Fox led us to a small apartment building not far from the main town. Sand blew against the scratched windows as if trying to break in, yet the place seemed pretty solid otherwise. It was made from a type of brick I'd never seen before, I guessed that it was made of the very same sand that blew into my eyes and dirtied my hair.

He took us to a small room with only one bed, and what seemed to be an old pullout couch. The place seemed clean, and to my surprise I didn't see a speck of sand on the paved floors. Of course they'd be paved; there were hardly any trees on this sandy wasteland and carpet would be pointless. The place actually held nothing but the sad couch and bed, it was like a prison. Even the walls were made from the sandpaper-like cream pavement. 

"The bed is mine," Fox said briskly. "Take a shower before you mess this place up," he added, "there's a communal bathroom around the corner with decent showers."

I looked at James, who just shrugged. I took his hand and pulled him out the metal door and around the corner where a faded and rather sketchy sign marked "bathroom". There was only one, no genders assigned. Although I guessed that it would be pointless to assign genders to an alien run planet. You'd have to make fifty different bathrooms, and that still wouldn't be enough.

Thankfully the bathroom was empty, and I locked the main door as soon as we entered. "Hope no one has to pee," I laughed. There were a few showers, each blocked off by a depressing screen littered with holes. There was even soap, in a yellow dispenser. I hoped that it had always been yellow, but it seemed likely that it had turned that way with age.

I started my shower and stripped all of the disgusting clothes I'd been wearing. It had been so long since my last real shower, using real soap. Black water streamed down my body, revealing darkly tanned skin underneath. I'd always been so pale, but that long in the sun left me looking like I'd spent too much time self-tanning. 

"Do you trust him?" James asked, he was in the shower next to me using his own share of hot water. I could see his feet from below the curtain, and the trail of dirt that ran down his legs. The water from our showers washed down to a drain in a gross swirl of dirt. 

"Yes," I thought, "but also no. He seems like he means well, but he's always watching out for himself."

"As in he'd trade us for a few thousand in a blink," James finished. I found myself nodding my head; as long as Fox didn't find out who we really were we'd be fine. 

I took some soap and washed my hair and disgusting body, it smelled like lavender and made me smile. I finally felt... clean. It was nice after so many weeks of washing in an ocean under the constant threat of monsters popping up to eat me.

"Lara?" James' voice sounded through the small bathroom. 

"Yeah?"

"I want to stick with you," he mumbled, "even though we're not stuck together anymore. You're still my best friend."

I laughed, "Don't worry I'm not going to run away from Fox."

"That's not what I-" I could sense the embarrassment in his voice, imagining the redness of his cheeks like roses on a snowy day.

"I know," my voice turned soft, "you're my best friend too. My only friend. I won't leave you, and don't you leave me."

"I won't."

***

I shook all the sand out of my fur coat, it came out fairly easily. I slid the coat onto my damp shoulders over nothing else, I'd washed all of my other clothes in the shower and they were hopelessly wet. My coat almost reached my knees, so it was good enough for one night. 

I looked up and over at James, who had simply shaken out all of his clothes. He was standing shirtless, wearing worn animal skin pants. I wondered how long they'd taken him to make. James looked up just in time to notice me staring, and like the annoyance he was he smirked. 

I rolled my eyes and looked hastily away, my cheeks flushing despite myself.

When we were both ready I carried my dripping clothes back to the room and lay them out on the floor; seeing as there was nothing to hang them on. Fox wasn't there, but the room was dark and the couch had been transformed into a bed. There was a knitted blanket thrown on top. 

"Home sweet home," I said sarcastically and crawled under the blanket with a little bit of excitement. I hadn't slept on a real bed in so long! Even if it was just a couch!

James lay down beside me and let out a deep breath. The room was pretty cold, I guessed due to the complete lack of insulation. I turned to face James and leaned into his warmth. It was familiar, like a warm sunny day or the sound of birds in the morning. Like something that would always be there. 

I couldn't see his face, it was so dark that all I could see was the shade of black everywhere. Even with my eyes wide open and fully adjusted to the darkness I couldn't see a single shape. I raised my hand and felt for James' face, feeling smooth skin and lips. 

"Lara," he mumbled.

"Yes?" 

He moved my hand down and covered it with his own, moving closer so that I could feel his breath against my skin. "I just..." he started, but never finished. He leaned away and got silent again. "Goodnight," he sighed into the darkness.

I wondered what he wanted to say but didn't push it, he was probably as tired as I was anyways.