Chapter 2
Angela woke up warmer than she had in a while when she heard a thump.
The hot air was blowing on her as she opened her eyes. The light hit her first and she realized dawn was coming.
Then she felt the knit under her fingers and glanced down. At some point Dingo had put his shawl on her.
It made her crack a slight smile. He could be so sweet sometimes.
She turned to look at him and frowned when she didn't see him.
The sound of ragged breathing from behind her had her moving to get up.
She stopped in fear as she saw Dingo on the floor.
He looked like he'd just dropped. Passed out.
He shivered and she stepped forward again.
She watched him open his eyes, but it was like he wasn't seeing anything. He looked unfocused as he tried to push himself up.
His rolled up left sleeve shifted and she saw the scrape on his outer forearm. "Dingo?"
She reached to help him up.
Then it clicked. They'd fought with some scorpion type things yesterday. She'd had her defensive gear on. Armored fabric designed to resist cutting and punctures. He wore his usual getup. Jeans, button up shirt, vest, and shawl.
At some point he must have gotten a scrape from the armored shell of one of the scorpions.
And if she remembered right, they were poisonous. Not deathly, but they caused fever, hallucinations, and nausea.
He was sick. And he'd tried to drive?
Fuck that, why hadn't he told her he got injured?
He stumbled and she tried to take his weight, guide him to his bed.
"Ang?" He slurred.
"I'm here you stupid idiot." She sighed. He eased onto his bed.
"Redundant." He closed his eyes again. How long had he been under the effects now? She frowned. "Why didn't you say something when you got injured?"
"Injured?" He frowned despite his eyes being closed.
"From our target." She supplied.
"Didn't." He tried to reach for the curtain above his bed to pull it closed.
"Then explain your arm." She knelt on the bed to reach it for him.
He looked at his uninjured arm. "Not."
"The other arm." She moved back and reached to pull his blanket over him.
He brought his left arm into focus. "Hmm." He mumbled.
"Why didn't you say anything?" She pulled the blanket back from his feet and started taking off his boots.
"Wasn't there." He said as he laid his arm back down.
She dropped his boots on the floor and reached for his arm.
Angela was careful to not touch the scrape as she angled his arm to see.
Under her left hand, his hand felt strong and warm.
She leaned closer as she realized it wasn't a deep scrape. It was a surface scrape. He probably wouldn't have even noticed it then. And the poison had sunk in and caused it to inflame. That was why it was visible now.
She set his arm back down and moved for the kitchen sink.
He shifted as she wet a towel.
"Don't move." She snapped.
"Yes ma'am." He mumbled as she came back with the damp towel.
He looked exhausted. Had he seriously tried fighting off the fever and continue driving? All night?
She wiped carefully with the towel, hoping to remove the residue and not spread it in.
The white towel came back with a tinge of yellow on the one side exposed from her folding and she threw it in the sink, afraid to get it on herself.
She moved to the tiny drawer filled with medical supplies and pulled out a sealed pack of gauze and some ointments and some bandaging.
One of which was a surface solution to the poison. They were common enough hazards out in the desert around the region Dingo worked in, so it made sense there was a treatment for it.
She found a disposable glove and carefully applied a thin coat of the ointment over the scrape.
Dingo hissed and tried to pull his arm away. "Fuck."
"I know it hurts." She grabbed his hand.
When he stopped moving, she let go and reached for the gauze.
She ripped it open with her teeth and he stared up at her as she laid it cleanly over the entire scrape. The thick gauze would keep the bandaging clean and protect the ointment and let it do its job.
"Hold this." She said.
He touched both ends of the strip of gauze and she admired for a second how large his hands were.
She'd known, but never appreciated it before.
Angela unwound a couple feet of the bandaging and started wrapping his arm from his wrist up. He moved his right hand as she went over the gauze carefully. He hissed in pain again and she felt bad.
As much as he annoyed her, they were partners and he should have told her sooner. Woken her up.
He was her friend. Only friend if she was honest. Frontier Setter could count too if it wasn't a million miles away.
"I'm sorry." She said as he hissed again when she went over the end of the scrape.
"It's okay." He said. "I'm stupid."
"You're not stupid Dingo. You're ridiculously smart. Sometimes you just seem to think you're invincible too." She finished wrapping and clipped the bandage in place.
"I'm not?" He cracked a grin as he laid his head back.
