It did not seem there was much left. He wiped his mouth with his right forearm. She wondered if, the next time, were there a next time, the food might be rationed differently.
How lean and strong seemed the male to her.
She would have muchly preferred that the blonde had not been there, of course, for she feared her, but there may have been another reason, as well, one that she might have been more reluctant to acknowledge.
Too, she would not have cared to have discovered herself alone in the container. Bewildered, confused, she might have literally lost her mind. In her present situation there was in her proximity at least another human, for the male clearly was human, who was similarly incarcerated, and, moreover, one who could speak her language, who would try to comfort her, assuage her fears, and such.
Too, in his presence she felt strange sensations.
He seemed to her stronger, and more powerful, than any male she had hitherto met.
He is crude, and rugged, but not unattractive, she mused.
Indeed, in some moments, she felt herself absolutely weak before him, and had sensed that she would be helpless in his arms.
Indeed, had she not had dreams in which she was helpless, eager, and begging in the arms of men less than he, strange dreams in which she had found that the throat of her heated, mottled, thrashing body had been confined, however inexplicably, within a close-fitting, irremovable metal circlet?
She regarded the blonde.
She would certainly fear to be alone with the feral little savage, but, happily, she was not alone with her. Had she been alone with her, and unable to flee, she would have made herself small, groveled, whimpered, and begged for mercy. She would have done her best to assure her, cringing, terrified and pleading, not only that she constituted no threat to her but that she would try to avoid her to the best of her ability and, in any disputed matters, would instantly retire and yield her first place. Such behaviors, though the brunette might not have cared to recall the point, given her class, her social background, the excellence of her education, the quality of her diction, and such, were common in the animal kingdom. But she had little fear of the blonde now, for the male, she was sure, would protect her. She needed only to ingratiate herself with him, and that should not be difficult. She had always had her way with men, and, too, had she not sensed, though to her indignation, how he had viewed her while feeding her? She knew she was a female of high intelligence, and she was quite well aware that she was also one of unusual attractiveness. Yes, he would protect her. Any male, she was sure, with a bit of attention on her part, and perhaps a little thought, and a smile, or two, could be entangled helplessly within the net of her wiles. She had always had whatever she wanted of men, and he was a man. He would be no different.
Perhaps she might even permit him to kiss her.
She might find that interesting.
She wondered what it might be to be kissed by him.
She had been kissed before, of course, once or twice, by men of Earth, as much as an experiment as anything else. In both cases she had pretended shock and indignation.
That had disconcerted them, and taken them off guard. Both had stammered, and apologized.
Secretly she had been much amused.
What inane twits they were!
She could have had both well in hand after that, but neither had any longer been of interest to her.
Their subsequent invitations were declined.
She had found the men of Earth weak and boring.
She was certain that he with whom she was incarcerated was not physically weak, but then, too, some men of Earth were physically strong, irritatingly so. But even the strongest men of Earth, she had discovered, were psychologically weak, presumably as a consequence of their conditioning programs, designed to thwart and tame them, or, with some effort, she was sure, could be made so, even pathetically so. She wondered if her fellow prisoner was psychologically weak. If not, she was sure she could soon make him so, by turning his own strength against him, by dividing him emotionally, and by arranging self-conflicts which would bring him, his own confused enemy, to an uncertain and anxious balance, where she might, by as little as a breath, so to speak, move him to her will.
Were men not made to be wrapped about the smallest finger of a beautiful woman?
And was she not beautiful?
At that time she was not familiar with how common beauty is on Gor, and how it may be easily purchased in the markets.
She smiled to herself. She had always had whatever she wanted of men, even as a pretty little girl, even before her face and body, advancing through its teens, had become, as now, disturbingly, tormentingly, desirable, suitable for fastening in a slave coffle.
Always she had been able to manipulate and control men, by a word, a tone of voice, a smile, a frown, a tear.
It would be no different with this male, he with whom she shared this inexplicable, eccentric, bizarre confinement.
Her sex, and her beauty, had always proved reliable instruments, and weapons.
They would so now.
The male in the container was a man, and he would be no different from the others.
She did not understand, of course, that he, despite his familiarity, as she had discovered, with her language, was unlike the men with whom she had hitherto been acquainted.
He was of the Warriors; he knew battle; he knew the sea; he knew the great bow, and the blade.
Too, she was quite unfamiliar with Gorean males, and how they viewed women, in particular those with whom they do not share Home Stones.
Their acculturation had not been that of Earth, but one quite different, one far more consistent and healthy, one far more natural.
Nothing had prepared her, you see, for the men of Gor.
And this large, strong man was no longer of Earth. He was now of Gor.
How could it even occur to her that Gorean men would look upon such as she and see her not in terms of her breeding, education, position, and background but in terms of the slave tunic and chain, in terms of the whip and collar?
Did she not know that such as she were put barefoot and naked on the sawdust of the slave block and routinely auctioned to the highest bidder?
Comfortable with her assumed power, and confident that she would be protected by the male in the container, she cast a glance of lofty disdain at the blonde. Did the blonde not even know enough to cover herself, as did the brunette, at least to the extent possible?
Many facial expressions and bodily words, so to speak, in the human species are presumably genetically coded, at least with respect to their templates, as they are amongst other Earth primates, for they seem, for the most part, to be easily interpreted amongst diverse linguistic and cultural groups, for example, expressions of contentment, of jealousy, of pride, of pleasure, of satisfaction, of suspicion, of anger, and so on. In any event, whether in virtue of these species characteristics, or in virtue of her experiences in her Steel World, the blonde took instant umbrage at the brunette's expression, and bared her canines and hissed viciously at the brunette, who drew back, frightened.
The male put out his hand and pressed the blonde back who, hands raised, and fingers crooked, was clearly on the verge of attacking the brunette.
The male apparently made soothing sounds to the blonde, as she had no language, who then crouched down beside him, docilely, looking up at him.
He shook her head, good-naturedly, and she put her head gently against him. She had done this often with her master.
Then, looking at him, timidly, she licked his knee.
The brunette looked upon this display of tenderness with severe disapproval, but the male did not deter or punish the little animal.
Rather he smiled at the brunette, who gasped in indignation. Apparently the brute had no intention of prohibiting the blonde from engaging in such disgusting exhibitions of ingratiation.