Page 40 of Accounting for Taste

He smiled.“Good.For me, lust is white.”

She looked at the silvery pale streaks in his skin.“Oh.Got it.”

He cradled her head and kissed her again.“Your cousin is eager to see you.”

“Yeah.Wait.What do I look like?”

He chuckled.“Mostly the same.The majority of differences are internal.”

“My brain is back together?”

“It is.You will slowly return to the self I have never met.I am very interested in meeting the result.”

He released her, took her hand, and walked her down a few sets of stairs when they crossed to a gathering area.Jasmine was there, and she sprinted over, yelling, “Reem!”

Reem stepped forward and looked down at her cousin.“So, that is one change.”

“Whoa.You grew a foot.”

“You are just jealous because you are stubby.”She hugged her cousin.“You made it, Jaz.”

“You made it, too, with a chunk of helicopter in your skull.I know that is the way you wanted to go out.”

Reem felt her mouth curving, and then she started laughing—a rusty, unused laugh that made Jaz burst into tears.She giggled.“Nailed it.That was the way I wanted to go out, and I went, bought the t-shirt, and now I am back.”

Jaz laughed and sobbed at once.“You’re back.”

Reem ruffled her hair.“Yay.I am back.”

Jaz held onto her like she was trying to squeeze out a prize.Wenvari tried to intervene, but Reem shook her head and stroked Jaz’s hair.When she lifted her head to smile, Reem smiled back at her.It set off another wave of crying, but she was able to stop herself, and Reem wiped her tears.“You have me living as a relative somewhere in the universe.With a little notice, you can come and visit if you like.”

“Why notice?”

“I have a one-bedroom apartment.”

Wenvari said, “You can keep it for guests, but you won’t be needing it.”

Reem looked at him, and he was giving her a bland expression.His expression was matter-of-fact.

Reem tried something, and she found his ship above them getting ready for the push home.“We are leaving?”

Wenvari grinned.“You can still use computers.”

“Yeah.Answer my question, flappy.”

He blinked.“Flappy?”

Jaz muttered, “Don’t piss them off.Hmrain are usually calm, but they can be unpredictable.”

“What is the reference forflappy?”

Jaz said, “I think she meant the sound and motions your wings make while flying.”

“She has never seen me fly.”

“She was trying not to call you something objectionable, so she used a verb.”

Reem nodded.“What she said.”

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