Page 30 of Space Daddy’s Guide to the Galaxy (Villains in Space #2)

30

MICAH

Back in the city, we stopped at the first market we saw to grab ingredients for dinner. I found it fascinating how all the fresh produce had been grown locally—and underground —but Ziggy was too on edge to share my nerdy enthusiasm for subterranean gardening.

He’ll get it once I set up some hydroponics in the Lodger…

I was incredibly grateful my man had shared what was bothering him earlier, although I wished I could just erase his anxiety so we could move on. Unfortunately, that wasn’t how this worked. What we needed to do was work through it together—continue to communicate, even if talking about feelings was Ziggy’s least favorite thing.

Too bad it’s my favorite thing!

Thanks to our discovery in the lava tubes, I now wasn’t sure if the Eki could understand American English—our usual go-to secret language while in the company of other aliens. So somehow, against all odds, I managed to hold in all my thoughts on the situation until we returned to our rooms.

Seriously, gimme those gold stars.

“Some of this stuff must have come from other planets, huh?” I awkwardly segued as we spread out our purchases on the kitchen island. “Like… I recognize this can of Who Hash from the bazaar on Stellaria.”

Ziggy breezed past my Dr. Seuss reference—probably because he didn’t get it—and glanced at the can in my hand. “Yes, hatini comes from Kaalanesea. You enjoyed a homemade version of it the night we spent there, remember?”

That was not what I remembered from our night on Kaalanesea, but I wanted to keep our conversation on track.

We can’t just be fucking all the time, sheesh.

“I wonder if traveling to other planets is the reason why no one here has been paying us too much attention,” I mused, fiddling with the cooktop to boil some water.

Ziggy scowled down at the vegetables he was slicing—with his tendrils, of course. “Or they were pretending to ignore us.”

Sigh.

While I understood why he felt paranoid, I needed him to center himself by refocusing on the facts.

“I dunno, Zig.” I moved closer, wrapping my arms around his waist from behind. “We did get some side-eye today, but the vibes were more vague curiosity than horrified confusion. My hypothesis is that while the Eki might know about Earthlings—might know about our shared history, whatever that is—they just might have never seen one up close before. I mean, we're probably the first ones to ever set foot on their planet.”

My man hummed thoughtfully as one iota of tension left his hot bod. “Perhaps they learned about Earth from The Knowledge… while trading with the Kaalas for Who Hash and Roast Beast.”

And this is why we’re getting space married.

I gave him a squeeze, partly to reward him for humoring the Seussian but also to stop him from escaping.

Since he’s not gonna like what I say next.

“I want to ask Leeloo about the cave paintings, Zig.”

As expected, he tried to shake me off, but I was one of eight siblings with an insane center of gravity. Nobody could match my pro wrestling-level Nelson hold—especially a Stellarian who couldn’t star hop. I knew it wasn’t fair to take advantage of his temporary disadvantage, but we needed to discuss this.

And I play to win.

Ziggy glared at me over his shoulder, big mad he’d been owned. “I don’t think that’s wise, Micah. In situations where you don’t know what your opponent knows, it’s always best to feign ignorance.”

I glared back. “Like how you decided to not tell the Eki that Uulvin sent us.”

Decided without me, I should say.

“That was because I’m not sure who to trust!” he snapped before sighing and dropped his head forward. “I trust you, sunshine. Only you.”

I released him and leaned back against the countertop, crossing my arms as he turned to face me. “Last I checked, you also trust Honnor and Bron, and our family back on Earth. And that’s good you trust me, but we still need to operate as a team. Each of us can step up and lead when we need to, but we’re still partners. Got it?”

He nodded in agreement, and again, I felt a shiver of satisfaction at how this terrifying creature was deferring to me.

Who knew I had Dommy Mommy vibes?

“I know it’s hard to believe, but I can keep my mouth shut if I need to.” I chuckled, grabbing the chopped veggies from the island to add to the pot. “I’ll test the waters a bit during my next training session—see what Leeloo knows before I decide to ask about the cave paintings… Feign ignorance, like the experts say.”

That got a smile out of him, and we continued cooking in comfortable silence. Ziggy insisted on being the one to feed Pedro, so I quickly ate my hatini and stew before patching the wall in the next room. Then, I checked the repairs I’d made to poor SWOL-E’s wiring before we put the Trol down to sleep in the baby sling.

