With her human shape, it was strange that she smelled like some other creature. He could not recognise the smell of her illness either. Her smell of gluckast he would expect of anything found lying in the intestines of a gluckast pile, but it began to tug at his mind that some of that foul smell may be originating in herself, which was a more disturbing sensation.

With a mobility unexpected for her state of health, she got onto her hands and climbed up into Gareth's lap. He did not seem concerned with catching whatever she had. She settled herself, and looked up at him.

"Can I trust you, please?" she asked.

"Not yet," Gareth said.

"Can I use the machine?"

Gareth allowed her to hold the steering lever, but kept his hand on it as well. It was an odd picture: her hand, pale from weakness, holding it like a candy bar, above Gareth's gaunt hand, narrow and grey. The lever was in fact a giant insect antenna, and could be guided by simple motions, but if you had experience with it (and it with you) it could be guided by the slightest movement of a finger or two, if not by mere thought.

The moon came out.

"Oha, your animal is... looks good!" the girl said. Gibbsen growled, but quietly so as not to offend her. In moonlight the long hairs of his back had a faint variegated sheen of iridescence, which he disliked. In his youth he had once rolled in cairnbird glue to try and be rid of it.

This human seemed harmless and pleasant, for all she disturbed and puzzled him. He was intensely curious what would happen when they reached the station with her.

To be continued.

#dailycreatedoom #writtenoom #adolphussearchandrescue 2023/10/13