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Dark frowned.
“Who the fuck is f’loon. Is he a male?”
“No, they are a bas’lat,” Lili corrected him.
“They? Are there two of them or what?” Dark frowned.
Lili smiled.
“No—bas’lat is the third sex of the Chulaz people. There really isn’t a good pronoun for them in English so we just say ‘they’ instead of ‘he’ or ‘she.’”
“Oh, the Chulaz—right.” Dark nodded.
“I’ve heard of them,” Light said, nodding. “Instead of just male and female, they have three sexes—male, female, and bas’lat. It takes one of each in order for the Chulaz to procreate but they have a shrinking population of females so they’re slowly dying out.”
“I don’t know about that,” Lili said. “I only know that f’loon has the biggest collection of alien art in the known universe. I’m hoping to go meet them and study all the works they’ve curated over the years, but I need to get Commander Sylvan’s permission to ask for a Kindred escort to get to them. They’re in the Cat’s Eye Nebula cluster,” she added.
“Light and I can take you there,” Dark offered, looking up from massaging her foot again. “You’ll definitely need protection—from what we’ve heard the Chulaz home world is fucking dangerous.”
“It is?” Lili felt a knot form in her stomach.
“Only if you don’t have a male—or males—to protect you,” Light told her. “Remember I told you they have a shrinking population of females?”
“Well, yes—but I’m not Chulaz, I’m human,” Lili protested. “It wouldn’t do them any good to capture me, would it?”
Light frowned.
“Well, the thing is, the Chulaz reproductive system is unique, in that the male produces the seed, the bas’lat produces the egg and then together they implant it into the female’s womb. So since she isn’t providing any of the reproductive material herself…”
“Any womb will do,” Dark growled, finishing his brother’s thought. “So they’ve been known to kidnap females from all over the fucking galaxy.” He frowned. “Don’t know why they don’t just use Gestation Tanks, the way we Dark Kindred do.”
“Because it’s against their religion,” Light answered. “They believe an embryo must be implanted in a living female’s womb to be considered a viable person when the child is born.”
Dark shrugged.
“Well, you know more about it than I do. I didn’t even know their third sex was called bas’lat. I just know they’re fucking dangerous.”
“Wow…there’s so much I didn’t know!” Lili murmured. “It sounds fascinating…and kind of scary.”
“Not if you take proper precautions,” Light assured her.
Just then a chime sounded from the front of the ship.
“That’s the proximity warning—we’re nearly to the Mother Ship.” Dark looked up at her. “Do your feet feel better now, little Lili?”
“Yes, thank you.” Lili smiled at him. “My feet and my heart feel better,” she added.
The Dark Twin frowned.
“I didn’t massage your heart, though,” he pointed out.
“I think Lilibet means that she feels soothed,” Light interpreted for her. “Haven’t you heard the humans talking? They speak as though the heart is the source of their emotions. So she’s saying that you calmed her heart when you rubbed her feet. Is that right, Lilibet?” he asked, looking down at her for confirmation.
Lili smothered a smile.
“Yes, that’s true,” she said, nodding. “The way you cared for me made me feel better—safe and protected and calm,” she told Dark, thinking it was important to name all her emotions, since the two of them were still trying to find their way through their own new feelings.
“Good.” Dark nodded confidently. “Now I know what to do if your eyes start leaking again—it means your heart is hurting and I need to rub your feet.”
