Later, once Addy was dressed and Makuba had adorned his awu'asa, he led her back to the kitchen for some breakfast.
Charlie was already there, standing at the stovetop. She glanced over her shoulder at hearing them approach, and sent Addy a bright smile.
"Good morning!"
"Morning, Charlie," Addy greeted.
Makuba dipped his head at Tensynn's mate as he herded Addy up towards the island, hand gentle on the small of her back. As she settled onto a stool, he stepped around the island to rifle through the cupboards.
Addy observed as he searched for something, and Charlie munched away on a piece of toast as she stirred something in a pan.
"Is there anything in particular to be done today?" Addy asked the room, not caring who had the answer.
Charlie pursed her lips as she swallowed a bite of her breakfast, "Well, the boys will have training with Mama Bear again this afternoon, but other than that the day is yours."
Makuba turned around having found what he was looking for and set a pack of dehydrated fruits on the counter in front of Addy. She picked it up and inspected it closely, tearing it open to give the contents a suspicious sniff.
It smelled like dehydrated fruit. She laughed at herself internally.
Makuba chittered quietly and turned back to the cupboards to grab another package.
"There is something for us to complete before training," Makuba rumbled, facing Addy again.
It looked like he had a piece of jerky in his hand, and she watched as he lifted it to his mouth to tear a strip off with his teeth.
She picked a piece of fruit from the pack in her own hands, feeling the hungry grumbling of her stomach. It looked suspiciously like a mango chunk, and it tasted like it, too.
"What's that?" Addy asked, digging into the pouch for another piece of fruit.
It was an apple slice.
"I will show you," he said, taking another bite of his jerky. He reached across the table and held out his hand. Addy assumed he wanted the fruit bag, so set it into his awaiting palm. He clicked his tusks politely as he picked out what looked to be a pineapple chunk.
He popped it into his mouth without fanfare, and Addy watched as a thin, black, glistening tongue darted out to clean the sweetness from his teeth. Her eyes widened at the sight, completely unaware that yautja even had tongues.
She'd never seen one before.
Makuba caught her staring, and guessing that she had taken notice of his tongue—something he knew she had never seen before—flicked it out of his mouth briefly in a teasing manner.
"You want some eggs, Addy?" Charlie asked, oblivious to Makuba.
"Oh," Addy snorted and choked lightly on her apple slice at Makuba's antics, then cleared her throat and shot her yautja a half-hearted glare. "Only if there's some extra," she addressed Charlie.
Makuba shook his shoulders with a chuckle.
Eggs sounded fantastic, actually, and Addy's stomach gurgled again. She and Makuba hadn't eaten anything for dinner the night before, having retreated to their quarters after the long training session had finished. Addy had felt thoroughly overwhelmed at the end of Dachande's lesson, still not quite understanding half the shit the matriarch had pointed out.
Addy knew basic self-defence stuff, but advanced combat like how a person's stance would shift with slight lameness was definitely beyond her scope.
Addy liked science. Quantifiable things. Like how people had twenty-three chromosome pairs. People didn't generally have a chromosome that was weak on its right side because Ingrid had apparently engaged in aggressive sexual combat.
She scoffed to herself. This is all going to take some getting used-to, don't be too hard on yourself.
"I've got plenty," Charlie smiled and dished up two plates of scrambled eggs. She slid them across the island with a pair of glass salt and pepper shakers before she rounded the counter herself.
"Thank you," Addy smiled her thanks and tucked into the simple meal of protein. Makuba watched her closely as she ate, so she raised her eyebrow questioningly at him.
He chuffed lightly and shook his mane out gently.
Charlie chuckled as she ate, and Addy just felt confused again.
"So, what was it you wanted to do?" Addy asked Makuba as he led her back into the halls after breakfast.
He was only wearing his loincloth that had a piece of leather dangling between the front of his legs, and another piece on his behind. It did little to hide anything, and Addy found herself closely studying his backside as he walked—from his shoulders down his back and to his ass.
It was a really nice ass. She decided she would gladly follow him anywhere.
He purred quietly, but said nothing as they slipped back into their quarters. She frowned slightly, eyes narrowing as she tried to deduce his plans.
She had not expected him to lead her back into the adjacent room that was both the washroom and seemingly the closet, as that was where his awu'asa sat.
He tapped something on the wall left of his armor and a panel popped out of nowhere, opening up into a whole other section of empty drawers.
She inhaled sharply, not expecting the walls to be hiding so much space.
He turned to her then and flared his hand over the empty spaces, "For your things."
He regarded her expression closely, but it appeared he needn't have feared her response. Her confusion brightening swiftly into a beaming smile as she clapped her hands excitedly, "Oh! I guess I shouldn't have expected to live out of my suitcase, hey?"
"What is mine, is yours, dey'a," he purred.
Addy stepped into him and wrapped him in a quick embrace, stomping on her anxiety at initiating contact with him. His purr deepened as he touched his closed mandibles to the top of her head.
"Thank you, Makuba," she smiled into his chest.
He responded by pressing a little firmer into her hair, wrapping his arms around her torso.
It didn't take the pair too long to put all of Addy's belongings into the drawers, but it did take her some time to determine where exactly she wanted each item. After staring at it all for several minutes, Makuba caught the troubled look on her face.
"What is it?" he asked, reaching out to gently comb his claws through the roots of her hair. Her eyes closed at the feeling, accepting his touch without a thought.
