More of Amryi and Takil (Patreon)

I really love prompt posts.  Jamiefrog asked about a conversation between Amryi and Liam would go. After all, Liam is both a famous submissive and Takil's father, so there's some baggage there.  And here you go...

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Amryi opened the door to the ship quarters that he shared with Takil to find Liam standing on the other side. Perfect. An in-law. That is exactly what he needed more of in his life. He was still trying to recover from the joy that was having Jendayi leave vicious holographic messages about how her children were going to starve to death. And he loved Qii's children, but there was not much he could do to help them when Jendayi had forced him to find another job. And he refused to take the blame for that. He also refused to get an in-law lecture from a man who looked young enough to be Amryi's kid. Everyone knew that Liam had helped forge the alliance between humans and Rownt, so he was clearly hundreds of years old. However, other than his freakish height--which was giving Amryi a crick in his neck as he looked up--Liam appeared to be a normal 30-year-old man. Maybe 40 if he had good genes. 

Amryi was not about to get lectured by someone who looked that young.

"What?" Amryi didn't hide his displeasure. 

Liam had worn a small tight smile until that moment, but the smile quickly vanished. Good. Amryi wanted it clear that he was not going to play by anyone else's rules. Maybe the rest of the universe thought Liam walked on water, and maybe he actually did, but Amryi wasn't going to play second fiddle to anyone.

"I thought I would welcome you to the ship." Liam had an expressionless mask on now.

Amryi narrowed his eyes. "So you're the welcome wagon? I didn't think Rownt went for welcome wagons."

"They generally don't. But I know how hard it can be to adjust to a new ship so I wanted to introduce myself. I'm--"

"I know who you are. Most humans do. I watched a made-for-direct-holo movie about you once. Ronnie DelVici played you."

"Oh." Liam looked vaguely confused. Sometimes young submissives who were trying to figure out where they fell on the spectrum got that particular expression. Qii had always taken that as an opportunity to step in and rescue them from their own ignorance. Amryi did not. People had to sort their own stupidity. "So, is this the screw with my son and I'll make your life miserable speech or are we going to pretend to play nice until I do something that you disapprove of?" Amryi asked.

"I never meant to judge you at all," Liam said too quickly to be entirely believable.

"I am marrying your only son or at least doing the Rownt equivalent of a marriage, but you're not here to pass any kind of judgment? Sure. Do I look stupid?"

"Not at all. In fact, I have been quite impressed with the streak of pragmatism that you seem to have, at least if Takil's stories are anything to go by. But I should probably explain that Rownt don't really have a concept of in-laws. Once children are old enough to live on their own, parents are expected to back off and give them space to succeed or fail on their own merits." Liam sounded as if he were gearing up for a lecture. Amryi was too tired and too damn old for it.

"And I should probably point out that you're not actually Rownt."

Liam's smile was slow and unsure. "You are right about that. And I will admit that I sometimes have trouble disengaging from Takil's life. I think Takil and Ondre both humor me because I am a palteia, so they put up with my human quirks. It means I get a little more patience from my offspring than a normal Rownt parent would. But I try very hard to not push that patience too far. I might not be Rownt, but my son is and he is very jealous of his independence."

Amryi was not following this conversation.  Either he was tired or Liam Munson was off the in-law script. Or both. The ship was preparing to leave, so Amryi assumed it had been a long week for everyone as traders tried to get last minute goods and all the food servers stocked up on fresh produce before heading into space. "Why are you here?"

"I wanted to make sure that you were doing okay finding everything. Sometimes the Rownt forget to explain things as well as they should. I mean, Ondry was always great explaining the nuances of trade deals, but then he would forget to explain how the bathroom worked. So there was a little bit of a hit or miss with the learning curve." Liam's mouth curved up into what would have been a devestatingly charming smile had Amryi not been asexual. As he was, he found the expression annoying.

"If I can't figure out the bathroom, I'll ask Takil." Amryi crossed his arms and eased back so that he would not have to crane his neck quite so far to look Liam in the face. 

"That's a perfect answer from a Rownt point of view. I had a little more trouble accepting help, but I think a big part of that was because the idea of submissive had such a negative connotation back then. I was very busy trying to prove that I was capable."

That was a special sort of stupidity and for a second, and Amryi wasn't ure how he was supposed to address it. If Liam had associated submission with incompetence, he was not the brilliant thinker the popular media made him out to be. The youngest submissive who walked in the door of the club knew that a person's dynamic orientation had nothing to do with their physical strength or their general competence. But the great and mighty Liam Munson was suggesting he hadn't known that. Maybe Amryi should treat Liam like some wet behind the ears kid at the club who hadn't figured things out yet, but that would be even more insulting than he was willing to be, and that said something because he was pretty damn willing to insult others. 

