It was warm. Way too warm. My eyes fluttered open and I moaned, trying to push back the covers on the bed. This heat was stifling and uncomfortable and...heavy? I looked straight ahead of me and saw nothing but a bright blue light. Struggling, I pushed as hard as I could away from the creature wrapped around me, panicking. They found me? Oh god, how much longer did I have? A small shriek escaped my throat as I shoved hard, the grip finally releasing on me, only to fall off the bed and land hard on my tailbone. I winced, and suddenly a blue face appeared from up on the bed, eyes wide with surprise.

"I am sorry, Kina, I did not mean to startle you."

My eyes widened and I thought I was going insane, when all that happened the previous night came rushing back to me. Shifter. Mind talk. Yeah, this was great.

My mouth felt like it was filled with sawdust as I tried to swallow. "How did I get here?" I pushed myself off of the carpet of the hotel and glanced around, rubbing my behind.

"I carried you. You were sleeping and began to shake for quite a long time. I noticed that your external temperature had dropped below your earlier skin warmth, and found it concerning. I brought you here and helped return your temperature to normal."

I rolled my eyes. "It's called shivering, Tri. It happens when we get too cold." My voice sounded harsh in my own ears. Then my mind straightened itself out and I realized that if he had just left me outside as I'd told him to, I would have died in the cold November night. My gaze softened as I looked at him. "Thank you, for warming me up. I could have been in real trouble if you didn't."

Tri nodded, his gaze intense on my own. "It was best."

We stared at each other for a few more moments before my stomach rudely interrupted us. Tri's tail twitched, as he bent slightly, tilting his head as he moved a hand towards my belly. "Do you have a tiny creature living inside of you, Kina?"

It was just too easy. I started to laugh, the first real laugh I'd had in almost a year, the kind that made me grab for my sides because it began to hurt. Tears gathered at the corners of my eyes and Tri sat and watched me almost convulse in front of him with laughter. Gasping for breath, I sat on the bed, wiping at my eyes, a smile still on my lips. "Oh...my gosh...I'm sorry, Tri, that was just so funny! No, there's no creature inside of me, it was just my bodies way of letting me know that I need to eat."

He stared at me blankly. "I...still do not understand why that is humorous."

I giggled for a moment more at his misunderstanding of the matter, then straightened myself and smiled at him, the first genuine smile I'd given in a long while. "I just need to eat."

I paused for a moment and looked at him, a question lingering in my mind. "Tri...why don't you just speak to me? Why do you always have to read my mind, or whatever it is you're doing."

He stood off of the bed and looked at me as if the truth was plain as day. "I do not have the capability to make sound, Kina. I have no vocal chords as you do." He stroked his neck to emphasize. I suppose I spent more time running away from the Shifters than studying their physiology.

My gaze turned quizzical. "What...do you eat?"

His eyes scrunched slightly and turned a lighter shade of blue, the shade I'd taken to mean he was happy, or, in this case, laughing I supposed. A small hum of a chuckle echoed through my mind. "I'll show you."

He moved towards the small window of the hotel room, the pale rays of Seattle sunlight trying to break their way through the cloud cover. His hand touched the window pane and his eyes closed, as the rays of sunshine seemed to be drawn into his very being, turning him a slight green color as the normal blue hues of his translucent body absorbed the yellow of the sun. Slowly they faded and he returned to normal, a deeper navy color returning to his body, deeper than I'd seen on him the day before. Obviously he'd been slightly malnourished yesterday when I'd met him. He turned back to face me.

"We mostly live off of the land. As long as there is a sun nearby the planet we inhabit, we have sustenance."

I nodded slowly, and a long, noisy growl of my stomach broke the short silence. I blushed and stood up, brushing myself off from the dust and small particles of debris on the floor. "I need to find breakfast. It might take a while..." I trailed off, biting my lower lip. I'd almost scoured the entire waterfront the week previous – I'd need to move further inland, and the chance of running into more desperate scavengers than me grew substantially. I sighed and rubbed my forehead with my hand. Nothing else to do but take a crack at it. Maybe if I stayed closer to the water and headed further north towards Greenlake I'd find something.

I walked to the door, turning to look back at Tri. "Do...you want to come with me? It won't be very interesting, but it will be less boring with someone else there."

Tri brightened visibly and nodded his head once. "I would like very much to come with you."

I flushed and gave him a small smile. "Alright then, let's get going."