Page 18 of Victoria's Discovery

“Durt-let. Boot.”

He bobbled his head side to side before rolling first one shoulder then the other back and repeating, “Booot.”

Was that… a shrug? It looked like a slow-mo man shimmy.

“Vee? Booot?”

“Yes! Sorry. Boot. Good job, you. Okay, umm, oh. Loincloth,” she said slowly, pointing.

He got a wicked look on his face and murmured, “Hlyjer… ea môst?”

The last, said in a purr, told her exactly what he was referring to.

Victoria huffed a shocked laugh and muttered under her breath, “Oh, it’s the most alright.” Louder, with a sardonic smile, she pointedly repeated, “Heel-jahr.”

Thegan boomed a laugh, his pale, silvery eyes twinkling with delight. Even Thorn cracked a smile. Shaking her head, she pointed to the pellets next, pretending her heart wasn’t beating faster at his playfulness.

After exchanging names for their clothes, food, water, and a few non-sexual body parts, she moved on to concepts that were slightly harder to get across. What she’d seen of their facial expressions and body language was at least similar to hers, thus far, which gave her hope they’d be able to communicate the basics.

“Yes,” she said slowly, nodding her head with her brows raised slightly and a small smile on her lips. Dropping the smile, she turned her lips down and frowned a little, shaking her head. “No.”

Thorn watched her closely, then mimicked her head nod and responded, “Naí.”

That threw her for a second. He’d signaled ‘yes,’ but the word he said sounded like ‘nay’ which felt like a ‘no.’

“Yes?” she tried again, smiling and doing her best to look approving.

That time Thegan replied, mirroring her smile and nod. “Naí.”

“Huh. Okay. And ‘no’?”

“Kan.”

“Kahn. So, nay is yes, and can is no. Yeah, that’s definitely not going to get confusing. Okay, umm. Oh. Hurrrt. Owww.” She drew out both words, wincing and holding her arm like she was in pain.

Their brows immediately knitted in concern, and they reached for her in unison.

“No, no. Uh, kan. I’m okay. Sorry,” she quickly interjected, waving them off. When they sat back, looking confused, she tried again. “Hurt. Ow.”

“Ah,merkja,” Thorn murmured.

“Mairk-jah.” She nodded then folded her hands against her face and closed her eyes. “Sleep.”

Thorn answered again, “Rumitr.”

“Roo-meter,” she repeated, then mimed gazing around, pointing from her eyes to the space around them. “Look.”

“Rfdei.”

“Ruff-day. Ha. Sounds like ‘rough day.’ You could say that again,” Victoria muttered then shivered slightly and absentmindedly rubbed her arms, thinking on what to ask next.

It was getting cold. The chilly air hadn’t bothered her when she had panic to warm her, but after sitting for a while, it was beginning to seep in. Her dress was long-sleeved, but it was also thin and doing a terrible job of keeping in her body heat.

“Kreld.”

Victoria glanced up at Thorn’s gruff voice with a frown before she realized she’d shivered. “Oh. Cold.”

He snorted, a faint smile curled his lips. Shaking his head, he flicked his fingers in her direction. “Øt kau kreld.”

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