#i have....regrets......making a reference sheet for a spaceship.................

[fae-fucker]

Zenith: Chapter 37-40

Chapter 37

So this chapter is very rapey and if you’re not comfy reading it I can safely say that it’s not crucial to the “plot” of the rest of the book at all and you can skip it if you wish. 

We’re back with Klaren, who’s being strangled by General Cortas because he’s mad that he’s constantly horny for her. She mind-controls him into letting her go and we find out that she’s been here for two years, where they forced her to send videos to the King of Xen Ptera to get him to surrender but she’s a rebel so she told him to keep fighting. 

During that time, she’s also been brainwashing General Cortas into “loving” her. And now that his mind has been completely fucked, it’s time for Klaren to also get fucked. 

No, really. This was apparently the “sacrifice” she was supposed to make. 

She was born to do this. Born to sacrifice herself. Her heart, to the king of Xen Ptera. Her daughter, unplanned, had been sacrificed, too.

Now, she would willingly give up her body to the cause.

[...]

They spent the rest of the night together, tangled in the sheets. 

Tangled in her lies.

Now, let me explain how this squicks me out, beyond the obvious. 

Are we supposed to feel ... bad? Feel sad that she’s doing this? Feel bad for her? Because so far, General Cortas/Cyprian has been painted and portrayed as a crusty antagonist who’s out to get out dear Andi and Dex, while every Klaren chapter has been all about how she’s sad and she has to sacrifice herself and how it’s her destiny and how she regrets she can’t stay with her family and all that jazz. We even get an emphasis on how she’s in love with her king and loves her daughter as well.

Like, I know in the end Cyprian dies (spoilers, but I talked about this in my review so) and Klaren only exists in flashbacks, so it’s not like we’re getting redemption arcs for either of them. 

But like, if this is supposed to make me uncomfortable and to be very muddled then I’m honestly impressed. But I doubt it? And I’m very unsettled by the fact that we spend so many chapters moping around with Klaren to sympathize with her and her plight, and I don’t understand why they chose to spend so much time on the backstories of two characters that are either dead or will die in the main timeline in the first place. 

Nexus better answer these questions or else it will just prove Shinsay wrote this because ... No, I don’t think Nexus can justify this, actually. I don’t get why this subplot exists.

SHINSAY WHY DID YOU WRITE THIS

Chapter 38

We’re back with Andi post-argument and she’s in the med bay with Gilly and Lira, and we get an actually pretty nice, quiet moment where the girls try to both care for Andi and give her space. If y’all had focused on this instead of the mind-rape and the mind-control (oh boy I bet these two will have shit to do with each other huh) and the reality TV drama and space wars you defo can’t write it would’ve been a much better and more fun book. 

Anyway, the other girls leave to eat and Andi chooses to remain with Valen and watch over him. Lira drops this on us:

“There’s a fissure in you. I can sense it even from here.” Lira loosed a gentle sigh before explaining her words. But when she did, they sunk like a rock into Andi’s gut. “Sooner or later, you’re going to have to choose between forgiveness or hate. And you and I both know which one is harder to live with.”

I know this is in reference to Dex, considering how Andi’s been all quiet and weird after their argument, but honestly? Andi’s looking at Valen’s fucked body and my headcanon is that Lira is actually referring to Andi herself. Think about it. Lira knows what happened. Lira knows Andi still feels like it’s her fault Kalee died. 

And instead of it being another tired “forgiving is better for ur soul than hatred uwu” sentiment, when applied to Andi’s self-hatred, this would be a hard-hitting and genuinely insightful statement from Lira. 

Because self-hatred is harder to live with than self-forgiveness.

But this is Shinsay and I’d be surprised if they thought that far.

Anyway, Andi has yet another flashback to the crash and Kalee’s death and it’s all blood and metal and bla bla bla, we’ve seen this a billion times already. Then it turns out that Valen’s tests come back positive for “abnormalities,” and then he wakes up and is all like “kill meeeeeeeeee” and the chapter ends. 

Riveting. 

