The party was to be held in the central arc of the ship so that the guests could wander as they liked past the exhibits. Ra'hom decorating left something to be desired, in Jewel's opinion. The fashion seemed to be artfully draped fabric and not much else. And the music was, as Kay had warned her, kind of weird, if not terrible. It was pitched down so low that it felt primarily like bass rumble to her, with an odd, wavy melody almost lost in the fuzz. Like listening to a car with jacked up speakers and the bass cranked to eleven roll past your bedroom window at three in the morning playing trance music.

She watched from the glass bow as the second ship docked with the Diviner, tugging at the uncomfortable outfit Kay had insisted she wear, which had long, robe-like sleeves but was short and stiff around the torso, like a strangely shaped, oversized kimono. The second ship was considerably smaller than the Diviner but looked somewhat fancier. Like a luxury cruiseliner alongside an aircraft carrier.

"They are about to start boarding procedure and decontamination," Kay said, stepping up behind her. He was at peak aloofness today, in his longest and most regal robe, standing as tall as possible with his hands folded behind his back and his gaze focused above her head. "Are you nervous?"

"No," Jewel lied instantly. "I'm fine. What do I care about a bunch of snobby aliens?"

"I thought you were aware of the significance of this event," Kay said, looking down to blink at her in mild confusion. "I did not think human memory was so short. The Peritas will have a huge impact on whether you are declared intelligent, and, by extension, how the Ra'hom will treat your planet."

"I know," Jewel said impatiently. "I didn't forget! I'm trying to be cool about it."

"Oh, I see," Kay said. "You are lying to yourself. What a curious habit. Is it common for humans?"

Jewel glared at him.

"You are going to have to get used to these questions if you expect to convince the Peritas that you're an intelligent being," Kay pointed out. "There's no point in getting annoyed."

Jewel huffed, then took a deep breath to calm herself down.

"You're right," she said. "You're always right. I'm nervous, okay? I just wish you'd picked someone a little better at the whole socializing thing to represent my entire species."

"From what I know of your species," Kay said mildly, "none of you are particularly good at it. You were probably the best possible choice."

Jewel started to react in annoyance until, belatedly, she realized he was complimenting her, albeit in a rather backhanded way.

"Thank you?" she said, unsure.

"I should go and greet them as they leave de-con," Kay said, sweeping away. "You should remain out of sight until everyone is settled."

"Fine," Jewel grumbled. "You're the boss."

Kay paused, then he turned back and, bending to catch her chin, kissed her softly.

"Everything is going to be fine," he said and turned away again, leaving her behind, her lips still tingling.

She was tempted to follow him. She'd see how animalistic the Peritas thought she was when she was shaking their hands and complimenting their stuffy robes and doing her best stewardess impression as they got off the plane. But she'd promised to trust Kay with this. She reluctantly did as she was told, lingering behind a pair of draped ombre curtains near the far end of the room.

Kay had prepared a small platform there for her demonstration. She was having a weird sensation of stage fright. She'd never had a problem being in front of people before, but then her life and the fate of her planet hadn't exactly hung in the balance before. She trusted Kay, but she couldn't help wondering what if. What if she messed up? What if it didn't convince them? What if nothing was enough to get through to them?

She realized she wasn't sure what would happen to her. Would she remain an exhibit on the Diviner? A curiosity and nothing more for the rest of her life? The thought was galling but not as unbearable as it had once been. She found it kind of reassuring, truthfully. Even if she messed up, she would have Kay and all the habitats of a thousand worlds to run through, and a computer that could make her anything she wanted, you know, once it had processed a little more of the Earth data and could understand her better. It wouldn't be the end of the world. She was happy here, she realized with a bit of a jolt. Genuinely happy. How long had it been since she'd felt that?

She was smiling, thinking about Kay. Imagining dinner this evening and spending the night with him had brought a genuine smile to her face. And not just the sex either, but just being with him. He made her happy.

She focused back on what was happening as she saw the air rail in the center of the room light up, signaling that someone was riding it in this direction. She watched it through a crack in the curtains, her heart beating faster in spite of herself.

The Peritas arrived in a stately train, floating into the room on the air rail in groups of three and four, a column of beautiful, unearthly beings in gauzy robes which drifted on the air like an image from a fairy tale. The air rail didn't rocket them around as it did her and Kay but carried them forward at an elegant glide.

Their colors mesmerized Jewel. They seemed to come in every shade imaginable, deep blues and dark purples, lime and jade greens, even striking reds and yellows, all of them decorated with bright stripes, striations, speckles, and fades. They were all taller than any human, but in shape, they varied just as much. They were thin and lanky and round and soft and muscular and lean, and not a single shape didn't seem to suit them.

They were, every one, more beautiful than any human Jewel had ever seen. Perhaps spending so much time with Kay had made it easier for her to see past their starkly alien features. Now all she could think was that humanity must seem incredibly plain and shabby in comparison. What must Kay think when he looked at her? An ugly voice in her head replied that he probably thought she was the best he could do in his situation.

The party began, and Jewel watched, spotting Kay among the guests, moving through them with a grace that was formal and yet comfortable, as though he'd been handling such crowds all his life. For all she knew, he had been.

Kay had told her how freely the Ra'hom exchanged physical contact, but she hadn't really imagined it until now, seeing it happen. They were never not touching one another. They stood with their shoulders against their companions, reached out for the arms of those they conversed with, held one another on a whim without a hint of self-consciousness. Even Kay, though he was not embraced as casually as the others, was constantly touched.

He greeted each guest by holding out his arms to them. They would return the gesture, and he would slide his wrists against theirs until their forearms lay flat against one another, then they touched foreheads lightly. He'd greeted her that way before and she recognized it. Though that polite touch of foreheads had usually turned into kissing when he did it with her. More importantly, for the first time, Kay wasn't leaning desperately into the contact. He didn't look pent up and starving as he always did. Jewel felt almost cruel for not noticing before. She'd never been enough. This was what he needed.

The party hadn't been going long before she felt a sudden change in the attitude of the room. There was a sudden tension in the air, and she realized quickly that it was originating from Kay.

Kay stood in front of another Ra'hom. The stranger was a little taller, with deep scarlet skin and white mackerel stripes. They glared at each other with open hostility. The red Ra'hom offered his arms to Kay for the same intimate greeting Kay had shown everyone else. Kay held stubbornly still, refusing him.

"Come now, old friend," the red Ra'hom said. It was the first time this evening the translator had changed anything any of the guests had said into English, and it caught Jewel off guard. She leaned closer curiously. "Have you been isolated so long that you have forgotten common manners? You cannot pretend you are not touch-starved. Or are the rumors true that you have been taking comfort from your clever new pet?"

Kay's eyes narrowed and his tentacles bristled. Jewel was suddenly quite sure she was about to see a fight break out. Another Ra'hom quickly stepped between the two men, saying something the translator wouldn't catch. The third Ra'hom stroked Kay's arms and patted his cheek, smoothing down his hair. Someone else was doing the same for the red one. The two were separated, and Kay, politely excusing himself, hurried back behind the curtains to where Jewel was hiding. She yelped in surprise as, without a word of greeting, he snatched her up and held her close, burying his face in her hair. She hugged him back, running a hand over his tentacles as the other Ra'hom had done.

"What was that about?" she asked when he seemed to have calmed down and loosened his grip a little.

"You may recall," he said, still nuzzling her throat, "the inciting incident of the war I mentioned?"

"Some guy tried to kill you, you killed him first, and he turned out to be important?"

"Yes," Kay confirmed. "That Ra'hom was the failed assassin's hatch mate."

Jewel vaguely remembered Kay's lessons on Ra'hom biology. Of the hundreds of eggs produced when Ra'hom mated, only two ever made it to maturity. The connection between hatch mates was meant to be unbreakable, something like the way humans regarded twins.

"Oh," she said.

"It was he who goaded his hatch mate into attacking me, knowing he would die and trigger a war, for his own political gain."

"Oh." Jewel was abruptly much less sympathetic.

"I did not expect him to be here," Kay said. "I did not expect him to have ascended to the Peritas when his part in the instigation of the war was known. I should have guessed he would continue to climb. It is all he cares about. But still, to face me here, to gloat after what he caused . . ."

"He's a giant dick hole," Jewel provided.

"Indeed," Kay said with a firm nod.

"So the party looks like it's going well so far," Jewel said after a moment. Kay sighed and began to extricate himself from her long coppery hair.

"It is," he said. "Everyone is most excited for the demonstration."

"Why isn't the translator working on them?" Jewel asked. "I could hear the dick hole guy, but everyone else just sounds like they're speaking Ra'hom."

"The translator is only calibrated to my cultural language group," Kay explained. "Which none of the Peritas speak because—"

"Because no one from your cultural group has ever been elevated. I remember," Jewel said with a nod.

"Although the 'dick hole', which is to say the Perita Occidens, has apparently learned it," Kay said bitterly. "Presumably, the better to mock me. Anyway, the translator could not accurately translate a language as different and as little understood as yours to such a large group of people. I will have to translate for you."

"I guess that makes sense," Jewel admitted, though she didn't like it. "Will I need to do the touching thing too? We didn't go over that during the etiquette training. I'm not sure I want to be cuddling all these people."

"No, of course not." Kay chuckled. He looked like he felt better as he set her down. "I doubt most of them would even allow it. You are not even to touch me if they can see it, understood?"

"Oh," Jewel said, uneasy. "Okay. Understood."

"Then it is time to begin," he said. "Are you ready?"

"I think so," she said, taking a deep breath. He straightened her outfit like a fussy parent, frowning.

"You'll do fine," he assured her, slipping easily back into the calm, aloof persona that seemed to be his default. He stepped through the curtains, and raising a hand, he silenced the crowd. Then he gestured for Jewel to follow him.