Chapter Twenty-Eight

D ante was sitting in the window looking down at the enormous wilderness area the Kowri had established for the sacred animals. It was hard to believe they were inside a ship. The Gavd ships had been big enough, but this Retav ship was more like a floating continent. A small continent, but considering that ships should not come in continent sizes at all, it was damn impressive.

Full-sized trees filled the space, but the window was so far above them all he could see were the green canopies and the birds that would sweep by and the occasional freio lumbering through the area.

Peaches chittered from the bush, soaking up the artificial sunlight streaming in the window. He wanted to see the babies, but he didn't want to get poked with quills because she wasn't ready to share yet, so he settled for the tiny squeaks that sometimes came from the base of the plant.

A branch shook, and Dante spotted a hint of quills before Peaches disappeared into the shadows again.

Dante turned his attention back to the park. Apparently primary peristyle meant a freaking huge balcony overlooking the park. He thought he'd seen a herd of pebafri on a distant hill, but that might've been wishful thinking. Dante always did his best thinking while riding, and he felt as though he did have some serious thinking to do. He always wondered how his people would handle contact with an alien species. But now he also had to wonder how the Kowri would handle contact with humans. He worried humans would be trapped in their own solar system, quarantined by neighbors who considered them a lower life form.

Dante ignored the tiny voice that suggested humans might be lower life forms. His people might suck, but Dante had good evidence other alien species weren't any better. In fact, they might be worse.

Footsteps echoed down the long hallway between the main door and the living room, and Dante leapt to his feet, fear making his heart pound for a half second until he recognized Regi.

"Oh," Regi said. "I thought these were my quarters. Pardon the intrusion." The words were formal.

"We're sharing," Dante blurted. Regi blinked at him, and Dante's verbal diarrhea kept spilling out. "I didn't want Ter left behind or Vk separated from us, so I told them that humans make families of choice and that we needed family housing, so there are four bedrooms."

Regi was silent until Dante's guts started to knot up. "Should I request new quarters?"

"No!" Regi came into the shared living space, stopping next to a pair of giant circular couches that would have looked as though they had escaped the 1970s except they'd been done in a dozen different shades of gray and green that mimicked the natural pattern of tree foliage. Regi sat on the edge. "I... did Vk agree with this situation?"

The question surprised Dante. If anyone might throw an epic fit, it would be Ter. "Both Ter and Vk agreed, but Ter wanted to go see the engines, and Vk wanted to watch his back. I think they were avoiding the dop screaming." Dante hadn't even known dops could make that noise.

"‘Screaming'?" Regi sounded alarmed.

"We failed to notice that Peaches was pregnant. Did you bring Peewee?"

"Should I have?" Regi asked.

Dante sighed. "I assume he wants to be around his kids, and if dops are one of those species where the males are unsafe around the pups, I trust Peaches to keep him in hand."

Regi nodded. "I will return to the other ship to retrieve him. I'm sure he's still in my previous quarters."

"Good." Dante fell silent, not sure how to cross the silence that had grown between them.

Regi shifted on the couch, his gaze darting about the room. "I wish to ask about an issue of huuman physiology, but I fear that in making assumptions, I could offer offense." He sent his gaze everywhere except Dante.

"I'm a big fan of saying what you need to say." Dante ignored the growing fear that something had gone wrong, that he had made some horrible mistake and they were about to enter the lets-be-friends purgatory that he knew so well.

"Do your people biologically change at time of mating?" Regi made eye contact.

Confusion washed through Dante. That is not where he'd feared the conversation was going. "Do you mean like getting hard?" He gestured to his crotch.

Regi huffed. "No, not external structures intended for mating but rather internal structures related to how individuals relate to each other longer term."

"I don't understand."

Regi curled his upper lip in frustration. "Vk's people," he said in a complete non sequitur, "have changes to the hormone levels when they join a mating group. Their hormone levels will begin to mimic those of their group, and they will become dependent upon having close contact with those group members."

