Page 6 of Culture and Curiosities (Blue Ridge Charm #1)

Toman

I had a mate.

Klynn was going to be highly frustrated.

However, he could be frustrated after I figured out what he was reading.

“I will have more questions on reading.” My mate nodded like that was an obvious statement but my brain was slow to process. “Not for me. I have a work partner. Partner has multiple meanings but this is a work and…and research-based relationship.”

My mate’s head tilted and he gave an exaggerated frown that clearly indicated thinking. “Is that the grumpy man the diner men were looking for? They were worried since they hadn’t seen him lately.”

Yes, Klynn was probably the grumpy man in question.

“The people at the diner made him uncomfortable.” I was going to have questions for my mate on that situation as well. “So he is spending most of the time at our camp. We have been camping.”

That was technically correct and was not a lie but it was leaving out what the humans called context.

Context mattered.

It was like no was a complete answer.

My mate smiled, rocking on his feet and looking pleased. “I like camping. I like exploring and going new places and getting hugs from my mate.”

Hugs?

Oh.

My mate required physical touch to provide comfort and confidence in our bond.

“I have never had a mate before.” That gave him humor but he made an excited sound when I opened my arms in what was thankfully a universal gesture. “I am happy to provide physical contact for my mate.”

My mate, Wren, quickly stepped into my arms and let out a pleased hum as he snuggled close and rubbed his face against my chest. “That’s much better. Thank you, Daddy.”

I was touching my mate.

Touching him.

Yes, touching him.

Closing my arms around him to complete the hug, I applied what I hoped was the appropriate pressure and rubbed his back as I’d seen other couples behaving. Wren made another pleased sound and rested his cheek on my body. “That’s perfect. You’re doing a really good job. But can I ask a question?”

This was the point where I was certain “oh dear” would have been an acceptable response.

“Yes, my mate.” He seemed to want to stay close to me, so I continued to hug and caress him in what I thought was socially acceptable to humans.

“You’re doing a good job at it…but where you’re from…you guys don’t hug a lot, do you?” Again, nothing in his physical reactions seemed to project stress and even our tentative bond seemed positive.

“No.” That was an easy question, thankfully. “Our culture is based on being strong and…and individual? I think that is the word. Touch between parent and child is normal and touch between mates is necessary for the bond and enjoyable from what I am experiencing.”

How enjoyable it would be had been downplayed.

Maybe it varied between mates?

“We do not randomly engage in touch such as the handshake and social hugs and pats the men at the diner provide.” They touched everyone unless something called boundaries were engaged. They were like verbal fences that provided structure for social situations.

My people had many boundaries and were very good at engaging in them.

Humans did not have as many but they were vocal regarding the ones they did have.

“Well, you don’t have to touch people here if you don’t want to.” He pulled back unexpectedly, frowning at me. “Except me. You have to touch me. That’s one of my limits. If we need to talk through it that’s fine, but I get hugs and sex of some sort with my mate.”

That was not unexpected.

“Thank you for sharing your limits with me. I am green with that limit.” Providing him with the special word got another smile from my mate and he pressed himself back against me. “I will explain when something is red or yellow, as well.”

Once I understood the red and yellow concepts, it was clear why I’d been told to let the locals know when I was green.

It was based on the human stoplight colors.

I would have guessed that sooner if there were more of them in the area.

“You’re doing great and thank you.” Wren kissed my cheek and snuggled closer again. “I’m glad you understand safewords.”

“They were confusing at first, but I met a local at the current social gathering who explained them and what being little meant.” Our people on Earth had greatly adapted to human customs. It was going to provide our scientists with much to study.

“I will do my best to answer any questions that you have, but I’m glad you found people to help already.” Wren leaned back and smiled again. “It helps you understand that I’m not nuts.”

I knew that one.

“No. I understand you have your mind intact and do not suffer from any human mental conditions.” Breeding with another species could produce unexpected results, but I could not determine if the local behavior was because of gene comingling or social exposure.

