New York: Allie's War, Early Years

"You didn't have to kiss me like that to make your point." He paused, his eyes on mine deliberately. "You liked it. As much as I did."

I felt my jaw harden a little.

But I couldn't exactly argue with him. I'd opened the door on the whole topic anyway, asking him about the kiss, telling him I thought he was cute...if crazy. I remembered what I'd read about seers being oversexed, about them having some kind of biologically-driven, impulse-control issues. It was why so many of them ended up as prostitutes...apparently the majority of them had the libido of your average human nymphomaniac.

I glanced at the door to the bedroom we'd passed, almost without realizing I'd done it.

When I looked back, I saw him raise an eyebrow at me, smiling faintly.

"You've got to be kidding," I said. "Is that what this is about?"

"What?" he said.

"Sex," I said. "Did you bring me back here to get laid?"

He stared at me blankly for a minute.

Then his eyes shifted to the bedroom, too. He looked back at me a second later, and that time, I saw his gaze focus on my mouth, but only briefly. He was shaking his head then, clicking softly again as he looked back at the fire. Even so, I saw his jaw harden.

"We can't make love, Allie," he said. "I can't make you forget that..."

At the look on my face, his skin darkened more.

"...I mean it involves too much of our light," he clarified. "I can't erase something that affects your aleimi like that. Even if I could get most of it, it would be far too risky. I have no idea what that would do to you, to have sex with a fully-trained seer. It's not an experiment I'm willing to risk." Shrugging again, he kept his voice polite when he added,

"...Not that I'm against the idea in principle. Sometime in the future, maybe...when you have received some training, and if you're not adverse...I would like that very much."

Folding my arms, I laughed a little.

"Whatever race you are," I said. "You're a bona fide headcase. You know that, right?"

His expression didn't change, but I saw his mouth harden slightly.

"I had hoped we might be friends, Allie," he said. "Later. When you remember who and what you are."

"Friends?" Leaning deeper into the couch, I quirked an eyebrow, grinning faintly.

"Yes, Alyson." He met my gaze. "Friends."

"Do you sleep with all of your friends?"

"Some of them," he said, giving me another irritated look. His eyes shifted away then, his voice turning gruff. "...And you kissed me. I just kissed you back."