Uncanny Love - Pt. 08

Carlos was feeling pretty upbeat this morning. His car had finally come back from the mechanics, and they said everything was all good. Just in time for the upcoming picnic he planned to take Nia to. They were going to some park just outside the city. Not secluded, but more out in the countryside. There were going to be people around, but it'd still be nice and quiet, and the weather was shaping up very pleasant too.

He was currently busy whipping up food to take on the trip, sandwiches and other assorted snacks for them both, and some sneaky snacks for Nia, various bits of raw meat and mince hidden inside wrapped pastry, the kind dumplings came in. Anyone else watching would be none the wiser, and his girlfriend would have her fix of uncooked protein. He even added some sheep brains into the mix.

Meanwhile, she was busy preparing some drinks; alongside a few bottles of soda, and some nice mild wine, she was filling up a thermos flask each of coffee, as well as filling a discrete metal bottle with some animal's blood. She was definitely in a good mood herself, humming a cheery tune and licking her lips with an abnormally long tongue, a tendril emerging from the back of her neck and swaying in time with her little song.

Carlos found it oddly cute, moving over to give her a little pat on her rump, making her flinch and loose a cute yelp.

"Carlos, you perv," she teased with a smirk, shaking her hips in return.

"Hard to pass the chance up, you know," he assured her, the two sharing a laugh as he moved over to the fridge to transfer some of the prepared snacks and food until they were ready to head out. Wouldn't be long now, but they were both raring to go. It was just a picnic, yet they seemed as excited for it as some big event. Maybe it was because outings like this - day time, not stargazing, just spending time together, without the distraction of their hobby (even if they tended to distract each other from their hobby) - weren't that common outside of little jaunts to a local cafe.

It was just going to be a nice few hours spent in the sunny outdoors, talking, eating, chatting, and not getting tangled in each other's bits. That could - and would - come after. But until then, they were simply going to enjoy each other's company.

As Carlos made sure everything was ready, Nia let out a happy sigh.

"I was honestly worried that we wouldn't be able to get a chance to head out today. The forecast wasn't looking good for the next weekend. I know I could wait, but... I really needed this, I think."

She turned towards him and smiled.

"With everything else happening, a good break would do me so much good."

Carlos returned her smile and moved over to wrap his arms around her body, sniffing her scalp.

"There's nothing to worry about, babe, we'll handle things. That whole 'complete inspection' thing is taking its time, and Taylor hasn't been asking anything weird either. Plus, I'll be finishing up at Byteworks real soon, so I'll have all the time to spend with you again."

She leaned into him, and sniffed his neck, a guttural growl of appreciation emanating from her.

"I'm looking forward to that," she admitted. "I don't think I've gotten used to you going out for so long almost every day. I liked it when you worked here."

"So do I. Can't beat working from home, gotta say," he agreed.

The two held each other tight for a little while longer, before extricating themselves to finish up preparations for the picnic, Nia going to find a nice blanket for the spread and a cooler box to put everything in.

Carlos checked his phone quickly, confirming the weather forecast; sunny with slight cloud cover, occasional weak winds, and a pleasant twenty six celsius out. They couldn't have asked for better.

Satisfied, he started offloading everything to the cooler once Nia returned with it, and she started taking a handful of other things down to the car, almost time to get going.

Carlos put his phone on emergency-only mode, so that he wouldn't get any non-urgent calls, unlikely as that was, and he logged out of several of his apps. He didn't turn off data, he still wanted access to the internet in case their conversation took them to looking something up. But he otherwise made sure there was little temptation for distraction.

Nothing was going to interrupt this day.

Nia was practically buzzing with excitement as she buckled herself into the driver's seat, though her flesh remained perfectly consistent now that she was outside of the apartment. Still, Carlos loved seeing her so excited, she really was waiting for this day, more than he fully appreciated, and he appreciated her plenty.

It put a smile on his face as he turned the ignition, the car thrumming to life. It didn't sound so rough now, and he pulled out fairly smoothly, so he was comfortable with the job the mechanics did.

The traffic was heavy, even on a weekend, but it was still fairly early in the morning, just after eight, so they had plenty of time to get to where they were going and enjoy a good several hours of pleasant sunny day.

"Do you think we'll see any interesting animals out there?" she asked.

"Maybe. It is on the edge of government reserve, so the parkland does get some critters wandering in," he answered, meandering through traffic on his way out of the city.

"I bet there'll be plenty of birds singing. Maybe they'll give me ideas for my music, a bit of nature to go with the synth."

Hearing her excited about her music also brought a smile to his face, she seemed so eager to get it out there, she was confident she was close to having something she could release. And he was ready and prepared to help spread it around so as many people could hear it as possible.

What didn't bring a smile to his face was the deceleration of the car, Carlos finding it a little sluggish. Nothing too serious, but it wasn't quite as smooth as he first thought. He didn't know if the mechanics hadn't done as good a job as they claimed, or if it was just the fact it was an older model, with only so much that could be done without conducting even more thorough repairs.

But it was adequately responsive, so that was all that mattered. He'd get used to it quickly enough.

The buildings started shrinking, getting closer to the outskirts of the city. Nia's conversation had grown more intermittent, letting Carlos focus on the traffic, but she was happy to watch the world go by, smiling and humming to herself, which proved quite soothing to Carlos, mitigating the stress of navigating traffic in the mid morning rush. Soon, it started to ease, and the average speed picked up. He felt a little calmer, and he was more and more eager to get to their destination.

However, as they were passing through the industrial estates, he frowned at a driver ahead of them, who appeared to be driving rather erratically, weaving their little red sedan in and out of traffic trying to get ahead. They passed in front of them, and at one point, they were forced back by heavier vehicles spanning the lanes, enough Carlos could see the young driver thumping his steering wheel and looking plenty agitated.

"Lighten up, man," he said to himself, keeping some distance between him and the vehicle directly ahead, a flat-bed with a bunch of steel piping and other tubing and rods tied down to the back of it, sticking out a ways.

It didn't make him feel all that comfortable, so he made sure there was plenty of space between him and them.

They were coming up to an intersection, and the vehicle in front was getting ready to slow down. The red sedan, however, was absolutely not in the mood to show any patience, as it charged on ahead just as the lights turned red, racing out into the intersection.

Just as a truck was coming through it.

