It's strange, but it is what it is."

Aubert didn't have anything to say to that. His guardian seemed to take the appreciative silence as an end to this line of discussion, and refocused on swimming, picking up his pace and returning to his usual little tricks and maneuvers.

Aubert didn't want to remind him of the Katians or the sissach, and their abilities to form this bond too, despite not having any Terran relation. That was just a whole other layer to the great mystery of Terra with its myths of dragons and gryphons.

But it was nice to hear this from an Astejean. The new races didn't have too much of a history of interacting with humans, but one could already say he suspected some kind of bond can exist. Something happened at the instinctual level to keep humans safe.

It made the idea of being shoved up between his hundred foot tall wife's legs seem slightly less claustrophobically terrifying.

--

'Safe sex with a human.'

Sairla wasn't sure what would come up with her extranet search. She knew there was bound to be mountains of information on the topic online, but she expected to have to sift through it to find out what she'd be comfortable with.

What she didn't expect was the federal health site to be the first result.

She assumed it would just warn against doing it, but she opened it anyway. It probably would contain information on interspecies coupling, but humans were another matter, federal information always warned against dangerous activities with humans. She squawked low when it instead opened to a data entry page. It asked for her species, her gender, the human's gender, their ages, whether they've ever had real sex before, and whether they've successfully had simulated sex at their true sizes. She hesitantly filled it all out, tapping at the holo projected keys on the desk's surface.

A large, large list of sexual acts she might be interested in appeared that she could add to her search results. Sairla choked on her breath, her eyes dilating at the plethora of choices and their sub-categories. Oral play with beaks. Oral sex for her, or for him. Vaginal insertion, with toy or no toy. Anal insertion, same options. Paw sex. Breast sex. Tail sex! How would she use her tail? She wasn't an arkatian!

Then there was the help box. Federal pages were actively curated by artificial intelligences, and they all had the help box. If someone wanted more active help or couldn't find what they were looking for, an AI was always available to help after a little information was handed to them. Sairla couldn't imagine what kind of personality she'd end up with on a page like this, and she'd met some very eccentric intelligences in her time. What would a sex educator AI be like?

Seeing all the options for sex just scared her more. There were so, so many ways she could hurt her Wee-Bear. What would she do if she was too afraid to do any of it? Where was the option for 'I'm too afraid to mate with my husband. What do I do?' The help box was looking terribly tempting. Aubert had always encouraged her to be more open about her personal issues. But that was with him.

But Aubert also wasn't an AI that had probably seen her situation many times before. Surely her fears were not uncommon. She also knew he was afraid too - it was his life on the line. But he still seemed braver than her over it, and that was shocking. He used to be so timid and afraid of risking himself. She made sure he felt confident in himself and his abilities despite his size, but now she was the more frightened one. She should have listened to her own pep talks.

Sairla rolled back in her chair and stood up with an agitated twitch in her tail. She was still wearing just her panties. If her platoonmates saw her like this in the afternoon, she'd never live it down. She was supposed to be the one whipping them into shape, yet here she was. A disheveled mess wrapped up in doubt over her promise to Aubert. Did she really want to do this with him? Risk his life for some half-baked pleasure?

Her wings flared out and the gryphoness fell backwards onto her bed, staring up at the ceiling. Was this worth it?

Would it make her happy? Would it make him happy?

She trilled. Make him happy.

A chime came from her desk. Sairla picked her head up and squinted at the display. A sprite of a female pink wasaya, wearing an old human flight suit, complete with cap and goggles, was waving at her with a message in a speech bubble.

'Heya! Are you there? You've been inactive! Can I help?'

The gryphoness blinked, uncertain whether to be annoyed over the sudden contact, or relieved that someone else took the step for her.

But she accepted it. Aubert would have been disappointed in her for letting these frustrations get to her when help was literally in front of her face, in the form of a sprite hopping and waving at her. Sairla slid off the bed and dropped back down into her chair. She crossed one leg over the other, thinking for a moment. She slid a talon over the tracking space and tapped the big 'yes' button the AI gave her.

The sprite suddenly hopped out of its box and threw it off screen with one hand, wiping its hands. "Hello, Lamaasa here!" A high, chipper voice came to Sairla's earpiece. "Are you the human or the jahkatian?" The sprite put her hand up over her eyes, squinting out of the screen. She couldn't really see her, but shecould pretend. Sairla squawked, caught off guard by the AI's behavior.

"Jahkatian! Okay!" Lamaasa clapped her hands together, then brought her goggles down. "Let's do this! What can I do to help you mate with your boyfriend, mate, lover, husband, friend, or partner?"

Sairla clicked her beak several times, followed up with a blink, and a tilt of her head. "Uhhhm, husband. Hello, I'm Sairla. I'm-" She paused, the next words catching in her throat. Admitting, out loud, to someone who wasn't Aubert that she was afraid. It was more difficult than she expected.

Lamaasa took the silence as a chance to get in a quick, happy, "Hello, Sairla!" She bounced in the display. "Nice to meet you! Is something wrong?"

Sairla lowered her head with a slow, frustrated coo. "I'm too afraid to mate with him." Her wings fluttered behind the chair's backrest, surprised she just blurted it out.

"Oh!" The wasaya sprite covered her mouth with both hands. "Sexual endangerment syndrome! I love helping with these!" She hopped on her toes. "Okay okay! You're afraid to hurt him, right?"

"Ahh, yes." The jahkatian shook her head. "Wait, wait! This is common?"

"Of course! It's what we call it when an interspecies couple has hang-ups with the dangerous physical issues of mating. Not just with humans!" Lamaasa pulled her goggles back up, and leaned forward, making her face larger. "Right now, I'm helping a neishor figure out how to anally penetrate his tordenchi boyfriend. He's so worried! Poor dear."

Sairla's wings burst out to her sides, too much information! But curious! "W-wait now. He'll actually be able to do it? That's possible? How?!" Of course she knew of such couples, but she figured penetrative sex had to be out of the question, unless it's a simulation.

The wasaya sprite dropped her goggles back down and folded her arms. "Wow! You don't watch much porn, do you? Lots, and lots, of medical nanite lube. It gives some anesthesia, flesh strengthening, medical science is great. They'll have to go slow and careful, at first, but the little one can be trained to take it pretty well! They'll always need the lubricant, though."

Sairla placed her arms on the desk and rubbed at the side of her beak. The logistics of a little mouse tordenchi taking a male equine neishor made her mind do flips trying to fathom them. She might actually have to look up this alleged porn after this. She glanced back at the display. The sprite used one hand to form a ring with her index finger and thumb and bumped her fist against it with a big grin on her face.

The jahkatian squawked, and it rolled right into a laugh. "Oh, stars, that's adorable!"

"Isn't it just? They sound so happy right now." She ceased the gesture, then pointed at the organic on the other side of the display. "If you think that's dangerous, then you're in luck! More accidents happen from nonhuman, cross-species size difference mating than humans with nonhumans. All it takes is some preparation, and it will be fine. I'd bet it's safer than you think it is."

Sairla's humor petered out as she remembered what her problem was. She pointed back at the sprite. "But there's still a risk. What if we're the rare instance something goes wrong?"

The AI shrugged. "Then take some comfort in the fact that if you follow my precautions, then he'll survive without any lasting harm. I guarantee that."

The jahkatian let out a few uncertain clicks, staring at the screen. She didn't want to hurt Aubert either, but killing him was the nightmare scenario that had been haunting her. A guarantee that the nightmare wouldn't come to pass was nice, but how much of that was just confidence boosting? "I don't think I believe that."

Lamaasa did a little hop and pointed at Sairla, a big smile across her cartoonish face. "Well lucky for you, it's my job to show you how safe it can be! With the right preparation." She dropped the pointing pose and brought her hand up to her forehead, squinting as she looked around the room she couldn't see. "Is your hubby around? It's better to do this with both of you hearing the same thing."

Sairla glanced at the time. 14:24. It was already so late. "He should be home from work within the hour."

"That's fine! I can wait."

"I need to put on some pants and clean up before he gets here. He can't see me like this."

The AI frowned and tilted her head. "This is really matting your fur, isn't it? It makes sense. He's your lover, and he's so small. It'd be easy to hurt him, it's not unreasonable to be so worried about it."

"I can't believe I was the one to propose it." She shook her head and touched the top of her beak with one hand. "What was I thinking?"

"Organics are weird," Lamaasa said, with great confidence. "Lots of inconsistent emotional quirks. But! I've done enough hazed simulations where I was a sexually stunted organic, too." Sexually stunted? Sairla's eyes narrowed, but she couldn't quite protest that. "I think I learned enough to understand. Something like this is important for you two as a couple, it's a big milestone in a relationship, and you two have missed it for so long. Dissatisfaction, anxiety, lots of thoughts of never being able to do it. Any of this sound familiar?" She took the jahkatian's silence as an affirmative. "You're afraid of hurting him, yet you want to do it. You can be afraid and still want to do something, I'm sure I don't need to tell you that."

It was true. A soldier knew that well. She was afraid during the Merita raid, but it was an important mission, no way would she let fear get in the way of that. "Yes," she said. "You're right. I'll be back with Aubert soon."

--

The skycar settled down into the bay and the hum of its engine gave way to silence, but Aubert didn't get out. He idled in his mech, staring forward at the bare wall in front of the car. This was it. The first step. Sairla said she'd start looking into how to mate with him while he was at work. If she did, it was going to be a very interesting evening. It was intimidating, but it had to be done.

He looked over to the passenger seat. A large white bag was sitting in it, its top folded over. Hopefully this treat would bring her mood up. She didn't seem to be in the best spirits this morning. He steeled himself, grabbed the bag, and got out of the car. He pulled the door open, strode through, and found his mate leaning over the counter, watching him. She trilled. "Owie." She dragged the pet name out, the end of it becoming a coo. She looked a little better. Her fur and feathers freshly brushed. She was wearing some tight, charcoal dark pants that hugged her lower body in such an alluring way. She always looked incredible to him, at her true size or simulated fun size.

"Hey, Sair," he said, and walked around the counter to her side. She bent down low to nuzzle the face of his mech, her beak tapping the faceplate. Her hand brushed over his chest, resting on it for a few moments even as she pulled her mouth away. He couldn't feel her, but he always felt a flush of warmth when she rested her hand on the machine's chest. Her welcoming hand, so close to him, separated by the plate of the cockpit. He'd be in it soon. The human lifted the bag up with both hands and slid it onto the high counter. "Got you something."

She already knew what it was, she certainly smelled it. She chirped and opened the bag, wings fluttering, her tail sliding gratefully over his leg. She looked inside, her beak coming closer for a sniff. "Oh, stars. Thank you Owie!" She reached into the bag and pulled out a big, plump piece of banana bread. Her favorite comfort food in the universe. Fresh, moist, and heavy on the banana, he knew she'd love it. It was always worth the cost.

The jahkatian took a big bite out of it, a happy hum coming from her. She chewed it fast and looked back down to him. "Go on, little one. Dock the machine. I wish to hold you."

He couldn't agree more. Aubert turned to head to the mech's dock. Coming home to her caring hands was one of the best parts of her being off deployment. He couldn't get enough of it, even with how much she laid on the affection yesterday. He berthed his machine, dropped the neural link, and hopped out of his chair to stride out to the platform and find Sairla's hand coming towards him. He raised his arms as her fingers closed around him and slowly lifted him up to her face. She already smelled of bananas.

She brushed against him, and he rubbed her beak, a proper nuzzling. "How was your day?" he asked her.

She squawked, the rough warble to it sounding rather resigned. "Stressful. It took me too long to work up to doing that search." So she did it. She might actually have committed to this. "Did you go for that swim?" She pulled him away from her beak and fixed one big eye on him, the pupil dilating and focusing hard. Despite being the eye of a giant predator, that look was always so amusing. It bore into him with all the ferocity of a puppy. At least to him. Apparently it scared some people. But he always knew that laser focused avian eye only looked at him with a playful glare, the emptiest silent threat.

