They lingered there for a long moment until Aphrodite’s body made it clear—move or regret it. She shimmied off the table and grimaced at the thick, sticky smear of fluids left in her wake. Xexis stepped aside to grab the clothing he carelessly tossed. She didn’t want to take a bath again, but it wouldn’t hurt to clean up. She jabbed a thumb at the table, “Should we clean up?”
“With what?” He raised his brows.
She scowled, “You don’t have paper towels in here?”
“The war Council is not often used for meals.” he shrugged.
“Xexis.” She ripped on the pants, saving her underwear for after she hit the bathrooms.
“Aphrodite.” His purring of her name almost made her forget everything. Thankfully, he was teasing. Bursting into a full belly laugh, he walked to the side wall and turned on a screen. She couldn’t read the language but contextually she could see him commanding the room to be cleansed. A door at the end of the room popped open. Aphrodite had the sense to snatch up her drone and data pad before a crane shaped arm came out of the wall. It dropped a circular droid onto the table.A fucking roomba?Her face exploded in a smile as she whirled to face him. Xexis froze, fingers on the screen, “My mate?”
“It’s a roomba,” She laughed.
“Ah! Yes, the human drone design, aRoooooomba.” He sounded out the words with a flicker of child-like glee on his face. Aphrodite nodded, skipping to his side.
“Hundreds of years of technological progress, and the roomba is still everyone's favorite.”
“The droid is small and many of the crew are attached to the one designated for the bunk quarters.” He nodded, placing his cock piece back over his crotch. “They’ve even named itKizzerc, which means adorable.”
Aphrodite was red in the face from laughing. Clutching onto Xexis with one arm, holding her tech to her chest in the other, she giggled uncontrollably. She glanced back at the cleaner as it rounded the table and spit shined the crystal top.There was a smidgen of guilt for making, even a droid, clean up the mess.She let Xexis lead her away, trying to sober herself the whole way to the bathrooms, then to his bed. Aphrodite fell asleep dreaming of theLittle Roomba That Could,in a big ship full of Vroz who oo’ed and ahh’ed at it with their pincers and sharp teeth. It left a massive smile on her face.
Chapter Fifteen:
Xexis
Hewatchedherfallinto the depths of sleep before pulling away. As much as sleep called to him, to join her and slumber for hours, the Kannatch was needed. Ensuring she was tucked in, her drone and data pad placed safely on the stand next to the bed, he slunk from the room. Immediately upon evacuating his room, he ran into Reevar. His oldest friend bowed, as was tradition for his position, before stepping back to give Xexis room.Which means this is an official conversation, not one between friends.“Kannatch, I was just coming to grab you. We’ve got a few reports for you to go over.”
“Thank you for watching over it for me.” Xexis took the data pad offered to him and exhaled heavily. The Council of Beings hadn’t sent him many ‘urgent’ hunts as of late. He wasn’t sure if that was due to his “mating”. Xnasis, his brother and the Councilor representing the Vroz, was likely directing traffic despite Xexis’ wishes.
He said he could take care of it.
Xnasis insisted that mating and the mating fever was enough to excuse him from his duties for a short time.
However, it stung to think his brother, and soon to beKorzavic, did not think him sturdy enough to perform his duties and mate at the same time. Xnasis had not taken a break fromhisduties, norhad their parents when they mated. Then again, courtly duties and politics were different than directing the traffic of hunts. Xexis was often darting from place to place, inspecting hunts, going over reports, and ensuring the training of others.
Now that would all come to a slower, steadier pace at court. He was a mated Kannatch, which meant he was responsible for not only the hunt but for the brood. It would be less about being directly in the works, but now an overseer. The transition was…uncomfortable, but Xexis knew that’s what would come to pass when he claimed Aphrodite.
First, he would return to court. Then, he would train Reevar and Grooug to step into their roles as his generals. Kiefgr would complete his official hunt before taking his rank among hunters. And lastly, Xexis would take his place among the chairs in the Vroz Council permanently. The Korzavic would expect him to focus on teaching the next generation to be the leaders of the hunt. His glorious hunts were now memories.
Memories he would tell their children as they fell asleep, and cautionary tales he would use to keep younglings from making fatal mistakes.
Of course, that didn’t mean he couldn’tpartakein a few hunts…but delegation would be his newest ally.
Xexis read over the files in his hand as he took up station in the office made for him on the ship. One of many official crafts made for large journeys of political importance. Normally, a mating hunt wouldn’t call for a large craft… but he was Kannatch, and there were other beings on the ship to keep an eye on. He couldn’t forget about the being fighting for his life, suspended in a tank in the lab.Poor thing, to be so far from home with no better answers.
“How is the Mphronatch?” Reevar cut into Xexis’ whirling thoughts. He dropped into a chair across from Xexis and propped his boots up, ending theirofficialconversation.
“Resting and well claimed,” he chuckled.
“I saw that little dash for the Council room. Shall I have it cleansed?” Reevar teased with a wiggle of his pincers.
“Already done,” Xexis shot back with a mirth. “Old friend, I am not a lustful youngling. I know better than to leave evidence.”
“Mmm, you could have fooled me,Kannatch. With the way you’ve been stalking your prey like a Snortvene in heat.” The pair burst into mad laughter. Xexis flopped back into his seat, spreading out the memos and hunt requests before him. Reevar folded his arms behind his head with a dramatic, exaggerated sigh. “Mating frenzy, so then the rumors are true?”
“It is baffling how hard I feel constantly,” Xexis huffed, rubbing two hands over the top of his head and scratching at the connection portal behind his skull. “I’m usually much more sensible than this. One moment, we’re getting the ship launched and she’s having a normal conversation with an engineer, the next I’m painfully stuffed in my own suit. I like when she speaks, is that bizarre? Quagmor spoke that his frenzy was beyond strange, that he would wake swollen and aching in the middle of the night because his mate sneezed cutely.”
“I can’t wait,” Reevar chuckled, shaking his head. “I wonder who will be my mate.”
