Chapter Eleven

T he door chimed, warning him that someone wanted into his quarters, and Dante almost levitated off the bed. He was sweaty and cum-stained and half-dressed and drugged with sleep even though he could tell hours and hours had passed. But the idea of someone like Ter or the captain finding them like this was a nightmare come true. However, he got tangled in Regi's legs and ended up face down on the floor while a chattering Peaches scolded him. At least that was what Dante assumed she was doing.

"Are you okay?" Regi knelt next to Dante on the floor.

"Humiliated, but fine." He grabbed his sheet over himself. It was one thing to have Regi see him when they were both in the throes of significant lust, but it was quite another thing when they were both rational enough to take note of his flaws.

"Door open," Regi said without any further fanfare, and Dante gaped at him, shocked because Regi was still very much naked with his non-inflatable penis on display.

The door opened and Vk stopped in the doorway, her nose dropping a good inch as it lengthened. Dante clung to the sheet, desperate for any sort of protection from her gaze.

Vk's nose rumpled and then the entire appendage lifted a half inch. "Finally," she said. And then she focused on Regi. "The larger of your two fathers is outside and he wishes to have a word with you."

"Pertin," Regi said, providing the name

Vk nodded. "Pertin. Understood. He says that he needs to speak with you immediately."

"Is there a new disaster on the horizon?"

Dante groaned. Asking shit like that was like inviting the next disaster.

"Not that I am aware of, but with your people, anything is possible."

Dante noticed that Regi made no effort to defend Kowri honor. Without commenting on finding her security chief naked, Vk walked out of the room, triggering the door as she left. Dante collapsed onto the floor and stared at the ceiling's support struts. Regi glanced down at him. "I should see what my da-father wants. He is the most reasonable of my parents, and if he feels there is a topic we need to discuss outside the presence of others, he is most likely right."

"You might want to get dressed first."

Regi grinned. "Obviously. And I would like for you to meet him outside the temple."

"Oh." Yesterday had been awkward enough, but this felt like intentionally putting himself in more difficult meet-the-parents situations.

Regi studied him.

"I'll get dressed," Dante said.

Regi smiled.

By the time Dante came out of the storage room he'd turned into a pseudo-closet for the four mismatched outfits the crew had donated to him, Regi was in a new uniform and looking pressed and well-rested and not the least bit flustered. Dante had never been able to face parents with that level of aplomb. Not even his own parents. However, he swallowed and offered a smile before following Regi down to the exit.

The exterior door was closed and a security guard stood inside, but he stepped aside for Regi, triggering the heavy door to slide away. Sunlight flooded the corridor, almost blinding Dante, so it must be early morning.

Regi held the rail as he walked the uneven ramp, but before he reached the bottom, a loud voice called, "Regi, son of my soul, I have missed you." Pertin smiled until the fur at the corners of his eyes fluffed out from wrinkling. He stood at the bottom of the ramp and held out both arms.

Regi grabbed his father's forearms, creating a two-handed greeting Dante hadn't seen yet. "Father. I have missed you as well. There were many times in the last few years that I wished I could've come to you for counsel." Regi's words were warm, but they still had a stilted, formal quality. Dante wondered if that came from the translator or if this reunion was as awkward as it seemed.

"And I wish you could have come to me." Pertin pulled Regi closer and they ended touching noses. Only then did both let go.

"No remarks about how I could've stayed closer had I not been foolish enough to leave the Empire?" Regi's back was stiff. Dante noticed the other Kowri were keeping more distance today, but they still had their watchers at the edges of the spaceport. A pair of Kowri even sat on pebafri.

Regi's father gave him a sad look. "I assume that would not improve our relationship."

"It would not."

"Then I choose to protect my relationship with my son over the pleasure of making any statements which may or may not be true," Pertin took a step backward.

"Silence is not your normal strategy. Are you learning to be political from mother?"

