Chapter 8

Serval

Sophie asked him to do an interview as well. She had posted a video of her room and her first day on his ship – ‘I'm calling these segments SophServe in Space!' she told him with a bright smile – and it had already done incredibly well. People were asking for more information about him. So, just like he wanted to interview her, she wanted to interview him.

He thought that fair, so as their subspace swing continued, taking them to Holivair, he showed her his little fleet of combots that he used to record.

"They're so cute!" Sophie declared, cupping one of the robots in her hands like it was a bird that had come to alight on her palms.

"They're not alive," Serval said, tapping commands into their case. "There's twenty in total, and I use them to get multiple angles of my story. This one is usually with me."

"He looks different from the others," she said, notings its duller coloration and dented body.

"It's been with me longer. They tend to break or get stolen easily, so I have to replace them a lot. Lucky has managed to survive for a long time."

"Lucky?" She beamed. "You named him?"

"It's not alive," he repeated, face burning as he turned from her, defensive. He couldn't believe he told her he named the thing. "It's just a joke. I'm not attached to it."

Warm lips pressed against his cheek, and he turned, surprised, as Sophie sank back onto her heels, grinning at him. She had kissed him.

"I think it's cute," she said. "Can you show me how to use these?"

"Er, sure," he mumbled, heart racing. She was adorable. Looking up at him with those big, round eyes, smiling like he had pleased her somehow.

He fought back the urge to bring her into his arms as he showed her the various controls on the combot case. They weren't as advanced as the main one he kept with him as a communicator and computer since they just needed to follow commands and record. However, the set up that let him control all twenty at once was complex.

Sophie, however, was intelligent. She took to it quickly, learning each individual combot's signature and the basic controls. They could each be set to move independently, but could also be ordered to follow a pre-programed pattern in a group – such as looking for movement, following a certain person or persons, tracking heat signatures, etc.

"We should probably get to work," he said later, regretful at needing to end her fun. "I can show you more after we record."

"Oh, cool," she turned to him, brightly. "Is this dress okay? I tried to go for conservative."

He took his time admiring her body in the dress she had chosen. It was a silken dress, the yellow fabric shimmering like liquid sunlight, draped over her body and flaring around her thighs. She had covered the top with a little half cape that opened just after the pin on her neck, showing a sliver of her chest, but covering her shoulders. It was a deep, rich brown, and really brought out the bright, natural highlights in her hair. She had styled it like she had before, with gentle, rolling waves and that single, swooping curl to her bangs.

"You like that hairstyle," he said at last.

She shrugged. "It's part of my brand. My hair, this swoop in my bangs, is distinctive. Very princess-y. It helps identify me to my followers."

He nodded his understanding before switching from English to Standard. "You can speak easily this way, right? My interview is best done in Standard since that's what the universe will speak."

"Yes! I've been practicing," she declared eagerly in only slightly stilted Standard.

Her accent was absolutely adorable. Sweet and rich, just like her, with a smoothness that made every vowel seem sensual. Combined with her beauty, she would do well on camera.

"Perfect," he mumbled, struggling to keep himself contained when his cock hardened just from the sound of her voice. "Take a seat in this chair. I'll sit here. I'll start by explaining True Match and then go into our story. Then, I'll ask you questions. I can edit any out you don't want to answer, so feel free to pass any you feel are too personal. Otherwise, just be honest."

She nodded once, smoothing down her dress as he led her to the seats. The combots, following their programming, created a little dome around them, recording from all angles at once. Sophie didn't even look at them. She kept her eyes on him, her ankles crossed, her hands neatly folded in her lap, a beatific smile on her face.

Calm and elegant and beautiful. It was at such odds with the high energy he was used to from her, he was surprised to see it.

"Ready?" He asked, sitting across from her, one leg crossed over the other. He had dressed for the occasion as well, wearing plain, black slacks with a cream colored, scoop neck shirt with sleeves pushed up just over his fins. He bought most of his clothing from places other than Wav'aii, which meant they weren't designed with his fins in mind. He either had to order them with fin slits, cut them himself, or just keep his sleeves over them. He preferred the last for ease.

