Alice woke to the feel of an unfamiliar shoulder. She sat up, and her eyes focused on the welcome sight of Gau. She threw her arms around his neck with an exclamation of “You’re all right!” as she hugged him tight.
“What?” Gau asked when she pulled back again. “You think me die? Me not done with school.”
Cheeks flushed, Alice lowered her gaze to the duty of straightening her wrinkled shirt. “Sorry. I . . . I just . . . .” She cleared her throat and shot a glance toward Carol at her left. Carol shook her head, chuckling the entire time. “Oh shut up.”
Gau stood. He'd changed from his school suit to a pair of simple hide trousers and was now both bare-chested and barefoot. “Almost mid-night. We stay here, or I take home. You choose. Beast no more bother, but I get if you no want camp.”
Alice shifted her gaze to Eric, who intensely focused on stoking the fire. “Eric? What do you think?”
He didn't look up. “It's up to you.”
She looked over at Carol, who examined her nails. “Carol?”
“Whatever you want to do.”
While completely unprepared for their indifference, Alice couldn't help but feel relieved. “If you don't mind staying here, I could ask some questions about the deeper Veldt.”
Gau nodded. “We stay.” He gestured toward the front portion of the cave. “I take first watch. Carol and Eric, you eat and sleep while I talk with Alice.”
They nodded, Carol gathering herself beside Eric by the fire. Alice followed Gau from the main cavern to the Veldt. The night sounds grew in volume until they were a chorus of animals she always heard and never saw. Gau copied several of the calls, speaking some form of answer to their inquiry, and then shifted those golden-green cat-like eyes to her.
She looked away. “So, what was it?”
“You no worry of that. Speak questions of Veldt.” He scrambled up onto a large boulder, or rather he crouched, and rested his arms across his knees. “I tell all I know. More if can. You ask.”
Alice cleared her throat. “Right.” She looked around for a similar boulder but didn’t find one. When Gau leaped off and offered her his spot, she flushed and quickly climbed up. “Exactly where on the Veldt do you live? Do you have a house somewhere? A tent? Anything like that?”
“This important for paper?”
She shook her head. “No. Just curious.”
Gau stared out onto the Veldt. “When rain or cold I seek shelter same as you or animals on Veldt. When sun shine, or if cold not so bad, I sleep under stars with no fear. Sometime friend keep company and we share warmth.”
A million different possible pictures flared in Alice's mind. She flushed and frowned down at her nails. “A friend? Like Lena or Carol?” Gau laughed. Alice blinked over at him. “What?”
“You say very funny thing.”
“Huh? Why?” She liked the look of his face and eyes when he smiled.
“No human from town be friend 'til you. I talk of Lobo or other with thick fur that give warmth.”
“Oh. Yeah. I guess that's right.” Alice cleared her throat and carefully tucked her knees up to her chest. She wrapped her arms around her legs, tilting her head back to stare up at the night sky and the stars that twinkled and laughed at their myriad of secrets. Alice sighed and closed her eyes.
“What be big trouble, Alice?”
She sighed again. “Oh, nothing. Your Veldt just makes me think of stuff other than school.”
There was a faint rustle as he leaned against the boulder. “You no like think of these things?”
Alice's lips quirked in a smile, and she opened her eyes to meet his gaze. His eyes had widened, twinkling with curiosity and mild confusion. “Not particularly. My life's complicated enough as it is.”
“Maybe your life be more easy if you think of these things. Then no can build and be like wildfire.”
Her smile broadened, and she chuckled as she looked away. “Yeah. Wouldn't that be nice.”
Gau remained silent for a long time before leaping up onto the boulder to sit beside her. Alice blinked at him, but he only grinned as he made himself comfortable. Once he shifted his focus to the stars above, Alice continued to examine his profile. It was a nice profile--Carol was right about the drop-dead-gorgeous part--with a nice and honest expression. He didn’t put on an act like Eric and the other guys. Gau is Gau. He doesn’t act any other way than how he is. The guys could learn a lot from his example.
She smiled, eyes crinkling at the corners before she followed his gaze. “I'm glad I met you, Gau.”
“I glad I meet you, Alice. I be curious of life in town long time, but not know how ask. When you start come to Veldt I think maybe I come ask you help. I think long time.”
“Then I needed your help and you couldn't wait any longer.”
Gau nodded. “At least you no think I beast like others.”
Alice chuckled. “Don't give me too much credit. I was a snot when we first met, remember?”
“Snot?”
She shook her head. “Never mind.” He continued to regard her, the intensity of his examination giving her goosebumps. She met his gaze. “What?”
His feral gaze didn't shift away. “I curious.”
“About what?”
“Why you no with Eric?”
Alice cheeks burned as her gaze retreated. “What are you talking about?”
“Eric like you much. Want protect and angry when no can. Angry, too, that I--”
“Don't be silly.” She cleared her throat. “Eric just wants to be the only big shot in town. You're instantly popular because of who you are. He doesn't like that.”
Gau watched her face. “Maybe is what you say, but not all.”
“He likes Carol.”
Gau nodded. “I see this. But different.”
Alice blinked at him. “Different? What do you mean? What's different?”
“He different when with Carol. No try . . . no act big or strong.”
“What?”
He smiled, and he actually seemed to laugh at her. “You like Terra and Edgar. No see what plain.” He leaped from the boulder. “I go out a way and make safe. You go inside cave to sleep.”
Alice watched his lithe form as he faded into the shadows. Then, when all she could see was a hint of the Veldt beyond, she lowered her focus to her knees. He certainly has strange ideas about things, doesn't he? Eric and I are just friends. Sure, Carol thinks the same way, but . . . if he liked me he would say something. Besides, I'm moving to Figaro, and the last thing I need is a long-distance relationship.
“Get any work done?”
Alice gasped, a sharp glance over her shoulder revealing Eric leaning against the wall of the cave entrance. “Eric, geez! Find another hobby besides scaring me to death.” He came to stand beside the boulder, staring out onto the blackened Veldt. “What's the matter?” she asked.
“Nothing.”
“Needed a break from Carol?”
He crossed his arms and leaned a shoulder against the boulder. “She's asleep again. Poor girl. She's not used to this kind of excitement.”
Nodding, Alice leaned back onto her elbows to stare up at the stars. “Yeah. She only wanted to impress Gau. She doesn't get it that he's clueless.”
“He's not so clueless,” Eric mumbled.
Alice turned her head. “What?”
“Nothing.”
An eyebrow twitched, but she shrugged it aside and stared back up at the stars. “It's beautiful out here. I can see why he would rather sleep in the open than in a tent or hut. I'd stay here too, if I'd grown up on the Veldt.”
“Maybe now you will.”
She met Eric’s gaze. “Why do you say that?”
He stared off into the night a moment before shaking his head with a muttered “Never mind,” and straightening to go back inside. “You should think about coming in and getting some sleep.”
“I think I'll sleep out here. Thanks anyway.”
“Fine.??
?
Well what in the . . . but then the night sounds of the Veldt began their soft chorus, drawing her focus and her attention. So Alice closed her eyes, absorbing the peaceful music with a content sigh.