I virtually vibrate while shaking and quivering after finishing Luni’s permanency enhancement. My blushing causes such a massive thermal fluctuation that there’s the faintest hint of steam about my face, and I can’t even meet Luni’s gaze to glare daggers at her, due to her waggling brow, and mischievous smirk. She doesn’t finish pulling her robe all the way back up before hugging me tightly in gratitude for the spellwork, this time, intentionally flustering me. Worse, intentionally flustering me while we’re in the presence of a woman that we’re calling mother, and aunty. I love Lu to bits and pieces, but this sort of torture should be reserved for interrogations or something. Yeesh. If I could voluntarily faint, I would.

I move on to Lucky as quickly as I can extricate myself from Lu’s embrace, to her mild dismay. It earns me a long pout that nearly breaks my heart, but she knows well enough to not overdo it. She knows to show that she’s not actually hurt, because she knows I’m here if she wants to continue sharing affection. Lucky, upon finishing receiving the telepathic bond, seems unfazed.

At least, until I start hearing what sounds like, “Parent? Parent? Ruff, Parent? Other Parent?” In my head.

I blink in surprise, unsure how to respond. Does, glp, does Lucky think of Luni and me as his parents? Have I been neglecting someone I should consider my son, all of our lives? Tears stream down my cheeks, and Lucky laps them away with his massive tongue, causing me to chuckle. From my position sitting on my heels in front of him, I wrap my arms around Lucky’s neck, and hug the big lug tightly. Lucky manages to stand such that one paw is behind my back, as if returning the hug.

I softly ask, “Lucky, can you get big for — me. Wow. Good boy Lucky, good boy. That’ll make this easier.”

Lucky suddenly fills the den, as large as or larger than Kinzul was in her dragon form. He’s grown in size and power since we parted ways. He’s an awe-inspiring sight to take in, as he’s lanky, yet sinewy and muscular to the extreme. He’s also handsome, with that mane of shaggy blue hair that rides from his skull, all the way down his spine, like the spiked ridges of a dragon, yet the hair is soft, almost silky. His ridge of dark-blue hair looks almost styled, as it spills over to his right side solely, like a floppy mohawk, since he was laying on that side before getting up.

Kinzul blinks while wearing an appreciative expression, apparently surprised at the size of him. Luni beams in pride, proud of our son. Teuila and Lil are still mostly lost in thought, hashing things out in a private mental realm. Did Lu know Lucky could get this big? Has he never grown this large around Kinzul before? I suddenly feel utterly relieved that the Triple L Squad was together over their Rayileklian adventure, knowing how powerful each of them is. Lil is a fully fledged dragon, Luni is some sort of songstress, with innate powers, and musical magic that continues to function on Rayileklia, and Lucky is a mountainous hunter hound.

Lucky’s massive size makes it easy enough to apply the runes mostly around his forehead, cranium, neck and shoulders. It also helps that I’m not being flustered by Luni, so I’m no longer shaking as much or messing up as much. Carefully crafting runes while controlling my muscles manually with internal electrokinesis is challenging enough without certain additional challenges. Got that Lu, you butt? She sticks her tongue out at me, to let me know she was listening in on my thought train as usual. I can’t help smiling and chuckling.

I bring Lucky into the space that makes up our shared mindscape, the ever-bright idyllic pasture, with a grassy hill that culminates in a shady tree atop it. Lucky, tongue hanging out his wide open mouth, goes tearing off across the mental landscape, excitedly exploring everything, sniffing everything, running everywhere. I’m so, so very happy to be able to offer this to my son. He hasn’t seen sunlight in four months, I’m almost sure of it.

I call out, “Lucky, can you understand me?”

Lucky skids to a halt, and trots my way. He cocks his head to one side, panting excitedly. He responded to his name at least, but he’s not saying anything. I heave a sigh, unsure what I expected. I could swear I heard him thinking the word parent earlier.

Lucky perks up, apparently riding my thoughts, and swirls in a circle excitedly before sitting back down in front of my telepathic avatar. He licks my avatar’s face, and barks once joyfully. My expression contorts and I let my left eyebrow raise in curiosity.

