"Does this mean you don't want an alien concubine?" he asks, blinking innocently.

"You are not an alien relative to me," Isabella points out.

"Well, all right. I want to follow you around the galaxy and help you steal fire from the gods and talk to you and snuggle with you and have sex with you, because I like you and you're fun and I'm going to miss you when you die. What parts of that plan don't you like?"

"The plan does not contain objectionable parts. It - does not have a recognizable shape if I presume those parts are the only ones operative."

"Does it need a recognizable shape? What's missing?"

"It would be easier to think about if it corresponded to something I have a label for. I can't tell if you want to be my - physically affectionate friend - or my sa-kugalsu or something in between."

"Well... yes," he says. "Yes, I want to be one of those things."

"Which of those things?"

"One of them. Something in that range. I'd be more specific if I wanted something more specific but I don't."

"I do not understand."

"Then maybe neither do I. What do you want?"

"I want to know what you are - insinuating, suggesting, asking."

"I keep trying to tell you!" he laughs. "I don't know how else to say it!"

"I will react differently to suggestions of affectionate friendship, offers of - boyfriendhood - and proposals of marriage!"

"But I'm trying to tell you I wouldn't. I mean, I'd feel a little differently about them, but all three are fine."

She peers at him, dumbfounded.

He blinks back at her.

"I am not sure what to make of that. I suppose I could just imagine that you'd been more specific and produce reactions to the individual ideas."

"That sounds like a fine plan to me."

"While it would not have been culturally uncharacteristic for me to have been betrothed at age seven, I do not wish to become so now to a man I met less than two weeks ago. I believe I would find physically affectionate friendship emotionally confusing. I would be willing to be your girlfriend."

"Well, that's simple enough, then," he says with a laugh.

"I suppose it is at that."

Lalita grins.

"And - yes, you can come with me if you want to. How long do you think it will take to rescue your ship and find a new home for her?"

"Not that long. A week, a few months - something in that range."