harknesskc

[harknesskc]

With the Tide

Inspired by this fantastic art:

The moon’s cold light shone down across the sands, its malignance glittering across the remaining ripples of the tide lapping at her feet. Beyond the pale sands of the secluded beach, ink-black ocean stretched on into the horizon. What little light she and her son could use to pick their way through towards the water seemed to shrink away from the border between the two worlds. Against the sand, their bare bodies nearly blended in, saved by the faint outline of shadow created by the very light that washed them out.

Utter darkness pressed in before them. Behind them, the meager light watched from the safety of the small cabin perched on the dunes. Everything in her gut told her to turn back, to run for the safety of the dry sands, the thin reeds, the trees beyond. To grab her son and never return to the sea again. It told her that she was never meant to be out this far unprotected, in the ocean at night. That the utter emptiness pulling her forward was anything but. That, in this place, she and her son were at the mercy of things unseen.

Her son, watching his footprints in the glowing sand, paused to let his gaze follow the moon-pale crabs skittering away from their grazing as they approached. Suddenly, he was running chasing after the crustaceans without intent to catch them.

Her voice seemed muffled by the oppressive shadows around her. Her voice died as soon as it left her lips. Blue glowing footprints marked out his path away from her winding ever further away.

She quickened her pace too. The blue patches carried him away further and further, only the faintest silhouette of his moonlight washed body at the very edge of her vision.

The dots of blue carried past him, further into the dark, up above them.

She broke out into a full run, yet still her son vanished in the gloom with a muffled shriek.

“Dillon!” She called. The tone of her own voice made her heart race faster. Blue lights danced overhead, moving and shifting until they seemed to be hanging directly above her.

It had found her son. He was wrapped in a single, massive hand. Too many fingers with too many joints glinted in the scant light that had dared to follow them, as dark as if they were made from the very shadows of the ocean itself. Its attention has moved from her son to her. Her pace slowed until she was walking and looking up at its head. A curtain of tentacles hung from behind the hands clasped over its horrible visage from a second pair of arms. She knew those countless eyes being those hands. They bore down into her with timeless patience and alien knowledge.

The fingers around her son loosened as she stopped before it. Slowly, she raised a hand to rest it on the serpentine lower half of its body. Touches against her legs startled her. It's lowermost extremities, tentacles as wide as her arm coiled around her.

How far away was the shore now? Could the moon even see them anymore? Depths upon depths sung to her this far out, above and below.

As she slid her hand along the slick body, her son turned to look at her. Two more glowing blue lights appeared in the gloom.

“Mom, dad’s here!”

Warmth bloomed in her chest as she moved closer to rest her cheek against the cool, sticky flesh. The hands covering the face above her parted. Her eyes hurt and head swam at the sight.

“Yes,” She said, brushing her hand through her son’s mop of black hair. “It's good to see you, darling.” Lips touched the slimy flesh she pressed her cheek against.

Damn the moon and curse the sun. She found her comfort in the darkness.

[harknesskc]

Warning, NSFW: New story after a long time based iny Breedverse setting. Trying to do something to explore the whole setting a bit more.

[harknesskc]

I went to a hippie art school in California. You would lose your mind studying the people there. Vegans? Weak. I knew honest to god freegans. Both kinds.

My Aunt Lynn once gave herself and her family intestinal parasites by dumpster diving for meat a supermarket threw out.

Nothing against freegans actually, I'm all for reducing food waste, but for the love of fuck don't do it with expired beef and pork that've been in a dumpster in 85F heat for hours

[harknesskc]

Nobodies worldbuilding ever has anything to say about sewage and waste management. Like who deals with fatbergs at the elf paladin castle or whatever. Who scrubs the toilets? If someone dies in their sleep, who handles the body? What do people do with carrot greens? Who designed the plumbing for the palace of astral light?

[harknesskc]

New favorite phrase: taxonomic chauvinism

[harknesskc]

Environmental conservation efforts always like to focus on the warm and fluffy mammals. When will we learn to leave the reptiles, bugs, and parasites that need protection too?

[harknesskc]

That feeling when you are really eager to keep writing stories, but realize you haven't worldbuilt enough to cover your bases so minor aspects of lore that no one but you cares about keep changing, leading to spending too much time worldbuilding and not enough time writing stories in the setting.

[harknesskc]

Wormy love time

WARNING: EXPLICIT

[harknesskc]

The Breedverse: Connections in the Morning

My first post here! This is my first piece in an eventually expansive setting I refer to as the Breedverse. I'll expand on the concept and some specifics about it in later posts.

If you'd rather read here, please continue on down below!

