Page 6 of Interstellar Love Song (Villains in Space #3)

MICAH

“Hey, Zig…” I swiveled in my preferred captain’s chair— my man’s lap— to face him. “You do realize this is our first time visiting Leeloo as official space fiancés, right?”

He stiffened beneath me, and not in a good way. In fact, Ziggy looked downright pressed over the idea of sharing the news with my Jedi Master.

What in Stellaria’s name…?

“I would prefer we not share just yet,” he replied as my jaw dropped. “There’s something I need to handle first.”

Boy, you’re about to be handling another night on the proverbial couch ? —

Before I could demand Ziggy tell me what the actual fuck, Leeloo appeared in the cockpit.

“Greetings, My-kuh and Zig-ee!” they chirped, nearly making me tumble off Ziggy’s lap in alarm.

I was just leaving anyway…

“Hey, Sensei!” I replied as I leaped to my feet, throwing in a Han Solo salute for maximum dorkness. “Look at you flexing the star hop powers, huh?”

Leeloo released a full-bellied laugh before gracefully shrugging. “Particle leaping, yes. I assumed you wouldn’t mind, since there are no secrets left between us.”

Well, apparently there are…

I shot Ziggy some pointed side-eye, but he was too busy squinting at Leeloo to notice.

“It’s considered impolite to board another’s ship without permission, Leeloo,” he snipped, as salty as ever toward his “more highly evolved” cousin.

Unfortunately for Ziggy and his sour grapes, Leeloo’s superpower was clapping back.

“I understand you may be concerned about me appearing at an inopportune time, Zig-ee,” they coolly replied. “However, I knew you and your stellar collision were not involved in any reproduction-related activities—because of the calmness of your resonance.”

They still have your number, Zig!

Ziggy turned as red as the lava flowing beneath the surface of Ekistron. “I take it this means the hatch is open?” he attempted to redirect. “Shall I maneuver the Lodger down into?—”

“No.” The Eki neatly cut him off. “The hatch to Nuclei City is closed. I was on the surface investigating strange debris when I saw your ship breaking through the cloud cover. ”

The captain of said ship opened his mouth, no doubt intending to keep us on his imaginary schedule, but the boss bitch in the cockpit was the one calling the shots.

“You are well, My-Kuh?” I could practically see the cheeky wink from deep within Leeloo’s space wizard robes as they turned to face me. “Ready for more training already?”

I was born ready.

“Always.” I grinned, before their previous statement caught up with me. “Wait a min. What’s this about strange debris on the surface?”

Looks like we’ve got another mystery on our hands!

Leeloo chuckled, knowing damn well they weren’t going to deter me from getting involved. “I am not entirely sure yet, since I had only just ascended to the surface when you arrived. Land this wreck and we can investigate together.”

“Wreck!” Ziggy sputtered, but the Eki had already star hopped away, reappearing a moment later as a sparkly figure on the snowy plains below.

Clap. Back.

“Don’t act like you don’t deserve it, Zig,” I teased. “You were an ass to Leeloo and all the Eki the first time we were here, when we were the ones keeping secrets.”

Ziggy rolled his eyes, which inspired me to pettily press on. “And here you are, still wanting to keep secrets—secrets you should be proud to share.”

I hadn’t meant for my voice to crack, but I was hurt, and not understanding why he would want to keep our relationship upgrade hidden from my goddamn Jedi Master of all people .

Not people… whatever…

Ziggy’s expression morphed into pure panic before he unleashed a couple tendrils to yank me back into his lap. “You’re not a secret, sunshine! I am incredibly proud of you and our… space fiancé status. It’s just…”

I waited as patiently as possible while he struggled to find the words, knowing it was best to let him get there on his own.

Even if I wanna pry it out of him with a crowbar.

For as annoyed as I was at Ziggy’s ongoing emotional constipation, it was also fascinating to watch him work through it. My cold-blooded killer wore an impassive mask with most everyone else, but I’d steadily trained him to show me everything.

“I… would like to be the one to share the news with Leeloo,” he haltingly elaborated, his murder freckles scrunching with his pained expression. “In my own way.”

Sigh.

It appeared that, once again, the big idiot was trying his best, and I couldn’t stay mad in the face of such adorable cluelessness. I wasn’t sure if I needed to be concerned over whatever Ziggy had in mind for his big reveal to Leeloo, but more than anything, I was proud of him for speaking up.

“If it’s important for you to be the one to share, I can support that… And gold stars from Dr. Micah for the clear communication.” I laughed when that earned me a genuine smile— with teeth. “Now let’s go see what Leeloo is investigating.”

Because my interest is piqued !

Ziggy nodded, already seeming more relaxed as he landed the Lodger on a rocky ridge. Before we could head outside to the surface of Ekistron, he insisted I bundle up in my ski lodge gear, like a fussy mother hen.

