Tempest stared at Dron for what seemed like a long time.

She was anxious to hear what he had to say. She liked to think that she was a good judge of character but that practice was only with humans. Plus there was still so much she didn’t know about Dron. He could tell her anything right now, and she would believe it.

"Alright, here it goes." Dron shifted in his seat, getting a little more comfortable. "I am trained in over thirty different forms of combat, I like to take long walks, I don’t like big crowds."

Tempest quickly, through the process of elimination, got rid of what she knew to be true. He did hate big crowds mostly because those crowds were jerks to him.

The other two she was hesitant on.

She knew he was a military man, so it was quite possible for him to be trained in all those different forms of combat.

The walks, she wasn’t sure about. When she suggested that they go exploring he seemed a bit put off by the prospect.

Tempest shrugged, "I’m going with the different forms of combat being true and the hating big crowds being true."

Dron nodded his head. "Yes, the long walks are a lie."

Tempest shook her head. Dron was fit. And the area was beautiful. How is it that he could be against walking.

"Why is that? I mean, the only people I’ve ever seen who hate walking are those that have some sort of physical reason." She looked him up and down to further punctuate her point.

"I’ve been in the military since I was a young man. Years and years of patrolling. Of marching. I’ve had enough long walks to last more than three lifetimes." Dron clenched his jaw.

Tempest could understand that. If she’d been forced to walk long distances for most of her life she probably wouldn’t be too fond of it either. "Alright, it’s your turn to guess." She tapped her finger against her chin. She wanted to give a good one. "I don’t like mornings. I always thought I’d be working with children. I wanted to be professional ballerina when I was a kid."

Dron tilted his head waiting for his translator to complete. Tempest wondered if he even knew what a ballerina was. Did they have the arts here? She would have to ask.

"The lie is the ballerina comment." Dron answered almost too quickly.

Tempest startled, "How did you know that?"

Dron narrowed his eyes at her, "I thought I was supposed to ask the question if I got it right. Am I wrong?"

"No, you got it right. I’m just curious how you knew so quickly."

"It’s simple. You have told me on many occasions that you’re not a fan of being in the spotlight. Based on the translation, a ballerina is an artist who performs in front of many, many people for applause. It doesn’t mix with your personality."

"So you don’t think it has anything to do with my lack of talent?" Tempest teased.

"I’m sure you are the best dancer I’ve ever seen. I just think that you’d rather be dancing in private instead of for an audience."

Tempest laughed. He got that right. Dancing in front of people gave her hives.

"May I ask my question now?" Dron waited.

"Go on."

"Remember you said you have to be truthful..."

Tempest nodded, she wasn’t going to cheat. As long as the man wasn’t asking her to divulge government secrets she had no problem opening up to him a bit.

"Did you truly mean to pick me at the choosing, or did you press the indicator too late?"

Tempest’s shoulders deflated, and she could feel the sadness wrapping around her. As brusque as Dron was he wasn’t a bad person. He’d spent so long with people telling him that he wasn’t worthy, she was sure it didn’t matter what she did; he would never believe that she truly chose him.

"Dron, I didn’t make a mistake. I wasn’t trying to trick you. It’s true that I made a calculated decision but it wasn’t because of what the others were saying about you. I chose you because I saw something in you that connected to me. We may be from two completely different worlds, but I can see what kind of man you are, even if you try your hardest to hide it."

Dron stared for a moment as if he were trying to process what Tempest had just said. He nodded once and looked down, "Your turn to guess." He muttered, trying to move the game along. "I like spicy foods, I like to fly among the trees, I have three siblings."

That was almost too easy. She’d gotten the information from Gerax in the very beginning when she’d first chosen Dron to be her husband. He was an only child. His mother didn’t even try to bear any more children, and no one forced her to after she’d started to lose her mind.

Dron had always been alone. It was so sad.

"I don’t even have to think about that. You don’t have any siblings."

Dron nodded his head to let her know that she was right. It was time for her question.

"Do you hate me?"

It was a simple question but valid. With Dron’s mood swings it was hard for Tempest to get a real bead on how he felt about her. She knew at one point he thought she was some type of spy. Then he thought she was a trick the higher ups put here for him. She didn’t know what he felt about her now. All she knew was he spent hours away from her as if he were avoiding her. As if he hated even being in her presence.

