As much as she wanted to run or fight, she had enough sense to recognize the futility of either of those actions. Now that she could think a little more clearly, she saw the wisdom in attempting to communicate further, in the hopes that she could get him to lower his guard enough for her to escape.
Or even better, that he could provide her an escort back up to the surface. She wasn’t looking forward to facing more creatures in the caves or the mine, and she also had no idea how to scale that vertical shaft, but he might know how. Or he might know another way out of the cave system.
She quashed her primal panic when he approached her, trying to remain calm and avoid flinching. He moved towards her slowly, as if aware of her anxiety. He didn’t seem to want to scare her. That in itself was telling of his intent.
He held out the packet with one hand as soon as he moved within her reach, again crouching low as if he didn’t want to tower over her.
After she hesitantly took it from him, he backed away, moving again to the other side of the fire ring. It was like an unspoken boundary between them, that ring of glowing, heated river stones.
Since he sat down, mirroring her cross-legged pose, then watched her in silence, she figured he wanted her to investigate his newest gift.
She hoped it wasn’t another ill-fitting clothing item. As beautiful as the dress she wore was, it seemed wildly impractical in the caves. It also seemed like his kind spent most of their time naked.
She unwrapped the cloth that seemed to bind the items inside. The contents spread as she opened the wrapper. She noted that they were a bundle of large, soft petals. A pleasant floral scent filled the air as she lifted one of the petals, studying it with interest.
It was very large for a flower petal, if that was even what it was, each one the size of her palm. The silky surface of the petal gleamed like velvet in the light warming the cave. It released a sweet, somewhat fruity scent when she accidentally pressed her fingers together too hard while holding it.
The petal wasn’t as delicate as a rose petal, despite squishing between her fingers. It had some durability to it.
It was a lovely gift, though again, impractical in a cave setting. The perfume alone seemed to soothe her senses.
She smiled at Jotaha and held up the petal. “Thank you. It’s very nice.”
His spines twitched as she spoke, though he waited for her to fall quiet before attempting to repeat her words. “Tank ew. Ess ver ni-cee.” He pointed at the petal in her hand. “Ver-os voneill gemant.”
“Ver-ohs von-I gemont.” She dutifully repeated the words, but then followed it up with a shrug. She set the petal back in the pile and began to fold the fabric back up around it.
To her surprise, Jotaha rose to his feet, making a sound that she didn’t think was a word. It was more like a grunt, probably of frustration. Maybe she hadn’t shown enough appreciation for the gift.
Maybe it was another food item. She picked the crushed petal out of the pile and lifted it to her lips, the strong perfume making her eyes water. Figuring it couldn’t taste any worse than the blood bar, she took a tentative nibble of the petal’s edge.
She was wrong. It tasted worse. Like spraying perfume into her mouth. She pulled a face, instinctively turning her head as if to get it further away from her mouth as she rubbed her tongue on her palate to wipe away the gnarly ear-wax taste.
A snorting sound came from Jotaha and he lifted his hand to rub his brow ridges. Then he turned his back on her, his spines quivering on top of his head. More snorting issued from him, though it was muffled, as if he was covering it up with his hand.
She glared at his back, suspecting he was laughing at her.
He got himself under control and turned back around to face her, his spines still quivering as if he struggled to conceal amusement. He saw her narrowed glare and his spines settled flat against his head. Then he held out a hand.
When she glanced at the petals, then back at him, he gestured with his hand that she come to him.
This was a pivotal moment. Sarah could feel it. He could just stride over to her and haul her up by her arm with ease. Instead, he was letting her choose, though she suspected the option to refuse was only an illusion.
Since she had no reason to, she rose to her feet, smoothing the dress fabric down her legs as she stood. When she looked up from the shell-clad skirt of the dress, she caught him staring at her legs.
He stood very still, his head spines half lifted, his tail unmoving. Only his tongue moved as it flicked out from the small space between his lips.
Since he hadn’t shown that reptilian tongue much before, she could only guess at why it made an appearance now. Clearly, he was using it like a serpent, but she couldn’t be sure what had caught his interest enough for it to flick out now. She had her suspicions, based on his fixed gaze, but again she wondered if that was only because she was viewing him through a human lens.
Snakes went still before striking. She couldn’t assume anything.
As she straightened to her full height, which felt insignificant compared to his, he seemed to shake himself out of whatever trance held him. Then he motioned again for her to come to him. When she made to move towards him, he gestured with his other hand towards the bundle of petals.
Guessing his meaning, she bent awkwardly in her dress to collect the bundle, wincing as she heard the seams tearing further. Then she turned her attention back to him, feeling the draft of air from somewhere in the cave brush against the skin of her sides that was exposed by the torn seams. As she slowly stepped towards him, he backed up, keeping his eyes on her but moving with purpose.
He wanted her to follow him. That much was clear. He led her out of the large cave through a tunnel low enough that he had to duck down, curving his shoulders as the thick ridged scales of his back scraped against the stone overhead. As they left the light of the main cave behind, his body begun to glow with bioluminescence, lighting their way.
She still had plenty of headroom and followed easily in his wake. She caught a scent hanging in the air the further she followed him down the tunnel. There was more of that floral petal scent like what she held in her hand, but also a stronger, earthier odor, with an undertone of stink, like the whiff of an outhouse.
She had a clue as to where he was taking her now, and her bowels were cheering in relief.
They entered a cave that was much smaller than the other one. Several of the glowing river stones gave it light and warmth. His bioluminescence faded, leaving her eyes to adjust to the dimmer light in the pungent cave. It was definitely a bathroom of sorts. The scent was unmistakable now, as was the small hole in a flat rock that was tall enough that she would have to climb up on it, but not so tall that she couldn’t do so fairly easily.
If she wasn’t wearing the strait jacket of a dress.
Jotaha gestured to the petals, mimed wiping under his tail, then tossing them into the hole.
The lizard man had made toilet paper out of flower petals. She could have kissed him for his brilliance but her guts were demanding her surrender. She’d been fighting against them for too long, and even the embarrassment of having to hike her skirt up to her waist to make the climb onto the rock was not enough to slow her down.
Jotaha turned his back on her and made his way to the entrance of the cave, lowering his head and shoulders to make his way back into the tunnel, much to her relief. Apparently, lizard people understood privacy. Or, they just didn’t want to be in the cave when the kraken was unleashed.