Page 9 of The Royal’s Bumblebee (Operation Colonise #2)

Billie’s new nest

Billie

I want this. I want to be here on Thelia. I want to have an amazing adventure and I agreed to come here because I wanted to.

I wasn’t coerced or bribed against my will. I want to be here. I also want to be here, in Izule’s home. I want a shower and it’s on the second floor.

“Okay. We’re inside?”

I asked at the softness I could feel beneath my pumps. I couldn’t feel the cool breeze against my face or jumpsuit anymore, so I assumed we were now shielded by the building.

“Yes.”

Izule’s deep voice rumbled and he patiently waited for me to reply. I liked that he didn’t rush me to respond as some people did.

“Then I’m going to open my eyes now.”

I declared and took a deep breath.

I still held his warm smooth hand to my chest with both of mine as I slowly peered out to my new home.

I talked at length about this with Hannah before we left.

About the fact I wouldn’t be living in my apartment.

It wouldn’t have the whir of fans keeping all my tech cool.

There wouldn’t be any of my animal figurines, as I had to leave them behind. My one personal item was my snoogie. Those were the rules. I liked rules.

I was supposed to be living with Hannah.

She was supposed to be my familiar comfort in this new environment.

But she isn’t here.

The planet is already inhabited.

I’m not in a human-built complex, but the home of a giant snake alien.

Who also happens to be a prince and looks like a King Cobra.

Izule was motionless beside me and let me take my time as I finished opening my eyes.

First I looked down and saw a thick burgundy carpet.

It covered the whole floor in one block colour.

I stepped out of my pumps, not wanting to get the carpet dirty, and braced myself for the texture between my toes.

If it was course, I would be putting my shoes back on until I could find slippers, or at least some socks.

I smiled when I found the carpet to be really soft. And warm. I liked it.

Slowly I looked up and found that for the most part, the ground floor was open plan and rather empty.

As far as I could see it was made of wood, rather than the yellow stone of the palace.

The wood itself had a reddish tinge, but wasn’t dark like mahogany.

There were darker brown ‘eyes’ in the woodwork, but they were sparse and small enough that it didn’t cause me too much of a distraction.

Izule said this was the social room.

I can’t see how, when it’s a big oval room with only a burgundy carpet in it and a couple of rounded windows near the ceiling.

They seemed to have glass panes in them and dim spotlights of natural light onto the carpet. It was quite shady otherwise. I couldn’t see any source of lighting for late at night though. I was going to need a torch.

Having less to take in made it quicker to process.

Slowly I lowered one of my hands and held Izule’s between us.

He didn’t know this yet, but that was a sign I was getting more comfortable.

I leaned in and smelt something fruity.

“What’s that smell?”

“Jala fruit.”

Izule answered me and leaned forward on his tail to curve around to look at me. I tensed my hand, afraid he was intending on ‘walking’ on ahead without me, but he didn’t.

He was just entering my field of vision. “I picked some this morning and placed them in a bowl in the kitchen. They are some of the native species of fruit that are compatible with your diet.”

“It smells like watermelon.”

I concluded upon a second sniff. “I want a shower.”

I was hungry, but I felt dirty. I wanted to brush my teeth too.

“Would you like to go straight to the hygiene level?”

Izule pointed upward and I followed his prompt to see a hole in the middle of the ceiling.

“Internally, we have spirals connected to the dividing walls in access holes like this one. Alternatively, on the side of my nest is another access spiral. The pole with long grips I described to your earlier.”

“I can’t reach that.”

I stared up at the hole in the roof and marched into the middle of the social room. I still held Izule’s hand and dragged him with me. “I don’t want to go outside.”

“I could carry you?”

“No.”

I didn’t want that. I didn’t want too much touching. With my left hand I tapped my thumb and middle finger together as I craned my neck upward to look at the access hole.

“I’m going to need a way to get up there without you carrying me, or going outside. We’re high up. I don’t want to fall.”

I slowly turned to look at Izule and caught his yellow eyes and wide elliptical pupils looking at me. My gaze dropped to his mouth and I cleared my throat.

“If you could use the spiral tower outside, and there are access holes connecting each level, could a spiral staircase be installed? I could bring up plans for one, and it could be narrow. Do they all line up?”

“Yes, they do. I can have an architect here within the hour.”

Izule nodded. He agreed that easily. “In the meantime, how shall I help you move between levels?”

I looked at the wooden poles jutting out from one side of the access hole.

Ucfeni must rear up on their tails to slither along that set of wooden poles, and then lift their bulk up, before slithering along the floor of the next room.

I didn’t want him to carry me.

I didn’t want to go back outside.

It took me a long time to get here, and I was afraid of heights.

This room, and the whole building for that matter, seemed very sturdy.

I knew I was going to have to let him lift me up there.

I wanted a shower.

But I wasn’t ready to be touched.

I released his hand completely and he tried to reach to take it back.

I folded my arms and backed away from him to explore this level some more.

Izule acted like he was bereft of the loss of contact and slithered to keep up with me.

He stopped advancing when I looked warily over my shoulder at him. “Shall I wait here?”

