You woke up truly fresh for the first time since... you couldn't even remember when. You were surrounded by a pleasant, delicate smell, as if some oriental incense, or perhaps some exotic wood.

You opened your eyes to see the reptile's face in front of you. To your amazement, you didn't even scream out of fear, but only raised your eyebrows in silent surprise. After a while, you realized that it was his skin that gave off that nice smell.

'I didn't mean to scare you,' he explained quickly. 'You were cold. I hope you don't mind?'

'N-no. Thank you, actually.'

He nodded, but he wasn't going to let you go, so you tried to gently pull away from him.

'Uncomfortable?' he asked.

'Comfortable, even very.... ' You were surprised to find that this answer was not dictated only by politeness, but one hundred percent true. You felt completely torn apart. On the one hand, you didn't fully trust him yet, but, apart from the bloodthirsty tendencies of his species, you must have started to like him. Something drew you to him strongly, as if you already knew him. And he was quite attractive, alluring you in a way that was totally out of your control. 'Look, I think I have to get back,' you finished finally.

'You don't want to stay here? You'd be safe with me.'

You blinked in surprise. Did he just ask you to move in with him permanently? Despite the extraordinary nature of the whole situation, you even found it amusing.

'Thanks for the offer, but I can't accept it. I left my family and friends, I need to get back to them.'

Othiel let out a sound like a sigh and finally released his grip. You slipped out of his arms and got off the bed.

'I'll walk you back,' he offered, but seeing your suspicious look, he added. 'If u do not mind.'

You weren't sure if that was a good idea. What if all this time he's been trying to gain your trust so you can lead him to your people? Perhaps he was tempted by the idea of easy and plentiful loot. Even though you knew in your heart that it couldn't be true, you couldn't risk it. Maybe it was better to stay here with him.

'I know where you're hiding,' he said, obviously understanding your dilemma.

You were numb. 'What?'

He tried to grin in the way you had taught him last night, to lighten the situation, but the effect was rather terrifying. 'Don't be nervous, I won't hurt you or any of your people.'

***

The reptile himself led you to your hideout so that you could see the truth of his words. He knew the way perfectly.

He led you to the very entrance of the building, at what you agreed to, knowing that no one would shoot at him because they had no ammo. You didn't want them to hurt your new friend.

He looked around carefully to see if it was safe for you to go inside.

'Thanks for everything, see you later,' you said, smiling shyly, truly hoping that your paths would indeed cross again.

During the march, he let you know that he had been watching you and your group for a long time, trying to protect you in a way. That's probably why you lasted so long.

In the face of recent events, your doubts about his sincerity have completely vanished, replaced by even greater admiration and sympathy.

'I'm sorry I was so distrustful.'

'That's fine. See you soon.' He gently brushed your hand with his fingertips, sending a shiver of pleasure down your spine. But that wasn't the end of goodbye yet. He leaned down and slowly rubbed his jaw against your cheek. Then put on his goggles and disappeared into the undergrowth, leaving you flushed and your heart beating fast.

You stood there for a moment, stunned. After a good few minutes, you finally slipped into the factory building. You just couldn't believe what happened. Nobody would believe it.

***

As soon as you got inside the hideout, you were surrounded by shocked guards who were at the entrance. There were three of them this morning, probably because you hadn't been back for so long; they feared the worst. They had rifles and pistols with them, only for show, because there was no more ammunition in your hideout. Of course, except for the one your backpack was full of.

'We thought you were done!' gasped Mark.

'We thought we were all done!' added Patrick, also guarding the door.

'How did you manage to escape that hing?' asked General, shaking his head in disbelief.

They were talking over each other, and apparently had seen who had escorted you.

You smiled. 'You won't believe it, but he's not dangerous...I mean, he is, but not to us. He's been watching our hideout for some time, he helped me when I got into troub-'

'He's probably trying to buy in here!'

Uncle Julius emerged from the shadow. He spoke in a calm but threatening voice. 'We have to move immediately, you show him our location, idiot!' It was the typical greeting of your uncle, full of affection. Well, you guessed you rejoiced too soon at his concern the day before. But you didn't let it get you off track.

'He knew for a long time where we live," you said. 'He brought me here himself. Anyway, if he wanted to, he would come in here and beat us all to death.'

'How do you know what sick ideas are running through that head of his? I knew it was a bad idea to send you there, but I didn't expect you to do something like this! How could you bring him to us?!'

'I didn't bring him.' You tried to speak calmly. It was in vain to expect your uncle's joy at your return, but you didn't think he would begin to scold you as soon as you entered. 'I told you, he known our hideout for some time.'

Uncle narrowed his eyes angrily. 'Do you at least have what you went for? Or have you messed up on this too?'

At that moment you wished you'd stayed with Othiel. He treated you much better than you were treated here, at least by your uncle. You took off your backpack and threw it at Julius before heading towards the cellars, where the rest of the family gave you a warmer welcome.

