“Look, I’m sorry if that came off insensitive or something.”
Another beat of silence.
“Lily,” Aros began at last, sounding properly mournful, “I’m not even sure how to say this… the truth is, even our own mother couldn’t tell me and Ikar apart when we were children. And now that Khar has finally shed that ridiculous ‘I am so dominant my coloration must advertise it’ phase, he looks exactly the same too.”
“The strongest in the galaxy,” Ikar chuckled quietly.
“Allegedly…” Aros finished, clearly repeating an ongoing joke between the three of them.
Aros paused, grinning, waiting for Lily’s reaction.
His satisfaction did not last.
Her eyes flashed, and she lunged after him.
“You were teasing me?”
Ikar and Aros bolted out of the medical bay in a heartbeat, leaving Lily no chance to catch them. Khar did not even considerrunning. He knew that if Lily was serious, all three of them would be reduced to defeated prey within moments.
“Et tu, Khar?” she accused, brown eyes full of mock betrayal, still impossibly adorable even when furious.
“I have no idea what that means,” Khar said, “but I accept the punishment.”
Her wicked smile made him question his choices.
“First we eat. Then I deal with you.”
“I know, Lily. That is exactly what I’m afraid of.”
Khar wrapped an arm around her shoulders, and they walked toward the common area, where his two cowardly brothers were already lurking.
The moment Lily entered, they dramatically leaned away from her as if she were a fearsome predator. Lily laughed and waved them off, only for them to recoil with exaggerated terror.
Khar had never imagined how much joy it would bring him to see Lily among his brothers like this, fitting in as if she had always belonged.
If he survived the experience, he might even thank them.
Eventually.
No need to rush that far ahead.
Lily generated a generous plate of her favorite foods from the ship’s synthesizers. She looked so sweet and innocent that Khar immediately began plotting how to trick his brothers into eating something blisteringly spicy, just as Lily once tricked him.
They would never see it coming. Her disguise was far too perfect.
Khar’s scheming was cut short by Ikar’s voice.
“Lily, at some point you will need to give a report to the authorities.”
Khar’s eyes flashed, dangerous, but Lily didn’t seem surprised.
“Yes. Honestly, I’m shocked it’s taken this long. But I suppose with Horos dead and the Vitro recovered in one piece, the investigation lost priority.”
“What makes you think Horos is dead?” Aros asked.
Lily froze mid-bite, caught off guard.
“Aros. You broke his neck.”
