This chapter behins the reasoning for the M rating. You have been warned.

17. Ice Breaking

Shress POV*

Shress roams the ship while Michael sleeps in his dwelling quarters, she is quite curious on how human ships differ from the ones she is used to.

She walks along the corridor of the ship before stopping in front of the door next to the quarters where Michael is resting in. She has a small fight with the door's control panel as she struggles to remember the jumble of numbers that Michael had told her earlier. Finally she gets the door open and peeks inside.

The room isn't as large or as grand as the one she left Michael in. Instead of housing a single bed, within this room are five strange panels sticking out from opposite sides of the walls and two doors placed on the left wall. She enters and inspects each panel until she realizes it's some sort of bed that is too small for both her and Michael's body. She guesses this is where the crew of the small ship would rest, did Michael sleep here once? He admitted that the large quarters area is reserved for an officer, so was this where he slept when he arrived on the planet she now knows as Reach?

Placed beneath each of the strange panel beds are what looks like large boxes with a small console attached to each of them. Noticing the boxes are partially open, she curiously opens the one under the bed closest to her, but finds it empty. She slowly works her way around the room, opening each strange box and glancing in them, but so far she has found nothing of interest. She is about ready to leave the last container alone when she notices that it looks different from the rest. Upon closer inspection, she discovers that the box is closed all the way and the small console is glowing faintly. She is unsure if this means the contents within are not meant for her to see, but with interest gnawing at her, she reaches out and types in the code she used to open the door with.

The console glows red and remains locked shut. Thinking she mistyped, Shress tries again, pressing the numerals more slowly to make sure there's no error, but the red light turns on again. She growls lightly in irritation, wishing more than ever that there was at least a single command button she could press.

She has no idea why she feels the craving to see what is inside, but she is listening to it. She withdraws the box and places it on top of the bed as she examines the console once more. It looks the same as the one on the door, yet the code doesn't seem to be working.

Maybe the red light means it's broken, she reasons. Didn't Kluan say that red is the color the humans use to signify a piece of machinery is no longer in operation? Or was that just power off buttons?

She picks the box up, holds it at eye level and shakes it a little, but hears no sound being emitted from within.

She lets out an agitated sigh before putting the container back on the bed and reaches for her belt, hesitating for a second. She pauses and looks over her shoulder. She thinks for a moment before taking off one of her swords, it'll be a lot more quiet then the plasma rifle she has so it wouldn't disturb Michael's sleep.

The hiss of the sword as it activates fills the room, the silvery blue light illuminating her surroundings as she bends down and begins working. She holds the tip of the energy sword a mere centimeter away from the top of the container as the plasma slowly melts the exterior away. She moves the blade all around the box, careful not to drive the sword all the way through and damage whatever could be inside, if there is something inside. As she moves, the sword burns the walls of the container till it glows bright orange and a blinding light fills the center. Finally the tip of the weapon completes its journey as it connects with the beginning of the line her blade has cut.

She takes a moment to examine her work and is satisfied to find she has successfully cut the box's top off in a perfect line. She deactivated her sword, clipping them back onto her belt and carefully reaching out, placing her hands on either side of the top portion of the container and lifting it off.

Her excitement diminishes when all she finds inside is what looks like clothing. She reaches in and holds up something by her talon. It's colored grey, has long stockings on two of its sides and two openings, a small one on one side and a larger one on the other. She pulls it close to her and sniffs it, detecting what smells like a male and something else, maybe human body odor. She puts the cloth to one side and searches the rest of the box. She takes out the fabrics one by one until they are all stacked up on the bed, most of them are grey except for one which is bright white with golden ribbons decorating it; so far it's the only cloth she likes.

She sighs slightly, disappointed by her findings. She lifts up a material that splits into two separate stockings with openings at their ends and a larger one at the vertex. She noted how human clothing styles differ from sangheili, their clothes are all one complete piece, while it seems common that humans wear two separate pieces for their upper and lower regions.

How odd, she thinks before placing the clothing back into the container and the top portion back on. She places the box back on the floor beneath the bed and hopes it wasn't anything important. She gives the room a final glance before deciding to expect the other two doors and see where they lead. Again she is disappointed to see that both small leads to the strange quarters with three different size basins. She wonders what is so significant about these rooms for a moment before turning and deciding to explore the rest of the ship.

She exits the chamber and enters the next one. She was baffled when she stepped into the second room, now…she isn't really sure what she is looking at. Lined up on one side of the room are large, strange compartments made partially of glass with their lids sticking up while the rest of the room is covered in lights, switches and wiring. Resting next to each of them is what appears to be consoles, most of which are deactivated. She approaches and glances inside the closest glass compartment. There is something blue at the bottom, made of a substance she could not identify. She reaches in and pokes it with her talon, the small section collapses lightly around her finger and she feels the strange wet softness that the material possesses.

Is this some sort of bed? She ponders the question a bit as she continues to inspect each strange instrument in turn. They are big enough for a regular human being to get into, maybe even Michael. She glances at her body and guesses that, with enough effort, she too could fit inside the strange devices.

