There was a long pause where Inatol muted their end of the communication and then Solsan came back, seeming quite pleased. “I take your point, dearest. Give Inatol a little time to calm down. If you’ve only just arrived home, you must be exhausted. I’ll pet her a little and speak with the others. If you’re amenable, we’d love to visit tomorrow.”

“We would enjoy that,” Helix said.

He hadn’t spoken before now, and she wasn’t sure if Solsan had seen him hovering. Now he moved to the foreground, offering a polite greeting and a warm flutter of head tendrils. Solsan radiated happiness.

“I’m pleased that you can envision building a life with our Qalu,” she said. “Don’t let me keep you, we can talk more tomorrow.”

And they did. The visit passed with surprising ease, despite initial resistance from Inatol. But after a profound scolding, even she softened as she regarded Helix, who was endearingly eager to please. He proved adept at redirection and answered questions in a way that left the listener feeling like their curiosity had been satisfied without him delivering much information. Thankfully Aevi provided a distraction by regaling the mothers with stories about their visit to Barath, how she’d gone adventuring with Snaps, and all about Beryl Bowman. None of Qalu’s mothers were familiar with humans or the planet they hailed from, so gossip about an emergent species dominated the dialogue for quite a while.

“How intriguing,” Beh-latan said. “You encountered multiple humans on your journey? I wonder if they’ll ever come to Tiralan.”

Inatol said, “Never mind that. If you were on Barath, did you take issue with that Choosing? You should have protested the entire—”

“Don’t you think that would have been a trifle rude to her hosts?” Beh-latan asked.

Khrelasa sided with Inatol while Solsan tried to keep the peace. In the end, nothing was resolved because Aevi tipped over a pile of research components and dragged them out into the main room, demanding attention for her misdeed. Inatol fed her handfuls of roasted byr as a reward for being adorable, and if Qalu hadn’t been so glad to be surrounded by her noisy, meddling mothers again, she might’ve interfered. As it was, she watched everyone fondly, realizing how lucky she was, possibly for the first time.

As ever, Helix seemed to scan her thoughts effortlessly.

“You are so fortunate,” he said softly. “And so am I, since they seem willing to allow me into the fold.”

“We’re still watching you,” Inatol said in a cross tone. “But you do receive credit for coming home before it was too late. Our Qalu is not meant to lead a nomadic life. Though she might’ve been willing to follow you, in time, she would’ve been unhappy with the decision.”

“I will do my best never to make her sad,” Helix promised.