Mated by Twilight (True Match)

Chapter 7

Sollit

Stepping away from the table, Sollit brought Leah to the fountain. He showed her the pretty statues holding up the tiers between the shooting jets of water. It was a distraction, allowing Tillos to surreptitiously book a new hotel room for them tonight and a second room on their transport ship tomorrow. They wanted to still be close to her, because they were courting her as their mate, but she had clearly established her discomfort so they had to change their tactics immediately.

Leah Williams was not what he expected. He wasn’t sure what to call her. The domini guide that brought her here called her by her second name, so he was going to call her that, or aevea , until she told him otherwise. He honestly didn’t even know what her names meant – which was her given name, if they were both her given name, if one or both was inherited. So, it was Miss Williams – miss appeared to be an honorific – until he was given further direction.

But aside from his confusion as to her name, everything else was a surprise. First, how absolutely adorable she was. Her body was sinfully curved and lush, and he wanted nothing more than to grab her and squeeze tight. He longed to bury his face in her breasts, to grab her ass with both hands, to just cuddle her close and never let her go.

But as salacious as her body appeared, unable to be fully covered by her baggy, largely shapeless clothes, her attitude was rather reserved. She kept her hands close, she held herself like she was trying to make herself small, and her hair kept falling into her face. When she was confronted with the idea of having two mates, she panicked so hard she almost ran away. She apologized for every minor thing, and even her gasps of awe were quiet and understated.

It was concerning, honestly. She looked like she expected to be yelled at or hit at any moment. He didn’t mind giving her reassurance, endlessly if she needed it, but the fact that she looked so uncomfortable, bordering on afraid, made him want to question her as to why.

But he knew better than to push. She needed reassurance and guidance, not an interrogation. So, he showed her the fountain, regaling her with tales of the goddess and her two gods that were sculpted there, holding up the tiers. The diner served avanava style food – a choice they’d made deliberately – and so was decorated with the three avanava deities.

He kept her entertained with stories from mythology until Tillos came to join them, giving him a look that said he’d taken care of everything, before sliding seamlessly up to Leah William’s other side and adding his own thoughts about the ancient myths.

No one still worshiped the old gods, of course. Well, some did, but they were a fringe group. The deities of Yeluka Akuley weren’t ones that demanded such a thing. They were popular in media and décor however. And it was a part of their culture they were happy to share with her as they eased her into being comfortable with them.

She also seemed interested in neutral topics. So, they picked only those, keeping the tone between them friendly, polite, bordering on business casual, as they paid their bill and took the short walk back to their hotel room.

“Zero-g is basically just shorthand for, ‘we perform each play under altered gravity’,” Sollit was saying. “They’re not all literally done at zero-g, but tweaking the gravity power can allow us to do acrobatic feats we couldn’t at regular gravity.”

“Oh,” she hummed thoughtfully.

Sollit and Tillos were explaining zero-g plays to her. She was comparing it to a human presentation called Broadway, but without knowing what that was, he couldn’t say whether she was close or not. They could only detail what they did until she saw it for herself.

More than that, speaking of their jobs seemed to relax her even more. So, they kept to that as they flanked her while walking down the street.

“It’s my turn to pick the next show,” Sollit told her, smiling with friendly joy. “I’ll be sure to pick a good story from Yeluka Akuley so you can get to know our people better. One with a happy ending this time. The last play was terrible.”

“Oh? Is that something an actor should say about his own performance?”

“Pah! Tillos and I were superb in it! It was the story itself that was flawed.”

“Why?”

He opened his mouth, ready to tell her all about the foolish brothers who let themselves be torn apart by a female instead of just sharing her, as they should, but he felt a rush of caution from Tillos. A silent urge to remain quiet. That topic was too close to the one they were avoiding.

“Ah, just some foolish males being foolish,” he quickly corrected, waving his hand as if to banish them from existence. “The acrobatics were amazing though. Wouldn’t you say, Tillos?”

“The fight scenes were expertly choreographed,” he agreed, catching Leah William’s attention, turning her back towards him. “We have a choreographer who does excellent stage planning, dance, and combat coordination. He’s quite inventive. It was a good show. Received glowing reviews. Sollit is just a romantic. He only likes happy endings.”

She giggled, and it was such a nice sound. It meant she was more comfortable.

“Have you ever worked on a production like zero-g plays?” Sollit asked, catching her attention again. “I mean, you don’t have to work. Tillos and I earn enough to pay your way, even if you don’t, but-”

“No, I want to work,” she said quickly. “I want to earn my own money. Credz. My own credz. But, er, I’ve never worked in theater or anything.”

“That’s alright,” Tillos assured her. “There are plenty of things to do around the ship that don’t involve the show itself. We can find you something to do. And Corvidair will pay you fairly. He’s a good male. Trustworthy.”

“Corvidair… Who is that?”

“The troupe owner. Our boss,” Sollit answered. “You’ll meet him tomorrow. He’s loud. Got four arms and far bigger than he has any right to be. Rootavin as well, so he’s kind of thick in the head. Never met a rootavin male who wasn’t just a bit simple. Luckily, their people depend on their females for all the important things.”

She was giggling again. As they walked into the shadow of the hotel, she seemed much more at ease. She no longer kept her hands up by her heart, twisting her fingers to work out the nervous energy ripping through her. That was a good thing.

They walked into the hotel and got her a room key – since she didn’t have a combot, she needed a physical object to unlock the control panel. They kept up the easy conversation as they escorted her up, riding the lift together. They weren’t able to get the room right next to theirs, but they did get the one across the hall. Which they made sure to mention as they went through her room and showed her how to operate everything.

She looked relieved to be left alone, which was unnerving, but he and Tillos still did so, retreating across the hall to their own room with frowns they didn’t let her see.

“That could have been better,” Sollit said as he paced up and down.

Tillos, who remained standing near the door, made a thoughtful sound. “It could have also been worse. All things considered, I think it went well. She was smiling by the end.”

“Much better than the beginning,” Sollit grimaced, remembering how wide eyed and frightened she had been when she realized there were two of them. “We should comm-”

“Corvidair and the others? I agree,” Tillos said, waving over his combot. “I think we should let Leah keep our room.”

“We can string up some hammocks in the crew quarters until she’s ready for us. Oh! We should contact Skara as well. Skara would be a good friend to her, I think, and help her feel safe and at home. Humanity’s sponsor species are the domini and the ratchi, right?”

“Good idea. You comm her; I’ll talk to Corvidair.”

Between the two of them, they warned the rest of the troupe about what was incoming. Of course, they already knew they’d be bringing home a human mate, but it was rather expected that she would have already known she’d have two mates and would bond to them accordingly.

Corvidair promised to be welcoming, and Skara assured them that she would welcome her as a friend. They made a few changes to their – currently, her – room and asked for space to be made for them in crew quarters so they could hang some hammocks to sleep. As the two most popular actors in the troupe, they got their own room, second only in size to Corvidair’s quarters as he was both the owner of the troupe and the captain of the ship. Skara had her own room, though it was smaller than theirs as she was by herself. The others all either shared small rooms, or got an even smaller, fully private room. They certainly weren’t going to make their future mate take one of those rooms, so they would share one instead, giving up theirs to her.

Hopefully, it wouldn’t be long before they could move back in.