It took quite a while until the sticky, wet clothes lay on the stones next to the now naked astronaut. The alien immediately recognized the "sick spots" on the thin legs. With stroking movements it rubbed the unconscious man dry from top to bottom. But if he lingered a little longer in some places, he closed his eyes and murmured incomprehensible words to himself. Now he should warm him up as quickly as possible, the energy of the "kiss" would not last much longer and the body in front of him already turned blue and was freezing cold. Sighing loudly and with rolling eyes, the alien lifted the blond man's upper body and sat down behind it, pushed the unconscious man with his feet and embraced him tightly. Even the astronaut's knees were bent so much that he would have screamed in pain. But at the moment he was not yet in his right mind, leaning against the redhead whose warm breath enveloped the two of them protectively.

After only a few minutes, the first muscles of the human being began to move until he lifted his head with a loud groan and stammered dazedly to himself.

"So cold... "Mori... "I'm terribly cold. please." Unnoticed, Hichan strengthened his embrace and the foreboding of another liberation struggle with the tall Russian was to be confirmed immediately. When Torio noticed the situation he was in, he tried to get free, angry. But he noticed that it had no sense, his no longer existing forces did not cause anything. These beings were much stronger than humans, even though they had grown rather small and slim. There was nothing to be done.

"Where is Mori?" he asked in a rough, trembling voice. "What are they doing to him? Is he ... OK?"

"Of course always he... Mori, Mori, Mori. How about me? Thank you, Hichan, for saving my life" the alien played insulted behind him and returned the handle to his chest.

"Hi... chan? ... Thank you... (chuckles) but..."

"I know you didn't want to be saved because my brother left you behind and... blah blah blah... you wouldn't leave without him... bla bla bla bla", the boy interfered and fished for the astronaut's clothes, which had dried surprisingly fast due to the warming shield. "Here, get dressed first, we'll talk later." With that, he also took his second hand off the naked body and released Torio's legs, which were trapped between his.

"You're Mori's brother?! Ouch! Damn it, what did you do to my feet?

"Don't worry, they're no more broken than before, maybe even a little more flexible. Try them," the alien demanded and stood up, held out his hand to the baffled and grinned broadly.

"Joker, I can't get up without help. I can't... I need a wheelchair," replied the astronaut grumpy and with the help of his arms, he carefully stretched out one leg after the other and pulled his trousers over his head. A bit cumbersome on the hard stone floor, but manageable.

"You must work hard on yourself, my dear brother-in-law. "Mum won't even let you out in the front yard this miserable."

"That's easy for you to say, with your super powers. "Why couldn't Mori free herself from that invisible power Where is he now, and why didn't you help him? He's your brother and... I just... ...a human."

"Oh, man, don't give me that sympathy routine. I'm doing this for my family, not necessarily for you. Despite the bitter fact that we broke all our laws, we're gonna do it now. So... "Get a move on, the commander will be here soon and you should at least look a little like a husband." Again the redhead told the confused blond to get up. He put on his T-shirt and jacket and looked at his rescuer with big eyes.

"Hichan? isn't it? Your name is Hichan... "I can't..."

"What?!" the alien shouted impatiently, stood wide legged in front of Torio, grabbed his arms and pulled hard.

"Wait!" came the protest, but there he was, standing in front of the person who was one head shorter and threw himself into his arms in shock. "Are you deaf? Damn, my legs do not carry me. They are... Broken!" Hichan lifted the tall man up again and laughed:

"Broken? ... "Like your mind... all right. But... you're standing, look." And to show the astronaut more clearly, he let go for a moment and grinned arrogantly. "It's called shock therapy. Then he caught him. "Oh, come on, I'm sure we can do better than that." Once again he wanted to let him go, but Torio clung to him desperately.

"Hey, what are you doing? First you save my life and now you're torturing me. . . "Hichan, please stop this, just sit me down somewhere and... take your cold suction cups off me." Smiling, he was lifted up by the alien and carried to a suitable place.

