Broken Boundaries

06 - Steadfast Support

'Nonsense.' said Asitha. 'Although I don't have it as bad as you do, as a female I do understand some of how you must feel. I've heard of some of the things that have happened.' She laid her hand on Alain's thigh. 'And Alain isn't at all like our males, he's been very worried about you as well.'

Tiness glanced at him while her heart beat a little faster. 'Really?'

He blushed a little. 'I just can't have dear friends feel bad.'

Tiness smiled. 'Thank you, both of you.'

Asitha took a deep breath. 'I guess it's my turn now.' she said and Tiness and Asitha looked a little puzzled at her and she gripped the hem of her shirt. 'I've been afraid of showing this for a long time but it's nothing compared to what you had to hide.' Her heart pounded and her hands trembled slightly but she told herself she'd better show them now than being exposed later on. She lifted her shirt and exposed her belly.

Tiness gasped as she and Alain saw the wide, white and red scar of burned flesh that ran in a slight arch from her lower abdomen to her left breast.

'I was in an accident when I was young.' Asitha said softly. 'Ever since then I've been bullied and called ugly. Especially by males.'

'Utter nonsense.'

She looked at Alain, who frowned.

'This doesn't make any difference to who you are.' he said. 'To me you're still cute, regardless of this scar or not. Any male that can't look more than skin deep, or in your case, fur deep, is a complete idiot.'

Asitha looked at Tiness smiling and nodding, and blushed and chuckled. 'I hoped I had nothing to worry about.'

Alain looked away. 'But you should still cover yourself, you're a girl after all.'

She noticed his red face and pulled her shirt down fast, blushing even harder. He took a deep breath and grabbed the remote. 'That's enough about that.' he said and pulled up the playlist. 'Since we don't have enough energy to play we'll just fill our time with merry movies.'

Some time later, Asitha and Alain weren't surprised to see Tiness had fallen asleep against him. 'Can you carry her?' Asitha whispered. 'I'll replace her pillows and bed cover.'

He lifted her carefully in his arms but she mumbled softly while he moved to her pod. 'Shhh, sleep, Tiness.' he whispered. She rubbed her cheek against him and Asitha chuckled softly.

'We were really lucky to have met you instead of a couple of males that dislike us Silth.'

He blushed slightly while he laid Tiness on her bed. 'I just think I was lucky that I didn't have to deal with a couple of Silth males not unlike human males.' he chuckled softly. 'I guess we're even now.'

Asitha smiled softly at Tiness while Alain tucked a pillow under her head. They left the pod but looked back for a moment at the doorway. 'Will things change?' Asitha asked.

'Honestly, I don't know.' said Alain. 'A big secret has spilled and we'll just have to go on and see what happens.'

Asitha nodded and gave him a hug. 'Sweet dreams.' she said and stepped into her own pod. Alain went to bed but stayed awake for a while, trying to figure out how he felt about Tiness.

***

'Hey.' said Tiness as she woke up and entered the living and found Alain in the kitchen fixing something to eat.

He smiled at her while he opened a container with fruit. 'Sleep well?'

She pulled on the lower front of her shirt and nodded a little.