Page 18 of The First Omega Made (Scales and Tails of Fate #2)

Doc

Emerging from my sex nest with Sarge was a somewhat miserable experience.

Merriel played some bridal music from Matter Terra—though I don’t think it was what we’d considered traditional at the time.

I didn’t think the wedding waltz was originally smooth razzamajazz, which was a short-lived, spoken-word jazz rap.

I’d done my best not to make eye contact with anyone until we got to the mess hall, doing our best to stay to ourselves.

A month ago, we’d been absolute exhibitionists. After? I didn’t want anyone looking at me.

A set of vivid green arms wrapped around me from behind, squeezing me tight as a familiar scent assaulted me—Gorm. “Shower, please.”

“I wiped down after the last orgy. Sheesh.” Gorm patted my shoulders and gave Sarge the same hug. “My two favorite people? How was it? Good?”

“Absolutely amazing,” Sarge said, his chest puffing up a little as he did so. Our tails found one another for a quick wrap and squeeze, and I sighed. It was nice.

“Merriel wouldn’t show us cam feed,” he snorted.

“I told you that I would if they said it was okay, but I wasn’t interrupting hot lizard sex just to ask. Performance anxiety, man.” Merriel huffed from over the speakers.

“Well, hurry up and tell him it’s okay. Sheesh.” Gorm waved a hand, and I grinned, wandering to a wall panel where one of Merriel’s audio inputs lay.

With a soft whisper, I gave consent. “But only show them the worst possible angles. I’m talking just like top of heads, random ankle shots. Make it suck.”

“Will do, my dude.” Merriel loved being a dick as much as I did.

“Awesome! Send that over to my inbox, Mer.” Gorm hooted with joy and wandered off as we sat, Sarge giving me a wary look.

“Don’t worry.” I gave Sarge a wink that settled him.

“Okay, because I have zero idea what my nut face looks like in this body yet and if it’s bad, I don’t want that to be how I find out.” Sarge laughed.

“Nah, man, it’s a scary nut face, like you’re all grr about to bust up into something, you know?” Merriel’s commentary gave me pause.

“Ease off stuff like that in the common areas. What if Nexus is in here and we have to deal with him learning what a nut face is?” I glared up at a nearby visual feed unit and earned a sheepish oh in response.

“Fortunately, our hatchling is down for a nap.” Noel strolled in, a picture of grace and buried trauma. But, then again, we all had our versions of it. “So, the experience. Was it better or worse than human copulation?”

“Better,” Sarge and I said in unison.

“Wonderful. Vil wants to talk to you two, so after you eat, can you make your way to the cockpit?” He patted me on the back before sliding by, not needing an answer to what was essentially a command.

Barring anything else, I groaned because all I wanted to do was go to my quarters, move Sarge in, and cuddle. Cuddling was nice. Always had been.

Wallace had stir-fried some of the precious meat that Noel had procured for us and a promise of more to come had us devouring all of our fair share. After all—Noel was a god to TOAD . The Alignment could suck it, but as long as we got fresh meat, I was happy.

I wondered how they’d react to me, a new lifebringer, and to Sh—Sarge.

There were things best kept secret.

Once we’d eaten, we made our way to the cockpit, finding Vil in a rather pleasant mood—which wasn’t unusual since Noel had come into his life. Vil smiled more, and all regrets I’d had about him mating Noel went away because I had my own progenitor to rail.

“You two finally came out of hiding,” Vil said, spinning in his chair. “Piss off, Kardok.”

The low-percentage hybreed with patches of black scales down his neck scampered off, under no circumstances wanting anything to do with the drama.

Good guy. Talks too much.

“So, take a seat. Both of you.” Vil gestured toward empty terminal seats, and they were too far apart for my taste, but Vil didn’t seem to mind when Sarge sat, and I settled into his lap.

“Merriel. I’d tell you not to listen in, but I know you’re going to. Prerogative 9. This is private.” Vil glanced up at one of his visual sensors and glared, only receiving a beep of confirmation. “Alright. Now. Sar— Is that your name?”

Sarge wrapped his arms around my waist and held me there. “I’ve avoided you long enough, I suppose. But yes, Sarge is as good of anything. My kind don’t have names, per se.”

Vil nodded. “So, you know what I’m going to ask.”

I winced on Sarge’s behalf.

“When I became Sarge?”

Vil nodded.

“It was pretty early on when he—I joined the ship. I—” Sarge closed his eyes, brow furrowing as if he were in pain. “Sorry, memories of other bodies get fuzzy.”

“Tell me what you can.” Vil leaned back and tented his fingers. No hint of his posture belied any aggression or anger. It was like he was prepared to learn he’d lost a dear friend and never noticed.

“There was a pit stop in K-D94 you made. I wasn’t sure what led up to it, but he’d not been in your company long.

” Sarge stared at the floor and I stroked his head as I experienced one of the first real emotions through our bond—the song they spoke of.

It was so sad . My heart ached when something in me heard it.

“Yeah, his first pit stop. Yours… Anyway, continue.” Vil relaxed a little.

“He hit up a brothel, and it wasn’t one of the legal ones.

I was in a Revulon’s body at the time.” Sarge didn’t need to say much.

Revulons did a lot of manual labor and security until they were wiped out—mostly.

