Chapter Seven
Jax
N ot for the first time when it came to Thanh’s hatred for me, I felt completely lost.
I’d clearly said something that had set her off, but what had it been? Who the fuck knows. I didn’t have time to try and unravel it because Mother was hailing us. I sent a confirmation back and programed the small craft to maneuver to the docking bay. It left me little to do since the sequence was easy, so my thoughts spiraled back to the woman I was now ‘mated’ to.
I had to try and keep things compartmentalized; that was the only way I was going to be able to do this and not set off my mating instincts to the point of rut. It helped, I supposed, that Thanh had demanded no contact when we weren’t with my family. What I didn’t tell her was that Narrou could technically know every single conversation that went on inside of them. They weren’t in the habit of spying on family members, however, Narrou was also extremely protective of me. They might want to make sure that Thanh was good for me, that I wasn’t being coerced. And if they thought something was wrong, they’d definitely tell my mother or father.
As we flew inside the docking bay, I glanced over at Thanh. She was staring with her lush mouth open as she looked around through the view screen. I had wanted so much to share this with her, knowing that of all the people I’d ever met, she would appreciate the beauty of Narrou the most.
The walls and floors were a dark orange, and mostly solid. The doorways and intervals along corridors were marked by what looked like arching golden bones. Along the ceiling were lights, sometimes just for illumination, sometimes for communication. Narrou could create whole new rooms inside of them as we needed, though there were limitations based on their size.
The enormous Seahdohn on Narrou’s back that enabled them to fly outside of their spawning grounds sometimes would glow as well, but that was rare. Usually, Narrou’s symbiote was quiet to the rest of us, only communicating with Narrou.
As I guided us to a soft landing and Narrou engaged their docking clamps, Thanh started to unbuckle her seat belt.
“Wait,” I said, turning to her. “Narrou can hear everything if they want. I will respect your wishes about our boundaries, but we have to be careful.”
Her mouth twisted into a sour scowl and she gave me a short nod.
“Then if anyone asks, we’re having a bit of a lovers’ quarrel.”
“Those usually pass. How do we explain it if we’re here for a week?”
“Then I guess you’ll just have to tell them that you fucked up.”
“That I fucked up?” I jumped to my feet and bit back the rest of what I wanted to say. “Fine, I’ll tell them I fucked up, and it’s taking time to make it up to you.”
“Sounds perfect.”
A sequence of musical tones that sounded like small bells and strings reached us and my body tensed.
“What was that?” Thanh asked.
“That’s the ship. Celestial Dragons speak with harmonies. Narrou is telling us to disembark,” I said.
I disengaged the airlock and then started the disembarking sequence so the ramp would lower. It took a few minutes to get all the systems shut down and by the time I was done with that, Thanh had her bag in her hand. Mine was still stowed in the tiny kitchen area and I grabbed it as I led us both to the ramp.
“How long since you’ve been home?” she asked.
“Almost ten years.”
My mouth was dry and I felt a little sick, deeply regretting the four egg omelet I’d made myself this morning. I hadn’t really said goodbye when I left, unless half-drunk shouting counted. I knew they wouldn’t be holding a grudge, but it was the emotional wreckage I’d left behind that worried me. When the ramp was fully lowered, I ducked to clear the ship and forced my feet to move forward.
I had no idea what my reception would be. My parents had wanted me to stay, but they’d also known that it was pointless to try and convince me. I’d had one foot out the door for years at that point, and it didn’t take much for me to finally make the decision. I thought the GUP would give me a clean slate where I could become someone of respectability and not just the orphan adopted by pirates.
Ancestors, I was a naive little shit to think I could outrun all of that.
When I’d gotten halfway down the ramp, I saw my mother’s long legs in her usual tight black and gold pants with my father standing next to her in flowing blue pants and a snug gold shirt. The further I walked, the more I could see them.
My mother hadn’t aged much, but Mishvaians really don’t show their age as much as other species. Her torso was clad in a sheer, long gold vest that was open in the front, showing her bare breasts and the tattoos of her Queenship from her collarbone to her navel, just above the waist of her low slung pants. Mishvaians didn’t really wear shirts, but on jobs or in meetings on planets, she wore the bare minimum to cover herself to avoid unwanted attention. Onboard Narrou, however, she dressed however she pleased. I was used to it, but I hadn’t thought to warn Thanh.
Mother’s blue skin was luminescent, the silver scales on the bridge of her nose, forehead and up to her bare scalp shimmering with fragrant oils, and her bright white eyes crinkled around the edges as she smiled.
“There’s my Starshine,” she crooned and opened her arms to me.
I swallowed back a lump in my throat as I knelt down at her feet, pressed my forehead to the tips of her shoes, then her knees and finally put my arms around her waist as I nuzzled my cheek against her torso, breathing deep of the citrus oils she used on her skin. I was so much taller than her that I had to kneel-squat to get the height right. Her strong, calloused fingers, still sporting thin silver and gold rings at the base of each and at the first knuckle, sifted through my hair, finding tangles I thought I’d brushed out.
“Mother,” I whispered against her belly, “I ask forgiveness for the way I left. I shouldn’t have –”
“Forgiven, absolutely, you silly boy,” she said with a chuckle. “Now stand up and give me a real hug.”
