Egaran Stars - 63. Reinard- Trial of Life

The fox stepped into a store, massive doors sliding open for him. He held his currency card in a pocket nervously, remembering his segal’s warning about being tracked. But Reinard had to know what was happening to his body. Even now his stomach was cramping, and there was only one cause he could think of. Thinking of it was not enough to know though, and the Faro passed a group of chatting Egaro nervously, reaching for a package. He could feel their eyes on him, travelling his body, wondering exactly what the fox was doing with that. Faro didn’t have sex, why would he need one. They were all male, it would never work on him.

The voices continued in his head as he carried the box to the counter, reaching up to slide his card to pay. Themis had assured him there were plenty of credits on it, and he had to hope that she was right.

There was a soft beep, and he reached blindly, cursing tall counters. Hoisting himself up even as his stomach clenched again, Reinard dangled from the counter as he pressed his thumb into the scanner, his card finally being accepted. With a sigh, the fox dropped back to the ground, taking the box with him.

“Good luck,” he heard a tiger call dubiously.

Reinard tucked the box into his robes, clasping the fabric closer to his body as he left the shop. His feet turned toward home, nearly four islands away, and the Faro let out a quiet sigh, debating looking for a boat. He needed to save credits, but the walk out here had been painful, and he didn’t doubt the walk back would be moreso.

Sighing quietly, Reinard approached a pier, standing with a group of drunk Egaro. One of them winked at him, and the Faro stared straight ahead, trying not to give the tiger any attention.

“Hey cutie, you wanna take a ride with me?” the Egaro slurred. “I’ll bet you never felt anything so good as me before…”

“No thank you,” Reinard said firmly, not making eye contact.

His hand slipped down to his dagger, clenching around the hilt nervously.

“Aw, are you sure? It can get awfully chilly around here. Come on, let me warm you up.”

“I said no. Back off,” the Faro snapped, turning his burning gaze on the tiger.

A pair of boats came, and the fox climbed into one quickly, trying to retreat to the safety of the vehicle. To his horror, the tiger followed him into the boat, a small smirk on the Egaro’s face.

“Stargazer Island please,” the tiger said, sliding his card, and the boat took off, swaying through the wakes of other watercraft.

The motion knocked Reinard into the tiger as he tried to hold himself up, an arm closing around the fox.

“Heh, you’re drunker than I am,” the tiger giggled, pulling the fox against himself.

Reinard gulped as he saw the enormous rod poking from the Egaro’s peplos, and he pushed back.

“Let me go!”

The Egaro released his hold, Reinard breaking free with a violent twist. He winced as his stomach protested the motion, the box within his robes pressing painfully into his belly.

“Fine, I was just trying to warm you up,” the tiger muttered, turning to stare at the passing islands.

The short trip passed in silence, before the boat set against another pier. The tiger got out of the vessel, Reinard gulping as he saw his house nearby. He reluctantly followed, paying the boatman before fleeing up the steps to the house on the cliff. Reinard had no idea where the tiger was going, but he prayed that Galen hadn’t called a whore.

To his relief, the tiger made his way past the house, heading for the bridge on the other side of the island. Reinard let himself relax as he entered his home, Galen looking up with a frown.

“Are you okay? You look like you just saw a ghost.”

“Egaro… tried to fuck me,” Reinard gulped.

“Well yeah, it’s what we do for fun. Just tell them no next time.”

“I tried!” the fox snapped. “He was drunk!”

Storming toward the bathroom, Reinard closed the door firmly, pulling the box out of his robes. He opened it, pulling out a stick with an uncertain look at the directions.

A few minutes later, the Faro felt his gut clench as he watched the colour change on the test. He needed to tell Galen, and he knew the tiger was not going to be happy.

Stepping out of the bathroom, the fox headed back into the living room, finding Galen watching the video he had filmed with Aedan earlier that day.

“We have a problem,” the Egaro said quietly, pausing the video. “I think people are starting to catch onto you being a Faro. I mean, it’s fairly obvious, given the angles, and how many people saw you with Aedan today, but I was hoping it wouldn’t be that obvious.”

“That’s…”

Reinard flinched at the news, looking at one of the comments on the video, pointing out just how likely it was for Aedan’s new camera operator to be a Faro. As he watched, the comment was deleted, Reinard looking at Galen in confusion.

“Ryan. Or Themis. They’re supposed to be keeping up on comments, making sure nothing harmful is posted, but I think it’s a little late for that now,” Galen muttered.

“It’s… It’s a little late for a lot of things,” Reinard said quietly. “Um… do you know the porneo’s policy on pregnancy?”

“You’re not supposed to work while-”

Galen paused mid sentence, staring wide eyed at the Faro.

“No. No, that’s impossible. I watched you take the pill and we haven’t done anything since.”

“About that…”

“What? What about it? What did you do Reinard?!”

“I didn’t think you were going to take me again!” the fox protested. “I need to have kits and you were my only choice!”

“What did you do?”

“I spat the pill out when you weren’t looking,” Reinard admitted, his body shrinking under the tiger’s glare.

“Oh fuck all kinds of tail…” Galen groaned.