Page 20 of Fathom

Across the room was a completely empty spot.

I sat up, the blanket slipping from my shoulders, and blinked into the dim morning light.

I was alone.

A knot of unease twisted low in my stomach. Had I upset him so much that he abandoned me, ditching me the first moment he got? That shame rushed back up just for a moment before the front door creaked open. Eun stepped inside, balancing a paper bag and a large box in his arms. He caught sight of me and stopped mid-step, his tail snaking out around him to reach for me. A wash of pale purple bloomed across his cheeks, visible against the stark white medusa hair that bordered his bare skin, and he quickly dropped his gaze to the floor.

"Eun, I'm sorry," I said.

"No sorry," he said as he crossed to the center of the room and sank down, folding his legs beneath him. He leaned forward slightly, setting the bag and box gently within my reach, like an offering.

He said several words that included the word ‘you’ while gesturing at the two containers.

I got out of bed, sitting down across from him on the floor.

I reached out and grabbed the paper bag.

I opened it, the savory smell of warm bread hitting my face with enough force to make me salivate. I reached in and pulled out a roll stuffed with dried tomatoes and other things. There was a second roll in the bag, so I leaned forward, setting the bagback in front of Eun as I took a bite. It didn't taste exactly like the bread I was used to, with a slightly sour flavor that was pleasant but strange, and the tomatoes were more like raspberry jam with a hint of chocolate.

Still, it was delicious, and there was no burning or tingling in my mouth, so I ate it.

He joined me in eating.

I licked the crumbs off my fingers before I turned to the next box.

“I open, yes?” I asked him, struggling to find the words. I interlaced his alien language with my own, trying to find a way to speak with a flow. I would figure it out. I would learn.

He said something that also ended in the word yes.

I grabbed the box and opened it.

Inside were several sets of clothing, undergarments, and a brand new pair of shoes. I had been prepared to wear my one set of clothes out and about again, but apparently, he had gone out in the morning and shopped for me. They were basic, just shirts and comfortable pants, but I could tell they would fit me as I held one of the shirts up to my chest. There was also a hairbrush, and what I hoped was a toothbrush, given its size, but with a funny-shaped handle with finger indents.

“Thank you,” I told him, giving him a bright smile.

He said something that included the words work, and something that sounded like a question involving the word key.

“I have my key if that is what you are asking,” I said, going over to the jacket he had lent me. I dug into the pocket and pulled out the room key.

He nodded and rose to his feet, not taking the key from me but instead gathering up the empty box and bag, then said something about work again.

“Wait!” I reached out and touched his forearm.

His entire body stiffened, and his tail reached out to snake around my waist, tugging on me like it was trying to pull me closer. He looked at my hand, then back at me, then back at my hand, but he didn’t say anything. He just reached down with his other hand and pulled his tail away from me.

“I with you? Can I,” I pointed at myself as I continued to intersperse the few words I knew with my own language. “Go to work?”

“Yes,” he replied, catching his tail as it reached out for me again.

I grabbed one set of the new clothing and rushed to the bathroom. I got through my business in record time, working the knots out of my hair with a viciousness that ignored the minor pain of each tug. When I got back, the garbage was gone, and he was just standing there, waiting.

I tried on my new shoes, and they fit… perfectly.

I frowned at them.

“Did you measure my feet while I was sleeping?” I asked in my own language.

He just looked at me. There was no way he understood any of my words.