"You're not the first person to fall for him, and I suspect you won't be the last," Mia assured me as we continued our conversation while sitting on the storage boxes in the hanger. "But if it helps, as far as I can tell, you are the first one he's fallen for. I haven't seen him reciprocate before. I didn't even know he could."

That got my attention. Mia had just managed to address a concern I didn't realise I had. One of the things I'd believed once we'd started our relationship was that he liked me back, the same way I liked him. And somewhere in those smoky thoughts that I hadn't quite been able to keep hold of, was the question of whether those feelings had been fake. How much of what I'd experienced had been simulated? Just the exterior, or the emotions too?

"How can you tell whether he actually likes me?" I questioned, recognising this was something I needed to know. "He might have kissed me back because he thought it was some human custom, rather than because he actually wants a relationship with me. He doesn't talk about his feelings much."

"He doesn't, but that doesn't mean they're not there. You'll just have to take his word for it. Trust is part of building a relationship," she pointed out. "But if you want my opinion, I do think he likes you the way you want him to."

"What makes you say that?"

"Has he told you he has no conscious control over his shifts?"

"Yeah," I nodded in response to that, remembering his comment about turning into a mouse.

"As far as I understand it, Vacillators shift intuitively, according to what is likely to give them the best outcome," she explained. "They don't have a set form that they go back to because it requires effort for them to shift. A bit like it take effort for your heart to pump blood around your body. It needs to be efficient, and it's not efficient for them to change their appearance if there's no perceived benefit. So, once a particular form has served its purpose, they just stay in it until the next time there's a perceived advantage to shifting."

"OK," I said, not really feeling like she was answering the question. Or maybe she was trying to tell me something and I wasn't grasping it. Either way, I was sure I looked confused.

"So, what does Keleon currently look like? Is he still looking like a Kikorangi, or is he looking like your human boyfriend?" she asked.

"He looked human when we landed," I replied.

"Can't you see? If Keleon was behaving 'normally,' he'd still have blue skin. He must have had a reason to shift back to this human form." Mia smiled gently and took my hand in hers.

"Are you saying he shifted back for my benefit?"

"Sort of, although it won't have been done on a conscious level. Vacillators are like a form of advanced chameleon, which adapts to its surroundings to help it blend in. It's not deliberate, they just do it; it's an instinct that's built into them. The meditation they do, helps them 'tune in' to their surroundings and helps their subconscious make better decisions. When he came to get you out of that research facility, his sole purpose was to get you to follow him out of there. So, he took on a form that best suited his purpose.

"Now that you're out of there, what's the point in shifting back to that form again? It's not like he's trying to get you to follow him or win a Duplex game. I've never seen that happen before, Damon. Some part of him must have realised that you liked the way he looked, and he liked the outcome of that. I guess you could think of it a bit like a peacock, which fans its tail to get the attention of the peahen. The peacock doesn't understand what it's doing, it just sees the peahen and uses its tail feathers to try to attract her. I think he's fanning his tail for you, and it's not for any purpose other than he's trying to get your attention. So, the fact that he changed back after your trip to the blue planet could be interpreted as a compliment rather than an attempt at deception."

"So, I'm a peahen?" I laughed lightly. "And this is his way of flirting with me?"

The irony of the role reversal was somewhat amusing. Now it seemed he was the one flirting, and I was the one being oblivious to it.

Mia smiled reassuringly. "I don't know for sure that that's what's happening, but knowing Keleon, it seems like the most likely explanation. If you decide to pursue a relationship, it will probably be more challenging than a relationship with a human, but honestly, I think you're handling it all remarkably well. If you want my opinion, I think you should give it a go and see how you get on.

"There are some advantages to it, you know. If he ever decides he's no longer interested in you, you'll know, because I suspect he won't look like your fantasy anymore." She squeezed my hand lightly before continuing. "And, you know, there must be some advantages to having a boyfriend that can change his shape to give the best outcome."

Mia wiggled her eyebrows suggestively. I pulled my hands away and pushed her lightly.

"You have a dirty mind."

She pushed me back teasingly.

"You know I'm right."

Talking to Mia was helping. My head felt like it was processing my thoughts better. The more I found out about Keleon, the easier it was becoming to sort out my emotions. I wanted to find out more, as I felt it would lead me closer to finding some resolution.

But how do you know which questions to ask about an alien species, unless you already at least partially know the answers? So, I asked the most sensible thing I could think of.

"I don't know anything about Vacillators," I confessed. "What else can you tell me?"

"Well, um, if you guys ever get married, don't use gold wedding rings," she said.

Out of all the things I thought she might say, that wasn't anywhere near top of my list.

"Why not?"

"I guess it's something like an allergy they have. It doesn't hurt for Vacillators to be in contact with gold, but it does prevent them from shifting. It's the most malleable metal, so kind of fitting for a shapeshifter to have a connection to it. My limited understanding is that if any part of their body is forcibly removed while they're in contact with gold, they'll die."

"OK, no gold rings," I said. "Although, we're only just getting to know each other, so marriage isn't on my mind. And we're probably a bit young to be thinking about stuff like weddings anyway." There was a slight pause as I thought of something else. "Come to think of it, I don't even know how old Keleon is."

"We think he's probably about seven Earth years old," replied Mia.

Shocked, I shot up to a standing position.

I was not expecting that answer.

"Seven?!?!" My outcry echoed throughout the hanger. "What the hell??!" My fingers ran through my hair in distress, and I nearly ripped some of it out in the process. A low rumble rocked through the hanger. This time I knew it was me causing it.

"Hey, Damon, calm down," said Mia quietly, holding out her hand to take mine.

