Found Family

Kelrak pulls the roasting fish, which looked utterly delicious, from the oven and begins to carve it as the others chat, mostly about me.

“How long do we keep her a secret?” Daera asks.

“For as long as she is here. We do not want the attention.”

“I cannot believe Haali did this. This is reckless, even for him.” Draevys says. “We ought to tell his master.”

“But we will not. At least not yet.”

“What do we do with her when we aren’t here?” Zuko asks.

“Nothing. We leave her be.”

I bob in my spot feeling incredibly awkward being the center of conversation without the ability to respond. It was such a familiar feeling. There were so many times over the years where I knew my older Korean relatives were speaking about me thinking that I didn’t realize that they were. The difference here being I could understand what was being said…and these creatures didn’t have that terrible look of puzzlement and disappointment in their eyes when they looked at me.

“What if we need to bring somebody into our sanctum?” Daera says.

Nanea’s gaze drifts over to me. “Then politely ask our guest to wait in her room. She is a reasonable young woman. Yes?”

I nod, grateful for the opportunity to participate. “Yes Mistress Nwyne.”

She gives a nod back. “Thank you.”

“Ohhhh! Ha ha ha!” Daera laughs. “I just love the way she speaks.” She smiles down at me. “And these filaments on her head are just lovely.”

I give the ultra-plump woman a bashful smile. “Thank you.” Which makes her laugh some more.

It is not long before Stheera and Ellerie return. Ellerie’s head was on Stheera’s shoulder as the slowly swim to take their places on the other side of the table from me. Like the others Ellerie looked worried for the eel-lady. I cannot help but wonder what the woman was going to be doing the next day that had everybody so on edge. Even at a glance she moved and had the bearing of somebody that could take care of herself in a scrap, I certainly wouldn’t want to find myself alone in a dark place with her. And given her almost light resistant black coloration it would be easy for her not to be seen if she didn’t want it. Stheera pats Ellerie’s shoulder to comfort her before the part to take their spots.

The food now plated Kelrak begins to serve us. Each of us is given a large platter with a see through lid. Attached to each side is a utensil, a strange tong like utensil on the left and a two tined fork on the right. The platters had five separate segments, four of the segments with its own lid and the last with just a straw sticking up from it. It reminded me a little of a fancy version of a frozen dinner tray, though the food within looked FAR more edible despite its foreignness. Looking across to Ellerie I give it a thumbs up. She smiles back, a distracted troubled smile, and does the same.

“She likes what she sees.” Ellerie announces, trying her best to remain upbeat. “You’re the best Kelrak.”

He bows to her, looking pleased without smiling in that way he had.

I note that the Mistress is served last and nobody does anything but look at and comment on the food in the meantime. When all were served Kelrak touches something on the side of the table and I feel a gentle suction along the edge of the table. I notice a row of small square holes encircled the perimeter of the top and another ring of them were built in near the center. There are a few titters as I get close enough to them that my hair begins to be drawn down toward them. I go upright again and ‘sit’ properly. Kelrak takes his place among us the meal looked ready to begin.

Everybody waits on the Mistress. She looks around, her gaze pausing briefly on each face. It lingers longer on Stheera’s. Stheera squirms then bows her head. “Yes Mistress.” Rising up a bit higher Stheera says awkwardly. “The Spirits see us. The Spirits know our hearts are true and our cause is just. The Spirits understand the sacrifices that must be made.” This causes a stir. Ellerie bites her lips and bows her head in sadness. Stheera looks to the worried young octo-lady. “The Spirits have faith in us.”

“I believe in you too Stheera.” Ellerie whispers and a similar sentiment murmurs around the table.

Stheera looks around at each of them, all but me that is, to share just a brief moment of contact. I could sense the mood in the room rise. Unsure of what to say next, saying grace didn’t seem to be something she did often, Stheera then finishes swiftly. “Spirits below look up upon us from the Forever Under and bless us.”

The sudden end seems to take the others off guard, clearly they had expected more.

“Thank you Stheera. Concise as always.” Mistress says.

With that the meal begins. The little hatches are opened on the platters and they tuck into the supper with aplomb. Beside me Daera leans in close and whispers. “Just do what I do dear.”

I nod and take her suggestion. The first thing I notice was that those little holes with the suction drew the little bit of sauce or oil that drifted from the food down and out of the environment. Following along exactly, as if I were learning to eat, I take the fork from the side and eat what Daera eats as she eats it. Having me mimick her tickles her greatly. The roast fish and the salad I had watched Kelrak make are each delicious in their own way. The flavors both new and familiar combined in ways that told me that while we were different species our palates were not so different. There was a stringy green dish however was just nasty, it tasted of chemicals and iodine and…God knows what else. Ugh! When Daera sees my grimace of disgust she laughs a big hearty laugh, Ellerie joins in. “It’s an acquired taste.” She says. The clear jelly drink…thing is a bit tangy but otherwise unremarkable. The last segment was filled with three scallops, still in the shell, lined up in a neat row. The merfolk all open the shells and to scoop out the delectable raw meat inside, Nanea and Ellerie however pop them shell and all into their mouth and crunch down with their strong fang-like molars. The loud sound of crunching reverberates through the room. Obviously I eat them like the merfolk, and DAMN were they good.

Conversation is light, mostly just Ellerie telling us about some merchant she met down in the tavern that had a fat purse ‘just begging to be lifted’. I got the sense that Ellerie was not allowed to ply her profession in the tavern.

