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“So, feeling more relaxed now?” Jesollae asked as I finished the last bite of food on my plate.

I simply nodded in response - despite everything, I did actually feel a little better. Somehow, my time with my newly-assigned Tiaileng, for all that it could have devolved into supreme awkwardness, had actually worked out for the better.

True, I still in fact knew next to nothing about them - in fact, amidst everything else that had happened, I was pretty sure that none of them had actually gotten around to telling me what sexual positions they preferred. That being said, though, what they had done had certainly been relaxing, in a surprising sort of way, and it had left me feeling far more instantly comfortable around them than I had anticipated. Jesollae… well, still not so much, although I was relaxed enough that my trepidation about what she was going to say was at least less than it could have been.

“That’s good to hear - perhaps we can make something interesting of this evening, after all. Since our last meeting, I have been using the time to do a series of consultations, both with my advisors, and via videoconference with the subgroup of the Council that deals specifically with human-Tiaileng relations. As a result, several conclusions were reached as to where we go from here, and I am in broad agreement with them.”

She paused, fixing me directly with her gaze before continuing. “Specifically, we agreed with the assessment that more direct, in-person observation is needed, and as a result, I will be staying here for the foreseeable future. Luckily, this facility is more than big enough to afford me some space, and Daledonne will be working with my retinue to outfit a small suite of rooms to serve as a de facto command post. As this building is ultimately owned by the Tiaileng council in any case, it is certainly within my rights to do so. I… suppose I probably should have asked you first, but you were otherwise occupied, and once the decision was made, I was going to make it happen in any case. If you have a specific protest, I will entertain it, but the only real alternative would be to have these next steps take place in one of our own laboratory facilities…”

“Er… yeah, I think I’d much rather stay here…”

“I figured as much, which is why I decided to go ahead and begin implementation. So, that’s the first part - I will be here for a while, along with a small subset of my staff, who will assist me and maintain the exterior security measures.

“I do want to begin my own observations soon, though, and do so in an environment without too many outside factors that could affect the results. So, I really must insist that your friends and family return to their homes at some point tomorrow, so I can evaluate you in your natural environment alongside your normal complement of Tiaileng. However, your family will be welcome to visit again once the initial phase of my observation is complete, something that shouldn’t take more than a week or two.

“As to the nature of my observations and experiments… well, I really don’t see any cause for concern, but perhaps it would be better to discuss some of the physical specifics when we’re not in such… polite company. That being said, I am eager to learn not just from you, but with you. In fact, I anticipate that once we get to know each other, properly, that our relationship will be quite pleasant - and that once we get into this, you will not consider yourself the subject of an experiment, so much as an enthusiastic co-investigator who is as eager as I am to unravel the mysteries of what sets you apart.

“In service of that, in fact… If you are satisfied that you’ve had a decent chance to catch up with your friends, I would like to take an opportunity to engage with you one-on-one, in private, for a couple of hours. Don’t worry - I simply want to sit and talk, to start building a rapport and comfort level with you so that everything else can become easier.

“In fact… while I do have to be here for now, and while that part isn’t really negotiable, I’m not going to demand that you talk with me right now. Instead, I will simply make the request, and if you decline, I will put it off for another day. However, I really would like to get to know you, and the sooner we begin, the less time you have to spend feeling anxious about it. We need to get comfortable with each other, to do what we need to do, so…”

“Yeah, I get it… no time like the present, right?” And to be honest, there was a part of me that was willing to go for it. I had a feeling that being in a room with Jesollae, alone, was going to be more than awkward… but then again, having my parents grilling me about how I was doing, or my Tiaileng parents asking the sort of questions that were totally acceptable to Tiaileng but far more than uncomfortably intimate for me… no, I wasn’t particularly looking forward to that. Or, for that matter, after hearing what they’d been up to, trying to find my way back to a normal conversation with my friends - especially considering the fact that I’d just spent several minutes listening to them and their Tiaileng actually having loud, enthusiastic sex within earshot.

No, against all that, having a one-on-one meeting with Jesollae might actually be comparatively bearable. “If no one else minds, then… sure. Just… no really weird questions, all right?”

“Well, actually… I mind.” It was my father’s voice, definitely, but it was a tone that I hadn’t heard George use in a while. Not yelling, not angry, but when you heard it, there was no question that you were going to hear what he had to say. It usually came out when I was in trouble, but this time it was clear enough that it wasn’t directed at me - when I looked over, his gaze was focused squarely on Jesollae.

“You… do?” For a moment, Jesollae looked actually surprised. Admittedly, my father wasn’t generally the most imposing guy, but when something riled him up, he made his determination known in uncertain terms, and Jesollae seemed unprepared to see the sudden fire in his eyes. “I wasn’t aware that you were concerned about my talking to him. I’m quite certain I said we were just going to talk…”

“Oh, no, it’s not about that. It’s about the fact that… whoever you are, important or not, I am still Damian’s father. I care very much about his well-being, and if you think you’re just going to send us away while you do… whatever it is you intend to do, you’re quite mistaken. Especially if you’re simply going to gloss over what you actually have in store for him.”

“Hmm… I see,” Jesollae replied, resting the bottom edge of her muzzle in her hand, for a moment seeming lost in thought. “So, if I’m understanding you correctly, your main concern here is not knowing what will happen with your son, correct? And if I satisfy those concerns through my explanation, you will have no further objections to leaving tomorrow and allowing my research to begin?”

“Well, that depends very much on what your answer is. If you plan to do something-“

“I am fairly certain we already covered this - certainly, I have no intention of doing any harm. But, if you really must know… none of what we intend involves any likelihood of causing physical injury, and hopefully nothing I have planned should result in any unusual levels of mental distress. Most observations, in fact will be conducted by me personally with no technological assistance, and the other devices that could come into play are mostly designed for passive, and rarely active, external scanning. The most intensive would probably be something similar to your own MRI technology. Nothing surgical or otherwise… invasive will be attempted, aside from the obvious physicality required for sexual contact. So, does that set your mind at ease?”

“Not entirely…”

“Hmm… so it’s my motivations you have an issue with, then? That’s… a trickier thing to answer, as some of it involves privileged communications. However, I can tell you generally what I intend to do. Mostly, I want to get to know Damian, and carefully observe his interactions with those assigned to him, especially the ways in which energy is transferred between them, and how Tiaileng react once that energy is received. I also intend to investigate that transmission personally, over the course of several sexual encounters that will take place in certain specifically-controlled environments. It is my intention to catalog, in as much detail as possible, the quantifiable nature of Damian’s capabilities as they relate to Tiaileng. Once this is complete, I will have enough information to determine what the next steps will be: whether there will be additional assignments, or… other developments. That is as much as I can say for now, though; and so, as an explanation, it will have to suffice.”

My dad raised an eyebrow, arms folded in a way that I knew reflected his continued skepticism. “I can’t say that response exactly inspires confidence…”

“And you are welcome to interpret it as you wish. I’m not sure what else I could tell you that would do a better job of setting your mind at ease, though. Ultimately, I must complete my analysis here, and doing so while several people are constantly interjecting opinions and concerns would obviously interfere with that. At the same time, though… while I may not be a parent myself, I can understand where those concerns are coming from. So, let me propose the following: Damian and I will have our meeting tonight, in which I will explain things to him in more depth than I can to you, and then the choice will be his and his alone. If he asks that you all stay and observe, while not my first choice, I will acquiesce. If, however, he asks that you leave so that we may more efficiently pursue this project, you will do so without any further protest. Is that acceptable?”

“Well… You make a good point, in a way, in that it shouldn’t really be up to you, or me, what happens here.” My father turned towards me, inclining his head slightly. “I know that in the midst of all this, we really haven’t had much of a chance to ask, but… Damian, what do you want to do? Do you want to talk with her, or not? Do you want to do any of this? Sure, assignment might be required, even assignment to fifty Tiaileng, but what’s going on here is far beyond that. It’s not part of what’s required, that’s for sure. If you want to refuse it… I don’t know all the law, but I’m pretty sure that’s your right.”

“Hmm… well, I suppose that’s technically true, in a way,” Jesollae replied, seemingly to my father’s surprise. “When Damian accepted his assignment, citizenship was automatically assured. And the run-up to the assignment accords notwithstanding, Tiaileng governing philosophies are traditionally based on consensus, not coercion. If Damian is truly insistent on refusing, our discussion would be turned over to a formal proceeding where all sides would submit their specific arguments, and rounds of mediation would commence until a consensus was agreed upon. If he did refuse, though, placing us at an impasse, that research would indeed halt - although the request for it and subsequent mediations would be revisited for as long as the council deemed necessary.

“You have to understand - Damian has a unique chance to help up understand and deepen the bond between our two peoples, something that the Council has made a priority. Consequently, it means that I will lobby hard on behalf of the Tiaileng Council for that chance to be accepted. That being said, though, also consider that if the chance is taken, it has the possibility to open many doors for everyone’s future, and for Damian specifically. Because of that, before we discuss any further measures, I think it best that I be afforded the latitude to make my case to him, fully and personally.”

Jesollae got up from her chair, walking around behind me and placing a hand on my shoulder, albeit with a bit too much pressure to be truly reassuring. “So, for now, that is what I will do. When we are done, he will decide what he wants, and if it is a decision that both he and I can live with, I would expect that there would not be further objections on any of our parts. I trust that will suffice for now?”

My father still looked skeptical, but he remained silent, seeming to realize the limit of his protests. After a moment, he nodded grudgingly in resigned assent, watching impassively as Jesollae’s fingers trailed down along my arm, taking my hand in her own and tugging in the direction of the room’s entrance. It wasn’t a particularly hard pull, but the message in it seemed clear enough, and I was more than willing to follow along and escape the tension that still seemed to linger in the room.

As we walked down the hallway, I felt her grip relax, and her hand released entirely once the banquet hall had disappeared from view, her mood seeming to rapidly improve now that it was just the two of us.

