I Prefer the Mind Control Rewrite - Chapter 23
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“Holy shit, your planet is a giant fucking rainbow,” I breathed. Swirls of various colors twisted and turned slowly, creating a fucking hypnotic effect. Seriously, it was hard to turn away from all the color.
Still, I eventually turned to Xan excitedly, feeling a grin spread across my face. “How does your atmosphere do that? Does it look like that on the ground? This is so cool.”
Xan grinned back at me. “Feeling better?” he asked.
In response, I kissed him and wrapped my arms around him. Yeah, I had felt a whole lot of random fucking nervousness, but, somehow, seeing the planet made things at least somewhat better. Sure, my stomach twisted a little because I was headed to an alien planet where I knew practically no one, but I felt okay about it now.
When Xan broke the kiss, I could feel the ridiculous smile on my face. Lights flashed on in the cabin of the ship. They blinked a rapid sequence of various colors, and he let go of me. I whined just a bit.
Xan offered a small smile and murmured, “We’re about to land. You should sit back in your seat now.”
I did as I was told and leaned back in my seat. From out of fucking nowhere, seatbelts surrounded me, locking me into the chair. While I remembered the things from lift-off, they still startled me. Xan just flashed me a grin and said, “You’ll get used to them if you do more space travel.”
A voice announced we would be arriving shortly. Yeah, ship voice, I figured that one out.
“I never expected to do any space travel,” I said. The ship lurched, sending my stomach flying around in my body. “Is it supposed to do that?” I cried.
“That’s normal,” Xan said, sounding perfectly fucking calm.
“If I die during landing, I’m coming back to life as a zombie and eating your fucking brain,” I muttered as the ship lurched yet again. I felt like I would be thrown from my seat if not for the restraints holding me to it.
“Please don’t eat my brain. I sort of need it,” Xan said.
“Only sort of?” I asked, managing to raise an eyebrow, even as the ship kept lurching.
From my seat, I could see our approach to Zimara on the viewscreen. The ship rattled and rumbled as we approached what looked like a space station. Part of me really did think we were going to fucking die.
You can’t kill me now, though. I mean, there’s hardly been enough plot to kill off your protagonist, right? Plus a random spaceship crash just doesn’t have much dramatic value, in my opinion. My death, should you actually kill me even though I’m the narrator, has to be meaningful, okay?
Though the ship bounced around too much for me to really concentrate on the planet, I could see that it looked rather Earthlike. That was fucking convenient since I was a human and all. I assumed the atmosphere, weird rainbow stuff aside, would be fucking breathable, but seeing a planet that looked reasonably like my home planet helped.
Finally, the ship actually landed in a giant arrival bay thing -- with a big fucking crash that would have sent me flying. Shouldn’t landing in a space station have been just a bit smoother? A few minutes later that voice told us it was safe to remove our restraints and exit. My restraints disappeared into my seat. I didn’t stand up immediately, feeling rather disoriented.
Xan wasted no time standing up, seemingly unfazed. He stretched and offered me a hand, which I took. Slowly, I stood up. Then, I looked at the viewscreen, now displaying the bay we had arrived in. It strongly resembled Xan’s apartment, of all things. It had the same curves and same black and silver motif. There were a few rainbow lights but also a lot of ordinary white lights. I guessed an overabundance of shiny rainbow lights might be dangerous when large spacecraft were landing? We were the only ship in the cavernous space, as far as I could tell, anyway.
“We’re almost home,” he said, pulling me to him. He kissed me, and I returned it, enjoying his warmth.
That warmth spread through me, turning into a sort of electric excitement. My body quivered as I kissed Xan. I wanted more than just a kiss -- I wanted Xan right now, on the ship even, but he pulled away.
“We have to exit and head to the elevator to go down to Zimara itself,” he said, looking slightly disappointed. Did he want to do more than kiss, too?
Then, a realization struck me -- Xan had said we were “almost home.” Home. As in Zimara was my fucking home now -- Earth wasn’t anymore. My heart stopped for a second, but it wasn’t in a bad way. Just -- holy fucking shit.
“Are you okay?” Xan asked. He was clearly fucking concerned, but there was no reason to be.
