Cosmic Kiss

Moira was running on fumes. She and Sean were working with a larger international taskforce to be prepared for Earth’s induction ceremony. She was almost to busy to be concerned with the fact that she hadn’t heard from Armando in over twelve hours or Charles at all since they’d teleported away with their escorts.

She could only hope that they would be present for the ceremony or at least able to check in after it was over. She tried not to blame herself for agreeing to let them go, Sean had reminded her again and again that the other half of their team had made their own choices, but as their team leader she couldn’t help but blame herself.

“Moira, we’re wanted in Suite C,” Sean interrupted her train of thought with a worried frown. “Are you alright?”

She sighed and ran her fingers through her hair, “I’m just worried about Charles and Armando, I’m worried about what tomorrow will bring.”

“Me too, hopefully we’ll hear from them soon and whatever this ceremony is won’t be…” he faded out looking pale and frightened.

She knew the feeling. “Thanks for coming to get me, let’s get a move on and try to get some sleep before we’re needed tomorrow, something tells me we’ll need to be at our best.”

~~

Mystique poured her guests generous amounts of sparkling pink wine and gestured for them to sit in her spacious and comfortable main room.

Her furniture consisted of low, padded seats that reminded Charles of firm beanbag chairs more than anything else. The walls in her rooms were set to show a slowly rotating galaxy that he observed briefly before realizing the stars were misaligned.

“This isn’t our galaxy?” he said, immediately intrigued by the sight before him.

“Actually it is, I’m from the Milky Way too. Just a different part. My planet is night more often than day, so not being able to see the stars makes me feel unsettled,” she shrugged giving off a self conscious air with her admission.

“That’s fascinating; Alex showed me several star charts and how to navigate them with or without the central computing system,” Armando studied the walls distractedly.

She looked impressed, “You must be very clever to understand all that. My people hadn’t even mastered space travel before we were inducted. I was told that yours have?” she asked curiously.

“Yes, we’ve been to our moon and have sent probes into deep space. We’ve landed on other planets in our solar system and have a fully functional constantly manned space station,” Charles said taking a sip of the bittersweet wine.

“Believe it or not, that seemed pretty impressive a few weeks ago,” Armando said dryly. He and Charles shared a commiserating look and clinked their glasses before taking a drink.

Mystique watched them with bright, curious eyes, “What was that?”

“Oh, nothing. A toast,” Armando said dismissively.

“I want to try it,” she leaned forwards eagerly and they all took turns tapping their glasses together playfully.

“Cheers,” Charles said, echoed by Armando then Raven before they took a simultaneous drink.

“Oh, I like that,” she beamed.

Charles liked her, he suspected Erik had known he would and that’s why she’d been brought aboard. It seemed that his erstwhile mate was still trying to win his favor. He hoped Mystique could answer his questions without the knowledge gaps Erik kept leaving.

“You mentioned an infant?” Armando asked curiously. “The admiral was telling Charles something about that,” he said carefully.

She perked up immediately, “Yes, Kurt. He’s the first of our kind born into the Federation,” she said proudly.

Charles and Armando shared a worried look, “He?”

“Oh yes, they always have boys. It’s still odd for me to say that,” she chuckled.

“Why is that?” Charles asked anxiously.

“My people, Shifters, are both male and female. We can shift to one form or the other at will and we do a full shift when we decide who will bear the child in our relationship.

“So you’re hermaphrodites?” Charles was excited at the prospect. “We have creatures like that on Earth!”

“We do?” Armando asked with a frown.

“Yes, of course! Earthworms, slugs, and certain butterflies just name a few!” he said cheerily.

“I’d love to see some of them!” Mystique leaned forwards eagerly.

“I’m sure we can manage that,” Charles grinned.

She poured them another refill of wine and they all sipped for a few minutes before Charles asked, “So you’re mated to…?”

“Azazel, he’s red and has a tail, in case too haven’t met him,” she said with a secretive smile. Charles couldn’t help but notice that facial expressions came far more naturally to her than to any other Federation member he’d met so far.