"Gods forbid," he said quickly. "I still prefer my wood to most sapient creatures, Kowri and outsiders included. However, I am willing to make more of an effort for those I care about." He smiled at Regi, but then tilted his head to include Dante.

Dante opened his mouth to introduce himself, but Regi spoke before he could. "I wish I could believe that this meeting was simply about a father and a son reconnecting."

Pertin sighed. "It appears you are the one who has inherited your mother's suspicious nature."

"I have grown into a logical being who can see truth when it appears three feet in front of his nose. You would not have risked the wrath of the temple by coming here unless you had a purpose."

"The gods have blessed you with more logic than most," Pertin said, but instead of answering the question, he turned to Dante. "And this outsider. Do I have a relationship with him that I should tend?"

"I don't believe we've properly met. I'm Dante." Dante stuck out his hand, angling his right hand toward Pertin's right hand. He stared at it for a moment before he mirrored the gesture. As soon as their hands were close, Dante took Pertin's hand in a handshake. "This is how my people greet one another."

"Curious," he said, but he didn't seem offended by the gesture.

Regi moved to Dante's side. "By asking if you have a relationship with him, he is asking if we are in a committed pair-bonded relationship," Regi explained. Heat rushed into Dante's cheeks, and he stared in shock at Regi's father.

Pertin huffed in amusement. "I am not so old that I cannot remember what my son looks like when he finds someone interesting," Pertin said, "nor so political as to avoid the obvious because others believe they are better at keeping secrets than they are." He glanced at Regi.

"I am being honest when I tell you that you have misunderstood the situation and now embarrassed Dante."

Pertin's ears pushed forward. "Have I?" He touched his thumbs to his temples. "Then I apologize, Dante a'Divashi, for my inappropriate assumption. I suppose I do rather assume that everyone will find my son attractive and interesting. It's the prerogative of a parent to assume their child superior to all others."

Dante looked at Regi with thinly veiled panic. He was not prepared for the type of parent That would push them to the altar. Homophobic screamers scared him less. "Um, I think Regi's great... at security. He's a great security chief. He found the pirate ship when it was hidden at the edge of a black hole by looking at data, which is... um... great."

Regi put himself between Dante and Pertin. "Did you come here to embarrass Dante and myself?"

"No, of course not. I may enjoy your embarrassment since I have been denied that entertainment for some time; however, I am not so petty as to seek out such opportunities. I came to discuss your mother."

Regi stiffened. Dante wondered if it was some sort of rule that all sapient creatures have difficult relationships with their parents. Regi's voice was calm, in opposition to his body language. He had already been stiff, but now the hair on his arms stood on end. "Has she decided that all outsiders must die?"

"Do you think so little of your mother that you assume she would act so precipitously?" Pertin appeared shocked.

Regi stuck his elbows out. "Yes, I rather do."

Pertin took a long breath. "I am unsure what has happened to convince you of your mother's ill intent, but she only means the best for you even when her actions are ill-conceived and counterproductive."

"‘Ill-conceived'." Regi snorted, but then the energy leaked out of him. "This is an old argument, and one I would rather not repeat on an endless loop. Is there something specific you would discuss with me?"

"She is not against your position," Pertin said in a hushed tone. "You know how she feels when others attempt to tell her how to midwife."

"She has made that clear," said Regi. Dante ached to rest his hand against Regi's back in silent support. However, Pertin's comments about their relationship made Dante hesitate. He wasn't family. And he didn't want to give Pertin more ammunition to manipulate Regi into a commitment he didn't want.

"Your mother is equally adamant that she has no business interfering in others' tasks."

"Since we have no God of outsiders, who would she elevate to that position?"

"I believe she thinks these matters should be handled logically and she would give preferential treatment to any solution offered by Gimi since she is the exalted of Onidba, Lord of logic. That is good news, is it not?"

Instead of looking relieved, Regi seemed even more worried. "It could be good news; however, I am suspicious that the news is ubiquitously good given that the temple has those like Bekdi. And Bekdi is the exalted of Gavd and justice is his domain."

