41.

Madeleine stared at the thick and weird-looking liquid slowly moving around into the see-through container with a certain amount of disgust as she boredly flipped it over and over again, hesitating to pop it open and swallow its contents.

She dreaded to feel its taste again. That feeling of its gooey texture as it slid down her throat, toying with her self-control and gag reflex.

She wasn't being picky. The holy universe knows she wasn't, not after everything she had endured back on Earth right after the start of the pandemic.

All those days of painful hunger and thirst couldn't be erased from memory, no matter how many days of better nourishment, they were there to stay, forever engraved into her body's chemical composition.

Sighing, she realized how much she was actually missing to have a scrap of real food, and the taste and feel of a hot coffee in the morning.

She could almost smell it, taste it on her tongue as she reminisced about the ones that Tate used to prepare on their lucky days...

The girl moaned in complaint, inadvertently drawing the princess' attention as she continued to eye that container with dread and with a deep breath, she fastly popped it open and swallowed its contents in two big gulps before slamming it back on the table in a rather unceremonious way.

She let out a disgusted noise, only now noticing that Meoni was already staring at her as her gaze casually fell on the princess.

"Don't you feel tired already? It's been three days," She commented as she watched the illyrian female laying sprawled in that same chair she'd firstly seen her when she'd woken up.

It'd been three days already, and oddly enough not once had she seen the princess sleep or at least rest for a little bit.

"Similar to laxians, illyrians are not affected by a...circadian rhythm? That's what earthians call it?" The princess casually replied with a pensive look as she dangled one bare foot above the chair's armrest, earning herself a small nod from Madeleine.

"We only rest when needed," She completed her answer, earning herself another small nod from the girl before her gaze travelled to their other non-human companion, who by the way was still lying in that same position they'd lastly placed him in, completely unconscious.

"He's...not moving. He didn't even move once," Madeleine voiced out her thoughts after a moment of silence as she pensively peered at Emerick, watching him lay there as still as a statue, save for his almost imperceptible thoracic movement as he slowly and steadily breathed.

"Why is he not moving?" She questioned, casually raising herself from her seat to walk towards the motionless BloodHound.

"Why do you move while resting? I almost believed that your brain had suffered a damage, the first time I'd witnessed it," The girl abruptly stopped, feeling a little bit offended at first as she was about to throw the princess a narrowed glare before quickly remembering that she wasn't conversing with a fellow human. And with a long exhale, she simply answered,

"I don't know. All humans do,"

"Why? Why would you uselessly lose energy whilst in resting phase?" The princess pressed even further -much to Madeleine's annoyance- making her express an eye-roll even though she continued to look at Emerick, choosing to leave Meoni's question unanswered as she obviously did not know how to answer to that anyway.

There was something else currently poking at her, making her feel so...curious.

So she approached until she was standing right next to the bed, her hand slowly and hesitantly stretching out to try and trace her fingers through his perfectly-looking hair when a bigger hand suddenly shot out of nowhere, firmly wrapping around her wrist and effectively stopping her.

She immediately let out a short and sharp scream as he rose into a sitting position faster than a freaking android, their noses almost touching as those sky violet eyes peered right back into her own.

"Holy fuck!"

She breathed fast and hard, struggling to calm down her racing heart as she remained frozen in that same position, lost into those two swirling galaxies.

However, those inquisitive thoughts still poked at her, making her wonder over and over again...

Why did he still look so inhumanly...perfect? After so many days, not a single speck of-

"She is marked. He has marked her," Meoni bluntly cut in with no warning, abruptly destroying their moment of silence as Emerick's features morphed with an unrecognizable emotion, slowly letting go of her hand.

"Can you show me?" He gently asked, earning himself a small nod as the girl was already aware of its importance, judging by the princess' alarming reaction the moment she saw it.

Madeleine's cheeks turned beet red as she awkwardly stood there for a moment, hesitating whilst the BloodHound climbed down from the bed and gave her a little bit of space, curiosity glinting in his galaxy eyes as he patiently waited for her to proceed.

Oh, fuck this.

She nervously munched on her lower lip, avoiding to look directly in his eyes as she sat down on the bed and spread her right leg apart through the slit and revealed the inside of her thigh, silently thanking her lucky stars that she was wearing another one of those laxian-styled dresses she had found in the pod's stock.

At least this since these people don't seem to believe in underwear.

