Page 25 of K'Vella

"When are we allowed to leave this room?" I ask right as the bedroom door slides open to reveal a beaming Jovi who looks around the room until his eyes land on his mate.

Sloane's wearing a thin strapped dress that clings to her curves and stops mid-thigh. Her mate soaks in how beautiful she looks and crosses his arms over his chest. I'm sure his chest would be violet if he weren't wearing a shirt. I know mine is, but thankfully, my dress has a high neckline, so no one can see my flush.

Avery is also in a dress, but it's one of mine. We've pinned the hem so it's short enough to look fashionable on her much shorter frame, and the lower sleeves are tied in front like a bow. She is soft and curvy in ways that I am not, but my muscular frame means the garment is the perfect size for her.

Essa is wearing a black dress mostly made of gauzy material. When she showed us the dress, we all oohed and awed. It's the prettiest dress on the ship, but she wouldn't tell us why she has such nice clothing since we always see her in her tanktops and cargo pants.

"You all look beautiful," Jovi says, not taking his eyes off Sloane for even a second. "We got everything set up if you'll follow me."

Sloane untwines her arms from mine, skips over to her mate, and wraps herself up in him. "You look good in your shirt."

"I look better without it," Jovi tells her, throwing his upper arm over her shoulder and tugging her closer. They head out of the room, leaving the rest of us to follow after them. I'm still notentirely sure what's happening, and I fidget with my hands as I wait to leave the room.

Essa isn't having it. She stands by the door, her tail flicking back and forth in lazy arcs.

"You will like this surprise," Essa says.

"I'm sure I will." I take a tentative step toward her, trying to force myself to leave the room. I'm sure there's nothing to worry about, but it's still a little concerning when I don't know what's happening.

"Then let us go. The males are proud of what they've created, especially your male." Essa waits for me to step closer to her before she wraps her tail around my ankle. It's startling at first, but she doesn't remove it and doesn't make a big deal about it, so I try to do the same. "You look beautiful, and your male will think so as well. Let's go see how you react to his surprise."

I give her a shaky nod and try to stop fidgeting with my fingers as we walk down the hall. Normally, I'm pretty confident in myself, but that's because I know what's happening most of the time. I know that I'm on this ship to get pregnant and that Holoth and I have been getting closer to one another.

It's been nice, but I worry this surprise of his will make me want more from him than I should. Yes, we've agreed to see where this goes, but he's a Rytharian with a scent match out there somewhere. This only lasts if he never removes the scent blocker from his nose.

Essa pauses outside the living space door and turns to face me. "You're ready? You're not going to run or faint?"

"I won't run or faint," I chuckle. "I wish I would've brushed my pelt a bit more, though. I didn't give it a pattern, and this seems like the type of event that needs a swirled pelt."

Essa narrows her eyes on my shoulders and down my arms, where my pelt is bare. "No, your pelt looks smooth and shiny. You are beautiful. Stop fretting."

Before I can thank her for her kind words, she turns back to the door, which slides open. My eyes go wide as I trail right behind Essa. The room isn't decorated much, but the furniture has been moved to different areas, making up sections like we would have at housing ceremonies on Varon.

There's a plethora of food in the center of the room, and the males are standing near it. All of them are dressed up as much as they can be. Holoth's even wearing a shirt makes me suppress a smile because it's obviously not his. He probably has a bow tied in the back with the extra arms.

"Your station is over there," Essa says, pointing one of her long black nails at the loveseat against the right wall.

The loveseat is covered in furs and some blankets from my nest. When we all went in there earlier, I thought Holoth's bed looked wrong, but I didn't have time to worry about it when the others were in my room. I thought it would be silly to get on my hands and knees and fret over the nest while everyone was chatting and having a good time since I don't believe any of them nest.

I walk over to the loveseat and run my fingers over my furs. They're not set right, so I spend a few minutes making sure they're exactly where they need to be. No one rushes me.

Sloane and Essa chat away as I make my temporary nest. Avery's here, too, but she's watching me with a curious expression. It has me feeling a bit self-conscious, but when I catch her eyes, she looks away like she's embarrassed to have been caught staring.

When I finish getting everything right, I sit and look around excitedly. I haven't been able to participate in a housing ceremony in many years. Sure, this isn't the same thing, but it's as close as the crew could make it, and they did this all for me.

"Jovi and Alik walked us through how this is supposed to go, but if we mess it up, just know we're trying our best," Holothspeaks, and it has my chest flushing underneath my dress. He did all this for me, and I don't think a male has ever treated me so well. "We predetermined who each male would talk with first—"

"Thanks to me and my whiteboard," Essa interjects, smiling brightly around the room. "We went over the pros and cons of where each male starts and found this to be the smartest way to do things."

Holoth grins at Essa as she tells us all about her planning and her use of her whiteboard. She's offered to pull it out of her room and make a list of reasons I should or should not ask Holoth to be my life partner. I've had to shut that down a lot. She is very fond of the board, though, and calls it her 'most favorite gift of all time.'

"Yes, yes, Essa wrote all of our names down in many colors." Phial waves his hand in the air in a get-on-with motion. "Can we please speak with the females now? I would like to be with my friend."

"Which friend?" Sloane jeers, her eyes filled with amusement and her lips curled up in a mischievous smile. "Because I don't think you're that eager to talk to me."

"No one is eager to talk to you. Alik's already wanting to kill us all," Phial grumbles but doesn't answer her question about who he's interested in talking with.

It's not hard to guess. He and Avery are inseparable most of the time. They're always up watching other planets' dating and mating shows. Sometimes, Holoth and I can hear Phial complaining about the contestants late at night, and we have to keep ourselves from laughing.

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