Your mother was a little angry that you hadn't told her about your plans, but you both knew very well that if you had, she would try to talk you out of it. Also your aunt and your cousin became emotional. They were sure they wouldn't see you again.

'I thought you had more faith in my abilities,' you laughed. Thanks to them, you felt cool again.

You were led to the patio where you were given a plate of cold soup and over it you began to tell what happened to you, pausing again and again to swallow. Of course, you omitted too intimate details of this story, such as the fact that you had slept in the arms of your new friend and the way he said goodbye to you. 

As you spoke, more and more listeners joined you. You had to start from the beginning several times for everyone to catch up. Soon you were telling your story to the whole community.

'But it is not everything!' You exclaimed triumphantly at the very end of your fuss. 'Remember how I told you about the alien who brought...' You stopped for a moment, looking at the gray face of Eliza, sitting in the crowd. '... the child from the fire...?' you finished sluggishly. 'It was him!'

'Is it even possible? I don't understand any of this...' Your father shook his head. 'Are you sure we're safe from him?'

'Yes, Dad, I'm sure.'

'But how you could be sure? What is so convincing?' asked General, who also came to hear your revelations.

You couldn't tell them that your own soul convinced you. That your intuition tells you that you're safe with him. That when you look into his eyes, you feel like you know him better than you know yourself. 

Surely they would laugh at you. You probably wouldn't believe such claims yourself. 

You looked at the surrounding faces, tired of fear and uncertainty, drinking in every word from your mouth and waiting for an answer.

'I've spent enough time with him to make sure' you said finally. 'Trust me.'

Unfortunately, it wasn't enough.

After your storytelling time, people started acting quite nervous, concerned that one of the reptiles knows your whereabouts. Despite your assurances that you are safe, they decided it would be best to flee to another place.

You could also sense that some of them were a little angry with you at the supposed betrayal of your position, but you took it easy. You understood their approach, especially recalling memories from several months ago, when the reptiles, or rather roughskins, appeared on Earth. It was just a matter of literally a few days before everything got completely out of control. In fact, one of them would be enough to deal with all of you in fifteen minutes.

One bad mood roughskin and you'd be done. That's why you understood the fear and uncertainty of others when it turned out that you were being watched by Othiel. But you also tried to explain to them that he was the only reason you'd survived this long.

***

Behind closed doors, a meeting was held, in which, of course, the decision-makers, i.e. the men themselves, participated.

Annoyed, you spent that time in one of your favorite places at the factory - your corner of the cellars. Everyone had such a "corner", there was simply bedding in it; all of you kept a change of clothes and personal belongings there. Everyone got a month's ration of candles, and if they used them before they got the next one, they had to do everything in the dark, or borrow candles from someone else. Your uncle was adamant about this, as he was about everything. Candles, like batteries or canned food, were worth their weight in gold at the moment.

You separated your corner from the rest of the room with an old bookcase on which you arranged your things. In the place of honor were two of your favorite books you took from home. Of course, you would love to take them all, but the situation required certain restrictions. Anyway, when you decided to hide in the factory, you stayed at your parent's house for some time. Therefore, when that day came, you didn't have your books with you, only the two that you prudently took to your parents. The rest were probably burned, according to one of the outing group said. They reported huge fires in your district.

You tried not to think about it too often and were glad you at least you had these two books. It could always be worse, you could have none.

In your corner, you hung a curtain over a broomstick fixed between the bookcase and the cellar wall, which gave at least the illusion of privacy. There were many such makeshift fences in sleeping rooms.

You had another favorite place, on the top floor of the gallery in the engine room, where hardly anyone went. You loved hanging out there when you had nothing to do. Nobody disturbed you and you could sink into your thoughts or read in peace. A lot of daylight filtered in through holes in the ceiling. The floors of the gallery were made of punched metal sheets, so you brought yourself one of the old blankets to sit on. Unfortunately, the meeting was going on there.

You were lying on your bedding in the dark, playing with Othiel's feather, feeling its smoothness between your fingers, while soon, your mother came to you. She informed that you will be leaving the hideout as soon as possible.

First, a reconnaissance team of several people was to set out to find you some other safe place where the rest would join. You thought it was a bad idea, explaining that the roughskin was definitely watching you, and if he really had bad intentions, it would be stupid to leave the hideout now, but no one was listening. You were ready to volunteer for the scout, but your uncle wouldn't hear of it, saying you'd already done enough bad for one day.

Frustrated, you decided to let the situation unfold on its own. And it's lucky that you did, because, in the evening, when the scout was almost ready to leave, you heard the call of Patrick.

'Come here quickly!' he stood guard at the entrance.

Anyone who heard him rushed to the front door, which, to everyone's astonishment, was open. Patrik, with a gun in his hand, was standing in the doorway and pointing at something lying on the stairs. 

Freshly hunted, still warm deer. An animal of enormous size, it could probably feed all of you.

'What the hell?' Growled uncle, seeing this. 'Who brought it?'

