Page 9 of Ava Stargazer (Planet Xai #2)

The dirt path dipped in front of Ava as she walked, unsteady, back to Vox’s house from the ceremony. She looked over her shoulder at Rhutg and Vox trailing behind as they walked, Vox watching her swaying footsteps. “And then the trader came down from the spaceport, and you know what he said?” Ava said, twirling around, her arms wide.

Rhutg and Vox shared the same look of amusement at her fast talking.

Ava noticed their glances but found she didn’t care about much right now. She said again, slurred, “Do you?”

Vox shook his head, humor in his voice as he watched her exaggerated movements. “I cannot possibly imagine.”

“He said ... he said...” Ava held her hand out in front of her face and tried to focus on it. Her fingers swam before her eyes. “Shit, I can’t remember.”

Vox threw his head back and laughed, a more guttural sound than she made. His eyes shone with mirth as Ava focused on his face.

The path seemed to tilt in front of her in places. She reached out to grab him to steady herself, holding his arm tight. “Oh. It’s dizzy.”

Rhutg let out a groan and rubbed his cheek as he started on a separate path, away from them, that led to his own house. “Get her inside, Vox, before she falls over and hurts herself. I hope when we find the other Humans they aren’t all lightweights.”

Vox picked her up, holding her close. Oh, he's so much faster than me. Ava pawed at his chest as he carried her, watching as his long gait ate up the distance. “That’s mean, Vox. Laughing at me.” And then a second later, as she nuzzled into his chest. “You’re so strong.”

“I didn’t know the wine would affect you so much. It must be more potent for you. Next time you will need to moderate further.”

“I only had that one cup.” She held up one of her fingers, pressing it into his chest.

“Even less next time. Your biology is different.”

Ava wiggled in his arms, feeling suddenly sleepy. She perked up as they got closer, her eyes snagging on the ball set outside. “Should we play jurn?”

“Ava, you can’t even walk straight.”

The path swayed in front of her eyes as she grunted and tapped his chest again. They got inside, and Ava shielded her eyes from the lights. That’s too bright. It was possibly one of the first times she ever wished for something to be a bit darker.

Ava stretched out inelegantly on the bed, enjoying the feel of the air conditioning on her face after being out in the humid night. This feels nice though. She pulled her jumpsuit away from her chest absently, stretching the fabric taut before starting to take it off. Gross. “I feel sticky. I’ll go take a bath.”

Vox eyed her body as she took off the suit before averting his gaze and looking away. “I’ll make some food for you. It might help to have something other than the wine in your stomach.”

“Okayyy, thank you.” Ava stumbled to the bathroom before settling in the tub. She stubbed her toe on the way in, letting out a yelp. Shit. Ouch. “I’m okay!” Ava yelled back to Vox, who poked his head in to see she was alright. In an undertone she added, “Maybe it’s a good thing we didn’t try to play jurn.”

She zoned out a bit, unfocused, as the tub filled, enjoying the buzz the alcohol gave while having her body submerged.Looking through her fingers, she watched the light filter through them as she opened and closed her hand. Everything felt warm and fuzzy.

There wasn’t a place to take baths on the Phor ship, only a shower. Even little things like this were strange to get used to. Strange and wonderful, like a citrus shampoo Vox had, the scent filling the air as she sank into the water. Never knew how relaxing a bath would be. She stared at her hands absently, watching them wrinkle from the exposure to the water, something she’d never really noticed before. It still fascinated her.

Vox looked up as she exited with a wrapped fiber towel around herself while squeezing the water from her hair. She clumsily put her jumpsuit in a tote bag and took out her night shirt. She still used the ship’s cleaners to do her laundry. Ava then held out her hands to Vox, pointing with one hand to the fingertips of the other.

“Are you wrinkled again?” Vox asked, watching her, his amber eyes luminous.

She nodded, the movement exaggerated. “Yes. Just the same as before. I think it only gets this bad regardless of how long I stay in the water.” She looked at her hand in wonder. So weird. Her skin never seemed to do that in the short showers on the Phor ship. The wrinkles must have something to do with taking a bath. In her altered state tonight, she found it more interesting than usual.

She watched Vox shake his head after looking, an amused expression on his face, and he put a plate of food in her puckered hands once she was dressed.

“Thank you,” Ava said with meaning, taking the plate filled with color and sitting back in the chair in the kitchen to eat.

Ava watched him raptly as he stirred the food and dished himself a plate. Vox could cook, and well. It was another thing Ava had never learned to do, relying as she had on the food processor for all her meals.

She looked at her hand absently. The fingertips were already starting to return to normal. “Maybe Joy will know why this happens. I bet she knows other weird things about Humans too.”

“Maybe.”

Her eyes lingered on Vox as he moved aside to eat. Scooping up a bite herself, she noted how the different ingredients blended together. She bit her lip, concentrating as she lifted the spoon and looked at the food carefully. It doesn’t look too hard. She bet she could learn how he cooked it. If she could put together engine components, then she could certainly put together a meal.

“Lirell will be back tomorrow?” she said around the food, a mixture of bavla grains and fruit.

“Day after most likely.”

“The Spry are coming with?”

Vox nodded, absorbed in eating.

Ava couldn’t focus more beyond that other than to say, “I don’t know much about the Spry. Their eyes were odd. That’s all I can remember from the book in the engine room.”

She put her hands up to her eyes, covering them and then removing them fast playfully while grinning. “Peekaboo.” That phrase was something that her mother did and said to her as a child. She frowned and put her hands down, not finding it funny anymore.

Vox chuckled. “Just eat, Ava. Thinking right now probably won’t do you any good.”

Ava ate, suddenly very hungry. She gestured to Vox with her utensil, her favorite one brought from the ship. “This is good. I want to cook like you. It’s kind of nice to not think for a bit. Maybe that alcohol is a good thing.”

Vox’s eyes grew wary. “Occasionally but ... not all the time.”

Ava looked up at Vox sitting there eating by the cooking hearth. He’s too far away. Moving closer, she took her plate and scooted up next to him, until he moved his arms and made room for her within. “How long will I feel this way? Like the room is spinning?” Her head felt heavy in her hands.

Tightening his arms, he held her close. “Probably until the morning. There’s some painkillers from the ship you can take then if your head hurts.”

Ava snuggled her face into his chest. “Nothing hurts right now. I feel pretty good.”

Vox sighed and put his plate down before he stroked her face, his hands gentle. Staring ahead, his eyes were dimmed from the amusement he had earlier when she was laughing and walking weird and being silly.

Ava felt drowsy and started to fall asleep right there in his lap, the stroking on her face soothing her. But she caught his words right before she gave in to her fatigue.

“I wish you could feel good all the time, Ava, and feel like a part of Xai. Not just when you’re drunk.”

Ava woke back up at that for a minute, raising her hand from her lap. “It’s not just me who is having trouble figuring it all out. It’s all up in the air what everyone wants to do with Humans, and I can’t fully blame them either. I want to fit in.” She stretched out in his arms further, yawning. “It’s just hard. I only lived on a ship before.” Reaching over his shoulder, she pointed toward the stars in the window, her eyes snagging on them dreamily. “Up there. Up, up there. Everything is so different. I’m trying so hard. Every day.”

He stroked a piece of her hair. “Yes, Ava. I know. I still wish it, just the same.”