#I am unfunctionable I cannot type things

[monsterfloofs]

Sil and Vessa (A x F Aliens) x Female Reader (Sfw)

Part I ♡ Part II

(This story has sat on the back burner for a very long time, if you still remember these two, you deserve a digital cookie 🍪)

You ate quietly while Sil fiddled with the straw in their fingers, their smooth face plate edging back just enough so that they could fit the straw into the crevice. From what you glimpsed the edging around the faceplate was dark colored and slick, similar to a human’s gums. You do you best not to let your curiosity get the better of you, catching yourself staring and turning your gaze away. Letting your companion drink in peace.

You didn’t know that much about Kestron anatomy. Some alien species had to wear full-bodied sealed tech suits to exist in multi-racial spaces. The few facts you could remember knew that Kestron’s plating served as an exoskeleton. Even the dark visior looking part around their face was evolved to protect their delicate eyes from the harmful rays from their homeworlds twin suns. You liked to do reading of the different species in your spare time, but it had been a while since you had read much about your chitinous companion. It was more of a tradition to research other beings as you run into them. So to not accidentally create any social faux pas. . . Like. . . yesturday.

You inwardly wince, but you also let yourself feel grateful for being able to clear the air from the previous day. You truly hoped that things were looking up from here. Even if the two of you didn't get along enough to be on speaking terms a comfortable silence was better than walking on eggshells.

You chose to let your hearing wander, picking up the other bits and bobs of conversation that floated around the room. Spacers talking about this and that. The price of supplies and equipment. The things that they had been watching or viewing. There was a pair to your right excitedly conversing about the great drifting galactic Amphitheater, where it was stationed and who was entertaining there.

“Esh you! You came to lunsch! May I sit here?” You turn your head up at the familiar voice, a smile already jumping to the corners of your mouth. The white Spidery creature shuffled their long legs back and forth with excitement.

“Hey, hey,” You beam, drawing their cheerfulness around you like a huge fluffy blanket. “Sure, there’s room, I don’t mind!” Vessa didn’t need prompting twice, the fluffy creature shuffled beside you and gave a more respectful distance to your other companion sitting at the other side of the table.

“Oh great,” Sil quips as Vessa folds in their legs to rest at the seatless opening at the table. “You brought the giant furrball over here.”

You shoot them a cross look before Vessa pipes up cheerfully, “Don’t lishten to them! They are jusht grumpy! I’ve been trying to get them to socializh forever! Sil normally eatsh in their room.”

You flash the arachnoid a smile as Sil shakes their head, “Is your communicator broken? Why are you talking like that?” Sil’s elbows resting on the table as their posture relaxes, becoming teasing. “Oh I think I get it now, trying to impress the newbie huh?”

Vessa fluffs up, eyes widening. “W-w-wha?! Me? No!” The fumble with the little communicator clipped to their doctor's coat.

“I jusht forgot to turn it on— There we go!” They raise their paw like hands, “It’s probably easier to understand me, now huh?”

You blink as the slow endearing way of Vessa’s learned English turns into rapid fire speaking.

“Whoa. That’s certainly different.” You laugh and shake your head, “But I don’t really mind, I thought it was sweet. I rarely hear others try to learn other languages now. Technology is so progressive it’s almost unnecessary.”

“It’s fun!” Vessa chatters, “Hydrax brains need a lot of stimulus to keep functioning at a commendable rate. Language is a good way to keep those neurons firing. I’ve learned about five languages thus far, but I do enjoy Earthian English. I have a soft spot for it! It was one of the first ones I began to study.”

“Easy now chatterbox,” Sil huffs, “I can barely listen to myself think, let alone follow what you’re saying,”

Vessa wiggles playfully, “Perhaps I should turn the communicator off after all,”

You put a hand to your mouth and stifle a giggle, perking up as you watch Sil rise and stretch. “Eh, do you what you want,” The Kestron sighs, “I have to get set up at my dig site.”