Dante frowned, not sure he understood what that meant. "Are you trying to say that Vk's people get addicted to each other?"

"The term ‘addiction' connotes unnaturalness and negativity," Regi said. "Vk's refusal to join a mating group is seen as the aberrant decision."

"If anyone calls Vk aberrant, I'll introduce them to a Texas haymaker," he said.

"That did not translate."

Dante came over to the couch and sat next to Regi now he was almost sure they weren't breaking up. "It's probably for the best, but if someone insults Vk in front of me, I might land in your brig."

"Ah. Understood. From your confusion, I assume that your people do not have similar changes when you begin relationships."

Dante pursed his lips and thought about it. "We do have touch hormones," he said. "On the farm we see mothers adopting all sorts of unlikely critters because when they give birth, the hormones are high, but it doesn't affect behavior much."

Regi blew out a long breath. "Thank the gods."

Dante rested his hand on Regi's arm, and he wondered if his body was making some of those touch hormones now or if he was too distracted by confusion for the process to start. "What's going on?"

Regi put his hand on top of Regi's, his velvet fur soft against Dante's knuckles. "Vk worried. She said your reactions were illogical, and she asked that I inquire as to whether biology forced you to react illogically."

Dante snorted. "I was doing stupid shit long before you came along. Besides, what was I supposed to do? Just leave you to die?" The ghost of that fear ran across Dante's skin.

"That would have been the logical reaction."

"No, that would have been the easy one. Besides, you risked your life for me."

"It was my people putting you at risk and my responsibility as a security officer to act. I was logical." Regi sounded defensive about that, but his logical answers didn't explain his panic when they'd been hunted through the wilderness or his quiet fury when he'd talked to the other exalteds about how their xenophobia had put Dante in danger. "But you risked your life. Are all huuman relationships this..." Regi paused as though searching for a word.

"Obsessive?" Dante asked dryly.

Regi let out a huge breath. "Yes, obsessive."

Dante leaned closer and smiled. "The good ones are." Dante's heart raced and he rested his forehead against Regi's, feeling the heat between them and the dance of Regi's breath on his neck.

Regi curled his arm around Dante's waist, pulling him closer until their thighs were pressed together. "You make me feel this obsessive," Dante whispered.

"Which frightens me," Regi said. His voice cracked, but he didn't let go.

Dante didn't have an answer. He was scared too. This felt so much bigger than any other relationship he'd had and sometimes little fears crept in on mouse feet. Maybe he was confusing gratitude and love. Maybe Regi was lonely after living with a ship full of assholes most of his adult life. Maybe Dante wasn't good enough.

But then he looked into Regi's eyes and felt the velvet of his fur under his hands, and Dante told those insecurities to fuck right off.

He pressed his lips to Regi's, feeling the tickle of fur and smelling the fresh musk. This felt right. Regi's arms tightened until Dante wasn't sure where his body ended and Regi's started. He parted his lips, and Regi mimicked the gesture so Dante could slip his tongue inside with a moan.

Dante slid his hands up Regi's arms, across the soft fur to the back of his head where he had a thicker strip where he could thread his fingers through the longer hair.

Regi gasped, breaking their kiss. "Ter," he whispered.

"He has a new engine to explore," Dante said, but he paused. Maybe Kowri had a taboo against public displays in communal spaces. But then Regi ran his hands over Dante's cheeks and down the line of his neck. Dante shivered, and Regi kissed the spot where his neck and shoulder met. This is what Dante wanted. Forever. He'd never been more sure of anything.

He dragged his teeth over the rim of Regi's ear, but then Regi shifted so he was straddling Dante, pressing him into their couch. His hand cupped Dante's cheek, but he pinned Dante with a strength Dante would never be able to move.

Dante arched his back and scraped his fingernails through Regi's fur, across his shoulders and down his arms. Regi shifted so his weight pressed down against his cock, and Dante's whole world whited out. His brain went offline and he came in his pants, leaving him breathless and trembling and mighty embarrassed.

