Javon lay back on the floor of the p-pod and ignored the pain while he allowed Blaha to fuss over him. The words coming out of her mouth weren't exactly full of loving concern. In fact, they sounded more like nagging, but he loved it anyway.
"... I can't believe you took on a full grown lizaarse without a weapon. I didn't think there was anyone alive on the face of Eris stupid enough to do that. Did you think you are made of titanium?"
She continued to nag, but at the same time, she was tending to his wounds with gentle hands. She had found his tiny first aid kit, forced him to swallow a painkiller — not that he was going to argue about that, he needed it — and was showing remarkable creativity in using the rest.
She had sprayed his small tube of NuSkin along his bruised and scraped ribs. He refused to believe they might worse then bruised. He couldn't afford cracked ribs now, so they were bruised.
Blaha continued to nag. "...You didn't even have a torch when you jumped in like that. Did you even know what you were attacking?"
No. He had no idea, but when he heard Blaha screaming, he'd had no alternative but to rush to her aid.
"You think I should have ignored the scream?" he asked mildly, then gasped when she pressed on a painful area of his hips.
She lightened her grip. "Well no. But you could have grabbed a weapon before you jumped in."
Was it his imagination or were her hands not quite as impersonal as they should be? He luxuriated in her attention.
"I didn't have time."
"Hold out your wing." He obediently held out his injured wing, wincing at the sight of the ugly wound that tore it. "You should have taken your time, got a weapon. It was a stupid thing to do."
"I won, didn't I?"
He laughed when she scowled at him.
"Pure luck. I've never heard of anyone taking on a full grown lizaarse without a weapon and not getting killed. This one must have old or ill."
He grinned. "Or maybe you don't want to admit that I'm the man of your dreams, able to battle big beasties with my bare hands."
He expected her to smack him down for that, but she avoided his eyes and ducked outside for a moment. She came back holding the roll of universal engine tape. He looked at it apprehensively. "What are you going to do with that?"
"Put you back together. Stretch out your wing fully."
Wincing he did so, and she began the taxing job of lining up all the torn skin and sticking them together.
"Engine tape?" he asked.
She looked up for a second, then returned her attention to his wing. "Med tape would be better, but this stuff works too. And it's tougher than med tape, and doesn't have to be replaced after a shower. Not that we're in danger of showers out here." She sniffed herself for emphasis.
He sniffed too. It was true, none of them had been able to wash recently, but while he stank in the aftermath of the fight, Blaha just smelled more like Blaha. And she still smelled right.
He marveled at his naivety when he had first met her. How could he possibly have thought she was a plain penniless student from a low family? The longer he spent with her, the more incredible that notion seemed.
This Blaha was a bundle of trouble, and he was more determined than ever to marry her. He wondered what secrets she was still hiding.
Who was she really? Look at the way she was ordering him around. That assurance and casual assumption of authority didn't come from a low status family. Then there was the way, when she had been in trouble, she had gone straight to the Queen. How many people would have thought of doing that? How many uninvited visitors would his grandmother have seen?
She had to be from a High Family, even that nagging sense of familiarity pointed to that, but for the life of him, he couldn't place her.
"You've done this before," he said. She had worked a third of the way down the tear. It wasn't pleasant, and he winced every time she applied a new piece of tape, but he trusted her.
She made sure the next piece of skin was flat, tore off another piece of tape, and stuck it down. "Yes. Lots of injuries on the farm and Mother rarely bothered taking us to a med unit unless there were at least a couple of bones broken."
She straightened up for a moment, rotating her shoulders to work out the stiffness from the cramped conditions. "This should hold you until can get to a med unit and into a healing hibernation. Without one, it will probably heal, but it will hurt and it will scar."
She set back to work again. It stung."Where is Luis now?" Javon asked.
"Disposing of the remains of the lizaarse and going looking for water. We're almost out."
"How much do you know about humans?" Javon asked.
"There was one lesson on basic anatomy and the best way to kill them, but that's about all. Why?"
He picked his words carefully. "There are rumors — I have no personal experience, you understand —"
"What, no hordes of sexy Earthlings chasing you round the palace?" She grinned at him, but there was an edge to her voice.
"I wish! I've always wondered about human females."
Blaha punched him but was careful to find one of the few part of him that were not injured. "It wasn't your fault, you know. The phasor malfunctioned."
