Splinters

When Tyla awoke, it was to Malyn making shadow puppets on the wall.

"Bored?" Tyla murmured, his voice thick with sleep.

"Exceedingly. You kept grumbling when I tried to move, though."

Tyla sat up and stretched. He still felt heavier than usual in a way that couldn’t be measured in weight, but compared to the night before he was doing a lot better. If he looked at Malyn, really looked, he could clearly see his own magic clinging to him. Even on purely physical levels it seemed to give a healthy flush to his skin.

The sun was up and looked like it had been for a while now. It hadn't been dark yet when Tyla had fallen asleep, so he estimated he had been asleep for way too fucking long for Malyn's level of patience.

"Okay," Tyla said around a yawn. "Food, then... something, I don't know. City exploration? Bath?"
Malyn glanced over at the door to the washroom. "Is there a bath here? Reve and Tris didn't have one."

"Public baths," Tyla clarified. "If we just want to be clean, magic is the most efficient way. The baths are recreation."

Malyn narrowed his eyes in thought. "I am imagining a room full of wet, naked Talan. This sounds like an idea I could get behind."

Jealousy so powerful it made Tyla inhale sharply surged up in him and he wanted to... he wanted to lock Malyn away forever, keep him hidden so that nobody could take him from him. At the same time, he felt guilty. By human standards, possessiveness of that degree was considered potentially abusive.

Malyn frowned and reached out a cautious hand to pat Tyla's shoulder. "I was kidding. I was actually just imagining you naked. I am absolutely cool with doing the naked thing here instead, though. Alone. There are certain things that we can do here that would be frowned upon in a public bath."

Tyla couldn't help a grin. "Clearly you have never been to a Talan bathhouse. Hurry up and eat and I'll show you."

#

Tyla kept forgetting to walk slowly down the street towards the bathhouse, to give Malyn time to take in the city. Tyla hadn't been back in years, but nothing really changed in Nuuvatu. He'd known every street like the back of his hand before he left, and he knew them no less now.

It was nice, sharing this place with Malyn. On his own Tyla would have felt trapped within the city walls, confined, but Malyn's wonderment changed everything. Looking at things through Malyn's eyes, Tyla found adventure.

They were going to the only all male bathhouse in the city. Talan didn't care much for gender separation like humans did so most bathhouses were unisex, but Tyla suspected that Malyn might find that discomforting. Certain cultural differences were more easily dealt with than others, in Tyla's experience.

Those who passed them on the street definitely did not fail to notice that Malyn was human. Malyn was wearing human clothes, had his hair cut short like a human, and had features that were far too angular for any Talan. Some glared at him, which raised Tyla's hackles, but though Malyn clearly noticed he didn't seem to let it concern him.

The bathhouse Tyla took Malyn to was a bit ostentatious, but Malyn looked nothing but impressed as he stared up at the tall pillars boxing in the large open doors. Or perhaps he just enjoyed the images of naked men twined together carved into them. That was certainly Tyla's favourite part.

A prod to his back got Malyn moving through the doors, into the bathhouse. There was a short, dimly lit hallway, and then it opened out into the main area of the bathhouse. This was one place in the city of which Tyla had nothing but good memories.

The bathhouse had a glass ceiling, allowing sunlight to stream in. There were areas of water less than knee deep, getting gradually deeper until it was too deep to touch the bottom without diving under. Small waterfalls gurgled, and Talan men used them to rinse their hair. The smell of soap and scented oil hung in the air.

It was the sight of one Talan man giving another a blowjob on the side of one of the baths that had caught Malyn's attention, though. "Okay, wow. I think I see what you meant now."

"Yes, we're exhibitionists. Come on."

Despite all the Talan who had given Malyn dirty looks, Tyla was well aware that there would be those curious about what humans looked like naked. Tyla intended to keep that curiosity unsatisfied. He led Malyn into one of the private nooks, drawing the curtain behind them to indicate it was occupied.
"You know, if humans tried something like this it would be seedy and gross," Malyn commented. "But this is... wow. Hot and classy."

