"You are perceptive, sir—"
"My name's Homer," he said. He smiled and she smiled back. Homer finished his drink and put aside the glass. "I'm a man."
"That I had already perceived."
"Do men and women—ah—occupy the same lodgings on Planet 12?"
"Certainly. And so do they here. I looked in all the houses on this street before I came to yours. I picked your house because you were alone."
"But those people are married!" said Homer. "I'm an unmarried man. A bachelor."
"Are you a social outcast? An exile?" Qalith asked.
"No. I have not chosen a mate—as yet," he didn't want her to think he was opposed to the idea. "On earth it's not customary for an unmarried couple—"
"Oh," said Qalith. "That old thing."
Homer felt a little indignant. "It isn't to be ignored."