#his species are born out of incubation tubes

[starpaw0007]

I believe in Aroace ZIM supremacy

[kiwikipedia]

I GOT A RESPONSE FROM @milfjaster​ AND @batfam16​ LETS FUCKING GOOOOOO

Physically speaking, all Kel Dor are biologically the same (Im electing to ignore the breasts because they’re not mammalian, there’s literally no reason for them what the fuck) and every Kel Dor can sire or bear children. The only real variations among Kel Dor that are clearly visible is the varying heights, and even then, there seems to be no real difference in identity.

For example, Plo Koon measures in at around 6′1″ but his sister— Sha’s mother— is 6′3″. On the other hand, their Uncle is a towering 6′7″

Gender is rather fluid because of the lack of physical differences among Kel Dor, resulting in a lack of gender roles and such among the people.

Kel Dor grow rather slowly until they reach around eighteen-twenty standard, in which they shoot up to their average six-foot-something height in most cases. It’s rare for them to be below six feet tall but it does happen every so often. 

Kel Dor have 28 vertebrae with ribs going from sternum to pelvis, though like the human ribs about half way down they no longer span across the whole torso. Their bones are denser with less bone marrow than humans as well, but just as flexible.

Kel Dor lung strength is much more than a human’s or any normal mammal would be, with Jedi Master Plo Koon’s being around forty-seven minutes.

The tusks and skin of a kel dor is very expensive and prized among black markets. What is a lesser known but still prized are the chiten of their nails/talons.

Kel Dor tusks are also used for communication.

Communication among the Kel Dor varies. There is a mental aspect, verbal aspects, and physical aspects.

The Kel Dor have a spoken language, one that is both spoken on the same sound frequency as humans and one that is not, as the natural Kel Dor voice does not reach the Human Ear very well off of Dorin / out of Dorin's unique atmosphere. 

So, that said, the Kel Dor can communicate on a wide range of sound waves, both on and off Dorin. It's not unheard of for Kel Dor to have conversations outside the normal hearing range of Humans, though semi discernible by Sentients who can hear on other ranges.

They also can communicate with varying clicking, whistling, warbling, and similar noises. Physically speaking, their tusks convey certain things as well, such as happiness, frustration, and so on.

They aren’t actually entirely insectoids nor do they really eat them like many assume but they find it funny and occasionally are known to emulate the terra insect “mantis” to trip others up.

In the event where a Mask is not possible to use or a Kel Dor wishes to forgo a mask off planet, A small opening in the soft part above the collarbone is created. A small tube is then inserted, however this prevents them from using their vocal cords while the tube is open. A low resting collar over this opening is to be set and has the same mechanics as their masks in order to do the anti-ox filtration. This can later be closed surgically and very little harm is done to the Kel Dor in the long run.

Many Kel Dor have medical implants that allow for this secondary option to be used along with the mask depending on the situation. The port where the tube is held is able to be modified to seal air tight in the even that the collar is not needed. 

(There is speculation that they did evolve from insect or bug-like creatures on Dorin, but if that is true or false is unknown to anyone but the Kel Dor)

Since I dont like the unmasked version that is canon/legends canon of the Kel Dor...

Kel Dor appear to be toothless initially though their teeth are actually retractable and also razor sharp. 

(If anyone’s curious, what I imagined them to look like before i saw it is really close to this by Ink)

They also have this long ass tongue and a secondary set of jaws that collapse against their mouth and throat so they don’t fucking destroy the inside of their own mouths and throat.

Kel Dor have a slower metabolism, allowing a fully grown Kel Dor to be able to go anywhere from a week to a month without needing to eat a full meal. Off world, Kel Dor sometimes eat small portions once a day instead of eating a full meal all at once.

Kel Dor also have a smaller intestine system due to the extra organs in their bodies— namely, the egg pouches and egg sacs. Once the eggs of the young are lain, they are housed within the egg pouch until born.

