28. Chapter 28

Chapter 28

Iris

"Iris? Iris? Iris! "

Mia's annoyed shout finally pulled Iris out of her thoughts to realize all the balls had gathered in front of her and she hadn't sent any of them back.

"Oh sorry, sweetie," Iris said and quickly picked them all up and started rapidly rolling them at Mia and Damascus.

The goal of Mia's latest game was to only have one ball in your hands at a time, which meant you had to be fast at catching and rolling them away. The three of them were sitting with their legs spread out equal distance from each other.

Damascus sounded a rumble of worry. "You've been very distracted recently. Have I done anything wrong?"

It had been about three days since they left Balforge, and every other question out of Damascus was a request for reassurance. Now that his life goal wasn't murder, he'd refocused on her. He didn't like leaving her side and insisted that Palathum reorganize cabins so he could have the one across the hall from hers and Mia's. At this point, she spent most of her nights in Damascus's bed and Mia got her old room all to herself.

That was probably a good thing. Iris didn't know how she did it, but Mia took up more room in a bed than a full-sized Talin!

"You haven't done anything wrong," she assured him with a smile. He kept eye contact with her as he effortlessly grabbed balls and gently rolled them back to Mia with perfect accuracy. She'd call him a show-off but he wouldn't understand. It was just another skill he'd perfected over the years.

"Then why are we always losing you in your thoughts?" he asked.

Iris would've started biting her thumbnail but was too busy trying to talk and participate in Mia's ball game. "So much happened so fast. We found Merrick's wife and child. Then we thought she was about to die. But she's going to be okay. Then we went back for all the other humans."

"That was an adventure by itself," he commented.

"Exactly," she agreed. "Along with what happened on Balforge, it was all a lot. I guess I'm still processing everything."

"But you don't regret that I returned?" he asked. She knew he'd grow more confident in their relationship over time. For now, she'd enjoy his cute neediness.

"Never," she said. "I only wish I could've stopped you before you left. I can't decide which was worse, Dandilow II or Balforge."

"What were the worstest things about each place?" Mia asked, pausing with three balls.

"Do you remember how bad Uncle Nanik's breath would smell in the morning?" Iris asked. After Mia nodded, Iris continued. "Dandilow II smelled even worse!"

"No!" Mia gasped, then laughed uproariously. "That's the baddest of the baddest of the worstest smells ever!"

"That's what the whole place smelled like," Iris said and made an exaggerated disgusted expression.

"What about Balforge? Did it smell bad too?" Mia asked with a big grin, eager to laugh again.

"Do you remember when we had that big bonfire?" Iris asked.

Mia nodded her head, making her little ponytails jump around. "Yes! That fire was so big. It was as big as a planet."

"Right, it was really big and hot, right? Well if you pretend you are standing in the very center of it, then that was how hot it was on Balforge."

Mia's mouth dropped open. "Why didn't you burn?"

"They gave me special clothing to wear, but it was really uncomfortable even wearing it."

"Mia?"

She and Mia looked over to the door to find Dek-lee standing there holding the information square Mia used for learning programs. Damascus didn't look up and had already started gathering the balls. He'd known Dek-lee was there and why.

"It's time for Mia's lessons," Dek-lee explained.

Mia pouted and crossed her arms over her chest. "I don't wanna."

Iris cut off the tantrum before it could get started. "Then I guess you don't want to play later."

"But, Iiiiiiiris!" Mia tried for a wail, but it sounded more resigned than anything else.

"But, Miaaa!" Iris copied with a chuckle. Mia paused for a moment as if deciding which way she wanted to react. With an exaggerated sigh, she rolled her last ball to Damascus and got to her feet.

"Fine," she grumbled but then skipped over to Dek-lee. "Can we have a snack with the lesson?"

"Once you're halfway through, you can have your snack," Dek-lee agreed.

"How did your meeting go with Palathum?" Iris asked as she got to her feet also. Damascus had all the balls in their small carry sack and was standing next to her.

"She wanted to know if I felt like I'd done enough to work off my debt and offered to take me home again," they explained.

"You have done more than enough," Iris agreed. "You can stay with us if you want to; we love you like family. But you can also go home. It's up to you Dek-lee."