I nodded and he folded his arms and nodded for me to proceed.

I tentatively walked into the next room to give myself some more time.

I found myself in a kitchen.

Everything was made of the same wood as the empty social room.

Unlike the last room, the kitchen was fully furnished.

A tall fridge freezer, made of dull silver, stood erect beside a matching sink.

The countertops were all made of red wood. I didn’t need to turn around to confirm Izule was leaning in the doorway to see me take in this room like the last.

The carpet muffled the sound of him slithering across the social room carpet and he cleared his throat behind me.

I touched the wooden draining board and felt a kind of hard clear lacquer covering it.

It probably made it waterproof. I opened the fridge and found it was empty. There was a cooking unit on the other side of a worktop counter where a chopping board waited to be used.

There were cupboards beneath each counter and a middle island to sit at and eat.

Evident from the wooden stool propped in position against it. On the island was a bowl of fruit that drew wet my tastebuds.

I stood staring at the strangest thing I have ever seen, and I’m on an alien planet that supports life.

They were the size of gala melons, round, and hairy. The watermelon smell was definitely coming off these brown furballs.

There were six of them in a polished wooden ball on the island countertop. “Jala fruit. The flesh inside is sweet and edible for mammals.”

“Inside?”

That made sense. There was no way I was eating the hairy rind. I wasn’t even sure if I wanted to touch the hairs to find out.

“Yes. Would you like me to peel one for you?”

“No.”

I wanted a shower. I cast my eyes over the rest of the kitchen. “The cupboards are empty.”

“I will have a food delivery arranged for you shortly.”

“Where is your food?”

“I am carnivorous.”

“So?”

I raised a brow and looked at his eyes for a moment, before dropping back to his mouth. “I’m omnivorous and eat meat too. Sausages are my favourite.”

“What are—”

“Where is your meat kept?”

I turned on the spot and found a wooden door with glass panels on either side.

I was able to therefore peer to the side of the door and see the adjacent room as the pantry he mentioned.

It looked like someone had hollowed out solid wood and left grooves to act as shelves. They were bare but ready to be filled with food. “Is it in the freezer?”

“Ucfeni don’t store meat.”

I turned to raise a brow at him. He sounded nervous. Why was he nervous? “We…eat our prey live.”

Oh. That thought should have occurred to me. They are giant reptiles, after all.

“One of my old professors had a corn snake in his computer lab. It was always warm in there. I fed it chicks and mice. Peristalsis was interesting to watch. Do you eat in the same way? I would like to watch that on a snake your size.”

I asked and walked towards him. I wanted to see my bedroom. That would be my sanctuary to retreat to when I needed somewhere to hide and process. Izule still filled the doorway when I reached it so I had to stop.

“…you…want to watch me eat?”

“Yes.”

I tugged at the hem of my left sleeve. I saw his scaly upper brown and lower cream lips part. The cream scales on his throat darkened and I leaned forward to watch this with fascination. “What are you doing?”

The massive Naga swung quickly back on his tail to slide out of the way of the doorway. Once the way was clear I saw another doorway on the opposite side of the large and vacant social room.

I walked forward and Izule followed me quietly. I came to a stop in the doorway as I saw another empty room.

It was like a miniature version of the social room. Only, there was a window with wooden doors rather than glass. I opened them to look outside and…stared.

To the left, I could see the climbing spiral Izule had described, but the rest of my field of view was jungle. My hands braced on the windowsill and I leaned closer.

To the right was the golden palace and below us was a sea of mist. Riding it like clouds were the green tops of trees.

A few grew tall enough to traverse the cloud level, but not many. Birds fluttered in formation in the distance and some within the mist to leave patterns in their wake.

The dusk light was rising up from the horizon, and up in the sky I could see three moons.

They were coloured orange and pink from redshift with the movement of Thelia’s sun at this point of its daily rotation on its axis. “… it's beautiful.”

Izule was silent beside me and waited. He let me take it all in. I knew I was going to stare for hours out of this window. Just not right now. “I’ll have to have this shut when I’m working, or I’ll never get anything done.”

He chuckled, but otherwise didn’t interrupt me. I liked that. I have no idea how long I enjoyed looking and taking my time to map the soft swirls of mist below, or the varying distances from the moons above.

When I was ready to move on I matter-of-factly shut the wooden doors and walked off to the left. There was another open doorway. None of the internal rooms had actual doors on.

Only the one to the main entrance and the pantry had so far. I assume that is to control the temperature and humidity with the food stores.

The room adjoining my bedroom was the same size, and my eyes were drawn to the power outlets in the walls. “This will be my office.”

“Yes, if you wish.”

I turned around in the room and started to imagine where my desk would be. My computer, high power tower, and cooling station.

I’d need air con putting in and a notice board I could pin my projects and deadlines to.

The good thing about programming and coding meant I didn’t have to worry about any other hardware. I was all about the 1s and 0s.

“I worked from home in my old apartment too.”

I folded my arms and picked at my sleeves. I missed my old apartment. The smell of it. The sound of my cooling fan.

My coffee maker, which I filled with decaf and hot chocolate sachets. So much was out of my control. I wanted to come here.