"Yes, well, that's what you get when you have self cleaning water and a lack of sexual shaming." Tyla toed off one of the sandals he was wearing and tested the temperature of the water. Warm, but not too hot. Perfect as ever. He took the other sandal off, and then undid the drawstring keeping his pants up.

Malyn wasn't getting undressed, he was just watching Tyla. He dug his teeth into his lip to keep from grinning. "Do you always go commando?"

Tyla kicked his pants off his ankles and then started on the ties on his shirt. "Not when we're working. I find running without restraint uncomfortable. Are you just going to watch, or...?"

"I considered looking away, but it didn't sound appealing," Malyn said, but he pulled off his shirt anyway.

Tyla had seen Malyn shirtless before — they'd been sharing a room for almost a year — but it had only been in guilty snatches before quickly looking away again. It was strange, being able to look as much as he liked without shame. He repressed the urge to grab hold of Malyn and claim every square inch of him as his own. Not because he wasn't allowed to touch, but because he wasn't sure he'd know when to stop.

They were both very much hard by the time they were fully naked, but Malyn didn't show any immediate need to do anything about that so Tyla followed his lead. Malyn tested the water, found the temperature to his liking, and slid in.

It was deep enough to reach their shoulders if they stood in the middle of the small pool of water, but there was a bench the ran along the side under the water at an ideal height to sit on and wash.

Malyn glanced over at Tyla as Tyla slid down into the water next to him, raking his eyes down Tyla's body. "I think I'm going back to questioning why you would ever leave."

"Boners do tend to make you lose sight of the bigger picture."

Malyn grinned. "Maybe we should take care of that. I wouldn't want my judgement to be compromised."

"Okay," Tyla said. "Uh... I've never done anything with a human before. Well, except for last night, but I didn't really do much there. I don't really know the rules of conduct in your society."

Malyn raised his eyebrows and just stared at Tyla for a moment. "Seriously? Unless surprise fisting is a thing in your culture and just hasn't happened to come up with the three other Talan I have dated, I'm pretty sure we're going to be fine. Now, is it cool if I touch your dick?"

"I give you blanket permission to do anything you like to my dick."

"Okay, cool." Malyn brushed a hand across Tyla's thigh and settled it around the base of Tyla's shaft. "And for the record, my default state is consenting, too. Go for it, and if I disapprove I'll tell you to stop."

And so Tyla kissed him. It was just a small slice of what Tyla wanted, just one way of claiming Malyn. Malyn's skin was wet and warm and smooth under his fingers, firm but yielding. The hand encompassing Tyla's erection worked him slowly, and it was only seconds before it wasn't enough. He swung around and straddled Malyn's lap.

Tyla's head was buzzing. He wanted so much that he couldn’t identify any one thing, so he settled for biting down on Malyn's neck, maybe a little too hard. Malyn grunted and jerked, but didn't complain. His hand came to rest on Tyla's back, pulling him closer.

Tyla wanted to fuck and be fucked. He lifted his hips and took hold of Malyn's shaft to keep in it position.

Malyn swatted his hand away to stop him. "Woah, woah. Slow down. Have you done some kind of not making that hurt like a bitch spell?"

Tyla stared at the opposite wall and blinked for a few seconds, struggling to pull his mind back under control. "No.”

Gently, Malyn ran his hand down Tyla's back. "Are you okay?"

After several long seconds of consideration, Tyla answered, "...No. I'm feeling a bit aggressive. Sorry."

"Do you want to wait until you're not feeling aggressive?"

Tyla rubbed a hand over his face. "It's instincts. I just want to claim you and I can't help it. I don't think not doing it will make it go away."

"Well okay. Is there a spell, or... these are sex baths, there's got to be lube around here somewhere."
Tyla pointed to a bottle of oil on a shelf on the other side of the room, and Malyn climbed out of the bath to retrieve it. Malyn set it down, then laid a couple of towels down on the floor.

"Okay, come over here," Malyn said. When Tyla obeyed, he sat down on the towels and uncorked the bottle of oil. "I think the position we had before is a good one. You get to be aggressive, but with minimal risk of harm to either of us. Just with lubrication this time because I don't think it would have been particularly comfortable for either of us without."

