Page 23 of Purring, Presents, and Parties

“I believe so, yes. The last I heard, he was a team leader within a Drone Squad with the highest marks ever achieved to date.” He sounded a rumble of amusement.

“What’s so funny?” Ari demanded.

“The report on him I read had a caveat warning that he was not to touch anything but drone controls or risk damage to delicate systems and parts.”

Ari giggled. “Cute story, but I don’t see how that applies to anything going on here.”

“It has direct application. I’ve been treating you like Galinnie. As if you have no value outside of a burden.” He could feel her little body tense against his.

“That’s exactly what I am, a burden. Now that we’re here on Talarian, there’s nothing I can do to help.” She tried to lighten her tone. “But at least I’m not going around breaking things by accident.”

He wanted to sound a negative rattle but stopped himself in time. No more negative or irritated rattles around Ari! “You’re absolutely incorrect.”

Her body didn’t relax. “Are you saying I’m breaking things?”

“I meant you’re incorrect that there’s nothing you can do to help,” he explained. “Rain helped me to understand that I was underutilizing you both to your detriment and my own. I’ve pushed myself hard because I wanted to make a place here safe for humans. My focus has been so narrow, I’ve hurt the human most precious to me.”

“You’re doing good things here,” Ari argued. “Important and necessary work. You don’t need to worry about me anymore. I’m on medication now and feeling much better already. We can keep going as we were. I’ll be fine now.”

Bazium sounded a soothing rumble, drawing her tight against him. “You don’t realize that if you’re not happy, then nothinghere is important. I’m ready to burn this place down for even one smile from you.”

She jerked in his arms. “Baz, that seems a bit extreme, don’t you think?”

“Not at all,” he answered with absolute conviction. “You’re the only reason I’m alive right now. Without you, I see no reason to continue doing anything, including breathing.”

“Now who needs medication?” she mumbled before speaking up. “What’s your grand solution? Vacations to some far-off space station or colony?”

“If you’d like, I can arrange something like that,” he agreed. “But that wasn’t my first thought. I’ve already begun the process of distributing my duties to other members of my family.”

“Wait, what?” she asked, straining against his arms so she could look at him. “I thought you said you legally separated from your family.”

“From my original family, yes. Now I have a new family: Hesarium, Norrium, Tarrian, Danisal, Kasium.”

“I’m so confused,” Ari admitted.

“I’ve formed a new family with the Lineage Committee’s blessings. We are now the Lee Family within the Clan Tomok.”

Ari’s jaw dropped. “You took my last name?”

“We needed a new one, and yours is a nice one. Besides, I like the idea of bearing your family name, it makes me feel like I belong to you in a formal way,” he answered, enjoying the way her expression went from flustered to pleased.

Blinking, Ari sniffed back tears but was also smiling broadly. “Everyone’s okay with you just changing your name like this?”

“It’s common for individuals to start a new family name when they’ve achieved something remarkable,” Bazium explained. “No one was surprised when I submitted the petition and several remarked at the exotic nature of the name I chose. There’s none like it.”

“Thank you for my name,” Ari whispered. “I’ve lost so much, it’s nice to know this gets to stay.”

“There’s more,” Bazium said, reaching over to pick up the bag he’d dropped along with the food and drink. Rummaging around in the bag he drew out the gift he’d carefully wrapped in silver foil. “This is the other thing I’ve done to correct the balance between us.”

Lips pursed, Ari accepted the gift and stared at the foil. Then she tried to find a seam to open the foil without tearing it.

“It’s heat sealed,” he murmured after he realized what she was doing. He felt a strange combination of impatience and reluctance. He both wanted her to rip open the gift and be delighted by it, but also wanted this moment of anticipation to last.

No wonder humans liked to give gifts to each other. This was a joyful sensation!

Ari rubbed the foil with one of her fingers. “This is really pretty. It seems like a shame to rip it open.”

“There is plenty more,” he assured her. “Treat it as you would treat a gift when you were growing up on Old Earth.”

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