The Alien Warrior King's Accountant - Loki Renard Page 0,10

my body knows to fear Tyrant. Terrible annoys me, but Tyrant commands my very cells. He speaks to the ancient animal parts of my brain. He dominates the reptilian core hiding atop my spine, and he makes me want to curl up in a tight little ball.

Terrible shuts his mouth and folds his arms over his chest. He may bulge and strut, but his fin is lying back at an even shallower angle than before and I think he too hates disappointing his king.

“Human, you are here to assist me in the small matter of my accounts. Terrible, your job is to assist me in all things. Apparently, neither of you are capable of either task. We are currently in a skirmish with the most vicious of Martian troops, and I am here dealing with you two!”

His disappointment and annoyance is so scathing I feel it in my soul. This is the absolute worst start to any job anywhere at any time. He’s right. Or at least, half-right. I really think this is mostly Terrible’s fault. There has never been a better name in the history of existence.

“I’m very sorry,” I apologize. “Truly. Please. If you'd like to direct me to your accounts department, or provide me with your records, I will get started right away.”

“You will get started right away — after you have been punished.”

“Uhm…”

I’m not sure what he is referring to, but I know that I’m not going to like it. When I fuck up at Rogers Accounting, I get a verbal, or at worst, written warning. I have one written warning for the whole cough medicine incident. But I don’t get the impression that King Tyrant gives warnings.

Terrible is giving me a look I don’t particularly enjoy. He looks smug, and happy, for the first time since I met him.

I watch as Tyrant performs whatever technological magic is involved with making matter move, and creates what I can only describe as a sort of bench with a human shaped indentation in it out of the essence of the room.

“Lie down.”

“On that?”

“Lie. Down.” He repeats the words in a throaty growl, and I am compelled to obey, lest he become even more annoyed than he currently is. “Face down.”

I lie down and find that the surface beneath me is soft and molds to my body, somewhat like that soft foam you stick flowers into when you arrange them. Except this surface moves at the whim of the king, and slips over my lower back, holding me firmly in place.

I’m trapped.

“Please… sir. Mister. King. Royal. Please…” I start to babble as panic rises in my stomach. I’ve never been good at small spaces. My apartment started to feel like a prison during quarantine and this, this gives me no room to move whatsoever. I am held as securely as I would be if I were wrapped in the arms of a lover, except there’s no being to the grip which keeps me pinned. There’s just King Tyrant’s will.

“Okay, I don’t want this job anymore. Send me back to Mr. Rogers. Fuck this. Fuck that guy over there, specifically. Let me up!”

I’m panicking, and when I panic, I curse. It’s a failing I’ve never managed to overcome. I’m not good at high stress situations. I’m good at contained ones with documentation and forms and guidelines. I’m a worker bee, and I like being a worker bee. But what is happening to me now is way outside the hive.

Tyrant places his massive hand on the back of my neck and emits a low purring sound which throbs through me, calming me in a mysterious alien way. I breathe. Maybe this is going to be okay. This is an advanced species, after all. Hopefully, they will be kind. Is kindness not the most advanced trait of all? This is probably just some kind of holding thing to ensure I don’t hurt myself for a little bit.

“I have no place for disobedience on my ship.”

I can’t see him, but I can hear him. The sound of his voice makes me think what is about to happen won’t fall under the umbrella of kindness after all. He’s keeping me calm so that I don’t make it harder for him to hurt me. This is a perversion of my nervous system, an alien overload.

This isn’t fair. This isn’t remotely fair. I wasn’t disobedient. I just made a mistake. It could have happened to anybody. I don’t think that matters though, not to this king