Malyn was definitely aroused, his dick standing hard and needy as ever, but he had a sense of control Tyla couldn't muster even at the best of times. It reminded Tyla of the kind of focus Malyn had when they were on missions. His calm authority was just what Tyla needed just then.

When he touched Tyla, though, there was none of the calculated restraint he showed when they were working. His hands moved softly, slowly, easing the tension in Tyla's body. There was no need for extended preparation. Once they were both slicked up enough, Tyla was more than ready. He couldn't wait any longer. This time when he straddled Malyn's lap and lined things up, Malyn didn't stop him.

Tyla hadn't had sex in years, not since leaving Nuuvatu, but his body hadn't forgotten how things were done. It relaxed, accepted the intrusion as though it was something that had been missing.

A sharp exhale of breath tickled against Tyla's neck and Malyn dug sharp fingernails into Tyla's hips. Tyla began to move.

Once things started to get heated, Malyn was no more restrained than Tyla. There was a desperation between them that built quickly and worked against them as they both tried to go harder, faster, until they found their rhythm and started working together.

There was something between them, something beyond the movements of their bodies that burned hotter and hotter and glowed inside Tyla's mind. The bond between them was deepening as Tyla claimed, was claimed. He could feel the edges on Malyn's mind slide against his, then press together, overlap, as they pulled each other over the edge.

Malyn flopped back onto the towel and let out a satisfied sigh. He used one arm to cushion his head but his other hand stayed on Tyla's hip, idly stroking his skin. Tyla lay down on top of him.

"Remind me why we haven't been doing this for the last year," Malyn murmured, his breath tickling Tyla's ear.

"Lack of talking?"

"Hey, I wasn't expecting subtlety from a Talan. I've never experienced a Talan being anything but startlingly direct when they're attracted to me."

Malyn's voice sounded strangled, so Tyla rolled off of him so he could breathe properly. "They didn't know enough about humans to be cautious."

Malyn heaved himself up and almost toppled back down before getting his feet under him. "Ugh, headrush. Anyway, I would have thought dating every Talan who gives me the chance would have been a hint."

"You do realise we're an entire species, right? I assumed your fetish wasn't entirely indiscriminate."

Malyn snickered and poked Tyla in the side with his toe. "Off the towels."

Not bothering to question Malyn's request, Tyla shuffled over until he was sitting on the cold floor.

"I think there are a lot of Talan I wouldn't find appealing." Malyn bent down and picked up the towels. "The ones who have been looking at me like I'm something offensive this morning come to mind. But clearly I like your personality or I wouldn't choose to live with you, and clearly I find you attractive because, well, look at you, so I'm not sure where the room for doubt is."

Tyla did look at himself, or at least the parts of himself he could see. He had a long body that was pale, slender, and sparsely haired. Fairly unremarkable by Talan fare.

Malyn had taken the towels over to the bath, and now he unceremoniously dropped them in. "I can get poetic about it if you like. Hair like copper silk, eyes like emeralds, and fresh cream skin."

As Malyn's knobbly knees were somewhat more challenging to make poetic, and Tyla wasn't actually as pale as cream anyway, thank you very much, Tyla chose a different topic. "What did the towels do to offend you?"

"You said the water magically cleans things. You got come on the towels. Ergo, time for the towels to take a bath."

"I can clean things with magic," Tyla pointed out. "I can also dry things with magic, which I'm now going to have to do."

"They were damp already. Now you only have to do one of those things."

The ground was cold and hard, so Tyla hauled himself to his feet. "I don't think you understand the relative amount of effort these things require."

"My secret is I don't care, I just wanted to test out the magic water. We're not nearly dirty enough to properly make use of it."

"You have at least as much come on you as the towels do," Tyla pointed out.

"True," Malyn said, and then slid into the water. "There, I am cleansed. Come and be cleansed with me."

That had been Tyla's intention anyway, so he obeyed.

Malyn waded out into the middle of the bath and dunked his head under for a few seconds to wet his hair. "If you have magic cleaning water, why do you have soap?"

"Smelling like flowers is one of our cultural pastimes."

