“No!” Regi came into the shared living space, stopping next to a pair of giant circular couches that would have looked as though they had escaped the 1970s except they’d been done in a dozen different shades of gray and green that mimicked the natural pattern of tree foliage. Regi sat on the edge. “I... did Vk agree with this situation?”
The question surprised Dante. If anyone might throw an epic fit, it would be Ter. “Both Ter and Vk agreed, but Ter wanted to go see the engines, and Vk wanted to watch his back. I think they were avoiding the dop screaming.” Dante hadn’t even known dops could make that noise.
“‘Screaming’?” Regi sounded alarmed.
“We failed to notice that Peaches was pregnant. Did you bring Peewee?”
“Should I have?” Regi asked.
Dante sighed. “I assume he wants to be around his kids, and if dops are one of those species where the males are unsafe around the pups, I trust Peaches to keep him in hand.”
Regi nodded. “I will return to the other ship to retrieve him. I’m sure he’s still in my previous quarters.”
“Good.” Dante fell silent, not sure how to cross the silence that had grown between them.
Regi shifted on the couch, his gaze darting about the room. “I wish to ask about an issue of huuman physiology, but I fear that in making assumptions, I could offer offense.” He sent his gaze everywhere except Dante.
“I'm a big fan of saying what you need to say.” Dante ignored the growing fear that something had gone wrong, that he had made some horrible mistake and they were about to enter the lets-be-friends purgatory that he knew so well.
“Do your people biologically change at time of mating?” Regi made eye contact.
Confusion washed through Dante. That is not where he’d feared the conversation was going. “Do you mean like getting hard?” He gestured to his crotch.
Regi huffed. “No, not external structures intended for mating but rather internal structures related to how individuals relate to each other longer term.”
“I don't understand.”
Regi curled his upper lip in frustration. “Vk’s people,” he said in a complete non sequitur, “have changes to the hormone levels when they join a mating group. Their hormone levels will begin to mimic those of their group, and they will become dependent upon having close contact with those group members.”
Dante frowned, not sure he understood what that meant. “Are you trying to say that Vk’s people get addicted to each other?”
“The term ‘addiction’ connotes unnaturalness and negativity,” Regi said. “Vk’s refusal to join a mating group is seen as the aberrant decision.”
“If anyone calls Vk aberrant, I’ll introduce them to a Texas haymaker,” he said.
“That did not translate.”
Dante came over to the couch and sat next to Regi now he was almost sure they weren’t breaking up. “It’s probably for the best, but if someone insults Vk in front of me, I might land in your brig.”
“Ah. Understood. From your confusion, I assume that your people do not have similar changes when you begin relationships.”
Dante pursed his lips and thought about it. “We do have touch hormones,” he said. “On the farm we see mothers adopting all sorts of unlikely critters because when they give birth, the hormones are high, but it doesn’t affect behavior much.”
Regi blew out a long breath. “Thank the gods.”
Dante rested his hand on Regi’s arm, and he wondered if his body was making some of those touch hormones now or if he was too distracted by confusion for the process to start. “What’s going on?”
Regi put his hand on top of Regi’s, his velvet fur soft against Dante’s knuckles. “Vk worried. She said your reactions were illogical, and she asked that I inquire as to whether biology forced you to react illogically.”
Dante snorted. “I was doing stupid shit long before you came along. Besides, what was I supposed to do? Just leave you to die?” The ghost of that fear ran across Dante’s skin.
“That would have been the logical reaction.”
“No, that would have been the easy one. Besides, you risked your life for me.”
“It was my people putting you at risk and my responsibility as a security officer to act. I was logical.” Regi sounded defensive about that, but his logical answers didn’t explain his panic when they’d been hunted through the wilderness or his quiet fury when he’d talked to the other exalteds about how their xenophobia had put Dante in danger. “But you risked your life. Are all huuman relationships this...” Regi paused as though searching for a word.
“Obsessive?” Dante asked dryly.
