A Warrior's Mind, a Lover's Heart

Chapter 7: Old ways

Birds sitting outside the hospital began to settle back into the trees. Chirps crying out into the once silent hub. Life had its way of worming back into the dead zones. The Alliance was already beginning to get reports of trees sprouting up in places that were once burned down. Green was slowly replacing the gray that took over since the Reapers arrived. Earth hadn't been destroyed. It was a chance to restart, not just for Earth but for many planets. A prime example of this was Tuchanka. The galactic community didn't waste any time in trying to rebuild. Granted the start was obviously a crawl, any movement forward was positive movement. The local hub was proof if the community worked together, you could get anything rebuilt quickly. The Reaper war had brought a lot of communities together. Even down to the fact Batarians were rescuing humans on colonies. This was unheard of.

Melina was sitting outside of the hospital alone. The weather was warm but Melina donned long sleeves. The skin on her left arm, which was still healing was sensitive to the sun. She didn't want to do anything to hamper its healing. Crossing her legs in front of her, the woman tipped her head back, her eyes closed under her sunglasses. She took in the warmth from the sun. The star her colony had orbited was much smaller in size then the sun was. It didn't give off as much warmth or light as the sun did. This was the first thing she noticed since going outside. Melina's vision still wasn't what it used to be. As the week had passed, she noticed shapes growing more defined, colors brighter and more beautiful. Yet a slight haze had always remained. This was probably the residual damage the doctors had talked about. Melina was still thankful her vision was saved, but a bit bummed her sniper skills weren't going to be as good as they once was. At least this would make Teyshan laugh as she would constantly lose their shooting matches. Anything to make him happy. He visited her in the hospital often. Bringing her a small bouquet of roses everyday. Melina began to wonder how hard of a time Teyshan had being separated from her. Diane would never speak of how the Prothean acted on the 'Jupiter'. Only information Melina found out was out of Dean, when Teyshan nearly choked the life out of Rupert. This concerned the woman. She knew Teyshan to be cut off from everyone. None conflictive and emotionless. He always had his walls up except for when Melina was around. Now Teyshan was more reactive and angry. She wondered what happened, where was this stemming from, she even felt like he had began to build up walls around her too, the last time he did was before the attempt on his life, over a half a year ago. Shaking the thoughts out of her head, Melina stood up and grabbed her backpack. The hospital had supplied her with an extra change of cloths and the belongings she had when she was found. Though for some reason her guns magically disappeared… figures.

Looking down at a small piece of paper, Melina began making her way down the street. Her pace was slow. Her brown hues watching the hustle and bustle of the people around the hub. Many Turians and humans made their way around fulfilling errands, picking up supplies or window shopping. It reminded her a bit of the Citadel. How she missed that place though. Maybe one day she would go back when they made repairs on the station. It didn't take long for the woman to find the apartment building Teyshan and Diane were staying in. Walking inside, her eyes gazed around until she found the elevator. Melina hated elevators, they always took forever to get to your destination. Melina entered the elevator and rode it all the way up to the floor Teyshan was on. Walking out of the door, the woman adjusted her backpack over her shoulder, gazing back down at the paper. Looking at the room number, the woman turned herself, walking down the hallway and counting down the numbers till she found Teyshan's door. The woman didn't tell any of her friends that she was getting discharged today. She wanted to surprise them instead.

Melina bit her bottom lip, nerves made her hands quiver for a moment before she let out a deep breath, gathering her composure. Reaching up to the door she knocked gently and lowered her right arm back down to her side. Melina kept her left arm tucked in her pants pocket. Her skin and muscles ached if she moved it around to much. A hell of a thing surviving the Reaper blast, let alone still having her arm and vision intact. Hearing shuffling around in the room, the door moments later whipped open, surprising her a little. Teyshan stood in the doorway. The first thing Melina noticed that his light was off, only a few candles flickered in his room. Her brown hues gazed up at him, also noticing the top half of his under suit was off.

"Melina!?" Teyshan was surprised to see her.

"Suprissee." Melina smiled weakly, holding up her hands.

Teyshan's golden hues blinked a few times before his thoughts came together. He backed away from the door way and motioned for Melina to come in.

"Come in Melina, my home is your home." His voice grew soft.

The woman nodded and took a small step into his apartment. Her brown hues looked around, taking in all the details of his place. Granted her vision was atrocious in the dark, she noticed a picture of herself sitting on his nightstand. That fact brought a warm smile to her face. Teyshan slowly closed the door behind her. His dark colored armor was sitting down at the foot of the bed in a polished, organized pile. Another touch that stuck out to her was the rug on the floor. She knew the Prothean liked to meditate, the rug was a nice touch.

