This is another story based on an RP that Pae and I did, so this is largely co-written with her, and she deserve equal credit. The original title of this fic was "I See You" but to be perfectly honest, there are enough of those titled fics on the AVATAR page. Hope you enjoy, and reviews are welcome.
EDIT: Just remembered, I had forgotten to make it that Camo couldn't breathe. In the RP, we didn't bother, but I had wanted to add something here.
You
Chahra's tail silently swished back and forth as she waited for a certain dream walker, or in the language of the humans, "Avatar." Her ears flicked about and caught every sound, straining for the light footsteps of her mate. Her graceful mate. Her clever mate who had taught her so much, and she had taught so much to. It was dangerous to be this far out from the clan. The humans were encroaching more and more each day. She half listened for the creaking of their great tree chopping machines, expecting an ambush at any moment. But for all their great monsters, the humans simply did not know these woods. She could easily escape through the vines and branches, and escape on her flying mount.
And of course, her friend had assured her that none of the destructive humans would be around for now. He promised that he was working on it, explaining to them that this land was not worth the trouble. Instead, one of the portable homes had been brought in, so that the humans could explore without interfering nature. These humans, he assured her, only wished to observe. Once…once the doctor. Once the doctor had wanted to touch Chahrah with human hands. And somehow, her mate had convinced her to come down to the portable base. She was brought, and the doctor simply observed her silently. How she moved. How she acted. A sample of her hair, her skin, and her nails, were taken. Chahrah did not know how she felt about that, but her mate had assured her it was fine. Something about…her mate not being a "real" Na'vi. The doctor had wanted samples from "real" specimens. More samples. For diversity perhaps. Chahrah did not understand, nor did she care.
For now, Chahrah waited. She sat in the branches and waited, staring, ears twitching for the sound of her friend. Chahrah allowed her eyes to close and just listened to the world about her. A leaf fell, there was water running somewhere nearby behind her, the wind blew, and...There. Someone was stepping lightly upon the ground. Her eyes snapped open, and she turned to face the direction from which the person was approaching. She waited for his great form, tall and handsome to come. She waited softly, breathless. But where…where was he?
Captain Charles "Camo" Chaufield was a little weak in the knees, but felt that was understandable, given his position. When he was in the Avatar body, he was strong. He was powerful. He could look a fair number of the creatures on this planet in the eye and stand proud. And besides, he was never, ever scared in the Avatar body. It just wasn't logical. If he got hurt or killed even, so what? He wasn't really getting killed. It was just the Avatar body. Like getting upset over losing in a video game. He would be fine. His real body would be fine. Sure the stockholders might go through the roof, but he would be fine.
Not now. Now he was in his real body, and now if anything happened, he was really going to die. At 6'4" and weighing around 250 lbs., he was quite large by human standards. On Earth, he was a giant. On Pandora, he was barely any bigger than something that would get stuck in the most creatures' teeth. But...but this was him. This was his real body.
The scientist had grown so accustomed to the Avatars they, could never tell if they were asleep or awake, which one was real. Pathetic. Camo always knew.
That's probably why his hands were shaking. Now he was walking carefully through the forest. Careful that he wouldn't step on anything, disturb anything too badly. He wanted to show his mate what he really was. But now he was scared, not just of the creatures, but of her. He had known her a fair bit of time. He had learned for her, from her. And though she said she knew him, she was wrong. She called him Dreamwalker, a constant reminder of the lie. She had only ever seen a mirage. An illusion. A dream. Not the real him. Today, today he would show her. And if that was met with her spear or arrow, then so be it.
Camo groaned. He had taken along a rifle, as his muscles were now too weak to draw back a bow properly. The long walking had made the rifle rather heavy. He took a breath, looking around. He closed his eyes and listened, just as he had been taught to do by Chahrah during his training. He smiled. Humans weren't quite the blind infants that Na'vi usually thought they were. He could hear ruffle, the slight noise of...
