CHAPTER I

There were eight of them in total, all teenaged Human females stretched out in the grass. They were hidden in the rocks, close to the summit of a foothill, watching the young, winged Tantalarian males play an aerial game with a ball far overhead. Not one girl was standing guard to make sure they weren’t about to get caught, and they were getting frustrated by the lack of technology at their disposal. The Tantalarian men were too far away to see clearly without a really good set of binoculars, or a telescope. They had neither; although one did have a weak set of binoculars that they took turns trying to focus to get a clearer view.

“Jean, can’t you find something better to use than these binoculars? They are barely functional. Damn, this is frustrating.”

“If you aren’t satisfied with what we have, I know six others girls who will be more than happy to take your turn, Elyse.” Jean retorted.

Elyse tossed Jean a frown at those words. She knew her friend wasn’t joking, because the six other girls who were in the lineup waiting their turn suddenly looked at her expectantly, awaiting her response. She knew they were itching to get their hands on those binoculars. She wasn’t about to hand them over, even if the glass wasn’t good enough to get a proper look at any of the warriors above. She was going to use up every second of her time, no matter how dissatisfied she was with the focus. They wouldn’t be any happier than she was when their turn came around, and then she would have to put up with their bitching. She realized there was nothing any of them could do to improve on the matter; no one present could come up with anything better, at least anyone that they knew. She placed the binoculars back over her eyes and tried harder to see what was going on overhead and wondered if the men knew that they were being spied on. She grinned at the thought. If they did, they were definitely not shy about showing off their bodies. They just weren’t close enough to the ground to give anyone a good look.

“Time is up”, Jean announced as she nabbed the binoculars out of Elyse’s grasp to pass it on to the next girl.

The girl clutched at the binoculars as she smiled and raised them to her eyes. She was more than interested to check out the scenery, despite the obvious disadvantages and Elyse’s complaints. She soon understood why her friend had been so vocal, and she wasn’t above speaking her displeasure, despite her excitement.

“I wish they didn’t have to play their games so high.”

As the teenage Human female spoke those words, one of the young winged men missed the ball they had been tossing around, while another dove to retrieve it before it hit the ground. Elyse grinned widely, as he tucked his wings close to his body and plummeted out of the sky, and into range, unfortunately he was moving too fast for her to get a good fix on his assets. Her comments caused the rest of the group watching him to break into fits of excited giggles.

“Oh yes, baby, come closer to mama, just a little closer. Damn, he caught the ball.”

“What did you see, Felicia?” Jean asked in a state of breathless anticipation.

“Not nearly enough.” Elyse commented in disappointment. “He didn’t come close enough for these crummy binoculars to get a good focus on him, and he was moving too fast, but what I did see”, Felicia grinned, as she passed on the binoculars to the next girl in line, “was spectacular.” She then fanned her face to emphasize her response.

The afternoon after they had first seen the young, winged male Tantalarians, the teenage Human girls had set up a fan club. The thought behind the group was that anything that looked that hot deserved extra appreciation, and study. They were curious to know more about these people. Well, maybe not so much the winged girls, but definitely the young men. It was Felicia who had noticed the young, winged warriors playing overhead in the afternoons a couple days later, and the club had moved their activities outdoors, where they could watch. Jean located a pair of her father’s old binoculars in one of his tool kits, and filched them for the club. It was no real secret that it wasn’t the game the girls were interested in; it was the warriors, and the fact that none of them were wearing clothing.

The Human population hadn’t taken long to notice certain differences between their cultures. Tantalarian males thought nothing of appearing naked in public, and the Human women appreciated every stitch that they didn’t wear. It was no secret the girls thought the indigenous men were drool-worthy. The winged men soon learned to ignore the fuss that people made about their state of undress, and continued to live their lives as they always had.

“What are you girls up to?”

A brisk sounding voice from behind the group of girls broke into the group’s preoccupation with the games above. It was Lieutenant Noble, and she was with the Tantalarian with the strange wings.

Eight red-faced girls turned simultaneously to face Lieutenant Noble, and the one holding the binoculars stashed it behind her back quickly as she stood up, so no one could see what she held. There wasn’t an innocent looking face amongst the lot, as they all blushed profusely, declaring their actions without saying a word. They sheepishly exchanged glances, until Jean got up the nerve to speak.

