Page 2 of Who Did This To You?

Yellow hair cascaded down around its face like petals, and its shape rolled with curves that squished into each other, including chest mounds that resembled those of a pregnant female of my species. I knew better than to assume that it was female, or carrying young for that matter, as I had no knowledge of this species beyond what was provided in the language files and rules and regulations regarding interacting with them. I expected some time to adjust to the strangeness of meeting other species, but I didn't expect this.

My heart thudded in my chest, and I felt a flush rush through me. This feeling was a pale shadow of what I felt when I was still Zandaor-Oame, entering into my adulthood and still looking for my first niche, wondering if I would find it in the arms of a mate and a family to raise. Those fluttering feelings were the light touches of crushes, and they fled before the excitement of my niche-finding.

This feeling was much stronger, and it wasn't appropriate at all for this moment.

The alien wasn't just gorgeous; it was devastatingly attractive.

"You are Zandaor Exlith-Orvanis-Orkith, correct?" the alien asked, and I realized I'd been staring at it in awe without speaking for far too long. It didn't wait for me to respond this time. "I am Róisín Ó Gallchobhair, but you can call me Róisín, and I'm here to give you a tour of the ship."

Its tone was so soft and delightful.

I needed to speak.

"Are you female?" I asked.

A wave of dismay hit me. That was the first thing I said to this incredible creature?

"Yes, I am, and my pronouns are she/her," she said, widening her lips even further into a broad smile.

I let out a silent prayer for Oame to take over, to steer me so I got through this without making an absolute fool of myself. I felt like a flustered youth with no experience with charm or connection.

I cleared my throat and strode down the ramp, coming to an abrupt stop in front of the small female. Her nostrils flared, and she sniffed the air.

"Would you like to see your quarters first?" she said, her tone tighter than before. "I'm under the impression you've been on that small ship for some time. There are hygiene facilities in your quarters as well as a social bathing and soaking room."

Oame guide me, she was offering to bathe with me? I might feel more rattled than I had in years at the sight of such a beguiling creature, but that didn't mean I would run away. When Oame offered, it was important to say yes, and then more in kind would come.

I needed to let her know I was feeling intense around her, though. I had provided a full language database to the Captain to integrate with their translators, so hopefully that would carry over the full meaning of my cultural idioms as well. One couldn't always be sure about alien translators; they could easily get things wrong. Part of my time here on this ship would be well spent ensuring that our translators' understanding was accurate for idioms as well, so that when our official Ambassadors got here they were well equipped for nuanced conversations.

"Let us be Oame and bathe together," I said. "It will ease my discomfort with you."

Her skin turned a soft pink color. I wanted to place my hand on her cheek and see the contrast of such a color against my green skin, but one did not touch others without permission.

"Together?" she said, her tone higher-pitched. She let out a soft, rapid, chiming laugh that had a staccato element to it. "We can do that. In the public bathing room, of course, not in your room."

"Lead the way," I said, not trusting myself to say anything else.

TWO

RÓISÍN

Zandaor Exlith-Orvanis-Orkith stank.

I led him through the ship, choosing a route to the nearest sauna, picking a path that would avoid the common rooms, especially where people were eating. I wanted to do this job well. I'd gotten a free ride on this cruise in exchange for having crew shifts. I thought I'd be cleaning toilets or something like that based on the work-trade job description. Instead, my assignments had been laughably easy, mainly checking in on my fellow humans to make sure they were comfortable. The weirdest one was that I had to go check on some guy who decided to mate with a Chyrrith male. The Chyrrith wasn't there, as they wanted to make sure he could speak without him in the room, and I was given a knife so I could cut the guy free on the chance that he didn't actually want to be tied up.

He didn't want me to cut him free.

This assignment was exciting. Playing tour guide to a hot alien scout who had found our solar system, learning as much as I could about him so I could report about it - it was the kind of thing I always wanted to do.

"How did you become a diplomat?" Zandaor asked.

My second giggle took me by just as much surprise as the first one I had let loose when he first assumed I was offering to wash with him. I cleared my throat, trying to pull it back together so I stopped acting like a fool in front of this gorgeous piece of alien eye candy who wanted to hang out in a hot tub with me.

"I'm just your tour guide," I said. "I'm not a diplomat. I mean, I always wanted to be one, but that isn't how my life went."

"How did your life go?" Zandaor asked.

"I had a bad fall in college, and I was in the hospital for a while and ended up failing my term," I said. "I mean, the college wasn't cruel about it, and I didn't have medical debt as they do in some countries, but the student housing didn't have elevators, so I couldn't use my room on campus while I was recovering and had to move in with a boyfriend. But then he wanted me to cover the rent, so I had to up my hours, and then I couldn't manage the workload, so I had to give up on something, and it just all cascaded from there, and twenty so years later this is where I am. I couldn't even afford the discounted ticket to come on this trip. I got in because of their work trade program. I'd need a real education to be considered a diplomat."