He shoved the opened can at Tovis, who grabbed it just in time to save half the precious food from slopping over the side.I glared at the syto, aggressively opening another can, stabbing another utensil into the corn mush, and slapping it to his chest.
“Eat,” I growled.“Or I will have Tovis hold you down and I will pour those calories into you.”
“I’m willing,” Tovis said, tossing his spoon and upending the can straight into his mouth.
Jiith’s shoulders curled inwards and he ate a tiny spoonful of food.I waited until I was confident he was actually obeying and opened my own can.There’d been an empty box in the kitchen, and I'd filled it with bottled water and carefully nestled the egg in the corner.
I stared at the egg while I ate, wondering if I should fashion some sort of pouch to keep it close to me and provide heat.
The creamed corn tasted amazing, even though I would have turned my nose up at the same meal in a former life.I scraped the last bits from the corners of the can and tossed it into the trash around us.There was no point in being tidy, we weren’t staying and this place should be burned when we left.
My stomach pinched, unused to so much food and I picked up a bottle of water, cracking it open with a contented sigh.
“I needed that,” I said, taking a sip and watching in relief as Jiith discarded his empty can.He’d eaten, we were out of the sun and he could rest.I couldn’t force him towantto live, but I could force him to go through the motions.
“Was that all the food?”Tovis asked, scratching his naked belly in a very male way.The motion drew my eye to the chiseled abs that looked a little more pronounced than when I first met him and I frowned.
He’d been pretty solid before we’d been captured.Less cut and more bulky.He’d lost weight, and the way his veins stood out on his arms made me shove a bottle at him.
“You’re dehydrated,” I said.“Drink, there’s more water in the kitchen and a few more cans of food.”
Tovis smiled at me, and I blushed at the warmth in his eyes.He’d caught me looking, I was sure of it.It was only because I was making sure everyone was healthy, I told myself.I wasn’t checking him out, I hadn’t spent our long hike thinking about the way he called me his mate and almost got himself killed protecting me.
I wasn’t.That would be stupid.Now was not the time for a crush, we were in survival mode.
Tovis drained his first bottle in seconds, and I got up to get the rest of the supplies.When I came back, my arms full of bottles and cans, I saw Jiith hunched over the cuffs.Tovis was leaning forward so the syto could make full use of the light and Jiith was trying to pry something apart with his fingers.
“Do you need tools?”I asked.
Jiith’s tentacles curled slightly at the ends, the most life I'd seen in the appendages in days.“Something thin and sturdy to pry the cover off would be appreciated,” he said, still struggling with the cuffs.
“On it.”I dumped the supplies on the couch and headed back into the kitchen, rifling around until I found the universal junk drawer and pulling the whole thing out.There was probably more than one useful thing in here, and the only light was in the living room.
Taking it with me, I sat down in front of the couch and balanced the drawer in my lap, picking through everything until I found a tiny screwdriver and passed it to Jiith.No one spoke as he did whatever it was he was doing and I picked through the drawer idly, dividing its contents up into two piles in front of me.
A book of matches went into my ‘useful’ pile, and a gallon freezer bag of beer tabs went in the ‘trash’ pile.By the time I’d emptied the drawer, I had two pocket knives, a half used tube of ointment, a short length of paracord and a collapsable umbrella.
Something beeped and I looked up in time to see the cuffs pop open.Jiith groaned and fell back against the couch like he’d used all his strength and Tovis rubbed his freed wrist.
“Well done,” he said.
Jiith closed his eyes.“I can contribute something.Now you’re free of me.”
“We weren’t lying to you,” I said, realizing for the first time he may have thought we were reassuring him just so he’d undo the cuffs.“We really won’t leave you behind.”
He cracked his eyes open and looked between us.His throat bobbed as he visibly swallowed and dropped his gaze to his bruised, newly freed wrist.
“If you’re truly willing...”his voice trailed off.“I would be grateful for the chance to come with you.”
“Then you will,” Tovis clapped a massive hand on his shoulder.“This is a new planet, and a chance at a new life for all of us.There is no need to stay trapped in our former struggles.”
***
Itook the egg withme as I investigated the rest of the trailer, flashlight in hand.Jiith had passed out on the couch and I’d left him some more water and an opened can of food.Tovis was finishing off a second round of creamed corn and I’d decided I needed some space.
It had been days since I was truly alone with my thoughts.After six months of solitude, I would have thought I’d never want to be alone in my head again, but I felt like my brain chemistry had been permanently altered by my time hiding in the spa.
I needed a moment of quiet, without the pressure of conversation or the weight of other people’s presence.Before everything changed, I hated being alone.I came to work early just to chat with coworkers before my shift, I stayed late to avoid going home and having nothing but my phone for company.
