CHAPTER 45
Dakleth
We arrived at the Palace, and Andie excused herself to go find a bath. I held myself together as I watched her go, then sank down into a cushion and dropped my head between my knees. I berated myself for my carelessness.
I had bullied my mate into spending a day with me, and now her skin was damaged.
Was there no end to me hurting her through my thoughtlessness?
Once again, I had not taken the difference in our species into account.
I treated her as I would a Ptexari female, and her skin was going to fall off as a result.
I was behaving like an ignorant fool. I needed to learn more about her species and her care.
I stormed through the Palace to the formal meeting rooms. I entered the room where my Father was still meeting with the Coromonn ambassadors. “Forgive the intrusion,” I said brusquely. “I must speak with Leo.”
My father stared at me impassively. I could tell he was irritated, but too circumspect to show it during such delicate negotiations.
One of the ambassadors looked at me, and then at Leo.
Leo shrugged. “Of course, if the Prince requires time with one of our citizens, we are happy to oblige,” the ambassador smoothly said.
“Take your time,” he said to Leo. “We are likely wrapping up for the day anyway.” My father nodded, and Leo rose from his seat and bowed slightly to the other attendees.
He walked cautiously towards me. I had never conversed with Leo alone, and he knew that I saw him as a rival for my mate. I could see he was uncomfortable as I led him to a smaller meeting room. “Peace,” I said. “I mean you no harm.”
He let out a long breath and relaxed. “Good to hear, man, because the expression on your face said you were about to kill someone.”
“The only being I wish to harm right now is myself,” I said.
“I’m guessing this has something to do with Andie,” he said. “Did you fuck it up?”
“She is damaged from the sun!” I exploded. “I did not know, and now her skin is going to peel off! Every interaction I have with her, I end up hurting her through my own ignorance! How am I to court her if I cannot even keep her safe from myself?” I paced the room, agitated.
“Whoa, whoa… Are you saying she’s sunburned?”
“Yes, her skin is pink. When you touch it, it turns white, then pink again. She said it does not hurt, but then when I poked her, she said it did hurt. And now she is taking a cooling bath to soothe the damage, and her skin is going to peel off. Actually, she said it might peel off if she scrubbed it. I do not know how much is going to peel off because she said you humans shed your skin constantly anyway, and how am I to know these things?”
I knew I was rambling incoherently, but I was worried for my mate and frustrated at my own ineptitude.
“Gotcha, let’s just take a beat,” Leo said calmly. He ordered Oonag from the replicator in the room. “Here. Seems like I might be able to clarify a few things. And you need to learn a few things, eh?”
“Yes. You know humans. You can tell me the things I must know so that I do not hurt my mate.”
“I don’t know that I’ll know all that, but I do know a little bit about sunburn. Even though I haven’t experienced it much myself.”
“You do not burn by the sun?”
“Nah, I got extra melanin in my skin that protects me - see? Dark brown. Perfect for long-term sun exposure. Your huera’s got pale skin. That’s why she burns.”
“Do you shed your skin as she does?”
“That part, yes. All humans shed skin cells, like she said. Now that shows up more on me. Hang on, let me see.” He pushed up his sleeve and looked at his elbow. Then pushed up a pants leg. “See how my knee is whiter here?” Leo pointed to a patch on his knee.
Yes,” I said.
“We call that ‘ashy’ skin. Those are dead skin cells that are being shed. I scrub them off in the shower, and then I apply lotion to moisturize my skin.”
“Your skin does not appear to be peeling off.”
“No, and on someone as pale as Andie, you might not even notice if her skin is dry or a little ashy. With a sunburn, though, a lot more might peel off. You might see a little layer of skin curling up on the surface. It looks a little weird, but it’s generally harmless.
You said she’s pink, right? Light pink or dark pink? ”
“It is a light pink, I suppose. She said it is mild.”
“First, if she said it’s mild, then it is, and she knows how to take care of it. Second, she’s lived in that skin her whole life. She should have known she would burn if she was outside all day. She should’ve brought a hat or worn sunscreen. This is her fault, not yours.”
“What is sunscreen?” I asked. “Is it a shade?”
“Welp, there are some cultures on Earth where women walk around with a shade called a parasol, but we don’t do that on our side of the planet because most people wear sunscreen when they go outside. It’s a special lotion that we can put on our skin to block the UV rays.”
“What is it made of?” I had to know.
“There are different kinds. Some have chemicals in them, but I don’t remember what they are. But a common mineral blocker is a lotion that has zinc oxide in it.”
“That seems a common enough compound to find. How does it function?” I asked.
“I’m no expert, but I guess they grind it up into some powder or something and then mix it with lotion.
You spread that on your skin, and the zinc oxide blocks the UV rays (that’s the ultraviolet rays that cause the sunburn).
It’s usually a white lotion. I don’t know what you would use for lotion here.
We use a lot of cocoa butter or shea butter, but y’all don’t have those here.
I use an emulsion of water and loabu bean oil from Coromonn as a pretty effective moisturizer on my skin.
You could probably mix ground-up zinc oxide with that to make a sunscreen. ”
“Yes, I will do that! What other things do you know about humans that I should know?”
“Hmmm, I guess you’ve figured out we’re pretty touchy-feely. You Ptexari don’t ever touch each other, and that’s going to be hard for Andie if you’re serious about being her mate.”
“Yes, I have offered to hug her, but she does not seem as interested as I would like.”
“It may take some time. She’s still wary of you, given how y’all started out.
It’s best to start slow. In the beginning, men court women with gifts - it doesn’t have to be anything big or extravagant.
We give flowers or sweets that they like, or something thoughtful that shows we know them.
Andie loves music and dance, so if there was a performance somewhere, she would love tickets to something like that.
I mean, your Dad’s piano was over the top.
