Planet Zar: Nexus

~~ Wow! This is place is so big! ~~ Revent zipped between the kaleidoscope of corals, too quick to take in any of the sights, but too excited to slow himself down.

Licinia's mind-voice chuckled amusement. ~Don't go too far! We've got some people to meet and it's getting late.~

~~ I'm not tired at all, though! ~~ Revent whipped back around the coral until he could spot Licinia, Bujoca, and Gruyt making their lazy way toward him. He kicked downward and inspected a clump of brightly colored fronds. He'd never seen so many things in one place before! Lantessema's bay was pretty but Revent had barely seen any of it after he hatched. Lovely warm sands, beautiful rocks, and lots of little crabs, but this... this... it was like a whole city of things but under the water. ~~ This place is so much bigger than the ship. ~~

"It's still part of a space station," said Licinia as she reached Revent's side.

Gruyt yawned. ~~ I'm tired. I wanna find somewhere warm and soft to sleep. ~~

"Maybe we'll head off," said Bujoca. "We'll see you and Revent tomorrow for practice?"

"No rest for the sporty," said Licinia, grinning.

~~ Do we have to go to bed? ~~ Revent dragged his gaze from the fronds. There were so many things to see and experience here and he wasn't tired at all. Gruyt could go to bed all she liked, but Revent wanted to explore everything.

"Soon," said Licinia. "I want you to meet one of my friends first."

Revent hoped the friend wasn't tired and that they lived very far away. His fins were a bit sore (he hadn't swum very much, after all, and this was such a big journey), but not so sore that he didn't mind swimming the whole length of the oceanic biodome!

Bujoca and Gruyt paddled off in the opposite direction and Licinia herded Revent away from the coral towers, deeper down toward the bottom of the biodome. The sand was pale as bone with thousands of gleaming glass-pebbles that shifted in the current. Colorful crustaceans peeked out of caves and clattered their claws as Revent got too close. Tiny, silver fish took off from nooks and crannies like a dash of shooting stars. It was difficult to pick a direction to look! Licinia herded him along with gentle nudges of her massive muzzle and assurances they they were "nearly there." As if Revent was concerned about that.

"Licinia?" A voice trickled from the deep, melodious.

Revent dragged his attention from a line of marching starfish. A mermaid swam toward him, blue-grey and black with an expression so soft and welcoming he wanted to dash out to meet her. Discomfort trickled from Licinia, though. Revent bristled his whiskers and stared up at his bond. Why was she worried? This person seemed so nice! And she was pretty!

"H-hey..." Licinia stammered.

~~ What's wrong? ~~ Revent swam beneath Licinia's arm and stared up at her. ~~ Is she not friendly? Is she scary? ~~

"No, no, nothing like that... uh..." Licinia pushed him forward a little. "This is Orome, she's my friend."

Adults were so weird. Revent searched Licinia's face for a long moment before turning to face the mermaid again. She'd stopped several lengths away from them and watched him with a soft smile. Revent cautiously swam out to greet her.

"And what's your name?" Orome asked, holding a hand toward him.

Revent sniffed her palm and fluttered his whispers. ~~ Revents. I just got here from Lantessama. We went on a very long ship ride only it wasn't a water ship. It was a space ship. It was very neat and we saw a lot of stars, but there's also a lot of things to see here. ~~

Orome laughed - but not the sort of chuckle that made Revent embarrassed. It was very kind and she stroked her hand down Revent's muzzle. "You're a curious little fellow, aren't you?"

~~ There's lots of things to be curious about! ~~

"That's very true." Orome turned her attention to Licinia, who hovered several feet away turning an odd sort of purple color. "He's your bond?"

"Yeah! His name's Revent."

"He's adorable."

Revent purred and swirled around Orome. She scritched his chin as he passed, giggling.

"Isn't it getting late for him?" Orome asked. She caught Revent's face as he whirled around her and cupped his cheeks, stroking through his soft fur. "You must be awfully tired from such a long journey."

~~ There's too many things to see to be sleepy! ~~ Revent exclaimed, but a treacherous yawn leapt from his mouth.

"I tell you what, if you go with Licinia and get a good sleep, I'll take you around the whole biodome tomorrow and show you all the secret places."

~~ You will? ~~

"I promise."

Revent nuzzled Orome's cheek, turned tail, and swam back to Licinia. ~~ Did you hear? ~~

"I sure did," said Licinia, chuckling. "You want me to drop him off with you tomorrow?"

"You can come along too, unless you have practice."

Licinia turned even more purple. "I... uh..."

~~ Yeah! ~~ said Revent. ~~ That would be lots of fun. ~~

"Okay," said Licinia, taking a deep breath to collect herself. "Alright, yeah. I'll come too."

"Goodnight Licinia, goodnight Revent. It was very nice to meet you!"

The swim from Orome's cove to Licinia's home was slower and less eventful. Despite his protesting Revent really was getting tired and the lights across the biodome floor had dimmed to resemble nighttime. Revent kept his nose close to the sandy bottom, letting his whiskers pick up changes in the current and shifts in the sand that let him know something was happening, but it was too dark to see anything of interest. Licinia's weirdness was so strange, though. They'd met lots of people on Lantessama before they left and even more on the starship back home and Revent had never seen his bond so strange before!

