Harwal, book 3

Chapter 25

"Tina, it's me, Candy," I say and she starts smiling.

"Oh sorry, you're so dirty I didn't recognize you," she says and lifts the basket in her hands. "You need somethin'?"

I take one of the trousers and lift it. "Are there any bigger sizes?"

She looks at it and shrugs. "Don't know, I could go have a look. For the big Zohra, yeah?"

"Yep," I mumble and place the pants on her basket at her request. "Could you send my gran a message, saying it's done and I'm fine? Oh, and could you also bring some food? Whatever is fine."

"Sure thing. Room 203, yeah?" She quips, already leaving.

"Yep," I say and turn to knock on the door, where all three of them are still by the sound of it. "It's me."

The door cracks open and Harwal's sooty face appears. "What?"

I lift the pants. "Clothes for the boys. Do you need help with the two?"

Harwal opens the door wider and sighs. "They are drugged, there's nothing to be done. I put them inside the bathroom for now."

I go into the room and hear their panting in the bathroom. "Yeah, I see…" I place the pants on the bed and head back to the hallway, I spin around and bite my lip. "Can I have a word with you? In private?"

Harwal closes his eyes with a long sigh and comes out, closing the door behind him. "Can it wait until tomorrow?"

"That's… it won't take long."

"Can it wait until after the shower?" He asks next, going to his own room's door.

I grimace as the numbering hits me, 203. I was too dazed to think. "I asked for bigger trousers for you," I say and then point at the room number. "Also accidently ordered food to your room."

Harwal narrows his eyes, clearly annoyed. I get that he's on thin ice with the drug, but for some reason I'm…not afraid. At all. Even after all I witnessed I feel oddly at peace.

Hah. I might actually really like him.

"Can we go in?" I ask and poke the door open for him.

"I'm not…" he grinds out, then he takes a deep breath. "I'm not in my right mind now."

I shrug and nod towards his room. "It's fine. I'm always snappy to you, so it's your turn."

"That isn't it," he says, but goes in and leaves the door open for me. I close it and snap on the lights, they're dim and barely work, which is nice to be honest.

Harwal stops after a few steps and turns to me with a displeased look. "What do you want?"

I dig out the kitten from my pocket and lift it up. "What is this and what does she eat?"

Harwal looks at the furry ball and bats his eyes, clearly confused. I rub the kitten's head and she unravels from her ball-form. She immediately hisses as she sees Harwal so close to her. She runs on my arm, to my shoulder, and starts hissing again.

"Do you know?" I ask.

"Where did you get that?" He asks, instead of answering.

"Uh, from the lab," I mumble and pet the kitten, calming her hissing. "When I waited for you, her mother asked me to take her before she died."

Harwal palms his face and rubs his eyes with a groan. "Unbelievable."

"What was I supposed to do? Leave her?"

Harwal sighs and shakes his head. "No. It's a Payat, an uncommon beast found on cold planets. They're quite intelligent, so I'm not surprised you were requested to take it."