“Ahhh… well, that could have gone better!” Jesollae said, walking along briskly as she tried doors along the hallway seemingly at random. “I have to admit, being part of a consensus-driven group for so long, I’ve never really gotten used to dealing with confrontation. When you’re working almost entirely with other Tiaileng, and everyone’s eager to find the best way for everyone, things just go so much more smoothly! I think, though, if I have to be professionally standoffish for one more minute, I’m going to absolutely burst, so… I hope you don’t mind if I’m a bit more casual with you. Considering we really should get to know each other better, I suppose that’s a reasonable first step?”

“Um, I guess…”

“Great! Well, in the interests of being more casual… ah, yes, I think this room will do nicely.”

Jesollae opened the door, revealing one of the mansion’s many myriad bedrooms. It was probably as good as any of the others, although it certainly had an… oddness to it. Unlike a lot of the other rooms, which seemed almost ridiculous in their opulence, the room was almost minimal in its appearance: seemingly perfectly square, the walls were painted a uniform black across their bottom half and white across the top. The dividing line was decorated by a series of silver masks, of the kind that usually accompanied the handbills of a dramatic performance - but instead of showing comedy or tragedy, the expression across each one was flat-lipped, uniform blankness.

The only lights in the room were continuous strips of white LED lighting along where the baseboard would have been, and along the bottom edge of the low pedestal that the perfectly square bed was placed on. It was adorned with a similar sheet set, divided black and white down the center of the bed, and studded with fleur-de-lis stitched in silver thread.

Compared to the over-the-top decorations the rest of the mansion seemed to have, it was a strangely spartan room, and the low, shadowy light set off the edges of Jesollae’s uniform in a strange, stark contrast, one that did little to settle my nerves. I followed her into the room nonetheless - and froze a moment later, when after nudging the door shut behind us, she began casually unbuttoning her uniform’s top.

“Um… what are you doing?” I asked, the renewed spike of anxiety surely evident in my voice.

“What it looks like - getting out of these stuffy clothes! As important as they might be for appearance, especially when it comes to interacting with humans, I really am not convinced that they are entirely compatible with Tiaileng fur. Frankly, it’s only tolerable when I’m with people such as yourself, as otherwise it would block sufficient light to leave me feeling drained, but with power like yours… I don’t think I’ve ever felt quite as full of energy. Somehow, I doubt that you comprehend just how lucky the Tiaileng assigned to you are - they must be phenomenally grateful for the energy and emotion that you’ve shared with them so far. Ah, but that’s something we can get into later on…”

She finished unbuttoning the shirt, and shrugged it off her shoulders, tossing it to the side. While the Tiaileng lack of breasts did make it feel less inappropriate, it was still more than disconcerting to see a Tiaileng of such apparent import and decorum shedding her clothes in front of me, and even more so when her hands undid the top button of her uniform pants.

“W-wait a minute… are you seriously-“

“Yes, I am. And… no, it’s not just because I want to get out of these clothes, although that’s part of it. The fact of it is, for us to actually make this work in a reasonable amount of time, we need to get comfortable with each other, and fast. That’s not going to happen if we just sit there, fully clothed and proper, ignoring aspects of each other than we need to consider. And we can’t even begin to talk about an eventual sexual encounter if you can’t deal with seeing me in my underwear. So, we ought to get started with that part, at least. And for that matter, you probably ought to strip down, too…”

“Me? But I thought, I thought you said we weren’t going to do anything… intimate…”

“And we’re not, unless you want to. Like I said, it’s about getting comfortable. It’s not like it’s anything you haven’t done before - Daledonne told me that you spend every night resting with your Tiaileng in a similar state.

“Plus, I think it’s something that’s useful if we’re going to have the sort of honest conversation that we need to. By doing this, I’m symbolically stripping away what defines me as a council member, my standing in relation to everyone else. You can do so in much the same fashion, setting aside your roles as a student or a son. We can just be two people, unadorned, having an equal conversation.”

“And that’s it? Just a conversation?”

“That’s right. If you want, you can sit on the opposite side of the bed from me, and avoid even the possibility of physical contact between us. Or, if you like, you can spend the conversation curled up in my arms, or anything in between - they’re all fine by me. But I’ll tell you what - if you strip down to your underwear, and spend this conversation getting comfortable being around me, I’ll tell you… not exactly a secret, but something that’s not usually talked about much outside of Tiaileng circles. A bit of our history, I suppose, and a good way to put into context why I am here, and the potential importance of what you may be. In any case, though, I do intend to finish taking off these pants…”

Which, in fact, she did, before climbing onto the bed and reclining comfortably on her side. I really wasn’t quite sure whether to look at her, or avert my eyes in respect for her position… although that indecision lasted for all of one moment before I confronted the obvious fact that she was Tiaileng, and looking straight at her near-naked form was likely the more respectable choice.

Plus, it wasn’t like I particularly needed convincing to look in her direction. While I could only assume that she was older than the Tiaileng that were assigned to me, it was a little hard to tell - covered in fur, there weren’t any indications like wrinkles to indicate age, and their fur, with its more specific function, didn’t become grey or white over time. The only difference, really, was that her figure seemed to be fleshed out slightly more, in the sort of way that only served to accentuate the feminine lines of her body. Her curves, framing her turquoise fur and the lacy black triangle of her panties, held my gaze for a compelling second before my mind kicked back into gear and reminded me who said curves belonged to.

That was about the point where my face flushed completely, and my anxiety started to feel like a spike pounding in my chest. At the same time, though, I knew that Jesollae would start picking up on that anxiety as well, and I did everything I could think of to fight it back down towards some semblance of calm.

Oddly enough, in that moment, casting about for some way to relax my anxiety, I wondered whether stripping down myself might actually be helpful. Standing there like normal, in a room with her, was beyond awkward… but at the same time, she was right that I’d spent plenty of time on a bed, in my underwear, with Tiaileng in a similar state, and had gotten to the point where it hadn’t been causing much in the way of tension. Maybe if it was like that, if I could convince myself that it was just a normal sort of nighttime routine with a slightly different Tiaileng, maybe I could even relax. Plus, I wasn’t wearing anything so abbreviated that I would feel horribly uncomfortable or naked - the boxer briefs I was wearing were snug, sure, but provided at least as much overall coverage as an average pair of shorts. So… strange as it seemed, I actually decided to try it. At the very least, it would probably make Jesollae happy, which would at least keep things from getting any more tense.

It still felt awkward, though, as I didn’t think to ask her to avert her eyes before I stripped down, and every time I glanced back up I could see her staring at me, her gaze never seeming to even waver. Even with her staring, I managed to follow through with it, neatly folding my shirt and pants and setting them gently down in a corner. When I approached the bed, though, I did climb on from the exact opposite side from where Jesollae was sitting, sort of perching on the edge as I looked over at her nervously, my hands planted on the bed in front of me. It was a tentative position, and there was a part of me that I think was still ready to retreat if necessary, although she didn’t move towards me at all - just lay there with a very Tiaileng sort of interested half-smile on her face, and as the moments passed with nothing else happening to aggravate my anxiety, it began to ebb despite the unusual situation. That was clear enough, certainly, that Jesollae seemed to quickly pick up on it, propping herself up on one arm and leaning in my direction as she began to speak.

“See? Nothing to worry about. In fact, more than ever, I think we’re going to get along just fine. I’d ask if you like what you see, but considering that your energy is powerful enough that someone like me could probably sense it from a kilometer off… so let’s just say that I think, when it does come to something more intimate, neither of us will have to worry about whether the intrinsic attraction is there. Fair is fair, though, so I won’t spend any longer dwelling on that - you did hold up your end of the bargain, so I’ll hold up mine, and fill you in on a bit of Tiaileng history of the sort that isn’t usually taught in school…”

“Er, well… actually, come to think of it, the only real history about Tiaileng they seem to teach in school is about being on the colony ships, and then the time you’ve been here on Earth…”

“Oh, is that right? I suppose that makes sense in a way, but if that’s the case, I think it’s safe to say we’ll be going back quite a bit before that. Back before we even reached for the stars, before we’d met any other species, back when it was just Tiaileng, and Tiaileng only. Although… you don’t exactly look like you’re that enthusiastic about hearing a history lesson. Understandable, really…”

“No, that’s, um, that’s fine, really!” Which was in fact true - considering the possible alternatives, I would have been more than happy to sit comfortably through a dry lecture. At the very least, it would have distracted me from the lingering awkwardness of the situation…

Jesollae, though, didn’t seem convinced. “Look, you don’t have to humor me just because of who you think I am. Like I said earlier, right now, who I am or what position I hold doesn’t matter. We’re just two people sitting here, talking. And what I want to do with this conversation is show you how contact with people, and with humans especially, became so important to us, and how it, eventually, drove me to be here with you.”

“Well, okay, but… I thought it was about energy or something?”

“That’s… a part of it, for sure, but it goes beyond that. It really does go all the way back, just about, and… hmm. Now that I think about it, maybe there is a way to explain it that’s a little more intriguing. A different sort of little-known history, but maybe it might satisfy your curiosity nonetheless…”

“Er, meaning…”

“Let me put it this way. Haven’t you ever wondered about why Tiaileng arousal works the way it does? Why women are always lubricated, and why men can produce an erection not just in a moment, but actually within a split second?”

“I… not really? I guess I just figured that Tiaileng really liked sex, and that it helped if you didn’t have to wait for arousal in order to get it on…”

“Ah… I can see how you might have thought that, which makes it a little ironic that such things originally came about for a nearly opposite reason…”

“Wait… you’re saying that Tiaileng didn’t like sex? But if that’s the case, then… why?”

“Because we’re talking about way back when, right? Back before first contact with humans, or with any other species, before we even knew there was a different type of energy we could take in. Before we could… feel much of anything, really. There were still neurological impulses, like the sensation of touch, or of pain, but emotionally, Tiaileng simply didn’t even have a frame of reference to explain what such things were.”

