That Alien Feeling

When he woke up, Harry felt relieved and happy.He sighed drowsily, and burrowed into the pillow again—the pillow smelled so good.His good pillow moved.Harry pursed his lips and hugged it harder.

"Let go, Habbo." Adam smiled and kissed him on the temple. "I have to go to work."

"Don't go," Harry muttered under his breath, slipping into Adam's arms.He liked the smell of Adam so much. "Your birthday is today, so you should have a day off. I don't have a shift today, so we can celebrate together."

"No." Adam stroked Harry's cheek with his fingers. "We can celebrate at night. Now open your beautiful eyes for me."

Harry rubbed his eyes, opening them with difficulty.As his hazy eyes focused on Adam, he suddenly felt his throat constrict and he couldn't breathe—Adam's dark eyes were filled with love and warmth that melted his heart.

Only then did he realize that he was lying on Adam's chest.Skin to skin.Naked.

He felt his face burn.Looking back now, everything about last night was so unreal.Is that all true?

"Hey," Adam's voice was still sleepy, deep and hoarse.

"Happy birthday." Harry was a little shy, a little overwhelmed.

"Thank you, darling." Adam lowered his eyelids and looked at him lazily.He's so... pretty.Harry felt his heart sinking, his lips tingled slightly, and suddenly wanted to kiss Adam's jaw so badly.His stomach tightened.

"Don't look at me that way," Adam chuckled. "I can't do without work, baby."

Baby.Adam called him "baby" and "baby" again.Does this mean their relationship is back to normal?Or did everything change after last night?

Harry wasn't sure, rubbing his cheek against Adam's chest.

What the hell happened last night... wasn't supposed to happen?But so natural.

But in Kaluvia, extra-contractual sex is rejected.

To be precise, he does not have a consort right now.

But he still has a promise to Leilan 'Heaney' Goole.There is still a marriage contract between them, and things are far from over.

But the disappearance of bond was not caused by him.

Harry found himself arguing with himself like a madman.He sighed.

"Why this expression?" Adam lifted Harry's face and looked into his eyes.He pursed his lips. "Regret?"

Harry has no regrets.And that's the problem, isn't it?Shouldn't he feel guilty?Was what happened between him and Adam immoral?He couldn't be sure.A child contract is not the same thing as a romantic marriage contract like that of people on Earth.Harry didn't feel like he'd betrayed Leilan 'Heaney' Goole.He hadn't promised her anything - that had been made years ago by his parents.Harry thought he now understood why lawbreakers felt it was a big mistake to bond children who were incapable of expressing themselves.

Harry shook his head in response. "I don't regret it. It's just...you know, Layla."

Adam's face darkened.He opened his mouth to say something, but he caught a glimpse of the clock on the wall and immediately rolled over and got out of bed. "Fuck, I'm going to be late. Let's talk when I get back, okay?"

Harry nodded.He watched Adam get ready for work.In less than 10 minutes, he was ready to go out.

"Hug before leaving?" Harry timidly suggested.He wanted more than a hug; but he was a little embarrassed by the way Adam changed his clothes before his eyes and some ridiculous thoughts flashed through his mind.He felt like a different person, and he was shocked by it.Does losing the bond mean that he has become a different person?Can bondage bring such a big change to people?

Adam didn't answer him, but went to the bed and pulled Harry into his arms.

Harry eagerly returned the hug.His nipples sting slightly against Adam's suit.He parted his lips for a kiss.

"I'm afraid I won't be able to get out of this room." Adam sighed into his cheek.

Harry turned his face away, and their lips met, seeking each other moistly.Harry felt dizzy.

Harry had always been curious about the romantic custom of kissing on the lips in many, many civilizations.He had kissed his mate once - they were both curious - but after trying it they agreed that the experience was awkward and boring.The kiss between him and Adam was something else entirely, as natural and necessary as breathing.He couldn't end the kiss.

Harry felt his knees go weak as Adam backed away, and his lower body was achingly hard.

"I'll be back soon." Adam's cheekbones were flushed, and his eyes were so intensely fixed on Harry that his pupils turned almost pure black. "Come back as soon as you get off work, without delaying a second."

Adam left and the door closed.Harry collapsed on the mattress, staring vacantly at the roof, feeling hot all over and unable to breathe.

How much he wanted to chase Adam and stick to him.What was this feeling so strong that it overwhelmed him?Harry wasn't sure he liked it, he'd never felt such an intense - horrifying - feeling in his life.

