She picked it up, turning it around. The thin fronds dangled delicately over the side of the pot.
“A spider plant.” He said. “Chlorophytum comosum. Thought you might like one. They’re easy to care for.”
Anna cupped her hands around the pot and followed Atlas inside. She grinned from ear to ear.A plant. He brought me a plant.
Chapter thirty-six
Atlas
Atlas carried dinner to the house last. He spread bagels on the table, along with several ration bars and a sack of ingredients to make crackers like Anna had earlier. “Here you go. Everything bland I could find.”
Anna clapped her hands. “Perfect.”
“And.” He stepped outside the house and returned a second later with a toaster oven. He tapped on the top. “Ta da!”
“Oh.” Her eyes widened. “An oven? Really?”
“Yes!”
“Does it work just like a big one?” She inspected every knob on the oven, as if there was something more complicated hidden on it than there should be.
“On a smaller scale, yes. It’s fully charged, so maybe test it in the morning?”
“Okay!” She kept spinning the knobs. “Thank you. For both this and your plant.” She gave a quick grin. “I’ll make you something tomorrow. Zero too.”
The way she smiled made the whole room brighter. The room, the yard. . .everything in his life now.
“Alright.” Atlas ducked his head. “It makes me happy seeing you happy.”
A blush ran over her features. “Do you want to eat?”
“I ate earlier, but . . .” He rummaged in one of the grocery bags. “I brought some of the foods I like as well; it’s a sweeter type of bar. I’d offer you some, but sweets and you don’t seem to agree.”
“No.” Anna shuddered. “The bagels are more than enough.”
Atlas put his meals away in the cabinet. She didn’t comment on what his sugar compounds implied—that he wouldn’t need to leave to charge. And, like usual, he didn’t know quite what to say himself.
Because he had no intention of leaving her this evening. None at all. Unless, of course, she didn’t want him there.
Once Anna finished, night had fallen. She stood, brushing dust off her lap. “Can we sit outside a minute?”
“Sure.” He closed the cabinet and opened the front door. “After you?”
Atlas followed Anna outside. Honestly, he would have followed her anywhere right then, but she brought him to the same log they sat at earlier.
“Over here?” She tugged on his sweater, pulling him down next to her.
Atlas complied, glancing upward. He sent a signal requesting the drones be pulled. To his surprise, the request was approved again.
She leaned on him. “Already I can feel I’m going to spend a lot of time sitting out here.”
He barely moved. The press of her body on his made every sensor come alive, branding him. The air was crisp, but it no longer touched him. “Are you already building habits?”
“The best kind.” She threaded her arm in his. “In the morning, can we go to that milking area on the other side? Like you said?”
“We can, yes. But why?”
She pointed up at the drone, far in the distance. “I want to show them that we’re trying to help with something.”
