I hesitate to interrupt her again. But they should probably see this before the rest of the crew. “Um.. There is one other thing.”
?????
I lead them outside to Ryle. Their jaws both drop as they tilt their heads back to look up at him.
“I... I don’t... What?” Arjun stutters. “I mean.” He sighs and yanks at his hair with both hands. “Why am I still surprised by things?”
Faith puts a soothing hand on his shoulder. “This isn’t our problem to solve,” she says to him quietly. “This isn’t even a problem. Not that I can tell. It’s an oddity. We just, we get back to work.” She turns to Ryle. “How’d you do it?”
“I protect my mate from the giant ape,” Ryle says, his back straightening and his chest puffing proudly.
“So she was threatened, and you grew?” He nods. “Can the others grow?”
“Do not know. I think it is probable.”
“Sleep on it,” Faith says again, more to herself than to us. “My head is spinning. But this could be a good thing. A good thing...” she mutters to herself as she drifts back towards the ship. Arjun follows in silence.
It feels wrong to leave Ryle in this new, strange state of his. But his hut is gone, he doesn’t fit in the ship, and he is fully naked. Something will have to be done about that. No one’s going to want to follow us down to the caves with his massive dong dangling near their faces.
But I’m too tired for solutions myself right now. I like Arjun’s idea about voting. I like... the thought of clean clothes and sleep.
“Go,” Ryle says, before I say anything. “Rest. I will work.”
“You aren’t tired?” I ask. It’s hard to believe. He doubled in size and fought King Kong today! He has to be exhausted!
But he just shrugs. “I am okay. Go. I will be here when you wake.”
I gesture for him to lean down, and I plant a kiss right in the middle of his big lower lip. He chuckles. “Sleep, my mate.”
“Okay, my mate,” I say, smirking over my shoulder as I head back into the ship.
He beams at that.