Chapter 39

We skip to some time later, I guess? Dex is shirtless and getting his nails painted by Gilly, which is fun. They discuss whether Valen is or isn’t a mutant, and we get this:

“Valen is no different than us,” Andi said to Dex, “and he’s not a mutant. And put on a damned shirt. This is a spaceship, not a pleasure palace.” 

“It used to be both.” He waggled his eyebrows at her, then winced as Andi ripped off one of his boots and launched it at his face.

Y’all really gonna talk about how much sex you used to have when there’s a literal 13-year-old right there in the room with you who’s listening and is a part of this conversation? 

Interesting choice there, Shinsay. Not even a little uncomfortable at all. Just these two adults talking about how they used to fuck while one of them is shirtless.

Andi thinks about how the Marauder used to be a man cave, and yes, that’s what the text says, and how it’s actually beautiful and modern and well-furnished now because they have genuine Adhiran cowhide couches. Then there’s more descriptions of the interior of the ship and I’m extremely bored and wondering why we needed to know the layout of the kitchen or what Alfie was wearing while in said kitchen (it’s a Kiss the Cook apron, btw). 

There’s a little argument about whether Valen is or isn’t a mutant due to his weird blood. It’s completely pointless. 

“Ah-hah!” Alfie’ s head emerged from the cooling unit, frost covering the tip of his oval chin. “I have discovered the source of the smell.” He held up a dripping hunk of green meat, then proceeded to march over to the small ejection site and blast it out into space.

... Right. 

So why do you people have a dedicated trash compartment again? 

All this waffling about brings nothing, as Alfie just cryptically says that Valen’s DNA seems to have changed and that they’ll have to do further tests once Valen’s back home.

Andi thinks about how Gilly does have a soul after all, because Gilly seems excited about having a mutant on board. This book has too many characters considering whether they or someone else they know has a soul or not. I think it’s Shinsay’s way of trying to be deep. 

Andi thinks about how cool her team is and how they got out of Lunamere without issue and how it’s gonna be nice to take a break. Then the ship starts crashing, I guess? 

We gotta throw more forced plot into the narrative because clearly these characters don’t actually have any goals of their own. 

Chapter 40

We’re back with Nor, who’s moping about her backstory and Zahn and Darai again. We find out through math that she’s 26? 

Anyway, remember the prison guard they were gonna test Zenith on? Yeah, she’s dead. Which does indeed confirm that they hadn’t tested it before then. Alrighty. I also don’t get why they test it on their own loyal citizens instead of, you know, the prisoners they have in Lunamere. It just makes so much sense to try to brainwash someone who already loves you into loving you more and risk them dying from this foreign chemical instead of trying to brainwash someone who hates your guts and who wouldn’t be a loss if they died anyway. 

IT JUST MAKES SO MUCH SENSE YOU GUYS. 

This time, they are testing it on prisoners, so maybe their “head scientist” (more like two-head scientist amirite fellas) learned their fiking lesson. Ok but then Aclisia says these prisoners are the “first participants in the study” which ... Yeah it doesn’t make sense and I’m pretty sure they’re not participants nor is this a study. 

Then Aclisia says this will be the “final batch.” So ... the Lunamere guard is not classified as a test subject nor a “participant,” and these guys are “participants” but will hopefully be the “first” but also “final” test subjects? 

You’d think having two heads would make for a better scientist.

You’d think having two heads would make for a better writer ...

One of the prisoners calls Nor a “scnav,” which does sound nastier than all the other dumbass curse words they scrapped, and Nor says that they’ll begin testing on that one. 

Aclisia says that “the weapon” is effective on any body part, as long as it comes in contact with the skin and can enter the blood stream. So ... Which one of those? Cuz having both makes no sense. The former sort of makes the other irrelevant. Also, what if an alien creature doesn’t have skin or blood? I guess it’s just universal. Even though they’ve only tested it on one alien species before ... and she died from it.

Flawless worldbuilding, lads. 

We find out that Zenith has the ability to “to enthrall a person or terrify them, depending on how strong their will was” which is ... dumb as hell even before combined with the fact that 1) they haven’t tested it on live subjects until now and 2) it apparently transcends species. And now you’re telling me it will also work differently on different individuals based on their “will?” How is that even quantifiable? And if it is, how did they define it? How did they define something so nebulous so closely, without ANY test subjects, to the point of making this silver goop able to tell apart who has a strong will and who doesn’t?