That would be, like, a major gift. It shows that he paid attention to what she said she missed about Earth. ”
I growled at him, “My father is not courting Andie.”
“No, no! Of course not,” he said. “I’m just saying that would be the type of gift to give a mate for a very special occasion.
Or a daughter, in your father’s case. Let’s see…
we like to go on dates - that’s kind of what y’all did today.
You just go out somewhere and spend time together to get to know each other better.
Try to do something fun. Maybe take her to dinner at a new restaurant, that kind of thing.
When you’re deeper in the relationship, you might give her jewelry or accessories that you know she’d like.
Cute purses or shoes. Robnar makes her clothes, so maybe you could ask him if she’s been eyeing a particular dress or talking about clothing.
Does it ever get cold here? Because blankets and warm things also make good gifts for women. I swear, they’re always cold. Fuzzy slippers, pajamas, shit like that. That’s all I can think of right now.”
“Gifts and dates,” I mused. “I can do that.”
“I mean, that’s just for starting out. Human relationships can be super complicated. It will be even worse for you and Andie because of the whole interspecies thing. You’ll need to have really open, direct communication. You’ll end up apologizing a lot. Happy wife, happy life,” he chuckled.
“I do not understand.”
“It’s an adage for human men. It basically means shut up, and don’t tell your woman she’s wrong. If she’s happy, you’ll be happy. If you’re more worried about being right than making her happy, she’ll be miserable, and she’ll make you miserable.
“I see.” This did sound complicated.
“Look, don’t you have info about humans in your database?” Leo asked.
“No, very little. Andie is the first human we’ve encountered, so we’ve never needed any information on humans.”
“Well, there’s plenty on the larger intergalactic network.
You have access, right? Do some searches and download some shit.
But don’t believe it all. There’s some crazy misconceptions written about humans out there.
If you have any questions about what you read, you can send me a message, and I’ll tell you if it’s true or not.
A popular one is that we crave touch so much that we have to be carried around everywhere.
I mean, yeah, we’re clingy compared to some species, but we don’t want to be carried around like pets. Weird, man.”
“But you do like to be touched?”
“Yes, especially by our partners. Touch is an important part of our relationships. If you get into it deeper with Andie - if she lets you, she’s going to want to hold your hand a lot.
She’ll want to snuggle up next to you as you watch a vid.
There’s kissing, you need to learn about kissing - search for that.
And then there’s care and grooming, like washing her in the bath or brushing her hair.
Even painting her nails for her can be cute, if she’ll let you and if you want to try it. Girls like to feel cared for.”
This was good advice. I was feeling calmer and more determined.
“Thank you, Leo,” I said, and I meant it.
He was a good male. He was a good friend to Andie, giving me the advice to properly court her in the human way.
“I have some ideas now. Thank you for explaining about the sunscreen to me and how to court my mate. I may reach out to you again for advice.”
“Anytime, man,” he said. “Besides, that was a lot more interesting than the meetings with the ambassadors and your family. Let me head out before they finish up. I don’t want to have to sit through another boring-ass meal.”
“Understood,” I said, rising as he left the room. I headed down to the medical wing to find Lanicar.
Andie
I had just finished soaking in the cool water. Already I felt better, although my skin was still hot to the touch. I looked in the mirror. It was definitely going to peel. I slipped on a silky robe. I planned to order food from the replicator and turn in.
A chime sounded at the door, and I went to answer. I was surprised to see Dakleth towering in the doorway. “Hello again,” I said.
“I have a gift for you,” Dakleth said.
“For me?” I was surprised. “Oh, well, please come in.”
He looked around my room. It was nothing special. I didn’t stay here frequently, so it didn’t have any of the personal touches of my cottage. It was a nicely appointed Palace guest room that looked like all the other guest rooms. I gestured to the low cushions near the door.
“Would you like some Oonag?” I asked.
“No, thank you, I will not stay long,” he said. “I just wished to give you these.” He gave me a bag that contained two glass jars. Both appeared to contain a thick, white cream inside. I opened them both. One had a faintly floral scent. The other smelled slightly medicinal.
“Both are lotions made from the loabu bean, as Leo has suggested,” he began.
“The medics’ lab was able to synthesize them based on their known molecular structure.
The one with the blue top,” he gestured to the medicinal one, “contains a mild anaesthetic to help with the pain of your burn.” I was amazed that he had gone to the trouble of talking to Leo about me and then going to the medical wing to have an ointment specially created for me.
That was just… beyond any expectations I had.
I rubbed a bit on my arm and felt instant relief.
“It’s wonderful!” I said, “Thank you so much, I really appreciate it.”
“The other contains ground-up zinc oxide for you to use as a sunscreen the next time you are outdoors,” he said.
I hadn’t seen or heard of any type of sunblock during my time on Ptexari. “How did you know about this? The Ptexari don’t burn.”
“Again, Leo informed me, and I had the lab create it for you. I’ve uploaded the recipes to your account so you can have your own replicator make it as needed.”
“Dakleth…” I said. I was momentarily speechless.
How kind, how thoughtful this man was. I felt seen and taken care of.
He saw that I had a problem and just… fixed it.
And more importantly, gave me the means to care for myself in the future.
“I don’t know how to thank you enough for this.
This was really thoughtful,” I said, feeling unexpectedly emotional.
“You do not need to thank me. You are my mate. It is my job to care for you,” he replied.
For once, I didn’t correct him. I might not think of him as my mate, but it was clear he still thought of me that way. Why else would he go to such lengths to see to my comfort and happiness? I didn’t know if I was ready to see him in the same way, but I was touched nonetheless.
“I would give you a hug, but my skin is a little tender, right now,” I said.
“I will take one when you are feeling better,” he said.
“Deal!” I said, and I was smiling at him as I walked him to the door.