"Half-human? What do you mean half-human?"

Addric turned to Kados, "Her mother is a human ambassador sent as an envoy to Ytaria, and her father is on the governing council for the Hjallar people."

"Wh-what?" I stammered out the question. There was no way we had sent ambassadors out to alien races. Before the Val'Dornn had arrived as a silver smudge on our blue horizon we hadn't even known alien life existed. "How is that possible?"

Kados' eyes twinkled, "come now Addy, I'd have thought by now you'd have an idea how a human goes about having a child".

I rolled my eyes but couldn't stop the smile that twitched at the corners of my mouth. Kados' teasing always offered something else, something normal, to focus on when I felt like I was going out of my mind, "oh fuck off, Kados. You know what I mean," I drawled as Addric stifled his laughter at the exchange.

Kados chuckled and Esayr stepped in, "I'd imagine her mother was a displaced human or at least descended from one?" He directed his question to the brothers.

Addric nodded as Kados answered for them both, "She was elected to serve as an ambassador for the sect of humans inducted that had a position on one of the reigning councils of universal politics in further negotiations with the Hjallar people," Kados winked, "after that, I think we all might know that store well enough a female met a male they got curious" he shrugged, "maybe a little bit sweaty and another compatible race was cataloged amongst the many many creatures in the universe."

"We are decidedly off track," Addric shoved his brother a little more roughly than was warranted, "Our sister is recently mated, having found her female on the journey of one of the Aarond Forms' sister ships. It would be helpful to see if her mate is showcasing similar genetic changes as you, Addy." Addric returned his attention to Kados, "Last I heard from Cedonie she was out in the Scutum-Centaurus arm of this galaxy assisting on one of her females' jobs. Said she'd be in and out of contact until it was finished."

Kados head bobbed in a quick nod, "I'll try a direct call if I can't reach her I'll send her a ping for their servers to pick up when she gets in range."

Addric's smile was soft, "Tell her to come to visit too, now that she's newly unattached to her ship."

"I always do."

The exchange made the brothers softer...or made Kados softer at least since Addric never quite had that same sharp edge of something feral to him as Kados did. "So what does that mean for me then? We just wait?" Esayr's hand kneaded the back of my neck.

"We'll reach out to the mated couples on the ship and a few others we're in touch with as well in the interim to see if there's something we missed, but," Kados glanced back down at the screen that had held his attention, "In all the time that I've studied genetics I've never come across anything like this in the Val' couples of the last generations." He shrugged, "My studies were concentrated mostly on the human branch of genetics, however, so it's possible we could find our answers through the inquiries."

"So am I ok?"

When the twins glanced my way it was with an edge of surprise and the taste of compassion in my mouth. It spread granulated along my tongue like the last few seconds of a sugar cube dissolving in your mouth. "Absolutely. You're more than ok Addison and I'm sorry if at any moment today you felt otherwise. By nearly all Val' standards, this is simply a testament to the strength of yours and Esayr's match --the fact that you react so strongly to your mate would be considered a sign from the gods that this Temani Bercari is blessed."

After everything that I'd learned being on this ship for only a short time comparably, this Searching certainly needed something to go right. "You're sure?"

"He's sure." It was Esayr that answered me, the male that always considered himself blessed it would seem. It settled me anyway, even though I knew he was biased.

"I'll continue to run diagnostics on the samples you gave me, though my current theory is that: once triggered, your body began changing at a cellular level and will continue until the cells reach a critical mass of sorts, at which point they'll likely stop, primed for the catalyst that will push them over that last leg of their journey."

"When we fuck."

Kados inclined his head, "Likely. Regardless of when that might occur, I'll continue to update you of any changes."

"So, am I turning completely Val?"

"No, I wouldn't say so. Not even after, you'll still retain most of your human DNA. Your cells at their base are human, your DNA is the same base. It's only minute changes occurring, though you're seeing them with far larger ramifications. You'd be surprised how closely linked some of the races we've found on our searching have been." Kados glanced my way with a smile, "You'd be surprised how closely related humans are to some of the creatures that are wildly different on your little planet as well. You might find you share genetic makeup quite closely to something as different as a plant or even a rodent. My doctor's recommendations are to spend some time with your mate and accustom yourself to any changes you might be feeling. You'll be better off embracing them than you would be attempting to smother them."

I squinted at him where he stood in front of me. It was a remarkably reasonable diagnosis on his end. I almost didn't believe him.

The edge of his lip curled up in a teasing smile, "I could recommend it if you wanted. I felt it would have come off a little unprofessional to tell you to go fuck yourselves, but if you need a written note from a doctor I'd be willing."

All of the males laughed at my rolling eyes, but frankly...he was right. Something needed to be done and all this time with all manner of these instances I'd tried smothering them, burying them so far inside myself hoping that they'd never see the light of day. But they kept coming back up to the surface, causing trouble. I needed to do something different. I stretched allowing my back to pop and relieve some of the more physical variations of the strain and the stress before I turned to my mate, "I think it's about time we got back to Ceci."

As I pulled Esayr toward the door of Kados' study, leaving the twins behind, Kados called out to me softly. "Addison, if you have ever any other questions, you need only ask. My answers are yours should you have need of them." Kados was an enigmatic creature. I didn't doubt he was capable of the same softness and comforting presence that his brother was.

I glanced at Addric. I had no doubt that he was capable of those inclinations of Kados' as well, which would have been a sight to be seen since he by all accounts was the larger more intimidating brother. I wondered if it were a consideration, on behalf of the universe, to soften their personalities by giving each of them to the more unassuming brother.

