MGiS 6 - Proportional Response - Chapter 2

Chapter 2

There is a lot more that goes into running a clan than people realize, especially as the Clan Sire. Most Terran’s I’ve spoken to think that it’s just fun and games, getting doted on by your wives and having tons of sex. While that did happen, it wasn’t by any means the main part.

There are responsibilities and expectations that I had to fulfill, and obligations of care. And I don’t just mean brushing Raegan’s hair or giving Lila foot-rubs. Being part of a clan means you can turn to the clan for support if things go badly for you, which meant that I needed to be ready to offer that support, whether it be emotional, physical, or financial.

The girls understood and worked with me, helping me keep from stressing. But I needed advice from someone on the outside so I could make the right choices to take care of my girls. Especially considering the odd power dynamic we had going, with me being an adept and my mates being my guards.

~Desmond McLaughlin, on the founding of Clan McLaughlin.

Desmond didn’t call attention to what he’d heard from Audra. The fact that the Nagat was attracted to him was something that he had known for a while already. In fact, he’d come to terms with the idea before even inviting her to join his squad. Chloe had made sure to hammer into his head that any of the girls that he invited to his guard would likely expect to eventually join his family or his clan, and thus he needed to be aware of that fact and keep it in mind.

Instead, Desmond just focused on helping Audra wash up before they all trooped to the mess hall to eat and relax for the rest of the day.

As an adept, there wasn’t much that was expected of his squad besides the regular Rift suppressions they were deployed on or other specialist missions, so Desmond didn’t have regular duty rotations to worry about. So when they finished up the meal, the squad headed back to their rooms to relax.

While he kneaded Sasha’s shoulders and neck to help ease the muscle strain from the weight difference of her prosthetic right arm, Desmond turned over what he had heard Audra murmur.

It wasn’t the first time he’d heard the girls mention something about contributing to the clan. Each of them had their own way of pitching in besides just being Desmond’s guards, but there was always a desire to do or be more.

I really need to spend more time on this, Desmond thought as he dug his fingers into Sasha’s tight neck and extracted another contented sigh from his lover. I formed Clan McLaughlin on a whim because the girls wanted it, and we’ve been getting through so far. Audra’s been a boon for that, but having her with the squad has reminded me that there is a world outside the military. Ten years sounds like forever, but it’ll pass in no time if I’m not careful. Not to mention how useful it might be to have some political weight and protection.

Ever since he’d been promoted to full adept and received his posting, Desmond had been fielding and ignoring a storm of messages from various factions in the Hegemony that had an interest in the newest Uth’ra clan. Everything from companies wanting to recruit him to noble families of multiple species that were interested in securing the services of a skilled adept that didn’t have political protection. He’d stumbled his way through thus far, and Audra had helped some with her knowledge of politics, but Clan McLaughlin was first and foremost an Uth’ra clan, and he couldn’t help but think that he needed the help of an Uth’ra to manage it properly.

The challenge is finding one that is willing to advise me… Desmond thought before a bit of memory floated to the surface. It was just a passing thing, something that had been brought up during a conversation in the early hours of his assignment to the Fist of Defiance, but it was something at least.

Pausing in his kneading of Sasha’s neck, Desmond accessed the communication features on his comm-cuff with a quick flick. Typing with one hand on the holographic keyboard that formed, he hammered out a message before hitting Send and closing out of the program once more.

“Everything okay, Chief?” Sasha asked lazily, leaning her head back into his lap to stare up at him. The fuzzy tips of her pointed ears flicked and tickled against his bare chest while her slitted eyes lidded.

She’d asked him to give her a massage while shirtless, and since Desmond was a sucker for his girls, he’d agreed to do just that. So now they sat together in the room that Desmond and his mates used for sleeping while Desmond gave Sasha a deep massage.

“Yep. Just needed to send the captain a message,” Desmond answered her with a smile, booping the tip of her nose lightly with one fingertip.

Sasha’s nose wrinkled and she playfully nipped at his finger, but relented when he stroked her cheek gently. A faint rumble made its way from her throat and into Desmond’s side as she nuzzled into his hand, purring contentedly at his affectionate touch.

“Okay, Chief. If you need help with anything, just let me know,” Sasha murmured into his hand.

