Chapter 55
Vytln
“Feel better?”
Haven, still sniffling in his arms, nodded. She had been inconsolable for the better part of a quarter mark. Crying thick, heavy tears as she clung onto him. He couldn’t say he was altogether surprised, but it had been rather alarming to have his mate suddenly sobbing in his arms.
Though, he knew she wasn’t crying because of him. She was crying because of the sudden explosion of emotions. They were safe, she was rested, she had energy and space again and, after fucking her stupid, everything she had been putting off came rushing back to her.
Their home was gone.
Alred was gone.
They were stranded on an unfamiliar planet.
There was a lot to be thankful for, but just as much to grieve, and the combination of emotions combined with the height of sexual release had released everything at once.
“I’m being okay now,” Haven sniffed, wiping at her face and giving him an apologetic smile. “I’m sorry for crying all over you.”
Vytln couldn’t help but smile as he ran her locs through his fingers. “Don’t apologize for that. In fact, let me be the only one who sees your tears. I want them all for myself.”
She giggled like he had said something silly, though he meant it with the fullness of his heart.
His mate was vulnerable. The fact that he had no trap to put her back into, to keep her safe, was an intolerable itch under his skin.
Therefore, the only place she could be vulnerable safely was in his arms. Without a trap, it was the next best thing.
Therefore, no one else should be permitted to see her vulnerability, her tears, except for him.
“You weren’t the one who was making me cry,” she said, sitting up, sniffling. “I just…”
“I know,” he assured her when words failed. “I understand.”
She blinked at him once before her expression softened. “I love you, Vytln.”
He chuckled. “Of course, you do.”
“Ah!” She struck him. “You are supposed to saying it back! Say it back.”
He laughed as he sat up and pressed a kiss to her cute little nose. “I do love you, Haven. And thank you, for coming to my rescue.”
She beamed at him. Her face all alight. And he wanted to keep that all to himself too. Her curiosity, her sadness, her joy – all if it was his. He needed to trap it again. Perhaps it wasn’t the most important thing, but the urge to build a new one for her was rising, nearly impossible to ignore.
But even as he was enjoying her smile, it was fading away. Replaced by heartbreaking concern. And before he could ask her why she suddenly looked so sad, she was reaching up and touching the new scars on his face.
Medscanners could heal without scarring.
But it wasn’t a skill that Goldie had yet.
Even if she had mastered it, as he understood, the process was more difficult for his species considering how rock-like their skin was.
So, she could only seal them as though they were wounds that had been healed for tendays.
The scar remained and, like the others on his body, would always remain.
“I’m sorry I wasn’t fast enough,” Haven whispered, fingers moving over the new cracks that were split across his face.
“You don’t think it makes your mate look rather handsome?” He chuckled. Though that genuinely was the only concern he had, and he hadn’t had that concern until just now when he saw her expression. He was covered in scars, they’d never bothered him. But if they bothered her…
“Makes you look scary,” she said, and that simple statement brought a whole new wave of worries and concerns.
His face scared his mate? That was worse than her thinking him ugly! He couldn’t let that continue. He’d heal every mark on his body, he’d learn to run the medscanner himself if-
She smiled, a spark of excitement in her eyes. “I like it.”
And just as quickly as all those new fears rose, they were calmed again. He didn't know why he doubted his ferocious little mate would like his appearance. Even with the new cracks across his cheek, across his face, she was still unapologetically herself, and of course that wouldn’t bother her.
“I bet I’d look really scary between your thighs,” he growled, taking hold of her.
But before she could do more than smile in return, someone knocked on their door. He glared at it even as his captain’s voice came through.
“Meeting in the mess hall,” Tanin called out. “And you need food. Let’s go.”
Vytln grumbled unhappily but he couldn’t argue. At least, not with the second part. They’d probably been in here for just short of a day. Haven needed to eat. It may be growing slowly, but she still had a youngling in her belly that needed feeding.
“Er,” Haven frowned, blinking at the door. “I heard that.”
“Yeah, we better get up and get dressed,” he said unhappily.
“No, I heard that,” she stressed, her face darkening.
“Yes?”
