During his story Jim had crawled in his lap leaning his shoulder to the big man, he laughed when Silver laughed and felt himself in tears by the end. After Silver went quiet Jim hugged him around the neck and buried his face in his shoulder.

"I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have snooped or even asked," he said sniffling.

Silver reached around and held the smaller man close.

"That's alright, ye were bound to find out sooner or later. She would 'ave liked ye. Called ye a spitfire." Silver reached his organic hand up and wiped his cheek of the tears.

"What were their names gonna be?" Jim asked in a small voice.

Silver hummed, "Ursid's don't name their young right away, we got a naming ceremony at about six months where the pup helps choose their own name."

"Did you ever find anyone else?" Jim asked softly

"A man's got needs lad" he teased then sighed. "But that's not what yer askin'. The answer is no, never wanted to drag anyone down."

Nuzzling into his neck Jim mumbled.

"Can't hear ya Jimbo." Silver tried to pull him back but he just held tighter.

"Is that why you don't love me?" he asked slightly louder though Silver still had to strain his ear.

"Oh Jim," Silver sighed and ran his organic fingers through his short hair. "That's why ye shouldn't love me. I'm broken, 'ave been since I was a pup, losin' her and me pups. It just made it clear the universe holds no such happiness for this ol' space bear. Yer so young, I already mixed ye up in me trouble once. Nearly broke me heart it did seein' that look of betrayal on yer face. An leavin' ye behind with Morphy? Damn near felt like I was losin' me family all over again. I do love ye, James Hawkins. Stars know I shouldn't. But the thing about love is ye gotta do what's best for 'em. And what's best for you is to forget about me, go find yerself a girl an settle down, join the navy or help yer Mam with the inn. Ye got a future Jimbo, an all I do is ruin futures." Silver finally succeeded in pulling Jim away during his speech and said the last bit firmly.

"I don't want to settle down, I especially wouldn't with a girl." Jim was trying his hardest not to cry.

"Settling down with a lad then," Silver rubbed at Jim's cheek.

"I don't want anyone else. It's you, It's always been you. From the first minute I saw you I was intrigued." He looked into Silver's eyes trying to get him to see the truth there.

" Lad the first thing ye did was try and interrogate me." Silver laughed at Jim's blush.

"Yeah well, you were sus as anything, my point still stands. Even all my time at the academy, I never thought of anyone but you had a few offers but turned them down. It felt like I was cheating on you even though I knew you would want nothing to do with me, I was just some kid with a crush. You didn't even like me, who could like a nose-wiping little whelp." Jim hid his face but Silver could see the pain his words caused all these years later.

"Now none of that, ye know I never meant a word. If they knew I had gone soft they would a killed ya." Silver sighed and pulled him close again. "I don't know what I would do knowin' I caused yer death too. I had to save at least one of ya." he ducked his head and buried his nose in Jim's soft hair.

"What do I smell like?"

Silver startled and pulled back.

Jim looked up. "I don't mind, but you do it a lot, you'll just lean in and smell me, plus you said you could smell her."

Silver brought his mechanical hand up and rubbed the back of his neck. "Sorry 'bout that. This nose ain't just to make me look pretty ye know. Us Ursid's rely on our noses to help, an ol' evolutionary trait that never went away. Though does come a might handy when meetin' new people." Looking down at Jim's big curious eyes he reached a hand out and tilted Jim's head up.

He felt Jim swallow. "Is alright, scent's just strongest at the base of the neck is all." Jim nodded in his hold. Silver swallowed hard himself before leaning in, sure he had been smelling the boy but he had never truly scented him. Jim couldn't know what offering his neck up meant, though with how he was talking he would have offered anyway.

Silver leaned close and took a deep breath letting a moan slip out before he cut it off. Clearing his throat he smelled again, this time pressing his nose to where the neck and shoulder met.

"Ye smell, mmm, ye smell like fresh baked sugar cookies frosted in stardust." he took another whiff "Yet under that is the smell of where ye been, I can smell yer mam's inn, faint but it's ingrained in ya yet over that," Silver choked off.

Jim ran one hand up behind Silver's head and gently ran his fingers through the other man's hair. "Over that is what?"

Silver buried his nose further in and closed his eyes. It couldn't be, sure he had been wearing Silver's old Jacket but it should be mostly gone by now. "Ye smell like me Lad. Ye smell like yer mine. But ye shouldn't."

He pulled back and looked at Jim's face.

"Why shouldn't I smell like you?" Jim looked so open it broke a part of Silver

"It means I wasn' as careful as I shoulda been. It means I started to mark ye long before ye wore me jacket." Silver closed his eyes and tilted his head back till it hit the tree. "Is alright though, hasn't been around long enough to stick. Few weeks without me scentin' ya it should go away."

"No!" the sharp cry made Silver look back up.

Jim cleared his throat and blushed. "Sorry, but please don't. I like it when you do."

Silver shook his head. "Ye don't know what yer askin' for Lad."

Jim shifted on his lap till one leg was on either side of him. "Then explain it to me."

John sighed and looked anywhere except the man on his lap. "How much you know about Ursid's?"

Jim shook his head "Not much, at the academy I learned they rarely ever leave their home system, on top of that they are quite private so outsiders don't know much. I probably know more now with your story than most people will in their lives."

Silver nodded, "Sounds 'bout right. See Ursid's don' get married like ye humans, we don' have no fancy ceremony or nothin' like that. Instead, we scent each other so other Ursid's know we are taken. It normally takes a while of bein' in the presence of each other, an seein' as we don' have the same social rules as humans we usually don' wait to mate which helps combine scents."

Jim looked lost at the last part till Silver raised a suggestive eyebrow. At that point, his cheeks turned bright red and he ducked his head down.

"That's why I was surprised ye had me scent on ye. Besides wearing me coat we hadn't been that close so ye shouldn't a picked it up."

Jim thought for a moment. "So if I smell like you we are essentially dating?"

"Eh, kinda. It ain't as fancy or strict. If two people don wanna be with each other no more they just go their separate ways. Eventually, the scent fades and they are marked as available again."

Jim leaned into Silver and started nuzzling around his neck and shoulder like a cat. "Wanna know what you smell like?" he asked

Silver felt his breath catch. "What?"

"Home."