She put the back of her hand on his forehead. His fever didn't seem too bad. It was just affecting his balance. He'd be better after resting.
xXx
Zarik groaned as he woke up.
He felt a weight at his side and tilted his head enough to see Angela curled a bit next to him, her head by his waist.
He raised his left arm and saw the bandaging wrapped around it.
Nope, not a dream.
Angela had really helped him to bed after he'd pulled over.
He remembered pulling over because his vision was playing out on him. He'd thought he was just tired. Then when he tried to get up, his whole world tilted. He had hit the floor.
She must have woken up then and helped him off the floor and found the spot on his arm where he'd rubbed up against the shell of that scorpion.
He hadn't had any cuts, so he figured he was fine. Guess not.
He stared down at Angela.
How worried had she been? Obviously enough to treat him.
Zarik reached to thread his fingers through her hair. In her sleep, she leaned into his touch. He liked it.
She made a soft mumble before picking her head up and looking at him in a daze.
Her eyes cleared up quickly, but he'd liked the hazy look. He wanted to see if she'd look like that in pleasure, but he would wait for her to accept him. Until she cracked to his lewd comments, he couldn't know for certain if she was open to him. But he'd never stop trying.
"Dingo? You feeling better?"
"Thanks to you." He grinned.
She huffed and sat up on the edge of his bed.
Just how long had she watched over him until she fell asleep like that?
It was sweet.
He felt stiff and older than he was as he tried to sit up.
Angela moved to help him, but he waved her off.
"I'm alright."
She sighed. "If you say so."
Zarik eased to his feet and moved to stretch his limbs. He glanced at the clock on the stove.
He'd been out for a while now. At this rate, they wouldn't make it to Oasis until nightfall.
Damn, he had wanted to be there for lunch. It'd give him time to do a little bit of mingling back in with his family and making it look like he was just coming back for a vacation instead of work.
He turned for the cabinet holding his clothes and pulled out a clean set.
Before he even headed for the bathroom, he shed off his vest and shirt.
Angela must have removed his boots and gun holster at some point. And his wallet and the dingy guild coin he kept in his pocket all the time. It was a symbol of his membership. He could use it to stop at any guild and work.
He rolled his shoulders as he moved for the bathroom door.
xXx
Angela watched him make his way into the bathroom. He didn't seem dizzy or anything, but he did look pretty hot.
Not feverish, but just physically.
She shook her head as he closed the door behind him.
What was she thinking? The man was probably still sick and just acting tough. He did it all the time.
Well, not really. It was something she liked about Dingo. He wasn't afraid to call his limits. He outright told her to do anything she could that he couldn't. She had the gear to do hand-to-hand combat with things three times his size and at least four or five times their strength.
He'd given her that gear as a gift to keep her safe. It was made from the tech of one of the mechs she'd brought down with her. He'd created a bodysuit pretty much, but it gave her insane strength boost and speed to match.
In reality it was like being in one of those huge machines, but without all the weapons and systems.
She was her own AI.
She supposed it was pretty good for being outside of Deva's forces.
Every once in a while, he did some maintenance on it and it always surprised her how hands-on he could be.
He didn't have to get others to do work for him, he was just lazy. Dingo knew more about her suit than anyone. Even her.
She started cleaning up his clothes and then headed for the kitchen area after dropping the vest and shirt he'd slept in into the bag.
Angela made up some soup and toast as she heard him taking a shower.
She kept focus on making sure she didn't hear him falling or anything.
Not that she'd know what to do if he did.
That was one way she did not want to see him.
Who was she kidding? Yes she did.
Over a period of a year with him, she could admit to more than just thinking he was hot.
Dreaming of fucking him? Been there.
Her resistance to him was pretty much hair thin at this point.
One of these days she was going to cave to his perversion.
She was just holding out in the hopes that he actually meant it and wasn't just going to ruin their friendship.
But he hadn't shown any indication of being lewd towards other women, and they had come into contact with plenty that even she found attractive in an aesthetic sense. It did seem to be that he kept his comments and actions on her.
And yet Angela couldn't be sure if it was just the challenge that was appealing to him.
She was different, seemingly immune to him.
She was so caught up in her thoughts again that when the door opened and the steam poured out, she jolted.
"Soup?" He frowned as he stepped towards her.
"Well, I was hungry." She shrugged. "Figured...you might be too."
"Always." He sighed in appreciation as she held up his bowl.
She watched him take it and bring it up to his mouth.