***

Harry was elated, feeling awesome.

Dinner is ready, the table is set, and the cake, which he's managed to make almost all afternoon, looks delicious (it's a bit crooked, but Harry hopes it's not too obvious) - and hopefully it tastes just as good .

Harry looked at the cake tentatively, wondering again if he should just buy a birthday cake from the corner bakery.He thought it would be a good idea to bake a cake for Adam, but what if the cake was not good?What if Adam hated it?

Alas, it was too late anyway.Adam should be home soon.

He wiped his hands on his T-shirt, checked the table one last time, made sure everything was ready—

He felt itchy.A familiar feeling.

He frowned and looked at his body, then froze in place, his eyes widening.

A translucent white force field is gradually surrounding his body, becoming clearer and clearer.Then, a familiar pulling feeling ran through him, and he didn't have time to think, no, he was pulled through the space forcefully, and in the chaos, the white light of many stars flashed past him.

People on Earth thought that aliens would come in spaceships, but they were wrong.At least as far as Harry's home planet and some of the nearby planets are concerned, spaceships have long since been abandoned by people who invented inter-system teleportation thousands of years ago.Now only tourism companies will use spaceships to carry out some short-distance business, and those lower-level people who cannot afford TNIT—trans-galaxy almost instantaneous transmission①—will use it.

Note ①: The original text is "Transgalactic Nearly Instantaneous Teleportation".

"Welcome home, Your Highness."

Harry stared blankly at the high ceilings and the transparent walls that gave the impression of being outside.

He is home.

"Your Highness?"

He is home.In other words, he wouldn't know if the birthday cake he baked for Adam was any good.

"Your Highness?"

Adam is half a galaxy away.

When Adam returned home, there was only a deserted room left.

Adam, maybe we will never see each other again.

Harry's throat was blocked, and his chest was getting tighter and tighter.He swallowed.

"Your Highness!"

Startled, he looks around and realizes that the voice is from the artificial intelligence in the palace.He felt stupid—dumb and strange.He was too used to life on Earth, and too used to those outdated but fascinating technologies.

Harry cleared his throat, trying to get rid of the lump that was stuck there. "What's up?"

"Her Majesty and your father are waiting for you in Her Majesty's study."

"Thanks, Borg'gon." Harry walked out of the teleporter room, toward his mother's study.His steps are heavy, but even heavier is his heart.

He has been away from here for several months.He misses the palace, misses his parents, brothers and sisters, he should feel elated now, but he doesn't.He could feel those familiar connections springing to life in his brain again, but now they seemed too noisy, irritating him rather than comforting him.

Harry closed his spirit shield tightly, trying his best to seal off his brain.He was rusty; on Earth he didn't have to guard against other people's telepathy.

Earth thousands of light years away.

Harry forced himself to shake the thought away, and pushed open the study door.

His parents turned their heads.

Harry put on a smile, waiting for them to greet him first.

Zahef 'Enkh' Chaali spoke first. "Hachter," his father looked at him with a warm smile. "Welcome home, we all miss you."

Harry felt the vibrations from his father, and lowered the shield, allowing his father's consciousness to embrace him.Wrapped in the warmth and comfort from his father, he let out a long sigh of relief.He misses this, but finds himself wanting more of a real hug, a pair of strong arms wrapped around—

His throat was blocked again, and his eyes suddenly became moist.He blinked hard.

"Hacht 'Enkh' Chaali, be safe," said his mother.Her voice was harsher than his father's.Queen Tamirs 'Heaney' Chaali had always been a strict mother, but Harry thought that was down to her status as Queen of the Second Clan of Calluvia.Of course she must be strict; she has the livelihoods of thousands of people on her shoulders, and she has to.That didn't mean she didn't love her children; Harry knew she loved them.

"Be safe, mother." He tried not to show the depression in his heart.He was used to the casual greetings of the people on Earth, and this traditional way of greeting seemed so strange.

His mother bonded with him, and she frowned. "You're not happy," she said. "Because you want us to call you back sooner?"

"Can I go back?" Harry blurted out.His parents stared at him together, and he added anxiously: "Just go back for a while? When I was sent back, I had something to do at hand."

His parents exchanged a look, communicating telepathically through their bond.He still doesn't feel his bond.Is it beyond repair?

