“We can’t eat elsewhere? I’d love to see more of the city.” That isn’t a lie. I want him to tell me what he knows and show me around.
He hesitates. “It will be warmer in the room…but we could sit in the kitchen.”
I grin, claiming my win. “I’ll get my food and you can get some clothes.”
“Or you could put a robe on.”
“I don’t want to be cold.”
“You’ll be warmer.” He holds out his arm and I feel the thickness of the fabric.
Then I make the mistake of looking up. He’s watching me like I’m dinner. I’m the first female he’s seen since crashing. I pull my hand away even though the robe feels thick and lush. “I’m okay like this.”
For a moment it looks like he’s about to say something, but he scoops up his clothes and boots, and walks away.
“Are we going to the kitchen?”
“You need to get your contribution to the meal first.” He still doesn’t sound pleased about that.
But this is temporary for me. The planet can’t trap me here. I refuse to believe his stories that the beacon won’t work. Not getting a signal from my ship will alert them that something is wrong…it will just take longer.
He leads me back to his room like I can’t find my own way. If he knew I’d been exploring would he kick me out? As weird as this place is, it’s better than being exposed to the elements. I grab a meal out of my bag, my almost empty bottle of water and a purification tablet.
“Ready.”
He’s holding the bowl I hadn’t returned to the kitchen after my impromptu bath. “Where did you get this?”
“From a room downstairs. I wanted to wash.”
“I told you to stay here.”
“And I told you, I had to go to the bathroom and when I came back in, I wandered the lower level looking for people or something.”
“I’m the only one here.”
“Not anymore. And I’m not sitting in this room staring at the walls for the next five days.” I swallow. “I’m not your prisoner.”
A heartbeat. Two. Then three before he answers.
“You aren’t.”
But I don’t sigh with relief. “Can you show me around the city tomorrow?”
He runs his thumb over the lip of the bowl. “After we bathe since it is important to you.”
Even though the water is safe, I’m not sure about it. I’m even less sure about being naked in the lake with him. But I want to explore the city… I nod, agreeing to the terms.
“Let’s eat.” He holds out his hand.
My hands are full, which saves me from taking his hand. There is a pause, then he takes the meal and the bottle from me and places them in the bowl. I’m left with the tablet while he carries everything else. When he offers his hand again, I take it, not wanting to be churlish.
The kitchen, the room I had found earlier, is filled with the scent of food. It smells better than any ready to eat ration. But it might contain deadly microbes.However he’s been eating and is fine…unless it’s the food that turned him purple. Not that he can’t pull it off. I’d look like a berry.
Indiz pulls a pot out of an oven and lifts the lid.
My stomach grumbles at the scent of freshly cooked food. It’s been weeks. And nothing I’ve ever eaten on a ship has smelled this good. I don’t know what spices he’s used, or even what’s in there, but I’m ready to throw caution away and devour the lot.
I glance at my prepacked, nutritionally balanced meal.