Apparently that was reason enough for Malyn, because he uncorked one of the bottles, sniffed its contents, then poured some of it onto his hand. It was soap, not shampoo, but Malyn rubbed it into his hair anyway. Tyla didn't bother pointing out the error. He wouldn't mind Malyn's hair smelling of berries.

They stayed in the bath until their skin became wrinkly, neither of them really wanting to leave until hunger demanded it. Back at base they only had a small shower. Of course, Tyla was already thinking up potential uses for that.

As they were leaving the baths they passed by a scene even more erotic than the blowjob they'd witnessed earlier. When the Talan man simultaneously getting fucked from behind and blown noticed Malyn looking he glared as though Malyn had committed some kind of social gaff, despite the dozen other Talan shamelessly looking on. Tyla didn't particularly want Malyn looking either for his own jealousy related reasons, so he quickly ushered Malyn past.

"Okay, so the baths are basically fuck central," Malyn said as they stepped out onto the street. "So where do kids bathe? Do families with kids have their own baths, or do parents clean them with magic? Or is it just normal for them to see that?"

Tyla hesitated. That was verging on a whole world of secrets. But, he supposed, Malyn was almost one of them now that he and Tyla were bonded. He was smart enough that he'd notice certain things eventually anyway.

"Have you ever seen a Talan child?" Tyla asked.

Malyn hesitated, frowned. "No?"

"And you won't. Ever. They don't exist. We don't reproduce sexually."

Malyn opened his mouth, closed it again. His brow wrinkled in thought. "You just came all over me and female Talan have breasts. That kind of suggests sexual reproduction to me."

The plan had been to get food next, but Tyla needed to show Malyn something to explain things properly. He turned up the next street instead of continuing straight. "It's a long story, but the short of it is that they're vestigial. We used to reproduce sexually, we don't anymore."

"This sounds like the kind of thing I could probably maintain my attention span long enough to hear the long version of."

"I'm not supposed to tell you any of this, but I guess you signed that thing, so just... don't tell anyone." Tyla waited until Malyn nodded his agreement before continuing. "We used to be much like humans. Suspiciously so, in fact, though nobody really likes to bring that up because we're arrogant bastards. Anyway, let's just say that thousands of years ago, we were human."

"Weird," Malyn murmured. "But, yeah, makes sense. We know humans exist on multiple worlds, and you guys just happen to be extremely similar to humans? A genetic relation is logical."

Tyla nodded and turned them down a street with a steeply sloped hill. "We probably would have stayed human, too, if it weren't for a series of huge volcanic eruptions all around the world. The ash blocked out the sun for a long time and almost killed most of the plants. Our crops would have died and us along with them, but when the ash started settling on the ground something strange happened. The sunlight was still blotted out, but the plants started to grow again, to thrive more than ever. And when we ate the plants that grew, so did we. We healed better and faster, we stopped getting sick, we aged more slowly."

"Like what I have now with your magic in me?" Malyn asked.

"Very much like that. At first we could do nothing more with this energy than those simple passive things, but over many generations we evolved the ability to make use of the energy in various ways, to channel it. That is when we started to change from human to Talan."

Malyn nodded along, attentive but silent as they made their way further up the hill.

"Eventually, though, the ash in the soil started to become depleted. Adults could produce more of it themselves within their bodies, but if someone didn't get enough of it as a child they never developed that ability. So a solution was produced: skip childhood. Create adults."

"Huh," Malyn said.

"Mmm. So that's how we do things now. Every new Talan is a combination of the genetic material and ideas of many other Talan. We're androgynous because physical sex is a developmental afterthought. We have unusual colourations because where magic is involved ideas can be more powerful than genetics. Just look at Reve — he was created in Alascoty. It was an entirely nocturnal city, and you can see that in his appearance. Midnight blue eyes and hair like starlight. And what you said earlier about me, copper and emeralds. Pretty things mined from the earth is Nuuvatu's theme. Tris was created here too — onyx and peridot."

There was a long moment of silence between them before Malyn spoke up again. "I'm trying to decide if that's creepy or awesome. I think I'm going to settle on both."