He smirked, leaning over her hand to look closer into her eye. "Yep. It was really fun. Interesting talk, too. You were right."

The eye blinked at him, then her cheek came into brush against him. "Good. Was the amelshen as difficult as you expected?" She turned away from him to grab her bread bag.

"He was a lot better than I gave him credit for. He made it really enjoyable. Relaxing, slow, rolled when I asked him to. And he held me on his chest while he floated on his back, just like the otter in the zoo."

Sairla giggled. "Aww…" She started walking across their apartment, to her desk by the bed. "Like when that one held her pup?"

"Just like that." That earned another coo of adoration. "Would you like to go to the zoo again sometime this quarter?"

"Absolutely," she said as she sat down and put the bag on the table. "The big one and the little one. Did you keep my proxy safe?"

"Of course. I even give it a kiss every morning."

"Aw, Wee-Bear." She moved her carrying hand to her chest, just beneath her breasts. "You're such a pathetic little thing."

She giggled again, and Aubert felt the small, quick movements against his back. "The worst."

She brought her other hand up to him, and brushed his front, lightly pushing him against her. "A cutie though, so it's alright."

That earned a laugh from the human, and he tilted his head into her fingers as her talons gently slid up his chest. He didn't really give it a kiss every morning, but he did look at it a lot while at his desk. It was difficult not to think of her when admiring it. The proxy enabled a lot of wonderful experiences with his mate, including visiting a human scaled zoo, with Terran animals. She loved seeing them, and to him it was such a genuine interest, though with an odd perception of 'cute,' such as with the hippos. A lot of nonhumans seemed to go in their proxies to gawk at their quadruped counterparts. Sairla just liked to see them all, especially the 'big little gray ones.' The elephants, hippos, and rhinos. He still remembered clearly the high cry of excitement from her proxy when a baby elephant showed itself.

Aubert remembered finding the red pandas particularly cute. About as cute as that cartoony, very pink 'red' panda that flopped on the virtual floor on Sairla's holo display. Its big eyes were closed, a bubble coming from its nose as it snoozed away on its stomach, chin on the ground.

"Is that an AI?" he asked.

"Yes. That's Lamaasa. She's here to help us figure out how to mate without killing you."

"Oh." Aubert felt his cheeks flush. It was a good idea to talk to an AI specialist, but it didn't make it any less embarrassing to be talking about such personal things with one.

Sairla seemed to pick up on his unease over the idea, as her fingers curled around his body, and gave him a gentle, reassuring squeeze, like a hug. "Owie, I know that makes you uncomfortable." He craned his neck back to look up at her. She clicked when they made eye contact. "But I want to make sure we have the best advice."

This whole thing definitely scared her more than it did him, and she wasn't the one that would be in danger. This had to be the stupidest hill to die on if he protested. An AI would have access to all the data and information they'd need to show how this could be safe. It could have been the thing that put her fears to rest, and perhaps his own. A bit of embarrassment would be nothing.

He draped one arm over her fingers and squeezed them in a hug of his own. "Alright. Let's talk to her."

Sairla let out a happy trill. "Thank you." She took her hand away from him and looked back up to the holo screen. She tapped the projected interface, turning her input audio on. "Lamaasa. My husband is here."

The sleeping red panda muttered and rolled over onto her back. "Aaahnyaaa…. Five more minutes." She started to make some soft snores.

Aubert and Sairla looked at each other. Aubert barely contained his laughter, fighting the smile from crossing his face. His mate's face was impassive for a few moments, but the undersides of her eyes turned up as she started to giggle. "She's a little silly, yes," she said.

That was hardly new, but Aubert didn't expect a sex educator AI to be one of the ridiculous ones. "A little might be an understatement."

Suddenly, the sleeping AI wasaya shot up to her feet, flailing her arms. "Oh stars, oh stars, I hear a human! You must be Aubert, I've heard so much about you! You're the one that's going to go diving!"

Aubert blushed and looked away, even if the AI couldn't really see them. "Uh, that's me."

She nodded and flicked her tail, then pulled her goggles down. "Okay! Let's do this! I have a few questions, and they're going to be super invasive." She grinned, not even giving them a moment to digest that before she spilled out her first question. "Have you ever tried simulation sex?"

"Same size sex all the time," Sairla answered, not nearly as perturbed by the question as Aubert was.

"What about real size?"

That one gave Sairla pause, and Aubert looked up at her, wondering if he had to answer this one, even if it was a shameful experience for him too. Sairla clicked and looked down at him and answered. "We tried it a couple times, hazed and unhazed, and I couldn't… get aroused."

Aubert didn't have that problem, which made the experience quite the awkward and shameful memory. "Y-yeah. It didn't work out and we never tried again."

"Hmm, yes." The AI flicked her ears. "Unless you have the respective size fetishes, that isn't unexpected. It's normally the fear causing the dysfunction, and the best I can do for that is to minimize the fear. The thrill of doing it for real may help as well. Just try not to be deterred if it happens again. I take it vaginal insertion is the only thing you're looking to try right now?"

"Yes," Sairla said. Aubert noticed a slight croak to how she said it, something he knew happened when she was anxious. She was trying so hard to be the strong one here, as she always was.

"Sairla, how much experience do you have with real vaginal penetration?"

The jahkatian squawked. "Why in the stars do you need to know that?"

"I'm assessing the need for muscle relaxants," Lamaasa answered, completely straight faced.

Sairla grinded her beak. "I've only used my dildos."

Aubert choked down his surprise, and just started to stroke the base of her thumb. He had no idea. He figured a jahkatian such as her, so sociable and sure of herself, would have had a few partners before him. His wife was a real-sex virgin?

Lamaasa, to her credit, didn't show any sign of surprise or teasing, and was all business. "And how tall are you?"

"Two and a half valen."

That, however, gave the AI pause. Her head tilted. "Really? Wow, I wish I could see you," she gasped. "But, that puts you in large arkatian and neishor territory, so it should be fairly roomy for Aubert. But, large size means tighter clenching. You'll want a good dose of muscle relaxants, just in case. Once you have more experience, you could remove them from your routine entirely. I'll start a shopping basket for all the things you'll need, if that's alright."

"Okay," Aubert answered when Sairla hesitated. He almost hesitated himself. The need for a muscle relaxant didn't exactly help his confidence in her instincts protecting him. Drugging her up seemed rather counter to that.

Lamaasa pulled a shopping basket out from behind her and threw in a box. "Right! So, for insertion you'll want safety equipment for Aubert. I suggest using these things every time, they're not something you can wean off of like the muscle relaxants." She started counting on her fingers. "A harness, a non-stretch tether, a rebreather, and claw-tip caps for Sairla."

"I have caps already," Sairla said. The fingers of her carrying hand curled and brushed his side with her distinctly un-capped claws. He had watched her masturbate with those caps plenty of times. The thought of being with her capped fingers in the midst of the action made him bring his legs together.

"Yes, most do. I just need to make sure. The other things are usually sold in kits, but the best ones are sold separately, and usually get bundled into a generic kit box anyway. A good harness will minimize the shock of pulling him out too quick, with no worries about the tether or contact points bre-"

"Only high quality, please," Sairla said, cutting her off with a short squawk.

The AI threw little sprites of the respective items into her basket. "That's all the essentials. Are you interested in any toys? Mind you, I will only suggest toys fit for rookies."

Both spouses were quiet, staring at the screen. Toys? Aubert didn't think about toys. "What kind of toys?" he tentatively asked.

"Well, the most popular one is also the safest one out there!" She put the basket down, pulled out a clear dildo, and held it out to them. Aubert's eyes widened. He had a great guess on what that was. "A hollow, transparent dildo that the little one can be sealed inside of! The better ones have lights so you can see all of your mate's love tunnel. Or her tail hole if you like that!" She turned it on, and the dildo lit up.

"Yes!" Sairla squawked with excitement. Aubert's attention shot back up to her. He knew she'd go for that. She met his look with her eyes glinting and eagerly turned up. "Wee-Bear, that sounds perfect! Let's do the one with the lights."

Aubert looked at her with an open mouthed smile. She was really getting into this. The litany of safety equipment must have helped in letting out that thrill seeker he fell in love with. All she needed was assurance she wouldn't hurt him, and he'd be safe. "I'd love to do that with you, hon."

That was one hell of a kinky idea. He never found the thought of sexually coupling with a nonhuman outside of a simulation particularly appealing. It looked more terrifying than sexy. But damn was it looking good the more Lamaasa went on.

The jahkatian clicked happily and pulled her mate up to nuzzle against him. "What else is there?" she asked and lowered him to her chest, just above her breasts.

The pink wasaya threw the dildo into the basket. "I knew you would like that one. Most do. I put in one appropriate for your size. Now, for others. Hmm, are you interested in any domination play? There's jewelry that can carry Aubert. Necklaces, bracelets, nipple chains…" She waved her hand, not needing to list it all off.

Sairla shook her head, and Aubert had to agree. "No, that's not for us," she said. There was always a certain thrill to being playfully 'dominated' by a nonhuman. The dildo would be in that vein. But that was kinky, sexual fun. Being inside a necklace just sounded like a more cramped drunk tank to Aubert.

"Fair enough!" Lamaasa said. "Now, since you're so large, orgasm eggs should work for you. They'll be a bit cramped for Aubert, but they're a way to stay inside for a while, rebreather oxygen permitting." She pulled out a transparent egg from one of her large pockets and opened it. "Just get inside, shove it up between your legs, and you can walk around. It feels great. There's this string here to get it out quick and easy if needed." She let the string drop from the base of the egg.

"Hmmm, I like that. A lot," Sairla said, and used her free hand to brush Aubert with the back of two fingers. "Not for our first time, though. Do you think we should get it for later, Owie?"

"Uhm, well." He put a hand on one of her fingers. Now that one was getting to be more frightening. He was lucky he wasn't claustrophobic. "I guess we might experiment if this works out."

She looked down at him, his place against her chest forcing her eyes to narrow down her beak at him. "Aubert, don't say that if it scares you. You know I won't do it if you don't want it."

He stood up in her palm and reached up to rub the end of her beak. She leaned down to brush the tip at his cheek. "Let's see how I like the dildo first, then."

"Of course," Sairla said. She pulled her beak away and reached to her bread bag, opening it up and taking out a fresh slice. She offered it to Aubert. He pulled off a sizeable piece for himself and took a bite. "I can't wait to have my big stud inside me."

Aubert nearly choked on his bread.

--

"Aaand that's it!" The AI pulled up her goggles and looked over the invoice on their screen. "A nice discount on the protective items, I must say! Those military benefits, hmm?" Her tail flicked and her sprite whirled back around to face them. "Okay! So shipping is telling me they can have your package delivered to you at 17:48."

Sairla blinked, one of her wings twitching behind her chair's backrest, but Aubert beat her to the question. "They can get it to us in a half hour? Really?"

The AI bounced, giggling. "Mhmmm! The sex industry makes a killing off horny impulse buys. You wouldn't believe how much they invest into their shipping."

The jahkatian snapped at her, making a loud clack, indignantly flinging some remnants of banana bread through the display. "This wasn't an impulse buy!" She thought she was being exceptionally considerate with the whole thing, but she couldn't deny the arousal from it.

"Of course not! You should never impulsively mate with your human partners. At least, that's what the Department of Health's documentation on heteroxeno relationships says. But, stars!" She clapped her hands together, her eyes sparkling. "Some of the stories people tell me about surprise sex with human partners are so cute!"