“Always,” Desmond replied, rubbing the tip of her nose lightly with one finger before stroking the backs of his fingers against her cheek. The thrumming rumble of Sasha’s purr cycled up a notch and she wriggled closer to him, rubbing her cheek into his thigh now.

The rhythm of Sasha’s purring so close to his crotch was distracting, but Desmond kept himself from reacting for the moment. Instead, he switched to kneading the front of Sasha’s chest, working the muscles at the base of her neck and the front of her chest which worked to support her full chest.

It’ll be a bit before the captain gets back to me, Desmond thought with a smile, glancing to the closed door that led out of the bedroom and into the suite where the other girls were relaxing. Might as well enjoy the moment, right?

Sasha certainly agreed, as her purrs shifted into a low moan when his hand drifted lower on her chest.

<><><>

“I appreciate you doing this, Captain,” Desmond said, snapping off a salute to the towering Uth’ra woman.

“Frankly, I’m surprised you waited this long, McLaughlin,” Bree Skytreader grunted, tapping away at the interface on the desk before making a swiping gesture towards the center of the table. “Traditionally, these kinds of lessons would take place in person and privately, but you aren’t a son of the Uth’ra clans so we adapt. It’s just a good thing you have that secured comm line so we can even make a call like this, and that you are willing to pay the fees for a direct communication like this.”

“Still, it’s a huge favor and I appreciate it.” Desmond gave Skytreader a dip of the head, the closest to a bow that he could or would do. The older Uth’ra woman snorted and rolled her glowing eyes at him before a beep on the console drew her attention back down.

“All right,” she said with a grin that showed off her mouthful of razor-sharp fangs. “The connection is established. Gregor, can you hear me?”

A deeper male voice emanated from the wall a moment later, followed by a flicker of a hologram forming in midair, crackling a few times as the secured line firmed up.

“Yes, dear. I can hear you. Boom any louder and you’ll wake the children, then I guarantee you won’t get the chance to get back to your bridge,” the speaker said as the hologram firmed up to reveal a male Uth’ra dressed in a long, flowing robe over a blue tunic.

The man stood with a large ceramic mug in one hand that steamed gently, his thick-featured face set in a gentle smile that somehow did not lose its peacefulness despite the sharp teeth and fiercely glowing orange eyes. His hair was short, maybe shoulder length, but held back out of his face with a thick brass headband that crossed his head just behind his ears. Besides displaying the Uth’ra’s form, the hologram also showed the edge of a table on his right and a thick-limbed chair just behind him.

“I would hate to co-opt the call, but would you give them my love?” Skytreader said, her eyes softening slightly and the male nodded.

“Of course, wife. I do every night, but I will make sure they get an extra share today.” 

“Good. I will leave you and Adept McLaughlin to talk,” Bree said before taking a deep breath. She gave Desmond another nod before striding past him and out the door.

“Is she on her way?” Gregor asked a moment after the door finished closing, taking a sip from his large mug.

“Yes, the door just closed,” Desmond answered, stepping around so he was centered over the markers for the hologram projector that was built into the wall of the captain’s briefing room. The room wasn’t as secure as her ready-room would have been, but Desmond didn’t feel right asking the captain to vacate her office just for this call.

“Good. Bree is a sweet woman and I love her dearly, but this isn’t something she needs to hear,” Gregor said gruffly, his glowing eyes studying Desmond thoughtfully for a long moment.

“I’m frankly surprised that you asked to speak to me alone…” Desmond prompted after a moment of silence. “It wasn’t something my guards liked to hear.”

‘Hadn’t liked’ was a very light way of putting it. All five of them had been concerned about it, but had agreed on the condition that two would be allowed to stand guard outside the room while he conversed on the private comms. And that was only after Skytreader explained that the request came from her husband specifically.

“Your guards are also your mates, correct?” Gregor asked, his gentle smile still in place while he gestured with his mug. When Desmond nodded, he continued. “Then their hearts are in the right place. They worry for you and want to protect you, but that can easily become stifling. Then that can easily feed into resentment, which will poison the relationship.”

“Understandable, I guess. I’ve never had that problem with the girls,” Desmond said with a shrug.