The red sedan was clipped by the truck that slammed on the brakes and swerved towards the flatbed ahead of Carlos' vehicle, who in turn slammed on their brakes. But they themselves were clipped as well, shunting them backwards.

Carlos too slammed the brakes as Nia let out a panicked shriek that wasn't quite human.

"Fuck!" came out of Carlos' mouth, body lurching forward... until he felt the brakes give way.

He barely had time to register the failure before his car hit the back of the flatbed in front of him, the airbags going off. Glass shattered as metal framing and piping struck the windscreen, but Carlos didn't notice the metal coming for him, his whole world thrown into a daze.

Then many long seconds where he wasn't cognisant of anything.

He only came to a few moments later, groaning upon lifting his head from the deflating airbag, feeling moisture on his forehead and pain in his arms and legs and chest and neck. The dash of his car was pushed in, he felt quite a bit more cramped than before, and his body felt incredibly hollow in the moment.

He shook his head despite the whiplash, and looked to his right.

A feeling of horror filled him, bile in his gut upon seeing a metal pipe sticking into Nia's left eye, his girlfriend staring straight ahead and sitting bolt upright. His initial reaction was of pure despair and anguish, incomprehensible grief rising in him.

And then Nia's other eye looked his way, a blank expression of 'oh shit' on her face.

The relief he felt was indescribable, he almost wanted to cry. Until he realised that was going to be one hell of a thing to explain away to passersby and first responders.

"Shit, you okay?" he asked.

"I'm okay... this thing's lodged in there pretty good though," she confessed. Blood stained her face, but it wasn't bleeding quite as much as such a wound should have. "Are you okay?"

"Not sure... fuck, it hurts to breathe," he groaned, the pain becoming more and more apparent. He might've broken some ribs. He could deal with that as long as no one showed up and thought Nia was a fucking zombie.

"Don't move, I'll... I'll try to help. Just... just gotta get off this..."

Bone began to crack and flesh began to tear, and she started leaning her head his way, shifting her flesh and bone to extricate the metal rod.

Unfortunately, he heard voices over the beeping and blaring of the cars.

"Faster," he urged.

"Almost... got it..." she muttered, sounding stressed.

And then she lurched his way, freeing herself from the piece of metal. She looked to him, smiling, though now she had a horrific hole in her left eye socket and the side of her skull was opened up like the pipe had been ripped out sideways. It was already stitching itself back together, however, but someone suddenly knocked on the side of the car.

"Hey, is everyone alright in there?"

The face of a middle-aged woman ducked to peer through the bent frame of the shattered passenger side window, her expression full of concern.

Nia flinched and looked Carlos' way, doing her best to shield her still healing head. She looked at him, her face visibly panicked. Carlos looked around, and then started groaning loudly.

"No... no, fuck, it hurts," he said with a pained voice. Not too hard because he was hurting like a motherfucker, but he was playing it up as much as he could that still seemed believable. He wanted all eyes on him, so they weren't on Nia.

"Hold on, we'll try to get you out of there," she said.

Another face appeared through the driver's side window.

"The ambulance is on its way," assured a young man, definitely not the shit head that caused this in the first place.

Carlos looked around, and realised he was a lot more trapped than he seemed.

"Nnnf, don't, I'm wedged in here... fuck! I'm wedged in here pretty good, and I'm hurt bad. It's... oh fucking hell... it's too dangerous."

He was trying to ride the line between making himself out to be in agony - not hard - but discouraging well-meaning bystanders from trying to help them too soon - a bit harder - so Nia had the time she needed.

And that was when another problem was spotted; the metal pipe covered in her blood.

She glanced at it, then him, and grimaced.

"What about you, miss? Are you good?" the middle-aged woman inquired.

For a moment, she did nothing, and then she lifted her head up, and looked at the woman asking if she was okay.

"I'm fine, just a graze," Nia answered, sounding a little distressed, a shallow cut on the side of her face... and her hand gripping the tip of the metal rod deathly tight as if for leverage.

"Geez, lady, you're lucky," the man said, sticking his head into the interior.

"I guess I am," Nia agreed, but Carlos could tell she was still very stressed out. They both were, and they had every reason to be. Beyond his own injuries, the paramedics were going to want to check them both, and they'd be taken to the nearest hospital to get looked over by doctors. He'd certainly be admitted.

But would Nia be able to hide what she was from them? Her disguise was perfect when out and about now, no one knew what she was just from looking at her or hearing her talk. Deeper scrutiny, however, was a different matter.

Sirens caught his attention, getting louder and louder as they approached. And Nia was looking herself over, realising that, despite the airbags going off, she was pocked with glass fragments, little bits all over her, especially on the side of her body facing the door. She couldn't just push them out, she had to maintain some level of injury or it'd be suspicious.

But at least, when she pulled her hand away from the metal rod sticking through the windscreen, only a smear of blood remained. Enough to make it seem like she was only grazed by it in a case of supreme luck... and not impaled through the damn eye socket.

There was a commotion outside, more people around, helping out the other victims of the crash. He heard yelling too, not friendly, and suspected the driver of the red sedan had gotten out mostly okay, but was now in the shit, and people knew it.

It was then that he realised he'd never come closer to dying in his life. Even when he met Nia, the terror was real, but she had no intention of harming him needlessly. But physics was entirely apathetic, and one could not argue with physics.

Had things just gone slightly differently, it might've been him with the steel rod in his skull... and he would not have moved after that.

His breathing started escalating, the revelation of how close he came getting to him, a heavy, sickening dread filling his stomach. He wanted to throw up, he wanted to cry, it was all so much. Too much.

A hand laced its fingers with his, and he was pulled out of his spiral. He turned, and saw Nia, her face comforting and supportive.

"We'll be fine," she assured him, even as stressed as she was.

And in that moment, he felt... strange. Relieved, the terror and existential dread leaving him, but also a little ashamed; it should've been him comforting Nia, he should've be strong for her. Yet at the end of it all, happy that someone was there for him as well.

He returned a pained smile, and gripped her hand back.

"Yeah... yeah," he agreed, the sound of sirens now very loud outside the car.

Firefighters arrived, looking in through the window of the car, asking them both questions about their condition. Carlos said he was in a decent amount of pain, Nia assured that her injuries were all superficial and she was alright.