"Charah?" he asked. He couldn't see her, he hadn't a clue where she was, and even if he did her blue skin gave her some camouflage. He just hoped it was her. Another Na'vi would probably not be too understanding of his presence.
Her name calmed her down slightly. Charah crept down from the branch and onto the ground, and towards the noise. His voice sounded the same, the same odd accent that none of her people had. But she could not see him. Could not smell him. All she could smell was that pungent smell of human, and the oily smell of one of their weapons. She hissed and lowered to the ground, taking up her bow and aiming at the approaching footsteps. Yes, even the footsteps were wrong. Too loud. Too clumsy.
When Camo stepped a bit more forward, through a large patch of trees, he saw the slight blue outline of the great creature. Stepping closer, he found himself staring at an arrow. Camo tensed a moment, standing there, before he was even fully out of the brush. He had seen just what Na'vi could do with those primitive weapons. Could it even be called primitive when it pierced through a man's torso and out the squishy back? He swallowed and took a step back. "Ch-Chahrah," he said softly. "Chahrah, please."
Chahrah held the arrow at him, unflinching, unmoving, a soft hiss escaping her mouth with each breath. She was furious. That a human should come into her land. Her mate had promised that…
"Chahrah, it's Camo." He clenched his eyes hard, wanting to just turn around and retreat.
Chahrah took a soft breath, eyes widening. The Dreamwalker. Camo…the Na'vi Camo, had told her he wasn't "real" but she had never believed him. She had thought he was just delusional. She hadn't understood. How could someone not be real? Now, she was starting to understand, and though furious, she was at least realizing this was Camo. This was her mate. Somehow.
She had seen that doctor. The doctor had no armor, and Chahrah marveled at how tiny she was. Like a child. And now to see Camo, her mate, like this. She relaxed her grip on her bow and let a soft giggle escape her lips. It was rather funny, how truly small these humans were. These humans who at times she and her tribe feared, she could just about sit on them without a problem.
Camo opened his eyes slowly, almost frightened that he would see the arrow an inch from his eye, or the tip ready to burrow into his heart. Instead, she was holding the arrow, but the wire was not as taught. She had relaxed her grip. His eyes swiveled up to her face. She looked a bit wary, a bit scared, perhaps disgusted, but also seemed relaxed. "It's me," he said.
Chahrah's eyes narrowed. "Would you put away the gun?" she asked. That was bothering her the most. She had seen those guns slaughter her warriors, or wantonly mow down the native life. If this was truly Camo, she was angry with him. He should know better than to bring a weapon like that into her presence. But if this was Camo, her anger could wane. To show she was willing to disarm, she placed her bow and arrows onto the ground. Still, there was the blade on her hips. If she needed to, a quick slash aimed at his throat. That would finish him, and she would leave the body for the beasts.
"The safety is on," he muttered lowly, but slowly took the rifle off his shoulder and set it down on the ground in front of him. He wasn't sure if she would understand the gesture, but for his part, he first removed the clip, and then ejected the shell that was in the chamber. He slipped that one into his pocket, and stood back up, looking to the azure skinned giant.
Na'vi had thick, thick bones that stopped lower caliber bullets, so humans designed bullets that would penetrate the thick bones and fragment in the organs. If he had to, he had faith in his shooting skills, enough to at least slow her down if she attacked. Grab the gun, roll away, load a shot into the chamber, lift, shoot. Should take about as long as it would take her to grab her bow and release an arrow. With his foot, he moved the rifle out of his reach. Now he was fully at her mercy.
