Page 89 of Mated By Twilight
“You don’t like them?” Sollit tilted his head.
“No, I do. I mean, I didn't, I do now. I just… I really didn't say anything?”
“You seemed hesitant,” Sollit frowned.
“But you didn't protest,” Tillos finished. “Leah, if you’re not enjoying what we’re giving you…”
“No, I am,” she assured them quickly. “I got used to them. There’s still, like, this hesitance when I first eat them, but that’s, just, like instinctive. People don’t really eat bugs where I’m from. I mean, some people do, but not my people. Insects are considered unclean, so eating them is strange to me. Oh, but I know these ones are fine. Food grade breakfast buggies. Ew, I can’t believe I just said that…”
Neither of them appeared mollified by her reassurance.
“Guys, I’mfine.”
“You cannot fool us,” Tillos said, leveling a finger at her. “That was in the human data packet.”
“Huh?”
Sollit was nodding along. “If your human females insists that she is fine, she is not fine, and further inquiries should be made before problems arise.”
“Did you just quote it at me like a Shakespearean monologue?” She snickered. “Really, I’m okay. I promise.”
“That just sounds like fine with more syllables,” Tillos frowned.
“But I am,” she promised, reaching out to take Tillos’ hand too, so she was holding onto both of them, happy to be between them again. “Really. Now, what was this about a bonding ceremony?”
Tillos and Sollit both gave her long, searching looks before giving up.
“Very well,” Tillos said. “But you will tell us the very instant you become irritated with us. No matter the reason.”
“I can’t imagine I ever would,” she laughed. “You two are so kind and take such good care of me. Even if you did do something thatmight make me mad, I can’t imagine I actually would be. I would have to be completely irrational to actually express that.”
“That’s fine,” Sollit smiled. “The next time you’re mad, no matter how frivolous or inconsequential, be sure to let us know immediately.”
She snickered. “You two are silly.”
“As for the confusion over your faith,” Tillos smiled. “How about you let us teach you about the gods and goddess?”
“I thought you said no one believed in them anymore?”
“I said they don’t have many active worshippers,” Tillos pressed the button, sliding open their door, so he could lead her inside, Sollit right behind her. “Our deities are not ones that demand total devotion or supplication.”
“Why would they?” Sollit laughed. “They get that from each other.”
“Precisely.” Tillos brought her around to one of their couches and sat her down in the middle so he and Sollit could take seats to either side of her. Sollit put his hand on her thigh, Tillos put his arm around her shoulders. They both held onto her as she sighed, sinking into their warmth and the softness of the couch.
“Our planet has two moons,” Sollit started, stroking her thigh. “They are twins in size and appearance, and they rotate around our planet on opposite sides, never touching each other.”
“It is said that the moons are the remains of the wombs that birthed the goddess and the gods,” Tillos took over. “The three of them were birthed onto a desolate, empty world. Seeing such a thing, the goddess made herself sick, working too hard to try to cultivate life and beauty there.”
“The gods were born onto the other side of the planet,” Sollit said. “So, they didn't know she was there initially. Not until said life began to spread. The two of them had never been bothered by what wasn’t there in the world, and so they focused on combat and training – learning to fight from each other, mostly for fun. But when they saw the new life blooming, they followed it.”
“And at the center, they found the goddess,” Tillos said. “She was tired and worn down. Creating so much life had made her frail and unsteady. Seeing her like that, the two knew that she would not be a good opponent to fight. Instead, they decided, they would help her.”
“They tended to her over many days,” Sollit said, capturing her hand and bringing it to his mouth, kissing her knuckles reverently. “Through the days, they grew closer together. Until the gods felt love beginning to bloom in their hearts, given life as surely as the goddess had granted it to all other things.”
“‘Let us love you,’ they said to her one day,” Tillos whispered in her ear. “‘You are so incomparably precious to us. Let us prove it. Let us feed you on our love.’”
“‘Let us adore you,’ they said,” Sollit whispered in her other ear, making her shiver as Tillos gently ran his tongue along the first lobe. “‘Nothing would give us more joy than to give back to you this feeling you have given to us’.”