She examines each compartment, but they are all the same, cool blue material at the bottom, mostly made of glass and hooked up to consoles resting by their sides. She will most definitely ask Michael about this strange room.

After leaving the second room she is hesitant to look in the third and final chamber, wondering what will be on the other side. But considering she's almost done anyway, she might as well finish her small journey. Taking a steady breath, she presses the numerals needed and the door slides open.

As she enters, her gaze flickers around, her surroundings are much different than the ones she has seen earlier.

The room is more spacious than all the past three rooms combined. It's split into two sections, separated by a long table with chairs at its sides. One section is full of cabinets, strange machinery, and a smaller table in the middle, a basin and a closed container standing upright. The other section holds another small circular table topped with mounds of what appears to be human literature. Positioned around it is a variety of weird furniture that Shress has never seen before. There are two of each, one of the furniture is small and shaped like a chair, while the other two are made like a long narrow bed, but a piece of it folds upwards in the back making a cushioning wall while two mounds rest on its sides.

Cautiously she enters the room and decides to look in the section with multiple cabinets first. As she steps into the section of the room, she takes a whiff and catches the faint scent of age old meat.

This must be where they keep their rations; she thought as she lightly touches her stomach. Now that the excitement is over, she realizes she is quite hungry. Deciding it's about time for the noon cycle, she follows the smell of the meat, hoping to find something delicious at the end.

Her search leads her to the upright container; she opens the door and peers inside. Placed within are large stacks of paper packages, stacked onto one another. She shivers when she feels a gale of wind whip past her as she sniffs the interior of the container. She smells the meat, but where? Slowly her gaze turns to the packages inside.

They wouldn't, she thought, Who would spoil food in this fashion?

She reaches in and takes out one of the packages before closing the door. She places the mound of paper on the small table and tries to unwrap it. She is unable to unfold the carefully folded material, so, mostly out of anger; she rips it apart with her talons until she uncovers whatever it was hidden beneath.

There is the meat she has smelled, but with one problem. It's completely frozen solid. Her mandibles open lightly in agitation as she gazes at the cold food before her. She can see it's still red from a fresh kill, but it's covered in a sheet of ice and as she touches it she can feel her finger slightly burn from the cold.

How do these humans survive if they freeze their meals? She wonders. She picks up the frozen meat, holds it up in the air above the table and drops it. The meat causes a loud bang to sound as it crashes onto the metallic table and leaves a small dent in it. Her maw widens slightly in shock before she growls. She reaches for her sword, pulls it out and activates it. She levels the blade with the hunk of meat, holds it steady before pulling it around and takes a swipe at the frozen substance. The ice shatters into a million pieces, leaving the core open to her. She carefully brings her blade up and lightly cuts off a sliver of the meat and deactivates her sword. She picks up the sliver, one side charred and the other still cold, but she doesn't give it a second thought as she sniffs the meat and tosses it into her mandibles which expertly catches the substance and starts chewing.

She gags slightly. The meat is definitely alien and the fact that it's partly covered in ice doesn't help much. She lets out a small groan, deciding to leave the meat where it was and continue searching the room for something she could actually eat.

She opens the cabinets and the drawers, sometimes she finds the storage spaces are empty but other times she finds something. She finds some odd utensils, a knife, a small four tip piece of metal and a dull round ended device. She also found bowls, cups and plates, none of them being able to hover though; she wonders what keeps them from spilling, especially now that they are traveling. She also finds some small square cloth, but she is unsure what it could be used for.

She opens a bottom cupboard and discovers something strange. Lying in the last cabinet are small containers, most of them looking like it's made of paper and seems to have never been open before. She picks up one and slowly turns it as she examines the strangely shaped thing; it has a bunch of numbers on one side and a large picture of some sort of cuisine on the other. She couldn't tell what the picture shows, something flaky, but she is hungry to try anything.

She opens the box but instead of finding the strange food she instead finds some sort of brown powder. She picks a small piece of it with her finger tips and holds it up for her to examine. She sniffs it, and again pushes it into her mouth where her tongue reaches out and tastes it. And again she gags.

She sighs as she places the strange bag on the table along with the frozen meat and shuts the cabinet. So far she has found nothing to eat despite this being the place where the humans obviously fix their meals. She hopes Michael can tell her how this all works before she starves.

Shress makes her way to the other section and gives a quick look over. There's nothing significant about the place other than the furniture. She touches one of the overstuffed chairs lightly and feels the unfamiliar plush. She gives it a strange look before trying to sit in it, it was a snug fit, but at least she now has something comfortable to rest on.

She looks at the various pamphlets scattered on the table and picks one up. It's a strange bundle of paper that has been bound together on one side, allowing her only to open and examine the interior within with the unbounded end. She flips through it and finds images of clothing, devices and some sort of yellow vehicle called The Hog. She closes the bundle and looks at the first page which shows an odd looking male smiling quite widely and is displaying something gleaming on his wrist. She tries to read the words on the top but wonders if she is reading it wrong, the words appear to say, The Star Edition.

