“I dunno. I can just tell.”
This made Titan frown. “The fact that you can read my mental state, yet do not know how, only increases my anxiety.”
Ezra propped himself up to look at him properly, brow knit and expression disgruntled. “I wasn’t reading your mind with weird alien powers. It was just good old human intuition.”
“Perhaps,” he said doubtfully, then placed a hand on Ezra’s belly. “But given what else has occurred, it is not out of the realm of possibility. Nothing is.”
Ezra sighed. “You said you and Al talked about how to figure out what’s going on between us, right? Maybe tomorrow we’ll have answers. Or, at the very least, be on our way to having them.”
“I know this,” Titan said, gently pushing between Ezra’s shoulder blades to guide him back to lying on his chest. The human went willingly, curling up against him in a display of tenderness he had always refused Titan before. “I just fear,” he continued softly, “that we may not find anyone with the expertise we need and the outcome of our relationship will remain a mystery.”
Ezra was quiet for a long time, to the point that Titan wondered if this time he truly had slipped into unconsciousness, but then he said, “Whether we figure out the mystery or not, that doesn’t really change the situation, does it? I mean, regardless, I’m still knocked up, and that’s something we’re gonna have to deal with.”
“Perhaps.”
“You’re getting more anxious,” Ezra said, either through intuition or something more perplexing. “Did I say something wrong?”
“No,” Titan responded quickly, and resumed stroking up and down Ezra’s spine. “It is very rare for you to do anything wrong, as you are a wise, compassionate, and exemplary being. Have unconsciousness now. We will not come up with answers by speculating tonight, and you need your rest. We will resume our curiosities in the morning.”
“All right,” Ezra said with a yawn. “If you’re sure?”
“I am.”
“Good night, Titan.”
Titan kissed his temple.
“Good night, my sweet Ezra.”
22
Titan
While Ezra had no qualms showing Titan affection in private, such was not the case beyond the walls of his unconsciousness quarters. On the ride in the Earth government’s ground vehicle to the Darvrokian consulate the following morning, Titan had attempted to hold his hand, only for Ezra to deftly snatch it away. He had cast him an apologetic smile to show he meant no offense, but Titan had been mildly offended anyway.
At the consulate, Titan attempted to guide him toward their conference room by pressing his palm to the small of his back, but Ezra had glanced nervously at Kyle, who was close behind them, and sped up so he was walking just out of reach.
Titan was not certain what this reluctance meant, but he worried that Ezra was avoiding public displays of affection because he was not decided on his feelings toward him, despite how he might act when they were alone. Titan could not help but remember what had been told to him multiple times by now—Ezra did not do commitment.
Again, he found himself hoping that their research would yield results that worked in his favor. While he was certain that he had love for Ezra, he could not guarantee that Ezra had love for him in return, and this frightened him in a way he had never felt before.
He wanted to jump right into sleuthing the second they arrived at their conference room, but first they had to accomplish the work they were paid to do.
They had clients to vet.
One was a woman who worked as a weapons expert on Darvrok 6 and was particularly interested in Earth explosives. Titan saw no reason to deny her entry, but Ezra said that he would be in trouble with the world governments if he let in someone who was “super horny for bombs and shit.”
The second was a man who attempted to get him and Ezra to invest in his specialty three-sided dice business, stating that all they had to do was purchase dice from him, sell said dice, and recruit friends and family to sell as well for special bonuses. He insisted this would culminate in wealth beyond their wildest dreams, but Ezra denied him on the grounds of “there are enough pyramid schemes on Earth already,” and also did not permit Titan to spend one thousand Earth dollars on specialty three-sided dice.
The last client was a man Titan was distantly related to, who was known in the family as being obsessed with what humans would refer to as “gaming,” often gathering his—admittedly—very few friends together to make up fantastical scenarios and play them out as though they were real. He stated he wanted to explore Earth for new material for his campaigns, and Ezra approved his application because he was “hella curious to see what alien Dungeons and Dragons was like.” This meant nothing to Titan, but he allowed it all the same.
Finally, after all the paperwork had been completed, signed, and sent off to the relevant parties, the two of them had time to go through the files of previously approved clients who were now living on Earth with visas.
There was not much organization in their search.
The three of them—Kyle offered his services as well—merely gathered up files, spread them over the table, and began scouring them for anything that appeared promising.
There was great diversity among the Darvrokians they had admitted onto the planet, including two philosophers, one Sand Dweller wrestler, a barista, three students studying abroad, and a retired couple wanting to explore the universe before old age turned them to dust. Titan set aside ones he thought might be useful, but none seemed quite right. There was a doctor, but her specialty was in cardiovascular health, not obstetrics. There was a historian who would have been promising if his expertise had not been in Aquatic Beasts rather than Land Walkers like himself. In an act of desperation, Titan singled out a cross-species relations coordinator, but her focus was mainly on paperwork and complaints.
