More like I felt in my early forties or maybe even my late thirties, she thought.
“Say, do you feel different this morning?” she asked Bravik, looking up at him.
“Different how?” He looked down at himself and winced.
Danni followed his gaze and saw that he was looking at the crotch of his long, silky pajama bottoms. There was a definite tent there where his erection was pressing hard against the thin fabric.
“Sorry, little girl,” Bravik muttered. “Morning wood—don’t take it personally, okay?”
“Oh, uh…” She cleared her throat. “I didn’t mean that. I meant do you feel younger today? I know that sounds strange but—”
“Well, now that you mention it…” He lifted his left arm—his right was still around Danni’s shoulders—and flexed it experimentally. “Hmm…not nearly as stiff as it usually is,” he muttered to himself. “Got stabbed in this shoulder when I was younger and it’s been getting worse lately—that’s what I meant about old war wounds last night,” he explained to Danni. “But this morning it’s not so bad.”
“So you do feel different?” Danni asked. “Younger?”
“Don’t know about younger, but I do feel less stiff than I usually do in the morning,” Bravik admitted. “I guess it could just be the new mattress,” he added, looking down at the puff balls.
“Or it could have to do with the energy of the Mother Stone that we absorbed last night,” Danni pointed out. “Remember how it affected the flower?”
“You could be right, little girl.” Bravik frowned. “We’ll have to keep an eye on each other. You let me know if I start to look less like an old dog and more like a young pup.”
Danni laughed.
“I’ll keep an eye on you,” she promised. “But I think it would be a good thing if we noted down our physical changes while we’re here—for research purposes, okay?”
“Fine by me.” Bravik nodded and then frowned up at the white gossamer ceiling above them. “How do we get out of here without ruining this thing?”
“We don’t. Didn’t Navii tell us to just rip through it?” Danni asked.
“She did?” He frowned. “I forgot about that. Well, let’s get ripping, I guess.”
Danni would have been happy to lie there talking to him, just being close to his side, for a while longer. But she told herself that emotion was only the lingering effect of the Mother Stone energy they had absorbed and the fact that he smelled so ridiculously good. Seriously—he didn’t even have morning breath! When he talked, she caught a faint whiff of cinnamon—that was all.
Which is more than I can say for myself, she thought, frowning. Need to get up and brush my teeth and grab some coffee. No wait—they don’t have coffee here. Ugh!
She was really going to miss her morning shot of caffeine but she would just have to deal with the circumstances and get moving without it.
Bravik was already pulling at the thin, gauzy cocoon ceiling above them. It shredded easily and came apart in wisps and tatters which seemed to absorb back into the puff ball mattress as soon as they floated down.
“Brrr!” Danni shivered. “I guess it held in more heat than I realized. It’s really chilly this morning.”
“I wonder if there’s any chance of a hot bath or shower?” Bravik said, frowning. “I’m going to go in the fresher and check, but I doubt it. The Mother Stone power is probably turned off now—or banked or whatever it is they do with it during the day.”
“Good luck,” Danni said, feeling guilty. “I’m sorry I took so long in the bathroom, er, fresher last night and you didn’t get a chance for a bath then.”
“It’s okay, little girl. You had some things to work out.” Bravik shrugged. “If I have to take a cold shower, it won’t be the first time.”
Danni smiled at him, thinking what a truly nice guy he was turning out to be. Now that he had let his shields down, he wasn’t even grumpy in the morning. She never would have guessed that the growling grizzly of a man who had tried to bully her into not going on this mission would turn out to be such a big teddy bear.
“Wish me luck,” he said and headed off to the bathroom—or fresher, as the Kindred called it.
With a sigh, Danni got out of bed. Shivering, she rubbed her hands over her arms, wondering what she was going to wear today. Should she put on the feasting dress again? Or was it only for feasts? They’d been told not to bring clothing because it would be provided, but one dress was hardly sufficient for a prolonged stay on another planet!
Just as she was about to pull off her nightgown and put back on the translucent dress—though she really didn’t want to—she heard what sounded like someone clapping outside the front door.