I squeezed his shoulder and smiled. “I’m fine. Actually, I’m more than fine. I’m awesome, just -- holy shit, I live here, don’t I?”
He smiled. “Yes, you do,” he said.
Xan took my hand. A door to the ship opened, creating an exit ramp. We walked down it, my heart fluttering in excitement. I was here. I was actually fucking here. On Zimara. With Xan. I never, ever, in a billion fucking years, thought I would get an opportunity like this. How many humans got to leave Earth these days? Not many, unless you were ridiculously loaded, and I wasn’t.
I tried to smooth out my wrinkled clothes -- space travel didn’t exactly agree with them. Xan, somehow, looked put together in his Zimaran outfit. Was that some kind of magic princely power? Or did Zimaran clothes simply weather space travel better because their species actually went into space more than mine did?
“You look fine,” Xan murmured. Evidently, he noticed my worry over my clothes. “You look more than fine,” he added, smiling.
Feeling my face heat up, I said, “Thanks, Xan.”
We started leaving the arrival bay, traveling along a walkway. I would not have recommended looking down, as the walkway was somehow halfway up the arrival bay. And it was fucking narrow. Finally, we reached a large automatic door, which opened for us silently. The moment we were out of there, a sharp voice called out, “And who is this, Prince Xan?”
My heart fucking stopped -- that was definitely a “you’re in trouble” voice.
Xan startled, letting go of my hand. “S-Security Master Arco -- wh-what are you doing up here?” he stammered.
Security Master? That sounded fucking serious. The woman who spoke looked serious, too. Her lips were a thin line and her silvery eyes flashed dangerously. It didn’t help that this Arco had to be at least six feet tall and, oh yeah, she was a cyborg, like Syra, silvery streaks shining above pale skin. Arco had muscle on her sleek body, covered by a black and silver uniform, and looked like she could kill you just by blinking. Zimarans couldn’t actually kill you by blinking, could they? Also, Arco’s black hair was cut short, in a severe style that said “don’t mess with me.” Yes, author, hair can fucking say that, okay?
Arco pursed her lips and put a hand on her hip. She glared at Xan, who was visibly trembling. I fucking trembled, too. Was I about to be arrested or something?
“I heard rumors from one of your chattier flight crew that you had brought a human back to our planet. I had to see if you would actually dare,” she muttered.
Wait, did all Zimarans know English and use it regularly? That couldn’t be -- I remembered hearing Jirrin and Xan talking to each other in a Zimaran language. So why was Arco speaking English now? Was that for my benefit?
Being brilliant, I actually asked, “So why are you speaking English?” Immediately after I opened my mouth, my face burned -- I wasn’t exactly making the best first impression, saying stuff like that.
Arco smiled wryly, looking me over in such a way that my self-consciousness fucking redoubled. “It’s for you benefit. If I need to chew you two out for being so foolish as to come here without any real warning, you should be able to hear me,” she said.
I looked at Xan and felt my jaw drop. “You -- you didn’t tell anybody I was coming?” I asked.
Xan blushed and looked at the ground. “I -- I didn’t think it would be -- be a problem,” he mumbled.
“You didn’t think bringing to Zimara a human -- a species with whom we have a rocky relationship, to say the least -- would be a problem?” Arco drawled, her hand still on her hip as she raised an eyebrow.
“I -- I neglected to think so far ahead,” he muttered, his blush still fucking obvious.
“You weren’t thinking at all. Or else you were thinking with something other than your brain, as the human boy’s reason for being here is transparently obvious,” Arco muttered.
Judging by how hot my face felt, I had to be blushing a ridiculous amount. I could feel her eyes on me. They burned like lasers, and I couldn’t look at Arco. Still, I muttered, “Uh, yeah, I’m Xan’s -- do you guys, like, use the word ‘boyfriend’ here? Because that’s what I am. My name’s Dylan, if you’re, y’know, curious.”
That was fucking smooth. Smooth like Xan, who didn’t tell anybody I was fucking coming to Zimara with him.
“I was already informed of your name, Dylan Hathaway,” she said. Her eyes continued to burn into me.