“Okay, but what does that have to do with… sex, or arousal, or any of it? If no one really felt anything, then…”

“Actually, that’s why it happened - to make sure that sex, that procreation did occur, even if there was no emotion or passion to drive it. Back then, sex wasn’t something that was arranged, or anticipated, so much as a situation that spontaneously occurred when of-age men and women were in close proximity. There was an impulse, an instinct that was triggered, those two areas of the body were brought together - and before anything else could happen, before anyone could become distracted or lose interest, the erection would facilitate instant penetration, genetic material would be deposited, and sex would be completed. Just a moment of instinct that occurred, so sudden and jarring that contemporary people, looking at it today, would probably have called it rape, but that would be missing the point - in that moment, such contact was just as involuntary on the part of each partner. No one chose it, no one consciously initiated it, it just… happened. And whether it did or not, no one particularly cared, since no one could feel any emotions that could be attached to the act. It simply was, and if a pregnancy resulted it was taken in stride, the resulting child raised with the same indifference and cold efficiency as any other. Without emotions, no one realized what they were missing… and what the costs of such contact could be when they were eventually provided with an emotional context. Looking back on it, it’s hard to do so dispassionately, as it’s painful to contemplate what happened with the feelings that we have now, but at the time… at the time, any number of obvious cruelties could be justified with no emotional reactions to serve as a conscience, but that particular history lesson is probably a little too depressing to delve into completely. Let’s just say that some people, men and women both, used knowledge of that compulsive instinct to their own cynical advantage, and leave it at that.”

“That’s… odd, but… I think you could say the same thing about the early ancestors of modern people, too, at least about the sex. It was only about procreation, not anything else…”

“Yes, but that was in your animalistic forebears, back before the first bridge species even met the threshold of sentience. At the point in time I’m talking about, Tiaileng had long since achieved sentience - in certain aspects of technology, in fact, theirs was far more advanced than your own when we arrived. Society in many ways had advanced significantly, but socially things were much the same. Sex continued that way because people didn’t, perhaps couldn’t, care. And other things happened in similar ways: science was done, producing both good and horrific outcomes, because there was no true sense of ethics behind it, just a logical consideration of whether an experiment was feasible to conduct - and if it was, someone made it happen.

“With nothing to feel, there was nothing to stop us. While it is true that some of your own emotions can be just as destructive, and while it was entirely possible that your species would have eventually eradicated itself were it not for our intervention… at the time of our very first contact with another species, our own inability to feel, to have important emotions weight our considerations, had led us to a similarly precarious position. History is unclear on which experiments, in particular, were disrupted, but if some of the ones that were reportedly under consideration at the time had gone forward, tremendous damage could have been done - from the collapse of our society, up to and including total extinction. Admittedly, knowing that probably informed our decision to rapidly intervene once you were discovered, as we knew just how quickly a civilization could progress towards an apocalyptic fate. As humanity was changed by our arrival, though, the way that we changed, when another species arrived on our home planet, was considerably more profound - as it was through that contact, and that first taste of another type of energy, that opened up an entirely different dimension of experience to us.”

“So, they were the first people you ever encountered who had emotions, like us?”

“Essentially, yes. They were far more different to us that you were, as their forms were not nearly as compatible as you serendipitously happened to be. In fact, had their arrival not been obvious, it would have been hard to tell, just by looking at them, that they were living at all. More than anything, each individual looked like a handful of small brown stones, fused together at the edges, and while it could be said that they respirated nitrogen, the equivalent of a single breath involved several hours and almost-imperceptible movement along their outer surface. They were alive, though, and happy enough to communicate. While their emotions were nowhere near as wide-ranging and vibrant as yours, they produced enough of an equivalent energy to allow us to feel what they were - and to expose us to the very few emotions that we had the capability to feel on our own, once our minds were open to sensing them.

“Unlike what we became, they had never desired to be interstellar travelers. No, they were merely the last of what their single home planet had to offer, as many ships as possible built to escape before their planet’s surface was scorched by a growing, dying sun, so hot that even their enduring structures could not withstand it. They sought refuge with us, and, intrigued by the presence of other life and eager to appropriate new scientific knowledge, my ancestors welcomed them in. But when they met on the surface, and made direct, physical contact with each other, Tiaileng received their first taste of emotions, and the situation rapidly changed.

“I don’t know what would have happened if the aliens had possessed other emotions - anger, or fear, or hate. What that could have caused, I don’t care to imagine, although thankfully the emotions they did have were ones that Tiaileng had far more affinity to. More than anything else, their society, such as it was, focused on complete interconnectedness and mutualism between individuals, and so their overarching emotions were things like caring, compassion, and concern, a sort of tied-together empathy even more powerful than our own inherent abilities. When those original Tiaileng took in that energy, and became deeply exposed to those emotions, it became impossible to look at their own society without filtering it through that compassionate lens - and when they did, no one particularly liked what they saw. Having those feelings, seeing what was happening became too painful for Tiaileng to bear - and so they came together, faced the coldness of their society head-on, and decided to try and rewrite the way that society worked, ruled by the newfound consciences the emotions had created, and guided by the mutualistic teachings of their alien guests and emotional benefactors.”

“Okay, that’s… interesting and all, I guess, but it’s kind of hard to put into context without knowing what was wrong with your society in the first place. You didn’t have emotions, I get that, but… if no one was feeling anything, then how did they even recognize anything was broken? I mean… I just can’t imagine you guys attacking each other, or living in some unequal society…”

“Oh, that’s probably true. Everyone had the resources they needed to survive, but that’s all they did. Just survive, pushing through with science and technology not because they had the passion to make things better, or to help society, but because it might be efficient. It might logically improve something, therefore it was done. Some of the truly bad things that happened, I wouldn’t wish to speak of to others, but… I can think of a milder example. Let’s say that a Tiaileng broke their leg. Now, it could be allowed to heal naturally, on its own, which would take time, but it was far more efficient to slice the leg open from ankle to knee, pin things in place, and use a high-energy beam to fuse the broken parts of the bone back together, and then weld the skin shut again around it. No matter that the physiological pain was excruciating, no matter the hallmarks of trauma that such a procedure could inflict on a person’s psyche, bleeding into their thoughts even without the aid of emotions. It was more efficient, and so it was done. No one was asked what they wanted, or how they desired to heal; if a leg was broken, it was fixed, and if it couldn’t be fixed it was lopped off and a metal one put in its place, with no regard for the loss of sensation. In that society from before, such things were simply taken in stride, as there were no emotions to inform us - but afterward, the cruelty of such procedures became obvious, and all of them, in all aspects of life, suddenly had to be reevaluated.

“The Tiaileng of that time actually created the first… well, probably the closest analogue would be not the constitution of your country, but its bill of rights. The entire concept of society would be transitioned away from pure, logical efficiency, to one that enshrined the rights of each individual Tiaileng to be free from harm.

“Having such a narrow range of emotions actually made it easier, since all they really had to work with was compassion for each other, without the sort of things that led to war and strife for your species. Most of it was taken care of, in fact, by that sea change of attitudes, and where there were a few traditions that still resisted change, their massive scientific enterprise was quickly set to the task of resolving what issues remained in the best possible way.

“And coming all the way back around to it, sex was one of those outliers. The cold, involuntary act of coitus was completely at odds with the newfound compassion Tiaileng wanted to show each other, but instinct wasn’t so easily extinguished. So much of the act was tied in at the biological level, including thousands of years worth of unconscious adaptations that had to be deciphered. In fact, unbeknownst to the people who had been unthinkingly involved in it, each gender had changed in subtle ways to influence procreation around the basic, near-instantaneous act. The female body developed convolutions and variegations to interior passageways to provide an internalized method of sorting through genetic material that it was exposed to, and the male penis had adopted its odd nutation to spread that material across as many pathways as possible to increase its own chances. And that was only the first, most obvious layer; once they dug deeper, and discovered the complex maze of competing hormones and dedicated nervous-system pathways, the problem became even more intractable. But against the unified wall of their science, not from just one research institute or nation but from an entire worldwide population working together to conquer it, the mystery of the act was unraveled and laid bare in all its complex biological glory, analyzed and dissected until a way was found to rebuild the instinctual triggers at what you would consider the genetic level, and managed to turn sex from an involuntary response into a choice: a conscious act that Tiaileng could fully experience together in the caring way that they’d come to desire.

“If sex was a choice, then so was the way in which Tiaileng went about it. When we were no longer tied to that rapid, instinctual burst, when we trained ourselves to take our time and truly experience it… once that pace was slowed down, and the physical portions of the act repeated, Tiaileng discovered that there actually were sensations that they could consciously experience, ones that had probably always been there, but hidden away beneath the immediate rapidity of the instinctual responses. Those sensations, unlike any others, produced in Tiaileng the closest thing they had to a native emotional response, something subtle but capable of building and enhancing a desire for closeness. With that discovery, Tiaileng wanted to explore that capability to the fullest, and so they experimented more and more, tweaking techniques and eliciting sensations until they managed to produce… basically, a sort of orgasm, albeit one that wasn’t tied directly to procreation. Instead, it only brought forward that sensation of intimacy, bringing together those who had engaged in it, and refining that one inherent sort of Tiaileng emotion to its purest, most enjoyable form. It was through that awakening of emotion that sex became such a frequent part of Tiaileng life, and more than anything else an underpinning of our society.

“And so, that’s how sex, once something that barely mattered, became a large part of how we hold our society together, and…” Jessolae trailed off, looking back at me intently. “I haven’t been too boring, have I? You’re sort of staring at me funny…”

“Oh, no, it’s not that? It’s just… um, nevermind…”

“Hmm? If there is something going on, you really ought to tell me…”

“It’s just that… I guess I’m still trying to wrap my head around it. It’s just so incongruous to think that the Tiaileng were ever like that, especially compared to everything I’ve known about them. I know that it makes a certain kind of sense when you think about it logically, that a species without emotions might end up acting like that, but the way you are now, it’s hard to imagine that you were ever something so radically different…”

“Radically different? I’m not sure… well, I can see your point. Certainly, a lot has changed since then, but I do think it has a lot more to do with a change in our perspectives, after acquiring emotions, more than anything else. In fact, it’s in the service of that new perspective, the desire to protect and preserve the emotional energy of the species we pair up with, that leads to us leaving out those parts of our history - they don’t reflect what we are now, and the more we focus on our modern, mutualistic behaviors, the better the emotions we can solicit from those partners in return. And yet… I can see how, from your own perspective, it might seem a little absurd to hear such a contradictory description. The best way I can reconcile it is to simply say that the past Tiaileng are now an artifact of our history, and held a perspective that we will never return to.”

