This chapter takes place after Chapter 49 in SFTD.

The basement of the Avenger was in quite the verdant flourish.

Fal-Mai had matters she'd been meaning to attend to down there for some time now, and had just recently found a moment to stop by. After all, Shazara-Ta's words kept coming back to her occasionally. The thought that one of his progeny would want to see her was a heartwarming one, for certain. If it hadn't been such a tense situation leading up to that particular event, she would've taken more joy in holding the young king. Well, if she played her cards right, she supposed she might be able to do that again.

So she'd stepped out of the Workshop after finally disentangling herself from conversation with her brother, heading down and into the basement proper. The sight that greeted her was quite extraordinary! For lack of a better term, there was now a sort of entrance hall to the basement—a rather spacious area with a lush carpet of fern-like plants. There were chairs twisted out of plants she couldn't identify, apparently strong enough to hold weight if the lounging Mutons on them were any indication. Oddly-shaped chairs were host to Vipers, the rounded, broad protrusions on them allowing them to rest their tails without dangling them across the floor. Tables, ottomans, the ever-crawling vines even parted for the lights in the ceiling. Celosia's work was to be admired.

On one of the chairs, Shel-Za was lounging with a few fellow native Vipers. She looked up as Fal-Mai entered, getting up from her seat. "There you are. I was beginning to wonder if you'd ever turn up."

"My apologies." Fal-Mai further walked in. She got caught up looking at some of the flowers on the walls, which seemed slightly bioluminescent in spots. "I have found myself rather busy as of late, but I still wished to appear here eventually."

Shel-Za gave a single chuckle. "Just being hard on you. Shazara won't stop talking about you—you've made quite an impression on him. I assume you're here to see him and my child?"

Fal-Mai blinked. "Luina-Ta is...?"

She huffed. "All of his talking and he never got around to mentioning such?" She began to move deeper into the basement, and Fal-Mai followed. "I ought to teach him a lesson for that."

"Perhaps he mentioned and I simply forgot," Fal-Mai offered.

"Regardless, yes. I am Luina-Ta's mother. He and his father are currently in the Nursery. He's..." Shel-Za sighed gently. "You are aware of his condition?" When Fal-Mai shook her head, the Viper simply looked forwards. "Shazara-Ta was heavily modified by Vahlen, for reasons I'll never be sure of. The thorns would be bad enough. But... his body temperature has been lowered to the point of being actively cold, presumably to facilitate the use of his venom? I would not be surprised if she merely did it because she could." Shel-Za hissed something, perhaps in her native tongue. "I... would not say it makes being with him hard. It would have to actively cause damage to me to overcome my love for him. But we are cold-blooded, Assassin. Contrary to that name, it is not in our nature to embrace the cold, so even our young will shy away from it. You... can hopefully see where that leads."

She could, and the notion of it broke Fal-Mai's heart. To be unable to connect with your own child thanks to a condition forced upon you... her broken heart was only made more painful with righteous anger. Still, right now wasn't the time for it. She was going to go spend some time with a young Neonate—anger really wasn't something she should be carrying into that room. "I can see that, even if I do not wish to think on it. I do not think Luina-Ta needs any of my fury regarding the matter."

"Good Chosen. I've had my fair share of being furious over the matter, myself. Had I any more, I would distrust humans entirely, but the Commander's actions make it clear there is good in most species. Most."

The Elders—the Ethereals, really—were assuredly exempt from that. Fal-Mai took in a calming breath, moving on. "Still, a nursery? Is it just for Shazara-Ta's children?"

"For now? Essentially." Shel-Za murmured a warm greeting to some passing Archons—Fal-Mai would never get over those legs. "The Archons cannot reproduce because Earth's metals are unfit for their biology, according to what your Chief Engineer has reported. Vel'kiin has expressed interest, but from my understanding, Berserker pregnancies are very demanding, and she wishes the war to be over first. Celosia..." Shel-Za grew quiet for a second. "She's never spoken about it. And she came to this planet alone. May the Hunt take out Their rightful anger on the Elders for what they did to all of us. But... I digress. Yes, the room is for our little Neonates."

Tragedy of their species aside, Fal-Mai was somewhat fond of how Luina-Ta had looked. More little Neonates sounded like a treat. "I am glad that you trust me enough to enter such a room."

"You proved your worth when you brought my son back to me. I would say that more than lets you meet up with them." Shel-Za stopped in front of a wooden door, the hinges held together by soft-looking vines. "With that said, here we are."

She opened the door, and Fal-Mai marveled at the inside. The floor looked even softer than it did out in the main hall, and everything had rounder edges. There were a few Vipers but the population of the room was mostly Neonates, generally milling about, playing with some strange-looking toys, and coiled under what looked like heat lamps in the corner. Fal-Mai supposed they'd asked Lily to fashion some. More of those Viper-chairs were here, though there were smaller ones as well. It generally looked like a room for small children, with those small children being Neonates, of course.