She places the bundle down and looks back at the table. There is the human device that she sometimes finds discarded on the battlefield. A small black panel that can fit in their hands, often times it glows white and they stare at whatever is being displayed. She picks it up and flips it end over end trying to find anything of significance, but instead finds nothing. Unsure on how to activate it, she simply places it back on the table and looks at the last item.

The final object catches her attention the most. It is another bundle of paper, but these papers seem to be leathery and there are no images within them, but multiple characters from the human language system. She looks at the first page on top which is old, worn and appears to be falling apart, but she likes the image on the front. It displays a human standing in the shadows in front of a single red sun. The human must be a warrior, for he is holding the outline of a weapon, yet he doesn't appear to be standing proudly. He is slouching and is holding his gun down, aiming at the floor. At the bottom are big characters that she carefully reads, Offspring of Combat.

She tilts her head slightly, Is this some sort of saga of a famous warrior, a person whose father's name is combat, or is it a form of archived history?

She opens it and tries to read but her body feels weak and her eyes are slightly drooping. She sighs before standing and wonders where she can rest. The beds she has found so far are too small for her; the only large enough is the bed that Michael is sleeping on at the moment. Her gaze turns to the long furniture that is quite lengthy and seems to be the only thing, aside from Michael's bed, where she can find some rest.

She sighs once more as she stands and switches spots as she lays down on the other furniture piece. It does have enough room for her, it groans lightly as she places her full weight on it, but it's comfortable and she is tired. Maybe a little bit of sleep will tame her hunger, with that hope in mind, she closes her eyes.

However, sleep made it worse.

Shress lets out an agitated groan as she pushes herself off the floor and twists her aching body. The furniture is long enough for her, but not wide enough if she chooses to roll around in her sleep. And sleeping with her armor on isn't very comfortable either.

She twists and cracks her limbs some more before cursing her luck. She wishes she had brought some spare clothing, something that is more comfortable then her armor. The reminder that Michael is wearing something underneath his armor while she isn't causes Shress to feel embarrassed again, maybe the humans are more logical than she originally thought.

She doesn't know how, but the thought of clothing made her remember something. She wonders if Michael will be angry with her with what she is about to do, but the pain in her body returns, causing her to hiss. At the moment she doesn't care if Michael is angry, just as long as she gets something more comfortable than her armor plating.

Grumbling slightly she leaves the room and goes back to what she has dubbed the crew's sleeping quarters that is next to Michael's room. She walks back to the container that holds the strange clothing, puts it on top of a panel bed and takes off the lid.

The dully colored clothing is still there; she takes each one off and begins holding each up against her body. There should be enough fabric, but what she needs is a needle and thread. Shress removes one of her swords again and slices off a small piece of the bed, no longer nor sharper than one of her claws. She then, regretfully, reaches into the box and pulls out the white cloth with gold ribbons attached. She hopes the piece of fabric doesn't belong to a human priest or anyone else of great importance as she removes the golden ribbons and slowly begins untwining them.

Six POV*

Six groans as he swings his legs over the side of the bed and cringes a little. He feels terrible.

His body is battered, bruised, shot and cut close to pieces, his teammates are all gone, Reach is nothing more than a ball of glass floating in space, and now his spartan armor is ruined. To a spartan, any spartan, he considers the MJOLNIR armor as an extension of his body. As Six looks down at the discarded pieces on the floor he feels like he is looking at the mangled body of a close friend. That suit of armor has been with him since he finished his lone wolf training. Sure he modified it a little over the years, but it was the same suit and it has kept him safe. But now he feels exposed and unprotected and the armor system has been melted into various shapes, making it seem impossible for Six or any tech head to repair it.

Painfully, Six rises to his feet and stretches as his hands reach towards the ceiling. He lets out a small grunt as he feels his scabs stretch to their limit and relaxes his body. He glances at the suit he is wearing and frowns lightly. He wishes he could change into something else, the temperature level in his MJOLNIR system adjusts to his body temperature, but when he is out of his armor, the bodysuit causes him and every other spartan to overheat.

This wouldn't be much trouble to Six, usually he had spare clothes to change into or he could just strip himself of the suit. But he has no other set of clothing and he most certainly can't strip here, not with Shress on board.

He shivers at the thought. Normally being naked doesn't bother Six that much, even in front of women, that small ounce of "weakness" was hammered out of him during boot. But Shress…there's something just…different about her. Even now as he stands there, he suddenly has an urge to go see what she is doing, to talk to her, to hold her, and if possible, give her a hug…maybe even kiss her again.

Six shakes his head.

No, no, no! He thinks to himself, This is not the thoughts of a Spartan, besides, you don't even know how she feels, she could be disgusted by the things you are thinking of at the moment. Then again, before he fell asleep, she seems to like being with him, she even purred, which still surprises Six.

Never thought I would get a reaction like that from her. He thought, Does that mean…she feels the same way?

Deep down he hopes so, otherwise he is going nuts for wanting to be with someone, an alien at that. The thought of her wanting to be with him is comforting and provides him with a…warm feeling.

