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His nostrils flare, his tail lashing behind him like an angry cat. "Let them try. I will make them regret it."
"You're supposed to be working on becoming civilized," I remind him. "That's not a very civilized thing to say."
"That's because I don't care if I'm civilized or not." Victor leans in, looming over me in a way that makes me want to squirm with heat. "I'm only in this for the kisses."
I should be upset at that confession. I want him to do this for himself. But at the same time…I'm not exactly upset about the kissing part of the bargain myself.
Victor leans in, and for a moment, I think he's going to start the day with a kiss—only to have him jerk away, staring at the walls of the house. A look of boyish delight crosses his face. "It's raining again."
I bite back a smile, because he looks so thrilled at that realization. "When it rains here, it tends to rain for a few days, yeah." I watch his expression. "You like the rain?"
"It smells so good. And I like the feel of it on my skin. It feels…clean."
I get it. For a man who's been cooped up in a cell ever since he awoke, rain must be fresh and new to him. "We'll probably have to turn the wheels on the pump house again."
He heads for the door. "I can do that right now—"
Before he can move away, I grab his hand. Victor looks down at me as I squeeze his fingers. "You should eat breakfast first."
After we eat a very uninspiring meal, Victor heads outside to the pump house. I hear a low, metallic grinding noise that tells me he's turning the crank, and then it sounds like a toilet flushing. I guess that's the water being sucked away. It's something I'm going to have to get used to if the pump house needs to be utilized regularly. I check in on Victor after I clean up the kitchen, and he's still at work inside the small pump house, cleaning and oiling the gears with a determined look on his face. The floor is mucky with mud, and I immediately start sneezing and retreat inside.
Overall it's a quiet day. Victor obsesses with cleaning the pump house and the stone walkway that's more or less been covered with mud at this point. He scrapes the packed down mud off flagstones, revealing a pretty path connecting the house to the pumps. I think he likes being outdoors, and the rain doesn't bother him, so I let him work there all day. We can always do more practical lessons later tonight. Maybe I should show him how to make meals for himself, or how to use the comm panels.
Akris comes by late afternoon with a large bag of things I've requested. There's still no new mattress for Victor or a chair. Those are being printed in town and will be delivered tomorrow. I'm a little disappointed, but at least there are extra blankets and towels now, along with some spices to make the bland foodstuffs we've been given a bit more exciting. There's also a package of meat, because I know Victor likes meat, and I want to give him things that make him happy. I want to show him that there are good things in the universe that don't have to be bargained for. That sometimes, all you have to do is ask.
More than that, I need him to realize that not all the guards are like Riffin and Novis. Some are married to their jobs, true, but a lot are just young alien men with their first posting away from home, doing a job. It's not that Victor's the enemy. He's a job. The sooner he realizes that, the sooner he can make friends and maybe realize that even though we've been thrown into the deep end of the pool, so to speak, we can still swim.
I set out all the ingredients for dinner, so Victor can make it. I rearrange what little furniture we have so we can sit together (though a small, naughty part of me thinks I should leave it as it is so I have to sit on his lap again). I wait by the table, drumming my fingers while I wait for him to come in. Not for the first time, I wish I had a book to read. There's a few treasured books back in Port that have been scraped together, but it seems selfish to ask for one when there's such a demand for them.
The door opens.
I sit up as Victor enters, soaked to the bone and covered in mud. But his grin is wide with satisfaction. "I have uncovered the entire path."
"That's wonderful," I say, and then promptly sneeze.
His expression immediately changes to concern. "Why are you sneezing? You didn't go outside."
