Page 24 of Ava Greasemonkey

Ava whipped her head around to see if the Tuxa were watching them converse.

The room was bare except the four Vorbax in the cages and her. All the Tuxa were thoroughly engaged in eating the food Ava had just brought them, leaving the prisoner area empty. There weren’t any sleeping today in the free cells.

She shook her head to try to clear it, still fuzzy from the alcohol. She didn’t think it was that strong to have lasted this long.What did he ask? Who am I?

“Speak, little bird. I am Vox. You are obviously not a Vali. I will hold your silence in front of our enemies, but I must know more about you.” His amber eyes focused on her face in an intense stare.

She needed to angle her head up to meet his gaze. Her face flushed when she realized how close they were standing, with only the bars between them.

Ava wet her lips.

He knew she was a fraud, and she came to the conclusion that she would need to talk to keep him placated. The lingering effects from drinking also made her a little impulsive.

She broke her silence in a whisper, tongue thick in her mouth. “I am Ava. I am here on the ship as a servant.”

Vox spoke in a low tone, his voice vibrating in the air. “Ava. What are you, Ava?”

The alcohol kept muddling her brain and she forgot his words for a second while staring at him.He is beautiful.

He looked at her, eyes focused. She was so calm in front of him; how could he be bad? Besides, he could have exposed her any minute, but didn’t. That earned a small sliver of trust from her. He was a prisoner without any power.

What was the question?Her brain finally cleared enough to think. What harm could it do to tell him? Moreover, she wanted to talk to him, as lonely as she was. Plus, she just felt at ease around him.

“A Human. There aren’t many of us.”

Vox didn’t respond, just continued staring until Ava cleared her throat and elaborated more. “We aren’t in any of the logs outside of the Phor’s personal collection and the standard aliencreature ones in the Galactic Board’s official records. We’re in there next to the prey animals and fungi.”

Vox tilted his head, a slight grin coming over his features. Ava watched, transfixed, as the grin transformed his features into a handsome smirk. “Neither of those are sentient like you.”

Ava nodded, agreeing. She matched his smile, unseen under the hologram. Her nerves made her ramble. “I think the species that sold us did it because that way they could keep us a bit of a secret and not have to worry about the laws they would have to abide by if we were labeled as a thinking life-form.”

Vox considered her words. “That makes sense. Barbaric, but it makes sense.” He reached through the bars and gripped her hand. She was too slow to pull back before it happened.

Ava gasped at the contact.What is he doing?

Vox glowed more and chuckled at her reaction, his color briefly darkening to a deeper purple. His grip was firm and hotter than her own skin. Ava felt like her wrist was a toothpick in his hands, and the first sliver of fear went down her spine. It was immediately dampened by the alcohol and whatever he did to make her feel at ease.

“Ava . . .” Vox started, then hesitated before continuing, “by your disguise I can see you are wary of the Tuxa seeing your true form. That is wise. If a time comes though, do not hide from me.”

He moved the glove she wore with his thumb to show her pale skin underneath and stared at it for a minute, the difference between her real skin and the costume she wore starkly on display. Releasing her hand, he let it fall to her side.

Ava stood a moment and moved the glove to cover her wrist again, scraping her fingernails over her skin by accident. She felt almost branded where he touched her.

Rubbing her hand absently, with him still staring, she asked, “Why are you here?”

Vox cocked his head, eyebrows raised. “I am a prisoner,” he said simply.

Ava cleared her throat and clarified her statement. “But why? Why are you at war with them? What’s really going on between the Tuxa and Vorbax?”

He looked at her a minute before answering. Ava almost thought he was not going to when he said, “It is war. We fight because we are threatened by each other. Why are you here? It seems like both of us are trapped by forces outside our own free will . . . because of what we were born as rather than who we are and our actions.”

He let the words hang for a moment before reaching through the bars and delicately tapping her gloved hand. “I wonder where your free will would take you if you could choose.”

Losing sense of herself and where she was, her heart warmed to his simple heartfelt words, Ava answered impulsively, “I would want to be free in a place where it’s sunny all the time and I could live my own life instead of what others want me to do.”

Vox smiled back at her indulgently. “If only we were the species in charge. And not a pawn.”

Ava smiled, knowing he couldn’t see it under her hologram. “If only.”

---