Zaven

Spirits, I could die right here and be happy.

The Luscinia’s familiar rumble echoed through Zaven’s bones, a counterpoint to his own involuntary purr of pleasure. He lay perfectly still, his body heavy, warm, and utterly satiated, with Sasha’s sleeping form pressed against him. Her arms and legs had wound around him during the night, like a vine seeking warmth. It wasn’t the nuts-to-butts sleeping they were used to in the field, but he wasn’t displeased at all.

This is purely tactical, Adhzivian. Body heat conservation after field trauma. 

So why was he counting each soft breath against his chest? Three years of nightmares, of crying himself to sleep, seemed to fade into insignificance against this moment. The blood and medigel crusting Sasha’s hair couldn’t mask her familiar scent — a blend of battlefield competence and earned trust that spoke of shared missions, ribald songs, and knowing grins.

This isn’t even comfortable. I’m too warm. She’s draped over me like a wet ghillie suit, and my arm is going numb. 

Zaven tried to ease his tingling arm from beneath her head. He matched his movements to her breathing, slow and steady like setting up a long-distance shot, half-breath in, adjust a degree, half-breath out. Sasha made a small, disgruntled noise, her fingers curling against his chest. Target lost. 

Don’t move. Don’t you dare wake her up, you idiot.

Zaven relaxed back down, and Sasha pressed into him. His mandibles flared with pleasure as the certainty settled in his core; she was the best thing that had ever happened to him. He grinned as the memory of Sasha’s bare ass flashed in his mind, his heart picking up a faster beat, and causing an answering swell in his groin. 

The force that had swept over him, to challenge her in combat so he could prove himself, had surprised him. He’d heard of it, of course. It was a vestigial impulse from a time when his species had been less evolved, and any proper davarian would pride themselves on exerting complete control over such primitive urges.

Neither Zaven nor Sasha were unfamiliar with combat, but the blind fervour that had consumed him last night… Zaven’s grin faltered as shame washed over him. I can never lose control like that again. Any davarian woman can take the onslaught of a man in a rampant mating drive, but Sasha…

Sasha was tough as nails. She’d throttle him for even thinking she couldn’t handle herself. But she was only human. Physically, she couldn’t handle a feral davarian who couldn’t see past his desire. For her sake, he had to maintain control. Sasha groaned against his chest, interrupting his spiralling thoughts. Despite himself, his smile returned.

“Ah, geez,” she croaked, stretching her body in a languid arch that pressed against him.

Zaven sucked in his stomach and tilted his hips to pull his erection out of reach. 

Sasha collapsed back against his sternum, hugging him tightly, and threw a leg over his hip. “Jus’ five mo’ minutes,” she mumbled.

“You’re the captain,” he said and put his arm around her, perfectly happy to give in to her request. 

 Sasha’s hand nudged him in the stomach. If he just moved his hips a fraction, her fingers would brush the bulge in his trousers. Keep a lid on it. Zaven rocked his hips further back, settling for savouring her breath rolling down his bare stomach instead.

“I feel like shit,” she complained.

“You smell like shit.” 

“And you’re a rude little shit,” she said, but he heard the smile behind the words. Then she got up, knocking his arm aside, and muttered about him daring to speak to his captain so. Her departure let in a rush of cool air that was both a curse and a blessing. She was still wearing the same blasted outfit from the night before, her bare ass flexing as she reached her hands above her head in another stretch. 

He set his jaw, resolutely ignoring the throbbing in his cock. Then the raw scratches — caked in dried blood and medigel — sprawling across her lower back, ass and thighs registered in his sleep-addled mind. I did that.

“I…” he reached out a hand, but stopped just short of touching her skin. “I’m sorry… about this,” he stroked a gentle knuckle in a line parallel to one gash. A twitch in his cock felt like a punch to the gut, and he was sure it wanted to detach itself from his body and bury itself in her.

Sasha twisted to look over her shoulder. “Yeah, well, rather this than being a bloody puddle three storeys down.”

An echo of the terror he’d felt when she had been sliding out over an empty chasm passed through him.