'The reptile! The one who came here with (Y/N) this morning!' Replied the guard. 'He just appeared out of nowhere, laid the animal down and disappeared, just like that...'

'It's probably poisoned or something...'

'Oh come on, Jules! It's fresh venison, plenty for us all. Don't deny us such rarities!' Aunt Samantha, the only person who had any influence on your uncle, interjected. Maybe because she was the eldest of the siblings, there were times when he listened to her. 

The scarcity of food did not affect your aunt much, for she still retained her round, pleasing figure. In your community, she was something of a court chef.

The scouting party was put aside, the hearth was lit, and soon the animal were roasted, and each was given a good chunk of meat. The soup was cooked on the bones, and the skins were to be used for bedding. Nothing was wasted.

Although you usually avoided eating meat, this time you made an exception. At least the animal didn't suffer, it died quickly, and its death fed almost half a hundred other lives.

The people didn't say a word, but everyone seemed calmer after Othiel's gesture, and you couldn't help but feel so smug. One outing and not only you did bring ammunition, but you also managed to get such a guardian.

That evening you came to your makeshift bed with a pleasantly full belly and joy in your heart.

You quickly changed into comfortable and warm sleep clothes and put out the candle, which was a very valuable resource and should not be used unnecessarily. Laying down, you thought that maybe fate would smile at you.

***

You were slowly walking along one of the empty corridors of the cellars, illuminated only by a few candles, heading to your daily duties. You preferred supply outings than doing laundry, cooking, or babysitting. Well, such works were needed and of course praiseworthy. However, you were not eager to perform them because, in fact, they were much more difficult than meeting face-to-face with Roughskins. You knew it from experience.

Someone unexpectedly stood in your way. A strong hand grabbed your arm and after a while, you were pulled into a dimly lit corner. For a moment you thought it was the antics of one of the boys you recently recruited into your group and who were already starting to cause trouble, like Witek, but this person was a way too big, to be human. 

'Othiel!' you gasped and he grinned, greeted you with his version of a smile. You've noticed that he's doing it better than the last time, he had to practice a lot.

'What are you doing here?!' You were a little scared that someone would see him. 'How did you get in?'

'I thought maybe you'd be happy to see me...' he said, pushing his goggles over his forehead and revealing sparkling eyes. 'And... I thought I'd bring you something you like.' He extended his hand towards you, and you were surprised to see a small bouquet of crocuses in it.

'Oh, Othiel... that's very kind of you,' you said, genuinely delighted by his gesture, taking the flowers from him. 

'Are you okay?' he asked as was his habit. Only then you did realize that his tail had formed a protective hoop around your legs. You pretended not to notice it, but in fact, you were wondering how to understand this gesture. Maybe the Roughkins always hooped their interlocutor this way.

'Yes, everything's fine.'

'Are your people very frightened of me?' He asked.

You smiled and confessed bluntly. "They were terrified, but you appeased them with a gift.'

'I was hoping this would help,' Othiel said again, flashing his fangs in the darkness. His eyes literally sparkled. His eyes literally sent sparks, the feathers on his head were smooth... He looked quite friendly. 'But you... you're not afraid of me, are you?' he asked, moving so close that you felt his breath blowing over you.

'No, I'm not afraid anymore,' you admitted.

He moved even closer, you could clearly see every calluses and blemish on his skin. 'You weren't scared at first either. Not really...'

'If you say so,' you shrugged and sniffed the flowers, wanting to somehow break this tense moment.

'Will you want my company on your next trip?'

The question was such an overt show of sympathy that you blushed. 'Of course, I do,' you replied without hesitation. 'But I have no reason to go now...'

'To meet me, maybe?'

Your blush became more intense. It's good that the corridor was so dark.

'It's not that easy to get out of here, but I'll try. And now you must go. If anyone sees you... I'll be in trouble, they'll think I let you in.'

'I would never get you into trouble. I'll be gone in a moment, just...' He reached out and brushed your arm with his fingertips. 'I forgot to tell you that if you need anything, I'm at your service.'

Now your face was literally on fire.

'T-thank you, I appreciate it.'

'You know where to find me...my hiding place isn't that far away...'

'Thank you, Othiel.' You fought the strong urge to hug him. 'Although I'd rather visit you for purely social reasons than to use you.'

'You may use me whatever you want if there is no other option,' he replied. You wondered if he understood the ambiguity of that statement.

The growing need to touch him overcame you, but instead of hugging, you just grabbed his hand and squeezed it lightly. He leaned over and, as before, when saying goodbye, brushed your cheek with his jaw, a moment later he was gone.

With a smile on your face, you returned to your sleeping corner and carefully hid the bouquet in the same place where you kept Othiel's feather. You were sad because without water it would probably wither quickly, but you couldn't flaunt it. If anyone found out that Othiel had sneaked into your lair, it certainly wouldn't end well for you. They were no longer afraid, but they still didn't trust him. Your uncle was probably ready to consider you a traitor.

It was definitely better that nobody knew about it.