“Then you are a lucky one, and should endeavor to not let such a thing occur in the future. One divide in the clan can cause long-lasting damage. I say this not to discourage you, but because you asked me to advise you on what is expected of a clan male. The duties of a clan Sire go further than that,” Gregor explained gently, clasping his mug between both hands as he spoke.

The Uth’ra man exuded a calm confidence without being smug, and Desmond appreciated that. He’d had a feeling that these lessons would be odd and difficult when he’d first remembered Skytreader’s promise, but it seemed that Gregor wasn’t going to hesitate.

“I will keep it in mind. May I call you Gregor?”

“If you will permit me to address you as Desmond,” the Uth’ra man responded with a smile before gesturing towards the chair behind him. “We should have a seat. While standing does not bother me, managing my children means that I appreciate any chance to rest that I am allowed.”

“Please, go ahead. I am reaching out to you as a clan male, not as an adept or a member of the military,” Desmond responded, grabbing one of the simple chairs from the meeting table and spinning it around.”

“I must say, I was surprised to hear about the formation of your clan from Bree. Not many would consider following the Uth’ra traditions when forming a family unit, at least those not of our nation,” Gregor said while settling onto his own far more comfortable looking chair with a relieved sigh. The large man took a moment to arrange his loose robes about himself as he spoke before he looked up at Desmond.

“That would be because of my first two mates,” Desmond replied with a small smile.

Something about the easygoing man was soothing. It vaguely reminded him of Chloe’s father, Henry. The other man had been gruff but intelligent, obviously in love with his entire family, and protective over them as well. Desmond could see and feel the same from Gregor.

“They talked you into it?” Gregor asked, taking another sip from his large mug.

“They encouraged me to consider it. None of my girls are the manipulative sort. Honestly, I was just happy to have people who welcomed me. I didn’t exactly leave my homeworld on good terms.”

“I can tell that there is a story there,” Gregor rubbed at his sharp jaw with one large hand, a gesture that gave Desmond the idea that the other man had once had a beard from how his fingers moved over the bare skin. “But that is not why you asked to talk to me, right?”

“I have a lot of things on my mind that I’m having to consider, but the motivations of my mates is not one of them,” Desmond said firmly, wishing that he’d brought a drink of his own.

“No, I imagine not. You know them well if they are your guards, especially after spending most of two years with them between your training and now. Bree has told me some of the stories concerning what you’ve gotten up to. No, don’t worry that she told me something confidential,” Gregor amended with a raised hand when Desmond tensed. “My Bree wouldn’t dare endanger her crew or her career like that just to gossip. No, just what is part of your public record. The commendations that led to your early promotion and things like that.”

“That is good to know,” Desmond said, easing back into his chair and grimacing. “Sorry, I just—”

“Do not apologize, Desmond. It is right to be wary,” Gregor said, cutting him off. “Clan politics is not nearly as complex as that of the Aelfa noble families, but we still have our complications and issues. Bree backed your clan, so it is in her best interests to protect yours. Hence, well…” Gregor gestured to himself.

“I appreciate that. It’s part of what I’m needing help on,” Desmond sighed, rubbing at his eyes with one hand. “I’ve done some research, but I can’t help but think that there is more to this whole gig.”

“Oh there is,” Gregor laughed. “Part of why I asked to speak to you alone, too. My Bree has told me that you don’t have another male to confide in, which was part of why you reached out to me. But I know that we have a limited amount of time on this transmission and how much it is costing you, so I won’t let myself ramble. Ask your questions and I will answer them to the best of my ability, and if we have time afterwards then we can trade stories. I would like to hear about your mates and what sort of adventures you have gotten up to.”

Desmond snorted in amusement but nodded all the same, which brought a full-on grin to the forefront of Gregor’s face, showing off a fierce number of sharp teeth.

“The big one is simple enough,” Desmond said, pausing to gather his thoughts for a moment before he continued. “I know that clans for the Uth’ra circle around the males, and females can challenge in an attempt to join or for breeding rights. So far, we haven’t had any issues since the crew respects us, but I know that won’t stay true.”

“Ah yes, and you worry about someone unscrupulous trying to use traditions to force their way into your family?” Gregor took a long sip of his drink while Desmond nodded. “That is a fair fear, and Uth’ra clan-law would say that defeating your guardians, which in this case would be your mates as well as your guards, would earn them the right to court you. That doesn’t guarantee them entry into your clan.”

