Jump to content
    Cia
    • Signature Author
  • 995 Words
  • 3,662 Views
  • 13 Comments
Stories posted in this category are works of fiction. Names, places, characters, events, and incidents are created by the authors' imaginations or are used fictitiously. Any resemblances to actual persons (living or dead), organizations, companies, events, or locales are entirely coincidental.
Note: While authors are asked to place warnings on their stories for some moderated content, everyone has different thresholds, and it is your responsibility as a reader to avoid stories or stop reading if something bothers you. 

Denied - 81. Chapter 81

“Kohen, calm down.” Captain’s warm hands landed on my shoulders. He squeezed them, rubbing the tense muscles. “I won’t let anyone take you away from me. We’re bonded, remember? Where you go, I go.”

“But you just said—”

“I know, and maybe I need to censor some of the information I share with you until you are a little calmer. Breathe, okay? There may be some calls for action against us by those who are dirty or who were colluding with the Elites and hoping not to get caught, but I know Freska. She’s damned every single one of the dirty bastards. They’ll go down for this. And even if governments are calling for action against us, there’s a simple solution.” Captain pulled me toward his chest, folding me into his arms.

Bunching my hands into his uniform, I breathed in his scent, took in his heat. Fronts pressed together, there was no escaping my reaction to him, but this wasn’t that kind of intimacy. I matched my breathing to his, slowing down my sharp gulps for air. I pressed my forehead to his shoulder. “Thank you.” I blinked and leaned my head back. “What solution?”

A slow smile spread across his face. Captain shrugged. “We just go to one of the planets that is hailing us as heroes and settle down. I’m sure at least a few of them are good enough to stick around forever on. You trust me, right?”

“Always.”

“Good. I already knew that, but I wanted to be sure that you remembered you trusted me. That you can always trust me.” He leaned in, his lips parting.

Knowing what was coming, wanting it, I met him in a gentle kiss of lips. His hands roamed my back, hypnotizing sweeps up and down along my spine. Brushing our mouths together, he covered every inch of my top and bottom lip with tiny nibbles with his lush lips, taking his time before finally giving me the firm pressure I craved.

“Mmm,” I sighed. The last of the tension leeched out of my body. Captain backed me up to the bunk. I watched languidly as he finished getting ready and then left. Sleep claimed me soon after.

 

The door alert woke me, but it took me a few moments to put on some clothes. “Danie?”

“Can I come in?” Danie looked up and down the corridor.

“Sure?” I drew out the word, backing up so he could step inside. He was acting strange, which was saying a lot for him. His behavior was never quite what was expected. His outsides might mimic a human perfectly, but he hadn’t been programmed to act perfectly.

Bandages covered his arms. “Are you okay?” I asked him.

“Yes. The medic says they will heal quickly, but they are deep enough to warrant covering.” He’d been scratched during the attack. I’d forgotten.

Being busy killing people had that effect.

“Are you… um… do you want to sit down?” I waved a hand toward the lounge area.

“I guess.” They both sat a foot or two apart. Danie sat quietly, but he didn’t speak. I shifted around, looking at him then away, then back at him.

“What did you come by for?” I asked. It might sound abrupt, but well… I wanted to know.

“Do you dream?” he asked.

I frowned. “Dream? Like make plans for life? Or like sleep?”

“It is an ambiguous term. I meant sleep.”

“Yes.” Though I hadn’t, not with Captain watching over me. He made everything better.

“I had… flashes. While I was recharging and in stand-by. Freska says I’m sleeping, even though I’m not really human, so was it a dream?”

“Maybe?” How was I supposed to know? I didn’t want to say that though. “Did you ask Freska?”

Danie’s eyes widened. “I can’t do that.”

“Why not?” Now I was curious. I settled into the couch.

“It was about her. What if she became upset or some other emotion? She’s different from everyone else. I can connect with her.” He touched the back of his neck, but his other hand drifted up his chest. I don’t even know if he realized it. “I don’t want to lose that.”

He was worried about offending Freska. Maybe embarrassed about the dream? And he didn’t want to lose his connection to her? The longer Danie was alive, for lack of a better word, the more he was integrating his hardware and software. His humanness.

“Is that all you dream about? Freska?”

“It was after we killed those people. When she connected with us. I could feel her inside me. I-I like it. What if she did it again?” Danie tilted his head. “I don’t understand any of this. Is this how you felt, when you were rescued?”

Was it? He’d been scared, confused, stressed, angry, happy, and so much more in such a short span of time. There’d been a plot to capture or use or kill him since he’d been sold the first time, and his first brush of freedom hadn’t stopped that.

But Captain had. Maybe that’s what Freska did for Danie. “Some. But what I’ve learned is that talking with people is the best way to make sure they know how you feel and you can learn how they feel. So you should talk to Freska, even if that seems like it’s a bad idea.”

“That’s it? Talk to her?”

I stood. “That’s it.” I needed to get some clothes on. I’d slept enough, and talking with Danie made me realize if I wanted to be a part of Captain’s decisions, I needed to remember I didn’t want him protecting me. I had to stay strong, rebuild the confidence I had.

This crew made me one of them, so I wasn’t going to shirk my duties. First I’d seek out Captain to learn what was happening and what our plan was, then I’d find something useful to do.

