I walk back to the cabin with Twila, then sit on my bed.

“Umm, Twila?” I ask. She glances up at me from where she was fiddling with a string from her blanket.

“Yeah?” She asks. I place a hand on my bare stomach carefully.

“Umm… I know I said I don’t really want to know about my past lives, but… Do I still, you know, have periods?” I ask hesitantly. My stomach has been hurting today and it feels like cramps did. It’s about the right time for my next period, I just hadn’t thought about the fact I might still have them.

Twila sighs, “You do still have periods.” She says. “Unfortunately. I’m sorry. They seem to be quite painful for you. The good thing is, they only last, like, two days. Maybe a day and a half. With your advanced healing, your body just speeds up the process.” I nod. I guess I kinda expected to still have them, even if it would have been nice to skip. At least it’s shorter though. I push it away for a second and ask Twila what she wants to eat.

“Strawberries?” She says hopefully. I smile.

“Why not?” I ask for strawberries for her and a strawberry and chicken spinach salad for myself.

We’ve just sat down at the table and began eating when Trigger walks in and sits at the open chair and relaxes, his shirt adjusting itself every so often. I can’t help glancing his way when it moves. It’s already showing a bit of the skin by his neck and it’s strangely distracting. I look for something to say that won’t be completely awkward for the moment.

“Umm… I knocked myself over in the water today.” I say, then wince. It sounded like a good conversation starter in my head, not so much out loud though. Twila swallows a bite of her giant strawberries, then nods happily.

“We saw.” She says. “You were getting really good at the waves though! Can you make water float in the air yet?” I shrug.

“I haven’t tried that yet.” I say.

Trigger looks pleased, sitting in the chair next to me. I silently send a command for chocolate to my food replicator. When it dings, I ask Twila to take some of it and give some to me as well. I pause, then offer some to Trigger.

“Does food still taste good to you?” I ask shyly.

“Food does taste good, I just have no craving for it. Thank you.” Trigger takes a couple pieces of chocolate from my hand, and it sends a little shiver up my arm when our skin brushes. He starts sucking on one. I watch for a few seconds longer than strictly appropriate, then turn away and begin eating my own chocolate. All is quiet for a few minutes, then Trigger pops the rest of the chocolate in his mouth and walks out the door briskly. He returns a few moments later with a large stack of various-sized wood chunks, and starts building a fire in the fireplace. I watch, wondering if he will light it or let me do it. My question is answered shortly, as once he has the form built, he turns to look at me.

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“Would you do the honors of lighting the first fire?” He asks me. I nod happily, then stand from my chair and walk closer so I don’t accidentally light anything else. Like, him. That would be bad. I hold out my hands and send a small burst of flame at the fireplace. It catches almost immediately, and Trigger backs away, then spreads his hands to the fire.

I look down at myself and change to sweatpants and a t-shirt. The fire feels nice on my skin, and I happily sit beside Trigger. Twila joins us a few moments later. She snuggles up to me, and I put my wing around her. I debate for a moment, then cautiously reach out with my other wing to put around Trigger. I do my best to present it as an offer, so he can scoot away if he’d like, but I hope he doesn’t. Trigger scoots closer, under my wing, but doesn’t touch me, so I rest my wing on his back, tucking it around his shoulder. It works better when I have them with scales like this. The whole wing shape changes slightly, and it's far more mobile.

We sit like that for some time, I don’t know how long, before Twila rises.

“I think I’m gonna go to bed.” She says, crossing the room and slipping into bed. I watch her, then glance at Trigger. He shows no intention of getting up yet, so I stay, and he scoots a little closer. As he moves, his hand brushes mine. It sends a flicker of warm feeling up my arm, and I watch as his hand settles less than an inch from mine. I hesitate, then slowly brush my pinky finger against his. He looks down and smiles, then moves his hand to rest against mine. I can feel myself blush, but I slowly wiggle my fingers underneath his so his hand covers mine, glancing up to see his reaction. He’s staring into the fire, then turns and smiles gently, gazing into my eyes. I smile, blush, and glance down.

‘Hi,’ I send shyly into his mind.

‘Hi.’ His smile lifts on one corner for a moment. I raise my shoulder, then flicker my shirt to a tank top.

‘I’m getting a little warm,’ I tease.

‘Oh? Looks like you fixed that.’ He winks. I smile, trying not to just be shy. I want to be able to like him, I can like him if I choose, right?

‘I did.’ I shrug happily, rolling my shoulders around. ‘So, what was your life like on Earth?’ I ask Trigger.

‘I was a new lieutenant in the Army, having just graduated from college. I was studying environmental stuff cuz I thought it sounded fun, picked up some classes, one in survival, another in sword fighting, wasn’t sure it would be useful, but here I am, walking an entirely different world, with an angel I just met. Other than that, I've had a pretty boring, average life, had a family, but wasn’t that connected to them, didn’t even have a girlfriend. I wonder how long it would have been before I realized I wasn’t normal if I hadn't been targeted, and instead simply found myself not aging…’ He says. ‘Tell me about your life.’ He brushes his hand gently against my shoulder. I pause.

‘Umm, I don’t know that you want to hear about it... ’ He shrugs.

‘I think I do. There are a lot of things about you I’d like to know better.’ He says.

‘I should probably tell you something.’ I think to him before I catch myself. My heart starts to pound. I didn’t mean to bring this up with him yet, but I’ve already started.

‘I’m listening.’ Trigger’s mental voice sounds gentle, but it doesn’t stop my nerves.