Chapter Text
Ruby couldn’t remember the last time he touched the ground. Real, gravity-bound earth. Not the sediment and bedding in the cages. Not the scrapes of dirt under the claws of his captor’s latest trophies. Not the steel plates of the alien ship.
Even in his protective jumpsuit, the ship was cold. Sweat padded the thick cloth down, turning chill within minutes in the recycled air.
There was no sense of time in space - Ruby couldn’t know how long he’d been prisoner. He used to keep track, making scratches on the wall of his cage each time he slept. But it was hard no know how long he even slept when the light levels never changed.
Sometimes, he’d pass a window and stare though the ten centimeters of glass. Usually it all looked the same - an endless abyss of black, only disturbed by the occasional struggling star. Sometimes, Ruby wondered if he could break it. Three panes. Ten centimeters.
Today, they were on a strange planet. It was nearly barren, as far as the human could tell. The window gave a boring snapshot - a sheer rock wall. The purple stone hardly showed shadows as time passed on the planet. They were probably in a crater. Parked, for the time being. They’d been here a long time.
Once, the ship was in orbit of a planet that reminded Ruby of Earth. The vast, blue oceans and granite cliffs made the human’s head ache with pain. He had pounded his fists against the window with all the strength he could muster - screaming, crying and thrashing uselessly against the glass. It was stupid in hindsight. Who would hear him, except his Jailor?
The monster had stormed through the door, threw a massive, clawed hand around his neck and dragged him back to the cages. That was a long time ago.
Now, Ruby was in another cage. Not his. There were no windows in here - just a dim, unchanging and warm glow from a flat lamp in the wall. The long foliage cast shadows, waving slowly from the breeze generated by a vent on the opposite wall. This was the largest of the cages - it reached from floor to the four meter high ceiling. A huge, curved glass window was all that stood between the brutalist spaceship atrium and a lush, miniature jungle.
Something stirred in one of the darker corners, half hidden by tangle of broad, fanned leaves. Ruby didn’t move. He didn’t even react as two golden tendrils, emitting a soft glow, reached from beneath the dense foliage and settled on either side of the humans head.
“Amedha,” the voice came from within Ruby’s mind. It was so sweet, it made him sick.
“M-di amedha, no,” Ruby said quickly, flinching and brushing the tendrils away. “No meat.” He looked around, putting his back to a wall, before he spotted the alien. Or at least, her eyes. High above him, he followed the verdant vines into that dark corner, where two, golden lights twinkled back at him, flanked on either side by those same glowing tendrils. They reached towards him again, and Ruby reluctantly obliged, checking the seal on the half-mask covering his mouth and jaw.
“When?” came the voice again, still dripping with desire, but forceful. “Aseigan, when?” Ruby considered his answer carefully.
“Soon. Your n'yaka-de will return with fresh food soon,” he said, pulling away from the tendrils a second time. He didn’t know how much the alien understood, but she seemed to get the message, retracting the long appendages back into her body. They would converse like this often, Ruby being chased around the cage while completing his cleaning. She had picked a bit of Ruby’s language, and a bit of their captors, but whenever she diverged into her native tongue, it gave the human a splitting headache. He couldn’t stay in contact for long. Not by choice.
Ruby dragged his rake through the substrate, separating out the organic detritus and dumping it into a bucket. ‘Aseigan’ they called him. Servant. Slave. Experiment. Pet. It didn’t matter to Ruby. He did what they asked. The metal collar around his neck made sure of that.
A loud thump from behind him indicated that his companion was on the move, but Ruby turned too late. Long, sinewy fingers reached under his armpits, and he was pulled off his feet and fell on his rear into a soft nest of leaves and undergrowth.
“Lish is bored,” his mind purred. The long fingers stretched and grabbed at his chest, searching for the zipper of his jumpsuit. There was no warmth in her touch. Or anywhere in her body, for that matter. She was as cool as the air around them.
And she’d snuck up on him. He had to play this carefully.
“Lish,” he said, trying to hide his rising nervousness. “Not now. I must work. ” He turned his head to regard her, knowing she was close by.
His eyes met with her own alien ones - almond-shaped but with no pupils or irises. Just a golden gleam. She blended in with the foliage of her cage perfectly. She could have been a plant - Ruby didn’t know. But she looked like one. Her overly long arms were attached to a humanoid torso, but that was where the similarities ended. From her hips down, she had an insect-like body - many-legged and bulbous. Each of her countless appendages writhed and twisted like the jungle plants she hid within.
Atop her shoulders, she had a slender, long neck. Her face was near featureless except for her massive eyes. She had a mouth - most of her head was a mouth, but it was currently closed into a tight x. She didn’t use it to speak, only flaring it open to eat. Or to entertain their captor.