Copyright © 2017 Cia; All Rights Reserved.
  • Like 37
  • Love 30
Stories posted in this category are works of fiction. Names, places, characters, events, and incidents are created by the authors' imaginations or are used fictitiously. Any resemblances to actual persons (living or dead), organizations, companies, events, or locales are entirely coincidental.
Note: While authors are asked to place warnings on their stories for some moderated content, everyone has different thresholds, and it is your responsibility as a reader to avoid stories or stop reading if something bothers you. 
You are not currently following this author. Be sure to follow to keep up to date with new stories they post.

Recommended Comments

Chapter Comments

Good chapter, but changing back and forth from first to third person is jarring. I think it may be accidental.

  • Like 2
Link to comment

I like the parallel between what the Captain does for Kohen and what Freska does for Danie. (I also like that Danie is evolving as a living entity.)  However, Danie's liking of Freska seems based on her ability to connect with him (literally) rather than through any sexual feelings. If Freska were male, Danie would probably react the same way. 🤔

  • Like 2
Link to comment

This quote:

"...then I’d find something useful to do...."

applies irrespective of your origin: robot, AI, human or other (intended to be respectful of others I am not aware of).  

thank you, Kohen and Cia

  • Like 1
  • Love 1
Link to comment

My sense is that Freska may have similar feelings of connection to Danie. Whether this connection has a romantic, erotic, sexual component—on either side—only time & @Cia can tell us. Personally, I hope so because the hopeless romantic in me wants everyone to have the someone(s) they need to be complete. 

  • Like 3
Link to comment
On 5/1/2019 at 8:10 AM, travlbug said:

I like the parallel between what the Captain does for Kohen and what Freska does for Danie. (I also like that Danie is evolving as a living entity.)  However, Danie's liking of Freska seems based on her ability to connect with him (literally) rather than through any sexual feelings. If Freska were male, Danie would probably react the same way. 🤔

You seem to have missed the rest of the line: He touched the back of his neck, but his other hand drifted up his chest.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
travlbug

Posted (edited)

5 hours ago, Efmaer said:
On 5/1/2019 at 8:10 AM, travlbug said:

I like the parallel between what the Captain does for Kohen and what Freska does for Danie. (I also like that Danie is evolving as a living entity.)  However, Danie's liking of Freska seems based on her ability to connect with him (literally) rather than through any sexual feelings. If Freska were male, Danie would probably react the same way. 🤔

You seem to have missed the rest of the line: He touched the back of his neck, but his other hand drifted up his chest.

Even if we presume that Danie's hand has moved to cover his heart (as symbolism for affection or love), there are many types of love (including familial love and hero worship):  While I have no problem accepting that Danie has feelings for Freska, especially after all she has done for him, I don't have enough information to know the quality of those feelings (the only explicit statement he makes on the matter is that he likes the feeling of her inside his head--not an obviously sexual assertion).  That said, I'm sure that Cia will reveal all in due time. 😊

Edited by travlbug
  • Like 1
Link to comment
On 5/2/2019 at 3:03 PM, travlbug said:

Even if we presume that Danie's hand has moved to cover his heart (as symbolism for affection or love), there are many types of love (including familial love and hero worship):  While I have no problem accepting that Danie has feelings for Freska, especially after all she has done for him, I don't have enough information to know the quality of those feelings (the only explicit statement he makes on the matter is that he likes the feeling of her inside his head--not an obviously sexual assertion).  That said, I'm sure that Cia will reveal all in due time. 😊

I agree that there are many types of love, but you yourself pointed out the fact that Danie states "I could feel her inside me. I-I like it."  Don't forget, the brain is the largest sex organ there is.

  • Like 1
  • Love 1
Link to comment
9 minutes ago, Efmaer said:

Don't forget, the brain is the largest sex organ there is.

In my case, it works overtime! 😂

  • Haha 2
Link to comment
  • Site Administrator
On 5/1/2019 at 7:33 AM, Geemeedee said:

Good chapter, but changing back and forth from first to third person is jarring. I think it may be accidental.

The third person you are referring to I believe are Kohen's internal thoughts about Danie, or that was the intention. He's thinking about what Danie is saying and how he's been acting but since it is in first person, I can't say "I thought" or something similar to show it's his thoughts because you don't think you're thinking about something, you just think it. It's a hard line to walk sometimes with internal discourse/thought in first person mixed in with narration, but since I don't head hop to other characters or show scenes outside of Kohen's POV either (since, again, it's in first person so we can only see what he knows/sees) then you can assume that anything like that is his internal dialogue about another character, not third person narration about the character from the author POV. 

Sorry if that came across confusing though! 

  • Like 3
  • Love 1
Link to comment

Seeing Kohen grow as he gives advice to Danie is heartwarming. How far he's come, at first scared and torn (not broken) but strong and now empathic and caring despite everything. He's ready to be his own individual. 

  • Like 1
Link to comment

I thought Danie was rather cute in his talk with Kohen. :)  And it's good to see Kohen valuing his own strength. Well done, Cia. Cheers... Gary....

  • Like 2
Link to comment
View Guidelines

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Newsletter

    Sign Up and get an occasional Newsletter.  Fill out your profile with favorite genres and say yes to genre news to get the monthly update for your favorite genres.

    Sign Up
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

Our Privacy Policy can be found here: Privacy Policy. We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue..