I haven't gotten a lot done these past few days. It's not like I've just been sitting around and waiting for Jade to show up—for the most part, anyways. It's just hard to focus when I know he could waltz into my territory at any time.

  Finally, as I'm fussing about a clearing, moving rocks around to make traversing it a little easier, a murmuring in the trees alerts me of something. He's here. I drop what I'm doing and dash in his direction.

  He's milling about the edge of my territory, a whole satchel with him this time. I hop down from the trees and land in front of him, but he isn't even startled.

  "Took you long enough." I turn away. "Follow me. Let's go somewhere more private." Ugh, that sounded suggestive.

  "More private from who?" He asks as he trails behind me. "Does someone else live here?"

  "No, but it's still out in the open. A human or nymph could easily wander in on us."

  "I guess that's true." Jade is quiet for a moment. "What do you think of me being a human? Do you think it's weird we're doing this together?"

  He makes it sound like something promiscuous. "Yeah, kinda."

  "Oh..."

  "But it's whatever. I don't care what other nymphs think of me," I lie. "I do what I want, when I want."

  "I wish I was more like you."

  "Yeah, lotta nymphs do." My den steadily emerges through the overgrowth. It's well hidden, deep in my territory and just below the tree line.

  The outside is woven tightly from branches and supported by trunks from surrounding trees. Round entrances and windows pepper the walls, allowing access from different heights. Unlike my parents' den, I made sure mine had a roof, though only the part above my bed is fully waterproof. We nymphs like rain and all, but I can never sleep when it's pelting against my skin.

  "Here we are." I gesture up to my den. "We'll do our business here today."

  "Is this your house?"

  "No." I lead him inside. "It's not a house, it's a den."

  "Oh, right. My bad."

  The inside is made up of a broad ground floor, different sections of the room separated only by rain canals. The exception is my bedroom, which is a raised platform shielded from the elements by a curved balcony of thick branches above it. My bed itself is a round sleeping area filled with fiber woven blankets. I lead him to a sitting area of stones. It's right next to my kitchen and an exit that leads to my outdoor garden.

  I hop up on a rock. "Okay, I'm ready. What do you want to know?"

  He blinks at me, then hesitantly sits on another rock. "Do you like sweets?"

  "What?"

  He pulls something out of his bag, but it's not a book or paper. It's a wooden container. From inside it, he pulls out a round food item. "Um, since you agreed to help me and all, I thought I should repay you. So, I baked you cookies as thanks."

  Baked? Cookies? I don't know what either of those words mean. I crinkle my nose as he holds it out.

  "You don't have to take them if you don't like them. I'm not the best baker, and I was kinda in a rush to make them before my roommate got home..." He trails off and doesn't elaborate.

  I take the cookie from his hands and nibble on it.

  Hm. Not bad. "They will suffice."

  Jade brightens, and he puts the container down. "I'm glad you like them!"

  "Didn't say I did."

  "But you look like it." He points at my hair. "See? Your flowers are growing again. I think that happens when you're happy."

  I shred them with a brush of my claws. "Stop looking at my flowers!"

  "How come? They're interesting to look at."

  "Because I don't want you to," I growl, plucking the last flower from my hair. "And don't go off analyzing them, either! You might be a botanist, but I'm not a plant you can dissect."

  Jade shuffles uncomfortably in his seat and looks down. "S-sorry." He hastily pulls out a notebook.

  Maybe I was a little harsh. No, what am I thinking? Don't have sympathy for him! Arg!

  "I'm not really good at reading people. I just got a bit enthusiastic about figuring them out," he admits. "I didn't mean to make you feel like—"

  "Don't you have notes to show me?"

  A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  "Yeah, sorry." He flips it open to the first page and hands it to me.

  I turn the book around, squinting at the writing. Some paragraphs are neatly written, but others are in Jade's hieroglyphics. His drawings are pretty, though. How can someone so good at drawing have such bad handwriting?

  I hand it back to him. "I can't read this."

  "Oh." He thinks for a beat. "Why don't I read it to you, then?"

  "Ugh, fine." I lean back on my stone. "Go on."

  "Okay. Chapter 1, draft 1. On marigolds..."

  Jade reads me what they have so far for their encylo-something-or-other. For the most part, these humans seem to know their stuff. But there's little mistakes here and there.

  "Those flowers don't live in that part of the forest...that plant is actually invasive...these are edible but taste pretty terrible unless you're in a bind..." My advice comes scattered when I notice something is off. He frantically scribbles down my words in his notes.

  Between corrections, though, I simply sit back and listen to his voice.

  I can't help it. It sounds nice. He has a voice I could fall asleep to, and I mean that in a good way. It's soft and soothing and doesn't change much in inflection when he reads.

  I fight the urge to doze off here and now, listening to him and sitting in the faint sunlight streaming through my roof and windows.

  Being around a human shouldn't make me this calm. But despite my best efforts to convince myself otherwise, this human simply isn't annoying. At least, not quite as annoying as the rest of the world.

  Maybe I can be okay with hating him less than other people.

  Jade clears his throat, snapping me out of my trance. "I think that's all I can talk for one day." He sounds hoarse.

  "I'll get you some water." I hop off my rock and pace to the kitchen. There, I grab one of my wooden pots for storing water that's stacked against the wall. I hand it to him. It's a bit heavy, so I have to help him hold it up while he takes a drink.

  He wipes his mouth on his sleeve. "You're not as mean as you want me to think you are."

  His words catch me off guard. "Wh—yes, I am!" I stomp my foot. "I am extremely mean!"

  "But you just helped me drink your water."

  "Do you want to wear it, too?" I jerk the pot enough to splash him a little. He just squints at the movement.

  "Okay, I believe you," he says unconvincingly.

  I put the water back where it was. "It's not being kind, I just didn't want you to spill it all."

  "Okay."

  "And I can't have your voice giving out, or else we won't be able to do this again!"

  "Okay."

  "Which we're only doing because..." I grab his case of cookies. "You bribed me!"

  He shrugs. "Okay."

  I shove a cookie in my mouth and squint at him. Despite his voice apparently being shot, he hasn't made a move to leave. "Was there something else you needed?"

  Jade shrugs again. "Not really. But it's nice here." He looks around my den. "It's so quiet, and the smell of nature is much better than my apartment, which always smells like smoke and alcohol. I'd really love to draw the interior some time."

  "Then do it." I sit back on my rock. "I don't care."

  He smiles. Hurk, vomit. Pluck some flowers. You know the drill.

  Jade turns to the rest of the den and pulls out his sketchbook. As he flips through it for an empty page, something catches my eye.

  "Hold on, is that supposed to be me?"

  Jade freezes, then bundles his notebook close to him. "Uh—um—"

  "Give me that!" I hop over to where he's sitting and reach for the notebook. He tries to hold it out of my reach, but I'm more nimble than he is, and I snatch it from his hands. The cover and paper are more delicate than I realized, so I take care not to damage them with my claws.

  Sure enough, the page I flip to is a drawing of me. More than one, actually. Some of me scowling, a few of me smiling, one where I'm brandishing my claws...

  Wow, he's a good artist. Wait, no, get angry! This is weird, right? I hold the drawings up to him accusingly. "What the hollyhock is this about?"

  He looks genuinely ashamed, making me feel bad. Again. "I just draw whatever's interesting, and you were on my mind, and I didn't—I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable," he finally spits out. "I draw a lot of people. See?"

  He takes the book back from me and switches to the page behind it, revealing drawings of other humans, each one just as professional. Though, there isn't quite as much attention to detail.

  I squint at him, lashing my tail. I should be beyond upset. Why can't I bring myself to be angry? "Let me see that again."

  Jade sheepishly shows me the page.

  I point at the one of me smiling and tap the hair, which he has covered in flowers. "If you're going to draw me, at least do me the courtesy of leaving out the flowers."

  He looks confused, glancing back at the drawing. "But you always have flowers when I see you."

  "But I don't normally have flowers, okay?"

  Jade flips to a blank page, moving on to sketching my den. "So...they appear only when I show up?"

  "Psh, no." I wave a hand to cover up my devastating embarrassment. He really has no idea what his words mean. "They're random, don't mean anything at all."

  "Then why do you always yank them out?"

  The reminder causes my claws to shoot to my scalp. Numerous buds have bloomed, and I tear them free. "Because they're stupid and ugly."

  He looks surprisingly sad at my words. "Don't say that about yourself."

  "That's not what I—"

  "Your flowers are really pretty. You should be proud of them."

  Ugh, BLEGH, GROSS. I clutch my horns and turn away, pacing elsewhere while a cascade of pink covers my hair at his words. "You can't just call a nymph's flowers pretty!"

  "But they are." He's not backing down this time. "Even if they weren't, they're a natural part of you. You shouldn't be ashamed of something you can't control."

  Ohhhhhhh flora, he does NOT get it. "Will you just shut up?"

  He looks down at his book again. "Okay. Sorry."

  I scuttle to my bedroom and curl up in the corner, eyeing Jade from afar. Nothing to be ashamed of, huh? No, he doesn't get it. He's not a nymph.

  These flowers—they are something we're supposed to control. Showing flowers in front of other nymphs (that we're not courting, anyways) is considered highly inappropriate. It just so happens that I'm exceptionally bad at this.

  My flowers just bloom without my permission. They insert themselves into my hair, putting my emotions on display in a most mortifying manner. I've been able to curb them up to this point since my crushes are few and far between—but I've never liked someone how I like Jade.

  Why does it have to be him?

  And why can't I convince myself that he isn't worth it?

  I curl into myself more, wrapping my tail around the front of my legs. Flowers have even begun to bloom on that part of me, interrupting the steady moss. Maybe I should just turn myself into a tree and propagate with a really nice oak.

  "Okay, I have the rough sketch down." Jade stands up and approaches me despite my obvious moping, climbing the brief stairs to my room. He stops a few feet away and shows me a picture of my den. "What do you think?"

  It looks as good as everything else he draws. "It's fine."

  Jade beams. I narrow my eyes on him, too tired to pull out any more flowers.

  "I'd better get going. Thank you for your help!" Jade heads for my door, but pauses before leaving. "Um, I'm sorry if I spoke out of line today."

  I should berate him, but I really don't want to. "Whatever."

  "I'll see you again soon, then." Jade gives me one more smile to think about.

  "Yeah, yeah," I grumble. I watch him until he disappears past the entrance and into the woods.