That was my choice. But the planet I came to wasn’t the one I was expecting. This was Thelia, not AU 471. I was prepared for a new apartment, but I was supposed to be sharing it with Hannah.

She is my rock, but instead, I have a mountain. So much was out of my control. But one thing I could control. “I want a shower.”

“Of course.”

Izule opened his arms to me from my bedroom. I turned to face him, holding my left bicep and my thumb and fingers tapping together on my left hand.

“Until I have spiral stairs installed I will have to carry or lift you up to the next level.”

“Yes I know.”

I was ready now. If it was too much for me I now knew what I would be returning to. I walked into the middle of the social room and looked up at the access hole.

I opened and closed my hands a few times, closed my eyes, and held my arms up by my sides. “I want a shower.”

“I have your consent to touch you to lift you up to the hygiene level?”

“Yes.”

His arms slowly wrapped around my waist and upper abdomen below my chest.

I flinched when he pressed his chest to my back, but he didn’t lift me right away.

I liked that.

The time he gave me to get used to his hold.

This was more touching than I liked, but there was no way around it.

I want a shower. “Ready.”

He didn’t just extend like an escalator.

Izule slowly turned in circles as he wound on the spot, lifting us higher and higher as he did so.

My legs dangled and only his arms around me kept me securely against him, but I didn’t feel like I was sagging down in any way.

He held me firmly with thick muscular arms and strong hands.

I closed my eyes before we reached the access hole so I wouldn’t be surprised suddenly by what the next room looked like.

I felt a bit dizzy by the time my feet were lowered to press to wooden floors. Izule continued to hold me as I steadied myself. “What am I going to see?”

“Our hygiene room is more tailored to an Ucfeni, but has been updated to see to your needs as well.

To the left corner is one of your toilets.

To the right is my waste chute.

In the centre is the bathing chamber and overhead is a water dispenser.

You can either bathe just under that, or use it to fill the bathing chamber.”

I nodded and took a deep breath.

I opened my eyes and found Izule’s description was accurate.

There was a white porcelain toilet and a matching sink in the back left corner.

In the back right was his waste chute, which looked like a metallic ring in the floor leading to whatever his sewage system looked like.

The ‘bathing chamber’ was a massive sunken copper bathtub.

It was circular in shape and easily big enough for two adult Ucfeni to curl up in. I would be able to swim from side to side, it was that large and deep.

No wonder the hygiene room was the same size as the entire bottom level.

I looked up to examine the water dispenser, a wooden chute attached to a cord, when I noticed Izule looking down at me with big yellow eyes.

It was then I realised that he was still holding me…and I hadn’t minded as much as I thought I would.

I don’t normally let strangers touch me.

Izule seemed reluctant to let go.

Before I could ask him what he was doing, his tongue flicked out at my nose.

I flinched and blinked up at him. He started to chuckle at me. “Do you wish to shower now?”

“Yes.”

I nodded and averted my eyes.

“I have a spare towel for you upstairs. I will collect it for you while you remove your coverings.”

He released me and twisted up on his tail to go through the access hole to the third tier. His tier. I itched to wash away the sweat and grime of the day.

I wanted to take off the stiff jumpsuit I was wearing. My light brown eyes swept around the bathroom to search for a privacy screen. Or a curtain. Or another doorway.

Izule returned as I circled the room a second time looking for somewhere private to undress. “Is one enough?”

He offered it to me and I was momentarily distracted with the soft fluffy texture of it. I was big about textures, which is why I was pleased at the feel of the carpet downstairs between my toes.

I smiled at how soft the towel felt. I tugged at a few of the feather-soft tassels that came off it.

They didn’t come free. It was made of sturdy material, but I couldn’t decide what it felt more like. Downy feathers or wool.

“You need to get out.”

I spoke quietly as I walked away from Izule to fold the towel and place it on a small wooden toiletry case.

“Have I done something to offend you, Billie?”

He sounded worried. I think he sounds worried. His usually deep voice lifted at the end. Like Hannah’s does when she thinks she’s said or done something wrong.

“No.”

I replied and pulled down the front zip of the jumpsuit. “I just need you to get out.”

“Why?”

“Because Hannah says a lady doesn’t get naked in front of strangers.”

“I see…”

I looked over my shoulder and saw Izule’s head was cocked to one side curiously. His brow scales moved in a way that made me think he didn’t understand what I just said. “Why must I leave? I am not a stranger?”

“…”

I blushed and turned my back to him. I sometimes make assumptions about people that lead to uncomfortable moments like this one.

Just like others assume how I will think and react, sometimes I do the same with others. Humans care about nudity, but the Ucfeni possibly don’t?

“When I take my clothes off my breasts, posterior and the entrance to my vagina will be visible.”

I felt that was a fair warning for Izule and started to peel my arms out of the jumpsuit. He was a totally different species.

I wouldn’t bat an eye at a naked iguana or a cat. I’m just probably a talking pet to him anyway. “I want a shower.”

I pushed my clothes down to my ankles and kicked them, and my underpants, to one side. I turned around to ask Izule how to operate the water delivery system above the bath…to find myself alone.