Page 10 of Obsessed

As I begin unpacking my meager haul of samples, I can't help but feel a twinge of frustration. How much time have I wasted, scurrying back to safety at the first sign of danger? How manydiscoveries have I missed because I'm too scared to stay out when things get dicey?

"Some scientist you are," I grumble, arranging the leaves on my workstation. "Scared of your own shadow out there."

I glance out the lab window, my eyes drawn to Davrik's tall form hunched over his damaged ship. He's been at it for hours, the sun climbing high in Meltor IV's purple sky. I wince as he kicks the hull, a string of colorful curses drifting through the humid air.

"Not going well, huh?" I mutter to myself, chewing my bottom lip.

As I watch him struggle, a realization hits me: he might be here longer than either of us anticipated. The thought sends a flutter through my stomach—excitement or anxiety, I'm not sure which.

"Come on, Alice," I chide myself. "You can't just let him starve out there."

Before I can talk myself out of it, I'm in the kitchen, pulling out ingredients. Cooking's never been my strong suit, but surely I can manage something edible.

An hour later, I'm staring at a concoction that can charitably be called a stew. It's... lumpy. And an odd shade of green. But it smells okay. I think.

"Well," I sigh, ladling it into two bowls, "here goes nothing."

I make my way outside, carefully balancing the bowls. Davrik looks up as I approach, his brow furrowing

"What's that?" he asks, eyeing the bowls suspiciously.

I hold one out to him. "Dinner. Or... an attempt at dinner, anyway."

He takes it, sniffing cautiously. "It's not poisonous, is it?"

"Only one way to find out," I quip, immediately regretting it when his eyebrows shoot up. "I mean, no! No, it's perfectly safe. Probably."

Davrik looks from the bowl to me, then back again. Finally, he shrugs and takes a bite. His face contorts in a way that tells me everything I need to know.

"That bad, huh?" I ask, trying not to sound too disappointed.

He swallows hard. "I've had worse. Once. I think."

Despite myself, I laugh. "Well, don't force yourself. I know I'm not exactly a culinary genius."

To my surprise, he takes another bite. "It's food," he says simply. "And I'm hungry."

We eat in silence for a few moments, the jungle alive with alien sounds around us. I steal glances at him, noticing the way the fading sunlight plays across his blue skin.

"So," I venture, "how's the repair going?"

Davrik grunts, gesturing at the battered ship. "Could be better. Could be worse."

"Is there anything I can do to help?"

He pauses, seeming to consider it. "You got any experience with quantum flux capacitors?"

I blink. "I... don't even know what that is."

A ghost of a smile flickers across his face. "Then no, probably not."

We lapse into silence again, but it feels less awkward now. As I watch him finish his bowl—impressively quickly, given the quality—I feel a warmth in my chest that has nothing to do with the Meltor IV heat.

CHAPTER 6

DAVRIK

Iwipe the sweat from my brow, leaving a streak of grease across my skin. The sun beats down mercilessly, turning the wreckage of my ship into a makeshift oven. I've been at this for hours, trying every trick in the book to coax life back into the battered hull.

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