"Are you okay?" she asked when he turned to look at her.
"I'm okay. I'm grateful that my mother still has some fight left in her. I'll meet her and my sister properly soon enough."
12
NAVUH
The CPM machine was exercising Navuh's left leg when the door opened. Areana came in, wearing pants and carrying two paper cups in a cardboard tray and a paper bag that looked like it had been folded twice and then folded back to keep whatever was inside it from spilling. She set the tray on the rolling table beside his bed and pushed the table close enough that he could reach it without lifting his shoulders off the pillow.
"Coffee," she said. "And pastries. There is a vending machine in the lobby of the building above us. I had no idea they made vending machines that brewed cappuccinos. There is not a day that passes by without some technological marvel wowing me."
"We have advanced technology on the island."
The island he had built for the Brotherhood had all the necessary amenities, including sophisticated communication systems and the most advanced weaponry available on the free market. So what if he hadn't thought to include vending machines that brewed coffee because he had people to do that for him.
Areana wore wide-cut black pants made of a soft fabric that hung smoothly over her long legs. The quality was evident, even though he wasn't an expert in Western women's fashion. Still, they were just pants, and his mate shouldn't dress like an ordinary human. She should be adorned in gowns crafted from the finest silks, custom-made to fit her perfectly.
"Why are you frowning at me?" Areana asked.
"I'm not frowning at you. I'm frowning at the pants you're wearing."
She looked down at the offensive garment. "What's wrong with them?"
"Nothing. It's just that you do not wear pants."
"I do now." She smoothed her hands over the fabric. "I'm experimenting with modern styles."
"Why?"
She smiled the indulgent smile she had been giving him with increasing frequency, the one that he had come to dread because every time she gave it to him she was telling him without saying it that the gap between them had widened.
"You are so old-fashioned," she said. "Women wear pants now. They have been wearing them for almost a century. I am behind the curve, if anything."
"Women can wear whatever they want, but you are not just a woman. You are a goddess. Your attire should befit your station."
"My station is currently that of a guest."
"Your station is who you are, not where you are."
"Right now, I have no station. I am my sister's guest and a mother who is finally getting to know her sons, and a grandmother to a small boy who has just recently learned to walk. I am wearing pants because they are comfortable and I want to feel like I belong in this world and not in a prison on an island that's frozen in the time of the gods."
He was speechless for a moment, which didn't happen often. He always had the right retort. He always won his arguments with her and everyone else.
"The gowns kept changing with the times, but they were always the most elegant, flattering, and stylish. Those pants are beneath you."
She chuckled. "Yes, they are. I'm sitting on them, and they are under my bottom. Come on, Navuh. It's just pants. The world is not going to end because of what I'm wearing."
He didn't respond because to keep arguing about her clothes was petty, and it was beneath him. Ironically, he would have loved to have some pants on instead of the damn hospital gown, but he couldn't wear pants because he couldn't go to the bathroom on his own, and the nurse would just come in, pick him up, and set him on the toilet whenever he needed to go.
He eyed the cups of coffee and wondered if he had enough strength to hold one up. They were quite sizable.
Areana spread a napkin across the rolling table, unwrapped the bag, and pulled out two golden, flaky pastries that smelled fresh. His mouth watered even though he knew they wouldn't be nearly as good as what he was used to.
"They are not the best you've ever had," she said, reading his thoughts. "But they are not bad."
She picked up her coffee.
"Drink yours before it cools down," she said. "It is better hot."
