//------------------------------// // Family Acceptance // Story: The Sparkle in his Eye // by Tatsurou //------------------------------// It was little more than a few weeks before everyone had settled into a routine at the Great Clock. After breakfast in the early mornings was service hours for Neftin and research time for Twilight and Vendra (though Nefarious sometimes joined in for that), with Ratchet tagging along to keep an eye on the girls. This lasted until lunch time, at which point the group split differently. Ratchet, Nefarious, Clank, Qwark, and Neftin joined Orvus, Alister, and Kaden for 'Guy Time', which generally involved some sort of sporting event. Twilight, Vendra, Angela, Sasha, and Talwyn joined Vasshir for 'Girl Time', which varied extensively. Girl Time could be anything from a tea party, a pajama party, a visit to the spa (the first time accompanied by an explanation from Orvus as to why a facility originally meant to be run by primarily incorporeal beings like the Zoni even had a spa), or watching the boys making a fool of themselves in the sporting event of the day.This lasted until dinner, another group meal, before everyone split up for 'Couple's Time'. Twilight went off somewhere with Nefarious, and Ratchet would spend time with Vendra comparing notes about their lives, generally in the company of Angela, Sasha, or Talwyn. During this time, Kaden, Alister, Vashiir, Neftin and Qwark would join Orvus and Clank for some gentle relaxation, and knowing chuckles when Vendra joined them because whichever girl had been hanging around that night had dragged Ratchet off 'for a nightcap'. Overall, the routine was both relaxing and comforting for everyone involved, only deviating on weekends for 'Family Time', when Nefarious took Vendra and Neftin aside for their own bonding, often culminating in Vendra's appointed 'therapy' sessions. As most of these involved Nefarious alternating between babying Vendra or simply letting her talk, they were both relaxing and comforting for her, though she couldn't tell if they were actually doing anything. Of course, every routine has a few hiccups. Ratchet turned with a smile to Vendra. Over the course of the time they'd been talking like this, he'd seen more of what he'd noticed when talking to her on the prison ship: that behind the cold, vicious exterior she presented to the world was a passionate, vulnerable young girl who desperately didn't want to be alone anymore. He couldn't help but see his younger self there, and once the veneer of hostility from being enemies had fallen away, they'd bonded quickly as friends...and the seeds of something more could already be seen to be blossoming as they became more and more comfortable with each other. However, he had noticed that she was becoming less and less open as the storytelling reached the end of the first battle with Nefarious. Vendra seemed to be withdrawing into herself, and according to Nefarious had been less enthusiastic when it came to inventing with Twilight. "What's bothering you, Vendra?" he asked pointedly. He'd learned by now that beating around the bush with Vendra led to either uncomfortable innuendo or a shouting match, and had taken to being very direct. She seemed to appreciate that, and often reciprocated in kind. "We're...coming up on a part of my life that...I'm not looking forward to reliving," Vendra responded with unusual circuitousness. "Something that...well, things could have - and maybe should have - gone a different way. Got some...negative feelings about-" "When you tried to contact Twilight for help but she was 'on vacation'?" Ratchet clarified. "We found your audio-diaries scattered about at the orphanage." Vendra sighed and nodded. "Yeah. I know it's stupid to hold that against her now, especially after everything she's done for me." She gave Ratchet a 'look'. "And don't even bother trying to deny she was the primary drive in 'saving' Neftin and I." "Wouldn't even think about it," Ratchet responded readily. Vendra nodded. "Even so...it could have been fixed so much sooner...and then so much pain would have been avoided..." Ratchet sighed. He didn't want to spoil their time together with this, but he had to point out where she was wrong. "Except that if I'd taken Twilight to the Polaris Galaxy to meet with you, I'd have immediately shown up on Tachyon's radar. He was still trying to kill me after all." "Okay, I guess there's that," Vendra allowed dismissively. "But we could have communicated. If...if I'd talked to her back then, maybe..." Ratchet lowered his eyes. He really didn't want to dampen the mood, but