Chapter 56 #4
Simply put, some people were better at remembering things than others.
Two people getting the same imprint and reading the same materials afterwards still wouldn't remember the exact same percentage of that information.
Those with better memories had a natural advantage and, apparently, Scarlet had a mind like a steel trap.
She was excelling in healing. She and Donivi were obsessed with their research project – Peony – and Scarlet was already talking about taking the test to earn the title of healer.
Holly, by contrast, wasn't looking for a job. She had fallen into an easy schedule that started with yoga in the morning and researching new topics in the evening. She was trying the hardest to find Earth.
Holly came from a big family, and she missed them dearly. Not to say that she didn't want to find a way to take care of herself and earn her own money and not be dependent upon Atem entirely, but she wasn't sure what she wanted to do and finding Earth had become her new hobby.
Hattie, however, was eager to ingrain herself into domini society and culture. She was already talking about upcoming holidays and festivals and how much fun they could have being part of them. It probably helped that she quite obviously had a huge crush on Tuvo.
Peony honestly wasn't sure if Tuvo returned her affections.
Atem told her that domini knew their mates on sight but that they could be confused or unaware of what they were seeing.
It was possible that Tuvo saw her as a mate.
It was also possible that they would just become loviri tii and share pleasures. It was up on the air.
For now, Peony only knew that Hattie was deeply infatuated and Tuvo refused to talk about it.
Alanna had also gotten really interested in domini culture, though not at all for the same reasons Hattie had. She was still obsessed with the Omoni Otorsi and was talking about maybe becoming a scholar in the same way Scarlet was becoming a healer.
Only the First Scholar and dominani needed to have working knowledge of all the major academic disciplines.
Lesser ranked scholars could and did specialize.
And, unlike the other professions, you could be an unranked, or very low ranked, scholar but still be highly respected if you had specialized in a singular discipline and became an expert on only that one thing.
Peony could easily imagine Alanna being an unranked scholar who studied the Omoni Otorsi only.
The scholar system seemed to work on a jack of all trades or master of one kind of deal. It was unique in that respect.
***
The season in the forest was changing. It had apparently been spring when they landed, because it was getting hotter and more humid as it transitioned to what she was thinking of as summer.
Turv didn't have the four season breakdown that she was used to on Earth.
Instead, they had three traditional seasons – dry, wet, and cold.
The cold season was for late fall through winter.
The dry season was what she would consider spring, early summer.
Wet was for late summer, early fall. It was apparently going to rain – a lot.
The lake would overflow, and the entire forest would flood.
It was why the domini were evolved as climbers and their city was built off the ground.
Lazy rainy days spent with her friends and her mate. Peony couldn't imagine anything better.
“What do you think, Peony?” Holly asked, showing her the holo screen she had been scrolling through as she looked for baby toys.
“Oh! That's so cute!” She declared, smiling at the stuffed animal she didn't recognize. The beast, whatever it was, had four legs, and reminded her of a slim capybara – if a capybara had longer legs, silvery purple fur, and a mane around its triangular face.
“It's for hunting and pouncing practice,” Holly said, laughing when Peony's face fell.
“Why is everything about fighting with these people?” She asked, more amused than exacerbated as she sipped at her warm blood.
The blood had a slightly citrus taste to it from whatever they mixed it with to keep it from clotting as she drank.
Apparently, that was what the blue fruit that it usually came with was for.
As the girls talked about the various pouncing and climbing toys – because apparently, her baby was actually a cat – the door to the room slid open. Temnavi burst inside. He was a single boy, but he somehow had all the energy of a hurricane.
“Hi, Peony!” He yelled, dropping his hip pouch to the ground carelessly.
It burst open because he hadn't sealed it properly, sending his belongings scattering – his combot, claw sharpener, a bunch of small rocks for some reason, the domini equivalent of athletic tape, and what appeared to be a half-eaten protein bar.
“Hey, sweetie,” she held out her arm as he ran to her side, holding him close to her lounge. “How was your training this morning?”
“Great! I beat my punch power record by almost ten!”
“Good work,” Peony rubbed his hair. She knew he was happy his camouflage no longer flickered when she did so, but she missed it.
“And look! Another claw came out!” He showed her his left hand, where his sixth claw had emerged – the fourth on that hand.
“Ah! Your hand is almost complete!” She squeezed his wrist.
“How's my brother?” Temnavi looked at her belly curiously.
He still didn't want to call Atem or Peony father or mother, but he had no reservation about claiming her baby as his sibling.
Probably because he had no siblings before.
Peony had talked to him a couple days ago, telling her it was fine if he wanted to call her his dam, and he thanked her, but assured her that he didn't want to forget his dishonorable parents.
He wanted to always remember who they were and what they did to him so he could reclaim their honor for himself.
Then he had hugged her and promised that he still loved her and that she didn't need to worry. As though he was reassuring her.
Peony smiled at him, raising her shirt so he could see her stomach.
Her lower belly had a slight rounding to it that hadn't been there before that was just a bit harder than her surrounding stomach.
It was the only sign she was pregnant that they could see.
Donivi said that the small change was probably the only growth she would notice until her last quarter.
Domini pregnancies split evenly into four, not three, so they didn't have trimesters.
And there was no doubt at this point that her pregnancy would follow a domini schedule.
Donivi was measuring the growth and comparing what Scarlet could remember to what they were seeing.
She was developing far too slow for a human pregnancy, but exactly on schedule for a domini one.
Temnavi rubbed her belly reverently. He wasn't afraid to talk to the baby as though it could already hear him. “Hey! Guess what?! My sixth claw came in! By the time you come out, I'll have all my claws. I'll be able to cut up anything you want.”
Peony chuckled, rubbing his back. “Did you get your imprint done today?”
“I was going to do it after I eat.”
“Well, take a seat,” Holly smiled at him, gesturing to spread of food that Tilii had laid out. “We have plenty. What are you learning today?”
Baby shower planning was put on hold as Temnavi told them about his math imprint.
Math was one of the harder subjects to learn because, unlike the others, you couldn't just read information after the imprint to seal it in your mind.
You had to actually do math problems. Math homework remained the bane of kids' existence even out in space.
Peony watched them all – her friends, her son – while gently touching the small swelling in her belly that was the only physical evidence of her baby, and she was completely at peace.
She couldn't say that she missed nothing about Earth. Along with her blood cravings she was also getting cravings for things like fries and chicken wings. Things they only had on Earth. But, on the whole, she didn't regret where she ended up.
Her friends all had things they wished desperately to return to on Earth – dreams, friends, family – but Peony didn't. She was right where she wanted to be.
It was like she had been born to be adassani of Turv, to be Atem's mate, and now that she was finally here, she wanted nothing else.