At the word ‘meat,’ Azdrei’in turned toward Artemis with newfound interest, his crystalline eyes flicking down to the box that she pushed in his direction. He hadn’t eaten anything since the night before, when he’d gone hunting outside the building in which she’d been living. He didn’t usually need to eat more than one meal a day, since, like most predatory species, the heavy food provided him enough energy to get by for many hours at a time. He hunted during his period of wakefulness overnight, went back to sleep, and then spent the daylight hours doing something more productive than merely filling his stomach. However, he’d already gotten hooked on the taste of real meat after the first time he’d eaten it, so the box was tempting even though he wasn’t very hungry yet.

“Thank you,” he said appreciatively, climbing down from his bed to retrieve it and settling back down with the container placed carefully on the end of the mat. He planned to enjoy the contents after his first period of sleep, when he had more of an appetite.

For the rest of the night, he alternated as usual between scrolling on the human’s tablet and dozing on his bed. He slept for a few hours and then woke in the middle of the night, when he ate some of the meat Artemis had given to him. The meal was savory and excellent, and it gave him just enough energy to keep working on his mastery of English until he grew too tired to keep his eyes open and fell asleep again. The second time, he stayed asleep until around mid-morning too, only stirring when he heard the faint sounds of other Lunvalgans strolling through the corridor beyond their room.

He stretched his limbs and yawned broadly, rolling over on his mat at the sound of Artemis’s voice. “Good morning,” he murmured back to her, rubbing his eyes with the heel of his palm. Between his studying, he’d gotten plenty of rest and was feeling good. He sat upright and got up from the bed, ambling over to where she was sitting on the floor and taking a seat across from her. Overnight, he’d made leaps and bounds of improvement in his understanding of her language, so he decided to take a moment to test out what he’d learned.

“How did you sleep?” he asked, crossing his legs and leaning back lazily on one hand. His words were still accented, but he’d gotten better at pronouncing her native tongue, so the accent was less prominent than before. “I ate some of the food you gave me last night. Thanks again for the meat, by the way. It’s much better than the food my people created here… Our meals serve their purpose, but they’re tasteless compared to the real thing.” He smiled amusedly. “I’m sure I must be the most spoiled Lunvalgan here to be sharing a room with a human who smuggled meat in with her when she boarded the ship.”