Corliss glances at the pool, nodding uselessly. "All right. I'll...just leave the communications array on."
He starts for the door to the cabin and pauses, touching the door frame.
"I'm sorry if I've upset you," he says, and he walks out. Past the navigational controls, out down the ramp into the cool night air.
He sits on the ramp with a heavy sigh.
"What am I doing?" he murmurs, looking up at the trees.
<You're confused, mate,> Mike supplies. <It happens with girls. I reckon I'm not exactly helping.>
"It's not just that," Corliss says, sifting through the events of the last hour or so. "I...I don't even know what love is, not really. How can I feel so strongly about this human? A human who is a Yeerk mistreated by Andalites. She barely knows who she is. How can I know what part of her I care for?"
Mike scoffs. <You know what love is, just because it's alien doesn't mean you can't feel it. That's why you and I get on so well. You've got empathy, and I never thought you blokes could have that.>
Corliss buries his face in his hands, groaning. "I can't go back in there," he says, muffled. "I should just forget about this whole bloody thing and go home."
<But you won't.>
"Probably not," the Yeerk sighs.