“Absurd… that’s one way of putting it…”

“I’m sorry… are you still talking about that history, or…?”

“Er, no… I was just thinking about everything, and it just occurred to me… as absurd as it is, this actually feels normal, right now.”

“Normal?”

“Yeah, normal. Not much more than a month ago, all I really knew about Tiaileng was what I learned from my parents, and seeing my friends being constantly snuggled by them. I wasn’t even sure that I could get used to being assigned a single one, and when I learned about how many I was actually assigned, the whole thing seemed… ludicrous, impossible even. I didn’t think I would ever be able to handle it, let alone get comfortable with it at all. And yet, here I am, hanging out in my underwear with arguably one of the most important Tiaileng on the planet, who’s also in her underwear. Despite that, with everything that’s happened, things have recently been so consistently absurd that even this is beginning to feel like just another normal day dealing with Tiaileng…”

“I… suppose that’s actually fair. Considering the extraordinary situation you’ve been placed in, I suppose it’s not so unusual to feel that way. And in a sense, that’s a good thing, right? Whether it seems absurd or not, if you’re beginning to feel normal in a situation like this, then it means we’re already making progress. In fact, if you’d like to come a little closer…”

“Umm…” I actually thought about it for a minute, but couldn’t quite get my body to go along with the idea.

“Or not - that’s fine too. Just remember that however you feel is totally okay. You’re right - this situation is a little crazy. And you’re right to find our history incongruous - in fact, I think a lot of Tiaileng do too, when they actually look back on it. Which is also part of why no one’s really all that interested in talking about it. Most humans, for example, while they acknowledge that way back when they were a bunch of cave-people bonking each other over the head with clubs, they don’t tend to spend much time dwelling on it. It’s the same for us, if not more so - now that we are capable of feeling what we do, it almost hurts to look back on a time that we were so cold, so morally adrift. To know how far we could have fallen, had fate not intervened. It might seem strange, but it’s hard not to see those first aliens as our very real saviors, staving off our own descent into madness and self-destruction through our uninformed cruelty. No, it’s understandable that we’d all rather focus on the good that their contact brought us, the way they unlocked our compassion and closeness… that’s what ultimately allowed us to be greater than our previous selves, to step forward and journey among the stars for the species we truly wanted to discover…”

“Huh? But I thought you just said that the… rock-creatures, that they provided what you were looking for…”

“Basically, yes, with the emphasis on basic. Being the scientists that we are, we set about evaluating the emotional energy, how it interacted with us, and just how much… potential, I guess you could say, the energy unlocked, in terms of our own emotions and capabilities. While the energy from those creatures was a night and day difference from what we’d had before, once we actually got into it, the energy range and amplitude was, at most, five percent of what we should have ultimately been able to accept and process. This was in large part because the energy was on a few narrow… not quite wavelengths, exactly, but the concept is similar. Once we knew that such energy existed, though, and that there were other species aside from our own, we realized, as a society, that we had to branch out, that we had to see who else we could find.

“The problem was, we didn’t want to be away from the energy we had on hand. In terms of resources, the rocklike aliens would have been ideal companions on that journey, as they required little resources and could provide the energy we had come to realize we needed. But the aliens had no interest in going back into space; they’d only done so to save their species, and now that they’d found a stable planet and a species they wanted to interact with, they had no desire to upset their newfound stability. A lot of Tiaileng did too, preferring that guaranteed source of energy, but there were plenty that wanted to explore, to find species that were even more compatible. And when we managed to unlock that one single energetic response within us, giving us hope that we could generate our own energy just enough to bear not being around the aliens for an extended period of time, we managed to get enough people together to go into space.

“Our explorations weren’t perfect - there were plenty of species we encountered that weren’t nearly as nice, and some of our initial ships were destroyed and their crews executed or worse. Killing, though, had never been a part of our culture, even back then, and with the addition of an emotional conscience, it simply wasn’t possible. Still, our scientists were more than efficient, analyzing the devices used against us and creating technology that could nullify them.

“Truly hostile species still could not be convinced to accept peace and had to be avoided, and many other species, while nice, were not at all compatible with the energy we sought. A few of them were, though, with usable energy at far better ratios: ten, fifteen, twenty percent. But then… then we found Earth, and humans, and the energy we found was like nothing else we’d encountered before. That’s when we knew we had to intervene somehow, and fix your society, because you’re all far too valuable in that respect to be allowed to go extinct.”

“So, if the other species were at ten to twenty percent, then that means people are something like…”

“Around fifty percent is our current best estimate. In a certain sense, that translates to at least an order of magnitude higher than any other species we’d encountered before, and at a higher energy level to boot. Back then, the original alien species was enough, but it would have taken about a hundred or so rock formations in and around a Tiaileng’s environment to provide an equivalent energy level to that of an average assigned human. To say that we’re ecstatic to be around you guys… well, that’s putting it mildly. The amount of feeling and creativity and a dozen other things that are unlocked by being in your presence is remarkable, for sure.

“Like I said, though, that’s just an average. Someone like you… well, the energy potential is fascinating in and of itself, but if that was the only thing, I probably wouldn’t be investigating so intensely. But some of your other abilities, like being able to see the energy transfer, makes me wonder just what else you might be capable of. Humans, on their own, are amazing to us, but there’s still a huge gap in unlocked potential. If there’s even a chance that you might be the key to unlocking something more, to showing us a new sort of energy and experience that we might not even be able to imagine yet… I’m sure you can understand how monumental that is. And if it’s something where we can figure out how it works, and maybe find a way to awaken those abilities in other humans, it could actually change our destiny in this universe, and bringing us closer to the completion of that ultimate quest.

“I can’t guarantee that that’s what we’ll find, with you or anyone else, but that’s why I have to try. Members of the council, first and foremost, are given the responsibility to further the interests of all Tiaileng here in any way that we can… and If I, acting on behalf of the Tiaileng council, can find a way to make things better in a very meaningful way, this is where I have to be, and what I have to do.

“Assuming you’ll let me, of course, but now that you’ve heard what I have to say… aren’t you at least a little curious yourself? Don’t you want to discover what you might be capable of?”

“Well, I…”

“Yes?”

“I mean, I am, of course I am, but… when you ask me something like that, it just feels like… too much, you know? About a month ago, I was just a… normal-ish high schooler, thinking about homework and grades and applying for college. Maybe now I have Tiaileng for peers instead of the people I used to go to class with, but I’ve been studying every day, and… I guess that vision of the future was starting to come back, that things would be normal. Sure there would be a bunch of Tiaileng around, but I’d still go to college, find a career, and… things started to make sense again, at least a little. But now you’re here, and all these things that you’ve told me… if you start looking into what I can do, even if it’s not exactly what you expect, you’re pretty sure that you’re going to find something, right?”

“Correct. I’ve reviewed what data we have on you to this point, and I wouldn’t be here otherwise.”

“Okay, but if you find something, whatever it is… this isn’t just about finding something, recording it, and then leaving me be, is it? If you find something, when you find something, you also have some idea in mind for doing something with it, don’t you?”

“Also correct, but I think I already stated that - if we can work with you to bring about something that’s beneficial for all Tiaileng, it’s my responsibility to make that happen. If it comes down to that, I can’t really force you to follow the path I want, but I can use every resource I have at my disposal to convince you. As for what I might have in mind… let’s just say there are several options on the table, and the results of testing would determine which ones come into play.”

“And let me guess - none of them exactly involve me going off to college, or living even a semblance of a normal life?”

“Hmm… I think I’m getting your point here, but at the same time, let’s face the truth - no matter what, even if I walked away right now, that specific idea of a normal life is not going to magically return. Experimentation or no, the Tiaileng Council will continue making additional assignments until your energy output is fully accounted for. Have you even thought about how you would go about attending college with fifty-three, or more, Tiaileng who need to be in your general vicinity at all times? Whatever arrangement would make that work would be the opposite of normal, not to mention the additional security that would be needed to ensure your safety. However things go forward from here, I think it’s safe to say that normal won’t be the word to describe it.

“And with that in mind… is what I’m proposing really so bad? You get to learn fascinating things about yourself, and about Tiaileng, maybe even take your particular place in our shared history. What’s in store for you down that path… it won’t be hurtful, and it certainly won’t be boring. It’ll probably be challenging in parts, and fun in others. But if you do this, if you help us, you will have the gratitude of all Tiaileng, and it’s a gratitude that we will greatly reward. It might not be normal, but it will be extraordinary for all of us, and right now you have the chance to take that first step. So… what do you say? Are you willing to take that chance with me, with us? Because if you’re not, you know that I’m going to spend the rest of the evening, and quite possibly the rest of your life, trying every possible thing I can to convince you…”

“Well, gee, when you put it that way…”

“Too much? Yeah… sorry about that. I I know I said I was going to try and be… normal with you, but being on the Council, it’s so easy to slip back into that mode. And it’s not a lie - whatever my own feelings might be, while I didn’t really show it as much as might be expected, I do carry the weight of the collective Tiaileng future on my shoulders, and the needs of all Tiaileng have to take precedence over my own.

“Setting that aside for a moment, though… between us, person to person? I… maybe I get what you’re going through, at least a little. After all, there was a time when I never thought I’d be in the almost unimaginable role that I’m in now. What I’m asking you to do is pretty monumental: take a chance on some unseen future filled with strange and possibly uncomfortable things, in service to a species that isn’t even your own. And beyond that, it’s probably hard right now to see what the upside is for you personally - some abstract notion of helping others doesn’t do it for most people, not even most Tiaileng.

“And that’s fair enough - we don’t do assignments because we just love people, we do it for the symbiotic relationship and the benefits that we acquire from it. If I could be more specific about what might be coming up after testing, I would, but whatever authority I have, it’s not just up to me. I can conduct inquiries on my own authority, do research, but for an actual decision about what happens in your case, I have to report back, let the council know my recommendations, and then everyone makes a decision by consensus - a consensus that, considering it’s your case, would in some way include you too. I know it’s tough for you to just trust me on all this, especially with the way we started, but the sooner we come to an agreement, the sooner we can get through the testing and to the point where we can start exploring some possibilities.”

