Chapter 15
“That can’t be right!” Mystique cried to Charles and Armando’s muffled laughter.
“It’s no fun, but the alternative is worse,” Charles said lightly, taking another deep drink of wine.
“What’s the alternative?” she asked eyes wide and glistening.
“Major abdominal surgery,” Armando said with a grimace. “That’s how my younger brother was born. The recovery is no joke.”
She slumped back in her seat looking distraught, “You should get the Federation Medical Corps on that. I’m sure they can at least help the women recover more quickly from their surgeries.” She said with a deep frown creasing her scales.
“That would be great!” Charles chimed in drunkenly. “The most dangerous place for a patient after surgery is often the hospital. Their immune system is compromised and they’re surrounded by very sick people. It’s worse in hospitals that still utilize the ward set up.”
No one said anything. He cracked one eye open to peer at his companions, “What?”
“You can make anything sound interesting,” Armando laughed, finally fully relaxed.
“No wonder the Admiral fell for you,” Mystique said with a fond smile before topping off her glass once more.
Charles frowned as an idea struck, “The wine won’t sour your milk will it?”
“My what?” She asked with a laugh, like the question made no sense.
Armando started laughing again and gestured for Charles to continue.
Charles sighed, remembering Erik’s many questions about lactation. He pushed the cute memory out of his mind and tried to focus on his answer, “women produce milk for their young. That’s what babies... eat.” He concluded for lack of a better term.
“But what is milk? And how do the women produce it?” she asked with another confused frown.
“Dear god I wish I was recording this,” Armando watched their conversation with an air of amusement.
Charles hated him in that moment. “Maybe we should just watch an educational video on the topic. I don’t want to confuse you further.”
She narrowed her eyes threateningly, “you tell me now or I’ll let the wine make you ill in the morning.” She stated matter of fatly.
Charles groaned and closed his eyes, trying to decide if he’d rather have a savage alien hangover or explain more about human reproduction to someone who had no basis of understanding for it. “Coin flip,” he muttered under his breath.
Mystique perked right up, “Ooh! What’s that?”
Armando was rivaling Erik for Charles’ least favorite person when he chuckled and said, “I’ll take that one. And when I’m done, Charles will cover biology for you.”
Traitor.
~~
Erik wanted to go reclaim his mate. Charles and Armando had been with Raven for just over two Earth hours at this point and none of them had been called for.
Azazel wouldn’t notice at any rate since he was off spoiling his son who was too young to be very interesting to Erik. Kurt was disturbingly small and fragile and that made him uncomfortable.
He frowned at the memory of the tiny humans he'd held and the even smaller ones he'd met on their journey. They were even more fragile than Shifter young.
Alex sighed heavily and slumped in his seat. Erik was at least pretending to read over the speech he’d be making at Earth’s induction ceremony. He knew his words would be dissected and replayed in every nation and language on Earth for years to come. But that didn’t concern him.
The real stars of the show would be the Medical, Science and Engineering Corps, though Weapons Technology had something very promising planned for Earth as well. Erik irritably wondered if another of his men had a paramour on Earth he was desperately trying to impress.
“What do you think they’re talking about?” Alex asked with a worried frown.
Erik played it cool, “I’m sure they’re discussing what it’s like to join the Federation and be mated to one of us.”
His frown only deepened “Won’t that be weird for them? I mean Shifters are already female.”
Erik jolted as Alex’s words sank in, he might have miscalculated terribly. He set his tablet aside and stood as quickly as he could while still maintaining a sense of dignity. “Let’s go get them, it’s been long enough.”
Alex was suspicious of the Admirals sudden change of heart, but it was getting him what he wanted so he didn’t question it. A few minutes later found them standing in front of Mystique’s quarters waiting for the door to announce them.
After what seemed like a very long time-the Admiral’s lips were flatter than Alex could remember seeing them since the time he’d gotten his brother to knock an asteroid out of orbit on a dare. The door swung open to reveal a visibly tipsy Mystique who’s lips and cheeks were periwinkle blue-Alex didn’t know what that meant to her kind but he hoped it wasn’t fatal.