The King himself was in one of the corners of the room, sitting in a chair and watching over his son, who was playing with a few other Neonates. Though he looked fond, there was a distinct sadness about him, and Fal-Mai knew why, at least. His eyes caught Fal-Mai's, and that melancholy faded. "Dear Assassin! I'm glad you finally managed to make it."

As he spoke, Luina-Ta himself looked up—and it was so adorable to see his face light up like the sun. He scrambled away from his playmates, hitting the gate of the play area. "Lady!"

Fal-Mai couldn't help but giggle, walking over and crouching down at the gate. "Hello, little King. How are you?"

He excitedly beat the gate, probably wanting to get out. "Back! You're back!"

Shazara-Ta laughed. "Feel free to come in, Assassin."

With that permission granted, Fal-Mai stepped over the gate. The other Neonates were also looking at her with curiosity as she came over to the Viper King. Luina-Ta followed her the whole way, making some rather happy noises. When she stopped, she could feel him pressing against her leg, arms raised. She looked to Shazara-Ta, who nodded, and she reached down to pick the young king up. Once she had him at her chest, he buried herself against her, nuzzling against the collar of her turtleneck. "Warm..."

It was nice to know some aspect of her was favorable. She hugged Luina-Ta close to her, cradling him. As she did, Shel-Za approached, smoothly climbing over the natural fence and entering the pen. "How are you faring, my lord?"

That sent a little bit of melancholy back into Shazara-Ta's smile. "Quite well. Doing my best to spend time with my children." Judging by how they had been keeping a slight distance to him... it couldn't have been going as well as he wanted it to. "I'm happy to see them all getting along."

As Shel-Za spoke, some Neonates approached her, and she picked them up as she did. "Kind is the king who sees to his whole brood and not just his favored son. Wise, as well. Have any of them been making trouble?"

While the Neonates in her arms made short work of shaking their heads and going "no," Shazara-Ta chuckled gently. "Ah, I'm unsure if it's my place to report such a thing, love."

"Oh, of course you would cover for them."

"They are my children."

Fal-Mai spared a short laugh. Luina-Ta had fallen quiet, but the silence wasn't unsettling—she could feel him taking deep breaths and occasionally nuzzling more against her. He must've been basking in her natural warmth. As nice as the thought was... she looked to Shazara-Ta. He must've never gotten to hold his children like this. Was she just rubbing that fact in his face right now? She almost wanted to set Luina-Ta down, thinking on that, but she didn't know if she had the heart to do that, either. Still, as her eyes bounced to the heat lamps as to not stare at him for too long, something occurred to her. "—King Shazara-Ta? Might I ask you something?"

"Please, no need for my title. But of course you can ask."

If warmth was the problem and Shazara-Ta could not change his physiology, well... "Have you ever entertained asking the Chief Engineer or my brother regarding help?"

"Help with...?" Shazara-Ta seemed to catch on and sighed. "Sadly, they are engineers, not geneticists. I do not know how they could help."

Fal-Mai readjusted her grip on Luina-Ta, who she was sure was dozing off by now. "Humans have made things like heated blankets. Surely there cannot be a heated vest, or the like?"

"I've... thought on that." He sighed. "But my tolerance for cold has come with an intolerance for the higher temperatures the rest of us crave. Perhaps I should weather it still..."

"My brother is capable of many wondrous things," Fal-Mai continued. "I do not think it is beyond him to... what is the word... insulate one side of the vest so you are not too affected by the heat it brings?"

Shazara-Ta was quiet for a moment. "Do you think they could do that?"

"Mordenna has fashioned me a new arm, my facemask, and a headset that makes bearing loud noises infinitely more manageable." She gently shrugged. "I would not call such a thing 'trivial,' of course, but I think making that for you would be easy. Shen is not to be underestimated with her skill as well—she has been XCOM's Chief Engineer for a reason."

"I..." Shazara-Ta swallowed. "I would like to believe you, Fal-Mai. Perhaps I must pay a trip to XCOM's engineers after all. Fitting that a fool like me would be ashamed of even asking for help."

Fal-Mai sighed. "I have dealt with such a stubbornness before. Suffice to say, there is no shame in reaching out for others. I would not be alive today if not for it."

"I find that reasonable." Shazara-Ta relaxed back into his chair. The melancholy was mostly gone, replaced with a quiet hopefulness. "So. I see that you have put my son to sleep. I suppose that places you here to endure my conversation until he wakes up?"

Indeed, Luina-Ta seemed to be fast asleep. Fal-Mai chuckled quietly. "If you will have me, I do not think I will be 'enduring' it."

"Please, I will find a way."

There were worse ways to spend an afternoon, she figured.