(Not really NSWF as in sexy times entirely but there is reproductive talk under the cut)

(There is one (1) sexy time note though)

Kel Dor eggs need to either be fertilized or lain, depending on what role the kel dor plays in the sexual relation. Should a kel dor be the one penetrating, then they eggs will be lain internally- in the case of this act with another Kel Dor using the mid abdominal slit for the egg pouch will suffice. The bearing partner’s own members will fertilize the sire’s eggs while their own are reabsorbed into their body.

Should the Kel Dor be the one to bear the children, and the partner is not another Kel Dor, then the eggs within the ovaries/egg sac must be fertilized. This is done through the other partner penetrating the slit between the legs. It is not unlike the vaginal slit of mammalian sentients, but lacks most of the same anatomy as one. The eggs then are carefully lain externally and then manually inserted into the egg pouch.

Kel Dor on average do not bear more than one child at once, but more than one egg is often lain— six has been the average with eight at most, but nonetheless, all eggs should be incubated.

Sexual activity purely for pleasure is not uncommon among bonded pairs, however Kel Dor do not have “casual” sex between unserious partners, as it signifies marriage among the Kel Dor.

A Kel Dor’s member and ovipositor are both kept within the body as well, as both are fairly sensitive to oxygen along with just being softer tissue in general. The slit where they are kept is located lower/mid abdomen— about under where the navel.

Dorin Doctors, Healers, and Scientists have developed medical implants and medicines that keep the mating cycle / heat cycle at bay. Implants are only given to those who live off-world and are surgically placed within the body. Those who live on Dorin simply take medication through injections. The implants last for about six years before needing to be renewed and no side effects have been seen. Kel Dor off planet also have the option to use injections as well, if they prefer.

Kel Dor can obviously produce children with other Kel Dor, but can also produce other non mammalian species through both siring and bearing. There is a very rare chance of bearing with a mammalian partner, but it is mostly written off as impossible.

Often, the children will take after the bearing parent, however if force sensitive enough to be considered possible Jedi, they will have the Kel Dor silver eyes no matter their outward appearance. They will often also inherit the Clan’s unique force gift and be natural telepaths. Their hands might also be taloned as well.

But in general, children among Kel Dor are rare. This is in part that Kel Dor reproduction in general is somewhat difficult— and that no one is sure why there is a low hatch rate / low number of children who survive.

The average egg clutch is anywhere between four to eight but often only one or two of the eggs survive. Twins are rare in Kel Dor society and when they’re born, there is great celebration.

[atomic52]

