Ty’s post-coital mind had been swimming dreamily. Nothing in his limited sexual experience had even suggested that anything of that magnitude was possible, but he found that easing her obvious loneliness was just as satisfying to him. The thought brought him back from the edge of sleep, and he kissed her softly on the top of her head. She yawned sleepily at this and looked up at him.

“We’d better go” she said, slightly muzzy. Ty was disappointed, but only nodded. Siona washed past him and solidified further up the tunnel on all fours. “Maybe I can entice you into attacking me for a change.” She mused. “Come on lazy human.” Ty crawled along behind her.

They passed crystals and other things of different colors, bizarre circuits and other tech, but, as promised, Ty was focusing on Sionas tight bottom which quivered slightly with her motion. Below the youthful ass, the cleft of her vagina quivered slowly in time with her movement. It occurred to Ty that she was knowingly presenting it to him for the first time – and that she had invited him to attack her.

Siona glanced down through her transparent body and caught Ty staring. She giggled. “You are insatiable, little boy!” She flicked his nose with a toe without slowing. Ty feigned shame and looked away. When Siona turned back, Ty lurched forward and cupped his mouth directly around her labia, his nose pressing hard into the cleft of her ass.

Syrup immediately gushed into his mouth, as if he’d pressed into a soaked sponge. It had the same fleeting taste that her tongue had earlier – like being overwhelmed with cool, fresh air, only mixed with the creamy, slippery taste that he recognized as the flavor of a girls vagina.

Ty lavished it. He was an instant away from swallowing greedily when Siona let out a wavering scream of surprise, leaping six feet further down the tunnel and turning over at the same time in an act of impossible grace.

The contents of Ty’s mouth escaped with her. It plopped wetly down between her legs and began to recoil back into her twitching vagina, the lips of which were now spread slightly as if in long-awaited welcoming. Her eyes were wide and she was gasping hotly.

“I’m sorry… no good?” Ty asked, alarmed. Siona relaxed and wiped her face with the heel of her palm. “No! Much, much too good.” She gasped.

“What difference does it make?” Ty asked, approaching her. “You’re all one substance… right?”

“No. Well, yes, but in a way so are you.” She propped herself up on her elbows. Ty tried not to stare as her breasts jiggled together adorably. “I’m a fluid sure, but I have a human self-image. When you touch me, I can tell where, even when I’m a puddle. Some parts feel different from others. That part feels good enough to break me, and you’ve never touched me there.”

“May I?” Ty was leaning over her to look directly in her eyes, his expression one of repentance.

“No.” she replied, disappointing Ty immensely. “It wouldn’t be proper just yet. What kind of girl do you think I am?” she winked. Siona saw Ty’s disappointment and changed the subject.

“Want to know where you touched me when you first found me?” Ty nodded. She took his hand and guided his pointed finger over her chest, stopping just left of center. Ty smiled, taking her meaning. “You’re making that up!”

She kissed him. “Now come on, lazy, insatiable human. It’s not all that safe in here.”

They crawled on. Ty stared at the crystals for the rest of the way.

A grate covered the end of the tunnel, which Siona peeled back like cheese cloth. The tunnel emptied into a huge, circular room. Dim silver light emanated from a source Ty could not identify, and he smelled something acrid and sweet that reminded him of very old books.

As his eyes adjusted to the low light, he saw that nose had been correct – they were on a high balcony in an enormous, circular library. Their balcony ran the circumference of the room, but had cracked and fallen in places. In the center Ty could see down six floors or more. A ray of light fell from a shaft in the center of the room to the bottom floor.

Ty had been looking over the balcony when Siona coiled around his waist and pushed him over. Ty cried out in terror before he realized he was dangling from the balcony and descending slowly. He looked up at Siona, her arms were distended. “We have to get down somehow!” she said apologetically. Ty let out a sigh and gripped her elongated body, trying not to look too terrified.

When they had reached the bottom, Siona plopped to the rubble-strewn floor and emerged with a slurp into full female splendor. More book shelves and display cases lined this floor.

Without warning, Ty’s stomach gurgled audibly. With the rush of sex and adventure, Ty had forgotten that he hadn’t eaten in almost two days. Siona gave him a worried look, then turned away, seeming pensive.

“Oh, don’t worry,” Ty spoke up, “I’ve gone a day without food before, I’ll be fine.” Siona, still wearing the worried look, padded up to a large, rectangular slab of floor that had fallen from above and sat on it, resting her chin in the palms of her hands.

“Besides, we shouldn’t be too far from this temple now, right? Heh, though I admit the idea of eating fruit that’s chemically similar to my own semen is kinda… odd.” Siona winced at this. “Oh, no no I’m sure it’s fine!” Realizing he wasn’t getting anywhere consoling her, Ty sat next to her and put his arm around her slender frame.

Siona just lowered her knees. Ty didn’t feel her sob, only breathe slow and even. For a while, neither of them spoke. Ty looked around the library. The books lining the walls were in much better shape than the rest of the city, and as his eyes adjusted he noticed why – each shelf was faced by a faintly shimmering force field that, presumably, preserved the books. On several shelves they had failed, and in those places the books were only heaps of ash split by the occasional stubborn binding.

Ty wondered at the sort of society that had technology advanced enough to preserve books for so long, but would still bother keeping data on paper at all. The idea evoked an image of nobility – of much time and effort spent on things not strictly necessary, but proper; civilized.

“They were noble.” Siona spoke up abruptly. “But they changed. Civility became outmoded, abandoned long ago.”

Ty was about to reply when he realized he had not spoke any of these things aloud.

“No, I can’t read your mind.” She said, giggling despite herself. “I just get a feeling, like watching colors change, almost. From wonder to curiosity to respect. Add in a little intuition and I can get a pretty good idea of what you’re thinking.” She winked.

“That’s how I know you love me.”

Ty thought back to the tunnel, of her breaking into tears. Siona had known how he’d felt even before he did. Ty felt violated, but strangely grateful.

“How- is that just something Ballenta can do?” Ty asked, amazed.

“That’s just something I can do. And don’t worry; I feel the same way about you.” She blushed and averted her eyes, smiling. “Very, very much so. I want to give you something, Ty.”

“Oh?” Ty asked, expecting something dirty. Siona nodded.

“Until now I’ve held it back, because you should be allowed to choose whether or not to accept it. I want to give you some of myself, to keep inside you.”

“You just turned puzzled, Ty.” Siona giggled, but when she spoke her voice was low and solemn. “We Ballenta can bind with humans in a symbiotic relationship. When two are in love, as we are, the human can consume a part of the Ballenta. It’s the first step of our marriage ritual.”

“The Ballenta joins with the humans blood cells, and helps the human live longer, stay healthier, develop better, all sorts of things. It even lets the human go longer without food. In exchange, the Ballenta can drink… well, energy off of the human.”