Disclaimer: Ooman is the sole work of blacktalon117 and the producers of the movies
Nova was wrong.
Waking up to a new heartbeat had not been heaven.
This was heaven.
She had been awake for some time now, but kept her heart rate and breathing normal. She figured that if she pretended to be asleep, he would have no reason to stop holding her.
No reason to stop touching her hair.
His heartbeat thundered just below her ear, strong, loud, healthy, and she liked it.
He was also warm, very warm. Every now and then she let her hand twitch, playing it off as an unconscious movement. In reality, she was feeling his skin.
Not slimy, not scaly, but smooth and hard. Very hard, the creatures hide must be thick. Although the skin was smooth on his chest, Nova knew it would be a very different story when it came to his giant forehead, with it's spikes and ridges.
He may have been an alien, but that didn't stop her from rubbing her face into him, taking in his scent, storing it in her memory for future reference.
Nova was surprised with how gentle the Big guy was being with her, supporting her back, almost like he knew the stitches pained her less when he did this.
She had been so focused on him that she hadn't noticed the other heartbeat in the cell until the alien had spoken.
If you could call it speaking.
It was kind of like listening to animal planet, only it was all the animals talking at once. There were growls, rumbles, clicks that sounded suspiciously like a dolphin, grunts, and noises that were just, well...alien.
She thought the language to be strange, until Big guy started using it.
It was entirely different hearing it come from him.
For starters, it was deeper, rumblier, it resonated in his chest like drum, and the more she listened, the more she could hear a structure to it.
Sentences seemed to end and start with a clicking.
Was it their mandibles making that noise?
Big guy also seemed to growl more than the other one.
He had been playing with her hair for a while now, she wondered what he found so interesting about it.
Nova realised she was probably being childish, pretending to be asleep.
Would he drop her if he thought she was awake?
There was only one way to find out.
She opened her eyes.
She didn't know what to expect, but him staring down at her had not been it.
His hand froze in her hair, and Nova braced herself for the worst, but he just kept staring at her, while she stared back.
'Say something!' Her mind screamed.
"I'm Nova."
'Well, aren't we just a fountain of knowledge.'
She had never felt quite this stupid before, but Big guy was doing something. Making a harsh scraping noise.
Was he clearing his throat?
"Mo'va."
All she could do was blink up at him. He had said her name...well tried to. But the more important thing was that he understood her.
"Do you have a name?"
He inclined his head to her, tilting his huge forehead. A series of clicks left his mouth before she could distinguish a word among them.
"Ti'kon."
"Ty-Kon," she repeated awkwardly.
When he nodded at her, she assumed she had got enough of it right.
"Do you mind if I call you Big guy? It's a lot easier for me to say, not having the same mouth as you and all."
His chest started to vibrate, as a series of clicks came from him, his mandibles clacking together.
He was laughing.
She took that as a yes.
"What are you?"
It left her mouth before she could stop the rushed words. He stopped laughing and looked down at her blinking. Nova had a feeling she surprised him. His hand that was once in her hair now moved to her chest. He spread his finger out wide.
"Ooman," he said.
Then moved his palm until it was over his own chest.
"Yautja."
"I am human, and you are. . .Yautja." She clarified.
'Damn that's hard to say.'
Ti'kon nodded once and cleared his throat again. She had a feeling he did that every time he attempted a human word, well, an English word if you wanted to get technical.
"Oomans k'all ah Yautja ah Pred-ator."
'Humans call Yautja Predators,' she mentally corrected him.
She had to keep herself from smiling. He would say 'a' in a huff, like he was throwing the word from his throat.
This time Nova nodded, showing she understood.
"Ti'kon k'all Mo'va Dahdtoudi?"
'Ti'kon call Nova. . . what?'
"Umm, sure Big guy, but don't expect me to be able to say that."
He nodded at her. She had a feeling his nod was one of authority. That now she had approved whatever he'd said, it was official. They both fell silent, and Nova took the time to inspect him properly now that he was so close. His mouth, hair, and hands drew her attention the most, all so very different from a human's.
Before she could stop herself, she wrapped a hand around one of his, drawing it closer to her face.
She felt him stiffen.
"Is it okay to touch you?" She asked.
He regarded her for a few seconds, looking into her eyes. She had a feeling he was searching for ill intent, before he inclined his head to her, and seemed to relax.
She ran her fingers over his hand. The texture was fascinating, just as hard as his chest. His Talons were massive and she played close attention to them. Wrapping her fingers around them, testing the pointed tips with her palm.
