A hot surge of uncharacteristic fury seized my muscles. My spine and feelers went rigid, and my claws clenched into fists.
“No,” I growled. “I will do it.”
Jaeyoung blinked, then snuck out his notepad to jot something down. His next words were more confident. “All right. Then let’s shake on it.”
He met my gaze and outstretched his hand. My random flash of fury dissipated.
“Ah! This is one of the fabled human handshakes, yes? Zat’tor taught me about this ritual.”
I captured Jaeyoung’s hand in mine. His flesh was soft and pale compared to my dark green scales. It always shocked me how fragile humans were, like newly hatched grubs. It sparked a powerful sense of protectiveness within me. I couldn’t let any harm come to this helpless, breakable, wonderful creature.
And I wouldn’t let anyone else have intercourse with him, either.
The jarring thought caught me by surprise. I wasn’t a selfish Maeleon by any means. The desire to keep Jaeyoung all to myself was... unusual. But decidedly firm. For whatever reason, I would not budge on this stance.
“Linn’ar?” Jaeyoung asked. “I don’t know if Zat’tor explained this, but handshakes are generally finished by now.”
“Oh. I see.”
I withdrew my hand. I was pleased to see that Jaeyoung wasn’t annoyed by my lack of human decorum. He looked energized and hopeful, ready to delve into science.
“I’ll need to discuss scheduling with Fhi’ran,” he said to himself. “If he needs my help during the day, we should beginthe experiment in the evening. But if it runs long and keeps me up late, I won’t have my full faculties for work the following day.”
“You currently have spare time,” I pointed out. “Why don’t we begin now?”
Jaeyoung shot me a surprised glance like he didn’t consider that. “Yes, that’s true.” He shifted his weight on his feet. “To be honest, Linn’ar, I need some time to prepare myself.”
“I thought you were eager to begin the experiment.”
“I am,” he stated.
The spike of enthusiasm in his voice confirmed it, so why did he hesitate?
I remembered the night of the feast and how the affected humans behaved erratically. Apparently, their kind had odd reservations about intercourse. If I were having this conversation with a fellow Maeleon, we would’ve been deep inside each other already.
But I did not want that. Not at all. I only wanted Jaeyoung. And if he wished to delay our experiment, then I respected that.
“All right,” I said, dipping my head. “Then I will wait for you outside. Please come find me when you’re ready.”
Jaeyoung’s eyes rounded curiously as he watched me leave the den. As I stepped out into the sun, I sat down and took a moment to breathe. The sweet air and warm rays filled me with fresh energy. Despite the delay, I couldn’t be happier. Oh, how I longed to spend time with this human...
My feelers tingled, alerting me to someone’s presence.
Jaeyoung stood behind me. He wrote on his notepad, then put it away with a knowing smile. “Thank you for that valuable information. I wanted to confirm that Maeleons practice consent, and you passed with flying colors.”
I didn’t know what flying colors were, but I assumed they were a good thing.
“Meet me back here at sunset,” Jaeyoung said.
Understanding struck me. “Oh!Thoseare the flying colors. I get it now.”
He blinked, then exhaled a small laugh that seemed unexpected even to him. “Sure, Linn’ar. See you soon.”
3 /Jaeyoung
The jarring knockat my door came too early to be Linn’ar arriving for our experiment. I shoved a brief flicker of disappointment aside and called out, “Who is it?”
“Levi. Can I come in?”