Nevertheless, they insisted she go to the hospital once they had Carlos out of the vehicle. It didn't take much to open the door on her side, but he must have hit the back of the flatbed in front of him at a bit of an angle because his side of the car was much more crumpled. Reluctantly, Nia left the vehicle to wait at an ambulance while the firefighters cut the door on Carlos' side off. After that, it wasn't that hard extricating him from the wreck, though he groaned in pain, his chest hurting with every breath he took.

He was placed on a stretcher, and paramedics soon presided over him, strapping him in and keeping him talking, doing whatever they needed to figure out what his injuries were, keep him stable, and otherwise doing their best to keep him calm.

Fortunately, Nia's 'injuries' were light enough she was allowed to ride in the ambulance with him, just to keep him company. But he suspected it was to help keep herself calm as well; she might've appeared strong, but Carlos could tell she was also riding that fine line of simulating her mild wounds in a way that seemed believable, without making herself seem oddly unbothered by it all.

She could be outright nightmare fuel, twisting herself inside and out and sprouting all manner of messed up limbs and tears in the flesh for teeth to grow and gnash... but actually faking injuries seemed like a different matter altogether. It required extra focus, to make them seem consistent. These weren't gaping maws in her body with slathering tongues, or ragged openings for tentacles to whip out, they were bits of glass and shallow cuts and scrapes that should not change and shift. Should not heal in the span of a few minutes.

For someone like her, that was altogether different. But she seemed to be managing, even if she was obviously distressed by Carlos' condition.

That was the only reason he needed to be as strong as he could for her, just like she was being strong for him.

The trip to the hospital was longer than he wanted, and he was stuck on the ramp at the hospital behind a line of other ambulances, but eventually he was unloaded from the vehicle, and wheeled through to a triage room or something, where he sat for even longer, since the doctors and the paramedics didn't believe he was in a life threatening situation, and as was typical, they were short of resources.

And it was there that he and Nia were separated, a nurse coming along to take Nia away for checks and to get all that glass pulled out of her. Her reluctance was obvious, but he gave her a look that assured her he'd be fine. She had to play along as best she could. For both their sake.

Doctors and nurses came and went, checking on his condition while he waited to be taken to a room to be properly assessed. First, he needed X-Rays, to determine the extent of his injuries, and when he finally got them done, the results showed that he had extensive bruising just beneath his ribs, and one of them was cracked, but it was a lot better than it could have been.

There was a fracture in the middle of his right tibia, however, that was going to be a bigger bitch to deal with. The doctors said it was going to need some minor surgery. He probably wasn't seeing out the rest of his contract at Byteworks.

Otherwise, it was mostly minor cuts and bruises, and they gave him the all clear for head injuries. Neverthless, he was stripped, put in a hospital gown, and hooked up to a saline drip and an ECG machine just to be sure he didn't have any other injuries that weren't apparent. They were preparing a cast for his fracture, but most importantly, they gave him a dose of painkillers that made him feel quite lightheaded and relaxed. He practically sunk into his hospital bed, and wasn't especially responsive when nurses came by to check on him. If anything, he was still thinking about Nia, how wonderful she was, how cute she was, and hoping she was okay where she was. It was probably scary on her own, with all these doctors poking around.

After a while, he fell asleep, the painkillers and the exhaustion taking their toll. The last thing he thought in his inebriated mind was all the food they had in the car going to waste...

He groaned, blinking his eyes open, bright lights glaring even through his eyelids. He felt groggy, and dazed, and his chest and leg hurt. His arms itched where the catheter for the saline drip was inserted, and across his chest from the ECG leads stuck to his skin.

He wanted to pull them out, but his right hand couldn't move. Because another hand was resting on them.

He blinked the sleep out of his eyes, and the visage of Nia materialised before him.

"Nia?" he croaked.

"Yes, it's me," she assured him, looking wholly tired in a way he'd never seen her look before, and offering a strained smile, showing relief and worry in equal measure.

It seemed to wake him up a little, and he twisted his hand around to grip hers, a thin smile of his own to say everything was okay.

"It's nothing, Nia, don't worry," he reassured her. "Just a cracked rib, some bruising, and a fracture in my leg. Nothing too crazy, I was just a real sook I guess."

A small joke, he was playing up the pain then to buy her time. Still, seeing him like that was obviously very upsetting.

She laughed softly.

"You're still my big strong computer geek," she told him, leaning further forward on her chair.

Carlos glanced past her, at a window just outside his cubicle; it was mid afternoon, and the sun was setting further and further towards the horizon.

"Damn, how long was I out?" he asked.

"You slept for a good few hours. I was out a lot faster than I thought. They asked me to stay a little longer, just to be sure, but then they came back a bit later and said I was okay to leave."

"That's a relief," he said.

"You have no idea. They just washed out the cuts from the glass and stuck all these patches on me," she explained, pointing to all the small bandages and sticky gauze patches all over her, "didn't even do stitches. Said that I was lucky, nothing was that deep. Just told me to keep an eye on them, keep them clean, and come back if there's any complications."

She looked down in thought.

"It was kinda weird, honestly. Maybe I might've overdid the... well, overdid it slightly so it wasn't as bad as it should've been."

"As long as they just think you're lucky and that's all. Me, I have to get some surgery tomorrow, I think."

"I know... can't say that doesn't have me worried. Going under the knife..."

"Hey, it's nothing that bad, they say it'll be a quick surgery. Though I can't say I wouldn't mind your... traits right about now."

There was a long pause, Carlos looking away, and then looking back.

"I'm glad you're alright."

"I should be the one saying that, you're the one who was in greater danger, the one who has to get surgery... it takes more than that to hurt me."

"I know, but... seeing that... seeing you like that. Right after the crash. There was this moment I felt I just lost everything. The whole world. Gone."

A breath hitched in his throat.

"I know it was gut reaction, but it was real. Doesn't matter what you are, it... I don't think I'll be forgetting that any time soon..."

Nia offered a sympathetic expression, leaning over to peck him on the lips.

"For a moment, I was scared I was about to lose you too. I figured quickly enough you were okay, mostly, but in that instant right before the crash... I felt so helpless. I could've done something, I could have protected you... but then we would've been found out. And would I have even been in time? I was scared, Carlos. Scared that maybe the crash was just bad enough, maybe the impact did some fatal damage... and seeing you in pain after, I... I felt something I've never felt before."

She sighed and looked away, an expression of embarrassment and shame etched into the side of her face.

