Chapter 27 #2
Fellaseen beamed, fangs fully on display. “Excellent! We are sure that the High Imperium will be pleased you are willing to let them atone for this mistake.”
“We appreciate their generosity,” Scarlet said, deciding maybe it was better to just let the High Imperium assuage their guilt rather than insist they really did not need to feel guilty or responsible for something they had no part in.
“We will handle all the planning ourselves,” Fellaseen assured her, pressing one of her delicately manicured hands to her chest. “We won’t be on the trip with you, but we will make sure that you have everything you need.
Is there any food restrictions or special concerns we should be made aware of before we begin preparations? ”
“Ah, let me help with that,” Havali said, getting to his feet and approaching her. “Taking care of the humans is my job. I know their dietary needs quite well.”
Fellaseen hummed in agreement – the sound a cute, feline kind of purr. “Thank you, First Guardian. Are you busy now?”
“No. Follow me. I have a file on them I can transfer you.”
Havali led the way to the door, casting a single look back at Scarlet. She smiled.
He had looked back. It was a good thing when they looked back, right?
Even once the door the slid shut, she stared at it for a second longer, an ache in her chest. Though she had been with Havali for days through the arguments, nothing had really happened.
They spent all their waking marks in the rotunda, listening to arguments and fielding questions, and they were all exhausted by the time they got back.
She missed him.
When she finally dragged her gaze from the door, it was to find two pairs and two triads of eyes giving her knowing looks – a bit angry in Atem’s case.
“What?” She said defensively, picking up her glass of flavored water.
“So,” Alanna grinned, leaning in towards her, “what they’re saying all over the news is true?”
Scarlet frowned. “What are they saying all over the news?”
Peony gave her a disbelieving look. “Girl? Are you not obsessing over this? I would be.”
“What are you talking about?” Scarlet crossed her arms defensively.
Atem was grumbling as Tuvo helpfully turned on the holo.
It was already set to the news channel. And like they had pre-planned it, the green skinned alien female was eagerly discussing what had happened at that day’s Coalition meeting.
And not the arguments. The video playing beside her was just an edit of all the little touches Havali had given her throughout the day.
She had been aware of them. Of course, she had. They weren’t anything big. A brush of his fingers across the back of her hand. His hand at her lower back. A stroke along her arm. Little things that only left her yearning for more. She honestly hadn’t felt like there had been that many.
But the edit just kept playing them all back to back to back.
Focusing the camera in tight on only them.
Replaying their favorites a couple times.
The intimate angle zoomed in on Havali whispering something in her ear as though hoping to catch him nibbling on the lobe.
All the while, green-lady and her cohorts – other aliens from different species she didn’t recognize – were cross analyzing everything with such a fine-toothed comb, even Scarlet was beginning to wonder about hidden meanings.
“Seriously?” She blurted, face hot and heart thumping. “Do they have nothing else to do? We spent hours today arguing our case and all anyone cares about is if Havali is choosing to wear colors to match or compliment me?”
“It’s not an unfair question,” Tuvo said in his deep, rumbly voice. “Couples on Turv often coordinate colors. Surely, you’ve seen Atem and Romival doing it for their mates.”
Scarlet opened her mouth to refute him, but the words died immediately, because he wasn’t actually wrong.
She just hadn’t paid much attention before.
Now that he was pointing it out, however, she couldn’t help but notice that Peony liked wearing red – to complement Atem’s eyes – while Atem liked to wear green – to compliment hers.
Romival, meanwhile, dressed up in pink or yellow to match either Holly’s blush or her hair.
Did Havali really…?
She bit her lip as she thought about what he had been wearing lately.
He always wore lighter colors around her.
Creams and golds, maybe some very pale, lighter colors.
Things that made his eyes really stand out.
She loved it when he wore the golds though.
They were her favorite color. But was he trying to match with her?
“He’s getting presumptuous,” Atem snarled unhappily.
Scarlet gave him a doleful look. “Don’t you start.”
Peony chuckled, reaching back to pat his cheek lovingly. “Let them be, my love. Havali is a good guy. And Scarlet doesn’t like you hovering.”
“It’s not exactly something I can turn off,” he grumbled, burying his face in her neck to get a deep whiff of her scent. “I am burdened with sisters who won’t just let me protect them.”