"Alright, and the fact that I gave you mouth to mouth for at least five minutes, let's not tell anybody, got it?!"

No sooner had he put the big man down than another figure emerged from the water. Immediately, Hichan's calm demeanor changed. To greet him he folded his hands and bowed deeply. The newcomer just nodded with clenched teeth and his expression looked so stern and angry as if he had just come out of a battle. Threateningly the older and also somewhat larger alien built up in front of the human and rumbled:

"You!" he snorted contemptuously. "You are endangering all our lives!" He turned away in disgust. "I still can't believe it. . . "A man, a man... and a..."

"A perfect match for your son. You saw it, Father. Torio's rescuer had come forward.

"You should have let him drown.

"And you... ...had the opportunity to get rid of him in his apartment before, but you knew exactly how long he would last..." Hichan pointed to the astronaut who suspiciously looked back and forth between them. "but you let him go in time," the son replied. "There's nothing we can do about it. It is the way it is." The aliens looked at each other. The father was visibly affected by this fact and grabbed his temples with his hands.

"This can't be true," he moaned. "Why just... him?" The third person cleared his throat:

"He, is Torio Jamatosh. . . Nice to meet you, too." The Russian was still holding back on the "Dad," but trying to sound friendly. "Is Mori all right? Where is he, what are they doing with him?" he wanted to know, but instead of an answer, the older alien just glanced at him with a disparaging look and turned to the younger one.

"I never wish you, Hichan, to torture your own flesh and blood to allow him to live his happy life. I will never be able to look him in the eye again. "He will hate me, which he already does... for the rest of my days," he lamented to his son and was close to tears. He carefully put one hand on his shoulder and squeezed it lightly.

"There was no other way, if we hadn't taken over the matter at the lake, the unit would have been wise and would have branded Mori as a defector. "He will forgive us, after all, we have... him." The last mentioned murmured audibly:

"My name is Torio, hello! And your Mori is in bloom because of me. Somebody tell me what's going on, where have they taken him? ... I love..."

"Shut up!" the alien gave him a nasty chop, but the astronaut didn't let him intimidate him and stood up. Of the three, he had the visibly strongest physique, and would probably appear threatening if there weren't two aliens in front of him who treated him like an annoying find. They could still be so small and delicately built that they were capable of extraordinary actions, the blond already knew. Nevertheless, he tried to appear as safe as possible, even if the fact of not having a wheelchair gnawed at his ego. Hichan defused the situation by explaining

"He's doing as well as he can under the circumstances... ... But it is a game with time. You should get married as soon as possible... eh... "or else love's appeal will fade and..." A little break was created. "...and neither of you will survive." The head of the family rolled his eyes and moaned:

"It's a catastrophe! I killed my own son! What a father I am."

"We'll get through this. He... Torio will help us. " said the redhead, looking at the man with a look of encouragement. And even though the Russian astronaut had no idea what he could do, he nodded eagerly and agreed.

"Pah! He is a... weak human being, can't even walk! This is madness! How will you do it? We have 48 hours left," Kazmi scolded, not glancing at his future son-in-law.

"Leave it to me! It will work. "You take care of Mori's trial, and we'll meet back here on time as we agreed." He looked at his watch. "In no more than 46 hours. "That should be no more than 46 hours. I don't know how long it's gonna take these two to merge. He raised his shoulders, smiled encouragingly at the blond man and clicked his tongue.

"Oh no, what wayward sons I have!" the commander moaned in horror and pulled his hair up. Torio only made big eyes. Whatever the mating may look like, the anticipation of it could be clearly seen.

"Two days shall I stay here now?" he asked cautiously. "Without..." The redhead cut him off:

"Without your toy, you mean?"