"We have arrived at the hatchery. Perhaps that will help you decide."

"What?" Malyn asked as he stared up at what was in front of them. They'd reached the top of the hill, the highest point in the city, and there, supported on pedestals, sat three large white ovular objects arranged in a triangle. A circular bench ringed them.

"I was kidding," Tyla said. "That's not actually what we call it."

"You may as well! You have giant eggs. Are there Talan in them?"

Tyla nodded. "In various stages of development. It takes a few years."

"I'm definitely leaning towards creepy."

"Don't touch them," Tyla warned, then stepped up to one and did exactly that himself, pressing his hand against its surface. It felt warm, and his skin tingled where it came into contact with it. "There, now it has a piece of me. A tiny slice of my magic, my genetics, and my knowledge. When it's ready to emerge it will come out fully grown and with basic knowledge of the world already in place."

Malyn still looked uncertain. "I guess I grew inside a woman and then squeezed my way out of her vagina. To a completely impartial observer, your means of reproduction would probably be less disturbing."

"I remember my first moments in the world, naked and slightly damp, already knowing the language and the layout of the city. It is weird. We're all infertile now, though, so it's all we have." Tyla climbed back over the bench to rejoin Malyn. "Anyway, keep all that quiet. We're much too arrogant to want anyone to know we used to be human."

Malyn let out a huff of laughter. "I think the war that knowledge would start is the bigger issue at hand."

Tyla raised his eyebrows. "War?"

"Have you met humans?" Malyn asked. "Volcanoes spewed the stuff that gave you your magic out of the ground, so there might still be some left down there that could be mined. Fast healing, immunity to disease, slower aging, and a longer lifespan? We'd start a war for that, and we'd lose it hard because you do not fuck with Talan."

"Well, you do. At every opportunity," Tyla pointed out. "But yes, I concede that preventing us from needing to commit genocide on your species may have been a secondary concern. Lunch time?"

The vendor glared at them when they went to buy lunch and didn't bother throwing up a translation spell so that Malyn could ask her questions about the food directly. Translation spells had become second nature to Tyla — they were reflexive, not something he even thought about — but they were something every Talan knew. Not using one was just passive aggressive. She was smart enough not to actually voice her distaste, though, so Tyla let it go.

"I'm sorry my people are like that to you," Tyla said once they could found a bench to sit down while they ate their food. "I always thought we were lucky to have our capital city because it's where the most infrastructure is, but just about any other place on our world would have been better at diplomacy. Arrogance and a superiority complex are Nuuvatu's main exports."

Malyn shrugged and swallowed his mouthful of food. "I figure they're just mad at me for stealing you from them. In the end I win because I'm not giving you back."

"Good, because we hand out refunds in my tears. And vomit, I guess."

"That doesn't sound appealing. There's really only one fluid I enjoy making come out of your body."

"Blood? I bet it's blood. I've seen how savage you can be."

Malyn grinned. "I'll show you when we get back to the apartment."

Tyla felt a pleasant rush go through his body, but managed to keep his reaction off his face. "I'm hiding my knife."

"I choose to interpret that as innuendo and nothing you say can convince me otherwise."

Tyla shook his head, but he was smiling. "Finish your food, asshole."

Despite the desperate desire to return to the apartment straight away that Malyn's promise had instilled in him, Tyla decided to show Malyn some of his favourite stores. Tyla didn't have much Talan money with him, but it would be enough to buy Malyn a small gift before they left.

Before Tyla had left Nuuvatu for Gaian lands he had bought almost all of his clothes from a single store. Tyla still wore the clothes he'd bought there whenever loose Talan clothes weren't impractical for whatever situation he was in. He didn't have enough money to buy himself a new wardrobe, but he missed the store and its owners so he decided to take Malyn there first.

Ara was standing behind the desk when Tyla opened the door to the store, and as soon as she saw him her face lit up in a broad grin. It quickly dropped when Malyn stepped out from behind him before wavering back into something far less genuine.

"Tyla. It's been too long," Ara said, and Tyla was relieved to hear no hostility in her voice, though she kept sending Malyn uncertain glances.

