Ch. 5.4

"Kyle, not now," Riordan pushed the bot away from his path, without force, but firmly.

It seemed, for a second, that the bot wanted to say something, but it just wheeled away.

Riordan threw himself on one of the plushy surfaces that could count as a bed. Looking around, it hit him. Except for the giant bathroom and its smaller siblings, the entire house had beds, beds, and beds again. It was like the environment had to accommodate the master's desire to push down his bearer and mount him.

That was what he was. Nothing but a recipient for the snakeman's slime, cum, and that damn egg. He wanted to grab something and break it and make it crush against the walls. All his life, he had been used and discarded.

He jumped to his feet and began pacing around. What was he going to do? And why was he so surprised? He had come here to be used. A painful migraine was clenching his temples in its claws and he groaned in frustration. The worst part was that he had let his proud nature overcome his need to survive and now that alien was pissed at him. He needed to make nice to him now. That, if such things worked on him.

It dawned on him. He was all alone, in a strange world, surrounded by lies and deceit. And now he was in danger. He felt his stomach clenching painfully. He knelt on the floor and began retching.

His arms were tautly stretched and trembling, as he was trying to get a hold of himself.

"Master Rio." The bot hurried by his side and its robotic arm pushed a glass of water under his nose.

"Thanks, Kyle," he murmured.

Funny how that creature of metal and wires had more common sense and empathy than the abhorrent alien he had to serve in bed, despite his beautiful and half human like appearance.

The water had a pleasant taste and calmed his troubled stomach. Quietly, Kyle began vacuuming the mess around him. He buried his head into the crook of his elbows and contained the shaking there.

"What happened?" Xana's musical voice made him jolt.

"Master Rio felt ill to the stomach," the bot promptly supplied the information.

"Is he sick?"

"No. Health assessment is perfect," the bot said again.

"Then what happened?" Xana pressed.

"A temporary discomfort. Nothing that would lead to consequences."

"Please, leave us," Xana ordered the bot.

There was something so heavy and dark in the room as the silence stretched.

"Strange," the alien spoke first.

Riordan kept his eyes cast down, willing himself not to look at his owner.

"I constantly feel the need to have you. But not at this moment."

"Maybe because I just puked," Riordan said slowly.

"No, that's not it."

The level of misunderstanding in this being was on par with Kyle's and that guy was a bot, Riordan thought. He chose to remain silent. By the shift in the air, the alien was coiling himself on one of the generous beds.

"You're rejecting me," Xana spoke. "I no longer desire you."

"Well, that's a relief," Riordan mumbled. "So I'm free to go or something?"

"No," the alien said airily. "Despite my lack of sexual desire, I still demand your presence on Xeno. Nothing changes."

Riordan pushed himself to his feet. He was so used to be naked that he was barely registering he was completely exposed to the alien's gaze.

"If you don't want me, then why do you still keep me?"

It was wrong, a mistake somehow, because there was no way it could be so simple.

"For the egg, of course," Xana answered.

"Of course. So we'll just fuck, as usual." Riordan grimaced.

"No." Xana shook his head. "I'll have you injected with my seth and semen regularly."

"You freak," Riordan mumbled. "So you could do that from the start, without ripping my ass?"

"You will address me properly from now on," Xana said and his cool stare made Riordan shift from one foot to another. "Master Xana Lei."

"Alright, master Xana Lei." Riordan stood tall and looked the alien straight in the eyes. "Please order whatever you have to order me."

"Watch your tongue, bearer," Xana said, pouring ice into Riordan's veins.

Riordan cast his eyes down. There was no point in antagonizing the alien any further.

"You will be placed in another compound. I don't want to see you anymore."

Riordan knew he had to feel relieved. But instead a pang the consistence of a crystal shard went through him in the fraction of a second.

The bot wheeled into the room and his robotic arm caught Riordan's elbow. So this was it. He almost shook the bot off, but refrained at the very last moment. He spared Xana not a single glance as he let himself guided out.

He had no power to joke with Kyle. Yeah, right. That was nothing but a bunch of software and hardware, not a human being. So wrong of him to feel so lax.

"I will ask master Xana to let me serve you in your new home," the bot suddenly spoke.

Riordan's head shot up. "No need to, mister robot. Sorry for messing up your programming. Your real master will take care of it for you. So you don't end up suffering from some infinite loops or something."

"Kyle for you, master Rio. Not mister robot," the piece of machinery said.

Riordan chuckled softly. "By all means, ask Xana, ah, sorry, master Xana Lei, to assign you to me. I bet he'll say no, but do try, nonetheless."

To his surprise, the bot wheeled away and disappeared for a few seconds. When it returned, Riordan looked at him, trying to make sense of the sensor flickering.

"Well?" he asked impatiently.

"Let's get you settled in, master Rio. I am assigned to you and your new home from this point forward."

"You son of a... Never mind, you did it." He grinned like an idiot. "Alright, so let's ditch this joint."

"Meaning, master Rio?" the bot asked.

"Let's go to this new home, okay?"

"Okay," the bot replied.

Walking outside, in the open air, made his chest expand and fill with relief. He didn't look back. There was no point. Whatever the can of worms opened in the pit of his stomach was trying to tell him, he had to ignore it. There was no way out but forward.

He almost jolted when Kyle carefully placed a cape on his shoulders that quickly wrapped his body.

"Oh, thanks. I forgot I was naked," he said more cheerfully than what he felt.

"It will take us little to reach our destination, but, still, I know master Rio is much aware of being stared at."

"You're the coolest robot in the galaxy, Kyle," Riordan joked.

The words felt like clay in his mouth, but he knew he had to work with the hand he had been dealt. At least, he was not going to live under the same roof with that dangerous creature. As lousy as his life was, he still wanted to hold on to it. Xana Lei was nothing but an alien whose thoughts and emotions he could not, as a human, understand.

tbc