“I know what you’re saying, but… it’s still a lot to take in. You won’t even tell me all the way what I’d be getting into, and I have my hands full just trying to get accustomed to all the Tiaileng I’m already assigned, plus the new ones. I’m just… not sure I’m ready to face anything more right now. I want to find out more, sure - I certainly want to know what it is about me that got me into this situation, and to know what it means between me and all these Tiaileng. But all this crazy future stuff… maybe I can’t have normal, not really, but I could really use for things to be kind of stable, at least until I get all the way used to being around all these Tiaileng in the first place…”

“I… can certainly understand those concerns. But if we’re going to find a way to make this work… I wonder, what if we simply break it up a little? How about right now, we just set all those other decisions, all that future stuff, off to the side, and you agree to work with me while we do the testing and see what we can find out about you. Once we have a better idea of what’s going on, then we can talk again, and you can decide if you want to move forward with anything beyond that. At that point, if you really want to try and arrange something normal - college, a career, and all that - we’ll revisit it, and see if we can find a solution that satisfies everyone’s desires well enough, most importantly yours. For now, though, all I ask is that you let me run some tests, let me get acquainted with you, and begin my research. All right? Can you agree to that?”

“Yeah, I… I think so. Just as long as it doesn’t involve anything too crazy…”

“And it won’t. What I said to your parents wasn’t just for reassurance. We’re not going to do anything invasive, and in fact, the only part that will involve you getting any more undressed than you are now would be the intimate interactions between us, so that I can experience and test the exact nature of your energy firsthand. For that part, at least, I intend to make it as easy on you as possible. This, here, between us is actually a good first step - even with the bit of tension in our conversation, I really do feel a certain, core calmness within you. Again, though, I said I wouldn’t pressure you on that in any way, and I certainly won’t, but just so you know… like any other Tiaileng woman, I can be ready at a moment’s notice, and of course I am more than well-attuned to appreciate that kind of intimacy. So, if you want to get a head start on that part of it, just say the word and I will extend my welcoming embrace, at any time, including right now…”

“Er, I… Actually, if we’ve gone over everything you wanted to talk about, maybe I could put my clothes back on…”

If Jesollae was disappointed by that response, she didn’t show it, instead looking over with a wry sort of smile.

“Yes… like I said, more hope on my part than expectation. Don’t worry, though - we’ll keep working on it, and I’m confident that we’ll be together in that way soon enough. I can say, though, that once we have that initial experience, any subsequent encounters will likely only become easier and more pleasurable. While it’s been more with Tiaileng than humans, perhaps, I do pride myself in having certain… techniques that easily measure up to my other areas of expertise. Whenever you’re willing to avail yourself of it, I will definitely be waiting. But for now… you’ve done everything that I asked, and I do appreciate it, so I won’t pressure you any further.”

She arose from the bed, stretching in that compellingly flexible Tiaileng way, a motion that was enough, in her current state of dress, to compel my attention - sufficiently so that I ended up blushing anew and quickly scrambled to pull on my own clothes. It was impossible to miss, however, the way that she bent down to pick up her own articles of clothing, one by one, lingering in the position for a bit longer than necessary and leaving me feeling more than a little flustered, and aroused, by the time she got everything back on. I knew, of course, that she could sense every bit of those feelings, and the knowing expression she flashed at me over her shoulder as she walked towards the door only confirmed it. She didn’t say anything else about it, though, and I managed to get things tamped back down as I followed her back towards the great hall.

Daledonne and the trio of new arrivals were still sitting at the table, chatting amiably in the almost musical tones of Tiaileng speech, with several other Tiaileng from my earlier entourage milling about nearby. As soon as he saw us returning, though, Daledonne got up and was quickly at our side.

“Ah, you’re back! I trust your meeting went well? I can only assume so, since I didn’t feel anything particularly… out of the ordinary coming from you. So… does that mean…”

“Yeah, I… if it means understanding what’s going on with me, and what got me into this situation in the first place… I do want to find out what I can.”

“And that’s a motivation we all share, I think.” He nodded in the direction of Jesollae. “I admit I wasn’t entirely familiar with Jesollae’s more recent research, so I took a moment of downtime to look up a few things within our informational network, and… in this field of investigation, as of right now there really isn’t anyone better. Even before she embarked on the journey here, before joining the council to potentially manage Tiaileng activity on this world, she is renowned for her research into several of the other friendly, energetic species we made contact with before.”

I glanced over, a bit surprised. “Wait… before the ships even arrived? But, that must mean you’re-“

“Now, now,” Jesollae interjected. “I believe under Earth customs it’s considered quite impolite to ask a woman her age…”

“But… you barely look older than…”

“Well, there are… reasons for that. Some of which pertain specifically to those who are inducted into the council, and which it would be impossible for me to divulge. That being said… traveling at interstellar speeds, beyond supposedly relativistic limits, can cause the experience of time to change dramatically, at a biological level in addition to a perceptual one. Perhaps the Tiaileng who have… grown up here on this planet experience it differently, but as for me… sometimes I feel that my understanding of time has been lost, and sometimes I feel that it is time which is lost within me.”

“I…”

“Have no reason to understand that, I know. Perhaps the best thing to do is to simply consider that I am young at heart, and leave the other mysteries of it for the underlying physical laws of the universe to sort out. For now, what’s important is that I am here for you, and no matter how the rest of this journey goes, for this part at least, it will be one that we walk together. Fair enough?”

“I guess, but it still doesn’t make a whole lot of sense…”

“Well, perhaps it will become clear if the proper confluence of circumstances manages to arise. There, is little, however, left in my own situation to be worthy of further exploration. I’m much more interested in making sense of the true mysteries that may be locked within you, just waiting to be teased out into the open for a proper examination. And now that we have an agreement, there are certain things that we really should start working on immediately…”

For some reason, she abruptly took a half-step back, appearing to glance down carefully at herself. “If I’m going to do that, though, if I’m going to be a part of your life and someone you’re going to be comfortable with… I suppose that wearing the official raiment of the Tiaileng Council would probably be the sort of reminder that would have the opposite effect. We can continue in a moment, but first, let me change into something more… comfortable…”

She motioned over to a couple of people from her entourage, and they followed after her as she walked briskly from the room, leaving me with Daledonne and about a dozen from my own group. They’d been edging slowly over to hear the conversation, and quickly clustered around me once she left.

“Er, when she said she was going to get into something more comfortable, you don’t think she meant…”

“Hmm?” Daledonne asked. “I’m not sure what you… oh, you mean how it’s normally used in context?”

“Yeah…”

“Considering I still don’t know Jesollae well enough to guess, I really think it could go either way. However, if she had been intending to engage with you like that, certainly the best time would have been when you two were alone together - if anything had happened, though, I would have sensed it clearly enough. She did promise to lay off, and being on the council, I wouldn’t think she would be one to break her word. Although, I did feel a little something, here and there… not to pry, but did anything happen, by chance?”

“Not really, just… she wanted us to be more comfortable, so we ended up stripping down to our underwear… but then we sat apart from each other, not touching at all, and just… talked a lot, so…”

“Ah, I think I see. Some normal, healthy arousal, automatically occurring simply from seeing her in that particular state… a bit like the state you’re in just before bedtime, come to think of it. Although, speaking of arousal… if you wanted to arrange for something tonight, to welcome our new arrivals in a more directly intimate manner…”

“Actually, I… I’m still feeling confused enough about things at the moment that I’m not sure I’m feeling… comfortable about that right now. I mean, certain parts of me are willing, probably, but… there’s been so much happening today, I’m feeling overwhelmed enough, and to add that much more emotion to the mix, I’m really not sure I’m up to it. I think I just want to relax, hang out with my friends, and not think about or feel anything too strongly for the rest of the evening…”

“Which, considering everything that’s gone on today, is probably healthy - the last thing any of us want to see is you getting too stressed. After all, if we are going ahead with this research, there will be a lot more things that we’ll all need to figure out how to handle, so taking it easy now, and starting in on this as calm and refreshed as we can be, is likely the best course of action. I think I’ll do the same - if you’re all right on your own for now, I and a few of the other Tiaileng will spend some time… relaxing in each other’s company.”

“Er… you don’t have to be coy about it. I mean, I can guess what you’re going to do…”

“Heh, fair enough. I just thought that, considering how you’re feeling, I might spare you the conflicting emotions that might have stemmed from a more… vivid description…”

“Oh? What sort of vivid description are you talking about?”

It was clearly Jesollae’s voice, and as I turned, the other Tiaileng seemed to part around me in response to her approach.

Thankfully, what Jesollae had meant about getting more comfortable hadn’t involved ending up in lingerie, so much as attempting to mimic the kind of almost-normal clothing that the rest of my entourage was wearing. Instead of the uniform, she was wearing a black T-shirt cut in the usual female style, complete with the V-shaped neckline plunging towards her chest, which for Tiaileng didn’t really have much effect beyond highlighting a plume of short, turquoise fur. More distracting, though, was the pattern of hearts that adorned it, from crimson to vivid, almost day-glo magenta, scattered across the surface of the fabric like leaves dancing in a gust of wind. It sat in stark contrast to the fairly snug miniskirt below it, done up in a predominantly green tartan plaid, along with a pair of sleek white leggings with subtle pink striping that for some reason only extended down slightly past her knees.

It certainly stood out, and while it was a combination I couldn’t have imagined any human girl I knew trying to wear, it was the sort of incongruously unique styling that most Tiaileng would wear happily and unashamedly. True, the fact that the person wearing it was ostensibly one of the more important Tiaileng on the planet perhaps made it even more incongruous, but considering my own entourage had enthusiastically and on their own initiative worn clothes that had ranged from impractical to borderline fetishistic, the ensemble actually seemed kind of normal in comparison. Somehow, against the contrast of her own fur, the combination almost worked in a weird sort of way, and the way the miniskirt clung to her hips… well, everyone in the room could probably tell easily enough what I thought about that.

Daledonne’s interjection, at least, meant that I didn’t have to make an immediate comment. “Well, you see, we were just discussing… hmm. Ah, honored councillor? I have to-“

“Just Jesollae, please. I think we’ve gotten past the point of formality, don’t you?”

