"I see that." She's bruised, poor Alice, but I can see her entire back from shoulder blade to the curve of her hips, and she's…beautiful. Delicate but strong. Supple. "Just ditch it, I guess."
"Ditch what?"
"Your tunic?" I gesture at my chest. "I ditched mine."
Her eyes go wide and she swivels around to look at me. "You," she hisses, "do not have tits!"
I tap my pectorals, teasing her. "What're these bad boys?"
"Two pancakes that don't flap in the breeze, idiot!" She clutches the shredded tunic to her front as best she can, but she's still favoring her one hand. "I would absolutely give you a titty twister right now if both of my hands were working."
Sounds erotic, coming from her. "I'll have to hold you to that twister. But okay. You want your tunic so your breasts don't flop around. What do you want me to do about it? We don't have anything to spare."
The look she gives me is downright panicked. "I don't know. Just…fix it!" She waves her bad hand. "I can't do it myself."
"All right. Come here." I indicate she should turn around in front of me. "I'll see if I can piece some of it together."
She gives me a grateful look and presents her back to me.
We're both quiet as I tug on ripped pieces of tunic, trying to somehow work this into a usable piece of clothing. Avians—at least, I hope they're avians—cry out overhead and the wind rustles the tree leaves as I work on Alice's clothing. The tunic's so old and worn that it shreds underneath my touch, and I keep touching Alice's soft skin despite my best efforts. It's…distracting. When I tug on another piece only to have it tear off into my hands, Alice glances over her shoulder at me. "How's it coming?"
"Terrible," I admit.
"But you're whistling," she points out. "Why are you whistling?"
Am I? I pause and realize I am, in fact, whistling a little cantina tune. "I guess I'm in a good mood. This is going to be an interesting adventure."
"Is it rude if I say you're insane?"
I chuckle. "It wouldn't be the first time. My brothers are always telling me that I have no sense of self-preservation. I suppose they're right." Another bit of her tunic falls away and I bite back my frustration. The largest piece is hanging onto the collar by a thread and covers the breasts she's desperate not to show me for some reason. Like I haven't seen alien tits before. But she's wounded and probably not thinking clearly, and I don't want to make her more upset than she already is. "Give me just a moment."
I pull out the largest shard of glass that I pocketed. In the pod, I wrapped some flattened wiring tape around one end over and over again to make a handle, but Alice needs it more. I unwind the tape and return the shard to my pocket. "Hold still," I caution her as I reach around her torso and press the center of the tape on the remaining piece of fabric, pinning it against her skin. I carefully wind the delicate wiring around to her back, and then tie it in a knot. It rests against her smooth skin, holding the remains of her tunic in place. "That should hold until we can take a bit more time and figure out how to make it last."
"Thank you," Alice says softly. "I'm sorry if I gave you shit for whistling. I’m just scared.”
I grin down at her, hating that one side of her face is so beat up. Poor, fragile Sunshine. "No more shit than my brothers would. It's fine. Come on. Let's see if we can find some water, shall we?"
I hold my hand out to her and she places her good one in my grasp. Just in case I've missed something, I take a longer look at our surroundings. We're in the middle of a forest of some kind, because there are enormous trees as far as I can see in all directions except for the one behind us. The pod left a wake of destruction behind it, like a tunnel cutting through the thick foliage, before it dug its way into the mushy ground. Pods are designed to give us the best chance at survival, though, so it might be wisest to continue on in the direction it was heading before the ground rose up to meet it.
I point into the trees. "Let's head that way and see what we can find."
"You're in charge," Alice says.
14
ALICE
My clothing is falling apart, we're stranded on a jungle planet with no water and no weapons, and Kaspar is in a fantastic mood.
If there ever was a sign that my companion was slightly unhinged, it's that right there. The big alien whistles a tune under his breath as we hike through the fern-covered undergrowth. He gazes at our surroundings with bright, fascinated eyes and an eager flick of his tail. He holds my hand, assisting me over fallen branches and around stumpy-looking growths, but overall, I can't get past the fact that he's enjoying himself.