Zig and I spent the evening cuddling in bed—kissing and chatting while he resonated and I played my Trumpet of the Swan harp until my eyelids grew too heavy to keep serenading my man anymore.

Who knows if I’m even in tune.

The next thing I knew, I was waking up to discover our furbaby sprawled across Ziggy’s bare chest, snoozing away. When I peeked over the cozy pair, I spied a brand new, Pedro-sized hole, this time in the wall separating our rooms.

Why the hell didn’t SWOL-E’s alarm go off?

Maybe I should create shields around the nanny bot…

A knock on the door had me nearly falling off the bed, convinced an army of Eki had come for us.

“It’s Leeloo.” Ziggy calmly announced, carefully readjusting Pedro in his arms as he gracefully stood, all while keeping his gaze locked on the door.

Then, he unleashed his tendrils.

“What are you doing?” I hiss-whispered, stumbling into my pants and snatching a clean-ish tee from my bag before yanking it over my head. “Put those things away!”

He made an unbothered sound but faded his tendrils into the ether. Unfortunately, I could still see the shimmery aura surrounding them, which meant Leeloo might be able to as well.

“Be there in a minute!” I called out in the trade language. “Just let me?—”

Just let me try to get this situation under control.

I gestured wildly at Zig’s starry katanas as I inched closer to the door, but apparently, my man had once again gone rogue.

Stellarians are such shit stirrers!

“Come in!” he called out, smirking like the devil, and my stomach dropped to my nuts when the door swung wide.

Eek!

The Eki glided into the room, shimmery robes shimmering, but froze when their hooded gaze fell on Ziggy.

“Hey, Leeloo!” Ziggy cheerfully waved, flashing the same charming smile he used to give to the cameras during Deathball tournaments. “Is it time for more training?”

It suddenly became clear what he was doing, other than giving me a heart attack. Zig was feigning ignorance—making it look like we didn’t know they knew he was a Stellarian while also calling the Eki’s bluff.

Since, judging by the tension in this room, they can see his tendrils just fine.

“Yes,” Leeloo finally replied, continuing to watch him intently, and rightfully so, since he was out of his goddamn mind. “However, it would be best if My-kuh trained alone with me today.”

EEK!

It was Ziggy’s turn to freeze. “Where he goes, I go—” he growled, all faux friendliness gone.

“No,” the Eki sternly shut him down. “My-kuh will come with me while you stay here to ensure the child doesn’t escape again.”

Okay, so Leeloo is actually the Dommy Mommy, got it.

Ziggy looked like he was about to Hulk out, but Leeloo’s words were having the opposite effect on me. If the Eki hadn’t taken advantage of our separation from Pedro yesterday to capture the creature, they weren’t interested in the Trol, or the karnilian.

“It’s all right, Zig,” I cut in, using my best Commander Babygirl tone but sticking to the trade language for transparency’s sake. “I need to discuss a few things with Leeloo anyway.”

Despite Ziggy’s paranoia, the Eki weren’t giving me shady vibes. I knew there was a risk with me going alone, but I wanted to play my cards differently than my stellar collision would.

Which means I need to handle this on my own.

A blast of concern shot through our bond as Zig met my gaze from across the room.

You trust me, remember?

My Space Daddy was a pro at appearing unreadable, but I saw the moment he relaxed—the moment he deferred to me for real.

Thank you.

Leeloo must have also sensed the shift, inclining their head respectfully. “I promise I will return your mate safe and sound, Zig-ee.”

The best my overprotective Stellarian could offer was a tight smile in return, but then Pedro stirred in his arms, and his gaze dropped to the Trol.

“Oh!” I took a step toward them. “Pedro probably needs to eat?—”

“Come, My-kuh. Zig-ee will take care of it,” Leeloo interrupted. “Your mate is an excellent provider.”

I could feel Space Daddy panic through our bond, even though that fool had already admitted he wanted space babies of our own. Still, I held my tongue and obediently followed my teacher outside.

“Forgive me for bringing up the subject again,” Leeloo whispered once we started walking down the street. “I could not resist seeing Zig-ee’s reaction.”

