Page 59 of Mated on Live

“She is definitely Servalee’s mate,” another sighed as a third one nodded sagely.

“Does that mean I can’t?” Sophie asked, looking around at them all. “It’s okay if you want to tell me no. I’m only asking, you won’t hurt my feelings if you’d rather remain private.”

“No, it’s fine,” Ellow sighed, long suffering as his aunt, looked to the ground, her lips moving as though she were praying to the ocean spirits. “You can do your videos. We’ll be happy to participate if we can.”

“Just like Servalee,” his aunt muttered as a bunch of eyes turned to him.

Including Sophie’s. She gave him a sheepish smile as he understood what was going on. Sophie had already told him she’d be asking his family if it was alright if she recorded things for her channel. She said her viewers would love to meet her in-laws – which was a strange way that humans referred to those who became family by marriage – and that she was eager to show them off.

She must have asked. And his family had drawn connections to her videos and back to when Serval had been young and had gotten his first combot. How he had gone around spying on everyone, getting information on them that, realistically, was just embarrassing for others to know. The hobby had eventually led to a sit down with his parents and the elders and being lectured for respecting the privacy of his family.

A lecture he had only half listened to. He stopped spying on his family, but he would take his camera everywhere else and get into everyone else’s business. A hobby that turned into a successful career as a professional gossip – as his aunt liked to say.

No doubt, his family were expecting something similar from Sophie. But before he could explain that her videos weren’t like his – that she was making fun videos, not trying to uncover imagined dark and mysterious family secrets – she was releasing her combot.

Everyone watched, interested but not understanding, as she did her typical opening in English and began to go around, introducing people to the camera. She pulled double duty as both host of her show and translator, and everyone else quickly began to understand that her style of media was much different from his own.

As he and his father finished the dishes, his cousins began doing tricks for the camera, or showing off their food. His aunt showed off her new beaded bracelet that her mate had given her for her breathday – the day she had been pulled from the birthing pool. His sister posed, showing off her muscular arms with a wicked grin, as his uncle waved with his olules. Pretty soon, people were bringing all sorts of random things to show off to the humans back on Earth. One of his cousins grabbed a shelling blade from the kitchen and brought it to Sophie, explaining how it was a powerful device that could be used to cleave bones clean in two-

Two of his other cousins tackled him to the ground mid dramatic speech, calling him a fool, and starting up a wrestling match that ended with all three of them falling into the water, still fighting. Sophie got it all on her combot, laughing and cheering them on as their mother – not his overbearing aunt, but one of the nicer ones – ran after them, yelling at them to act like they had sense in their heads because they were putting on a bad show for the humans!

Serval didn’t get to see who won the fight, but after it finished, a few of his other cousins – who weren’t actually related to him by blood but whose family shared their commu and who might as well be blood related – began playing some traditional music. No doubt encouraged by Sophie’s excitement over everything, and bolstered by the idea that they would be the first allowee to play for an Earth audience. They were really good too. The last time Serval heard them playing, they sounded like juveniles at their first concert, but they had improved a great deal.

He and the others on cleaning duty finished and he returned to Sophie’s side. She gave him a bright smile as she immediately relaxed into his embrace. Her combot turned, catching video of them. She must have set it to free roam, to record as much as possible, because she hadn’t given it an order, and even now she just smiled at it before it was distracted by one of his friends busting out a game of shells to the delight of a few other gamblers.

“My family is a bit rowdy,” he said apologetically as she relaxed into him.

“Your family is fantastic,” she laughed. “I feel like I’m home.”

Serval hesitated before tightening his arms around her. A new worry eating at his belly, making it hard to breathe. This was exactly what he had been afraid of. That he would bring his mate to his commu, and she wouldn’t ever want to leave.

“What are you thinking about?” She asked, head cocking curiously.

“Nothing.”

“Liar.” She leaned her head back, poking his stomach. “You just got all tense. You had a thought. Care to share it with the class?”

He didn’t answer immediately. Not because he didn’t want to tell her, though there was part of him that was hesitant to say it out loud. If she really wanted to settle down already, if the mating bond had triggered a nesting instinct, how could he tell his mate no? His real concern though was having this discussion while his family was getting drunk and reveling in his return and her arrival.

He took her by the hand and quickly dragged her away. A few people noticed, some calling out salacious things that the rei wouldn’t understand. A lot of them had settled into the post dinner festivities and were too busy drinking or eating or playing to care. Some would have already dragged their lover off for a tryst, as they no doubt thought he was doing.

And he didn’t care if they thought that. Let them. He kept hold of Sophie’s hand as he guided her down the steps and onto the old, shelled path that wound around the island. He started walking with her, deliberately slowing his steps so she could keep up.

Sophie didn’t say anything. She laced her fingers through his, tightening their grip, as she leaned against his shoulder, enjoying the music of the night.

The surface of his planet was rather tame. While there were a few creatures that crawled or slithered onto the rocks, most of the wildlife was under the water. There were no birds overhead to call or flit around. There were a few insects chirping in the night, but most of the songs they could hear were distant marine life, singing their own tongue of the deep. Lights from below couldn’t really be seen here, and there was almost no light pollution on land, so the vibrantly shining stars above had no competition to hide their splendor.

“The pools,” Sophie breathed as they came upon one. In the dark, its glow was more evident. Not quite illuminating like a light, but definitely vibrant. “The glow is from a bacteria?”

“Yes,” he nodded as they walked around them. “The wii here feed on us. When we use the pools to refresh our wii or when the young play in it or we use it for a ceremony, they colonize our skin. Sometimes, we sprinkle some sea water into it, so the wii can eat the microscopic organisms in the water, and to keep the pools filled, but the water itself is very clean and safe.”

“Even for me?” She asked softly.

Serval brought her to one of the smaller pools. If they stood in it, the water would barely reach their calves, and there was maybe enough space for both of them to sit down. He took her to the edge and kneeled. She sat beside him, staring in wonder at the water.

He wasn’t concerned. Offworlders had bathed in nesting pools before. It was very rare that anyone had a reaction to the bacterium. With full confidence, he took her hand and lowered it into the water. He held her by the wrist, submerging her fingers, her palm. She gasped.

“It’s warm.”

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