Alf backed away from the advancing women.

“This character has two very large egg sacs.” Isabella hefted her ample breasts as if offering them for inspection. “No barriers to mating here.”

“Such ignorance. Those are not egg sacs.” Darwin the Elf Ranger pushed in front of the curvy human. “I am the second ranked xenobiologist in the galaxy. Not only do I hold the highest specialty ranking of any present, but as a xenobiologist it is my job to study human mating rituals.”

“Your character isn’t even human!” Marie the intimidatingly pretty Asian tried to get around Hannah, but the stout dwarf blocked her with an outstretched arm.

“What does that matter?” Hannah demanded. “I’m the one that saved everyone’s lives. Blix said so herself.”

“You carved out one small room,” Marie shouted.

“You’re not human either.” Isabella shot a look at Marie. “I’m the only human female in the group.”

“My character most certainly is human,” Marie shot back. “Asian is one of the four flavors of human. Some consider it to be the most beautiful of them all.”

“Elves are the most beautiful!” Darwin looked to Alf. “Tell us now. How will you choose?”

“Shhh… Everyone calm down. Breathe.” Alf inhaled and exhaled as an example. “Everyone sit down next to your partners and we’ll figure this out together.”

Alf sat down, resisting the urge to back up as everyone crowded around him. “Coaches, I want you to hold your partner’s hand. Okay?” He looked to Patrick, Uther and Matthew and nodded encouragingly, but to the three roleplayers’ credit, they only showed moderate discomfort in holding their male partner’s hands. “Players, you came to this game to experience a new culture, right? You’re here to experience being human, so we’re going to talk about what that means.”

He swallowed hard and tried to achieve the kind of clinical detachment his mom talked about. “Um… I’m not an expert at human mating. I probably know less than any human here, but for most humans, mating is about much more than procreation.”

You’re supposed to be me! Jane’s voice shouted in his head. Fix this!

“Blix and I have talked a lot,” he quickly added. “Freedom is very precious to humans. One of the worst crimes a human can commit is to force someone to mate against their will. To humans, the idea of not being allowed to mate unless you achieve a certain status is abhorrent. Humans that only think of mating as a form of self-gratification do exist, but they are not well thought of. It’s not the human ideal. And, um…”

Panic started to rise inside his chest, but he focused on Blix, remembered her lying unconscious and bleeding on the ground. “I… Humans want mating to be an expression of their love for someone. Love is about giving, not taking. It’s about wanting the best for someone—even if means putting her needs ahead of my own. I want to take care of her, to grow old with her, to be with her for the rest of my life. So yeah, friendship is more important than mating.

“For now, you should all focus on becoming friends with your partners, on looking out for them and keeping them safe. Consider it mating practice. Love is just like anything else. The more you practice, the better you’ll get. Once you’re at the point where you can truly love someone, where you care about their needs and desires more than your own, then we can talk about mating.”

Darwin raised a fluttering hand. “This is truly possible? This love-greater-than-mating?”

Alf nodded solemnly. “Oh… That meant yes.” He nodded again.

Hopper slowly appeared next to Mouse. She shrank away from the crowd as all eyes focused on her. “Could you…” she said in a timid voice “…show me how?”

Warmth crept into Alf’s face.

“Not with me,” she squeaked. “I meant Blix. You love Blix, right?”

“Hopper,” Mouse spoke in a gentle voice. “That isn’t a question humans ask unless they’re friends.”

“No, it’s okay,” Alf said. “Hopper’s my friend. And, yes… I love Blix. But love isn’t binary. I’m learning to love her more and more and more. Like I said, it’s all about practice. And I…” Alf’s voice trailed off as he realized everyone’s attention had shifted.

Joseph was carrying Blix down from the cave. Something about Joseph’s expression… Had something changed? He looked to Blix, and she averted her eyes. Was that guilt? What had she done? What had they done?

No, he was being ridiculous. She wouldn’t have brought Maddie along if she… were doing anything she wouldn’t have done with Maddie along. But Blix still avoided his eyes.

The young elf carried Blix over to the water and set her down on the rocky bank. He and Maddie stared at her expectantly—like she was the most beautiful creature they had ever seen.

Alf hopped to his feet and walked over to Blix, acutely aware of the hushed crowd following like baby ducks at his heels. “Are you okay?” he said in a hushed voice as he sat down beside her.

Her shoulders rose and fell in a deep sigh. “We need to talk.”

His gut clenched. He wasn’t going to like what came next.

She glanced curiously over his shoulder. Oh no… He realized too late he had never told Hopper he wouldn’t demonstrate love with Blix. His gut clenched even more. Suddenly, he couldn’t breathe.

