Luckily there is a big, furry distraction in front of me. He shows me his teeth. It's the first time I've seen his alien Cheshire Cat routine since his initial attempt at a smile and it pulls a laugh from me.
I give him one of my crazy grins in response.
I make quick work of cleaning his wound, which it turns out is already closing up. I don't tell him that, though. After that, neither one of us seems to have the heart to say much more.
There's a tension between us that hasn't been there before as we lay down to rest.
I don't sleep for a long time.
49
Ree
When I wake up, I'm laying across him. He must have moved me in the night and I was too exhausted to remember.
There's even a puddle of drool that's soaked into his mane near my mouth as further evidence. I wonder how long he'll spend trying to make the fur lay right with his fingers.
I should feel bad about the smirk that thought causes, but I don't. I assume we've been asleep all or most of the day.
It was a long night finding traps to protect Silver, and we were too late.
Thivoll distracts me before I can spiral down into regrets. "Did you sleep well?"
I roll off of him so I can stretch. "Oh yes. Like a log. You?"
"What an odd expression. I am quite refreshed."
"Take me to the stream?"
"Of course."
We are watered, washed, and fed in short order, then without having to further discuss our plans, we are loping through moonlit trees.
I appreciate his impressive sense of direction. With the exception of giant landmarks like our cave's cliff face and that immense lake, everything looks the same to me in this thickly forested planet.
One can hope that's another one of my future changes, but I bet they just focused on aesthetics when they designed whatever caused the metamorphosis.
Although I suppose giving me claws doesn't seem to fit well with the whole slavery plan, so it must be an imperfect process.
I hope there's a genali out there right now finding out just how bad their idea was. My lips quirk at the idea before I chide myself for wishing anything like that on anyone. Except . . .
I roll my eyes, forcing myself to reroute my errant thoughts.
The night sounds of the forest and the loamy smell are so pleasant it's easy to forget how much danger lurks out here.
At least easy for me.
I have that luxury because Thivoll is constantly on alert, his rounded ears forever swiveling. I'm sure he's setting our course so we avoid sounds and smells he doesn't like.
The rumble of his speech startles me. "Tell me some more about your family. We've gone from one emergency to another."
"We still found time to scratch an itch."
"Itches get annoying."
I can tell by his voice that he doesn't understand my meaning. Damnable idioms.
"I mean we took time to have sex."
