Now go to Medic Xor’ton to get that cut looked at.”
“Yes, Swordmaster,” Nux’tan says and slaps the hilt of his sword, carefully avoiding looking at Dolly before he slinks away.
“He’s good,” I say loudly, to be sure he can hear it. “He has the reactions. He just needs a little more strength to be completely unstoppable. A future Swordmaster!”
The back of Nux’tan’s neck goes red.
Dolly looks up at me. “Do you want to come over for dinner tonight? At our campfire?”
I ache to reach out and stroke her smooth, round cheek. She has the cutest, pinkest little tongue. And her ears… so tiny and intricate!
“Yes, please,” I reply quickly before she changes her mind. “I mean, yes. Of course.”
“Great!” She strokes a strand of hair behind one ear, making my heart melt even more with the sheer loveliness of that movement. “Around sunset?”
That’s only a few hours away! “I’ll be there. Should I bring anything?”
“No, we got it. Actually, if you have more of those pills...?”
I quickly get the box out of the pouch. “These? Yes, I’ll bring some. I should actually make more soon.”
“Cool.”
We just stand there for a heartbeat, or maybe for many. Then Dolly smiles again, a little shyly. “Okay. I’ll get some lunch.”
My gaze follows her ludicrously attractive body until she disappears among the huts. And then I just stand there for a good while longer as I bask in the new light that has suddenly filled me.
19
- Dolly -
I spend the rest of the day in a happy daze, working with Jennifer and generally enjoying life.
“Brank’ox will be joining us for dinner,” I say casually when the sun looks like it might be planning to set soon.
Jennifer keeps a straight face, just like a good friend would. “Oh. Cool. It’ll be nice to see him again. You really should use some of that soap on your face before then. It’s a little dirty. Actually a lot dirty.”
“So is yours. Yeah, I will. I only wish I had another outfit. This dress is all I have. Except for the old onesie I was abducted in, and that’s not really dinner party material. Shit, Jen. What do I do? I don’t want to string him along and then the next thing he knows is I’m seven light years away.”
“Hey, it’s an honest thing,” Jennifer says. “Nobody knows the future, and maybe we shouldn’t act like we do. It’s okay to give things a shot even if you don’t know for a fact if it’ll work out. There’s even a name for it.”
I frown. “Yeah? What?”
“It’s called life.”
I scratch my chin. “It is, isn’t it? All right, Jen. I’ll maybe go for it. And if something goes wrong, I can blame you for talking me into it.”
“Exactly. So convenient! You just can’t lose.”
I go in and hug her. “Thank you.”
“Anytime. Just don’t ever talk me into something batshit insane like that. When I go back to Earth, I will be totally single in every way.”
“No promises,” I sniff and disengage. “When you see us together, you’ll think ‘damn I want that for myself’. Except not this one guy, okay? He’s nearly kind of taken, almost.”
Jennifer straightens her own dress. “Nah, I’m not much for cavemen. But give me a puny little librarian with a bald spot and a collection of Star Wars figurines, and I’ll drool from here to Cincinnati.”
We pack up the pots and rinse the various equipment.
“Yeah? That’s your type?”
“Oh sure. Well, it is now. I never liked conventional guys, and there are too many gigantic hunks here on Xren. Okay, let’s go wash up.”
I help make the dinner, even if it’s not my turn. I have a lot of nervous energy, for some reason. It’s kind of weird, though. It’s not like he’s a stranger to me. And still the butterflies are fluttering harder than ever.
Did I impose this on him? Did I give him any chance to say no? I was so nervous when I was over there, I don’t even know how I came across. I know I didn’t make much sense for some of the conversation. But he was looking at me with those bottomless, black eyes and I had trouble collecting my thoughts. And then he handled that other warrior with the authority and care of a father, almost, even though the other guy can’t have been that much younger.
We finish the cooking and set the tables that we use for special occasions. It’s really just one C-shaped table built around