“For Skya?” he gasped, his eyes widening as he remembered something. “It's how you knew… She kept…reaching out for something when we were there…”
Severo gave him a sad smile. “Yeah… Drayes are attracted to bright and positive energy. Being a baby, that’s mostly what she gives off. Drayes, unlike the Nystras, don't harm their food source when they feed. I wasn’t sure until then that…” He trailed off.
“That…she was…Preston’s…”
“Yes…”
“I can’t… I won’t let him ever get ahold of her… I can’t. She may have his blood, but that’s it. She will never actually be his.”
“As long as I’m alive, I will do all that I can to ensure that he never gets his hands on her,” Severo said solemnly. “But…him aside…Skya needs you, Seri. When she begins to show Dweller powers, how will you handle it?”
Seri rubbed his face. “Likely…badly.”
“Needing help isn’t something to be ashamed about.”
Seri slumped on the table, pushing his plate out of the way at the same time, so he didn’t literally lay on top of his uneaten and now very cold food. “Ugh…I just hate it.”
Though, he had just agreed to let the man hold him for his nightmares. So he guessed that saying no to this would’ve been idiotic, and made him a bit self-serving that he was willing to acceptthathelp, because he maybe sort of liked the idea of Severo holding him.
He turned his head and looked at Skya. She stared back, no longer on the verge of crying, with a spoon in her hand… He had no clue when or how she'd gotten it. Seri chuckled when she chucked the spoon and slumped over, much as he was doing, staring with her gummy smile.
Reaching out, he lightly brushed his fingers over her curls. Self-serving was one thing… When it came to his daughter, he’d do anything and everything he needed, no matter how uncomfortable it made him. “I’ll do it…for Skya.”
“Wonderful!” Severo cried out, the man surging from his seat. “I’ll contact Ender right now!”
“Now?!” Seri squeaked, sitting up. “We’re eating… Well…I’m eating…”
He was pretty much done though. Cold sunny-side up eggs weren’t really that tasty.
Severo eyed the plate with a frown. “Ah, why don’t I make you something else?”
“No, no. Go do what you are going to do.”
“Right! No time like the present,” the man said before rushing out of the room.
Seri sighed. “You are too upbeat.” He looked at Skya. “He has too much energy, doesn’t he?”
She giggled.
Severo rushed back in with one of the weird laptops Ender’s organization gave them. The thing was clear cased, but you could see all the wires inside, unlike the perfectly crystal-clear laptops one usually found on the shelves nowadays.
Setting it on the table, Severo opened it up and typed away. “REQUEST SENT!” he announced loudly. “Now please, let me make you something fresh, so you can eat a full meal, before I go back to digging into Preston’s dirty deeds, and you go back to your experimenting…minus the smoke.”
“Yes, yes, no smoke. And fine…something small…maybe…”
Severo chuckled. “Small?! I can do small! How about…mini pancakes!”
Seri snorted. “Sure,” he said, even though he knew the man was likely about to try to make and stack as many on his plate as possible.
Severo stared at the screen. He was attempting to go through the latest files Ender had sent him, but his gaze kept flicking to the encrypted correspondence app. He really needed that asshole Ender to respond quickly, so he could actually get some work done. Because Severo was pretty sure he wouldn’t be able to focus until he knew if there was anyone Seri could talk to or not.
He stared for a few moments at the icon, and when nothing happened, he sighed and turned back to the document, glaring at all the numbers. Not a single one was making sense in his head at the moment.
“Bah,” Skya babbled. He smiled and looked over at the little girl.
She was sitting in front of the TV watching some kid show about bears, waving around a set of old-fashioned toy keys. Ahh, she looked so cute in the brown bunny onesie he had put her into when he’d changed her diaper.
Seri had yet to see… But was it his fault that he happened to see milk stains on the onesie she had been wearing?! It wasn’t like he could just leave his gummy bear in soiled clothing! Maybe it had just been a small dot, but it was enough!
