Alien and the Wedding Planner

The female librarian did show a certain disdain of their attire. Perhaps she thought they were vagrants?

Ice decided it couldn’t hurt to go into a different store to look. People in libraries might be a higher caste and wear finer garments. Just when he thought he had a grasp of human culture, reality proved him wrong. There was so much of it he didn’t understand.

Two hours later, they stepped out of a store called “Tailor Shoppe” wearing what they’d been assured were the finest of suits. The proprietor had tried to convince them to have the suits altered to fit perfectly, but the ones they’d found were perfect for their needs. And the black Visa card had worked its magic splendidly. It afforded them the finest goods and service. It even got them comfortable shoes that the proprietor dubbed as finest Italian leather loafers. After they changed, the ensemble gave Ice confidence. One human poet named Shakespeare said “the clothes make the man,” and this time, Ice fully understood it. With them dressed like the highest caste of humans, Ice thought they shouldn’t encounter any problems in the library.

On the way back, Ice saw a store called “Used Books.” It made him pause. He hadn’t expected to encounter these ancient paper documents. Crimea hadn’t used tactile formats for information for centuries, and their research said that paper books were rare antiquities on earth too. Between that and the incorrect clothing and currency, a number of researchers might need to be retrained for different jobs.

“Let me handle things this time,” Ice said before asking the approaching clerk where they could find information about how to court a woman. She smiled and pointed them to a section called “Romance.” He gave Storm a smug look. His study of their culture had made a difference already.

Storm plucked a book from the shelf: The Billionaire’s Submissive Bride. He pulled a device from his pocket and scanned a few pages. “You like it rough, don’t you,” Malcolm said as he pulled Tanya over his lap, her bare ass round and ready for his punishment. As his hand made contact with her pale, supple flesh, she whimpered. “Yes, oh yes.”

Storm glanced up at Ice, and read a little more. “I’m gonna spank this sweet ass until you beg me to tie you up and fuck you.”

A woman in the same aisle snapped her head their way and frowned.

“Not so loud,” Ice said. He didn’t know why she frowned, but perhaps she didn’t like Storm’s voice?

Storm nodded and scanned further, then turned to the woman. “May I ask you a question about this book?”

“Storm,” Ice warned.

But the woman shook her head. “I haven’t read it, so I’m not sure how I could help.”

“In it, the female is being spanked by the male. Is this common in females, the desire to be spanked before being tied up and, what was the word, fucked?”

The woman’s eyes went round, her mouth fell open, and she stomped away. A few minutes later, they were escorted from the shop by the owner.

Ice was irritated as hell. “Commander Storm, I thought I’d explicitly told that you were going to let me do the talking?”

“We were already in and blending well. It was a simple question, wasn’t it?”

Ice rubbed the bridge of his nose again. It was a simple question for a military man who wanted to get to the heart of the issue as fast as possible. Clearly it wasn’t that simple for a human woman stopped and questioned by a stranger.

“Next outing, I’ll have you stay in the ship,” said Ice. He quickly calculated which of his underlings he’d like to take with for the field operation.

Commander Storm looked offended. “Absolutely not. You cannot leave the ship without a military escort.”

“Fine. I’ll take your Second Mate.”

“I think not. Lieutenant Eagle has a hair-trigger temper.”

“And so do you.”

“I most definitely do not.”

“I beg your pardon, Commander, but I remember just a couple hours ago, you expressed a great intent to enslave this planet.”

“I fail to see the connection between you wanting no military escort.”

“Of course, you don’t.”

“Are you being sarcastic, Minister Silverkiller?”

Ice sighed inwardly. “Just heed me, I beg of you. Let me do the talking from now on.”

Storm lifted his palms up in surrender. “As you wish.”

Quickly accessing his BRI interface, Ice checked the map of the area. He hoped they could find another library or store filled with books that they wouldn’t be banished from this time.