Taking a breath, he sat straight, faced one of the combots, and began talking.

He introduced True Match, what they did and how. He talked about their successful ventures on several Coalition worlds, including the central Coalition ringworld, and their self-reported accuracy. He then described how he had been scanned as part of an experiment and everything that led to him meeting Sophie.

And then he introduced her.

"My mate is a human, from the protectorate world Earth. She is the first human to be matched off Earth using True Match. Thank you for agreeing to this interview, lov'alel."

"Thanks for having me," she responded, and though her voice was formal, there was a sparkle in her eye, a smile tucked into the corners of her lips. Like she was still having fun.

"Tell me about your experience with True Match," he said, sitting back, content to hear her speak.

And she did. Eloquent and calm. She kept her eyes on him, not looking at the cameras at all – like a professional. It was totally opposite to how she treated her cameras before. Her Standard was accented, but proper and her explanations were just detailed enough that they were informative without being bogged down or uninteresting.

She was, in a word, perfect.

And this was more in line with what Serval was accustomed to doing. No silly dessert tastings or waving to fans. Just the two of them, in a world of his design, playing to an audience while still being completely isolated with each other.

He asked about her life on Earth, and she described what it was like growing up in a family that immigrated from one country to another and all the joys and challenges that brought. She extolled the wonders of her culture and how there was so much more to Earth than just the singular language and culture they had experienced as a Coalition.

When he asked her about her plans now that she was off Earth, she didn't even hesitate. She described her channel and that she wanted to show Earth how wonderful the universe was. That it was a vast, beautiful, safe place and that, just as the Coalition hadn't seen all of Earth, Earth had no idea of even a fraction of what space was like.

"Are you nervous about being matched to me?" He asked. Biting his tongue immediately after. That question hadn't been on the list he meant to ask. It just came out instead of the wrap up he had meant to begin.

Sophie nodded. "I am. This isn't a usual relationship on Earth. We are still coming to terms with the idea of mates. To be suddenly given mine was unexpected, but not unwelcome." She smiled. "I'm nervous. But in the kind of way you feel before a roller coaster. You know you're going to be taken for a ride, but you also know it's going to be exciting and worth the journey. I'm eager to ride this coaster with you, Serval. Whatever twists and turns it might bring."

He could only grin back at her. Her cheeks had darkened. A blush. So cute. As was the way she ducked her head, pushing her hair behind her ear. She was precious.

His olules moved in their bind, eager to try to reach for her. Desperate to try to make the bond that eluded them.

Sophie's eyes turned back up to him, and he cleared his throat, looking away as he realized he had been staring at her for an awkwardly long time.

"Thank you," he said, grateful all his years of reporting kept him from stuttering. "For letting me interview you. I hope we have a good follow up soon to report to the people."

Sophie beamed. The smile so bright, it caressed along his skin like the rays from a sun. "Thank you for letting me do this. I can't wait to give everyone good news."

He turned to his main camera and began his sign off. "I'd like to thank everyone for watching today. For more news, reviews, and interviews, join One Action News. And to learn more about True Match, you can subscribe to my channel specifically. Thank you. And… that's wrapped," he said, gesturing to the bots. The fleet broke their dome at the familiar hand signal and flew back to their case.

Immediately, Sophie relaxed back into her seat, laughing. "That was perfect. I don't think either of us stuttered even once! That editing is going to be so easy. Do you do your editing yourself?"

"No. I send the raw footage to Nox. He has editors that do all that."

"Yeah, I had an editor for a while, but it turned out she was doing crack on the side, and when she got caught, she had to go into rehab, and I never replaced her."

"Doing… crack?" Serval repeated, completely baffled about how one did a crack.

He didn't get any further information, however, as Sophie was already up, moving her chair to sit beside him.

It was her turn to do his interview. Which involved her setting up her archaic human camera – which was only a camera and couldn't even hover – onto a tripod.

"I asked my followers to submit questions for you," she was saying as she worked. "So, I'll ask you their questions, and you just answer them if you want. If not, that's fine. I can edit anything out. Or we can laugh about it, not answer it, and I'll leave it in. Just be natural, okay?"

