I wish you'd met her before.

As a consequence of their initial human hosts, brain slugs gained an understanding of dominance, submission, and leverage. These acquired attributes interact oddly with the brain slug's natural desire to mark its property and potential hosts. Sometimes, to affirm their relationship requires public or semi-public displays. To kiss a brain slug in front of someone else is not just a moment of shared affection; to brain slugs and related species, it is a signal to others that this individual is marked as theirs.
—Slug Sutra, Chapter 2

Mel grabbed the trash from the can on his way out. They had never set up a formal schedule for such chores, but Mel was determined to do his part. Which meant he had his hands full when Jordan emerged from her bedroom and touched his shoulder. Mel turned to find the tall woman leaning down. Then her lips pressed against his.

The shock in his eyes must have been evident, because Rachel made a little sound that wasn't quite a hiccup and wasn't quite a giggle. Then Jordan straightened, stepped back, and turned to walk back inside her room.

"So," Mel said in the hallway, fighting the urge to lick his lips. He could still feel the ghost of that pressure there, and his cheeks burned all the way to his ears. "That was a first."

"How much of it?" Rachel said, and her amusement was fighting against the hurt that still lingered in her eyes.

"Well, the kiss. But also the—she's never done that in front of someone else that wasn't a brain slug host before," Mel said.

"Do you know why?" Rachel asked as they headed down the stairs.

Mel was quiet for a while. They exited out the back door, which opened out by the dumpsters.

"I—I think she was trying to show dominance. Maybe she was threatened when she saw us hugging," he said, as he placed the bag into the steel bin. His steps turned towards the library. Rachel kept pace.

"You did pop a boner when you hugged me," she teased. Then her smile softened. Her voice grew wistful. "I wish you'd met her before."

"I wasn't old enough," Mel said. "But yeah, I wish that too."

They walked in silence for a while. Mel appreciated the cool air on his face; it helped fight the blush, which receded by degrees.

She had other questions. About Mel's sexual history. He picked up on what she was getting at. Guaging potential exposure.

"No girlfriends, no boyfriends, no casual flings or—" Mel admitted, then the realization hit him. "That was my first kiss. Like, ever."

"I don't know if that's sad or kind of romantic," Rachel said, as they climbed the steps of the library. Mel gestured at the computers.

"I, uh, usually check my email, and then take out a book," he said.

"Go ahead," Rachel said. "I've got something to do."

Their momentary parting was a relief. Mel didn't want Rachel looking over his shoulder if his email was filled with advertisements for brain slug sluts near him. Which it did. Mostly, his inbox was full of spam. A few rejections for jobs he'd applied to weeks ago. Paystubs from work, which he filed away for taxes. They had a whole little session about filing taxes before he left the orphanage. This year was covered, but next year...well, that was next year.

Business taken care of, Mel used the library catalogue site to find some sort of beginner's guide to American Sign Language. What he found instead was a book titled How To Talk To Brain Slugs. He considered checking out a book on oral sex—he still had, in the back of his mind, the idea of returning the favor to Jordan and Soong at some point—but he didn't want to give Rachel more ammunition to tease him with. So as he checked out, it was just with the one book.

Rachel reappeared at his side, her hand on a smartphone. She had a small hard-shelled suitcase on wheels, which followed behind her almost silently.

"Finished?" she said. At his nod, she smiled. "Good. Me too."

"What were you doing?" Mel asked, hoping he wasn't overstepping his bounds.

"Picking up my suitcase and arranging a transfer," Rachel said. "I'm going to start working at that branch."

Mel blinked, and she must have seen his confusion.

"I just found my sister," Rachel explained. "And yeah, she's living with another woman and a strange guy I just met, but I'm not going to let her go. A part of her might still be in there somewhere. I can't lose her again."

Mel nodded. "Okay. I get it."

"Do you, Mr. Orphan?" she said.

"I mean, intellectually. I never had a brother or sister. But I can appreciate that she means a lot to you and you want to make sure she's okay," Mel said. Which felt inadequate. "I think that's great, honestly. That you have someone you care about enough to want to be around them. Make sure they're okay."

They walked back in silence, the suitcase following close behind on the sidewalk. Mel wasn't sure what else he wanted to ask her. Everything. Nothing. What Jordan liked to eat. What had made her laugh. Where Rachel was staying.

"Do you mind if I crash on your couch?" Rachel said. "Just tonight. I need to figure out something more permanent, but it would be cheaper than a hotel, and I could spend more time with Jordan."

Mel blinked. "It's fine with me, but we'll ask Jordan. She's . . . if she's being territorial, I don't know how it will go. The only other guest we've had is Soong, and she and Jordan are . . ."

"I've been meaning to ask about that," Rachel said. "Are they lesbians? Is that like, the brain slug hive mind masturbating?"

The laugh escaped Mel's chest automatically. "I've asked myself the same questions. You know, I've never seen them do anything like that, even when they were . . . harvesting me. I mean, you saw how it is. When they really need it urgently, they can be very intense, but most of the time they're more patient. I don't think they get anything out of it except, you know."

"Semen," Rachel supplied helpfully.

"Yeah. Other than that, we don't really touch. They hold hands a lot, because apparently that's how the brain slugs talk to each other, through skin contact . . ."

"Or when they're marking their territory," Rachel said, and she was looking at the hickey on the back of Mel's neck.

"Right," he said, and gave her a grin so sheepish he could have been chewing cud. "I do my best to respect them both, you know? I don't want to take advantage. I'm trying to be a good roommate. And if they need me for this, well . . ."

"You're not exactly fighting off free blowjobs, I get it," Rachel said. "I should punch you for that."

She didn't, though. Rachel was smiling.

It felt good, for once, to have someone that Mel could talk to about this stuff openly. Rachel was smart, well into her library science degree at university, working part-time at the local library to help cover essentials that student loans and grants didn't. Mel felt a tension he'd carried ease out of him. Like they shared a secret.

Rachel insisted on buying Chinese takeout on the way back to the apartment, as a peace offering. Mel suspected she was buying Jordan's favorites, but he didn't mind. Back in 501, Jordan emerged—still wearing clothes—with Soong hanging on her arm. As they laid the feast out on the kitchen counters, Rachel asked if it was okay if she stayed here the night, on the couch.

"It's okay with me," Mel said. "But it's your apartment too, so I said she should ask you."

Jordan and Soong gave a familiar thumb's up.

They ate, watching a program on tiny crustaceans in a dried lake that emerged from hibernation during the wet season. Mel gave up his seat on the couch so that Rachel could sit, Soong in between the sisters. When everybody was done eating and had brushed up, Jordan fetched Soong's sheets and pillow from her apartment and laid them on the couch.

The sisters looked into each other's eyes. Rachel was searching for something, someone, that she wasn't sure was there anymore.

The kiss was as brief and perfunctory as Mel's had been. Mel watched, jaw falling open in shock at the sudden, unexpected move. Just a soft pressure as the lips met. They held it for only three heartbeats. None of the deep kissing and cum-sharing of Jordan's kisses with Soong. Then Jordan pulled back and headed to her bedroom. Soong was already there, in bed, naked, curled on her side.

Rachel turned in shock to stare at Mel.

"I'm beginning," she said, as she touched her lips. "To understand what you've been dealing with."