"I just didn't expect my whole life's belongings to take up so little space," she admitted. Truthfully, she had anguished about what to bring with her and what to leave behind. She had opted to try to only bring the things that brought her the most joy, which mostly consisted of her electronics, some of her favourite books, and quite a few art supplies. She figured she could always pick up more things at a later time if she deemed it necessary.
But it all looked so paltry in the space he had set up for her.
He purred deeper, guiding her back into his embrace, "I will gift you many things. There will be no space left."
She chuckled, not really believing his words. Sure, he had gifted her a few trinkets—she was particularly fond of the little figurine he had carved out of bone for her—but she wasn't so sure he could possibly gift her enough to fill all the empty space.
It turned out that they still had some time before Dachande would call her sons to training, so Makuba decided to give Addy a detailed tour of the gym.
The kehrite, he called it.
Addy mouthed the word as Makuba led her up to the weapons wall. She stepped up beside him to study it, interested in how their weaponry differed from what she knew.
There were blunted blades of various lengths, some that she reckoned even she could wield—but most of them were far too long. There were several staffs, also in various lengths. There were some cylindrical objects that Addy guessed were training dummies of their wrist gauntlets that had the extendable blades. There was a chained whip up high on the wall, beyond her reach. Several other weapon types were up there, too, but what she did wonder was why every piece of equipment was a plain, dull grey.
Makuba had shown her his spear-staff once in a bid to impress her—what he didn't know is that she was impressed by anything of his—and it was so much more intricate than the weapons on the wall.
She asked him, turning to face him and found that he had been watching her the whole time.
"Personalization of awu'asa and chosen weapons is a privilege that comes with kiande amedha chiva. These are not for hunting, they are for training," he rumbled.
"Oh," she said with a shrug. "I guess that makes sense."
His rattled quietly next to her, then motioned for her to follow him. She did so, bouncing lightly on her toes as she walked. The footing felt a little different from the normal floors, almost loamy.
It was nice, probably hurt less when being thrown down onto it.
As they approached the far end of the kehrite, another door that Addy hadn't noticed slid open with a quiet hiss.
God, they like everything to be seamless, don't they? She thought to herself.
A wall of hot, humid air hit her in the face, and she nearly choked on her breath. After coughing some of the humidity out of her throat, she tip-toed forward cautiously.
"What's this?" she asked, peering further inside the dim, misty room as Makuba walked in without concern. A heavy layer of fog floated lazily above the floor, keeping it from view.
"Communal basking area," he said, kneeling down to wave his hand through the fog. It swirled languidly and cleared enough that Addy could see a large pool of clear liquid. Makuba skimmed his hand over the surface, causing slight ripples in the fluid. "The water has cleaning solvents, it is soothing after a hard hunt."
She made a noise of interest, drawn further into the room. The ambient lighting was shit, but given that his natural spectrum of vision far surpassed hers, she figured it wasn't an issue for him.
She, however, was careful about where she placed her feet, scared that the next step might take her over the edge into the hidden pool.
"It looks like a big hot tub," she noted, interest peaked. She knew he was aware of what a hot tub was because she had once explained it to him after she had had a particularly grueling day at work and wanted nothing more than to relax in one.
The next time he had come to visit her, he commented on how unclean they were. She had asked him where he had learned that, and he explained how he had done some of his own research.
The local swimming pool may or may not have had some minor roof damage.
Yautja did not understand doorknobs, she had learned then.
"Sei'i, but it does not harbor parasites," he remarked.
"Well, that's a bonus," she snorted. "When can we use it?"
"Whenever you would like," he purred, flicking a small splash of the warm water at her.
She yelped and jumped back in surprise. His tusks clacked together as he chuckled, bright eyes mirthful.
She scowled playfully, "That was rude!"
He remained crouched down, but squared up his shoulders. "What are you going to do about it?"
She huffed with a roll of her eyes, "Because I am the bigger person, I'm not going to do anything about it."
Makuba tucked his chin and spread his arms, "I am much bigger than you."
"I meant morally, you brute," she laughed, cuffing him lightly on the shoulder.
He purred.
Addy raised an eyebrow—even crouching down the guy looked enormous. His shoulders were so broad, and he was so bulky. Muscle upon muscle laid on a dense structure made for one powerful creature.
In the center of his great forehead was his clan's symbol, burned into his skin by his own hand with kiande amedha blood. Addy's eyes traced over the symbol, then lowered to meet his golden gaze.
Despite his many differences, Addy was somehow still inexplicably attracted to this alien.
A noise from the other room drew both their attention, breaking their prolonged moment of eye connection.
"The others are here to train," Makuba mumbled. Addy turned back to face him again, sensing his disgruntlement.
She smiled and stepped up to him slowly, reaching out to drag her knuckles along his bottom mandibles. He pulled them tight with a snap, watching her with a fire in his eyes.
His skin was warm, and the texture was smoother than she anticipated. He leaned into her touch.
She, in turn, leaned into him a little, still feeling a bit playful from earlier, "Go train."
"Gahn'tha-cte n'ritja," he muttered under his breath in his own language, then as he stood he gently knocked his forehead against hers. She inhaled sharply at the gesture, still feeling his warmth and the slight sting as she stumbled back into the kehrite behind him.
As she tailed Makuba into the large ovular room, she noticed right away that of the women only Charlie was present. The other yautja were assembling in the center of the kehrite, preparing for their warmup.
Charlie spotted her quickly and waved her over, "Hey! C'mon! We've got something to show you!"
Shooting Makuba a quick glance over her shoulder, Addy jogged the rest of the way over to Charlie and followed her out into the hall.