H.O.M.E. 12
by
Fin
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After the "disastrous" meeting with The Council, it had been Slim whom had thought of the idea to use James this way.
Sitting at a table in The V.I.B. Lounge, lightpen in hand, the handsome young soldier had a line of alien fans standing out the door, down the stairs, across the block, and halfway around the ring itself!
Due to his father's "Coming Out" announcement of their arrival to The Core, the boy had interestingly enough become Outer Ring City's newest favorite celebrity. And both Franklin and Slim intended to use this status to achieve their ends.
"And remember to pick up your complimentary DermStim on your way out," said the attractive brown haired hunk with the best forced smile he could manage.
But if the alien currently at the front of the line had understood his words, the hulking orange monster with several head tentacles and one huge toothy grin gave absolutely no indication.
"I love you James!"
"Yes, you've already said that several times."
"I love you so much it hurts," continued the being, as it just stood there transfixed.
Awkwardly, the soldier gestured for one of the Sam clones in attendance to escort the swooning creature away. He had hundreds of more signings to finish before the day was through, and the lad's wrist was already aching as it was.
Next to approach the table was an alien whom James was already too familiar with...
"Hello Rix," said the human with a sigh.
"Hello James," said the giant reptillian manbeast sheepishly. "I brought you this."
Holding a bouquet of otherwordly flowers in one of his massive four clawed fists, the alien delicately placed it on the table in front of the Umon.
"Are you wearing your DermStim, Rix?"
The green lizard nodded its huge head, and yanked on its shirt to reveal one of the stimulation patches clinging to his scales, adjacent to that odd hole in its chest he had once shown James before.
"You know... you can wear those on your shoulder," said the boy, wincing at the sight.
"I like to have it close to my...."
"NEXT!"
The colossal alien was shuffled away, and another soon took its place.
Standing behind the table, an assortment of "Feel The Fever" advertising buttons adorning his purple suit, Slim the Slime Lord, could not have been more pleased with how things were going.
It had taken the alien a few months, but the halfman had been true to his word, and his new business venture, SlimStims, had opened to much fanfare throughout The Core. Finally, there was an alternate source for Fever besides a Umon clone!
And with James to serve as the perfect spokesbeing for its advertisement, the stims were being purchased as fast as they could be produced. The blob monster was soon going to be one of the richest aliens in Outer Ring City! Maybe he would even receive an invitation to join The Council if things were to continue at this rate!
Standing on the other side of the seated new celebrity, was Slim's human twin, Franklin Blade. Staring stoically out at the horde of beasts that had come not only to meet his son in person, but also sign a pledge to use one of Slim's DermStims instead of a Umon of their own, the man gave off no indication of his own feelings on the situation. This was what had to be done. And so it would.
The retired war hero, not unused to having to man one of these meet and greet tables himself, had immediately seen the wisdom in using his boy this way, much to James' chagrin.
"It's for your brother James. All of them."
"I think it's for Slim actually, Dad," said the soldier bewildered at the idea of trying to harness their new infamy amongst the aliens. "He's gotten into your head, Sir."
"More like, I've gotten into his."
James Blade, still unsure about that, had agreed to their plan nonetheless. And if the numbers of new SlimStim users were any indication, the idea was working! With any luck, soon Outer Ring City, then the rest of The Core, would no longer be dependent on the Sams to get their hit of the heat inducing Fever.
But the next being up at the table was not one of the aliens that Franklin and Slim hoped to convert to their new product. Instead it was one of the Sam clones themselves, the youthful blonde lad that had first encountered The Blades their first day in Outer Ring City.
"Hi," said the boy bashfully as he stood in front of his hero, whom had once so valiantly come to his rescue. And was still hard at work on his behalf.
"Um.. hi," said James confused. "Can I help you?"
"Would you mind if...." said the lad, pointing to his bare chest, his eyes unsure of himself.
"I'm not going to sign your chest," answered James blankly.
"You signed all their bodies!" protested the blonde youth, gesturing to a group of aliens nearby, fresh James Blade signatures adorning their various tentacles and proboscises.
"That's different..." stuttered the soldier, not sure what to say. "Here, um, take one of these."
James grabbed one of the nearby posters of himself.
"Who should I make it out to?"
The boy once again looked shy.
"I uh.. I still don't have a name," said the lad shaking his head.
"Well remind me later, and we can work on that," said the lieutenant, warmly. "Everyone should have a name."
"You mean it?"
"Of course Sam..." said James, immediately blushing himself at the error. "I mean... uh... we'll work on it!"
Walking away, happier than he had been in all his young years, the boy promised himself to find James as soon as he could catch the soldier alone.
The lieutenant, peering backward to see if his father had seen the exchange, was relieved to find the man otherwise engaged already, chatting adamantly with Slim about one of their new business ideas no doubt.
Turning back to once again resume his signaturely duties, the soldier however immediately recognized something was wrong. The new alien in front of him was not smiling like the rest. In fact it was quite snarling!
"Know your place human!" it shouted while flipping the table over with one of its sharp appendages!
Jumping to his feet, James Blade was on the beast in a flash, his years of combat training serving him well. Dodging several swings, before delivering a few of his own, the alien was down on the ground before much of the crowd even knew what was going on.
When they did, and that it had ended with James standing victorious over his foe, his foot pressed down on the creatures long neck, the assembly of alien fans burst out into chants of adoring praise!
"Woooo! You go James!"
"You're hero Umon!
"We love you James!"
The crowd cheered to his brave display for several minutes, filling The V.I.B. Lounge with the sound of their chemically induced enfatuation. Staring at his fans, the young soldier briefly thought that maybe Slim's idea was not in fact the worst he had ever heard. Maybe he could get used to being thought of as a hero, like so many in his family already had been before.
Seeing how close his son had just come to being injured however, Franklin immediatedly decided to end the days meetings. They would need far more security before they even begun to try one of these again.
"You okay boy?" questioned the ret. admiral, once The Exo Club was once again empty of admirers.
"Nothing I couldn't handle, Dad."
"Make sure it stays that way, James."
"Do you think it's going to work?"
"If you believe Slim, we might just have a chance."
James just stared at his Dad. Those clearly weren't the right choice of words.
"Fine, then. Believe me, instead."
"We still have to find Sam."
"I know Son," said Franklin. "Believe me, I know."
As the two turned to leave the premises themselves however they encountered yet another alien still waiting for them inside.
"I'm sorry, but you'll have to return when we hold another event," said Franklin to this new being.
"You mistake me Umon," said the shadowy creature. "I'm not here for a signature."
"Then what can we do you for?" questioned James, immedeately apprehensive of the beast's motivations.
"You have more than just enemies on The Council, Umons," said the slinking tentacle alien. "My benefactor wants you to know his friendship is real, and has information you might find extremely... useful... in finding whom you search...."
Franklin and James immediately froze where they stood, then listened to what this newest beast had to say.