Page 35 of The Alien's Unwilling Bride

But Mila sat up straighter, an idea forming. “No, wait. Zora might be onto something.” She turned to Roq, excitement building. “What if we could show the council the damage directly? Not just through data and charts, but by taking them to see the affected areas themselves?”

Roq’s eyes lit up with understanding. “A field trip for the council? It’s unconventional, but it might just work. Seeing the devastation firsthand could be the push they need.”

“It’s worth a try,” King Brakus agreed. “I’ll speak with the head of the council tomorrow, see if we can arrange an expedition.”

As the conversation turned to logistics, Mila felt a surge of hope. She glanced at Roq, finding him already looking at her. The intensity in his gaze made her breath catch.

“Thank you,” she said softly, “for standing up for me in there today.”

Roq’s hand squeezed her thigh gently. “Always,” he murmured, the word filled with a promise that made Mila’s heart race.

As the serious discussion wound down, the atmosphere around the table lightened. Raelee and Vex fell into their own conversation, their heads close together, laughter punctuatingtheir hushed words. Mila caught snippets of what sounded like increasingly ridiculous pet names.

“Sugar plum?” “Too sweet. Plasma core?” “Too sciency. Ooh, how about ‘my dashing space rogue’?” “Only if you’ll be my fierce stellar goddess.”

Mila rolled her eyes fondly at their antics, turning back to Roq. “Think we should give them a run for their money in the sickeningly sweet department?”

Roq’s eyes danced with amusement. “I don’t know if I have it in me to be quite that... effusive. But I’m open to suggestions, my brilliant earthen goddess.”

Mila snorted, nearly choking on her drink. “Okay, maybe let’s leave the pet names to the professionals.”

Meanwhile, at the other end of the table, Zora had somehow roped Dravek into what looked like an intense debate about the sentience of houseplants.

“I’m telling you,” Zora insisted, waving a piece of bread for emphasis, “that fern knew exactly what it was doing when it dropped its leaves all over my favorite book!”

Dravek’s expression was a mix of exasperation and reluctant amusement. “Plants don’t have malicious intent, Zora. They’re not capable of plotting against your literature.”

“Oh yeah? Then explain why it only happens to the books I haven’t finished yet. Clearly, they’re literary critics in disguise.”

To everyone’s surprise, Dravek let out a short laugh. “Fine, I’ll concede that your plants might have surprisingly good taste in books. But I draw the line at accepting their reviews as valid literary criticism.”

Zora’s eyes lit up at Dravek’s laughter, and she leaned in closer, her voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper. “Just wait until I tell you about the secret society of succulent scholars. They’re quite prickly about their peer reviews.”

Dravek groaned at the pun, but Mila noticed he didn’t lean away from Zora’s closeness. If anything, he seemed to be fighting back a smile.

As the evening wore on, the conversation drifted further from the pressing matters of planetary crisis and political maneuvering. Mila found herself relaxing for the first time in days, the warmth of good food, family, and Roq’s steady presence beside her easing the tension from her shoulders.

“So, Mila,” Raelee called from across the table, a mischievous glint in her eye, “now that we’ve solved the immediate crisis, at least temporarily, let’s talk about something really important.”

Mila raised an eyebrow, wary of her sister’s tone. “And what might that be?”

“Your tragic lack of a social life, of course.” Raelee grinned, ignoring Mila’s eye roll. “When was the last time you went out and had some fun that didn’t involve soil samples or endangered alien fungi?”

“I’ll have you know that endangered alien fungi can be very entertaining,” Mila retorted.

Vex leaned forward, joining in on the teasing. “You know, Roqron, I’m sure you could show Mila some of Tharvis’s more... exciting attractions. There’s that new zero-gravity dance club in the capital, or the bioluminescent gardens...”

Roq cleared his throat, and Mila was surprised to see a faint tinge of color on his cheeks. “I, uh, wouldn’t want to presume...”

“Oh, don’t be shy now, brother,” Dravek chimed in, seemingly glad for the distraction from Zora’s plant-based flirtations. “We all know you’ve been dying to play tour guide for our esteemed Earth scientist.”

Mila felt her face burning now, but she couldn’t deny the little thrill that went through her at the thought of exploring Tharvis with Roq – preferably without the looming threat of ecological disaster.

“Well,” she said, summoning her courage and turning to Roq with a small smile, “I wouldn’t be opposed to seeing some of those attractions. You know, for research purposes.”

Roq’s eyes met hers, a slow smile spreading across his face. “Research purposes, of course. We couldn’t neglect such an important aspect of interplanetary relations, could we?”

The air between them seemed to crackle with unspoken possibilities. Mila was vaguely aware of Raelee’s delighted squeal and Vex’s knowing chuckle, but her focus was entirely on Roq.

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