Sairla lightly scratched her desktop with her free talons, a little twitch of predatory eagerness, she knew. Aubert apparently noticed it, as she felt his little hands tug on one of the claws of her holding hand, prompting her to look down at him. He winked at her, making her coo. Her finger curled and gently rubbed over his chest, threatening to rip his shirt if she pushed just enough to catch the fabric. She never hurt him with talon games, always knowing just the right amount of pressure to keep herself from harming him, like it was instinct. "I can't believe I'm not shocked to hear people tell you about their sex. Tell us one."

She chirred when her Wee-Bear blushed. "Sair…" he muttered. "You're a pervert." The jahkatian giggled. He was too cute when she teased him. But he was devilishly handsome when he teased her back. She lifted him up to her mouth and playfully nudged his head with her beak tip, grazing his skin. She licked over his face, the best she could do for a kiss with her limiting anatomy, and his tiny form. She felt him plant his own proper kiss on her tongue.

"My favorites are the ones with a female in heat," Lamaasa said, snickering, and oblivious to what was happening in front of the screen. "This morning this lovely couple told me of their first heat mating. The human, she asked her lupari girlfriend to not take her suppressants. The lupari told her no, then went and didn't take them anyway to surprise her partner."

Sairla clicked and closed her hand around Aubert, pulling him into her neck feathers so they could both focus on the AI. Surprise heat sex? Jahkatians didn't have a heat, nor did humans, but she and Aubert had simulated it numerous times. Her husband claimed his pelvis ached even after getting out of the simulation pod. She couldn't imagine what a heat induced female would do to a human at real size.

"What happened then?" Aubert asked. Sairla felt him shifting against her throat, sinking into her feathers enough to feel the heat of his tiny body. The closeness made her purr contentedly.

"They always slept together, with the human snuggled in her partner's thick neck fur. So she was completely used to big movements, breathing, heat, the odd lick, and could sleep through being handled. So come morning, worked up from the heat, the lupari brought her lover between her legs, still asleep, and pushed her against her drooling sex. She thought she was being licked and was sleepily kissing at it as she was rubbed over it, before the scent of her partner in heat finally got through to her and she woke up. She screamed! But the lupari, even out of her mind in heat, she could still understand her partner. She realized it was like one of those excited screams during their predator games, and that was when she just slid over her girlfriend, covered her, wrapped her in her lips, and grinded atop her until she came. Then, not stopping, she lifted off of her, scooped her little one up with her fingers, and pushed her inside and thrusted until she came again."

Both lovers watched the little Wasaya pant, her avatar brightening with exaggerated blushes while she fingered at the air. "When they were finally done an hour later, they both decided right there they didn't need the suppressants anymore."

"It was that good?" Sairla's wings flapped, waving through the air several times. So dangerous! And so pleasurable? They just did it like that with nothing but the claw caps? She was surprised she found the idea so… exciting!

"Oh, you two. You'll see. The helplessness of the human, the power of the nonhuman. You know how it goes. It turns out, it's an incredible aphrodisiac."

Sairla clicked. The power dynamic was something every guardian was well aware of. The feeling of holding such a small, important life, how easy it would be to do anything they wanted to them. Everyone felt it the first time. It was a primitive sensation, but it still crossed her mind at times even after years of guardianship for humans. It's what lead to the teasing of familiar pairs, or even the games. A little indulging of that power. For the human, it was the thrill of being so helpless, yet so safe and sure of someone that could end them with just a squeeze of their fist.

She never thought of what it could do for sex.

"Lamaasa," Sairla said, her voice quivering slightly. "Thank you for your help today. You were wonderful. But I need to take this morsel to bed now." She'd be damned if she didn't get the foreplay in before the toys arrived.

Aubert called out from her hand, his voice dampened by smothering feathers and breaking with laughter. "What have you done?"

"My job. Fuck her senseless, little guy! Have fun, you two!" Not daring to delay, the AI waved at both of them, then a small, undersized human propeller plane flew onto the screen. She grabbed one of its little wheels as it passed above her, and then it turned away to carry her off into the nonexistent distance, until she vanished as a tiny speck.

--

The AI did far more than Aubert had anticipated. When he came home today, he expected a bit of research, a serious talk, and a push to try the sex in a few weeks. Instead, a pink panda sex therapist had talked his wife into taking the plunge this very night. A part of him was already worried it was too soon, too quick to decide or prepare, but the way she rolled him into her cupped hands and pressed her thumbs against his sides, delicately rubbing his body as she got up out of her seat was all the assurance he needed that she was far from out of her mind. She still had every intent to keep him safe.

He turned to kiss at one of her thumbs, and she responded by brushing his cheek with her claw. She turned around to her bed and lowered him down to the blanket, her hands parting and dropping him onto the soft surface. Both massive appendages pushed down at either side of him, subtly shifting the foam mattress beneath him and pushing him upward as her face lowered. Warm air billowed against his face as her beak tip nudged at his chest, then pushed his chin up, the hook of her mouth sliding carefully over his throat.

The little man rested his cheek against the curve of her beak, and looked up into one large blue eye. "Are you sure you want to do this, hon?"

She clicked, a snip just inches from his neck. He was pushed off of her as she spoke. "Shh. Talk me out of this, and we won't try again for weeks. Let's just enjoy each other, Owie. See where it goes." She pulled away from him, her hands lifting up as she stood straight. From here, he was just above her knees, but it was still the span of a building rising above. He'd long since gotten over the vertigo of looking up at a nonhuman so close, but he sucked in a sharp breath and felt his head swimming all the same. She was always so gorgeous, even when the sheer enormity of her left him at a loss on what to do for her.

Her head tilted to one side, a rapid twitch of her avian physiology, as if she, too, was lost on what to do with one so small. He knew what she found attractive about him - the color of his hair, the softness of his skin, the angle of his jaw and shape of his ears. She'd talked of those things in their simulations, where she could actually feel those features in her hands. He loved the shape of her rounded beak, the broad span of her wings, the size of her eyes - it was a laundry list of things that made her so gorgeous to him. But he just couldn't say her enormity could get him hot and bothered, and he doubted a male she could hold in her hand could make her do much more than coo in cute adoration.

But she was still beautiful, big or not. The thought of this much incredible jahkatian had his heart racing with anticipation. He had to let her know. "Sair," he said, his voice low with his short breath. He pushed up on his elbows, neck straining as he looked so high up at her. "Stars, you're stunning, you overgrown mountain of a bird."

She clicked, and her wings suddenly burst out to her sides, making her loom even larger. She flapped, sending a gust of a wind that felt like it could lift his body if he pushed up from the bed. She kept both spread, more than tripling her width, and completely filling his vision. He couldn't fit all of her into his view, forcing him to look at her with a wandering gaze, admiring those wings he so enjoyed. "You're too handsome, you runty little ape. Let's see how much mountain you can handle."

She crossed one arm over her chest, atop her breasts, while the other went behind her. She pulled the magnetic clasp binding her top just above her wings, causing the fabric to loosen atop her shoulders. A tug from the hand on her chest pulled it down, making it crumple over her arm, exposing her upper chest, but keeping her bosom hidden aside from the teasing peaking of her cleavage.

She reached down to her waist, behind her lower back, undoing the next binding that kept the lower half of the shirt around her. Her shirt went slack in front of her stomach, sliding away and dangling in the air. Aubert swallowed. It wasn't the first time she'd done this. She'd given him shows at real size before, but it always felt like a game, just something to amuse him, a little fun. Even when it got physical, it was an indulging of a little curiosity, neither one of them so interested in taking it very far. The real, proper fun was in their simulations.

But the way she was looking at him, it was far more than just a spectacle now. The lighter feathers of her brow were up with worry, her cheeks tense as if she were scared. She was hesitating on showing herself, he realized. Was she ashamed?

"Is something wrong, hon?" Aubert asked as he sat up. Not wanting her to feel like the only one exposing herself, he started to undo the buttons of his shirt.

"Aubert," she softly cooed, her wings quivering. "Do you think my size is… sexy?"

The human paused on his third button, much of his chest already exposed, and looked up at her. She clicked when their eyes met. "Of cour-" Her eyes narrowed. She hated false assurances. All he could do was be honest. He sighed and looked away, thinking for a moment. "Sair, I- I don't know yet. I think you're gorgeous, you know that. But- hrmm…" He rubbed the back of his head. He wasn't sure how to explain. Perhaps it was best not to, to just say what he was certain of. "But, I do know you're the only one I've ever imagined, and wanted, to do this with."

Sairla was quiet, staring him down for a few more silent moments. He was starting to worry the answer made her unhappy.

Her fingers suddenly released her shirt, the top falling down from between her arms and chest, hitting Aubert with a short gust of wind as it dropped from his view. The human sucked in a sharp breath, staring up at the bottoms of her breasts, her pink nipples just barely visible at their peaks from his low and close view. She was, undeniably, the sexiest thing in his life. Small, big, it mattered little - the sight of her made him stir in his trousers. But for once, he felt the urgent desire for having those tits smother him with their true, monumental, man-crushing enormity.

He swallowed. "And then you go and make me eat my own words."

"Oooh?" She lowered herself to her knees, her chest not far above his head, then leaned forward, sliding her tits onto the mattress, until they came to rest on either side of him, the little man totally surrounded as her forearms closed in, serving to tighten her tits around him, shrinking his space, but not squeezing him. The heat of her body quickly had him flushing. "You think you can handle them, little Wee-Bear?"

"Not at all." He leaned to his left, planting a short kiss into her fur.

She giggled and pushed her beak in with him, nudging him into the fur, forcing the soft flesh to yield against his little body. "Mmm… already stiff?"

Aubert blushed. His body was quick to respond, quicker than he expected. She nudged him a little tighter, pressing his whole front into the inside of her breast, pushing him around and forcing the tent in his pants to grind over it. "O-oh stars," he groaned, making her laugh again over his non-answer.

The jahkatian playfully pushed her beak up between his legs, lifting him and then knocking him over, sending him falling down onto his back for her to lower her mouth onto him, nipping at his clothing. "Take it off. All of it." Her breath, so close, felt hot and damp in the already powerful heat of her huge pillows. She pulled back then, giving him some room while she stared down, watching, a stern, playful dominance furrowing her brow.

Now it was Aubert's turn to hesitate. It was easy to find her sexy, despite her enormity. At least he could admire her, even if it did make any hope of normal sex completely impossible. But, how could a nonhuman find any sex appeal in a tiny little human?

"No fear, Owie, I want to see you," she whispered, her eyes softening into gentle assurance.

He smiled, blushing once more. It wouldn't be the first time she saw him naked at his real size, but those times he wasn't baring himself to mate with her. There was no reason to care. Now, it was like he had to prove himself, and he quite literally had so little going for him. But she wanted to see him anyway.

He swallowed his embarrassing inadequacy, got to his feet, and started on the rest of his buttons.

--

Sairla watched her little mate slowly undo his shirt. He had blond hairs on his chest, but at his size, even her keen avian vision struggled to see them against his skin. He had a bit of tone to his abdomen, despite how much time he spent in a mech, though he was hardly trained for strength as she was.

He pulled his shirt off, letting it fall from his arms. His true size made it more difficult to appreciate his appearance, but he was still every bit the good-looking man she thought he was. But, he was still small. She couldn't mate with this. Not like she could in their sessions. She couldn't even touch his chest with her whole hand, hold his head, or wrap him in her wings. A lot was lost by them being so different.

He went for his pants next. She watched his hands as they worked at his buckle, then the button. She clicked when he pulled down, taking his underwear down with his pants. His erection bobbed free when he straightened back up. Humans weren't exactly large between the legs for their size, but he could be as endowed as a neishor and it wouldn't matter here. It was a tall order to see a human at their true size and want to mate with them.

But this was Wee-Bear. Her Owie. Not just another human, and he was absolutely striking.