Six rubs his eyes before deciding to get up and see how she is doing. He rises from the bed and moves across the room, slightly dragging his feet so they can feel the softness of the rug beneath them and so he won't strain his leg muscles. He is about to go through the door when he pauses and looks to his right. Positioned close to the door is a closet he didn't see when Shress placed him in the room earlier. Hoping he'll find something more comfortable, he switches directions and looks inside.

The small room is pretty much bare except for a small dresser, which he is glad to see has some clothes sprouting out from it. He walks in and opens the drawer and starts to inspect everything within. After a few moments of shifting things around, he finds only three pairs of casual work wear clothes, one pair of workout clothes and one dress uniform. He lets out a disappointed sigh at his discovery, so far there is nothing in his size, but he might as well make the best of it.

He makes sure the main entrance into the living quarters is locked before he starts taking off his suit. The compressed clothing puts up a struggle as Six undo the zipper and starts peeling it off of him. The grey material clings onto his crevices and has to be pulled off with Spartan strength in order to remove it.

Finally the suit falls away leaving him nude. He hobbles over to the dresser, but pauses before he puts anything on. He looks himself over a bit and lets out a hiss of sympathy. His entire body is covered in bruises, he has sustained cuts somehow, probably when his body slammed against the interior of his suit during his many fights, and dry blood runs from his upper body before streaking downwards.

He is a mess. Upon seeing himself, Six thinks about taking a shower, but he really wants to see Shress real quick. Finally he just grabs the workout clothes and heads to the restroom, deciding to do a quick rinse at the sink.

The cool tile of the bathroom floor sends slight shivers down his spine, but he doesn't show it. He looks at the mirror over the basin and is surprised by his appearance.

His face is cut, bruised, and bloodied, just like the rest of his appearance, but there is something different about it. He is twenty-two years old, but he looks as if he hasn't had sleep in years. His skin looks worn, his eyes seem tired and he has a five o'clock shadow starting to run alongside the bottom of his face. This appearance is definitely different from his clean cut appearance he usually wears.

He lets out a held breath before reaching for a rag, twists a knob, wet it, and starts cleaning his body. He grits his teeth as the warm water seeps into his skin and almost cries out when it comes into contact with an open wound. He is forced to rub away the dried red substance the best he could, letting out hisses of discontent as he does it. He washes his body down, from his head all the way down to his ankles until his pale skin is now slightly pink and steam seems to be radiating off of him. His cuts are starting to turn into scabs already, if he is careful, then he shouldn't worry about any more blood flows. He then turns to a small compartment with a razor and makes sure his face is clearly shaven.

With that portion of his looks out of the way, he then turns his attention to the small clothes he has and starts putting them on. The underwear and shorts are a tight fit; it was close to tearing when he finally fit both of them on. On an average sized person the shorts would have fallen to his knees, but for a spartan it looks like he's wearing a brand of shorty shorts. Next he forces the shirt on; it comes close to suffocating him as he forces it onto his body. His chest and muscles can be clearly seen, but he feels it tightly hugging his body, especially the sleeves. With some agitation, Six grabs each sleeve and rips them off, leaving him with a sleeveless shirt, showing off his muscular arms.

He looks at himself once more, unsure what to think of his new attire. It definitely looks too small for him and there's obviously no need for him to be wearing workout clothes since it looks as if he is as muscular as any human being can become. He feels self-conscious at the amount of skin being exposed, he usually isn't bothered by this, but the fact that he is going to have to walk around Shress like this…the thought suddenly makes him want to put his bloody grey suit back on.

He shivers slightly before turning and makes his way out of the bathroom, continues across the room and approaches the exit of his living quarters. He has no idea why, but he suddenly feels nervous as he opens the door and steps out.

Six barely gets two steps into the hallway when he hears a hiss and looks to his left just in time to see Shress step out. At first he isn't sure if it is Shress, she isn't wearing her Zealot armor but something else.

They lock eyes and almost at the exact time they both ask, "What are you wearing?"

Six knew he must look ridiculous, but he didn't expect to see Shress looking the way she looks now. She seems to be wearing some sort of single piece grey dress that has been sewn together with golden string. It appears to wrap around her and is held up with an improvised sash around her hips. She has forgone her helmet, leaving her head, hands, and feet bare. Her attire reminds him of the old kimonos that he remembers seeing in old history books.

After the initial shock is over he begins to go over her figure once more. Despite her xenomorphic origins, she seems…beautiful in the spartan's eyes. He has no idea what sparks that thought, he has seen a lot of beautiful women in his time, but something, maybe his training, marked them as "off limits." With Shress…it's as if that rule doesn't apply to her, and his mind doesn't care about her appearance.

"Are you alright?" Shress's question brings Six out of his thoughts as he flushes a bit. He has been checking her figure out right in front of her, but Shress's expression suggests that she isn't aware of this.

"Yes, I'm fine." Six says, trying to resist the urge to look away from her eyes before gesturing at her clothes, "So, uh, where did you find that?"

She glances down at the kimono with a bashful like look before saying, "I hope you don't mind, but I made it using some old clothing I found." Six has no idea why but the look she gives him causes him to smile lightly as he replies, "It's alright, no one is using these anyway." He said, also glancing down at his own set of clothes.