WOOOO!!! about time i post a reference sheet.  Name: Lilith Κακό Hat ((her middle name means "evil" in Greek)) nick name(s): Lulu, sweetheart, malicious little monster, squirt, shorty, cutie pie, sweetie, ankle biter, princess, and precious. race: half blood. species: half demon more specific a succubus and half German. gender: female. but has both sexual organs. she's very shy and embarrassed of having male parts. sexual orientation: prefers men. but its so hard to find a guy that doesn't mind you being evil, respects her body horror traits, isn't totally afraid of your father, and won't be turned off to find that you have a ding dong to go with your woo woo. love is so complicated. age (left to right): 5, 16, 23. height (left to right): 3'5" 6'6"(with horns) 7'4"(with horns and heels) weight (left to right): 86 pounds 165 pounds occupation: evil Secretary for Black Hat organization and serves as BH's replacement while he is away on business trips. also having to organizer and keep the lab safe for Dem. cuz Flug normally goes with BH on these trips. she is the heiress to BH's business, which means if something happens to him she with be in charge of everything. she also likes to help 505 around the house. like dust places he can't reach and fold laundry. she likes doing laundry its relaxing to her. until she finds one of Flug's blood stained lab coats. "Dad!!! do you know how HARD it is to get blood out of white clothes?!" weapon: she is trained in every fighting style and weapon but prefers not to fight. but if she has to she likes to use her own claws. powers: shape shifting, but she can only use it to an extent. she can shift her body to be something else as long as it sticks close to her own size or she might severely hurt herself. body horror, as in deforming her body to be horrifying and disturbing. manipulation (if you can even call that a power). likes: her family, meat. prefers red meat but needs human flesh if she's hurt. but Flug won't allow cannibalism so pork serves as a good human substitute. pancakes, her family's evil world domination, girly things (like her music box, nail polish, likes doing makeup but doesn't like it on herself, dress up, porcelain dolls) reading (her favorites are "the book thief", poems by Edgar Allan Poe, and fairy tales), boys ~unlisted~ drawing, playing instruments, singing, dancing, and just spending time with her fathers. dilikes: HEROS, vegetables or anything green, sports mostly just baseball, football, tennis, basketball, and soccer. work... she hates it but it must be done. issues: allergic to nickle and silver. it makes her break out into a rash. a bit of a workaholic, like her fathers some times she gets so wrapped up in her work that she forgets more important things like eating and sleeping. when she was young she used to sleep with BH and Flug. ever sense the day she was born she slept with them. they would put her down for the night and leave her alone she would scream and cry till one of them came to get her. but as she got older she started staying in her own room. but from time to time when she can't sleep or she wakes up from a nightmare she goes and sleep with she fathers. she's a bit of a scatterbrain. she's not as clean cut as BH and she's not a total mess like Flug. just a little forgettable. she doesn't need to eat or sleep as much as the normal human but she still needs it. there had been times when she was young she would wake up in the meddle of the night wide awake and ready to play. so she would push, pull, and jump on BH and Flug to get them up to play. but most of the time she gets pined by BH's arm to the bed telling her to go back to sleep. if she was upset, scared,or just hiding for fun you could find her under BH's bed. even as an adult she still hides there. she is very socially awkward, well you would be too if you stayed inside for most of your life. she is also self conscious. so its very hard for her to show off with out backing out of it. and a bit camera shy. when she was little she was scared of cam-bot. talens: she can play the violin, piano/organ, flute, guitar, and cello. she can sing, dance a number of different styles, and paint. but you would never see her do any of it for how shy she is. personality: shy, soft spoken, withdrawn, she can be bubbly, out going, talkative, loving, ray of sunshine, and just plan happy. but she can also be a sick, sadistic, blood thirsty, stone cold killer. relationships: daughter of Black Hat and Flug Slys ((yes their are married. they wear their rings under their gloves)) her "aunt" is Demencia. 505 is her pet and best friend. she has a crush on a boy she met in the rain when she was 5. his name is Jonathan. backstory: she was born on a scorching summers day. she was consented in a test tube also called "the incubator". she took about 6 months 14 days 8 hours 30 minutes and 4 seconds to reach maturity. Flug kept a very close eye on how long it took. Flug was in complete control of Lilith's gender but he kept that part a secret for BH so he could be exited to find out they were having a girl. BH had put a spell on the incubator so if anyone one except Flug touched it, it would teleport him right to it to defend his helpless child. after Lilith formed a heart and a brain BH would come into the lab late at night to read to her or just talk to her. Flug would come in to the lab in the mornings and find BH curled up and around the incubator. he thought it was cute. when it finaly came close to the time Lilith was to come out BH was losing his mind with worry, dread, and excitement. Flug tried his best to keep calm for BH's sake but he was feeling the same way he did. Dem and 505 on the other hand where out buying her gifts and things including a bear onesie, cute baby socks, some baby toys, and a battle axe. when BH finally got to hold his daughter he never wanted to let go of her. he held on to her for the whole day not even giving her to Flug. --------- other works of Lilith: atomic52.deviantart.com/art/Lu… atomic52.deviantart.com/art/Be… atomic52.deviantart.com/art/dr… atomic52.deviantart.com/art/Mo…sta.sh/0123xuer9qdb sta.sh/01u3edpy8m9v Villainous- Alan Ituriel‏ Lilith/art- @atomic52

[tomfooleryprime]

Was Spock the first human/Vulcan hybrid?

First contact between humans and Vulcans occurred in 2063. Spock was born in 2230. If you listen to some Star Trek fans, that means 167 years passed before both our species decided to bear some sex fruit. Let’s be real though, 167 years is a long time for two civilizations to interact with each other without at least someone from one group deciding to bone someone from the other group, particularly when you consider the populations of both civilizations numbers in the billions.