“I don’t.” Giggling, he curled back into me again. “I’m chatty and fun and little, but I told you that, and I’m a sub and I like spankings and I can’t wait to bond with my mate in all kinds of fun ways.”

His wiggling against me was making me question what kind of bonding my mate had in mind.

Wait.

“Spankings?” I was familiar with the word but it seemed I was missing context.

Context mattered.

Especially on Earth.

“We need to get this bonding going so that you can read my mind.” Wren gave me another kiss and hugged me tight. “I know lots of words and ideas and I think that’ll help.”

Yes. It would.

“There is a conversation we must have before a deeper bonding should be pursued.” Some surprises seemed to be a good thing in their culture. However, the portal was not the same thing as an unexpected social event.

“That you’re an alien that came through the portal?” Wren sat up and shrugged as I nodded. “I guessed that part, so we’re good to bond.”

“Am I allowed to find your acceptance curious?” It may have been rude but Wren’s laughter said otherwise.

“Yes, Daddy.” Wiggling again, he seemed intent on distracting me based on his expression and smiles. “I’m here to talk about the portal and to figure out what to do with it now that it’s open, so it’s not that big of a surprise.”

Should it have been?

“Am I attempting to be human wrong?”

Hmm…was that the right way to question that?

No.

Ask that.

“No.” Wren shook his head. “You’re doing great and the diner men haven’t even realized you’re not from this planet because they’d have already told everyone.”

I hadn’t thought of that.

Hadn’t.

Had not.

“You just…” Wren frowned but stayed close to me. “It’s the gaps in your knowledge and what confuses you that makes you stand out.”

“Ah.” That was unfortunate but not unexpected. “We were given a spell to acquire your language but the woman we obtained the language from had what may be called a sheltered vocabulary?”

No.

“A limited knowledge?”

English was so unfortunate.

“Oh.” Wren’s smile and facial expression said he understood my explanation. “That makes sense. We’ve got some people around here that aren’t really up to date with the rest of the world.”

That seemed highly accurate.

“We can do the spell on me to help with the knowledge and vocabulary issue or we can get the bonding going and see if that helps?” Wren’s words agreed that he was looking to be helpful, but his expression was one that the diner men had called suspicious when it had been used by another little.

“As your Daddy, I think I am supposed to ask questions when you attempt to look…that way.” I knew I was right when he laughed and nodded. “Please explain your misbehavior until I have learned to anticipate it.”

That got more laughter from my mate, but he wiggled close and kissed my cheek. “Only if I can’t get in trouble once I tell you what I was thinking or what I did.”

“That is fair.” I would simply have to work diligently to obtain the knowledge quickly so I could anticipate his behaviors.

“Perfect.” Wrapping his arms around my chest, Wren rested his head against my shoulder. “The best way I know to bond is through sex. So I was teasing you and nudging you in the sexy direction because I want to see you naked and kiss you more and feel you inside me.”

Oh.

His brain was working much faster than mine because he popped up again. “Here that’s called being a bottom. I want your cock…as long as you have one…inside me. I’ll top you if that’s what you want or what we need to make it work, but I’d like to start with me getting fucked first.”

He was clear when answering questions.

“Do you guys do that?” Wren continued to explain his thoughts in a rapid-fire method.

“We’ve always been told that mates are always compatible and that we’ve never had an issue with two men being together or two women, but we’ve kind of had issues when mates end up being a mix of mages and dragons, but we’re doing better with that lately. Mages are just…magey.”

I was going to need to have him define magey .

His head came up again before I could decide how to ask, since it sounded like it had the possibility of being offensive.

“Are you a mage? It’s okay if you are. You just have to leave the flowers alone because that’s not subtle at all and there’s only so long the humans around here can play dumb.” Shaking his head, Wren sighed. “They’re really good at it, though.”

“The men at the diner are confident that they are being subtle.” Wren’s laughter and the way he shook his head indicated his disbelief. “I felt bad disagreeing with them.”

