"Hello, Spot," I said, reaching up toward the vines. "I'm Keir Delaney, Defender of the Morrigan, and Knight of Earth Magic. It's a pleasure to be in your presence. I hope I'm acceptable?"
The plant began to twine around my index finger. It was still small when compared to Spike, but larger than most of the other plants in here. I just had one question about him.
"Aspen, why isn't he by the door?"
"I have to get a bigger pot for that," she admitted. "Someone could kick this one and he'd break. Still, from here, he can hit anything in the room with a thorn."
"Then here is a good place," I said, caressing a leaf again. "Take care of our queen, Spot."
"You need plants too," Aspen said as she headed across the room. "I want to make you some, but I don't really know what you like."
"The kind I won't kill," I admitted, trailing after her. "I think I spend more time in everyone else's rooms, but I love the way it smells in here."
"Yeah?" she asked, turning back to face me.
I caught her shoulders, rubbing them gently. "It smells perfect, even better than the atrium." But her brow had just creased. "Aspen?" I asked, worried I'd said the wrong thing.
She clutched her hands together between us. "Do you, um..." And she quickly pressed her lips together. "I mean, we were talking about it, right?"
"About what?"
"You. Guys. All of it!" she said, looking anywhere but at me.
"Which part?" I asked, pretty sure she'd left half of that in her head.
"About Torian not realizing he likes guys, and me being a freak who only likes girls, and maybe he does, or maybe it's me, and I don't know how to know because I've never tried, but I thought that - I mean, it's you."
"I am me," I agreed, still trying to figure out where she was going with this. "But what about it?"
"I kinda want to try kissing a guy," she whispered, the words almost too soft to hear. "Not Tor, of course, because that's gross. But Hawke's his best friend, and that would just be weird. Wilder's my duke, and I don't know if that would mess things up. Besides, he probably wouldn't like it. But, I mean, what if I'm wrong? What if I do like guys? And you're Rain's boyfriend, so that's a bad idea, but I just thought, like, since we're in here alone, and no one would need to know, but I couldn't keep from telling Rain, so never mind. It's a dumb idea."
"Aspen, I'll kiss you if that's really what you want," I said quickly. "No weirdness either. Just a thing between friends."
"But..." She looked up, her cold blue eyes so nervous. "What about Rain?"
"I am sure Rain won't care," I told her. "She's made that clear many times."
And Aspen's teeth locked on her lower lip. "Is this... I mean, am I just being dumb?"
So I caught the side of her neck. "Look, the only way to know what you like is to try it. That's true for so many things, from food to friends to hobbies. Aspen, there's nothing wrong with experimenting." I found a smile taking over. "And Ipromisenot to be offended if it's horrible."
"But, maybe you can kiss me?" she asked, relaxing finally. "I don't know how to kiss a guy."
"Ok," I said, shifting closer. "Tell me when you're ready."
She pulled in a deep breath and looked up, but her eyes were already closed. "I'm ready."
With my free hand, I lifted one of hers to my chest, placing it so she could keep some distance between us. The other moved up to her cheek, and as I leaned in, I checked her face, making sure she wasn't bracing or scared.
Then my lips touched hers and I let my eyes close too. The first brush of our mouths was soft, barely even a real touch, yet Aspen immediately leaned in. When her mouth parted, I took the invitation, exploring her mouth as gently as I could. When her tongue bumped mine, I thought she might even be ok with this.
She kissed back, testing me, but there was something awkward about it. I couldn't quite find the rhythm with her, and she certainly wasn't relaxing into me. If anything, her fingers were tense on my chest, not pushing - but definitely not pulling, either.
So I pulled away and opened my eyes. Before me, Aspen had her nose wrinkled just a bit and that crease in her brow was even deeper. Oddly, she didn't step back or pull away.
"Well?" I asked.
And her eyes jumped open, hitting mine. "Um..."