The Delorta looked sad and happy at the same time. "I think I might want to return. I've been dreaming of my family, and I think it's the universe telling me to go home."

Iris rushed up to the large Delorta and hugged them hard around the humanoid upper body. "If you leave, I'll miss you a ton, but I'll also be happy to know you're back home with your friends and family."

"I'll always treasure my memories of you and Mia," they assured her, wrapping strong arms around her and hugging back.

"You can't leave!" Mia said, shoving them apart. "You're not allowed to leave me."

"Nothing is happening yet," Dek-lee assured the little girl.

Iris was quick to take advantage of the situation. "Shouting and crying at Dek-lee won't make them want to stay."

Mia's face went from angry to surprised, then a sweet, totally false, smile appeared.

Taking their hand she petted the back. "Do you want half of my snack, Dek-lee? After lessons we could go down to the bay and watch the maintenance bots. You like watching them. Oh! And we can ask the galley tech to make your favorites at every meal!"

Iris grinned at Mia's words. Due to their distance from the Delorta homeworld, even if they started for it tomorrow the journey would take six months. There would be time to help Mia come to terms with Dek-lee's departure.

"I do like watching the maintenance bots," Dek-lee agreed as they let Mia lead them away. The moment the door of the exercise room closed behind them, Damascus pressed against her back and wrapped his arms around her. The scent of chocolate filled the air as he emptied one, then the other, scent gland into her hair.

She relaxed into his hold. His insecurity led him to scent mark her many times a day, and it had turned into a comforting ritual for both of them.

"I'm sorry the Delorta is leaving. I know you're very fond of them," Damascus murmured.

"This doesn't make me as sad as you'd think," she said. "They're leaving for a good reason. I'm not losing them because they had to flee or died. They're going home, and I can always visit."

"That's true," he agreed. "As far as I know, the Talin Empire and the Delorta have a cordial relationship."

They both lapsed into silence and enjoyed the moment of quiet. Then the door opened. It was Sima with a worried expression on her face.

"Iris?"

"What's wrong?" Iris asked, already looking forward to when she'd have Damasus all to herself tonight.

"Nataly and Healer Raltinum are arguing, and I think it might be a cultural thing. Could you visit the infirmary and mediate?"

Without hesitation Damascus picked her up and strode out of the room toward the infirmary. "We will help sort this out," he assured Sima.

Iris grinned and let him carry her. It made him feel useful!

***

Damascus

Iris was sound asleep and curled up against him. She called this position spooning. She said, in this configuration, she was the little spoon and he was the big spoon. He wasn't sure he understood why she thought they seemed like eating utensils, but that didn't matter. All that mattered was they would spend every night like this.

The sound of a door opening and closing in the hall outside made Damascus tense. It was a slight sound, and he might not have heard it if he wasn't already awake, but the sound was so close it could only be the door to Iris's old cabin.

After he returned from Balforge, he demanded to be moved into a cabin closer to Iris. To his surprise, Palathum not only didn't protest, but she gave him an approving rumble.

"It's about time," she said before talking to the captain about who to move where. He was moved to the next cabin over. That night he expected to have to wait until Mia was asleep for Iris to slip away and join him, but she'd simply explained that Mia got a room to herself and Iris was going to start staying with Damascus.

Mia hadn't seemed bothered, but now that he heard a little sniff from the automatically activated display at his cabin door, he thought better of his earlier conclusion.

Easing himself out of bed, he tucked a few pillows around Iris and then pulled on a pair of pants before going to the cabin door. It slid open to reveal Mia sitting on the floor, hugging a blanket in one hand and a toy in the other. She had tears running sluggishly down her face as she looked up at him.

"I hads a bads dream," she said with another sniff. "I'm supposed to be a big girl and sleep in my bed. But the dream was bad-bad."

"Nightmare," Damascus agreed with a soothing rumble as he swept down and picked Mia up. The little girl snuggled into his arms with a relieved sigh. "You had a nightmare. Some humans have them."

He turned to take her into his cabin so she could join him and Iris in bed when she made a protesting sound.

"I don'ts wants Iris to know," she whispered.

"Would you like me to read one of your stories to you?" he asked. It was a strange tradition the humans had to read fiction tales to their young. Some of the stories had clear moral messages but others were fantastical and odd. He supposed it was a perfect reflection of human creativity even if it lacked practicality.