“We’ve met, he was there the day of the surrender,” Armando said.

“When Kurt wakes up I’ll bring him out to meet you. It’s strange to have a son instead of just having a child.” She laughed, “The Federation had high hopes that he would be a Shifter, but he’s a boy like all the rest of them. I still think there’s hope for us to bear Shifter children, but perhaps not the daughters they want. I suppose I should say need” she mused.

“I imagine that would be strange,” Charles said, trying to imagine being able to change his gender at will, to shift his bodily functions down to the cellular level, it was too bizarre to comprehend.

“Az told me that humans are female heavy. Your planet must seem like the answer to their dreams,” she said sagely.

“It seems like it,” Armando said bitterly, casting a pall over their conversation.

“What do males of your kind look like?” Charles asked after an awkward pause in an effort to clear the tension in the air.

Mystique perked up at his question, “I can still do the face and body most of the body,” she rippled for a moment before looking like a taller, broader version of herself, a stronger jaw and thinner lips, flat chest, and narrower hips. She rippled again and was herself.

“I can’t hold it for as long anymore since Kurt,” she shrugged self consciously.

“Oh, is it permanent after you give birth?” Charles asked curiously.

“Not usually. But When Az changed to suit me, I changed to suit him,” she explained simply.

Charles suddenly remembered Erik’s words in the hall, “We change each other. With our transfer of DNA, our bodies shift to become compatible.”

His stomach dropped. “Wait. You changed too?”

“Yes,” she grimaced. “I didn’t know it at the time. In hindsight I can see that Az tried to explain it but I couldn’t really understand until it happened. I mean he didn’t know how the change would affect me so…” she gave a prosaic shrug.

“Does that mean we’re going to change?” Armando demanded, looking alarmed.

She sighed, “Unfortunately, yes. At least, once you become physically intimate with your mate. That’s when the change starts. For me it was very mild, I didn’t even notice I couldn’t shift until I tried to go male and even then I figured I was just pregnant. We can’t shift to male when we’re pregnant.” She explained as an afterthought.

“That makes sense,” Charles said blankly, trying to understand all she’d told them.

Armando was still clearly baffled, “How are we going to change?”

She gave him a sympathetic look, “I don’t know. I’m sure Hank can tell you more about that. He’s quite brilliant.” She smiled and leaned in closer, “He has his eye on another Shifter. She’s here with us to ‘help me look after Kurt,’ but it’s really to visit Dr. McCoy.” She said conspiratorially.

Charles wondered what she looked like. He wondered so many things. His thoughts felt slippery like little fish. Each time he tried to grab one and focus on it, the thought slipped back into the whirlwind of his mind. He felt on the verge of a panic attack.

“How do you all speak English?” he blurted randomly. He truly had wondered about that, but right now he needed a distraction or he’d have a full meltdown.

Mystique gave him a patient look. “Aural implants. They adapt to learn new languages as we hear them. It’s strange to get used to, but great once you have it. I’m sure they can get you some if you like.”

Charles tried to breathe and focus on how nice that would be.

Maybe the wine had been a misstep.

“Were any of the changes good?” Armando cut in, looking ill.

She gave them a soft smile, “Yes, I can now shift to appear as a female of other species as well. I didn’t have that capacity before. Hank says the change we undergo basically jump starts our evolution on an individual level. So who’s to say what humans will become?” she asked with a hesitant look.

Charles felt sick. He was changing, even now. And he didn’t know how it would affect him or when it would end.

Armando was looking a bit green about the gills as well. Charles had to ask, “Have you two…?”

“No, not yet. I mean. Not fully. We’ve done…things.” He said vaguely.

“What things?” Charles asked with a slight frown. Armando still seemed concerned.

“We kissed a little and…hand stuff. Him on me, he said I didn’t need to return the favor,” he mumbled under his breath.

“You probably couldn’t yet,” Raven said knowingly. “I thought Az was the most selfless lover for the longest time. Turns out he had major changes to make before we could have full intercourse.”

Armando was looking worse with every word she said, “Do you think he’s begun to change? Do you think I have?” he leaned forward anxiously, elbows on his knees.