Shress smiles at him before saying, "I have noticed there is a lack of cloth that would fit you."

Six nods at this, "Sometimes it's tough being a spartan."

Shress only smiles and nods to this before they both fall back into silence. Finally Six says, "Did you have something to eat or are you hungry?"

He is taken aback when she lets out a small growl, "I couldn't find anything to eat."

Six frowns at this, "Are you sure? We should have enough food to last us at least two months."

She shakes her head, "I think I have found some substances, but they are inedible."

The Spartan looks down before looking up, "Well let's have a quick look," With that he sidesteps Shress and walks down the hall, it isn't long before he hears Shress's footsteps following close behind him.

Six enters the rec room and does a quick perimeter scan. He knows there are no threats on board the ship, but some old habits die hard.

He makes his way to the kitchen area and finds a block of frozen steak resting in a small puddle of half melted ice on the countertop along with a small package of dehydrated bread that appears to have spilled a small amount onto the table.

Six motions to the present food on the counter top and say, "Well, here's something we can eat."

Shress growls once more in reply, "How? If I can't consume this, then surely you can't" She pauses before adding, "I'm sorry, I'm not trying to make you sound weaker than I."

"It's alright," Six says simply as he begins inspecting the room, "We don't eat our food like this, we prepare it first."

Shress cocks her head to the side, "Prepare it how?"

"With these," Six replies as he takes out two cube-shaped machines about two feet long in width and height from a cabinet and sets them on the counter.

Shress approaches and inspects the strange equipment, "Where were these? I didn't see them earlier."

"They're usually pushed way in the back of the cabinet so they're usually hard to find when it's dark," Six answers as he begins activating both machineries. He then opens the door of the black cubed machine, the microwave, and places the hunk of meat in there before dialing the numbers 1 and 0. A bright light fills the interior of the box, causing Shress to lean in a little to see what is happening. After ten seconds the machine dings and Six takes out the now warm steak.

Shress stares at the meat with amazement, "How did you do this?"

"I just warmed it up," Six says as he inspects the meat and finds that it's still slightly red, but before he could cook it some more, Shress tears off a small bit of the steak and pops it into her mouth.

Six couldn't help but stare as he watches her use her mandibles to chew and push the food into her mouth.

She swallows, licks her chops and proclaims, "Delicious."

Six looks back down at the steak before looking up at Shress again, "You eat your meat raw?"

"Raw?" She asks.

"You don't cook it?" Elaborates Six.

"What does cook mean?" Six is dumbstruck for a moment before shaking himself awake and answers, "To cook is to warm up food, or heat it."

"Why would you do this?" She asks, sounding quite baffled.

"Because human's teeth are weak, when we heat food it becomes tender and easier for us to eat. It can also destroy diseases that's hidden on the meat," Six said.

"Hidden diseases?" Shress asks slowly before reaching over, takes a whole strip of meat and places it back into her mouth. Six again watches in fascination as she eats before she says, "I've been dining on meat all my life, not once have I ever gotten sick because of it."

The spartan shrugs before saying, "Maybe sangheili have better immune systems than humans do."

Shress is silent, probably unsure what to say next so Six grabs a nearby plate, places the meat on it and offers the plate to her, "Do you want it?"

Her eyes widen a bit before she asks, "You want to offer me…the whole thing?" "Uh…yeah." Replies Six hesitantly as he wonders if he accidently stepped over another sangheili boundary line.

Shress regards him a little before taking the meat, she grabs the whole thing with one of her hands, lifts it up and bites into it. Now Six really couldn't look away as he watches her mandibles each tear a chunk of meat, pulls it off and toss it between her other mandibles before forcing it down her throat. Most people might have found it disgusting that she eats with her mouth open, but it looks like there's no way for her to keep the world from watching her chew.

After gulping down the portion, she smiles and looks at Six and says, "Thank you, but…what are you going to eat?"

Six picks up the open box of dehydrated bread and holds it up, "I'm not sure if I can stomach anything solid at the moment so I'll just have this."

Shress watches once more as Six turns around and opens the door to the second machine and places it inside. Unlike the microwave, the dehydrator only has two buttons, dehydrate and rehydrate. He presses the icon marked, rehydrate, and the box lets off a hum and blue light emits from the fissures in the machine. Unlike last time however, this process takes thirty seconds before the light and hum disappears as a bell is dinged.

Six opens the door and brings out a whole bread loaf before Shress's amazed eyes.

"What is it?" She asks as she comes closer to stare at the bread.

"It's called bread," Six explains as he wraps the loaf in a napkin, "It's kind of hard to explain, but farmers plant wheat, harvest it, then somehow turn it to bread. The UNSC dehydrates it to make it more packable, better used for traveling."

Shress gives him a blank look so he asks, "Do you know what farming is?"

She slowly nods her head, "Most of our food production is done with paid workers from the other races, although I don't know the first thing about how it works." She then dips her head and seems to be deep in thought about something, seemingly ignoring the world around her.

