He knew too much. I don’t know how much he and the little human have talked, but she seemed tense around him.
Like he knows more about her than she wants.
I’m still thinking about that interaction as she leads us through a pair of sliding doors into a big, boxy store full of clothing and housewares.
I’m not really sure how currency works these days, but it sure seems clothing is more easily attainable than it used to be. It’s justeverywhere. Racks and racks of the stuff.
Do the humans just churn it out?
And it’s all so…I glance at a row of mannequins wearing the tiniest pajamas yet.
Even tinier than the ones she has at home.
Theymustbe pajamas. I don’t know what else they could be. The plastic mannequin is wearing a tiny top made of two triangles tied together with string, paired with an equally tiny bottom.
Maybe it’s underwear.
There’s no way someone would wear that out in public, right?
Then again. Maybe the humans have loosened up a lot since I was last awake. My head spins with the weight of all the years lost. I feel like I’ve been through a time warp.
“This way,” the human says, grabbing my arm and steering me into a giant metal box lined with mirrors on all the walls.An elevator, I realize as the word comes to me. “We’re going up.”
“Inthat?” I grimace as the doors slide shut behind us with a pained clatter. “Don’t tell me there are no stairs in this building.”
I don’t like this.
I can’t see what’s going on outside, or what’s moving us, but I’ve got a bad feeling about this.
Humans invent the strangest, most dangerous things.
And at first I’m sure it’s just me, but this thing is taking ages to go anywhere.
And then the gears make a grinding noise.
And stop.
And the weak little human looks at me, sheer panic in her eyes. Like she expects me to do something.
“What?” I ask, folding my arms. “Does getting in the big metal box of death not seem like such a good idea now, human?”
18
Stuck in an Elevator With the Hot Guy
You
This was just supposed to be a fun shopping trip. You were gonna get some clothes, eat some food, buy groceries. And maybe see the hot guy—Ziros—try on a few things.
But now you’re stuck in an elevator.
At least you’re alone with a hot dude, instead of crammed in with a dozen other people, all fighting for an inch of breathing room. So that’s a plus.
Maybe this isn’t so bad, after all.
“Don’t worry, human,” he says, cracking his neck and then his knuckles. “I’ll bust us outta here.”
“Wait!” you cry, lunging as he reaches for the doors. “We should press the emergency and alarm buttons before you doanything crazy that will probably involve me having to pay for property damage.”