She quickly pressed her hand against the front part of her dress as she couldn't help but feel so conscious about that certain fact, feeling her heart-rate starting to increase again as she timidly rose her sight and watched Emerick approach, his gaze pointed on the said mark.

Her body let out the tiniest jolt as she watched him lower himself until he was almost at the same level with her girly parts, making her feel so uncomfortably warm as she could feel the faintest breeze of his hot breath caressing that area of uncovered skin.

She resisted the urge to close her legs, her limbs already starting to mildly tremble as unwanted images of what Elias had done to her only a few days ago kept popping at the forefront of her mind, twisting them with Emerick's appearance instead right there, between her legs as he did to her those exact same things.

Her breathing quickened, unconsciously digging her nails into the foamy mattress as she forced herself to remain still and push down whatever she was currently feeling as she was also so acutely aware of Emerick's heightened senses.

You can go to hell, Meoni. You and your stupid big mouth.

She mentally cursed the princess, choosing to try and channel her anger instead as she endured Emerick's closeness for a few moments longer. And as soon as he swiftly got up and turned around she closed her legs just as fast, blowing out a small breath of relief.

She couldn't believe what had just happened to her though. He hadn't even touched her!

"How did you discover it?" Emerick's suddenly firm tone startled her, drawing her attention.

"How did you find it?" He further pressed, the girl not failing to also notice Meoni's surprised expression as Emerick took a few steps in her direction in a rather menacing way.

What was going on?

"Illyrian, what did you do?" He rose his tone just a notch, however managing to scare both females as they both jolted like frightened children, warily watching his every move.

"I performed the bathing ritual," The princess rapidly answered in a robotical way, her gaze never leaving his as she sat there stiff as a pole, visibly startled and confused as well.

"That ritual, the performance it entails is considered sexual on Earth!" He bellowed after a short moment of silence, once again startling the princess with his uncharacteristical and unusually humane anger whilst Madeleine silently watched, feeling her cheeks grow a little hotter at the sound of that, unintentionally reminiscing Meoni's performance in the bathroom.

Meoni's eyes widened for a moment, shifting between him and the girl before transforming into a narrowed glower as they found his again.

"Do not be ridiculous. Females cannot procreate with another female. Henceforth-"

"They do it to create connexions! They choose soulmates regardless of their biological match for reproduction. Earth is very different from Laxian!" He shouted out with a hint of exasperation before the princess could finish her discourse, watching her lower her gaze with shame and guilt for a moment.

"Forgive me. I did not intend to express my desire to claim you," Meoni curtly apologized, her gaze raising to find Madeleine's.

"Starting from this very moment, you will consult with me before even thinking about doing or saying anything to her!"

"I do not answer to you, BloodHound," The princess mumbled with defiance, refusing to meet his eyes.

"You will. Because in case you haven't realized yet, you are about to land on a planet that you have very little knowledge about!"

Complete and tensed silence immediately fell after his last words, the girl watching him stand for a moment longer in front of the princess before walking right past her and to the center console.

This was the first time she had ever seen him so...angry. So humanely angry. And boy was he scary...

She thought as she casually watched him tap away at some screens and browse through data whilst Meoni sat there like a punished kid, head hanging low as her delicate and bare feet slowly dangled in the air.

Although she did understand why Emerick reacted in such a way -because he wanted to protect her- she couldn't help but feel a little bit sorry for the princess.

She wasn't actually aware of what she was really doing, to be honest. She hadn't deserved all that berating.

"So...that's...just taking a normal bath on Laxian? That's what you guys do all the time?" Madeleine tentatively asked with a calm and relaxed tone, hoping to somehow diffuse some of that tenseness still hanging in the air.

"Yes," Meoni answered, followed by Emerick's quick reply as well, "No!"

"How would you know? You haven't even spent your maturing time on Laxian," The princess commented in rebuttal as she turned in her chair to look at Emerick.

"Hey, that's harsh! It's not like he chose to forcefully grow up like some damn steroid-pumped chicken! And on a planet that wasn't his home nonetheless!" Madeleine found herself shouting back before she could even stop herself, breathing fast and hard as she couldn't help but feel so damn angered by Meoni' words.

How could she be so insensitive?

She thought, casually noticing the completely clueless looks she was now receiving from the two non-human beings.

Right. Now I'm the weird one.

She blew out an annoyed sigh and hopped down from the bed, for once finding their general obliviousness so tiring as she padded straight towards the bathroom and hid herself in there, away from everything.