Rene chuckled at the joke partly to conceal the fact that he had nearly jumped out of his skin when the AI greeted Solae. The palatial surroundings made him ill at ease. The De Quentain estates were of a more austere style but there were enough similarities to conjure a sense of dreamy unease which strained his nerves. Four years had been enough to draw a gauzy curtain over his previous life, to suddenly have that torn away, both by the manor and the presence of the beautiful and highborn Solae, was disorienting in a way that even the combat earlier hadn’t been.


He reached into one of the concealed storage cabniets and began to pull out cans and boxes of food. It was of good quality but largely instant. Rene wondered if the former owner had an autochef function or if he simply ate alone most of the time. One of the cabinets was a discrete refrigerator and he pulled several bottles of chilled fruit juice and set them down on the counter with a glassy clink.
 
From a purely military standpoint it made sense to eat. There was no telling how long they would be safe here or when supplies might be available again. There were other considerations than the military though. Solae had been through an ordeal and it was more than just physical. He safed the assault rifle and then reluctantly set it down atop a marble countertop. 

“Let’s take a shower,” he declared and then immediately coughed in embarrassment at the unexpected implication. Solae was an attractive woman beyond any doubt but that was no excuse for discourtesy.

“I mean… not together…” he trailed off and then cleared his throat.

“You take a shower and I’ll keep watch,” he clarified a rueful grin spreading across his lips despite himself. You couldn’t be certain you wouldn’t be embarrassed unless you were dead. Given the likelihood that he would be dead in the next few hours or days maybe he should try to worry less.