She leveled a look at Tanis then, and she saw him try to do the math in his head. Perhaps the art of sums was not valued among orcs, since he seemed to struggle with her logic.
“Because we are twice the… proportion?” he ventured after a moment, tilting his head.
Bianca opened her mouth to answer, but stopped short. Her eyes dipped below his belt.
She might have been a little too obvious because Tanis followed her gaze, brushing off his pants as if he thought she might have seen another bug.
“Anyway, don’t you know saying ‘you’re not as ugly as you might be’ to a girl is rude? I mean, I’m not saying you shouldcompliment me but this alliance won’t go very far if you’re going to insult me,” she prattled on, cheeks heating, turning her face away so her fluster wouldn’t be so obvious.
“Our alliance,” he repeated, like it was still news.
Bianca huffed, “Yes, that. Because we’re allies. Keep up.”
She turned away, reaching for a pinkish cluster of fungal shelves rooted in the bark of a nearby tree. It was just a little too high for her, but she could see a sturdy branch just under her prize.
Before she could even begin to plan how she would scale the tree, she felt that shadow fall over her again, and Tanis was reaching for the cluster of chicken-in-the-wood mushrooms before she could even ask for help.
He cut the mushroom from the tree with his own knife, leaving as little as possible of the base behind, in a manner that suggested he had been carefully watching how she had done it. Then he turned back to her, coming down to kneel on one knee before her, level with her for the first time.
Bianca pretended to eye the mushroom he offered her, though she was much more interested in the hand that held it. “If we’re not allies, aren’t you being a little too nice? This morning’s fright was nearly spot on, but I think now you’ve exhausted your helpfulness quota for the month.”
“I can be unhelpful and tip your basket over,” he offered with a tusked grin. The flashes of teeth had been giving her little pricks of panic ever since she’d first seen him, but they were starting to feel a little differently. Less in the middle of her chest and a little bit lower.
“Not what I meant.”
Bianca stepped forward to take the chicken-of-the-woods bloom from him, but her foot skidded out to the side, sliding in the mud beneath her. She leaned back quickly, overbalancing, finally catching a handful of his shirt to steady herself.
It was barely a second, but now she was standing so much closer to him, nearly fallen bodily into him. His large hand was against her hip, arm nearly curled around her as if he would have pulled her into his chest, if she’d been any less sure of her footing.
There he was again, likely to win most helpful orc of the month.
He let out a breath, nearly a laugh, perhaps at how much trouble she was just to be around. “Sometimes curiosity gets the better of me.”
Bianca blinked a few times. She almost forgot she’d asked him a question in that heartbeat. “What were you curious about?”
One corner of his mouth ticked up. “Halflings. I told you, never seen one before.”
“And now you’ve seen me.”And tasted.She tilted her head up just enough to look him fully in the face, to see the deep, earthy brown of his eyes. “Still curious?”
He was quiet for a moment, eyes unfocused before his gaze dipped just to her mouth. He met her stare again. “Still.”
Goosebumps.
4
“Are we there yet?”
“Just a bit further.”
Bianca stifled maybe the hundredth yawn of the evening. As much as a nice warm tent with blankets and soft furs to sleep in sounded, curling up on the ground clutching her cloak tight around her was starting to sound good enough.
Tanis was carrying her basket because he started insisting Bianca was walking slower with it so full. It was a good deal heavier, but nothing she couldn’t manage. She’d had plenty of lifting and carrying heavy boxes for setting up her troupe’s stage and costumes with their life on the road, but it was… nice.
“Are we going to have to say hello to people or–oop!” she squeaked, as her face became immediately acquainted with his thigh, and the world became dark, his fur cloak covering her entirely as she clung to his leg.
There was the sound of crunching snow underfoot as someone approached, and she kept still and quiet. Wide awake now. Clearly introductions were not part of his plan.
“Son of Dhane,” an unfamiliar voice growled, rougher than Tanis’, but with the same orcish drawl. “A bit late to be out.”
