by C. V. Walter
"Is everything okay?" Maw-lee asked. "You don't look happy. Nothing's wrong with the stuff, right? It's going to work for me?"
Mintonar turned and kissed Maw-lee's forehead. "Everything is fine. It's almost ready for you."
"You cannot keep her hidden in your rooms forever, Mintonar," Damina told him. "Especially if you do recognize her. I mean, what happens when you get little ones on her?"
"That won't be happening," Mintonar told her. "And there won't be any discussion of it, either. Do you understand? I will not have her being hurt by careless assumptions."
"But, with recognition so strong, how could you not?"
"How could I guarantee that we can? We're different species, Damina. We have enough difficulty making babies with each other, how can I expect her to make up for all the failings in our own people? No, I will not assume we will be fertile together. In fact, it would be best to assume it won't happen."
Whatever she saw in his face, Damina nodded. "Alright, I won't say anything. Should you manage, it will be a happy accident."
"No, Damina, it will be a miracle."
Turning to Maw-lee, Mintonar showed her the device he would be using to implant the translator. It was cylinder with a long tube that came to a very sharp point. The translator was a very tiny device, though several times larger than the bio-nanos he'd given her, that would sit just below the bones in her ear.
"That's a big ass needle," Maw-lee said, her eyes wide.
"No, it's a big ear needle," Mintonar told her with a grin. She snorted and he went on. "It has an imager in this part here and a numbing agent on the end so you won't feel a thing. Maybe some minor discomfort when the translator starts working but that should pass quickly."
"Okay," she said, taking a deep breath. "Do I need to lay down or something?"
"No, it's easier to get the placement right if you're sitting up. Damina will support your chin and the back of your head so you're not tempted to wiggle too much. You will tell me immediately if you are in any pain."
Maw-lee nodded and set her jaw, looking straight ahead and holding her chin straight. Mintonar couldn't help but admire the resolve in her face. When Damina got to the other side, she pulled Maw-lee's hair away from the side of her face and stroked it absently.
"Her hair is so soft," she exclaimed. "Like fur!"
"Please do not pet my ajoia," Mintonar said through gritted teeth, the spike of jealousy he felt at somebody else enjoying her hair a surprise.
"Since when?" Damina asked, the surprise obvious on her face.
"Yesterday," he told her. He held the cylinder up to the side of Maw-lee's head and Damina put her hands on the back of her head and under her chin. Her touch was light but firm, perfect for this sort of procedure.
They worked in silence for several minutes, the imager from the cylinder building the view of her ear and the side of her head and identifying the best place for the translator to sit. Once it had been identified, it created a green spot of light on the skin that Mintonar placed the tip of the metal rod to. The muscles in Maw-lee's jaw relaxed and he pressed the button that shot the tiny needle that would deliver the translator out of the end of the tube. It retracted immediately and the imager showed the tiny little device sitting perfectly just beneath one of the bones.
When he pulled the whole thing away, Damina let go and Maw-lee worked her jaw just a bit.
"I still say she needs a brush," Damina said. "I don't care if you prefer to use your fingers, I'm sure she'd like to be able to see to her own grooming. She's an adult, not a pet."
Maw-lee gaped then smiled. "I can hear you!" she said, turning to Damina. "Are you, were you talking about me?"
"Damina," Mintonar said, his voice stern.
His nurse ignored him and smiled at Maw-lee. "Yes, I told him you need a brush and your own clothes. He has been neglecting you shamefully to see to his own pleasure."
"Um, well, we've been a bit busy with other stuff," Maw-lee said, a blush staining her cheeks.
"That's no excuse for not seeing you properly taken care of," Damina said. "Though I can forgive you for not insisting on it when you've been busy."
Maw-lee's blush spread down the side of her neck and Mintonar cleared his throat to keep from grinning at her.
"That's enough, Damina," he said and was pleased to see the excited smile on Maw-lee's face. "Perhaps you can help her pick out what she needs once we're done."
"Oh, sure, pass the hard things off to your nurse. So that's how a Joined Mintonar is going to behave now, is it?" Damina sniffed. "Well, since it's exactly how you acted before, I can't say I'm surprised. Do let your ajoia take a moment to eat at some point? She's practically wasting away."
Chapter 31
Molly liked Damina. She'd been surprised to see the nurse and had tried not to stare while she noted the difference between Mintonar and the female. Where Mintonar had horns, Damina had little rounded stubs. Their hair was thick and course but while Mintonar would pull it back in a tail while he was working, Damina's was in a fancy braid that showed off all the colors that ran through it. Her skin was a lighter shade of blue, her hair a dark purple with flashes of lavender and rose.
Damina's bedside demeanor, though, reminded Molly so much of her friend Mindy, it made her chest ache. Mintonar was shaking his head at another barb gently scolding him for neglecting her while Molly fought to hide her grin. She wasn't serious and it was obvious Mintonar was used to her and that they worked well together.
She expected a pang of jealousy but it never came. It might have been the obvious banter between the two or the scorching glances Mintonar sent her every time he looked in her direction but she didn't feel threatened by the obviously strong, capable woman.