Six then gets up and leads the way to the cushioned furniture, figuring it would be more comfortable then the counter.

Six wanted to sit on the couch with her, but figures it would be a little too awkward at the moment, especially since he has no idea what she thinks of him. He sits on an easy chair close to the coffee table while Shress sits in the opposite chair and leans back. They look at each other briefly before turning their attention to their breakfast in hand.

Six slowly tears off a small chunk of bread and places it in his mouth. He wishes he could chew on some meat as well, but he isn't sure he can hack it as his teeth already feel as if they're about ready to fall out of his mouth. He just continues taking bits and pieces of the bread, hoping it will fill his stomach.

"Is everything all right?" The question brings Six out of his thoughts. He looks up at Shress who is almost done consuming her meat and is now peering at Six with a curious expression.

He gives her a smile before saying, "I'm alright, why do you ask?"

"You're sitting very…rigidly, I just thought you were in pain." She says with a light of concern in her eyes.

Six relaxes his pose a little as he responds, "Just some more spartan training; always be on guard."

She gives him a look that appears as if her mouth is on the verge of smiling, "Don't you demons ever take a rest from slaughtering?" He is glad to hear the teasing behind her voice as she says this.

He gives a light chuckle before saying, "Well, yeah, we take breaks, not a lot, but enough to be well rested for the next fight," his voice fades after this as he becomes afraid of offending Shress.

They stare at each other again before returning to their food, awkward tensions becoming worse and worse with each bite. It isn't long before they have both finished their meals. They place their plates and napkins on the table, now leaving them with nothing to occupy themselves with as they give each other fleeting looks before looking away.

Maybe I should have fixed those cryo tubes, Six thought to himself when Shress's voice interrupts his thoughts.

"What's this?"

Six wakes up from his thinking and looks to see Shress holding something up. His eyes slightly widen as he asks, "Where did you get that?" While holding out his hand for the object.

"I found it on the table, is it some sort of archive?" She asks as she hands him the book. Six stares down at the novel for a moment in awe. It has been a long time since he held or even seen a book, let alone this particular book. The cover is worn but the image is still visible, one that he admired and loved ever since reading the digital copy almost fifteen years ago during boot.

"This is a book," Six says slowly as he handles the volume carefully as if it's as fragile as an egg, "It's a form of archive, some are of make believe stories or about history." He looks up at her as he holds the novel up for her to see, "This one is the personal story of Mei Xie, a famous tale of combat heroism during humanity's first interplanetary war back in the twenty third century."

He can tell she is interested as she perks up a bit before asking, "So this is an archived history of a hero, yes?"

Six couldn't help but smile as he wonders what her reaction will be when he tells her, "Yes, but it's about a female hero to be precise."

He just about laughs as he sees her mandibles widen in what appears to be the sangheili version of astonishment as she stutters, "a-a-a female hero?"

He smiles at her and nods, "To tell you the truth, it's one of my favorite war stories, full of heart, valor and a bit of honor I suppose."

Shress still looks like she is going through deep shock as she struggles to comprehend this. Her mandibles are moving but no sound is emitted and her hands are flexing every so often as if she is in a struggle for something. Six started to feel slightly worried about her reaction, but she looks back up and asks, "Do you think you…that is if you don't mind, could you…" She looks away in what he assumes is bashfulness.

Six wishes he could take her hand and rub it, but instead he leans forward and asks, "What?"

She glances at him with what he takes as shyness in her eyes before asking, "Can you read it to me?"

Six tries his best not to look too surprised at this. He supposes this makes sense, they haven't spent much time on learning the alphabet and he knew for sure there are some words and phrases in the book that Shress wouldn't be able to understand.

Shress suddenly gets on her feet, "Never mind, I, it's not important."

She turns to leave but Six suddenly finds himself on his feet as well as he says, "No, it's no problem at all," Shress looks back at him as he gulps as he motions towards the couch beside her, "Why don't we sit and I can read it to you and while I do you can look at the words and try to memorize it."

Six already feels his hands growing moist with sweat as well on his brow, but who can blame him? He wonders how Shress will feel about being close to him again as they read. He wants to ask her about that, but couldn't voice the words at the moment, he's almost afraid of what her answer is going to be if he does ask.

However, Shress gives him a shy smile as she says, "Agreed," and slowly lowers herself onto the couch. Six forces his legs to move, one step at a time, until he is standing by the couch and sits down next to her. Before he fell asleep the night before (he assumes it was about nighttime then) it felt nice being with Shress and being in contact with her, but at the moment he feels nervous and he can tell by Shress's subtle movements that she is too. Because of what, he has no idea.

He gulps a couple of times before opening the book and starts reading, "The first time I left Earth, the first time I left my ancestral home, I knew things were going to be different…"

Six has no idea how long he has been reading, long enough for the both of them to get up and get their next two meals that's for sure. For some reason, Six doesn't feel tired, nor does his voice seem to fail, he is sure he has read for almost ten hours straight, but that doesn't bother him. Or Shress who, he knows for sure now, really likes the story.

