As Mark backed out of his parking spot, I buckled my seatbelt. “To clarify, I didn’t promise him anything.”

“Why’d he kiss your hand?”

“I’m not sure.” I skimmed Leah’s memories for an answer. The only person who’d ever kissed her hand was her boyfriend. “I believe he wanted to date me.” 

“Sure, that’s what he wanted.” There was a hint of sarcasm in his voice. 

“Why’d you tell him I was sixteen?”

He grimaced. “I’ll explain when you’re older.”

Great, this again. A quick memory foray explained his odd behavior. “Even if you doubt I’m an adult, you must realize that I have access to an adult human’s experiences. It’s merely faster to ask questions than to sift through years of memories. But I did sift through them, and I still don’t understand why you’re opposed to me dating Ethan. Unless you do think I’m going to infest other people?”

 “I don’t think-” He shook his head. “You’re not ready for a romantic relationship.”

“According to what metrics?”

“This morning, you tried to prostitute yourself for a portal key. You’re not ready.” 

I rolled my eyes. “That wasn’t meant to be my attempt at romance. It was simply a means to an end.” Admittedly, I hadn’t actually achieved the ends I’d been meaning to, but I was okay with that.  

He chuckled. “Exactly my point. You expect me to believe it’s a coincidence you flirted with one of the few people in the state who could get access to a portal?”

“Hmm.” I’d never said it wasn’t a coincidence, and it most certainly was one. I wanted to keep arguing on principle, but it was a stupid argument. I didn’t even want to romance Ethan, anyway. I just wanted to keep the portal as an option if things went poorly here on Earth. 

We drove for a while before Mark asked, “Do arytas date in the Otherealm? I mean, you said everyone is siblings, so…?”

“Kings and queens do something akin to dating, but the rest of us don’t. We don’t feel the urge to procreate.”

“But you do now you’re in a human body?”

I shook my head. “Perhaps if I tried intercourse, I would enjoy it, but I doubt I would enjoy it as much as a human. The pleasant feelings come from a chemical reaction in the brain, and I don’t actually think using Leah’s brain.” I paused. “I supposed I could stimulate Leah’s brain to feel such enjoyment, but it’s forbidden in the colony for a good reason. Arytas who indulged in manipulating their host’s brain chemicals became so addicted to the pleasant feelings that they ceased caring about anything or anyone else.”

“Then why flirt with Ethan?”

“I was curious.” 

“Curious?” He scoffed lightly. “You can’t go around seducing people out of curiosity. Either you’ll hurt them or they’ll hurt you.”

“Fair point.” Undressing in front of someone for intercourse could incite them to harm my true body. Satisfying my curiosity wasn’t worth that risk. 

“After you’ve been on Earth a while, if you really want to date--or sleep around--I won’t stop you. Hell, I’ll give you some tips. Just make sure you’re willing to deal with the consequences.” 

“Okay.” 

We soon parked in front of Rekki’s and joined the others at a large booth. We were the last to arrive, and Oliva scowled over the communal cheese fries when we sat down. 

“I’m still not happy about you, pancake.” 

“Likewise,” I said without thinking. I was too hungry for any more words. There was ranch dressing, which Leah remembered as a terribly fatty yet delicous condiment. I used several fries to scoop the ranch in my mouth.

Vince gave Olivia a funny look. “‘Pancake?’”

“Elva’s an Otherling.” 

Mark cursed. “You said you weren’t going to tell anyone.”

“If you’re going to drag Elva around with us, Vince has a right to know what he’s dealing with.” 

“Fine, but don’t leave out the important parts.” He explained more or less how I’d come to live on Leah, how I’d decided to stay on Earth, and how I wasn’t a threat to any of them. In the time it took him to explain, I’d finished the cheese fries. 

Just as quickly, I digested the food, turned much of it into the body fat I was missing, and had to run to the bathroom. 

When I came back, Vince seemed uneasy. 

Ignoring him, I touched Mark’s arm. “Can I have more, please?”

“Sure. I’ll order them in a minute.” He picked up a menu.

I started scraping the remains of the cheese fries off the plate and eating them with the extra ranch cups. 

Vince leaned close to Kiara and whispered, “You think he’s got one on his back?”

She shook her head. “Olivia checked.” 

Looking up from the fries plate, I said, “If you want to check if someone’s got an aryta but you can’t get their shirt up, just punch them in the back of the neck. If they fall over, they’re probably inhabited.” 

Kiara laughed. “Or they fell over ‘cause you just punched them in the neck.” 

I snorted. “I mean, once they’re stunned on the ground, checking their back is easy.” 

Vince chuckled at his menu but didn’t look up at me. 