"Are you finished?" Mintonar asked, looking at his nurse expectantly.
"Maybe," Damina said. "Are you ready to see your next patients?"
"In a minute. I was told to update my personnel records and I need a witness. Are you willing?"
"I might be. What am I witnessing?"
Mintonar handed her the padd and she read it quickly.
"Maw-lee, I need you here for this as well," he said gently.
"You were serious," Damina said, looking up at him with shock.
"I told you, it was approved yesterday. I need a witness to make it official. I assume you have no objections?"
Damina studied her for a long moment then looked down at the padd again. "I can't believe you'd ask me to bear witness," she told him.
"It's not-"
"It's an honor, sir, whatever you might think about it." Damina pressed her thumb to the padd and handed it back. "I'll get the next patient ready. You do what you need to."
Molly watched the woman leave, confused but not willing to stop her from continuing her work.
"What was that about?" she asked Mintonar after the woman had left.
"I'll show you," he said and motioned for her to join him behind his desk. The padd had pictures of the two of them with a bunch of things written in his language. She was able to pick out a couple of words she'd learned but still wasn't entirely certain what it was.
"That looks important," she told him. "But I still can't read it."
"This is my information, including what I look like, accurate as of yesterday. Everything over here is you. It's all pulled from our personal records in the ships manifest. You are now an official passenger on the Forward Hope and, as of yesterday, Joined with me. The only thing missing from the record is your thumb print signifying that you Joined with me of your own free will."
He was holding his breath and she realized why. She could refuse to sign. Everything up to this point had been ceremony, or as much ceremony as could be had on a ship away from both of their families.
"What does it mean if I refuse to sign?" she asked. "Is everything null and we start over?"
"It would mean that you are not agreeing to it of your own free will. It would be assumed that I convinced the captain and my subordinate to
help me coerce you into Joining with me. If we were on my home planet, I could be brought up on charges and imprisoned for a very long time, your family could start a feud against mine and those of my captain and my nurse."
"We're not on your planet," she said. "And I suspect part of what you just said explains some of what's going on? What does it mean here?"
"It would mean I used my influence over you to force you into an inappropriate sexual relationship. At the very least, I could be relieved of my duties and at the worst, I could be thrown out an airlock, with you being the person given the right to send me through the hatch into space. The prince has very little tolerance for abuse of power like that."
"Prince?" Molly asked, shocked. "There's a prince on board?"
"Yes," Mintonar told her. "He's asked to meet you when you feel up to it. Which, actually, might have something to do with Damina insisting I get you proper clothing."
"So, if I did not Join with you of my free will, I could have you executed?"
"Yes," he said, shortly.
"And if I do sign, what does that mean?"
"It means you want to stay with me. That our desire is mutual and you wish to try and make offspring with me."
"I can't-"
"I know," he said. "I didn't say it was something that could happen, just that the desire was there. It would mean that you care for me and understand that I care for you and would be my other half, even when you don't like me very much."
"You care for me?" she asked, watching his face.
He frowned. "Of course I do. Of all the things you question, it's my feelings? I don't-"
She kissed him. She couldn't help it and when he pulled her down into his lap, she didn't fight him. Growing evidence of his desire throbbed against her hip and she sighed against his lips when he pulled back.
"Tell me why," she said, licking his lip.
"Why what?"
"Why you care for me? Why you want to be Joined with me even if you know there's no chance for offspring. Tell me why I should be your partner and what we're working for that you would want to bind me to you for the rest of our," she paused. "Is there an expiration date?"
"A date on which you expire?" he asked, aghast. "As part of a Joining? Why would there be such a thing?"
"A date on which the agreement to be Joined expires," she said with a laugh. "Is there a time when the agreement naturally ends and both parties walk away, no muss, no fuss."
"Oh," he said, hesitant. "There can be, if you want to include one. When a union is specifically to try for children, it generally ends if there have been no offspring within a certain time period to give those who entered the agreement a chance to try again with someone else. Joinings that are not for that reason are generally for the life of those involved and can only be dissolved with great trouble. Most families push for that kind of commitment especially if they know-"
She kissed him again. "You were so shocked by my divorce, I wondered if there was something similar on your planet. This agreement is for life, then? Not for an amount of time and then dissolved if there are not children?"
"I do not care if we don't have children," he told her. "I would keep you anyway you'd let me and I will cherish you for as long as I live. If you Joined with me and then left for you planet tomorrow, I would hope to go with you, but I would stay faithful and keep the memory of my time with you until I passed if I could not."
"I love you, too," she whispered. "I have so much more to learn about you and it's way too soon but I do love you. Of all the things I questioned about being here, my feelings weren't one of them. It's silly and stupid but if I'm counting up the stupid things I've done in my life, loving you won't be one of them."
"Stay, Maw-lee. With me, because you want to, and because you will not regret it."
She smiled at him. "Where do I sign?"
