Weallknew Pedro would be fine, but if Ziggy and I insisted they come along, it might contradict my claim of possessing paternal instincts to protect the ‘helpless’ baby.
“The droid you have will suffice as protection while you are away,” Leeloo crisply added, apparently wanting to get this show on the road. “The GRX-5L is known for swiftly delivering death to anyone aside from the designated caregivers—assuming you have programmed it to do so.”
Uhhh…
“I…thinkI did,” I replied with a grimace. “It didn’t exactly come with instructions.”
“You also have nothing to fear in our city.” Leeloo stepped closer before inclining their head. “Shall we proceed?”
I nodded, and Ziggy immediately stood, carrying Pedro to the nanny bot in the adjoining room. While I knew he was just playing his role of supposedly less impressive mate, I couldn’t help how my chest grew tight at the sight of my stellar collision caring for the little furbaby.
Our pretend baby.
Fuck.
I want to mpreg that man so fucking bad.
Leeloo cleared their throat, and for one horrifying moment, I wondered if Eki could taste emotions in the air as well.
I will throw myself into the nearest volcano if that’s the case.
To my relief, they simply whispered conspiratorially, “I promise to steer the discussion away fromchildrenin front of your frightened mate.”
Leeloo has your number, Zig!
I had to hide my laugh beneath a cough. “Yeah… He might need a little time to warm up to the idea.”
The Eki followed my gaze to where Ziggy appeared to be fussing over arranging Pedro just so in SWOL-E’s baby sling.
“He will come around eventually,” Leeloo replied sagely, earning them infinite points in my book. “For now, let us see whatyoucan do.”
I nodded and blew out a breath, determined to give this my all and not fuck up too badly.
You’ve got this, Micah.
I hope….
26
ZIGGY
Why isn’t he getting this?
At this point, Micah had been demonstrating his abilities to Leeloo for hours—quite impressively, I might add—but he was clearly losing patience with himself. The Eki seemed confident my stellar collision could accomplish everything they’d been demonstrating for him, but whenever he attempted to manipulate an object from afar, he faltered.
My mateshouldbe able to do this.
He can do anything!
Granted, I hadn’t yet encountered an Eki when I’d declared Micah as the most impressive creature in all the galaxies, but their powers seemed comparable. They both could conjure complex objects from simple, inorganic particles, including weapons and shields even a Stellarian couldn’t infiltrate.
Uulvin said Micah’s shields were more advanced than the Eki’s.
I wonder what they meant by that…
While Micah regrouped, my gaze drifted to our surroundings. The makeshift training ring was an otherwise vacant helipad positioned below what I assumed was another surface level entry point. Unlike where the Lodger was parked, this one was on the outskirts of the city, with towering skyscrapers in one direction and what appeared to be farmland in the other, judging by the recently tilled, no doubt nutrient-rich volcanic soil.
All this did was deepen the mystery surrounding this species. Between the crops, the fortified city, and the nature of their powers, the Eki were a wholly self-sufficient society.