Whatever. Zenith seems to work and the prisoner now obeys Nor’s every whim.

He lowered his head in an attempt to bow, even with his hands tied.

You don’t need your hands to bow but go off.

The other prisoners get Zenith’d as well.

[Nor] turned to Darai and Zahn with a grin as solid as steel. “My soldiers, it’s time to darken the stars.”

And we got Zenith’d too, my lads.

[candy-corps]

Cat Person

Jaal belongs to @mygardenofmuses!

"I'm baack!" Damien announced as he closed the front door behind him, holding on to his big travel bag that he rested on his back. Seeing as it was afternoon, his dad may be asleep, but he wasn't the only one living here and there was an off-chance that he was up after all. Jaal, as the diurnal creature he was, was awake and working. He was drawing plants when he heard a voice which he had heard before, but hadn't had a chance to match with a face just yet. Maybe this was a good chance to meet this new person. He came out, his expression a little shy. "Hello... Who might you be?" Damien looked at Jaal with a frown and then back to the door that he came through. Did he mistake the floor or something? "Damien" he introduced himself, looking at the other again, studying him. "I ... live ... here ... " he added, clearly doubting. Jaal looked away, then back to Damien. "Me too. Since two days ago..." He looked down, a little hesitant. "My name is Jaal Ama Darav." Damien blinked slowly. Well, thanks for that info, dad, he thought. Damien stepped forward, simply because his room was in that direction and he would have to pass the other anyways. "Have you seen my father, Jaal A ... " He didn't catch that last part. "You can call me just Jaal." The purple alien joined his hands and stepped back, letting Damien room to move. "If your father is a batperson called Bruce, yes. He's resting right now. Want me to wake him up?" "No" Damien assured. "Let him sleep. It's not his time." He figured there was a chance he was sleeping, so that wasn't bad, but him being alone with a person he didn't know was ... kinda. Damien passed Jaal, carrying the heavy bag and trying to make it look like it was no effort. He kept his eye on Jaal for a while, but let it go then and just went to his room. Jaal feel tempted to go after him, but he wasn't sure if he should. This batkid seemed less talkative for some reason. Still... He'd miss a good chance to learn things from a new source. Maybe... "Damien... Want some help with that bag?" "Yeahhh ... no." Damien rarely accepted some help, but offering some did win Jaal some points. His room wasn't far - the first to the left, so he opened the door, let it open and started unpacking. "What brings you here?" he asked then, not unfriendly, really. "My spaceship crashed in the beach a few days ago. Bruce rescued me and healed my wounds..." He fell silent, wondering how old was Damien. He didn't know if he could talk openly about what happened. Among his people, children learned sexual education pretty early. But, what about batpeople? Better to play it safe for now. "Some things happened afterwards... one thing led to another, and...." "And ... - ?" Damien asked Jaal, just meaning to seem interested. He kept unpacking his, considering his age, very tidy bag; making piles on his bed with different things to put them to their place later. "...we are together. As roommates... and partners. If you know what I mean." Smooth. At least, that's what Jaal thought. Sure Bruce could explain him better, but... there was nothing wrong with telling Damien the good news, right? "He has a partner" Damien replied, unaffected looking as he turned around to Jaal. "He had one. We talked about him." Jaal nodded, leaning against the wall. "Losing him hurt Bruce so much. I just hope I can help him to heal, if just a little. Bruce is a truly noble soul. He didn't deserve to go through so much pain." Waait a second. "Did he hear about him?" Damien stood up straight, alerted now and minding to hide. "No. Bruce hasn't heard anything new about him." Jaal answered, wondering if Damien was afraid of that guy, given his reaction. Phew. For a second, he thought he was dead. "Then he's not lost" Damien found, a little angry now. The new one shouldn't refer to Zagam as if he was past. The topic wasn't closed, at least for him. Damien unpacked more clothes, using less care than before. "What do you mean?" Jaal cocked his head, noticing certain anger in the kid's voice. Did he say something he shouldn't have? "I mean", Damien started, turning around again and giving up to unpack for now, "He can still come back. Anytime. So stop it with the ... - Urgh!" Hands balled to fists, he rushed to the door. "Gone for three days!" he blurt out, speaking more to himself. "... I'm sorry." Jaal felt that an apology was the best course of action here. " This must be hard for you too. Maybe I should have waited for your father to tell you." Damien actually looked back around the corner again, just to glare at Jaal. Then, he went to Bruce' room, meaning to have a say with his father. Without knocking, he opened the door; surprised to find the curtains open and the room flooded with light. No wonder he was still sleeping. "Damien, please..." Jaal walked after him. It would be wrong to leave Bruce alone to face the storm about to fall over him. "Whatever you want to tell him... Maybe doing it in the heat of the moment isn't the best course of action. You could say things you could regret later. I know. Believe me, I've been there." "Yeahh ... lets just say he knows me longer than for two days" Damien answered, closing the curtains. It didn't leave the room pitch black exactly, but it would be enough. "Daad -" Damien didn't care much that Jaal was right there. He walked up to his fathers side, who didn't look like he was gonna wake up soon. He clung to a pillow, curled up and half hidden under his wing. Jaal bit his bottom lip, wondering what he should do next. Bruce was tired, but Damien clearly needed to talk with him now. And kids need their parents. Yes, helping him would be the best. He sat on the edge of the bed and touched Bruce gently. "Bruce, Damien is here. He needs to talk to you." "Don't - " Too late. Bruce turned to Jaal and held on to him instead, purring after a while. Damien sighed. "Don't touch him. While he's sleepy" Damien warned, a little too late. "Dad, could you wake up?" Damien asked, leaning over the bed, too, but in a safe distance, other than Jaal. Bruce yawned nearly right away, and nuzzled Jaal. Jaal let out a soft, affectionate noise that only could be described as a smile in sound form. He patted gently Bruce's back and pressed one side of his head to Bruce's. "I know it's way too early for you, Bruce. But Damien is here. He really needs to talk with you..." The tip of Bruce' tail moved over the sheets, from the right to the left and back again. He was happy. There wasn't only Jaal, there was Damien too to wake up to. "Hi" Bruce greeted the two. Guessing he was safe now that his dad clung to Jaal already and was somewhat awake, Damien sat on the other side of the bed with arms crossed. "There something you wanted to tell me?" he asked. Bruce just made 'mmm' and kept nuzzling Jaal. Maybe there was something he wanted to tell him. "You given up on Zagam?" This answer was more of a 'nnnh' kind of sound. Damien could let that count as 'no'. "Good." "So that's the name of that guy." Jaal caressed Bruce's back, as he entertained the thought of making the guy dance and scream under several shoots of his laser gun. Of course he wouldn't hunt down the guy, but it was one fun thought still. Some of his siblings would do that stuff, but not him. It wasn't in his nature. He chuckled and shook his head a little. He might be already dead anyway., he thought. Letting out a sigh, Jaal left a kiss on Bruce's cheek. "It's all good, don't worry." "When were you going to tell me about this one" Damien kept asking, no mercy however tired his dad was right now. But Bruce was just purring. The 'putting a baby bat to sleep' purr. "Whatever." Good talk. Damien rolled his eyes and got up. He had to finish unpacking and then punch something in the face. "Hum, Bruce... What kind of purr is that...?" Jaal was a bit flustered. He still couldn't tell apart the two types of purring, at least, not yet. However, he got distracted when Damien got up. "Wait, Damien...!" he called out. "He's still sleepy, but... if you want, I can ask him for you whatever you need to know!" Damien ignored Jaal and simply left. Bruce didn't register much of this. He just enjoyed Jaal's warmth. Jaal sighed, feeling bad for Damien. "I didn't mean to offend him when I told him about us..." he mumbled, letting himself sink into Bruce's warm embrace. Oh, finally! Bruce pet Jaal and kept waving his tail. "You offended him?" Bruce asked, hoping he could help. "I think I did. I didn't mean to, though." Jaal mumbled, wrapping his arms around Bruce. "We were just talking. I told him we're partners, and then... he seemed annoyed. But I'm not sure if he was annoyed at me, at you, or at both of us. I couldn't tell." "I talk to him" Bruce promised, sighing happy with his eyes still closed. He could think of worse problems than that. Besides: "You shut the