“We were just watching the game. Honestly. We are trying to figure out the rules.”

Lieutenant Noble choked, as she stifled a laugh. ‘Trying to figure out the rules’, was her first thought, and she was the Queen of England. She couldn’t blame any of them for trying to cover up their actions, even if they knew they were fooling no one. She knew what they were up to, just as she was sure that if she were in the same age bracket, she would have been in the lineup with them, if not at the head. Unfortunately, this kind of espionage wasn’t allowable, and she had to break up their party. She felt as guilty and disappointed about doing this as the girls were about being busted.

“Girls, you know better than this. What would your parents say if they knew what you were up to?”

“I would be grounded for the next month.” Jean admitted.

“My mother would be jealous she wasn’t invited to watch. She might even have been able to get better binoculars. She has connections I can only dream of.” Felicia stated bluntly.

The group of girls burst into giggles at Felicia’s statement, and Lieutenant Noble had to award her points for the guts it took her to state what was probably the truth. Felicia’s mother was well known for her open views on what she called naturalism, and most others called nudism. She was considered promiscuous by some, although most of her friends knew better. It wasn’t that Wendy, Felicia’s mother, was promiscuous; she just didn’t like wearing clothes much, and tended to walk about without any whenever she got the chance. Women did, however, tend to gossip about her, because she had a very shapely body that men appreciated. The attention she got from the men made a lot of the other women jealous, and that was never a good thing.

Felicia noted how the winged male, Synric, looked interested at specific points, and gave a sigh of resignation. Even in this alien’s world they would probably find her mother’s penchant for walking around in her natural state arousing, and for some reason she felt compelled to explain this to him.

“My mother is seriously built, and she thinks nothing of wandering around our home with nothing on.”

“Is this considered a problem amongst your people?” Synric asked.

“Not really, just unusual.” Lieutenant Noble admitted.

“Should I tell our young warriors they should be covering themselves while playing their games?” Synric wondered.

The chorus of objections from the young females explained everything to Synric. He suddenly had clarity about why the girls had been using the binoculars earlier; it wasn’t to study the game as they had claimed. They had been using them to check out the male bodies closer. He came close to laughing out loud. These young women didn’t realize they didn’t need to use glasses to examine those men. All they needed to say was that they wanted to meet them, and the girls would have been surrounded. None of the young men in question would have given their state of undress a second thought, nor would they have done anything to embarrass the young ladies purposefully. He decided he would have to tell the boys to play their games a little closer to the ground, and he was sure hearing about this incident would be a source of amusement for his friends. The Tantalarian females might watch the games, but he knew it was not because they were interested in any specific part of the male anatomy. A nude body was nothing special, in fact, more often than not, a person who was covered was considered more interesting than one who wasn’t.

“Do your young males watch our women in the same way as you watch our men?” Synric wondered.

“I don’t know”, Felicia admitted with a careless shrug. “We never bothered to ask.”

Adele walked up to Lieutenant Noble’s side and grinned as she noted the binoculars in Janie’s hands. She gave a chuckle as she asked.

“Anyone who we know playing the game overhead?”

“Your favorite is in the game. I would like to say he is seriously hung, but they are flying too high for us to see anything important.” The girl called Janie spouted off. She covered her mouth with her free hand, as she realized what she had said, and blushed a deep dark crimson.

Everyone laughed as Adele blushed as deeply as Janie. How did anyone know she had a favorite? She had only talked to the young, winged male a couple of times. To deflect the attention her blush would give her, she made a caustic remark.

“I never realized I had a favorite, and I am surprised you recognized anyone, with what you are trying to see with those binoculars in your hand.”

The girls giggled louder as they all blushed awkwardly. It was one thing to be caught spying by someone they considered their own, another to openly admit what they were doing in front of an alien. To be fair, he seemed to find the whole thing very amusing. That gave them the feeling things wouldn’t be changing any time soon. A part of them wondered if that meant things might even improve? They certainly hoped so. That would be a bonus.

Buy Links: https://maabraham.com/integration/