They were blunt, but she had a feeling that if he put strength behind a blow they could tear flesh easily. She manually moved the digits to see where they bent. He seemed to catch on to what she was observing and flexed his hand for her. Her inspection of his hand complete she drew her attention to his face. A simple hand motion from her had him leaning forward so she could reach her target. His tusks were first, she tested the points, unlike his talons they were sharp. She tested all four, before she moved them aside, again he obliged her and spread his mandibles. Her fingers went straight to his inner mouth to tap on his teeth.
"You have sharp teeth!" She declared, before she moved to touch the inside of his cheek, where the skin joined his mandibles.
When she touched the pink flesh, Ti'kon jumped, and closed his mouth in reflex, his tusks clanging together. Nova was glad she had quick reflexes, a tusk through her hand would not have been enjoyable. She thought she had done something wrong, until she saw the look on his face, and all she could see there was confusion.
"Bit sensitive there? Or is it just a place you never thought I'd touch?"
He blinked and nodded at her twice. Nova took that as a yes to both.
"Sorry, I guess." She motioned to him again. "Come back down, I haven't finished exploring your big head."
He huffed at her, and she got the feeling that he didn't like being ordered around.
Either that, or he didn't like the size of his head being mentioned.
"Please," she amended. "I want to get a good look at that symbol you've carved into it."
Nova must have said something right, because his head quickly descended. He tilted it forward, eagerly displaying the scar. It was almost like he was. . .proud of it, like he was showing it off to her. Then again, she could be reading too much into the action.
Whatever his reasons for the swift display, Nova reached for him again. Now the skin was very different here. Rough and raised, the texture only got more coarse when she reached the line where his hair started, where his skull fanned out into points.
She only spared the blunt tips a moment's notice, before she went back to his symbol. It looked like a stylised 'T', that curved slightly. When she ran a finger over it tracing the scar, a purr burst from Big guy's chest.
The sound didn't last for long, and he made choking noise before cutting the purr off completely.
'Ooookay,' Nova thought, and quickly moved onto something more interesting.
His hair.
She warped her hand around one of the thick strands and tugged it forward to see it better.
Everything happened at once.
Ti'kon's mandibles flared, as his whole body jumped. The taloned hand that was supporting her back suddenly clenched hard, and then disappeared, dropping her.
Nova screamed, the sudden pain from her stitches surprising her and making her let go of the black appendage.
Noise erupted from the corner of the cell. Nova, still in pain, looked over.
The smaller aliens mandibles clashed together while great huffs of sound broke from him.
One of his arms wrapped around his middle, as the the other gestured towards them.
He was laughing, and if Nova had to guess, hysterically so.
He was laughing hysterically at them.
Ti'kon let loose a roar, making her jump, jarring her stitches again.
The laughing stopped immediately, and Nova watched, confused, as the once laughing alien hung his head.
She looked to Ti'kon for an answer to this behaviour.
The Big guy was glaring at the other Yautja. His forehead drawn forward, while he splayed his mandibles.
'This is his serious face,' she thought.
That was when Nova realized Ti'kon must have given the Small guy an epic telling off.
Ti'kon turned back to her and he seemed to pause. Nova saw his eyes widen, and quickly followed his gaze.
He was staring at her middle, and she knew why.
Blood was starting to leak through her bandage.
His large hand was back again, supporting her weight and lifting her into a comfortable position. He leant towards her and Nova froze in shock when he started weaving his mandibles through her hair while he purred.
If Nova was in any pain, she quickly forgot it as he rumbled to her, sifting through her tresses.
It felt surprisingly good having his tusks gently scrape at her scalp.
She smiled, figuring out what all this grooming was about.
"I accept your apology, Big guy, but I have a feeling you dropping me was mainly my fault."
Ti'kon stopped his ministrations and leaned back, taking up his original position of staring down at her while his purring continued.
"I didn't hurt you did I? She asked motioning to his hair. "I don't pull on it or anything?"
Huffing started up at the other end of the cell again, and Ti'kon's eyes didn't even leave hers as he growled low in his throat.
The huffing stopped, making Nova smile.
The Big guy had Smaller guy on a tight leash.
"Mo," Ti'kon answered.
Nova guessed that meant 'no' as he pronounced her name 'Mo'va'.
"So, is your hair just...sensitive then?"
Huffing from the corner again, quickly followed by a growl from Ti'kon.
"You know what? Don't answer that. I think I'll just keep my hands to myself now."
To demonstrate, Nova clasped her hands together.
But she wasn't sure if she could keep her hands to herself. She hadn't touched much of anything in her years here and now that she did have something to touch. . . How could she keep her hands from wandering?
She didn't want to.
Her internal battle was broken, when a large hand pulled hers apart and placed one on a hard muscled chest. Apparently, Ti'kon didn't want her to keep her hands to herself, either.
