Page 9

Titan

“For the sake of all the, uh, out-of-town folks in attendance,” Human Corbin went on to say, “we usually have the groom stand at the altar and have the bride walk down the aisle toward him, but since there are no brides here and also literally nothing about this wedding is normal, our grooms have opted to walk down the aisle together. Please rise for the grand entrance of Al Leon and Jude Adler.”

The audience shuffled to their feet as music began to play. Titan did not recognize the melody, but he had heard his parents mention that it was performed by beetles, which made the arrangement much more impressive.

The doors at the back of the venue opened in time to the music, sweeping smoothly over the sand to reveal Al and Human Jude standing hand in hand.

They were looking into each other’s eyes as the doors opened, then turned their heads as one to look down the aisle and took their first step into the venue together.

Titan stood a little straighter, eyes sweeping the area for any disruptions in the sand that might indicate a Burrow Worm had awoken , but all was calm and still.

It seemed the sanctity of this union would not be challenged on this day, which was fortunate, as he doubted Ezra knew how to effectively incapacitate an annelid.

Three steps into the progression, Al and Human Jude were joined by seven others—their offspring—who rushed forward to surround them as though their small bodies would provide protection against acts of Burrow Worm violence.

Four of the offspring held traditional Darvrokian bonding ceremony crystals, which were comically large in their small hands.

The other three held baskets filled with…

Titan’s face blanched with horror.

The baskets were full of petals plucked from the reproductive organs of plants, which the offspring grabbed in heaping handfuls and threw into the air to rain down upon the sand for their parents to crush beneath their feet.

They did so again, and again, until they reached the dais, at which point they looked into their baskets, then at each other, shrugged, and dumped what was left right there in the sand.

It was such a vulgar and violent act that even Titan, who was not easily rattled, felt his stomach churn, yet Human Jude’s parents laughed.

It was no wonder why first contact had yet to be established when Al’s ship had malfunctioned and caused him to crash into the planet.

Beings who derived pleasure from scattering mutilated genitalia were better off left alone.

While the Darvrokians in the audience recovered from the perverse atrocity they had just witnessed, Al and Human Jude took their place on the dais and the children were brought to their seats.

Al seemed nervous, perhaps similarly rattled by human tradition, but when he laid his eyes on his True Mate, his discomfort melted away.

He smiled and took Human Jude’s hand, Human Jude smiled back, and Titan felt the uncomfortable prickling in his stomach all over again.

He did not need touch telepathy to know what they were feelin g—their love for each other radiated off them so brightly, it penetrated Titan through to his core.

With the grooms now on the dais, Human Corbin resumed his speech.

It had surely been crafted with much thought and care, but Titan found it rather redundant.

Did not everyone in attendance know that they had gathered here today to celebrate the love between his brother and his True Mate?

It was unnecessary to state it and frankly, rather rude, as it implied the beings assembled lacked the intelligence to know why they had come to such a place.

Fortunately, Titan was an intelligent being, and as an intelligent being, he chose to shift his attention off the words being spoken and onto something more interesting: his brother.

Al had undergone great change since they’d last seen each other, and not simply because he now wore a human disguise.

He stood taller—straighter—and exuded an air of confidence.

Perhaps fatherhood had done him good.

Or perhaps…

Titan shifted his gaze to Human Jude.

Perhaps Al’s change in demeanor had less to do with fatherhood and more to do with love.

It was remarkable, really, that against all odds, Al had found his True Mate.

The chances of it were infinitesimal, and Al had never shown any sort of extraordinary personality or talent.

No one back on Darvrok 6 would have believed—had it not happened—that he would end up breaking free of their solar system and crash-landing in the arms of the one who would own his heart forever.

It was a wonderful thing, to be sure, and Titan wanted to feel happy for his brother, yet he couldn’t help but admit that there was a certain…

unfairness to it that he couldn’t quite explain.

For what felt like the millionth time that day, Titan felt a prickle of unfamiliar emotion, and after giving it a quick examination, he dismissed it just as fast. There was simply no way that Titan, with all his accomplishments, would ever feel something as banal as envy.

“The grooms have prepared their own vows,” Human Corbin announced, tuning Titan back into the ceremony. “Jude? Would you like to begin?”

Human Jude reached into his pocket and produced a slightly crumpled square of paper that he unfolded and held in both hands. Still, it trembled slightly. Another good sign. Perhaps Human Jude was not as unaffected by the barbaric ways of his species as Titan had once believed.

“AA.??’p’Zx,” Jude said, or at least tried to say.

The pronunciation of Al’s true name was garbled, but it was clear that he had been practicing.

