Taken by an Alien Race

Shopping

They walked in silence. Raikyr felt like he'd upset Braizen and a part of him wanted to apologize and make up for it, but Otte's behavior hadn't been his fault. He walked right beside the large red alien, not liking the looks many of the surrounding aliens gave him and the whispers they shared among each other as the two passed.

The stone path they walked along was crowded with many of types of aliens and knowing what he knew about human treatment, it worried him that he could get snatched away from Braizen in an instant. Otte's curiosity of him had irked him, but the way he was watched frightened him. Raikyr didn't speak up about it though, not wanting to catch the attention of anyone who might want to take him away from Braizen. Like the alien had explained to him, it's not like he wore a collar and leash. There was nothing aside from willingly to follow Braizen that showed other aliens he was off limits to be taken.

"Braizen," Raikyr finally spoke, although not looking at the alien. "Did you really just get me because of my wish? The stigma of what humans are to aliens and . . . I mean, maybe I wouldn't mind being more than just friends?" He said, his voice small and quiet. Was it too soon to say anything like that? Was Braizen really just looking for a friend to keep him company? But then why go through the trouble with Raikyr - a human - when he could've had a normal alien friend of his own species or plenty of the others considered sentient by the galactic government.

From Raikyr's small amount of reading he'd done on Braizen's ship, anything not sentient and not too dangerous was deemed able to be a pet. To them, humans weren't smart or developed enough to be included in the multitude of sentient races. And Braizen had just happened to pick Raikyr, a human, to be his friend on his trips. It didn't make sense.

Raikyr wasn't complaining though. He was sure there would be plenty of adventure and he'd he able to learn things no average human would ever even dream of. He could make something of himself and share the experience back with the humans on Earth and change the direction of the rest of space's thinking about his kind. He could do something and be someone! But, he wouldn't want to do it alone or be alone.

"You are cute," Braizen said, his voice almost teasing. "I would like to try a relationship with you if you wanted. I'm not much older than you in human years," Braizen stopped walking to look at Raikyr. "We can talk more on the ship. Let's go into the store and maybe we can go to the regular store and I'll get you anything that'll make your time on the ship more enjoyable."

Raikyr smiled at Braizen and took his hand when offered. "Okay! Do you aliens have video games? Like, could a spaceship even be equipped for something like that? And what about if I got some astronomy books? I was never really interested in space at home, but now everything's interesting!" He said, laughing slightly as the air around them lightened, no longer tense.

"Of course we do. When we get there I can show you to the options," Braizen said, continuing to walk again. "But first you do need pet items," He said, almost hesitant to say the word pet.

Raikyr sighed. "It's alright. Maybe we can get me a collar that's more like a necklace? And maybe a leash that attaches to my wrist instead?" He offered. He didn't want to feel or be treated like a pet, but he didn't want bad things to happen to him or for Braizen to get in trouble by not properly leashing 'his pet.' "And how about my own bed and blankets? The storage closet bed isn't exactly comfortable,"

Braizen nodded. "We're here," he said as they came up to a weirdly shaped building. The walls looked like clay and the large double opening doors almost looked see-through, but not like glass did. "Please try not to get upset if you see the humans for adoption," The alien asked, pushing the door open from a dark iron-like door handle.

Raikyr nodded and followed the alien inside. He was shocked at how human-like the store was, but it wasn't too unusual. From what he'd read, sentient life structured nearly the same across most species and planets. While things may look different or have different bade components, most of alien life was similar to human life. Maybe that would be a good research point that he could study? Maybe there was already research about the differences and similarities, but being the first human - to his knowledge - to actually be able to study all of this was exciting.