He smiled, the memories bittersweet.
He did not even know if his home still existed.
That his fathers were dead was certain. Of that, he had no doubt given the lifeless nature of their kropek.
But his mother…
Xenoth’s fingers ran over the still-warm coil of her kropek hidden against his scalp. He sometimes thought he could detect her bio-signature within the programming running deep inside it, but her bio-structure was far beyond his skills to access.
The odds were against him, that his mother was still alive, but he clung to the heat of her coil like a lifeline. If anyone could survive what the terrorists had done to the galaxy, it was his mother.
He didn’t want to hope, given the sad state of the Andromeda Galaxy as a whole, but High Queen Z’adaznik was more powerful than the Queen here on this planet, and Queen Z’illik was merely in a coma. It was pure chance he and Urzan had been sent to train under Queen Zillik. If his brother hadn’t imprinted so heavily on the Queen’s daughter, Y’arza, it was likely that the two of them would instead be just as dead as the rest of their people.
Xenoth grimaced at that thought.What a foolish waste. Slaughtering an entire galaxy!
“Sun’s Greetings, Zah Xenoth!”
A voice called up to him from the walkway beneath his perch, startling him out of his dark thoughts. He’d had too many of those these past few suns, so he welcomed the unexpected interruption.
“Sun’s Greetings, Zeh Arzog,” Xenoth returned quietly, not wanting to interrupt the gryllrogi’s continued clurping.
“May I join you?” Arzog asked, holding up a small basket. “I brought breakfast!”
Xenoth nodded, then quickly re-coded his hair up into his kropek knot as Arzog skittered up the side of the scaffold, his copper kropek strands acting like prehensile limbs as they lifted him effortlessly up the structure. His bare feet touched down and Arzog sighed, smiling happily as he looked out over the purple fields.
He waved a hand in dismissal as he joined Xenoth where the other male stood, still re-coding his Zah’s knot-weave.
“Oh no need for that on my account, Zah Xenoth. We are practically family at this point!”
Xenoth snorted at Arzog’s improprietous suggestion, but left off the topmost portion of his knot. It was easier to re-weave with a reflection or hologram, anyway.
Arzog handed him a freshly baked roll made from the same lavender grain waving merrily before them. It steamed as Xenoth pulled it apart. Closing his eyes, he breathed in the delicious, nutty aroma deeply. He took a large bite, savoring the warm, fluffy mouth-feel currently melting against his tongue.
Whoever had baked this batch knew what they were doing. Xenoth was pleased, a wash of pale pink tinging his locks…and then his cheeks as he noticed Arzog watching him with a knowing smile.
“Add some of the jam—it’s my own recipe. I’ve been experimenting with the fruits sent over by the Chirophex colony. I must admit, I am not familiar with several of them, but I think this one came out quite well.”
Xenoth did as he was instructed, biting delicately into the questionable fruitstuffs piled onto his roll.
At first it was sweet and a little tart, the flavor of star berries dancing across his tongue. And then suddenly, a thousand flame-ants from the fire planet of Igneoth attacked the inside of his soft palette with avengeance.
Xenoth doubled over, retching, his lungs struggling for air, his eyes streaming as he spat out the beyond-spicy mouthful.It sizzled quietly on the decking between them as Arzog looked over in shock.
“Wha…??” Arzog lifted the crock and sniffed delicately before hastily putting it to one side. He taste-tested the other container in the basket before slathering a thick layer of a creamy paste onto another bun, handing it swiftly to Xenoth.
“This will help! I’mso sorry, My Lord! It was the children playing pranks. Z’arth’s sake, IknewI shouldn’t have let them help with breakfast!”
When Xenoth’s functions returned to a more normal baseline, he looked over at Arzog’s long face and just started laughing.
“If that was…an..assassination attempt…*cough cough*…I’d say…it worked!”
Arzog slid down next to where Xenoth had collapsed on the platform. The older male buried his face in his knees, copper kropek hugging tightly around his shoulders.
“Iamsorry! They’re driving mecrazy!” He looked up at Xenoth with an exasperated face. “I wasnotmade to be a single parent!”
“We can assign you more help, you know,” Xenoth offered, worried as he noted the sudden tension in his friend’s posture.
Arzog shook his head vigorously, his hands fisting as his entire body shivered suddenly. “I can’t, I can’t! I can’t let an unclaimed male near them—if anything were to happen to them…!” He shook his head again, not looking at Xenoth.
