An Uneasy Truce

Sophia wouldn’t describe herself as a particularly insensitive woman, or a cruel one, yet others described her that way. They often seemed to view her honesty and refusal to temper her opinions as rudeness, or even outright hostility. Sophia also wouldn’t have thought of herself as ignorant or unobservant, another set of terms those who were particularly critical might have ascribed to her otherwise aloof and one-track mindset.

In both cases, they failed to see the greater picture, as Sophia was learning humans often did. The truth was harsh, often hurtful, but it was none of the things those people called her. Insensitive was being unable to understand the burden that accumulated with every lie one believed, the weight of the truth that must one day eventually crash down upon them. Hurtful was allowing one’s family or allies to delude themselves, sacrificing their greatness for the temporary comforts of illusions and lies. Honesty and openness were how true flocks bonded, and how they caught their mistakes before they became deeply ingrained flaws.

Ignorant and unobservant were even more ironic descriptors, as they were the same terms Sophia would’ve certainly used to describe those who applied them to her. Sophia wasn’t ignorant of the flaws of those around her, nor was she unobservant of the ways those flaws impacted them, just because she failed to point them out. She also wasn’t oblivious to the feelings or virtues of others in the same way; they just mattered to her much less than her Father’s happiness – she didn’t feel the need to comment on every success of her flock, or to insert herself into every conversation or issue that arose. So long as her Father was happy and not displeased with the current state of things, she had little need to fix anyone’s problems.

That is… unless they were complicating things for her Father. Even if he wasn’t fully aware of just how much.

If Sophia were pressed, either by her Father or someone else similarly in a position to demand and receive honesty from her, and **** to choose one negative thing about her Father to describe him with… he tended to miss things that often seemed obvious to her. And others.

It was charming in a way, a reminder of how different the thought processes of her Father and the other members of her flock were to her own. Her Father’s tendencies to overthink things, hyperfixate on certain aspects while ignoring others, and the fact that the weight of all decisions weighed on him often kept him from noticing the smaller things, particularly with how rather turbulent their lives had been over the past couple of weeks. Still, she couldn’t say she wasn’t at least a little disappointed in this latest ignorance of his.

For all the turmoil going on when her Father created their newest flock member from that unworthy mercenary queen, she would’ve thought he’d seen enough women reach climax to recognize the signs.

So her Father’s request to carry Layla was more than welcome. Sophia deliberately chose to walk instead of fly to keep herself somewhat distant from both Adantia and her Father, while also extending the walk to give Layla more of a chance to recover herself. The signs of her slowly waking were already there, Sophia just had to be patient.

Or she could casually jostle the woman every few steps, just to speed up the process a little.

Perhaps those around Sophia would’ve been better to describe her as impatient.

“Mmmm… I like being carried like this…” Layla murmured as she squirmed slightly in Sophia’s arms, the feeling of the ravenette’s soft curves shifting in Sophia’s firm arms. “I really miss… oh!”

Layla’s awakening was slow, but her eyes were quick as they jumped open, meeting Sophia’s expectant gaze with a mixture of anger, shock, and just a hint of embarrassment. Sophia maintained her neutral disposition, though she did quirk an eyebrow at the obvious discomfort on Layla’s face.

“You are awake, that is good,” Sophia noted, moving past the look on Layla’s face. These humans seemed to become shy and unwilling to talk about the strangest of things; Sophia did not have the patience or desire to pry what insecurity was causing the curvaceous woman such discomfort, so she merely changed the topic instead. “We have much to discuss.”

“We… do?” Layla asked, her voice innocent enough, despite the alerted twinkle in her eye.

“We do. Specifically, why you have not yet seduced my Father.”

Layla sputtered for a moment, multiple emotions flashing across her face, too brief and complex for Sophia to bother processing. None of them mattered except the one that remained when all had settled – something between suspicion and curiosity.

“I don’t know how you view human relationships, but-”

“Overly complicated and ritualistic, from what little I’ve seen of them,” Sophia noted, interrupting Layla before she could provide too many unnecessary details about the intricacies of human mating. “Our family’s relationships are far simpler and more satisfactory for all parties. John has not adapted poorly to them, and in fact seems to quite enjoy the feelings of closeness and simplicity. I can tell that you are not opposed to a relationship with my Father, quite the opposite, in fact. You would do well to simply approach him and be blunt. He treats you humans differently than he does the rest of us; if you do not make things obvious for him, he will not move as quickly as you would like.”

