Cerulean Planet (Blue Dust Trilogy #1)

Chapter 18

After wasting the day away, Jiayun and the monster welcomed their first night in the warm oasis of this water-planet.

Even without the sun shining, these lands remained temperate. The water that met the lands did not freeze over either. Jiayun and the monster continued to build and perfect their habitat. They dug a big pond that led to warm waters to farm the glowing algae they found around the island in the day, ones that survived on heat alone. When the algae formed big enough clusters, their blue glowing set the whole dark cave alight.

At nightfall, large groups of fish naturally began to gather near the edge of the island, filling the pond inside the cave. Food would not be an issue.

Jiayun went about his day on Earth's schedule and cycle, resting one to two hours after four or five hours of labour and sleeping every ten or more hours. He dragged the monster to sleep together with him inside the small wooden hut. Jiayun enjoyed talking to them before falling asleep, asking them questions like, "Does your kind sleep or rest?"

"If there is a need, we will enter into hibernation on a regular basis in order to synthesize and organize our information."

"How long are your sleep cycles, and how long do you hibernate for?"

"It would depend on the information load and how long it has been since the last hibernation."

"Does that mean you're always awake every time I sleep?"

"No," the monster said. "I will also enter into a short period of hibernation when you are safe and soundly asleep, following the same cycle that you do. You do require some time to fully digest."

Upon hearing those tender words, Jiayun suddenly found himself caught in a sleep spell. He tucked the monster's arm against his chest, swung a leg over their body, yawned, then promptly passed out.

After falling asleep, Jiayun's breathing became heavier and his lashes would flicker from time to time. The monster was always watching him so that they could tell which stage of his sleep cycle Jiayun had entered based on his every little movement and the rhythm of his breaths.

Once he was deep asleep, the monster reached out and brushed aside a strand of loose hair from Jiayun's forehead. His hair had grown longer since arriving on this planet and due to the moisture in the air, it was always sticking to his forehead.

His forehead was smooth. The monster brushed their hand against it once more, sliding it from the middle to the edge of his brow.

They processed all this information. Everything they heard and saw. Everything they touched with their human-hands.

Sitting under this skull was a complex and unpredictable universe. He used his five senses to retrieve information and to communicate. If he resisted or closed himself off, then they would not be able to obtain anything from him. But if he were to open himself up to them, then they would come to know everything about him, little by little.

His lips would pull taut ever so slightly when he was happy and he would fidget with his body when he was upset. He would tilt his head downward and look up at them from the corner of his eyes when planning mischief, or fix his unmoving gaze on them when he wanted to kiss or have sex. But sometimes when they stroked Jiayun's ass after taking the cue, they would get pushed off to the side and scolded for their action.

They were puzzled. It was only later that Jiayun explained it to them, "You interpreted my expressions correctly, but experiencing sexual impulse is still a ways away from actually wanting to have sex. You'll need to consider the time, place, and mood. And how long it's been since our last coupling. If we went at it whenever we felt the urge, wouldn't that just make us a couple wild dogs in heat?"