She was more than two meters long from end to end. Her skin was like many layers of leaves stacked atop one another. When she was upset, Ruby had seen her flare them out like a dry pinecone, making herself seem even larger. She wore no clothing - never had, for as long as Ruby had known her, except for a electronic, metal collar around her neck. The same that Ruby wore.
Lish, as Ruby came to know she was called, had always been here. Ever since he was first taken from Earth. She was their captor’s favorite. And she was beautiful, in a strange, artistic sort of way. But the human knew better. She was a dangerous, proud thing. She was the reason he had to wear a respiratory mask in her cage. Nearly all the other captives in the spaceship’s atrium were under her thrall. It made them pliant, but unable to make decisions for themselves. And completely unable to perform labor.
“N’yaka-de leaves Lish alone too long,” she pulled herself closer, curling around Ruby’s body. The first of her tendril-like legs coiled around his wrists. But she had ceased pawing at his clothing. “He neglects Lish.” She pulled Ruby closer, forcing him to lay into her as she began brushing her fingers through his short auburn hair. She liked to do that. Ruby let her.
“I’m sure he’ll be back soon,” he tried to reassure her, but the words were meaningless. Ruby didn’t want him to come back. It would mean another round of treatment. More of Lish’s vine-like legs tugged at Ruby’s limbs, inspecting him. The sleeve covering his forearm was rolled up.
“You have quills now,” Lish purred in approval, plucking absentmindedly at the few short protrusions from Ruby’s arm. The little dark spines had erupted sometime after his last treatment and had itched terribly at the time, but Ruby learned to ignore them. His other sleeve was followed suit. More quills. “Ruby is more like yautja every day.”
Ruby groaned, but said nothing. They’d had this conversation before, when the changes first started happening. When Lish made Ruby’s role clear.
“Maybe soon you look like Lish, too?” She purred again, this time, the sound coming from her body, not Ruby’s mind. It was like a motor, rippling through her abdomen and gently vibrating against the human. Normally, the gesture brought Ruby some comfort. Right now, it only made him ill. He tried to pull away from her, but the tendrils around his body held him fast.
“I need to work, Lish,” he stammered again, but her fingers had returned to his chest, one searching for a zipper while the other drew tight circles against the waxed fabric. “The other cages -“
“Who cares,” she cut him off, beginning to wrap her golden sensors around his head, covering his eyes. “Lish not like them. Lish likes Ruby.” He was sinking further into her body. Dozens of the vines covered him now, squeezing and rubbing against his thighs. One prodded experimentally against his groin, and he couldn’t hold back a pleasurable grunt. Another tendril began to pry at his face mask, looking for weak points in the seal.
“Lish,” he gritted his teeth, trying to resist her sensual teasing. He flicked his head away from the prying vine, rationalizing with the alien. “Not again, please. Your n’yaka-de will be angry.” But Lish didn’t relent. And Ruby didn’t want to pull away.
“He will listen to Lish,” she said, brushing aside the statement. “Lish is the favorite. And Lish likes Ruby.” She wasn’t giving up. Her vines were becoming bolder, more eager, as she began to rub him though his clothes. Ruby’s own arousal grew, warm and needy. Lish knew his body as well trodden territory - teasing and petting where she knew she’d get a good reaction.
With her free hand, she dragged her long fingers down his body, scratching though the canvas clothing. A vine grasped him by the hips, and when her hand cupped his sex, it pulled him towards her, forcing him to grind into her palm though the fabric. The motor-like purring continued, but Lish was becoming impatient. Her other hand still hadn’t figured out the zipper.
Frustrated, she rolled Ruby underneath her large body, squishing him against the bed of dead leaves. Ruby moaned, no longer resisting her forcible handling, and she trilled happily.
“Open up,” she commanded, freeing one of his arms from her grasp. She didn’t have the dexterity for the tiny zipper hidden against his collar. Ruby obliged, undoing the clasp and dragging the jumpsuit open below his navel, revealing his underclothes - a black sleeveless tank and boyshorts. The low cut showed the bare skin of his chest, flushed with arousal.
“More quills!” Lish exclaimed excitedly, and Ruby was glad the alien had covered his eyes earlier. He didn’t want to see her pleased expression. She quickly pinned his arm again and set to work, dancing her vines against his naked skin. The petting was becoming overwhelming, and the human stared to squirm. “Mask, too?” She asked greedily.
“No, Lish, m-di,” he said, breathy. “Not safe.” Her vines were eagerly exploring his body now, teasingly reaching under his waistband. Each brush with the thin skin of his groin pulled a moan from the humans agape mouth. He breathed hard and deep.
