He couldn’t understand the words, but the tone was clear.Stay back.
His focus locked on her hand. Blood welled from the cut, dark against pale skin. The sight of her blood was enough to make him want to rage. He crouched, making himself smaller. Less threatening. Gestured to her injured hand. She didn’t move. Just stared at him, trembling.
He needed to bandage it. Stop the bleeding. But he had nothing except—
His jumpsuit. The sleeve was mainly intact. He grabbed the fabric and tore it free, ignoring the cold biting into his now-exposed arm.
Her eyes went wide. She said something sharp, voice rising.
He ignored her protest and reached for her hand. She flinched but didn’t pull away. Good. He wrapped the fabric around thewound, careful to keep his touch gentle. The bones in her hand felt so fragile compared to his. Breakable.
“Thwat edn’t shanituary!”
Maelic still couldn’t understand the words, but her tone had softened. He supposed that was progress.
When he finished, he stood and offered his hand. She squeezed her eyes shut as if she expected him to hurt her. The guilt from earlier resurfaced, sharp and uncomfortable. He warily reached back down and pulled her to her feet. She weighed nothing and only came up to his chest.
He released her and turned to the fence. This species seemed to use very rudimentary forms of fencing. That sort of barrier would be unlikely to keep anything out. His brow furrowed at the idea of her domain being at risk of whatever sort of predator dwelled on this planet.
He pulled his quantum torch from his belt and crouched beside the damaged section.
She made a startled sound behind him. Likely hadn’t expected him to fix it.
The tool hummed to life, molecular bonds reforming under the beam. It was simple work. He moved meticulously, repairing each section. The cold bit into his exposed arm, but he’d dealt with much worse in his line of work.
It took him only a few moments to repair the fencing.
He stood and faced her. Her expression was... strange. Surprised? Grateful? Hard to tell with her species. The shape of her face seemed so smooth; displays of emotion weren’t as easy to decipher on one with such delicate facial features.
Her scent wrapped around him again. It was so overwhelming this close.
His cock stirred, lumin glands pulsing with the need to... no, that couldn’t be right. Artaisans did not form mate bonds outside of their own. She was definitely not of his species. This had to be a fluke. Something about her anatomy triggering his biology?
He tried to speak. “Sessa, ma da?”
What are you?
She startled, then shook her head. Made more sounds he couldn’t parse.
Useless cipherbots.He growled in frustration.
The sound made her jump, and another surge of guilt rocked him. He did not enjoy frightening her. She spoke again, slower this time. “Delaney.”
A name. That was her name.
He tried to repeat it. “Dalanee?”
She shook her head and corrected him. He tried again. Still wrong. She simplified it. “Del.”
“Del.” That he could manage.
She nodded, pleased with the minor accomplishment of communication they had established.
He pressed a hand to his chest. “Maelic.”
“Maelic?”
Hearing his name in her voice sent an unexpected warmth through his chest. His antennae perked with interest before he could stop them.