He pulled the padd over and placed it on her lap. He read it to her, showing each word, then got to the place where her name was. There was a blank space next to it where she placed her thumb and held it until the print showed up. Placing the padd back on the desk, Mintonar buried his hands in her hair and kissed her.
They were interrupted before the kiss could get any spicier by a knock on the door. Damina poked her head through before she was invited and threw something on the desk. Before he could reply, she yelled, "You have patients waiting," and closed the door behind her.
Looking over at the object on the desk, Molly realized it was a hair brush and started laughing. "I wonder if she has conditioner, too," she said.
"What's conditioner?" Mintonar asked and she giggled.
"Don't worry about it," she told him, patting his cheek. "I'll ask her and see if she has time to help me get some clothes."
"I can help you get clothes, Maw-lee," he told her.
"Yes, but you have patients waiting for you. I'll bet I could borrow her for an hour and you wouldn't even notice. I promise to behave myself," she told him.
"It's not that I don't trust you to behave," he started.
"I know," she told him. "I'd rather stay in your office and snuggle between patients, too, but you have work to do and if I'm going to be a grown adult woman and not a pampered pet, I have to start figuring things out without you."
"You don't, you aren't-"
She kissed him gently and pulled away before he could deepen it. "Go to work. I'll meet you at home."
Standing up, she took the brush and started working it through her hair as she left the office. It was difficult to leave him, everything in her wanted to go back and curl up in his arms, but she forced herself to push through the feeling to go find Damina.
Who was leaning, arms crossed, against the wall in the hallway outside the office.
"I wasn't sure he was going to let you leave," she said with a grin.
"It was a near thing," Molly admitted. "I almost didn't want him to."
"Almost?" Damina asked, her eyebrow raised.
Molly blushed and changed the subject. "Thank you for the brush, by the way. I wasn't exactly sure how to ask him for one. I mean, asking for clothes was hard enough, it feels so frivolous to ask for something like a hairbrush."
"Nothing frivolous about grooming," Damina said. "And I imagine you require a bit more of it to keep all of that nice and soft."
"Oh, this? Actually, it's so horribly dried out, it's frizzing all over the place and it's going to start splitting soon. I really need some conditioner but I don't know if that's even something I can get on board this ship. If not, well, I might have to take scissors to it and start cutting."
Damina gasped in horror. "Don't you dare! I'm sure we can find something that will work so you don't have to get rid of it."
"Right now, I'd settle for a hair tie or a stick or something to keep it out of my face. And maybe enough coordination to put it in a braid like yours."
"That, I can help you with," Damina said with a smile. "Let's get you to the storage bay first so we can get you something to wear."
There were storage crates on storage crates of clothes, in every style Molly could have hoped to ask for. The first hurdle was finding things in her size, which was harder than she'd thought it would be. On Earth she was on the tall side of average but on the ship, she was small for an adult. It was a novel feeling and she ended up with several outfits that were from pieces of the ship's uniform and some that were obviously intended for older adolescent girls.
"I'm not taking somebody else's clothes, though, right?" Molly asked, looking at the pile of clothes Damina had insisted she take.
"Yes and no," Damina said, selecting another crate from the wall and sliding it forward. "All the clothing here was brought by someone as part of their payment to get on the ship. Most of the uniforms and stuff are from the officers running the ship, you'll meet them eventually, and the rest is wishful thinking."
"Wishful thinking? What do you mean by that?"
With a sigh, Damina gestured to a handful of crates nearly hidden in the
back. "When a Joining is celebrated, one of the traditional gifts is enough clothes, diapers and blankets for any potential children that the Joined couple will never have to buy any. Most of the clothes in sizes too small to fit our adult population will never be worn on this ship because there are no children. And there haven't been any since we left."
"Oh," Molly said, struck by how sad Damina looked. "I'm sorry."
"It's not something to be sorry about, it just is. It was something we knew might be a factor getting on board and everybody chose to take that chance. So, no, you're not taking anybody's clothes, these are here to be used and I'm glad to see them being worn."
"Thank you," Molly said.
"Now, I'm hoping we have something in your size or close enough to it that we can alter it before Mintonar gets off work."
"I'm pretty sure I have everything I could possibly need," Molly protested. "You even found me shoes."
Damina waved her off as she opened the crate. "Ship slippers. Good enough to walk around in, not actual shoes. Those are going to take some time. Now, stand there and look cute. I'll be right back."
From what Molly could see from the front of the crate, there were rows upon rows of dresses with lace and fancy embroidery. She couldn't see any need for that kind of thing on the ship but maybe they took what people could bring?
She was still contemplating the possible uses for anything so fancy on what she'd assumed was some kind of exploratory mission when Damina emerged with a grin and two pieces of clothing. Off-white with lace and embroidery, it took her a moment to realize it was a dress with bits of the middle missing.
"I thought I'd remembered seeing this. It's too small for most of the women on board to wear but I think it's going to be perfect for you. The coloring is lovely and the flowers are so perfect, we won't have to do anything to them. Now, come on, let's get you back to your rooms so I can help you with your hair. Are you sure you don't mind me playing with it?"
