Chapter Text
Taryn
My world turned upside down over a year ago. Back then I was sweating my ass off waiting tables in one of the busiest restaurants in town. I was making decent money considering. Rich neighborhoods meant big tips.
My time was spent working part time on my bachelors degree while “pursuing” my singing career. If you consider open mic nights and karaoke as pursuing anything. I lived in a two bedroom apartment with my cat, Jasper, and my fiance Max, a local nightclub bartender. Oddly enough, it seems that I’m the only human that was living with someone when abducted.
Now, all I have left of that life is my fiance's old t-shirt and my engagement ring. Thanks to some asshole little green men my life completely changed. Going back to earth was not an option for us. A cootie, as we humans call the life saving symbiont, is keeping me alive on this ice planet. It still feels weird to know it’s inside me, wrapped around my heart. Now that I have it, this is my home.
Even weirder is how fast things have moved since our arrival. So many of the humans have resonated and are heavily pregnant. The cootie makes it so we can survive in these elements, but it also finds your perfect baby making match. Basically match.com for the sa-khui people.
A few of us remain unmated and I am positive I will never resonate. No mate or baby in my future. The only man that would ever love me is back on earth thinking I am dead or abandoned him.
There is a lot to get comfortable with here for an introvert like me. The inhabitants here are 7 feet tall and blue, with hard plating on different areas of their body. It was scary at first, but everyone has been so nice. Two completely different beings, sa-khui and human, are blending well into one tribe.
I have no excuse for sticking to the outskirts of it all. With the nifty little brain zap from their ancestors ship, we understand each other's language. I’m just shy and anxious. Everyone else is so brave, capable, and very attractive.
I started to worry after a few months that I was useless. I wondered how I would care for myself as an unmated human. I’d learned small things like building a fire, sewing, and helping prepare meat. I spent months learning things but I didn’t find my place until nearly two thirds into the year.
I became closer with Eklan and Warrek. At that time, Warrek started telling me more about hunting and I decided I wanted to learn, but I also wanted something to get me out of the cave. Being around people non stop feels like pressure. Pressure to show a happy face and engage. The engaging, while kind and wonderful, was also too fucking much sometimes.
I initially asked Warrek to teach me to hunt so I didn't feel like a burden here. Thankfully, it didn’t take a lot of convincing. The next day Warrek was showing me the different weapons they carry and we started working on making me a spear and bone knives. Once those were ready, he started taking me out with him most days.
I enjoy hunting with Warrek. He is quiet and observant like me. Plus, we're okay when things go silent between us. We understand each other in this way and it's made us closer this last year. It's nice not to think about romance or resonance. I'm past the point where my birth control would still be active so if I was going to resonate, I would have by now.
Now to make sure I can take care of myself not just because I won't have a mate, but because I need to be able to rely on myself finally.