Page 18 of Malliko
“Have you had dishonest mates?”
“Partners, Malliko. We don’t call people our mates here. It’s something you would say about animals.”
“Alright. And you’re not into animal sex?”
“Nooo.” She sounded highly offended. “Why would you ask that? Do I look like someone who is into bestiality?”
“It’s a kink that some people have and since you are half human, I couldn’t be sure. I actually learned about bestiality today, and did you know that it used to be quite normal in the olden days when people lived isolated and had more animals?”
Crossing her arms, Tania tilted her head. “I’m not surprised, but humans did a lot of disgusting things in the olden days whenthey didn’t know any better. Now we are more civilized. It’s illegal, Malliko.”
“Yes, Clara told me that much. At first, I thought that it must be because of the dangers of cross-species breeding but I looked it up and Earthlings are protected from that somehow.”
“Thank God,” Tania said and made a face.
“I wonder if you’re protected from cross-species breeding with alien races. Eidrons and humans are clearly compatible, but that isn’t too surprising to me as we are both from the same ancestors.”
“Do you see yourself as a different species from humans?” Tania asked me. “Eidrons and humans are humanoid. We’re the same species. If we weren’t we couldn’t create children together.”
“Yes, but…” I paused and looked at her. “We are similar in looks and DNA, but there are massive differences in culture and mental capacities. Humans have that ego thing to keep them confused.”
Tania jerked her head back. “We’re not confused.”
“Then maybe I haven’t understood the concept of ego correctly,” I said.
She frowned and threw up her hands. “Okay, so maybe we’re confused sometimes, but I’ve met plenty of aliens and some of you people seem to have a greater ego than us humans.”
“How so?”
“You can be proud and boastful.”
“Is that connected to ego?”
“Yes.” She pulled at her lower lip. “At least I think so. I’m not sure.”
“Tell me more about your preferences in your dating life. Honesty and what else?”
Tania fiddled with her sleeve. “Oh, the list is quite long and that’s probably the problem. Because of my height, I don’t have a dating pool as big as other women.”
“Why? Do men not like tall women here?”
“Most men prefer women who are shorter than themselves and to be honest, I prefer someone who is taller than me. With my six feet one, that’s a limited field.”
“Then you need to consider an Eidron man. We’re all tall.”
“Been there, done that, and it didn’t work out. I’m staying away from aliens from now on. A long-distance relationship on Earth is hard enough but having a partner on another planet is a guaranteed heartbreak.”
“You could go with him, couldn’t you?”
Standing up, Tania gave me a hard stare. “I’m not sleeping with you, Malliko, so you can stop trying to sell the idea that we have a future together. I’m not that naïve anymore.”
I gaped at her before defending myself. “I wasn’t talking about me. I’m sorry if I gave you that impression.”
She was almost by her door but turned around and glanced at me. “Good. Because I’m not interested in you that way.”
“Perfect, because I’m not interested in you that way either.”
We stood watching each other from a distance for a moment and then she said, “Obviously, I can see that you’re attractive. I’m not blind. I’ve just learned my lesson.”
