---
"Your words changed the shape of the day," Kai said.
"Your stubbornness did most of the work," she said. "My part was… the least I could do."
"The least," Kai repeated. "That is a strange way to phrase saving my hive."
Her smile took on a sharper edge.
"The least I can do," she said slowly, "for the only man who has ever satisfied me without dying."
Kai blinked.
There was a pause.
She had spoken in a perfectly calm tone. The only sign that the last two words had been meant privately was the slight flicker in her eyes as she thought them rather than said them.
He was unfortunately close enough to catch the intent anyway.
"I am… honored, I think," he said.
"You are," she said. "Do not let it go to your head. Most of the others were not trying to satisfy me. They were trying to survive long enough to brag. They were very bad at multitasking."
"Your recruitment posters must be a work of art," Kai muttered.
She laughed again, softer.
