Natalie froze in place, not daring to breathe. "Uhh...I'm...Zacar, I never thought that. What I mean was, well, I was just teasing you." She'd never make that mistake again.
"Explain teasing."
"Well, humans like to tease each other, poke fun, you know." His blank look had her frantically searching her mind for a better way to explain it to him. "Normally, when we are comfortable with someone or like someone a lot, we tease them." She cast around in her mind for an example. "Like me saying Darth Vader is Earth's strongest ally, but he's not even real." She tried to move forward without seeming to.
His arm tightened, bringing her flush against him again. "You like Zacar?"
She stared. Was he serious? "Well...uh, you got me extra TC hours and you promised to protect me, so I guess I, uh, a
