Creepy, Loving, Universe

Creepy, Loving, Universe

Charles lost traction as he attempted to turn the corner at full sprint. His trainers should have been replaced long ago, but whilst he had loathed to let them go before now, in that split second of him flailing, he wished with every fibre of his body that he’d gotten space faring boots.

Skidding and tumbling he slammed into the wall before dropping into a crumpled heap. The man was dazed but unhurt, opening his eyes and risking a glance back the way he came, he saw the abomination of chitin, legs and pincers scuttling over the ceiling, down the wall and low along the floor he had ran over not seconds before. It moved far too fast for something that big.

Pushing off into a full sprint again he found new energy in the terror that was gripping his chest. His legs pumped like pistons whilst his heart thundered against his chest as he willed himself onwards.

His panicked mind despaired; he was on a preservation station, they were small and designed to protect and host any space faring sentient who found themselves in distress, there was nowhere for Charles to run or escape to! The escape pod had no controls! It would just come straight back here!

He could hear the creature behind him as it scuttled. It had unfurled itself from one of the beds in the living area of the station as he had entered, unaware of the apparent danger. It was massive; longer than four or five of him laying head to toe, its shiny black carapace and bright red legs had set off every alarm in the poor Human's already frazzled mind, never mind the pair of leg sized pincers that looked like it could dissect him with ease. He could practically feel them connecting either side of his neck and snipping it straight off!

A thought occurred to Charles; the SOS signal was already broadcasting, perhaps he could hide from the giant-space-centipede until help arrived? Oh god he just needed to get away from it first.

Unfortunately he tripped. 

A loose shoelace had tangled around his other foot and the resulting failure to keep up with his torso sent the young pilot skidding to an abrupt halt, rolling over himself as he stop. The giant-space-centipede was upon him in moments, he was bodily lifted immediately and entangled in a long body, surrounded by legs. The human immediately assumed death would be next.

Charles expected screeching, blurbling or outright roars, but the cooing, motherly voice that erupted from it, kind of left his mind in the lurch however. It was a complete disconnect of what he had expected. 

"Oh! Oh no, you poor baby! Mama's here! Did you have a nasty fall? Let me see, did you hurt yourself? Oh dear! Magic pincers! Magic pincers will make it all better!"

He felt uncountable legs all over him, light pinches on what he assumed was a scraped knee as he was carried straight back to the room that served as living quarters whilst occupants waited for rescue. It didn’t bother to take the floor, it traversed the walls and ceiling whilst carrying the confused human without any hint of difficulty, all the while it whittered and worried over him. 

"Why were you running about? You could have hurt yourself-" "If I could just-" He tried to interject, "Your plates haven't even started to grow in! Honestly, your broodmother... Oh you poor thing, you're filthy, let's get you all sorted..."

"Will you get off!?” the struggling human started to demand, but the wiggling mass of chitin and legs corralled Charles towards the (to him) oversized cushioned bowl that counted as a bed according to the wider community amongst the stars.

The Broodmother happily poured herself into the depression encircling the wriggling youngster.

The poor dear was obviously young, possibly only hours old; his pink flesh showed no signs of hardening yet, covered only by thin cloth material. Someone had obviously cared for the little one by providing these rudimentary bandages that covered his four limbs, maybe the dear was a runt? Was that why he was alone? Oh her hearts, each broke in turn for the poor thing, she'd never abandoned such a vulnerable cutie.

The Broodmother, as she was known by her children, had successfully raised millions of offspring at this point. Countless eggs and the delightful youth that came soon after, she was made and born to be a mother through and through.

Those days were behind her now to her dismay. In her old age she missed the feeling of being needed, of giving care and support. To see a child grow from a beautiful egg to a regal centipede with the knowledge that if they were knocked back, she would be there to catch them without fail and without judgement.

But now this, admittedly, odd creature, needed her. He smelt of smoke and fear, her mandibles clicked in worry.

Charles on the other hand was easily manhandled into position at the centre of the bowl and the Broodmother’s body. Her many legs manipulated his far smaller and lighter body so it was also curled up, his back against the softer, warmer underbelly of the Broodmother and her legs curled protectively around his body.

"Sssh, it's okay baby. It's okay. You're safe now..." the motherly voice from above and around him crooned.

Squeezing his eyes closed for a moment, Charles took the opportunity to actually take a breath.  The running had left him panting and the ensuing struggle hadn't allowed him to recover.

"There we go.. Good boy... ssh shh shh..." Her soothing tones continued, feeling him settle.

Some of her legs began to tap gently at this skin in lazy waves, travelling from the back of his neck, down his arms and sides, before following down his legs. His flesh pimpled as a wave of goosebumps rolled across him.

"What happened darling? Can you remember?" Her voice enquired gently, as if she were talking to a vulnerable child that had hurt itself.

"I... it was a micro-meteor shower. There was nothing on the maps, took out my engine in one fell swoop..." Charles explained, hoping to regain some lost authority. He may not have been military, but he was a freighter pilot, he was self reliant, he'd always had to be.

