Mission Voyager (Part Sixteen)
-Part Sixteen-
(Jared)
They wake up late into the next day’s afternoon. It was already two in the morning once Jensen got home and then Jared has no idea until what time they stayed up. All he could count was how many times they went at it, with Jensen wanting to practice this newly discovered level of intimacy and Jared more than happy to help him.
At one point Jared hears Jensen take the phone in his room to call work and say he’s not going. To think Jensen used to be a perfectly dedicated healer and now he skips work and takes breaks to be with Jared more often than not.
But Jared doesn't mind tainting Jensen’s work perfect record once Jensen hangs up and curls in bed with him again, arms around Jared’s waist, kissing his temple before they fall asleep once again.
Jared drifts in and out of sleep for the next hours, wanting to stay there and be lazy in bed with Jensen for as long as possible. Jensen insists on making breakfast in between slow lazy kisses but Jared only groans his complaints, tangling their legs together and telling Jensen he can’t leave.
He changes his mind half an hour later when his stomach starts to make loud noises, calling for food. Thankfully, breakfast in bed exists and Jensen doesn’t take that long cooking.
They stay in bed the rest of the afternoon, Jared lying on his stomach as he eats an apple while Jensen slides his fingers on his back. When Jared asked five minutes ago what he was doing, all Jensen said was that Jared’s back dimples reminded him of a starry sky. So Jensen is currently drawing constellations with the moles on Jared's skin or something like that. Jared only thinks is equal parts of endearing and ridiculously romantic.
“So. We kissed, we said cheesy things to each other and then we had sex.” Jared recapitulates, looking over his shoulder to find Jensen, who's still deeply focused on his back. “Are we a thing now?”
That makes Jensen stop, who looks up at him with a smug smile. “A thing?”
“Yes, a thing.” Jared insists, taking one of the pillows and throwing it at Jensen, ignoring his mocking tone.
“You know I’m not a human. I’m going to need a clearer term than “a thing”. Is that some kind of slang?”
“Oh, bite me.” Jared snickers, rolling his eyes, just to then yelp loudly when he feels Jensen actually biting down over the dimples on his back. “Hey! You’re just taking advantage now because you know I like that. But okay, fine. Are we together now?”
“Of course we are.” Jensen answers, just like that, leaning down to press a kiss on the spot he had just bitten down.
That’s more than enough to make Jared happy, who turns around again to lay his head on his pillow and enjoy the soft touches of Jensen’s hands on his back. He still can’t believe all that happened in the last hours. Jared has known for a long time how he feels about Jensen, but the more he thought about Jensen picking him over anything else, the most selfish Jared felt. Like he was taking away something Jensen loved too, he has seen the way Jensen would look at the sky and the stars. As a creature who has seen it all out there, Jensen loves space, and Jared couldn’t make him give up something that means so much to him. Jared couldn’t make Jensen stay.
But Jensen said he wanted to stay. With him.
And if it’s really what Jensen wants, Jared will be happy to stay forever by his side.
“I still can’t believe I had sex with an alien.” Jared snorts when Jensen finally finishes doing whatever he was doing on his back, turning around to look at Jensen. “I was quite surprised to realize you don’t have any tentacles.”
Jared breaks into loud cackles a second later, enjoying his obviously clever joke, but all Jensen does in return is put that confused face Jared has grown to love and look like Jared just spat a bunch of nonsense and he’s out of his mind.
“I have no clue what that’s supposed to mean.”
“Of course you don’t.” Jared brings one hand up, patting Jensen’s cheeks. “Is one of the things I love about you.”
Jensen smirks before turning Jared around, easily manhandling him and pinning him to the bed. Jared thinks that for someone who doesn’t practice violence and doesn’t possess any kind of fighting skills, Jensen is really good at bossing him around like this. Of course Jared doesn’t mind. He’s really digging it.
“Oh, really? And what else do you love about me, huh?” Jensen asks as he starts to kiss one side of Jared’s neck, slowly making him melt.
“Many, many things. We would stay here all day if you made me tell you.” Jared whispers in return, closing his eyes and stretching on the bed, happy to just lay there and let Jensen have fun kissing him everywhere-just like Jensen declared he was planning to do.
“What a coincidence.” Jensen whispers in his ear. “Because I also love you, Jay.”
Jared smiles, eyes still closed. “It would be really sad if you didn’t. Because I loved you first.”
That triggers a pointless argument about who loved whom first, like a competition to see who fell for each other faster. Jensen arguments it’s obvious he did since the moment he decided to help Jared when he broke into his house while Jared took days to even speak to him. Jared argues that it was all just Jensen’s normal shifter behavior; he helped Jared because Jensen's nice not because he fell in love at first sight.
It doesn’t take them anywhere but is nice to fake-fight over something so silly that makes them so happy.
The conversation slowly drifts into different topics, some more serious than others too. Jared curls close to Jensen and hears him speak about mortality and how he can live much longer than Jared, but also decide when to let his body grow old. Shifters do that when they find somewhere to call home and stay forever. They don’t live so long out of greed for life, it's only so they have time to find where they belong. And Jensen knows by now he belongs on Earth by Jared’s side.
