
Genres: Artificial Intelligence, Space
Escape Pod 836: Philia, Eros, Storge, Agápe, Pragma (Part 2 of 4)
Show Notes
Don’t miss Philia, Eros, Storge, Agápe, Pragma, Part 1
Philia, Eros, Storge, Agápe, Pragma (Part 2 of 4)
By R.S.A. Garcia
Eros
Now
For several days, she lay on Dee’s pallet while he slept somewhere in the room outside. Every few hours she would check the Kinnec, but it remained resolutely purple.
Dee brought her food, water to wash, and fresh clothes. He apologized for not having an entertainment node and shared his hololibrary instead. He spent a lot of time outside, or moving around in the kitchen, doing chores. He was an excellent cook who scaled and gutted fish out in the yard with glittering flashes of his nimble knife. He was fond of ground provisions, which she usually shunned at home but enjoyed here because he often roasted them over an open flame.
During the day, he left the front door open to let fresh air in and allow her a view. She watched as he worked in the garden, lean muscles rippling under brown, sweat-sheened skin.
Whenever he broke for a drink of water, he’d pour the last of it over his head. She would follow the trail of the water down his bare chest until it disappeared under his loose work pants. On the third day, after he wiped a hand over his face, he caught her looking. She didn’t drop her eyes to the holobook she was reading, wondering idly what he would do.
He dropped the dipper back into the barrel near the stairs, gave her a quick wink and went back to work.
She had to give up reading, having lost her place in the book and any interest in the tale.