"I was discharged today, I figured I stop by to sup..-" Melina was interrupted by Teyshan walking up to her and pressing a deep kiss upon her lips. The woman wrapped her right arm around his neck, pressing her body up against his. Feeling the Prothean growing tense against her, he deepened the kiss, suddenly pressing Melina up against the wall behind her, their kiss growing passionate. Teyshan rumbled a bit before gently breaking the kiss. He pulled back just enough to gaze deeply into Melina's eyes. Reaching up, her cupped her cheeks, his golden eyes searching hers. The woman stood there pinned between him and the wall, her breath growing rapid and heavy. She was nipping at the back of her lip.

"I've miss you Melina." Teyshan whispered.

"I thought I lost you.." the woman whispered back to him.

"You have me now, don't you?" Teyshan began nipping at the side of her neck, feeling the woman's body beginning to squirming against his.

"Don't.. stop.." Melina groaned.

Teyshan's wings quivered against his back in excitement. Not wanting to move to far away from Melina, Teyshan reached up and pulled the woman's shirt up. Careful when it came to sliding her left arm out of it's sleeve. He knew to be gentle with her. Melina nuzzled herself against his warm body, reaching down and feeling his leathery skin, his muscles rippling under her touch. Teyshan shuddered under her touch, he missed the way she felt against him, the way she would melt under his touch. How she would breath and whisper his name. Never again would he leave her side.

#

Melina slept bare under the blankets, her face partially covered by her soft dark curls. Those dark brown eyes closed, a gentle breath escaped from her mouth as she laid still sleeping. Teyshan was sitting on the floor, once again wearing his under suit. Watching the woman in complete peace had comforted Teyshan's heart, knowing she was alive and safe with him. The past week and been draining to him. Javik would pull him away from his time spent with the woman to mull over ideas with Admiral Hackett about possible Prothean archives. Teyshan had made peace with the fact he no longer was going to fight early on. He had made peace with the fact he wanted to live a quiet life away from the hustle and bustle of the military with Melina over a month ago. Now he was caught up in the military life once more and he was dragging Melina along with him. Yet getting out and helping Javik was exciting, to help the Elder Prothean find more of their kind was honorable. Teyshan found himself split on what he wanted to do. This made him nervous. What did Melina want? Would she understand Teyshan's new found duty to Javik? He hadn't asked for her opinion and he was scared of what she was going to say, so he would just bury it for now and enjoy the time they had together. At least she would stay by his side and help as well. Then maybe after all this was done and over, they would retire from the military life once more on a small colony and settle down, have more shooting matches and just enjoy life.

Teyshan leaned softly against the bed, reaching up, his fingers curled around a small lock of the woman's tresses and brushed it back behind her ear. Melina buried her face into her own arms and groaned a bit, taking a deep breath in the woman's eyes slowly opened. Her cloudy pupils dilated from the darkness. He was beginning to understand Melina had a hard time seeing in such low light. On the other hand Teyshan's eyes could see every little detail in the dark. Prothean's had keen eyes but were sensitive to bright light.

"You slept well." Teyshan whispered, leaning up and pressing a gentle kiss on the woman's soft cheek. She chuckled in response.

"You gave me a reason to sleep well.." her voice was gentle and sweet.

Melina sat up in the bed, reaching up with her right arm she ran her hand down her face and dropped it back into her lap. Raising her arms above her head, she twisted her body, her shoulders popping in response as she stretched.

"Ugh" she muttered.

Relaxing once more Melina leaned back down on the bed, nuzzling Teyshan's cheek with the bridge of her nose.

"Melina, I do not mean to pull you along into Javik's mission." Teyshan was beginning to grow nervous at her response.

"Teyshan, hun look. I've been stuck in a hospital bed for the past month, I'm looking forward to some adventure. So don't worry about it, ok?" Melina kissed his cheek tenderly. Teyshan slowly pulled away from Melina and stood up. Stepping over to the light switch, he turned up the apartment's light up enough so Melina could see a little better. Her dark eyes following his form. He didn't respond to her question, but merely gazed at Melina laying in his bed. He felt his heart slow in his chest seeing her look so comfortable and happy. Stepping back over to the bed, he kneeled down on the floor, reaching out and running his finger's through her soft hair. There was a lot on his mind, but he only kept his mouth shut and cherished the small moments. There would be time to talk of such things later.