blinds before you woke me" he noticed proudly. That was so much better. "Actually... it was Damien who did it. I tried to talk him into letting you sleep more." Jaal was honest. He wouldn't apply to himself a good thing Damien had done. "He's a good kid. I like him." "Like him, too" Bruce said, long not done yet nuzzling Jaal, but threw in some occasional kisses as well. "You're here." He was so happy about this simple thing. Jaal smiled softly at his words. He held Bruce closer and pressed a kiss on his lips. "And I wouldn't want to be anywhere else." he purred softly, nuzzling his neck. Good. Bruce sighed content now. "It's why I didn't tell him" he said quiet. "I tried to have faith that there's no need to rush." Bruce pet over the back of Jaal's head, enjoying all these touches. "I kinda... couldn't resist. I feel so happy around you, that I wanted to tell someone. Though Damien perhaps wasn't a wise choice." His voice sounded apologetic. He let out a pleased hum. "Mmmh, I like that those touches..." "Then I keep foing that." Bruce smiled and continued, brushing and petting Jaal to make him feel appreciated. "No worries. At least you told him. He's gonna be angry at me. For good reason ... He really liked him." Zagam, as the tone of Bruce voice gave away. Sigh. He'd have to have a heart-to-heart with Damien later today. Jaal let out a hum of pleasure. His neck holes released a gentle breeze, showing how much he appreciated this. "Thank you. This feels so nice..." The purple alien fell quiet for a moment, processing that information. If losing that Zagam had been tough for Bruce, he couldn't imagine how hard it would be for Damien. He reached for one of Bruce's hands and squeezed it a little. "If you talk with him... I'd like to be there with you. I want to help as much as I can." "You're part" Bruce made clear, continuing caressing Jaal. "But he still gotta get used to that. I talk to him. It won't take long ... " Bruce promised, remembered though that he said these words not too long ago before. Jaal didn't like to be left by himself... Bruce took a look at him to check if he was sad. Jaal was no longer sad. If anything, a little worried, but not sad anymore. "Alright. We can do together, or I can wait for you here. What do you think it would be better?" he inquired, leaning into his touch with ease. "You come with me. You let me do the talking, but ... you learn" Bruce suggested. "That good?" Bruce pet Jaals back now instead. "Okay. I want to learn. I'll go with you." Jaal nodded. He let out a low, pleased purr. "Mmh. I really like how you touch me..." Bruce chuckled. "Five more minutes" he allowed, covering Jaal in addition to caressing him. "How long have you been up, all alone, missing me?" he asked. Jaal was dressed, so he must have been up for a while. "I'd say five hours and forty-five minutes. I felt tempted to wake you up, but after everything we did last night, I assumed you needed some rest." Jaal nuzzled Bruce's chest, then left a kiss over his heart. "I missed you though. So I made something for you." Aww. "You know, Jaal. I get the impression you like me." He just tried to be open. It was so nice, though. He felt a bit bad leaving Jaal alone for so long. He was well-rested now, true, and most of the time he and Jaal were in bed, they rarely did activities that had anything to do with sleeping... Bruce pet Jaal with his wing now as well. He'd make these 5 minutes count. "I..." Well, he hadn't stopped to put his feelings into words, but... What he said felt true to his heart. "... You're right. I do like you." He admitted, snuggling up to Bruce. "You're always so nice to me. And you... You like me too, don't you?" A playful smile showed on his face. "My secret ... " Bruce joked, taking a short break from petting to hug his mate instead. He should tell him. "My heart beats the same as yours does. That's how I know" he told Jaal, kissing him gently afterwards. Jaal hugged him back and kissed him slowly, letting his mind melt in bliss. This felt so right. Just Bruce and him, sharing the same heartbeat. When he parted for air, a goofy grin lit up his face. "You have some amazing sense of hearing. I can't hear it well. Then again, I have no ears. My neck holes are the closest thing I have." He gave another kiss. "But that's ok. I'm so happy knowing we are such in sync." "Me, too." Bruce knew it took two to get to this state. He returned the kisses gently, but without any heat - he wanted to talk with Damien soon and when he gave in to his desires, they'd certainly not leave the bed within the 5 minutes. "I got the hearing. You got the good