I’ll allow it.

The truth was, as self-sufficient as I was— as I’d been raised to be —I loved having someone I could count on to take care of me.

Ziggy made sure I ate instead of working through meals, hit me with a light dose of his somno fun-time powers when my busy brain wouldn’t shut off at night, and dressed me in planet-appropriate gear before I could charge ahead, unprepared.

He’s gonna make such a good dad someday…

“Ready, babygirl?” My man’s smooth voice stopped me from falling into an mpreg daydream.

An ongoing problem ‘round here.

“I’m ready, Space Daddy.” I grinned up at him as he took my hand. “Always.”

Our surroundings blurred as we both star hopped to where Leeloo was patiently waiting. I immediately adjusted the settings on my glasses to account for the fading light from Ekistron’s sun, but all I could see was endless white.

“So…” I peered over my shoulder before facing forward again. “Where’s this mysterious debris you were telling us about?”

The Eki hummed noncommittally before flicking a coal black hand, as if waving smoke out of the air. A whirlwind of glittering snowflakes kicked up from below, and when it settled, I got my answer.

Rocks.

Dozens of shiny black lava rocks littered the landscape, ranging in scale from the size of a baseball to a beach ball.

Well, this was anti-climactic.

“Okayyy…” I glanced at Leeloo. “Do you just not usually see lava rock above the surface, or…”

“This lava rock is not from our planet,” they crisply replied before cocking their head and observing me in return. “Can you not feel the difference?”

Feel it?

I frowned and focused on channeling my powers to feel the ground beneath my feet—more specifically, to identify the elements found within this planet. But when I attempted to channel my powers toward the foreign rocks, I couldn’t get a read on them.

Leeloo chuckled in response to my annoyed growl. “Use your tendrils, My-kuh.”

I almost conjured my mechanical tendrils, then realized what they meant. Pulling on the sizable piece of Ziggy’s core embedded inside me, I unleashed a pair of starry tendrils and reached for the closest rock, noting its slightly varied composition once I made contact.

Tendril Touchy Time—for science!

“Beautiful,” Ziggy whispered reverently, eyeing my tendrils with barely contained adoration.

And lust .

“They’re your tendrils,” I huffed, all flustered over the undeserved compliment.

“I know,” he murmured as pulses of unadulterated love filled our bond. “But I like to pretend they’re not.”

Gah!

Leeloo snorted. “They are an extension of you, My-kuh. You would not be able to maneuver these tendrils if not for your unique ancestry.”

“What?!” I squawked, snatching the starry appendages back into my body. “I thought the tendrils and the star hopping were because there’s more of him inside me now.”

“While you have a true stellar collision bond, you are still in control of your actions,” Leeloo explained, as patient as ever. “Your genetic code is to thank for that.”

A random thought occurred to me and I turned to Ziggy. “Is that why you handed me your Celestial Cube the first day we met? Because you knew I had enough Stellarian DNA to enhance it?”

Ziggy smirked. “Yes, and that you had enough intelligence to enhance it. Thanks to your extended family’s insider knowledge of supe heritage, I also knew you didn’t have enough Stellarian in you to access the deadlier functions.”

Don’t make a joke about having enough Stellarian in me now…

By some miracle, I ignored my opening and remained focused on the current conversation. “Do the Eki have weapons like Zig’s Celestial Cube?”

Leeloo chuckled humorlessly. “We have cubes—only because we invented them for Stellarians—but we choose to not access the deadlier functions. Our kind has always been more interested in creation than destruction.”

While Earthlings are interested in both.

Ziggy was quiet, but I didn’t get the sense he was upset or offended—more thoughtful than anything—and my heart swelled with pride all over again.

Clearly feeling my feels, he rolled his eyes before clearing his throat. “Where do you think the rocks could have come from, Leeloo? I didn’t think you had an asteroid belt nearby.”

“These wouldn’t have come from an asteroid, Zig,” I explained, eager to share more nerdy geology knowledge. “Meteorites originate in space while lava rock comes from volcanic activity on a planet’s surface. The question is, which planet did they come from? And how?”

“I was about to star hop above the cloud cover when you arrived.” Leeloo looked up. “It appears to be dissipating enough to see?—”

The Eki’s words cut off as they went perfectly still—the same way supes did when sensing a threat. I snapped my gaze skyward, but saw nothing aside from the first evening stars winking into view.

“Where is…” Leeloo began before squaring their shoulders, suddenly all business. “Wait here.”

They disappeared as Ziggy moved closer, unleashing his tendrils to circle around me like a barricade.

Before I could ask what was going on, my mentor reappeared. “It is gone,” they croaked, more shaken than I’d ever seen them. “Kanrienus—our twin planet—has completely disappeared.”