Caged With The Alien Warrior

48.

Aanya

I froze, gaze darting between Ronan and Eco. Eco stood ram-rod straight. Definitely picking up on some tension there. I frowned. Why?

"Good sunrise, Ronan," Eco said, stiff. He stood there, in my closet, with a pile of folded clothes in his arms.

"It's well past sunrise now, Eco," Ronan said, voice gruff. He did let go of his death grip on the door frame though. Ronan has a subdued fire in his eyes as he looked between me and Eco. Was he... jealous? I scoffed at the thought. No, he couldn't be.

"Right, ah–"

Ronan cut him off. "What are you two doing?"

Before Eco could answer, I cut in. "I'm doing a little fashion show to try on everything. Eco's helping me put away all the clothes that you bought me." I raised a brow at him. "I really don't need all this, this is much more than I picked out on your tablet."

"I know, but you picked only the necessities. I wanted you to have everything, like these dresses." Ronan waved at my current outfit, eyes darkening appreciatively.

My cheeks heated. This dress did hug my curves perfectly. It was a purple wrap dress that hung down past my knees in a flowy, lightweight material, perfect for the warmth outside. Eco went back to folding and putting away the clothes.

"Well, thank you," I said, flustered. "I'm sure Lani appreciates what you got her too."

"Speaking of Lani, where is she?" Ronan asked, looking around the room.

"Lani's with Vrux, he offered to help with her?" My voice went high oatn the end and I winced as I realized I didn't ask Ronan about that. "We're taking care of Lani together. I should have asked if you were alright with that, sorry."

"It's fine, I agree with you. Vrax took care of me as well when I came to live with my aunt and uncle." His eyes were warm on me. "I trust your judgement."

I shifted, fiddling with the tie of the dress. "But still. This is all foreign to me. I should've double checked with you."

"It's my fault you weren't able to, I didn't give you a comm to contact me. Would you like one?" He showed the one on his wrist. It kind of looked like a watch.

"Yes, please." I nodded. It felt weird to not have Ronan around after so long of being together 24/7.

Ronan went over to a bedside table and pulled out a pager-looking device attached to a strip of fabric.

"May I?" he motioned at my wrist.

I nodded, lifting my arm to him.

Gently, his fingers encircled my wrist as he placed on the comm.

"All you have to do is press this button on the side, say my name, and the message you'd like to tell me. If you have a message waiting for you, this green light will turn on. If it's urgent, the comm will flash red. Does that make sense?"

"Yes, thank you." I gave him a grateful smile, relishing in the brief touch of his fingers against my wrist. "Where have you been all day?" I asked, head tilting to the side.

I went over to the vanity, grabbing a hair tie from the drawer to braid my hair back. All that trying on made sweat bead at the back of my neck.

"I was back in meetings with the High General. I wasn't exactly sanctioned to go on the rescue mission, but I did anyways. To try and save Kier." Ronan looked down, not meeting my gaze.

"I'm glad you did," I said softly, moving closer to him. "If you hadn't been there, me and Lani would probably still be trapped there."

Ronan opened his mouth as if to object, but I cut him off.

"We needed you to escape, Ronan." And we still need you. But I didn't say that.

I cleared my throat, past the lump of emotion there, and changed the subject. "You met with the High General yesterday too, why again today?"

"I had to go over everything inside and out, from what happened to verifying the information on the data stick," Ronan explained.

I frowned. "Gila gave his life so we could bring that back. It better be enough to get those lizardmen locked up."

He nodded. "It's more than enough to have them removed from the Intergalactic Alliance. They'll have to believe us and things have always been contentious between the Rhodinians and Szentists. It'll be a difficult road, one that will probably end in war." Ronan trailed off, eyes distant.

War. It wasn't a topic I was unfamiliar with, but I wasn't familiar either. Humanity had faced eleven world wars, but none in my lifetime. I knew it conceptually, but not practically.

And why didn't the High General want to speak with me as well? I was there longer than Ronan, not that I knew a whole lot more than him. And I didn't particular want to talk about how they dissected me like a bug.

Some indignant part of me wanted to be a part of everything, but a larger part of me wanted to move on from the whole ordeal too. A part of me wanted to just go back to my boring, easy life on Earth where the most important decision I had to make was what I'd make for dinner.

"But that's enough about the past." Ronan interrupted my runaway train of thoughts. "I would like to take you somewhere, if you'd like," he asked, almost hesitating with his words.

I gave him a small smile. "Sure." I tilted my head. "Where?"

Ronan took my hand, his large one engulfing mine. "That'll be a surprise."

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AUTHOR'S NOTE

Whaddya think the surprise is gonna be?? Hehehehehe *evil author cackle*

Comments and votes are much appreciated.

Virtually yours,

Ro