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“Young man, get out of that vent.”
The vent behind Marron flew open and Sandy flung himself out of it, facing the cockpit windows without meaning to . His eyes needed a moment to adjust from the dark tunnel of steel to hello blue sky! “ Hello.”
“How long have you been in there?” Marron asked, a fine mix of surprise and concern.
“Since I called you for your meeting.” Lifting a hand without looking their way, he continued. “Grandma, I swear to Polus’ shattered moon, it’s not because I don’t trust you, it’s because Marron’s feisty.”
Marron’s voice dropped a little. “Oh, so it’s my fault?”
He spun his head to them with a frown. Poor potato was turning red, and not in the fun way! “No? But you were a little death machine with Surx. ” But he turned to his grandmother and scowled. “You had no reason to corner my partner. None.”
Tulip smirked his way, unmoved. “Why, Sandy, I would never-”
The enby cut in, shooting the coral suit a look. “Yeah, she had her tongue out.”
The tan suit’s head spun back to Marron. “Excuse me?”
“She also did the… the eye thing?” The brown suit gestured vaguely, then made an X with their index fingers. “You know the one.”
Sandy’s face went blank. He spun to face the lieutenant-general one rotation at a time. A broken spindle, a turn for every vertebrae he didn’t have. His legs came last, turning to fully face the coral suit staring at him. When the impostor finally spun completely around, his voice dropped low, quiet. Almost a whisper. “Marron. Give us privacy.”
“Yup. Bye.” The brown suit headed for the vent and tucked into it effortlessly.
As soon as the tan suit was sure that his partner was out of earshot, his silver gaze honed in on Tulip. “What is wrong with you?”
The coral suit sighed. “Forgive an old lady for wanting to better know their grandson’s newest fling.”
Sandy huffed out of his nose. “Marron’s not a fling.”
“Well… what am I supposed to think?”
“You’re going to have to elaborate.”
The coral suit fought an eye roll. “Four partners underground, all fine hunters in their own ways. You finally come up for air, and this is what you pick. How can anyone take you seriously with an ape on your arm?” His fellow imps likely laughed behind his back! She didn’t out of pity. Poor boy didn’t know what he was doing to himself.
“Marron’s not a passing moment. They’re my partner. I don’t see why you’re being difficult. You weren’t this way with anyone else who’s had human partners.”
“Darling, that human’s not exactly… your type? I’ve seen what you’ve dragged home back underground.”
“Marron is different.”
“Exactly!” She shook her head at him, that cold, easy, forceful smile she did creeping up her face. “You need to settle down with a proper partner, not an ape.”
“You married an ape.” What was wrong with apes, anyway? All the footage Sandy had seen about the long-gone species native to Earth was that they were distant cousins of humans, intelligent in their own right. The comparison was… less than favorable, but how was being an ape a bad thing?
Still, Tulip had the audacity to roll her eyes. “That’s different. That was decades ago. Port’s a beautiful bull of a man, capable of keeping himself in one piece without me rushing to his aid. What can Marron do? Scream? Cry? Shrink?” The last word ended in half a laugh.
The tan imp took a step, brows sunk low, jaw clenched. “If Marron hadn’t fought Alium and gone with him instead, I’d be dead right now.”
She waved his ire off. “Oh, you could have pulled yourself up-”
“Shut up.” A gloved fist slammed into the panel, teeth clenched. His voice stayed low, even though it shook with rage. “I held on by my tongue, you old crone. Another minute out there with no one to help me, and I’d have fallen to my death.”
“Fine, they did one thing right-”
“I’m not done. Marron could have curled up in a ball and let Surx launch me into space, but they didn’t. They took a scalpel from Zils and took that bastard out. Marron picked me up and took me to Zils so I could get checked out, because guess who got tazed to the point he pissed himself? Not Surx!” Sandy felt his pupils flutter as the urge to let his tongue out pressed to his false rib cage. “They put a shopping list together so I can get food, make the phone calls so I don’t have to, kiss me goodbye when I go on missions and they never ask me to hide my true nature when we’re alone. That little ape has done more for me in about a year than you have in the last damn decade.”
The prim imp stood tall and got nose to nose with her grandchild. She sniped in a tight, controlled voice. “I promoted your face to colonel! Better pay! More respect! I did not spoonfeed you a better life so you could play house with some human!”
