The next few days came and went without much fanfare. Jimmy spent most of his time watching the instructional videos. They were boring, but he was slowly picking up the language, and could make out bits and pieces of Inaju and Pulunju's conversations. He was still sleeping in Indaju's slipper, though thankfully she'd not repeated her mistake.

Interestingly, there seemed to be no sort of shower or bath on the aircraft, and the two titans never washed themselves. Despite this, they didn't get dirty or start to smell bad. Jimmy figured that this was part of their biology. But he was all too human, and was starting to get nasty after a few days without showering. Indaju and Pulunju countered this by letting him bathe himself in a rice bowl filled with soapy water.

Indaju could do little more than pilot the spacecraft, landing occasionally to take a break, or to eat and then sleep. Pulunju spent her time cleaning, preparing food, chatting with Indaju, and playing with Jimmy. As of yet, Jimmy hadn't mustered the courage to begin speaking with her, but he was going to have to start practicing the language if he ever wanted to be able to communicate.

They had made it about half way back to Akenu.

"Hnnnng, isu kumelunja etimis!" (Hnnng, he's so cute!)

Pulunju said, sitting at the table with Jimmy, holding her cheeks with her palms, elbows on the table. She was making kissy faces at him, which made it difficult to focus on the videos.

Pulunju was bored. She'd cleaned every corner of the spacecraft, and it was too early to start dinner. She started whistling and tapping her long nails against the table.

As if poor Jimmy needed more distractions!

Pulunju noticed that the blood red paint on her fingernails had mostly come off, and it was about time to prepare a fresh coat. She got up and went over to Indaju's cockpit. She began opening drawers looking for the polish.

"Apum kamu menkilis?" (What are you looking for?)

"Difilkatum. Kamu isum fejkilim?" (The nail polish. Have you seen it?)

"Lak." (Yeah.)

Indaju reached down and pulled out a drawer next to her calf. In it were an assortment of nail polishes, each labeled in an exotic script.

"Dank!" (Thanks!)

Pulunju grabbed the red one, her personal favorite, and walked back over to the table. She grabbed a napkin and laid it under her hand to stop any polish from getting on the furniture, lest Inadju strike the fear of god into her. She pulled out the brush and began painting her index finger. Jimmy's nostrils were hit like a truck by the strong chemical smell.

Pulunju kept humming and painting her nails, when an Idea struck her.

"Xej!" (Hey!)

Pulunju whistled at Jimmy. He turned around from his video to see her smiling face. She put the brush back into the bottle and beckoned Jimmy over with her finger. He got up and walked over to her.

Pulunju laid her hand back on the table, and handed Jimmy the brush. To him, holding this brush was like a normal sized person holding a broom.

Pulunju pointed down at her hand lying on the table and made a back and forth motion with her finger, trying to tell Jimmy what to do. He understood, and gave her a nod. Jimmy took the brush over to Pulunju's hand and began carefully painting her long nails with the red paint. Due to his size, he could paint precisely, without getting any on the surrounding skin. Painting Pulunju's nails was strangely enjoyable, with an almost meditative quality to it. Jimmy figured that this was why people bought those adult coloring books.

Pulunju smiled at Jimmy and gave him a thumbs up with her other hand. Jimmy couldn't help but return a smile of his own, one of his first in days. He then moved onto the next finger, then the next, and then the other hand. When he was all done, Pulunju raised her hands to her face, admiring her little friend's work and blowing on them.

She looked again at Jimmy. She pointed down at the ground and cocked her head to the side. Jimmy didn't realize what she meant at first, but then it dawned on him, and he nodded. Pulunju kicked off her sandals, and plucked Jimmy up, along with the napkins and paint. She placed him on the ground in front of her, then the napkin, on which she placed her feet. She brought her knees and feet together, folding her hands in her lap. She watched with a smile as her little pal pedicured her toes.

When he finished, he took a step back admiring his work. Pulunju began to wriggle her toes in excitement seeing the perfect paint job on her toes. It was at least as good as what a professional would do, perhaps even better. She picked jimmy up along with the polish and napkin, and slid her sandals back on. She put the little man back on the table.

