Page 138 of Sway's Peace
Sway was surprised by the immediate flash of annoyance that made his crest start to rise. He knew she didn’t mean anythingby it, and both of them were mated to other people, but he found he did not like his female complimenting another male in such a way.
The amused look on Loyalty’s face told him the flash of jealousy did not go unnoticed. But he didn’t remark on it as he said instead-
“Thank you. I mean, she knew I was going to be a ratchi when I came back, and she saw pics of the male when we were making our arrangement, but still…”
“It’s definitely not the same,” Grace agreed, nodding quickly. “She’s going to love it. And you two are going to be so happy together! I can’t wait to meet her!”
Loyalty laughed. “The next time you’re around our system, I should have visitor permission for you all to come see us. Definitely by the time our first youngling is spawning. I want you to meet them. I want our young to know that there are good people in the cosmos, and that not everyone is going to fear and revile us.”
Sway was not prepared for such a sincere and solemn reason behind something as simple as meeting the younglings of a friend. Even Grace started in surprise. Loyalty gave them a sheepish look as he chuckled.
“Sorry. A lot to ask. But you don’t really have to do anything. I just wanted you to meet them. Seriously. That’s it. You don’t need to, like, try to role model for them or anything.”
“Oh, no! I’d love to,” Grace said quickly, before stumbling on her words. “M-Meet them, I mean.Androle model. O-Or not? You know, it’s fine. I’m happy to do it. We both are. Right?”
She looked at him and Sway nodded. He wasn’t sure how good of a role model he could possible be to impressionable younglings, and he certainly wasn’t a good example of there being good people in the cosmos…
But he also didn’t mind showing them that you didn’t have to be from the same species in order to bond with someone. And that you could find your family anywhere, even if it wasn’t necessarily among your own kind.
Yeah. That was probably the best lesson he could pass on.
“Thank you,” Loyalty said, smiling at them. “I mean it.”
“You’ve been such a great friend to us, it’s the least we could do,” Grace said.
“Well, your captain did give me a discount for helping you out,” he laughed. “So, I think I actually got the better deal. If you ever need anything, please, don’t hesitate to reach out.”
“Yeah,” she nodded. Then stilled.
Loyalty didn’t miss the change. “Hm? Did you think of something?”
“Oh. Well. Yeah. K-Kind of?” She made a face. “This is going to sound like a really weird request – and you can totally say no! No pressure here. No hard feelings. Seriously. This is just like a small, weird favor you don’t have to agree to if you don’t-”
“Grace,” Loyalty cut her off, laughing. “You won’t offend me. It’s fine. Just ask.”
“Right.” She shifted her weight nervously. “Er, can I have a, er…abloodsample.” She finished in a murmured rush, the words turning into an unintelligible mess.
“A what?”
“A blood sample!” She repeated quickly, wincing. “Sorry. I just… if you can?”
Loyalty gave her an odd look. “I mean, I could. Why do you want one?”
She hesitated, and Sway stepped in, neatly covering for her.
“I wanted to study it,” he said. “I used to study things like that back on Rik-Vane.”
“Peoplestudyon Rik-Vane?” Loyalty asked, surprised.
“Well, it’s not really an accredited educational establishment,” he smirked, “but yes. We did in fact study things. And my area of expertise was biological. Grace was interested in learning. And your species is both pretty unknown and interesting.”
Loyalty looked between them for a long moment before shrugging. “I mean, sure. Not really a big loss to me.”
Grace’s shoulder’s slumped with relief as she fumbled to get the vial from her pocket.
The process was very short and simple. Loyalty took the vial and put it to his wrist. Sway watched as one of his veins moved into place right underneath. Loyalty hit the button, the vial hissed, and the indicator on the side began to glow purple, indicating it had successfully obtained the sample. When he moved it away, only a small dot remained.
“Here you go,” Loyalty said, smiling as he handed it back to Grace.
