Page 55 of Mazorium Buys a Human

I was already picturing a life for the three of us going from planet to planet as a happy little family of surveyors.

The only thing that put a hitch in my plan was Maz didn’t seem interested in touching me outside of cuddles. I tried to look up Talin interpersonal relationship expectations and sexualpractices, but there wasn’t anything on the ship’s UniBase. Only laws regarding marriage contracts.

Were Talins mostly asexual? Or maybe they were only sexual a few times a year, like when an Ugarian goes into rut. It would be nice to know, but I hadn’t built up the courage to ask him yet. Maybe he wasn’t interested in me like that. Except it felt like there was a kind of chemistry between us.

Or maybe I was seeing things that weren’t there.

The flier landed with a little bump. The thing was too narrow for him to leave the pilot’s seat without opening the side panel to the outside. He was quick to slide it up and jump out so he could turn around and reach in for me. He pulled me out and held me tight against his body with his arms around my waist.

“You’re the best surprise-surprise that could’ve ever happened to me,” he whispered. “I will spend the rest of my life thanking the ancestors for bringing us together.”

“Thank them for me too,” I said, hugging my arms around his neck and pulling my legs free from the edge of the flier so they dangled under me. We stayed like that, holding each other, until Nadia made a little fussing sound.

“I think someone feels neglected,” he said, setting me down. I turned to get Nadia but he reached past me to pick up the entire carrier. The thing was heavy but it could be secured to a bot, flier, or inside the ship. He’d made it for her out of a baby bed and reinforced base normally used to transport delicate instruments.

It was brilliant and was yet another example of Maz taking care of us.

Stepping back, he unhooked his Ident with one hand and was able to hold it with his bottom thumb and two fingers while tapping on it with his upper thumb. Hearing the bots inside the craft turning on, I stepped back to get out of the way. I wasn’t paying attention and almost tripped.

“Oh, Mika, let me carry you!” he exclaimed as I turned to keep my balance. I didn’t hear his next words because my attention was completely captured by our surroundings.

“Maz, this is amazing!” I breathed.

“I hoped you’d like it,” he said, obviously pleased by my reaction.

I stepped further away from the flier, completely in awe at the sight before me.

We’d landed on another trunk, although this was taller than our home one, but that wasn't what was holding me still with its sheer majesty.

Easily viewed from this spot was a long, crescent-shaped waterfall creating a mist of rainbows. I’d only ever seen both things in images, and witnessing the power of the waterfall and the beauty of the rainbows firsthand took my breath away.

I stepped forward so I could see the rest of the area. The trees obscured the area past the waterfall, but now I could see an area Maz must’ve set up for us. There was an awning stretched between poles buried in the tough wood under us. The area beneath the awning was covered in soft mats with giant, fluffy pillows piled in one corner.

“What’s all this?” I asked, looking back at where Maz was standing holding Nadia’s carrier. Behind him were the bots, all ready to follow him wherever he went.

“You don’t like it?” he asked.

“It’s wonderful, but why did you go through all this effort?” I held out my hand, and he was quick to take it in his free one. We started slowly walking across the uneven stump to the spot he’d set up. All the bots followed right behind us.

“I’ve been reading all the literature I could find about human pair bonding,” he said. “There isn’t much, but I’ve developed a plan, and I’m ready to implement it.”

I was pretty sure that was Maz’s way of saying we were on a date and he had more planned, but I needed to be sure.

“Pair bonding?” I pressed. “What does that mean to you?”

“Humans also call it falling in love, but I understand it’s a process,” he said. The word love made my heart jump a little.

“You want us to pair bond?” I asked. “To love each other?”

“I do,” he said with a purr. “But I understand it can take some time to develop these feelings.”

I almost told him I was already in love with him, but something stopped me. Maybe I wasn’t ready to say it out loud yet. It would be the first time I said it to anyone I wasn’t related to.

Maz continued to explain. “As a way to show my intentions, I’ve started courting you. If a human male wants to show romantic interest in a human female he takes her to interesting or entertaining places. He also feeds her and gives her small tokens of affection such as sweets or flowers.”

We were at the edge of the pads now, and I could see a line of old bot tops turned upside down and filled with flowering plants. It reminded me of the green area on Helsin Station.

Was it weird that even though we were already surrounded by blooming plants that curled up the lower half of the trees, these plants felt extra special to me? I decided it was because Maz had picked them out especially for me.