Though Chahrah was nervous as he fiddled with the gun, the action of moving it farther away was universal. She straightened out, leaving her precious bow on the ground. She also took the dagger off her thigh, and set it down, before mimicking Camo's gesture of sliding it aside with her foot. Losing her weapons didn't seem settle Camo's fears. He still looked at the ground instead of at her. Odd, for all she had fought the humans, she had never thought they might fear her back. But Camo looked so humble there. She recalled all the time they had spent together, the fact that she had come all the way out for him, to see him. She had trusted him for a long time. She had trusted him with the weapons crafted from her clan. She had trusted him as her mate. Without his weapons, she felt perfectly at ease. What hope could he possibly have against her? But he was terrified. And how could she settle that? Very slowly, stepped forward, slow enough he wouldn't take it for aggression. When about two arm's lengths away, she squatted down and sat softly, and waited for him.
Camo didn't immediately lift his gaze. Somehow looking at the ground made him feel better. Maybe by not seeing her, he didn't have to fully admit she was there. He looked up slightly. He saw her bare feet and toes digging into the ground, touching the grass, feeling the grass. Her legs were bent so she could sit. He looked down at the ground again, then looked back up, taking a bit more of her body. Her folded legs. Her taught, narrow stomach. Her chest. He bit his tongue, and saw her face. That same face, those same eyes. Not in a dream now. She was real. He saw her with his real eyes. "Chahrah," he said. With a deep breath, he took a slow step forward, covering one "arm" of the distance.
Her ears flickered forward at the new sound of his voice. He was smaller than her, unlike his Na'vi form. His eyes were darker, his hair short and lacking the braid. No tail to keep him balanced, feet covered by an odd substance, or 'shoes' as they called them. He was wearing much more clothing, as if to hide the pale skin. His fingers too were different. She just noticed his extra digit. Not that she hadn't seen humans before, but this wasn't the Camo she knew. Chahrah extended a hand out to him, palm side up. She was inviting him over.
Camo watched her. He watched her every move. He was a soldier, and a soldier was taught how to watch their enemies. Watch their movements. Never in his life time of battle had he ever seen an "enemy" turn up their palms like that. Not even when he had been with Na'vi had he seen that sort of thing. Wait, had he? God, his mind was racing. He couldn't focus. He wanted to bolt. This whole thing was a bad idea. Everything about it.
With a deep breath, he reached his hand out and touched her hand. If she wanted to kill him, she could easily pull him close...and probably punch her fist straight through his chest. He waited a moment, and took a casual step towards her.
Chahrah could feel his pulse, and it was sa if his heart was going to burst. Did humans always pump their blood this fast? She closed his palm over his small hand and held it gently. Actually, she was a bit nervous. She was afraid she might hurt him. He was so small, just closing her hand might break his fingers. "Camo," she assured, with the best human accent she could vocalize. That coaxed him the rest of the way, and suddenly all he could see was the blue ocean of her skin and the golden glow of her eyes. He gave a soft smile, his heart slowing, which was certainly good since after another few moments he might have gone into cardiac arrest. "You...you are beautiful," he said softly. A part of him screamed at that. A part of him was afraid how a proud, warrior would take the comment from a lesser creature. But that part was small.
Chahrah blinked, then smiled, revealing pearly fangs. Rising from beneath her blue skin, the faintest of blushes could be seen. She muttered something in the Na'vi language, glancing down, then back up to his eyes. Letting go of his hand, she trailed her fingers up his arm, to the shoulder, up the side of his neck, and to his cheek. "This is you," she said, not so much a question as a reassurance. Her long, thin fingers traced gently over his face, as if she were blind. When she pawed at the facemask that allowed him to breath, he took a sharp inhale and held his breath. Then it was off. She touched his little eyes and nose, baby soft skin, rosy lips, the curves of his face were so interesting.
Camo felt a bit...odd getting groped by the alien (or was he the alien, considering he was coming onto this planet, and she was the native...not the time for that). He allowed her to poke and prod him, since she was mostly gentle and careful with her little touches sprinkled over his body, and she seemed to be getting some pleasure out of it. "Yes," he said softly. "This is me. The real me. Not the Dreamwalker." He quickly lowered the mask again and took a breath. Thank god he had trained to hold his breath for up to three minutes. He was curious what she would feel like. He had never felt her. He had felt a cloud, he had felt an illusion, filtered through the Avatar machine and the Avatar body, and his mind only imagined what she felt like. No, he wanted...to really touch her. And slowly, he brought his hand up to her face, and touched her as well, just as she did him. It was amazing.