“Well, yes, but… and of course, you’re certainly free to dress as you wish, but as someone who does have a certain status, I…”

“Really? And this from someone who isn’t much interested in formalities, either… The thing is, though, that I want my research to include candid observations and assessments, which is going to be hard to do if my uniform calls out my position every time someone looks at me. Maybe that’s not the most traditionally scientific approach, but I’m not trying to study Damian’s behavior, per se, so there’s no point doing this at arm’s length. Quite the opposite, actually - the only way we’re going to get comfortable enough, fast enough, to do what we need to do is if I become a fully integrated part of Damian’s life. Hence, these… what I can only hope are fashionable garments that I appropriated, with permission, from the dresser of one of his assigned Tiaileng. I am rather used to wearing the uniform, so much so that I’m not really up on such things, although I have to say, these are at least reasonably comfortable.” The way she reached down to tug on one leg of the form-fitting fabric seemed to at least somewhat belie her last statement, but by that time she was already turning back to me. “So, what do you think? Fashionable enough?”

“Er, I… I don’t know the slightest thing about fashion, honestly, so as long as it works…”

“Okay, but… I look enough like one of your assigned Tiaileng now, right? Enough that you’re maybe not going to look like you’re so intimidated every time you talk to me?”

“Well, I… sure, I guess, but you have the same, uh, rank, whatever you’re wearing…”

“As long as it’s an improvement, then. Although… perhaps this would be a good time to put that to a reasonable test…”

“Huh?” I said, but even as the word came out of my mouth, she was already reaching over to place her hand in mine.

“I might as well give it a try, right? So, that’s what we’re going to do. For this evening… how about you consider me a part of your assignment? Just like any other Tiaileng here, and we’ll go do whatever it is you usually do to wind down after a long and trying day…”

“Actually, I was just about to go see where my friends wandered off to, and go hang out with them… I mean, nothing really interesting, just-“

“Great! No pressure, then.” She glanced around, looking pointedly at the other Tiaileng who were still milling around in seeming confusion. Miruvona, though, quickly caught on to the situation, and my other hand was quickly intertwined in hers. While Daledonne seemed to have other business, and darted away down one of the far hallways, the rest of the others quickly got the message. Soon, I was once again enveloped in a miniature cloud of Tiaileng, wandering as a group through the mansion’s winding hallways seemingly at random until one of them actually called up the Tiaileng that had been guiding my friends and tracked down their actual location.

They had ended up in one of the mansion’s lounges, one that was surprisingly a mostly subdued affair, apparently designed more for the place’s employees. Aside from the crimson wall coverings emblazoned with golden fleur-de-lis, the place was actually set at a reasonable scale: a pair of plush, leather-covered couches and a handful of easy chairs, arrayed around a large flat-screen TV. It had apparently come with several different media devices, and a ridiculous array of surround-sound speakers, but it was clearly Zalman’s game console that was plugged into the side of the TV itself: I couldn’t imagine any others would be adorned with the same specific array of stickers from anime series, doujin-fighter games, and promotional stickers from the agricultural-automation company where Zalman’s father worked.

My friends and their Tiaileng were draped variously across both of the couches, focused on the screen in front of them. Considering the way that Tiaileng tended to abhor violence, it wasn’t much of a surprise that they weren’t playing one of the more warlike games that Will, Zalman and I had used to love, even if such things were now anachronisms - wars were certainly a thing of the past, and the virtual guns used in those games were probably the only ones still capable of firing. The Tiaileng, at least, had no problem with conflict of the harmless, cartoony sort, if the kart-racer they were playing intently was any indication. It was only after the round had ended, in fact, with Zalman grumbling and Emma shouting victoriously, that any of them became aware enough of their surroundings to notice our presence.

Will, apparently not nearly as wrapped up in it, was the first to realize, glancing over his shoulder at us.

“Oh, hey! Wondered when… all of you were going to show up. Man, I cannot figure out how you are still…”

He trailed off, seeming to do a double-take as his gaze panned over Jesollae.

“Wait a minute, isn’t that… Er, I mean, sorry, ma’am! I wasn’t trying to stare at you, really I wasn’t!”

“Oh, don’t worry about it… William, was it? I didn’t intend to startle you, in any case.”

“But, but you’re wearing…”

“Something to help people become more comfortable and less nervous about my presence. Although, I’m not sure it’s working all the way yet…”

“Er, no, it’s fine, really! Um…” Will seemed frozen for a moment, apparently trying to figure out what to do, before patting a spot towards the opposite end of the couch. “You, ah… want to play or something?”

“Sure, if you’re offering. Certainly not something I get to do all that often.” Jesollae looked over at me. “I assume this counts as ‘hanging out?’”

“Yeah, I’ll… take next turn or whatever…”

Jesollae nodded, finally letting go of my hand, and a moment later she was curled up against the couch cushions in that slightly disconcerting Tiaileng way, her back somehow curling and twisting at the same time in a maneuver that I was fairly sure would do agonizing things to my spine if I tried it myself.

For my part, I sat down in one of the easy chairs, although my attempt at relative isolation didn’t do a whole lot of good - Miruvona ended up on my lap, reclining back against my chest and nestling her fuzzy head just underneath my chin, while an unseen Tiaileng perched on the chair back with their hand resting gently on my shoulder, and the rest of my entourage, eschewing the other furniture, instead curled up with each other in a rough semicircle in front of us.

Ingotheen was apparently still very much into the game, staring intently at the screen as she rapidly tapped at her controller, but Will leaned over onto the armrest and started talking in my direction.

“Hey, so, um… how’d it go? You know, with…”

“It went… fine, I guess? We just talked, and what she said makes sense… now that I’m in this situation, I think I do want to find out what it is that led to all this, at least.”

“Well… if you’re okay with it, then I guess that’s what matters.”

He glanced back over at her for a second, and then back at me, lowering his voice a little.

“About before, I… yeah, sorry about letting it get really awkward, with all that sex-talk stuff. I know, not the kind of thing you think you’re gonna talk about with friends, right? And yet, we probably shouldn’t have kept it from you either. We’ve been close friends for… a freakin’ long time, and to keep all that from you… I guess it really was just because it was super awkward. At that point, you hadn’t been assigned yet, and to try and tell you when you didn’t know what it was like, well… you know what I’m saying. Before you’ve been with a Tiaileng, and after, are two completely different states, and there’s no way to explain to someone beforehand unless they’ve experienced it for themselves…”

“Yeah, I… get the picture. Being here, with all these Tiaileng and everything going on around me, even if it’s only been a matter of weeks, my perspective’s changed on a whole lot of things, for sure. And you’re probably right - if you’d told me that, before all this, I really don’t know how I would have reacted. It’s still awkward to talk about, but now that I’ve been through this… I think I get it, at least a little. I mean… I’m sure it’s a lot different getting to know just your one particular Tiaileng, and maybe the ones who are with your friends. Getting fifty all at once… I’m not sure if I can say I have relationships, so much as still trying to figure out where I stand with all of them. I dunno if it’s worth admitting, but even now I can only reliably put a name and a face to maybe two-thirds of them. Some I do know a little better, and some I’ve even… been with, but if you asked me how I relate to all of them as a whole, I don’t know if I could even put it into words…”

“Oh, I don’t know about that…” Miruvona said, shifting slightly in my lap. “Really, you’re actually doing pretty good considering how we were all assigned at once. If it had been me in charge, I’d have ramped it up slowly - okay, you still get assigned fifty, but you just meet one to start, spend a couple of weeks just with them, and then introduce another and another with that kind of spacing until you got all the way up to fifty. If they’d done it like that, you’d still have the whole assignment, but you’d have all those relationships in place, too. Having to deal with all fifty right at the start, even dividing things up a little… Daledonne might not admit it, but it’s been a little chaotic for most of us too. The fact that you know as many of us as you do, despite having to sort everyone out all at once… I’m not sure if even a Tiaileng thrust into a situation like that could have done any better.”

“I guess… and it’s not like I can change things now. Maybe they might have worked out better another way, but at least they’re working. Although… it’s true that sometimes, just a little, I wonder in the back of my mind how it might be, between us for example, if you were the only one, or maybe one of two or three assigned, rather than one of many that I only end up interacting with a fraction of the time…”

“In certain ways, it might be… nicer, maybe. More intimate in a human way, although perhaps not so much a Tiaileng one. The way things are, here, with you… it’s kind of the environment that Tiaileng go through in high school, in a sense, instead of what an assignment would typically be like. Because of that, I don’t really have any more experience with a typical assignment than you do - your friend, or his partner, probably have a much better sense of it than I could describe. Not that I’m complaining, of course - this way is different, sure, but it’s also a lot more exciting, and doubly so with the Council member being here…”

“No kidding!” Will shook his head slightly. “Well, if you like exciting, I guess. I gotta say… as strange as it might seem, while having this many Tiaileng seems like a cool idea, the more I think about it, I’m pretty happy just being with Ingotheen. I never really thought about what having fifty would mean: Tiaileng everywhere, sure, but if you’re only able to be one-on-one with them for a fiftieth of the time at most, actually building a relationship with them all would naturally be tough. I mean, with Ingotheen, it was a really good match, and we hit it off right away - as soon as we got back to the privacy of my room, we had our clothes off within a minute and… well, you know. We connected that way, easily enough, and that made getting to know her just that much easier - from that point on we were just about inseparable, physically at least. Thinking back, though, maybe that part was instantaneous, but it took a good few weeks of being with her, talking with her, learning about each other, before we really clicked - before that moment when I knew that not only did we have that mutual attraction, but that we were really perfect for each other. That point when I knew I wanted her at my side going forward, over anyone else, no matter what. I imagine if you asked Zalman or Emma, they’d tell you something similar. Again, though, that’s one-on-one, coming together like that as partners. How you form a relationship like that with fifty Tiaileng, or more… I couldn’t even tell you where to begin…”

“Oh, I wouldn’t worry about that,” the Tiaileng above me said, tousling my hair, and I glanced up to notice that it was Telanelei. “It’s a different situation for sure, but not an insurmountable one. Maybe we can’t each have the same sort of relationship like that, individually, but with all of us here together, we’re not restricted to that single relationship, either. I know it’s a little strange, but it’s almost in a way like we’re all assigned to each other, as a group - one big happy family, with Damian providing enough energy for us all. It’s like he’s the… primary assignment for all of us, and being with him is what we like the most, but with all of us together there’s no shortage of companionship. Even if we can’t share in every experience, with the range of his energy, to an extent we get to share in all of his experiences, his feelings, whether we’re directly with him or not. If he’s happy with one, or some of us, all of us get to enjoy that happiness as a result. Unconventional? Sure. Different from that one-on-one relationship? Absolutely. But if it can work…”

“Hey, as long as you’re all happy with it. Still, I can’t help but thinking that it’s a weird way to look at it…” Will glanced back down in my direction. “Is that really how you think of it?”

