Page 14 of Breedable Boys from Outer Space
“May I?”
I glanced up to see a man with mint-green skin and blond hair motioning to the spot beside me. I nodded. “Sure.”
He sat, then studied me. “You appear… uncertain.”
I chuckled. “Just not quite what I expected.”
He tilted his head to one side. “Explain?”
“It’s all so fast,” I stated. “Sure, hookups in bars can happen fast, but we usually take a bit more time when we want things to be serious.”
He blinked. “Did Eashai not adequately explain our mating practices?”
I scratched the back of my neck. “It’s one thing to be told, another to see.”
“It is different than your… hookups?”
“Hookups…” I started. “Are all about sex, and rarely turn into anything more. They are meant to be a one-time thing to deal with urges.”
“How odd,” he replied. “There are no desires for a permanent partnership?”
I chuckled. “Sometimes, but it’s usually just lust.”
“How do you find a mate?”
“Meet somebody, date, get to know each other. Lots of people live together for a year or two before deciding to get married.”
“After that, you are mated for life?”
I barked out a laugh. “Not necessarily. People break up for all sorts of reasons. Some will stay together for the rest of their lives, others will go their separate ways.”
He frowned. “And they are alone after that?”
I shrugged. “Sometimes yes, mostly no. Many people try to find somebody else.”
“It seems a strange way of mating.”
I laughed. “This is strange to me.”
He smiled. “It is a common way for us to find mates. Mating gatherings are announced for any to attend. We converse, determine compatibility, and either depart with mates or attend another in the future.”
“Sounds like speed-dating on steroids.”
“I do not understand.”
“We have a similar thing called speed dating. People go to a restaurant or other place, sit with prospective partners for a set period of time, then switch so they meet everybody available. Once done they tell the organizer who they might want to go on another date with, and if they choose each other, then something is set up.”
“Then they… date?”
“Yes.”
“It must be unsettling to spend so much time with the intention of mating, not knowing if it will happen.”
“There’s excitement to it too. Is this one, the one? It takes time to know.”
He shook his head. “I believe I would rather know immediately.”
I forced a smile. “I’m not it, am I?”
