Chapter Text
Earth.
A wondrous planet. Or so you’ve been told.
It's a strange thing for the Troll species as a race to COOPERATE with any alien species but with the new Empress Fereri, slowly the empire is becoming gentler with how it treats both its citizens and off-planet races.
Usually when one mentions “treating off-planet races gentler” it just means ignoring them instead of conquest and genocide, but humans are special.
In the pre-celestial age of Alternia, when grub production first started to outnumber the amount of available and suitable lusii certain measures were put in place to ensure that no sick or deformed grubs were given lusii. Then it was the best of the remaining grubs, then the best of those, until the grub trials became as brutal as they were.
With a new gentler attitude the empire was once again facing a problem that they had previously just solved with mass infanticide.
Grub populations were just too. Damn. High.
Which is what makes humans so valuable!
Your former grubs contact you every once in awhile, you get letters and voice calls, troll adults don’t get along with troll young at all so it is very rude to call upon a lusus who is currently raising a grub so you must make do with non-physical contact. You raised a teal-blood who later became an ambassador to Earth. You’re so glad he’s doing well. But what’s important is what he told you.
He says that the people who live on “Earth” called “Humans” (what an odd name to call yourself) are mammals that look very similar to trolls. No horns, no claws and no sharp fangs, a little smaller than trolls are. They are tribalistic and much more social than trolls, coming together in large groups to live and socialize, and they do this without killing each other for the most part! How interesting!
What truly makes them valuable to the empire though, is that they raise their own young, and the young of other animals! Every single one of them has the instinct, though just like on Alternia, not all of them act on it. An entire planet full of potential lusii! Amazing!
The empire raised the idea of human lusii to the humans and while of course their governments wanted something in return (mostly technology) they readily agreed. Humans from all over their planet actually VOLUNTEERED to take in grubs! The trial population is currently small as both sides are still working out the kinks of the inter-planetary arrangement but the numbers are rizing as more and more humans take in grubs.
Although it doesn’t happen all the time, humans usually raise their young with their mate (you miss your own mate, you remember her glittering scales and her kind eyes fondly). They also raise MULTIPLE offspring at the same time! You admire them for this! What a triumph! Truly their lususing skills are great. You are quite experienced at your job (you have successfully raised 20 grubs to adulthood which is quite a feat among lusii) but even you have not ever raised multiple at the same time!
Troll grubs are very territorial when it comes to their lusus and will often hiss at other grubs if they get too close. It is possible for two grubs who already have lusii to come together in a HIGHLY SUPERVISED play date,but it isn’t recommended. Grubs will either purr and snuggle sweetly together, ignore each other, or decide the other grub has to die. While most lusii agree the first outcome is very cute (many pictures and recordings are taken every time this is achieved) it just isn’t worth risking injury to your grub.
Humans utterly fascinate you! You read everything you can get your claws on about them! Their society! Their family structures! Their tiny cute clawless hands!
You look through photo after photo of human young, laughing and playing together sweetly...
You contact your former charge at the human/Alternian embassy and make a proposition. While he’s obviously surprised, he promises to make all the necessary arrangements.
It seems a bit pointless to you but there apparently is quite a bit of a battle with “If humans can adopt grubs, why can’t lusii adopt babies” and “Why doesn’t he just get another grub?”, but in the end your teal is victorious! He always was a smart one! You’re so proud!
You pack your bag, there isn’t much (The Empire promises to pay for your expenses as they are very interested in the outcome of this experiment) and you head for earth.
You are absolutely besides yourself as you shuffle back and forth in the transport pod, your armored scales twitch and your talons scrape against the cool metal of the pod as you pace. Your grin is wide and full of razor-sharp teeth.
You’re getting a baby!