She’d made plenty of friends over the years, but she rarely got to see them for more than a few minutes at a time, like her quick exchange with Maslo on Filsin. She’d told herself it was enough. She was sure nothing mattered but her goal.
Maybe she’d been wrong.
“Food,” Zeph murmured. “You need to eat, but I don’t want to separate.”
“Me neither,” she agreed, rubbing her face against the smooth plates of his chest. “I can eat later.”
“No, humans need to eat several times a rotation. It’s even more important for you because you’re healing,” he said. “I think I know how we can keep embracing and still provide for you.”
Before she could ask what he planned, he loosened his hold, bent at the knees, and moved his left arm down. The next thing she knew, he was holding her in the air with one arm under her butt. She automatically wrapped her arms around his neck andwaited for him to put her back down. She wasn’t a willowy little human after all.
“How is this?” he asked, still purring.
“Won’t you get tired?” she asked even as she snuggled against him.
“Not at all,” he said. “You don’t weigh much.”
That was the first time she’d ever heard that. Jacks and her brother Owen loved teasing her for being “thick.” She knew they weren’t being malicious, but it still hurt.
Doubt made her question his claim. “Are you sure? Most humans are smaller than me.”
He made that amused sound. “That doesn’t mean anything. You’re still small compared to me. I could spend an entire rotation carrying you around like this.”
Giving into temptation, she closed her eyes and nuzzled her face against the strip of bare skin at the base of his neck. “If you’re sure.”
“I’m absolutely sure,” he said, turning and taking the few steps required to get to the food storage and prep area.
The smell of hibiscus was stronger now, and it made her breathe deeply. “You smell nice.”
“I do?” he asked. She heard a crinkling and opened her eyes to watch him shove a few packs into the reconsitutor before closing it again.
“Yeah,” she hummed and rubbed her face against his neck. She was taking all kinds of liberties, but she refused to think about it. They were consenting adults.
She refused to feel guilty. Even though she wasn’t telling him about being a bounty hunter, it wasn’t like he was forthcoming about being a fugitive either.
A bang made her lift her head away from his neck to watch him thump the reconsitutor a few times. The thing lit up for half a second then went blank again.
He grumbled a word her INT couldn’t translate but context indicated it was some kind of curse. She stifled a giggle and sat up. Letting go of his neck with one hand, she reached out and slipped her finger into the gap between the top of the reconsitutor, where the food packs were hydrated and warmed, and the complicated power and control unit in the box under it. She felt the conducting tubes, searching for one that was loose or disconnected.
She found two.
“What are you doing?” Zeph asked. His tone was curious with a hint of amusement.
“Helping,” she answered. She finished wiggling the tubes back into place, and the machine lit up and started processing the two packs Zeph had put in there.
“Brilliant!” he exclaimed.
Pulling her hand free, she nestled back against him. “Not really. It’s a common issue with this brand of reconsitutor.”
He brought his other arm up and rubbed her back. She shouldn’t have liked it as much as she did.
“I still think you’re brilliant. Because of you, we get to eat.”
“It’s easy to be brilliant around you,” she teased. Now that the machine was running, it took less than a minute for the packs to be processed. The door dropped down to reveal a plate almost overflowing with food. The smell made her mouth water.
She thought he’d put her down so they could eat, but instead he grabbed the plate and sat at the only table in the room. Like the bunk, it folded down from the wall along with a single place to sit. It looked like the second seat might be broken and wouldn't fold out.
Not surprising considering the aged look of the place. Maybe later she could see if it was something she could fix.