She was just about to praise him when she realized something. He was softening. Stripping in front of her had sapped his excitement. He was ashamed.

Sairla trilled soft and low, a reassuring coo. "My wonderful little man." She brought her head back down between her breasts to push her beak against the soft skin of his chest, the end going low enough to brush against his struggling arousal. "I wouldn't wish for anything different about the real you." She made sure her breath hit his shaft, then slipped out her pointed tongue, cupping it under his balls, pulling them up as she licked before sliding up the underside, pinning his length against his body.

The tiny male gasped and clung to her beak, leaning against it with his arms wrapped around as much of it as he could. She narrowed her eyes on him, trying to watch his face to see how much he enjoyed it, but his moan was all the proof she needed. She pushed him backwards, propping him against her forearm. She slid her tongue back under his balls, smothering his cock, and treated it to subtle twists and flexes.

"S-sair, I- oh stars," he tried to say. Her minute movements brought him so much pleasure, nothing like her feeble attempts at oral in the simulations. Her beak was simply too much of a limitation. Like this, though, she could cover his whole cock with just her tongue. Coupled with his cute little cries and stutters of pleasure, it had her eyes lidding partially as she watched him. She was so happy she could pleasure him like this, for real.

She could feel his cock had hardened by now, but kept on going. Her tongue dragged him partially up against her arm, making his legs squeeze against her mouth, his feet no longer touching the bed. She giggled at his squirming and his hands clinging to her. Her wings fluttered with excitement. So little physical effort from her was making her lover writhe. It was better for him than she hoped.

Perhaps too good, though. She finally chose to relent before she pushed him too far. Figuring out how much it would take to tongue him to climax was something for another day. He dropped back onto her arm, his own limbs going back to keep himself up. His cock was glistening from her work, and more importantly - throbbing hard. She nosed at his chest. "Don't you ever be embarrassed showing yourself to me, Owie."

Aubert sighed, his face flushed from her efforts, and planted a kiss on the end of her beak. "Thank you. So much."

--

Sairla clicked and lifted her head away, and her arm moved behind him, prompting him to push off of it and drop down onto the bed, his senses still half frazzled from the experience. Her tongue felt amazing, but so much of the excitement of it was from the thrill of it all - a massive, unstoppable muscle working him over, manhandling him as if he weighed nothing. A distant part of it was terrifying, being faced with just how much power even her tongue could have over him. But the trust he had in her, despite their differences, was intoxicating.

His wife got to her paws, looming above him once more. She made less of a show out of her pants, simply undoing the button and pulling them down her broad hips with just a dash of teasing slowness, exposing her panties. They were a bright violet, with a few dark swirls patterning them. Framed by her strong, broad thighs. They were an alluring sight, and also a reminder of what was ahead. He'd have to pay her back for the attention soon.

Her pants hit the floor with an audible whump. She turned around and stepped out of them, and her tail made an exaggerated dart through the air above him, the tuft on the end dancing just over his head. She reached for the binding above it, supporting her undergarment. She gave it a tug, undoing it, then hooked her thumbs in the band. Her tail raised up as she bent over, treating him with the full sight of her ass. Broad and toned from her years of training, he could see the flexing chords of muscle as she shook it, shimmying her panties over the breadth of her hips.

She peeked back at him as they slid down her thighs, revealing just a glimpse of the pink of her folds nestled in her fur. He knew she was looking to read his expression, but he didn't need at all to exaggerate for her. Aubert felt a renewed rush of warmth to his groin at the sight and bit at his lower lip. Apparently, instincts didn't quite care that he had no hope in the stars to take her like he could in their sessions.

Her wings fluttered and she let out a happy trill. "You don't make faces like that in the simulations, Wee-Bear." She let the panties drop down to her paws and stepped out of them as she turned back to face him. He could see her lips from his view below, and the shape of her mound. He might not be able to mate with her like he could in those simulations, but stars, he had to admit her true enormity just made every part of her so much more exciting to watch.

"Yes, well, in those I'm not confronted with a pussy that could literally swallow me."

His wife giggled, went to her nightstand, and grabbed the small case that held her claw caps. He kept her back to him as she put them on and shook her hips side to side. He was more than happy to watch.

He saw her glance back at him as she did it, making him look up to meet eyes. She hastily turned back to her caps. He noticed her wing tips quivering. She always did that when she was trying to contain a happy flap.

With all claws covered, she returned to her husband and reached down for him. Aubert's arms went up, and her scaled fingers quickly closed around him with well-honed care. Her palm pressed into his erection, pinning it against him and making him hiss with surprised pleasure. She'd stroked him off in the simulations before, but at her true size, her scales were smoother against his flesh, though much more unyielding.

She held him against her stomach as she crawled onto the bed, her movements slow and careful. Aubert watched the rolling hills of her blanket pass below. This would be the first time he'd have sex with his wife in her bed. A real bed. Maybe, by the end of this, it could even be their bed. The warm thought made him smile and turn his head to push his cheek up against the soft fur of his mate's belly.

Sairla gathered all six of her pillows into one big pile, then rolled over to lay back on them, her wings spreading out to either side of her and coming to rest. She held her husband above her chest, clicked once at him, then plopped him down onto his knees between her breasts, just in front of her glowing ID tags, and that little bronze heart. They were each around a head taller than him standing, with her nipples adding nearly another head's worth of height. He'd been between her bare tits numerous times, but this was the first time he was set on doing something about it. He already knew what he had to do.

"How shall we start, Owie?" she asked.

Aubert smiled at her wide, blue-eyed look. Her eyes were narrowed on him, waiting for him to act first. He noticed them shift down just slightly, looking at his cock. A cruel voice in the back of his mind was still nagging at him that he was far, far, too inadequate for her.

He didn't let it get to him this time. "How about…" He turned to the massive breast on his left and placed a hand on it. "I climb on up and suck some huge tits."

She cooed, and a rush of wind hit him as her wings started to flutter. "Think you can handle them, little man?"

"Not at all. Feel free to laugh when I fall off."

"Of course."

He pushed his hand into the plump globe. Soft even to his insignificant strength, not at all like the firm footing on her sternum, but it wouldn't be a problem. It was still so much heavier than him, he wouldn't be able to move it much. He grabbed hold of the light fur and pulled himself up to the shallower slope of the top of her breast, barely even moving it in his brief scramble.

But then the whole thing wobbled as Sairla cupped the other side and squeezed along the bottom. Aubert gave her a flat look.

She blinked and squawked innocently, a questioning rise to the low sound.

The human crawled the last few feet to her plump areola, his hands sliding onto it. A sharp intake of air came from behind him. They were always so soft and smooth in the simulations, but so much larger now, he could feel all the little bumps so clearly. The pink flesh gave way under his weight, letting him sink in as he brought most of his weight onto it. It was even better than the simulations. There was so much more to feel, bare skin upon bare skin.

He crawled up to the center and planted a kiss right in the middle of her soft nipple. He had the sudden thought, that when it stiffened up, he was small enough to play with the duct. But this was an awkward way to do it, he wasn't sure how to play with it. He'd much rather face her, but if he went around to the other side of the nipple, he might just have slid off the steeper angle.

"Owie." The hand holding her breast moved above him and she slid her forefinger and thumb beneath him. She plucked him up. Aubert's stomach sank. Did he mess it up? Was she changing her mind?

"Sair, wai-" She brought him to her other hand, turning him over to face her. She lowered him back down toward the underside of her breast, and held him against it, the nipple just before him.

"I want to see you as you do it."

Aubert relaxed, and brought his attention back to her teat. With her holding him, this was far more manageable. "I was thinking the same thing." He reached out with both hands and massaged into the big nub.

She cooed softly, eyes lidding. Her hand pushed him a little closer, sinking him against her bosom. It was so close. He bent closer, his face just above it, tongue coming out, and licked. "Y-yes!" she cried. "I-I know. You looked confused. This is better than watching your hairy butt, anyway."

His attempt at a sensual lick fell apart to laughter, with a dash of embarrassment. "Sair!"

She squawked at him and rubbed his back with a finger from her other hand. "It's still a nice butt! I'd just rather see your handsome face."

His laughing petered out as a swell of pride hit him in the chest. It felt so much better hearing her compliments at his true size, no matter how many times he heard them. With a renewed vigor, he squeezed her nip between both of his hands and licked the outer edge. He grinned as he felt her tensing, her fingers squeezing him a little tighter. She didn't seem so sensitive in the simulations.

A few more licks over the top had it engorging in his grip with each pass over. He could see her eyes were lidded again, this time accompanied with a few quiet, breathy moans. He kneaded it as it grew. It was odd to feel this much flesh swelling in his little hands, but stars, was it exciting. She really liked it!

Her nipple grew as large as his head and glistened from his treatment. His hips shifted and pushed into her breast fur below. He groaned into one of his licks, surprised with how good it felt. The thicker strands of fur were coarser, less yielding at their true size. Not so ticklish. He grinded into her, twisting his hips. He felt wetness as he went, a bit of pre slickening his movements and dampening her fur.

He doubted Sairla could even feel it, but his dick didn't matter right now. Her thick nipple was the prize, now filled out between his hands. He leaned over the duct and pushed his mouth into the small crevice, tonguing at the inner walls.

His wife's whole body jumped with a jolt of pleasure, with a sharp trill of, "Stars!" that drifted into a long moan. She pushed him higher on her tit, her hold growing firm enough that he couldn't so easily move his hips anymore. But he got all the excitement he needed from seeing the blissful look on her face. Her beak was slightly parted, her tongue sticking just barely out the front, with her eyes scrunched almost into a glare. Coupled with her wings starting to thump on the bed, he knew he hit something good. She acted like this when he ate her out in the sessions, and here he did it with her nipple.

He didn't dare let up. His cheeks smooshed against her flesh as he pushed as deep as he could. The inside of the duct wrapped around his tongue, but it gave easily as he swirled around, moving his whole head. His own saliva smeared his face, and the slick inner flesh quietly slurped against his skin and lips. His nose was smothered by the deep licking, but he could suck in some air as his head tilted, allowing him to never relent. Her hand quivered against his back, and she used one finger to brush at the back of his head, faintly pushing and pinning him there. His own hands were wrapped around her nub and hugged him against it, clinging to it as he eagerly worked it over.

He couldn't watch her face like this. All he saw was pink. He didn't notice she'd moved her other hand between her legs until he heard the wet schlicks of her playing with her clit. Hardly believing it, he tried to turn his head to look back. Sairla's finger lightened against his head as she felt him pushing. The movement dragged the whole side of his face across her wet flesh, but she seemed to pick up on what he wanted, and completely removed her digit. He whipped around, turning in her supporting hand.

She was playing with herself, as he hoped. She even stopped for a moment to show him her fingers, wet with her juices. Aubert felt a thrilling chill run up his spine. It was more of a triumph than it should have been, arousing his wife. But he couldn't help the pride at his little self making such an enormous woman wet.

"What can I say?" she said, making him look back around to her face. "That felt amazing. And you looked hot doing it."

He laughed and laid his head down onto her nipple. "Stars, I love you."

"Love you too, Owie." She rubbed his back with a single blunted claw. He thought he'd be the one having to reassure her constantly, yet here she was, being her ever encouraging self. He shouldn't have been surprised. He hoped she'd still feel like this when the package came.

Sairla didn't let him worry about that though. As she picked him up and passed him to her other hand, her fingers were still wet, her scent all over them. It made his whole body feel flush with extra warmth. She pushed him into her other tit. "And now the other one, stud."

--

Sairla watched her Wee-Bear through partly closed eyes as he worked her other nipple. She'd returned to her clit with slow, rotating strokes. Thoughts of the little human floated through her mind, imagining him down there with her hand. Maybe even pushing his tiny body into her. They made her as happy as they made her horny. She did it, fears be damned. She was lusting for her real husband. All six feet of him.