It would be a lie to say that’s not the most romantic thing anyone has ever told Jared. It earns Jensen a good make out session and a lot of kisses all over his face in return.
“You won’t mind staying with this body forever?” Jared asks, curious. “No more shifting, no more discovering new planets or meeting new species?”
“Jared, I have lived a long life and I have also seen enough.” Jensen answers as calm as ever, taking one of Jared’s hands to stroke his fingers. “I don’t have any interest into going anywhere else and be any different than this. And I have to say, from all the bodies I have had, I like the human one the most because it allows me to be with you and is the one you feel attracted to.”
“Hey, wait a second, you don’t know if I wouldn’t like all your other bodies.” Jared argues with a smile, too happy about what Jensen just said. He leans in to kiss his lips, heart fluttering in his chest as Jensen’s words make echo in his head. “I don’t love you just because you look like a human, okay?”
Jensen chuckles, nodding along, but it just seems like he’s indulging him. Jared nudges him with his elbow.
“I’m serious!”
“Jared, all the other bodies I had morphed into are like nothing you have seen before.”
“Well, why don’t you explain me then? We have time.” Jared leans into Jensen’s chest. “You always tell me about the other planets you have visited, but you never say anything about your home planet. What is it called? What’s the first body you had?”
“Fair enough. I think is because we all think is more interesting to talk about places we have visited than where we come from.” Jensen explains as he starts to stroke Jared’s hair gently. Jared sighs, leaning into the touch. “My home planet is located in the Andromeda Galaxy. It’s called Asherahlia.” Jared can’t keep a surprised gasp as all answer, awed about how far away Jensen comes from. As long as humans knew, it was impossible to find life in the Andromeda Galaxy, but they were clearly wrong. The Universe is full of life and they never saw it. “Which means ‘constant change for the better’ in my native language.”
“Very suiting for you guys.”
Jensen only chuckles in return, nodding once more. “I suppose. It’s almost like a compliment in my language. Is something good. There’s nothing better than changing to go to other planets to help and learn.” Jensen licks his lips and hums, like he’s trying to find more interesting things to tell Jared. Like this isn’t mind-blowing enough. “We have one big sun. And it’s violet, so we have violent sunlight. It’s always warm, even our seas are bright purple and always hot once you dive inside. Is really nice to swim in them.”
Jared closes his eyes, trying to imagine everything Jensen is telling him, wishing he could go there and see it on his own. If he could only travel the universe by Jensen’s side, go back to his own planet and learn from it just like Jensen does on Earth. Jared would love to go with him and see how Jensen looked like in his very first body,
“My first body wouldn’t be able to survive here, we don’t breath oxygen.” Jensen mumbles, voice soft and shooting. “We are around four to seven meters tall. And our skin is light blue…” Jared opens his eyes to look at Jensen with his mouth hanging open at the description. “I was around six meters myself when I left.”
“Show off. I’m still taller than you here, which is what matters.” Jared whispers and Jensen digs his fingers on Jare’s sides until he’s squirming and laughing.
“Only by a couple inches but anyway.” Jensen moves one hand in the air. “Doesn’t matter.”
“What else?”
“Well, let’s see…some of our physical features were alike. We have eyes and noses and our eyesight is really good. We can see from miles away.” Jensen keeps on going as Jared tries to put the picture together. “But we don’t have mouths.”
“What!” Jared gasps, turning his head to look at Jensen with a surprised expression. “How do you speak then? And how do you eat?”
“We can read each other’s minds. All the time. That’s how we communicate and why shifters are so honest and trust each other so openly.” Jensen smiles and he seems to be having fun with Jared’s reaction. “You can’t help but be that way when you’re used to hearing what everybody thinks and feels.”
“That’s insane…” Jared whispers in awe. “How can you get used to everybody reading your mind?”
“We’re born that way, it’s normal for us. I actually found it weird to express myself with words and actions the first time I shifted into a new body. I was used to everybody just reading it all from my head.” Jensen clicks his tongue, leaning his head into Jared’s shoulder. “And we feed from the earth. We press our hands like this-” Jensen opens his palm and presses it down onto the bed. “Anywhere on the ground and Asherahlia provides for us. Our planet keeps ups safe, feeds and protects us and all she asks in return is for us to take care of her.”
“Her?”
“She’s alive just like all the other planets, too. They breathe and live with us.” Jensen moves his hand from the bed to rub Jared’s arm. “They are a living being, just like both of us. That’s why we need to treat them as such.”
And what humans never did, Jared thinks, processing what Jensen said. No wonder shifters always thought so badly of them. The way Jensen speaks of his planet is beautiful, nothing compared to what humans did with the Earth. That’s something Jared can at least understand; shifters are curing and treating the Earth in a way humans should have.
“Tell me more.” Jared asks as he nuzzles his face against Jensen’s neck, happy to hear him speak about all Jensen seems to love while feeling him so close.
And while Jensen keeps on talking and brushing his hair, Jared can’t help but feel selfish because right now he thinks that if shifters had never taken over the planet, he would have never been able to meet Jensen.
Jared should feel guilty for choosing Jensen over humanity.
But he doesn’t.
| Part Seventeen |