“Why did you promote the old Sandy? Was it because you knew we’d mesh well enough? Or, heh, to better watch me like I’m still a dumb little faceless grub? Can’t be for the reputation the old face carried and all that.” His snarl twisted up into a grin that reached too far up his face. “Or do you still want me as your successor when you’re too old to snap necks? You’re getting up there, Tulip.”
Tulip didn’t buckle. “You’d like that, wouldn’t you? Mm? Being the big man you think you are when you can’t even give me a solid reason you want a human over one of your own.”
Sandy’s grin, horribly, grew. “Says the old hag married to a man who everyone says deserves better.”
“You little-”
“Trust me, Tulip, word travels quickly in the barracks. You’re such an insufferable bitch that people worry about your beloved husband.” The tan suit slowly pulled back. His smile melted back to an acceptable size, even if it was still a threat display. “But what do I know? He seems happy. But after forty-odd years under you, he may not know what happy is anyway.”
The coral suit reared back a fist and swung, only for a far-more-pissed-off man to grip her by the wrist.
“Now you’re just throwing a tantrum.” He squeezed until the older woman’s face twitched. Her only sign there was any pain in his hold. He let go, smiling still. “I’m done trying to justify my life to you.” Twirling his fingers on one hand, Sandy reached for a pocket of his suit pants. The snaps popped quietly, and from his pocket, the imp pulled a small, flat box out. “It won’t matter what you think soon enough, anyway.”
Tulip squinted, then her eyes widened in horror. “You’re joking. You can’t.” She shook her head, perfect coif coming just slightly undone. “We’re in the thick of a war! Your human is the enemy!”
“Meh. Species, yes. Them? No. My Marron’s a born impostor, anyway. Had you fooled thinking you got the drop on them. Kinda funny, really.” He flipped the lid open with his thumb, showing off an absolutely dainty silver ring with a single baguette-cut moonstone embedded in the band. “I know what I want, anyway.”
“No, no no, Sandy!” Her voice broke in genuine pain over a tiny ring. “You can’t do this!”
“Sure I can. I plan to pop the question by the time we’re close to touch down. Supposed to be a beautiful view when-”
“No!” The coral suit’s eyes widened. “You’re not even fully grown! You can’t put your future on someone who’ll be dead in a hundred years!”
He let out a flat, “I’m eighty-three.”
“I meant mentally grown!”
“Hit that a decade back, grandma. Shouldn’t you know that sorta thing?” The box shut with a snap. “Well… anyway. This ol’ colonel is due for a renewal on his contract. I could reenlist and do another four years of this, or…”
She swallowed. “Or?”
“Or, I could simply move on to a quiet life with Marron in New Texas. Especially if this is the kind of hostility my sweet potato is going to be getting. Can’t monitor me if you’re not my CO anymore, can you?” He smirked at the look she gave him. “Either way, not much you can do about it. I just wanted to give you the chance to play nice. Not shocked you squandered it, really.”
“You’d choose that little ape over your family?”
But Sandy didn’t budge, folding the little box away into his pocket once more. “I’ve already chosen them. You can get on board, or get cut out. Up to you, Tulip.”
That really got her attention, finally. “Sandy, please. You might think you’re in love, but… I mean…. Compatibility! Marron can’t give you any eggs! They-they can’t give you children!”
“I’m able to carry and fertilize. I already talked with a donor if Marron’s on board.”
“If?”
He shrugged. “I haven’t talked with them about kids yet.”
Black eyes went wide, pink brows rising with every word. “But what about you! I know you want children! You have since you were a grub! We’ve all seen how you adore that little human brought by the couple.”
Sandy’s eyes narrowed, face completely calm. “Why are they humans, but my Marron is an ape?”
The matriarch blinked, taking a step back. “Well-”
The sharp lash of the tan suit’s lower tongue sprung out into the cockpit air. His human face stayed stoic and focused, even when his pupils blew out into the broad, bottomless X-shapes of a skilled predator. “I am not asking permission. I am telling you how it is going to be. Get on board or get out of our fucking way.” With a blink, his eyes went back to being perfectly silver and human. The tan suit strode towards the door. “Oh, one more thing?”
The coral suit stared at his back.
“If, uh, you try anything to disrupt what Marron and I have? You’re not getting back home alive.” He grinned over his shoulder. “Now, let’s get back to work on this ol’ Airship. I can’t wait to be back on solid ground.”
The doors parted, and the tan imp strutted proudly out of the cockpit.
The coral suit sighed, and with a clearing of her throat, followed. Cowed, of course. Displeased, naturally. Proud? Well… he wouldn’t be her grandson if he rolled over for her, now would he?
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