Page 48 of Rizzed Up By My Alien Neighbor
“Morning,” he says back.
The air stills. The world hushes. The lily is heavy in my hand, warm where the note rested.
I swallow. “Thank you for the flower.”
He inclines his head, cool blue eyes scanning me as though he’s reading an encrypted signal. “I thought it might... brighten your… human cycle.”
“Cycle?”
He blinks. “Your day.”
I suppress a shudder at that odd phrasing. "Yes. It did."
I hold the note out to him, like an offering: “It’s... beautiful. Where did you find lilies like this?”
“They grow in my world,” he says softly. Then pauses. “So I brought you one that I cultivated... locally.”
His eyes flick to the petals, then back to me.
“You cultivate flowers?”
He styles a thoughtful look. “Yes. I apply agricultural micro-conditioning using scanned data and seed plasmid replication.”
I blink. “So, you grow them yourself?”
He glances down, expression unreadable. “Yes… for you.”
I’m silent. That phrase—for you—rocks my chest with gravity.
The breeze picks up, rustles leaves. Hyde Park birds chirp distant chatter. Sun arcs upward.
I want to ask a hundred follow-ups. About world-grown seeds. About what cycle means. About him. His voice is quiet, soft—but when filtered through his odd cadence, everything carries deeper weight.
I say, “That line... it’s nice. The lantern thing.”
He nods. “I found it in local anthology on your compad reference stack. Poetry is... universal.”
“Universal,” I echo. The word tastes wise and heavy.
He shifts weight from one foot to the other. “I am practicing kindness.”
I smile, uncoiling from weeks of burdened expectation. “I see that.”
He pauses, expression vulnerable for a fraction—a practiced Vulcan guard dropping.
Then he straightens. “I will... leave you in peace.”
I swallow. Leave me in peace?
“No,” I whisper. “Please don’t.”
He tilts his head, surprised. The line between human and warrior blurs.
“Yes,” I add firmly. “Please don’t.”
He exhales faintly. “Then I will continue.”
His shoulders relax—almost a sigh. A victory that humbles more than any conquest.
