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Authors: Anne McCaffrey, Elizabeth Moon
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low-voiced wonder. Suave Abrek, who assumed that any woman he fancied would promptly swoon into his arms—despite frequent rebuffs and snide remarks from all the women cadets.
She wasn't even sure what she wanted. She and Caris, in the old days, watching Carin Coldae re-runs, had planned extravagant sexual adventures: all the handsome men in the galaxy, in all the exotic places, in the midst of saving planets or colonies or catching slavers. Was handsome really better? Liami seemed to have just as much fun with the plain as the handsome. And Abrek, undeniably handsome, but all too aware of it, was no fun at all. What kind of attraction was that kind, and not just the ordinary sort that made some people a natural choice for an evening of study or workouts in the gym? Or was the ordinary sort enough?
In the midst of this confusion of mind, she noticed that she was choosing to spend quite a bit of time with Marik Delgaesson, a senior cadet from somewhere on the far side of known space. She hadn't realized that human colonies spread that far, but he looked a lot more human than the heavyworlders. Brown eyes, wavy dark hair, a slightly crooked face that gave his grin a certain off-center appeal. Not really handsome, but good enough. And a superior gymnast, in both freeform and team competitions.
Sass thought about it. He might do. When their festival rotations came up at the same shift, and he asked her to partner him to the open theater production, she decided to ask him. It was hard to get started on the question, so they were halfway back to the Academy, threading their way between brightly-decorated foodstalls, when she brought it up. He gave her a startled look and led her into a dark alley behind one of the government buildings.
"Now. What did you say?" In the near dark, she could hardly see his expression.
Her mouth was dry. "I . . . I wondered if you'd . . . you'd like to spend the night with me."
He shook his head. "Sass, you don't want that with me."
"I don't?" Reading and conversation had not prepared her for this reaction to a proposal. She wasn't sure whether she felt insulted or hurt.
"I'm not. . . what I seem." He drew his heavy brows down, then lifted them in a gesture that puzzled Sass. People did both, but rarely like that.
"Can you explain that?"
"Well . . . I hate to disillusion you, but—" And suddenly he wasn't there: the tall, almost-handsome, definitely charming cadet senior she'd known for the past two years. Nothing was there—or rather, a peculiar arrangement of visual oddities that had her wondering what he'd spiked her mug with. Stringy bits of this and that, nothing making any sense, until he reassembled suddenly as a very alien shape on the wall. Clinging to the wall.
Sass fought her diaphragm and got her voice back. "You're—you're a Weft!" She felt cold all over: she had wanted to embrace that ?
Another visual tangle, this time with some parts recognizable as they shifted toward human, and he stood before her, his face already wistful. "Yes. We . . . we usually stay in human form around humans. They prefer it. Though most don't prefer the forms we choose quite as distinctly as you did."
Her training brought her breathing back under full control. "It wasn't your form, exactly."
"No?" He smiled, the crooked smile she'd dreamed about the past nights. "You don't like my other one."
"I liked you ," Sass said, almost angrily. "Your—your personality—"
"You liked what you thought I was—my human act." Now he sounded angry, too, and for some reason that amused her.
"Well, your human act is better than some who were born that way. Don't blame me because you did a good job."
"You aren't scared of me?"
Sass considered, and he waited in silence. "Not scared, exactly. I was startled, yes: your human act is damn good. I don't think you could do that if you didn't have some of the same characteristics in your own form. I'm not—I don't—"
"You
She wasn't even sure what she wanted. She and Caris, in the old days, watching Carin Coldae re-runs, had planned extravagant sexual adventures: all the handsome men in the galaxy, in all the exotic places, in the midst of saving planets or colonies or catching slavers. Was handsome really better? Liami seemed to have just as much fun with the plain as the handsome. And Abrek, undeniably handsome, but all too aware of it, was no fun at all. What kind of attraction was that kind, and not just the ordinary sort that made some people a natural choice for an evening of study or workouts in the gym? Or was the ordinary sort enough?
In the midst of this confusion of mind, she noticed that she was choosing to spend quite a bit of time with Marik Delgaesson, a senior cadet from somewhere on the far side of known space. She hadn't realized that human colonies spread that far, but he looked a lot more human than the heavyworlders. Brown eyes, wavy dark hair, a slightly crooked face that gave his grin a certain off-center appeal. Not really handsome, but good enough. And a superior gymnast, in both freeform and team competitions.
Sass thought about it. He might do. When their festival rotations came up at the same shift, and he asked her to partner him to the open theater production, she decided to ask him. It was hard to get started on the question, so they were halfway back to the Academy, threading their way between brightly-decorated foodstalls, when she brought it up. He gave her a startled look and led her into a dark alley behind one of the government buildings.
"Now. What did you say?" In the near dark, she could hardly see his expression.
Her mouth was dry. "I . . . I wondered if you'd . . . you'd like to spend the night with me."
He shook his head. "Sass, you don't want that with me."
"I don't?" Reading and conversation had not prepared her for this reaction to a proposal. She wasn't sure whether she felt insulted or hurt.
"I'm not. . . what I seem." He drew his heavy brows down, then lifted them in a gesture that puzzled Sass. People did both, but rarely like that.
"Can you explain that?"
"Well . . . I hate to disillusion you, but—" And suddenly he wasn't there: the tall, almost-handsome, definitely charming cadet senior she'd known for the past two years. Nothing was there—or rather, a peculiar arrangement of visual oddities that had her wondering what he'd spiked her mug with. Stringy bits of this and that, nothing making any sense, until he reassembled suddenly as a very alien shape on the wall. Clinging to the wall.
Sass fought her diaphragm and got her voice back. "You're—you're a Weft!" She felt cold all over: she had wanted to embrace that ?
Another visual tangle, this time with some parts recognizable as they shifted toward human, and he stood before her, his face already wistful. "Yes. We . . . we usually stay in human form around humans. They prefer it. Though most don't prefer the forms we choose quite as distinctly as you did."
Her training brought her breathing back under full control. "It wasn't your form, exactly."
"No?" He smiled, the crooked smile she'd dreamed about the past nights. "You don't like my other one."
"I liked you ," Sass said, almost angrily. "Your—your personality—"
"You liked what you thought I was—my human act." Now he sounded angry, too, and for some reason that amused her.
"Well, your human act is better than some who were born that way. Don't blame me because you did a good job."
"You aren't scared of me?"
Sass considered, and he waited in silence. "Not scared, exactly. I was startled, yes: your human act is damn good. I don't think you could do that if you didn't have some of the same characteristics in your own form. I'm not—I don't—"
"You
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