"Why do you want to go back to Day Trip?" asked his mother at last.

Note ②: SolIII, the third planet in the solar system.

"Tara," his father corrected his wife gently.

"Actually, the people there call it 'Earth' now." Harry was racking his brains for a good reason, and he worried that "Adam's birthday" wasn't enough for them to allow him to go back.Teleporting to a planet half a galaxy away is resource-intensive and expensive, even for a direct royal like Harry.But that's not the only reason.The earth belongs to the "former TNIT planet" ③, to visit such a planet must be approved by the "Department of Inter-Galactic Affairs Management".Generally speaking, everyone only has one chance a year.

Note ③: pre-TNITplanet, that is, a planet whose technological level has not yet achieved instant transmission across galaxies.

"Answer my question, Hacht 'enkh' Chaali," said his mother.

He suddenly hated his real name, it was ugly and artificial.Unfortunately, the more noble the birth, the longer the name.Harry thought Earthman's names were much better.

But he is not from Earth.He seems to have forgotten this.

"I want you to call me 'Harry'." Harry looked down.

"Harry." The Queen repeated it flatly.

Harry nodded. "I got used to the name when I was on Earth."

"The name is a bit... vulgar, dear," said Queen Tamirs.

"I think it sounds good," Zahev said.

His wife glared at him.Zahev returned her an innocent smile.Harry almost laughed.Whenever this happens, he understands why people always say that he looks like his father, even though his appearance is exactly the copy of his mother.

"Don't be stupid, Zahef 'Enkh' Chaali," his mother said to his father. "'Harry' sounds like a Lawbreaker name, short and vulgar."

Harry wrinkled his nose.

"No way," although he didn't know if it was true, he had never seen a lawbreaker before. "The king of the earthlings also has a 'Harry'!"

His mother sighed disapprovingly, but Harry knew he had won.

"Very well—Harry," she said. "Now you can finally talk about it, why do you want to go back to Rixingsan?"

Harry shifted his weight to the other foot. "I haven't had time to say goodbye to my friends yet."

"Friends?" She raised an eyebrow. "You made friends with them?"

"Why do you make it sound like they're some kind of lower creature?" Harry argued. "It won't be long before they can achieve interstellar travel."

"My son." Queen Tamirs raised her head cautiously.

Harry hated, hated, hated his mother calling him that—though her mother didn't mean it, it always came across as condescending.

"My son, according to recent estimates, they're at least 1000 years away from inventing the TNIT device," his mother said.

"But it's not too far away from when they invented the spaceship." Fortunately, his father interjected at this moment, "probably in another 500 years."

"Spaceship technology has long been eliminated," Queen Tamirs said disdainfully. "Too slow, too inefficient to count. Anyway, I don't see why you would want to befriend a member of a...emerging civilization."

"Didn't Gul'Bathion teach it? 'Arrogance is a sin'," said Harry sharply.

His mother's face was stained with a faint blush.

His father laughed, drawing a faint glance from his wife.

"Great, Harry." His father grinned.

Queen Tamils ​​can't be amused at all. "Hacht 'enh' Chaali." She picked up the conversation again.

"Harry," Harry corrected her.

"Harry," his mother relented, looking annoyed. "You were punished to travel three times a day for vile acts of violating other people's spiritual privacy—"

"I'm just curious. Besides, she's my sister, not just anyone!" Harry argued angrily. "Sang Yaxi shouldn't tease me, she knows that I have no resistance to secrets."

"You were punished to go three times a day for violating other people's spiritual privacy." His mother repeated without hearing. "You didn't go on a trip. You should learn to be humble and understand that your sense of kinship is a gift, not to be abused out of curiosity." She glanced at him. "You didn't go to Day Three to make friends. So, I don't see a reason for you to go back. You want to say goodbye to your...friends? Then again, how do you tell them? They don't think aliens exist, You can only lie to explain why you left."

Harry slumped his shoulders.Worst of all, he knew his mother was right.He couldn't explain to Adam where he was going, or why they couldn't even talk on the phone.But—but—

Harry turned to his father for help.

"Perhaps it's for the best, son," said his father gently.

Harry turned and left the study.He almost cried.Obviously, he is still the doll who can't grow up.

Today is Adam's birthday, but no one at home is waiting for him.Harry's heart ached at the thought, and his vision blurred.He shuffled back to his room.

How long will Adam wait before he realizes that Harry will never come back to him?