"If you think sexuality has anything to do with competence, you're an idiot."

Liam grinned. "At one point I was definitely an idiot. More to the point, human culture in general was full of idiocy. When I was your age, humans were just struggling to grasp the concept of a paltiea and consider that maybe submissives could be strong. It took a while before that message really got through, but I like to think that humanity is better for having made contact with Rownt. I like to think that the Rownt are better for having met humans. Before we had regular contact, Rownt society was much more adverse to change."

"The way I see it, they don't change much at all. I've seen historical videos and the ships… They look like they could be the same ships." Amryi was almost sure this very ship had been the one that first carried Liam back to Earth after he immigrated to Prarownt. He would worry about travelling on such an old ship only the Rownt built shit to last.

"True, they change much slower than humans, but I remember when I was first stationed on Prarownt and it was customary for the Rownt to hide any sign of technology because it didn't fit into their image of what Rownt were. They're better now, just like humans are better now. But more than most people, I am aware that our two species still have some fairly significant differences and I wanted you to know that I am here as a resource if you need anything."

Amryi opened his mouth and closed it, not sure what to say. Part of him wanted to throw insults until Liam went away. That would prevent any slow decay of familial relationships. However, it felt wrong to continue to lob insults at a man who was not returning them.  There wasn't a hint of sly condescention or subtle insults anywhere in Liam's words.  "I'm far more likely to talk to Takil than you," Amryi said slowly, feeling his way around a relationship that was turning out to be nothing like the one he had anticipated and dreaded.

"Which is a perfect answer for a Rownt palteia."

Liam turned and started sauntering down the hall. And he did saunter. He had a rolling gate that conveyed confidence and a nonchalant attitude. "Wait," Amryi called.

Liam turned around.

"Are you not going to make any complaints about the fact that your son decided to invite a 60-year-old curmudgeon into his life?"

Liam pursed his lips and made a show of thinking it over. "Nope. I know Takil. He's a good man and he makes good choices, or at least as good of choices someone can make when they aren't yet 200 years old. From a parental perspective that makes him a little young," Liam said in a conspiratorial voice. "But despite his youth, I trust his judgment. And I am endlessly grateful that he has found someone he can share a nest with. In many ways, I think that my humanity has been a disadvantage to my son. He grew up with two parents, seeing two adults putting each other first and working together. But he lives in a culture where he will often be expected to live alone and work alone." Liam sighed before continuing. "Amryi, by Rownt definitions, we have no relationship. There is no Rownt word for an in-law. But there is in human languages, and if I can do something to help without humiliating my offspring by suggesting he requires help, I will do it because I will always be grateful to you for allowing Takil to love you."

Amryi rarely found himself at a loss for words. Often he used all the wrong words. He never worked the front of the house at the club because he could take a disagreement and turn it into a full-scale brawl with his insults, but he always had words even if they were the worst possible ones. But as Liam turned his back and walked away, and he found he had no words at all. He had expected something very different from ambassador Liam Munson and expected something far less pleasant from Liam Munson, the father-in-law. And so he watched as Liam disappeared down the hallway, still unable to get his head wrapped around the conversation they had just shared.

Takil came up behind him and slipped an arm around his waist, pulling him close. Amryi had enjoyed more contact--more touching and affection--in the last week than he had in the previous ten years. He felt like a starving man who was still trying to eat every morsel at a feast, and so he leaned back into Takil's strength.

"Who was that?" Takil asked.

"Liam Munson."

Takil whiffed out a heavy breath. "He can be such a human. Tell him we don't need his help. Our business is going to be amazing. Between the novelty of having a human cook and the quality of the Rownt food you produce, all the Grandmothers are going to want to eat at our booth, and I watched my fathers trade with Grandmothers. I know how it's done. I'm going to be able to sell a weather report to a ship-based Rownt. You watch."

Amryi smiled. Takil was definitely young. Amryi remembered when he had been just as enthusiastic, and maybe a little bit of Takil's enthusiasm was rubbing off on him because he found himself smiling. "I know you will, and we're going to have the most popular booth on that deck."

"Exactly," Takil said with so much enthusiasm that he rumbled the word even as the translator offered only a modicum of enthusiasm. The translator did an excellent job with concepts, but Amryi was learning to listen to Takil's voice to hear the rumbles and to watch his face to see how his expression would tighten or wrinkles would appear to understand how Takil was really feeling. He looked over his shoulder, and he saw contentment in Takil's expression. 

"We're going to be the perfect partnership," Amryi said. He still missed his brother, and he always would. But for the first time in a long time, he was looking forward to what the future would bring.