After what he assumes was dinner, Shress, more relaxed than usual, lies down along the length of the couch and places her head close to Six's sitting position. She anxiously asks if he was ok with her lying close to him. His smile was enough even though he could feel his pulse starting to race through his veins.

She no longer keeps her eyes on the pages as she closes her eyes and listens to the Spartan read the story, occasionally asking questions here and there. Six could tell she is intrigued by the story of the female marine who the story is centered on since, as she explained to him, she has never heard or read a story detailing the life of a female warrior. Knowing she is feeling a certain connection towards the tale, he tries to put more feeling into his words as he continues to read. He wasn't sure if he was successful until he hears a light purr from Shress that steadily begins to build as he reads, causing him to smile.

At some parts he hesitates at, unsure what Shress will make of the battle scenes which, in his opinion, seem to be deprived of honor. That was exactly how Shress sees it from her point of view. She would open her eyes as she listens of booby traps, ambushes, and details of mass troop massacres during planet wide bombardments. However at certain parts, like when the hero of the story gives her enemy a chance to fight for his life, Shress would nod her approval.

Six knew Shress is being exposed to a whole new kind of warfare as the character of the story talks about forming bonds with her teammates, talks of what she wishes to do with her life after the war and especially how she hopes of marrying this one guy back from her hometown. Shress gave a brief explanation to Six of how sangheili view warfighters, being a warrior is everything, from birth to death, that's all that matters to them. To leave it behind forever is an unthinkable thought among their species. Six didn't get a chance to offer his opinion on the matter as he returns to reading, unsure of what he would do with his own life when the Covenant war ends; if it ends.

Some parts of the story confused her, but Six knew the end of the story made up for it.

He takes one last breath as he finishes, "So that has been my life. From the battlefronts of the frontiers to the decks of warships, my life has gone in many different directions and varies in different ways. I remember all those prayers I have said, all those dreams I had shared and all the words I had spoken when I dream of returning home and living a good life with a good man. But truth be told, if my people are ever in need again, should I ever hear the cry of justice and of duty again, I will not hesitate to answer. This story I have decided to write was done so to honor my fallen comrades and ensure that people know the true cost of peace. My time in the military included some of the worst times in my life, but in some ways, it was also a part of the best times of my life. Rest in peace my fallen brothers and sisters."

With that, Six lets out a sigh as he closes the book, causing Shress to look up at him. He smiles down at her and says, "Well that was the first time I have finished a story in a single day."

Shress offers an apologetic smile as she says, "Sorry, once you started…I couldn't bring myself to tell you to stop."

Six chuckles slightly as he hears the embarrassment in her voice before replying, "It was my pleasure, Shress La'Vdamee."

Her smile suddenly fades and her eyes lower a bit as she looks away from Six.

Feeling concern for his friend streaming through him, the spartan sits a little straighter and asks, "Shress? What's wrong?"

Shress takes a shaky breath before looking up at him and says, "Please don't call me La'Vdamee."

Six tilts his head a little, mimicking Shress whenever she looks puzzled and asks, "Why?"

She turns away from him once more, looking at the opposite wall as she answers, "Since I am no longer part of the Covenant my name is no longer La'Vdamee… It's just La'Vdam now."

Six raises an eyebrow, but almost as if Shress could read his thoughts she says, "To signify our allegiance to the Covenant we attached the suffix 'ee' to our family names. If we are ever…disgraced," She seems to choke on the word, "Then the honorable title will be cut from our names."

Six knew her life among the Covenant is still a touchy subject for her and instantly shut up, however the damage has been done. As he looks down at Shress, her excitement for the story has quickly disappeared, leaving her looking worried, probably thinking of her family and what they are facing because of the choices that she has made.

He couldn't stand to see her this way. Once more it's as if his body is acting on its own accord as Six reaches for her, gently grabs her shoulders, and pulls her towards him until her head is resting on his lap. She lets out a surprise gasp as a stun look fills her eyes, but before she could say anything, Six reaches down and begins lightly massaging her face. She lies still in shock as Six's hands slowly stoke the side of her mandibles, head and cheeks. Six has no idea what he is doing or where he learned to do this, but he continues to stroke Shress's face ever so cautiously. The initial surprise is over, soon she closes her eyes and her low humming fills the air once more as she lays her head fully on Six's lap. The Spartan can only smile as he continues to move his sliding fingers over her head, feeling content with distracting her from thinking of what she has lost.

Soon, Six's mind starts to drift as he continues to touch Shress's face. Does she like me? More than a friend? He has to admit, after their last few encounters, he has been wishing to come closer and closer to Shress for almost days now. That is evident since he worries for her and

thinks of her often. Did she come and save him from Reach out of friendship or something more?

His mind snaps back into reality when he realizes something, he knows almost nothing about Shress. He looks down at her who looks so peaceful at the moment that he is reluctant to wake her, but he leans in and asks softly, "Shress?"

"Mhh?" She opens one eye lid, allowing a silver slit orb to stare up at him in such a playful manner that it just forces Six to smile at her, causing her to grin as well.

