Off, like it was him but not quite." Huh. Crap, this is gettin' ta be a maze o' twisty li'l passages, all alike. Jus' promise me ya won't go inta any ...ark corners of the lines so ya don't get eaten by a grue or somethin'."Cassie did not catch the reference, but her lips twitched into a tiny smile anyway, as if seizing any excuse to do so. She uttered a slow sigh and slid a hand into his jacket and over his chest, a small shiver passing through her which had nothing to do with her repressed. .. normal. They fussed and cut cake and spread spreads and generally played mother toeach other that eventually had them both smiling and shaking their headsas they sat across from one another at the kitchen table and recognisedjust how silly they must look. But that look was enough to start a re-connection. Both in a few secondslooked into the other and saw what it was that had started a friendshipand then love. A knowing and understanding of who it was that satopposite, separate and yet. Thickman once or twice. The way he looked at me earlier… Thinking back on the exchange, I don’t understand why Dr. Thickman looked at me the way he did. I’m not much to look at, an underwhelming five-feet-two-inches, shaped like a twelve-year-old boy. My auburn hair is in a neat but loose braid and a headband, so it isn’t even framing my dull hazel eyes or uneven freckles. I’m not pretty. But maybe if I try… I move to a table that is directly within his line of sight. He’s reading the back. The scent of it saturated his nostrils.“Come on,” Rachele says again in a sweet voice as she wiggles her hips teasingly. “It won’t bite,” she jokes.The alien pokes his tongue out half way, and then with a bit of resolve, all the way out. He makes a timid, brisk lick that barely skims her inner folds. Rachele doesn’t even seem to notice it. He pauses for a moment while he evaluates the brief experience. The contact was so glancing that his tongue hadn’t even registered any taste. Cautiously, he.