I move forward, unable to resist the opening she's left me. I whisper close to her ear, "I volunteer to do the licking."
Alice shivers again, and I could swear she leans back against me.
Just then, the carinoux shoves its head into the shelter, ruining the moment. It sniffs one of the fruit and then turns and starts kicking dirt over it…and us.
Sputtering, Alice surges forward and snatches the fruit, saving them. "That's not a good sign." She wags a finger at the creature. "This isn't your litterbox!"
"You still want to try eating them?"
Alice turns toward me, curling her legs under her as she holds one of the fruit. "I don't know. I mean, I don't think she's a vegetarian, so maybe we can't trust her opinion on fruit?"
I pick one, holding it up in front of her. "I volunteer. I'll taste it first and then you can decide if you want to give it a try."
She leans forward, all eagerness, as I take the glass shard and poise it against the thick peel. "My mouth is watering."
Mine too, though I admit it has less to do with the fruit and more to do with Alice. With a grin at her, I use the makeshift knife to cut through the peel. The moment I do, the entire thing bursts all over my hand like a blister, oozing a wet reddish-gold sludge everywhere.
Then, the stench hits us. Like rotten things or Adiron's laundry, it smells sour and wrong. My eyes water. My nose runs.
With a horrified sound, Alice races out of the shelter. Gagging, I race after her.
28
ALICE
I rub the sides of my nose, doing my best not to puke.
I can still smell the damn thing. God, it's in my pores. I walk away a few steps, trying not to barf up the water (and tab) in my stomach. So much for fruit. That beautiful-looking strawberry turned out to be a nightmare. My eyes are watering, and through the blur of tears, I search for Kaspar. He's down by the water, scrubbing the hell out of his hand.
I join him, because even though the damn thing didn't touch me, I can still smell it. It's permeated my skin and making me want to vomit the moment I try to breathe through my nose. At least there's a small silver lining—I'm no longer hungry.
"You okay?" Kaspar asks as I move to crouch next to him at the water's edge.
"Great," I manage. "Just great." We're quiet, both of us scrubbing our skin desperately to get rid of the smell. After a few minutes pass, I glance over at him. "I don't know if I can go back to our shelter."
He looks a little greenish under the pretty blue of his skin. "I'm not sure I can, either. I think I breathed some of it in." His face gets a weird expression, and then he jumps to his feet, hurrying away.
I watch him go, curious. He heads back to the shelter, grabs our pack, and pulls out his data pad, checking something on it. Whatever it says seems to comfort him; the hard set of his shoulders relaxes and he looks a bit more like himself. "Everything all right?" I call out. He just nods, which seems weird to me. Normally Kaspar is full of all kinds of smartass commentary. "What's your screen say?"
"Nothing." He puts it away and shoulders the pack. "Where do you want to set up for the night?"
I sit back on my haunches, regarding him. "What's eating you?"
"Nothing." He lifts his chin at the rocks near the tiny waterfall. "Over here?"
Wow, way to change the subject. I watch him closely, but he doesn't check his data pad again. I wonder what it says. He's told me before—in the endless hours in the pod—that without a comm connection it won't do much, but clearly it's still telling him something. And he clearly doesn't want to talk about it.
All right. In addition to an iridescent killer cat, I've got a big blue man baby. Cool, cool. Well, two can play that game. "Are you sure it's safe?" I saunter toward him, wringing my damp hair out with one hand. "Or are we better off away from the water?"
Kaspar watches me with a suspicious look, tucking his data pad into the pocket of his now-muddy pants. "I don't suppose it matters much. You decide." When I continue to sidle over to him, his tail twitches. "What are you doing?"
"I'm coming over to sniff you," I lie. "Just in case you still smell like those stink bombs."
His shoulders relax a little. "Stink bombs. That's a good name for them."
"Mmm." I move to his side and put my hands on his chest, pretending to lean in and sniff him. He just smells like Kaspar at this point, but I keep on pretending, coming around the side of him and moving along his back. He's got these fascinating little dimples at his lower back, and I wish I had more time to admire them. Instead, I keep sliding my fingers along his waist in a tease, leaning in and letting my breath fan over his skin. "So far so good."