Levi glanced at me, green eyes widening in surprise. “What for?”
“This object. It is important to you.”
Emotion wavered in Levi’s gaze. “Thank you, Zat’tor. I mean, it’s notthatimportant.” He flashed a half smile, trying to console me. “The important thing wasn’t the ship itself, but what it represented.” He sighed. “Which has now gone up in smoke...”
“What did it represent?” I asked.
Levi shut his eyes and blew out a breath as if the memory stressed him. “This was my first mission as captain. It was supposed to be easy. I’d lead my crew to the right planet and sign a peace treaty, then head back home. Easy.” He ran a hand back through his yellow fur tuft. “That didn’t happen. I messed everything up. All because of that stupid blinking light...” He frowned, shaking his head. “No, it wasn’t the light. It was me. Because I was too proud to ask for help, I got my crew into this mess.”
I didn’t understand all of what he said, but that last statement got my attention.
“Do you think being on Eukaria is a bad thing?” I asked.
Levi turned to face me. “Well, if I’d done a better job of being captain, we wouldn’t be here.”
I didn’t like these words. My tentacles responded to my feelings automatically. They curled around Levi’s midsection, pulling him closer to me. The bright pink color returned to his cheeks.
“H-hey, what is it?” he stammered.
“You are a fine captain,” I insisted. “Whatever that is.”
“But I—”
One of my tentacles pressed against his lips, preventing him from speaking.
“No more,” I ordered. “Unless you wish to praise yourself, be silent.”
Levi made a face, then pulled my tentacle free from his mouth. “Okay, okay, fine. Besides, it’s not like I don’t enjoy being here. With you.”
My feelers rose into the air, buoyed with happiness. “Truly?”
“Yes,” Levi mumbled, his cheeks almost red now. “What are those things, anyway? More tentacles?”
“No, these are my feelers,” I explained. A few of them floated closer to Levi of their own free will.
He squirmed away from them as if they were offensive. “What does that mean?”
I didn’t know how to explain. Feelers were so integral to Maeleons that it was difficult to put into words, much less to a human who apparently lacked them.
“I cannot say. Instead, I will show you. But at a later time. We must clean up first.”
“Right. Can’t keep getting distracted.” Levi put his hands on his hips and examined the crash site. “Um... Now is probably a good time to mention that humans are physically weak.”
“I can see that,” I remarked.
Levi raised one brow. “Are you making fun of me?”
“No. You are simply very small.”
He crossed his arms. “I’m an average male height,” he grumbled. He put his hands on the base of the ship and pushed hard. He grunted before giving up. “Dammit. Can you do any better, Zat’tor?”
As I approached the ship, I asked, “What isdammit?”
Levi rubbed his head. “Believe me, we don’t have time to go into the history of that word right now. Just think of it as a swear word.”
“What is a swear word?”
“Maeleons don’t swear? Like, using words in a negative way?” Levi countered, looking as baffled as I felt. “You don’t sayfuck,orshit?”
