Chapter 32
Peony
The weirdest part about starting life all over on an alien world wasn't the strange flora, unfamiliar food, or completely new culture; it was just how quickly they began settling in.
Peony would have thought that she'd need weeks to even be comfortable, but no. The day after the party, she woke up and saw Atem off, then returned to her room with the girls, and began thinking about what exactly she wanted to do here.
It was a whole new world, after all. She could do anything she wanted. Through Atem and his honor driven familial claim, she had wealth and connections. The sky wasn't even the limit anymore because spaceships were a thing.
Despite that, in the days that followed as she waited for Atem to return, she couldn't actually think of anything she wanted to do. It was disheartening because the girls were all figuring out a place for themselves seemingly without issue.
Scarlet, who had just graduated nursing school and hadn't even had a chance to work yet, had been doing some reading to study healing under the First Healer's direction.
She still had a while before she could get another neural imprint, but there was still a lot of things she could familiarize herself with and she threw herself into the work with gusto.
Holly had decided to center herself by getting on a schedule.
She went to bed and woke up at the same time every day.
She did yoga in the morning, invited the others to join her, then spent time researching the laws and culture of the planet.
She wanted to be able to fit in and not embarrass herself, and so was driven to learn it all quickly.
Hattie, disappointed that Tuvo had left with Atem, had decided to help the others settle into their new home in the little ways they might not think of.
She started requesting clothes more in line with their personal styles and needs.
She began to work with the chef on getting foods they needed and some that the domini couldn't digest so they didn’t think to offer. She began making friends with everyone.
Most surprisingly, to Peony at least, was Alanna.
The dreamy girl always seemed so out of it, but she took to their new life even better than Scarlet.
She found a very important book called the Omoni Otorsi and lost herself in it quite quickly.
It was apparently written in the days of ancient domini and had been penned by a philosopher who had collected a series of lessons and stories from various warlords and leaders that he met in his life.
It was also apparently the book that the entire modern culture had been based upon.
The first lesson in the book was that a warrior without a cause was just a killer. And it only continued from there, dispensing wisdom that would otherwise contrast with their love of conflict.
The domini were a competitive, warring culture, but they tempered that by also basing their lives and beliefs around this thick book of philosophy.
According to Alanna, it was difficult to read because the original words in ancient domini had half a dozen possible translations that made each line much deeper than it seemed at first reading.
She was fascinated by it and buried herself in the book. Taking notes and everything.
Meanwhile, Peony had no idea what to do with herself.
She made friends with Temnavi, Atem's young ward.
Apparently, that made Atem his guardian – a parent in all but name.
He cared for the boy and was raising him, but he had also put him to work in his palace as a general gopher.
She learned that the young male wanted to be a warrior, just like Atem, but he wasn't old enough to qualify for formal training.
So, at least once every tenday, Atem took him out and trained him himself.
Little things. Strength and endurance training mostly, but also some basic self-defense.
Temnavi was only too eager to showcase his moves. It reminded Peony so much of a kid showing off his new karate skills to his mom, she had to force herself not to giggle and instead applaud in awe at his presentation.
It also didn't take long for Third Guardian Quvi to pass on the task of looking after them to Tilii, her younger sister.
That didn't bother Peony beyond some mild annoyance that the female would disregard Atem's orders so plainly.
However, since she liked Tilii a lot better, she didn't put up that much of a fight about it.
Tilii was shy and uncertain of how to act around them.
Hierarchy and position were important to the domini, and Tilii, apparently, was low on the totem pole.
She helped her sister as needed, and helped look after the family home, but in terms of rank, she was probably one of the lowest ranking members of society seeing as she had no formal job or training.
Since Peony couldn't say she was any better as a former waitress from a tiny diner, she made it her mission to make the female comfortable.
The moment Atem came back, she was going to ask him to give Tilii the job of looking after them instead of Quvi.
She was pretty much doing it all herself anyway.