I didn’t really care if he disliked me; I was used to it. Scanning the menu, I found a veritable cornucopia of high-calorie foods. Carbs and fat alone wouldn’t perfectly maintain my fast metabolism; I needed some protein, vitamins, and minerals. 

“How much can I order, Mark?”

“As much as you want.” 

“Great.” 

Our waiter came over, and we all ordered. I chose another plate of cheese fries and an additional two thousand calories of varied foods. This elicited a few… interesting looks from my companions, but no one said anything about it. As I ate, my metabolism slowed to a more reasonable level, and the fierce hunger waned.

I touched Mark’s arm and murmured, “Thank you.” 

“It’s no problem.”

Olivia scoffed. “It’s bad enough that you’re leeching off him. Do you really have to touch him like that?” The way she said it, I might as well have been fondling Mark’s member under the table. 

“Cut it out, Liv,” Mark muttered. 

“Help her if you have to, but don’t let her walk all over you. You’re better than that.”

Kiara leaned in to whisper to Olivia. “Dude, chill out. You’re sounding kinda crazy.”

She shook her head. “I’m not acting crazy. Being touched makes his skin crawl. Hasn’t he told you?”

Kiara frowned at Mark. “Why didn’t you tell us?”

“Uh…” He stiffened and looked at me like I might be able to provide him a suitable answer. “It never came up.”

“We wrestled last week. Sounds like it should’ve come up then.”

“You guys wrestled last week?” Olivia gave Kiara a funny look. “Just the two of you?”

“No, Vince too. Mark said you were too busy to come.” 

Everyone stared at Mark. 

He shrunk back in his seat. “I messaged Liv, and she didn’t reply, so I assumed she was busy. The message must not’ve gone through.” 

That sounded like a reasonable explanation, but his fidgety fingers made me think he was more nervous than he let on. If he didn’t want to talk about this, the least I could do was help him change the subject. 

“So, do you guys have afternoon plans?”

Looking grateful for the change in conversation, Vincent nodded. “We’re going swimming. Wanna come?”

I did, but even if exhaustion hadn’t been creeping up on me, guilt was. It seemed like Olivia was just trying to come up with a new reason to get rid of me. As rude as she was, I couldn’t say I was completely unsympathetic. I wouldn’t want to hang out with a sentient parasite controlling one of my fellows, either. 

“I would, but I’m wiped after the workout. I’ll just nap in the car.”

Mark cleared his throat. “I can take you home early.”

“Please don’t change your plans for me.” 

Olivia scoffed. 

Being slightly sympathetic didn’t mean I didn’t want to slap her. “I’m going to wait by the car. Feel free to come up with more reasons I’m a horrible person while I’m gone, Liv.” I’d meant to say that last part just in my head, but it wasn’t like I could make things much worse than they already were, so I didn’t bother trying to take back the statement. 

I went out to the car, and Mark soon joined me. 

“Did you lie in there?” Why was I asking? It wasn’t like he would tell me secrets he kept from his closest friends. “Nevermind. It’s none of my business. Sorry about touching you, by the way. I wish you’d said something.”

“Don’t feel bad.” Groaning, he flopped back against the seat. “It’s a stupid lie I told Olivia in high school. She was into me, so I told her I’m asexual--which is true--and she figured I’d change my mind if she… ‘helped me out.’” He tugged on his pointed ears. “She got so damn handsy. Drove me crazy. I got so fed up that I said being touched by anyone in any way made me want to vomit. It doesn’t, so there’s no reason for you to feel bad. Just keep your hands north of the equator, ‘kay?” 

I frowned. “We’re in the northern hemisphere. My entire body is north of the equator.” 

He chuckled. “I can’t tell if you’re joking.” 

“I’m not.” 

“Ookay. Pretend this is my equator.” He traced a line across his waist. “No touching below the equator, got it?”

“Understood.” At least, I understood what he’d said just now, but I wasn’t entirely clear on why he’d told Olivia any kind of touching bothered him. I was also confused by how one human could reproduce asexually while the rest of the species reproduced sexually. “So, do you reproduce by developing and shedding buds, or do you become two or more organisms when you’re cut into pieces?”

He raised an eyebrow. “Humans have sex, which gets women pregnant, and the women make babies inside of them.”

“Then you’re not human?”

“I’m a man. I can’t make a baby inside of me.” 

That wasn’t what I asked. “You said you’re asexual. If humans can only reproduce sexually, it stands to reason that you’re not human.” 

“Ah. The kind of asexual I’m talking about means I’m not interested in sex, not that I clone myself.” 

“I see.” That made a bit more sense, seeing as I’d never heard of a mammal that could clone itself. I’d just assumed Earth mammals were different from Otherealm ones. I yawned as exhaustion hit me again. “I’m going to nap now. You can do whatever, don’t worry about me.” Leaning the chair back, I let my eyes drift closed.