"I've felt fear before. Anger, even jealousy. But I've never felt... that."

"Felt what?" Carlos ventured.

She turned her gaze back towards him.

"Despair? Grief? Anguish? I'm not entirely sure what it was... is. Perhaps like you said, a profound sense of loss. And I guess... disbelief? In the most horrific sense of the word."

She looked down again, and sighed.

"These are not feelings I'm familiar with. Since... since moving here, I've come to discover so many different feelings that I didn't think I could feel. But I guess having the basics means I'm capable of feeling so much more... even when I don't want to."

He groaned, trying to strain himself into sitting further upright, but she whipped her head around and stuck a finger out at him.

"Don't move, you need to rest," she scolded him.

"Fair, fair... but you don't need to feel alone. When I'm out of here... we can talk about this... we can talk about this more."

"Oh, we'll do a lot more than talk once you've healed up," she 'warned' him with a small chuckle, her mood lifting. He laughed too.

"Thank you for being courteous, wouldn't want 'death by snu snu' now, would we?"

"The 'spirit is willing, but the flesh is spongy and bruised'?" she added.

Carlos chuckled again.

"That's my girl, keeping up with all the references," he quipped. It made her laugh more genuinely, something she sorely needed.

"If that's the case, I guess I'll have to do something more... gentle, when you get out."

"I'm surprised you don't want to leave 'something behind' to do that," he remarked.

"Trust me, Carlos, I thought about it. But I figured the risk was a little too great, especially with that thing hooked up to you," she pointed to the ECG machine. "They might see you getting excited and think you're having a heart attack."

"Wouldn't that be something," he agreed wryly. The two shared another laugh, before Nia loosed another wistful sigh.

"You will be out of here soon, right?" she asked him.

He shrugged as much as he could, which wasn't much now the painkillers were wearing off.

"It's not up to me, is it? The doctors'll say when I can go, and when I do, I think I'm going to be spending a lot of time in bed. I guess that won't be so bad, I'll have the hottest nurse in the world looking after me."

"Don't think I'll be sexy all the time, Carlos, I'm going to make sure you take your medicine and get better. A nurse has to be professional, after all."

She shot him a sly grin, though he knew well enough she'd be a taskmaster in the drive to get him healed up.

"Maybe a bit of the time... god, being stuck in this bed is going to drive me nuts."

"Just means you'll be pent up when you get out. Not just for 'our time', for everything else too. I'm sure you've got some apps you really wanted to finish."

"Yeah... I just hope the people at Byteworks can find someone to fill in for me, my contract's gonna be up by the time I'm outta here, I'm sure."

"I'm sure they'll manage... anyways, I'll stay as long as I can until they kick me out, and I'll be back every day to visit until you're discharged, alright?"

"As long as you don't try and camp out in front of the hospital. I don't think they'll appreciate that."

Nia looked aside sheepishly.

"I could always get a disguise... they'd never know."

She then shot him a wink, and giggled in jest.

Carlos, admittedly, wasn't entirely sure she wouldn't try it.

The day of the surgery had him and Nia full of anxiety, but it was a pretty quick procedure. Once his leg was in the cast, he had to wait in the hospital for a few days before he was discharged. And true to her word, Nia was back every day, staying as long as she could, talking to him and expressing her relief the surgery went off without a hitch.

He also learned a lot more about the circumstances surrounding the crash; the driver in the red sedan had been charged with 'reckless operation of a motor vehicle causing accident'. He wasn't drunk or high either, just young, agitated, and deeply impatient. And now they were looking at several months to two years in prison for it, depending on how the court proceedings went.

But the real revelation, and what made both Carlos and Nia angry, was why their brakes failed, the main reason their crash was as bad as it was. Turns out, the mechanics that worked on it had half-assed the job. To say he was furious was an understatement, and Carlos was seriously considering pressing charges or pursuing other legal action for the negligence... but Nia, as upset as she was, just wanted to move on. That, and she was worried about getting into any sort of lengthy legal battle, and getting closer to government scrutiny than she would've liked. Getting hospital treatment was bad enough for her, but everything seemed completely fine on that front. They didn't even X-Ray her or anything, so they were all relieved.

But the fact he almost died and he had to see Nia with her head impaled on a steel rod because some people he trusted to fix his car were criminally lazy wasn't something he could let go of easily. They had to pay for what they'd done, one way or another.

But ultimately, he was just glad to be alive and on a good trajectory for healing.

On the last day before he was discharged, George visited him from Byteworks, carrying a tupperware container full of cupcakes and a tin of assorted chocolates, along with get well cards from the staff in the section of Byteworks Carlos worked at.

It was admittedly a little overwhelming, he didn't think he'd have left much of an impact, but the others seemed to have grown fond of him, and they were dismayed to hear about the crash.

Though in the back of his mind, he suspected it was mostly George's doing, drumming up support with his usual style.

While he was visiting, he spoke to Carlos about how they were going to handle his final days at Byteworks, since it was unlikely he was coming in. He was still getting his contracted pay, but the job was going to someone else, and Carlos would have to send in some details once he was out of the hospital, and maybe any data or programs he had pertaining to his work there.

Carlos thought it reasonable enough, and after a prolonged and lively chat, George bade farewell and left him alone.

And at last, the day came for him to be discharged. Nia got him a fresh set of clothes from home, and helped him to the waiting taxi she booked, as his leg was in a cast, and he was on crutches.

It was mid morning, and things were a little busy, but it seemed fortune was favouring them this time, as they got home with barely any delay.

Arriving at the apartments came with something of a fanfare, as several of the tenants, having a discussion about the full inspection Irma was campaigning for, were in the foyer and spotted him arrive.

Pleasantries and exclamations of surprise were exchanged, but Carlos managed to talk himself out of any lengthy conversations by politely saying he just wanted to go upstairs and rest after what he'd been through. They didn't argue.

Soon, he was looking at the door to his apartment, and finally, he was home.

"It's been three days, and I've already missed this place something fierce," he remarked, moving to sit down on the couch and loosing a deep sigh of relaxation. His leg and chest still ached, but some painkillers were keeping atop of that, and he had some more if it got bad.

Nia immediately insisted on making him a coffee, and Carlos knew she wasn't going to be talked out of it. Before long, he had a nice, steaming coffee in his hands, letting it cool to a drinkable temperature before sipping on it. It tasted incredible.

