Mated by Twilight (True Match)

Chapter 16

Tillos

There was an official fan meet and greet today. Not the shorter, post-show ones they did for the audience after a show. This was an actual event. They had booked this big event dining hall within Jin-Raun space station to host it as well. They did these sorts of things every now and again, usually before a new show was set to start. It was familiar and comfortable.

After this was over, Tillos and Sollit were going to take Leah out for their first date at a nice restaurant in town. Not counting the first meal they shared on Holotulle as that wasn’t so much a date as just a chance to meet each other after her long trip.

Fan meetings weren’t something Tillos particularly enjoyed. Sollit loved them. He reveled in the attention and had a lot of fun meeting their fans. He was practically holding court at Tillos’ side. Meanwhile, Tillos just considered these an obligation like any other connected to his work.

Of course, he would never let the fans know that. He smiled at them, accepted their adoration and gifts with grace, and did his best to make them all feel special and important. The last thing he’d ever want was for them to come away from a meet and greet disappointed and disgusted with him.

Tillos and Sollit were considered the heartthrobs of the troupe. Females flocked to them, and Corvidair certainly used that to his advantage to sell tickets. Tillos knew that he and his brother were handsome, but he didn’t really care about it much further than its usefulness as a marketing gimmick.

But now, he was rather pleased, since it was clear that Leah enjoyed their looks as well.

He stepped back to take a drink of water and used that moment to look back behind the curtains that framed the raised dais he and the other actors were on.

The dining hall was large, with a high vaulted ceiling inlaid with marble streaked with pretty blue veins that matched well with the pale gold and ivory aesthetic of the rest of the room. Bright floating lights along the ceiling moved slowly, giving the room a magical, ethereal quality. At the back was something of an event stage. It was low set, barely a step off the ground, but it was a distinction that marked out this area for a band or perhaps guests of honor or some kind of centerpiece – whatever the hall needed really.

Today, they’d framed it with thick, blue curtains, and then used another, white, curtain to cut the raised area in half. It made it feel more like a stage, and they could use the back half as a place to keep the gifts they were given, their own supplies and gifts to give out, and a place for the crew to duck into and get to the back rooms as necessary.

Leah was among those who ducked out from behind the curtains periodically. She was acting as a runner, taking the gifts and flowers fans brought and bringing them back behind the curtain. She was super cute today, wearing a loose, muted green romper with a short-sleeved shirt underneath. It was the first time they’d seen her not weighed down by loads of fabric. In fact, after seeing her leave the privy this morning fully dressed, he’d expected her to put on a sweater of some kind.

But she hadn’t. She just said she wasn’t cold and tossed it over one of the couches. Tillos wondered if maybe she was more comfortable. He didn’t know for sure, and he didn’t think she knew either, but he suspected that she covered herself so completely in an effort to hide herself.

However, after confessing her story to them last night, after singing to them then falling asleep in their arms, she’d been more relaxed this morning. He wouldn’t say she’d lost all her anxiety, but she wasn’t actively hiding anymore, and that meant so much.

He wished he could meet her family. Sollit, he knew, was angry enough to resort to violence, but Tillos was more curious. He wanted to know what kind of people would put their own youngling through something like what Leah had lived through. He couldn’t imagine gathering a crowd to humiliate and ruin someone he hated, much less his own daughter.

It was a good thing that Leah was off her planet. They’d never need to see them again. Tillos would strive to ensure their own young never knew the pain their mother did.

That was something to worry about later, of course. Humans were offered birth control as part of their immigration off Earth since their high fertility made them super susceptible to falling pregnant. That was a choice Leah would make when she was ready.

For now, it was enough to see her not weighed down by a heavy sweater. And that adorable reaction she had when she caught his eye from behind the curtain. He gave her a cheeky little grin as she flushed bright pink, smiling even as she looked away, biting her lip. Like it was just too much to look directly at him.

Exactly how she reacted earlier when she saw him and Sollit dressed up.

There was a game they liked to play at meet and greets. Tillos and Sollit would dress up exactly alike and make no attempts to act differently enough to be easily identified. After meeting them, fans would have a chance to guess who was who. Their guess was put into a raffle and those who got the guess right were entered into a drawing for a grand prize.

In the past, they’d offered a variety of things such as backstage tours, private meet and greets, and once even a date experience with Tillos and Sollit themselves. That was only once though, and it was something they’d never offer again now that they had Leah. Today, the grand prize was free tickets to the next show in a private box with free food for four people.

When Tillos and Sollit appeared before Leah, dressed and acting identically, she’d done the exact same thing. Blushed, looked away, and smiled eagerly. They were just so handsome, she’d said. Today, they were wearing long, elegant, embroidered, sensual robes traditional to the delang – a species that was famous for the sexuality of its males and their absolute, utter, nearly obsessive devotion to their mates. It was a heavily matriarchal society, and females controlled everything while the males went to school to learn how to be perfect mates. Which included studying sexual arts. It gave their males a very specific, highly erotic reputation, that they were shamelessly borrowing by dressing in their traditional attire.

