6. Chapter 6
Chapter 6
Zoric nodded his assent and Angela sat up on her cot. While he'd known digging his claw into his leg was going to hurt, he hoped that the comforting warmth he'd sent her first had eased some of the pain from her ordeal. While the chill in the air didn't bother him much, he knew the thin hospital gown hadn't offered her much warmth. The clothes he'd left for her had been better, but her fingers and skin still showed the tell-tale signs of being too cold.
He was prepared for her touch to be hesitant and awkward, maybe a little painful. So when he felt a gentle stroke along his jaw, he was certain he was imagining it. Then it continued down the side of his neck and he growled.
It stopped abruptly and he looked up to see her eyes wide with fright. It was an unpleasant echo of his first bond and he knew she felt the spasm of pain from the memory.
"Did I hurt you?" Angela asked. "I didn't mean to hurt you. It didn't feel like I was."
"You did not hurt me," he assured her. "My kind do not purr. I'm sorry for frightening you."
"You wanted to purr?"
She sounded pleased with herself and Zoric couldn't help his chuckle. This was a much better reaction than fear and he found himself trying to pull more of it from her.
"Yes, I did. Your touch was very gentle. What were you trying to do?"
"I wanted to know what your skin felt like. My hands were restrained behind my back when I was close enough to touch you." Her cheeks flushed and he wondered why she was embarrassed by her desire. If he hadn't tasted her hormones on the air, he'd wonder if she'd caught a sudden fever, and he was filled with a desire to see her in the sun.
"Would you like me to move closer?" he asked. "I can let you actually touch me?"
"Are you allowed? I know there are people in the surveillance booth."
He tilted his head. "How do you know that?"
"Because you do," she admitted.
"Are you reading me?" The idea filled him with excitement. If their bond had progressed that quickly, if she was doing it on purpose…
She shook her head. "Not exactly. It's more that I focused on you and felt something. Like a phone cord? And I could hear what you were worried about. It was running through your mind like a mantra."
"You felt our Bond and used it to hear my thoughts without me projecting them to you?"
"Is that what that was?" she asked.
Zoric focused on the Bond and sent how pleased he was down it. When she gasped, he enjoyed the blush that rose up her cheeks. Then, she sent the same thing back and it was his turn to shift uncomfortably.
"Oh, the scales on your cheeks change color when you blush," she said, the joy in her voice a balm to his soul.
"I did not know that," he admitted.
"You've never blushed before?" she asked.
"Never in front of someone who would mention the color of my scales."
He felt her sympathy through their Bond before she spoke.
"That sounds lonely," she said.
Zoric shrugged. "In some ways, perhaps. I had my people and my place among them. There was companionship, if not true intimacy."
"What about your mother? Did she raise you to be the Captain of the Guard?"
"I don't think they can object if you touch my tail," Zoric said, avoiding more questions about his past. The lights cast strange shadows on his scales, making them shimmer green and gold as he shifted on the stool. He pulled his tail into his lap and enjoyed the feel of her eyes upon him.
Angela's curiosity rippled through their bond, even as he could feel her frustration and amusement at his change of subject. She watched him as he moved closer, and he was aware of the interest in her gaze, and of the sympathy at the spike of pain he'd shared when she'd asked about his mother.
"Is it sensitive?" she asked, her voice soft with consideration. Their Bond hummed with awareness. He recognized her gentle, careful approach, and appreciated her recognition of his need for boundaries.
The surveillance cameras whirred quietly above them, a reminder of their lack of privacy. Zoric felt Angela's awareness of their observers fade as she focused on him, their connection growing stronger with each passing moment.
"Not in the way you might think," he answered, letting amusement color his response. "But it is part of my balance. You might want to warn me before you-"
Her gentle touch along his tail sent a jolt of surprise through him that echoed in their bond.
Angela giggled, the sound bright against the institutional silence. "Sorry," she said, not sounding sorry at all. "I couldn't resist."
He felt her delight at his reaction, saw her eyes widen as she realized she could feel his answering amusement. The bond between them strengthened with each interaction, growing more natural by the moment.
A warning buzz from the cellblock door interrupted their exploration. Their time was running out, and they both knew it. Angela's disappointment mixed with his own, creating a bittersweet ache in their shared connection.
"I'll come back," he promised, standing reluctantly. The stool scraped against the concrete floor as he pushed it back.
"I know," she said simply. And through their bond, he felt her certainty - not just that he would return, but that she would be waiting.
As he walked towards the cellblock door, Zoric did his best to hide his irritation at their interruption. There was an armed soldier waiting for him in the doorway, and another in the room on the other side. The door slammed shut behind him and his escort led him away from the cellblock.