“Me? Um… I mean, yeah, I guess so. I’m still not really sure what to call it, if you can even put a name to it. Actually, when it comes to intimate stuff, it’s… on a schedule, sort of, and there’s a different group of Tiaileng each day, that spend the day with me in close proximity. The only time I really see more than that is during meals when we’re all around the table, and at bedtime. I… know what the other Tiaileng get up to without me, in part because they’re more than happy to tell me about it with even the slightest prompting, but I guess I don’t think about it that much. Everyone gets what they need, and I’m not so mobbed with Tiaileng that I crack up. And even beyond that… now that I’m accepting that this isn’t just some weird, temporary fluke, that this assignment is real enough that there’s actually someone from the council here, I think I’m starting to look at it differently. Maybe I’m not that close with a lot of the Tiaileng just now, but if we’re gonna be together for years, decades, or more… even split between fifty or so Tiaileng, I think there’s enough time to pull together relationships between all of us, somehow…”

“See? It’s not just me saying it!” Telanelei said, patting me on the shoulder. “Unusual or not, this is something that involves Tiaileng, after all. And with fifty-three of us now, I don’t think that there’s any problem that we couldn’t solve, all together…”

“Actually, it’s fifty-four. And counting…”

I glanced over to see Jesollae resting along the top of the couch, controller dangling from the cord that played between her fingers before she looked down and seemed to notice it hanging there. “Oh, yeah, I guess I got bored. Plus, I’m pretty sure they were letting me win…”

“Lies!” Zalman called out from behind her, but she casually ignored him.

“Anyway, I couldn’t help but overhear the tail end of that enlightening conversation. I have to say, somewhat to my surprise, I really didn’t think about the actual dynamics of the relationships involved in such a complex, multi-person arrangement. Well, not beyond the, ah, energetic aspects of it, at least. Still, the fact that you were all able to come to such an arrangement, in such a spontaneous and organic fashion… ah, but I suppose that discounts too much the role that Daledonne surely played in making all of this work. He really is humble, to a fault, but definitely not the sort of person it makes sense to underestimate…”

“Huh?” Will said, raising an eyebrow. “It almost sounds like you… know him…”

“Oh, quite! I’m sure that he likes to exaggerate the distance between us, and it’s true that our circles don’t intersect as often as they once did, but… at the start of his career, he did work directly under me, for a time. And yes, I do mean that in both of the ways that it could be interpreted…”

She finished that statement with a particular sort of grin, and I’d swear that Will and I blushed simultaneously.

“That’s, um… good to know?”

“Well, not a big deal either way. We are Tiaileng, after all - it’s rare to work with someone, especially Tiaileng who are assigned to the government for the greater good, without having that sort of relationship eventually. As to what it means here, between us… you might not believe it, but the reason he’s here isn’t due to any decisions on my part. That being said, his assignment to you certainly wasn’t an accident or matter of happenstance. As I’m sure you know, we already had an extensive file on you, and while there may have been a certain… feigning of surprise to give us a little more time to deal with logistics, the fact that Daledonne was there from the start was certainly pre-planned. I suppose that Coaverel wasn’t in on it, so his surprise was probably genuine, but there had already been some surreptitious earlier observations, and someone from my division was working behind the scenes to anticipate a mass-assignment scenario from the get-go. That’s why Daledonne was there - they knew about your personality, and the struggles that being around that many Tiaileng could cause. The greater the challenge, though, the more Daledonne steps up and finds a way to make it work. The fact that he managed to sort things out this efficiently, to get you even this comfortable with everyone in such a short amount of time, I’m really quite impressed. Impressed enough that I took his earlier interjection in stride, even. Still, it will be… interesting working with him again, for sure.”

“Hmm, that’s one way of putting it…”

The familiar voice, of course, belonged to Daledonne, poking his head in the doorway, along with a couple of other Tiaileng from Jesollae’s entourage flanking him. “I can ensure everyone present that such work, of course, will be strictly professional, and regardless of rank or prior relationship, my ultimate loyalty rests with who I am assigned to, as it should, no matter what.”

“And I wouldn’t dream of telling you otherwise,” Jesollae replied, sliding down from the couch and taking a few steps in his direction. “I assume, though, that my entourage isn’t here merely to inform me of that fact?”

“No, not at all. I’m just here to inform you that we have your quarters, for now, all squared away. Your team selected one of the unoccupied suites in the far wing, and there should be more than enough office and living space to accommodate all of you.”

“Good - I’m sure my staff will appreciate it.”

“And yourself, I assume…”

“Oh… maybe I wasn’t quite clear enough before? When I said that I wanted to blend in, as though I was one of Damian’s assigned Tiaileng, I didn’t just mean during experiments, or for some random bits of socialization. If this is going to work, we have to become completely comfortable with each other, and the only way to do that is to engage in the sort of constant contact that will build the trust we need. So, I will be by his side for the duration, sharing space with him and his other assigned Tiaileng. I assume that won’t be a problem?”

“Logistically? No, I suppose not, although… perhaps it would be best if I was able to pull Damian aside for a moment and discuss it in an environment without any undue pressure…”

Jesollae didn’t seem particularly enamored with that idea, but she stayed put as Miruvona climbed off my lap so that I could get up. Daledonne quickly took my hand, seeming to want to pull me away before Jesollae got any other ideas, and we were quickly alone around a bend in the hallway.

“I… suppose I have some explaining to do,” Daledonne started off. “It is true that Jesollae and I did work together for a short time a good while ago, perhaps a year or so in total. It was before her elevation to this planet’s council, but she was still advancing quickly within government, and I was a sort of special assistant to her, smoothing out the sort of rare situations where Tiaileng found themselves in conflict. It is also true that we were… intimate. That being said, our paths diverged soon after, with me going to an investigative-science division, eventually specializing in the analysis of human energy transfer, and she obviously went on to the council. While she ended up on the council committee heading the division that I ostensibly work in, I hadn’t been in touch with her for years, as the council has more important work than looking in on mid-level scientists. I guess I didn’t really think much about it, until she showed up here unannounced. I probably should have told you at least that much, though, and for that I apologize - Jesollae isn’t really good at providing prior notice, and while I knew that someone high-level would check on the situation here eventually, I was as surprised as everyone else when her entourage turned up. Between everything else that happened, I didn’t get around to letting you know about our past, but I should have. Whatever there was, or wasn’t, between us, what I said before holds true - I am assigned to you, and your interests come first.”

“All right… look, really, I don’t mind. You were honest before about why you were here, and who was looking into this. And I did agree to work with her, so I don’t think there’s going to be a situation where you have to go against each other or something. It’s… an interesting thing to know, but really, right now it’s the furthest thing from my mind…”

“I can guess what other thoughts are likely taking priority. Trying to figure out the full ramifications of Jesollae, ah… getting comfortable with you?"

“Yeah, a little. I mean, she’s actually nicer than I thought she’d be at first. Even so, it’s still kind of just… intimidating.”

“True - she can have that affect on people. Honestly, I don’t think it’s even about being on the council. While I haven’t met a lot of council members, they all take their own approaches to solving the difficult and important problems that the council is faced with. Some tend to be very remote, with a bureaucratic, hands-off approach favoring careful, logical analysis in quintessentially bureaucratic Tiaileng style. Others, like Jesollae, tend to be more interpersonally-focused, and like to achieve their goals by building relationships and fostering intimacy, in a more emotionally-considered approach. I’m not entirely sure just how well that approach always meshes with her particular personality, but she wouldn’t be on the council if she didn’t excel at making it work. Somehow, I’m sure she’ll do the same here - but if she doesn’t, you don’t need to feel that your hands are tied. You agreed to this voluntarily, and you can revoke that agreement if she goes too far. You can also remind her of that fact if necessary, and if you do not, I will. We will do this right, and if Jesollae gets ahead of herself and impulsively pushes too far, well… now that I am familiar with your responses to various situations, if things look like they’re getting out of hand, I intend to move in and shut them down before you even need to protest. Jesollae’s job may be to figure out everything that’s going on, but for the other fifty-three of us, our job is to keep you safe and happy, and that’s what we’ll do.”

“Okay…”

“And when it comes to Jesollae hanging around you, and wanting to be seen as one of your assigned Tiaileng… if that’s really what she wants, I don’t think you need to act any differently around her. If she wants you to start treating her like she’s on the council, I’m sure she’ll let you know.”

“If you say so, although I’m not sure it’s quite that easy…”

“Perhaps not. I’m not trying to imply that you have to act in any particular way. Just be yourself, as you usually are, and I think it will be fine. And speaking of taking things as they usually are… is there anything else you’d like to do this evening?”

“I think… I just want to go back, hang out with my friends, and not think about all of this stuff any more, at least not until we get started with it tomorrow…”

“Fair enough. Although, if you really want to b with your friends… perhaps I can come up with a few procedural issues to go over with Jesollae that will keep her occupied for the rest of the evening…”

Daledonne was true to his word, whisking Jesollae away immediately after we returned with the promise of showing off the lab facilities he had set up - whether or not Jesollae saw it for the distraction it was, she was at least willing to go along with it and give me a little break.

I, for my part, managed to squeeze my way onto the couch between Will and Mirracai, at least lessening my exposure to being surrounded by Tiaileng somewhat. While it was true that I was more comfortable with it than I had been, considering everything else that had happened, I was just about at the limit of what I could handle. I still wanted to be with my friends, though, and it seemed a more feasible compromise than trying to ditch all of my Tiaileng and hide out somewhere, alone. Awkwardness or not, it was the first time I could actually be with them in quite a while, and even if I was stressed about other things, I wanted to make the most of what would probably be limited time with them.