Nia sat down next to him with her own coffee, and after so long, a true silence settled between them, the incessant beeping of ECG machines, hospital PA alerts and patient conversations now absent.

It was truly refreshing.

But after a while, the silence grew heavy in a different way. Nia was the first to break it.

"You said we could talk about the things I felt when we got home... well, we're home now. And I still haven't been able to push those feelings away," she admitted. "I used to be able to, but after all these months... I think my human mannerisms have really taken root."

"Maybe you were always meant to feel things like this," he suggested. "I don't know what your society is like that you wouldn't, but if you adapted this easily... maybe it wasn't something that alien to you. Pardon the pun."

"You might be right," she answered, that same odd cagey tone present whenever her own society was brought up. "But I still can't stop thinking about them. How close I came to losing you."

"That's normal, and don't think otherwise. It's called trauma. I still see you with a piece of metal sticking out of your face. Which is weird, I caved in your skull and that didn't affect me at all. I've seen you opened up all kinds of ways. But in that moment, I forgot all that. I just saw someone I loved stabbed through the face."

He looked into the coffee in his mug.

"Those kinds of feelings leave a mark on you. It just takes time to get over them. That's what everyone says. It's kinda my first time dealing with something like this."

Nia laughed drily, prompting Carlos to look her way.

"What's funny?"

"Not you, not what you said, just... there's some strange irony that the thing that affected us the most in this way wasn't our first encounter, or some other alien encounter, or anything else bizarre that we've done... but a car crash. It's so... mundane, in comparison."

"Yeah, but still involving a whole bunch of physics, and you can rarely argue with physics," he answered.

Nia murmured in agreement.

"Even I have my limits. Still... I just can't stop thinking about how close things were. What if another piece of metal from that truck slipped out and hit you?"

"Trust me, I had the same thought... and the only thing I can think of to move on from that is to just... move on from that. Gotta accept the odds were in your favour that day. Accept that the worst case scenario didn't happen. Not much else you can do."

It was Nia's turn to look into her mug, lost in thought.

"I suppose you're right. But those feelings... that sense of loss, terror, dread... I've been trying to articulate what I felt in that moment, and I can't quite pin down the exact word."

"It's all those things. And you're right to feel them. Remember when you felt jealous about me meeting Taylor? Well, you weren't wrong to feel them, though jealously is said to be an ugly emotion. It's all about not acting on that. Feelings like loss though, grief, anguish, that's a different beast. You just gotta... accept them, let them play out, talk about them. Learn to live with them until you barely notice them. That's what it's like to be human."

He rest a hand on one of Nia's thighs.

"I know you're not, but you clearly feel like one. So don't think you're weak or anything just because you can't get these thoughts out of your head. It just takes time," he assured her.

She didn't answer immediately, but instead turned to look at him, and smiled, her cheeks splitting and revealing a longer, toothier grin than he'd seen from her these past few days.

It was good to be back.

"It doesn't really make a lot of sense to me... but you're a wonderful person, Carlos," she told him.

"It doesn't really make sense to me either... that's just how it is. And I think you're the best thing that's ever happened to me."

They locked eyes, staring into each other with growing longing... and leaned in to mesh their lips together in a long overdue kiss, their tongues mingling and dancing together, the sweet taste of Nia's saliva once more gracing Carlos' mouth.

He then flinched, pulling back and groaning, his chest stinging with a bit of pain.

"Nnnf... that smarts," he muttered.

Nia giggled, but there was a sympathetic edge to it.

"Well that's no good. I guess I better do 'hottest nurse in the world' things and make the pain go away..." she trailed off with a familiar knowing tone.

She slipped off the couch and placed her mug on the coffee table, Carlos quickly finishing his once he felt her hands traipsing along his crotch, his cock erecting almost instantly from her touch. He hadn't had a chance to do anything with Nia since the accident, and a three day break was long enough for them.

There was a softness to her efforts though, Nia being more delicate than usual, peeling down his pants with great care. She didn't want him moving much, so he didn't feel the pain.

She wanted him to feel good, and that's what she intended, nursing his bulge with one hand and removing his pants with the other, until they were down just above his knees.

A shivering sigh escaped his mouth, his underwear tenting like crazy. He could even see a small damp spot forming on the fabric already.

"My, you're needy~" Nia teased, her voice low and sensual, but Carlos could tell she was just as eager, skin on her head rippling, small guttural growls rumbling in her throat, and her pupils dividing several times just to fix on his bulge that bit harder.

She massaged his erection with one hand, earning soft groans from Carlos' mouth, her delicate touch still quite pleasing.

It still hurt a little to breathe heavier than usual, but he was keeping on top of it, and the way Nia was teasing him made all that discomfort fade away; she straddled his twitching tent with fingers, gliding them along either side of the lump with a feathery touch. She breathed out over his cock, and then unfurled her tongue longer than a human's ought to be, curling it over the fabric without any care or discomfort, seeping the wet heat of her saliva through the cotton to grace his prick.

But soon, her tongue could taste him directly, Nia pulling his underwear down to his knees with his pants, finally freeing his dick and letting it spring to attention without restraint.

Her breath was hot against his mast, tickling its nerves before she even touched it. Then came her tongue, and Carlos just couldn't keep himself from moaning in bliss.

"Fuck, I missed this..." he breathed out huskily.

"Only after three days~?" Nia teased, giving him a lopsided look. "You are definitely addicted."

"Don't act like you weren't keeping yourself from secretly jacking me off in the hospital or something~ You've been looking forward to this as much as I have~"

Her devious expression deepened.

"You know me too well, Carlos~" she purred, curling her tongue against his frenulum slowly and firmly, earning another heated gasp from his mouth.

It still struck him just how far she'd come, how well she adapted to human life and culture. She was a true chameleon, but even then, her strangeness still shone through, her spine jutting out and forming a ridge running its length, bulging out her shirt. Things he found endearing, even when they sometimes creeped him out.

Right now, she was keeping it simple, simply licking his member like a treat, staying delicate and lathering it up with her clingy saliva, murmuring softly and running her hands along his rod, one sliding down to cup and fondle his sack with curling fingers.

Her tongue seemed to get longer and longer with every lick, however, until it began coiling around his girth like a tendril, gripping tightly and stroking upwards, though she made sure as little pressure was put on his hips as possible.