looks. And... " He should say it before he forgot it over and over and over again, " - you don't fall asleep when it's too bright around you. You gotta close the curtains or I'm not gonna wake up, baby. Sorry. I forgot." Bruce continued to pet Jaal as part of his apology. Jaal enjoyed very much kisses like this. Of course, sex and biting were great... but he liked a lot quiet moments like this, were they just cuddled and enjoyed each other's presence. He nuzzled Bruce gently. "Alright, dear one. Lemme lower the custains completely." He got up, kinda reluctanly so (who would ever want to leave such a warm spot by Bruce's side?), and returned to him to get some extra pets. That was pretty nice, too. "Is this better for you? You feel more awake now?" He just called him 'dear one'. Bruce lay on hid side, the tip of his tail waving happily. "I'm good" he assured smiling, "Thank you ~ " "You're welcome." Jaal snuggled up to him again, then kissed his forehead. "I've been absorbing a lot of sunlight today, so I'm feeling pretty good too. Should we go check on Damien?" "M-hm." They should be doing that. As hard as Jaal made it, being so comfy and warm and nice, Bruce had a feeling the five minutes were up. "Alright. Let's go." Jaal straightened his position and offered his hand to Bruce. He liked walking hand in hand with him. Bruce, of course, took Jaal's whole arm, seeing that as invitation. "I gotta get dressed ... " he reminded him. just an undershirt would do for now. "Oh, right." Lately he had grown so used to the view of Bruce's bare body that he forgot that yes, he still used some clothes after all. He looked down to himself. Just pants. "I better put on my cape, too." Bruce wasn't all happy that him getting dressed meant that also Jaal would get dressed. He noted that for the future, took his new partner's arm eventually and dragged him to where Damien was, as, turns out, was in the living room, watching tv but really, texting somebody. "Hey Damien" Bruce greeted. Damien should know that he approached, but didn't move a muscle - ignoring him. Okay. Second try. Bruce let go of Jaal and leaned over the couch's backrest, trying to get into Damien's field of vision. "I'm glad you're back. Did you like it at Blue's place?" More silence. Jaal wasn't sure if he should interfere. Back home, all his moms and dads pretty much got on his face when there was conflicts. As in, they wouldn't leave him alone until they talked things out. But he had a feeling that doing that would be too much for Damien. Still... adressing issues right away was part of his nature. "I didn't mean to offend you. It was just my opinion on the matter and a few facts, nothing else. I'm sorry." Wait a second. Damien looked up, finally, looking expressionless from one to the other. Bruce looked at Jaal, gritting his teeth. "Jaal ... " He was not supposed to talk! They talked about that - "It wasn't me you offended" Damien said, cutting the silence. "It was Zagam, who's still part of ... whatever ... " he pointed between the three of them, " - union we have going on." Jaal let out a huffing noise through his neck holes. He felt so very tempted to argue back, but he didn't want to say something he'd regret. Still, he crossed his arms with a expression of disbelief. "Some union...." When he left both of you and hasn't called back in a year. He finished it in his mind, suspecting that Damien would snap if he dared to truly speak his mind. "Look. He isn't here." he simply sighed, then he went to sit by Bruce's side. "But I am. And I want to make your father happy. Isn't that a good thing?" "Isn't that totally - " "Damien" Bruce intervened, raising his hand and silencing his son, who was done looking unaffected, now. Bruce could hear he was getting upset. "You know that's not true. He's part, he stays that way. For ... " Bruce turned to Jaal then, " - ever" he finished. No wonder Damien's been so off. "I thought that was clear." This was on him, wasn't it. Bruce sighed, and withdrew from the couch, his hands brushing his ears back in frustration. "Then it was a misunderstanding on my part. I thought you felt ready to move on." Jaal didn't feel really guilty of feeling that way. And given the way Bruce had behaved since they met, it was pretty easy to assume he was available for a new relationship. But maybe he had got his hopes up way too soon. He got up and took Bruce's hand into his. "I do like you, Bruce. A lot. But now I feel like I shouldn't be here. Not if you don't feel really ready for it..." Immediately Bruce held on to Jaal's hand so hard, he'd have to first surgically remove it before he could