Chahrah smiled as her fingers glided over Camo's face, down his throat, then to the collar of his shirt. Her smile faltered. The fabric was...odd. She figured that this must be native to humans, hence the feel, but couldn't help trying to find some other skin she could touch. Her finger tips strayed beneath the shirt neckline, and she smiled again. Chahrah didn't go too far down though, merely lingering around his collar bones. As Camo felt over her face, her tail swept back and forth amusedly. His fingers felt nice. Feeling him and him feeling her, a new and wonderful experience.
"May..." he paused, gathering his thoughts and words. He had noticed her fingers going down his shirt, and he had to admit, he shared her sentiment. He wanted to feel her skin, all her skin. "May I see you?" he asked softly, hoping she would understand. "And may you see me?" He took a step back, out of her finger's range, and slowly removed his jacket. With that, he waited on the tank top shirt. It was her turn.
Chahrah, for her part, reached back behind her and undid the knot that kept her top cloth tied to her chest. When undone, it slipped down her front and came to rest in her lap. She was amused by the fixated glance he gave her, the almost hungry stare. She waited on him now, watching, tail flicking about in interest.
Again, Camo found himself only staring. She was beautiful, perfectly shaped really. With not too large breasts, especially given the overall size of her body, but they were just perfect. He removed his shirt, pulling it over his chest. If he could say so, he was in good shape. Rocky, chiseled muscle from a extensive exercise, as well as combat training. He had been recruited for this operation, the Avatar project, for a few reasons. Officially, he was to serve as security. He was a fully trained soldier with fluency in every weapon humanity had. And, as the female doctor said, he wasn't "dumb as a stump." So he had both know how of how to use weapons should the need arise, a good tactical mind, and intelligence enough to learn Na'vi culture. Most of the other Avatar users let their body wither to stick and bone. They loved their tall, blue form, they trained it daily. They made sure that every aspect of the mannequin was perfect. But sitting in a tube day in day out, their real body turned to mush. He never let that happen. Pound for pound, he was probably stronger like this.
Even Chahrah could recognize the strength he possessed, for a human. She had yet to see any bare-chested humans until now, but she could guess that not many were like him. If they were to fight hand-to-hand, she would probably win, but he would be sure to put up quite a resistance. What was that game humans played? Arm wrestling. She was actually tempted. She wanted to reach over and touch him again, to feel his muscle, the results of a strong mind and body, but resisted the temptation until they could both truly see each other. Besides, Camo was wearing so many clothes, compared to her. She just had her lower covering left. He had shoes, pants, and according to her knowledge of human knowledge, he also probably had another small layer of clothing beneath. Why did humans wear so much? It was as if they didn't want to feel anything, so they would cover and guard themselves.
Camo lowered his head and smiled. "We're not like you," he said, as if reading her mind. "I mean, we're not as strong as you." He began untying the laces of his boots. "Our feet can't walk over rocks, or we'll get cut." He undid his pants, and slipped them off. "Our legs can't take the whacking and cutting of trees, or we'll open sores." He paused when he reached his underwear, paused for more than one reason, but with a slight laugh he lowered them to his ankles and stepped out. "That one...well, not really sure why we have that. I've gone 'commando' but I just like everything held in place." He was nude now, but it was different than her being nude. She was practically always nude. He...this was something new for him. Still, he didn't cover himself. He stood, looking to her. He was proud actually. He was proud of himself. And he smiled. "You are beautiful," he said softly. He was proud of her as well. Proud that, though he had only known her for such a short bit of time, he knew her curves. There were slight scars and scratches on her legs, she had gotten those when she and he had been attacked by a pack of the jackal like creatures. He was proud to see her now. He was proud she could see him. And he giggle softly when she finally pulled the lower covering off her hips.
