Page 39 of Dealing With Drak

“I know I am not,” he tells me, a faint twinkle in his eye. “If I were cursed, I would not be on Urth with my good friend An-nana.”

I snicker at his ability to see the bright side of things. The fact that he sees me as something bright is amusing too.

“You know, if we’re friends, you should probably know how to say my name right,” I tell him, starting to poke at the fire with my long stick.

“I know how,” he refutes the implication immediately.

“You say it wrong all the time,” I disagree. “It’s Anna. Not An-nana.”

“This is what I call you,” Drak defends. “An-na is too short, it is not fitting for you.”

I have to laugh at his audacity. “And you think you know me well enough to rename me, do you?”

His nose scrunches. “I do not rename you. I call you An-nana, so I do not have to stop saying your name so quickly. Do you wish me to stop?”

My jaw drops open. He says my name wrong so he can say it longer? Who… who even does something like that?

“Is that seriously why you say it that way?” I ask, needing further confirmation.

“I speak truly,” he grunts, inflating his chest. “I thought of calling you An-nana-nana, but it jumbled my tongue.”

When I blink at him, he tilts his head.

“Do you wish me to stop?” he repeats.

“No,” I decide, shaking my head. “An-nana is fine, Drak.”

“Good.”

“And I meant what I said,” I reiterate. “You aren’t cursed, and you’ll make some girl really lucky when your chest lights up for her. You’ll be a good mate.”

His eyes bore into mine. “You mean this in truth?”

“Yeah, Drak. I do.”

I really do.

15

Drak

An-nana has surprised me many times on this day and the sun is still in the sky. Perhaps the most shocking thing she has done is speak so plainly with me about mating. We have never discussed the topic before, and I am glad I now know that we can.

I feel as though our friendship has grown a great deal on this day, and it pleases me immensely. There are many things I would like to ponder over while sharing words with An-nana. As a different species, there is much for her to teach me. And me, her.

We allow our puny hu-nim fire to burn for many moments, even as the sun begins to shift downward. I believe there are hours of sunlight to remain, but not many. When I offer to burn down a patch of trees to gain more attention from afar, An-nana does not accept. In fact, she is rather startled by the suggestion.

“Absolutely not,” she snarls at me. I adore how her lip curls up with anger. I do not understand her fury, but it is beautiful nonetheless.

Blinking, I tell her, “I mean no offense, Mean One.”

An-nana drops her rigid shoulders and sighs. “I know you didn’t. But Drak, you can’t burn down a forest. What if there are people hiding in there?”

“I hear no hu-nims,” I assure her.

“What if they’re hiding too close to the water and you can’t hear them over it,” she challenges, only her voice is not snappy and harsh, it is soft. “Or what if they’re undergroun—” Her eyes widen and light up, the white bits flashing brightly. “Oh, fuck!”

“What is wrong?” I immediately inquire, worry creeping in.

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