NON PALPABLE MATE:
CH1 ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

A shiver traveled through me just below my skin, and goose bumps decorated my exposed flesh. I reached out to try and find some source of warmth. My grasp came back empty. I felt a something sad stab at me with this realization, but I was too sleepy to figure out what its meaning was. Instead, I rolled and found a patch of pillows that was warmed by the sun's rays streaming through my open window.

"Ooh..." I couldn't help the murmur of pleasure that escaped my lips as I soaked in it, splaying out. Someone knocked on my door. "Damn." I muttered, blinking my eyes open. "Come in!" I called.

My old door creaked as it was pushed open, and I craned my neck to see who it was. It was Rook, who came in carrying a tray, the dishes atop it rattling.

"Good Morning, m'Lord." He bowed his head before he set the tray on the small round table at the other side of my room.

I pulled myself up to my feet, my bones cracking as I stretched fully. "And to you as well," I replied as I put on my discarded nightshirt and sat at the table, taking up a bit of the crispy dough with spread and popping it in my mouth.

Rook acted as my assistant; he got me up in the morning, reminded me of my days schedule. It was nearing a year now, that I stayed on Quatonia, and no longer needed Erin twenty-four-seven. Rook was in her place now, going with me everywhere- Like Lissa, but in a different capacity. Rook was in his early twenties, and so tall that I almost felt like a child standing next to an adult, he had a shaved head, his hair the colour of auburn, his eyes the hue of oak. His tearaway uniform was brown, but had shades of red on the collar to show that he was in my personal service.

When he transformed, he appeared as a Golden Lion Tamarin monkey; he's mated with another man in my service, Jarren, was a Black Howler monkey.

I looked up at Rook, who was standing patiently on the other side of the table. "How's Jarren doing?"

"He's doing really well, sire. Thank you for asking." Rook replied respectfully, but the smile on his lips lit him up. "He's more excited than both of us put together."

I nodded, a smile on my own lips. "I'm happy for you two." I nodded. "Any idea when he's due?"

"Midway through the season, sire. Hopefully in time for the Itre." He replied.

I nodded. Rook and Jarren had been trying to pregnant for half the time that I had spent here, and now the due date was closing in. It would be excellent time if Jarren gave birth around the same time as the Itre, a big, yearly ceremony for the town to celebrate all that had gone on that year; like announcing the birth of new Quatonians and holding a naming ceremony; before welcoming the new year.

"So, tell me what's up with today." I said, turning back to my breakfast.

Rook nodded, and started to tell me of today's activities. "You have a meeting with Lady Erin to go over the schedule for the Itre. And Laren's daughter, Pipa, is coming of age today and will have a visit from the Messmngeers and complete her transition into adulthood; you're to be present for that, along with all of her relations." I nodded; I had to admit that I was way busier here than I was at the SGC. "And Colonel Mitchell from Earth is coming for a visit this morning as well."

"Thank you, Rook. You can go now," I told him with a nod.

He brushed crossed fingers across his mark, located on his right shoulder under his uniform, before he left my room, closing the door behind him as I was sure that he was going to see Jarren. I turned back to my tasty breakfast.

I had almost forgotten that Mitchell was coming, and I say just Mitchell because the rest of SG-1 wasn't coming. Almost a week before today, I got a message from the SGC that SG-1 had been ambushed by the Ori, they had been hit. Mitchell got the worst of it, while others' were minimal. Mitchell had been put on medical leave, and had requested that he stay here for that duration of time- the reason still eluded me. Because of this, the rest of SG-1 was getting some break time. Teal'c requested to go off world and visit with Bra'tac and Ry'ac, Carter had work to do down at Area 51, and Daniel would have visited as well if it weren't for the fact that he was buried glasses-high in script needing translations.

I leaned back in my chair and stared at the ceiling, wondering what it was going to be like entertaining a commanding officer until his recovery. And, was he still my commanding officer? I mean... ever since I chose Quatonia instead of Earth, does that still mean that I'm American, and a Military officer? I wasn't born on Earth, or in America. Erin had shown me the proof that I was born here libraries of archives of the Quatonian history. Joshua had lied when we had first met and I had thought him a innocent squire, and he had told me that Quatonian blood was in my ancestry, when in fact I was a full-blown Quatonian and was of the Royal bloodline- something that would have put a wrench in Joshua's greedy plans.

I shook my head, all this family genes and pyramid talk was giving me a headache. Having a visit from Mitchell, injured or not, would be good for me. Someone I could talk freely with, and someone I knew for more than a year.

Mitchell had been good to me, thus far, and I wanted to return the favour. It wouldn't get awkward, I swore, us only having spent two moments alone with each other: the first, when he hadn't explained something properly about Daniel, and I had a total meltdown; and the second, when I was hopped up on pain killers and stripped naked in front of him- like I have with almost everyone I knew.

So I prayed, to Quatonian and Earth Gods alike that this would be nothing like those events. I had an image to uphold here, after all.

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