Alice makes a greedy noise and takes it from me. She gulps down half the container as I watch, and then offers it over to me. "Split?"
I finish off the drink and we both eat a tab, crunching in silence. "I don't think we'll have to worry about water too much," I say. "It's humid today like it was yesterday, so I'm guessing the rain is a regular occurrence. We can drink rainwater if we can't find another source of fresh water."
She nods, picking up the empty flask and tipping it back so the last few drops hit her pink tongue. I watch as she licks the rim of the thing, fascinated at how smooth and small her tongue is. She catches me staring and gives me a rueful look. "Thirstier than I thought."
"I didn't say anything."
Alice gets to her feet, stretching, and then holds her bad hand out to me. "Can you re-wrap this? I think the rain loosened it."
"How's it feel?"
"It sucks, thanks for asking." But she smiles.
I'm careful as I rebandage her bad finger against her good one, watching her face as I work to make sure I don't harm her.
"So what's the plan?" Alice asks. "Are we staying here for another day? Because I don't think I want to risk the bugs again."
"It's good that you ask," I say. "Because I have a plan I need to try out."
"Plan?"
I grin at her, tie off the bandage on her hand, and then move to the edge of the boulder. I give her another cocky smile, and then I hop down to the ground.
Alice lets out a screech of alarm. "Kaspar! Don't! Oh my god—"
I ignore her terror, moving forward and stomping my feet heavily on the ground. The soil's been repaired, no sign of the pits that pockmarked this area yesterday. No sign of the giant beetles, either. The only thing that remains of the one I killed yesterday is a bit of shell sticking out of the ground. I take a few steps forward, then back, then circle around the boulder.
Alice watches me from above, her face pinched with worry. "Come back," she tells me. "I don't like this."
"I'm safe," I tell her, spreading my arms wide. "They don't want me. I'm too big a meal."
"How do you know that for sure?"
I hold up a finger and jog across the clearing, to where that bug shell is. Then I jog back toward her, my feet hitting the spongy soil with loud smacks each time. When I return to her side, I hold the big shell up. "Observe."
I cast it as far as I can away from me.
It bounces on the ground once, twice. The sound of gravel fills the air, and then the shell sinks into a fresh pit. "Just as I thought. They went after you because you're small and light and the right size for a meal. I'm too big for them so they ignore me."
Alice studies the spot where the shell was for a few moments, her lips pursed. "So does this mean you're going to carry me?"
"Precisely."
She tilts her head. "Well, I don't hate that idea. You sure I won't be too heavy for you?"
"You?" I grin up at her, pleased that she likes my plan. "You're just a little bit of a thing."
Alice makes a face, sticking her tongue out. She really hates being called little, which I find incredibly amusing. "All right, but we've got to do this piggy-back. No way am I letting you carry me like a baby."
"Piggy-back?"
"Me on your back." She studies the pack of our gear. "I guess I'll have to put this on, right?"
I move back to the boulder, climbing back up. "I'm sure I can rework it so the straps fit your tiny arms." She kicks my leg with her foot. Not hard, just enough to let me know that she's not pleased. It only amuses me more. I bend down and pull our “equipment” back together again, wrapping the tubing around the panels so it forms a makeshift pack. When everything is Alice-sized, I settle it on her shoulders. "Too heavy?"
She shifts her weight from foot to foot, testing it. In the daylight, the yellow and purple bruises on the side of her face look all the more obvious, spreading out across her brow like a flower. Most of the blood is gone, at least, and she looks so determined despite her injuries that I just want to hug her.
Which is strange for me. I'm not the emotional one. That's absolutely Adiron.
But Alice is doing weird things to me. She makes me feel protective of her, even when it's normally my style to race off into danger and not think twice about the consequences. With Alice, I don't want her to be in danger, though. It makes me stop and rethink things a little more.