The Nature of Predators - Something About Blue (4/4)

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Memory transcription subject: Rivlia, Gojid Exterminator

Date [standardized human time]: March 5, 2137

“That was Blue?!” Denna hissed incredulously, and I averted my eyes as an indirect confirmation. My exterminator partner had the decency to pull me aside into a work truck, for a private conference. “The human?! I couldn’t figure out why you released it for no reason.”

There was no doubt in my mind that my morals had been compromised, especially when I still harbored kind feelings toward that online persona. The shock, even that horrible visage, had looked so visceral and earnest, that it tugged at my heartstrings. Giannis Samaras was leaving this colony and returning where it belonged, among its own monstrous kind. What if my partner suggested that we pursue it? I knew what I should’ve done back at the park, and I wasn’t sure if I regretted releasing it. There was some regret that I felt, so I hoped it was of the honorable kind.

Terrans exist only to kill, with a bloodlust trying to overpower any other thoughts at all times. Giannis is a threat to civilians; it’s a matter of time before it snaps, even if it’s genuinely trying! It’s not its fault that it's cursed, it’s just how predators are…

“I couldn’t believe it,” I mumbled. “It didn’t seem possible that a predator could be that convincing. I empathize a lot more with how they sold Tarva and her people, now.”

Denna’s eyes shone with amusement. “Remember how you said, and I quote, ‘No bloodthirsty beast could come close to being so adorable?’ While you were talking about Blue?”

“I didn’t know that at the time. Obviously, I would’ve never wanted to meet a predator. Now, Giannis knows who I am, so if it doesn’t leave like it said, there’s no hiding from it. It’s terrifying how much that creature knows about me.  I thought it…understood me! I must be a fool, Denna, to fall for a trap like this after all my training and learning.”

“They do have a reputation for being silver-tongued predators, which I tried to tell you when you were harping on how much you hate them. Believe me, I know you wouldn’t have talked to a human of your own accord. The question is, have you messaged Blue since the…incident?”

“No! Of course not.”

“Has it talked to you?”

“Um…yes.”

“Show me.”

I resigned myself to further humiliation, and passed an unlocked holopad to Denna. The Gojid seemed intrigued, if anything, as she breezed through the deluge of texts Blue had sent in its alleged panic. My partner’s face fell into an open display of sympathy, once she scrolled back far enough to the six-paragraph tirade. Given that I had read these messages dozens of times, analyzing every word that the predator penned, there was no need for me to refresh myself on the contents. The question was what line from that deceiver had moved my friend.

“The poor thing,” Denna murmured. “‘Everywhere I go in Bithen Orchard, I am unwanted and unloved. It doesn’t matter what I do.’ The human outright said it’s scared of rejection. It looked like a wounded animal when it walked off.”

I snatched my holopad away. “What is wrong with you? Predators don’t actually feel anything! You were totally onboard to torch Giannis, and you said humans are unnerving.”

“Well, they are, but I have new information now. I can’t fathom what it has to gain by staking such claims. It knew you hated it and were an exterminator, when it started crying—an act which should be too pathetic and weak for a predator to indulge in.”

“…doesn’t it just want to trick me into trusting it, or seeing it as a person, so it can have the joy of betraying and eating me?”

“All that effort for one piece of prey, when there’s plenty of birds and easy morsels for it to chase down in the park?” Denna’s graphic description made me shudder. “Perhaps Giannis is capable of caring for you, in its own way. There could truly be some feelings beneath the fog. What if ‘Blue’ is its real persona?”

“You can’t seriously be backing up the predators that destroyed the cradle.”

“The stories I’ve heard claim the humans saved our children. There’s no evidence they dropped a single bomb on the cradle. Now, I’m sure a few of the warrior caste succumbed and snacked on our wounded, but Blue’s clearly not warrior caste material. It acted skittish and didn’t fight back.”

“So your point is that maybe it won’t eat me, because it’s not as aggressive as a soldier?”

“I saw how happy that beast made you, Rivi. I’m trying to help you make your own educated choice. How do you feel now, with Giannis leaving for good?”

