Manka sat back in her bed, pad in one hand and abero in the other. She was watching a slightly time delayed v-ball game of her home team, the Wedney Wanderers, playing off against the Walak Warriors. Walak were losing of course, which was not unusual for Federation teams when they went up against the well-funded core system teams. Manka was always happy to see her team win but with the news coming out of the Federation and her recent experiences on the Colony she was more enjoying Walak’s loss as opposed to Wedney’s win.

There was a knock at the door just in time for her to miss a shot from beyond the halfway line that went right into the five point bucket, getting Wedney another ten points on their already impressive lead.

“Argh slaggit!” Manka said and stomped over to the door to answer.

“Bad time?” Sorcha asked seeing Manka’s furious expression.

“Just missed what sounded like a damned good shot.” Manka said and went back to her bed. “You couldn’t just barge in like you do to Joseph?”

Sorcha blushed slightly.

“This arrived for me, my Dad sent it over.” Sorcha said and held up the large bottle of glowing red liquid. “Figured you’d want some, but if not I’ll just head back to my room…”

“Not a chance!” Manka said, pausing the game and fishing out two glasses from under the bed. “Sit!” she said making a bit of space beside her.

Sorcha smiled. “Thought you might.”

“Where in the name of all the dead Emperors did you get a bottle of Royal Berry Whiskey!?” Manka asked unable to take her eyes off the bottle.

“Told you,” she said. “My Dad sent me it.”

“Your Dad is a resourceful man. Especially given he’s the size of my finger.” Manka said and shook the glass in Sorcha’s face. “Now come on and get pouring!”

“Alright! Ever heard of please?” Sorcha said as she poured.

“You offered.” Manka said flatly.

The liquid had barely stopped flowing into her glass before Manka brought the glass to her nose and took a sniff, followed by a sip, followed by a gulp.

“Ahhhh…gods that’s good.” Manka said and topped her glass up. “Really though, where’d he get it?”

Sorcha shrugged. “Wish I knew. I think he has some sort of club. He always seems to be able to get his hands on rare stuff from Avalon or from Tribe Maris. I know he’s been sending people stuff from Earth.”

“To your Dad!” Manka held up her up glass. “And the remarkable fellow that he must be.”

“Sláinte!” Sorcha said and downed her whiskey and proceeded to fill up both glasses again.

“So what are your parents like, if you don’t mind me asking?” Manka asked.

“What do you mean?” Sorcha frowned.

“I don’t mean it in a bad way,” Manka said plainly. “Just I’ve been around a lot of Humans in my time. They’re nice n’ that but I didn’t think they were overly clever until I came here. And I never saw one as a…mate.”

“So you want to know what my Mum saw in my Dad?”

Manka shrugged. “Yeah pretty much. If she looks anything like you I don’t think she’d have a problem finding a Titan guy. Why a Human? Especially twenty years ago.”

“I think it’s like what you said in your interview. You respect people who respect you.” Sorcha said and sipped at her whiskey. “She bought him when she was in a bad place. She was lonely and stressing and wanted a bit of company.”

“And your Dad helped relax her?”

“Ha! Hardly. I think he gave her more grief to begin with.” Sorcha laughed a little as she started to feel the whiskey going to her head. “Though he was better at her work than she was and he helped her get through it. That helped her relax. And helped her to see him for what he was. One thing led to another and…”

“But how does that even work?” Manka said curious. “I mean, he’s the size of her finger. It doesn’t sound very enjoyable from her perspective.”

Sorcha smiled, suspecting that was the root of the initial question. “So that’s what this is about?”

“I’ve heard some people bought Humans just for that. And I can understand some loser guy buying himself a pretty Human girl…”

“Careful Manka.” Sorcha warned.

“No, no. Not your mother. I mean I don’t see what a Titan woman gets out of it.” Manka said looking like she was exploring the issue in her mind.

“It’s the same with any man really.” Sorcha sipped some more at her whiskey. “Some of them know what to do…some don’t.”

“Yeah! But a Titan man has much more to work with!”

“And Humans have nimble fingers…” Sorcha paused. “Where’s this coming from anyway? You seem very interested in the details of my parents’ love life all of a sudden.”

“Ehhhh,” Manka sighed “One of the guys on my Avalonian team asked me on a date. I said no, but it got me thinking.”

“Why’d you say no?” Sorcha asked.

“Duh…He’s the size of my finger! I don’t really see what’s in it for me!”

Sorcha smiled. “Find him. Say yes.”

“Why though?” Manka asked and finished her glass.

“First, you can use the holosuite beside my office, if the size really bothers you. Second, it’s not like there’s many other men around. Joseph is occupied elsewhere and I don’t think you like Relun or Masal.” Sorcha said.

“I still don’t see what’s in it for me though.” She took another swig. “I’m pretty sure he’s smaller than one of my fingers.”

“Can you make yourself orgasm with only your finger?”

Manka’s mouth hung open. “That’s a pretty personal question!”

“Well, you did ask about my parents’ sex life.” Sorcha retorted.

“I did…didn’t I?”

“Point is, if your finger can, then a Human can. And ten times better!”

“What do you mean?” Manka asked curiously.