Erik frowned, “Are you alright?”
“No! Your mate has been filling my head with foul, unnatural things!” she shuddered.
“It’s all perfectly natural!” Charles insisted from the depths of his seat where he’d slumped so far down he was barely visible. “Wait. Is that Erik?” he sounded petulant.
“Yep,” Armando said dryly, taking them in through half open eyes. “The mates are back.”
“How much did you all drink?” Erik demanded shortly. He preferred to keep Drunk Charles to himself.
“Only one bottle,” Mystique held up a handful of fingers and wiggled them emphatically. Erik had no idea how to read Shifter sign language so he moved on.
“If you’re done for now I’d like to spend some time with my mate,” he said a cordially as possible.
“Sure. I need to find Az and Kurt anyway,” she stumbled backwards as she spoke.
Erik stifled his irritation, “I’ll send them to you.” He had no desire to have a drunk Shifter running loose on his ship.
She gave him a bright smile, “That’s so sweet!”
“What are you two on about?” Charles grumbled curiously from his slouch. Erik realized they’d switched to Mystique’s mother tongue at some point.
He looked past her to see Alex tenderly helping his mate to his feet and looping one arm around his waist to support most of his weight. Armando slung one arm over Alex’s shoulder and leaned against him heavily.
That was a good sign, he was happy for the Captain.
He stepped in as well and knelt at Charles’ side, remembering the night of the borealis and their adventure in the snow. “Are you ready to return to our quarters?” he asked softly.
“Our quarters? I thought they were mine?” he asked in a drunken whine.
Erik stiffened, “I reset my quarters so we could create an environment you’d like.”
Charles groaned and covered his face at his words, “Why do you have to be so sweet?”
Erik wasn’t sure if that was a serious complaint and when he glanced at Alex he looked just as confused to hear it. “Let me help you up,” he said instead of answering. He gently tugged Charles into a sitting position and lightly brushed his fringe back from his forehead until he pushed his hands away. Erik sat back on his heels, trying not to look as dejected as he felt by the rejection.
He hoped he hadn’t ruined both their lives by falling for Charles.
“Tell me something?” Charles asked softly, eyes bright. “I just don’t understand what drew you to me when you need a woman to bear you a child. You had all of earth to choose from. Why me?” he asked softly.
Erik looked pained. “What do you remember me saying?”
Charles wracked his brain, still hazy from the wine, “That you all mate with the women on your colonies to have mothers for your children,” he said slowly.
This was exactly the misunderstanding he’d been hoping Mystique would clear up. “No, I said we choose mates from out colonies to procreate with. They are the mothers of our children,” he stressed.
For a long moment Charles thought they had just restated the same sentiment, and then Erik’s words filtered through.
“Wait. What. Are you saying?” nothing made sense.
“Mother isn’t a gendered term on Genosha, Charles. It simply means the one who brings you forth. Male or female. We can impregnate our mates no matter where they are from or what their gender is.” He said softly.
“Oh,” Charles said softly. “Of course.” It made a terrible, sick sort of sense.
“What of course?! What the hell did you do to him?!” Armando slurred, trying to shove away from Alex but unable to match his strength.
“Hey, calm down. It’s going to be fine,” Alex said, sick with worry. “Their bond is between them,” he hurriedly drag/pulled Armando from the room, leaving them with a concerned Mystique.
Erik hadn’t looked away from Charles since he’d begun speaking but now he glanced up at the Shifter watching them with wide eyes. By the time he turned his attention back to his mate, he’d slumped over fully and was snoring softly.
Erik sighed and gently lifted Charles into his arms, finally relaxing for the first time since he’d left him a few hours prior. Nothing felt as right as having his mate in his arms, nothing ever would.
“Thank you for coming, Mystique. We’ll take our leave,” he said firmly. She averted her gaze and gave a small nod.
He let himself out and made his way back to their quarters. Now there were no more secrets between them. Hopefully they could come to an understanding for their future.
He made a mental note to give Charles a wine chaser before putting him to bed. Tomorrow was a big day for Earth and he needed his ambassador at his side.