"So, tell me about this queen," Addy asked over her shoulder. She was standing in front of the window, chewing her bottom lip anxiously as Makuba entered their quarters. He glanced to her shortly, then gestured towards the adjacent room.

She followed him inside, watching as he tapped at his gauntlet. As his awu'asa powered down, he slowly popped off his helmet.

"Queen kiande amedha are dangerous, more so than their offspring," he chattered pensively, thinking about his choice of words carefully. "It takes many skilled hunters to destroy one, often entire clans are involved."

Addy's gaze followed his helmet as he pulled it from his face. He noticed her interest and held it out to her for inspection. Her eyes flicked up to meet his gaze, and with his nod of permission she hesitantly took the piece of equipment from his proffered hand.

It was heavier than she expected, the weight of it pulled against her hands. The silver metal was cool to the touch as she traced the narrow eye slits with her thumb, then grazed her hand across the large sloping forehead.

The design of it was simple and smooth, but there were tiny symbols carved all around the edges of it.

"Is that why you've been called to help?" She asked, flipping his mask over to check out its insides.

He continued to strip away his other awu'asa reverently, placing each piece meticulously on the mantle.

"Sei'i, but the ones that called for help are not from my clan."

He knelt down to remove his leg armor. Addy stuck her fingers inside his mask to feel the bits and bobs that he would use his tusks to manipulate. Something flashed from inside the heads-up display.

She glanced at him as he stood to strip off his kama. "So, another clan has asked for help?"

"Sei'i."

Addy tucked her face inside his mask and took a few moments to absorb the rush of flashing symbols across the HUD. As they continued to stream by, she focused her gaze past them to see Makuba tilting his head at her, awash is reds and oranges.

It was set in infrared vision.

"Does that mean they're a small clan? Not enough hunters to take on a queen?" She asked, voice muffled behind the mask.

"They are small, sei'i, but also not very skilled," he explained, reaching over to tap his claw against the brow of his mask. The sound vibrated through her ears and her eyes twitched.

"They are of a traditional mind," he added, reaching beneath his helmet to chuff her on the chin. "They still believe oomans are prey only to be hunted, that they are beneath them."

Addy pulled herself out from behind the mask and held it out for Makuba to take, blinking harshly against the lights as her eyes adjusted to normalcy. "That sounds… unsafe for me."

He rattled softly, taking his helmet back from her, "Potentially. They're scientists have been communicating with us about reproduction. Their opinions may change in the future."

"Huh," Addy hummed. "That's because your females have mysteriously gone sterile, correct? You never really did explain that part to me."

He finished putting his awu'asa in its place and gently herded her back into the main room.

"Some went sterile, sei'i, but many were killed by Bad Bloods. It was war. They have no honor. They snuck onto Yaut Prime during a matriarchal celebration and went to slaughter. They released a pathogen into the air that caused infertility in any surviving females, something we did not figure out for many years."

He nudged her towards the bed. She didn't fight him, shuffling along willingly until her toes reached the edge of the crater.

"When we discovered that our females could no longer conceive, other yautja that had successfully mated with oomans before came forward. Research was done. Successful procreation could be increased with a hormone treatment," Makuba jumped into the pool of pelts and proceeded to spread himself out like a cat, wriggling around to scratch his back.

Addy burst into laughter, covering her mouth as he stretched his mandibles out in a yawn. He didn't seem too bothered to be recounting the story of how his entire species lost the capability to reproduce within itself.

He turned his head at her laughter, chittering softly. He beckoned her to him, his chittering noise quieting into a rough purr.

As her heart began to race, Addy checked her anxious insecurities and slowly climbed into their shared bed. She knew he didn't care about her weight, he'd said as much himself on several occasions.

Makuba held his arms out as she settled beneath a freckled, grey pelt, curling into herself, facing his side. He let the tension fall from his shoulders, and his arm laid around her head and shoulders, bracketing her in his warmth without touching her.

As the pair settled in for the night, Addy felt herself shiver. Grunting in discomfort, she rolled forward to snuggle into Makuba's side, soaking in his excessive body heat like a sponge.

God, he smells good, she thought. Like something warm and earthy. Like cider.

He purred quietly, grazing his claws gently over her hair.

"'Kuba?" Addy groaned, lying draped over Makuba's chest, relishing in his warmth as she woke. Sometime during the night, she had nearly crawled on top of him. He didn't seem to mind, his arm—a hot band around her waist—all but melded her body to his.

He grunted sluggishly in acknowledgement.

"You were saying this other clan is small and unskilled," she mumbled, brow furrowing, "but I find it hard to believe any of your kind isn't an adept hunter."

Something rumbled deep in his chest as he drew in a deep breath and yawned. Her head rose and fell with his breath.

"They are stupid. They do not improve themselves. They perform their chiva, then believe themselves to be strong warriors," Makuba grumbled.

Quiet lapsed between them as Addy processed his words. He nearly fell back asleep, savouring the warmth and feeling of having his female wrapped around his side. It reminded him of the time she had fallen asleep during her break once at her place of work, and had tucked into him then. When she woke, she had apologized profusely for invading his space, but Makuba had given her nothing but assurances that it was not an issue.

Now, here she was all wrapped up in him again. The only thing that could have made it better would have been a mating.

"They can't be that stupid, or they wouldn't have asked you guys for help, right?" She hummed, tugging the freckled grey pelt up tighter beneath her chin. Makuba pulled it up around her shoulders and settled his hand on her hip.

"They are still stupid," Makuba grunted. "And small."

Addy chuckled sleepily, "You sound petulant."

He grumbled under his breath and tightened his arm around her. "Wouldn't have to do their work for them if they were smarter."

"Okay, okay, you're the smartest and the prettiest," Addy snickered, "does that make you feel better?"

"Sei'i," he purred.

She rolled her eyes. "Time to get up."

He growled lowly, "H'ko."

"Don't act like that. If I lay down all day my back's gonna hurt, and I need to pee," she flicked his abdomen.

He hissed grumpily as Addy pulled herself out of his hold.

She chuckled good-naturedly, once again reminded that this gigantic, predatory creature was basically an enlarged, domestic housecat. There was a moment where her heart stuttered in fear, but it felt more like an instinctual, involuntary response than one born from her interactions with Makuba.

He had never laid a hand on her that she had not invited, nor had he ever acted in an aggressive manner in her presence.

The training session from the day before had been a stark reminder of her bedfellow's physical capabilities.