Sasha turned to look at the gashes. “Kasia said she’ll fix these up with the auto-doc once I get the last traces of those stims out of my system. She said the ear was the most critical and didn’t wanna wait—”

The ship gave a shuddering lurch.

“Binny!” Sasha flew out the door, snatching his dreams of burying his face in that ass. “What’s going on? Sitrep, now!” 

He threw the blanket aside, decided against shoes, and winced as he tucked his volcanic boner into the waist of his trousers. He grabbed a fresh shirt and pulled it down to cover the wet spot on his front before dashing after Sasha. The ship lurched again, throwing him into the wall.

“Binny, where is Sasha?”

“The captain is en route to the engineering sector to oversee matters of technological import and ensure optimal functionality of our esteemed vessel.”

“Is the situation critical?” Zaven pushed off the wall.

“Negative.”

“Why is the ship lurching then?”

“All systems are currently indicating nominal readings with no detected deviations or anomalies.”

Zaven narrowed his eyes as he walked towards engineering.

“So either our AI is broken and missing things, or it’s deciding what we get to know about our own ship,” Zaven muttered as he walked towards engineering. “Not sure which scenario I like less.” 

The thought made his jaw clench. He’d never trusted putting an unrestricted AI in charge of critical systems, no matter how advanced Binny claimed to be. His mind began running through the layout of the ship, refreshing his memory on manual overrides, critical gear, and emergency protocols. In his experience, the more you relied on AI, the more vulnerable you became when it inevitably failed or decided its priorities didn’t align with yours.

Shit, I haven’t checked the ordinance bay since coming aboard. Who’s been in charge of it? If it was Kasia, there was nothing to worry about. If it was Sasha, there was mostly nothing to worry about. If it was Moss... Zaven added doing inventory and restock to his to-do list, along with checking which systems could still be operated without AI assistance. Better to be prepared than trust your life to quantum algorithms and probability matrices.

“Do you require assistance, Zaven?” Binny asked.

“What? No.” Zaven glared at the ceiling. “I know where engineering is.”

“My data shows that nocturnal penile tumescence will often subside on its own, but you may wish to engage it manually to speed up the process.”

Zaven blinked in confusion.

“Masturbation is the stimulation of one’s own genitals for sexual arousal or other sexual pleasure, usually to the point of orgasm. It is a natural and safe way to explore your body, feel pleasure, and release built-up sexual tension.”

He stopped and gaped at the ceiling in disbelief. Why did it keep saying sexual?

“The purpose of manual stimulation, in humans and qhivril at least, is typically orgasm,” Binny said.

Zaven had to wonder how it knew that. Was this information from a database or what it had observed on board? His mind started cataloguing the species of the Lucy’s crew. 

“An orgasm is a physical and emotional sensation that occurs during sexual activity and is usually accompanied by rhythmic muscular contractions in the pelvic region, as well as a feeling of intense pleasure or release. Zaven, am I correct in assuming this is also true for davarians?”

“Uh…” Hearing his name snapped him out of his fractured thoughts. “Yeah.” He wasn’t sure why he was even replying.

“In more technical terms,” Binny powered on. “An orgasm is a reflex of the autonomic nervous system that results in the release of endorphins and other hormones, causing a pleasurable sensation in the body. During sexual stimulation, nerve impulses from the genitals, as well as other erogenous zones, are transmitted to the spinal cord and brain, where they are processed and eventually trigger the physical and emotional sensations associated with an orgasm.”

“Oh, spirits, this isn’t real…” Zaven gaped at the ceiling, his head shaking in slow disbelief.

“I assure you, orgasms are very real and have several benefits for your health and well-being, including, but not limited to—”

“No, no.” Zaven pressed his fingers to his temples. “I mean, yes. They’re real, but—”

“I can assure you, experiencing one is not painful at all. If you are unfamiliar with this sensation, I can provide you with stimulating materials that are quite effective at—”

“Shut it,” Zaven growled, an image of Sasha as seen from a security feed, in her quarters, doing… No, that was such an invasion of her privacy. Even imagining it made him feel… guilty. Yes, guilty. Definitely guilty. 

He stalked off, muttering curses, not wishing to hear any more of the AI’s prattling. Especially not when a heat was creeping up his neck from the imagery it had put in his head.