We might say, “Maybe interspecies sex was just too big of a taboo! Maybe it took that long for barriers to finally start coming down.” Yeah, maybe. Or maybe it’s like Hagrid once said of Dobby the house elf: “Yeh get weirdos in every breed.” Even if 9,999,999,999 humans thought the idea of having sex with an alien was weird or unnatural, there would always be at least one exceptionally progressive person who could see beyond everyone else’s prejudices and pre-conceived notions, and I’m certain the same is true for Vulcans. I would almost be willing to bet that at least one of the first Vulcans who rolled off the T’Plana-Hath on that April morning in 2063 in Bozeman, Montana saw one of the locals and thought, “That human is aesthetically pleasing.” And all it takes is a spark, right? Besides, who wouldn’t want to hear a Vulcan pickup line?

And all the panties fell off as if by magic.

Moreover, in 1957, 106 years before official First Contact between humans and Vulcans, a small Vulcan survey ship crash-landed near Carbon Creek, Pennsylvania. There were only three survivors, and of those three, one of them just couldn’t stop himself from falling for the single mom who ran the local bar. Granted, Maggie didn’t know Mestral was Vulcan, but he definitely knew she was human, and a trivial thing like species didn’t seem to matter to him.

Smitten personified.

But wait, just because a few amorous, adventurous, or convention-hating humans and Vulcans might be willing to stand up and proudly (or maybe more discreetly) proclaim, “Love is love, fuck the haters” and get naked with each other, that doesn’t mean they were making babies because after all, humans and Vulcans are genetically incompatible and it would take a feat of medical engineering to swap gametes, right?

Argue if you want, but human/Vulcan sexy time dates back to at least 2153.

People who believe Spock must have been the first hybrid usually stake this claim on one or more of four arguments:

1.     Humans and Vulcans didn’t shack up routinely enough 2.     The science of making a hybrid baby didn’t exist until Spock came along 3.     Gene Roddenberry said so 4.     Spock clearly felt isolated as a child, but he wouldn’t have if there were more hybrids like him

I’ve already poked enough holes in the first claim. Maybe there weren’t a ton of interspecies couples, but I feel confident in saying there were at least some and some is all we need. And once people decide they like each other enough to form relationships, it’s usually not long before at least some of them start thinking, “You know what would make this better? A smaller version of us!”

As for the science behind making a hybrid baby, it existed in the mid 22nd century. Spock wasn’t the first. That’s a fact. Elizabeth, the hybrid child of Charles “Trip” Tucker and T’Pol, existed in 2154.

Pointy ears and pinchable cheeks.  

Elizabeth sadly died as a result of the improper cloning techniques used to conceive her, so there are many who would take the statement of “Spock was the first human/Vulcan hybrid” and simply add the caveat of “to survive.” Perhaps. But in the Star Trek: Enterprise episode “Terra Prime,” Trip says:

I spoke with Phlox. It turns out there was a flaw in the technique that Paxton’s doctors used in the cloning process. Human DNA and Vulcan DNA, Phlox says there’s no medical reason why they can’t combine. So if a Vulcan and a human ever decided to have a child, it’s probably be ok. And that’s sort of comforting.

So a Denobulan doctor knew a way to make hybrids a full 75 years before Spock was conceived. Maybe the technology was untested and required some refining, but by even a modern a technological timeline, 75 years is an eternity.  

There’s an interview between Gene Roddenberry and Mark Lenard which claims Spock was the first, and so a lot of people might be happy to believe whatever Roddenberry said was the gospel. In the interview, Roddenberry is interviewing Mark Lenard as Ambassador Sarek, asking him questions about humanity and his life when the subject of Spock comes up.

