Page 44

Titan

“Focus your energy on our offspring,” Titan said, his hands on top of Ezra’s, which were laid flat upon the shell of one of their eggs.

They were seated on the bed, backs supported by the headboard while their eggs were bundled in a protective cocoon of blankets before them.

Several days had passed since they had been laid and their shells had somewhat hardened, but they would remain fragile throughout the incubation period and, as such, had to be treated with care.

“Do not consider the shell of the egg, or you will unintentionally put up a mental barrier that will prevent you from feeling the full breadth of emotions coming from within.”

“I can’t figure out like, what part of my brain to use,” Ezra replied, furrowing his brow in mild frustration. Under his touch, the egg’s colors began to swirl in a kaleidoscope of sweet pastels.

“The focusing part.”

“Yes, I get that, but what part is the focusing part?”

“I am unaware of the anatomy of the human brain, but if you wish for me to research this for you, I will request an audience with your omnipotent knowledge provider.”

“No, man, I told you, that’s not what?— ”

“Siri!” Titan said loudly. His cellular device on the nearby bedside table pinged as it activated a direct line of communication with the strange but useful being. “Where is the focusing part located in the human brain?”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t get that.”

“I am requesting knowledge about the anatomy of the human brain so that my lover may be able to telepathically connect with our newly delivered offspring. Will you please inform us of what part of his brain he needs to engage in order to properly focus?”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t get that.”

“I said?—”

“Hey Siri, shut up,” Ezra interrupted, and the icon on Titan’s cellular device’s screen indicating Siri was listening disappeared. “I told you,” he said, now speaking to Titan, “she’s not our all-knowing god.”

“I am aware of this. You have multiple gods. You also worship the being known as Alexa.”

“No, that’s not what I—look, stop asking the internet about stuff and just show me yourself. What good would looking up human anatomy do for me, anyway? The part of my brain I gotta figure out how to use sure as hell isn’t human.”

Titan was stunned to silence.

“I suppose this is correct,” he conceded after an awkward beat. “It did not occur to me that the mapping of your brain might be as different as the rest of your anatomy.”

“Yeah, I’ve been kind of trying not to think too hard about it, if I’m being honest. Like… what the fuck am I, you know?”

“We have been over this in the past, and my answer remains the same—you are Ezra, and being Ezra is the best and most miraculous thing that you can be. There is no creature on Earth, Darvrok 6, or any other planet who compares to you.”

Ezra averted his eyes, visibly flushed.

“Flirt,” he muttered.

“I only speak the truth. If you need evidence of your gre atness, you need only look here before us.” Titan nodded at the eggs.

“Look at what you have accomplished. Six offspring bound within three mere shells, a feat so rare and admirable, it shall be memorialized by our best and brightest researchers.”

Ezra did not reply, although his cheeks did redden the way they did when he was having bashfulness, and he did not appear to be displeased—merely uncertain.

He removed his hand from the middle egg, apparently taking a break from their attempts at telepathy for the time being, and examined the clutch with a thoughtful gaze, lingering for an increment on each one.

“What will they look like? When they hatch, I mean. Al and Jude’s kids look Darvrokian, and their DNA is only half alien.

But then, I’m only half alien, too, and I look human.

If my weird alien superpowers weren’t starting to emerge, you wouldn’t even know I was anything less than your run-of-the-mill Earthling, which is strange, isn’t it?

I remember Jude telling me that Darvrokian traits were dominant, which means I should have come out four-armed and covered in scales. ”

“I have pondered this question as well,” Titan admitted.

“The conclusion that I have drawn is that since you were conceived with the standard, unmodified ovum of a human female, your human DNA has taken precedence. Had your mother been male, and her ova a result of protandry following exposure to her Darvrokian mate, you likely would have been born resembling a Darvrokian, as the ovum itself would never have existed had it not been for Darvrokian influence. I therefore conclude that since our clutch has been formed as a result of protandry, the likelihood of Darvrokian traits overriding human ones is considerably greater.”

“Protandry?” Ezra wrinkled his nose. “Hey, Siri…”

“You need not summon your god,” Titan said with a wave of his hand.

