Page 53 of Sway’s Peace (Delivery Service #2)

Grace

Dinner wasn’t exactly a comfortable affair. Grace felt bad for thinking it, but when they finally left, she was glad it was over.

Veesway and Vweet frequently lapsed back into their mother tongue. Not like they were deliberately trying to exclude her from the conversation. That was never the vibe she got. Worse. It was like they just kept forgetting she was there.

At one point. Vweet said she should just learn how to understand their tongue. She could never speak it, of course, not if the song she displayed was the limit of her abilities – his words. But she should be able to understand the people around them if she was going to stay.

Though Vweet’s voice had been kind, even welcoming, like he really thought he was giving her good, helpful advice, it still stuck in her craw. Not only had it been patronizing, but it was demanding of her something that might not even be possible.

Their native tongue was definitely impossible for her to learn to speak, but it could also very likely be impossible for her to understand.

It was majorly tonal, it was incredibly complex, and she knew just from listening that it would be hard to catch all of their individual notes and whistles and words, even if she had a language imprint.

But they were demanding she learn it anyway, because even though speaking Standard would be far easier for them, she was the outsider.

That wasn’t all either. There were dozens of little moments in their conversation, even outside of deliberately excluding her, that just served to remind her that she wasn’t one of them.

And the worst part was how polite Veesway and Vweet were about it the whole time.

Just how nice everything appeared on the surface.

They explained their culture to her. They encouraged her to try their food. They told her about all the things they were going to introduce her to and all the things she would be learning as an outworlder mating into their people.

They welcomed her, but still somehow managed to make all of it hard reminders that she wasn’t one of them. That she would never be one of them.

At one point, Vweet even asked if she had ever committed violence against anyone.

And when she said no, they pushed. Insisted she think hard.

Reminded her that even something small like striking someone in anger one time was an abhorrent act of violence and should be disclosed now.

They could forgive her if it was something small.

She was raised in a barbaric universe, after all, so she knew no better.

Though, of course, she’d be expected to practice pacifism from here on out.

It was exhausting. The weight of expectation, the constant, low level judgment, forcing herself to grin and bear it for Sway’s sake, made the entire meal unpleasant.

Thankfully, the fact that they ignored her the rest of the time also made it easier on her.

They mostly focused on telling Sway about their Song, their mission, stories about the people they’d helped, and how much the Song had grown since its early days.

Veesway was particularly proud of how he’d negotiated with the owner of this dwarf planet for the right to use this place as a base of operations and then built the city practically from nothing.

Sway was the one who finally called halt to the meal, stating that he was tired and needed a break. A claim that was met with understanding and praise that Sway had done very well that night. They stopped just short of declaring how proud they were of him.

And that was patronizing in its way too.

Though he didn’t say anything, Grace could see the tension settling over Sway the more they talked.

They were treating him gently, like he was someone traumatized by their experiences.

And maybe that was the correct thing to do for the people that they saved.

But Sway wasn’t one of those people, and he clearly didn’t appreciate it. Something that seemed to fly right over their heads.

Sway was a victim, but he was also a criminal. He had done as much bad onto others as had been done onto him. He had been forced into a horrible life, then made himself equal to it. Therefore, treating him like he was delicate and healing was a mistake. But neither male seemed to realize that.

They left the headquarters with Vweet. He insisted on escorting them back to their inn. And while they walked, he told them stories about how long Veesway had been searching for him, how he’d given him up for dead, how he had no hope that Sway would be whole and intact.

Of course, he called him Eefwan the entire time. Sway was so obviously not listening. Grace was trying to listen, but she was mostly focused on Sway, trying to make sure that he was still okay.

It was a relief when Vweet only brought them to the front of the inn. He wished them a well rest, but before they could go inside, he said-

“Oh, one last thing.” He smiled as they turned back to him. “I received a message that the 108 has left the city.”

“Loyalty is gone?” Grace frowned, confusion and alarm immediately rearing their heads.

“Well, he’s not gone ,” Vweet chuckled. “He left the Song to go into the forest. He needs to hunt. He is carnivorous, after all.”

“Omnivorous,” Grace corrected softly, frowning. It made sense that he would do that, since there wasn’t any meat to be found in any store or restaurant here. “But why wouldn’t he tell us if he was going to go?”

“I hardly expect their kind knows anything about common courtesy,” Vweet chuckled. “Anyway. Don’t worry about him. He’ll be fine. There aren’t any large predators on this planet. It’s a very peaceful place.”

“Oh. Okay,” she muttered, still confused. Loyalty hadn’t even sent them a message on comm or anything. He just left?

But with that, Vweet took off and Sway pulled on her hand, taking her into the inn. He wasn’t thinking about Loyalty at all. She wondered if he even heard what Vweet said.

He led her right to her door and, when she opened it, followed her in. Her heart immediately jumped, but she told herself to calm down. This wasn’t the time. She had to focus on him, not how much she wanted to throw herself at him.

Fixing her face, she turned, folding her hands together as she searched his face. “Are you okay?”

Sway looked at her carefully. His expression unreadable. “Yes. Why would I not be?”

“You looked aggravated.”

He blinked then laughed. Relief swept over him, cracking his untouchable facade. “I thought you were going to treat me like I was delicate too.”

“Yes, because you clearly enjoyed that from them,” she laughed along with him.

“I’m fine,” he assured her, taking her by the wrists and pulling her into his embrace. “I was aggravated though. I did not enjoy any of that conversation.”

“Didn’t seem you did.”

“But I do feel like I accomplished what I needed to.”

“With your father?”

He nodded once, staring into her eyes like his thoughts were elsewhere. “I’ve met him. I learned the fate of my mother. I have no more questions left in my past. And I learned how I need to go about trying to mate you.”

This was a night that should have been focused on the dramatic, emotional reunion of a father, long suffering under the weight of his loss, and the son that had been forced to survive without him. Yet mating Grace was the only part Sway seemed interested in.

It was too tempting to get swept up in the heat in his gaze. In the way he was focused on her. The obvious direction his thoughts had taken. Because tonight might have been an emotional one for his father, but Sway had just been trying to get through it.

Still, she forced herself to stay on topic. To make sure he was okay. To check in with him after what had to have been a harrowing dinner.

“You’re not going to stay with him?”

He shook his head immediately. No hesitation. “No. This is not the kind of life I want to live. These are not my people.” He made a face. “I mean, in a literal, species sense, they are. But I could never live among them. I could never follow their lifestyle.”

Grace cocked her head curiously. “Why not?”

Sway didn’t answer immediately. His face pinched, like he was wrestling with his thoughts. He turned his gaze from her, and though he didn’t let her go, there was a new distance between them. A deliberate one that made her still as her heart thumped nervously.

“Grace, I have not told you all of my past.”

“I know. And I wasn’t going to ask. It’s painful for you. I don’t want to force you to revisit it.”

“That’s just the thing.” Sway’s jaw tightened. “Everyone says my past is painful. That the things I did and were done to me are going to haunt me. But… they don’t.”

Grace searched his face carefully. There was conflict there, but not horror. Not the shadowed trauma of a past too weighty for the heart to bear.

“Why not?” She asked at last, careful to take any hint of judgement from her tone.

Once again, Sway didn’t answer right away. And when he did, his words were slow and measured, like he was considering each one carefully before speaking it.