Look! Two days in a row!!

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"You did that just to make me feel better?" she asked, needing the clarification.

He shot her an annoyed look. "Did you expect me to coddle you?"

"Well, um, no," she said, floundering. "I didn't expect you to care at all," she sputtered out.

"There is a difference between caring and making sure you are useful. When you wallow in self-pity you are worthless. Now, at least I can get some answers out of you."

She sighed, then stood, rubbing sand out of her hair and idly wondering how she was going to get it out of her ear.

"Self-interest. Not just for humans anymore," she muttered as she walked over and picked up the discarded plant book. She rubbed sand from the pages and closed it with a quick snap. She leaned to the side to avoid a cuff to the ear as Knives came up beside her.

"I heard that," he informed her, grabbing the book from her hand.

"Heard what?" she responded as she tried to snatch it back.

Knives ignored her attempt at innocence. He moved the book out of her reach, then brought it around and tapped it on her head.

"Why did you buy this drivel?" he asked, shaking it before her nose.

She glared at him. "I would think the answer would be obvious. I'm not used to plants, and I can't exactly use a human baby book as a guide, now, can I? How am I supposed to know if there's something wrong with Ace if I don't know what's right?"

He looked at her blankly. "Do you think that I wouldn't know?"

She flushed a little. "Well, sure, you would know. But…what if she does something…weird. If it's normal, I don't want to freak out and maybe give her a complex or anything, but if I don't have any warning I might."

"Weird? Like this?" he said coldly. He set down the book, stripped off his shirt, then formed an Angel Arm.

Kiley blanched a little, but controlled herself quickly. She was not creeped out by this display of inhumanity, no, not her. She made her eyes meet Knives' before examining his arm. She looked it over carefully, examining it with her hands clasped firmly behind her back. Yes, weird was a good word. A safe word. Not necessarily negative, just a acknowledgement of something out of the ordinary. She might have freaked out despite her best intentions, but that scent of feathers that lingered around him was stronger now, and it calmed her. She could handle this sort of thing. No problem. She took a deep breath, centering herself and distancing her emotions, incidentally reveling in the smell that surrounded him.

Slowly, hoping she wasn't taking too many liberties, she reached out a finger and touched his arm. It didn't feel like she expected; instead of hard and scaly it was soft and warm. The feel under her fingertip fascinated her, and without her conscious volition her other fingers uncurled and joined their more adventurous fellow in exploration. She ran them up and down his arm, caressing the feathers that had formed. She avoided the wing, not really trusting her knees to not give out on her if she tried to walk around him.

Suddenly Knives laughed. Startled, she quickly drew her hand back and stepped away. Her eyes sought out his, looking for a clue as to what direction she should jump.

"Sorry," he said, letting his arm go back to normal. "That tickled."

Her eyes grew round. "Tickled? You scared the crap out of me because it tickled?" she said tightly, discarding wary for angry.

He rolled his eyes as he picked up his shirt. "My skin is more sensitive like that."

She blushed. "Sorry."

"Don't be. You didn't know. I wouldn't expect you to; it's not the sort of thing you'll find in that book."

Knives had to admit that he was surprised at her reaction. Most people either viewed the Angel Arms with disgust or awe. Both responses were annoying. Disgust merely showed the limitations of the mind that viewed the beauty of his other form. And awe was entirely disturbing, and came from minds that, while acknowledging his superiority, always proceeded to fawn over him in the most aggravating way. Pure curiosity was unheard of. Then again, she'd had more time to come to terms with the fact that he wasn't human. It wouldn't do to assign to much value to her willingness to accept the less human-seeming part of him. Or to that damn kiss. So why was it becoming harder and harder for him to hate her like she deserved?

He watched as she leaned over and picked up the book again. "Maybe so. But I still think it's a good idea to know what normal humans think of your kind. No knowledge is ever wasted." She brushed more sand from the cover, and wondered if it was gong to get dropped again. After all she had paid for it, it seemed a shame to be tossing it about like this. Even if it was a crappy book.

He suppressed the urge to roll his eyes again. "Fine. Waste your time. You won't find anything useful in there, but it's not my place to dictate what you do with your free time."

"Isn't it?" she asked impishly. "I thought that you felt it was your place to dictate what every living being should be doing. And that the humans should be mostly dying."

He shrugged and turned. "I suppose I'm a bit surprised to think of your needing to read something like that," he continued, as if she hadn't spoken. "I thought you knew everything about this planet," he said, a slight tinge of bitterness coloring his tone.

"Nope. Not really all that much at all. Just some about you, and your brother, and the trouble you guys got into when you were in your thirties. Uh, your second thirties," she said sheepishly.