Endosymbiosis

32. Humans

Third circle of the Empire
The mansion

When I was ready for the mission, I heard a knock on my door and said that whoever was on the other side could enter: Kadi... I doubted that another creature would ask for permission. I watched him walk slowly towards me, as elegant as a glass of champagne.

He was wearing a tieless black suit with silver details embroidered on the shoulders that contrasted with the gold on my dress. We were like morning and night, facing each other in the twilight.

"You're... Presentable." He muttered, probably still frustrated with me.

I displayed the fabric of the skirt, with all those eyes.

"And what do you think I'm thinking of you?"

He raised an eyebrow and the corner of his lips, cruelly charming.

"Aren't you the one who has to say?"

"I'm more curious about what you think that I think than what I actually think." I leaned into him, swinging the pearly eyes on my skirt. "Be sincere."

He ran a hand through his hair and, after hesitating, he studied me.

"I think you're thinking that..." Kadi gave a flirtatious little smile, and then the words escaped him, "I'm the most attractive person you've ever seen in your entire life. Did I get close?"

I blushed; because that was what he was thinking of me, and the eyes in the dress reflected it so he thought it was my thoughts. But maybe my opinion wasn't so far from that.

"Good guess... But wrong." I moved closer so that my fingers adjusted his lapel. "Because I found the most attractive person I've ever seen in my own reflection."

He laughed. And then he watched me for a moment, until the question formed in his mind and he let himself say it out loud:

"Are you ready?"

I lifted my eyes to his and, as easy as that, I felt so translucent. There was nothing I was thinking or feeling that he couldn't perceive... Everything exposed on the surface more than if I were naked; and that scared me as much as those beasts that could smell my fear whenever I sweated. Humans were dangerous too... Because we were trained from the very first opening of our eyes to read the emotions in those who watch us... The only one of our communications that could not lie.

"Don't try to change my mind." I muttered.

"I've already learned from my defeats, Doxy... You can't convince the sea to give up forming waves."

I tilted my head.

"But what if these waves are a tsunami?"

"If it's sunk deep enough..." He moved closer, his eyes sinking into me in search of the lost cities I'd swamped inside. "You can't see the waves on the surface..."

"But they're still there... And I don't want to be a tsunami..."

He lifted his hand to my face and touched it gently, calming the turmoil below.

"You're the sea. And waves are just the answer to earthquakes... But the sea never succumbs to its own storms."

And I wanted to believe that...

Maybe I could survive the feelings that exploded in my chest, and the Aulics would become the ship I would sink with my waves.

Kadi offered me his arm, which, with a deep sigh, I accepted, diving into what awaited us.

• • • ֍ • • •

We landed the ship on a street full of space vehicles on the edge of a pine forest. We disembarked into the cool of the night, and I felt the wind sweep my exposed skin through the gaps in the flowing dress. The breeze brought Kadi's fragrant scent to me, and as he turned back to me, his eyes gleaming with anticipation, I felt a shiver spread through my body, each hair bristling like hands in surrender. It had been a long time since I'd been so intrigued by what one night could bring.