The Last Omega in the Galaxy (Scales and Tails of Fate #1)

Chapter Seventeen

Vil

Sarge and I sat in the storage bay tallying up everything we’d gathered to get more information, better assessments and serial numbers to make sure that we got the best prices. I didn’t like negotiations without the whole facts. Sarge was on the same level as me. “Hell, the second most valuable thing in our haul is all the broken glass.”

“I know. Good haul, right? It’s fantastic.” I checked some tags on a rattling refrigeration unit we’d rigged a power supply to, keeping a bunch of samples frozen. My hand touched the door, about to open, when a sharp sound sort of resonated in my heart. I heard discomfort and pain in a way I could feel affection. And in the time it took to process what I felt, my expression must have shifted to something that concerned Sarge, because he halted his work, searching my face.

“Vil, man, you okay?”

“Noel…” My heart fluttered as I said his name and bolted. Sarge locked up behind me, the sounds of his finishing motions diminishing as I went to the central hallway and down the hall to my quarters. When I finally got into my room, the pain in my heart ceased.

“Oh good, you’re here.” Doc grinned over at me, but my eyes were only for Noel.

I expected a face twisted with pain, sweat, and panting. My heart held fear of his suffering, but his face brightened, lips twisting into a smile that also held pain. We would tackle this together.

When I approached the bed, there weren’t many questions I could ask because instinct and that song compelled me to crawl into our nest. I wanted to hold him, to nestle with him, and breathe in his scent. “I miss anything special?”

“He napped for a while and woke up with a contraction. Things are going smoothly.” Doc folded his hands in his lap and leaned back, his face a mask of something foreign and almost sad.

Noel relaxed in my arms but reached out toward Doc, taking his hand for a gentle squeeze. The song in Noel’s heart turned gentle and sweet. “I wish I could say something that would make you feel better.”

“Nothing you say could give me the joy of having my own child or give me the satisfaction of finding a bond like you have. And what I must do to you tomorrow is unforgiveable.” Doc squeezed his hand back, his grin still sad.

“Hmm. Not unforgiveable. I’ve asked you to be the one to do it. That is sparing me from the unforgiveable.”

He nodded in understanding; the words soothed him to some degree. With each passing second, Doc’s posture relented, but Noel’s didn’t. He stiffened and squirmed against me, his foot tugging an IV line with him, tucked neatly out of his line of sight. Doc had learned so many of those techniques from me, working with my hesitancy to linger in laboratories.

Noel nestled his head back to lay it on the bulk of my arm, squirming a bit to find my tail with his, letting them intertwine with affection. I liked the touch far more than I enjoyed kissing or even casual sex, if I was honest. No other tailed hybreed had ever done this with me, and I didn’t understand why until Noel shivered against me and squeezed his tail, drawing my attention over his shoulder and down his front where his belly tightened lightly and stayed twisted tight for a long time.

I reached around and rested my hand on the taut surface as Noel breathed through pressure that I couldn’t feel. Though, I heard tenseness in the song. And the more I listened, the more I felt his pain. Before, the song had only been sound I couldn’t hear, merely sound I absorbed, but I could feel the tightness twisting in a superficial sort of way, as if projected onto me. Feeling a shadow.

When Noel’s body released, the aching fullness behind it remained, drawing free a hum of pleasure from him. “It’s let up. Sorry if I worried you.”

I rested a hand over Noel’s belly and cupped the small bulge there, the firmness within something we’d made together. Something that unified us in a way I’d craved my entire life.

“Aww, you two are in love?” Doc snorted, and I glared up at him, lips stretching in a way they did when I snarled in anger. As if sensing it, Noel reached for my face, cupping the side of my cheek in a calming gesture.

He spoke for me, fingertips brushing. “No. We’re being driven together. Our bodies are being told to love one another, and in time, they will. It’s quite nice.” Noel’s breath hitched as his belly drew taut up under my fingers.

“Man. Creepy as fuck. I mean, what do you two have in common?” Doc reached forward and glared at me, reminding me I still had a territorial expression.

“I am only twenty or so years older than Vil. We are closer in age, but I am younger in experience. I imagine he remembers things from my childhood well, and he speaks familiarly. He hates MREs and has a disdain for leadership. He loves his crew, as I’ve always felt attached to those who mattered to me. He is a good person,” Noel said. His words shuddered between breaths, body quaking as the egg within him moved.

“You’ve found a good home with us, but it remains to be seen what Starbase Delta will look like for you. It’s a shock.” Doc slouched and spread his legs, watching Noel like one watched the horizon during swarming season on Keplach.

The contraction faded and Noel took a deep, shaking breath before closing his eyes and forcing himself into some sort of meaningful rest.

How he slept through the ripples going through his belly was beyond my comprehension, but Doc didn’t seem all that surprised when he drifted off a few minutes later.

Unsure of what to do, as even Doc was mildly unconfident about what would occur, I stroked Noel’s side, keeping his tail twirled in my own. Ultimately, what I was doing wouldn’t matter, but I had to do something, to feel like I was contributing something other than a random busted nut…or thirty.

“The resilience he has. Reminds me of you some years ago.” Doc shooed my hand away to press on Noel’s belly ever so gently. Things appeared to have shifted, which I supposed was good.

“I don’t think I ever brushed off a kanoik sting.” As I said it, Doc rolled his eyes.

“Broken bones? You laughed that off.”

“That’s different. Bones heal right. No poison in your veins.” Mostly, that was. Since infection didn’t seem to bother our kind.

Doc shrugged. “There’s some trauma in him we’ll find, probably a story as bad as yours. You were what happened after they perfected things. Noel was the guinea pig.” Doc stared at Noel with a sadness that I hadn’t thought he could have. “A trauma that would make someone happy to latch onto the first secure thing they could find, and willing to ablate themselves just to make that person happy.”

I’d wanted to think of that part of Noel as little as possible.

Because I’d wanted to cling to something, too. Like I clung to my ship. From time to time, how I clung to my crewmates. And idly, I’d wondered if the sex ever meant anything. Probably not. What I’d had with Noel had started meaningless, a means to an end, to shock their mind into something stable. But it meant so much more.

“Vil?” Noel’s sleepy voice drew my attention, and I nuzzled into his neck, inhaling deeply while his tail tensed and clenched against mine. That same pain he felt radiated into my senses, activating my electrosensitive pores. The sensation made me tighten my belly sympathetically.

“I’m right here.” My assurance seemed to calm him. Doc reached for his hand and patted his shoulder, grounding him further.

“Rub my belly again, please?” He drew my hand to the tight knot of his stomach as his hips shifted, legs spreading. He pressed my palm in firmly and rolled as Doc dipped his gaze lower.

I rubbed in low circles, increasing pressure slightly as Doc got Noel’s permission with an unspoken nod. “Things are progressing down there.”

“Good. Feels like it.” Noel grunted and shook, gripping onto me tightly.