he couldn't let this hang between Vendra and Twilight. "It wasn't a vacation," he explained softly. "It was a mental health retreat for her." Seeing Vendra's eyes lift in surprise, he began his explanation. "See...not long before that was when the plans of one Gleeman Vox went into play-" "The Dreadzone?" Vendra asked quickly. "We got the story from the tourbot Neftin snatched for the museum. What does that-" "Twilight was in there," Ratchet interrupted. "Alone. And...between that, Bogon, and the Technomites...well, she can't stand being alone anymore...ever." "Technomites?" Vendra asked, confused. Ratchet rubbed his face, steeling himself to relive this part as he explained it to Vendra. He only hoped she could handle even hearing about it. A couple weeks after that fateful conversation, Ratchet wandered the halls of the Great Clock alone. As he'd expected, Vendra had taken the story of what Twilight had been through...hard. It was probably a couple of steps back as far as her therapy, but it had removed any division between her and Twilight. The two were as close as could be now, to the point Ratchet found himself wondering if he'd be competing with his own daughter for Vendra as a possible 'harem member'. "Ratchet," Clank suddenly spoke up next to him, "Sasha has requested your presence in Virtual Station Iota. She said you should make your way there with all speed." Nodding absently, Ratchet made his way to one of the 'holo-environments' that Kaden and Vashiir had found so appealing when they first began their retirement here. Sasha often made use of them to simulate environments for when it was 'her turn' to drag him off for a 'nightcap'. He chuckled to himself as he made his way there, smiling as he was certain he would be in for fun. As he entered, he was unsurprised to find his clothes altered to Cazar traditional battle garb, or that the environment was a 'traditional battle ground' from Cazar itself. It was one of Sahsa's favorite environments for 'fun', starting with a battle and ending in...other things. What did surprise Ratchet was to see Vendra and Talwyn - both also in traditional battle garb - on a balance beam above a mudpit moving back and forth as they struck at each other, with Sasha watching on, her crossed arms covering her more than anyone else was in the traditional garb. "Uh..." Ratchet began nervously. "What is..." Angela gasped for air as she climbed out of the mudpit. "Sleepless...damn it. Why aren't I used to having my tail back yet?" With a groan, she rolled out of the pit, mud still clinging suggestively to her, providing her only somewhat increased modesty beneath the binary sunlight beating down on them all. As she sat up, the mud already began to dry and flake away. "Definitely should have been training..." "Angela, what is this?" Ratchet demanded in confusion. "Cazar courtship traditions when it comes to Prides," Angela explained as she stripped mud from her hair. "When a new mate is added to the Pride, all prior mates engage her in hand to hand combat, with defeat only coming from being knocked into the mud. Who is victorious determines the pecking order amongst the mates, so there aren't any debates about turn order or anything like that. I fought Sasha this way when we first met once I told her I was there to join your harem, and we both fought Talwyn this way once it was plain she felt the same way about you we did." Ratchet blinked for a time. He'd known many Cazarian traditions were based in ritualized combat, but this one had slipped by him. "O...kay..." "And since Vendra's the fourth now that the Courtship Moon has ended, you'll be expected to 'welcome' her as soon as her place in the order is determined," Angela continued. "With the three of us watching." "...what?" Ratchet asked hoarsely. "Oh, don't worry, she's totally okay with it," Angela offered quickly. "When she explained this all to her, she said the Courtship Moon could be repeated until she was ready, but she said she was ready now." "...and if I'm not ready?" Ratchet asked, though not with much conviction. Seeing all four of them dressed - or as Vashiir had put it when she'd first seen this garb, 'not dressed' - like this was already doing numbers on him, and he did feel that close to Vendra already. If she wanted to do this... "Sasha says it's her job to make sure you are," Angela explained. "Well, as long as she stays Alpha female in the Pride." And once again, Ratchet was reminded of a very simple fact about having a successful harem. As fun as it was in concept, and as much love was involved...in practice it was such a headache.