She did a much better job of it too. Not only did she not look down her nose at them like the Third Guardian did, but she was pleasant and happy to answer questions.
She was the one Alanna asked to help her understand certain passages in her book.
The one Scarlet asked to find a work desk to put in her room so she could continue her studies.
The one Hattie worked with to provide everyone with proper clothes and other comforts.
The one Holly talked to without worry about embarrassing herself or making a native mad by her ignorance.
She was the one Peony asked about Atem.
Her male – and she was a lot more comfortable thinking of him as 'hers' now – was a powerful and important guy.
He was probably going to come back from whatever he was doing stressed and still needing to get back to work.
She didn't know what else to do with her time, so the best thing she could think of was finding ways to help him relax.
That was what a good girlfriend did, after all. Right?
“You truly don't have to do anything,” Tilii assured her as they ate their lunch outside on one of the many garden balconies.
This one was a bit higher off the canopy, but there were a great many jewel colored, bird-like insects with gossamer wings that lingered for a taste of their food.
It was probably bad to encourage them, but Peony couldn't help but feed the beautiful creatures.
Especially since their tiny mouths fluttered against her skin like a butterfly kiss as they drank the juice of the fruit she offered.
“I don't know,” Peony sighed, smiling sadly as the delicate creature, about the size of her hand, feasted on the berry chunks in her palm. “The others all seem to have goals already. Ideas of what they want to do. And I've got... nothing.”
“Is that so bad?” Tilii cocked her head curiously. She wasn't joining Peony in feeding the creatures, but she didn't try to stop her either. It was just the two of them as the others were all busy. Which was exactly what Peony was feeling bad about.
“I guess not,” she admitted with a sigh. “I just feel so useless.”
“Useless or listless?” Tilii asked, smiling as her three purple eyes sparkled, her tail flicking playfully behind her chair. “Are you sure you don't just miss your male?”
Peony chuckled sheepishly, her face turning pink, which made Tilii squeal.
“Your ineffective camouflage is so cute!”
“It's not camouflage; it's blushing,” Peony mumbled, the very same blush deepening. “And yeah, maybe I do miss him.”
Tilii laughed at her softly. “That is only natural. I'd be more concerned if you did not.”
“So, it's not a problem? Him and I being together?”
Tilii gestured no. “I know some species are xenophobic, but domini are not.”
“That's wonderful. My people tend to be. Unfortunately.”
“Yours wouldn't be the only one. Though, I guess, since you are with vi Dominani, you are not one of those that suffers from such feelings?”
“Oh, no! Not at all!” Peony dropped the remaining berries back onto her plate where the little jewel insect-birds immediately began fighting over them.
They weren’t doing any damage, just making cute little chiming sounds “I guess I'm just thinking about your sister.
Every time she comes around, she's looking down on us like we just crawled out from under a muddy rock.”
Tilii grimaced. “No, that's not... My honored sister is just very, er... careless. No! That's not the right word. I just mean, she can be forgetful that others don't know her like I do. Er, like our family does. She sometimes forgets to be normal. Not that she's not normal! She just-”
“Tilii!” Peony reached across their small table and grabbed her arm, silencing her and upsetting the jewel birds. “It's fine. I'm not mad. Really.”
Tilii relaxed with a sigh, some of her hair falling into her face as she slumped forward a bit. “My sister is very driven. And dedicated to her job. It can make her seem cold. But she's really just very focused and, er, misunderstood?”
“Oh. Thank you, sister.”
Both of them jumped, turning to see that Quvi herself had somehow managed to sneak up on them from the entrance at their back. Admittedly, it probably wasn't hard. She had chosen a pink and gold outfit that tinted her skin a peachy color between the two.
“Sister!” Tilii squeaked, immediately shrinking in on herself.
Not for the first time, Peony got the impression that Quvi was more than just driven. She met the disdainful female with a bright smile.
“Third Guardian,” she greeted warmly. “So nice of you to join us. Want some food? We only have some fruit left, but you're free to join us.”