But, before she could decide she wanted him between her legs, the front door chimed.

She picked her head up from the pillows, surprised. She almost forgot that the package was coming so soon! She spared a glance at Aubert, who was already looking at her half soaked in his own drool. She snickered at him.

"I guess it's time," he said, wiping his cheek with his arm and grinning.

She grinded her beak. Time to risk his life. His smile dropped to a concerned look, and she immediately stopped the grinding. "Yes! Um, I need to get dressed." She moved him off of her and onto her bed before swinging her legs over the edge and looking around for her clothes. She could answer the door nude, it wouldn't have been too unusual, but considering what just happened - every lupari, ralai, and all the other predator species on their floor would probably smell her if they were out there. At least a little clothing would cover some of it up. It was only good scent etiquette.

She snatched up her panties and stood to quickly slip them on, then her pants. She couldn't be bothered with her discarded shirt; it was more of a nuisance to put on than it was worth. Not one to ever let Aubert alone in a nonhuman area, she reached back down to the bed to grab him. He held up his hands.

"I can wait here, Sair."

Her eyes narrowed on him, and she clicked her insistence. He sighed and raised his arms. She knew it didn't do anything to help the fading mood, but this was one thing she never budged on. She moved her mate up to the walkway by his room and gave him an apologetic stroke down his side. "I know, I know… paranoid."

The door chimed again. She knew it wasn't a person, but keeping an urgent delivery drone waiting typically meant they'd leave and come back another time. A half-hour urgent drone had to be wildly impatient. But, she was never one that enjoyed pre-permitted entry. That was just asking for something to happen to Aubert if she wasn't home. She should have done it this time.

Her tail swayed with agitation as she went to the front door. She couldn't have thoughts like that right now. The door slid open to a regular light quadrothruster delivery drone. Its design and bright orange color weren't any different from other drones, making it perfectly unassuming for a sex toy delivery machine. It thrusted itself up to eye level with her, presenting its cargo hold. The hold made a soft hiss as its two doors swung open. Inside, airbags deflated from their protective squeeze around a paper wrapped bundle.

Sairla looked back into her apartment. Aubert was watching and waiting. He couldn't see the drone from there, she thought. She could just turn the drone away and say she was too slow to answer the door. He almost certainly wouldn't believe that. But if she knew her Wee-Bear, he'd let it go and they could just get back to that sensual, lazy foreplay. She could even have him lick her below, rub against her folds and clitoris. It was safe.

She started grinding again. Anxious. She was anxious. Afraid? Afraid to hurt him. For pleasure.

But he was so proud that he got her excited. She was so relieved that she excited him. She never felt so intimately close to him in the simulations. But she was so worked up about going for this only a half hour ago. She was just daydreaming about having him inside her.

She was just so… happy with him. They were both so happy. They needed this.

The drone made a buzzing tone at her, and a little holo display flashed up across its domed front with red letters. 'Please receive. Aborting delivery in five seconds.'

Sairla squawked with annoyance. Impatient little thing. She grabbed the parcel from its bowels. "Thank you." It beeped once and flew off down the hall, making for their floor's drone door. She turned back into her home, holding the package to her chest in both hands. Aubert was laughing at her as she approached. "What's so funny?"

"You thanked the delivery bot again."

She rolled her eyes and dropped the package to her side to grab him up in her hand. "I was just making it feel good about itself. It gave me a polite beep after the angry one."

"It's not an AI, though."

She placed him down on the bed and gave him a playful poke on the chest, knocking him over. "You can never be sure. Maybe the super urgent ones are AIs." She knew he was going to make some quip about showing her tits to a possible AI's camera, so she ripped the package open, the sound interrupting any retort he might have had. A box came out, definitely dildo sized, but the container was a discreet white carry case. Something was written in foreign script down its side. There was a smaller box about the size of Aubert. An olive colored chest. There were more strange letters on this one too. It took her yutri's neural link a few moments to interpret it as Terran Cyrillic. "Submarine," she said, reading the dildo box. "Oh stars."

She laughed, and her husband laughed right along with her. Humans and their size humor. "What's the other one say?" Aubert asked as she placed the box down next to him.

"You tell me. This one has to be yours." She placed the second box on his other side, crumpled up the paper packaging, and started to slip out of her pants and panties again.

"Diving Kit," he said with another guffaw.

Sairla giggled, despite her reservations about that one. Nude again, she sat down next to him and picked up her submarine box. It flipped open easily. Sitting inside was a transparent dildo resting in a foam cutout, with several extra bottom caps for it in their own slots. She pulled the dildo out, having to give it a little tug as the foam clung tight, and held it up to inspect. It was a little small for someone her size, but it would definitely make a snug fit for her mate. Hopefully he wouldn't get knocked around much in there. It had a black colored base with a sliding switch on the bottom. A ring of red lights flicked on inside. It wasn't very bright, likely for the human's sake, but considering the tightness of the space it would be going in, it didn't need to be.

"Huh, it's padded inside," Aubert said.

Sairla squinted at it. It did look like the red lights were being distorted inside, but it wasn't very noticeable. It had to be transparent gelatin padding. She was pleased, but she wasn't feeling good about the oxygen in there. He might need the rebreather, she thought. "How could you tell?

"It says so on the box."

She looked back down to the packaging. On the underside of its lid were a few things written in UTO Common. She scanned it over with him. It said it passively drew in enough air for the occupant, but when switched on, a motor on the bottom drew in air more quickly. She held it up to her ear to make sure it was true. A very soft whir was coming from it. She clicked. Good. She didn't need any extra worries.

She turned it off and unscrewed the bottom, then stuck a finger inside. The gelatin layer had a smooth covering over it, and it was thin, but to a human's body, it should be more than enough. She looked at the cap. If it screwed on, then how would the escape mechanism work? She didn't see anything that looked like a way out for him. "I don't see an emergency escape," she muttered.

Aubert was still reading the box. "There's a warning here. It says for safety reasons with all the erratic movement and you grasping the cap, it has to be a screw on. There's no escaping for the human and it should never be left unattended with the person still inside. Yutris should be brought inside just in case." He scoffed. "Who'd even leave it like that?"

Sairla knew of people that would leave a human trapped. It made her feathers bristle. Every human holding device should have an escape. "I don't like that," she said with a soft squawk.

He looked up at her, his face scrunched in confusion. "Sairla, hon, why would I ever need to escape you?"

Her beak clamped closed, and she felt her cheeks warm. "That's not- Owie-" She sagged with a sigh and stroked his back with two fingers. "You're too sweet. I'm going to wash this thing before we use it." She glanced at the diving box. "Make sure everything is in there."

He nodded and she got up and padded over to the kitchen sink, screwing the cap back onto the submarine. She didn't feel too eager to see the inside of that box. Just looking at it reminded her what it was for. She started to grind again as she washed the dildo, and the feline claws of her paws flexed and scraped the floor, with her tail curling around one of her legs. Maybe they could return the diving kit and just keep this toy. It'd be just like the diving. She'd have him inside her, safe, and… they wouldn't both be happy. Aubert wouldn't get any stimulation in there. It would be completely one sided. The nipple play at least wasn't so one sided. She felt him leaking against her fur when he was pushing into her. But how long would the fun last in him rubbing against fur? He loved the licking she gave him, but it was still one-sided. Was there anything they could do to get each other off at the same time that didn't involve threatening his life with her own body?

She turned the water off and started toweling the toy dry. She took a peek back at Aubert. It looked like he was doing something to the harness, with his back facing her. She took the chance to slump against the counter, her wings sagging. She was a mess. She felt so scattered. Wanting to do this, but not wanting to do this. Horny, then terrified.

She never should have brought up how she felt over that raid on the slavers, and all the humans. She would have gotten over it in time, surely. It started to make her regret coming home.

"Sair?" His voice was faint, he didn't shout, but she jolted up from her slump as if he yelled her name right into her ear.

"Yes, Owie?" she casually asked as she wiped off the already dry dildo.

"Are you alright?" He called louder this time, enough for her earpiece's voice amplifier to pick him up.

She draped the towel over the edge of the sink and turned around, inspecting the dildo as if nothing was wrong. "I'm alright enough." He wouldn't believe that for a second. She didn't doubt at all he knew what was bothering her. "How's your diving kit?" She sat back down, looking at the things he scattered around.

He stared up at her for a moment, likely debating on whether to take the redirection bait or not. He looked down at the items at his feet. "It's all here, looks pretty good. Wearing a harness is going to be weird, but it seems padded enough for me being naked."

She glanced at the various objects. The tether looked too thin. The air tank on the rebreather looked small and the whole thing might get pulled off of him. How were all these things supposed to stay on him? "This is the muscle relaxant," he continued, pointing at a canister about half his size. He opened its latch, and a small white pill fell out. There couldn't be more than five in that thing. It looked completely understrength for her.

She pinched the pill in her claws and tossed it into her mouth, swallowing it dry. "Listen, Owie. We're not jumping straight into this, right?" Maybe she could tire him out before he went diving.

"Oh, uh, no." He scratched at his cheek. He was blushing. It made her want to coo, forgetting her fear just for a brief moment. "I was hoping I'd get to play with the outside of your pussy first. Then maybe the dildo."

It might be enough. She clicked once for acknowledgement. "Okay. Let's clear all this off."

He packed everything back into the new trunk, and Sairla moved it, along with her dildo and its case, onto her nightstand. She then scooped her husband up and reclined back onto her pillow pile, her wings spreading out once more. Settled, she placed him down between her breasts, but her fingers stayed curled around him. A new, worrying thought shoved into her mind.

She wasn't horny.

"Sair?" he asked, pushing on her thumb, prompting her eyes to refocus on him.

She let him go. He already had a bit of stiffness going, but she wasn't feeling so much as a tingle. "Aubert." She cupped her left breast. "Maybe we should start here again."

He shrugged. "That was fun, but I want to see if I can get you going again through your pussy."

She let out a rapid series of clicks and her wings flared, making his face twist into concern. "W-wait. I-" She glanced at her breast, still holding it. By now, she doubted even the nipple play would get her going again. She was about to be the biggest disappointment. "I don't- I-" She averted her eyes and released her breast to cover her beak in shame. "I don't think I can get aroused for you again."

She watched him with one eye, and how his face dropped. "Oh. Well." He looked down, away from her. "I was kind of suspecting that. I suppose I'm hoping I can prove you wrong."

"I'm sorry, Aubert." She moved her hand away to look straight at him. "I don't think you can tonight."

"Is it, ah…" He gestured to himself, a broad wave over his whole body. "Because of me?"

Sairla shook her head and let out a soft, comforting coo. "No, no, it's not that. I love what we've done so far, and I want to do more. But- see-" She stared at him, trying to figure out how to not talk herself into a corner. It really was because he was… him. Small. But not the way he thought. It was best to be honest. "It is because of you. I want to do this with you, but I don't want to hurt you while doing it."

He laughed, making her head recoil back. She expected disappointment. "Sair, you're so afraid of the diving part? Is that why you think you can't get horny now?" She clicked. "Hon, then we won't do it."

"But I proposed we do this!" Her tufted tail tip whacked the bed. "I can't just get your hopes up like that, then quit on you. I want to make you happy."

"Hey hey, shhh." He gestured with his hands, beckoning her down to him. She brought her beak into his arms. He stroked the top with one hand, the other along the side. "You already did make me happy. I wanted to see if I could excite you. With my real self. Didn't I do that?"

"Of course you did."

"So, I'm happy. All I wanted was to see if I could do it. Now I want to see what else I can do for you. That doesn't have to include the spelunking."

She giggled at the joke and nosed his chest. "I want to try to give you pleasure too though."

