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The original was posted on /r/hfy by /u/daecrist on 2025-06-25 18:14:13+00:00.
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I moved to stand between Varis and this livisk asshole. Which had more amusement coming through the link.
“What in the name of the empress are you doing?” she asked, but it wasn’t in a worried voice. No, it was more like a quiet voice. She wasn’t worried.
"I’m protecting you in case he decides to come at us again. Also, you really need to work on disciplining your military if they’re willing to attack us like this.”
“He’s not doing anything that breaks any of our laws,” she said, though she still seemed more amused than anything. Both in her tone and in the emotion was streaming through the link.
“I really have a lot to learn about the way you do things on this planet,” I said.
“Clearly you do,” she said.
The guy finally stood to his full height. I looked up at him. Varis was at about my same height, maybe a little shorter, but this gentleman towered over me by at least a head.
He looked down at me, and his nostrils flared. His skin sparkled as he glared at me. Meanwhile, a fight with the empress continued to go on all around us on the other side of the shield. I could hear the occasional explosion as one of the fighters blew up as one of those stupid assholes did a kamikaze run on behalf of an empress who didn’t give a shit about them but was more than happy to send them off to die in her name.
Which had me pissed off for totally different reasons.
Then a smile spread across his face. He reached out and slapped me on the shoulder, but I instinctively put up my arm again to push him away. Which had him cocking his head to the side and hitting me with a smile that seemed more confused than anything.
“You’re fine, Bill,” Varis said behind me, and this time her tone carried something else. Like maybe I was committing some sort of livisk faux pas or something by not acting friendly with the guy who’d been trying to beat the shit out of me moments ago.
“Forgive me,” I said. "It’s not like you have Emily Post for fighting assholes who try to hit me with a haymaker out of nowhere.”
“I have no idea what those words mean, but I get your point,” she said. "Unfortunately, you’re going to have to learn as you go, and I can assure you he’s trying to be friendly now.”
I looked him up and down again. I thought about a bully I’d had to deal with back in the sixth grade. The guy delighted in pestering me. He was much bigger than me and far more muscular thanks to the whims of growth spurts.
I could still remember the smirk plastered across his face as I stood in the middle of a history class. That smirk had still been there when I hefted my world history book, quite a tome considering everything we had to cover in that class, and smacked it across his face. He’d been in one of those desks where the chair was bolted to the desk proper, and so he’d been tangled in that as I hit him a few times.
I’d been ready for a beating, but our football coach history teacher had been there once he finally managed to disentangle himself from the desk. And surprisingly enough, we’d become pretty good friends after that. I guess all it took was making it clear I wasn’t going to put up with his bullshit.
Now as I stared at this guy? I was getting the same vibe. The sense I’d been weighed in the scales and found worthy.
He reached out and clapped me on the shoulder again, only this time he was a little more hesitant. His smile wasn’t quite as confident, but when I didn’t move to stop on him he squeezed my shoulder.
“Well met, human,” he said. "I’ve always wanted to take the measure of one of you in single combat. You’re far tougher than I’ve been led to believe from our trainers.”
I frowned at that. Far tougher than he’d been led to believe by his trainers. That fight had gone much better for me than I’d been led to believe by all the training I had.
“Don’t mention it,” I said.
“I’ll have to buy you a drink sometime, human,” he said. "I am Korel.”
"Well met, Korel,” I said, grinning and putting my own hand on his shoulder. Though I had to reach up to do it.
He stared at me for another moment. His eyes darted to Varis. Finally he grinned and turned to the restaurant. Apparently he’d decided he was going to get his drink on rather than fighting for another anti-aircraft position.
“You did well there,” Varis said.
I looked down at my hands, and then I looked over to her. I cocked my head to the side, a sneaking suspicion suddenly hitting me.
“What?” she asked, blinking and looking innocent. Though the emotions coming through the link were anything but innocent. No, it was a mixture of amusement and a feeling like she’d been caught doing something.
“You haven’t been pulling your punches when we’ve been sparring, have you?” I asked.
“Why would I give anything less than my very best?” she asked.
“What’s happening to me?” I asked.
I thought back to our first fight where I’d needed power armor. Then to the second time in the VIP suite in that massive dining room. I thought about how I’d been able to hold my own against her, and how that shouldn’t have been possible.
Lady livisk were, as a rule, not as strong as their male counterparts, but they were still pretty damn strong. Far stronger than a human.
“We can talk about that later,” she said, reaching out and clasping her own hand on my shoulder.
I got the feeling that was a symbol of respect in livisk circles, or it was a way that they were all mocking me. Though I didn’t think Varis would be mocking me like that.
“Now come on,” she said, her eyes twinkling. “Let’s give you a chance to shoot down more of the empress’s fighters.”
I looked around again. I had a slightly uncomfortable feeling. Livisk surrounded us, their slates up. They were obviously taking pictures and videos of me. Looking for all the world like people doing the same thing whenever there was something interesting going on back on Earth.
“Are they going to do that every time I go out and about?” I asked.
"Probably not every time you go out and about, but you are an oddity. A human who is given freedom in the tower.”
"That’s more odd than a human who’s mentally connected to a livisk?” I asked.
"Well, that is something that happens from time to time. Though normally people who are linked like that have the good grace to fade into obscurity.”
“So why haven’t we faded into obscurity?” I asked.
Not that I wanted to fade into obscurity. Not that I thought Varis was the kind to fade into obscurity. Still. It was an option.
“That’s not an option for me, no matter how much the empress might enjoy it if I faded into obscurity."
“We can’t have that,” I said.
That was interesting, though. I thought about the stories I’d heard from humans back at Central Station, or on the ship. The stuff Olsen and John said about people straight up disappearing after stealing a shuttle that could take them into deep space.
I shook my head. This whole thing was still nuts. I pushed those thoughts away for now. That was something to worry about later. When I wasn’t in the middle of a prime opportunity to give the empress a little what for.
I grabbed the controls for the anti-aircraft cannon. The hologram targeting reticle flashed blue, which I assumed was their way of saying everything was good to go. It was a sparkling sort of blue color, which seemed to be something they associated with positivity.
That made sense considering the way their skin looked. I glanced over to Varis in her uniform with that same sparkling blue skin and grinned, giving her a thumbs-up. Then I tried targeting one of the imperial ships moving past us.
I squeezed down on buttons on top of the control yoke, and plasma flew out from the cannon. I could even feel a slight buzzing every time it went off. I continued squeezing as a bomber flew past, but I didn’t hit it. I was giving the ship too much lead time, and my plasma bolts flew safely behind.
“You have to adjust,” she said. "Unfortunately, there’s a slight delay between pressing the firing button and the cannons actually firing.”
“That seems like one sequel trilogy of a flaw,” I said.
“Not a flaw, merely how these particular plasma cannons are designed,” she said. “Here, let me show you.”
I was about to pull away and give her an opportunity to do just that, but then I felt the heat from her body radiating against me. I felt the swell of her breasts pressing against my back. I felt the rock-hard muscular form that was her pressing against me.
I grinned as I melted into her. I wasn’t too proud to be the little spoon when the situation called for it.
Her hands moved around and wrapped around my own hands touching the targeting yoke. She put her thumbs over mine, and then she was whispering in my ear. Which didn’t seem like it was strictly necessary for the lesson but I was here for it.
I felt her thoughts through the link. I could almost tell where she wanted me to put the targeting reticle before she pointed me in that direction. Also, I wasn’t complaining about feeling her hot breath in my ear any more than I would complain about feeling her pressing up against me.
“Here you go,” she sa…
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