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“Of course,” Vivian answered, pausing at the door to wait for Au'revele.

“So, you’re going to tell me you don’t want to nanny for Alexandrus any longer?” Vivian asked, anticipating that’s what Au'revele wanted to discuss.

“Oh, not at all! I’m looking forward to it. What I was thinking is living arrangements for myself and Zahn. Since, we’re, you know,” she said, bashfully.

“I would think that either his quarters or yours would work well, but if you’d rather find something else…”

“I like my quarters, and their placement allows me to do my job efficiently. But I wasn’t sure if it would be acceptable to have Zahn living in my quarters since my quarters have access to the nursery and by default yours.”

“Actually, I think that it would be safer for all involved if Zahn lived there with you. So, I’m fine with it. We could offer Zahn’s quarters to Vor and Li’Orani. It just makes sense. And if you ever want a larger space, we can find that, too or simply enlarge the rooms you have now.”

“I think it would be fine as is. There are two bedrooms, a cleansing chamber, a kitchen, a comfortably sized sitting room. I can’t imagine needing more,” Au'revele said.

“Well, then it’s settled. Speak to Zahn and if you both agree, I think it’s a great idea. He’s got unlimited access to our home anyway, there’s no reason he couldn’t live in a connected quarter as well.”

~~~

Rokai strode down the narrow streets between the metal buildings near the docking station of the space station he was on. He noticed several males watching him go by, sizing him up. Whether they knew him from reputation or simply thought him an easy mark, didn’t matter. What he needed was someone to give him a chance to prove that he was everything he’d always been. The black skin-tight leathers he wore emphasized the weight and muscle he’d put on in his three years aboard Command Warship 1. He was heavier, and just as deadly, if not more so, than he’d once been. There was just more of him to back it up now — not that he needed the extra size, but it was nice to have it anyway. It made him look even more intimidating than he once had.

As he turned the corner, heading toward a familiar drinker, two of the males he’d noticed moments before jumped out of the shadows at him. Not even flinching, he took one down, striking quickly and efficiently before he shoved the unconscious male to the ground. He smiled as he beckoned the second male toward himself. “What’s wrong? Are you afraid?” Rokai asked, puffing his lower lip out as though he was pouting. “Come on, I won’t hurt you, too badly.”

The male rushed Rokai, who caught him and lifted him up off his feet, tossing him against the wall of the right side of the alley.

“Rokai ahl. I never thought I’d see the likes of you again.”

Rokai turned, his facial expression deadly before he saw the male speaking to him. His defenses dropped and he smiled. “One can only pretend to be on the straight and narrow for so long. Then ultimate boredom sets in and you have to kill someone.”

“How are you my friend?”

Rokai made a big show of inhaling deeply, pushing his chest out and lifting his face to the polluted air around them. “Gar Rh’en, I must admit, I’m better now. I’m home,” he said.

“Come. Let me buy you a drink.”

“Buy one? Just give me a damn drink. I don’t plan to buy anything, at all,” Rokai said.

Gar Rh’en laughed. “And there is the Rokai that I know.”

“Perhaps you should make it clear to these two idiots,” Rokai said. “If they wake.”

“They’ll wake. Pay them no mind. They think they’re so much more than we ever were. Once they find out who they’ve attacked they’ll skulk away and hide until you’re gone, or have forgotten. Whichever comes first.”

“Then they shouldn’t have known who I was?! I’ll beat them all over again,” Rokai said, turning toward the two downed males again.

“They’re not worth your energy. Youngsters, really. Come. Let’s catch up.”

~~~

Ba Re’ lay in bed, his fingertips slowly dragging up and down Elisha’s spine as she lay naked, spread out across his body. Despite the mutual exhaustion that always followed their overly energetic intimacies, he was very awake, his eyes open and focused unseeingly on the wall on the opposite side of their bedroom.

Elisha lifted her head and repositioned it on his shoulder facing him. She watched as he absentmindedly continued to stroke her back, not even realizing that she’d turned her head to look at him.

“Where are you?” she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

Ba Re’ heard her voice and turned his head to look at her. “Hmm?”

“Where are you? You seem a thousand miles away.”

“I’m right here, with you, my Ehlealah,” he said, offering her a loving smile.

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