Page 22 of Cozy Prisons
He sounded a rumble of amusement. “You can’t imagine why you're tired?” he questioned. When she opened her eyes and arched an eyebrow at him, he pointed to the tangled sheets. “I don’t think you used this bed to sleep last night. This looks more like you spent your rest period wrestling with your bedding.”
One corner of her mouth turned up. “You’re not entirely wrong.” She let out a long sigh. “Thanks for the ride home.”
He sounded a rumble of amusement at her words. “You’re most welcome. I’m going to stay for a little while.”
She waved a hand, “Sure, help yourself to anything in my food cabinet. It’s fully stocked.”
He was surprised she didn’t fuss at him wanting to stay, but then her eyes drifted closed and he understood. Whatever she’d gone through at the ship had truly worn her out.
Hopefully, she also liked the idea of him staying. He wanted his presence to bring her comfort.
He cleared a space on the floor and made himself comfortable leaning against her bed. She mumbled something and her arm flopped off the edge of the bed. He thought it was an accident until her hand found his shoulder and gripped briefly before relaxing and resting there. He started up a soothing rumble and prepared to stay in that exact spot for as long as she slept.
Chapter 8
Nataly
Waking up nauseated wasn’t unusual for Nataly. Neither was waking up with a headache. She could tell the lights were on in the domicile so she didn’t open her eyes right away. Once she started moving, the discomfort would get worse. A medication wafer, followed up with a hot cup of strong tea, would do wonders. Unfortunately, she couldn’t simply summon those items with the power of her mind. She was going to have to get up and fetch them herself.
When she could feel her pulse behind her eyes, she gave up on remaining in bed. Sitting up, she was surprised to find that the covers were tidily spread over the top of her. That wasn’t like her. By the time she woke up feeling like this, she’d usually tossed all her bedding around so nothing remained on the bed but her.
One time she managed to toss herself off the bed! At least all the pillows already on the floor had made for a soft landing.
Pulling her covers off, she wasn’t surprised to find that she was still wearing her clothes, minus her shoes.
Daxus must’ve taken off her shoes and tucked her in before he left. She needed to do something to thank him.
Swinging her legs over the end of the bed, she sat there for a moment and let the throbbing in her head ease a little.
“Would you like some tea?”
Unprepared for someone else to be in her domicile, Nataly screeched and jumped to her feet. Habit had her grabbing the closest item as a weapon even before her brain registered the familiar figure of Daxus.
“Are you going to defend yourself with that pillow?” he asked with an amused rumble.
She looked down at the “weapon” she grabbed, then lobbed it at Daxus’s head. “You scared me!”
He snatched the pillow out of the air before it could impact his face and tossed it back onto the bed.
“I didn’t mean to startle you,” he said. “But I applaud your reflexes. I bet you're used to sleeping with some kind of weapon close at hand. If I were an attacker, you would have presented a formidable defense.”
He clearly admired her reflexes instead of being surprised they existed. She shouldn’t be shocked by his comments considering their conversation about size vs. weakness.
“I was going to say that’s a surprising thing for a Talin to say,” she murmured, “But I guess not from you.”
“No, not me,” he agreed. “I’m well aware that, given the right circumstances, you could be just as fierce as any Talin.”
As much as she enjoyed his compliments, her head felt like it was going to explode. “I need tea and a painkiller wafer before we do any more talking.”
He jumped into action. “Please sit. I’ll fetch you what you need!”
She grinned at his eagerness, then stumbled to her work desk and slumped down in the chair. She wished Talin furniture had backs, but it made sense that they designed things around keeping their backplates from pressing against anything.
Resting her elbows on the table, she rubbed her temple with one hand and tapped the inset display with the other to get the day's vital stats.
It was morning!
She’d slept most of yesterday and all night. How was that possible? She never slept that well.
