“Hmm,” I say, feigning noncommittal energy.
Inside, I am delighted. Beyond delighted, really joyful, and I wonder at the sensation, it’s unlike anything I’ve ever felt before. If her simply speaking to me conversationally causes such joy, I can’t imagine what it would truly be like to have her choose me. Fully choose me as her partner, and not just for this ridiculous so-called reality show we have landed on together.
“They should call it an unreality show,” I tell her as I season the meat. The delicious aroma of charred meat and peppers fills the air, and as the sun sets behind us, more than one pair of glowing eyes blink into existence, watching us from the boughs of trees far overhead.
“In what way is anything that we are doing right now based in reality?” I continue conversationally, despite the fact that she is once again ignoring me.
I glance over at where her head was buried in her arms on the table, but my female is no longer sitting there. My heartbeat speeds up. Surely Ken No Privates hasn’t already begun another trial. No, I think to myself as I whip around, searching for where my little female could have gone to. The idiot AI prefers dramatics and monologues before he sets us upon one of his so-called trials for viewership and ratings.
I lose a relieved breath as I catch sight of Lily’s short black hair glinting in the firelight of the grill. She’s next to the huge bird, its eye unblinking as it tilts down towards her. She is safe despite her choice to pet the giant creature, speaking to it softly which responds with a warbling, sort of pleased coo before sinking back into the ground under Lily’s soft touch.
She’s never touched me like that or spoken to me in such soft, kind words, and the hint of jealousy spikes through my veins. She can so easily turn her affections to this bird, which would have made a meal of her just as easily as we made a meal of its friend, yet I get her ire.
“I think we should keep her,” Lily says in a sing-song, besotted voice the likes of which you might address a small child. It’s sweet, a sort of sweetness from her that I am so unaccustomed to that it’s all I can do to blink, my tail swishing behind me in surprise.
“Oh.” It’s the only thing I can manage.
Fat pops on the fire, and I turn my attention back to the meat and vegetables in order to assuage my female’s hunger.
“Yeah, I think we should keep her,” Lily repeats. “You know, as like, oh, my ankle is hurting, and maybe I can tame her enough so I can ride her. Like an overgrown horse withfeathers.” She turns to me. “Do you have horses where you’re from?”
My jealousy fades to pure delight, it’s one of the few questions she’s asked me about my home.
“I do not have horses,” I tell her. “I do not know what a horse is, but if it is important to you, I am sure that I can procure one.”
Perhaps a horse is what they use to ride the skies on her planet. I do not know much about humans. I certainly was not interested in them before I met Lily.
I carefully flip the meat on the grill, considering what a horse may or may not be, while Lily softly laughs behind me.
“Is it ready?” she asks. “It smells ready.”
I turn to her. “Almost.”
She pulls out several platters from the tote nearest the table and motions for me to fill them up.
“Thank you,” I tell her earnestly, then try to smile. My fangs show, biting into my lower lip just slightly, a sign of just how little restraint I have left when it comes to this female.
“Was there barbecue sauce?” she asks. Maybe it’s my imagination or just wishful thinking, but there seems to be the slightest hint of a smile around her lips too.
“I do not know what this barr-be-cute sauce is,” I say, doing my best to echo the sounds of the words she so charmingly made. “If it is something I need to mix together for you, I would be more than happy to.”
“No, no,” she says, waving her hand at me, then sets the platter of meats down. “I know I saw it somewhere in here next to the spices that are—oh.”
I follow her gaze to where the bottles and jars line the side of the grill where I left them.
“It’s right there, I think.”
“Your barr-be-cute sauce?” I ask, flummoxed. “Why is it a cute sauce?” It must be very small. It cannot have much tasteto it, either, for her to call it cute. I cannot think of a reason why you would have a small, tasteless sauce to go along with your already cooked meat, but if this is a human tradition, I’m interested in it, especially if it is one that she enjoys.
“No, it’s like a savory, sweet, sometimes spicy sauce that goes on meat. I’m so hungry I could eat this without it, but it sounds even better with some sauce on it, especially on the ones with the skin.”
She holds up a large piece of meat that still has the bone in it, with a perfectly crispy outer skin layer. She swallows hard, licking her lips, and for a strange moment, I’m very jealous of the meat.
“Do you often eat cock?” I ask her.
“What?” She gives me a strange look.
I point to the meat as I grab the different sauce jars, eager to try them. “Cock. You were very excited for this cock. Is it something of a delicacy on your home planet?”