"Calm down?!" I responded, mortified. "Last time I was making out with him, my hands ..." I recalled clearly my fingers slipping into the waistband of his jeans. "Oh God ... I nearly ... Shit! This is so wrong. He's seven?! I thought he was, like, twenty or something!"

The acidic taste of bile rose into my throat.

"Hey, hey," Mia responded in a calm and reassuring tone, gently pulling me back down to sit beside her. "I can see what you're thinking, and you need to stop right there. You can't think about Keleon's age in the same way that you think about human ages. He's not human, remember? He's not a minor, he's an adult, just like you."

"He's an adult?" I repeated as I sat down and looked at Mia.

"Damon," she looked at me seriously. "Do you think I would have been congratulating you guys on an intimate relationship if he wasn't? Keleon is most definitely an adult. Vacillators reach maturity after about five Earth years, so he's two years into adulthood. Which technically means he's been an adult for longer than you have, so thinking of him being around twenty in terms of maturity isn't actually far off."

"But he's not twenty," I argued. "He's seven."

"Why are you getting hung up on a number that really only applies to humans?" she asked. "Even if you just look at Earth, different species mature at different rates. Most animals on Earth mature before they get to eighteen years, and for many of them their lifespans are far less. If every animal had to wait until they were eighteen Earth years old before they could propagate, most of them would be extinct. If anything, humans are the abnormal ones. Taking eighteen years to get from birth to adulthood is not normal for most species. I'm not just talking about Earth, but on other planets too."

I sat in silence, letting the information sink in. She had a good point; there was no point in comparing his growth rate to mine when we weren't the same species. I took a deep breath and released it. I had to focus on the fact that where he came from, he was fully-grown.

"Better?" Mia asked, and I nodded. "I promise Keleon is an adult, Damon. I would have stepped in and stopped your relationship if he hadn't reached maturity. If the two of you decide to be together, I don't see anything wrong with it from an age perspective, and neither should you."

"OK, I get it," I replied honestly. "You're right. If we're going to continue being together, I need to stop thinking of him as a human. Age included." I took another deep breath. "So how long have you been travelling together?"

"He left his home as soon as he was an adult," she replied. "Most Vacillators don't want to leave their home world, which is why there aren't many of them around and a lot of people think the stories about them are legends. So, he's different from most of his kind. He's quite sociable, where most of them aren't. He left to go exploring, find out what else was out here and have new experiences. When I found him on Gokk, he'd been travelling for about six months already, and we've been partners for about eighteen months now."

"That's what he meant by black sheep," I remembered the phrase he used to describe his relationship with his family. "So, is there anything else? Like is Keleon really his name?"

"Good question," she replied. "The name Keleon was given to him by one of the first humans he met, as humans can't make the correct sounds to say his name in his language. The human actually called him "Chameleon," but he thought that was too long and wanted to shorten it."

"OK, so Keleon is essentially short for Chameleon," I reiterated. "That would have been helpful to know earlier," I added, more to myself than to Mia. "You said earlier he was drinking Sunbolts. Does that mean he likes them?"

Mia gave me a smile. "He does, yeah. Keleon doesn't need to eat, sleep or even breathe. He can simulate all of them though. Sometimes he does it to fit in, and sometimes does it because he likes the sensation. And apparently, he does actually like Sunbolts. Having them on Gokk helped him seem more humanoid, but he also likes the sensation of what they taste like to him."

I tried to think whether I'd ever seem Keleon eat or sleep. I realised I hadn't.

And it wasn't the only thing I realised. Mia must have spotted the change in my expression.

"You OK?" she prompted.

"Shit," came my response. "When we were on the Pavo together, he was trying to share who he was with me. I asked him if he needed to sleep, and when he said he didn't, I just thought he meant he wasn't tired. But now I'm thinking about the way he answered the question from his point of view – he was literally telling me he didn't need to sleep. Like, at all. Same with eating. When he said he didn't need food, I assumed he meant he wasn't hungry at that time. And there were lots of other times where I thought he was just saying weird stuff. But he wasn't, he was trying to help me to understand him better."

"Do you know how attractive you are to me?"

"I guess sometimes it works that way.
But nobody's had this reaction to me before."

My hands were pushing back through my hair in frustration again.

"Jesus Christ, Mia, how have I been so stupid?"

"Keleon can be very convincing. And very distracting."

"Yeah, I got that." I rested my head on my knees as guilt crept over me. "Fuck. I've messed this whole thing up."

"Really? How were things left between you?" Mia asked gently.

"I told him I wasn't sure about continuing our relationship," I admitted.

"And now that you've had a chance to get more information and talk it through?" she asked. "Do you still feel that way?"

I shook my head slowly.

"I don't think so," I replied. "I was angry with Keleon for tricking me, like everything we shared together had been a lie." I sighed heavily. "But now I can see it from the other side. And actually ... there were so many things he was telling me, and I just wasn't paying attention. I didn't listen hard enough. I made assumptions, and I didn't stop to question them or check them out, even when it was obvious that I should have. It wasn't fair for me to have put the blame on him." I ran my hands through my hair and looked straight into her eyes as a wave of comprehension hit me. "Shit. I really like him, Mia."

"You can still make it right," she said sympathetically.

"Only if he forgives me," I fretted.

"He's not the type to hold a grudge," Mia put a hand on my arm. "Although there may be certain things you need to make really clear if you're going to talk to him about it."

"Yeah, I know," I responded, knowing what I had to do next. I gave her a quick peck on the cheek. "Thanks Mia. You're a star."

"I'm glad it helped," she replied.

I pushed myself off the storage box.

"Wish me luck," I said, as butterflies danced in my tummy. "I need to go and sort this out with Keleon."