Vessa tilts their head, “Ohh, outside of the space craft today? Please do be careful.”

Sil waves their hand dismissively, crunching up the nutrient pack in their hand and tossing it into a recycling bin. "Sparky," They tap the com. clipped to their clothes and gave a small gesture before moving away.

You were unfamiliar with the meaning, so you raised an awkward hand for a goodbye. Turning back you see Vessa with their pincers held wide. You look down at the sharp mouthpiece, not sure what to take the expression as. Was Vessa angry?

"W-what?" You reply nervously, taken aback by the alien expression. She squeals and hugs your arm, jostling you back and forth.

"EEEEEEEEE little peacekeeper! I am so proud of you!" Your hands scramble out to grip the table holding on for dear life so you don't tumble out of your seat.

"Sorry! Sorry!" Vessa chirrups, patting you down, their paws gently straightening your clothes. "I got too excited, but I am so happy! I have been trying to befriend them ever since I began working as a ship's doctor! Imagine my surprise to see the two of you together at the mess hall! They never come here! Let alone sit with anyone. I can't believe they stayed this long!"

"Oh," You say, quickly realizing the intimidating expression had been a smile. A quick flash of guilt slunk through you before you admit. "I was assigned to share a room together, and we ah. . . had a bit of a miscommunication issue, I think they were just being kind and letting me have some time to myself in the room. . ."

You trail off, noticing Vessa have been moving closer and closer. You lean back and the arachnoid realizes they have been encroaching on your space.

"Ah! Ahaha, sorry!" Their arms hide their face for a moment. "Forgive me! But I am both in awe and pleased!" Their fur ruffles and they sigh, "I have been keeping an eye on the Kestron. I was afraid I would have to intervene at some point or another. I feel that Sil is unhappy, but they do not come and ask for help, they do not speak out about how they feel, only speaking with others when necessary. I have expected them to leave this ship and join another crew, yet they do not. They self-isolate, which I would not be bothered about, except that I feel it is because they are not being treated well.

The beady eyes scrunch up, "I do not have proof, and the only way I can get proof is through the person who refuses to talk to anyone."

You sit chewing on that information. Biting your lip as you stare into space.

"I. . . From how I've seen them act, I think you're right. They told me that well. . . most people who get assigned to bunk with them are moved because of some rumor about their species."

Vessa twitches eyes blinking, "Oh dear, oh dear, it wouldn't be that rumor would it?" They make a distressed sound. "That is cruel. Very cruel. . . Would you do a favor for me, little one? If you could?"

"I. . . That depends," You began wearily.

"Nothing bad! I just erm. . ." Vessa stands and shuffles, "I must go back to the medbay, and this may be asking a lot but please, don't let your bunk station get reassigned."

"Oh, don't worry Vessa, I wasn't planning on it." You gave a small nervous smile.

"Thank you, thank you, I must away now, good day little melon! Good day!"

Your ears perked up at the odd translation watching Vessa scuttle away. "Little melon? . . huh. . ."

Every once in a while there were things said in languages that could not be properly translated, the words would either filter out as they were said in the home language, or be given a strange placeholder derived from the closest common word the translator could find. You hoped that melon signified something good in any case. You packed up your tray, tossing the leftover wrappers in the bin to get recycled and reused. Following the groups of workers leaving to get assigned to their posts for the day.

When dinner rolled around you found that Sil was not present in the mess hall. Sil was also not in your room when you returned for bed. You changed into your night clothes a little hurriedly, not sure whether their delayed arrival was good fortune, or something to be worried about. You had just gotten comfortable in bed when you heard the thick metal doors slide open.

"Are you alright?" You turned over in your bed to face the doorway. Finding Sil's figure standing in the threshhold. The plated visor tilts and you hear a string of sounds and inflections rather than words. Your hand goes to where your communicator is normally clipped, patting the empty space.

"Oh right I took it off, sorry give me a second."

