Page 7

Chapter Seven

Amara

It was obvious by the drooping of his antennae that Roth’kar didn’t know what to do with the tailor’s question. Do you have any color preferences? I remembered his empty bag and how he came to me with nothing but the clothes he was wearing.

It was as if the question made no sense.

There are so many things I want to know about him, but Roth’kar isn’t the most forthcoming about himself. Maybe I just need to get him in the right environment and he’ll open up a little.

I want to get to know my new husband better.

It’s more than a few blocks to the park, but eventually we make it. There’s a sand pit where some little kids are playing, and a jungle gym next to it. I loop my hand around Roth’kar’s arm again, and this time, he gently lays his hand on top of mine.

“I like this walking,” he says. He isn’t looking at me, but his cheeks are a tinge darker purple.

This brings a smile to my face. He enjoys me holding his arm, I think. That’s a good step.

The children on the playground catch his attention, and Roth’kar flinches when one of them screams.

“Are they injured?” He looks prepared to leap into action should one of the children be hurt, but I hold him back, trying not to laugh.

“It’s okay. They’re fine. That’s just how children play.”

“ Human children,” he says, still giving the playground a wary look, as if he might need to catch a falling Earthling at any moment. “I have never seen a Karthinian child behave that way.”

I wonder what growing up on his spaceship was like if this is how he feels about kids playing.

“Did you ever run around and play with your friends?”

Roth’kar’s antennae curl down, though his expression betrays nothing.

“I did not.” He turns toward the trees ahead. “Do they have names, these different sorts of trees?”

So he wants to change the subject. What was his childhood like that he avoids talking about it? Guess I’m going to play amateur arborist.

I tip my head and study the branches overhead. “I don’t know all the names, but I can tell you that there are two kinds.”

I explain the difference between deciduous and coniferous trees, and he pulls off a leaf. He rubs it as we walk, absorbing the texture of it.

“Marvelous,” Roth’kar says after I’ve been quiet for a while. “There is so much life here. So many varieties.”

Then, out in front of us, a squirrel shoots across the path. Roth’kar leaps back, nearly pulling me down to the ground, and he lets out a sharp cry.

“What is it?!” I search for the source of his alarm.

The squirrel sprints up the tree, and he points at it. “That… that thing! ” He clutches his chest like he’s trying to stop his heart from escaping. “What was that?”

“A squirrel?” I peer up at it as it scurries away into the tree. “It can’t hurt you.”

“It can bite,” Roth’kar points out. “Like you said. And what if it came back with others? What if you were swarmed by them?” He shivers. “It moves so quick, it would be over before it even started.”

I stand there, gaping at the direction his imagination has taken.

“I promise the squirrel won’t return with his friends.” I take his arm once more and urge him to follow me down the path.

“You don’t know that.”

Roth’kar’s grip is a little more forceful now as we continue. Joggers and cyclists stare as they pass us, but he seems unaffected. Aliens still aren’t common on Earth, and a little girl points and shouts, “Mom! Alien!” as she goes by.

“Sorry about that,” I say. “You’re just… a little alien to them.”

“I expected as much when I chose to come here.” His lips twitch in the ghost of a smile. “Do not worry about me.”

“They’re just jealous they don’t have four arms, too.”

We enjoy the weather together as we walk in a companionable silence. The loop takes us around and back to the start, where we emerge from the trees into the sunshine again. Roth’kar pauses here and gazes up at the sky, his face surprisingly peaceful.

He is beautiful, I must admit, as the light reflects off the surface of his purple-blue skin. His smile returns when he notices me watching him, and Roth’kar offers me his arm to walk home.

It’s Saturday night, which usually means a night out with the girls. Fiona shoots me a text as we’re on our way back from the park.

“Are you going to bring him out to meet us?” she asks. “Your new alien husband? Or are you going to keep him a secret?”

I finally had to confess the truth when I went to go pick Roth’kar up at the spaceport. Now that my friends know, I should have guessed they would swoop in like vultures, wanting a piece of him.

They’re wonderful like that.