I laughed, wiping away tears I hadn’t known I’d shed, and gathered her up. She came to my throat and was half my width, though she was strong for a Mishvaian female. When she pulled away, her fingers came to my face. She turned me this way and that.
“You’ve been eating enough, that’s clear because you were not this big when you left,” she gave me a throaty laugh. “But I miss your long hair, and you seem tired. Are you sleeping?”
“Ach, Teneras, give the boy a chance to get settled before you try and manage him,” said my father, whom I called Da, a tall Human male.
I looked at him fully for the first time and was taken aback a little. He had aged, as Humans tended to do, and I hadn’t been prepared for it. His hair had been much darker when I’d left, but now the long tendrils that he tied back on the sides were streaked with gray, as was his closely trimmed beard. There were more lines around his eyes and his neck, but his hands and arms were still strong as ever as he pulled me in for a tight hug that I had to bend down for.
“I’ve missed you, son,” he said, clapping me on the back and laughing. “Your mother is right, you’re solid as a rock. That Gex-Corps of yours must have a wonderful gym.”
Narrou let loose with a quick trill of lower bells and tones, showing their displeasure.
“I didn’t mean it like that,” my father said.
“I remember your gym,” I said to Narrou. “The Gex-Corps doesn’t compare.”
Narrou trilled again, this time a bit more happily, and a small tendril curled up from a tiny opening in the floor. I heard Thanh inhale sharply behind me and I turned to find it twining up on her hand as it was on mine.
“It’s a way for them to interact with us. Narrou is saying hello,” I said to her, “they don’t mean to be frightening.”
The tendril wound between her fingers and light flared briefly from under her shirt.
Narrou let out a long, low tone and both Mother’s and Father’s eyes lit up.
“Your mate has a Seahdohn?” my father asked.
At the same time, my mother was practically running to Thanh with her arms held out.
“That’s incredible, we don’t meet many sentients this far out who have a symbiote,” she said. “I’m Teneras, Jax’s mother.”
Thanh glanced at me and then down, and I realized she thought she had to kneel. My mother caught her before she got down on her knees.
“No, dear, you don’t have to do that, just give me a hug.”
Thanh gave my mother what I thought might’ve been a genuine smile and embraced her. I wondered if it was a bit awkward, since my mother was essentially topless, but if she was uncomfortable, Thanh didn’t show it.
“And I’m Bowie, Jax’s father. It’s so wonderful to meet you!” He shook Thanh’s hand with a toothy smile.
Narrou trilled overhead, the docking bay lighting up.
“And this is Narrou,” Teneras said. “They say that they are happy to welcome you into our family.”
“Oh, um, thank you,” Thanh said, clearly not understanding the full breadth of what Mother was saying.
“Mother, Da and Narrou are bonded,” I said.
“A lot of people are surprised,” my father said with a chuckle. “Celestial Dragons are notorious free spirits, but Teneras wooed them and then I came along, and they just kinda folded me in. I’m a very lucky man.”
Thanh gave my father a broad smile and a tiny bit of tension unwound between my shoulders. A lot of people in the outer rim don’t blink at poly families with less conventional species. But Thanh had spent her entire life within the Galactic Union, and while poly families were common, none like mine were. The fact that she was not only rolling with it, but had seamlessly accepted it was making me picture her here for far longer than the span of a mission.
“I am humbled to be included in the family,” Thanh said, looking up, “thank you for welcoming me, Narrou.”
The ship hummed and whistled in delight and I gave Thanh a wide smile. She might not like me, but she wouldn’t extend that to my family, and I was grateful.
“I can’t believe you actually settled down,” Mother said to me with playful grin. “You have to tell me how you met.”
Shit shit shit! We didn’t figure that part out.
I looked at Thanh to try and convey a silent plea to let me take this one, and my stomach sank. She wore an expression I knew all too well.
“It’s a very funny story,” she said.
“It’s not that funny,” I said, attempting to put extra meaning in my voice.
Mother looked between us, smile wide, and my father clapped me on the shoulder.
“Son, when it comes to this kind of thing, it’s best to let the mate win.”
“Oh, is that right?” Mother asked with an arched eyebrow.
“Of course it’s because they are always right.”
He pressed a kiss to her temple and she gave him an indulgent look.
“Uh-huh. Come on, we’ll take you on a tour of the ship and then we’ll have dinner. The crew has been preparing something special.”
The ‘crew’ usually consisted of four others besides my mother. Narrou wasn’t a large ship and they tended to be very particular about who they allowed to live inside of them, understandably.
“Um, Mother, I think Thanh is a bit tired,” I said, shooting Thanh a tight smile.
Hers widened and I silently swore.
“Oh no, I’m fine,” she oozed. “In fact, while you’re giving the tour, I can tell you all about how your son charmed me.”
I was in the deep end now.
My mother’s face glowed, and her smile stretched wide as if this were the best thing she’d heard ever. My father just lovingly rolled his eyes and gave me a look that said something to the effect of ‘just let them have their fun’. All the while, I knew that Thanh was going to take this opportunity to utterly humiliate me in front of them.
Mother linked her arm through Thanh’s, in front of us. I trailed behind with my father, my entire body tensing as Thanh began.