"You did. That tongue work was spectacular." Reminded of that, she licked between his legs, forcing them to spread, and lapped up against his backside. He yelped and his gentle strokes turned to a tight clutching around her beak as she lifted him up. She let him back down, and he fell against her. "I think I know why lupari are so popular."

She moved her head and gave him a second, smaller lick on his face, earning her a kiss on the tip. She was glad there was a way to get him to climax that was perfectly safe, but it wasn't enough for her. "I mean I want to do something that pleasures us together. I don't think there's any way to do that other than doing something that would risk your life."

He shrugged and leaned onto her, arms folding over one another. "I think rubbing our fun parts together could count too."

"Maybe," she said, careful not to move her mouth too much. "I think that's better for me than you, though."

"It's something. We've dealt with worse size problems than this, hon. Why, sometimes I think you being twice the size of my mech is more trouble than me being as tall as your paw. Do you know how much of a pain in the tail it is to clean this place up? I can hardly look over the kitchen counters."

Sairla chuckled and lick-kissed him a second time, nudging him off her beak. "So you're not upset that we won't try the diving?"

"I was hoping to try it, but not if it puts you into a panic."

She quietly trilled and picked her head up. She wrapped both hands around him, one over the other, and slid back on her pillows to prop herself up against the wall. She cradled her husband in her hands, just below her breasts. She folded both of her thumbs over his body, slowly rubbing. One focused on his groin. "How are you not afraid of doing that?"

He sucked in a breath as she touched him. "I, ahhh, am actually. A dark, wet, tight place, with no control over anything that happens to me… it's a scary thought. But I'd be with you, and I know I'm always safe with you."

Her chest puffed out. It wasn't the first time she heard that from him, but it was always one of the best things a guardian could hear, let alone a lover. "But what if I mess up? Squeeze too hard and hurt you? Leave you in too long? Go too fast, you lose your rebreather, you- you drown?" Imagining him perishing inside of her made her heart pang and her head feel like it was starting to spin.

"Hey!" He pulled on her thumb. She refocused on him. "If you worried about every way you could mess up and hurt me, you'd never be able to sleep. But you don't, because you never hurt me. You're always gentle, always careful, you always know just what to do and how to do it, without even thinking. Sometimes I think your body wouldn't even let you hurt me on accident."

She clicked slowly, confused. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, I don't think you'd even be able to clench hard enough to hurt me. I'd bet your body wouldn't even allow it."

She stared down at him, quietly considering his words. As experienced as she was as a guardian and a trainer, she'd heard all of the stories of a mystical sixth sense with pairs. A sense for where the human was, an unconscious instinct for handling them, essentially any reason for how accidents didn't happen more often. But accidents did happen, and that's all that mattered. "That's not a safe bet, Aubert."

He shook his head and leaned up in her hand, holding her thumb to keep himself stable. "Just by existing, humans take a bet every day that a nonhuman isn't going to make a mistake with us. I've never lost that bet, and I don't think I ever will. Now, with you? You're the only nonhuman in the galaxy I'd want to do this with, share a bed with, walk on the floor at your paws, because I trust you to keep me safe through anything. You're the one that just knows me like I was a part of your own body." He fell back onto her palm, his eyes going down from hers. "I wish you'd trust yourself. I do. Always."

Sairla blinked, and her tail fell still onto the bed. And he was the one always at risk of harm with her. It was touching to hear, even if she couldn't believe the spiritual implications of it. "Thank you, Owie."

He met her eyes with half a smile. "That made me feel all warm and fuzzy to say."

Her tail jumped back into action and whapped the side of her leg while her wings stretched out. "I think it might have made me a little hot."

His grin fell and he straightened up in her hand. "Y-yeah?"

"Mhmm." She closed her fingers around him and slid back down onto her pillows. "So, let's try this again." She spread her legs and placed her mate on top of her pubic mound. She gently knocked him onto his butt, facing away from her, and ran one claw from his belly to his neck. "Get to work, big guy."

--

Aubert leaned forward, looking over her mound and straight down at the slit below. He was nearly ten feet above the mattress, and her lips almost covered that whole span. A tremble of excitement shot through his body, and he took a glance back at his wife. He knew he must have had the stupidest grin across his face. She had her beak resting on one hand. The tuft on her tail was swaying to his right, occasionally making a rapid flick, letting him know her amusement over his change in demeanor.

Her tail darted over toward him, playfully bapping him with the plush tip and smothering him with the fur. With him distracted, she followed up by pushing on his back with two fingers, knocking the human off of her mound. "Any day now," she teased as he landed in front of her vulva.

Aubert landed on his stomach between two massive thighs, thick with muscle and a thin layer of tawny feline fur. The fur normally helped contain some of the radiant heat of a nonhuman, but at his back he felt a heat he only ever felt from the draconic arkatians. He rolled over, facing his wife's pussy. It loomed above him, just about his height and a half if he were standing. He'd never been so close to its true enormity. He sucked in a sharp breath.

He was hit with a sweet smell, tinged with the musky aroma of her recent arousal. The fur of her outer lips was still slightly damp. He knew her scent, but now it was intense to the point of making his head feel light. Intense, but very pleasant. His skin flushed with warmth.

He got to his feet and closed the couple steps to her. Aubert couldn't see her face from here, and she certainly couldn't see him. He reached out with both hands and slid them slowly down her furred, plump outer lips. Her pelvis shifted, a quick jerk from the sensation. As she settled back down, he rubbed over them in steady, small circles, feeling how they contracted and twitched under his touch. It wasn't something he ever felt before.

He moved closer, letting his hands slide onto her inner labia. He heard a soft moan and she shifted toward him, making the lips push against his face. He kissed at them then fell against her as she settled back down. He nestled his body between her outer lips and licked against her labia, burying his face into the hot, pink flesh. His hands felt around him, rubbing at anything he wasn't licking.

He pushed his hips into her. His cock, already stiffening from her scent alone, throbbed as he pressed it into her opening. It wasn't tight, and even when she was fully aroused, it would never be tight for him. But it was very warm, and he already felt the first signs of fresh wetness. He pushed a hand just barely inside as well, feeling around her inner walls. He could feel the subtle tightening of her arousal, the way she was engorging with excitement. She was growing hotter.

A shadow went over him, and he looked up with his face still half buried in her lips. She brought two fingers to her clitoris, and started playing with herself in rapid, circular strokes. If he stretched his arms, he could reach her clit, but that was hardly going to be good enough to get her off. His wife's pussy was so much larger than him, he couldn't even reach her button. The thought had his heart doing confused flips. Awe, excitement, even a bit of fear. His arousal, however, was undeterred over the mismatch. She wasn't thoroughly wet just yet, but his attempts at titillating her left smears of his pre against her walls.

Her moaning picked up as she joined in the fondling, and her hips started to roll. He had to lean all of his weight onto her to keep himself upright. Her swelling inner lips pressed against him, as if trying to swallow him whole as he lavished them with long, heavy licks.

She was getting wetter faster than he expected. His groin and legs were slick with warm juices, the blanket under his feet growing ever damp. Her contractions strengthened - enormous, shifting muscle gripping for a manhood too small to clench around. They had him moaning with his wife. He hoped she could hear him; she had to know he was enjoying it too. It wasn't as amazing as taking her in the simulations, but he knew something they could both enjoy together was important to her.

Sairla slid her hand down and over Aubert's back and pushed against him. He was squeezed firmly against her folds while one of her fingers nudged his backside. She squeezed his groin against her entrance, taking over as she moved him with tiny, delicate twists, trying to get him off with her. She was gentle, but it left Aubert helpless to do anything but kiss at her labia while it smothered him.

"Is it good? Are you alright?" she asked, loosening and letting him peel his face off of her lips.

"Y-yeah! It's great!" It was better than he thought it would be, really. He had an actual adrenaline rush going. Totally at the mercy of her fingers, against something as overwhelming as her pussy - it felt good, but the act had a thrill all its own. "Is it good for you too?"

"Mhmm… those little hands of yours. Let's see what they're like up here." She slid him upward, dragging his whole body over her lips until she ran him over her clit, the thick button smooshing against his chest. The whole mass of nerves was well larger than his head. He latched onto her nub as his wife held him aloft, only for her to nearly drop him as she squealed from the touch. He slipped downward, but she caught him and hooked one finger between his legs, letting him straddle it while her palm pressed into his back. "Oh, stars," she cried.

He could barely see her over her mound. Her eyes were turned up with pleasure. "Why does th- aah Owie!" He didn't let her finish. His fingers rubbed into her clit and he leaned into it for a rough lick. She recoiled away, but her hand kept him firmly against her sex.

He slid his hands under her hood, rubbing into the unseen depths of her clitoris. It was slick underneath, letting him knead into her with little friction. She quivered, and he almost feared he was overstimulating, but all she did was push her palm into his back, encouraging him. He licked over the bulb's peak, then gently nipped at the flesh, testing how far he could go with her.

She recoiled a second time, then grinded back into him, her palm pushing the back of his head to encourage whatever he was doing. But, after the initial surprises, she was able to keep herself still, letting him work his hands under her hood in slow, circular caresses while he tackled the outside of her clit with long licks and suckles. The fingers at his lower body moved, making sure she was rubbing his cock against her folds. He thrusted as before, rutting against her instead of within, finding the act more pleasurable with his cock pinned tightly between him and his mate's wet, pink flesh.

He couldn't see her face at all, even if he tried to look over her mound, but her moans and rapid breaths were all he needed to hear. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw her tail, darting with rapid, blurred twitches of movement. Her wings were thumping the bed, fluttering. He felt like he could cry. He couldn't have hoped for a better response. He really could make his titan of a wife cum at this size. There was no way she'd last like this.

But she didn't let the fun go on. She suddenly pulled him up, tossing him right back onto her mound. He collapsed into a heap on top of it, his whole body wet and tired. "Hey! We weren't done!" he protested as he crawled to his knees. But she wasn't looking at him. She was turned away and grabbing for her dildo on the nightstand, only to knock it over in her haste. It rolled to the edge and tumbled off, prompting a loud, agitated squawk from his wife as it thumped to the floor.

"No! Please don't be broken!" She needed to move, so she grabbed her husband with her soaked hand, too quick for him to lift his arms. Sairla rolled over to search the floor, groaning as she stretched for the dildo, the toy having rolled just out of reach from the bed. "Stars, dammit…"

Aubert didn't mind having his arms trapped by his mate. He just found it hilarious, on top of exciting, to see her this worked up. His laughter drew the gryphoness's attention; she started snickering as well. She brought him to her beak for a quick nuzzling as she left the bed to retrieve her toy.

"I guess it's too late now," she said, giggling as she picked up the dildo, "to seductively ask you to climb into this thing?"

Aubert scoffed as she placed him onto the bed and started untwisting the cap. "Oh no, you messed up the seductive part with all the goofy wing flapping and squawking."

"Hey! I only flapped once. I think." She placed the cap down next to him, then took a look over the dildo for any damage, and brushed it with her dry hand for any debris.

Aubert was happy to see the fur of her inner thighs still growing wet. He wanted to keep going with her there, but now she seemed set on the dildo. "We can't finish you off first?" he asked.

She shook her head. "The first time I cum with you, I want you inside."

Aubert didn't think it'd really be cumming 'with' him when he was just trapped in a tube, not contributing anything to her pleasure. But he was hardly going to get in the way of his wife's excitement, not after all of her fretting. "Alright. Let's do it now then. Ah… how should I get in?"

Sairla looked to the cap next to him, then at the dildo. "Stand on the cap."

The toy's base was about half as tall as he was, not difficult to climb, but what he guessed had to be the air intakes all around it would make fine footholds. He clambered up, finding it slightly wobbly on top of the mattress, and stood in the center. It was solid, not padded like the shaft was supposed to be, with air vents forming a circle in its middle and the red lights in a larger circle around them.