“How about this,” Alanna smiled at him. “If I catch a male’s eye, I promise to let you get grumpy and protective all you want, and I won’t complain at all. Okay?”
Atem grinned at her. “You’re my favorite. Don’t tell the others.”
With the holovid still playing in the background, Scarlet deliberately changed the subject.
“So, we’re done with arguments, right?”
“We are,” Atem confirmed, still leaning his face into Peony’s neck. “The next species begins their case tomorrow.”
“Do we not have to come up with a plan? Like how those ones with the tentacles did about the planet they were fighting over with the other species?”
Atem grunted negative. “Introducing a new species to the Coalition is different. We would all vote on their admission, but the High Imperium is the one who makes the plan for a protectorate since they are the leader of the Coalition. They will tell us what rules Earth must follow if we are approved. It’s never very different from other protectorates, so we already have an idea of what to expect. ”
“I already looked up those rules,” Alanna assured her, smiling. “They’re pretty Standard. Trade limitations and strict visitor regulations. Things like that. There are some individual rules that might be implemented based on the planet, but it’s all very textbook.”
“I would not worry about it,” Atem assured her. “And you do not have to come with us again until the voting. I know the meetings aren’t exactly entertaining for you.”
“Definitely not,” Peony made a face as Scarlet and Alanna chuckled. “I kind of want to go shopping!”
“Shopping?” Atem gave her a pinched look. “Peony, that is far from the nest.”
“I know, but I really want to go,” she confessed, grinning with a grimace like someone with lactose intolerance about to eat ice cream. She knew she was about to suffer, but the price was worth the experience. “We’ll take the hover and I’ll bring my blanket. And maybe a pillow or two.”
Scarlet lifted a brow. Peony had started bringing the blanket around since the time her belly began growing in earnest. Taking cushions from the nest was something new. Did that mean it was heralding a change, like the blankets had, with the baby’s growth?
Atem just continued to look frustrated. Domini females, at Peony’s point of her pregnancy, simply would not want to leave their nest. It would be like trying to pull a hermit crab from its shell – cruel and dangerous.
Males, in response, had the instinct to keep them in their nest. The fact that Peony kept flaunting that with workarounds like bringing pieces of the nest with her did not help soothe his instincts at all.
“I’ll check her over again before we go,” Scarlet promised, earning a grateful smile from Peony. “I’ve been wanting to go shopping as well. We’ll stick to the pre-approved locations Havali chose for us, Tuvo can make sure we’re guarded, and we probably won’t even be out that long.”
“Probably not,” Peony agreed, grinning at her belly. “Little here likes to make sure that I’m always secure in the nest, don’t you, buddy?”
An adoring expression came over Atem’s face as he watched Peony talk to their son while caressing her belly. It wasn’t uncommon for him to look at her like that – as if she was everything to him – but it was the first time that Scarlet felt a twinge of envy and longing upon seeing it.
Havali still hadn’t told her she was his mate. Was he just having fun? Was she special to him? Just because all the news and gossip channels were discussing their relationship and each new development like it was prime time viewing didn’t mean there was actually anything there.
He wouldn’t be playing it up for the combots. Right?
Scarlet banished that thought as she continued to reassure Atem that they would be careful.
They’d keep security nearby the entire time.
Scarlet would bring her portable scanner with her.
While not capable of producing holo visuals like her big scanner, and unable to get as deep, it could still detect potential problems.
Atem didn’t like it. Especially since he couldn’t come on account of his duties.
But he did get Tuvo’s sworn oath to watch Peony as if she were his own sister and that seemed to calm him somewhat.
Tuvo was already something of a brother to Atem, so it wasn’t too difficult to entrust her safety to him.
Even though he would rather her just stay in the nest.
But Peony was determined, and Scarlet was actually kind of excited.
Alanna looked regretful, but said she had to go with Atem to the next meeting.
He tried to release her from that sense of obligation, but she denied him.
She had taken on the duty of helping him, and she was good at it, so she wasn’t going to give up now.
Scarlet and Peony promised to bring her souvenirs, which made her smile.
When Havali returned from helping Fellaseen, they told him of their plan, and he promised to make all the arrangements and not to worry.
Scarlet wanted to invite him along too, but he was needed by Atem’s side just as much as Alanna, if not a little more. It was only reluctantly that she kept quiet.