Chapter 22

Serval

His Sophie was enjoying herself. And he loved seeing it.

He shouldn't be surprised; he'd already seen the way she ingratiated herself into a store of strangers on Holivair. Around his family, she was lit up and effervescent and joyful. It took her a few tries, but by the end of the meal, she was recalling the names of most of his family without help. She was prompting stories to be told and giving a few, short but funny, ones of her own.

She was fitting in like she'd been born here. Like she was always meant to be here. And when his mother and aunt started talking about having a beading ceremony for her – since she was an adult and soon-to-be citizen of Wav'aii – she eagerly and excitedly joined the conversation. It was traditional to do it nude, but she was already uncomfortable with that, so they were discussing options for her so that she could have her human modesty respected, while still honoring the allowee ceremony. They debated about what kind of skirt she should have, what pattern would be best for her, and what colors should be incorporated – all of which were important and symbolic of her as a person.

That talk turned into a conversation about the mating ceremony. It was more abstract. They were deliberately not talking about their mating ceremony, but his mother and aunt were telling her about everything involved in general. And Sophie listened with all apparent interest, asking questions and comparing her own mating traditions.

It was good to see. Serval could only smile as he helped clean up the celebratory meal.

"She's nice," his father said, standing beside him as they washed dishes with a few cousins.

"You like her?" Serval asked, as though there could be any chance that someone wouldn't like his Sophie. She seemed to have made an art of making friends.

"I do," Woll said simply, eyes on his job, a small smile on his face. "It's nice to see you happy. I haven't seen you smile this much in a long time."

Serval started, surprised. Had he really looked so unhappy whenever he returned home? He didn't like returning, but he never had a bad time when he was here. He certainly never meant to give his family the impression that he was so displeased to be with them.

"I need to buy her a water breather," he said, returning to the washing. "I want to show her around the island. Including the underwater portions."

Woll nodded. "I already ordered one. It will be here tomorrow with our usual supply delivery."

Something warm bloomed in Serval's chest. He wasn't surprised by this either. Of course, his father would have already thought about her inability to hold her breath for long and would have taken steps to help her. Just as he would have already bought her beads for her first beading, prepared everything they needed for a mating ceremony, and set up their room. Woll wasn't a male to do a lot of exuberant talking and welcoming like Ellow, but he took care of people silently, giving them what they needed and wanted without drawing attention to himself.

"Are you moving home now?"

And there it was.

Serval tensed. He knew that question was going to come up eventually. And he supposed it was better that his father ask him in quietly aside rather than his mother or aunt shouting it loudly so that the whole family could hear.

He didn't answer. Which drew his father's eyes to him.

Before either of them could speak again, a collective, exasperated groan made them both turn.

Sophie was right in the middle of his family, everyone gathered around where she was sitting, and they had all leaned away from her, some rolling their eyes, others dropping their heads and groaning, a few with their faces in their palms, shoulders shaking with laughter. All of them were smiling and laughing as Sophie looked around, a puzzled, slightly concerned expression on her smiling face.

"Not another one!" Uwila, one of Serval's cousins, groaned.

"She is definitely Servalee's mate," another sighed as a third one nodded sagely.

"Does that mean I can't?" Sophie asked, looking around at them all. "It's okay if you want to tell me no. I'm only asking, you won't hurt my feelings if you'd rather remain private."

"No, it's fine," Ellow sighed, long suffering as his aunt, looked to the ground, her lips moving as though she were praying to the ocean spirits. "You can do your videos. We'll be happy to participate if we can."

"Just like Servalee," his aunt muttered as a bunch of eyes turned to him.

Including Sophie's. She gave him a sheepish smile as he understood what was going on. Sophie had already told him she'd be asking his family if it was alright if she recorded things for her channel. She said her viewers would love to meet her in-laws – which was a strange way that humans referred to those who became family by marriage – and that she was eager to show them off.

She must have asked. And his family had drawn connections to her videos and back to when Serval had been young and had gotten his first combot. How he had gone around spying on everyone, getting information on them that, realistically, was just embarrassing for others to know. The hobby had eventually led to a sit down with his parents and the elders and being lectured for respecting the privacy of his family.

A lecture he had only half listened to. He stopped spying on his family, but he would take his camera everywhere else and get into everyone else's business. A hobby that turned into a successful career as a professional gossip – as his aunt liked to say.

No doubt, his family were expecting something similar from Sophie. But before he could explain that her videos weren't like his – that she was making fun videos, not trying to uncover imagined dark and mysterious family secrets – she was releasing her combot.

Everyone watched, interested but not understanding, as she did her typical opening in English and began to go around, introducing people to the camera. She pulled double duty as both host of her show and translator, and everyone else quickly began to understand that her style of media was much different from his own.