"No, I don’t hate you. I fear you."

Tempest startled. That was not what she expected him to say. "Fear me? How could you fear me? I’m no match for you."

"No not physically. I’m stronger than you but that is not what I have to fear. You could destroy me. All my life I’ve waited for someone to, like you say, connect with. Waited for someone who would look at me and not see a monster. I want to believe that you are someone like that. Someone I can just feel free with but if I’m wrong, if you are just more of the same then just having the hope will be my downfall. When all of this is over I could be a broken man. I’m scared that you’ll walk out of my life like I know you should and I won’t recover. You could possibly be the best thing that has ever happened to me and you’re only temporary." Dron kept her gaze for a second.

Tempest wanted to reach over and touch him. Wanted to promise him that she would never leave him on his own but that would be a lie. She would leave. They were already working on a plan to get her back to earth. She didn’t want to lie to him but that didn’t mean that she didn’t feel bad about it. It was heartbreaking.

"My turn to guess." Dron muttered.

Tempest nodded her head and looked away for a second not wanting to become overly emotional at his revelation. She was fighting a losing battle.

Tempest tried to think of something that Dron wouldn’t guess but she was still in her feelings. She knew that she shouldn’t but no matter how hard she tried not to she couldn’t help but feel deeply for Dron. It wasn’t love, it was need of connection. She wanted to be closer to him. Not just what she knew about him but physically.

"I’m a gemini, I love swimming in the ocean, I want to kiss you." Her cheeks burned at the last statement. She was giving him an opening. Even if he didn’t know it was there.

"Gemini is translating to an indicator for star signs for when you were born, is that what you meant?"

"Yes." Tempest breathed. He was focusing on the wrong part. So much for him taking the hint.

"Give me a moment, I have to do some calculations." He pulled up his device and started looking through something.

Tempest flopped back against the couch. She hadn’t meant to make this a science experiment. She nearly laughed at herself for thinking that Dron would catch on to the desire that was building inside of her.

"Okay, I’m ready now." Dron nodded his head and dropped his hand back to his side.

"I’m going with you swimming in the ocean being false." He raised an eyebrow. It was a guess.

"Very true. I love nature, but only when I can see it. I don’t know if you all have vast oceans like we do on Earth, but back home there are large animals under the water. Scary." She chuckled, trying to lighten the mood.

His face didn’t crack as he stared at her.

"Will you teach me how to kiss? I’d like to learn."

Tempest’s laugh squeaked and cut off in her throat.

"You want to kiss me?"

"One of your truths was that you wanted to kiss me. I want to give you what you want. I don’t know how to do that. If you gave me some instruction, maybe told me what to expect, I could try it. Will I die?"

"No, you won’t die. It’s pleasurable." Tempest spoke softly. She’d forgotten to keep breathing while he explained himself.

"Then I would like to learn. How do I do it?"

Tempest had never had to teach anyone how to kiss before. She wanted to make sure that she did it right. She was sure that it could be overwhelming, especially for someone who had never done it before.

"I’ll need to get closer to you." She looked in his eyes, waiting for him to give permission.

He nodded, and she rose on her knees and scooted as far over to him as she could. "Now I have to touch you." Tempest felt silly going through every one of her motions with him, but she knew that he needed to have some sort of control in the situation.

Her heart hammered in her chest. She might want to go home, but she also wanted Dron. She couldn’t deny it any longer.

Dron nodded again, giving her permission to touch him. She laid a hand on his shoulder and the other on the back of his neck. He was tense, unsure.

"I’m going to press my lips to yours now." She started moving closer, but Dron backed away.

"Should I have a lot of saliva in my mouth?"

Tempest giggled, "No, please don’t. There should be very minimal fluid transfer." She explained. "Just try to follow along with what I’m doing. And don’t bite me..." She tilted her head, getting closer to his lips, "not hard."

The air around them seemed to crackle with tension.

Tempest slowly pressed her lips to his, and the crackle turned into a full-blown raging inferno.

He nodded stiffly again, waiting for her.