go. Jaal wasn't the only one feeling bad. Damien felt pity for his father. He did want him to be happy. He'd just have to find someone who fit ... - Bruce spoke. "We're not monogamous." "No?" Jaal blinked in surprise. Well, that... changed things a lot. And explained Bruce's reluctance to let go, even if the relationship with that Zagam wasn't that healthy. Though this opened a new line of questions. "In that case - do you have other partners I should know of?" He squeezed Bruce's hand, hoping that if there were others, at least they were good people. "Just Feathers. Zagam" Bruce explained, calming a little with how Jaal held his hand. "It's not official with the others. There is a few I ... liiike ... though ... " - Why was Damien looking at him with his eyes wide as dishes? Bruce let himself get distracted by that, but looked back at Jaal soon. "And some I did like. And don't want any harm to happen to." "Three days" he heard Damien mumble as he got off the couch and sneaked off to his room. He had a feeling it was better to give Bruce and Jaal some privacy. For them and for his own mental health. Jaal smiled quietly. The change from pet name to proper name kinda confirmed his suspicions: deep down, Bruce knew Zagam probably wouldn't return, and he just needed time to be able to move on. He felt proud of Bruce for trying. He knew how hard it could be. Hell, he had years to overcome the loss of Ryder. Bruce only had one. But all that effort was amazing. And then Damien left. Should they chase him again? Maybe yes, but... not now. Clearly the boy needed time to diggest those revelations. "Well, I'm glad we're talking this now, because I thought you were an "one-and-only-person", being raised by humans and all." Jaal took both of Bruce's hands into his and pressed his forehead against his. "Looks like Angaran and batpeople aren't so different after all. I was only monogamous because my wife used to be monogamous, too. But I'm open to experiment with several partners. Who are the people you like? Maybe I can help. The three of us could be together. Or four, or five. Or whatever they are." He chuckled. "I just want us to be happy." "Me, too" Bruce replied. He was relieved Jaal felt this way. So far, he's only had one partner that wasn't okay with it, but it was enough to make him worry. "It was never supposed to be just me and Feathers" Bruce said, inching up so he could lean against Jaal and hold him close. "We always wanted more. We just didn't have the time. He'd be so proud that I found you." Yeah, he was sure of it. "I gotta admit I don't like Zagam much right now. But that is only because he hurt your feelings and you were feeling sad and lonely all this time without him." Jaal hugged him and let out a sigh. "You know... I meant to travel home after I recovered from my wounds. But then I met you and everything changed. I don't want to leave. I want to keep you safe and happy. I'd like us to be happy together. And I would love to meet the people you like. Maybe all of us could be together. Like a family." It was great Jaal wanted to stay, because Bruce for sure didn't want to let him go again. Being left alone so long, it did leave some scars. But he swore he was not going to be in this situation again. For his family's sake. For Jaal's sake. His own. Bruce nodded and wrapped Jaal up in his wings - another precaution to prevent him from leaving. "We still have to win them over. I don't know if - I don't think they like me back. But there's more to me than me now. Again" he added happily, looking up at Jaal, slightly smiling. "Well, if they don't, it will be such a pity. Because how not to love such a handsome batman like you?" Jaal nuzzled him affectionately and raised his hands, caressing his cheeks. "You have sweet eyes. Soft cheeks. Cute ears." He caressed them too. Then he left a peck on his nose. "A nice nose, and..." He left a kiss on his lips. "The most lovely smile I've ever seen." Jaal just made sure that that smile would stay for a while. Bruce did like to hear that. "Thank you" he replied; really touched. Jaal knew about his failings and yet he just called him lovable.

[projectaffectivity]

References for my fancharacters, Julia and Ceru!!!!!!

Julia was built by the probe using the stolen plans of the silver monkey. An incident caused them to be separated and Julia was stranded on a planet called Leodsi. They have since left to search for the probe’s home planet, Talis. Along the way, Julia encountered Ceru, an AI/spaceship, who ended up aiding their search. One day, Julia received a signal and the two found the ruins of the probe ship…..