He remained sitting as he had before, one leg over the other, upright and formal in his chair. Meanwhile, Sophie unclipped her cape and tossed it aside, revealing the full majesty of her chest, uncovered and sparkling like she had put glitter on it. She fluffed up her hair as she sat down. This time, she didn't cross her legs but spread her feet, keeping her knees together, as she perched on the edge of her seat, like she was about to jump up and run away.

"Ready?" She asked, pulling out her archaic human phone.

It was already integrated into his systems so she could access the communication relays that put her back in contact with Earth. Luckily, Serval hadn't had to deal with the headache of setting that up. It had all been done on the transport ship that brought her here. He had just needed to transfer all that programming onto his system.

"I'm ready," he assured her, switching back to English.

"Okay." She cleared her throat, looking at the camera again. A brief pause, a second for her to begin the video in editing later, and she took off-

"Hey, sweeties! It's me, Sophie, coming to you with another episode of SophServe. Today, we're doing a Q&A! I haven't done one of these since my one million subscriber mark," she looked at him, as though cuing him to speak, but he didn't have anything to say. She covered immediately, facing back towards the camera. "So, everyone, I know you saw him on the live stream, but let me introduce you to him officially. This is Serval, my mate and, I guess… boyfriend?"

Serval frowned, concerned. "A juvinile? I assure you, Sophie, I am of age and have been for some time."

She started laughing, grabbing onto his arm. "No. No. It's just a title for someone who isn't yet a husband but more than a friend."

"That makes absolutely no sense."

"Yeah. Sounded way cooler in high school."

"What?"

"Getting off track. We have questions!" She held up her phone. "So, I told everyone that I was going to be doing this, and I said they could ask you whatever they wanted. I'm going to be screening some of them though. Like, this one, redizhurr92." She looked up from the paper at her camera through her lashes. "Shame on you. Such language. What that looks like is my business. Other than that, free for all. You ready?" She looked at Serval expectantly.

"I suppose."

She snickered. "You don't have to be so enthusiastic."

Serval blinked, confused. He thought his response had been measured.

She laughed harder. "Sarcasm, Serval. You're too chill. Be relaxed. Loosy goosy."

"How are you speaking English and I still have no idea what you're saying?" He asked, watching as she wiggled her arms to her side in the oddest dance he'd ever seen.

She snickered, looking at her phone. "Okay, first question: What's your favorite dessert?"

That was, probably, the lamest question he'd ever heard in an interview. What did it even matter?

But of course, it did matter to them. Her content was sweets themed. He had to cast his mind around for an answer since he didn't usually eat sweet food.

"So serious," Sophie said with false sincerity as he thought.

"I don't eat sweets. I don't know that I have a favorite."

"Ugh!" Sophie grabbed for her heart, gasping. "What? My own mate? The betrayal!"

"I'm genuinely concerned for you right now."

"Come on, surely there's something. You must have liked sweets as a kid." She blinked. "Oh, wait. Or is this like a species thing. Because you can't taste spice, right? Guys, he can't taste spicy food! It doesn't burn. Isn't that weird? So, like, does that mean you can't taste sweet things either? I think I heard that about cats once. You're more like a fish than a cat though."

Serval was going to get dizzy trying to keep up with her nonsensical, random changes in topics. The way her focus just veered off course was distracting, as was the completely odd rambling.

"I can taste sweet things," he finally settled on saying, since that was a direct question. "When I was younger, my mother would harvest ililowee eggs that that we always enjoyed eating. Those are sweet."

"Eggs? Sweet… eggs?"

"Ililowee are a type of crustacean on my homeworld. They're about the same size as me-"

"That's horrifying."

"-and they lay eggs about this size." He showed her with his hand, mimicking grabbing one.

"Like a golf ball, got it," she nodded along.

"The eggs are flavorful and the mucous they're laid in to keep them from drifting in the water is sweet. It's a popular treat among rilings."

"What's a riling?"

"It's what my people call our young. A rie."

Sophie made a face. "I guess I should be grateful they're not called fry. I just wouldn't be able to take my kids seriously."

