She smiled. “Whenever you come back, I will be here.”
“In that case, I am going to make it my business to return often and frequently.”
“And, no more sending personal requests to my AI. He is a people pleaser, and since his mind is yours, he’s also been trying to convince me that some of the barely there outfits are suitable for daily aerobic wear.”
He smiled. “What’s wrong with that?”
“I am doing a lot of combat with Nerion. It would shred to pieces in seconds.”
Khyran frowned. “Right. I hadn’t thought about that aspect of it. Nerion has enough of an interest in you that I wouldn’t want him near you if you were unclothed.”
“Not your choice but appreciate the frankness.” She continued to stroke him, her hands left his neck and shoulders, and her touch roamed to less-safe portions of his anatomy. The recreation of their moment was over. Now, it was time to create new memories. She got very creative.
The next day, they accompanied the smiling sirens back to the platform for their return to the coastline. The lead couple of those wearing feathers and claws couldn’t help smiling in the lift.
Khyran asked, “Good night?”
The matriarch chuckled. “There was this glow, and then, we felt like we had just met each other again.”
The patriarch smiled. “The years just fell away. I don’t know what it was, but it was magical.”
Khyran was snickering. “You have visited before. Has it ever happened?”
The matriarch shook her head. “No, we will just consider it a blessing from the tower.”
The patriarch chuckled. “And we may visit again soon, just to see if it happens again.”
Habel studiously counted feathers on the siren in front of her once Khyran’s smug expression became evident. When the lift doors opened, they walked out laughing, the couples firmly connected, and the others walking with slight smiles on their lips. It was at that point when she realized that the elves would follow their impulses with any race that was willing.
They walked them to the train, and as they settled in their car, Khyran looked at Habel. “I don’t want to leave you.”
“Good, but I feel the same. Come back when you can and send me a message when you are on your way so I can make the time to greet you properly.” She pressed a hand to his chest and felt the thud of his heart with his vest in the way.
He leaned in, and they kissed before he left her, climbed into the train engine, and he and his cargo slowly dragged off into the darkness.
Habel turned to return to the lift, and Elder Monathian was standing in the doorway. “So, you two finally got together with full disclosure.”
“If that is what you want to call it.” Habel smiled and skirted the elder to get into the lift. He huffed and followed her.
“It had to be him?”
She shrugged. “I am not inclined toward anyone else. I have tried to be seduced, the seducer, be romanced, be companions who find the other attractive. All elves are attractive, immortal, and most don’t understand what it is to see change in the world and embrace it. Seeing and being part of that change is a very sexy characteristic.”
He groaned. “It is like hearing a sibling talking about her true love.”
She laughed. “That is what I am going for.”
Monathian stopped the lift and looked at her. “He won’t be here often. You know that, right?”
“I know. It is probably for the best, considering the side effect of our getting together is contagious.”
He winced. “You know about that?”
“I haven’t forgotten from the first time. I came out of the ritual room, and everyone I saw had soft and goofy expressions. Niika and Ibera explained to me that when it had happened, it had been a fun and hot wave that ran through them, and they found partners who were feeling the same thing.”
He sighed. “You know what this means, right?”
She glanced at him. “I have a fairly good idea. Do you want to say it out loud, or shall I?”
“I am not going to say it.”
Habel went against everything she had ever done before, and she hugged him. “Good. Then, we know I am not going to stay here forever.”
He exhaled slowly. “You are too big for this place.”
“On that, we definitely agree.” She chuckled. “Now, push the button, and let’s get some pastry. This is too serious a discussion for this early in the morning.”
“Fair enough. Lobelli is doing wonderful things with fruit and cream lately.”
She cackled. “Does everyone know my favourites?”
“Pretty much, yeah. We talk about it when you aren’t in the room.” Monathian got the lift started again.
“Of course, you do. I would expect nothing less. I am the most fascinating thing to hit this tower in centuries.” She grinned.
He laughed, and they were still laughing when they picked up the lovingly made pastries, sitting in the public dining area, and looking at all of the couples and groups who had a satisfied glow on their features.
Monathian shook his head. “You see what you did?”
“I didn’t do it alone.”
“The dragons have intertwined for evenings with our population before. Nothing like this has ever happened. I would have remembered it.”
She chuckled and glanced around. “From the sudden outbreak of love bites if nothing else.”
He snorted. “It is a good thing that there are no other races here to witness this.”
“Ah, well, the sirens are going home with funny smiles on their lips.”
He laughed. “Their memories of this place will fade as they travel. That is what the dragons give us. They keep us legends.”
She blinked. “But my family...”
“Ah. That. Your ties to them are stronger than whatever it is the dragons do, but your entire settlement is protecting the knowledge of your origin. I would not have thought that the trolls would be so proud once they got used to the idea.”
She sat and sipped at her tea, looking at the elves around her coming out of a pleased stupor. “Trolls are a fierce family race. We are born into a hostile world where the species that surround us think of us as threats or food. It isn’t an easy situation, and it shapes the people who live there. They are hard, rough, aggressive, and tough, but once they accept you as their own, they are intensely loyal.”
He smiled. “I thought they tried to kidnap you on your changing night.”
“They did, and I reacted accordingly. After that, the communication and interactions have been getting warmer over time. The presents that I send to the settlement don’t hurt. Trolls don’t bite the hand that feeds them.” She chuckled.
Monathian grinned. “We shall keep feeding them, then.”
She smiled and looked around at the elegant creatures that were so far from the roughly constructed trolls, the sharp and lethal goblins, and the bladed and fluffy sirens.
The thoughts ran through her mind all day until she had completed her tasks as assistant for the day. She had been organizing a smaller symposium on the increased access to surface farming and looked at the guest list. She looked at the pearl of her hand and the strange colour of her hair and compared it to the list of races on the page. No matter where they were in the world at that very moment, they had all been born human—the one thing that united each and every sentient being on New Pangea. Everyone started the same way, and then, things went weird. It wasn’t necessarily fair, but it made sure that everyone knew they had the same point of commonality.