The Prospect's Deal

04

Ezra took off his helmet and placed it to the side. He was smiling gently at me. He could tell this whole time was a bit too much for me, so he just wanted to be as gentle as possible while talking to me.

He brushed a lock of hair away from my face. "How are you feeling right now?" His voice was very soft and gentle. He was holding his hands together in his lap, not getting too close to me just in case I still felt uneasy.

"Scared..." I said quietly.

Ezra frowned at that, he could see the terror and fear in my eyes now, he didn't like that. He reached his hand out toward my cheek, gently cupping my face to give me a reassuring touch. "You have nothing to be scared of. I promise you, I won't let anyone hurt you." He said, still speaking in a gentle, soft and reassuring tone.

Ezra kept his hand on my face for a few more moments before he moved it back to his lap. He could see that I was still quite anxious, so he kept his tone gentle. He looked at me, noticing how pretty and delicate I was. Ezra didn't know that much about me, but he thought that I seemed like quite an elegant young lady, he just wished he knew more about me.

He smiled gently at me. He spoke again in a very gentle tone as he looked at me. "Do you mind if I ask you a few more questions?"

I shook my head.

"Alright then." He smiled at me again. Ezra paused for a moment as he thought about what to say next. He thought he should probably try to make small talk with me to ease the tension. Ezra thought that the partner incident was too much on top of the already scary situation for me. He tried to think of a question to start a conversation.

"Alright, so you were living in the woods, is there a reason why you were living there?" He asked in a gentle and softer tone, trying to keep the mood nice and friendly.

I nodded slowly. "I heard about the money if you find and harvest these alien stones and I needed the money so I sneaked onto a rocket and got to this planet..."

Ezra looked at me in surprise as I continued to speak. "So you came here on purpose? You left your home and family to come to this planet?"

I nodded slowly.

Ezra raised an eyebrow. He never would have thought that I came here all by myself. My story was even more interesting than he had thought, he felt a bit intrigued by it. Ezra was silent for a moment as he gathered his thoughts. 

He breathed slowly, deciding on a follow-up question to ask. "So why did you need the money?"

"For college..."

Ezra was surprised. He didn't expect that I needed money for college. Ezra raised his eyebrows. "College?" He asked, raising his voice gently.

I nodded slowly.

Ezra thought for a moment, his mind was processing what I had just told him. "So you came here completely by yourself, to this dangerous planet, just to earn enough money for college?"

"Yeah..."

"Wow, the dedication and courage from a small woman like yourself is quite impressive." Ezra smiled at me gently as I listened to him. He was genuine with his words, he couldn't believe that I came here all alone at such a young age. Ezra continued speaking, and his curiosity about my story was starting to grow.

He looked at me as he spoke. "Did you really have no one to guide you here? No one to help you out with directions or where to go? No one to tell you anything about this planet?"

I shook my head.

"And, you just came here alone by yourself?" He asked, once again raising his eyebrows. Even more surprised than before.

I nodded.

"How did you do it? How did you find food, water, and a secure place to sleep in the woods? Did you learn how to survive out there all by yourself?" Ezra smiled gently as he continued to ask questions, he was very curious about how I was able to survive the last year out in the woods all by myself.

"Just tried..." I spoke quietly.

Ezra was still smiling. "Just tried? You just tried and now you've survived out there for a year by yourself? Just tried?" He repeated my words as he spoke. Ezra continued to smile at me, he was genuinely impressed, he couldn't believe that I was able to survive out there all alone for a whole year. He thought that required a lot of willpower and bravery.

Ezra chuckled softly as he kept smiling. "You are one brave, courageous and smart woman you know that, right?" He asked, still speaking gently.

I just shrugged.

Ezra chuckled again. Although I was straightforward with my replies, he still found it admirable that I survived out in the woods for a whole year all by myself. Ezra was silent for a moment as he thought of another question to ask.

"Have you ever found any of those alien stones while hunting?" He asked.

I shook my head.

"No stones?" Ezra repeated my response. He was surprised, I had been living in the woods for a year all by myself without coming across any alien stones. Ezra was silent for a moment as he thought about this piece of information. It was interesting to hear that I somehow didn't come across any stones.

"Hmm... that's interesting." He spoke quietly, still holding his hands together in his lap. Ezra was thinking about what it would mean if I really hadn't come across any alien stones at all. This information was quite intriguing to him.

Ezra noticed the change in my expression. He could hear my stomach growling and I was now looking down at my hands. Ezra tilted his head slightly to the side, still keeping an eye on my movements. He wanted to ask me about it, but he chose not to because he thought it might be a little inappropriate. Ezra spoke, his tone still soft and gentle as he spoke. "Are you hungry?"