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I roll my eyes, then hiss out in pain, clutching at my face and blinking hard.

Kroaicho's glow shifts to white—amusement. "Did I not say that it wasn’t natural to roll your eyes about?"

I feel my skin heat up, the glow from my own body deepening to a dark purple—annoyance. I glare at the overgrown candle stick, then take a deep breath, letting out a huff. "I woke you up because I'm bored, okay?"

Kroaicho blinks at me, tilting zha’s head in confusion. "Bored?"

"We talked about this. Yeah, you know, that feeling where you're sitting around doing nothing for so long that you start to go insane?" I wave my hands for emphasis. "That."

The alien's amused glow brightens, the white practically jumping off zha’s skin. Zha leans back on zha’s massive arms, giving me a look that's somewhere between smug and curious. "We have talked about this, yes. And you need… me?"

I scowl, crossing my arms tighter over my chest. "Yes, I need someone to talk to. Is that so hard to believe?"

For a moment, Kroaicho just stares at me, and then zha blinks again, this time faster, before zha straightens up. Zha’s glow shifts from white back to a soft orange, and zha leans in slightly, eyes wide with sudden interest. "What do you wish to talk about?"

I freeze for a second, taken aback by the sudden shift in zha’s mood. Kroaicho looks almost… eager? I wasn't expecting that.

"Well, uh…" I start, but my words trail off as I try to think of where to even begin. The glow of my eyes reflects in zha’s now attentive gaze, and I feel my pulse quicken at the intensity in zha’s gaze.

Is it just me or did the temperature just skyrocket?

Shit, what did I want to talk about again? I blurt out the first thing that comes to mind.

“Want to go for a swim?”

Zha’s skin flares purple and then I remember the incident when we got to the lake and suddenly I can’t stop laughing.

38

Kroaicho

Iglareatthehuman. Again with the laughter. Olivia, bent over clutching zha’s stomach, lets out this… sound, an irritating mix of amusement and hysteria, and I feel my glow deepening to an even darker purple. I don't appreciate it. I don't see what's so funny about me sinking like a rock.

I shift my weight, pulling all four of my upper limbs tight against my upper segment as I stare at Olivia, waiting for this episode to end. Zha’s laughter continues, the irritating echoes bouncing off the cave walls. Zha looks up, wipes a tear from zha’s face, and finally manages to stifle another snort of amusement.

Olivia glances at me, and I can feel zha’s gaze softening when zha sees the irritation radiating off my skin. My glow flickers into a deeper purple, and I immediately regret it when I see zha’s ridiculous humansmilegrow wider.

"Oh, come on," Olivia coos at me, zha’s voice dripping down into lower chittering. "Stop pouting, Kroaicho. It wasn’t that bad. Eli snapped you right back up."

“And then you all laughed at me,” I point out. “This is a human reaction, isn’t it?”

I hate it when zha does this. I shift in place, narrowing my eyes and trying to focus on something else, anything else, other than the way zha is talking to me like I'm a zhannel.

“It is,” zha admits.

I huff, turning my head away slightly, though I keep my glowing eyes fixed on zha. "It was highly unpleasant and clearly dangerous.”

That finally sobers Olivia up. Zha straightens and gives me a look. I know this look. It's the one that makes me anxious because it often precedes zha’s temper flaring up. Whenever zha gives me that look, things tend to escalate. Fast.

This time, it just makes me want to get closer to zha and see what zha will do, not retreat. Maybe zha will grab my tusks and use that gruff tone again. I shiver in anticipation. Maybe zha…

I stop myself there, reminding myself that as much as I have changed, I am still holding on to my insistence to only look at things my own way. Olivia is not a zha. Olivia is ashe. I roll the word in my mind, pulling up the equivalents in all the languages I have learned, letting the idea soak in until the words and the concept become natural.

I brace myself, but instead of shouting or snapping at me like I expect, Olivia just rolls her eyes. The glow from her pale pink irises pulses with some kind of odd… discomfort? She groans in pain, which makes my skin flair in response. My spikes twitch involuntarily.

"What the hell?" Olivia exclaims, eyes wide.

She rubs her temples. She is so stubborn. "Why does that hurt so much?"