"Oh I bet that was scary, it's over now baby, it's over.." yet more claws dragged themselves across his hair.

"Where's your carers dearie?"

"I don't have any, I have no ne-"

A gasp and a tight squeeze silenced him mid sentence as lights from the room were blocked out by the giant-space-centipede ball growing tighter.

"You do now. I'm here.. I'm here little one... you're safe now. Mama's here..."

"It's fine, I'm fine, there's no need for this, you can let me go." He tried to reassure her, but he wasn't released, only caressed lovingly again and again. The sensations, weirdly feeling quite pleasant.

"You're so brave, but there's no need now. We'll rest here, mama will look out for you and when we're feeling better we'll see about getting you under my care permanently."

 "I don't think you'll be able to do that, I'll need to get back to work before long." charles chuckled as he tried to explain again on to deaf ears. Wherever they were on her body. The rippling laugh that came from The Broodmother felt strange. 

"Oh no, it won't be an issue. My children either own or run this system and the surrounding ones too. They likely own the company you work for or are at least contracting for, they'll let mommy worry about their employee if I ask, you'll be mine to look after from now on..." She said with finality.

Charles blinked as he worked over the ramifications of this rather alarming bit of information.

“err..”

The Broodmother enclosed around him again keeping him within the safe confines of her body and love.

After roughly a day had passed, the The Galactic Community rescue crew arrived at the station to retrieve the occupants. They found a healthy, but elderly crit'yun broodmother and an exhausted young male human within. Both were in good health although the human was difficult to extract from the centre of what was a protective centipede ball. It took almost as long as the rescue itself to explain that she didn't have to wait for his skin to harden, they were ‘just like that’.

The broodmother made a solemn vow in that moment to head to the human home planet as the young, soft creatures obviously needed protecting in such a dangerous universe. No one had the heart to explain to her that it was quite the impossible task.

Some time had passed since Charles had the pleasure of meeting the crit'yun known as The Broodmother. Oddly enough, whenever he mentioned her title, everyone had at least heard of her.

In the month that had flown by, he'd found out that his contract with his company had been bought by another company, quoting something about the lost commercial ship as the catalyst. He'd also found out the fine print of said contract left him with little choice but to accept the new company or be forced to not work for a whole year which he absolutely couldn't afford to do.

Upon getting home on board a sluggat station bordering The Edge, his entire hab-block, a building that housed over a million people, had been bought and all tenants had to vacate immediately. He sat on the edge of his bed looking around the cupboard sized home that he lived in.

It was tiny, sad and in desperate need of refurbishment, but Charles was at a loss as to what he was supposed to do. He rubbed a hand across his face as he leant forward, holding his head as the quiet hum of the apartment soothed him. 

When his door buzzer shook him from his meditation, he shouted that he still had 4 days to vacate, they couldn't force him out before then. But the buzzer buzzed again.

He sighed and pushed up off the bed and keyed open the door. His heart jumped at the sight of familiar black chitin and red legs.

"Oh darling there you are! Mommy's been looking everywhere for you!"

She surged into his one room home, her massive bulk instantly filling the place and causing Charles to stumble backwards and fall onto his bed as it hit the back of his knees. Her head and long antennas swung round to check him over. The long undulating appendages gently stroking his arms, shoulders, neck and finally settling on resting against the underside of his jaw.

"Baby, I know you're a big boy now, but I've been listening to the news and I heard about your troubles."

"I have a feeling you might be behind some of this 'Broodmother'." Charles replied, a wary look on his face, unsure just how much control she had over his life.

Her upper body rose up and he was once again grabbed, pulled off the bed, and pressed into the softer scales of her underside.

"I would only ever work for what's best for you baby! Mommy only wants what's best for her baby. Wouldn't she? Yes she would!"

He was bodily swung from one side to the other as he was held captive against her. He tried to struggle, but the fluid hydraulics that powered her biology rendered her incredibly strong and him woefully incapable of escaping her clutches.

"So! Mommy has a surprise. She's going to take you back to hers, where she will pamper you, and feed you and make sure you never have to work again!"

"That's not- I mean.. shouldn't I work? Earn my way... er... mother?" Charles asked, trying to play around her game.

"Mommy." She corrected him firmly. "And no! Look at you, your plates still haven't grown in! Ah ah! You can't expect me to believe those idiots about you not supposed to have plates. I promise not to let you out of my sight,-" She tapped his nose once to emphasise her point. " until they all grow in."

"And what am I to do while I'm there?"

"Why, be my child of course! If we're to encourage your plates to grow in, we'll need to start all over and make sure that we undo the damage your last caretaker did. I'll sing you to sleep, bath you, entertain you- we'll have a marvellous time together." She promised.

“H-hey! Wait!”Charles struggled again as she scuttled out of his apartment and into the hallway, also occupied by more crit'yun.

"Pack up his belongings, we'll decorate the new crèche with his things." She commanded them. The last he saw of his original home was several smaller crit'yun entering it to retrieve all his worldly possessions.