Page 37 of Emerald

Zha mutters something under zha’s breath but nods. "Fine. But if you expect me to sit here and twiddle my thumbs, you've got another thing coming."

For some reason, I don’t like zha’s anger. I want to see wide eyes and hear excited chitters again. They make me want to glow orange, even though what zha says is strange.

"Tell me more about thesetelevision shows, Olivia,” I urge, suddenly excited about how many layers to zha there are.

Zha is too mercurial to be like the slow build of a stalactite, too layered to be like a rock made of earth forces. Something in between.

Zha blinks at me, brow lowering. Then, as if on cue, zha’s eyes brighten, and zha seems to shake off zha's earlier annoyance. "You want to hear about more shows? That’s what you want from me?"

Zha’s tone is confused, though zha’s green eyes are still bright.

"Yes," I respond, more firmly than I intended. "If theseshowscure this… 'boredom,' then it's in both our interests for me to know more about them. You will tell me now."

Olivia smirks and rolls zha’s eyes, making my skin shudder. "All right, all right. Let's see…" Zha pauses, tapping zha's chin thoughtfully. "Oh! Have you ever heard ofRed versus Blue?"

I tilt my head, the words strange and nonsensical. "Red versus blue? Are those two… adversaries? Why would fear and confusion battle one another?"

Zha laughs and shakes zha’s head. "Oh, thank you for letting me know what those colors mean. Not exactly. It's more of a comedy than a serious fight. It's about two teams ofsoldiers, one red, and one blue, who are supposed to be fighting in this huge war. Except, the war doesn't really matter because they're all stuck in this canyon with nothing to do. So, instead of fighting, they just spend most of their time arguing and getting into ridiculous situations."

I blink slowly, absorbing this. "So two emotions do not fight? They just argue? How is that entertaining?"

Olivia’s mouth widens, which I’m starting to realize is zha’s equivalent to orange, clearly enjoying zha’s chance to explain. "Well, they do fight sometimes, but it's mostly about the banter. The red team is always scheming and trying to one-up the blue team, but they're all kind of idiots. And then there's the blue team, who are just as bad but in different ways. It's all about the characters and the stupid things they get into."

I can't help but snort, my skin flickering white with amusement despite myself. "So, you watch a group of incompetent emotion soldiers argue with each other instead of engaging in actual combat? This sounds absurd."

Zha crosses zha’s arms and narrows zha’s eyes at me. "It's funny because it's absurd. It's not supposed to be serious. It's all about the humor in the situation. You'd probably find it funny if you gave it a chance."

I challenge zha with a skeptical look and deep click. "I highly doubt it. My species values precision and efficiency. Wasting time with incompetence is not something we find humorous."

"Not everything has to be about efficiency, though I do enjoy it myself," Olivia says, clearly enjoying zha’s chance to challenge me. "Sometimes, it's just about enjoying the chaos. You could use a little of that, you know. Loosen up a bit."

"Loosen up?" I echo, feeling a flicker of dark purple irritation flash across my skin. "I am perfectly loose."

I wriggle my arms to demonstrate.

Olivia bursts into laughter again and this time I notice that it sounds different. Less harsh.

What is the difference? For once I realize the disadvantage to emotions not being clearly on display. Can I trust this laugh or the other one?

I don’t know.

“Kroaicho,” zha continues, clicks still sounding different. Less strained, maybe? “I like order just as much as anyone else, but chaos is fun. Of all the creatures to end up with on this planet… how is it that you seem to understand even less than I do?”

I narrow my eyes, though the irritation is already dissipating. Zha has a point, even if zha doesn't understand my circumstances. "My life has always been about survival," I say, a bit more quietly. "Gathering treasures, protecting what's mine. That is how I have lived. There is little room for… the opposite ofboredom."

Olivia's expression softens a bit, and zha tilts zha’s head to the side. "I get that. But maybe that's why you should try something different? Like, what do you do for fun? Besides gathering shiny rocks?"

I bristle slightly at zha’s dismissive tone, but I don't let it show. "Treasure hunting is not simply gathering rocks," I say, my voice firm. "It is an ancient tradition of the zhasie. From back before the Sundering.”

“Sundering?” zha asks, brows lowered again.

“Yes. When our world burned and the zhasie shifted our lives to the safety of the caves,” I explain. “There was little left afterward and each item had a history that would have easily been forgotten if not gathered, protected, and passed from zhann to zhannel.”

“Burned? And I thought we had it bad. But I don’t see what that has to do with gathering rocks,” zha clicks back.

“We seek out the rarest, most valuable items to build our hoards. Pull out their stories. It is a matter of pride and status,” I explain, wondering how that isn’t known.

Even the alien travelers seemed to have understood and agreed with that.

---