I ask, “Lucky, do you think of me as one of your parents?”

Lucky barks and circles joyfully, licking me again for emphasis. My heart swells with pride and joy, yet also aches. I never understood him. I neglected him across two lives. I—. My nose itches inside as it refuses to produce snot along with the tears that flow. Lucky bays once in sympathy, then seems to be frowning sadly at me. My son bowls over my telepathic avatar, and sits heavily atop it with a whumpf.

With the wind figuratively knocked out of me, and taken out of the sails of that train of thought, I mutter, “Oof. Guess no use feeling sorry for myself about it, huh boy?”

Lucky laps at my face and barks once in agreement. He’s careful to place his rather deadly-appearing draconic-taloned, scaled feet to either side of me as he sits atop me. I shove the big lug off of me, so that I can stand up, and float speedily around my mindscape, begging him to chase me. Lucky’s eyes light up with delight, and joy, as he takes off at a sprint, chasing me happily. I have a son, one that I can bring joy to by playing such a simple activity together in our mindscape. My life is insane. My lives are insane.

I spy Luni hidden in the shade of our tree, apparently having been observing us silently in the shared mindscape for some time. I lead Lucky up to meet her. Standing in front of Lu, my telepathic avatar clasps the hands of hers. Lucky howls in pure joy for some reason.

I could swear that I hear him thinking, “Parent, other parent, finally! Together, finally!”

I manage to blush in meatspace and thinkspace, as I query Luni, “Lu, has he ever talked before? Can you hear him calling us his parents too? Do you feel like I do?”

Luni shakes her head to the first two questions, answering, “Lucky doesn’t—, didn’t talk, no. I don’t hear him, not exactly, but yes. I feel the same. After the cragbeast warren, how could I not? I didn’t want to pressure you, to force the feelings on you, so I kept quiet, hoping maybe you’d come around some day. It took you long enough, Hero.”

My telepathic avatar scratches the back of its head as I glance around in embarrassment. Lucky nudges me from behind, sending me stumbling into Luni, who catches me as we stare into each other’s eyes. She flashes me a playful smirk while her eyes contain her usual mischievous gleam. I’m suddenly blushing once more in meatspace and thinkspace. Unsure of what to say, how to act, or even what to think, I take a seat against the tree, and Lucky lays next to me on my left side. Lucky’s head is draped across my lap, so Luni sits cuddled up on my right side, and we rest our heads against each other’s.

Luni holds my right hand, clasped with both of hers, while my left hand absentmindedly strokes Lucky’s jowls and lean neck and shoulders. I know I can’t afford to spend altogether too long enjoying this at this very moment, since I’m sure Kinzul’s time is precious, but the patience she has shown with us is a blessing, and it endears her to me. Her allowing us the time to catch up, sort out our feelings, and enjoy our reunion, when she has a war to plan, is just—. It’s so very motherly. I’m sure somewhere deep in her psyche, she’s calculated that our morale, and what we bring to the table is worth the upset to her timetables from our arrival, and the brief delay that our reunion costs. Or maybe she is making a cold, calculated, concentrated, dispassionate effort to adjust her plans exactly as I imagine. Somehow, somehow though, I doubt that that’s how Kinzul sees the world. She adopted Lil after all. Jubilant, exasperating, oblivious, wonderful Lil.

Lucky surprises me, because it sounds like he’s letting out the sleepy little “whoof”s of a dog that is dreaming, and his legs twitch occasionally as if in response to imaginary stimulus. I raise an eyebrow and glance at Luni who shrugs. I check meatspace, and Lucky is sitting as he was, enormous as anything, panting, filling the cavern den with his moist breath. Yet here in thinkspace, he’s so relaxed that his avatar appears to be asleep. I have no idea how that’s possible. I know that I can’t sleep in thinkspace. I can relax, and rest idly, but not sleep.

