he waited for the rhythm of sleep, and when he heard only wakefulness, said, “Our next trip upside, would you like to see the northern lights?”
“What?”
“The timing will be right. I can ’port us to a suitable location without problems.” Pausing, he said, “No visas, no airfares required.”
Her laughter was startled and bright. “I’ve always wanted to see them.”
“You’ll find them beautiful.” Her spirit would see more than color and sky and movement. She’d see something deeper, and she’d teach him to see it, too. As she’d taught him how to interact with the people here. “Good night, Tazia.”
“Tazi,” she whispered softly. “You can call me Tazi.”
• • •
It was just over a week later that they left. Additional rescue forces had arrived in bulk, bringing with them machinery capable of shifting the remaining rubble. With the aftershocks having died down, the village was now in good shape.
“Our assistance is no longer required here,” Stefan said that morning. “I suggest we decamp and start getting back in shape. They’ll never let us back on Alaris like this.”
“Agreed.” When she reached out to touch the jut of his collarbone, he didn’t flinch. Somehow, they’d become accustomed to each other after so many days sleeping next to one another. For her, a girl who’d been brought up to share her intimate space with only her husband, it had been as much a discovery as for him. “You’ve lost considerable weight.” His telekinesis burned massive amounts of energy.
“So have you.” He didn’t touch her, but his eyes, those eyes, they ran over her from head to foot.
The two of them left quietly minutes later, though she knew full well Stefan would’ve been feted like a hero should he have given anyone the slightest indication that he was leaving. But that wasn’t who he was. ’Porting them to the closest large city for which he had a visual location lock, he checked them into a two-bedroom suite in a small, family-run hotel that had once been the residence of a famous artist.
She didn’t object to the intimacy, no matter if it was breaking another taboo to cohabit with him in such private quarters. Being with Stefan made her happier than she’d been for a long time.
“What do you want to do?” he asked, after they’d dropped their bags in their rooms.
“Shower properly, eat, then sleep.”
“You can have the bathroom first.” He sat down to take off his dusty boots. “I’ll research where we can find a good meal.”
Laughing, she said, “There are market stalls everywhere. We’ll get some street food.”
“Is that wise? Our bodies aren’t used to the bacteria in this region.”
“We’ve both had our inoculations.” It was ridiculous how many things they had to get inoculated against in order to work on Alaris.
“We also have to be healthy to get back on board.”
“Hmph.” Giving in, she went and showered, scrubbing and scrubbing until she finally felt clean.
Afterward, she dressed in the local clothes she’d bought from the hotel boutique downstairs. She’d wanted something new and fresh, but she wasn’t prepared for how the long, colorful skirt and pretty white blouse would remind her of home, the memories knives stabbing into her soul.
“Are you all right?” Stefan asked when she emerged.
“I will be.” Her heart’s ache would never disappear, but at times she could forget. “Go, shower.”
He looked at her for long moments before disappearing into the bathroom. In the meantime, she separated out their dirty clothes from the duffels, no longer shy about going through his things after the many times she’d grabbed nutrition bars for him. Gathering it all, she sent it down to the hotel laundry.
Stefan, too, had bought new clothes and emerged wearing plain black pants in a material suitable for the desert climate, along with a long-sleeved white tunic that had white embroidery along the bottom edges and the neckline.
She smiled. “You look like one of the men from my village.” Her fingers itched. “And your hair doesn’t curl.” She wanted to touch the silken strands, to run her fingers through them. “It has a wave.” If he let it grow out, it’d be beautiful.
“I’ll need to get it cut soon.”
“Wait,” she whispered. “Wait until you absolutely have to.”
His look was quiet. “There is no requirement that I cut it, but it gives the correct impression. You understand?”
Because his Silence, she remembered, wasn’t without flaw. “Yes.” She would give up his beautiful hair if she could have this quiet, strong, courageous man who spoke to her, who looked at