Mark Lenard: Spock’s mother Amanda is an extraordinary woman. Gene Roddenberry: And Spock was the result? The first human/Vulcan mixture? Mark Lenard: No, not the first, but the first to survive. As you must know, an Earth/Vulcan conception will abort during the end of the first month; the fetus is unable to continue life once it begins to develop its primary organs. The fetus Spock was removed from Amanda’s body at this time: the first such experiment ever attempted. His tiny form resided in a test tube for the following two Earth months while our physicians performed delicate chemical engineering, introducing over a 100 subtle changes we hoped would sustain life. At the end of this time, the fetus was returned to Amanda’s womb. At the ninth Earth month, the tiny form was again removed from Amanda, prematurely by Vulcan standards, and spent the following four months of Vulcan term pregnancy in a specially designed incubator. The infant Spock proved surprisingly resilient. There seemed to be something about the Earth/Vulcan mixture which created in that tiny body the fierce determination to survive.

So for some fans, maybe that counts as proof. But Gene Roddenberry had a lot of conceptual ideas about his beloved Star Trek that conflict with actual canon and modern science. For a prime example, just look at the treatment of star dates. So maybe it’s me, but I don’t think something is canon just because Roddenberry said it in an interview once. Furthermore, if we take that interview as canon, how do we explain this scene from The Final Frontier where Spock is delivered from Amanda (not a “specially designed incubator”) and presented to Sarek?

Then Sarek went and uttered one of the most dick lines in Trek history.

Lastly, there’s the isolation that Spock feels. How can we explain how lonely he is if it’s not because he’s the only hybrid? Quite easily, actually. Every single person in existence has felt misunderstood and alone at times. As children, our worlds are very small and our social circles consist of our immediate families, school mates, and our parents’ associates. That’s pretty much it. When we aren’t exposed to people like us, it’s very easy to imagine Rocket Raccoon might have been onto something when he said, “Ain’t no thing like me, except me!”

But that’s very rarely literally true, as every kid who’s ever been the only minority at their school or any teen who’s ever been the only gay person in their tiny conservative town will tell you. As we get older and achieve the freedom to strike out and meet people on our own terms, we often learn we weren’t quite as unique as we thought and there are whole groups of people out there who are black or gay or disabled or whatever it was that left us feeling so alone in our formative years. I think that’s why Spock’s character resonated so much with viewers – he was a symbol for all the misfits out there who knew just how much it sucks trying to fit into the fabric of a society that seems so different than they are.

 Proof that regardless of species, kids can be fucking awful. 

Vulcan was a big planet. By the time Nero destroyed it in Star Trek: 2009, it had more than 6 billion inhabitants. Even if there were only 100 human/Vulcan hybrids by that point in time, the odds of an average Vulcan encountering one would still be incredibly small. It’s entirely possible Spock may have felt like he was the only hybrid because he might have been the only one in his community, but the universe is a big place with plenty of room for other human/Vulcan hybrids he and those vicious bullies never met. 

Spock was clearly pretty special. Even people who hate Star Trek and know almost nothing about it know who Spock was and recognize the Vulcan salute Leonard Nimoy made famous in his portrayal of the character. But just because Spock’s human ancestry made him unusual doesn’t necessarily mean his conception was some completely novel, groundbreaking, pioneering leap for interspecies relationships either. 

I can’t say I know many Vulcans, but I think I have a pretty firm grasp on humanity. Despite homosexual, interracial, and interfaith relationships being taboo and even illegal in many countries until relatively recently (and sadly still are in some places) there have always been people who decided they didn’t care and took a chance on love. So I don’t buy the idea that humans and Vulcans could live and work together even in a limited capacity for more than a century and a half before making the jump into starting families.

[the-lady-ren]

Hello, hello

Hello my friend!Thank you so much for your patience in waiting for this. WOW. I loved writing this for you. Before receiving your prompt, I never even really thought much on Kitty’s origin. But here we are! I hope you find this as interesting to read as I did to write.

Again. Thank you so much for this fun prompt. Shoot me a line and let me know how you like the outcome. 💜

Back when the cathedral still stood, curled in his strong arms, you ask Kylo one day how he came to be. Kylo has mentioned from time to time that he is the only one of his kind that he is aware of. He always remembers living in the cathedral, fending for himself since he was about ten years of human age. While he can’t recall specifically how he got there, he has some ideas, but he has never delved too deeply into his past.