He realised then that the position she was in was awkward and probably only possible for contortionists, legs and torso bent in a way to give his injured leg a wide berth. She didn't want to hurt him at any stage.

Carlos would've felt bad if she were human, putting themselves in such a posture for his sake... but Nia was probably as comfortable as she could be... and he knew she could be in far more uncomfortable poses.

Like her torso twisting a full 180 degrees at the waist. She'd done that once to kiss him while riding him reverse cowgirl style.

He could only imagine how she was going to bang him once he had a clean bill of health... that reference made in the hospital a few days ago might actually come real.

Her tongue kept stretching, slipping down to loop around his balls, lifting them and stroking them with luxurious rolling motions. Just as her lips finally wrapped around his helm, beginning to polish his glans just as she did his sack.

Leaving one hand to grip the root of his cock - and pinning her tongue against the base - with her thumb and index finger, and the other to pump his length alongside her tongue in much the same way.

Four different points of sensation, all light and delicate, and still plenty tantalising.

"Fuuuuck, that's hot..." he gasped, resting one hand on her head. She murmured in satisfaction, both devious and loving, and slowly rocked her head to let her lips roll around his tip, getting it nice and shiny. Her mouth refused to break the seal beyond the tiny cracks at the edges of her tongue, her cheeks starting to pull inwards upon applying a pleasant suction.

He felt his balls twitch in her grip, tugging upward towards his body with fresh desire, so eager for her touch. Carlos knew well he couldn't resist it, she knew him on a deeper level than he could describe. The only way it could be deeper was if she started digging into his flesh and melding with him... and she had been adamant she'd never do that.

Didn't seem like she needed to in order to get him grunting like a pig and moaning like a slut. Even now, as gentle as she was being, his heated breaths issued forth incessantly, and his cock throbbed in the grip of her lips, fingers, and twisting, spiralling tongue. Precum oozed into her mouth, and her muscle rolled a kink over his tip to lap it up, smothering his glans in that flowing flesh.

The most intense thing she did was delicately graze her teeth along his helm, applying only the faintest of pressure, letting her ivories scrape along the sensitive skin of his tip in a way that was stimulating, but not too much in his condition.

Whenever he started flinching a lot, she eased back, letting him calm down just enough to not be so twitchy, but not so much it felt like a denial.

Eventually, her lips descended further down his rod, taking more of him into her mouth. Her tongue recoiled, leaving his balls after thoroughly polishing them, allowing the hand gripping his root to return, fondling his sack with an affectionate care. Her other hand retreated before the advance of her mouth, stroking fewer and fewer inches of his cock with just thumb and finger, and it stroked slowly.

That could be said of everything she was doing; even when it was vigorous, there was a languid quality to it all, a factor of her delicate attention. It was a different experience, but a welcome one, because it still felt damn good.

As she descended upon his cock, he started playing with her hair, curling it around his fingers, raking her scalp with tender affection, feeling how soft and silky it was. She must have enjoyed it, because a guttural sound emanated from her throat like purring, sending mild vibrations right into his prick as it advanced further towards her throat.

Eventually, even her stroking hand had to give way to the advance of her lips, coming to rest on his hips, applying no force. As for his cock, it was now in her throat, those walls gripping snugly and starting to stroke with rolling pressure, light but stimulating.

More hot breaths left his mouth, and he slumped more into the couch. He still felt pangs of pain, little spikes in his chest from the heavier breaths he made, but what he was feeling down south was a damn fine painkiller.

Her lips met his base, and tightened with an unnatural grip, as if she didn't want him escaping her. For a good while, she did not move her head, remaining latched to the base of his dick like some bizarre alien leech, for her tongue and her throat did the work; the former wrapping around his base again, stroking up and down with endlessly twisting and shifting movements, while her throat only got faster with the rippling sensations coursing down towards his tip, a milking sensation that he could hardly ignore for long... though it wasn't enough to make him cum too quickly either.

She'd struck a lovely balance, of gentle stimulation, but intense enough it was slowly driving him towards orgasm, giving him a wonderfully long time to enjoy the building sensation of pressure and sensitivity.

"God, you feel so good..." he praised, feeling a little bad he wasn't doing anything in return. He'd get his chance, once he was feeling better. She wouldn't let him do otherwise... or maybe, there was something he could do.

After she'd thoroughly drained him, of course.

She still didn't bob her head at all, and now he was starting to hear deep gulping noises, Nia 'swallowing' his cock over and over again.

Of course, it wasn't just that. The walls of her throat clenched and gripped in unnatural ways, twisting and squeezing with unparalleled dexterity and focus, grinding especially hard on his tip.

Her head still wasn't moving, so he felt like he was trapped in an organic milking machine meant to drain him of every drop, in the most gentle yet stimulating manner possible.

He grunted and groaned, gripping her head a little bit tighter in reflex, and feeling her scalp rippling beneath his fingertips, her entire body shifting strangely for a brief moment. And the murmurs she made were nothing short of happy, delighted, and wistful.

There was a moment her efforts seemed to lessen... and he saw a tear roll down her face.

That caught him by surprise... but he gave her a smile, and reached down to wipe the tear up with his thumb, causing Nia to tilt her head upward while his prick was still buried in her mouth.

It was strange, seeing her like that; balls deep, yet wearing such an emotional expression. Not distraught, but... still processing such raw emotions, even over these three days.

Thankful to be doing this again, even if it was something as dumb as the obscenity they got up to.

He didn't say a word... partly because he wasn't sure what to say in this situation while she was deep throating his penis. It seemed a little dumb.

So he just gave her a reassuring look. And that seemed to be enough, Nia smiling around his girth, and renewing her efforts.

She still wasn't moving her head, and she didn't need to, Carlos moaning as the pressure in his loins started building anew, ready to burst at her leisure. She only needed to go faster, harder, to make him cum when she wished.

But she didn't go harder, she let him continue on this pace, Carlos letting go of her head to carefully grip the couch. Every breath now hurt, but not enough. The cracked rib was pretty benign anyways, and the pain was nothing to the pleasure.

"Oh fuck yes..." he breathed out, keeping his hips still, preparing to arrest any sudden jerking motions once he started cumming. It just required a bit of concentration.

The pressure started reaching breaking point, his climax only a few moments away... several long, wonderful moments riding up to that edge.

