Chapter 140: She Wanted Hot Water, Not an Audience

Dove had survived being shot at, and she refused to end the day washing her ass over a bucket.

She stood beside the convoy truck while Edrik fitted batteries into the shower pump. Thorne held the hose over a pail, his silver hair falling into his eyes. The pump sputtered, then water splashed down his sleeve.

Dove grabbed his wrist before he switched it off. "Wait. Let me enjoy knowing something around here can get me wet without making a whole thing of it."

Thorne looked at her, then deliberately tipped the showerhead toward her boots. She pulled him down by his shirt and kissed his cheek before he could follow through.

At the convoy’s next overnight stop, a brick service building stood beside the road, its kitchen window fogged above a covered loading area. The driver said its keeper rented rooms. Dove asked about the washroom before the beds.

"Drain in the back, water from the kitchen," he told her. "You’ll have to warm it."

Fine. She could work with that. She wanted warm water running over her shoulders, not a man explaining why a damp cloth should be enough.

Recovered food and two spare towels bought them one night. Their room sat off the ground-floor hallway, between the kitchen and the rear wash area. A double bed faced a narrow bunk, with a table under the window. Outside, their pickup and handcart fitted beneath the loading roof.

Dove pointed Thorne toward the valuables and Edrik toward the shower case, then stopped beside the window. The truck was visible from here. They could eat, wash and sleep without dragging everything across another yard.

For tonight, that was enough. *Sprout, is that drying rack still in the shop?*

The offer appeared, complete with a price she had already decided was ridiculous.

*I asked if it was there. You don’t have to wave it at me.*

"Would you like to purchase it?" Sprout asked.

*I would like you to make it cheaper.*

"The listed price applies."

Of course it did. She closed the offer and carried her towel down the hall. Finding a shower did not mean she needed to buy every damn thing that went near one.

In the rear wash area, Thorne reshaped a bent metal support until the privacy screen stood straight. Edrik checked its feet against the concrete while Dove tested the warmed water herself. Pleasantly hot, with enough room behind the screen to turn without elbowing something.

Thorne held out her towel. "Call if you need me."

"I’ll need you to stop looking disappointed about the screen."

"I fixed it. I’m allowed to dislike it."

She laughed as she stepped behind it, then switched on the pump.

The water ran through her hair and down her back. She tilted her face into it, eyes closed, and slowly loosened her grip on the showerhead.

Earlier, she had crouched behind concrete while bullets struck nearby. Now she could hear dishes clattering in the kitchen and Thorne speaking quietly outside. Her hands were steady. Nobody needed anything from her.

She stayed until she was ready to turn the water off.

Thorne waited with her clothes folded over his arm. Dove had meant to make another joke, but he had put the clean top on the outside so she could reach it first, and something about that made her throat tighten.

"You remembered which one," she said, touching the soft fabric.

"You keep reaching for it." He brushed wet hair away from her cheek. "That good?"

She nodded, then leaned into his hand before taking the clothes. "Don’t get smug. The shower did most of the work."

Edrik arrived with a basin for his turn. She caught his wrist, pulled him closer and kissed him before he could ask what she wanted.

"For fixing it," she said against his mouth.

"I cleaned the contacts."

"Well, apparently that does it for me."

His smile changed. Dove pointed toward the wash area before he could act on it. "Your turn. I’m getting dressed before somebody charges admission."

A helper with a mop forgot his floor as she passed. Thorne stayed beside her, and the man found something interesting to scrub.

Dinner was roast chicken, buttered potatoes, corn and warm bread, paid for with some of their recovered coffee. Dove ate properly, then pushed the extra food toward Edrik instead of watching him pretend a single plate was enough.

The driver lent them a power pack for the movie player in exchange for the work pants she had found. Edrik checked the connection while Dove set the screen on the table and claimed the middle of the bed.

"Both of you, sit down. We’re watching something stupid, and nobody’s allowed to make it educational."

Thorne settled with her feet in his lap. Edrik sat beside her, leaving so little space that she leaned against his chest and decided moving would be unnecessary work.

On-screen, a man fell through a lawn chair. Thorne laughed. Edrik made a suspicious sound and reached for his drink.

Dove looked up at him. "Oh, don’t swallow it. I want to hear you laugh."

"You wanted to watch the movie."

"I can want two things. I’ve been very clear about that."

Thorne squeezed her ankle, laughing harder. Edrik finally gave in, and she felt it through his chest before she heard it.

When she reached for her cup, his hand found hers. "Come back when you’ve got it."

He simply wanted her there. Dove brought her drink back and tucked herself against him, letting the movie continue without explaining why she was smiling.

The next morning, Day Sixty-Nine, she brought pond water into her basin while Thorne watched her body, then washed. Sprout’s daily shelf offered four packs of striped beach towels.

*Yesterday you wanted me to buy a drying rack. Today you give me more wet things to hang on it.*

"A drying rack remains available."

*You’re shameless. Keep that one for us.*

"Retaining an unsold pack costs four Favor Coins."

*I know. I want a towel that hasn’t spent the week protecting a wrench.*

The keeper was drying dishes with a cloth that had seen better days. Dove opened one pack on the counter and let him feel it. By breakfast, he and two convoy workers had traded pantry goods for the three sale packs. Her sales reward and active practice paid separately, and she checked yesterday’s reactions before accepting the towel charge. The rack stayed unbought.

Thorne wrapped the shower pieces in their new towel and packed the case where she could reach it first. Dove watched him leave space for it among their things. He expected her to want another shower, at the next stop and the one after that.

When the driver collected his power pack, he confirmed they would leave at dawn tomorrow. Three more travel days, then B’s receiving office.

Dove looked at the clothes, sheets, tools and food they had gathered. Enough to start something with. Enough that she could ask for more than a place to sleep.

If B expected her to be grateful for a borrowed corner, they were about to have a problem.