“Hollow. Drained. Alone.”

“Do you still care about Blue?”

“I shouldn’t. I’ll say that I’m attached to the Gojid I thought it was, because that persona made me feel special. My days were definitely better with Blue in them. Fuck, I even feel a little pity for it, though I should know better. I didn’t like seeing the human in a façade of emotional pain, so I sure as the Protector’s wrath don’t want to be the one to burn it.”

“Okay. One last question. How will you feel about never speaking to Blue again?”

“Denna, I miss my friend. I thought I’d found my soulmate, and I don’t think I’ll ever be able to feel like that with anyone else. Blue was the one I dreamed about nonstop. I didn’t want to spend a day without ‘him’, but now, that’ll be every day.”

“It doesn’t have to be. This depression spiral and ten years of mourning is completely avoidable. Go get him, you idiot.”

I cast a blank stare out the window. Giannis Samaras was a flesh-eating predator, from the invasive species known as humanity that I despised seeing on my world; just looking at its unmasked eyes had my spines at full bristle, feeling its evil stare upon me. Having that simian gone would be beneficial to Bithen Orchard and my mental health. Who would put stock in unsubstantiated battlefield rumors that went against their faith and their instincts? Compassion toward prey shouldn’t be possible for predators, since it would interfere with their murderous directives.

Rivi. I could still hear the questioning way it pronounced my name, charged with disbelief through its deep baritone. The bitter, accusatory way Giannis had recognized I wanted it gone from this colony, and promised that I’d never have to see it again. That didn’t make me happy at all, no matter how much I tried to force myself to have the correct feelings. The thought of having the predator ripped from my life was like a direct punch to the gut, as difficult as it was to admit. Still, what was I going to do; book it to the spaceport, and confront a hunter who was equally horrified by who I was?

“This is a bad move. Well, this is your suicidal suggestion, so drive me to the spaceport—sirens on,” I grumbled.

The ignition roared to life beneath Denna’s claws. “With pleasure.”

The vehicle hurtled down the pothole-ridden road, in an attempt to catch the human before it…he did go somewhere far away from this backwater colony.

---

The spaceport wasn’t the sprawling complex, with hundreds of docking ports, that you’d expect in a major stop on a homeworld. It was built to service Bithen Orchard’s population, and before the mass exodus, it had mostly been utilized by supply ships. Thankfully, there wasn’t much of a wide area for me to search for Giannis. There were ten landing pads in the entire facility, and the terminal was just a fraction larger than the exterminators’ office. I gave a cursory glance to the departure time board, guessing that he'd be boarding the flight to Khoa to catch a connector to Earth. It was due to leave in ten minutes, so I hoped he hadn’t already gotten onto the craft.

Several Gojids turned to look at me, as I scampered down the tile walkway with a crazed expression. With Blue being a human, it shouldn’t be difficult to pick him out in a crowd; the number of Terrans on this colony was limited, and none were in my line of sight at the airport. If I couldn’t pinpoint Giannis within a few minutes, asking a passerby if they’d seen a black-haired predator should do the trick. That wasn’t the sort of thing that escaped notice. A binocular-eyed, furless primate stood out from your average Federation visitor.

Think, Rivi, think! You don’t have time to waste. You only get one chance at this.

Far to the back of the terminal, I noticed that little foot traffic was about, as if people were purposefully dodging the area. It clicked in my brain that Giannis might be not boarding the spacecraft until the last minute, to avoid other passengers panicking or taking offense to a human in their midst. Off by the window overlooking the village, I could see a tall figure gazing at the world below. His pale hands were wrapped around a rundown bag, and his joints were sagging as though his body weighed a million pounds. Was Blue…moping?

“GIANNIS!” I yelled, rushing toward him with haste.

The Terran’s head snapped around, showing a face that was unmasked. My pace slowed on instinct, feeling a vise-like grip tighten over my heart; chills danced up my back, alerting me that my spines were not pleased with this confrontation. Giannis’ features hardened from their sullen exterior, and he promptly turned his binocular eyes back to the window. The predator was opting to ignore me, after he realized who had called his name. Did he hate me, now that he knew I was the exterminator who terrorized him? Why did I come here at all?

