"Oh, you could be a murderer, huh?"
Her brown, warm eyes danced with mischief.
"You don't know me... yet. Now, do you want a bath and some warm clothes or not?"
Arthur hesitated, feeling a pull in his heart he'd never felt before. It was confusing to say the least, almost unnatural.
"Sure."
She pulled the door open and gestured him inside, he looked up at the house, the exterior was painted green, with a white porch. It was a nice, quaint home, he climbed the steps and stepped past her, looking around. It was nicely furnished, the walls being a light blue, a hallway peeled off to the left. This was clearly the biggest room in the house but it was lovely.
"The hallway on your left, the first door on the right."
He looked over at the woman, who was leaning against her front door, the door knob pressing lightly against her back.
"Thanks."
He walked down the hallway, the walls were decorated with photographs of the planet, with the occasional photo of her, he took notice of the fact that all of the photos were recent, not one displaying a young girl. He stepped into the bathroom, pushing the door open and was instantly hit with a pleasant smell, her smell. It was sweet, like a bouquet of flowers. The room was white and painted in lovely black outlines of flowers, the floor was stone, tiled in squares. On the right was a sink, above the sink was an ancient, oval mirror, wooden livery sprouted around it like a sun. Seeing his reflection made him scowl, he turned towards the circular tub, a metal shower head was attached to the ceiling above it, surprisingly there wasn't a curtain but he could only assume that was because of the lack of windows in the room. around the upper corners of the room were lights, giving off faux sunlight. He walked over to the tub and flipped the upper right nozzle, turning on the shower. He felt the warm water running between his fingers, the perfect temperature. He pulled his pants off and kicked his shoes into a corner, and then stepped into the shower, it was serene.
...
After about thirty minutes he stepped out of the shower, and noticed some clothes right inside the door, she must've put them there for him, he didn't hear a thing over shower. He felt clean for the first time in a while, first that sandy expanse of a wasteland, then the mud of this lovely planet, and finally the blood of the last Valahi. He must've reeked before, but now knowing about Gary's eyesight, he couldn't help doubt his sense of smell as well.
He grabbed a towel off a hanging rack beside the tub, and dried himself off, taking care not to leave a mess on the floor of her pristine bathroom. He looked the clothes over, a pair of boxers, jeans with some useless cuts around the knees to 'stylize' them, an oversized gray shirt, and a plaid blue and white jacket. He threw the clothes on and walked over to the corner with his boots, picking them up and turning on the cold water of the tub, he washed the rubber boots of all remnants of blood and put them on as well.
Walking out of the bathroom, he silently walked back through the hallway and saw the woman sitting on a large couch. She was holding a large cup of dark liquid, and now that he was closer he could really take into account her beauty, her face was sleek and angular, her nose like a button, thick eyebrows and a breathtaking smile. She was physically a gorgeous woman, and from what he could tell, she had a mischievous, but inherently kind personality. If he wasn't who he was, he would've fallen for her on the spot. She looked up at him and pointed to the opposite side of the warm green couch.
"Please, take a seat, I'll get you some coffee."
Arthur took her up on the offer and sat down, watching the woman stand up and walk to the other side of the room, entering the kitchen. She grabbed a rather antique-looking pot of coffee from its holder and poured it into a metal mug. Arthur couldn't help but blurt out:
"Why are you being so nice? I am a total stranger to you."
She turned and looked at him, a kind look enveloping her face.
"You looked like you needed help. You were soaked in blood and had this... look about you. Not necessarily sad, just tired."
Arthur looked at his hands, they hadn't changed in a very long time, neither had his face nor body. He didn't gain or lose weight, he didn't need to eat, drink, or sleep. His very existence was an anomaly to the natural order of the world. When he did those mundane things, it was just a break from his existence, for a moment he felt real.
"You are not wrong, but it isn't the kind of tired sleep can fix."
The kind look disappeared from her face, replaced by a sad look of understanding.
"I get that, maybe not to the same extent, but I can, at the bare minimum, empathize with it."
She walked back towards the couch and handed him a mug, instead of returning to her previous spot though, she walked around the small brown table and sat opposite him in a small rocking chair.
"Can I ask why you had that blood on you?"
Arthur looked away and let out a sigh.
"I'd rather not talk about it."
He wasn't proud of killing the Valahi, sure it might've been considered admirable or justified, but that didn't mean he enjoyed the feeling of warm blood soaking his body.
She took a sip of her coffee, refusing to look away from the man sat before her.
"I can understand that too, I won't pry."
Arthur looked at her, wanting to break the uncomfortable silence that had seeped into the room.
"So, I never got your name."
She paused, then light tapped her head with the palm of her hand.
"I am such a dunce, my name is Alara, and you are?"
The corners of his mouth perked up into a light smile.
"Arthur, and don't worry about it, I never exactly introduced myself either."
She lightly smiled and sat her coffee down on the coffee table between them.
"Arthur... that's a lovely name. Can I ask, if it isn't a bother, how you ended up on this remote planet for refugees?"
He took a long sip of the warm coffee, then too sat it down on the table, he explained his story thus far, leaving out the details that made him seem inhumane, such as being trapped in space for an indescribable amount of time before smashing into the desert trapped between two planets, and his 'encounter' with the Valahi tribe in the mountains. She listened thoughtfully, never once breaking eye contact with Arthur as he told his tale thus far.
"Huh."
Arthur leaned back, stretching his arms.
"What's up."
She kicked her feet lightly off the ground, setting the rocker into motion.
"Oh, I just thought I could get you to open up a bit more about the blood."
He looked at her, a suspicious smile peeling across his face.
"I thought you weren't going to pry?"
A slight grin appeared, hidden behind the coffee mug.
"I can't help human curiosity."
He paused for a moment, then said with a smirk.
"It's only proper etiquette for the host to share first."
She paused, her chair suddenly stopped mid-motion.
"Touché, but I too don't want to talk about it."
Arthur looked out the window situated behind her, watching the sun come crawling above the horizon, bathing the town in lights shades of yellow and orange, tinges of red at the edge of their grasp.
"Then let's not, now I think I should at least return the favor for what you've done for me today."
She stood up, and walked towards the foyer that separated the kitchen and living room with two thin half walls, he watched her reach down and grab some bags from the floor, they were empty.
"Well, come on then. We've got work to do."
He stood up as well, and followed her out of the house. They walked around the back on a stone sidewalk, towards a rather large shed that he was beginning to realize was a workshop. She was the town shoemaker/cobbler extraordinaire. He watched her open the door and followed her into the workshop. After stepping into the room she closed the door behind him and reached up, pulling on a hanging string attached to a lightbulb. A light hum filled the room before puttering out entirely, eventually she sighed and walked to the middle of the dark room. she reached up and grabbed another rope and slid open a sliding panel attached to the roof.