Page 51 of All or Nothing
The Truth Never Lies
JOSS
TO MYutter relief, Xollen took to therapy with his new doctor like a man possessed. Over the next several weeks he got so much better at talking things out with me, with taking time for himself when he was feeling overwhelmed so we could discuss things calmly. It wasn’t easy for either of us—his willingness to be so open was making me aware of how much work I still needed to do on myself—but once we were past the uncomfortable moments of having to talk to each other about the things we were too used to keeping all to ourselves, we agreed that we both felt better.
Which was very fortunate, because our revolutionary “new” form of storytelling was taking off like you wouldn’t believe.
The first week was pretty slow. Me and Xoll had decided to try doing two updates a week and see how that felt. We got maybe a dozen views on the first page, then a couple dozen on the second, but by the third update we were seeing over a hundred, and then someone big must have talked it up because by the end of the second week we had over a thousand people visiting our nexpage and reading our little comic even though our brainchild was only four pages long.
Now, a month and a half in, we were gettingmillionsof visits to our nexpage a day, news outlets had started reaching out asking for interviews, media companies were looking to secure rights and bankroll exclusive projects, and we were making alotof money.
I’d set up some revenue streams along with designing the nexpage. There was ad revenue, just like back on Earth, but the more lucrative avenue had wound up being the commissions and digital tip jar. Even though we were barely out of the prologue, something about our little story was really resonating with people, and it was making them unexpectedly generous. And people loved Xollen’s art (which made a lot of sense, my male was seriously talented) and went crazy for the quick sketches we were letting people request as commissions. We got messages from people all the time showing us how they’d printed their commission out and framed it on their wall, or turned it into their terminal’s background image, and a couple of people even turned it into a shirt (a weirdly Earth-like phenomenon, I told Xollen).
It was a crazy, beautiful time, and I should have known that the other shoe was going to drop. The universe just couldn’t let me have it that good: I was going to get too powerful if it let me have fame, fortune, a sensitive guy with magic drug cum and a package that made me see stars every time we fucked,andpeace and quiet—something had to give.
It was going to be another chill day, Xollen lounging on one end of the couch with his tablet, drawing for our comic—which we’d named “The Truth Never Lies”—while I tapped away at my novel on the other end. I’d always wanted to write the monster romances I’d loved so much back on Earth, and now that I was living one and didn’t have to work thirty-nine hours a week to stay afloat on top of going to school, there was no better time to take the plunge. Which was probably another reason why the universe felt the need to start throwing wrenches.
Xollen’s comm beeped with an incoming call, and since the only person who bothered to call him was Derris, he flicked accept without even glancing at the interface. “What do you want?” he drawled, his eyes still locked onto his tablet with an adorable intensity that made me real quivery in the pussy.
“Is that any way to address your father?” a stern, slightly nasally male droned, and Xollen yelped, dropping his tablet and sitting up like he’d been shocked.
“Father?” he asked, jumping to his feet and pacing acrossla sala, his tail wound so tight around his thigh he was limping a little. “I’m just—um, I’m surprised to hear from you, is all. I thought you and mother—well. The last I’d heard you didn’t want to see me.”
“We said we didn’t want to watch you throw your life away, but that if you ever managed to get yourself sorted we’d be happy to have you back, dearest,” a female with a husky voice said, sounding just like every WASP-ish mom on TV I’d ever seen. I’d let my tablet slip from my fingers, my mouth hanging open in shock at the blatant manipulation they were throwing at my poor sweet Xollen.
“Oh. I must have misinterpreted what you meant, then,” he mumbled, and I widened my eyes at him, trying to convey that he was falling for their gaslighting. He cleared his throat, grinning sheepishly at me. “Um—so what’s going on? Why are you calling me now? I still haven’t gone back into the business program at Sett U.” I noticed his hands starting to tremble, so I got up off the couch and put my arms around his waist from behind, trying to give him all the courage and support I could.
“We’ve heard about the success of your little art project, son,” his father said. “We’ve heard Se’Gittrak and Se’Ushaar have made offers and we said to ourselves, ‘well now, I wonder if everything’s alright with our Xollen, that he wouldn’t come to his own parents for distribution and adaptations’.” My arms tightened around his waist. How fuckingdare they?!
Xollen sucked in a shaky breath, his free hand clamped tight on my forearm. “I didn’t think you wanted to hear from me for this, myart project.” I was proud of how much venom he’d managed to stuff into those words. Most of Billieu was going crazy for “The Truth Never Lies” and his asshole parents were calling it alittle art project. I wanted to laugh, and then find them and choke them out. I patted Xollen’s chest, letting him know I liked that. He grinned at me over his shoulder, so beautiful my heart clenched.
“Of course we want to see you, sweetie!” his mother crooned, sounding fake as hell. “We’d treat you well, of course. It’s only right that our own son get the best service that we can offer. Sixty percent of merchandising, creative control, forty percent of revenue from adaptation streams…” she trailed off, sounding coy, like she was just so fucking confident she had him right where she wanted him.
Xollen twisted and yanked me around to his front, pulling me against his long shivering body and holding me tight. I could see the panic swirling in his violet eyes, and I knew where it was coming from, too. That was the best deal we’d heard so far, by a lot, and would make us absolutely filthy stinking rich. We’d be able to live like kings, and while I knew Xollen didn’t mind our modest new life in the public dorms, he wasn’t entirely satisfied either. I was constantly catching him looking at fashion blogs and designer nexpages like other men looked at porn. And a lot of the time when we were lying in bed, talking about how we were doing, he’d bring up some of the pieces he’d had to sell that he missed, how he wished we had enough room to invite Derr and Gesea over. He missed some of the creature comforts he’d gone his whole life being able to indulge in, and income like that would let him get it back.
“Tell you what, how about you come over for dinner tonight and we can talk it out some more? It’s not good business to do these sorts of things over the phone.”
Xollen was definitely panicking now, so I reached up and cupped his face in my hands, tilting his head down to look at me so I could encourage him to do his breathing.
“A-alright,” he said, and I kept my face carefully neutral. I wasn’t crazy about having dinner with them, but if Xollen wanted to do this then I’d be right by his side, supporting him as best I could.
“Perfect!” his mother cried, raising my hackles. “We’ll see you eighteen hundred, then?”
“Sure.”
“See you then, son,” his father added blandly, and then the connection was cut.
“I regret all of that,” Xollen moaned, collapsing against me dramatically. I chuckled, holding him and running my hand up and down his back.
“You did great, baby. It’s a process.” I bit my lip. “Do you think you’ll take their offer?”
He sighed, straightening up. “I don’t know. It’s such a good offer, but knowing my parents it’s going to come with a lot of strings attached. It might even be a trap. It’s definitely not coming from a place of love. They didn’t care at all about me, it was all about them and how they could weasel their way into this to make money.”
I squeezed him. “Yeah, that’s how it sounded to me, too. I’m so proud of you for seeing that and for standing up for yourself.”
He snorted, flushing. “I didn’t stand up for dick, as you would say.” I laughed. I’d been teaching him some of my weird English slang. “I practically rolled right over.”
I swatted his ass, making him jump and grin at me with more than a little heat. “Nonsense, you told them you’d give them a chance to say their piece, but you’re making them work for it just like anyone else. The old Xollen would have just agreed outright. And you’re paying attention to what they’re doing, seeing through their games, so you can approach this with a clearer head. Dr. Vakkas is going to agree with me, you just see.”