Cautiously, I reached for Xan’s hand, and he took it. I didn’t know what I was fucking doing, but I wanted his support, despite the fact that he got us into this particular mess. Possibly, being pissed off at my boyfriend’s irresponsibility would come later. Maybe there was even a part of me who wanted to defy Arco’s scariness and show off how I was in a relationship with him, like it or not. That wasn’t too likely though, just because of how scary the cyborg woman was.
Wait, what? How did she know my fucking surname? Magic cyborg powers?
She turned her attention to Xan. “So, Prince Xan, why did you bother bringing a...problematic lover all the way from Earth when there are plenty of willing partners on Zimara itself?”
Xan put his arm around my shoulders, which kind of surprised me. Arco was scary enough that I wouldn’t have gotten mad if he hadn’t wanted so much physical contact. I leaned into him, appreciating it even in the face of her death glare of doom.
“I brought Dylan here because I love him,” he said, conviction obvious in his voice.
I couldn’t help grinning when I heard that. “Same here. I love Xan, so I came to Zimara, even if the planet so far seems populated by people who look like they want to kill me,” I said. Oops, I should not have said that out loud. I would make a fucking brilliant diplomat.
Arco, of all things, fucking laughed -- but it was a seriously mirthless laugh. “Dylan, I have no desire to kill you. That would create more problems than it would solve.”
While I should have been relieved, I somehow wasn’t. Did Zimarans believe in punishments worse than death for apparently uninvited humans such as myself?
“Uh, thanks for not wanting to kill me?” I said, feeling so out of my element.
Arco snorted, shaking her head. “Don’t thank me,” she said. She looked at Xan again. “You are aware that you are a Prince who is to be involved in the throne competition, correct? And thus have a responsibility to pick a partner who can commit. Humans can’t Truebond. It was highly irresponsible to bring with you someone who can be, at most, a short term lover. Is he even under the mind control?”
I bristled at that. “I may not have a fancy Zimaran brain with all your psychic powers, but I am mind controlled. And Xan and I are not short term lovers,” I hissed. That pissed me off enough that I looked her right in her silvery eyes of doom.
Syra appeared out of nowhere -- just fucking materialized, like she had before. What the fuck? Why was she doing that?
Even Arco was surprised -- she didn’t show it much, but her eyes widened slightly.
“What do you know of love, Firi Arco? As long as I’ve known you, you haven’t even had a partner, not that I’ve seen.” Syra narrowed her eyes at Arco. Tension strained the air, and I felt so much fucking animosity.
Arco crossed her arms over her chest. While her first name was apparently Firi, I was too scared of her to think of her by anything other than her last name. “You shouldn’t be visible when you’re on duty, Syra Lyatho,” Arco muttered.
“I’m aware,” Syra said. “But I had to say something.” She continued to glare at Arco.
“I think you, and Zimara in general, overemphasize the need for sexual activity and partnering,” Arco said, wrinkling her nose in disgust.
Neither Xan nor I had any idea what to make of this conversation taking place before us. At least, he wasn’t saying anything, and neither was I. Apparently, Syra wanted me in on this conversation, since she was speaking to Arco in English.
“You’re the one telling Prince Xan how to manage his love life,” Syra countered.
Arco gave Xan a disdainful look. “He should know better than to bring a human plaything to Zimara.”
“He should,” Syra sighed. “But he did, and telling the two boys they’re short terms lovers only is not going to make things better, Firi.” She shook her head.
“They are going to be short term. It’s simple fact, Syra,” Arco said. “And the boys ought to listen to me, break it off now and send Dylan home.”
I did not feel so comfortable having my love life discussed like this -- it might have almost been better if they talked in their native language.
“I -- I won’t l-listen to you, S-Security Master Arco,” Xan stammered. He tightened his arm around me. My boyfriend looked scared, but I was glad he spoke up.
“I -- I won’t listen, either,” I said, trying to make my voice firm and failing.
Arco sighed, looking almost resigned -- a strangely terrifying kind of resigned. “I figured you two wouldn’t. At the moment, I won’t force Dylan to leave, but Prince Xan will have to face the consequences of bringing him here. So, the question is -- how do we deal this bit of ridiculousness while we wait for it to be over?”
That was a good fucking question -- how did we introduce me to Zimara without causing some kind of interplanetary disaster?