“What do you think of meeting my friends tonight?” I ask my new alien husband. His antennae jump to alert.

“Your friends? Of course, I would be pleased to meet them.”

He’s so agreeable. As long as whatever I’m asking him to agree with doesn’t have four legs and a tail.

“All right. We’re going to a club, so there will be a lot of sensory input, but?—”

Roth’kar gently touches my arm. “Amara, you don’t need to protect me. I will tell you if we encounter anything I can’t handle.”

“Deal?” I ask, holding out my hand.

He blinks at me. “What is your offer?”

I laugh. “The deal is that I won’t worry about you, if you promise to tell me if you need to leave.”

Roth’kar takes my hand, and we shake.

“You humans do like your hand shaking,” he says, stretching his fingers after I’ve let him go.

I wish I had something to put him in besides his dirty, very obviously alien clothes.

“Can I wash this for you real quick?” I ask. “I know you don’t have anything else to wear, but I could get you a towel. It’ll take an hour to wash and dry them.”

Roth’kar’s eyebrows rise. “A towel is not necessary. You are my wife, are you not? Would my nudity offend you?”

I stare at him blankly. He’s offering to walk around naked while I wash his clothes?

“Oh, um.” I don’t even know what to say. Part of me is instantly thrilled. What does he look like under there? I could finally find out if he has two dongs or just one.

Or something else entirely. I didn’t consider that. All they told me is that we were “sexually compatible,” whatever a Frahma might think that means. God, what if they’re totally wrong?

Roth’kar doesn’t miss the expression that crosses my face. “I get the sense this might make you uncomfortable.”

I rub my hands together. What should I even say? He’s right that we’re husband and wife now. We’ll be seeing a lot of each other naked, and hopefully, doing other things that involve no clothes. That’s an essential if we’re going to make it in the long term.

But what if what I see is too strange? Too alien ?

“Maybe we should kiss first,” I joke. “Then I can see you bare-assed.”

He furrows his brow. “Kiss? The translator is giving me an image that cannot be right.”

“What’s it saying?”

“That you put one mouth on another mouth?” He sticks out his tongue in disgust. “Such an action can’t be hygienic.”

I’m strangely disappointed. Maybe he’s right—maybe kissing is gross. Of course I wouldn’t think so, seeing as it’s a part of my own culture. But to an outsider…

“Oh.” I swallow hard. “We don’t have to do it, then. It was just a joke, anyway.”

Roth’kar studies me, not speaking for a long moment, and I fidget under his penetrating, ethereal gaze.

“This disappoints you.” It’s not a question.

I shrug and force a smile onto my face. “It doesn’t!

” I lie. “I knew we’d have some differences when you came here.

I’m sure there are things in your culture I’d find strange, like if you, um…

” I trail off, thinking of our conversation about birds earlier, “…you know, wear feathers and dance around naked to find a wife.”

Roth’kar squints at me. “We do not wear feathers and dance around naked. Is this a human custom?”

“No, no! It’s just…” I sigh. “Never mind. Why don’t you get those clothes off so I can wash them?”

Roth’kar retreats into the bathroom, then emerges a few moments later with a towel wrapped around him.

His chest is exposed with the towel circling only around his shapely hips, and I’m…

entranced. He has sizable, sculpted pectorals that lead down to a strong abdomen, and his musculature, while different with his four arms, is definitely not unappealing.

Damn. He’s fine.

Quickly, I sweep up the clothes and carry them off to the washing machine. Roth’kar waits while I cook us dinner, because I want to have plenty of food inside both of us before we head out on the town.

When the buzzer goes off, I switch the clothes to the dryer, and Roth’kar and I get to eating. But something about our kissing conversation has quieted both of us.

I had a wonderful day today with Roth’kar.

I like him. I like him, and I worry it won’t work out because we’re too different, but by then I’ll be attached to him.

We’ve had a good time together so far, but what if he decides I’m not the right fit?

What if he chooses to go home and I’m all alone again?

I’m going to show him a good time tonight, I decide. I’ll give him a reason to stay.