Regi shifted to one side and continued to stroke Dante's arm while he gasped for air. "That's mighty embarrassing," Dante finally managed.

"What is?"

Dante cracked open an eye. "Coming in my pants."

Regi's expression hinted at smugness. "I took it as a great compliment. I am also grateful that you were not forced to react to me by your biology. I want you to choose me because I am choosing you." He turned his head and rested his cheek against the tall back of the sofa so he could stare at Dante.

"That is the sweetest thing anyone has said to me in a very long time. Possibly forever," Dante said. He held his hand palm up, and Regi put his hand in it, threading their fingers together.

For long minutes, they sat in a companionable silence, but Dante couldn't ignore reality. The Kowri had found Earth, or its general direction, anyway. That was more important than damp underwear or the warmth of Regi's body against his.

"So, how are people taking the unexpected reveal that Earth is inside the empire?" The Retav ship had picked up more electronic chatter from the planet.

"Not well. Some would deny the truth, but the gods do not love ignorance, so the debate has moved to seeking an explanation for the impossible. Some believe your species has illegally colonized Kowri planets. And they advocate handling the situation as all piracy is handled within the empire."

Dante winced. "Well, that's not good."

"No, it is not, but I assume there will be evidence of human evolution when we reach Earth, and that will prevent a possible genocide."

"We're going to Earth? Now?" Dante should want to get back to his home and his father and his sister and his animals, but all he could feel was a dull horror.

Regi looked as unhappy as Dante. It was spoiling the afterglow. "The Kowri believe the integrity of the Empire is compromised. Do you believe they would go anywhere other than Earth?"

"And my people are going to give birth to kittens when they see the size of this ship." On the bright side, that might make humans behave. Fear was a good motivation.

"Do you provide surrogacy for other species?" Regi asked

For a moment, Dante was confused. Ah. kittens. "No, but we do like our exaggeration and scatological language."

Regi rested his forehead against Dante's shoulder. "I wish we had time to attempt another picnic. There is a waterfall here and I am told there is a pebafri stable in addition to the wild herd. I feel guilty that we dishonored your traditional ritual because of Bekdi's duplicity."

"A picnic sounds great. I wish Divashi's Brown was here."

"What?" Regi pulled away and studied Dante's face.

"Divashi's Brown. I wish he was here," Dante repeated. When Regi still had a poleaxed expression, he added, "I prefer to ride an animal I know, even if he is a cantankerous son-of-a-bitch that is Ter's spirit animal."

Regi smiled. "You are brilliant."

"Why?"

Regi leapt up from the couch. "One could argue that Divashi's Brown has dedicated himself to you as Peaches has."

"And?"

"And you have every right as an exalted to insist that your ship accommodate your chosen companions. If you ask for Divashi's Brown, short of an emergency, we must go back and retrieve him before starting new temple business. The relationship between an exalted and a sacred animal is not to be interfered with. That will slow us by at least two weeks."

"So we would reach Earth two weeks later?" Dante didn't see the brilliance in that plan.

"Two weeks for the exalteds of this ship to hear your logic and grow used to outsiders. Those who argue that huumans are another animal cannot maintain that position indefinitely when you join the debates. They will be even less likely to maintain it when they see you interact with sacred animals."

Dante smiled. "That's brilliant." And it gave Dante two more weeks to avoid thinking about his family and the potential disaster that was humans and Kowri meeting.

"Would you like to remove clothing and explore the compatibility of our biologies more?" Regi asked. As awkwardly phrased as that was, it still sounded like a brilliant plan.

"Oh yeah," Dante agreed. He stood and pulled Regi to his feet before leading him to the largest bedroom. This time they were going to go slow. In fact, Dante couldn't imagine a better way to spend all damn day. The exalteds and interstellar diplomacy would have to wait.