If you forgot about the Interspecies Habitation Engineer on your ship, they were doing their job right. The whole job was about keeping all of the different species of a crew happy and comfortable, preferably without them noticing you. For that reason, Ed was always happy to keep her schedule slightly off from the rest of the crew. Nothing too wild of course, no one would appreciate having someone barge into their room in the early hours of the morning to test the atmosphere of their room while they were trying to sleep. Just enough so that the majority of her work happened when everyone else was otherwise occupied. However, more importantly, the long morning showers she enjoyed didn’t interrupt anyone else’s half-awake, bleary eyed morning routine.

The open, communal-style showers of the The Chains Are Broken With Our Combined Effort were fairly utilitarian and yet, to Ed, they were still warm and welcoming. They reminded the short, sandy skinned young woman of the bathing facilities closer to the engineering spaces back home in the Human Fleet. While those were nice, what she really missed were the open air baths that dominated the larger public spaces of her home ship, the HV Chakrabarti, much like the other fleet ships. Back before she left home, going for a soak with her friends after classes were over was always a welcomed way to spend afternoons. Now, while the natural sponge against her skin was as nice as it usually was, the care and comfort of a friendly using it was sorely missed.

Shortly after her shower began, heavy, rhythmic taps against metal behind her startled Ed from her fond memories. She looked over her suds-covered shoulder to see the fogged glass door to the room slide open to reveal… honestly the last person she wanted to deal with first thing in the morning. Ang’to paused his large, muscular, lupine body in the doorway. His long, canid face wrinkled as his nose instinctively sampled the air of the room before his fierce inky black and blazing orange eyes fell on her. So much for a peaceful morning, Ed thought without a roll of her eyes as she began to scrub at her legs.

To her surprise, instead of leaving, Ang’to ended up padding over standing next to her at the central shower pillar, the door closing behind them and sealing in the warmth once more. Twice as long as she was tall, and two heads taller, he could have easily taken up at least three spots at the shower pillar. Even as he sat on his back haunches under a new stream of water, quadrupedal lower half resembling some powerful stalking predator, Ang’to easily crowded the spaces on either side of him. Ed watched a little curiously as Ang’to had to angle his head a bit to face getting a majority of the water straight to the muzzle and in his pointed ears. Maybe it would be a good idea to consider a refurb of the showers. As much of a crankass as he was, everyone should be able to enjoy a relaxing shower without having to try and fit themselves into such a small space.

“Good morning, Ang’to,'' said Ed. “Tu’ako cha.” She added automatically. It felt a little silly to say, despite the various forms of the greeting as familiar to her lips as her own name. Human intimacy, as she had discovered, was an anomaly amongst most alien species. She was graced with a quick glance and silence for all her troubles. Inwardly, Ed sighed in frustration at his cold demeanor. How could anyone be so dismissive in the warm embrace of a shower? “I was thinking,” She said, attempting a different approach. “If Fargoth would sign off on it, about upgrading our showers. I’ve noticed that it’s not really convenient for anyone who is particularly tall.” Ang’to said nothing. “Which is y’know, like half of us.”

“I don’t require your concern.” He said in a quiet huff, turning his head to face away from her on the opposite side of the spray of water.

The short human pursed her lips in annoyance at being rebuffed again. “Barakek is a pretty arid planet, right?”

Ang’to growled out a dismissive, but affirmative grunt.

“If you don’t mind me asking, how did your people bathe?”

Ang’to didn’t respond immediately and instead continued to scrub his lean, muscled chest while staring off towards the wall. Ed almost assumed he either didn’t hear her question or he was just choosing to ignore her like usual. In either case, she would have left it there if he didn’t want to answer, but Ang’to shifted a little and took in a short breath, preparing to speak.

“Depends.” He said, less-than-helpfully. Ed waited a few beats, then opened her mouth before he continued. “My clan was that of the Long Day, preferring to move with our sun.” His tone was more subdued than its usual gruff dismissiveness.

“Yes, I read you’re a migratory species.” Ed added, doing her best to show her interest.

The quadrupedal lower-half of Ang’to’s body relaxed, resting sideways on a hip instead of its previously rigid posture. His sponge had stopped in his clawed hand at his slim stomach where his body began to transition from a more familiar bipedal shape to its lupine shape. “We would stay for the growing season. Long ago our species would hunt available prey, but now it is to grow our crops. Our caravan cities use hydroponics bolstered by the intense sun to make plentiful food.”

Ed smiled. “It sounds nice.”

Ang’to looked at her, seemingly remembering who he was speaking to. “Yes,” He said in his gruff tone again. “Dust baths when we were lacking excess water. Rain was enjoyed as the blessing it is. A source of celebration and cleansing. If we came across ample pools, we would bathe within after ensuring there was enough water available for the caravan.” He resumed cleaning himself. “Ample water was a rare luxury. The clan of the Long Sun traded with those of the Grey Sky. Food for water.”

