Starfish

Eleven

He looked at the dish he'd brought. "Baked eel."

"I love baked eel. Do you want to go first? You're technically my guest."

"Er, no. Help yourself."

"We'll be eating in there," she gestured to the short table in the front room. She'd spent the morning rearranging what furniture she could move to take advantage of the wide window that led out to a small balcony overlooking the sea. She thought they'd sit next to the window, looking out at the water while the afternoon light poured buttery sunshine into the room and illuminated her bronze skin. Nina knew she looked good in the sun, years of life on her home island had assured that. Taking the plates, she lead the way into the sunshine and listened to the sound of his bare clawed feet on the floor behind her. She threw a glance back over her shoulder and gave him an easy smile. His response was to clear his throat and stare at the dish in his hands. Okay, that's probably enough cute for now. "I see you didn't bring a whole bag this time."

Ardus chose the side of the table across from her, placing the dish in the the center where they could both reach it before settling down on the floor in the same cross-legged position as the day before. "I learn from my mistakes."

"I wouldn't call it a mistake, you were just cooking the way you're used to. I still appreciate it, even if I couldn't eat it all by myself. Oh, your dishes are on the counter." She flicked her thumb towards the kitchen, where yesterday's plates sat clean and dry on a wire mesh rack – some things never required improvement.

Ardus huffed. "You washed them."

"Well, I wasn't going to hand you a bunch of dirty dishes."

"Which means you have been climbing. I would have sent Athe to come clean up."

"I doubt he'd appreciate being called in to wash dishes. I'm fine, Doctor. See?"She stood on one foot and spread her arms, touching her nose with one hand and then the other. "Perfectly fine." Nina pulled the footstool she used as a chair to the table. "All that dodging has improved my balance." Ardus snorted softly, but when she looked at him he looked more amused than irritated. "Did you tell Nia you checked on me yesterday? She contacted me this morning to see how I was."

"Er, no. I typically do not make my after-hours activities known." He turned the plate in front of him, touching the edges delicately.

"Yeah, Athe said you were pretty private."

He cocked an eyebrow at her. "Are you prying into my personal life, Doctor?"

"No... Well, maybe a little. So? You're the one who admitted to reading the results of my last physical." She pointed the spoon at him. "That's prying, too."

"Only to determine if you were in condition for field work," he defended, still toying with his plate. "As a part of my employment I also must endure periodic testing to ensure I am in suitable condition. The university does not look favorably upon its researchers dropping dead in the field, so they insist on poking and prodding us every year."

Nina grinned, spooning baked eel onto her plate. I bet that's a great day for whoever gets to do the poking and prodding on you. "Yeah, well, you probably know more about me than I do you, then."

"What do you want to know?"

Nina's head snapped up. Huh? Ardus had sat back to wait for his turn at the eel, leaning against the couch behind him with one elbow thrown up on the seat. His sleeve pulled up on his wrist and tight against a forearm the size of her calf. In the bright sunlight filtering in through the window his dark blue skin looked like burnished leather, shiny across his knuckles and the back of his wrist. "You...you'd just tell me, if I asked?"