Nebula Book 1: His Breeder
20

By the time their date ended, Nebula had to cover her mouth to hide her yawn. Bless this heart, but Xixulo was as interesting as dirt. Actually, that was an overstatement. He was painfully boring, but she figured things were awkward because it was their first date. Taking pity on him, she set up a second date. They were supposed to meet again the following day.

She took a long nap and tried to forget about the awkward stretches of silence that filled most of their time together. It made sense for his flirting to be rusty. After all, the guy spent fifteen years without speaking to a woman. Maybe he had a shining personality somewhere beneath his cold, calculative eyes and pursed lips.

“How was the date?” Kira asked.

She groaned and slammed her forehead on her knees.

“That bad?”

“There’s no English or Ezronian word that can describe how disastrous it was.”

Kira snorted. “So are you moving on to the next guy?”

“No,” Nebula shook her head. “I figured I could give him another shot.”

“Maybe you can have some joy berries over lunch. That might loosen him up.”

“He might bore me to the point of overdose.”

Kira giggled. “Ouch.”

The women spent the rest of the day tossing jokes and working on a tent project. Then, Nebula spent some time classifying her rocks and polishing them. Lamara wasn’t feeling too well. Her pregnancy was making her less mobile with every passing day, and her sickness was getting worse. She usually spent some hours helping Nebula map the stars every day since Kira didn’t know much about astronomy. That day, though, she went to bed early.

Every time Nebula looked at Terra or Lamara’s protruding belly, she was reminded of her silent expectation of having children to save Ezron. She wanted to do it, but she wanted to find someone that mattered first.

The clock was ticking.

The next day, she added some coloring to her lips, left her hair free, and used one of her prettier dresses.

When she arrived in the common room, Xixulo was already waiting for her. Like last time, he had a bloody gift. She accepted it with the same gratitude, but had no interest in snacking on it.

He held another bag in his left hand.

“What’s that?”

Please don’t let it be another bloody snack.

“I got you a gift.”

“You didn’t have to,” she smiled. “Thank you.”

He opened the bag and revealed a container that had some sort of orange paste inside.

“What is this? Medicine?”

“It is a lotion for your hair.”

From what she gathered, Ezronian men typically weren’t interested in cosmetics– well, except Vrox in his ridiculous attempts to woo Kira.

Maybe Xixulo was different. She liked this about him. It made him special, and it finally melted some of his cold demeanor. She was interested in her silly rocks, and he was interested in lotions.

“That’s awesome. So will this make it more shiny or something?”

“No. It will make it more straight.”

She raised an eyebrow and lowered the bottle. “More straight?”

“Yes. It will make it like the High Mother’s and Kyros’ female.”

“But…” she raised a hand to touch her hair, which she thought looked nice. “What is wrong with my hair?”

“It is rowdy,” Xixulo answered, face still cold. “I have never seen anyone with its texture. This cream will make you look like the other females.”

“But I don’t want to look like everyone else. Why do I have to look like Kira and Lamara? I thought that today I looked…”

“What?”

“Pretty.”

Xixulo shrugged. “I thought I was helping. The other females look more normal.”

Normal?!

She nearly screamed. She and the other girls were aliens that were teleported from another planet. There was nothing– absolutely nothing normal about her.

“Perhaps you can find another hobby, too, so you do not play with rocks,” Xixulo suggested. “The High Mother spends her time–”

“You know what,” she interjected.

This had to be the shortest date in all time. It ended exactly two minutes in.

“I don’t think this is going to work. If you can’t accept me like I am, then there’s no need for us to keep seeing each other. I am not Kira or Lamara. I am me. If you’re so interested in the other girls, then maybe you should ask them out. A word of advice, though, Vrox and Kyros punch first and ask questions later.”

He hesitated before nodding. “Would you like to keep the lotion?”

“No. You can keep your lotion, because I’m definitely not going to need it. Goodbye.”

She rushed past Ni’ev who was guarding the door. Just as she passed him, he reached out and clutched onto her arm. Although she was surprised that she touched her, she kept her gaze down to hide her tears.

He gripped her chin and then nodded as if he found what he had been expecting.

“I want to go to my room,” she sniffled, pulling away.

Ni’ev turned away. He scanned the pyramid. “Vrox!” he yelled, raising a hand to call over his brother who was crossing the field along with three other men. Vrox abandoned the men and jogged up the stairs.

“What is it? Where are Kira and Terra?”

“They are in your bedroom. I need you to walk Nebula to her room and guard her until I return,” Ni’ev instructed.

“Why? I thought you were on guard duty?”

He turned to Nebula. “Female, why are you spilling eye-water?”

“Xixulo disrespected her by calling her strange, so I must straighten him out.”

“Strange?” Vrox roared as if it were Kira that was insulted. To Nebula’s horror, he marched inside. Ni’ev made sure to snatch his sword out of his hand so he didn’t decapitate the other man.

Vrox exchanged brief words with Xixulo and ensured chaos by attacking him.

Ni’ev smiled down at the teary Terran. “Now, let us get you home. I will tell Kira to get you your pretty rocks, yes?”

Nebula wiped her tears, but they kept on coming. She wanted to go inside and stop the violence. After all, she didn’t want the guy to get killed over his stupid opinion. Something told her that Vrox wouldn’t stop his assault if she asked him to. He seemed so angry that not even Kira would have been able to peel him off.

She nodded and stared at her dress, which she couldn’t help but wonder if Xixulo also considered ugly.

They walked away, and the sounds of grunting and smashing became more distant with every step.

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