Titan could appreciate the effort, if not the execution, although Al appeared much more impressed—his face lit up like a supernova at hearing Jude speak his mother tongue.

“Sorry.” Jude chuckled. “I know I screwed that up, but until our bond is completed it’s the best I can do.”

“I feel much joy from hearing you speak my name, even though you speak it badly,” Al said earnestly.

Jude snorted. “You’re not supposed to interrupt me while I’m doing my vows, babe.”

“Oh! My sorries. Continue, thank you very much please.”

“Right.” Jude shook his head fondly, grinning, and scanned his paper, only to fold it up and stuff it back into his pocket.

With it gone, he took both of Al’s hands and said, “I spent a million years trying to write the perfect vows for you, but I’m not a public speaker, and I’m not good at mushy stuff, so I’ve been worrying about it for months…

but I’m not worried anymore, because I’ve realized perfection looks different for us.

For us, it’s never been about being flawless.

It’s been about embracing chaos. Our love story literally started with you nearly smashing me into a pancake?—”

“We have discussed this. The trajectory of my ship never would have made contact with?— ”

“Shh, no interruptions, remember?”

Al shut his mouth, although he seemed as though he had more he wished to say.

“My point is that our lives have been crazy from day one, and have only gotten crazier since bringing seven wild kiddos into the world, and that’s exactly how I like it.

I love it, in fact. I love our not-so-little family.

I love chasing our children around all day.

I love eating meals together that are culinary nightmares.

I love trying and failing to get seven kids to go to bed on time, and I love listening to you tell them bedtime stories even though I don’t understand the language just yet.

I love collapsing into our own bed every night, exhausted but so happy from our hearts being so full…

and that’s what perfection looks like to me.

Messy, tiring, insane, and full of love.

So screw the vows that I wrote and rewrote until my fingers ached.

This is more true to us. I don’t need to be flawless for you—I just need you to know that I vow to be loyal to you, to love you forever, and that I’ll try not to argue with you when you say that humans calculate time wrong. ”

“They do,” Al whispered, eyes a bright pink and shimmering with unshed tears. Jude brought Al’s hand up to his mouth and kissed his knuckles.

“I know.”

Al brushed away the tears threatening to fall.

Titan had never cried before, and doubted he would have occasion to in his human disguise, and again that twinge of not-envy broiled up in his gut.

It was not that he wanted to cry, necessarily, but it was…

frustrating to know that his brother was having experiences that he might never get to have himself.

“Aw, that was cute and super weird,” Corbin cooed, putting a hand to his heart and puffing out his lower lip at the couple still holding hands in front of his podium.

“Cute and super weird is pretty much the theme of this whole day, though, so I guess I shouldn’t be surprised.

Al! Are you ready to say your vows to Jude? ”

“Yes,” Al said with certainty, although Titan could tell by the way that he was holding himself that he was tense with nerves. “I do not have mine written down on paper as I can recall them from my mind. Do not feel unhappiness about this, Jude—humans’ memories are very bad.”

There was a murmur of agreement from the crowd.

Al cleared his throat and, when the crowd was silent, went on to say, “Jude, the happiness I feel on this day is second only to the day our offspring were born. I knew when you shook my hand on the day of our first meeting that we were True Mates, but I have yet to feel understanding as to why I should be so lucky to have found that which so few others find in their lifetimes. Perhaps there is no sense in pondering this, but on occasion I cannot help it. When I see you playing strange Earth games like hide-and-seek with our offspring and laughing alongside them, for example, I feel such love that I have to feel curiosity about why I am deserving of this. I spent much of my life believing that I had no greater purpose—that there was nothing in all of the universe out there for me—but there was. The entire time, there was you.”

He squeezed Jude’s hands, and the smile on his face grew.

“You make me feel many things, Jude, and the majority of them are positive, except for when we argue about matters like time and the English language, but the most important thing you make me feel is known.

I feel known by you, and this is significant, as everyone, me included, considered myself to be unknowable.

You have single-handedly proven us all incorrect.

“I feel much adoration for you, my love. Thank you for the life you have provided me with. I feel gratefulness that today we will solidify our bond permanently, but even without it I want you to know that you are my True Mate, and this will not change, no matter the circumstances.

“That is all. Thank you very much please.”

Jude was crying now as well, and Titan was uncomfortable. Hearing his brother speak so blatantly about his feelings created a new feeling inside of him that was unpleasant.

Guilt? Was this new feeling guilt?

To what end and for what purpose would he be feeling guilt?!

Too disconcerted to continue viewing the wedding ceremony, Titan turned his attention to Ezra, but Ezra would not look at him.

The feeling grew worse.

For as beautiful as the wedding-slash-bonding-ceremony was, Titan hoped it would be over soon.