Things were quiet once Modo finished taking care of the little gal, after which Throttle had carefully tucked her in. Underneath the sheets and blue coverlet on her bed, and then draped his jacket over her sleeping form again for added warmth knowing that the gesture would be a bit difficult for his brother's to miss.

However neither of his brothers bothered to enter the room once Modo left, leaving Throttle alone to watch over his future mate and plan.

Once she was awake, if she woke soon, then he would ask his questions and then once he had the information he needed...he would extend his protection to her. Depending on her age- he may even claim her as his ward until she was of legal age to be courted.

Then after extending his protection to her, he could begin their courtship and inevitably mate her.

Though finding her a decent sized dowry would be a bit difficult since males on Earth did things differently, depending on the country and culture in which they lived.

In fact...here on Earth many cultures did the barest minimum to court a female. Oh sure the males courted them, but the mostly spent time doing things together, going out to eat, exct. And once all of that was out of the way, the male went out and bought a piece of jewelry for the female to wear.

A physical manifestation of his feelings for her.

It was ridiculous really. How was a paltry piece of jewelry supposed to show one's claim on a female, especially a female that the male cared for? He didn't understand. However martian males did things differently.

When a martian male found a female worth claiming, he practically killed himself giving her whatever she needed and wanted. If she made a special request, he went out and did whatever she requested of him. No matter how dangerous or humiliating it may be to the male.

And once the time came to claim their female, the males of his race didn't give the female a ridiculous ring. No- their claim was more physical.

They took the female from her home to another place, once that was both far away and private and there they thoroughly saturated the female inside and out in his scent until their female was carrying their young. Which usually took anywhere between a few weeks to a month or more depending on the female and just how potent her fertile cycle was.

He was so lost in his thoughts that he completely missed the soft pink-ish orange rays of light that began to slowly filter through the windows of the room, at least until he heard someone walk into the room, and turned his head to look at Vinny since he's the only male in their family that had the manners of a heathen.

"Bro? It's light out. What do we do now?"

"We stay put." Throttle replied absently as he gave the girl on the bed a quick accessing glance to check on her. From the looks of things, she was still very deeply asleep. Good. He thought to himself as he quietly got up off of the floor where he'd been sitting and stood up.

This would give him a bit more of a chance to check out her home and possibly get some of the answers he needed without having to ask her outright.

"Bro?" Vinny said in a questioning tone as his pink eyes swept across the room only to come to rest on the female. His eyes widening just a fraction in shocked disbelief as he took note of Throttle's jacket resting on top of the small figure, before his gaze shot to his brother's.

"Our mission has been altered somewhat," Throttle said before carefully tacking on. "It would seem that the gods of our people have deemed that I am to take a mate." He glanced down at the girl so that he wouldn't have to see the look on his brother's face. Uncertain if he could bear the possible censure that he would find since the securing of his mate would be top priority to him. And the mission second.

Vinny was quiet for a moment, his mind awhirl with various questions. However once he seemed to settle down and really thought about it- he knew that Throttle didn't ask to find his mate here on this little backwater planet. Nor did he ask her to be so young, defenseless and seemingly alone in the world.

He knew that mates were highly prized by their dying race, and were considered treasures beyond compare. So if Throttle was feeling the sensations that indicated that he had met his mate, then Vinny would try to be happy for him. Though he wasn't entirely sure how the female would feel about all of this.

Courtships were often difficult enough without having to bridge the gaps between two different species.

"Uh... O-Okay. D-Do you need anything?" Vinny stammered out, trying to be supportive.

"I need information on the female. Things like her current age, any medical conditions she may have or been born with, her blood type. Is she old enough to be sexually active, the legal age in this part of the world for such activities-"

"Eighteen to twenty."

"What?"

"The legal age for females to be claimed by a male in this part of the world is eighteen to twenty."

"Hn. And how old do you think my future mate is?" Throttle asked curiously as he mulled over the information that his brother had given him.

Vinny looked back at the sleeping female's face and blinked for a second as he took in her features. True enough the female was a bit more on the young side than would make Throttle comfortable. However she wasn't a child. Not really. She was more like a teen or a young adolescent.

Which would put her age between fourteen and possibly sixteen. Though he was leaning more towards sixteen due to the still developing feminine curves of her body and the little bit of baby fat that she still carried around her face.

"I'd say between fourteen and sixteen. Probably closer to sixteen."

"So I'll have to claim her as my ward for a little while before I can properly court her... Ugh! Dammit, this is frustrating." Throttle said as he ran his clawed fingers through his collar length tawny hair.

"You know, since she doesn't know how our males do things back home, you could try courting her while she's your-" Vinny started to suggest when Throttle growled out,

"No. Absolutely not."

"But-"

"I said no Vinny. It would be wrong to court her while she's still considered underage by her people's standards. Besides, I wouldn't be a very good future mate if I put her in such a possibly damaging position. Especially when she doesn't know us or understand our ways... She could wind up hurt or worse if she tried to fight me. And that is not acceptable to me."

"But being her guardian for two years is? I never thought you were a masochist."

"At least as her protector she can get to know me without fear or restraint and see what kind of male she'll be spending the rest of her life with." Throttle said. Vinny shook his head at him and then turned and walked back out of the room, leaving his brother and the female alone so that he could search out Modo and tell him about this.

He was betting that their elder brother would have a thing or two to say about the new situation.