Chahrah scooted over to be closer to him, and she sat down right in front of him, inches apart from each other. She could smell his scent, less alien without the clothes, and much more natural. Though she had known him for a little while, the marks his body bore were new to her. It was almost as if they were meeting anew, fresh, but they had known each other all along. Chahrah reached out with both hands to touch his chest. She could feel his heart beating. "I feel you."
Camo put a hand on hers, and squeezed. "I feel you," he said softly. With a swallow and on shaky legs, he took a step forward. Thank god she was still squatting or he would have been eye level with her chest or belly. He wanted to do this though, and gently placed his arms around her neck. He moved slow, so that if she didn't want to, she could say something, or do something. He slipped his mask off, and his lips slowly moved for hers. Chahrah, for her half, tilted her head to his. Her hands moved over behind him to hold him close. Her eyes were half closed. And just like that, they touched. Before the rational part of Camo's mind could tell him how stupid this was, he was there, touching his lips to hers. Her lips were massive compared to him, but he managed, by opening his mouth. Her lips tasted odd. His open mouth let his tongue slip out and brush over the sweet curve of her lips. He took a breath through his mouth, taking in the odd smell of Na'vi woman. A slight gasp of the toxic air, but he still savored the raw smell of Na'vi.
Camo brought his hands up and stroked her cheeks, reveling in the feel. He gave her a little push to get her back, and craned his head to the side so he could easier talk, not to mention lower the mask back down. "Chahrah," he said softly. "Would you…would you like to?" They had done it once before, when he was using the Avatar body. But in the end, that amounted to little more than a wet dream.
Chahrah pulled back so she could look to him. "Camo, when we mated last, when you were a Dreamwalker, my clan hd smelled your scent on me. They believed I had mated with someone of a different clan. Now…I dread the thought of what they would say."
Camo reached up and gently stroked her cheek. "I understand," he said. "Probably wouldn't end well, even before you got back home. I don't have to get picked up till next morning. Your clan will not be expecting you back until next sunrise as well? Perhaps, tonight, we can stay together?"
A smile returned to Chahrah's face. She nodded. "I would love to." Glancing up to the night sky, she realized how much time had passed. "Though we should stay in the trees. Too many predators at night." She glanced down at their discarded clothes and weapons, but figured that none of the animals would take an interest in them. "Would you like me to carry you?"
Camo sighed, looking down at the ground, again feeling something like a child. "No, I don't want you to carry me. But...no way I can get up there without equipment. Which i didn't bring." He blushed red under his cheeks.
Chahrah lifted his head up by his chin with a finger. She got him to look up into her eyes. "You should not feel ashamed. We must each know one's limits." Wrapping her arm around his bare waist and pressing him to her body, Chahrah picked up the human before he could say anything. She heard a little whimper and huff escape his lips, but that was all. Soon enough, he was quiet as she began to climb, her occupied arm barely a hindrance. She still had one arm, and her legs and feet.
Camo snuggled up and put his ear to her chest. He listened to her strong heartbeats, felt them pounding in her chest. He put his arms around her neck, as if afraid she might drop him, or perhaps just offering her to use both hands. Of all the ways to travel on Pandora, this was perhaps the most amazing. He rested his cheek against her soft skin, reveling in the soft warmth of her touch.
Up in the higher levels of the tree, the glowing leaves and stalks were so thickly overlapping that someone of Chahrah's size could easily sit upon them without falling through. She hoisted Camo up and settled him on her lap when she found someplace comfy. "This is nice," she commented softly.
Camo cuddled against her muscular chest softly. He reveled in the warmth, the softness of her skin, the plumpness of her breasts, the black ponytail resting softly over her shoulders. He reached up and took a deep breath, before slipping his mask off. Then he touched her lips to his, savoring the kiss, before saying, "Yes. This is…wonderful."