“I almost died back there,” she said. “I hate being a burden.”

“You’re not a—”

“Let me finish.” She hadn’t exactly raised her voice, but it rang with an unmistakable warning. “You were right. If I had continued the way we’d been, I was going to get us both killed.”

Alf swallowed back the denial that sprang to his lips.

“So…” She looked down at the ground. “I’m a player now. Joseph agreed to my request and Share Played control back to me.”

Alf opened his mouth, but nothing came out. His gut told him this was a bad thing. Now that she didn’t need him anymore… No! After everything he’d said about putting her needs ahead of his own, he’d be a lowlife selfish jerk for even going there. He should be happy for her. “That’s great.” He forced a smile. “I mean… You’ll be able to level up now. And… this way, I mean, anyone could have purchased you at any time, right? This is a good thing. I mean… it was a really smart move. I’m ashamed I never thought of it myself.”

She looked up at him, uncertainty creasing her forehead. “You’re not mad?”

“Of course not.” He was pretty sure he wasn’t lying. “I…”

Whispers sounded behind him. The weight of all those eyes bore down on him.

“Good.” Her uncertain smile wrung all the blood from his heart. “Okay, everybody.” She directed her words over his head. “It’s party time! Coaches, please teach your partners to swim. If you’re uncomfortable with that, find someone to help.” She grabbed the hem of her tunic and, wriggling back and forth, pulled it over her head.

Alf just about choked on his own kidney. He coughed and sputtered while laughter rang out all around him. No, not all around. It was just Blix. Everyone else was silent. Painfully silent.

He looked down at his hands as heat radiated from his face like a lit burner.

Blix leaned into him. “Just tell yourself it’s a bikini.” Her whisper shook with suppressed laughter.

“That’s supposed to make it better?” He forced his head up and looked her in the eye, but his stupid peripheral vision kept overloading his brain. It was just a bikini… No, the medieval underwear was way dowdier than a bikini. He was being ridiculous. The whole situation was ridiculous. But with everyone watching him… How was he supposed to act normal with eight aliens gathered around waiting for him to demonstrate mating? Of course his body was responding. And Blix taking off her clothes made it a million times worse.

“Are you okay?”

Alf nodded. “Sorry, I…” He gasped as he noticed the patch of angry red covering her left side. “Why didn’t you tell me you were hurt?” He scooted around to get a clearer view.

“I’m fine. Those are old.”

“Blix, I…” His throat closed up. Why did she have to be so… He wrapped his arms around her, pressing his hands to the thick, uneven scars. Pain burned into his arms as he willed the major healing into her body.

A soft moan escaped her lips. She’d said it didn’t hurt. The possibility that it might be giving her pleasure made the pain so much easier to endure. He pulled her closer, pressed his lips to the top of her head. Stupid, stubborn Blix.

The pain retreated, leaving only the heady warmth of her presence.

And voices.

Too many voices. Words like love and mating whispered way too loud. Sometime he needed to have the coaches teach their players the point of whispering.

“I need to tell you something,” he murmured to the top of her head.

“Okay?”

“Later. When we don’t have an audience.”

She nodded. “What did you say to them, anyway? They haven’t taken their eyes off you this entire time.”

“That’s what I need to talk to you about.”

* * *

Name: Jane

Level: 7

Class: Paladin

Health: 123/225

Stamina: 137/210

Mana: 574/784

Exp: 101/3600

Attr Points: 3

Skill Points: 3

ST: 14

DX: 16

CN: 15

IQ: 28

CH: 16

Combat Skills:

Faire du Canne 7: (Effective Skill: 10.5, Basis: ST+DX, Enhancement: 31.5%)

Grappling 1: (Effective Skill: 1.47, Basis: 2ST+DX, Enhancement: 4.4%)

Swordsmanship 5: (Effective Skill: 7.67, Basis: 2DX+ST, Enhancement: 23.0%)

Archery 1: (Effective Skill: 1.53, Basis: 2DX+ST, Enhancement: 4.6%)

Non-Combat Skills:

Woodcrafting 1: (Effective Level: 2.2, Basis: DX+IQ, Enhancement: 6.6%)

Lock Picking 1: (Effective Level: 1.6, Basis: DX, Enhancement: 4.8%)

Command Attention 1: (Effective Level: 2.2, Basis: CH+IQ, Enhancement: 6.6%)

Spells: (Basis IQ)

Minor Healing 5: (EL: 14, Cost: 25, Freq: unlimited, Effect: 42 points)

Major Healing 2: (EL: 5.6, Cost: 35, Freq: 1/hr, Effect: 200cc tissue regen)

Taunt 1: (EL: 1.6, Cost: 5, Freq: 1/min, Effect: 4.8%)