Sorcha grinned and took a swig from the bottle. “Don’t ask me, go ask…who is it?”

“Freddie Hastalas, he’s a construction worker.”

“Oh I know Freddie! Nice guy!” Sorcha smiled “He must have a type.”

“What do you mean? Did he ask you out before?” Manka leaned in.

“Nope,” Sorcha grinned. “Another woman on Avalon. They must have broken up.”

“Another Titan? Or Hybrid?”

“Nah. A red head!” Sorcha laughed.

****

Terta carried Pesa and Enti gently to the living room of the villa, where the humans had set up shop.

She was almost becoming optimistic. Almost. The shattering attack on the rally had awoken something in many Federationers. Not most of them, maybe, but a large group, especially of the young, were out in force. It wasn’t just human rights – many of the fiercest protesters were ambivalent on human rights. But it was everything – the long shadow of bigotry that darkened the Federation, the Titan Party’s (and True Titan Party’s) dominance, the Black Block’s use of force to keep their opponents cowed. They were done with it. They were ready to push back.

Would it be enough? Maybe. Maybe the ongoing protests would cause Poron Cesil to back off. Maybe it would make the Empire feel better about intervening directly. If nothing else, there were people starting to band together who’d been afraid to before.

If nothing else, they weren’t alone anymore.

“All right,” she said, as she bent low to set her human friends down. “Good luck with planning. I’ll see you when we wake up.”

“Have a good rest, Terta,” Enti said. She waited for Terta to get out of earshot before muttering, “Distracted, were we?”

“I’m sorry, what?” Pesa said, with a slight chuckle. He put his arm around Enti’s shoulder. “It’s just…that is….”

“Oh, I know,” Enti said, as she and Pesa reached the portable kitchen. “That nightgown is a little low-cut.”

Thurfrit, who was cooking eggs, laughed as he overheard Enti’s comment. “Oh, you’re going to have to forgive him, dear, it’s…well, let’s face it, they’re rather hard to miss.”

“And on that note, I’m gonna go back to sleep,” said a young woman walking into the kitchen.

“No, Miss Xanthopolous, you’re going to help get breakfast around,” Thurfrit said. “It’s the less glamorous part of the internship, I know….”

“Eh, been helping serve breakfast to dozens of people for dozens of years,” Amelia said, grabbing plates. “That I don’t mind. I just don’t need to be talking about the breasts of Titans.”

“What about the breasts of Titans?” Yamanu asked with a yawn.

“Gah! This is why I need my mom around. Any time any of the boys would start to get fixated, she’d knock some sense into them.”

“And if anyone can knock sense into anyone, it’s Lysis Xanthopolous,” Yamma agreed. “As good a man as your dad was, your mom has made him much better.”

“And it’s not just men who can get fixated,” Enti said, pouring juice into tumblers. “I’m not complaining; I just have the ability to continue to form sentences.”

Yamanu raised a glass. “A skill far too many lack. So does she know?”

Pesa, who was taking a gulp of juice, almost choked on it. “Does…does who know?”

Enti playfully elbowed him. “We’re not fooling anyone but maybe her, Pesa. No, she doesn’t. We don’t…it’s….”

“It’s hard, I know,” Yamanu said, as a few more of the human staffers began to file in. “Especially when you’re friends.”

“And especially when you’re already dependent. I mean…completely. We like to think we’re citizens, but….”

“You are,” Thurfrit said. “Just because the Federation is being terrible, that doesn’t mean you aren’t. You could move to Archavia tomorrow, there are already customer service jobs opening up for citizens, good-paying jobs, too. But I get it,” he said. “You don’t want to leave her behind. And you want to be able to build a home where your home is.”

“It’s not just that,” Enti said. “She’s…Terta has been wonderful to us. Even if she isn’t…wouldn’t see us like that…I don’t want her to think we’re….”

“It gets complex,” Yamanu said, “when they’re buying you food and keeping you safe in a world that sees you as a pet. I know. More even than Thurfrit does. It takes a great deal of faith. And total honesty.”

“How did you and Gae make it work?” Pesabro asked.

Upstairs and around a corner, in a bedroom filled with four beds, Gae smiled.

“I was sure I was imagining it,” she said, laying back. “I chided myself for it. He’d lost his girlfriend, almost lost his life, and it was my fault…how dare I even think such a thing?”

She sighed. “He said it one day out of nowhere, when I was getting ready for bed. I’d told him once more that he was free to go whenever, and he told me…he said he didn’t want to go anywhere but where I was.”

“Aww!”

“Hush, Zhay,” Gae laughed.

“Gae was smarter than I was,” Aezhay sighed. “It took Thurfrit stowing away in my luggage for me to figure out he was interested. And for me to realize how interesting he was.”

“Aezhay’s a sucker for the adventurous type,” Gae said. “But we tell that whole story, we’ll be awake for hours. Point is, Yamanu did us both a favor. I don’t know if I would ever have said it myself. But I felt the same way.”