She gave him a once over, “I can’t say. From what you’ve said he’s probably started but I’m not sure about you.”

Armando sat back in his seat and ran a hand over his hair in a nervous gesture. He took a deep breath before asking, “Why did you call him a plasma burner?”

Mystique grimaced at his question, “His people have an overabundance of energy. They can send it out of their bodies in concussive blasts. They rarely get tired or sick. They consume huge amounts of fuel for their bodies to function. Seeing them in action is quite a sight. But their tempers are legendary.”

“Can he absorb plasma?” Charles blurted suddenly.

She seemed confused by the question. “Yes, from what I understand…”

Charles sucked in a deep breath and gave Armando a worried look. “Armando, based on what you’ve told us, I’d say Captain Summers is changing for sure.” His voice trembled.

“Why?” Armando demanded.

Charles shifted uncomfortable in his seat, avoiding their curious eyes as he muttered. “There’s something called seminal plasma… If he came into contact with your semen…”

“God damn it,” Armando hissed, putting his head in his hands. “What are we going to do?”

“Enjoy your induction ceremony?” Mystique asked hopefully.

“Why? What’s so good about that?” Charles asked, genuinely curious.

“At our ceremony they cured a common hereditary disease that causes bone malfunctions that lead to painful shifts. It was a great day for my people,” she said warmly.

“So maybe they’ll cure cancer, or AIDS,” Charles wondered aloud. Finally seeing some light at the end of the tunnel.

“Have they forced anyone to be their mate? Would that happen at this ceremony?” Armando demanded.

She was already shaking her head by the time he was finished speaking “No, a few of them have come courting like Az did with me and like Hank does with Raven, but we can always say no. It’s becoming the cool thing to do though. Like how I’m here, on the other side of the galaxy and how I can shift more than any other of my kind. I think there will be lots of bonds created based on that alone.”

“It’s an incentive program,” Charles said slowly. And suddenly he understood. For instance, how amazing was it that he was on a spaceship speaking to an alien right now? And Erik had promised to share their scientific knowledge with him.

And apparently they may have been working on cures for human illnesses. There was so much to gain from joining the Federation; he could see many women happily signing up to bear children for their new overlords. It would be quite the status symbol to be a mated member of the Federation.

For the first time he took a moment to wonder if he would have become Erik’s mate if he’d had full knowledge of what it meant. He rather suspected he would have signed on the dotted line without hesitation; there were simply too many outright benefits to ignore. Except…

“Do they all want kids? Is that a part of who they are?” he asked, concerned.

“Yes. From what I understand, each Genoshian male has a t least one child-son.” She corrected herself with a slight grimace. “They always spread their seed.”

Charles and Armando traded confused looks, “then why choose us as mates? We’re male. They had a whole planet of women to choose from,” Armando reiterated.

Mystique shrugged, “I don’t understand it, according to outsiders my kind are all identical, but for some reason Az sought me out from among us all. He seemed drawn to me. They believe in perfect mates,” she informed them nervously. “I know that Genoshians can’t mate with each other so… I’m not sure how male mates would work. I can only speak from my experiences.” She said, giving them a worried once over.

Charles could tell she hadn’t really considered the logistics of male mates for Genoshians.

“You don’t seem to have changed much, perhaps you all will be able to give birth the way we do. Do you have one of these?” she gestured to her abdomen.

Charles and Armando glanced at each other then back at her, nodding silently.

“Why? What does that have to do with giving birth?” Charles felt nauseous.

She gave them an odd look and gestured to the closed slit that Charles had mistaken for a belly button. “It opened and then I pulled Kurt out.”

Charles was fascinated. Armando was appalled.

 “Did it hurt?” he asked wide eyed.

“More than I can possibly say,” she laughed. “But wait. How do humans give birth?” she asked with a small frown.

 Charles sighed; he doubted she’d be as nonchalant as Erik had been to learn about human reproduction. He glanced at Armando who raised his eyebrows and took the initiative to refill their wine.

It was Mystiques’ turn to be horrified.