In the end, though, Keshna hadn't laughed. She'd given Gibelettes a funny look, though, as if she hadn't expected such a useful idea to so much as cross her mind. It had been a little harder to convince Keshna that she shouldn't come along, as well, to see for herself these genetically created caetran children-- Gibelettes had conveniently forgotten to mention the "good and nice" part-- but only a little. Keshna seemed to think that she was doomed to failure when it came to recruitment for her pack-- Verklei, of all people, had done better than she had, after all-- and a reminder that Keshna was probably not very welcome aboard the Abstract Destiny was enough to keep her at home. Gibelettes pointedly ignored the suggestion that she leave Zourin in her brother's care while they were away, but apparently Keshna was in a good enough mood, for all she did was grumble that it was too much to hope that they'd be rid of both of them.

Rasil met them happily at the teleport pad Gibelettes had chosen to use, and at least three of his twelve heads were chattering cheerfully at them both as they made their (swift, for Zourin's sake) way back to his apartment. It wasn't much, and wasn't very big, but it fit the three of them well enough if Rasil and Gibelettes shared his admittedly spacious couch-bed and Zourin, after a thorough scrubbing of the tile floor which she insisted on overseeing, contented herself with the kitchen and some equally thoroughly cleansed blankets. She didn't like carpet, anyway; too much dirt and germs could be hiding in it.

The first thing Rasil asked, though, was whether or not Gibelettes was going to sign up to bond. "I don't know," was her short, I-don't-want-to-talk-about-it answer, but Rasil wasn't about to leave it at that. He spent the entirety of their scrubbing of the kitchen floor rambling about the caetran clutch, the Destiny, the huge numbers of bonded pairs on the station, and why he thought Gibelettes should try again and maybe do better.

"Grandpa likes you, anyway!" he said more than once. "He'd make sure you got somebody you deserved!"

He was certainly excited, himself, about bonding. "It'll be nice to have somebody else in the apartment all the time," he said. "And maybe it'll stop Grandpa from worrying about me."

"Since nobody's, you know, protecting me or anything now," another one of his heads snorted.

"Sorry," a third muttered after Gibelettes gently removed one of the sponges from its mouth-- again.

"A few of my sibs did it like that," he continued. "Bonded, so that Mystic'd have to kill an innocent in order to do away with us, too."

"One of 'em even bonded three!" another head added, sounding amazed. "Triplets!"

"Though I'm not about to expect that," another one added hastily. "One is plenty. I'm not about to start my own pack, or anything!"

"Rrrr," another of the smaller heads muttered embarrassedly as Gibelettes once again rescued the sponge from being swallowed.

"I think I've got an idea for dealing with that, too," the main head said, glaring at the current offender, which ducked behind a nearby neck to avoid the dark look. "Zourin, you don't mind me using your cyborware token or anything, do you?"

"Ugh," she said, wrinkling her nose. "Go right ahead. I don't want to end up diseased or anything."

"What's your idea?" Gibelettes asked.

Rasil grinned multiple times. "You'll see. I've got my appointment all set up for tomorrow. Until then, I still think you ought to go sign up at the Destiny--"

Gibelettes rolled her eyes at him as he launched into another praise-the-biosynth routine, but let him talk.

That evening, Gibelettes crammed herself into the little bathroom with Zourin to help her scrub at the scales on her back and between her eight necks. It was a comfortable routine, by now, a ritual they both partook of every night before bed. They didn't usually talk much while they got her clean, unless Zourin really needed to complain about something. It seemed to have been a good day so far, though, so it was a little surprising to hear the yellow hy-hathian's mental voice.

::I think Rasil's right, you know,:: Zourin said matter-of-factly.

"Hmm? Right about what?" Gibelettes asked idly. Rasil had said a lot, and voiced a lot of opinions, that day.

::About bonding,:: Zourin clarified. ::I think you should do it.::

"Oh, Zourin...." Gibelettes sighed. "I've already bonded, twice, and see how well that turned out?"

::You had another bond first, didn't you? Well, you broke that bond-- or he did, or someone did, right? Why don't you break this one?::

"It's more complicated than that.... Breaking a bond hurts. It would be like-- like cutting off one of your heads. It becomes a part of you, as much as your heads are a part of you. It left me hurting for a long time, and... well, I think that's probably what led me to bond Keshnarmeynee without really thinking about it. I just wanted to feel-- whole again." And protected, but that wasn't as pertinent, except as another part of the reason why she'd rushed into things. 

::But wouldn't a new bond do that?:: Zourin asked, one head turning to look at her over her shoulder.

"I'd have to break the one with Keshna first," Gibelettes answered. "Even if I knew how, I don't want to live through that again, not even for a minute...."

::So can't you have more than one bond?:: Zourin's gaze was sharp; cowardly and compulsive she might be, but Zourin was still clever, and still thought things through, sometimes a little too much. That was part of why she had her problems with dirt: she couldn't stop thinking about it. ::Keshnarmeynee does.::

"Do you really think Keshna would let a caetran who was 'good and nice' live, much less live in her pack?"

::She's bonded to you,:: Zourin said slyly. ::Hurting you will hurt her, and eating your bond will certainly hurt you....::

She had a point. "What about tormenting my bond?" Gibelettes countered. "Maiming him, or her, or even just being frightening all the time?"

Zourin's heads wove under the flow of the water in a shrug that her neck-laden shoulders couldn't manage. ::That's what you're for. You protected me and Rasil just fine. And besides, Grandfather Schroeder is an awfully good psionic sort, or something like that. Maybe he can help somehow.::

When Gibelettes sighed doubtfully, Zourin's crowned head snaked around, paused to look at her hesitantly, then gave the end of her muzzle a tiny little lick. She hurriedly turned back around again and rinsed her mouth out in the shower-water, but Gibelettes was a little stunned by the willful touch, the tiny sign of affection and support that she knew was unbearably hard for poor Zourin to give.

::You deserve somebody better,:: the hy-hathian said quietly without turning around again. ::So promise me you'll sign up and at least try.::

"I promise," Gibelettes said, just as quietly, and Zourin huffed a sigh, herself, before getting back to much easier matters.

::Good. Now, could you get that spot right between my fourth and fifth neck? It itches like crazy!::

Gibelettes chuckled and obliged, and they didn't talk of bonding again that night.

Chapter Eight

Back to Keshnarmeynee - Back to Verklei

Back to Iszgih - Back to Giblettes

Back to Rasil - Back to Zourin