“Blue?” I pleaded.

The predator sucked in a sharp breath, as if he were struggling not to turn and face me. His fingers tightened around his bag, indicating the quiet war going on within his innermost thoughts. I managed to prompt my feet to carry me within a few claw-lengths of him, though it felt nauseating to be in such close proximity to a human. Giannis finally acknowledged my presence by directing his piercing stare at me; the blue ring around his inky pupils might as well have been a laser beam. I struggled to remember any of what I wanted to say, though I knew I needed to speak with him.

Giannis shook his head, scowling. “What the fuck do you want? I’m leaving, just like you said. That’s not good enough? Come to burn me after all, Rivi?”

“I’m s-sorry,” I managed. “I don’t want to hurt you. Causing someone I cared about mental d-duress wasn’t what I intended.”

“You called me filth. You said you wanted me removed from existence.”

“I…yes, I did. Let me explain.”

“Like you let me explain what I was doing in the park? Like you baselessly accused me of wanting to bomb people, and watch animals drown in their own blood? I don’t even know how many predator screams you’ve listened to beneath the ‘Protector’s cleansing fire.’ That is monstrous!”

“I risk my life to serve my deity and to protect Her people. We live under constant threat against everything beautiful, everything t-that we love. I don’t expect you to understand. All I can say is that…the reason I was so angry, and so…determined to eliminate you as a threat was to protect you.”

“How the literal fuck is a plan to burn me alive protecting me?!”

“Not actual you, but who I thought Blue was. I came to Moonlight Park to find you, and when you sent me that message about predators, I believed that you were in danger. I was rushing in to save ‘you’, because I couldn’t bear if anything happened to you. The thought of anyone putting you in harm’s way made me so livid that yes, I wanted to see them burn. I wanted to protect you, so that you could enjoy yourself without being afraid—if you were hurt, or worse, I would’ve never forgiven myself. I loved you, and I thought you were my soulmate.”

Giannis pursed his lips, taking several moments to digest what I just said. The human’s binocular eyes were coated with a layer of water, as they scanned my features. I could feel my body trembling from the fear coursing through my veins; there was nothing to defend myself with if the predator pounced, but I didn’t care. I didn’t know how my insufficient justification sounded to Blue, but I’d managed to spell it all out for him. Despite my fear, I hoped that my voice carried the conviction for him to know that was the truth. An entire army of predators wouldn’t have been enough to stop me from placing myself in harm’s way to protect my online companion; I would’ve died for the herbivore I thought he was.

“I thought you were my soulmate too,” the Terran acknowledged. “Let’s say I accepted that you did it out of some…really misguided love. It doesn’t explain why you ignored every message I sent you, after the fact.”

I resisted the urge to chew my claws. “It broke my heart. I imagined you had some sort of deformity or illness, not that you were a…”

“Predator.”

“Yeah. I’m not at all sure that it’s not some cruel trick or deception, an award-winning act. You’re not s-supposed to have feelings, not according to everything I’ve ever known. Yet I still came, even though it violates what I believe from my religion, my job, and every chemical in my body. I knew love was sightless, but I didn’t think it was this sightless.”

Giannis released a harsh bark, which my translator parsed as a laugh…after I flinched. “Why did you come here, Rivi? I have a spaceship to board.”

“I, um, would prefer to leave on good terms too, if this is goodbye. I wanted you to know the truth, so you could be at peace. But I’m also here to tell you don’t have to go, unless that’s what you truly desire. I heard you say that you wanted to explore the universe, but that nobody wants you around. That’s not true. It would sadden me greatly to never speak with you again, so I hope you’ll stay.”

“I…I don’t know what to say. I need to sit down. Why don’t we go to the couch over there?”

“You’ll miss your flight.”

Giannis’ lips curved up in the slightest snarl, which caused blood to rush to my ears. “I know what I said. Why don’t we take a seat?”

