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I found it sad that being lied to was part of Bo’s understanding of humans. “No,” I said, shaking my head. I flattened my hand on my chest. “Truth.”

“Truth,” Jayesh repeated, hitting his fisted hand on one of his palms.

I repeated Jayesh’s action with my own hands. “Truth,” I said again.

Bo glanced down at the tiger cat and I followed his gaze. “More for Bo,” I said, waving at the tiger cat.

Jayesh grunted and rolled the fingers of one hand across his palm. Then he repeated the action, counting to four. Bo tilted his head and stared at Jayesh. I could tell the troll still wasn’t convinced.

I touched my chest. “Aran,” I said. Then I gently touched his chest. “Bo.”

I looked over at Jayesh. “How do I show a troll that I want to be his friend?”

Jayesh crossed the two fingers on his right hand. I turned to Bo, held up my right hand, and crossed my fingers. “Bo. Aran.Friends.” I uncrossed my fingers and waved them between our chests.

“Freens?”

“Sure.Freens,” I repeated, using his version of the word.

Jayesh smiled at me. “He and I practiced a few words I thought you might use. That’s as close as he can get to saying friends.”

“It’s close enough for me,” I said, smiling at Bo as I waved at the tiger cat cage. “Take it to yer future mate. Bring back the cage and we’ll give ya another tiger cat.”

“More?” Bo asked, directing the question to Jayesh instead of me. When Jayesh nodded, Bo turned back to me. “Bo—Aran—freens.”

I nodded and smiled again. “Yes,” I said and then turned to Ezra. “Is this enough proof for ya?”

Ezra shrugged. “If he returns to get the next one, maybe I’ll be convinced.”

Unworried, I turned to wave at the cage. “Gift for yer mate.”

“Gift. For.Mate,” Bo said hoarsely, pronouncing each word to prove he understood.

But the look in his eyes spoke volumes about his lack of trust. He was wise to question our sincerity. I didn’t blame him for doubting.

“Bring cage back for more.”

Surprising us all, Bo nodded. “Freens,” he said, favoring me with a smile.

“Yes. We’re friends,” I said, imitating his nod, and adding a smile. Then I made a shooing motion with both hands. “Go to mate,” I said. “Go.”

He looked to Jayesh again for confirmation. When Jayesh nodded, Bo bent and lifted the cage.

“Freens,” he said, hitting his chest hard with his massive fist before giving my chest a gentler tap.

I stumbled back a bit at the force of even that minor hit, which made Bo chuckle at me.

“Small.Freen,” Bo carefully pronounced, laughing as he walked off with the cage.

I grinned at Ezra. “Ya need to get the word out that Bo is our official tiger cat disposal service. When he returns, give him the second cat.”

“If they call me, I will witness it,” Jayesh said with a grin.

Ezra rubbed his jaw. “I’m not as sure as ya are that he’ll bother returning.”

“No, ya never were much of an optimist. Trust me, Ezra. Bo will be back. He and I are friends now.”

“Don’t ya meanfreens?”