Page 9 of Saving Lauren

He cocks his head and I feel his gaze on me.

“Have you not seen this view before?”

“No,” I say absent-mindedly my entire being focused on space. “I have always been locked up.” The second the words leave my mouth, I regret them. I don’t want to be whiney... I also don’t want to think about that part anymore.

D’Var stays silent and I turn my head towards him. It’s his turn to look out at space then he looks back at me.

“Come with me and let me get you something to eat, and then I can tell you a bit more about us, the Warriors of Arracate?”

My stomach feels awfully hollow at those words, and I quickly agree. Together we leave the room.

When we enter the Command Center, I see one of the others is already there. It’s the big scary one. I really want to channel my inner bad-ass bitch, but she is still in hiding and I huddle closer to D’Var.

“I will not hurt you,” the big guy says. I blush, am I that transparent? D’Var looks at me funny.

“What is wrong with your face, L’Ren?” he asks. I giggle at the absurdity of that question and then I figure he probably has never seen a human blush before.

“Um... when humans get embarrassed, their cheeks can flush. It’s called blushing. I was feeling ashamed because your friend called me out on me being afraid.”

“There is no need to feel shame, my Zarra,” D’Var tells me. “Many fierce warriors are terrified of the name T’Rak alone. Our captain has once held the front lines of our fleet in battle and his name was whispered amongst our enemies.”

“You have enemies?” I whisper. D’Var nods and looks grim.

“The history of the Arracate is not a happy one, I must admit. But we will speak of that later, when you are not distracted by hunger.” He winks. And I melt. There go those conflicted feelings again. I really need to talk about that, this pull, why his nearness makes me feel better. But he is right, food first.

“Where is your kitchen?” I ask. D’Var blinks.

“Kit-Sjen?” he asks.

“Yes, kitchen,” I say. “The place where you prepare the food. Maybe um… what’s the word… Right, a mess hall?” I feel proud. See how useful Star Trek can be?

“We do not have a mess hall,” D’Var says.

“Well, where do you eat?” I ask.

“Here,” he states, and I blink.

“This is a Command Center,” I start slowly and D’Var nods, clearly having no clue as to where I am going with this conversation.

“Yes, this is the Command Center”

“You eat in the Command Center?”

“Is that bad?” he asks, speaking slowly as to make sure he doesn't say the wrong thing.

“Well, no…” I start, pausing to think. “But where do you prepare the food? What do you eat?”

D’Var shrugs. “Noodles,” he says.

“Noodles?” I parrot. He nods but stays silent. This is a very weird conversation.

“Would you like some?” he asks. I agree, still feeling stunned.

I sit myself down on the couch, and D’Var walks towards a side cabinet at the back of the Command Center. I see him fumbling about with a bowl and a package of noodles. I hear some sizzling and steaming and then he walks towards me with two bowls of noodles.

He sits down next to me, hands me my bowl and begins slurping his own. Which has me blinking again. The bowl is huge! I need two hands just to hold it. I have no idea how he expects me to eat it. Apparently not with cutlery.

“D’Var,” I begin, and he stops mid-slurp and looks at me. “Do you have a table or something? I don’t think I can eat it like that. I am a little bit smaller than you.”

---