“I don’t know,” Levi stammered.
I tilted my head, examining him closer. “Are you a mature organism?”
He exhaled through his nostrils. “Yes, I’m an adult.”
“Do you not enjoy intercourse?” I asked, still confused.
“Yes, I do,” he grumbled.
“Then what is the problem?”
Levi bit his lip, gazing off to the side. “I... I don’t know. Maybe there isn’t one.” He swallowed and tucked a fluffy strand of fur behind his ear. “I’m not used to getting hit on.”
“I am not hitting you,” I pointed out.
“Nothittingme,” Levi corrected. “Hittingonme. It means flirting, or courting.”
I moved my head up and down. “Ah. A courtship ritual.”
It struck me as odd that no creature had courted Levi in the past. But that was no matter. In the end, he was my filum.
Overcome with fondness for Levi, I rubbed my tentacles across his face. My feelers floated off my neck, also wanting to join in. Every part of my body wanted to be in contact with him, like a shaded plant reaching for the sun.
“Er, Zat’tor?” Levi asked, sounding slightly breathless. “What are you doing?”
“I need to touch you,” I replied.
His mouth opened in shock. “Youneedto?”
“Yes.”
Levi’s lip quivered as my tentacles roamed his head, tracing the line of his jaw, snaking over the planes of his cheekbones, threading through his fluffy yellow fur.
“H-hey, stop that,” Levi said halfheartedly. He made no attempt to move, or leave my grip. In fact, he seemed to enjoy it.
“Why?” I asked simply.
For a moment, Levi had no answer. He claimed to want the opposite of his real wishes. Even an eyeless flower could see Levi liked being touched this way.
“We’re supposed to be cleaning up the collision site, remember?” Levi asked.
The weight of responsibility dampened my urge for touch. My feelers stopped wriggling, and I removed my tentacles from him.
“You are correct,” I admitted. “I apologize for distracting you.”
Levi smiled, releasing a small laugh. “No, Zat’tor, it’s okay. Don’t worry about it.” He kneeled and turned his attention to the crushed flowers. “Let’s just deal with fixing my mistake first.”
“Yes,” I agreed.
Levi gave the flowers a sympathetic look. He tried to lift their broken stalks, but it was too late. They crumpled as soon as he removed his support. Levi seemed saddened.
“Sorry, little guys,” he murmured. Facing me, he asked, “What can I do?”
“It is all right,” I told him. “Now that this ship has been removed, the dead flowers will decompose on their own and turn into fertilizer.”
“So, I can’t do anything?”
I gave him a warm look. “It is enough that you care. Thank you, Levi.”