Lucky, like me in some ways, seems to bend and break all the rules. That’s good in part, because of how his digging works, how it leaves things mostly self-supportive somehow. We’ll need that to enact my plan of setting up a respawning resource cavern within Kinzul’s domain. We’ll need to dig deep, and find rich mineral veins, or gem veins. We can set up respawning lumber at the same time. We might be able to set up respawning orichalcum, mithril, or adamantite. That would be insane, but I’d have to do some research, and would really benefit from contact with Spice and Teodora in order to figure out the properties necessary to convert what I have into base respawning materials.

Luni bumps my right shoulder grumpily, and I blush, realizing my mind is doing that thing again. I start going down mental rabbitholes of what work I could do, what things I could accomplish, what advantages I can gain or grant to those around me, rather than enjoying the now.

Luni mumbles a question, “So, um, how do you feel? About, about it. This. Lucky.”

I sigh in contentment, while pulling my right hand away from Luni’s hands to that I can wrap my arm around her in a tight hug. My smile is subdued, yet an honest portrayal of the mix of happiness, pride, and confusion within me. My blush is only mild as I respond, “I’m honored Lu, My Anchor. It’s the closest we’ll, any of us, would ever get, biologically. The fact that we did this together, that you share this with me, that of all the crazy convoluted timelines, ours includes us having such a deep, meaningful, additional connection? It’s a feeling beyond being honored and touched.”

My telepathic avatar draws a shuddering breath before continuing, “What can I possibly even say about this? I know it took me a long time to notice your love for me, and even longer still to realize how hard I’d fallen in love with you, but I can’t find a position in my heart that’s any more precious for you Lu. There just isn’t such a thing. You and Lil and Te and Lucky occupy the warmest, safest, happiest parts of my heart. The rest of our family, and Linti, are a close second.”

I blush as I add, “I, may also truly, deeply love some people from Rayileklia, which hurts in a way all its own, because I will willingly abandon them, if we ever find a way home, even if it’s a one-way ticket. Though, one of them, she, she said, glp, that she’d be willing, on any world. She’d come with us. If I could somehow swing that.”

Luni pouts to the point of almost frowning. She grumps, “I know we’re open, polyamorous, but I can’t turn my back on you for two seconds without you falling in love with someone, can I? I bet if I left you alone with Kinzul long enough, you’d find some way to—. Oops.”

My blush is so furious that I nearly faint due to how hard blood is rushing to fill all the features of my head. My jaw opens and closes several times as if speaking, but I can’t produce any words. I’m utterly mortified at Lu’s implication. Worse, I’m beyond mortified that she’s probably right. It’s not like I don’t feel incredibly endeared to Fawns At Sunsets, a woman that’s a matron to me and the cat tribe. It’s not like I can’t find joy in seeing even elders showing love for each other, like Tiago and George. It’s not like there are any true boundaries or limits on my love, given enough time, affection, and the adoration of the other party.

Lu fights to keep her expression neutral, as laughter burbles up within her. She struggles to keep from laughing at my expense, and soon begins to fail, tittering delightfully. In response, I grouse, “You’re so mean.” At that, Luni bursts into full on laughter.

Lucky lifts his head, acknowledging the noise Lu is producing, and looses a soft, “whuff,” before settling back in, and seemingly drifting off to telepathic sleep again. The incredulous smile that spreads across my face while I close my eyes and shake my head speaks all the volumes that I need it to, while I laugh half-heartedly. The only reason my laughter is somewhat reserved, is due to the disbelief that Luni would intimate such a thing, about Lil’s mother, right next to Lil, when I’m about to offer her a private telepathic bond wavelength, and place my hands upon her for an extended period.

I mutter, “You absolute butt.”

Luni continues her laughter until it’s raucous. When she’s done enjoying having teased me so thoroughly, she turns to me, with a soft sadness in her eyes. The apologetic nature is implied, and I accept her as the lips of our telepathic avatars meet. I could swear Lucky’s avatar grins, from his position seemingly sleeping on my telepathic avatar’s lap. What a weird hound-dog—. Oh. I roll my eyes at the universe, half convinced that somehow, some way, all of reality conspired for that particular entendre.