Ilian let out another pained breath. He then gave up on trying to pretend he was still concentrating on his notes. With a look back at Adan and a sigh, he spoke, “after I saw that search you did about the medications, I did another search.”

“What?” Adan narrowed his eyes, thrown by the statement.

“To determine if there was a better way to help with the... situation” Ilian settled on.

“Situation?”

Ilian let out another breath, “there are, or were, a lot of different ways your people tried to keep from having unwanted children. And all of them are a lot better choice than what we’re dealing with right now.”

Adan scoffed, “you mean using birth control is a better choice than just waiting for Aura to have any more miscarriages? Thanks, I already knew that” he stated sarcastically. “But as you can see,” he gestured around them, “we don’t really have those options here, do we?”

“I could likely at least find some of the pills, or condoms or other things like that if I searched what’s left of any nearby towns” Ilian offered, though his hesitation was clear.

“What the hell are you talking about, Ilian? If that was an option, then we would have already done it.”

“You two can’t go out there with those blue mushrooms everywhere still. But they’re not toxic to me. I can still go into the nearest town and search for whatever we can use to keep this from happening again” Ilian continued.

“Are you insane? You can’t go out there either. If any of your people see you...” Adan just shook his head. “And you said you were protecting this place. If you leave, you can’t do that anymore, can you?”

Ilian let out another sigh, “that is true. But you still have the black seeds. If they find you before I return...”

“If you return” Adan cut in pointedly.

“Then you can use those” Ilian finished. “But I’ll try to get back before anything like that happens.”

“Ilian, you can’t go out there!” Adan refuted more loudly.

“If this next resistance test works out, I’d have to go out there anyway, Adan. And I think we both know how important this is. We can’t survive with this fear surrounding us. And Aura definitely can’t. We have to fix this” Ilian stated firmly, though there was a sadness to his voice.

Adan just shook his head with disbelief, “and how well do you think she’ll survive if you get yourself killed just to try and find her some kind of birth control? How do you see that working out? Really, Ilian?”

“Fine, I’ll wait til after the resistance test, leave a few black seeds behind here, just in case. Then, when I go out there, it’ll be to deal with the rest of the mushrooms and dark seeds. Then, I’ll just make an extra trip to find the other things. That way, if something does happen, she won’t think it was all because of her” Ilian offered some sort of middle ground.

“And you’re assuming that you are resistant to the dark strain now?” Adan pressed.

“More like hoping than assuming. I do still have to test it, after all.”

“And if you’re not? You still planning on going out there and raiding drug stores and clinics anyway?” Adan continued.

“Let’s just see what happens with the test” was the only answer Ilian gave then.

Another stress-filled night passed before Ilian did undertake that second test of his resistance. And it had improved. It still was not full immunity though. He doubted it ever truly would be. However, he was now able to withstand exposure to the seeds for three to four hours, and that was a definite sign of progress. And all other current problems considered, Ilian decided that it was enough.

He began making his plans to go back outside and begin contaminating their planet for his own people. It would still take quite a while, months at least, if not longer. And it would still be highly dangerous. But waiting even longer to put the plan into action, not to mention, to take care of the other issue at hand; he felt that was not a good option either.

“Are we really letting him do this?” Aura asked Adan furtively. Ilian was going about gathering the things he would need, such as a large portion of the seeds, weapons, and a hazmat suit. The latter was just in case he found himself stranded outside when his temporary resistance started to wain, possibly causing him to have a need for a bit more time to get back to the bunker.

“I’m not sure ‘letting’ would be accurate” Adan mumbled, as both of them warily watched Ilian moving about making his preparations.

“But DNA works both ways. We’re probably just as immune to the blue stuff now as he is to the black stuff. Shouldn’t we go with him?”

“I’ll draw less attention alone” Ilian interjected as he passed by them again. “And you’re not immune to my people’s weapons” he reminded pointedly before leaving the main room where the two teens were clasping each other’s hands as they sat upon the sofa.

“I doubt he’s immune to them either” Aura mumbled. “I mean, is that really supposed to make us feel better?” Aura asked Adan as Ilian moved out of the room again.

“Well, he’s got that camouflage thing. And he is the one who can’t even get a needle to pierce his skin. Chances are he would stand a better chance out there than either of us, Aura” Adan attempted to assure her, though he shared plenty of her worries as well.

