Treya awoke the following morning in a bit of a muddle. She felt something soft, furry and warm sleeping against her chest. As her eyes opened, she noted a dog beside her. She recognized the breed -- Australia Shepard. This one was tri-colored. She smiled and the dog instantly began to lick her face. She giggled.
Suddenly a whistle came from the other room and Charger took off the bed, faster than she'd ever seen a dog go before. She smiled and sat up, running a hand through her long brown hair with a yawn. She wasn't quite awake and she knew it. As she stood, the old t-shirt of Jack's that she had worn to bed went half-way to her knees. At least it covered her; she thought and then slowly made her way out of the room. She was so thankful to Jack for letting her stay the night on his ship. She'd had no idea what she was going to do last night and even at this moment, still didn't know what to do. But she needed time to go through the journal and see if she found any other clues as to where her brother might have gone and who had been after him. Most of all, she was worried that he'd been killed by the maniac who'd tried to shoot her out of the skies.
Finally she followed Charger's path from the bedroom and into the next room on the ship. There she saw Jack, sitting at a little table eating cereal -- multi-colored O's, and she could smell a sweet fruity fragrance that came from the cereal's general direction. It was a cereal she'd eaten much of as a child and made her wonder if Jack had too. After all, it was obvious he ate them now.
As his brown eyes gaze at her, taking her in, he nodded in greeting. "Good morning," he said.
She smiled as she saw Charger beside Jack, sitting and looked up at him patient and yet hopefully. "I didn't know you had a dog," she replied.
He reached onto the table and came away with a bone-shaped biscuit and threw it into the air for Charger to catch. He did it with ease.
"Yeah," he replied. "He's a good boy. Aren't you, Charger?"
The dog gazed up at him hoping for another treat.
"I saw him sleeping with you last night," Jack said. "It surprised me a bit. Charger doesn't usually take to strangers right away like that."
"Really?" Treya replied. "He seems quite sweet."
"He is when you get to know him," Jack replied. "But he seems to have taken a liking to you right away. That's not usual for him."
Her smile brightened. He liked the way it made him feel, though it was also a bit uncomfortable.
"Why don't you get yourself some breakfast," he said.
She immediately went to the replicator and returned with a bowl of berry-infused oatmeal. She took the seat across the table from him, though they were still quite close. The way she felt whenever he looked at her was like having butterflies in her stomach. It was a feeling she'd never really had before. Immediately, she turned her attention to her breakfast and began to eat.
"Have you been to Serenity before?" he asked, sipping at his orange juice.
"Actually, no," she replied. "I've only just read about it... and not many things at that."
"So you don't know where anything is," he clarified.
She shook her head to indicate he was correct. She had no idea where anything was in the city. But she couldn't speak since her mouth was full of oatmeal. Finally as she washed it down with some berry juice, she finally had a chance to answer.
"I have no clue where to find anything I might need... including a place to stay..."
"I guess we'll have to change that then," he smiled as he got to his feet taking his bowl back to the replicator along with his empty glass.
"Yeah," Treya replied as she watched him replicate a bowl of food for Charger. "That would be great."
Jack put the bowl of food down for Charger, looked at her and smiled, patting his dog on the head affectionately.
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