As he and his father finished the dishes, his cousins began doing tricks for the camera, or showing off their food. His aunt showed off her new beaded bracelet that her mate had given her for her breathday – the day she had been pulled from the birthing pool. His sister posed, showing off her muscular arms with a wicked grin, as his uncle waved with his olules. Pretty soon, people were bringing all sorts of random things to show off to the humans back on Earth. One of his cousins grabbed a shelling blade from the kitchen and brought it to Sophie, explaining how it was a powerful device that could be used to cleave bones clean in two-

Two of his other cousins tackled him to the ground mid dramatic speech, calling him a fool, and starting up a wrestling match that ended with all three of them falling into the water, still fighting. Sophie got it all on her combot, laughing and cheering them on as their mother – not his overbearing aunt, but one of the nicer ones – ran after them, yelling at them to act like they had sense in their heads because they were putting on a bad show for the humans!

Serval didn't get to see who won the fight, but after it finished, a few of his other cousins – who weren't actually related to him by blood but whose family shared their commu and who might as well be blood related – began playing some traditional music. No doubt encouraged by Sophie's excitement over everything, and bolstered by the idea that they would be the first allowee to play for an Earth audience. They were really good too. The last time Serval heard them playing, they sounded like juveniles at their first concert, but they had improved a great deal.

He and the others on cleaning duty finished and he returned to Sophie's side. She gave him a bright smile as she immediately relaxed into his embrace. Her combot turned, catching video of them. She must have set it to free roam, to record as much as possible, because she hadn't given it an order, and even now she just smiled at it before it was distracted by one of his friends busting out a game of shells to the delight of a few other gamblers.

"My family is a bit rowdy," he said apologetically as she relaxed into him.

"Your family is fantastic," she laughed. "I feel like I'm home."

Serval hesitated before tightening his arms around her. A new worry eating at his belly, making it hard to breathe. This was exactly what he had been afraid of. That he would bring his mate to his commu, and she wouldn't ever want to leave.

"What are you thinking about?" She asked, head cocking curiously.

"Nothing."

"Liar." She leaned her head back, poking his stomach. "You just got all tense. You had a thought. Care to share it with the class?"

He didn't answer immediately. Not because he didn't want to tell her, though there was part of him that was hesitant to say it out loud. If she really wanted to settle down already, if the mating bond had triggered a nesting instinct, how could he tell his mate no? His real concern though was having this discussion while his family was getting drunk and reveling in his return and her arrival.

He took her by the hand and quickly dragged her away. A few people noticed, some calling out salacious things that the rei wouldn't understand. A lot of them had settled into the post dinner festivities and were too busy drinking or eating or playing to care. Some would have already dragged their lover off for a tryst, as they no doubt thought he was doing.

And he didn't care if they thought that. Let them. He kept hold of Sophie's hand as he guided her down the steps and onto the old, shelled path that wound around the island. He started walking with her, deliberately slowing his steps so she could keep up.

Sophie didn't say anything. She laced her fingers through his, tightening their grip, as she leaned against his shoulder, enjoying the music of the night.

The surface of his planet was rather tame. While there were a few creatures that crawled or slithered onto the rocks, most of the wildlife was under the water. There were no birds overhead to call or flit around. There were a few insects chirping in the night, but most of the songs they could hear were distant marine life, singing their own tongue of the deep. Lights from below couldn't really be seen here, and there was almost no light pollution on land, so the vibrantly shining stars above had no competition to hide their splendor.

"The pools," Sophie breathed as they came upon one. In the dark, its glow was more evident. Not quite illuminating like a light, but definitely vibrant. "The glow is from a bacteria?"

"Yes," he nodded as they walked around them. "The wii here feed on us. When we use the pools to refresh our wii or when the young play in it or we use it for a ceremony, they colonize our skin. Sometimes, we sprinkle some sea water into it, so the wii can eat the microscopic organisms in the water, and to keep the pools filled, but the water itself is very clean and safe."

"Even for me?" She asked softly.

Serval brought her to one of the smaller pools. If they stood in it, the water would barely reach their calves, and there was maybe enough space for both of them to sit down. He took her to the edge and kneeled. She sat beside him, staring in wonder at the water.

He wasn't concerned. Offworlders had bathed in nesting pools before. It was very rare that anyone had a reaction to the bacterium. With full confidence, he took her hand and lowered it into the water. He held her by the wrist, submerging her fingers, her palm. She gasped.

"It's warm."

"Yes," he chuckled. "The bacteria like it a certain temperature."

"Are these like hot springs or something?"

"No. The bacteria are exothermic. They make it this temperature. That's why they like living on our skin. Less work for them since our skin is already warm. But when they're in the pool, they have to generate heat to keep it like this."