“When you talk about your family, and John’s ‘relationships’… exactly how many women is he involved with?” Layla asked, a tone entering her voice that set the hairs on Sophia’s nape on edge.

“Father enters relationships with all that he pleases, regardless of their status as part of or excluded from our family. His only restrictions are his morals and willing partners… which as of late, have not been in short supply.” Despite the obvious truth of Sophia’s words, they seemed to displease Layla. “But I assure you, none of them would object to you beginning a relationship with our Father.”

“You know, most humans only have a relationship with one person at a time,” Layla pointed out, her lips pursed slightly as she stared directly at Sophia’s face, all traces of shyness now gone. “Aren’t you worried about encouraging other humans to pursue him? What if John wanted to become monogamous with someone else?”

“If my Father chooses to devote himself to one particular person, that is his choice,” Sophia said. Her words were true – even if her Father were to decide to abstain from sexual relations with the rest of his flock for the sake of devoting himself to one woman, Sophia would not object. She would be lying even to herself if she said that she wouldn’t be disappointed and a bit unfulfilled, but her duty was to foster and support the happiness and strength of her flock, particularly its leader, regardless of what form that might take.

“That’s pretty impressive… that you would give him up, just to make him a little happier, I mean,” Layla said, a strange look in her eyes. “Is everyone so devoted? I’m sure some members of your family must have been around longer than the others. Aren’t they upset about John not being only theirs? Has no one gotten jealous?”

“It is not my place to speak on such issues where they do not concern, but where such issues have arisen, they have been dealt with amicably,” Sophia said, glossing over the topic. The mention of jealousy inspired memories of Lunaya, painful ones that Sophia could handle, but preferred not to. “But jealousy is not a concern. All of our relationships are consensual on both sides; if John wished to dedicate himself to a single woman, the others might not be particularly pleased, but we would accept it. We are not going to tie him up or **** him to swear to stay with us against his will.”

“Of course not, that would be ridiculous,” Layla said, offering a slight giggle. Her humor disappeared rather quickly when her eyes shifted intensities. “Still… you’re sure that no one would be upset if I made a move on John?”

“Not at all. I would offer my assistance, but you humans seem to object to my directness,” Sophia noted. “Which is why I chose to speak to you in this manner rather than simply requesting that my Father give you the breeding you seem to crave.”

A flush crossed over Layla’s face, though her eyes seemed a bit distant, with no immediate objections springing forth from her mouth. Finally, though, a question did cross her lips.

“Why do you call him your Father, anyway?” Layla asked at length, moving past Sophia’s statement. “I know John’s abilities let him… create you, he’s mentioned that a few times while we were hunting the Albidians. But he never mentioned why you always refer to him like that.”

“I refer to him as my Father because that is what he is,” Sophia said simply, shrugging slightly and jostling the curvaceous ravenette. But despite the obvious answer, that only seemed to confuse and slightly annoy Layla, Sophia sighed and elaborated, “My Father did not create me as he did the other members of our flock. He has told me I was gifted to him by his abilities and connection to some goddess or other, a reward for fighting worthy enemies. For my part, my species are born with an inborn image and understanding of our parentage. I… for some reason, I am unable to recall my mother’s face, but his is clear in my mind, and whether it is by blood or genes or simply fate, I am bound to him.”

“Do you ever question that? Does it ever-”

“No,” Sophia interjected bluntly, seeing no possible variation of the question on the woman’s lips that might hold any other answer. “I do not know what it means to others, but his status is absolute in my mind, and I have no reason or desire to question it unless he fails me. So far, he has never done so… and I think you can understand that feeling, or I wouldn’t be offering my assistance to you. You seem devoted… am I wrong?”

Layla fell quiet for a moment, and Sophia took that chance to continue uninterrupted.

“If my offer is not of interest to you, feel free to ignore it as you will. I offer only because I think that it would make my Father happy and improve the cohesiveness of our flock were you to become closer with him, and it seems to be something that would make you happy as well. If you would prefer things remain as they are-”

“N-no,” Layla said quietly, a glisten in her eye as something new seemed to come into her expression. “I’m sorry, I think we got off to a bad start here. I haven’t had much time with John’s… family. I was a little embarrassed to discuss these kinds of things with you, but you seem earnest. I would appreciate your assistance. Can I count on you to help me get closer to John?”

“I will offer you my assistance wherever I can, and I am sure the others would agree if you only asked. So, what is your answer?”

Layla tucked her head for a moment, before returning Sophia’s gaze with an equal intensity and – if it were even possible – more confidence.