Kael ignores me. I shift slightly, thinking, and somehow, my brain takes a turn straight into personal territory.
“My mum used to read romance novels,” I muse aloud. “Not, like, nice ones. Trashy as hell. But she wasn’t really a nice person either.”
Kael doesn’t reply, but I can tell he’s listening.
“She wasn’t awful, I guess,” I continue, sighing. “Never kicked me out. Even when I told her I was gay.”
Kael slows slightly, glancing over his shoulder at me. “Gay?”
Oh, right. “Uh. Yeah. It means I’m into men.”
He frowns. “Why is there a word for that?”
I blink. “What do you mean?”
Glowranth don’t have eyebrows, but his ridges pull together in something close to confusion. “Attraction is attraction. We don’t distinguish with labels.”
Huh. That’s… actually kind of cool. “So, Glowranth just, what? Like who they like?”
“Yes.”
“Damn,” I mutter. “That sounds nice. No bullshit.”
Kael nods. Then, because he’s apparently not done surprising me today, he says, “I think humans complicate things unnecessarily.”
I snort. “Yeah, that’s our brand.”
For the first time since we started this hellish journey, Kael peers back at me, and his lips twitch.
I grin. “Was that…? Kael, did you just smile?”
“No.”
“Oh, you totally did.”
He picks up speed again, bouncing me just enough to shut me up.
I groan. “I hate this.”
“Good.”
I mumble something about turtles, because that’s exactly what I feel like, and Kael actually pauses. “Turtles?”
I snicker. “You don’t know what a turtle is?”
His silence is answer enough.
“Oh, this is so happening.” I smirk. “As soon as we get back, I’m finding something to draw you a turtle.”
Kael sighs, long and exasperated. “Why?”
“Because it’s important.”
“I doubt that.”
“You don’t know that.”
He groans. “I regret engaging in conversation.”
