Human Contact

"Ummff…" Teresa wakes up with her face mushed against the pillow.

She wipes her drool off her cheek and looks at the clock to see the time.

6 am.

Feeling her starving stomach digesting itself, she figured it is what woke her up.

She is about to fall back asleep when, *thunk* *thunk*, she hears two knocks coming from the metallic trapdoor.

She immediately gets up in apprehension.

She figures that it is one of those monsters nearby accidentally walking over the door.

Soon, *thunk* *thunk* *thunk* she hears three more soft knocks.

The pattern and the melody of the knocks tells her that it might actually be a person knocking.

She then takes the copper rod from the wall, slowly creeps towards the trapdoor entrance, and waits.

Once again, *thunk* *thunk* *thunk* she hears three more knocks, and at the same pattern as before.

She is now sure that the noise is being made by a person.

The uncertainty of the other party's intentions however makes her hesitate in opening the door.

Ultimately, her starving body desperate for food overrides her caution and makes her want to risk it, hoping that the visitor can give her food.

She applies her electricity on the copper rod and unlocks the door.

As soon as the door is pulled from outside, she immediately points the copper rod to whoever is about to enter.

Soon, a figure of a man, descends.

The bright sky glaring at her eyes makes her fail to take in the man's features.

It is not until the man closes the door behind him that she finally sees the man more clearly.

Tall, tanned, dark-haired and probably the most handsome man she has ever seen.

She is dazed as she takes in the man's sharp jaw, symmetrical face, diamond shaped and slightly slanted eyes, his tall and slender nose, and his long black silky hair tied up in a bun.

Soon however, her apprehension returns and points her lightning-infused copper rod to his neck. The man after all, is still a stranger. She frowns, seeing that the man does not seem to be threatened by her actions and instead raises the slab of roasted meat she is did not see the man is carrying. With his other hand, he also raises a full water jug.

"…" She freezes in place.

Food and water.

Feeling that what she is seeing is too good to be true, she fears that her hallucination has worsened.

She pokes the water jug with her copper pole just to be sure, and when she feels contact, her eyes widen in surprise. She does the same thing with the slab of meat and she feels contact again.

She looks at the man in awe and the man simply smile at her in return.

Slowly the man walks past her and starts descending the stairs, leading the way to her living area.

She is too stunned to speak, and simply follows.

Reaching her living area, she sees the man look around for a moment, shakes his head, and proceeds to the kitchen counter and lays down the roasted meat and the water jug on it.

She does not know what to do, seeing that the man does not seem to be doing anything that alerts her, but the sense of intrusion is still making her uncomfortable.

She is startled for a moment when the man grabs a knife and she infuses her ability on her copper rod once again. Her worries are useless however as the man proceeds to use the knife to slice the roasted meat.

Seeing the man starts preparing the meat on a plate, "Who are you?", she manages to finally speak up.

"Rellandus." The man introduces himself, using the knife to point at himself before proceeding on his task.

"Rellandus…" Teresa repeats the name as she tries to recall if she had heard of the name before.

She fails to recognize the name however.

"Uhn. Rellandus." Rellandus grunts in response.

"I'm Teresa." Teresa introduces herself.

"Uhn. Teresa." Rellandus nods at her before continuing to plate the meal.

"Which camp or settlement are you from? The New Hope? Tannerville?" Teresa proceeds her questioning.

"Uhhh…" Rellandus stops in his movements and he looks at her in confusion before shrugging.

Teresa immediately notices something strange.

"Wait. Do you even speak Anglorian?" She asks.

"Ang...lorian?" Rellandus manages to repeat the word to her, confusion obvious in his tone, before shrugging again.

"Ahhh. Fuck." Teresa cannot help but curse, realizing that she and Rellandus do not speak the same language.

"Fuck? …" Rellandus repeats the word accurately as he gives her an inquiring look.

"…" Teresa can only shake her head.

"Hn." She receives an accepting hum in return.

Soon, the roasted meat that was once in a single slab, is now served in slices, laid beautifully in two plates.

"Hn?" Rellandus points her to the plates as if asking if she is satisfied.