“Yeah, but what if someone specifically challenged to join the clan? What sort of obligations would be expected if they win? Raegan’s clan was… well they ran with darker elements so I don’t expect them to have kept with clan-law. And Chloe’s parents didn’t form a clan, her father was a son who left his clan to seek his fortune rather than be married off.”

“Something that is becoming more and more common,” Gregor sighed, running one hand through his thick hair thoughtfully. “The march of progress is slow but steady, and the gender ratio between males and females amongst the Uth’ra is not as bad as it once was. But again, to return to your point. Defeating your guardians would simply earn them the right to court you, and traditionally it would earn them the right to be considered by the clan-mothers. It doesn’t guarantee them mating rights or obligations to your clan. Though because of the dangers of a challenge, it is considered polite to give them a prize if they win and are not accepted. In times past, that might have been a roll in the sheets with one of the clan males, especially one who was low ranking, but that is no longer common or even accepted.”

“Okay,” Desmond said with a sigh of relief. “We’ve been putting up the front that anyone who wanted to join the clan would have to expressly challenge for it, and even then would have to deal with me at the end of the road. And I would not be happy if they injured one of my wives.”

“A fair statement and approach,” Gregor conceded with a broad smile. “Add in the fact that you are an adept and your current military posting, then that will give you a decent shield to use to avoid the explosive growth of your clan.”

“That was another thing I wanted to ask about,” Desmond said, waving his hand through the air and making his comm-cuff shimmer. “What is expected of people when they join a clan? I’ve been treating it like it’s my direct family, but my homeworld has clans that are all just people who share the same name. Some are only distantly related, like dozens of generations and there is nothing beyond that distant family connections.”

“For some clans, it is like that. Especially well-established ones. But for smaller clans like ours? There is more.” Gregor paused, rubbing his chin again like he was stroking a beard for a moment before realizing what he was doing and stopping with a grimace. “For now, keeping it to the mindset that they are your close family is good. With only one male in the clan, it would be expected that anyone who joins the clan will have breeding rights with you. Until you can convince another male to join, that is.”

“How many males are in the Skytreader clan?” Desmond asked thoughtfully, “and do they all share their wives?”

“I can tell how unhappy you are with that idea just from the look in your eyes,” Gregor laughed. “No, mates are not shared between the males. Each one manages a branch of the family that spreads from them. The clan Sire is in charge of the males and sits with the clan mothers to make decisions, in that he is the voice of the males of the clan and their representative. And to answer your first question, there are twelve males in the Skytreader clan, though four of them are young sons that are not of age to take mates yet.”

“What does being in the clan mean for Uth’ra? I mentioned that before…” Desmond asked, letting his sentence trail off. Gregor nodded quickly, grimacing again.

“Ah yes, I had forgotten about that. So, obligations to your clan and what a member can expect are both simple and complicated. To the Uth’ra, your clan is both your family and your haven. When everything goes wrong, your clan should be the last thing to turn against you. That doesn’t mean the clan will fight the world for you, but they are your staunchest allies and support. A clan member can expect to receive shelter and support in times of need from their clan, but are also obligated to support the clan in turn.”

“How would they support the clan? And to what extent does the clan support them back?” Desmond asked, leaning forward. This was the real meat of what he’d been hoping to hear, so he listened closely.

“To what extent a clan supports them is up to each clan’s means. The bare minimum is shelter and food, as that was the tradition back on our birth-world. Clans were what maintained the shelters that protected us from the weight of the suns and their burning gaze. As to the way the members returned the favor? Each member was expected to follow clan rules for behavior and donate a portion of their income to help fund the clan’s coffers.”

Gregor paused, glancing over his shoulder at something that was out of sight from the holographic pickup.

“Everything okay?”

“I just thought I’d heard a door open was all. The children are outside playing right now, and I just wanted to be sure one hadn’t snuck back in while we were talking,” Gregor replied a moment later, settling back into his chair. “Now… where was I? Oh, the contribution. You are doing the right thing in growing it slowly, far too many clans end up bankrupt because they don’t think about things like this. For now, each of your girls would be expected to contribute in meaningful ways while your clan finds its feet…”