He told himself he didn’t miss her intrusive presence.
He’d always worked alone, even when Sohut was on the Sanctuary grounds.
Rolling his shoulders, he took off his gloves and walked toward the main residence.
It was late.
He’d slip inside, wash himself, and head to his room, hopefully before the human exited hers.
He still hadn’t decided what he was going to do with her.
The fact she wasn’t registered complicated things and he reckoned the first part of getting her off his Sanctuary was going to involve returning to the exchange to get her alien status legalized.
Though he’d made it a point not to see her, he wondered what she’d been up to for the long hours he’d been working outside for the past two days.
Probably sleeping. At least, that’s what he’d assumed.
But as he opened the door and stepped into the corridor, something immediately hit him.
The house smelled…different.
Sniffing, his brows creased as he walked slowly toward the main room, eyes narrowed.
When he came upon the room, his eyes widened.
It was…clean.
The table sparkled so much he could see the underlying pattern underneath. He’d forgotten it had a pattern.
One of his brows arched as his gaze traveled around the room.
The window was open, letting a cool breeze in and the window sills were sparkling.
The clutter of gadgets he had around the room were all cleaned and set into neat piles, and it looked as if they’d been sorted by type.
As he took a slow step into the room, turning slowly as if he was in an alternate dimension, his gaze hit the floor.
Even the floor was sparkling.
What in the actual phek?
The human was nowhere to be seen but it was obvious whose work this was, unless they’d accidentally bought a cleaning fairy at the exchange and let it loose in his quarters.
The entire room smelled like zimsu flowers.
He waited for it, the snarl and growl at the change, but neither came. Instead, he was speechless. He suddenly felt out of place in his own house.
It was clear the human, small as she was, had managed to undertake the mammoth task of cleaning the entire living space.
It was what she’d been doing all day for yesterday he hadn’t seen any sign of her presence.
A faint sound coming from the cook room caught his ear.
Heading that way, he stopped in his tracks at the sight in front of him.
Standing by the stove, the human was…cooking? Grot lay by her feet, tail happily wagging as he waited for scraps of whatever the female was preparing.
But it was clear she had no idea what she was doing.
She was boiling rai grains in a pot and was glaring at a slab of dehydrated meat on the counter.
Grot looked up and saw Riv, then made a sound of greeting, which had the human looking toward the door.
“Oh, hi. Didn’t see you there.” Her smile was nervous, her gaze wary as if she was worried about something. “I hope you don’t mind. I thought I’d start dinner.”
What?
She was worried about how he’d react to her invading his space, cleaning it, and now cooking his food?
Well…Riv blinked…she should be worried.
But, it was difficult finding that usual pot of anger and annoyance that he often drew from.
“What are you doing?” he asked instead.
“Cooking. Well,” she huffed a breath from her nose, her nostrils moving a little as the air went through them, “I’m trying to. I don’t know any of these ingredients.”
Moving a little closer, he looked at the rai bubbling in the pot.
“First off…” he began, but the look in her eyes stopped him.
It was a half-defiant, half-hopeful look.
He motioned to the dehydrated meat instead of finishing what he was about to say. “That needs water.”
Her eyes flew to the meat and she picked it up, garnering Grot’s attention.
“Not for you, doggo.” She patted the tevsi on the head and Grot whimpered.
Grot whimpered.
He’d never heard Grot whimper.
“This is for your master.”
That stopped his thoughts in their tracks.
What?
For a few moments he just looked at her as she put the dehydrated meat into some water.
“You’re preparing sustenance…for me?” He regained the ability to speak.
Her eyes darted to him for a second. “It’s the least I can do.”
He wanted to ask why but all he could do was stare at her.
This was too…comfortable.
Maybe he’d given her the wrong idea by not pushing to get rid of her at the exchange?
Permanent residency at his Sanctuary was not possible. He was still intent on finding a place for her to go.
She seemed to not be aware of that.
And what was worse, these unexpected actions of hers…they made him feel strange.
Backing away, he went to sit at the table, his eyes still wide as he stared at nothing before him.
He needed a minute.
What the phek was happening?
A few moments later, the human stepped in with a bowl of rai and braised meat.
She set it before him, a tune low in her throat as she hummed some melody.
He could only stare at her.
What was she doing?
Next, his gaze fell to the bowl before him and for a few moments, all he could do was look at it.
A warm, home-cooked meal was not something he’d expected this dark-cycle but there it was in front of him.
There was something about it, about not downing cans of Xurli energy fluid and rock cakes for dinner…
Whatever it was, it had him swallowing hard as the scent of the warm food wafted upwards into his nose.
This was what it felt like having a proper home-cooked meal.
When was the last time he and Sohut had shared such a thing?
He couldn’t remember.
“Is something wrong with it?” A worried frown etched the human’s forehead as she looked at the contents of his bowl. “I tried, but I suppose this must be more like what I’m used to than what you usually eat.”
He could only grunt.
She sure