"No." Teresa says and shakes her head.

After observing Rellandus, she figures that the man means no harm so she walks to join him by the kitchen counter, while still maintaining a healthy amount of caution.

Seeing no further aggressive movements, she drops her guard a bit lower and grabs the salt and pepper shakers.

"Hn?" Rellandus point at the shakers.

"Salt and Pepper?" Teresa hesitatingly introduces the ingredients, unsure of what Rellandus means with his gesture.

"Hmmm… Salt… Pepper…" Rellandus repeats the names of the condiments and nods. "Yes. For seasoning." Teresa smiles, relieved at the successful communication before proceeding to salt and pepper the plates of roasted meat.

Rellandus meanwhile, tastes the condiment and nods in satisfaction.

"Salt…" He points at the container containing the white powder, before "Pepper…" proceeding to do the same with the container containing the black powder.

"Yes." Teresa absentmindedly confirms, lost in the fragrance of the roasted meat while stopping herself from drooling.

Soon, the two are now at Teresa's dining table, sitting across each other, with Teresa trying her best to eat at a slow pace.

"Hm?"

Teresa is interrupted from her meal by Rellandus raising his glass with an inquiring look.

"Glass." Teresa names the object.

"G-lass." Rellandus nods.

He then opens the water jug he looted from Teresa's settlement which he filled with conjured water, and poured some water in the glass.

"Hn?" He points at the water before miming a motion of drinking.

"Water." Teresa names it.

"Water." Rellandus nods as he slides the glass of water to Teresa.

Teresa takes a sip and after swallowing, "Drink.", names her action.

The two proceed the game of point and name while Teresa feasts.

.

Half an hour later, Teresa's plate is now empty and is stealing glances at Rellandus's untouched plate.

Even though she was starving, she managed to keep her civility while eating, her self-conscious in front of a handsome man keeping her in check.

Rellandus knows what Teresa is thinking and simply slides his plate over, surprising Teresa.

"You sure?" Teresa asks while trying to communicate with her gestures.

"Yes." Rellandus nods while gesturing to his stomach that it is full.

"All. Yours." He adds.

"…" Teresa freezes for a moment in appreciation.

She cannot believe that not only is the man absorbing vocabulary like a sponge, he only took 30 minutes to use what he has learned to communicate in words.

She becomes skeptical if the man is simply putting up an act, but soon scraps the idea due to the man's thick accent and the pointlessness of putting on such an act.

She also notices a few things while eating.

She can tell that Rellandus might have come alone, and is possibly traveling alone, which makes her suspect that the man is more powerful than he looks. After all, only powerful people dare travel alone.

The size of the roasted meat he brought alone, is evidence of that strength. She figures that the monster must have been huge and only a powerful hunter can make a meal out of it.

Her eyes then travel to the man's beautiful, shiny and new-looking leather jacket and bag, taking in its details for the first time.

Soon, her eyes widen, seeing the familiar pattern and color of the leather's.

"T-that…" She cannot help but point at Rellandus.

"Hn?" Rellandus returns an inquiring look.

"N-nothing." Teresa withdraws her curiosity for now.

The language barrier is simply too great and she does not know how to express her question.

Rellandus however, knows the reason for Teresa's shock after brushing his divine sense on the woman's surface thoughts.

Every few days or weeks, Teresa would be frozen in fear whenever a giant snake passes through.

A giant snake so powerful that not even the most powerful hunter in her settlement dared to face alone.

A giant snake that lords over the area where her tower just happens to be in.

Thankfully for Teresa and the other technicians, the snake ignores her tower.

That giant snake is the same snake that Rellandus killed the day before.

The snake's beautiful black and gold colored skin is too unique for Teresa to not recognize.

"Hmm… Wait." Rellandus gestures to Teresa and leaves the bunker.

Teresa is surprised by Rellandus's sudden departure, but decides to wait.

A minute later, Rellandus walks back in the room, carrying a huge object on his back tied together by ropes.

He then puts it down beside the dining table and proceeds to unravel it, spreading it out to the floor, revealing the rest of the snake skin he harvested.