"What the…" Sophie breathed, wiggling her fingers in the water as he released her wrist. She swirled her hand around, stirring it up. "It doesn't really feel different from regular warm water."

"Did you expect it to?"

"I don't know. I guess maybe I thought I could feel them or something? But that doesn't really make sense. I can't feel bacteria in water normally. It just feels like soft water."

"No reaction?"

"No, I guess not." She lifted her hand, watching in wonder as the glow diminished. "Ah! It's gone!"

"Of course." He chuckled. "They don't need to make their own warmth when your body is warm enough for them. I guess they like you."

"Woah," she breathed, turning her hand around. The silvery moon overhead, which was always full and round and bright, shone on the wetness, but there was no more glow.

"We'll watch to see if you have some sort of reaction or if they linger on your skin," he said. "They might not stay on you the way they do me, but so long as they don't hurt you, that's all that's really important."

Sophie smiled, bringing her wet hand close to her chest. "So? What got you tense back at the party, hm?"

He frowned, looking into the pool. "I wouldn't say I was tense…"

"I was holding you. You were tense." She nudged him with her shoulder. "Come on. Out with it. You're all about telling people things on the news, right? Give me the scoop."

He sat back, leaning on his hand. Looking at her carefully before asking, "Do you like my home, Sophie?"

She chuckled. "Of course. It's beautiful here. And your family is so nice."

"Could you see this as a home for yourself?"

"Well, yeah. This is exactly how I would want to raise my kids one day. Surrounded by loved ones and knowing that they have a clan behind them no matter what."

"Do you want to stay here?" His belly tightening with unease.

She tilted her head, looking at him curiously. He had tried to sound as nonchalant as he had asking the other questions, but he didn't think he quite succeeded.

"Are you asking me if I want to move here permanently?" She finally responded, ratcheting up his concern now that she wouldn't just answer him.

He grunted. Not really answering her question either but allowing her to interpret the sound however she wished.

Again, she didn't answer immediately. The silence scraped on his nerves as she asked, "Do you want to stay here?"

"I asked you first."

"But you're the one worried about it."

"I'm worried about what your answer will be."

She laughed. "So, we both don't want to answer the question because we both don't want to disappoint the other, huh?"

He flinched. That was exactly what it was. Because he couldn't tell his mate no if she wanted to settle down on his planet, but he also wasn't ready to do that. He didn't know if he'd ever be ready to stop traveling and chasing stories and having adventures in the deepest parts of space. Maybe one day. His father had, apparently, done some wild things in his youth. Not that Serval was sure he could believe it now, seeing how calm and steady he was, but it wasn't so uncommon for people to want a more stable life when they got older.

But for now…

"Let me ask you something, Serval." She wrapped her arms around her legs, resting her head on her knees as she looked at him. So sweet and beautiful in the moonlight.

"What is it?"

"Why don't you wear beads?"

"What?" He hadn't been expecting that question. It seemed so random, so off topic, that he answered without really thinking. "They're impractical. At least, off Wav'aii, they are."

"But you do have them?"

"Of course. I have many. But beads aren't really considered appropriate dress on most planets. And it's not very professional looking on camera."

"I've never seen you wearing them. I didn't even know that's how your people dressed. Looking at you now, it's like you're trying to be as different as possible from your people. Like you're distancing yourself from your culture."

"No, that's not…" His immediate denial died on his tongue. Was that what he had been doing?

"What about your name? I thought Serval was your name, but everyone here calls you Servalee."

"Serval is my professional name. It sounds better on camera. Better for marketing."

"Optics. Is your whole life about optics? There's more to life than what happens on camera, you know? And there's nothing wrong with being yourself. You can still represent your past while staying true to who you want to be in the present."

Serval didn't say anything. Wasn't sure how to respond to that. Sophie let the silence hang between them for a long time before looking forward. She took in a deep breath of the fresh night air, closing her eyes, lost in the beauty of his planet.

And it was beautiful. It seemed he always forgot that when he left, but he couldn't deny it so long as he was here.

"I'm not ready to settle down," Sophie finally said, breaking him from his musings. "I mean, if you want to stay here on Wav'aii, that's still a whole planet for me to explore. If you want kids right now… I don't know if I'm ready for that. We just met each other. So, I guess it depends on what your definition of settling down is. But I would never run out of content, even just being on another planet. I would still really love to explore the universe though."

Serval let out a long breath of relief. Not just to finally have her answer, but to change from the rather weighty subject. "I want to explore the universe more too."

She smiled, her own shoulders relaxing. "I adore your family so far. And I don't think I'm ready to leave here, like, tomorrow or anything. I want a chance to get to know everyone a bit more, to explore the island some. I still need to see the underwater portion too. But I want to see more new planets. Chase your stories. See the universe."