“Is that Solsun’s clan?” Asked the tanned human, referring to the much paler skinned Tog’rashek on the ship. He was thinner and overall smaller than Ang’to. Also much generally much more personable.

Ang’to snorted softly. “No. He is a Star Seeker, they follow the Long Night.” He said, looking up at the dull brushed metal of the ceiling above them. “Magicians, seers, wisdom speakers; Completely useless, all of them.” Like a distance roll of thunder, a chuckle softly escaped him.

“That sounds… a bit harsh.” Ed said, though couldn’t help a small grin.

“Do not feign ignorance.” Ang’to said, tone soft yet scolding. “As he is, so are much of his caravan. We bring food, the Mud Tredders bring water. They give us ‘guidance’ and ‘knowledge’.” He looked down to Ed. “If not for them, we would still be on Bak’rakek and continuing on as we have since the beginning. Tell me, human, what do we have to gain from being in the stars? Do we follow our sun closer? Do we chase the fleeting rains? No, we lose sight of our horizon and move ever forward to unknown lands.” His tone has turned almost… mournful.

The sudden change in the man’s mood almost startled Ed. The evergrump of the ship sounded as homesick as she felt sometimes. Ang’to always seemed to bury himself in his work with the ship's hydroponics with a strange revel. Was it just because it reminded him of home? Ed had never stepped foot on a planet, but she still felt the pang of being far from home. Mornings like this would have been spent soaking up to her chin in a hot bath before spending a day elbow deep in some environmental control system. Another bath would follow the work day with friends clustered together, scrubbing away the rigors and dirt of the day, playful touches would tease out laughs and cries of surprise.

A smile found its way to Ed’s face at the fond thoughts before she looked up to Ang’to who had busied himself again. “I’m sorry, Ang’to.” She said. He looked at her with narrowed eyes, curious and cautious. “I had assumed you were too stoic to care where you were. I did not take into account that you may love and miss your home just as much as I love and miss mine.” Turning fully towards him, she bent at the waist, partially bowing. “Forgive my lack of empathy.”

Confusion marred Ang’to’s normally calm and collected features. He stared at her silently for several heartbeats before he let out a growl. “You are forgiven, this time.” Ang’to grunted.

Now far beyond finished with her shower, Ed turned off her water and simply enjoyed the heat of the room, still standing near Ang’to. She let her forest green eyes roam the fairly simple and plain room, quietly considering what she would change to accommodate everyone’s needs while improving its overall appeal. Hearing Ang’to speak of the blessings of rain conjured up images of sectional overhead rain-like ceiling mounts to let the crew each have their own individual rainstorms to enjoy. It sounded lovely. Perhaps she could even convince Captain Fargoth to let her put in a small soaking tub.

“What does it mean?” Ang’to suddenly asked. He seemed to have been watching her as she daydreamed. For all the abhorrence of her carnivorous moments, in that moment through the thick steam, he looked like some sort of ancient Earth predator, eyes peering through the mists of some long forgotten jungle.

“What does what mean?”

“Your words, ‘tu’ako cha’? You say things like that often. Why?”

Ed laughed a little and shrugged. “Old habit from the Fleet. I am telling you what sort of touch I consent to.”

Ang’to scoffed a bit, beginning to rinse the suds off his upper body. “Humans are such deviant creatures.” It wasn’t disgust in his voice, but certainly not humor. Ed shrugged a little as she turned towards one of the little towel warming lockers soon after she arrived. Dry, fluffy towels were a much nicer option than damp, heavy ones after a long shower. “What did you say you consent to?” Ang’to asked. His tone was still its quiet rumble, but it carried across through the steam as if he was within arms reach.

“I was telling you you can touch me as a friend. You can help me wash and hold me for comfort. It is our usual greeting in the Fleet.” She dropped the towel on top of her short, dark and and thoroughly ruffled it without much thought. She had expected Ang’to to accept the answer without response. Instead she found a large, rough hand cupping the side of her neck.

His hand was easily large enough to wrap around her entire neck with room left over, but it simply pressed cupped against the side where her pulse calmly rested while his thumb rested over head throat. The other plucked the towel away from her face. “We greet like this. A sign of trust.” Ed remained still as he took her hand and mirrored its placement to his. Her hand was just large enough to cup the side of his exposed, muscular neck, thumb only barely brushing his windpipe. Ang’to looked down at her with his steely expression and burning coal eyes. This close up and with a hand on Ed’s throat, he was even more imposing than usual. “You seem to put trust in me, despite our differences,” the pad of his thumb brushed over the center of her throat and the ridge of her larynx. “So I will put my trust in you as well.” Ang’to leaned forward a bit. “For now, little human.” Reaching back up with his other hand, he dropped Ed’s towel back over her head.

Later, Kiki, Thezet, and Solsun would have a debate about which one was plotting to murder the other when Ang’to didn’t threaten to skin her even once for the whole day.