"Yeah!" Mia agreed, her expression cheering up. "Could you read me the one about the ship who lost her parents and had to find them behind a moon?"

"Certainly," he agreed, signaling her cabin door to open. He came face to face with a frantic looking Dek-lee.

"Oh, Mia!" they breathed out, shoulders sagging with relief. "Why did you leave like that?"

Much like Talins, Delorta didn't need much sleep, so Dek-lee wouldn't have gone to bed yet. They must've been distracted with something else when Mia had her nightmare and slipped out of the cabin.

"Why didn't you go to Dek-lee?" Damascus asked as the Delorta stepped back to let Damascus and Mia into the cabin.

"'Cuz I wanted you," she explained. "It was a you need. Not a Dek-lee or Iris need."

She spoke as if it was obvious, and perhaps it was. She looked to Iris and Dek-lee for affection, but he was the protector in her young mind.

He felt swollen with pride at this realization.

"You can always come to me," he agreed.

"I knows that," she said and sounded a lot like Iris when he said something she considered emotionally naive. His soothing rumble was interrupted for a moment to let an amused rumble slip out. "You're Da."

She made that proclamation as if that explained everything in her universe. It probably did. He was Da. Iris was Iris. Together they belonged to her, as it should be.

"Yes, you're correct. I'm Da," he agreed as he sat in a chair and settled her on his lap. He looked up to ask Dek-lee to bring him Mia's information square but the Delorta was already holding it out.

"She'll want some stories," they said with a gentle smile as they settled into the chair modified for their body.

"This one," she said, pointing to a colorful square, and Damascus opened the story. He wasn't very far in before Mia fell asleep in his lap.

"I can put her to bed for you," Dek-lee whispered.

"No, let's sit for a while," Damascus countered. "I want to make sure her sleep is peaceful."

Dek-lee settled back into their seat with a nod. "Very well. I wish humans didn't need so much sleep. It makes me worry that they're never getting enough."

Damascus fought the urge to sound an affirmative rumble. "Especially when their sleep is so easily troubled."

"I could make us some Delorta sweet tea if you'd like," Dek-lee offered.

"No, but I'd like to know why you've decided to go home. It can't be because you dreamed of your family. You've probably been dreaming about them for a while. What else is going on?"

"You're correct," Dek-lee answered. "But I'm now dreaming about doing something important. I've done a horrible thing in my life, and because of it, my soul probably weighs less than an air molecule. Being here and serving Iris and Mia isn't going to add weight to my soul fast enough. I could be with them a lifetime and still gain little mass. I need to do something far more significant."

"What did you do that was so very awful?" Damascus asked. Mia shifted a little in his arms and they both went silent to make sure she wasn't going to wake up. When she settled back down, Dek-lee spoke.

"I had a sibling," they began, their voice thick. Damascus already had a bad feeling where this story was going, and it wouldn't have a happy ending like Mia's books.

"Only one sibling?" Damascus asked. Delorta families were usually much larger than that.

"No, no. I have many siblings, but I was closest to Dek-sen. We were always together and talked endlessly about exploring the universe. We Delorta don't tend to stray very far from our home solar system. It's a healthy system with five planets that can support life, although we can only reproduce on our homeworld."

"Not even another ice planet?" Damascus asked.

"No, not even if the temperature is perfect. We haven't been able to successfully conceive on any of them," Dek-lee continued.

Damascus sounded an affirmative rumble. "That explains why you don't have many colonies."

"So far we've only colonized the ice planets near us, the others are too warm for our comfort. We have more space stations than colonies; they're easier to keep cold. When I was young I wanted adventure, so I begged to work with some of my extended family on a station."

"But you weren't content with that?" Damascus asked.

"It wasn't enough. The station wasn't even near a waypoint. I wanted to see exotic places and meet new species. I was desperate to get away from everything familiar and surround myself with all things foreign."

"I can understand that," Damascus said, thinking of his young urge for adventure. "It's common to dream of experiencing new things."