Sairla crouched down to eye level with him. She raised the dildo shaft above him, then carefully lowered it down, making sure she didn't catch his shoulders with the edge. Once she cleared them, she brought the main body down to its base with a clink. It was cramped - open enough for Aubert to be able to stand without touching the clear padding around him, but if he spread his arms, his elbows would push against the walls. He'd be able to move his arms up and down if he tucked them in.

His wife slowly tilted it over, putting the toy on its side and forcing Aubert to lie down with it. His feet left the cap, letting her twist it several times around, sealing him inside. She straightened it back up and raised him to eye level. He put his hands against the wall and peered out at her with a smirk. "How do I look?"

"Like you're ready for a crash dive." She gave the dildo a nuzzle with her beak, the both of them clanking together. "Are you alright in there? Is it too tight? Is it soft enough?"

"Just don't chuck me across the room, and it's perfectly soft. A bit tight, but," he shrugged, "Nothing to be done about that. Come on now, before you dry up again."

She rolled her eyes and settled back down into bed, keeping the dildo upright, clutched in her hand as if she were holding him normally. "Now that we got you this upgrade, it'll be no problem."

That stung. He thought he was pleasuring her just fine without this 'upgrade.' He knew she didn't mean anything by it, so he just forced a smile. "Yeah. Hurry up before I get bored in here."

She clicked several times indignantly. "Oh, poor little guy." She lounged back and reached for her nightstand again, this time opening the drawer and grabbing her lubricant. "We just have to get you all prepped up first." She turned the dildo at an angle, popped the top of the bottle, and squeezed out a large glob of clear, watery lube, totally obscuring his view of her with a big blur. She tossed the bottle onto her bed and wrapped her fingers around the shaft. She pumped it with twisting strokes, making a loud squelching he could hear through the walls.

Satisfied, she lounged back, spread her legs, and slowly, teasingly, brought him all the way down. She pointed the top toward her pussy, making Aubert face downward, forcing him to look up as her other hand rubbed around her still wet entrance, then slipped a couple fingers in to rub off the extra lubricant. That, at least, was exciting to watch, seeing her play with herself. He felt a resurgence of arousal, and he pushed his hips against the soft wall. It was cold, but surely it would warm up soon.

The dildo shifted as she fingered the switch on the base with a click. The red lights came on and fresh air started to circulate inside. Sairla guided her toy forward and nudged at her clit with the tip. Aubert flushed, eager, as he heard her moaning and watched her pussy move into her toy as she slid it down between her lips. He nearly forgot he wasn't responsible for any of it.

She used two fingers to spread her lips, showing off her entrance to her husband, and teased with a few circular rubs around it. "Ready?" she asked, voice breathy, between a couple moans.

"Do it!"

She pushed in slowly, the tip spreading her open and the lights letting Aubert watch closely as the flesh enveloped the end of his capsule. A flash of an anxious thrill hit him. He was being swallowed! It was an exotic excitement, if there ever was one. The passage started going dark with the low red as less outside light came in through the bottom with each foot of depth. Her walls glistened with the toy's light, letting him see as it shifted and writhed with hidden muscle, clutching at the toy. It was a fascinating sight, enthralling to see, but that… was all it was.

Aubert felt warm from the experience, but not from arousal nor the creeping heat as her inner walls warmed the dildo. He was inside of his mate! His heart was tight and racing. He wasn't afraid, but he almost wished he was, if only to feel the warmth of his wife's protection. This was just flesh sucking on plastic.

His hands pushed against the wall of his prison as she started to thrust, plunging the toy in and out with slow, sensual movements. He could feel quakes as her body quivered from the pleasure. He could hear the deeply muffled sound of her moans. The white light of the outside dimmed and brightened with each thrust out and back in. Watching her walls moving and clenching at the toy made him bite his lower lip with a growing frustration. He was so close to her. He wished he could push through these clear walls and rub her himself. He was supposed to be the one making her happy, not this piece of plastic.

He felt like he was being robbed by a dildo.

--

Sairla nuzzled into her pillow, groaning against it as she thrusted with one hand, pleasuring her clit with the other. It didn't physically feel any different from a normal dildo, but just knowing her little husband was in there gave her a shocking rush of adrenaline. Trapped, all under her control, safe, made to watch as her sex clenched and squeezed, grabbing for him. She moaned loud, up to the ceiling. It was far better than a normal dildo!

She pushed it deeper, faster, and giggled through her own pleasure as she heard a few squelches and puffs of air. What could it sound like to him? Her wing tips were tapping the bed, her tail in an uncontrollable, darting dance. She needed to know what he was thinking.

She gave her yutri a neural command to call her husband. She took in a deep breath, and as soon as she heard the ping of him answering, she let out a long moan for him. "Ooohf, Owie! This is amazing!"

He chuckled. "I can tell."

She pushed in deep and let her toy rest there, keeping the pleasure going for herself with rapid strokes over her clit. "What's it like for you?"

"Uuuh, a little dark. It looks pretty wet."

She huffed and yanked on the toy, and thrust it back in, hopefully jostling him. "Nooo, how do you feel?"

"I- I'm not sure."

Hearing that made her clamp her beak shut, cutting off one of the moans she intended for him. "Oh. You're having fun?" He was quiet. "Aubert?"

"Not… really?"

He sounded hesitant, worried over saying this. Her feathers bristled with annoyance. He wasn't supposed to be worried over speaking up. She pulled the toy out, making a soft slurp. She brought the dripping dildo up to her eyes and narrowed them onto the little man inside, past all the streaks of her juices and smeared lube. "Tell me what's wrong." He looked away, his lips pursing. She knew that meant something was very, very wrong. "Be truthful."

His forehead pressed onto the wall. "I'm supposed to make you cum for the first time. Not this damn toy."

She cooed sadly, head tilting. "You're what is making it so amazing."

"But I'm not doing anything." He shook his head. "Don't worry about it. Just keep going, hon."

"What? No!" She turned the dildo over and started unscrewing the cap. "You need to enjoy it too!" There was no way she could get off to this if it was disappointing him. She spilled him out onto her dry hand, then got him wet with the other as she helped him stand up with one finger and rubbed his back. "We're not stopping. What do you want to do?"

She was relieved to see him smile. He went mostly flaccid, but she could bring him back. "Can you bring me back to your clit?" he asked. “That was perfect."

That was the best they'd done tonight, easily. But she couldn't say it was perfect. It felt amazing, his tiny hands and mouth on her bud were easily better than the dildo, but it didn't make her feel like her heart wanted to leap out of her chest like the dildo did. That was foreplay.

She trilled and focused on the diving kit on the nightstand. She felt her loins tingle. What would it be like to feel him inside her without the dildo? She looked back at her husband. He saw her staring at the kit and straightened up. She loved the dildo and knowing he was within her. He loved pleasuring her himself. It was either the dildo, or letting him play outside. But diving could do both.

"Aubert," she muttered. "Do you really think you'd be safe from me?"

"From you?" He looked incredulous. "Hon, I'm always safe with you. I couldn't be any more sure of that." Her wings tucked in toward her and she looked away. He was so sweet.

She couldn't just go back to the clit play. Not after that thrill. But she couldn't let this night end in disappointment for either of them. She turned her beak up and reached for the kit. "Let's do it, Owie." She placed him onto her stomach, then plopped the trunk next to him. "Get ready."

His mouth dropped, and she hummed at him, prompting him to turn and throw the lid open. She brought her hand back to her pussy, and stroked her wet folds and engorged clit, keeping herself going. She was not going to let him or herself down.

--

Aubert loved this woman. Leave it to her to never want someone to feel left out, even when she's so horny she's leaking rivers. Bless that dildo for changing her mind.

He slipped into the harness, tightened it down, checked the contact points - a familiar routine from all his years with mechs and working in infrastructure. He felt ridiculous, doing it naked, about to go for a ride in his wife's pussy. At least it was comfortable - well padded for a nude body and sheathed in smooth, water resistant fabric for sensitive tunnels. He pulled the rebreather over his face, a simple mask that stretched back behind his head, with open spaces for either ear. It had its own intake for sucking in what little air could be found inside of a giant vagina, along with a small soft shell air pack that attached to the front of his harness for whatever it couldn't draw in. It certainly wasn't a system for any extended use, favoring a soft, compact, and unobtrusive design for smooth diving. There was an in-built microphone in the mask, and it synced up with his yutri's communications.

The tether came next. It split into two clips with hoods over them, covering the metal. They clicked in easily to a couple of points on his lower back. The other end was attached to a large collar. "Finger please!" He shook the collar up at her, in case the mask muffled his voice too much. He needed to move quickly. He couldn't leave her just masturbating by herself for long.

Sairla chirped and lowered her free left hand before him, fingers splayed. He was about to slip the hoop over her index finger, but the glint of her wedding ring grabbed his attention. He glanced up at her; she was watching him. Sairla chuckled and nudged him with her ring finger. "Proposing again? Yes, Owie."

He smiled brightly, and slipped the collar onto her digit, bringing it all the way down to rest behind her ring. He tightened the belt down, putting one foot onto her finger to give it a strong pull. He was just testing the tether when Sairla's hand suddenly sprung up, then Aubert was yanked off the ground after it with a yelp.

His wife raised him up to her eyes, letting him dangle there while she placed her pussy juice soaked hand beneath him, ready to catch if the tether broke. She snickered as he hung helplessly, slowly spinning around. "Naked in a harness. What a strange way to put a ring on a woman."

Aubert shrugged, the movements making him spin around some more. "The things I do for love."

"More like the things we do. Stars… are you ready?"

"Let's do it."

She nodded her affirmative, then lowered him to pull on his tether, making sure it was firmly attached to her finger and her husband. "First, let's get you lubed up." She grabbed him with her tether hand, and took hold of her lubricant with the other.

"Wait- wha-" He held his hands up as the bottle hovered above him. "Isn't that going to be co-" She squeezed, and a cold, oily liquid squirted out onto his nude body, making him shout and thrash in her hand. "S-Sair- aaaugh!" She heaped it on him, drizzling it all over, making him sputter, and her laugh. "Aahf… oh my stars it's cold!"

She tossed the bottle aside then rolled him out of her hand, letting him dangle once more in front of her eyes, glistening and dripping with lubricant. "Cold? Aw, do you want to go somewhere nice and warm?"

He gawked at her. She was teasing? Was she actually getting into it? "Uuh-..." He tried to come up with a witty retort, but the attempt fell flat. This was getting far too exciting for him to think. "...Please."

She glanced down at his returning erection, then back up to his face, and trilled happily. She leaned in to give his cock a quick lick, then a nuzzle with her beak, leaving a streak across it. "Please be safe, Wee-Bear."

He kissed her on the cheek, just below her eye. "I will. I'm with you."

Her iris shrunk as it stared at him so close, subtly twitching as she looked over every part of his face. She was reading him for fear, what little she could see with the mask covering most of his features. He couldn't smile, so he gave her a thumbs up instead. She blinked and pulled away. "Then have at it, stud." She lowered him between her legs, right before her pussy. She was still completely wet.

The rebreather removed most of her scent, making the closeness far less striking to the senses this time. But that hardly mattered - this time, his eyes were on her hole. She spread her lips with two fingers, parting them and spreading the opening. "Oh, fuck," he muttered, bending over and holding his thighs. All that talk, and now it was time to do the walk.

"Is something wrong?" She nudged him with her tether finger.

Aubert waved her off. "Just getting hit with the gravity of what I'm about to do." The dildo was one thing. Protected, lit, and totally out of his control. Now he had to crawl into a huge, wet, tight hole.

It was a terrifyingly thrilling thought. He sent a call to his wife, prepping for the dive. "Do you hear me alright?"