“Lish wants Ruby to feel good,” she whined, still testing the seal, now with her long fingers. She dragged them across his cheeks and the exposed parts of his neck, irritating the skin and leaving light red streaks. “Mask in the way.”
Prolonged exposure to her thoughts was starting to wear on Ruby, and he felt her influence beginning to alter his own train of thought.
Maybe Lish was right. They’d done it before, and he was okay. Alive. Of course, their captor had been there to keep things from going to far, but Lish was careful. She was so gentle. And so good to Ruby. Didn’t he deserve to feel good?
But he’d gotten sick. Really sick, last time she went too far. And without their n’yaka-de here, she would do it again.
But wouldn’t it feel good? Wasn’t Ruby a good little pet? Lish liked him. She would keep him safe. Nothing mattered but that.
Ruby moaned loudly as her vines finally rubbed at his clit, circling and tugging until he was raw and hard. More vines constricted his body, nearly lifting him off the ground. Her leaf-like skin was so soft. He thrust uselessly into her, seeking release.
He could feel his slick coating his skin as the human squirmed in pleasure. He clamped his thighs involuntarily, before Lish’s vines pulled them apart again, pinning him open. The fabric of the jumpsuit might have ripped, but the thought was dashed as Lish’s hand slipped lower, palm grinding hard on his throbbing clit while a pair of fingers began to part though his wet folds. His underwear were slipped down.
“Ruby is so warm,” she nuzzled her head against his chest and barely teased her fingertips at his entrance. “So slick and tight. Ruby has missed n’yaka-de, too.” She began parting her fingers, massaging him open but refusing to push deeper into his vagina. The rough grinding on his clit picked up again. “N’yaka-de will never fit like this.”
Ruby’s panting continued, only vaguely aware as Lish curled her abdomen up, bringing the end close to Ruby’s spread legs. A thin, purple-tinted length extended from the end, and Lish started to slowly thrust against the fabric protecting the human’s thighs. Prioritizing her own pleasure, the torment of his clitoris began to slow. The human struggled to form words.
“It’s for you, Lish,” he affirmed. “It’s only ever been for you.” For a moment his arousal slunk back, cringing at his own lies. For years now they’d only had each other, weathering the endless days of boredom with games, conversation and sex. They had something, sure, but it was manufactured - inorganic in nature. A shell. But he told Lish what she wanted to hear, and they used each other in the lowest way.
She lifted her body off his and pulled the jumpsuit aside, curling her abdomen to grind the long alien organ directly against his vulva. It was slick and cool, eliciting a gasp from the human with each thrust.
“Ruby prefers Lish?” She accentuated each word with quick, successive thrusts, altering her slow, steady rhythm.
“Sei-i, yes,” the human whimpered. “More, please-” he was begging, though the words weren’t traceable in his mind. Lish kept him on edge, stringing him out as he writhed against her huge body, helpless in her grasp. Her vines lifted his hips, and she shifted, positioning herself at his entrance. A few more quick, shallow thrusts did nothing but further his torment, and Lish trilled happily at the moans it elicited from the human. She pushed in, only a centimeter. At his face, one long finger found a weakness in the seal of his mask, and Lish pushed underneath.
“Open up,” she repeated excitedly, her own mouth beginning to furl open. The golden tendrils retracted from around his eyes, and began to slip toward the crack in Ruby’s mask. Ruby opened his eyes, and thousands of thorn-like teeth stared back at him. If Lish was a flower, then her mouth was a deadly bloom. Bright yellow edges faded to gold to rich brown at the center, and into the darkness of her gullet. More glowing gold tendrils squirmed from within her mouth, like the pistils of a flower, eager to find purchase in Ruby’s own. A light, gold dust filled the air between them as they writhed.
Her own mind retracted from Ruby’s, and the human blinked in sudden clarity. His mask was being lifted. Still horribly aroused, he squirmed in place, eliciting an erotic rumble from Lish, deeper than her purrs. More monstrous.
“Lish, m-di! Too far!” He stammered, quickly jerking his head away from her prying fingers. The seal of his mask snapped tight against his skin again, and Lish grumbled again, retracting her gold pistils and clamping her mouth shut. Her abdomen pulled away, leaving a string of slick arousal as she retracted from his hole. She was angry.
“Ruby is selfish,” she whined, those two long tendrils returning to the humans temples. They patted him needfully, urging the human to give in again. “N’yaka-de leaves us all alone. Lish was so lonely before Ruby.”
