Happenstance

Zemma woke in the middle of a deep sleep, alone in bed. She listened to the quiet for a few minutes, wondering what woke her. She didn't remember falling back asleep, but when she woke again later Riddick was back beside her. She looked at his face, feeling lucky and happy. His eyes opened.

"Did I wake you?" She asked.

"I was waiting for you."

"Hmmnn." She smiled, closed her eyes and reached out to stroke his arm.

"We're moving again."

"War over?"

"Moving it planet side. Some ceremonial thing."

"Oh."

They were quiet a minute. She continued to trace lightly on his arm.

"How long were you hiding as Min?"

"Mmm. Something like twenty Standards." She didn't open her eyes to see his reaction.

"Long time."

"Mmm-hmm."

"Wha'd you mean, you waited a decade for me?" His voice was a little strange.

Now she really didn't want to open her eyes. She sighed. "Once upon a time I was a very foolish young girl…"

Riddick laughed loudly. Her favorite. "Just once?" He asked amused.

"Mmm. If you'd rather pick on me…?"

"No, no, go ahead." But he only laughed softer.

"When I was about twenty I found myself constantly looking at one of the commanders. I thought he was very handsome. I followed him around as quietly as I could. But he noticed me." She frowned, eyes still closed, remembering…

Riddick touched her face and she flinched. Zemma opened her eyes; he had a concerned look and his palm on her cheek.

"He… hit me…in the face." Zemma closed her eyes again. It made the memory that much sharper, but she couldn't see that look on Riddick's face. It ate away at her self-control. It made her want to curl up in his arms and cry.

Because Tor had done more than hit her, he had scared her.

Her father had locked her in the suite for weeks and raged at her about control. When he'd finally let her out again, Tor had been waiting.

"My father pounded in my head how dangerous it was to… have feelings. Tor drove the point home."

"Tor?"

"Dead now."

"You?"

Zemma laughed. "No."

"Wha'd he do?"

Zemma shook her head, not really wanting to have this conversation. She felt Riddick's hand on her chin.

"Wha'd he do?"

"He followed me. Everywhere. And when he could, he hit me, where it wouldn't show."

"Rape you?"

"No. I wasn't that interesting. But I couldn't go anywhere without him being there. Threatening. I did get much better at hiding. And I learned my lesson about… how dangerous it is to feel. Anything."

"Who killed him?"

"Doesn't matter."

"Who."

Zemma sighed. He wasn't going to like the answer. And while she didn't think it had anything to do with anything, he might. A young Lord Vaako had killed Tor in a duel. She hadn't even witnessed it, and Vaako had no idea who she was until later. It was happenstance.

"Now I feel so much sometimes it's like I'm swimming in emotions I didn't even know I had in me… and sometimes I feel like I'm drowning."

"You're evading me."

"You're pressing me." She opened her eyes to look at him.

Damn. Concerned face. Stop that.

"Vaako killed him." It wasn't even a question.

Can he read minds?

Of course not, you just tried too hard to bluff.

"You think you know me?" She mocked his tone of voice when he said as much to her.

"I think you're strange, and somehow perfectly normal."

Compliment? She wasn't sure.

"Sometimes I can't read you at all." She hoped that sounded perfectly normal.

"I like to keep you guessing." He smiled a bit.

Humoring me now.

"Your turn," she smiled. "I've been guessing long enough. Who is Jack? Your daughter?"

Riddick laughed loudly again.

Sounds like 'no.'

"Just some kid I saved and didn't know what to do with afterwards."

Liar.

"You both really de-emphasize whatever it was that brought you together."

"Wha'd she say?"

Leeriness there?

Zemma laughed. "About five words less than you."

"It doesn't matter; it's past."

"Looking pretty 'Now' to me. Plan on keeping her around, or giving her a ship and sending her on her way?"

That's pretty direct there, Zem.

"Haven't decided. Problem for you?"

Ouch. Right back at ya.

Zemma smiled. "Haven't decided."

"Anything else you wanna know?"

"Lots."

"Like?"

"Like…." Zemma scooted over and put her lips to his neck. "How's that feel?"

"Mmmm. Zemma."

Now it was her turn to look at him funny. He arched his eyebrows back at her.

"You don't do that very often. But I like it."

Riddick rolled her over and ran his lips over her skin mumbling, "Zemma, Zemma, Zemma…"

She laughed, it tickled, but she liked that too, until the door slammed open.

"What's a girl gotta do to get some food around here?"

Ah. Jack. Almost forgot about you, for two whole seconds.

Can't have that.

"Shut the damn door, Jack!" Riddick didn't even turn his head.

There was a snort, but the door did slam shut. Zemma wanted to giggle.

"She gonna be okay with this?" Zemma remembered Riddick asking her that about Nor.

Apparently he remembered as well. "She's had sex before, she gets it…" He started nipping at her skin.

"We… ah…both… uhm… have… responsibilities to feed." She pulled his head up.

"You want me to stop… doing… this…?" He punctuated each word with an action of his mouth.

Zemma tried to resist, a little.

"Well?" He stopped suddenly.

"Don't you dare!"

She was gonna have a big dumb grin on her face all day again today.

Riddick stopped again and looked at her with a wolfish grin. "Point for me?"

Zemma pushed his head back down. "Hell, you win."