"It has." Tyla smiled back at her and placed a hand on Malyn's back. "This is my partner, Malyn."

'Partner' was a conveniently ambiguous word. The bond was so blatant that Ara would have seen it and would know exactly what Tyla meant, but if Malyn was more comfortable interpreting it as a reference to their working relationship he would be able to.

"Oh, that's..." She glanced between them. "I didn't know you could do that."

She was, at least, translating for Malyn. Though she was being rude, it wasn't intentional. It was the best response they'd received since they'd last seen Reve and Tris, so Tyla could hardly complain.

Malyn smiled at her and stepped forward. "I don't think he did either, but they don't make condoms for that. Nice to meet you."

She opened her mouth then shut it again, the reference to Gaian contraception entirely lost on her.

Before Malyn had the chance to make any more awkwardly received attempts at conversation, the door to the back room opened and Shisa stepped through. The look on her face when her eyes landed on Malyn was enough to tell Tyla that things were about to turn ugly.

"Oh, Tyla, what happened?" Shisa asked as she took a step towards them. "I knew you never should have left. And now you... How did this happen?"

Tyla stood stiff and stared her in the eye. "Love."

"Love?" she asked, her voice sounding strangled. "Tyla, you know what they're like. He's going to use you and then he's going to leave you broken. You used to know this. They don't know what true dedication is. They can't have sex without shame, and certainly not with someone of the same sex."

"I used to know nothing," Tyla said, his voice low and threatening. "You know nothing."

"Tyla?" Malyn asked uncertainly, and Tyla realised he hadn't been translating. Good. Malyn didn't need to hear this.

Shisa frowned at them. "I don't think you're seeing things very clearly right now. You've been around them too long. Look, why don't we talk in the back room? Some distance will do you good."

Shisa wasn't actually being aggressive, but the hostility against Malyn, the suggestion of separating them, and the step she took towards him... it was enough. Tyla pushed Malyn back behind him and stepped forward to meet her, fury he had no desire to fight rising within him.

Malyn was stronger than Tyla and twisted easily around the hand that was attempting to push him back. And then Malyn was in front of Tyla, his hand against Tyla's chest to keep him in place, saying words Tyla couldn't make sense of. He should have been able to, he understood Gaian perfectly well without a translation spell, but it was just... words. He wanted to destroy, to remove any threat that might get between them.

Malyn slapped Tyla sharply across the face and then, abruptly, his words started making sense again.

"Tyla, stop it." Malyn glanced behind him at Shisa. "He's feeling a bit hormonal right now, but I won't apologise for him because I'm pretty sure you were provoking him.”

Tyla forced himself to relax and wrapped a protective arm around Malyn. Nobody was trying to hurt Malyn or to separate them, not really. Shisa was just being ignorant.

Shisa was studying them carefully. "Is he really worth it, Tyla?"

"Yes," Tyla said fiercely, his arm tightening around Malyn.

Ara had been watching the confrontation silently, but finally spoke up. "Leave it alone, Shisa. I don't want this to end in a fight. Tyla, it was good to see you again, but... but I think you should leave now."

Tyla agreed with her words, but it took Malyn dragging him towards the door to actually get him moving. Without discussion they turned away from the strip of shops and headed back in the direction of the apartment.

"I'm sorry," Tyla said rather belatedly after a few minutes of walking. "Thank you for stopping me. That could have ended in a fight she didn't intend to start and didn't stand a chance of winning."

When Malyn glanced over at Tyla he didn't look angry, just tired. "I've been working with you long enough to know your murder face. Kind of hot when it's something that needs to die, but not so much when it could result in manslaughter charges."

"Actually, she would be held responsible for setting me off, however accidental it was. I wouldn't have killed her, anyway. We don't die easily. Just... roughed her up until she no longer seemed threatening."

"I couldn't understand what she was saying, but she didn't sound like she was threatening us in the first place."

"Well, okay, no," Tyla conceded. "Which means if anyone ever does, especially if they occupy a vulnerable human body, I suggest controlling me quickly or getting out of the way."

"Wilco," Malyn said as they stepped into the pod that would take them back up to their apartment.