Chapter 2 #2
A giggle burst free from me, startling me just as much as the first two.
That was another thing I couldn't remember: when was the last time I felt this flustered and excited, giggling like I was a love-struck teenager.
Luckily, he didn't react the way a high school boy would at having a girl laugh in his face, and instead his smile widened and he waited, as if he had all the time in the world for me to decide what I was going to say.
"I um, yes," I said, and for a moment he looked almost disappointed. Then to my utter mortification, I giggled again, and he perked right back up.
"That is a beautiful sound," he said. "Does it add layers to the communication?
My translator doesn't add context for nonverbal communication.
I have been informed that is something that must be updated for when our Ambassadors come to meet with the Norratar Empire, as they have layered harmonies and melodies that add meaning to their communication. "
The Norratar had a complex language that relied on layers of musical notes and harmonies to reach different meanings.
I'd been practicing singing since I got on board, trying to learn the nuances that the translator implant was able to communicate but not replicate.
I had this vague idea that maybe there would be a place for me, something bigger for me to do with my life, if I just took advantage of this moment in time and made the most of it.
Sure, I didn't have a degree from a university, or any real work experience to speak of other than a slew of customer service jobs on my resume, but I was in outer space.
If there was any moment in my life to embrace my inner fool and to throw myself at my goals no matter my lack of experience or talent, this was it.
That meant I needed to be a professional and handle this assignment like a real diplomat that I always thought I could be, and not tell the hot alien that I was giggling because my libido had decided that now was the moment to get laid.
"It means that I am enjoying myself," I said. "That I find your company enjoyable. I am not offended by your smell, but it is quite strong, and as we now know, it does bother Norratar. It is a good idea to wash before I show you the location of the gym where many of them spar."
We continued down the hallway, and I realized that taking him through the alien quarters instead of the human ones was definitely a different sort of problem when every male we passed reacted visibly flinched when they caught the scent.
"You used your name, Exlith-Orvanis, as if it were an action you were taking," I asked, focusing on my job instead of another Norratar that stopped mid-hallway in front of us, let out a hiss, and then fled back the way he came.
The smell had to be extremely bad for their species.
"Names for my kind don't usually operate as actions as well as names. Would you explain that?"
"My name is Zandaor," he said. "My found niches are Exlith, Orvanis, and Orkith.
My current title is Zandaor Exlith-Orvanis-Orkith, but it will grow longer if I find additional niches, for example, finding a mate or starting a family.
Which I haven't done, or it would be a part of my title. Which it isn't."
His last few sentences came out a bit quickly, and for the life of me it felt like he was deliberately making sure I knew he was single.
But I could also just be making that assumption.
I was so turned on by just being enveloped in the miasma of his smell that I could be interpreting things in that direction.
"What do those niches mean?" I asked, barely stopping myself from adding in that I was also single.
"Exlith means one who walks beyond the structure; it is a niche for those who explore new things, such as new areas of knowledge or unknown locations.
Orvanis means edge seeker, which is a niche for those who push boundaries of what is possible physically.
Exlith and Orvanis together, in my case and how I use it, refer to exploring new areas of space by taking long voyages in uncharted directions.
" He paused for a moment before continuing, as if he needed to give the next words more weight.
"Orkith means external shield, given to those who build up Oame's defenses.
Exlith-Orvanis-Orkith means that my niche is one who builds up our defenses by exploring new territories and seeking other, like minded species who we can strengthen through sharing knowledge.
Strength is found in prepared and knowledgeable allies. "
"Wow," I exhaled. "What a wonderful job."
When he called me an Exlith earlier, he was saying I was one who walked beyond the structure.
I never really saw myself as doing anything that could earn such a description until I signed up for this cruise.
My whole life up until this point had been trying to be the woman my boyfriend wanted me to be.
"It is a purpose," he said. "What is your purpose?"
The question struck me like a blow.
"I don't know if I've ever found it," I said, the brutal honesty of my words spilling out of me with the wind that had been knocked out of me.
I realized my mistake a moment later. Here he was, a decorated explorer, a person who held importance for the advancement of his species, and I was telling him again that I was nothing much at all.
A Scrangie male I hadn't seen before stepped out of his room, his feathers a rich ombre of red and blue. He turned to head down the hallway to the dining area, then stopped suddenly and sniffed the air. He made a soft retching sound and then rushed down the hallway away from us.