Ziggy didn’t reply, but I knew he’d give his creator’s words the consideration they deserved.
To their credit, Honnor didn’t push. Instead, they patiently waited for Ziggy to unhook Pedro’s claws from around his neck and hold the agitated creature out like a smelly sock, ripe for the taking.
It’s okay, little guy.
Or girl.
Or… nonbinary alien.
I guess they’ll figure that out soon enough.
Knowing the waterworks were on the way, I pulled Pedro into my arms for a goodbye snuggle.
“I’m gonna miss you, furbaby,” I murmured as the expected tears threatened to fall.
“We promise, Pedro will be well looked after until we can safely return them to their home planet,”Honnor soothed, and I felt Pedro go limp in my arms, as if suddenly overcome by exhaustion.
When I narrowed my eyes at Honnor, they chuckled before throwing in a blast ofourshared resonance for good measure.
Cheater.
“If you would like, you may stop by the lab tomorrow while our scientists conduct their examination,” Bron piped in.
I glanced at Ziggy, but my man was busy fiddling with his Celestial Cube, apparently already done with the conversationandthe orphaned alien baby.
Hmph.
While I wasn’t super jazzed about seeing Pedro being poked and prodded, making sure no Stellarian scientist turned the creature into a lab rat had its appeal.
“I’ll be there,” I announced, lifting my chin.“We’llbe there.”
“What?” Ziggy snapped, but I was already handing Pedro off, glad the little alien seemed way more chill about the handoff than before, thanks to the sleepy ish.
I’m still gonna get emotional about it, though.
“Why did you offer to get involved?” Ziggy hissed as we headed back down Gumdrop Pass. “Our mission is over?—”
“Maybe because I’m having a hard time letting go!” I barked angrily, which was a rare enough occurrence to have him snapping his mouth shut for the remainder of the walk.
Oops.
“I can fix things,” he confidently stated once we stepped outside, and my salty attitude weakened in the face of such assured competency.
Oh, what will Space Daddy do?
Ziggy took my hands in his and gazed so intently into my eyes, my breath caught.
Wait.
Is he…?
“Micah Salah,” he began, and I grew lightheaded, swaying unsteadily on my feet.
IS THIS HAPPENING?!
“Sunshine.” He dipped his head and kissed me sweetly before straightening. “What you need is for me to feed you some cock.”
8