Sighing heavily, Kylo unwinds his body from yours in the warm, nestlike bed. You sit up, watching as he moves through the shadows, drawing a warm scarf around his neck. It’s always a bit drafty in the cathedral, especially deep within where his room is, and he’s always wearing a scarf of some sort and wraps you in them as well whenever you come visit. After moving some boxes aside, Kylo finds what he is looking for. A battered and patched suitcase, the handle worn. Lifting it with a grimace he brings it over to the bed and turns the combination locks with his broad thumb, clicking the latches open.

“This is all I have,” he explains, lifting out folders and tattered Manila envelopes. “I don’t know much about where I came from, and I think that it was purposeful that I forgot. Maybe to protect me, maybe to protect them, I’m not sure.” Opening one of the large yellow envelopes, he thumbs through the papers within and hands you a thick file folder, the pages faded with age. “This should answer at least some of your questions,” he says, his tone apprehensive and sad.

As you flick through the pages, you realize that these represent the years long documentation of some sort of experiment. The terms are unfamiliar to you, but you learned enough in high school and college science classes to grasp at least some of it. Genetic engineering, selective hybridization, all of these terms with calculations, diagrams and observation reports.

Kylo rakes his hand through his hair, flattening his ears briefly as he paces the room, his tail flicking sharply, nervously behind him. “There were more before me,” his voice is soft and full of untold sorrow, “but I was the only one to survive past infancy.”

Coming back towards the bed he lowers himself down and sits next to you as you scan over the documents. He reaches into the suitcase and pulls out an envelope. This one is full of pictures. As he flips through them, he puts certain ones aside. “These came out of order somehow,” he murmurs, his voice irritated. Your eyes stare, wide with wonder at what he’s sharing with you. Handing you a stack of photographs, you go through them, staring at each one individually.

In one, a group of people in white lab coats, wide, proud grins on their faces as they hold up a Petri dish of unknown contents. Kylo points a long index finger at them and explains, “Their specialty was mammalian hybridization. Uh…cross breeding, through manipulation of DNA, different kinds of mammals. Not hard with non-human species. There are hybrids that live among us all the time. But crossing that barrier…introducing animal DNA into a human embryo,” he pauses, swallowing and clearing his throat, “that’s a whole different subject,” Taking the stack of photographs from you, he places the top one at the back of the stack, bringing the next one to the front. This one shows an odd series of scientific instruments, different tanks and tubing.

“From what I can gather,” he says, “these were the incubation chambers for the hybrid embryos. Modeled to replicate a womb and an amniotic sac as much as possible, once the embryos were deemed viable, they would be placed here for development. Closely monitored. Many didn’t make it past the first few days here…” Brushing his hair out of his eyes again, you look up at him, the solemn expression on his face, his brow coming together in his obvious discomfort and lingering sadness. Feeling a pang in your chest you wrap your arms around him in a quick hug. He smiles, a thin, tight smile, and turns your attention back towards the photos.

Spreading them out on the bed in a sort of chronological order, he goes through each one. Most of them are for documentation purposes only, just showing the labs, instruments and unrecognizable information on a computer screen. “Ah, here,” he says, handing one to you. In the photo you see a tall, smiling man, his labcoat pristine. In his arms he holds a plump baby, but not just any baby. This baby is very obviously Kylo. Tiny cat ears stand up from his round head, his black hair plastered low against his baby scalp. His eyes are different, though a lay person wouldn’t see it right away, and draped over the man’s arm is a long, black tail. The baby is chewing on something, as babies do.

