“Close. It’s Q-Y-L-A-R.”
“Shit.First I fuck up his entire name and now I don’t know how to spell it,” Kenji said. “I should’ve asked.”
“How did you fuck up his entire name?”
Kenji sighed. “We met at a bar. It was a little loud. I thought I heard him say Skylar and then called him that later. I wassoembarrassed.”
“An easy enough mistake to make,” Alex said. “I doubt he was bothered.”
“He wasn’t, but I was so nervous. There’s this really fucking hot, super chill guy who seemed into me, and I couldn’t figure out why. I was so jumpy that I rambled on and sounded like an idiot. The name mix-up felt like the final sign that I was over my head, and I tried to leave his truck.”
“Good thing he stopped you, hmm?”
“Oh, so you knew about that?”
“Yeah. After you disappeared the second time, he came over and told us the whole story. I’ve never seen him that distraught aboutanything.”Alex sighed.
“He was distraught?”
“He was… and I was really worried about him, especially given that we were leaving a few days later. We tried to delay our departure, but he refused—and I’ve been anxiously awaiting news since.” Alex squeezed his arm. “I’m glad you two have found one another again.”
Kenji smiled.
“You twohavefound one another again, haven’t you?”
“Is this the ‘what are your intentions with my friend’conversation?” Kenji asked.
“More a temperature check. I don’t want to make assumptions.”
“Well, I moved into the upstairs bedroom of his townhouse before we left for Nefyria, so maybe that clarifies things a bit?”
“The upstairs bedroom—but not his?”
“He offered to let me stay because I live in a shitty neighborhood and have an asshole roommate. I refused at first, because this is way too new, but he convinced me by offering me my own space to get away from him if he was too much.”
“Ah, so tentatively considering moving forward. That’s something, I suppose,” Alex said.
Kenji chuckled. “I may have also suggested he move up there with me… and leave the basement bedroom for when he pisses me off and I need to get away from him.”
Alex’s smile widened. “Sonotso tentatively considering.”
They walked in silence a few paces, and Kenji took in the sights—and the looks.
“Does the staring ever stop? It’s sort of creeping me out.”
Alex smiled softly at him. “It gets better, but I still get some. It comes with the territory being the first known and acknowledged child of two planets.”
“I thought Qylar mentioned you had siblings who were also part human?”
“Yes, but they look fully Nefyrian and were raised here, no one but our father knowing who their mother was. My siblings know the culture and blend in—and don’t seem to get the same reactions I seem to, even with everyone now knowing their origin. In most people’s minds, you’ll likely be considered the second hybrid, even though you’re technically the fifth.”
“Great,” Kenji murmured. He eyed the people around them, less their faces and more their clothing. “Does no one wear anything but blue?”
“Blue dyes are made from a mineral found in their oceans—and there’s a rarer salt ore, too, that makes green and black. Runoff from fabric mills using those dyes don’t pollute their rivers and oceans like other colors they’ve attempted to make, so I’m told. They’re very strict about keeping their waters pure here.”
“Is that adding to the stares? The fact I’m wearing a bright red shirt?”
“It could be,” Alex said. “It does make you stand out as an outsider—in a protected residential neighborhood.”