Ruby shook his head again, trying to dislodge the tendrils. He pushed in all directions, fighting against the constricting vines. He shouted, kicked, anything he could do to find purchase. At last, Lish relaxed her grip, and Ruby quickly scrambled to his feet. He dashed back to his tools, gathering them up with a quick glance and Lish, who was still hunched over the leaf bed. She hadn’t moved.
He didn’t bother zipping his jumpsuit back up, just dashed for the glass door, jamming his thumbprint on the scanner. It dawdled a moment, processing, before lighting up green. Not turning his back to the alien, he reversed out the door as fast as he could, slamming his fist against the pad to close it again. It slammed shut with a hiss. Only five centimeters of glass between them now would make him feel safe.
When Lish still didn’t move, Ruby finally let out a tense sigh. He head was throbbing in pain. His jumpsuit slumped off his shoulders, and his tank top had rolled up, exposing the soft skin of his stomach. He was still breathing hard, his own orgasm never having reached its peak. But that didn’t matter. It was completely forgotten in the wake of Ruby’s escape. Now, only a dull, needy ache remained.
He felt his hackles lowering. It was a weird sensation - like goosebumps making your hairs stand on end. But now the flexing of his new quills made his clothing shift in ways he wasn’t used to. It made him feel sicker. He started to cover himself again, eager to save what little warmth he had left.
A loud slam made his heart nearly leap out of his throat. He seized up, reflexively jerking towards the noise, fear overwhelming his senses. It was Lish, prostrate against the glass. She was glaring at him, her golden eyes laced with annoyance, and she thrust her sex organ against the surface. The glass muffled the noise within her cage, but Ruby heard her ticking loudly at his panic. Her form of laughter.
He tried not to let it faze him. She was prone to tantrums. And without their captor here to entertain her, she had become increasingly moody. He tapped another button on the door controls, and the glass polarized, blocking Lish’s view of the human. He heard her clicking in frustration, slamming the glass again, uselessly. It never budged. Ruby would likely pay for that later, but he needed a break from her intense, prying gaze.
It was several more minutes before Ruby composed himself enough to keep working, slowing his breath and fixing his clothes. Lish had bunched up his undergarments so painfully, it took him several tries to readjust the fabric until it sat right again. He zipped up his jumpsuit again, redoing the protective clasp on the zipper. Thankfully, she hadn't ripped the fabric this time.
There were other cages to attend to. Other trophies. Other pets. Lish always came first, and was the most challenging by far. She was demanding. Ruby tried not to think about what happened with the other aliens. Some seemed to be as intelligent as him, like Lish. Others were more bestial. Lish seemed to be the only real, permanent resident.
Some stayed for a long time, providing entertainment until they broke. Sometimes, their captor would fight them. Over and over again - healing and re-injuring the captives until they simply collapsed. Sometimes, they broke in other ways. Sometimes, the aliens just vanished.
They all shared only one thing: the metal collar.
There had been other humans once. They disappeared, one by one. Ruby used to cry for them. He didn’t get so attached now.
He had nearly completed his work shoveling the waste, feeding, and cleaning up after the alien menagerie when a lone beep came from the metal collar around his neck. It had reconnected to its owners gauntlet. From elsewhere, a shrill song pierced the perpetual hum of the ship. Lish, crying out in excitement. Their Jailor was on board again.
Ruby didn’t turn when he heard the reinforced metal door to the larger atrium grind open. Didn’t react as the heavy footfalls of their captor made their way across the room - past Ruby and straight to Lish’s cage. Her harmonizing trills grew louder, more frantic. The glass cage door slid open and slammed shut. Ruby tried to block out the noise as the pair began fucking away.
He didn’t want to draw their attention, and when he was sure they were thoroughly distracted, he made a dash for his own cell. The human glanced longingly at the large, imposing metal door blocking him from the rest of the ship. It always closed fast as soon as their captor was though. He’d tried to get it open before, toying with the keypad. Now, his collar electrified him if he got too close. He only left if their captor allowed it, and the huge, muscular alien kept him under close watch.
Even as he lay in his own cell, on one of six bunk beds, Lish’s erotic noises didn’t stop. They’d been at it for awhile now. Ruby threw an arm over his eyes, forcing himself into darkness. Maybe Lish would kill him - the Jailor. But he knew she wouldn’t. She liked him - or liked being spoiled by him.
Tomorrow would be the same. With the Jailor back, treatments would resume - changing Ruby from the inside out. Once, Ruby had been a technician at a laboratory. Whatever the alien was doing to him would have been fascinating - some sort of gene therapy. Hybridization. He’d never even dreamed it possible back on Earth. Now, it just made Ruby feel sick. Physically and mentally. Could he even call himself human anymore? He didn’t want to know.