Why did he have to be so... distant? So obtuse and reserved. He makes it so hard to connect with him.
Okay, so perhaps I'm projecting a bit, but I finally realized what was bothering me about their relationship. While likely unintentional on the author's part, the way Lindiwe often describes Weldir...is exactly the way a lot of neurotypicals describe Autistic people. The struggling to conform to societal standards of interaction and him learning to fake certain gestures to seem more "relatable" which is incredibly similar to masking. She puts all of the effort onto him without doing much to understand his POV. The whole "Why can't they be more 'normal?" thing is very off-putting to me, especially when she's known the entire time he's not human, has no experience with any of this, and they've had all these years for her to ALSO try! I'm not gonna say "ableist" since that seems unfair to the author, but...