You sit up, grabbing it off the nightstand and clipping it onto the front of your shirt. Sil silently enters the room, slithering out of the black and orange mechanic jumpsuit they had been wearing. They let it drop to the floor.

You raise your head, "I was just asking if you were o-" You blink and look down abashed. "If you were okay."

Sil tilts their head again, and you give an amused huff. "Well I can't talk to you when you take yours off– geeze. Nevermind." You wave your hand dismissively, mimicking the gesture you've seen them use.

Sil makes a huffing sound crouching to pick the device off of their jumpsuit.

"What was it?" The words filter to your ear and you give a huff of your own in a small laugh. Rolling your eyes.

"I asked if you were okay. You were gone for a long time."

"Oh." They sat on the edge of their cot. "Yes, things went well, there was one problem that arose, which is why we ended up working late. A tunnel broke apart and we had to find a work around."

Your eyebrows raise and your lips part. "Is everyone okay?"

Sil nodded, "Thankfully, yes. No one was occupying that sector. . . Are humans always so expressive?"

"Hm?"

Sil gestures with a finger at their own face. "Just a curious question. Your face seems to be constantly. . . changing."

You wince and give an awkward smile. "Ah yeah. . . Some humans have a lot of facial expressions. Others don't though, it just depends on the person."

"Hmph," Sil bounces their knee, and you remember that they aren't clothed. Your eyes darting away to look elsewhere.

"I don't know how you can be comfortable like that myself," You say with a shy laugh. "Though I was always the type of person who likes to hide in my clothes."

"Does. . . this make you uncomfortable?" They ask slowly, and you shake your head.

"I don't think so? . . . No, not really,"

Sil gives an amused sound, "There isn't much to see in any case. All of that intimate junk is internal." You rub the back of your neck, catching your eyes traveling down the length of their thigh. You couldn't seem to get your eyes to be decent enough to stop staring.

"Welp! Goodnight!" You squeak in embarrassment, rolling over and throwing the blankets over your head. You fumble, unclipping your communicator and unceremoniously shoving it onto the bedside table.

You hear whatever Sil was going to say cut out to an indistinguishable language. But you can hear the tone of their voice. A light playful tone to it that has blood thrumming in your ears.

You wake up the next morning to find the Kestron sitting on their bed unclothed. In their hands was a tablet that they had angled towards their face, reading. You blink, taken aback as Sil looks up at you.

"Oh haha," You quip sarcastically as the Kestron makes the same swirling motion with their finger pointed at their face. The one they had used last night to indicate your expression. You scrunch up your face, wrinkling your nose at them, as you gather up your work clothes. You sit back down onto the bed, throwing your blankets over your head. Changing your clothes underneath the canopy of fabric.

You throw off the blanket with a rush of fresh air. Finding Sil had also taken that moment to change as well. They stood with their back to you, zipping up their jumpsuit. Turning back around while affixing their communicator to their clothes.

"Good morning," You shoot them a dubious expression,

"Morning," They reply, their tone sounding thoroughly amused.

Sil doesn't mention what they said the night before, or comment on the makeshift changing room, thankfully. The two of you leave for the mess hall together. You pause in surprise as you turn to see Sil, following behind you.

"Are you coming to have breakfast?"

They shrug offhandedly. "For a little while."

You take a breath, pondering on whether or not to add what you had planned to say next. You take the jump, and tease them.

"I bet I know who's going to be excited about that!"

Sil groans, but not in a way that sounds serious. It sounds playful and relief washes over you.

"Don't remind me."

You let yourself snicker mischievously.

"You'll hide me. . . right?" Sil falls into step beside you, shoving their hands into their pockets.

"No way!" You chirp cheerfully, "I am way too short!"

"My hero."

You purse your lips trying not to grin. To your surprise you find Vessa already sitting by one of the table's waving both of you over. Sil gives a resigned sigh. You sit down next to Vessa while Sil again takes a seat that is a polite distance away from both of you.

