Chapter 3
The trip to his home was not too long.
He lifted her as carefully as he could manage into his apartment.
To do so while carrying the small box of her personal possessions meant that Pallin had to sling her over his shoulder.
He received a number of quizzical looks from his neighbours as he walked in.
Pallin just set his jaw and continued on his journey.
They would talk if they wished to but it would only be idle gossip. Everyone knew that he was a turian to be respected. If anyone wished to query him then Pallin would have no issue telling the truth.
He had nothing to hide.
After struggling with the keypad to the main door, he finally managed to get inside.
Pallin headed straight for the spare bedroom. He dropped the box of items on the floor of the room as he laid her carefully down on to the bed.
She needed to lose a lot of the layers she wore.
He had no doubt she was probably sweating all the water from her body in that get-up.
At least in this apartment, she could be warm without the need for such a pile of clothes on her.
Pallin debated whether he should contact someone of the female persuasion to perform the task before he chided himself.
It was a human.
It would be a different matter if they were of the same species.
Still he couldn't help but be hesitant as he started to carefully removed the excess clothing.
After some careful manipulating of the sleeping human to allow the removal of some jackets and shirts, he finally saw her pale bare skin.
He had never seen a human as naked as Anne was at that moment except in textbooks. And - if he was honest - the only other times he could recall, those other humans were covered in blood while they lay dying or already dead.
He watched as her frail looking skin shifted, her muscles moving underneath the thin layer.
He became fascinated by the way her ribcage expanded before retracting with her breaths.
Pallin had never been particular enthralled with the asari and their own physical attributes but Anne's breathing was moving her mounds of flesh he had heard referred to as breasts in a not unattractive way to his eyes.
Now came a more delicate situation.
He had to remove the clothes from the lower areas. Once more he thought to call for a female neighbour but again internally berated himself. This was nothing of a deviant and sexual nature. He was aiding someone as part of his role within C-Sec.
Pallin completed his task as quickly as he could.
Soon, a pile of clothes had built up on the floor beside him. As he tugged off the last remaining scrap of fabric, Pallin tried to stop himself but he looked at her more private areas.
There was a mass of dark fur at the junction between her thighs. It was not quite the same as he had seen in his studies. She obviously trimmed them to some degree.
He stared at for a moment before he snapped out of whatever daze he was in. He was angry at himself. Curiosity was no excuse for staring at her in this weakened state.
Pallin quickly picked up an old blanket he had folded on a chair and used it to covered her lower parts.
As he did so, his hand brushed off her soft abdomen. Pallin yanked the offending limb backwards as if he had been electrically shocked.
He had never touched a human before... at least not in a way that wasn't intended to maim or kill.
Pallin swallowed nervously – all good sense leaving his addled brain - as he hesitantly placed the palm of his hand on her abdomen.
She was soft. Incredibly soft and yet he could feel there was still some strength in the muscles that lay just under the surface.
Anne moaned in her sleep as his hand started to stroke the soft flesh of her stomach as if he petted a varren. How did they survive at all with this softness he mused to himself.
Another moan from the sleeping Anne and Pallin pulled away sharply.
He was horrified with himself. How could he have done that he almost screamed.
His mind was in turmoil as he worked quickly to sort out what was necessary. Pallin had forgotten himself and had breached this young woman's trust. Once she awoke, Pallin would confess this lapse of judgement on his part and hoped she could forgive him.
He went out and return with one of his large shirts and a bowl of warm water with a cloth. He gently wiped her down, tending to her sweaty skin before drying her carefully.
Pallin then placed her into his large shirt and got her under the sheets.
He stared at her for a time before his foot touched off the pile of clothes on the floor. He bundled them up into his arms and left.
Pallin threw the items into the cleaner and then poured himself a drink. He had picked up some of his preferred Palaven brands that last time he had been to that world.
After fixing himself a glass, he sat on the couch and picked up the datapad thrown on it. That damn novel was still open. He was only halfway through.
Pallin took a gulp of his drink and continued reading.
It was something at least to keep his mind occupied.
