Jack parked the car outside a gate, adorned with thick bushes on either side. He opened it, drove through, then closed it again. As he stepped back in, Yuhvinde couldn’t help but feel nervous.

“I own this place. It’s private land. Nobody will bother us here.”

“Where are we going?”

“Somewhere quiet,” he said as he gently rubbed her thigh. “Don’t you trust me?”

They drove through endless black into a clearing that continued to slope up. From across the way she could make out twinkling lights from the city. Jack parked the car and opened her door for her, and offered her a hand out. She took it, and he kept a hold of it as he led her up the dirt path towards a building. When they were on even ground she had a better look of it. The open area gave way to a shimmering turquoise pool, and a balcony that gave way to a beautiful view of the city. Up above, she could make out thousands of stars, twinkling dim and bright. It was a comfort, made only better with his hand in hers.

“You can’t see them from the city—all the light there. But this is where I normally live. That apartment’s just for work in the city.”

“It’s beautiful here,” she said.

She removed her mask and placed it on the deckchair by the pool before she walked towards the bannister of the balcony, and leaned on it, staring out.

“I figured you didn’t want a lot of people asking questions. It’s quiet out here,” said Jack as he leaned next to her.

“It is colder than the city.”

He touched her arms; she couldn’t help but click as he rubbed them. “We can go inside if you’d like?”

“Maybe. Soon.”

He nodded and pulled his hands away.

“Are you ready for the tough talk now?”

She turned to face him. “It is not tough to talk to you. It is just confusing.”

“Why?”

“I do not know. I feel things I am not sure how to feel. It is strange for us, our people. I do not understand why I feel like I do. I just know I like being around you. There is something in your touch.”

“Electric?”

“Something like that. More than that.”

She gripped the bannister tightly, the metal creaked from her grip. When he touched her hands she felt her grip soften. “I know what you mean. I got curious about you too.”

“But I am not human.”

“And I’m not Yautja. And? Is there a rule?”

“I get angry that I cannot explain this.” She stepped away from the bannister with a growl, and paced around the pool.

“We like each other. It’s not complicated,” he said from the other side of the pool. “You don’t have to be worried.”

“I do not worry.”

“Then what’s wrong?”

She thought for a moment, her eyes scanning the horizon. “I came here to hunt. To prove my elders that I am a worthy Yautja. But all I have done is want to be near you, to touch you; find some way to be around you.” She bent down and ran her hand through the water, it felt warm on her skin. “Why did you not run from me when we first met?”

“I don’t scare easy.”

“Why do you not flee now?”

Jack let out a sigh. “You say it’s in your culture to hunt, huh?”

Yuhvinde nodded at him.

“Well, us humans, we fight too. Like my family before, we’ve all been in the military.”

“Military?”

“Warriors, fighting wars.”

“You fought?”

Jack nodded. “Like my father, and his father, and his. We’ve all been fighters. My grandfather was in the CIA during Vietnam—” He looked at Yuhvinde, her face was blank. She tilted her head.

“It was a big war for humans. But for years my grandfather would tell me about things most others would not understand. Most of his stories sounded crazy but then after the war I joined another organization that proved he wasn’t lying. I knew there was always other things out there,” he said as he looked up. “I knew we weren’t alone. So no, I wasn’t that shocked at you showing up.”

“Do you still have allegiance to that organization?”

He looked at her with that piercing look. “If you’re asking me if I’m only interested you because it is my job, you’re very wrong. I left many years ago. Now I just work at protecting others.”

She stood up. “I trust you.”

“Good. I told you, you’re safe here.”

She circled the pool and went to him. Her fingers moved to his hand, and she turned to see the wound from her blade; it had begun to heal.

“Why do I feel like something is still bothering you?” She ran her finger across the wound.

“I am a failure. I was supposed to hunt to prove myself but I cannot now. I must return home with a worthy trophy.”

She looked down, away from him, and then slowly touched the console again. “I want to touch. To be close. There is peace in this but many thoughts spinning. I am a failure. I am not a hunter. I am confused.”

“What happens if you don’t return home with a worthy trophy?”

“They will exile me. Abandon. Death perhaps.”

“Are you happy?”

“It is the way I must live.”

“You don’t really believe that fully. Otherwise you’d have skewered me and that’d be the end of it.”

“It is confusing. I am angry at you and angry at home.”

“Okay, then kill me and take me back as a trophy.”

“I cannot,” she said and yanked her hand away from him. “You do not understand.”

“I do,” he said. “You’re confused. Let me help.”

As she turned away he pulled her back, and engulfed her in his arms, his arms slid around her tightly. There came a second of panic, and then she loosened and let her arms slip around the thickness of his torso. The clicks and purrs escaped from her mouth as she leant further into him. His smell was of something chemical but pleasant. There was a peace in his arms, as he towered over her it reminded her of being a child, her mother embracing her for a moment if only once in a similar way. Her heart beat louder, thudding, and she was sure even he could feel it. Her thoughts carried her home and of how disgusted they would all be, how their words would ring true: She failed like we said she would. Her grip tightened on the human, and then she tried to pull away.

“You don’t have to do that,” he whispered. “Don’t think of home now.”

She escaped the intoxicating cocoon of his arms and looked at him with wide, pleading eyes. How could he understand? “I promise you, I get it Yuhvinde. But don’t think about it. You’re not a failure. Not here. Not to me.” The words were strong, honorable, and caring;. they cut her deeper than any blade could. He pulled her close again, the weight of his arms so tight on her but she didn’t want to fight it. “You’re not a failure.”

And then she melted into him; nestling and raising her arms around his neck, feeling herself almost weightless as she heard the words again. “You’re not a failure to me.”

She would be. But on this warm night, alone with this human, she would not be. Tonight, she could be something else if only for a moment in time and across the stars. They pulled apart, and his hand went to her mandibles, as he tilted her head up. “There’s just you and me. There’s just whatever I am and whatever you are. No judgment here.”

His words were a welcome change, strange, coated in a warmth that made her feel better but everything was so intoxicating, she could not make sense of what she was feeling. She wanted to mate, to be close, to just stay with him. It only made her feel worse when she turned away from him. She had been lying to him, and in all of her anger and confusion, he had only given her kindness and understanding. She looked back towards the blackness of the dirt path, wanting to run towards it, and keep running.

“You don’t have to run,” he said.

“I do not know how to feel all this.”

“Just say what you feel.”

“Ashamed. Angry. I have not been honest.”

“Just tell me what you want, Yuhvinde. It’s just us here tonight. It doesn’t matter what you think about it. Tell me what you really need.”

She clicked, and clenched her fists. She couldn’t even say the words.

“Well I want the same too. Whatever this is. Even if you think it doesn’t make sense or work. If you wanna be afraid then that’s fine but I’m not. I wanna spend the night here with you.”

“So do I.”

“Then will you stay here with me tonight?”

“Yes.”

“Come with me,” he said as he pulled her towards the house. “Let’s go inside.”