“The camouflage that’s no longer going to be protecting this place?” she scoffed. “And, we don’t even know whether he still even is ‘impervious’ or whatever. Maybe our DNA has made him weaker. What if--” Adan cut off her fears as he then leaned over to kiss her. Once the kiss ended, she just gave him a scolding glance. “Why does every man I know think that kissing me will make me forget how truly fucked up everything else is?”

“It helps a little though, doesn’t it?” Adan asked with an attempt at a charming smile. Aura just shook her head back at him. “OK, how’s this?” he continued, “chances are that his people probably aren’t even looking for survivors out there anymore. It’s been a couple months now, and the whole point of the plants was to kill us all off without having to do any more of the dirty work themselves. That could make it at least somewhat safe out there now, right?”

“I still don’t like it” Aura mumbled through the pout on her lips.

Adan let out a sigh and put his arm around her shoulders, “neither do I, really.”

When the time changed from pm to am that night, Ilian was still sitting atop his bed, mentally going over his plan for the next day. He would not only be starting the contamination process of the planet, but he would also need to make his way to the nearest town, assuming any were still left, and trying to find any of the various forms of birth control that may still be attainable. And he would have to do it all in less than four hours.

That was the longest he could remain outside once he introduced the dark strain into the environment. And even that long could be difficult. Especially if any of his kind were actually still keeping an eye out for any survivors.

It was true that Ilian now looked human, but it wasn’t as though humans were safe out there either. So if his kind were still conducting any sort of surveillance, he would have to fully depend on his mental camouflage to work as it did before, despite the human DNA now coursing through his body.

His thoughts were soon interrupted though as the door to the bedroom opened. Both Adan and Aura stepped inside. Each attempted a smile as their eyes moved over where Ilian sat atop the bed, clad in a simple pair of black boxers.

“Are you here to try again to convince me not to go out there tomorrow?” he greeted them quietly.

“Would that even work?” Aura asked with a frown as she and Adan took a few measured steps toward the bed.

“Do you have to ask?” Ilian replied, dark eyes down.

“We’re actually here” Adan interjected, “because we don’t want you to be alone tonight.” He then looked over at Aura for a brief moment. “Nor do we want to be alone tonight either” he added as he gently squeezed her hand.

“You might die tomorrow” Aura said sadly as she and Adan moved to take seats on either side of Ilian. “We could die tomorrow” she added pointedly. “So, yeah, I doubt any of us will be getting any real sleep.”

Ilian looked between them before responding, “so, if you’re not just here to spend the entire night trying to talk me out of it, then--”

“Was thinking we wouldn’t really be doing much talking at all” Adan stated wryly as he moved to reposition himself in a seat against the headboard next to Ilian. “I mean, this could honestly be the last night the three of us even have together, if things go terribly wrong somehow.”

“That’s uplifting” Ilian returned sadly, his way of speaking having now been quite highly influenced by his human companions, up to and including the concept of sarcasm.

“Give it a minute” Adan purred against Ilian’s ear. As he spoke, his hand found his way to the front of Ilian’s boxers, gently gliding his fingers over the thin black material as his lips grazed the other man’s neck.

Ilian cast a cautious look at Aura then. She simply smiled back and also moved to take a seat closer to him. She then gently placed a hand upon his chest as her lips began sprinkling kisses over the other side of his neck.

Allowing himself to enjoy their touch for another moment, Ilian found his voice again. “I realize that I’m pretty new at this lovemaking stuff. Not to mention even being in a human body at all. But how exactly would this work? I mean, all three of us... together?”

Adan smirked against Ilian’s neck, and even Aura’s lips seemed to curl into a smile then as well. Though Adan couldn’t help his teasing tone, “oh sweet summer child.” On that statement, he and Aura both chuckled slightly as Ilian just looked rather confused by the reference. Though his confusion was minor compared to his arousal at their attentions right then.

“See, he can’t die tomorrow” Aura spoke to Adan as he began removing his t-shirt in preparation for the night the two teens seemed to have planned. “We have so much to teach him still” she added with another smirk.

It was true that there were reservations about the intimacy levels between them, especially now. But at the same time, they were truly afraid that this would be their last night with Ilian. And neither of them could let the night pass without she and Adan both being able to properly say goodbye; twisted as that goodbye may have looked to an outsider. Though outsiders were hardly an issue in their lives anymore. After all, the three of them were all each other even had in this world now.