"If you want a rei," he continued, "we still won't have to settle. I mean, we will for the first few weeks of its life. Until it can come out of the birthing pool. But once it does, we can take them with us. We don't have to stop if you want a family. We just need to pause until they can breathe air on their own and don't need to rely on the pools so often."

"Let's take it one problem at a time," Sophie said, snuggling into his side. "Right now, we're waiting to see if I have a reaction to the wee."

He snickered. "Wii."

"I say potato, you say ovili."

"What does that even mean?" He laughed, confused and delighted by her.

"Besides, before all of that, we have to think about our mating ceremony."

He chuckled, putting an arm around her shoulders. "Do you want one?"

"Excuse me?" She reared back, playfully offended. "You're lucky you didn't meet my papi, because he would have demanded you go through with the ceremony before you ever put your hands on me. Of course, mi papi is under the impression that I'm still an innocent virgin, and I see no reason to correct that assumption, but my point still stands. If anything, finding out I've been compromised would have made him more determined to see me wedded."

Serval could only laugh. "Your papi has no reason to worry. You're mine regardless of if we have the ceremony now, or we wait until we return here next year."

"A year, huh…" She mumbled softly. "I still get the beading ceremony though, right?'

He laughed, putting his arms around her. "Yes. You do. I can't wait to see you wearing beads and dressed like an allowee."

"Speaking of people dressing like an allowee," she gave him a look. "We're not on camera now. There's no professional recordings happening. How come you're not wearing any fancy beads, mister?"

He grimaced. "Not you too."

"You're on your home soil. Coral. Fossil. Whatever it is, you're here. What's wrong with the beads?"

"The beads are considered salacious on some planets, outright illegal on others, and they would be highly inconvenient trying to wear on a battlefield. The clothes I wear are considered normal for Holotulle, which is an acceptable standard for the rest of the Coalition, so I don't have to worry about buying new outfits every time I reach a new planet. Including Wav'aii."

"We are on none of those planets nor are we on a battlefield." She poked his chest. "Come on. Let me see you wearing your beads."

He growled, snatching her up and dropping her on his lap as she laughed. The bright sound echoed over the nesting pools as he nuzzled her neck.

"If you want to see me naked, lov'alel, all you have to do is ask."

"How about a deal?" She grinned, running her fingers through his olules, shivering at their sting. "You wear your beads while we're here, and I'll wear my swimsuit collection."

He cocked his head curiously. "Swimsuit?"

"Oh, yeah," she snickered evilly. "Human rules of modest dressing are almost completely suspended when it comes to swimsuits."

Serval blinked, her words taking a moment to register.

Humans were known as being the most sexual species in the universe. Everything about them, from their incredibly feminine bodies and features – females and males alike – to their sweet voices, to their scents, to the very way they moved, even their blood itself, seemed designed to allure others and drive them mad with lust. The fact that they were capable of naturally producing hybrids just seemed to confirm that they were a species designed for sex and sensuality.

But despite that, humans had very specific rules about modesty. His Sophie always made sure to cover her chest and her sex, refusing to let anyone see them except him. Those body parts were meant only for her mate. And even if they were technically covered, that didn't mean that someone was considered dressed. If clothing didn't cover enough skin, it was considered too salacious, too sexual, even if the forbidden parts of her body were concealed.

Serval hadn't really ever worried about it. On the way to Wav'aii, he had warned her that nudity wasn't a cultural taboo here. Even the beaded skirts didn't cover everything. The beads didn't always sit flush, or they were completely open at the sides. One of his female friends wore a skirt that only covered her hips, not her behind or genitalia at all. And that was perfectly fine for them, though he knew it wouldn't be for humans.

But she said that a swimsuit – which sounded like clothing specifically for swimming – suspended human modesty rules.

What did that mean…?

"Do we have a deal?" She asked, smiling like the wicked temptress she was.

"How many swimming suits do you have in your collection?" He asked, voice surprisingly rough as he considered her walking around in something salacious.

Or beads.

His cock gave a throbbing pulse, his ovules wriggling intensely as he imagined her walking around in nothing but beads. Her breasts free. Her wet little cunt available to him whenever he wanted. He'd just have to push the skirt aside and…

She shifted on his lap, chuckling. "A lot. Some really cute bathing suits too, by the way. I have a whole set from a collaboration I did with a designer last year. We had a fashion show and everything. You want to see?"

She asked softly, leaning over him. Dancing her lips over his. Teasing him with the promise of a kiss and her immodest swimming suits.

"I do," he breathed, shuddering.

"Then, I demand beads," she declared, sitting back.

He growled, grabbing her by the back of her neck and yanking her back to him. She laughed as he covered her lips, claiming the kiss she had teased. He couldn't remember the last time he'd worn his beads, but he'd do it for her.

He was pretty sure he'd do anything for her.