And that was what it was. At the core of his objections and disappointment in everything that was happening, was that he didn't want to share her. He wanted all of her attention for himself.
Eventually, on the second day, she asked him to go hunting again. He'd put up an argument, but they were already running out of meat. Most of the people here had actually brought items with them to grow food. But food didn't grow quickly, even with grow lights. So they would need supplemental nourishment.
Apparently, the undine who had come with them was the hunter who should have provided additional meat. But he had quickly been chased out of the sea god's lair, and Ellie had a sneaky suspicion even further than that. Proteus had muttered a few times about the stench that lingered long after the undine male had left.
"Please," she said, putting her hand on his arm and squeezing. "We have to make sure they stay, Proteus."
Which was a feat in itself. Proteus certainly did not make that job easy for her.
The humans weren't terrified of him, per say. But they were wary. They knew they were here to help, and no matter how hard helping was, they all had the same goal in mind. Saving the land so that they could use it.
Unfortunately, that was much easier said than done.
Proteus finally gave in, but his hand lingered on her ankle for a moment too long. "What do you wish then, Sisu?"
She twisted her lips to the side, trying to think of what food would be far enough away that it would take him a while to find it. "The tuna was tasty."
"Then tuna you shall have." He glared at the humans behind her, even though no one was paying attention to them. Or if they were, they were pretending very well that they weren't. "Take care of her, all of you. I expect her to be in one piece when I get back."
He sank under the water, disappearing without leaving even a ripple behind. Ellie found herself smiling at the place he'dleft, like the dolt she was. It wasn't a good thing that he was so possessive of her. It should worry her.
But it didn't. Because she knew he was dealing with some strange emotions related to her.
She was doing the same.
As she turned, she caught the gaze of an engineer who was working on rebuilding what they thought might be a replicator. It would not give them more food, but it was definitely going to help with the computer parts they would need for many other pieces.
The engineer seemed to wince when she realized Ellie's eyes were on her, and then her gaze went right back to her work.
Ellie vaguely recognized that woman more than the others, and that was because the engineer had taken up a bunk next to Ellie. She had dirty blonde hair that leaned more toward the brown side, and muscular forearms. Her entire body was muscular, in fact. Far more than the man who worked with her, but that engineer was still a wiry kind of strong.
"What is it?" Ellie asked, but no one said a word back to her.
They all kept their gaze on their projects, ignoring that there was another person in the room with them at all. It was as if they were frightened of her. Like...
"Oh," she whispered.
They didn't want to talk to her if it was going to make Proteus angry. They'd already seen him attack one of the undine. A massive male like that was uniquely capable of surviving an attack, but a human certainly wouldn't.
No one wanted to take the risk of even talking to her, because it was likely that Proteus would have some kind of unreasonable reaction. This was a byproduct of his behavior that she hadn't anticipated.
Maybe it was one she should have thought of. After all, she'd been there watching with them.
But she knew Proteus better than anyone else in this room. She knew he worried for her safety, not that he was trying to make it harder for her to live here.
"I'll just..." She pointed at the room where they were all sharing their quarters. "If anyone needs me."
Ellie doubted anyone would. They all worked well together, clearly having done projects like this before. The two engineers, a man and a woman, both worked together seamlessly, moving from piece to piece like clockwork. The others were just as talented, all but one woman having another person to assist them.
The solo woman seemed to be the one pouring over the notes they’d found. She'd unlocked a section of the records in one of the computers and spent her days making notes after reading through them. Apparently, she was some kind of genius, but she hadn't said a word to Ellie since arriving.
None of them had. They'd all introduced themselves too quickly for her to catch their names, and they stuck to themselves. If she asked a question, they were quick to answer, but that was the only interaction she had with them.
Walking into the living quarters was suddenly stifling. All of their things filled the room. They'd moved the body of the woman who had died in here, dumping it outside like it didn't even deserve a burial at sea.
She'd overheard them talking about the "unsanitary conditions" and mentioning it was strange any human would live in quarters like these without trying to make it a home.
She had. She just... didn't know what a home looked like.