“This is me, I guess,” Kylo says. He points out other pictures of himself, showing his growth and development over time. The same man is in every picture with him, whether it’s a more formal pose for the official record or something candid, watching him stalk a tiny toy mouse, interacting with non hybrid kittens or playing with blocks and toy cars like a normal child. “I can’t say I was mistreated,” he tells you, “at least from what I can tell. Again, these pictures serve as the only memories I have. I don’t recall these specific moments, that specific man. Just a vague sense of…observation, an overwhelming curiosity. He seems…"Kylo pauses again, gathering his thoughts before moving on, "kind?” Again he sighs, his broad shoulders slumping as he scans his mind for anything, even a shred of a real, concrete memory. You’re in awe of him, all this information he’s sharing with you. The trust he has in you is overwhelming.

“Here,” he says, taking the folder of documents from your hands. You’d been clutching it, your palms damp with sweat and your heart pounding in your chest as you listen to him explain these things to you. He flips to the back of the folder, pulling free the last few yellowed pages. “These pages mark the end of the experiment,” Kylo lays the pages on his thick thigh, his index finger scanning the words, pointing to the sentences he wants you to read. Your eyes follow his finger, reading the cramped, sloppy handwriting of a scientist. They explain that the lab is to be closed, these are really the final days of the experiment. Funding has been pulled, redirected to something more “worthwhile”. The last few sentences demonstrate an attachment, unexpected certainly, but there nonetheless, as the scientist in charge of the lab struggles with what to do with the subject.

“And as we conclude what can only be described as a more than successful hybridization, what to do with Kylo? Any remaining embryos have been destroyed, the incubation tanks broken down, drained and packed away. But still Kylo remains, playing in his room, reading books and daydreaming like any relatively normal human male. I cannot take him home. How would I explain it to Lydia, how could we keep him safe when he was scheduled for euthanization? Could I take him to a hospital or to Child Protective Services? Absolutely not. He would be ostracized and brought somewhere that he would be experimented on. There are enough DNA markers to connect him to me, to this lab and this corporation. No, I am too connected to him to take him home. I have to find a place where he will be safe. I have given him the knowledge and the tools to make a life for himself, now it is time to put those tools to good use. I had hoped for just a little more time…he is still so young.”

Here it cuts off, the fading signature of whoever this person was scrawled below, illegibly. Your eyes fill with tears realizing that he was supposed to be killed. This living, breathing man sitting next to you could have been “put to sleep” like so many unwanted animals. The kindness of this unknown scientist prevented that. Throwing your arms around Kylo, you hug him tight, your face buried in his chest, struggling to control your tears. “Did you ever want to find him?” You murmur, your voice muffled by his shirt.

Kylo shakes his head, “No, ” he answers, “there is too much risk involved. Not only for him, but for myself. Who knows what could happen were I to reach out. That he saved my life, brought me here,” he sweeps his arm in a grand gesture, drawing your attention around the room. “As far as I remember, a lot of this stuff was here. There was food here, books and tools to begin to grow my own. I may not remember where I came from, but I remember what I learned. With the books and tools left for me, I was able to grow food, reconnect the electricity, make sure the water was safe and clean…” he shrugs again, “and now with you,” he swings his arm around your shoulder, pressing his full lips against your temple, “I have everything I could have ever wanted.” You nuzzle against him, smiling softly. Sliding slowly away from him and off the bed, you begin gathering the papers and photographs, placing them back into the envelopes and folders and back into the battered suitcase.

“Thank you,” your voice rings out softly in the cozy room that Kylo has made his own. He raises his yellow eyes to meet yours, a crooked smile on his handsome face. “I mean it. Thank you. I…I don’t know why you trust me like this, you could have lied, told me you fell from space and I would have believed you. The risk you face…” Kylo places his large hands on your hips and pulls you towards him, burying his face in your middle and sighing with relief.

“I don’t know what it is about you,” he says, lifting his gaze to meet yours, “In such a short time, you have not only accepted me and what I am wholeheartedly, but you’ve made me trust another living being in a way I didn’t think I was capable of.” He raises himself onto his knees, wrapping his arms around you again, holding you close, making you feel safe. “You are my home,” he says, “and you are the closest thing to family I have ever had.” A single tear rolls down your cheek as you crush your lips against his, sealing a silent promise that you are more than happy to make.