The First She ✓

THIRTY NINE

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Vrox ran into the cave as if The Vanishing itself was coming after him, holding a torch and water in a metal bucket that seemed to be half-way empty. His wet chest gave her an idea of where the rest of the water had gone.

"I brought your things!" he yelled loud enough to wake all of Ezron.

He slid the torch onto a metal cuff that was engraved into a wall, and then placed the bucket at her feet.

The torch breathed dim light into the cave, allowing her to observe her surroundings. The only clothes she had available were her dress and the furs on the bed. She was really not interested in stuffing some animal remains into her pants, but she doubted Vrox had cotton pads or tampons lying around.

Deciding to test her luck, she looked up at the fidgeting giant.

"Do you mind if I check your chest?" she asked, pointing to the corner where he kept the massive box.

He replied "of course," with a tone that accused her question of being ridiculous.

She made a move to rise from the bed, only to give Vrox a look of hopelessness when she struggled to get off. The platform was too high for her. With his help, she was able to kneel beside the massive wooden box. She tried to push the lid aside and then realized that it was too heavy.

Every part of Vrox's dwelling seemed determined to remind her of their size difference.

Vrox pulled it off for her, revealing a blinding bling that made her cower.

"What the– Vrox, you just casually keep a small lake of treasure next to your bed?"

Diamonds, rubies, emeralds, square icons with markings, and everything else that glittered overloaded the chest.

Vrox blinked. "Where else am I supposed to keep it?"

"I don't know, buried? Someone could sneak in here and steal it."

He shook his head. "No one cares for wealth anymore. In the beginning, some looters thought The Vanishing was temporary. After everyone accepted that we were headed for extinction, things changed."

"That makes sense, I guess," she mumbled, still mindblown. She could have bought herself one of Earth's continents with all this wealth.

She shyly poked around the precious jewels, hoping that Vrox's people considered cotton a luxury. She was left disappointed when all she found were more weapons, some scrolls that she didn't dare to unravel, golden cuffs, rings, necklaces, and vials of colorful liquid.

"What are you looking for?"

"Soft cloth," she answered when she couldn't think of the Ezronian word for cotton. Maybe cotton didn't exist on this planet.

"I will be back in a moment."

True to his word, he returned later with a grey material that was undoubtedly thick strips of cotton. She gasped with relief and wonder, reaching for it.

"We use this to bind serious injuries," Vrox explained. "It is very absorbent."

"Thank god," she groaned with relief.

It looked like she wouldn't be humping animal fur after all.

"Could you give me a few minutes alone, please?"

He seemed displeased by this. "I have left you enough times tonight. Let me see the injury. I will wash–"

She'd die before she let Vrox clean up her oozing period blood.