Page 36 of Relyn
“You could give me a reading list. What great Terran stories are available?”
“Well, I was currently in the middle of one with my class, called Pride and Prejudice. It’s about a family of all females and the mother is desperately trying to find them husbands.”
“Why does she not just put them in the Mahdfel database?”
Nora laughed again, especially when the idea sparked her that Mrs. Bennet would have done exactly that.
“Because it was written before Terra had computers, and before we knew there was such a thing as Mahdfel.”
“So this mother goes on a quest to find proper mates for her daughters. Is the father dead?”
“No. Mr. Bennet helps, but he’s more interested in his daughters’ happiness than in getting them all married right away. He trusts them to find their own husbands.”
“That is not the way it is done. He must be a weak male to let his wife and daughters do such work.”
“You’re missing the point. The story isn’t about the father or the mother. It’s about the daughters. The two oldest daughters, mostly. The first one meets a good husband, and the second one meets an even better match, but he rejects her at first,” Nora explained.
“He knows that she is not compatible with him.”
“No, he’s prejudiced by the fact that she doesn’t have near as much money as he does.”
“That is a ridiculous reason to reject a mate. I did not reject you on such a reason. You have no money or connections as far as I can see.”
Nora rolled her eyes. “Yeah, I might be a teacher, but I’m not in the poor house either.” She was beginning to think explainingPride and Prejudiceto an alien was even more difficult than explaining it to Marco and her students.
“Never mind. Maybe I should give youFrankensteininstead. Also a classic,” Nora said.
“I shall download them on my com.”
“Right. Though maybe we should start with vids first.”
At least she hadn’t suggested starting him off with Shakespeare. Who knows what he’d make ofRomeo and Juliet.
“What about you?” Nora asked. “What else do you do? What’s your favorite color? Flavor of ice cream, and well, all those other things I know nothing about?”
“I do not know what ice cream is, and I do not favor one color over another.”
Nora decided this had to be rectified immediately. She got to the replicator and ordered vanilla ice cream.
She took a spoonful for herself, and tasted it. It wasn’t exactly the same as real ice cream, kinda like the way low fat ice cream couldn’t compare with the real thing that was so decadently bad for you. Nora closed her eyes and savored it anyway. Relyn was looking at her again like he wished they were back in her cabin, screwing like monkeys.
“Try it,” she said, offering him a spoon.
“This is vanilla. It’s the most popular flavor besides chocolate.”
Relyn put the spoon to his mouth and tasted it. He made a face that said he was not used to the coldness of it, though she wasn’t sure if aliens could get brain freeze or not.
“It has little nutritional value,” Relyn said.
“It’s not supposed to,” she shook her head. “I don’t know. Maybe you’re more of a cheesecake guy. Or savory?”
“I will eat it if you like it,” Relyn said.
Nora sighed. He was missing the point. He didn’t need to like it. She just wanted to know. At least she knew that food taste was not at the top of his priorities.
“I’m not sure we have anything in common,” Nora said. “That’s not a good foundation for a long term relationship,” she muttered.
He took a spoonful of the ice cream and put it in his mouth. Then her pulled her hard against him and put his mouth to hers. His mouth was hot and cold and his tongue was delightfully insistent. So was his cock against her.