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written for 500themes prompt #199 -- "Childhood's End"
next chapter
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“Holy shit, your planet is a giant fucking rainbow,” I breathed. Swirls of various colors twisted and turned slowly, creating a fucking hypnotic effect. Seriously, it was hard to turn away from all the color.
Still, I eventually turned to Xan excitedly, feeling a grin spread across my face. “How does your atmosphere do that? Does it look like that on the ground? This is so cool.”
Xan grinned back at me. “Feeling better?” he asked.
In response, I kissed him and wrapped my arms around him. Yeah, I had felt a whole lot of random fucking nervousness, but, somehow, seeing the planet made things at least somewhat better. Sure, my stomach twisted a little because I was headed to an alien planet where I knew practically no one, but I felt okay about it now.
When Xan broke the kiss, I could feel the ridiculous smile on my face. Lights flashed on in the cabin of the ship. They blinked a rapid sequence of various colors, and he let go of me. I whined just a bit.
Xan offered a small smile and murmured, “We’re about to land. You should sit back in your seat now.”
I did as I was told and leaned back in my seat. From out of fucking nowhere, seatbelts surrounded me, locking me into the chair. While I remembered the things from lift-off, they still startled me. Xan just flashed me a grin and said, “You’ll get used to them if you do more space travel.”
A voice announced we would be arriving shortly. Yeah, ship voice, I figured that one out.
“I never expected to do any space travel,” I said. The ship lurched, sending my stomach flying around in my body. “Is it supposed to do that?” I cried.
“That’s normal,” Xan said, sounding perfectly fucking calm.
“If I die during landing, I’m coming back to life as a zombie and eating your fucking brain,” I muttered as the ship lurched yet again. I felt like I would be thrown from my seat if not for the restraints holding me to it.
“Please don’t eat my brain. I sort of need it,” Xan said.
“Only sort of?” I asked, managing to raise an eyebrow, even as the ship kept lurching.
From my seat, I could see our approach to Zimara on the viewscreen. The ship rattled and rumbled as we approached what looked like a space station. Part of me really did think we were going to fucking die.
You can’t kill me now, though. I mean, there’s hardly been enough plot to kill off your protagonist, right? Plus a random spaceship crash just doesn’t have much dramatic value, in my opinion. My death, should you actually kill me even though I’m the narrator, has to be meaningful, okay?
Though the ship bounced around too much for me to really concentrate on the planet, I could see that it looked rather Earthlike. That was fucking convenient since I was a human and all. I assumed the atmosphere, weird rainbow stuff aside, would be fucking breathable, but seeing a planet that looked reasonably like my home planet helped.
Finally, the ship actually landed in a giant arrival bay thing -- with a big fucking crash that would have sent me flying. Shouldn’t landing in a space station have been just a bit smoother? A few minutes later that voice told us it was safe to remove our restraints and exit. My restraints disappeared into my seat. I didn’t stand up immediately, feeling rather disoriented.
Xan wasted no time standing up, seemingly unfazed. He stretched and offered me a hand, which I took. Slowly, I stood up. Then, I looked at the viewscreen, now displaying the bay we had arrived in. It strongly resembled Xan’s apartment, of all things. It had the same curves and same black and silver motif. There were a few rainbow lights but also a lot of ordinary white lights. I guessed an overabundance of shiny rainbow lights might be dangerous when large spacecraft were landing? We were the only ship in the cavernous space, as far as I could tell, anyway.
“We’re almost home,” he said, pulling me to him. He kissed me, and I returned it, enjoying his warmth.
That warmth spread through me, turning into a sort of electric excitement. My body quivered as I kissed Xan. I wanted more than just a kiss -- I wanted Xan right now, on the ship even, but he pulled away.
“We have to exit and head to the elevator to go down to Zimara itself,” he said, looking slightly disappointed. Did he want to do more than kiss, too?
Then, a realization struck me -- Xan had said we were “almost home.” Home. As in Zimara was my fucking home now -- Earth wasn’t anymore. My heart stopped for a second, but it wasn’t in a bad way. Just -- holy fucking shit.
“Are you okay?” Xan asked. He was clearly fucking concerned, but there was no reason to be.