A few dozen lived, but they weren’t a viable population.

They were a hive species and with no queen left—they’d eventually die out.

Some were clones, but the process wasn’t sustainable. “He, um. A—”

I stroked his head, soothing him as the misery grew.

“He procured a session with a human that, even with my limited knowledge at the time, I recognized wasn’t right.

When we ran his image, he was wanted on bounty, and he managed to incapacitate me and I procured his body—against the Colthraxian Leminiscate Resolution.

I reasoned that I was going to dispose of the body, to let myself die, but I kept sending money to Lasanna and—”

“Wait, Lasanna? Leminiscate Resolution?” Vil held a hand up. “That girl isn’t your daughter?”

“No. I’ve been sending my savings to her.

I got her out of there and put her up in a group home.

Been supporting her, put her through college.

Still sending money, but she just puts it up—is a doctor now.

But the Leminiscate Resolution was an agreement between the remaining Colthraxians that we wouldn’t reproduce.

I’d never had the urge to do so, but I was young when it happened.

I understood morally that it was wrong, so I had my true body desexed as a preventative measure.

In case the urge got too much. Or what happened with Shafa…

” Sarge cleared his throat and waved his hand dismissively.

“Okay. So I only knew Serjio Vaskez for a few months. After that?” Vil raised a brow.

“I needed money for her. I kept working, and I didn’t go to any of the bases after because I realized that Serjio was wanted. He was nasty, Vil. I promise. I don’t think I need to fill in the blanks.” Sarge clutched tighter to me and nuzzled his face into my side. “I’m so sorry.”

“So, you burrowed into the corpse of a pervert—”

“We’re all perverts,” I said, glaring at Vil.

“Yeah, but like a real pervert. Like shoot first, ask questions later, pervert.” Vil blanched.

“In this case, we listen, and we do judge.” Noel nodded. “Not a space pervert.”

I instinctively waited for Merriel to add to the counter, but he appeared to be obeying Vil for once.

“Yes.” Sarge nodded once. “I stole your crewmate and pretended to be him for forty solar rotations.”

“Huh… Okay. Funny story, I always had this theory you weren’t human.” Vil snorted and leaned back in his chair. “Okay.”

“Okay?” I stared at Sarge, eyes wide. I’d never get used to those red eyes. They’d always be striking.

“Okay. That’s it. You’re still Sarge. I never really got to know Serjio well. We’re friends and you’ve done a good thing. Noel thought you were worth saving, so—okay.” Vil held his hands up as if absolving himself of the matter.

“That’s it?” Sarge’s chest shuddered, his face reflecting the utter relief I felt in my chest.

“That’s it.” Vil nodded. “Noel?”

“He’s mated now. He’s no threat to my autonomy, and if he misbehaves—Doc can intervene. That’s it.” Noel nodded too.

As the cool notes of relief melted through our bond, I tilted Sarge’s face up to mine.

Tears pooled in his eyes. He’d not been able to cry in ages and the sight of it reminded me just how much he’d missed being whole.

But then again, I didn’t know if his former bodies could cry.

His dick worked, though, and that was a bonus.

“So, what now?” Sarge traced a hand up and down my leg absentmindedly as he waited for the other shoe to drop.

“New indestructible uncle. You get to spend more time babysitting.” Noel nodded once and crossed his arms, staring us down. He and Vil exchanged meaningful glances as the static in the air changed, like their conversation mingled with the bond I shared with Sarge and hadn’t learned yet.

Vil raised an eyebrow. “And one last thing… Promise me no drama with Gorm, please? I know you two had a thing going, and it’s over now…”

“Surrogate peen. S’all it was.” I waved Vil off. “He knows it’s over.”

“Alright.” Vil stared us down before turning his chair more toward a view screen in intentional distraction. “Back to your duties. We’re packing up soon. The ship is near full of precious metals and decontaminating it all is a bitch. We’ll come back here when we’re desperate.”

“Oh, right, the faniculum mold.” Sarge wanted to say something, but Vil waved him off.

“Did some research and everyone down there has been blasting all the main bodies with a plasma. Nasty stuff. We’re doing full decontams by leaving the stuff on the surface for a while before running short cycle. The radiation destroys it.” Vil gave us a thumbs-up, and I sighed in relief.

“I was worried it would tell you what I was. They’re not sentient so much as like a biological infectious computer network. Sentient AI.” Sarge shuddered. “Or think I was a threat and take us all out.”

“Thanks for the warning on that, but now that we know you’re a body snatching—what did you call him, Noel?” Vil glanced over toward his mate.

“Space leech.” Noel nodded once.

“Yeah, that.” Vil waved his hand dismissively. “You don’t have to keep secrets. I wish you’d felt safe enough to tell me a long time ago.”

“It’s a work in progress.” The tension in his body and our bond fully melted, and I stroked over his hair, enjoying the burnt-orange sheen.

“In any case, we’re all good. Try to get some rest and let the rest of us take care of things before we head off to Starbase Delta.

Consider it a honeymoon.” Vil laughed and Noel cut his gaze toward him, brow raised.

Something prickled in the air between them, and the corner of Noel’s mouth ticked up in a smile.

“Space honeymoon it is,” I said, clapping my hands. “Let’s go enjoy some fine food in the dining hall. I desperately want meat.”