Okay, so the Eki are shit stirrers too.

“He’ll survive,” I huffed a laugh. “I feel better with him watching Pedro anyway, since they did escape yesterday…”

I was totally leading the witness here, but I wanted to know what Leeloo knew before deciding how to proceed.

The Eki hummed. “Yes, I was informed about the hole in the exterior wall of your lodging—although, it seems someone used their powers to repair it.”

Ugh.

While I was relieved Leeloo’s intel of yesterday’s adventure was limited to the structural damage we’d caused, I was still slightly embarrassed at being a bad houseguest.

“Yeah…” I rubbed the back of my neck. “I did my best, and I’ll fix the, uh, new hole when I get back…”

Leeloo belly laughed, and it was such a human sound, I couldn’t help joining in.

“The little one certainly keeps you busy,” they murmured, gesturing for me to follow them through a bustling courtyard to a vacant table built from the same rock as everything else.

Wanting to talk in a common area was promising—unless they were planning a public execution. Banishing the morbid thought from my mind, I took one of the seats while Leeloo sat at the other. Another Eki appeared almost immediately with two steaming mugs of something in hand , and I realized we were seated at their version of an outdoor cafe. Several of the surrounding tables were occupied, mostly by couples or entire families, with everyone wearing the same glittering robes. I smiled when I spotted a pack of smaller Eki chasing each other around the courtyard while the adults talked, fascinated to see kid-versions of these mysterious aliens.

I wonder if they look like humans under there.

If they look like… me.

Even with my lack of a filter, I was aware this would be a rude question. For all I knew, the Eki wore robes for religious reasons, or because other species weren’t supposed to look at them.

“Do you have many visitors to Nuclei City?” I awkwardly asked, unsure how else to break the ice.

“No,” Leeloo bluntly replied, staring at me from the depths of their robe. “We do not allow outsiders in.”

Eek.

“Oh…” I trailed off, glancing around to find many of the Eki had stopped their conversations to watch ours instead. “Soooo… you don’t consider Earthlings to be outsiders?”

Leeloo took a sip of their drink, but I left mine untouched, no longer feeling as confident about handling this alone as I had a few minutes ago.

Ziggy will know if I'm in trouble, right?

“The Eki and Earthlings do have a history together, yes…” Leeloo mused. “But you already know that, don’t you? From the cave paintings you discovered yesterday.”

My instincts were screaming at me to raise my shields, but there wasn’t really a point when this space wizard could dissolve them. Plus, I stubbornly wanted to continue this conversation in good faith, even if I was possibly about to be killed for my naivety.

I cleared my throat, noticing some Eki had stepped closer, watching our exchange like a pack of predators circling their prey. “Y-yeah, we saw some cave paintings,” I mumbled, tamping down the urge to unleash my mechanical tendrils in case I was attacked. “Pedro wandered down a lava tube, so we had to find?—”

“And how exactly did you find them, My-kuh?” Leeloo asked. “Or, should I say, how did Zig-ee locate the Trol?”

Ah, fuck.

Now the space cat was out of the bag, and I assumed lying would only make things worse.

“Ziggy has a really good sense of smell,” I replied, which wasn’t a lie but also wasn’t the whole truth.

Because now I don’t know who to trust.

Leeloo stared at me in silence for a full minute before making an amused sound. “Is that how you think your powerless mate tracked down one of the most coveted creatures in the galaxy?”

Wait.

“What do you mean?” I muttered, frowning as my previous suspicions reared their ugly heads.

Ziggy doesn’t care about the stone…

Does he?

“You are correct,” the Eki continued, as if I hadn’t spoken. “Stellarians do have an acute sense of smell.”

All the fucks.

This deception did not look good on our part, and with the Stellarians’ reputation—which wasn’t unfounded—I wouldn’t be surprised if Leeloo assumed we were the ones with nefarious intent.

Or… just Ziggy…

I opened my mouth to speak, to desperately try to smooth things over, but then I felt the walls close in around me.

More specifically, a shield.

Leeloo tutted as the other Eki formed a tight circle around our table. “I hope you do not mind the precaution, My-kuh. We cannot have your mate tracking you down—not until we’ve finished our talk.”