“It simply means that your body has belatedly developed the parts necessary to carry offspring, but that it has not always been that way. Before you met me, and my Darvrokian genetic material activated your latent Darvrokian DNA, you only bore what was necessary to impregnate sexual partners. Due to protandry, such is no longer the case.”

Ezra narrowed his eyes. “How do you understand the concept of protandry, but not how to use a toaster?”

“Toasters are manufactured terror machines,” Titan said simply.

“You may ask my brother, and he will tell you the same. There is no reason they must expel their delicious toasted goods so violently, yet they lure their victims in with promises of sweet sustenance and surprise them with violence time and time again. On the other hand, protandry is a good and natural phenomenon that is seen in many beings throughout the known universe, even here on the planet known as Earth, and is a normal Darvrokian trait that allows our species to be fruitful and multiply.”

“So they’ll be little aliens,” Ezra mused, tilting his head at the eggs in contemplation.

Titan attempted to resist correcting him, but as the Earth saying went, old habits perish with great difficulty.

“Well, in this instance, I do not believe the word ‘alien’ is the most accurate terminology. The word presupposes that there is a foreignness about our offspring, but in truth, there is nothing but familiarity. You have gone through many difficult situations and have been made aware of many difficult truths in quite a short period of time, so I do not wish to make you have pressure, but it is perhaps worthwhile for you to consider reframing your thought process. You think of Darvrokians as aliens, but they are not. Not to you or me. Because we are Darvrokians.” He nodded toward the eggs. “All eight of us.”

At this, Ezra—seemingly unconsciously—lifted his hand in order to chew nervously on his thumbnail, but Titan intercepted and instead held on to him, lacing their fingers together. Ezra cast him an apologetic look, at which Titan merely smiled.

“We are both in the midst of internal progress,” he informed his love gently. “There is no need for perfection all at once. All that matters is that we make atte mpts.”

Ezra nodded, then rested his head on Titan’s shoulder. Automatically, Titan wrapped an arm around him and drew him in tighter. With his fingers in contact with the bare skin of Ezra’s upper arm, it was quite easy to feel the waves of anxiety and uncertainty flowing through his mind.

“What has your emotions acting this way, my sweet Ezra?” he murmured into his hair. “Do you have fears? If so, you may share them with me. I always have the desire to help you, and if I cannot, then perhaps I may at least provide you with comfort.”

“I know, and I appreciate it,” Ezra said in a near-whisper. “I guess I’m just thinking about the trouble Al and Jude went through before they got their heads out of their asses and sorted their relationship out.”

“Why, and also how, were their heads inserted into?—”

“Turn of phrase, babe, don’t worry about it.”

“I do not grasp this turn of phrase,” he murmured, but Ezra either did not hear him, or decided not to comment.

Ezra continued on to say, “They weren’t on the same page about what they wanted to happen.

Jude wasn’t even going to keep the kids.

He was going to let Al take them all back to Darvrok 6 to raise them, ’cause he didn’t think they were compatible with Earth for the long term…

and as I think about that, I’m realizing that we haven’t talked about logistics for…

hell, for anything. Where will we raise the kids?

What are the terms of our relationship? We don’t have the convenience of a ‘True Mate’ bond to lock us into being together forever—we have to figure everything out ourselves, and what if we want different things?

What if, even though we love each other, love simply isn’t enough? ”

Beneath his fingertips, Ezra’s panic was rising, and while it should have been concerning to know these fears and doubts affected him so deeply, Titan was perfectly calm.

It was not that he found Ezra’s worries dismissible—he, himself, had struggled with those same terrors—but rathe r, it was that he knew with absolute certainty what Ezra did not.

He had learned much since having met the ambassador, and now strove to conduct himself as a fallible being who was capable rather than a “know-it-all,” but in this instance, he permitted himself his presumptuousness, as he knew his thoughts on this particular matter were, in fact, undeniably correct.

“I believe it is prudent for me to tell you that your feelings are valid,” Titan said calmly, “because otherwise you may find my assertions dismissive, but you should know that I do not share your concerns.”

Ezra leaned back far enough to raise an eyebrow.

“No?” he prompted. Titan shook his head.