Page 86 of Dealing With Drak

“And I feel nothing when I look at males,” I chime, grinning. “So, yes, I am sure. I am only curious because we are different. You do not have to answer.”

“Well, if you’re curious about human cock, you’ve pretty much got an expert,” he jokes, shaking his head. “Most guys are proportionate. Some are smaller, some are bigger. None of them are as big as any of you, I imagine. A boner would probably make them pass out with your size.”

“Bo-ner?”

“Boner just means erection. Like, when you get hard?”

“Ah.” Another silly hu-nim word.

“Why do you say you are an expert?” Lovan wonders aloud. “Do you study male anatomy on your planet?”

Cay-leb finds this hilarious and shows it by laughing loudly.

“I mean, no, but yes?” He chuckles some more. “For one thing, I have my own. I also had a brother, so there’s that. But I’m gay, and that’s where most of my expertise comes in.”

“Gay means he wishes to mate with males,” I exclaim, boasting my knowledge happily.

Lovan looks struck by this information. Like the breath has been kicked from his lungs, and he does not know how to react. “You do?”

Cay-leb seems to stiffen. “Yeah? Got a problem with that?”

“N-no,” Lovan sputters in his response. “I… it is nice.”

The mood softens, and my smile grows. I do not know if Lovan covets males as Cay-leb does, but I believe that he may. I am very glad I thought of this. If Cay-leb finds love here, it will make my An-nana even happier than she already is.

And that is what I strive for.

“I am sorry that you have lost a brother,” Lovan tells him sincerely. “Are you in grief?” Like he has realized the question might be too personal, his big black eyes widen. When he opens his mouth to apologize, Cay-leb interrupts.

“I’m not,” he admits. “Maybe I should be, but he’s been gone for months. Honestly, I’d already come to terms with the idea of dying alone without ever seeing my family again. My dad and brother died right in front of me, you know? It was tough at the time, and I was properly fucked up for weeks over it.”

Cay-leb sighs, shaking my head. “It’s complicated, I guess. None of my siblings have any love lost for our father. He’s been slowly losing all of us over the years, but Landon—our brother—didn’t deserve to die. He was… good. I miss him, sure, but I’m just happy to have Anna back and to be off that godforsaken planet.”

“Mourning is difficult,” I reply simply, patting his shoulder with a firm hand. “An-nana did not want to believe you were all gone, but part of her had prepared her heart for the possibility. I think this is why she has not become broken since learning Lan-don is gone. Plus, she is so thrilled to have found you.”

Cay-leb smirks. “Yeah, I’ve always been her favorite.”

The three of us share a chuckle, keeping the mood from becoming gloomy.

“Now, tell me, how do hu-nim males mate with hu-nim males?”

Cay-leb looks mortified until he senses my teasing. I do not truly wish for him to explain such personal things in the presence of such a new friend.

“I’m going to start telling the Aprixian kids that ‘dork’ is English for ‘Deadly’ so they run around calling you Drak The Dork.”

I throw my head back and laugh, Cay-leb is funny.

Lovan chuckles, too, his eyes lighting up like stars in the deep skies.

Perhaps they should call me Drak The Matchmaker.

EPILOGUE

Drak

Three Months Later

My An-nana is not having a very good day.

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