I squeezed his shoulder and smiled. “I’m fine. Actually, I’m more than fine. I’m awesome, just -- holy shit, I live here, don’t I?”
He smiled. “Yes, you do,” he said.
Xan took my hand. A door to the ship opened, creating an exit ramp. We walked down it, my heart fluttering in excitement. I was here. I was actually fucking here. On Zimara. With Xan. I never, ever, in a billion fucking years, thought I would get an opportunity like this. How many humans got to leave Earth these days? Not many, unless you were ridiculously loaded, and I wasn’t.
I tried to smooth out my wrinkled clothes -- space travel didn’t exactly agree with them. Xan, somehow, looked put together in his Zimaran outfit. Was that some kind of magic princely power? Or did Zimaran clothes simply weather space travel better because their species actually went into space more than mine did?
“You look fine,” Xan murmured. Evidently, he noticed my worry over my clothes. “You look more than fine,” he added, smiling.
Feeling my face heat up, I said, “Thanks, Xan.”
We started leaving the arrival bay, traveling along a walkway. I would not have recommended looking down, as the walkway was somehow halfway up the arrival bay. And it was fucking narrow. Finally, we reached a large automatic door, which opened for us silently. The moment we were out of there, a sharp voice called out, “And who is this, Prince Xan?”
My heart fucking stopped -- that was definitely a “you’re in trouble” voice.
Xan startled, letting go of my hand. “S-Security Master Arco -- wh-what are you doing up here?” he stammered.
Security Master? That sounded fucking serious. The woman who spoke looked serious, too. Her lips were a thin line and her silvery eyes flashed dangerously. It didn’t help that this Arco had to be at least six feet tall and, oh yeah, she was a cyborg, like Syra, silvery streaks shining above pale skin. Arco had muscle on her sleek body, covered by a black and silver uniform, and looked like she could kill you just by blinking. Zimarans couldn’t actually kill you by blinking, could they? Also, Arco’s black hair was cut short, in a severe style that said “don’t mess with me.” Yes, author, hair can fucking say that, okay?
Arco pursed her lips and put a hand on her hip. She glared at Xan, who was visibly trembling. I fucking trembled, too. Was I about to be arrested or something?
“I heard rumors from one of your chattier flight crew that you had brought a human back to our planet. I had to see if you would actually dare,” she muttered.
Wait, did all Zimarans know English and use it regularly? That couldn’t be -- I remembered hearing Jirrin and Xan talking to each other in a Zimaran language. So why was Arco speaking English now? Was that for my benefit?
Being brilliant, I actually asked, “So why are you speaking English?” Immediately after I opened my mouth, my face burned -- I wasn’t exactly making the best first impression, saying stuff like that.
Arco smiled wryly, looking me over in such a way that my self-consciousness fucking redoubled. “It’s for you benefit. If I need to chew you two out for being so foolish as to come here without any real warning, you should be able to hear me,” she said.
I looked at Xan and felt my jaw drop. “You -- you didn’t tell anybody I was coming?” I asked.
Xan blushed and looked at the ground. “I -- I didn’t think it would be -- be a problem,” he mumbled.
“You didn’t think bringing to Zimara a human -- a species with whom we have a rocky relationship, to say the least -- would be a problem?” Arco drawled, her hand still on her hip as she raised an eyebrow.
“I -- I neglected to think so far ahead,” he muttered, his blush still fucking obvious.
“You weren’t thinking at all. Or else you were thinking with something other than your brain, as the human boy’s reason for being here is transparently obvious,” Arco muttered.
Judging by how hot my face felt, I had to be blushing a ridiculous amount. I could feel her eyes on me. They burned like lasers, and I couldn’t look at Arco. Still, I muttered, “Uh, yeah, I’m Xan’s -- do you guys, like, use the word ‘boyfriend’ here? Because that’s what I am. My name’s Dylan, if you’re, y’know, curious.”
That was fucking smooth. Smooth like Xan, who didn’t tell anybody I was fucking coming to Zimara with him.
“I was already informed of your name, Dylan Hathaway,” she said. Her eyes continued to burn into me.
