The Pherzul had crept up while he was distracted, gazing at Qalu with complete raptness. Her countenance had become incredibly dear to him. As an AI, he hadn’t realized that one could feel fondness for someone else’s face. How fascinating. She possessed a classic Tiralan beauty, her scales glowing with warmth, and her—no, he shouldn’t get lost in reverie when the situation was so serious.

Qalu extended her forelimbs and Aevi leapt into them, curling into her with a satisfied whir. The little one seemed much more cheerful after running and climbing for a while. Once Aevi settled, Qalu stroked her back.

“Aevi, do you want to go home?” she asked softly.

“Very much!”

“But do you wish to go without Helix?”

He stared, startled to silence by that unexpected question. Like Qalu, he waited to see what Aevi would say.

“Never! He’s ours, yes? We’re keeping him. It doesn’t matter how long it takes. If we go home without him, does that mean you would go home without me next time?” Aevi hissed in ferocious disapproval. “No, no, no. That is not how this love group works, not at all. We do not abandon what is ours. Not ever.”

“Even if it takes a long time for us to get home?” Helix asked, conscious of a strange tightness in his thorax.

“Even then,” Aevi said firmly.

Qalu stepped close then, near enough that he could smell the sweet spice of her pheromones even among all the competing herb and floral notes. “Do you understand now? Aevi speaks for both of us. We belong together, through all trials. Change the transportation arrangements and book an open-date passage for three. We’ll go home with you or not at all.”

“I thought you were supposed to be a super genius,” Aevi muttered. “Why don’t you know something so simple? I bet you can’t even do calculus anymore.”

The Pherzul bounded away, apparently done with the conversation. Her exit freed Helix to move closer to Qalu and he reached out, then hesitated, unsure if his touch would be welcome. “May I comfort you?”

“I would appreciate it,” she admitted. “If it hadn’t been for Aevi, I don’t know if I would’ve been brave enough to speak. Part of me wondered if you wanted us to go.”

“Never,” he said fervently. “Praxys said—”

“Praxys is not part of our love group,” she snapped.

Gently he touched her chest and slowly tapped in cadence with her heart, soothing the wound he’d inflicted with his good intentions. That was something he hadn’t realized was possible either. Sometimes he despaired of ever mastering these nuances. “I understand.”

“Do you? Because you tried to do what I did when I meant to protect you, making my own decisions while taking away your right to choose. If it was wrong for me to do it, then—”