“If my choice is between going back there to see more violent fighting or staying here and getting a nice massage, it’s an easy choice. I’ll even give you a massage too, if you want it.”
This time Tyton sat up. Placing his hands on my shoulders he looked deep into my eyes. “Don’t mess with me, Devina.”
I laughed to ease the tension. “A massage isn’t that big a deal.”
“It might be the most natural thing in the Motherlands but trust me: to me it’s a big fucking deal.”
“Relax. You did fine when we snuggled up together, so just try and think of massage as a physical immune-system booster between friends.”
His eyes widened. “You see me as your friend?”
“You’ve been very kind to me today and I’ve forgiven you for what happened when we first met.”
Tyton shook his head like he had a hard time understanding what was happening.
“You’ve never had a female friend, have you?”
“No. Not unless you count my sisters.”
I gave him a wide smile. “Then I’m proud to be your first.”
The way his ears grew red and he swallowed hard made me tilt my head to the side. “Did I say something wrong?”
“No, not at all. I would be proud to be your first as well.”
“My first Nman friend?”
“Yes…” He looked away.
“Since you have little to no experience massaging, how about I start with you, so you can get a sense of it?”
“Okay.”
“It would be better if we had some lotion.”
“I have some sun blocker in the drone. Will that work?”
“Sure.”
Tyton got up and jogged to the drone. It allowed me time to watch his strong legs and back. Wearing only briefs, he was like something out of an old novel or movie. Now that I’d seen hundreds of Nmen, I could see how well-proportioned he was and how he wasn’t as pumped as some of the others. When he returned, he carried a bottle of water and the lotion.
“How tall are you?”
He stopped in front of me, squinting his eyes because of the sun. “I’m six foot five.”
“We measure in meters, not feet.”
Reaching out his hand, he pulled me up. “Then let’s measure my height against yours. How many meters are you?”
Thinking I was being funny, I answered, “Twenty-two.”
“Okay.” He positioned himself up against me and used his hand to mark my height. “You reach my collarbone, so I’m about one and a half head taller than you. If you’re twenty-two meters tall then…”
“No one is twenty-two meters tall. I was trying to be funny, but since you really don’t know about meters, it fell flat.”
“Oh. Then how many meters are you?”
“I’m one meter and sixty-three centimeters.”
