Page 42 of Mated By Twilight

“But… you’re not really. You two are so different.”

“We are. And we aren’t.” Sollit lifted a hand, putting it on his chest. “I feel Tillos here. Through theethmylbond. That’s the word in Standard. It’s a sense that exists in subspace. Our species isn’t the only one to experience such a thing, though, as I understand it, they all experience it differently. The bond connects us though. Binds us. In the same way it will bind us to you when we’re mated. We won’t be able to feel you, but the mate bond is pretty identical. If you wanted only me but not Tillos, it would truly break my heart, because it would be like you were rejecting half of me.”

She cocked her head curiously, looking at him. “You two are that close?”

He nodded eagerly. “I love Tillos. More than myself. He is second only to you in my eyes.”

“I don’t mean that much to you.”

“You will.”

Leah’s pretty face turned pink. And it was so cute. She didn’t argue further that she was going to become that important to him either. Sollit couldn’t rightfully say he was in love with her, but he was delighted and charmed by her. He wanted her close to him. Knowing that she was his mate only made him want to get closer to her faster.

“You’re right in saying that mating in pairs is part of our culture,” he continued, trying to find a way to explain this to her in a way that would make sense. “But it’s part of our culture because it’s part of our biology. Male avanava are always born in pairs. Well, almost always, I guess. I think there are some rare cases where a male is born alone, but it’s always because something happened to the other twin. And it’s rare. And tragic. There’s nothing worse as a male than to be born alone.”

He frowned, trying to think of what it would be like to not have Tillos in his life. To not feel that warmth in his chest that was his brother. The very idea made him want to weep.

“It’s not uncommon for brothers to die together,” he continued solemnly. “If one brother dies, the other will follow shortly after. Those who do manage to outlive their twin describe their lives as being only half. They say it’s worse than missing a limb. It’s like they can’t even breathe anymore. Life without my brother… I cannot imagine a more terrible fate.”

“What about females?”

“Female avanava are born alone.” He squeezed her hand, expressing his apology for that. He imagined it must be terribly lonely. “But it’s okay. Because once a female finds her mates, she isn’t alone any longer. And she will never have to be again.”

Leah started giggling.

“Funny?”

“No,” she shook her head, smiling at him. “It’s just that you seemed so quick to reassure me of that. Like it really is a tragedy to not be born with a twin.”

“It is from my perspective.”

“You know, humans give birth to twins too. But it’s not like a subspace connection kind of thing. Or, at least, I don’t think it is. They say twins have a special bond in humans. But they’re not considered the same person like you and Tillos say you are. And also are not.”

“Interesting,” he hummed thoughtfully. It didn’t really make much sense to him. How was someone born a twin but not a twin?

But then again, he couldn’t imagine not mating someone with his brother. He couldn’t imagine having to carry the sole burden of caring for his mate and young without help. It was very sad for those species that mated monogamously. He wondered if they realized how much they were missing? He guessed it would just be completely normal to them.

Leah gasped, turning his thoughts from his inner musings and back onto her. He smiled as she stepped forward, drawn by the lovely sight spread out before them.

For Sollit’s portion of their date, he had decided to bring Leah to a small maze garden at the starboard side of the space station. The maze walls were formed from thick vines that hung down from the ceiling. From those vines bloomed small, white flowers that glowed with gently pulsing, soft, yellow lights that were meant to attract the insects from their home planet.

Here, they just created a beautiful walkway for visitors to wander through, finding places to sit and rest and admire the view and the soft scent.

Leah sent Sollit a quick smile before letting go of his hand so she could run her fingers through the vines, laughing breathlessly with delight.

She pushed into one of the vine walls, stepping through as she looked back. He followed after, enchanted, as she wandered to her heart’s content. Though this was a maze, it was easy to just step through the ‘walls’, and some places could only be reached by doing so.

The covered alcove she found was one such place. She stepped up between the thin columns, running her hand along the stone. He kept pace with her, trailing behind her touch.

“What’s it like?” Leah asked softly, putting her back to one of the columns, smiling at him. “Having two mates, I mean.”

“I’ll never know,” he chuckled. “I’m only ever going to have one.”

“You know what I mean,” she chuckled, reaching out to touch him. But she was still unsure of herself because she just barely brushed the tips of her fingers against his chest before pulling back. Then, she did it again.

That time, Sollit leaned forward, forcing her hand flat against him. She flushed bright pink but didn’t try to pull back. It was precious how shy she was. He loved it, but he also couldn’t wait for her to lose that fear and become comfortable with him. With them. With this.

“If you’re asking me how Tillos and I are going to treat you, then the answer is: We’re going to devote ourselves to you.” He came closer, taking a deep breath of her scent. Luxuriating in it. She fitin so well with the flowers of the viny maze, it was intoxicating. “For avanava males, we take great pride in how well we care for our female. When a female is well cared for, well loved, by her males, it changes her. You can see it. And if a female isn’t cared for, it’s obvious, and the males who did not do well are shamed for their failing.

---