"Dank besale! Kamu xasunjam sigutum lakilim!" (Thank you so much! You did such a good job!)

"Dank... kestu... etimim... tanusa. (Thanks... that... was... fun.)

Pulunju's eye lit up upon hearing Jimmy speak Baxasu Negali for the first time. She brought her face down, level with the little man and blew him a comically exaggerated kiss. The two laughed.

"Kestu pulesimis: i'kamu dalsimis xase." (Seems like you two are getting along well.)

Chirped Indaju from the cockpit, a smile forming at the corners of her lips.

***

Later that evening, the triumvirate sat at the table enjoying another of Pulunju's meals. Little Jimmy didn't speak, deciding instead to listen to the giants' jovial chit-chat.

"Xej Indaju, fejkilit kustum!" (Hey Indaju, look at this!)

Pulunju flashed her freshly painted nails to Indaju.

"Isu i'kestum en xatu aki!" (He painted them for me!)

"Pulunju! Isu xambu kami tak etimis!" (Pulunju! He isn't your slave!)

Pulunju made a face at her friend.

"Xej, isu isum sukilim! Sunje?" (Hey, he liked it! Isn't that right?)

Pulunju and Indaju looked down at Jimmy for his approval. The little man nodded.

"Kamu xosilis kustum ka: isu i'difilum kami katilis?" (Do you want him to do yours?)

Indaju looked down at her hands. They could use a fresher coat, she supposed.

After dinner, Pulunju went over to the polish drawer.

"Bilu ka?" (Blue?)

"Lak" (Yeah.)

Pulunju brought the sky blue bottle of polish over to the table, placed down a napkin for Indaju's hands, and handed little Jimmy the brush. He got to work, carefully touching up Indaju's manicure.

When he was finished, Indaju held her hands in front of her face, admiring the impeccable job.

"Uau, j'isu fejkimis xasunja!" (Wow, they look so good!)

"Sunje ka? Isu kapasimis i'digitum kami jug!" (I know right? He can do your toes too!)

Pulunju demonstrated by removing her left foot from her sandal, lifting up her leg, and flexing her toes to show off her fancy new pedicure. The idea brought back to Indaju painfully embarrassing memories of the slipper incident from the other day.

"A-Aku tak kulemin-" (I-I don't think-)

Before Indaju could finish, Pulunju had jumped up, plucking up Jimmy and the brush and the napkin. She went to place them down by Indaju's feet, but was stopped.

"Sut Pulunju, tak letakilis isum en lantaju!" (Jesus Pulunju, don't put him on the floor!")

Indaju removed her feet from her sandals and placed them against the edge of the table, gripping it with her toes. Pulunju lowered Jimmy and his brush in front of Indaju's toes, the same toes that a few days earlier put him through the roughest morning of his life.

Indaju cringed on the inside thinking about it, but suppressed her shame and tried to enjoy herself. She was getting a great free pedicure, can't really argue with that.

Jimmy painted her toes blue with speed and efficiency. Indaju thought it was adorable watching the little man pretty up her feet, and she kind of liked how he tickled her toes as he grabbed them for balance. She thought of how nice a foot massage would be, but decided not to push her luck.

Jimmy finished, and Indaju planted her heels on the table next to Jimmy, ankles crossed. She flexed and wriggled her toes, mesmerized by the perfect coat of paint upon her nails.

"Uau... dankunj!" (Wow... thank you so much!)

Jimmy responded by plating a light kiss on the arch of Indaju's foot, which was maybe a head taller than him. This caused all three to burst out laughing.

Jimmy wasn't sure if it was Stockholm syndrome, or something else, but he couldn't deny the bond he was begging to form with these two.

***

Later that night, before bed, Pulunju approached Jimmy holding her hands behind her back. The smile on her face gave it away that she was hiding something. She brought her arms in front of her, presenting to Jimmy his present.

She'd made a little green robe for him along with a pair of matching wooden sandals. She placed them on the table in front of the little man, her face urging him to try it on.

It was a good effort, though not perfect. The shoes were a bit small and the robe a bit big. But being naked all the time got old, so Jimmy welcomed a change of pace.

"Dank!" (Thanks!)

The three went off to sleep, one more day down in their expedition.