"Yes."

"Here we go. I'm going to need a push, hon."

He dropped to his knees and grasped her entrance with both hands, making her gasp, but not move. Hot, her heated arousal was already hitting him. The prickling sensation of wet heat upon cool lube. He pushed his arms in, unable to grasp the slick passage with just his hands, and tried to pry it wider as he lowered his head, but it wouldn't spread. Even against her pussy, he didn't have the strength to manipulate it. Was the muscle relaxant even working?

She let herself relax for him, making the muscles much looser, a little more inviting to squeeze into. He took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and lunged forward. His head slipped in easily, the noise of the outside giving way to what sounded like rushing blood. He wasn't sure if it was his or hers. His face was splashed with warmth as slick flesh shifted against it on either side. It wasn't tight yet.

His legs scrambled, and he twisted his shoulders, wriggling his way in until his feet left the bed.

"Ahhh, ah, s-stop squirming! Oh st- ooo." His wife's huffy voice was like music.

He writhed harder. He could feel her body rumble as she moaned for him. But he couldn't get any deeper without leverage from his feet. It was too slick. Muscles squeezed around him, making it even more difficult. His legs felt cold outside, and he was desperate to get them in, to completely immerse himself.

"Push!" he shouted, reminding her.

A blunted claw touched his ass, pressing into one cheek, and shoved. He felt his legs join him in the heat, along with her finger. Her walls squeezed him and her digit, tightening and making him feel suspended as the muscles hugged him like an undulating massage. He opened his eyes, but it was total darkness. He started to pant, a confused rush of panic coming over him.

Her finger started to recede, and he kicked his legs, trying to grab at it. "Wait, wait! Keep your finger here, please!" It quickly came back, pushing up against his legs, then his torso. He twisted his arms around to cling to her digit. An anchor of familiarity in this sweltering, grabbing darkness.

"Owie! Are you okay? It sounds like you're breathing fast."

"I'm okay!- Just - oh my stars. I j-just… just give me a little bit to get used to this."

"Just tell me when."

She fell quiet. He heard no moaning from her, no sign of her playing with herself. They were both still. He was sure she was listening to his breathing, waiting to see if she needed to pull him out.

Aubert was left in a strange void. He could hear the constant flow of blood around him, like a muffled wind, along with a rhythmic thumping. Her heart, he realized. Deep, distant, but constant. He could faintly feel it in his own chest, or perhaps his heart decided it would line up with hers, if he were so romantic.

His breathing started to slow, his hold on her finger loosening. A tremble went through his body, a shiver of comfort he never knew he could feel. Thumping, rushing blood. A hot, embracing, cushioned and wet warmth all around him. It was a comfort no person could ever feel again in their life, yet here he was.

It felt like a peaceful dream.

--

"I hear your heart."

Sairla felt her wings shiver. There was something about the way he said that. A soft, calm whisper, as if he was afraid of speaking over something. It made her relax. She never heard him sound so enamored.

She laid back onto her pillow mound, staring at the ceiling. She felt his tiny movements, the shifts of his tiny limbs. He was relaxing, she could feel it so clearly. He wasn't holding her finger so tightly. His breathing had settled back to normal, maybe even slower than normal. She'd never quite heard his breathing as clearly as what that mask was letting her hear. It was as if he felt content and safe in there.

She wasn't feeling afraid, either. Just concerned, and even happy. His movements were sending her small jolts of pleasure. There was also a constant, pleasant tingle, and the satisfying, warm sensation of having him there.

She remembered that she was supposed to be aroused and set back to rubbing over her clit. She could see herself resting here with them both like this, satisfied he was comfortable and safe in such a strange place, like he was a part of her. But that small air pack wouldn't last for long. "I feel you so clearly. It's incredible. Could you move a little more?" She felt his limbs shift, what must have been tiny hands sliding along her walls. She sucked in a sharp breath, and moved her finger, nudging him gently around within. It felt wonderful. "Ahhh… that's good. Is it good for you too? Can you thrust?" It was strange to think of his maleness enjoying her like this. Inside her, but so far from what it was normally meant to be.

He moved some more, and she felt the faint sensation of a particularly stiff part of his body pushing against her.

"It feels really good," he said. She sighed and closed her eyes. He could enjoy it too. "I'm ready." He tried to take the initiative as soon as he said it. He started to move a lot more, twisting and rolling, making her tail twitch with pleasure. He pushed off of her finger, helping to work himself a little deeper. Her hips rolled back and shifted from side to side on the mattress as she softly moaned. This was so much more sensual than the dildo.

She followed him with her digit, helping to push him along until she bottomed out at her knuckle. "Aaah- you're… you're really far in there, ahah." She laughed breathily. This was the strangest experience. She loved it.

--

Aubert twisted, trying to get himself even further in. But without her finger to push off of, all he really did was slide around in the slick passage. Hearing the steady, slow moans coming from his wife, however, was what kept him moving. Getting deeper was just extra. He was panting, his exertions taking a toll in such a cramped space, and the rebreather was forced to draw in nothing but musky air, what scant little there was in here. Her scent was invigorating. The sensations against his cock forced him to breathe in big gulps as he groaned. It might not have been tight, but it was hot, and the faint shifting of all the muscle was better than he imagined.

His tether tensed and he was pulled backwards, sliding his shaft in a quick, long drag over her walls. "Ahhg, Sair, that's good."

Back in reach of her finger, the digit slid against him again, this time beneath him, pushing up against his back and forcing his head to turn sideways as he was pressed into the roof of her tunnel. She gently moved him with short, minute thrusts forward and back. She was jerking him off. "Is this any better?"

He answered with a moan, and he heard a giggle from her in turn. He felt himself leaking, but with her overwhelming wetness, it had to all be getting lost in the flow of her juices. "Let's start-" He wasn't sure what to call this. "Start fingering?"

She went right into it. Her finger thrusted in, dragging him along with it. As soon as she bottomed out, she pulled back so far, he sucked in a breath for fear of popping out into the cold air and light of the outside. She worked up to a slow tempo, dragging him in each direction for nearly a second each. Gentle, easy, but constantly moving. He was moaning with her, both parties listening to each other's excitement.

He moved his arms, trying to rub at her as he went, his legs moving and body writhing. "D-do you feel-"

"Yes!" she cried. "Keep doing it, Owie!"

He felt a rush of pride. He wasn't going to let some plastic treat her better than him. That dildo shot to the back of his mind as she added a slight gyration to her fingering, a new jolt of pleasure. He moved his hips in the other direction, rolling with her movements.

"That's good! Keep going!" She didn't answer, but she never let up. Every few thrusts she pushed him tighter to her roof, and much more slowly pushed inward, forcing out a long moan from both of them.

Her slow movements started getting faster, her musical moans louder and more frequent. It felt like she was moving around, her hips rising and falling. He couldn't see anything at all, but he could imagine. He imagined his wife arching her back, one hand fingering her pussy, the other fondling her clit in fast, rotating strokes. Her wings slapping the bed, tail twitching so fast it was a blur. Her beak open, her eyes clenched in pleasure.

Her fingering grew more erratic, nearly letting him slide off as her hips bucked against her digit. "Oww-Owie- about to cum! If t-to tight- say!"

He braced himself with a deep breath. He had no idea how tight she might clench through her orgasm. Within seconds, the walls clamped down around him, squeezing him roughly against her finger, completely halting his attempts at rubbing her quivering walls and pinning his arms to his chest, as well as forcing the air right out of him. She tugged at him, rapid twitches of movement working him over. He felt her juices flowing around him, giving him a brief sensation of being submerged.

He couldn't move, but her orgasm was stroking him with each clenching, grinding him closer and closer to his own release. Her loud moans even caused a faint vibration, coursing through her body until he could feel it in his shaft.

She moved her finger again, thrusting into her orgasm with rapid, jerking movements, violently jostling Aubert.

"Hrraf, Owie come on!"

His cock throbbed against the tightness, and he groaned loud enough for her to hear with what little air he could pull in. He came against her gripping wall and his stomach. He felt the briefest touch of his own seed on his belly, only for it to be washed away in his wife's torrential flow. He clenched his teeth as her orgasm rode out longer than his own, continuing to stroke him off even through his post-climax hypersensitivity. He saw stars, false flashes, the only thing he'd seen in all this darkness. Bliss.

--

Sairla heard his orgasmic cry, and she swore it made hers even more intense. They came together! Or at least she hoped. When hers finally abated, she slid her finger off of her husband and pulled him out with the tether. He popped out with an amusing slurp, and she lifted the cum soaked human, briefly dangling him before dropping him into her palm with a splat. He was going soft. Perfect.

His eyes were clenched close, she guessed from the light. "Holy fuck," he muttered and covered his eyes.

Sairla laughed and nosed at him. "It seemed a bit more sacrilegious to me."

He laughed too, but then choked. He grabbed at his rebreather and yanked it off to suck in fresh gasps of air. "That was… wow. You were great."

She closed her fingers and pulled him to her chest. "You too. I loved that." She felt him pushing into her chest fur. He seemed weak. Not surprising at all. "Let's clean you up."

Her bedding was due for a wash now that she left a huge wet mess all over it. She used the blanket to wipe her groin before she dripped all over her apartment, then hopped out of bed. She padded into the kitchen and set the sink to warm water. She opened her hand and looked fondly down at her husband. "Take all that off and leave it on the counter."

He groaned as he sat up and undid the harness. Or tried to. He seemed too tired or disoriented. She couldn't help him, so she just watched with her cheek propped on her other hand. Brave little man. He handled it so well, she thought. She was so happy the worst he got for it was just a bit of soreness. A fair trade for what sounded like the most intense moaning she ever heard from him.

When he was finally free of the harness and totally nude once more, she brought him to the water - low pressure as not to hurt him - and carefully rinsed him off. She just wanted to deal with the stickiness for now. He'd get a proper shower in the morning. She gave him a little scrub with her thumb, then gently dried him with a small hand towel before wrapping him up in it. She wet another one and gave her groin and inner thighs a more proper scrub, her husband tucked against her chest.

She went back to their bed and placed Aubert down onto their nightstand. He was able to stand now, after the warm water. He clutched the towel around him. He looked a little confused as he watched her rip the sheets and blankets off of their bed and stuff them into the hamper. She grabbed a fresh set from the closet and remade the bed. Nice and dry. Their first night sleeping together wasn't going to be in a mess.

She took the towel off of him, picked him up, and climbed into bed with her lover. She laid him onto one of her pillows, resting on her side right next to him, looking down with her head propped up. "You're sleeping here tonight." She placed her hand on top of him and stroked his side with her thumb.

"What about you?" he asked.

"I'm sleeping here too."

He gaped up at her for a moment, then shut his mouth. It looked like his whole body racked with a sob and she swore he let out a soft little whimper, but he didn't cry. "I love you, Sairla."

"I love you too, Aubert." She bent down low to give him a tiny prod at his cheek with her tongue tip. He kissed the end of her beak. "Diving is really so exhausting?"

He squirmed a little more snugly into her fingers. She closed them a little tighter against him. "I'm going to be so sore in the morning."

"Was it worth it?" she asked him.

"Every moment of it. Can't do that often, though. We'll have to use the submarine."

She tilted her head curiously. "Are you sure?"

He nodded and closed his eyes. "Mmm. Am I better than the dildo?"

"Absolutely." That thing couldn't compare to the feeling of having him inside her the way he is. She was sure of it. It was just a toy. Not like her mate.

He grunted and pressed his face into her finger. She saw a hint of a smile at the edge of his mouth. He was probably trying to hide a proudly smug look.

She laid her down next to him, her beak just a finger's length away from him. It looked like he was already dozing off.

She'd join him soon. She was sure of it. He couldn't be safer when he was with her.