Page 28 of Gravel and Grit

“Potato, po-ta-to!”

“What in all the thirteen planets do root vegetables have to do with anything?” he exclaimed.

“Huh? It’s just a saying.”

He growled low in his throat. “Humans and their idioms! At least this one did not allude to your impending death!”

“Neither did the last— never mind!”

He sighed in exasperation. They both glared out at the moonlit forest for a moment before she saw him glance at her from the corner of her eye.

Looking back at him, she found him staring at her searchingly.

“So, you are well? Not hurt?” he asked, his voice softer now.

She grimaced wryly and stretched her arms out to try and get rid of the knots in her muscles. It didn’t work.

“Sorer than if I’d been thrown off a cliff and landed on a mound of rocks, but no, I’m fine. Sorry for kicking you in the face,” she added.

Now that she knew he’d been trying to see if she was hurt, she felt bad for lashing out. He’d taken her by surprise, and that just never seemed to end well for the surpriser.

“I am glad you are well, and apology accepted. Please accept my return apology. It was not my intention to feel you up and I shall endeavor not to take you by surprise. I may be hideous, but I would like to keep my features intact. Besides, I do not believe a broken snout or losing an eyeball would improve my looks,” he quipped with a charmingly crooked smirk.

“What? You’re not hideous,” she blurted.

“Mmm,” he murmured skeptically.

“Really!” she insisted. “I think you’re handsome.”

The patently disbelieving look he gave her slowly shifted to one of astonishment when she didn’t take back her statement, before changing again to bashfulness that was both endearing and strange to see on an alien.

“I, uh, you-we should… ”

Mira chuckled softly at how flustered he was, but took pity and helped him find the words she thought he was searching for.

“We should make camp?” she asked hopefully. “I don’t think I’m up for another flight so soon.”

“Yes. That. I will gather wood for a fire.”

With that, he pulled off his bag, got to his feet, and disappeared into the trees without another word, leaving her sitting on the forest floor. She definitely wasn’t an outdoors person, but she could hear him not far away.

She stayed alert, but wasn’t overly worried.

Pretty sure even a grizzly bear would think twice before challengingZaek.

Since he’d landed in a flat section of ground, clear of trees, she decided not to look for a more appealing spot to sleep for the night and did what she could to make camp.

They were in the middle of the woods, somewhere, and no matter how hard she listened she couldn’t hear any sounds of civilization nearby. While that dashed any lingering hopes of a hot shower, it also meant the chances of being found by the security team were slim, even on the off chance one of the stores they’d robbed had a security camera and caught them breaking in.

First order of business was putting on her stolen jacket and changing out her flats for thick socks and the hiking boots. After that she took stock of what they’dacquired.

Assuming Zaek ate more than a human male, she thought they had enough food—and candy—to last them maybe four days. Their water supply would have to be replenished often since it was heavy and took up a lot of room, but they had ten bottles for now. She’d taken necessary toiletries, including a pair of toothbrushes, toothpaste, and soap. Noticeably absent was a hairbrush. She looked but hadn’t seen one at the small general store and hadn’t wanted to take the time to wander around until she found one.

Eyeing his bag, she hesitated. She wanted to have food set out and ready when he came back, but it was all in there. Rifling through someone’s stuff, even knowing it contained supplies meant for the both of them, was rather impolite.

The hunger cramp that seized her stomach cinched it. Pulling his bag closer, she opened it and resolved to only pull out what she could see on the top. That, at least, was less rifling and more just retrieving. Right on top was a hairbrush.

Mira felt her jaw drop and picked the brush up with the kind of reverence most people reserved for priceless heirlooms.

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