The Human Bearer
29.
"Someone is here to see you," Kyle announced, making him raise his eyes.
He was busy reading everything he could get his hands on about Xeno deliveries, using Kyle's screen, so the interruption wasn't welcome. It was strange to get any visits to begin with. The other bearers kept their distance, and Xenos didn't think much of him, either. He was the proverbial black sheep, but he was okay with it. Had to. Story of his life, yada-yada-yada.
"Come on, Kyle, the suspense is killing me," he said dryly. "Who is it?"
"I have just received the message. Cario Hamen, Drato Menor's bearer, asks if you could see him now."
Riordan pushed himself up and smoothed his robe in an effort to make himself look presentable. His hair was probably still a mess from all the action he had seen earlier in Xana's arms. Lately, it looked like his snakeman really loved ruffling his hair, pulling at it, and running his fingers through until he made it all stick up like a porcupine's back. Because he had coarse hair, a lot of brushing was necessary to make it look proper, and now Cario Hamen was at the door.
Before falling in love with Xana, he couldn't have cared less if he got judged by an empty-headed doll of a bearer, but now, he wanted to make his owner proud of him. Surely enough, he kept that to himself since he didn't want all that to get to that Xeno's pretty head, but he didn't want this guy visiting him to think that Counselor Xana Lei's bearer was a total slob.
"How do I look?" he asked his partner in crime.
"Master Xana would say that you look ravishing, Master Rio."
"Okay. What about the rest of the world? Give me the truth and nothing else."
"Your appearance would most likely suggest that you have just been engaged in coitus until earlier."
"Thanks for your confirmation. Now put your arm at work and give me a brushing."
Kyle executed the order, making him grunt and ground his teeth, but in less than two minutes, he had a feel that he looked somewhat decent.
"Do I look any better?"
"Yes, Master Rio, definitely better. Now, there would only be a slight suspicion regarding your earlier activities."
"Good enough. Now, let's not keep that guy waiting. Tell him that he can come in."
Kyle did whatever he had to do to communicate to the other bearer's bot, and the doors opened to allow Cario Hamen to step inside, followed dutifully by his companion. Riordan did a double take as he saw who else was visiting at the same time. The bearer had his arms full of a small Xenolite, his head already covered in blond hair that fell over his shoulders. He appeared to be deep in sleep and one of his tiny fists clasped on Cario's robe, while his slender tail was wrapped around his parent's forearm, in an endearing act of possession.
Riordan quickly found his words. "Hi and welcome to... our humble abode."
"Riordan Lei, thank you so much for having me," Cario said with a pleasant smile. "Your master informed my master that you would like to talk to someone who has been through the process of delivery."
"Yeah, I mean, I'm trying to read as much as I can on the topic, but I guess nothing beats talking to someone who's been through it." Riordan debated whether to tell Cario he had practically witnessed his giving birth to the Xenolite in his arms or not. The wall separating them at that time must have been a one-way mirror kind of thing. Still, he didn't want to start what could be a friendship of sorts on the wrong foot. When he recalled that event, he thought of Tasha, and that only served to remind him how great a friend the redhead had been to him. "I watched you, you know?" he added in a low voice.
Cario nodded. "Yes, I know." Then, he laughed. "I suppose that you might feel tempted to say that you saw the worst of me at the time. But it was the best of me, just so you know."
Riordan's eyes grew wide. "Dude, your ass got like--" He stopped and threw an unsure look at the Xenolite. "Dario, right?"
Cario caressed his baby's head and kissed it. "Yes. Don't worry. He needs his sleep and, when he's like this, nothing can wake him up. And I mean it. He practically slept through an entire war."
"Yeah, you were there," Riordan murmured. "Anyways, I need to keep my big mouth shut. I've heard from Xana that they send their kids to school once they're one year old."
"They do grow fast," Cario admitted. "Dario is only three month old. But he can already talk... well, it's a way of saying, but he knows how to send the right message to my brain to tell me that he either needs to feed or sleep."
"They're fascinating creatures when they're young, aren't they?" Riordan moved closer.
Cario moved his arm so that he could show his son better. "Drato... my master keeps saying that he has my eyes. I like to think so, too."
"Does your Xeno insist that you should call him master all the time?"
Cario shook his head. "No, nothing like that. But old habits die hard, and most people on this ship, just like on the planet we left, will frown upon lack of proper ettiquette. I went to a special school for educating those who wanted to secure a place as a bearer on Xeno. That happened when I was still on Earth."
"Wow, people did that? I landed on Xeno by..." He wanted to say 'accident', but that wasn't true. It had been a last effort to ditch his old life and get away from people who wanted his skin. Getting as far as possible from Earth's orbit had sounded like a great idea, one with few chances of succeeding. But there he was. No point in dwelling on the past.
"It doesn't matter." Cario placed a warm hand on his arm and looked at him with his large beautiful eyes. Now that was a bearer who fit the bill on all accounts -- insanely good looking, the face of an angel, and, above all, an education on how to be the perfect egg pouch for a Xeno. This guy was worlds apart from him, but Riordan felt touched by his nice manners nonetheless.
"Yeah, I guess," he said, pretending that it was easy to shrug off the immense difference between them. "I mean, we're on a ship that heads who knows where, and Xeno is... the planet, I mean--"
"No more. The planet, as we know it, is no more," Cario said. "That puts us in the race, of course."
