ValentineDavis21

Not for the first time had the feeling that he was stepping into another world. A feeling of superstitious dread mixed with wondrous stupefying awe. It was the same feeling he had felt when he'd first seen the black hole - studying them and actually seeing them were two completely different things he would tell you - and again when he'd first stumbled off the Threnbody shuttle into the driving, flesh-eating sandstorm on Kharon-IV. And many times on the ship, each new discovery more wondrous and

The last thing Aethan remembered was the way Ghor’s strong arms had closed around him, slowly pulling him in until the Cathesan’s back was pressed up against his chest. The steady kick of his heart against Aethan’s shoulderblade and the deep rumble of his breath reminded the prince of his very first memories of when Vash had held him as a child, singing lullabies. Vash was gone but another felid had entered into his life…Crashed into it, really. With this thought in mind, coupled with the irony

We are currently at a slower-paced moment before the final sustained ramp-up. By chapter 3.45 I think you will really like how things ramp up between the characters. When you reach that point please let me know how I did building up to it, if it feels natural, or if it seems terribly out of place with the characters...if you don't mind.

Aethan was more tired than he could ever recall being in his life; even after he’d been resurrected from cryosleep, his muscles turned to jelly from atrophy. But it was a different kind of exhaustion than the kind born from distress or terror. It was a sleepy, shuffling exhaustion, one that made him feel like a wrung out scrap of cloth. Ghor stalked beside him, deliberately matching him stride for stride, pretending to be focused on something else. Yet Aethan could sense that the felid was track

It was no easy task pulling Ghor’s loincloth; with each passing second it seemed to swell another centimeter larger, but Aethan knew such a thing wasn't possible. He would manage to get it halfway down, revealing the upper portion of the felid's cock and a long vein that tapered down like a crease in the middle of a page. The massive organ seemed to beat with an inner life of its own. He would reach the limit to which the cloth could stretch, enough that he could see the opposite wall through th

Aethan was held aloft with only Ghor’s hold to support him in the air. He needn’t have worried about the felid losing his grip. His fingers almost completely encompassed Aethan’s back and thighs. For a moment Aethan was back in the theatre again with Vash, sitting in the highest booth, the booth honored to the Crown Prince, watching as Cathesan and felid performers soared through the air, holding and flipping onto trapeze over a five hundred foot drop or even height, seeming to defy gravit

Aethan gasped, cupping his hands over his crotch and turning away. His first thought was that he hadn’t thought to bring a towel with him…And his uniform was resting on the bench on the far wall, whose path Ghor was standing directly in front of. “Sorry,” he gasped. “I was just about to duck about.” It was stupid gibberish, blurting out the first thought that came to his mind. “I was just about to duck out.” “Without a towel? Wet as you are? It would be very hard to get your clothes on

Aethan wasn’t sure how long they remained like this, his head pillowed on the thick bush of the felid’s chest hair, his heart kicking powerfully against his cheek. He didn’t want the moment to end. He wanted to believe that as long as they stayed like this, there was nothing that could touch them. Nothing that could harm them. It was a silly idea, utterly preposterous, but it was a feeling that had nothing to do with the brain or rationale. He wasn’t the only one who felt this way. He could feel

The world spun in dizzying circles, the ground lurching up to meet him. There was a buzzing in his ears as if he were surrounded by the vellum, the pesky desert moths that the sandstorm had kicked up on the way to the ship oh so long ago. He was in a mindless panic, pursued by phantoms without face or name, adrenaline pumping madly through his veins, his breath coming out in whistling shrieks. He did not stop until he ran face first into the door, slamming into the clear window to send him flyin

Thank you, that means a lot.

Aethan's blood buzzed in his ear. The voices of a thousand strangers screamed in his mind; but in a way they were also familiar for they were very much a part of him now. In the minds of those who now existed within his subconscious it was the fear of being forced to endure the nightmare that had brought their ruin yet again. Aethan’s fears at the moment were more personal than existential. A fresh wave of adrenaline pumped through his veins, throwing everything into sharp focus: the crunch of s

By the time Aethan reached the command tent, his face was still wet with tears. He stopped outside the entrance and wiped at his face, sniffling, feeling exhausted, ridiculous. Trembling, a phantom crackle in the back of his throat. For the first time in weeks he found himself craving Estristatmer as never before, his mouth watering, his tongue rolling around an imaginary lozenge. At least then he would feel numb for a time. At least then he wouldn't feel like he was caught in a neverending danc

At first Aethan felt as cold and stiff as a statue, unsure if he wanted to draw away or if he wanted to let Ghor keep touching him. This is no different than on the night when you slept in the same tent together - in the same bed, he told himself sternly. But of course he knew better. Sure the nights they had slept together had been intimate and comforting but they had also been about survival. Survival in the face of something alien, familiarity in a space that did not play by the same rules, t

Close. Close to the end now. Close enough that he could see the end of the track. What will happen after the track ends is a mystery. Without his own true body, his existence and that of the priest and the other souls stored within this mind was tied to the survival of the host. Through his eyes they would continue to learn and experience. He gradually became aware of other things, one thing in particular: the host’s brain. Inside was a reservoir of knowledge, a vast catalog of thoughts, memorie

I'm finally glad someone is able to sympathize with Aethan a little bit. You will see that tension between them continues to ebb and flow throughout Arc 3 and leads into some dark/difficult territory. As the writer I didn't want Aethan to just be a victim of abuse or Ghor the abuser. It's a lot more nuanced than that. There have been some comments where Aethan has been accused of being morally superior or cruel when really he is the first person to ever stand up to Ghor and become the catalyst for change. But in the end they are really just chemically reacting to their environment which changes and is as unpredictable as the planet itself. Thank you for reading and for your comments.