284******a few years ago****** Marleck tea stains ringed the glazed blue interior of the cup that Thenn-ar had been sipping from all day. Ro-den stood at a sterilizing basin in one of the low hazard research rooms of his facility on Thegund, looking into the cup and admiring those stains through the fog of post-coital mellowing. Here in his hands was proof of his favorite lover’s existence and the hard work she’d devoted to his ideas and goals since they’d met. He had known her before this facility was built, but right now he felt he grasped the truth of her more clearly. She was a few steps to his left, lying on the warm cushion of magic he’d made for them on the floor. The light from her tablet shone on her face. She was probably thinking about one or two of the experiments that were underway.Those experiments were…there were some of them happening. There were always some happening. Ro didn’t actually care enough to bring the details to the surface of his mind when he was so relaxed. But it seemed particularly wonderful to him that Thenn was managing (...)