Chapter 14 #2
“This is so messed up,” Chee muttered, holding on the back of her neck, staring up at the ceiling, completely at a loss.
“Maybe you just need to get to know him better.”
“I don’t-” She cut herself off before she could say she didn’t want to know him better. “What if he has some kind of disease?”
“Sexually transmitted diseases that cross species are incredibly rare.”
“Yeah? I bet being able to make hybrid babies is even more rare,” she grumbled, knowing full well that, in the entirety of the cosmos, only human females could do such a thing. She didn’t know for sure, but she wouldn’t bet against her being able to catch alien herpes.
“Even if they are, our medicine is fully capable of curing you.”
“Curing anything?”
He hesitated a moment before saying, “Curing almost anything.”
“I feel so much better now,” she grumbled.
“I have promised to take care of you, Chee, and I mean that. If anything undesired results from a possible union with Trove, I will take care of it.”
Chee let out a long breath. “Because you’re my sponsor?”
“Exactly. But I also like to think we’re friends.”
Chee grumbled under her breath, crossing her arms. “I don’t feel like we’re friends.”
“Oh?”
“I feel more like a chess piece you’re moving across the board.”
“Ah. I don’t know what chess is, but I get the metaphor.”
Chee’s jaw tightened. She couldn’t help but notice that he didn’t actually deny it. Hyde calling her a friend felt a lot like the kind of thing people told pets. He liked her, but she would never be his equal, so they could never truly be friends
“Do you want me to get you out?”
His voice was quiet. The offer was sincere, however, she knew. But it also meant that her deal with him would be null and void. If she didn’t finish her job, then all of this would be for nothing.
“No,” she said, defeated. “I’ll stay.”
***
“Cheers!”
Chee’s voice rang out with the others as she lifted her cup, clinking it to the others.
It wasn’t alcoholic, instead they were drinking a sweet, gently flavored water that almost tasted like rosé, just without the alcohol.
The pregnant ladies couldn’t drink, of course, but the event still felt like it was deserving of a toast, so they made one.
They were off Tsik-Voll station and heading to a planet called Heava Yu. It was a planet that belonged to a very peaceful species, and the planet itself was supposed to be very beautiful. It was a huge, planet wide vacation destination because of that.
It was also the home of the person who owned the cup Hyde wanted.
It was going to be a few days in subspace swinging all the way out there, but when the girls understood where they were going – thanks to Grace excitedly telling them – they’d eagerly declared their excitement.
A vacation planet was paradise considering the places they usually went.
And that excitement turned into planning for what they would do while they were there, all the fun they would have, all the things they might see.
And that somehow turned into the girls just sitting around, chatting, exchanging stories of life in space.
Someone brought drinks. Then someone else brought snacks.
Then someone brought more drinks. They’d all then decided to go change into pajamas, then they reconvened in the rec room with a bunch of pillows, blankets, their snacks, their drinks, and the energy of a bunch of wine aunts catching up on all the gossip.
It was, honestly, really nice. Chee had a couple friends at work, but she had never felt super close to them.
Their problems just seemed so different from hers.
Their lives too different. It was hard to feel any kinship with them.
She liked them, sure, but sitting amongst these girls that bonded themselves to a group of hardened criminals, she felt more at home.
She was in her sweatpants and a big shirt and a pair of thick, fuzzy socks, sipping on some sweet, alien water, leaning against a pillow, blanket on her lap, hair frizzy and free, just enjoying herself as Haven detailed exactly how she ended up getting off Earth.
The woman really was brilliant, but she also tended to go off on random tangents and had to be redirected back.
But it was still fun listening to her story, hearing about her life.
As fun as it had been hearing about how Garnet and Goldie were kidnapped or about Grace’s life working on a space station.
It was all a good time until suddenly eyes were on her. And she went still, realizing that they were waiting for her story on how she got here.
“Er,” she hesitated before smiling. “I went through kind of the same process as Grace.”
“No, you didn’t,” Grace chuckled. “Sure, we’re both sponsored, but I got my sponsor on the moon. My transition was quick and easy. Finding a sponsor from Earth is a lot harder. Did you do the Mate Match thing?”
“I thought about doing the scan once,” Chee nodded, “I looked it up. Figured out how much it would be. In the end, I didn’t do it though. I guess my looking though is what caught Hyde’s attention.”
“He found you,” Garnet asked, cocking her brow. “Were you looking for a sponsor?”