And then he went over, face tensing as he held his hips back... but nothing stopped his cock twitching madly, releasing a virile torrent right down Nia's ravenous throat, the stroking of her gullet invigorated to draw every last drop from his prick and siphon it away, deep within her body.

He groaned in pleasure, his load built up over a three day break. He wasn't unused to such gaps in their promiscuity, but today, it just felt that much more incredible.

It lasted for a while, longer than he was expecting it to, but he wasn't complaining regardless, huffing and gasping until he was spent.

And once he was, Nia slowly eased the pressure in her lips and her throat, sliding off his mast with her tongue gliding along the back of it, leaving it twitching and glistening with her saliva... but not a speck of his own cum.

She licked her lips and sighed luxuriously, making a deliberate show of gulping down nothing, having already devoured every drop.

A sigh followed, and she fixed him with a smile.

"I have been wanting that so much..." she admitted, grinning more deviously than ever, now over that little emotional bout.

Carlos was happy to see her like her old self.

"You're not the only one... damn, that felt good..." he remarked with a husky voice, equalising his breathing quick enough.

"Glad to hear it... though... I'm not sure you're entirely spent... wouldn't want to leave you pent up after all that time stuck in bed barely able to move... all those pretty nurses moving around you, but the prettiest of them all unable to do anything to sate your desires, languishing by your side... you must have built up so much~"

Carlos raised a brow, listening to Nia's sudden sensual turn.

She eyed his cock side-on, her lips twisted into a hungry grin. She lifted one hand and teased the tip with her index finger, gently twisting the digit to the slick opening, making him gasp.

And making his prick throb for attention.

He gave her a small grin.

"Well, if it's what the prettiest nurse of them all prescribes... gotta have my treatment, don't I?"

"Mmm... treatment... or a feast~?" she remarked, her eyes twinning and her cheeks splitting to reveal long jagged teeth.

A reminder of that predatory streak, and the fact that she was, in the end, an alien freakshow in human disguise.

Which she wasn't above showcasing now, as her lower jaw suddenly split in three, forming individual mandibles; one in the middle, and the sides spanning outwards to allow for several more little tendrils to emerge from her throat, along with three thick, tentacular tongues all moving to surround his cock in writhing flesh.

The three tongues each attacked a different point on his manhood, one moving to wrap around his glans, another coiling around his mast, and the last smothering his balls in an enveloping grip, the middle mandible lifting up to cradle its underside behind the teeth and against the soft, shifting flesh on that part of her split lower jaw.

But it was all those little tendrils that proved the most dangerous, not coiling or ensnaring his prick, but finding every little sensitive point on it to delicately tease with fleeting prods and tracing strokes.

Carlos groaned instantly, feeling his manhood pulse a fresh load of precum within moments, lapped up by the tongue polishing his helm.

Her hands simply held onto his thighs, their assistance not needed with all the slimy appendages now teasing his junk. The tongue around his balls did a good enough job stroking and tugging on his sack, and the teasing, focused touch of so many smaller whip-like feelers more than made up for the absence of any real grip from her hands or her throat.

So many points of stimulation, all at once, everywhere at once; from grazing flicks beneath his corona, teasing tracing over his glans where her tongue did not cover, veins outlined by feathery touches, and the root of his sack loosely coiled.

There were so many feelers coming out of her widened throat, she was starting to look like some of those deep-sea creatures with their thread-like tendrils flowing in the water currents, curling and shifting around him with their erotic, languid touch.

For even in this state, with the devious, hungry expression she wore on the upper half of her face... Nia was still being gentle. Still taking care to not aggravate his injuries. Still doing everything she could to maximise the stimulation without doing anything especially rough.

The closer he got to his second orgasm, the more he fell in love with her all over again... even as freaky as she looked now, her eyes both sporting multiple pupils each, and the teeth along her upper jaw and mandibles sharp and jagged.

Her sounds of satisfaction were like beastly growls, guttural and inhuman. But wholly salacious, her eyes narrowed on his prick with that hungry lust, all while her tongues and feelers danced so exquisitely around his shaft.

He could already feel himself nearing another orgasm, ready to explode again. And she was fully intent on consuming every drop, pulling on his cock and lifting her head slightly so his tip was angled towards the back of her very open mouth. Her mandibles cracked, and began to extend on stretching tissue and sinew, separating further from her skull but kept rigid by fresh bony growth. Allowing her to grip his hips with her segmented jaw and keep him right where she wanted, though it was still a far cry from those times her head simply enveloped his crotch. Didn't make it any less freaky, or erotic.

"Fuuuuck... I'm close... shit..."

His words were short and sharp, each breath quick and strained, a sign of his impending release. And they just served to encourage Nia, whose alien anatomy worked even harder upon his manhood, eager to milk him for all his worth.

There was no resisting the absolute churn of flesh around his penis, Carlos crying out in strained delight and doing his best to hold his hips down while he came, each throb from his prick sending a spurt of cum right into Nia's throat, those many appendages catching his seed and feeding it into her winking gullet, his girlfriend gulping every drop down.

The maelstrom of tongues and feelers continued until he was once again spent, but just as before, she did not venture into the territory of post orgasmic torture. Her efforts eased, and with slick caresses, her grasping organs uncoiled and slid off his shaft with delicate affection, all withdrawing back into her mouth.

Her mandibles retreated, and the sound of cracking bone and squelching flesh filled the space between them as Nia's head reset to its usual disguised self, the alien exercising her jaw and smacking her lips, before looking up at Carlos with a smile.

"All better~?" she asked him sensually.

"All better~" he answered smoothly.

She giggled, and got to work pulling his pants back up, seemingly deciding that was enough. And for Carlos, it was, getting soft already. He'd have to treat her to a long night at some point.

But he wasn't done. Not with her.

She turned around when he grabbed her attention.

"Get up here," he said with a waggle of his finger and a tone that told her he wasn't going to have an argument about this.

She blinked, and it looked for a moment that she was considering it... and then kicked off her shoes and stepped onto the couch, standing with her feet straddling his hips, making sure to give his body the necessary berth to avoid hurting him.

He reached up and slowly pulled down her pants and underwear with all the sensual promiscuity he could muster, tracing his fingertips along the skin just behind the hem of her clothes. Once her crotch was partly exposed, he was struck by the aroma of her lust, a humid, not unpleasant smell. And it only got stronger when her pussy was completely revealed, showing just how wet she was.

