Nothing anyone would recognize belongs to me...

And I'm sorry if I've inadvertantly stolen ideas. I haven't read the books for a while so I don't remember if I've made some stuff up or if it was actually in the book...alert me if you find any...uncanny...similarities. Other than the obvious cliches which could be found in any book. Of course, that would mean this whole one-shot so... Moving on!

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The room was stuffy and the black turtleneck she had been forced to wear was suffocating her so Aly slipped outside. The whole thing was ridiculous. Her mother and father might both be high in the government but she really couldn't see the point of them dragging her along with them to their parties and dinners. Her siblings escaped the things by being at school or abroad but Aly had no passion in life, nothing she wanted to do. Mostly she hung around the house, going to parties, dating, dying her hair, and doing other such things that teenagers do in fits of boredom.

Aly sat down on the edge of a planter box, refreshed by the cool air and the lack of noise.

"Hello?"

Aly turned to see who it was. The speaker was a young man, maybe 19 or 20, a few years older than she was. He was drop dead handsome, with dark skin and dark eyes. Foreign too, by the sound of his voice but she couldn't quite make out the accent. Aly figured he was also from the party as he was wearing formal clothes.

"Hi," She smiled, slightly flustered by the gaze of this man. He was looking at her curiously, with something childlike in his expression. "I'm Aly. That's short for Alianna."

"Alianna doesn't suit you." He said, as if it was dreadfully important.

She rolled her eyes and spit out her trademark dry humour. "That's why I use Aly, genius."

"You think I am smart?" Genuinely pleased with himself, the man grinned for the first time.

"It's called sarcasm." She sighed.

"What is sarcasm?" When she looked at him like he was crazy he hurriedly added. "Sorry, I am new to this life." She kept on looking at him that way so he went on to state, "I am a cro-was a crow." He corrected himself, frowning. "I'm Nawat."

"You're a crow." Aly's voice was dripping with disdain and incredulity.

Nawat nodded eagerly. "Your father uses us in his spying. He told me to watch you. I was bored with watching you so I turned human. I wanted to talk with you."

"You're a crow." Aly said again. Nawat did not seem notice that she obviously didn't believe him and he turned to the bush behind him.

"Do you like worms?" He said this with perfect innocence and held a squirmy, fat, earthworm up, offering it to her.

Aly was still watching him like she couldn't quite believe he was there. "You're a…crow." She said for the third time.

"Yes, I already told you that. Are you hungry?" He tried to give her the worm but she recoiled in obvious disbelief that he was doing this.

"Uh…no, humans don't eat worms." He shrugged and ate it himself. When she looked at him carefully she could almost believe what he said. Nawat had an almost animal quality, and the maturity that would usually come with his age was missing. Something in the way he moved was too graceful for a human. Besides, he ate worms. No one normal did that.

"I think we should have a nest. Then we could have a flock and you could teach them to be human and I could teach them to be crow and then they would be crow-human. I am almost crow-human but not human enough."

Aly blushed fiercely when she understood what he was saying. "N-no Nawat. Humans take longer to…nest. First they date-"

"What is date?"

"Its like, when you like someone and they like you and then you go places together and spend time with them to see if you like each other a lot or just a little. You kiss and hold hands and talk to get to know each other. Then if you love each other you…nest, and live together."

Nawat nodded, as if he understood but then asked innocently "What is kiss?"

Aly blushed again and felt her stomach flutter. "You put your lips together and…" She was cut off as Nawat pulled her close and put his lips to hers. Aly tasted a spicy sweetness to him. Must be the worms, she thought as he drew away.

"Like that?"

"Um, yeah, pretty much."

"I'll try again I guess, you don't sound too sure."

Is he serious, or teasing, she started to think before she was pulled into another kiss.

Aly kissed often, it was one of her favorite activities. However, she was almost never serious, it was just something to do. This kiss suddenly made her want to be serious. She found her arms unconsciously winding their way up his back and tangling into his black hair. His tongue found her lips and she parted her mouth gladly. Her heart jumped and she felt for almost the first time that this was right. When he broke off she found herself wishing with all her heart that he hadn't.

"Better?"

Aly blinked at him, hoping that he hadn't done that as just an experiment but he grinned as if to reassure her and strip her of the doubt. "So exactly what do people do with this…" He stopped, as if trying out a new food and he wasn't sure if he liked the taste yet or not "…date?"

In reply Aly reached out her hand for his.