After supper Draevys leans closer. “How are you feeling human?”

It is then I notice both he and the Mistress were studying me with a keen interest. I give them a thumbs up and Ellerie explains what that means.

“She can eat what we eat.” Nanea says. “That will make things much easier.”

The old wizard scratches his chin. “Humans were seeded on this planet as we were. We likely share as many commonalities as differences.”

Seeded? What? He says no more on the topic however.

The meal done all but Kelrak makes their way toward the door Ellerie told me contained the rest of the living area. I follow along at the insistence of Daera. The next room over from the dining area is a living room, of sorts, with two doors leading off from it. A place to relax and socialize. More art lines the walls and for the first time I see something like sitting furniture, a huge semicircular sofa-like thing that faced a deep blue globe that was as tall as I was. The light here was dimmer and pleasantly warmer in color. Ellerie zips forward to touch the globe. It comes to life, the surface flickers bright and within I watch as a orangy-pink cloud grows and starts to slowly swirl. A very low thrum pulses out from it in a pattern that rises and lowers seemingly at random, not mental but actual sound. My best guess is that it is some sort of music. My guess is confirmed as Ellerie begins to dance to it, a slow hypnotic swaying that was graceful in a way only a creature native to this liquid world could be.

Reaching out to her Mistress Ellerie twirls once and asks. “Dance with me?”

Nanea smiles warmly. I knew true love when I saw it, and I had never seen it so pure before. Her tentacles move her smoothly across the room and the pair enter into an intimate embrace and start to dance together. It is quite a sight as their bodies and many limbs waver and move and intermingle all in tune with one another.

Frob settles into the corner and rests in a little bed they had set up for him there. Zuko and Daera meanwhile swim to the sofa to lounge together. It hits me as Zuko wraps his thick muscled arms around the rotund Daera and oh so tenderly rests his hands over her belly…that Daera was pregnant. She smiles, a smile a pure contentment, as she feels her partners strong arms around her. She relaxes back into him as the pair come to rest on the sofa. She looks to me and says. “Make yourself at home. This is our time to relax and…unwind.” She closes her eyes and smiles wider as Zuko nuzzles his face between her head fins to kiss her head.

Draevys moves to the far side and a look of relief comes over him as his old body comes to rest. He makes a motion and touches one of the many baubles he wore. His body glows red, just for an instant, before fading away. He gazes into the globe as his tail waves subtly to the music.

The meal before, the obvious love they had for each other, the easy way with which they interacted, and now this shared time of recreation. These were not colleagues or friends or roommates, this was a family. A found family. A group of dissimilar races and personalities, but a family nonetheless. It was…beautiful. Ellerie told me that they were ‘bad guys’. Seeing them together like this I simply could not believe that.

I was just wondering where Stheera was when I suddenly realize the darkness in my peripheral vision wasn’t a shadow but her. She was right beside me! I turn to look at her to find her inspecting me closely. Her lips are curled back so that I could just see the tips of her sharp teeth. Was that a smile? Up close I could see more clearly the pattern of her impossibly black skin. Her gray eyes, like two circular storm clouds, was the lightest part on her. Her lean tautly muscled arm reaches out to gently stroke my arm.

“I wish to lay with you human.” She says directly. “And then take you to my room and have sex with you.”

“Spirits below! Stheera!” Daera chuckles, more than a bit aghast. “A human!? Are you serious?”

“And why not?” Stheera says indignantly. “She is clearly sexually mature. What better way to welcome her? And what better way to watch her for the night?”

Draevys laughs. “Ha ha! That’s our Stheera. I was wondering how long until you asked.”

“You are probably as ugly to her as she is to us.” Daera laughs too. “Ew!”

“I think she’s pretty.” Ellerie says without even pausing her dance. Beyond the fact that I was human, such a casual sexual advance hadn’t phased anybody. “I’d do her.”

“Naughty girl.” Mistress teases her partner and pulls her in closer, one of her tentacles reaching up under Ellerie’s tentacles.

“OOO!” Ellerie exclaims with a flirtatious giggle. “Mistress! Not in front of the human.” They snuggle close and share a laugh.

“It probably has diseases or something.” Zuko mutters between kisses down his lover’s neck. “I wouldn’t do it.”

“Of course you wouldn’t. You two are as bad as Stheera.” Draevys teases. “Your monogamy…”

“Draevys.” Mistress warns, clearly a subject she’d warned him about many times. “We do not judge.”

“You leave us alone you old bottom feeder.” Daera says with pride in what she and Zuko shared. “You just can’t understand what we have.”

“She’s all the woman I’ll ever want.” Zuko nips his woman’s shoulder with rising desire. “Sexiest fucking woman in whole of the Expanse.”

“Oh my love.” Daera swoons. As they spoon, his big burly physique around her shorter plumper body, her hands clasp over his and together they hold her belly and the life they created inside of her.

“The others cannot appreciate the exotic like I can.” Stheera whispers to me, her gray eyes panning up and down my body with obvious lust. “I will not harm you. I will pay you, if you wish.”

“Maybe give the woman some time to settle.” Draevys suggests. “She probably doesn’t even understand where she is yet. Also, you might want to wait until Haali has done some tests. There could be risks.”

Stheera’s voice lowers. “This may be the only time I have. How could I pass this opportunity up without even asking?”

This darkens the comfy mood they had going until the Mistress says. “She has ability to say yes or no. This is between Stheera and her.”

It is only then my lagging mind actually catches up to what was being proposed here. “Wait…WHAT!?”