"Esh messhed up," The Hydrax looks at you with a guilty expression. Pushing over their communication device. "Esh acchidentally broke et. Can you fixsh et?"

"Oh, yeah, I should be able to. What happened?"

Vessa looks away and hums, sounding embarrassed. "Et fell off, and Esh didn't know. Esh– err, shtepped on et?"

You smile gently, picking the device off the counter and turning it over in your hands.

"Don't worry, stuff like that happens, I'll go grab my tools and see what I can do. . . uh. . . mind you, you'll probably want to get a new one, the outer shell is broken, but I think I can jury-rig it for you, for at least a little while.

"Jury-rig?" Vessa echoed, her expression blank.

"Oh, it means uh, well. . ." You rub the back of your neck and smile sheepishly, "I may not be able to fix the outer frame perfectly, with what I have on hand. But I can make something that will hold it together good enough?"

Vessa bobs their head enthusiastically. "Good enough!" They echo.

"Do you want me to take a look at it?" Sil asks.

"Oh no! I got this, I have had to do this before, I'll be back, don't wait up." You stand up from the table, "Oh, and in the meantime," You unclip your own com. setting it on the table. "Take mine just in case something happens while I'm gone." You pocket the broken device as you head back to your room.

You sit with your tools laid out on top of your bedspread. Tinkering with the little box that lay on your lap. The backing was taken off to reveal a criss-cross of delicate wires and motherboard. With a delicate hand you poked and prodded at the contents with a small pair of tweezers looking for loose wires or broken pieces.

You hadn't heard Sil come in, and you jump when a tray is set on your bed.

"Ho- My-" You bring a hand to your heart, eyes closing for a moment "You shouldn't sneak up on people like that," Then you pause watching them tap at their face plate. You quirk an eyebrow, looking down at the tray of food.

"Thanks Sil, I got busy working on this and lost track of time. . . You can still understand me right?"

Sil nods in response

"H'okay, well that's good, at least."

The Kestron crouches next to you, as you pick up the small gadget and continue to poke around.

"I haven't found the problem yet– oh? Maybe I have." You gently tugged at one of the wires watching it wriggle around from where it should be stationed. A quick smile crosses your face as you pick through your tools, sautering it back into place with a quick spark. You click on the device and replace the back.

"Say something," You prompt hopefully. Your eyes go wide as Sil's voice filters in, in yet another language. You sputter then laugh, "Duh, Vessa's home language isn't English, hold on," You tap the screen, saying a few commands to the communicator until the screen switches to English.

"Okay, try again?"

"Something."

You nod and laugh, "There we go." You take tape from your kit, careful to sandwich the sides together and tape the instrument shut.

"Maybe I should just let Vess keep mine until I get a replacement, she does seem to like her acrobatics."

"It wouldn't be a bad idea," Sil mumbles. Their hands reach for your tools and help put them back into the box then they straighten. "I would let her know at least. Oh, since you have been helping the doctor, I also wanted to tell you, you've been assigned to check up on machine diagnostics. You did a good job installing the new wares, and they want another eye to check over a couple of the drills before they are relaunched into the dig site."

You pause at that, cocking your head curiously. "Do you think. . . it was a calibration error that caused the tunnel to collapse yesterday?"

"Mm," Sil hesitated, "It could have been a number of things."

You frown at the comment, "This mining ground hasn't been leased to anyone else right? We should have maps of where all the tunnels are. . ."

Sil crosses their arms and nods. "Vibrations can cause enough disturbance that it could break apart the rock in other places. But protocol usually has us digging in targeted areas."

Their voice didn't sound convinced, or perhaps it was more like Sil was trying to convince themselves that this is what happened.

"Are you. . . working out there again today?"

". . . Thankfully no. I'm going to be rerunning our maps and updating them, now that those tunnels aren't safe."

You close your tacklebox with a snap and flick the metal latches over. Then the two of you part ways. Sil moving towards the opposite end of the ship while you travel towards the infirmary to update Vessa.