I started the water running, trying to judge the temperatures she liked with how much heat the porcelain of the tub would absorb in the process; it's actually something of a science.I started the water running, trying to judge the temperatures she liked with how much heat the porcelain of the tub would absorb in the process; it's actually something of a science. I laughed at the silliness of my thoughts and watched the tub fill up. When it was about two-thirds full, I walked back into the living room and pulled K'meh into a sitting position. "You want me to get up now, don't you?" she said, peering up at me with one eye open. "You wanted a bath. Go take," I said, pointing towards the bathroom. She rose with a groan and disappeared through the open door. I rummaged about in her bag for her soap and for a fur-trap; I was quite certain the motel showers didn't come with one as standard equipment. She smiled tiredly as I dropped them by the tub; I gave her a kiss on the muzzle, pulled my jacket back on and left the motel room, locking the door behind me. I looked up at the night sky as I drove down the road, grateful to a species that had finally collected its wits and decided that grey was not the color the sky was meant to be. I found a small convenience store, helmed at this time of night by a lovely young caucais femHuman who was occupying her mostly-free time by watching the television. Still, she didn't seem to resent the fact that I'd intruded on her private little world. "Whatcha watching?" I asked as I walked in, hoping my accent wouldn't give me away. "News right now," she said. She was chewing gum. "Anything exciting?" I asked. "A few things," she offered. "They decided not to sell Earth to Pendor." "Do you think that's a good thing or not?" I shouted from back behind a stand of paper cartons filled with preprocessed unleavened bread products, most of which were artificially colored and flavored. The ones that weren't proudly attested to that fact. |