Cautiously, I reached for Xan’s hand, and he took it. I didn’t know what I was fucking doing, but I wanted his support, despite the fact that he got us into this particular mess. Possibly, being pissed off at my boyfriend’s irresponsibility would come later. Maybe there was even a part of me who wanted to defy Arco’s scariness and show off how I was in a relationship with him, like it or not. That wasn’t too likely though, just because of how scary the cyborg woman was.
Wait, what? How did she know my fucking surname? Magic cyborg powers?
She turned her attention to Xan. “So, Prince Xan, why did you bother bringing a...problematic lover all the way from Earth when there are plenty of willing partners on Zimara itself?”
Xan put his arm around my shoulders, which kind of surprised me. Arco was scary enough that I wouldn’t have gotten mad if he hadn’t wanted so much physical contact. I leaned into him, appreciating it even in the face of her death glare of doom.
“I brought Dylan here because I love him,” he said, conviction obvious in his voice.
I couldn’t help grinning when I heard that. “Same here. I love Xan, so I came to Zimara, even if the planet so far seems populated by people who look like they want to kill me,” I said. Oops, I should not have said that out loud. I would make a fucking brilliant diplomat.
Arco, of all things, fucking laughed -- but it was a seriously mirthless laugh. “Dylan, I have no desire to kill you. That would create more problems than it would solve.”
While I should have been relieved, I somehow wasn’t. Did Zimarans believe in punishments worse than death for apparently uninvited humans such as myself?
“Uh, thanks for not wanting to kill me?” I said, feeling so out of my element.
Arco snorted, shaking her head. “Don’t thank me,” she said. She looked at Xan again. “You are aware that you are a Prince who is to be involved in the throne competition, correct? And thus have a responsibility to pick a partner who can commit. Humans can’t Truebond. It was highly irresponsible to bring with you someone who can be, at most, a short term lover. Is he even under the mind control?”
I bristled at that. “I may not have a fancy Zimaran brain with all your psychic powers, but I am mind controlled. And Xan and I are not short term lovers,” I hissed. That pissed me off enough that I looked her right in her silvery eyes of doom.
Syra appeared out of nowhere -- just fucking materialized, like she had before. What the fuck? Why was she doing that?
Even Arco was surprised -- she didn’t show it much, but her eyes widened slightly.
“What do you know of love, Firi Arco? As long as I’ve known you, you haven’t even had a partner, not that I’ve seen.” Syra narrowed her eyes at Arco. Tension strained the air, and I felt so much fucking animosity.
Arco crossed her arms over her chest. While her first name was apparently Firi, I was too scared of her to think of her by anything other than her last name. “You shouldn’t be visible when you’re on duty, Syra Lyatho,” Arco muttered.
“I’m aware,” Syra said. “But I had to say something.” She continued to glare at Arco.
“I think you, and Zimara in general, overemphasize the need for sexual activity and partnering,” Arco said, wrinkling her nose in disgust.
Neither Xan nor I had any idea what to make of this conversation taking place before us. At least, he wasn’t saying anything, and neither was I. Apparently, Syra wanted me in on this conversation, since she was speaking to Arco in English.
“You’re the one telling Prince Xan how to manage his love life,” Syra countered.
Arco gave Xan a disdainful look. “He should know better than to bring a human plaything to Zimara.”
“He should,” Syra sighed. “But he did, and telling the two boys they’re short terms lovers only is not going to make things better, Firi.” She shook her head.
“They are going to be short term. It’s simple fact, Syra,” Arco said. “And the boys ought to listen to me, break it off now and send Dylan home.”
I did not feel so comfortable having my love life discussed like this -- it might have almost been better if they talked in their native language.
“I -- I won’t l-listen to you, S-Security Master Arco,” Xan stammered. He tightened his arm around me. My boyfriend looked scared, but I was glad he spoke up.
“I -- I won’t listen, either,” I said, trying to make my voice firm and failing.
Arco sighed, looking almost resigned -- a strangely terrifying kind of resigned. “I figured you two wouldn’t. At the moment, I won’t force Dylan to leave, but Prince Xan will have to face the consequences of bringing him here. So, the question is -- how do we deal this bit of ridiculousness while we wait for it to be over?”
That was a good fucking question -- how did we introduce me to Zimara without causing some kind of interplanetary disaster?
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written for 500themes prompt #199 -- "Childhood's End"
next chapter