Pertin huffed. "Your mother does not hold Bekdi in high esteem. She has informed him that his decision to order his people into your ship runs counter to temple guidance. She also informed him that he is suffering the same illness that young exalteds always do." He stared at Regi for long enough that Dante knew that whatever was said next was either an insult or an inside joke.

"And what wise words of wisdom did mother have to share with him?" Regi asked.

"She informed him that those newly risen to the status of exalted often expect the gods to solve every problem when the gods rarely have any interest in the affairs of lesser beings. She told Bekdi that like all exalteds who have not relearned common sense after coming to the temple, he suffers a terrible inability to think for himself or reach reasonable conclusions."

"I wouldn't argue with her about that," said Regi.

"You may be less sanguine when you hear she has made similar statements about you. I hoped by discussing this in private, we could avoid additional conflict."

"So my mother believes I have no common sense or ability to reach a reasonable conclusion, but unlike when I was young, she no longer believes my ignorance comes from youth but now she believes I have those traits because I am newly touched by my goddess. Thank you for saving me from hearing that from her. I'm glad you are still such a staunch defender of the great Minait a'Otutha." Bitterness colored his words.

Propriety be damned. Dante rested his hand against Regi's back in silent support.

"I rather thought I was defending my son's feelings," Pertin murmured.

Regi turned back to the ship. "I will make sure that I do not react if Mother informs me that I am still as great a fool as ever despite my goddess's faith in me."

Moving quickly for such a large Kowri, Pertin rushed the ramp and caught Regi's arm. "I wish I knew the words to ease the pain you two cause each other."

Regi's face was devoid of expression. "I'm sure Mother can turn to her goddess for comfort."

"Minait and Gimi are gathering a small group to come here and seek an audience with this Ter. I believe Minait hopes to ease the others' discomfort by showing that he is no more than an unmannered outsider, nothing the temple need concern itself with." The words tumbled out as if Pertin was afraid Regi might run away any moment.

"She's bringing temple exalteds here?" Regi turned back toward his father. "Why is she involving herself? You said yourself that she believes exalteds should tend to those issues within their own gods' area of influence, and this matter does not call for a midwife."

"Perhaps she sees her son's determination and hopes to assist him."

"I doubt that. But I thank you for the warning and I will talk to Ter in order to minimize the odds that he will do further damage to Coalition-Kowri relations." The statement was so stiff and formal that Dante winced. Even when Dante screamed at his father–and he often did–he never talked as if his father didn't matter to him. Pertin jerked his hands away like he'd been burned.

Regi marched up the ramp, back stiff.

Dante was behind Pertin, unsure whether he should walk past or run away or possibly dig a hole and pull the dirt in after him until all the family drama passed over like a category five hurricane.

Pertin turned and offered the saddest smile Dante had seen in a mighty long time. "Will you give him a chance to detail the breadth and depth of his displeasure so he can categorize his feelings?" he asked.

"Venting," Dante said. "We call that venting, and letting people we care about vent is a basic rule of human relationships."

Pertin smiled at him, but the expression didn't touch his eyes and his ears were still tilted back unhappily. "I am glad," Pertin whispered. He studied Dante until Dante gathered the reins of his courage and eased past him to get up the ramp. When he reached the door, he looked back and Pertin watched.

Dante knew Regi had legitimate reasons to be angry with his parents, much like Dante did. But Dante suspected his own father would never stare at a door with the sort of lost expression Pertin had right now. Dante wasn't sure how many years Regi had been gone, but he had the feeling that Pertin at least had mourned for his son the whole time. But Regi seemed too angry to notice that.

Wishing he knew how to make any of this easier, Dante headed into the ship. If he couldn't help ease the family suffering, maybe he could find Ter and convince him to avoid throwing any more equipment. Yep, and maybe he could create world peace, cure cancer, and stop global warming. And here yesterday had ended so nicely.