“I just don’t…they’re so important to me, Gae,” Terta said. “And I don’t want…I definitely mean they. And that’s the other thing – they love each other. I don’t want to be a third wheel, and I definitely don’t want to…I mean, what if Pesa decided he was interested in me, but Enti wasn’t? I wouldn’t want to break them up, that would be…that would be horrible.”

“Nice thing is that you don’t have to,” Tylum said. “And don’t worry about third wheels. Hells, my sister’s family has five spouses and a dozen kids and I don’t even what to think about how many grand-nieces and grand-nephews I’m gonna end up with. Now,” she said, “it’s a big day tomorrow; can we get to sleep? I guarantee you the humans aren’t talking about relationships.”

Downstairs, the humans were talking about relationships.

“Trust me,” Tom Archer-Kramer said, “plural relationships are very common in the Empire. I’ve got two dads and three moms, and three of ‘em are Titan-sized. I got away with nothing when I was a kid.”

“That was mainly because of your sister,” Amelia said. “Manto is scary. Kind of like my mom – it’s a good scary, but you don’t want to cross her.”

“Point is,” Thurfrit said, “you can make this work if you want to.”

“I know,” Pesabro said. “We both do. But…we don’t want to make her feel awkward, and….”

“You sound like my Aunt Izzy,” Amelia said, rolling her eyes. “She and my Aunt Red spent forever dancing around their feelings, for the same reasons. According to my dad, they didn’t do anything until my parents’ wedding. Red was using a hologram to be human-sized, Izzy swept her off her feet, kissed her, and told her that she was going to be dating her from now on.”

“You realize that’s a slight exaggeration,” Yamma laughed.

“Of course it is, it’s a Dad Story, but still, point is, they’ve been together ever since. Sometimes you just have to take a chance. At least…that’s what Dad always said the lesson was.”

“Darren is right about that,” Yamanu said. “Look…this organization, this foundation…it all exists because a Titan girl and a human boy, both of whom wanted to help humans, fell in love and came up with a crazy idea to build a better organization than TETH, despite having very little money and very little idea of where to start. I told Gae I loved her without knowing where it would lead; Gae asked me to marry her before we had any idea life extension existed, and that we could be together more than a trifling amount of her life. You two ran away from a pet store together, you’ve been fighting for your freedom together. And she’s been fighting for your freedom since you two found her. There are few guarantees in life, but I guarantee this – if you don’t tell her, you’ll regret it. And if it works out…well, my life has been amazing. And not because of our victories, important though they are. Because of Gae, and Mal, and Malala. Now,” he said, “tomorrow is a big day. And as much as we might want to, we shouldn’t spend that time talking relationships. So, folks…let’s go over the plan.”

****

“Good news Pri!” Myrell swept into her room waking her roommate from her slumber atop the bedside table.

Pri rubbed her eyes and did her best to shake the cobwebs from her head. “What…what’s that?”

“I got you a job!”

This was not the good news Pri had been expecting. “Eh…yay?”

“Yes yay! It all figures into my plan of getting you to meet Pryvani Tarsuss!” Myrell dropped to her knees with an Earth shaking thud in front of the bedside table.

This did perk Pri up a little. “What’s the job!? Is it to do with hair? I love playing with people’s hair!”

“No silly!” Myrell smiled. “You’re going to be a cleaner in the power station.”

Pri very quickly felt like she’d had a Titan sized bucket of cold water dumped over her. “How…how does that help me get to meet Pryvani Tarsuss?” She asked somewhat tentatively. She knew questioning her owner could occasionally lead to rather angry outbursts.

Not this time though. Myrell smiled gently at her. “Because silly, you have to be good at making friends with Humans. And I got you this job so you can make friends with two Humans who work at the power plant.”

“Oh…ok.”

“They’re called Sephonie and Duas and they work nights in the power station. It’ll be pretty much empty so you’ll have lots of time to get to know them.”

“I don’t really like cleaning though…” Pri said.

Myrell shrugged. “And I don’t like having to share my room but I am aren’t I?”

“Yes…” Pri agreed hoping to please her owner.

“Anyway, you like to make things pretty. Just think of it as making the power station pretty.” Myrell said cheerily and climbed into bed.

“I can do that.” Pri perked up a little.

“Good!” Myrell said pulling off her bottoms and then rolling under the covers. “I’m going to sleep for the next twenty hours. There’s water and pellets for you. Try not to wake me.”

With that Pri’s owner turned off the light, rolled over and then she was alone.

Pri didn’t really like being alone. She liked to be able to talk to people. People like her. Like her friends who were raised with her at the specialist breeder. They had proper conversations about nice food and pretty clothes. Most of the oafs in the classes she went to could just about put a simple sentence together.

She sat back in the blackness of the room and allowed her mind to drift away. It went to thoughts of the future and her life with the extravagant heiress she had seen so much on the gossip feeds throughout her childhood. She pictured herself being carried by a servant behind her owner, Pryvani Tarsuss. She was wearing an identical long golden, shiny dress with miniature jewellery to match her owner’s and her hair done perfectly.

Pri smiled and warmed herself on the glow of her life to come. She would do anything to make it happen. To return to life for which she was bred, to ensure she became Pryvani Tarsuss’ pet.

Even if it meant jumping through the silly pink haired giant’s hoops.