"Yeah, how am I gonna get around without my wheelchair? On my hands? And my food... ...I fish my food out of the water." Torio's voice got louder. Didn't that wiseass kid try to understand him? "I have a serious walking impediment, in case you haven't noticed." His eyes narrowed into slits and angrily sparkled at the alien.

"Nobody says you have to wait here. Don't panic, tall guy," the young alien reassured him. "I'll just come with you to your big beautiful apartment and from now on I'll stick to your body like a tick. You are an astronaut, greedy for alien life forms. Who tells us we can trust you? The first chance you get, you betray us.

No... the risk is far too great to leave you alone. But Hichan didn't mention the danger the astronaut was in yet. There were fanatics among the IUCHIS who wanted to prevent contact with humans by any means possible. Like his father, Kazmi, for example, who was now acting against his principles to save his eldest son.

If someone from the aliens would see through this delicate matter, there would be a bitter end for all involved. That's why the concern of Kazmi was understandable, he now played two roles. The strict leader and the desperate father. Never in his life had he expected something like this. With one blow he could lose everything, his job, his reputation, his family.

Hichan felt for him, took his hands and held them tightly in his.

"We love you... "and Mori... and Mom. Thanks, Dad." With a deep bow, he released his fingers and said good-bye. Torio got a small impression of the conditions in the Alien family and admired the redhead a little bit. They really put everything on one card to make Mori happy. Even if Torio still felt himself as unimportant and misunderstood, his senses told him to trust them.

But the moments that followed were inexplicable to the Russian. Hichan put out his feelers, stood on the rock behind Torio, hugged him, but this time not to warm him, but to beam himself back to the astronaut's apartment with the help of his powers.

They landed in the bathroom, because the alien didn't feel like playing the cleaning lady right from the start. The big man in his hands gasped uncontrollably for air, bent over the edge of the bathtub and puked his guts out. His companion only smiled understandingly and patted the writhing man on the back.

"Unfortunately, these are the side effects of a fast journey, but I think you're used to it... as an astronaut."

Used to it or not, the man felt as if he'd had five intense sessions in the slingshot. He moaned in exhaustion as his body slowly calmed down and refused to admit anything.

"Why didn't you warn me. . . Oh shit, you knew it ...", he lamented and leaned tiredly against the flowing wall. He looked really pitiful, the hair hung down to his face, the big half closed eyes looked helpless and lost and over the narrow pale lips came only monosyllabic words: "Ohhh ... ahhh... bad... fuck..."

"Listen, the clock is ticking. I'll give you four hours to sleep it off. So use them and get into bed, I'll have a look around a bit in the meantime," he said casually, making his way out of the bathroom, but Torio reached for his hand and held the alien back.

"Wait, ... Hichan... damn ... you have to help me," Torio begged.

"Sure." The redhead turned on the faucet, rinsed the vomit from the tub and patted the blond man's cheeks. "It's only a few feet, you can make it."

"Jesus Christ!" Torio ran at him. "Don't you get it?" While he was ranting, Hichan pulled him up.

"No... "Look, you have to believe in yourself. Trust me, you can do it." And man really stood on his own two feet.

"But... But... I don't believe it...", he stammered and at the same moment he collapsed and the alien caught him just in time before he landed hard on the ground.

"That's exactly your problem! Don't keep telling yourself what you can't do, always remember what your body can do! ... It's great how far you have come. You have achieved so much. Forget that little thing. He pointed at the feet of the person across the room and lifted him up. "I'll help you... one last time," he grinned and lifted the much bigger man over his shoulder.

"Satisfied?" The astronaut was far too tired and exhausted to protest. He would probably put up with everything, the main thing was that he finally had his peace, could sleep until this nightmare was over.

Just as he was laid to rest by the young alien, Torio's strength failed him. He immediately fell into a deep sleep and didn't notice how Hichan stripped him again and continued the therapy he had started in the underground cave for a short time.

A lock on the entrance door should not frighten him any further. He had noticed it long before the taxi drove into the driveway.