Chéri blinked at few times. Darius didn’t strike them as either stupid nor bigot, but he was definitely a very innocent man. Yet he seemed to have a lot of things clear. So their answer was simple and direct “Why?” they asked. Chéri did not make any effort to let Darius guess just how much they knew about Sonia and about their situation. They stayed there, with their beautiful doll face and waited.

Chéri made their smile big and bright, the sort of smile that stunned people “I do. Would you like to guess which?” it was a game they played often, sometimes innocently, sometimes not.

Chéri had meant something very different from what Darius had understood, but they didn’t say it explicitly, they bent their head to the side. Chéri sighed slowly. “Fear?” they had just decided to figure out where the shyness came from, exactly.