“They’re terrible.” He found it to be amusing, though. “But so far it hasn’t been much of an issue.”

Maybe?

“It does not seem to be my place to discuss that with the locals.” Was it my mate’s?

That question must’ve been clear because he giggled as he shook his head. “Nope. Not it. That is what we call not my circus, not my monkeys . It means I am not in charge of it and I don’t have to worry about managing it.”

I thought I could understand that logic.

“Is that lack of management because you do not count this area as home?” He had mentioned a willingness to move, but I knew we should have extensive conversations regarding relocation. “Is it a lack of dominance?”

My mate’s head cocked and he puckered his lips into what I thought was an expression of deep thought. After a few moments, he shrugged. “That’s a good question. Both of them, really. I was thinking it was because I don’t count this as home, but it might be a sub thing.”

Sub thing seemed to be related to submissive tendencies, but I was patient as he continued to process. As his silence stretched out, he shifted and pressed closer, seemingly indicating he wanted more touch.

When I tightened my grip and stroked my hand over his back again, he made a pleased sound and found his thoughts.

Did touch promote thought on Earth?

Was that why the men hugged and gave shoulder pats so frequently?

Wren answered before I could ask additional questions. “I like it when people are happy and I love how funny the locals are, but it doesn’t feel like my place to tell them what to do.”

There seemed to be a connection between thoughts and touch, but I did not know how to question it or explain it in my notes.

“You ask good questions.” Smiling, Wren kissed my cheek. “I like that.”

“Thank you.” Kissing his cheek in return, I marveled at the way the bond continued to subtly strengthen with each touch and emotional connection. “I like this as well.”

“The kissing or the talking?” My mate’s smile widened into what I thought was mischief or teasing. “Or the wiggling.”

All of them.

Mischief and teasing…yes, his smile was related to mischief and teasing.

His example of a wiggle was to rub his body against mine, focusing on our groin areas. “That is enjoyable as well.”

My mate was…enthusiastic.

“Have you figured out any differences in the way we make love?” Wren quickly frowned.

“Sex. I’m not sure what words you know for that.

Do we have sex the same way? Is there anything I need to know?

Any diseases your people thought we might be able to catch?

We might end up being like those isolated groups that end up catching everything when new people show up. That would suck.”

Suck?

The negative association was clear but the subtleties of the meaning were lost on me. The diner men had not used that word. “From what I understand, we do not have diseases in the same way humans have them. It may be that our magic influenced that during our evolution.”

Sighing, he shook his head. “Mages probably fucked with that kind of stuff so long ago we don’t remember. It’s probably like the flowers and that shit just stuck.”

The flowers, yes.

“That may be.” It was more helpful than influencing the out-of-season growth of plants, however. “If it was, that information was lost.”

He did not seem to mind my lack of knowledge. “We weren’t lost, though. That’s amazing. Wait. Were we forgotten? That was what I meant.”

I appreciated the way he thought to clarify his words, but I had to admit to disliking the need for it. Isolated humans did not have an extensive vocabulary. It was what the diner men called a learning experience.

“You were not forgotten, my mate.” Never. “My people have watched for you for generations.”

It was one of our greatest tragedies that they had been separated from us and the most painful lesson that children should’ve never been sent that far away…

especially not without more skills and supervision.

“We did not know what to expect but finding you happy and thriving will please my people more than you know.”

Nearly every family had a member who had been lost and our society had never recovered in some ways.

One moment our children had been learning to grow and thrive and the next there was a great hole where they had once been. Many families had never moved past the grief and generations suffered in silence.

“So they’re going to be happy to meet us?” Looking hopeful and nervous, Wren curled his body into mine, pressing his face against my neck. “Everyone’s been thinking about the practical stuff, but it’s hard not to think about the people aspects.”

People aspects indeed.

“Our government has kept the news quiet until more information was gathered, but this will bring joy beyond measure, my mate.”

Just as finding my mate had brought me.

My mate.