The next morning, Kira sat up as soon as consciousness touched her. Her stirring woke Vrox, who threw an arm around her and shifted south to burry his face against her thigh.

"Good morning, baby," Kira greeted with a stroke to his dark hair.

"Yes. Greetings, seedling," Vrox agreed, thinking she was talking to her stomach.

"How did you sleep?" she asked.

Vrox sat up, towering over her although they were sitting down. The color of his irises was duller than usual, and his face stubbled with the hints of a beard.

"I had unsettling dreams, but nevermind me. How are you?"

He pulled her to his lap, and the presence between his thighs offered its own good morning. With a knowing grin, she raised a hand and caressed his cheek.

"Maybe we could go to the lake later after we finish packing?"

His eyes narrowed and his hold tightened.

"Why do you need a lake when my mouth is perfectly lubricated?" he grinned devilishly, flashing those canines that had swam through her folds many times.

"Oh, gross!" she laughed, palming his chest and pushing him aside.

With a kiss to her nose, he helped her off the bed. She stroked Vee's fur and then used the water basin to clean herself up.

"I will help Ni'ev with the blacksmithing cave. Would you like me to pack you refri-terator?"

"No," Kira answered. "I just need the blurak. I can remake the refrigerator once we arrive at The Ruins. Oh! That reminds me that I have to talk about Nebula about indoor plumbing. Thanks, baby. You're the best."

She jumped to kiss his chin, leaving him stunned as he tried to catch up with her word vomit. He didn't understand why she was talking to her womb, or why she thanked him, or what indoor plumbing was.

Terran females are a mystery, he figured as he watched Kira straighten out her dress before dashing outside.

Kira walked down the line of adjoined caves, looking for Ak's. The other guys were scattered all over camp, having already begun their day. Nebula's kidnapper, however, was sitting outside the cave with his scaled back pressing against the wall.

Once he heard her approaching footfalls, he rose to his overwhelming stature and stared blankly. His broad chest was bare, but his lap was covered by the same slip of cloth that the other men wore. No greetings came from his fanged lips, but his animosity was unmistakable.

"Hi. I'm here to see Nebula."

"Kira?" Nebula moaned from inside, her voice stiffening Ak's body.

"Hey! Can I come in?"

"Sure."

Kira gave Ak a questioning look, quietly requesting permission to enter his space. When all he did was resume his sitting position against the wall, she took that as a green light.

She pushed past the curtain and found Ak's room in a messier state than Vrox's. She wasn't too surprised by this. The cave had been unoccupied for many weeks, and Vee tended to bring chaos around camp with his simple curiosity.

Nebula was on Ak's bed, braids a mess across her face.

"Please tell me this planet has invented toothpaste," she grumbled.

Kira laughed, stopping beside the bed. "Just wait until I tell you about Vrox's Vanishing theory. Apparently, these guys used to be an advanced species at one point."

"And we just had to get teleported to their stone age."

"Yeah," Kira sighed. "No flying across the stars for us."

Unless you bounce on the right alien's lap.

"Hmm. Do you think you can help me off this bed? Grab the chest over so I can step on it?"

Kira nodded and did as requested. As soon as Nebula was on the ground, she attempted to hop right back on the bed.

"What is that?" she panicked.

Kira looked down and located a purple fur ball.

(a/n: I think I said his fur was brown at one point. Let's make him more alien)

"This is Vee."

"Is it a bunny or a chihuahua?"

Kira laughed. "He's a cutie. Here, he likes women more than men."

"Can't blame him," Nebula said as she reached a hesitant hand out. "Those guys are intense."

"Yeah. They're also pretty carnivorous. Vrox originally brought Vee to feed him to me."

Vee shuddered as if understanding her words, making both women laugh.

"I thought that we could help the guys pack today, but first, we should try to get the locket to work. What do you think?"

Nebula nodded. "Sounds good. I'd love to tell Ak to fuck off in both English and Ezronian."

With a snort, she took Nebula's hand and began guiding her. Once they passed Ak, he stood up but made no move to approach.

"God," Nebula whispered. "He's so obsess-"

Vrox appeared past the curtain, and Nebula thudded against this massive chest. His hands jumped immediately, gripping her arms to stabilize her.

An ugly slash of jealousy hurt Kira.

It was an unreasonable emotion—a dangerous one. Vrox was fully devoted to her, and even if she and Nebula were the only two women on Ezron, he would never look the other way.

"Be careful, Terran," Vrox warned Nebula.

Her heart thundered against her shrinking chest, and her eyes narrowed on his scaled hand, which remained on Nebula's bicep.

Calm down, Kira. Don't be crazy. The term isn't an endearment. It's okay for him to call her that.

Vrox released Nebula, before loyally moving his gaze to Kira. She threw him a smile, and he reflected it.

– • –

Using the locket to transfer Ezronian to Nebula's brain only took a few minutes. She got a bit teary when she heard that the password for the device was her name, but was able to keep it together. She had cried enough already, and she was now dry with the realization that her brother was gone.

The only side effect of the transfusion was a headache, but Nebula insisted on helping packing up. Vrox declared that neither of them could lift anything that weighed more than Vee, threatening to tie them to a tree if they disobeyed.

To Kira's surprise, all of the guys owned chests that were loaded with valuables of some kind. She had no idea how they were going to transport those, but she knew they would figure something out.

"Vrox, I'm going to need to take a raincheck on our afternoon swim. I just got a great idea."

The prince frowned, placing down the basket of Ezronian vegetables he was carrying.

"You need the rest."

"I'll rest later. Do you have something I can write on? Some kind of cloth and a writing utensil?"

"What do you wish to write?"

"Well, I figured that since The Ruins was destroyed, so were the documents. Do you have a constitution? I could help draft it."

"A what?"

She paused, thinking about how to word it.

"A code of conduct for all citizens to follow?" Nebula offered.

Kira nodded. "Yeah, that's it."

Vrox looked back at the stack of chests that awaited beside the entrance to his cave.

"There must be something inside somewhere. It is best to ask Ak. He was more interested in these things as the crown prince. Father must have taught us some politics in youth, but I do not remember."

Kira nodded, before getting distracted by an eager Vee that was attempting to crawl up Nebula's legs.

"He sure likes female attention," Nebula noted, falling to her knees and petting the alien bunny. When a shadow fell over her, she looked up and stumbled away.

"I heard that you now speak Ezronian," Ak declared.

She stood up and shifted closer to Kira. "Yes," she answered perfectly. "But I don't want to speak with you. Please leave me alone."

Ak stared down at her for a few loaded moments, before turning around, presenting his scaled back, and walking away.

Nebula sighed, dropping Vee back down and eyeing as the bunny hopped to Kira and tried to get her attention.

"We should continue working. There's still plenty to do."