air and clearing great crevasses in a dangerous cave in the bowels of Ikthe, my heart swelled with pride and love for her. She also had driven her samplers into the ground at strategic distances from one another in hopes of expanding VELMA’s capacity for communication. My heart mate’s contribution to the success of our quest was immeasurable. Also, I treasured her studious nature and tender declarations of love during quiet moments.
“Joan, I wish to thank you for the attentions you bestowed upon me some nights ago,” I said. We spoke in the privacy of our helmets though we were but steps apart creeping through the Narrows. She turned to look at me, and I spied her blush through her visor.
“Hm, I seem to recall being bestowed as well,” she said, her eyes crinkling at the corners with her smile, and I showed her my fangs.
“Your smile is frightening,” she said. “It’s a good thing I know you’re really just a teddy bear.”
“Tell me once more what a teddy bear is,” I said, and she described it though I had difficulty picturing the child’s toy in my mind. “When I imagine a tree thief the size of a jokapazathel, but made of cloth and stuffed with fibers, the image transforms into a very hateful tree thief who seeks vengeance for having been made small.”
Joan laughed and shook her head.
“Hasn’t VELMA shown you a photograph?” she said. “Just imagine that again.”
“But the photograph shows an inanimate object with no character,” I said. “It evokes not emotion in my heart.”
“Okay, thank you for explaining,” she said. “For me, just the image brings to mind one of my favorite toys as a child, a stuffed panda. I could hug it and whisper secrets into its ears. When I think of my stuffed bear, or see a picture of one, I remember feeling safe and loved. To me, you’re fierce and protective—like an Earth bear—but also affectionate and sensitive. Like my favorite bear.”
“But I am also desirable as a mate,” I added to her joyful laugh.
“Absolutely,” she said. “Without question.”
“Very well, then. You may call me teddy bear.” Her laughter brought a smile to my face, and I considered her efforts in recent weeks to show her love. I’d confided to her my feelings of loss and neglect when she retreated into her shell of sorrow, and that while I would never forsake her, at times it felt as though I watched her through a wall of glass … close enough to touch but unable to penetrate the barrier. When I told her of my feelings, she held me close and offered secrets of her own. She spoke of her inexplicable sadness and persistent nightmares from her time in the Agothe Fatheza and that she worked with VELMA every day to heal. She expressed her fears of losing me and explained she sometimes avoided me in a misplaced attempt to forestall that very fear.
That night, when I had explained my vulnerability, she exposed her own, and we held each other skin to skin, soaking up our love and tears, and renewing our desires to make the other confident in our love.
It was a special time I often reflected upon in recent days, but I recognized Joan’s efforts, and I doubled my own. My heart mate must never doubt my love would last until Ikthe swallowed me in its depths.
“Raxkarax, I’ve told you this before, but I want you to know how much I love you,” she said, unknowingly bolstering my thoughts. “Thank you for—understanding. For your patience.”
“You are most welcome, my Joan,” I said. “And I thank you for the work you do now, for the many ways you protect us in our journey.”
“But I’m not—wait,” she said with a small laugh. “I’m working on better self-talk and accepting compliments. You’re welcome. I am trying to protect everyone by checking the air for toxins and easing communication with VELMA. I am an important part of the group.”
“I wish to hold you,” I said, emotion choking me. She stopped where she was and turned, and I pulled her into my arms. My size engulfed her, which was just as well, since the ground and walls shook, and gravel rained from above, and our helmets burst with alarms and announcements too many to track.
Ikthe would protest our presence in the Narrows—with vehemence.