Page 29 of No Strings Attached

Bahbi froze, halfway bent over, then straightened and said, “I’m taking Vi upstairs to bed.” He turned and pointed at the catwalk, “She claimed that first room, the one with the door propped open by a rock. I am going to sleep in there with her.”

He stood there, waiting for someone to laugh or tell him he wasn’t allowed to remain with her, but Acken raised his voice to rouse Vi and asked, “Is this true, little she-beast? Do you wish for Bahbi to share your quarters?”

Vi had nodded sleepily, her eyes unfocused, “Yes. I totally freaked out when we went in there and Bahbi went to close the door. Reminded me of being trapped alone in thatfuckingpod.” She looked up at Bahbi and smiled, “Bahbi said he would stay in there with me. He even dragged up that big fucking boulder to make sure that the door wouldn’t close. And,” she said, dreamily brushing her hand through her hair, “he brought me this pretty flower.”

Acken had regarded him for a moment, then nodded and returned to his conversation. Bahbi gathered Vi up in his arms and headed up the stairs.

Placing Vi on one side of the huge bed, he considered how he was going to get her under the covers. Eventually, he just went around the other side and pulled the free side up, folding the whole section over her. He remained that way for a moment, kneeling on the empty side of the bed behind her, before she reached her hand backward and grabbed his arm.

“Stay with me,” she said, sleepily.

“I won’t leave you, Vi,” he whispered. “I’ll be right in that room all night. And all the doors are open.”

“No. Stay. Here. With me.” She patted the bed behind her.

“You…you…want me to sleep with you?”

“Yes.” She patted the bed again.

Bahbi shucked off his coverall and lay down on his back behind Vi on the bed, his body totally rigid. Vi rolled backwards toward him, took his far arm, and pulled it forward. He turned on his side to follow her silent instructions, the front of his body molding to the shape of her backside—even with the heavy bedclothes between them—while Vi brought his left arm around her and pulled it so that his forearm was resting just below her breasts. Her boldness fostered his own, and he put his face forward so that it rested in the nape of her neck, breathing her scent deeply in.

Vi giggled and whispered, “Your whiskers tickle.”

Then they were both asleep.

He didn’t know which woke him, the sensation of the bed tilting or the feeling of falling. Bahbi had just enough time to grab hold of Vi before they were sliding down a pipe with a 70 degree incline, sliding for many seconds, before splashing into a very large pool of very warm water. Bahbi surfaced easily and looked for Vi. She was sinking far below him, eyes frantic and body entirely wrapped up in 50 pounds of wet bedclothes. He quickly dove, grabbed her, and pulled her to the surface, blankets falling away below.

“WHAT…THE…FUCK?!” She sputtered, looking around wildly.

They were in another enormous cavern, not quite as large as the garden cavern, with a pool stretching so far in three directions that it was hard to make out the marks on the wallsleft by the machinery that had created this space. In the last direction, which he had smoothly oriented them to face, was a sandy beach and another garden space, filled with trees, flowers, and shrubs. Full-spectrum artificial light filled the cavern.

Bahbi turned Vi to face him, wrapped his arms around her, then rolled onto his back to pull her atop him and begin swimming them toward the shore. Vi just looked around and gaped, totally speechless and holding on to him tightly.

He carried her to the shore, then set her down on the sand, carefully inspecting her. She didn’t seem to be injured, but she definitely seemed to be dazed. He said, “Stay here,” then headed back for the water.

“Wha…where…where are you going?” She sounded a little frantic.

“I’m going to swim around the outside edge to see if there is an exit anywhere.” That seemed to rouse her out of her daze.

Bahbi thought maybe her practical side was still catching up from their rude awakening. He didn’t wonder. Had he ever had a better night’s sleep than the one he had just had, holding her?

She stood and nodded, “That’s…that’s a good idea. I’ll do the same on the land.” With that, she headed along the shore towards the cavern wall.

They spent upwards of an hour looking for any sign of a way out. While Vi investigated the little beach, she found a number of various kinds of fruits. When Bahbi came back to the shore, shaking the water off his body and shaking his head in a negative, she had grinned and said, “Well, at least we won’t starve.”

They both ate some of the fruit, all of it recognizable from the previous night’s feast, so there was no worry that it would harm either of them.

Bahbi had put Vi to bed the night before in the clothes she had been wearing, so she was fully clothed and even still hadher clever little sandals on, the ones that fastened with a huge crackling noise. After both of them had finished eating the few pieces of fruit and stared out at the pool in silence for a while, she jumped up and said something about gift hor-sez before starting to peel her clothes and sandals off. Bahbi sat up, eying her curiously.

She grinned, “There doesn’t seem to be much we can do about our situation right now, and I’m not going to pass up the chance for a nice warm bath.” As she took off running, she yelled behind her, “C’mon, Bahbi, last one in is a rotten egg!”

He sat, frozen, as she splashed into the water, dove a few feet, then turned back to smile at him. The water just covered her breasts.Surely, she didn’t mean it, did she?

“What’s wrong?” She asked.

He decided that she didn’t mean it. She probably had no idea. He tried to think of a way to explain it to her without embarrassing them both.

“Um…on Trallia, males and females do not share the same water.”Except for one thing, his mind added.

---