~~ Why were you so odd? ~~

"Huh? What do you mean?"

~~ With Orome. You went all purple and weird. ~~

"Oh..." Licinia fell silent for a long stretch, her expression pinched. "I guess I got a bit flustered."

~~ Is that what it's called? Why did you do that? ~~

"I don't know, it's complicated."

~~ You didn't do that with anyone else. ~~

"No, I know."

~~ Is Orome not nice? Is she a mean person? Is that why we didn't stay for very long? ~~ She'd seemed like the nicest person and Revent really wanted to go exploring with her tomorrow.

"No!"

Revent cringed from Licinia's shout.

"No," she said, softer. "No, I mean... she's really nice. The nicest. I like her a lot and I guess that's why I get all... flustered and purple."

~~ You like me a lot, though? And Bujoca? ~~

Licinia chuckled, reverberating the water around them. She paused and twisted around to face Revent, gathering the little nekrat in her massive arms. "I like you to bits! It's just like I like Orome in a different way."

~~ Ohhh ~~ said Revent, nodding sagely. ~~ You think she's pretty? ~~

"Well... uh... yes."

~~ And she doesn't like you back? Is that why you're upset? ~~

"I don't know, I never told her."

~~ Why not? ~~ Orome was nice and pretty and Licinia was great and so much fun. Why wouldn't she tell Orome? This all seemed very silly.

"It's complicated."

~~ Why? ~~

Licinia exhaled a long sigh and released Revent from her embrace, turning to swim at a slower pace away from him. Revent kicked his fins hard to keep up with her. Her expression was tight, almost sad, and Revent kept quiet for the last leg of the journey.

"Because we're not the same," Licina whispered, almost too quiet for Revent to hear and long after he thought she'd reply. "So it's complicated."

~~ Because you're a dragon and she's a mermaid? ~~

"Mostly, yeah."

~~ But you can turn into a human, I saw you when we were on the ship! ~~

"Yes, a human, but that's not quite the same as a mermaid."

~~ That's a silly reason not to tell her you like her. ~~

"Maybe, but I'm trying to figure out a way I can be like her. Maybe not quite a mermaid, but something where I'm more her size and I can still be underwater."

Revent wrinkled his nose. ~~ Why do you have to be different for Orome to like you? ~~

"I... I don't know... it just doesn't work. And anyway, I don't know if she likes me or if she'll ever like me and it might all be a moot point but I can't tell her until I get this shapeshifting thing down pat."

Licinia was right, this was all very complicated but it probably didn't need to be as silly as Licinia was making it out to be. Revent huffed a long-suffering huff to stifle a yawn.

~~ Well... I'll just have to help you with this shapeshifting business then. ~~

Licinia laughed and shot him a grin. "I guess so, kid!"

Orome was used to watching dragons grow up on the sidelines. Her job entailed caring for eggs and sometimes the neonates of livebirth species. She watched hatchlings when she could, for as long as she could, but once those eggs broke and the little ones inside made their bonds, Orome's job was over. Those that stayed at the Refugium grew up with Orome as a casual babysitter or friendly acquaintance, a patient ear for youth's troubled woes or a trusted nanny when parents and bonds were out of the way. It was rare she had much involvement in the raising of young dragons.

But Revent and Gruyt were constant visitors and the pair of nekrat kittens adored her, plain as sunlight dancing on sea foam. Orome watched them while Bujoca and Licinia were at hydroball games and entertained them with stories when they came to visit during her nannying shifts. They grew from precocious kittens to handsome young dragons. Koper - the resident rock nekrat and bond to security guard Rawori - also had a hand in their upbringing and Orome was glad they had another nekrat around to tutor them.

Orome loved them.

"It's been a while since the Refugium hosted an aquatic clutch." Orome glanced at Licinia from the corner of her eye and found the dragon watching her intently. Koper had instigated a game of chase-around-the-coral with the two adolescent nekrats and flashes of white and yellow zoomed passed every few seconds.

Licinia shrugged. "Security's tightened up since that problem with the luung clutches."

That had been horrible. An egg stolen out from under a mother's nose. The egg of a rare and precious species, none-the-less. Orome's heart broke for the luungs. She'd never thought of the Refugium as unsafe before that moment but it seemed there were bigger things in the Nexus than what happened in her quiet artificial seabed.

"I think I'd like to bond," said Orome. She searched Licinia's face for a reaction.

The dragon grinned. "Yeah? You'd be an awesome bond. What were you thinking? Something here?"

Orome turned her gaze back to the trio of nekrats. Gruyt had caught hold of Koper's tail fin and Koper was pretending he couldn't free himself as Revent dashed around the corner of the coral to join the fray.

"Oh," said Licinia. Her heartbeat quickened, thundering an irregular tattoo through the water.

"Would you come with me?" Orome asked. "You and Revent, I mean? I haven't been away from the Refugium in years."

"Oh!" Licinia brightened but her too-quick heartbeat picked up a notch. "Yeah, of course! We'd love to do that."

Orome smiled, kicked off of the rock she'd been resting on, and planted a kiss on Licinia's massive cheek. "You're so sweet!"

Licinia flushed a deep purple and ducked her head.