I followed the predator on legs made of jelly, flopping down right next to him with relief. Tiny hairs were standing upright on his pale arm, and if I scooted any closer, my own limb would be brushing against his oily skin. A loud yelp of surprise came from my chest, as Blue’s hand made sudden contact with my shoulder; his arm had snaked around the back of my neck, and panic soared when it occurred to me that he could have strangled me. The human paused at my exclamation; I realized how gentle his touch was. Giannis coaxed me toward him, after I tried to relax, and guided my head against his chest.

My heart was hammering at a million miles a minute, and I prayed that my somersaulting stomach didn’t expunge its contents from the waves of fear. The rapid beat of his own heart was audible to my ear, pressed against his soft pelt. The predator was surprisingly warm, answering the question of why he’d been dripping with water outside earlier; his body heat was likely enough to melt his own organs. His grip felt strong, but delicate, careful not to leave me feeling trapped. I tried to relax, while also keeping my spines from poking his soft flesh.

“Rivi…how concerned are you by the idea of being around a predator while they’re eating?” Giannis growled.

I tensed up. “Why would you ask that?”

“Well, if I were to stick around for a little while, I was thinking I’d ask you to dinner. I’m not welcome in restaurants, but I could cook you a nice vegetable platter. We could talk over food.”

Did the predator just ask me on a date? I don’t even know what such a vicious culture’s courtship rituals would be…and to be around a human that’s actively worked up an appetite, in his own lair? That’s beyond dangerous.

“Is that s-safe for me?” I stammered.

Blue arched his eyebrows. “I’m only going to say this once: we don’t just lose our minds the second we’re hungry. I hunger for your companionship, not your blood, sunshine. I want to know you for who you really are, and vice versa.”

I should try to understand what really goes on in a human’s head.

I snuggled closer to the sound of his heartbeat. “Hm. You’re warm. This is nice.”

“…that’s a yes to dinner?”

“It is. How do I get to your place?”

“Given that you assaulted me and stole my ID, I take it you already know where I live. Government housing.”

“I have a picture of your ID. Just let me know what time—”

A rumble passed through his chest, the vibrations rippling into my cheek. “I’m pulling your leg. I like to think I’m a gentleman; chivalry’s not dead in my book. I know exactly what time you’re done at the office from our little chats. Totally not as if I counted the seconds or anything. I’ll wait for you after work, and walk you to my place…unless you’re ashamed to be seen with me.”

“I’m not worried about that, but maybe wait a block away from the office? I, um, don’t think it’s safe for you to hang around by a bunch of exterminators.”

“Point taken. Now I’m very certain you’re supposed to be at work, so I’ll let you get back. I’ll be there…and I’ll message you in the meantime. Maybe answer a few of them this time.”

I stood from the couch with reluctance. “Okay, Giannis. I’ll think about answering a couple.”

The human’s grating laugh resounded behind me, and I found my own airy chuckle mixing with his growling register. The old excitement I’d felt over the notion of Blue had returned, outweighing the constant fear that his predatory visage instilled. I skipped through the spaceport terminal, eager to inform Denna of the date we had planned for tonight. It didn’t matter what anyone thought, or how monstrous Giannis was to the eyes. The intoxication I found in his words told me there had to be something real in this hunter’s persona.

As deranged as this risk was, I couldn’t ignore my heart any longer. I would’ve never imagined that a predator was my soulmate, but if Giannis truly was that special person, I hoped our infatuation could blossom into something lasting.

A/N - The final part! Denna talks Rivlia into pursuing Blue, and our narrator rushes off to stop him from leaving the planet at the spaceport. Giannis is torn over his feelings, with anger over all the horrible things that Rivi was involved with, but is moved by her confession of how much she was in love with and wanted to protect him. What do you think of the happy ending, and the planned date? Can these two build a healthy relationship that lasts, off-screen?

As always, thank you for reading and supporting! I hope you enjoyed this little foray into the romance genre; we'll be onto the Thafki one-shot, as taken by your top 4 voted options, on Saturday. If you want to hear about bonus plans going all the way into October, feel free to ask me on Discord--I've come up with a particularly zany idea!