He let her stay. He told himself it was practicality—she could tend the garden while he repaired her ship’s quantum drive. But he found himself lingering near the potting bench, watching her hum human pop songs to the carnivorous Whisperfronds .
She should have annoyed him. Humans were mayflies with opinions. But when Lyra stumbled into his greenhouse, bleeding from a gash on her temple, she didn’t scream or beg. She looked at his seven-fingered hands, his faceted silver eyes, and said: Old-n-Young - Alien - Sex for a discount -25.06...
He pulled back. “I will watch you grow old and die before I finish one thought.” He let her stay
She was so fast . She learned his language in three weeks. She laughed when he accidentally dissolved a metal cup with his acidic tears (a stress response he hadn’t had in 400 years). She touched his arm once—a casual, human thing—and he felt his chromatophores shift to a warm, betraying gold. She should have annoyed him