Tamara blushed. “Oh. I mean, if they need you, you can—”
“They do not,” I answered before she could finish her sentence. I knew how she worked now, andno, I would not let her think my work took priority over her. “They will come find me if a situation is critical, but they do not need me foranyof the ones on the list.”
Juni was grinning like a child, happy that I trusted her enough to be in charge. Tamara looked at me curiously.
“Now that we are free for the day,” I started, pulling Tamara with me as I waved goodbye to my niece, “want to go for a little walk with me?”
Her eyes sparkled. “Where are we going?”
We stopped at our tent to pick up some things—including a couple of large sheets, the book and the translating glass—and slowly walked toward the small lake I had found to bathe the day before.
“I thought what I heard this morning were waves from the sea,” she said, looking at the waterfall hitting the deep blue water of the lake.
We stood on the shore, the water coming in slow waves to lap at our toes. “We are still a few days away from the sea.” She nodded, eyes locked on the lake. “Do you like water?”
I could have sworn that she blinked away tears. “Yes. I used to…I mean, before my family became all kind of fucked up, we lived on an island, kinda like this one.” She looked around briefly. “I used to play on the beach everyday. Swim. Run in the water. I haven’t in a long time.”
I squeezed her hand. “There was no sea where you went?”
“No.” Tamara scoffed. “The planet I come from—theEarth—is sick. The Island we lived on was one of the only places nottoodamaged. Water, everywhere else, was barely safe enough to drink so bathe in it? I never took the risk.”
There was both sadness and repressed anger in her voice. In hereyes. I glanced around, ensuring we were alone, and brought her hand to my lips.
“Do you want to go in?”
Blood rushed to her cheeks. “In…the water?”
“Yes.”
“Can I?”
“Why could you not?”
She opened her mouth to talk but no sound came out for a few seconds. “I…I don’t know? I—” She looked down at herself, at the pretty dress hugging her curves. Curves that Canco females did not have, so it looked completely different on her than when the females of my species wore something similar. “We didn’t bring any clothes to change.”
“You do not have to keep the dress on,” I suggested, then cleared my throat when her face changed color. “Is it not an option for humans?”
“I…I mean we tend to avoid getting naked in public places.”
I looked around. We were alone. “If someone comes I will send them away.”
Cancos were not bothered by nudity. But, when I thought about it, I could imagine that if others came, theywouldlook at her. She was different after all…
And, after consideration, I was not too fond of this idea.
Tamara is mine.
“If you do not feel comfortable taking it off, you can go in the water with it,” I added at her scrunched up face.
“But it’ll get wet…”
I shrugged. “The sun will dry it fast. We will just stay here on the beach until it does if you want.”
I already spotted trees that produced fruits all around the lake. All of them were safe for her to eat. We could stay here all day if she wanted to…
“Are you sure?” she asked.
I nodded. “Yes.Pleasego and enjoy the water.”