But there was no time to think on it because Esayr was pulling me back out into the larger Science Bay and then back out into the hall. He kept his hands on me, both as a reassurance to me as well as himself I'd guess. His palm rested against the small of my back, his fingers trailing far enough to grip into the side of my hip and tug me against him. We were silent for a while as we walked. I was fine with the silence, but I could tell he was lost in some thought or another. It didn't surprise me that he was the first one to break, "There've been a lot of surprises of late."

It was the way of the world. Inconveniences never played nicely. They never dropped by one at a time in a nice manageable line. They all piled on at once. "You're not wrong."

He was quiet again, chewing on his thoughts. We made it almost entirely back to Kayle's bar before he finally spoke again, "I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"For putting you through this. For upending your life. For not being able to shield you from these things...these responsibilities."

I tugged him to a stop outside of the doorway to the Clever Arrow. Males milled about around us still in the throes of celebration. I pressed the warmth of my hand against the side of his face, "Esayr, I don't need a shield. I just need you. I need your quiet presence. I need your shoulder to lean on. I need everything about you. If the universe had deemed I'd needed a shield it would have given me to Laene, not to you. I need you Esayr, always you."

His dark eyes smoldered at that and he leaned into my hand on his cheek, catching it with his own much larger hand. "Together."

"Together," I nodded.

Ceci was quietly playing with the Clever Arrow coin, sitting exactly where we'd left her. The crowd had slowly moved to encompass the area, though it paid her little heed aside from the occasional glance her way.

Kayle and Lirin stood sentinel next to her, though you wouldn't have known it if you weren't looking for it. They'd taken up spots on either side of her, leaning against the bar, chatting. When we approached they were all smiles.

"Welcome back," Kayle flashed a grateful smile as he pressed his hands back into the worn wood of the bar top and hopped back into the back. The jump was jarringly athletic. It was easy to forget all of these males were as strong as they were, yet Kayle vaulted the bar easily as if he did it every day. "Just in time to allow me to help Cessira with the crowd." Kayle made as if to walk farther down the bar, but caught himself, "Also...I mentioned to Lirin that he might have a task ahead of him with your little communication device, Addy."

"Consider me interested," Lirin smiled. He looked exactly like his brother when he smiled. It made me wonder if Bask did as well.

I glanced to Kayle, unsure how it was that he'd known I'd wanted to ask Lirin for help with my phone, seeing as I'd completely forgotten until only just now. Kayle just laughed with an easy shrug, "It's a gift."

I pulled out my cellphone and handed it to Lirin. Ceci glanced over with interest as well at the movement. "I was wondering if you'd be able to either enhance its normal signal or maybe program something into it that would let me communicate with my friends from it. Vailen tried, but he said something about the tech--"

"Being too close in nature to allow a seamless integration?"

"Uh...probably. I'll admit it went over my head," It sounded official enough though, so I imagined Lirin was right.

"How do I boot it up?" Lirin handled the phone --while more easily than everyone else, still with an air of caution that the technology would disintegrate in his fingers.

Ceci glanced at me, waiting for my answer.

"Tilt it toward your face and it will turn on itself. It opens with either a scan of my face or with a four-digit pin. Mine is 4993."

"Any reason why?" Ceci asked, curious as she watched Lirin interface with my phone.

"It's the last four digits of my phone number. Seemed easier to remember and wasn't as easily hackable as like a birthday or something."

Gabby still made fun of me for it. We'd been laying on her bed back at the school and I'd touted she'd never guess my password. Then she'd hit me with "what is it the last four digits of your phone number or something?" She said my aggrieved face told her everything she needed to know and burst into hysterical laughter and I followed after her. If anyone could've guessed my pin it would have been her. I'd never changed it; didn't want to go through the hassle and also oddly I didn't want to lose that memory.

"I can do it," his voice was sure, "It might take a day or so, but I'll merge the tech and get it back to you as soon as I can. Is that all right?"

"Yeah, honestly that's perfect. It's not like I can do much else with it for the time being."

I turned to Ceci intending to ask if she were ready to return to our quarters, but I was bowled over by the smell of jasmine with that earthy hint of a dark tea. By the way Ceci's attention was pulled to Lirin's fingers as he slipped through the pages and apps on my old phone, I was willing to bet the sensation was likely curiosity.

Because of that, I was unsurprised when Ceci turned to me and asked if she would be able to watch as Lirin worked.

To his credit, Lirin was obliging, and we made plans for tomorrow to meet him at his quarters where he would likely be doing the bulk of the engineering.

After that, it was easy to pull Ceci away and back to our rooms. She assured us that Kayle had fed her while we were off with Kados and she disappeared quickly back into the quiet of her room, leaving Esayr to usher me through the dim hall and into our bedroom.

I wasn't planning on fighting him tonight about where it was that we slept. One: because it would be suspicious if Ceci came out to find him sleeping on the couch, and Two: I just shamelessly wanted him near me tonight.

My fingers played with the hem of my sleeve, toying with the fabric. Esayr leaned heavily against the door where it had closed behind us. I asked the only question that I wanted to deal with at the moment, though there were countless others that waited in the wings, ready to insert themselves into our lives whenever it was that they pleased.

"So, have I been good?"

*****A/N*****

I apologize for there not being a post last week. I've actually been on quarantine with COVID symptoms since last Friday. There was a span of time during the worst of it where there was talk of heading to the hospital for precautionary care, but luckily it ended up being unneeded. I'm mostly better and my sense of smell/taste is coming back already which is lucky.

I don't know what I had since my tests did end up coming back negative, but whatever it was it had me in bed for the better half of a week. I'm just happy to be getting better and getting back on track with my normal routine.

Thank you for your patience,

~Layla