Serval leaned in close, surprising her. "Is that what you want? To have my rilings?"

"Er, I mean… yeah?" She stuttered for the first time, her voice cute and soft and uncertain. "I mean, maybe not like right now. But yeah… I want babies some day."

Serval made a sound deep in his throat, grappling with the sudden emotions that were rushing in his chest.

He had never really cared for rilings. He didn't dislike them, really, but having a rie would mean he'd have to be home, back in the nest pools. Something he was definitely loath to do. He could feel the suffocating grip of home just thinking about it.

Yet, at the same time, an image flashed in his head of Sophie, nude, body painted with wii'le lines, laboring in his family nesting pool, surrounded by his mother, his sister, himself, the wii in the pool glowing in the moonlight as they rippled in the water.

Humans were capable of breeding hybrids. It was what made their species so unique. She could spawn for him. What would a riling between them even look like?

The thoughts assaulted him all at once. Striking into his chest with a stunning ferocity that made his cock and ovules jump in his pants and his mind whir.

"Erm, we should do the next question," Sophie breathed, staring pointedly at his face, her face alight, her pulse jumping in her neck. Humans were so soft, so delicate, he could see it right there. His little female, so vulnerable. In his line of work, someone couldn't be that fragile.

But she was, and he was eager to revel in it.

"Er, next question is: How does it feel to have a human mate?"

He couldn't answer that. She hadn't triggered him yet, so he didn't know. But her channel wasn't about honesty and truth, it was about the show between them. So, instead, he said-

"Wonderful."

The roughness in his voice, born from his desire for her, made her shiver in her seat.

"Yeah?" She smiled, trying to regain control. "It's pretty cool having an alien mate too. Next question: what are the tentacles on your head?"

He answered that calmly, as he did the next one about what he was and where he was from. The interview was less focused than the one he conducted. She not only allowed tangents, she encouraged them. For content, she said, as she kept throwing him random, uninteresting questions.

What did he do for work?

What were his intentions – he didn't quite understand the subtext in that one, though apparently it must have some he missed because Sophie laughed when he began describing his intention to continue on to his next story.

They asked more about what kind of food he liked, if he worked out, if he liked the chocolate he had eaten on the live stream.

It felt less like an interview, and more like acquaintances trying to get to know him.

"That's what it's supposed to feel like," Sophie said when he told her as much while she was adjusting the camera as it had gone out of focus. Apparently, the auto-focusing technology on human made cameras wasn't perfect and needed to be manually fixed at times.

Maybe he should give her the combot he got her now. It would certainly be easier for her to record on that, and he wouldn't have to deal with all the conversion that had to be done on her human camera.

Although, it would rob him of the chance to stare at her beautifully curved and lucious ass as she bent over in front of him. Imagining tossing up her skirt, fingering her slit, figuring out how to fit his ovules inside her.

"It's a parasocial relationship," she continued, oblivious to his thoughts. "I'm supposed to feel like a friend to them. Approachable, you know? It's part of the whole appeal of doing what I do. They wouldn't be so interested in watching me if it weren't for my personality. And it's the same for you. They're trying to feel you out. Feel where you fit in our established paradigm. Careful what you say, by the way. You say one thing and it can be linked to you forever, regardless of your desires."

He definitely didn't understand, but he wasn't really thinking about parasocial relationships and social paradigms when she dropped back on that deliciously round ass, making her high breasts jiggle as she pulled up the straps of her dress and tossed back her hair.

It was ludicrous how sexual humans were, the females especially, without even meaning to be. She had no idea the salacious thoughts she had just put in his head with that simple movement alone.

"Okay, back to questions," she declared looking at her phone. "Here's one: Do you have any family?"

"Yes. My mother, father, and younger sister all still live on Wav'aii."

"Do you think they'll like me?" Sophie asked, though that was definitely not a question from her phone.

"I can't imagine they won't."

"Well, what did they say when you told them about me?"

"I haven't."

"You… haven't?" Her face fell, hurt swimming in her eyes, and it struck him in the chest.

What had he said wrong?