He wanted nothing more than to turn back and resume his conversation with Angela. Even her brief touch along his tail had been enough to make his heart race with need, and he could feel her thoughts going in a similar direction.
The human military base had assaulted Zoric's senses from the moment he arrived. His scales detected minute changes in air pressure from the security systems, while his tongue collected data about everyone who had passed through in the last hour. The soldiers' weapons carried traces of oil and gunpowder, their uniforms crisp with industrial detergent that made his nose itch.
His claws clicked softly against the polished floors as he followed his escort, each sound echoing off walls designed for human acoustics. The corridors were just wide enough to be uncomfortable - too narrow for his natural gait but too wide to brush against the walls for balance. Everything here was built for a different species, a constant reminder of his outsider status.
The facility was a maze of corridors that always seemed to end in another conference room. Identically furnished with a polished wood table, faux leather office chairs, and a large screen that nobody seemed inclined to use. They had beige walls and a concrete floor painted to look slightly different from the institutional grey that covered the hallways.
Ae-cha and Colonel Schuh were already waiting for him, sitting at the table in the office chairs humans seemed to love. He didn't know how Ae-cha managed it but he always felt like he was on the verge of sliding off the front. Instead of sitting, he approached and leaned against the wall.
His tail brushed the wall behind him and the memory of Angela's touch thrilled through him again. He hadn't realized he was broadcasting along the Bond until he felt an echo of her pleasure a moment later.
It was no wonder his people would go to the lengths they had to secure a bond like this. And this was a Bond newly formed and not yet consummated. Zoric didn't dare hope he'd be allowed to consummate the bond but he yearned for it, and Angela, with every fiber of his being.
The sharp, chemical scent of Dr. Phillips preceded her into the room, and Zoric couldn't stop the curl of his lip. There was a reason perfume wasn't allowed in the facility but apparently the psychologist didn't think the rules applied to her.
She sat at the table and smacked her file folders on the polished surface. They looked new and Zoric couldn't help but smirk at how long it must have taken her to salvage her notes. As if she could feel his reaction, Dr. Phillips turned a hateful look his direction before straightening her shoulders.
Colonel Schuh nodded to the soldiers stationed at the door and they walked out of the room, closing the door behind them. Zoric could hear the shuffle of their boots as they took up positions outside.
Who were they guarding, he wondered? And against what? As far as he could tell, there weren't any other prisoners in this facility, though that hadn't always been the case.
"Thank you all for coming," Colonel Schuh started, and Dr. Phillips huffed.
"That was hardly an invitation," she snapped. "Are we able to move forward or not? Endless meetings are not going to get the results I was sent for."
"Are you in a hurry to attempt to kill your patient again?" Zoric asked. Her tone made him seethe with anger, but a gentle nudge from Angela reminded him that he was no longer alone.
"Are you going to keep me from doing my job?" The psychiatrist was agitated. More than could be accounted for by the incident the day before.
"What is your job?" Zoric asked. "I didn't think torture was allowed in this situation."
"I've been tasked with identifying and removing Private McBride's triggers, in the hopes that her unique experience can be used to protect others in the future," Dr. Phillips said. The tip of her nose lifted slightly with each word until she was looking down it at him.
"It appears you're attempting to identify them by setting them off," Ae-cha drawled. "This is honestly something that I should be handling as I am uniquely qualified to do so."
"I return to my objections to torture," Zoric replied.
"Dr. Phillips," Colonel Schuh interrupted. "I'd like an update with how far you'd gotten with your evaluation, then we're going to move forward integrating your work with our advisors. We are here to work together. And no, Zoric, torture is not allowed. If you'd please sit, I'm sure the good Doctor would feel more comfortable."
Zoric approached one of the chairs and backed into it, his tail sliding up and over the arm on the side, pulling his kilt with it, so the bare backs of his thighs met the chair. His scales kept him from feeling the cold of the faux leather but it was an uncomfortable texture.
Ae-cha glanced at him with a smirk and looked away. The Colonel made a note on the pad of paper in front of him, then nodded when Zoric had settled into his chair.
"If you're quite finished flashing us," Dr. Phillips said.
Zoric raised an eyebrow at her. It was a facial expression he'd worked to be able to make so a human could recognize it and was happy to see her own expression change. "I don't know what you think you saw, Dr. Phillips, but I can assure you that it wasn't what you're implying. No lizardman has ever had occasion to blush over that."
Dr. Phillips flushed and stammered until Colonel Schuh interrupted her. As uncomfortable as Zoric was in his chair, he leaned back with satisfaction.