“No,” Chee shook her head. “I wasn’t looking to leave Earth. I was thinking about the scan because I thought I’d be matched to a human man. Most people are.”
“So, you were looking for love?”
“I wasn’t, actually,” Chee laughed. “That’s why I considered the scan. I just wanted my true love to come into my life without all that dating stuff.”
“Relatable,” Grace snickered, taking a sip.
“Here, here!” Garnet toasted her again. “This mating thing is just the best. Don’t even have to worry about it anymore.”
“Cheese has to worry about it even less,” Goldie pointed out. “Domini get that instant recognition of their mates on sight.”
“Oh, yeah!” Garnet sat up, looking at her. “Come on, Cheese-”
“You guys really like the Cheese thing, huh?” She grumbled
“-how are things going with Trove?”
They were staring at her again. Expectant. Excited. Of course, they were. Clearly, they all believed in this mating thing. More than that, they liked Trove. He called them his sisters, and their kinship was built in the fires of a dangerous job.
“It’s… there,” She finally said, glad she had already had this breakdown with Hyde. She didn’t think they’d appreciate her side quite as much.
“What are you thinking of him?” Haven asked.
“He’s a lot of fun to be with,” Chee said, because that was true. She’d had a great time going with him to the shooting range and the spa and getting street food. And he was a fantastic kisser.
And then she wanted to be sick when she thought about why he would be.
“You don’t seem very excited,” Grace pointed out, her voice understanding.
Chee forced a smile. “Well, they say the bond or trigger or whatever isn’t instant for humans, right? So, maybe it just hasn’t hit me yet.”
“Yeah. Right,” Grace nodded before sharing a look with Haven.
They all went silent, and it was so awkward now. Heavy in a way it hadn’t been before. Chee could just rock her feet, cradling her cup. Wondering if she suddenly changed the subject if they’d let it happen or if it would be too clunky?
“He’s kind of a slut, huh?” Garnet asked right as Chee was taking an uneasy sip, nearly making her choke on it. Garnet gave her an understanding smile. “You think we don’t know what he does when he has station leave?”
“We know who he is,” Grace agreed. “Honestly, I’ve worried about him before. I’m glad that he’s with you now.”
“Is he?” Chee asked, probably a bit more sharply than intended. But she could only see that smile on his face as he told the prostitutes ‘later’.
“Of course,” Goldie assured her, smiling brightly. “He’s a domini. His, er, thing doesn’t work for anyone but you now. So, it doesn’t matter what he was like before, you’re all he needs now.”
Instead of making her feel better, Chee felt worse. Grimacing, she muttered, “You mean I’m the only one he can have.”
“No, that’s not…”
“It’s basically the same thing,” Chee set her drink down, wrapping her arms around her legs. “He’s being hijacked biologically. He doesn’t actually want to stop living that life. I don’t care if that’s what he wants to do. I just… I can’t live like that.”
She wasn’t looking at any of them now, but the heavy silence told her the expressions they must have on their faces. Stuck between loving Trove and wanting to defend him and not being able to think of anything to say.
“Oh, I know!” Goldie suddenly called out, clapping her hands together. “Why don’t we get to know Trove better?”
“I feel like enough ladies have gotten to know him,” Chee grumbled.
“Not like that,” Goldie chuckled. “No, Alred and I watch vids together. And they have true crime out here in space too. And Trove has an episode!”
“What?” Chee frowned.
“Er, Goldie,” Grace started cautiously. “I love the idea, but maybe that’s not the best… I mean, we all know the guys don’t have good pasts. And maybe a true crime about Trove isn’t exactly…”
“No,” Chee disagreed, unfolding her arms. “I want to see.”
Grace looked at her, frowning. “Are you sure?”
“Yeah,” Chee nodded once, absolutely certain.
Because the crimes of his past were a big part of who Trove was.
What shaped him into who he had become. And she did want to know more about him.
As much as she believed it made her an absolute moron, she was curious about him.
She only knew was the brief rundown that Hyde had included in his debrief so she knew what she was getting into.
She wanted to know more. She wanted details.
“Let’s do it,” Goldie smiled before looking up at the ceiling. “Alred! Can you pull up that episode I saved?” She looked back at the rest of them. “I didn’t watch it yet. I was saving it. I wasn’t sure what for yet, but I think this is it.”
“I’ve already got it ready for you on our new holovid,” Alred said, his voice warm and affectionate as he responded to Goldie.