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Picking up from last week. Ayess and Taliya are having a talk about sex. Sort of.
“You have both male and female. I thought that that was how you mated?”
“It is – to produce offspring. But some people prefer members of the same sex.”
“And you and Luzita prefer the same sex?”
“No. At least, it’s not that simple.” She frowned, trying to find the words. “Some people… Some people are only attracted to the opposite sex, and some are only attracted to the same sex, and some are attracted to both. And some… some have sex just because it feels good and some… some use it to get what they want.”
A sickening feeling washed through her as she realized that that was what Luzita did, a thought that she tried – unsuccessfully – to push out of her mind. “And those people, they… they play on the minds and emotions of others, even pretending to be something they aren’t to get what they want.”
Ayess’ race does not have words for he/she/his/hers, etc, because they are (for lack of a better term) hermaphroditic. Their pronouns to refer to other members of their race are “ni” (for he/she/him/her), “ni-es” (his/hers), “ni-en” (they/them) and “ni-en-es” for theirs.
Novel Notes 
Ohhh, now I’m wondering if Taliya is misjudging Luzita, or is Luzita not the love interest in the story after all? Hmm, or perhaps Luzita’s character has (or will) evolve? Intriguing.
I’m writing a similar dialogue between characters in one of my novels. These are difficult to get right, but you’ve done well here. Thanks for sharing. It’s good to see how others accomplish the task.
I can see how our way might look complicated from the outside. I hope Taliya’s wrong about Luzita.
Aww, poor Taliya, yet Ayess is asking a profound question. Not to mention it’s taking the plot into intriguingly uncertain waters!
I’d wondered that about Luzita. Great snippet, P.T. :)
I hope Luzita is being misjudged.
I’m feeling for Taliya. Its a very painful realisation to come to. Great snip.
Sci fi often paves the way for the understanding of our own spectrums. Great commentary. I wish more people would read this sort of genre because I feel it would begin to cultivate peace, even if it’s a slow process.
I wonder if Taliya is seeing the whole picture…she is still angry and trying to sort through her emotions…
That puts an interesting Luzita’s character. Wonder if it’s true or not.