“Vytln! That did not coming through a speaker. I heard him through the door! Which meant they could hearing me through it too!”
“Oh, that,” he shrugged. “I figured they weren’t completely sound proofed when I heard the others fucking too. But I don’t care, and I doubt they-”
“Vytln!” She yelled, covering her face, embarrassed.
It was adorable and made him laugh as he held her in his arms. It was tempting to take her again, right there, but the captain had summoned them, and they had to go.
Still, it was only reluctantly that he pulled on the jumpsuit Sway had found for them.
The basic things were bright orange and ugly.
However, they were designed to stretch to fit over most body types and shapes, but it was still a bit too tight for him.
He had to rip the arms off to give his shoulders room to breathe.
Haven, however, was swimming in hers, and she used the ripped sleeves of his to tie hers up in the middle so it stayed on a little better.
They weren’t the last ones in the mess hall, but most everyone else had already arrived.
Garnet had, once again, set out trays of food and they were all helping themselves.
Vytln and Haven did the same, getting steaming bowls of what appeared to be some kind of egg and vegetable concoction, before sitting at the same long table from last night.
Haven sat next to Goldie, who had Alred’s core on her lap. She was touching the top sadly, pushing down on it to reveal the connections that would let her plug him in somewhere. Though, without the wires to do so, it didn’t matter that they could still access them.
“Do you wanting me to look?” Haven asked gently, reaching for the core but not touching it. She waited patiently while Goldie – who looked pale and miserable, red and puffy around her eyes – sniffed, her lower lip trembling.
“What’s the point?” She asked, voice rough. “It’s broken. He’s broken.”
“It might just being the screen that’s broken,” Haven said. “And it might not being completely broken. We can still try, right?”
Goldie sniffed, devastated. Like the idea of hope hurt more than it helped. But she relented and set Alred’s core down on the bench between them.
Haven immediately got to work, doing what she did best. Poking and prodding and mumbling to herself as Goldie kept the rounded core stable. Staring at it with a haunted look in her eyes, like her entire world was destroyed and she was staring blankly at the remnants.
The sight was a familiar one. Vytln knew he’d worn that same expression himself not long ago, and he couldn’t face it again.
He looked away, letting Haven tinker and learn as Trove, the last one still missing, wandered in.
Like everyone else, he was wearing their new jumpsuits.
The bright orange color wasn’t really flattering on any of them, but they were at least clean.
He got his own plate of food and sat to eat. The air around the table was oddly comforting. He wouldn’t call it lively or jovial. There was definitely a heaviness to the air. Goldie wasn’t the only female with puffy eyes – he realized now that it was a sign they had been crying.
He had no idea if this was morning, but it definitely felt like first meal.
And his whole family was gathered at the table, healed and eating and safe.
All except Alred, and he trusted him to Haven, knowing that she would do what she could to take care of him.
Even as he had that thought, she was dropping some of her termites into the top, letting them carefully learn and explore.
It was only after all the food had been eaten and everyone was just lingering around, waiting, that Tanin got to his feet and addressed all of them.
“Alright. The twins and I finished looking around last night. This place really is empty. Aside from the bodies of whoever had been here before, we’re completely alone.
The evac pod still has power, but it doesn’t have the ability to reach escape velocity, so it can’t take us out.
Even if it did, it doesn’t have subspace crystals, we wouldn’t be able to go far.
Unfortunately, the communication doesn’t work either.
It can reach the nearest communication relay, but the relay is locked down.
From what I can tell, it’s keyed only to respond to Alred.
I imagine he wanted to keep this place hidden, so he made sure no one else could get here.
But that means we can’t contact anyone either.
Without that relay, there’s no way for us to get a comm out. So, we’re stuck here.
“However, the good news is, we have enough nutrition powder to sustain us for more than a few years if we ration it properly. The water recyclers, air recyclers, and power stations all work. And this planet is lifeless. There’s nothing here but this facility and sand.
So, there’s nothing to worry about attacking us. ”
“Great,” Vytln grinned sardonically. “So, we can slowly die here alone after a few years. Sounds fun.”
“We are not going to die here,” Tanin said. “We’re going to escape.”