Of course, we made the most of it the way we usually did: spending the next few hours doing nothing of importance at all. We just sat around, playing video games, talking, and arguing about typically random things, like how the depiction of Tiaileng in anime did or didn’t look downright weird (considering how Tiaileng eyes were already somewhat anime-esque in their dimensions to begin with, having them further exaggerated was kind of surreal, although Emma swore up and down that it made them look prettier somehow - it was Ingotheen and Miruvona, actually, who found it the most disconcerting).

Just being with my friends was something I hadn’t experienced in a while, and something that, midway through, I realized I needed more than I’d anticipated. In the interim, I’d certainly spent plenty of time hanging out with my own Tiaileng, but it wasn’t quite the same. We’d talk, sure, but usually they’d end up being enthusiastic about any topic I brought up, agreeing and supporting just about anything I said. Which was probably very much the default style of Tiaileng dialogue, filled with uniform optimism and consensus, and yet… you wouldn’t think that rousing arguments and good-natured trash-talking would be an improvement, but with my friends, it just felt so… normal. Maybe not as relaxing, directly, but to be there with them, acting like we usually did, instead of on our best behavior over a video link with my parents in the room, kind of felt like the first completely sane thing I’d done since the moment I stepped into the mansion.

And yet, even then, I couldn’t help but feel a certain amount of trepidation over my decision, and how quickly Jesollae was taking it to heart. From a logical standpoint, I didn’t regret it, and I knew it was the right thing to do - and, right or wrong, the one thing Jesollae had managed to do was to fire up my curiosity to such an extent that I really did want to figure out what actually was going on between me and Tiaileng, and whether it really was as important as she seemed to claim.

No, the trepidation wasn’t from that, at least not specifically. In a way, it was probably about, well, Jesollae herself - while it was probably well-meaning, something about the notion of her trying to blend in actually made me more uncomfortable than seeing her in uniform. When she was like that, a council member with all the trappings of her rank, it was easy to know where I stood, if not the kind of behavior she actually expected in response to it.

But when she’d stripped it off, in every way, and she’d just been there right in front of me, wearing next to nothing at all, trying to appeal to me in the same way that every Tiaileng in my entourage was… truth be told, I still wasn’t sure how to reconcile those two concepts. I really didn’t know how to act, or respond, how I was supposed to deal with her, and I certainly wouldn’t figure it out in the few hours before bedtime. Then tomorrow, my parents and friends would head off back home, and it would be me, her, dozens upon dozens of Tiaileng, and a testing regime that was almost certain to involve something sexual sooner rather than later… and probably sex with her, the council member I still wasn’t even quite sure how to talk to, soon after that.

Put that way, it was hardly a surprise to feel my anxiety about the whole thing edging back into the front of my thoughts, but at least the levity of my friends was enough to take the edge off. It was fun enough, in fact, that the hours zipped by, and before I knew it, they were already getting up, stretching and yawning, eager to let a couple of Tiaileng from my entourage led them down the hallway to the rooms that had been prepared for them.

Everyone else, though, headed back towards our usual bedroom suite - and there was Jesollae, right in the middle of everyone else in the bathroom, carefully rinsing her crystalline teeth.

I brushed my teeth in one of the other sinks, with several Tiaileng between us, but she had certainly taken notice of my presence. By the time everyone finished their routines and started heading into the bedroom, Jesollae was back by my side - and when she started stripping off her shirt, like everyone else, I felt that same sense of trepidation seeping in at a much more rapid clip.

Up until that point, at least, sleeping with my entourage of Tiaileng had been something I’d gotten used to - at least to a greater extent than before. In part, it was due to the fact that I’d been becoming more comfortable with progressively more direct sexual contact. Compared to having sex, and the incredibly close, all-encompassing snuggle inside a virtual ball of Tiaileng that invariably happened afterwards, lying around in my underwear with a handful of Tiaileng cuddled up to me didn’t seem nearly as intense as I’d once found it.

However, knowing that such a scenario would now contain Jesollae, I wasn’t really sure what to think about it. Just being all the way across a bed from her, in that state of undress, had been awkward enough. Actually trying to sleep with her next to me, though… I couldn’t quite decide between crossing my fingers and hoping it would be all right, tracking down a set of full-length pajamas, or freaking out about what to do on the spot.

Daledonne, though, was also there, and his familiar, reassuring presence managed to quell the panic some - not really reducing it, but for the moment putting it on hold.

“You know… it’s going to be all right.”

“Yeah, I guess, but being in bed… with her…”

“And all the rest of us. She has a different role, perhaps, but ultimately she’s still a Tiaileng. Maybe try to think of it this way: you already knew you were going to get an additional three Tiaileng. You got four, instead. Sure, that fourth one has a… different attitude, but the same can be said for all of us. And if you still don’t believe that, then… just have a look, I guess.”

I glanced over, watching as Jesollae kicked off the rest of her outer clothing, leaving her in panties and nothing else. Before, alone in that small room, that had somehow been both arousing and intimidating - but this time, aside from the face and form that I now recognized, she would have been easily lost in the veritable cerulean sea of half-naked Tiaileng on all sides of her. Against that backdrop, she looked positively normal - well, normal in terms of what I’d become accustomed to, at least. In fact, despite what should have been obvious differences, her form blended in almost seamlessly among the other Tiaileng - everything but her eyes, which shone with that preternatural sense of focus, and hung on me with even more unwavering intensity than the usual uncomfortable Tiaileng stare.

Still, even as that gaze managed to keep me a little unsettled, Daledonne’s reassurance had taken the edge off my anxiety, at least enough that my own exhaustion over the events of the day managed to shove it aside. I needed some rest, and changing up what I’d gotten used to wouldn’t help with that. I still felt a little intimidated stripping down in front of her, though, even with what had happened before, so I darted back into the bathroom to change - and while I didn’t opt for tracking down a pair of actual pajamas, the boxer briefs I chose were heavy-duty ones, the kind with thigh-length coverage. Not a huge change, but somehow having an extra few inches of skin not in contact with Tiaileng fur actually helped when I was worked up - I could still feel enough to be warm and snuggly, but not quite so much as to feel overwhelmed.

When I got back into the bedroom, the Tiaileng were already mostly on the bed, curling up around each other and settling in comfortably. In fact, Daledonne, Envelie and Jesollae were the only ones still standing beside it, arguing about something in soft, rapid-fire Tiaileng. When Jesollae noticed my return, though, she broke off the conversation and managed to latch onto my arm before I could protest.

Daledonne and Envelie seemed to exchange a glance, then looked pointedly in Jesollae’s direction. While she didn’t exactly relent, she did allow Daledonne to take my other arm, and I quickly found myself guided down onto the bed with the others and nudged gently onto my side. Somehow, I ended up facing Envelie, but the person snuggling in against my back was undoubtedly Jesollae, her voice whispering softly against my ear as her arms encircled my shoulders, the palms of her hands settling in against my chest to complete the light, snuggly embrace.

“Mmm… how’s that? Feels nice, right?”

“Um…”

“Don’t worry, you don’t need to answer that. I can already feel that delicious sense of relaxation overtaking you - I imagine you can probably even see me glowing with it right now. There’s plenty of time to explore that later, though, so you don’t need to observe it just for my benefit. No, just close your eyes, and let that relaxation flow through you; I’ve got you now, and I’m going to keep you right here close to me, nice and safe and happy. Get some rest, and then tomorrow…”

“Yeah… Tomorrow…”

“Tomorrow, I’m sure, is going to be amazing in ways that neither of us have even anticipated yet…”

I still wasn’t quite sure how I felt, either about that or about how close Jesollae was snuggling up to me - but looking forward, and seeing Envelie’s calm and friendly face in front of me as she moved in closer, seeing her completely unintimidated by the council member behind me, I actually felt myself feeling immediately better about the situation. I felt it even more when Leassah, Teileren and Savinnae came into view, clustering in around us, hands reaching out and slowly, gently petting along the few parts of me that someone wasn’t already snuggling up to.

It was soft, comfortable, and relaxing to be sure, enough that I felt my eyelids drooping lower, although it took me a while to actually fall asleep - instead, I sank into a sort of warm, fuzzy trancelike state, my body eager to rest and snuggle and recuperate, but my mind still buzzing with everything that had happened, from Jesollae’s surprising moment of arrival back to my decision and its implications.

Ultimately, though, despite all the emotions percolating through my mind, the one that came through the most strongly was that sense of absolute, impossible absurdity. I was lying there, on a bed, in perhaps the most bizarre mansion on earth, surrounded by probably enough Tiaileng to take care of a small town, while one of the most theoretically powerful Tiaileng on the entire planet nuzzled happily against my neck.

And yet, as strange as it seemed, her embrace felt warm and genuine - not probing, or possessive, or filled with that uncanny intensity. Maybe it was still somehow an act, or maybe it was just the way she reacted from feeding off of my relaxation, but the more she settled in against me, the more I got the sense that she really did care about me. I actually felt safe in her arms, and as the last vestiges of trepidation melted away, sleep finally approached - and with it, the promise of an unpredictable, intimidatingly intimate, and incredibly snuggly future.

Needless to say, then, when I awoke the next morning to find Jesollae on all fours on top of me, looking down at me with a wide, troublingly enthusiastic grin, it took me more than a few moments to get my bearings - at least, being half-asleep, the situation still felt dreamlike enough to preempt my natural inclination to panic.

“Huh, wha… what’s going on?”

“C’mon, it’s time to get up!”

I glanced around, as much as I could at least, noticing that none of the other Tiaileng around me seemed to be stirring, and the lights hadn’t yet begun their gradual brightening to ease everyone into awakening.

“Um… isn’t it kind of… early?”

“Well, maybe, but… we’re both awake, right? And since no one else is, there won’t be anyone to distract us from getting things started as swiftly as possible. After all, when there’s something you’re eager to discover, it’s never too early for science!”

It was too early to even muster the energy to sigh. In any case, though, my prediction had been right enough: it seemed my time with Jesollae was going to be unpredictable indeed…