Tillos and Sollit differed only in the color of their robes – Tillos wore yellow, while Sollit wore green. And that was only so it was possible for the fans to write their guesses on who was who. Other than that, they both had the robes loose so that their chests and legs were visible, their hair was loose and flowing down their backs, and they purposefully moved with extra grace, being intentionally flirty and teasing with everyone – male and female and other alike – that came to meet them.

It also worked flawlessly on Leah. She couldn’t stop herself from sneaking glances at them every time she reached out from behind the stage to grab the gifts off the table they were placing them on. Skara was on stage with them, but she had her own crowd. There were a couple others as well, though the majority of the actors were moving freely about the room as they weren’t as popular yet or always played background roles and so didn’t have as big of a fanbase.

But Leah didn’t seem to notice anyone else.

Which worked just fine for Tillos. He finished drinking his water, keeping his eyes on her, until a flash of caution from Sollit proceeded him putting a hand on his shoulder. His brother leaned over and quickly whispered-

“Biella alert.”

Tillos quickly fixed his face and turned, smiling.

“Biella,” he greeted brightly as he and Sollit stepped forward, moving together, as she looked between them with delight.

Biella was the leader of their fan club. He wasn’t sure how she got her credz, but he knew she didn’t have a stable job because she did nothing but follow the troupe around between stations. She came to every show. She constantly bought him and Sollit gifts, and she never, ever missed a fan meet and greet.

Biella was an avanava female. She wasn’t the only one in their fan club, or even the only one in line to see them right now, but it was relevant because she seemed to think that them sharing the same species meant that they were connected even deeper than other fans.

She was also the one who won the grand prize date experience they offered some time back. And the reason that they had never offered it again.

Biella was nice, but it was very obvious that she was under the impression that, because she had successfully guessed between them once, that they were her mates. Only a mate could always tell the difference between twin males if they weren’t trying to be different – which Leah was able to do easily, even today, and had been able to since the first moment they met her. Even this morning, when they surprised her with their robes, she’d known immediately, without prompting, who was who.

But Biella guessed every time they played their game, and she only got it right about half the time – which was true for everyone else who tried. However, she didn’t know that. She only knew she hadn’t won the raffle drawing since her grand prize.

Dealing with her was a very careful dance. Sollit felt bad for her, and Tillos didn’t want to make her upset for no reason. They indulged her as much as they felt safe, but generally tried to keep a barrier between them that didn’t exist for the other fans.

Even now, as they greeted her in sync with each other, they pulled back a lot on the flirty, come hither inflection they’d given the others.

Biella wasn’t an unattractive female. Her scales were a lovely, delicate shade of pink, with a hint of golden sparkles along the scale lines – a very desirable trait among their kind as it was usually only present on gravid females. Those born with them were considered lucky. The gold flecks matched the brightness of her golden eyes – another desirable trait. Her silvery white hair was very long, all the way down to her knees when unbound, though she tended to keep it in a single plait, so it didn’t get messy and tangled throughout the day. Her features were soft, with only her nose being unusually sharp, giving her face an extra bit of character that really attracted the eye. Avanava females, unlike humans, didn’t possess breasts, but their waists did tuck in and flare into lovely hips.

Just on looks alone, Tillos wouldn’t have been disappointed if it turned out that Biella had been their mate, as she very obviously suspected. But her guesses were wrong half the time and, though she was objectively beautiful, Tillos wasn’t attracted to her. Sollit had been, initially, and that had bled through into him – as all their emotions did – but it faded quickly as they spent time with her through their date experience and her personality – focused only on obsessing over them – shined.

Now, they faced her with smiles, polite but distant, as she bounced on the balls of her feet.

“Tillos. Sollit,” she beamed between them – misidentifying them again. “You two were so great at the show yesterday. And you’re so beautiful today. I’m so glad I get to see you again. Did you get my gift? Did you open it yet? I got it just for you two.”

“We did get it,” Tillos said inoffensively.

“Thank you so much for your kindness,” Sollit finished.

She made a moaning sound of delight, deep in her throat, as she hunched in on herself, like she was about to launch herself at them, beaming brightly. She was in raptures. As she usually was around them. At least she was dressed appropriately – the simple white dress modest compared to what she usually wore to tempt them.

Tillos and Sollit said nothing as she rambled. Telling them all about the gift she brought – two bottles of dark wine from Wav’aii – and how much she wanted them to enjoy it. How she hoped they thought of her while they drank it. And then all the things she was thinking about buying them next. It didn’t matter how they tried to discourage her. She would get them gifts no matter what they said, so they had learned long ago to just accept it.

As they did with her words, smiling at her calmly as she talked herself out. Tillos didn’t know about Sollit, but he could only wonder how long this meet and greet would last until he could focus on their mate again.