"Perhaps for Talins, but not Delorta. My family didn't understand and they tried to make me stay." As they spoke, they absently moved their hands rhythmically in the air, as if grooming someone in front of them. It was a self-soothing gesture. "I was enraged that they would deny me my heart's desire. I convinced Dek-sen to run away with me just like I talked them into going to work on the station. We didn't have much wealth, so I stole some of my family's credit. I understand now how young and foolish we were, but at the time, I thought I was wise and capable."

"What happened after you left your homeworld?" Damascus asked.

"At first everything went well," Dek-lee said with a far off look, as if they were remembering those days. "We were both skilled transition unit technicians, so we were able to get jobs on a large civilian transport ship. It was a low-budget ship so it was crowded and things were constantly breaking, but it felt like such an adventure. I saw so many species and tried all the different kinds of foods. I was having so much fun that I didn't notice how unhappy Dek-sen was until they started getting sick."

"Sick?" Damascus asked. "From a disease or toxins? Those old ships can be deadly."

"Sadness," Dek-lee answered. "I know that's not very scientific, but I honestly think that was the root of their problems. At first the illnesses were minor and simply annoying: a fungal infection in their hind food that resulted in lameness, overproduction of eye mucus that irritated their eyes, or other things like that. Nothing serious enough to miss work but uncomfortable enough for a trip to the infirmary. I even teased them about all of it, saying they were doing it so I wouldn't make them try any more new foods."

"Did the illness get worse?"

"Eventually, yes," Dek-lee said with a deep sigh. "The next thing I knew, we were being left behind at a station because Dek-sen couldn't work anymore. The station had a medical suite, but it was expensive, and I gave them everything I had. It was only after I had nothing left that I realized Dek-sen needed to go home to heal. I sold myself to buy him a ticket, but I didn't act soon enough. The medical suite used the wealth to ship a dead body back to our family."

As Dek-lee spoke, their hair was fluffing up, then laying flat, then fluffing again. Damascus hadn't seen it before but it had to be a sign of distress.

"That explains how you ended up as a slave," Damascus said. "I'm sorry your sibling died. That had to be horrible."

"Yes," Dek-lee agreed sadly. "But even worse is that it was my fault. I set out to explore the universe. Instead I caused the death of my sibling."

"I don't think you can take responsibility for Dek-sen's death," Damascus said, trying to keep his voice gentle. He felt like he was sounding a soothing rumble for the Delorta as well as the sleeping child in his arms.

Dek-lee looked at him curiously. "How can you say that?"

"Dek-sen could've said no at any time," Damascus said. "You never forced them to do anything, did you?"

"Of course not," Dek-lee said, sounding affronted. "Forcing another soul into action is deplorable."

"I think Dek-sen wanted to explore with you," Damascus explained. "They might not have been as adventurous as you, but they definitely wanted to see what it was like outside Delorta space."

Dek-lee considered his words before speaking. "Perhaps there is an element of truth to your words, but Dek-sen would've never left without me."

"Would you have left without them?"

"No." That single word seemed to be a revelation for Dek-lee. The two Delorta had enabled each other.

"I don't think they died of sadness," Damascus continued. "There are a lot of species that don't handle being off their homeworld for long lengths of time. Not without special accommodations. Dek-sen could've easily been one of those, and neither of you would've known it until you were far away."

"Your words have merit," Dek-lee agreed. "But they don't alleviate the guilt I feel."

Damascus wanted to sound a sad rumble. "Nothing will except time. Perhaps you should think about how you could help others in the way your sibling needed help."

Dek-lee tilted their head questioningly, a habit they'd picked up from Iris. "Like opening a medical bay or giving people passage back to their homes when they can't afford it?"

"Something like that," Damascus agreed. "Something to provide for those who don't have everything they need."

"I'll have to think about this," Dek-lee agreed, their fur going to a medium fluffiness and staying there. They were also grasping their hands together instead of kneading the air. All good signs.

"Do that," Damascus agreed. "I know you'll find something important to contribute to the universe. Your soul will have the weight of a star before you know it."

For the first time since they started talking, Dek-lee looked a little pleased. "Your faith makes me want to try harder."

"Only because I've spoken to your inner courage, my friend."

Damascus realized he did see Dek-lee as a friend. Now he understood how Iris felt. It was going to be hard to see the Delorta leave, but it felt good to know Dek-lee was going back to their people and safety.