He grinned at the sight, bringing a hand around to brush a thumb over her rigid clit; she was just about ready to stop even after getting this aroused. To eschew her own pleasure just because he was injured.

Carlos wasn't having any of that, tracing the fingers of his other hand along her labia, splaying the folds and getting them wet with her arousal.

"Oooh... Carlos..." she uttered, holding onto her shirt and doing her best to let him do as he needed. She shivered and crooned, before Carlos even got serious with his efforts, though he wasn't about to hold back for long, pulling her hips closer to press his lips to her vulva. His tongue curled out from his mouth and rolled over her gash, pressing down against the soft, rippling flesh within, her sweet flavour not natural, but not unwanted. Back and forth he rubbed his tongue, pressing firmly as he could. He didn't do much with his arms, so as to not aggravate his chest injury too much, otherwise he'd be thrusting his fingers up into her sex as vigorously as possible. His mouth would have to do, Carlos alternating his attention between her entrance - probing it and stirring around the edge of the opening - and her clit - smothering the sensitive bud that seemed to twitch with a life of its own.

Her moans had turned human again, but there was still that alien edge to it, and whenever he glanced up, he glimpsed her face and saw the happiness and delight rippling across it.

Her cheeks split again, making that smile go even wider, her tongue unfurling in the air to inhuman lengths. And all after she got her head normal again.

He didn't care, he was making her moan, that's all that mattered, starting to work his jaw away with vigorous effort, sucking and massaging her pussy with the motions. He pushed his tongue more firmly against her slit, her entrance, while encroaching on her clit with his face in order to give it a little bit of stimulation.

Nia rolled her hips forward, giving him better access to her vulva so he didn't have to tilt his head too much; it escaped mostly fine, but it did ache a little bit here and there. So he welcomed this easier angle, digging his tongue into her womanhood at last and thrusting it as deep as he could manage.

Even at the shallow depths, her walls clenched his muscle, churning and gripping around his muscle with possessive desire, while so much of her sweet arousal leaked onto his face.

She was starting to shiver, and he realised she was going to orgasm already. Pleasure was a funny thing with her, she could alter how she felt it... and perhaps, she really wanted to be 'vulnerable' right now, to be so sensitive to pleasure, to enjoy his attention as much as possible.

He was going to oblige, as thanks for everything she's done for him.

Carlos stretched his tongue that little bit deeper, and writhed it around, tracing her rippling walls and feeling them undulate to push sensitive spots right against the tip of his muscle. And soon, that flesh was starting to shiver and spasm erratically, a sign of her impending orgasm. He didn't slow down, especially not when he heard Nia's cry, voice echoing with an inhuman reverberation.

"Don't stop, right there... yes, yes... yes!"

She suddenly cried out, a harsh shriek that stung Carlos' ears, and she did everything she could not to grasp his head and thrust against it in her ecstasy, juices splattering around his lips, filling his mouth with her sweet flavour, while her walls roiled like liquid meat, trapping his tongue and subjecting it to a violent, unnatural massage. He had to endure her orgasm for a lengthy period of time before he could withdraw his tongue, Nia pulling back to try and equalise her breathing. Things she normally didn't have to do, but he suspected she was as pent up as he was after three stressful days. And not just for his sweet genetic material.

But she gave him two orgasms. Nia normally didn't care much if she got off less than he did in a single session, but this time, Carlos wasn't going to let it stay like that.

She yelped at him pulling her hips back, all so he could renew his assault, now focused on her clit.

He latched onto it and started sucking ravenously, treating it like a nipple in how hungrily he worked his mouth upon it, smothering it with his tongue and digging the edge of his muscle between her hood and the bud. He left no part of it untouched, and flicked his tongue rapidly, lashing her nub mercilessly.

She cried out in unexpected pleasure, but made no efforts to stop him.

"Oh fucking yes~!" she exclaimed, already nearing another orgasm thanks to the sensitivity of the one just prior.

She grasped his head as gently as she could, and let him push her closer to the edge. There wasn't much technique he could apply right now, so he simply thrashed her clit with his tongue in the most erotic way he could think, twisting and curling it every which way and as vigorously as possible.

He sucked and moaned, adding tugging sensation and vibration to the mix, feeling his cock stir in his pants from renewed arousal, but after two orgasms, this wouldn't feel like blue balls.

He just wanted Nia to have her turn, to be happy.

And the shriek that erupted from her mouth was certainly that. A little painful, possibly heard by others in the building... but absolutely exquisite, especially the spasms in her body and the rippling of her flesh losing its coherency.

For several long moments, she came, flinching and twitching like mad, sputtering her sweet juices into his chin. A growl escaped her, alien and monstrous and wholly lewd.

He saw the skin of her thighs ripple, as if ready to erupt with tendrils to lash around his head and keep him trapped in her crotch... but she managed to contain herself.

And at last, he let her go, Nia stepping off the couch and almost stumbling with her pants where they were, but she steadied herself, and then slumped while standing.

There was silence between them for a good minute, save for Nia's panting. But once she got control of her breathing, she crooned in satisfaction.

Still, she said nothing, instead levelling her gaze to his, and smiling deviously. She returned to the couch, crawling onto it beside him... and stole his lips for an intimate, erotic kiss, the two murmuring lovingly for a good while, before it was finally broken.

"I love you, Carlos~" she told him.

"I love you, Nia~" he echoed.

The two giggled, and continued kissing for several more minutes before they finally pried themselves away from each other, Nia going to get something to wipe up his face, while he found something for them to watch on their TV.

It was good to be home.

---

Carlos was up and about the following day, more than happy to move as much as he could, even if it was on crutches. He didn't want to be stuck in bed for however long it'd take to fully heal, even if he spent most of his time at the computer. As long as he didn't aggravate the injuries, he figured he'd be fine.

They were working around the inconvenience of his crutches, but he was going to be happy when he was rid of them. Still, he'd gotten proficient at moving around on them, such when the doorbell rang, he was quick to respond.

"I'll get it," he insisted, Nia emerging from the kitchen and wiping down the raw meat juices staining her face, just in case anyone saw.

Carlos opened the door, and was surprised with who was there.

"Taylor?" he remarked. "What brings you here?"

Her expression was strange. Stern. Grim.

"Taylor, is something wrong?" he repeated.

She looked directly into his eyes. Then to Nia's behind him. And back to his.

At last, she spoke.

"I know what you are."