Page 24 of Tempting Fate

“For?”

His gaze tracked up to the sky. “For the way I spoke to you the other day. It was… not acceptable, and… I will not do it again.” Concern laced his words, as if it was so very important.

Which, to be fair, it was. “Good. I do not appreciate being spoken to like I am less than.” I took a slow breath. The day was too peaceful for anything more.

His ear ridges flushed a bright magenta, and he hung his head. “I… You have my deepest apologies.”

“Accepted.” I fixed him with a glare. “But you better not do it again.”

“I won’t.” A shiver ruffled through his headspines, disturbing his lizard, who took off with a buzz and flew to a nearby bush laden with flowers.

A few beats of quiet passed, broken only with the cry of a bird overhead and the quiet hum of a video playing on Fenn’s comm.

Airida rolled to sitting. “I… I wish to ask something of you.”

I raised a brow.

“I am not good with talking to others. Please can you help me?”

“With talking?”

“With people. I… do not know how to be around people. And you are so good at it.”

I broke into a laugh, and once it started, I couldn’t stop, no matter how much I wanted to. “I’m sorry,” I choked out, “Not laughing at you.” My face burned, and I was glad my blush wouldn’t show.

When I finally stopped my awkward laughing fit, I sat up and took his hands in mine. “I’m so sorry. Sometimes I can’t help but laugh inappropriately.”

“Did I say something amusing? This is why I need help.”

His hands were warm and strong, his touch firm, and I squeezed tighter. “No, it was a perfectly reasonable request, but very ironic. Of all people, I am not one who is naturally good at being around people or talking to them.”

“But I have seen you. You’re so confident and know what to say.”

“I have to work at it. I’ve had a lot of practice. Is it the culture shock?”

He rolled his head in a very kri’ith shrug. “I’ve only ever interacted with very few people. Never groups.” His fingers tensed around mine. “I always felt like an outcast back home, but I never felt like someone from another world. Unlike here.”

I watched the sway of the hypra blooms as I spoke, my chest tight with understanding. “I’ve spent my life feeling like I didn’t belong, not quite knowing how to be human.”

“I understood you have been amongst humans all your life until recently?”

“Yes. And I still felt like an alien, even before I knew they existed.” Despite most people understanding different neurotypes now, unlike even a couple of centuries ago, it didn’t automatically integrate us with each other. “I don’t understand some people, the way they talk, the way they expect us to understand what they mean, the way they magically get their too-subtle social cues. And they don’t understand that I mean what I say, that there’s usually no hidden meaning.”

“Humans sound complicated.”

“I guess all people are. Just look at the difference between kri’ith from Orith and those from Orkri. And then shaa’ith.”

His jaw hardened. “It’s too much sometimes.”

“I know. I can only imagine how different all this is for you.” I was still holding his hands, and I eased away; his fingertips curled over mine as they separated. Maybe Shohari was right. There was no way I could tell him about the bounty on his head, not with him this flustered. Poor guy would have a meltdown.

“So will you help me?”

“As I said, I might not be the best person for it.”

“On the contrary. You say it did not come naturally to you, and yet you have learned it. Therefore you are the perfect person to assist me.”

Well, when he put it like that. “Okay, but I’m not sure how much help I can be. We’re moving back to town.”