Seri sighed. “Go ahead…”
“Before, you know, the car crash, I made my boss promise me he’d take care of changing your gender back to what it should be on your file.”
The Nymph's eyes widened slightly. “You…did?”
“I did. So, I’m not sure if it’s fixed yet, but if not, it will be soon. And it's likely he will get all the notes removed, since the change was forged and unauthorized.”
“Thank you…” Seri said softly, eyes closing briefly as he rested back in his chair. If Severo wasn't wrong—which he could be—the man looked relieved.
“Yeah…Uhh… Right, moving on! How about we talk about…umm…ummm.” Severo stared blankly as he trailed off, trying to think of conversation starters.
He really wasn’t this bad at conversations usually. Hell, he was normally a super outgoing extrovert… It was just, most of his interactions lately had been with people he knew; his coworkers, or actual criminals. He had no filter with any of those people, so he usually just said whatever popped into his head.
“Ummm. Ummmm!” Skya repeated with a giggle.
Ah…that’s why the no swearing rule. Oh…he really needed to remember not to swear.
Seri rumpled Skya’s curls, a small smile forming on his face. “How about you talk about yourself? You know about me, it’s only fair if you share a little. You’ve been chasing me for weeks, and all I know is your name. So, Severo Ambrose, who are you?”
“Who am I?” Severo blinked. “I suppose…it is only fair. Well… I’m the youngest of eleven.”
“Eleven,” Seri croaked. “There are ten more of you… That sounds…horrifying.”
He snorted. “Instead of being insulted, I’m going to do the rational thing and agree with you. It is horrifying having ten older siblings of various ages, the oldest older by more than five hundred years. Five women, two non-binary, and then three men. Horrifying does not even begin to describe the situation.”
“Well, I can, slightly, relate. It wasn’t as if I was alone growing up. There were others, just a lot coming and going. The goal was always to not get attached to anyone.”
Severo sighed. “I wish my siblings could have gotten attached to someone else.”
“You were the baby. I don’t know the complete dynamics of siblings, but even I know that comes with some privileges.”
“I was the baby. So, yeah, my parents did baby me, and I did get away with a lot. But…I was also my sibling’s plaything for many years. Basically, a doll.”
Seri oddly flinched at the word doll. “They dress you up, did they?”
He frowned at the memories that were coming to mind. “Yeah. All sorts of dresses, frilly and otherwise. The number of pictures that are currently in their clutches that I’d like to burn… So much blackmail material.”
“Are you close with them?”
“I am. As much as they annoy me. But I don’t see them too much. Some live off of Earth, and also my job means I'm always traveling and busy. And then they have their own lives. Five of them are married. Some with children of their own, who also have children already. Though they are all grown too.”
“Sounds like you have a large family.”
“I do. A very, very large family. Family get-togethers are insane, to say the least.”
“That sounds…nice.” Seri grimaced.
“You are saying one thing, but your face is saying the opposite,” Severo said with a laugh.
“I don’t like large groups.”
“Ah, yeah, then one of my family get-togethers is not the place for you.”
“I imagine not.”
Severo looked out the window when the bus pulled to a stop. “First hour and a half done, it seems.”
“Three and a half left?”
