Total pages in book: 74
Estimated words: 68478 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 342(@200wpm)___ 274(@250wpm)___ 228(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 68478 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 342(@200wpm)___ 274(@250wpm)___ 228(@300wpm)
I’m going to do my damnedest to protect that.
4
MARDOK
Ihave to finish up my work outside, because leaving the parts scattered in the bloody snow isn’t a good idea. I leave Farli with Niri and go back to my task. I clean up the engine as best I can, but I’m distracted. It’s impossible to work without thinking of Farli and her wide-eyed wonder. She’s beautiful, and there’s something so pure about her that I feel…hungry for. I’m the last one she should get involved with, but I feel like we’re connected nevertheless. And I think about her when the distant twin suns go down and the air grows even colder. Farli was naked in this. How did she not freeze her damned ass off? It’s a mystery to me, though I know it has to do with the symbiont she carries that makes her eyes blue and her skin radiate warmth.
By the time I clean up the engine and take a quick shower in my quarters, it’s time for the captain’s dinner. I head into med bay, but it’s empty of both women, the only occupant the still-sleeping furry animal. At least it’s still breathing and its vitals are good. I heave a sigh of relief at that. Least she can’t hate me for killing her pet.
For some reason, it’s really important to me that she not hate me.
I head to the mess hall, and the formal dining table has been unfolded from the wall. I inwardly cringe, thinking of Farli sitting at dinner in nothing but her loincloth. Is the captain trying to embarrass her? Or us? Put the little savage in her place in the hopes that he can wring out the ‘truth’ of why Farli showed up? I don’t think she’s hiding anything. I don’t think she could. I think she’s as guileless and innocent as she seems, and I get angrier and angrier at the thought of the captain trying to force her into some sort of ridiculous confession by embarrassing her or putting her out of her element.
All of that changes the moment I see her, of course.
She’s smiling. Of course she is. Farli seems to love everything, and the fascination of the dining hall setup is no different. Her eyes are wide with excitement as a nearby bot sets the table and drinks are poured. Niri’s talking to her, but I suspect Farli isn’t listening. She’s trying to take in everything around her, from the holo on the wall that shows pastoral landscape scenes, to the silverware placed on the elegant table, to the smells filling the room. She looks more beautiful than before, too. She’s wearing one of Niri’s extra jumpsuits, and it doesn’t quite fit her like it does Niri’s lanky form. It’s tight across the bust and too small through the arms and thighs, because Farli’s far more muscular than the rail-thin medic. It looks almost indecent, and as if Niri has realized this, the jumpsuit is open in the front, revealing a sliver of borrowed under-tunic. Layers, so she doesn’t look as if she’s busting out of the top. Smart. Farli’s thick, wild hair has been pulled back into a ponytail knotted high at the crown of her head, and her bare, unadorned horns look as prominent as her beaming smile.
Her attention turns the moment I approach, and I can hear her purring. Niri’s eyebrows go up, and she moves away, programming drink stations at each seat. “Mardok,” Farli exclaims at the sight of me. Her eyes light up. “You have returned.” She moves toward me and puts her arms around my waist, tucking her head against my shoulder. She inhales deeply. “And you have bathed. What is this marvelous smell?”
“It’s ah…just the ship’s generic soap.” I pat her back awkwardly, glancing at Niri. Her mouth is thin with disapproval, and I’m not sure if it’s for me or for Farli. Probably me. She likely thinks I’m taking advantage of Farli. And certain parts of me are very, very okay with that idea. So I reluctantly pull her away. “Why don’t you have a seat? I can show you how to operate the drink menu.”
For the next few minutes, while we wait for the captain and Trakan, I demonstrate how the drink station operates. Niri’s already got it set up, but I show her anyhow, and she orders several different things just to taste them, grabbing her glass before it finishes filling and making a mess. A bot immediately slides onto the table to clean it up, which causes even more excitement, and after that, I think Farli deliberately spills things just to see the reaction. Niri doesn’t approve, but I love the childlike wonder in Farli’s face and the way she wrinkles her nose when she tastes everything. She doesn’t like beer, or fermented milk. She doesn’t like the fizzy drinks that Trakan is addicted to, or the bitter stims that I chug on late nights. In the end, she settles on water.