Page 106 of Riv's Sanctuary

Granted, he hadn't been around many females, but the ones he'd had the displeasure of being in close contact with had never been like this human.

La-rehn was...different.

Grunting, he turned away, annoyed that he'd wasted so many minutes watching her.

If she wanted to shovel shit that was her business. He hadn't asked her to do anything.

Matter of fact, he distinctly recalled telling her he didn’t need her to.

He was just finished feeding the umus when he exited their enclosure, ready to put the empty bags of feed in the recycling cube when he saw the human struggling down the hill with the bucket of poop in hand.

Frowning, he glanced over at the tilgran enclosure. Sure enough, now that she wasn't inside, a tilgran popped its head out to greet him.

It looked as if she'd shoveled the whole thing. A hard feat because tilgran poop wasn't easy to shovel.

Following the path she'd taken, he walked a safe distance behind her, praying she didn't turn around to find him following.

He trailed her as she walked toward the fruit trees, starting at the row he hadn't fertilized yet, and began to add the poop to the roots.

Crossing his arms from where he stood, Riv watched her work, not sure what he should be feeling.

A part of him was annoyed, another part respectful, and another part...well, there was a feeling there he couldn't define.

She took that moment to look in his direction, pausing with poop hanging in the shovel and their eyes locked, hers growing wide—he could see even from where he stood.

Scowling, he turned away.

This….helpfulness went on for the whole day.

And it was irritating. So much so, he found himself hardly working and spying on her instead.

When she wasn't talking to the animals and giving them "cuddles" and “rubs,” she was feeding them or cleaning their enclosures.

She was all around his Sanctuary, so much so he swore even the robots cutting the fields stopped to notice her.

And Grot, Grot who usually spent his time roaming the fields, was by her side the entire time, loving the name "doggo"—which she seemed intent on calling him.

It irked him and he didn't know why.

And even though a part of him was impressed with her hard work and dedication—just a tiny part of him, like maybe just a few cells—he couldn't help but scowl anyway.

He knew she'd said she intended on helping out, he just hadn't expected her to actually lift a finger.

He lived on a Sanctuary with dirty animals, not a tourist resort. It wasn’t the type of place a female, or anyone really, would pick for employment or enjoyment.

Which female enjoyed getting dirty and sweaty in the hot sun?

None.

Well...at least, that's what he'd thought.

Talking about sweaty, Riv ducked behind a wall as the human appeared from around the corner of a building.

Her tunic was stuck to her chest because of her own sweat and it only outlined parts of her that he shouldn’t see.

Phek it.

The tunic curved around those large teats on her chest, outlining them with such precision, he didn’t know if he should be delighted or horrified by the fact that he couldn’t stop staring.