Finally, Six recovers his wits before asking, "Shress, I know that you don't want to think about it or anything, but I'm wondering…what is Sanghelios like?"

Shress opens both her eyes as she looks up at him and she asks, "My home? Why do you ask?"

He shrugs as he continues to lightly stroke her face, "Just curiosity I suppose."

She stares at him for a few more seconds with a look that the spartan could not identify. He starts to wish he could change the subject, but before he gets the chance, Shress closes her eyes and speaks almost in a dream like trance.

"Sanghelios is a beautiful planet Michael. It is constantly blooming, almost every day because of the three suns that the planet orbits. We also have two moons that rotate around us as well, depending on the time and on the season, the La'Vdam manor can receive about eight hours of darkness annually."

She sighs and he thinks he sees her eyelids quiver a bit. "The La'Vdam keep is established on the continent of Vaardma, it is home to almost ten thousand warrior families; it's main keep is established near the mountain range that cuts across the continent. It is truly magnificent to see, especially when all three suns begin to set during the summer solstice, making the mountains appear as if they have been carved directly out of the sky, painted different colors. There is a lake close by where my father would train the younglings, it was my favorite training session, to fight in hand to hand combat and even if I lose, I would fall into the cool water, which I often enjoyed."

"It sounds majestic." Comments Six as he moves his hands in circular motions, "One thing though, I thought females aren't allowed to fight, so how was it that you received training?"

Shress is silent for a moment before answering, "We are more alike than you think Michael. Among sangheili, it is not uncommon for our keeps to wage war against one another. Since most of the males are serving among the Covenant, this leaves the women and some trained younglings to defend ourselves."

Six frowns slightly, "Couldn't the Covenant stop all the keeps from fighting?"

Shress gives a shaky breath, "Maybe, but now that I think about it, perhaps the prophets just liked to see us squabble." Her purring has disappeared and is now replaced with a soft growl as she sits up.

Six waits for her to calm down a bit, his heart giving a small pang of pain from her distance, before asking, "Why?"

"Why what?" Shress asks as she looks over at him.

"Why did you want to be a warrior, and how did you become one?" Six asks.

She ponders for a moment before responding, "My mother told me my father's wishes once." Her voice changes into one of somber respect as she speaks of her family, "He wishes for his mate, my mother, to bear him sons so that the La'Vdamee family can relish in the honor of having their children serve in such a 'holy' cause." She looks up at Six, "But as the summers passed, my mother was unable to bear any more children and I wanted to earn my father's approval. So, when I was given the chance, I decided to be the first female sangheili to fight within the Covenant."

Six smiles at her, "He must be proud of you, for you accomplish so much."

Sadly she shakes her head, "No, he isn't proud, he is disgusted." She closes her eyes as she elaborates, "Females are the masters of the household, but should we stray from that path we are often met by ridicule, sexism and disrespect. My father was mocked by other keep lords and warriors because of my involvement in the world of men."

Six stares at her with awe as he says, "And yet, despite all that, you still accomplished so much. You became more than just a common warrior Shress, you became a Zealot, something I doubt those naysayers can say."

Shress smiles before bowing her head, "Thank you Michael."

He didn't want to press her some more, but his curiosity refuses to remain at bay as he asks, "How was it you became a warrior though, I mean, how were you able to get into the Covenant?"

Shress lets out a sigh and her eyes seem to glaze over as a mist clouds them, "Every summer, females have to show the males that we are capable warriors, and that we can watch and protect our Keeps should a war envelops the land." Her voice grows distant as she continues, "It is a rather large event in our keep. I had the privilege to have my showing be during a visit from one of the prophet hierarchs, Truth. He began a conversation with the Kaidon on one of the viewing platforms that overlooked the field, my father, though I did not know it at the time. Since both the ruler of my home and one of the leaders of the Covenant were present, I pushed myself to fight harder and more fiercely then all of my opponents did."

Her eyes start to take a ferocious gleam as she continues, "One by one, Every opponent that stepped before me I defeated. Smaller keep's challengers and younger champions met me on the field and fell before me, until I ran out of other younglings and females to defeat, and I was the only one standing in the field." She leans back into the plush cushions of the couch and stares off into the far wall across the room, her muscles tense as if she is getting prepared for a battle. "It was then that the high prophet spoke up. He said he was impressed by my warrior spirit, and that if I wish to prove myself to be a warrior, I would have to fight one who has already proven their worth. If I did so, I would be able to serve their holy cause as a warrior of the Covenant."

She lets out the small whistling noise that six recognizes as a bitter laugh as she shakes her head and her beautiful silver eyes look to him, "I should have realized back then that I was the daughter of the Kaidon, because my father's face was filled with such horror when they handed me a real energy sword, and one of the honor guards tasked with guarding the Prophet stepped down."

Six took an instant disliking to Truth, not because the San' Shyuum in question wanted to stir up trouble over such a petty thing, but because he very obviously tried to kill Shress for entertainment. Why is that bothering me now? The spartan wonders to himself before asking, "So what happened?"

Shress is silent for a whole minute, one of her clawed hands moving to touch a previously unnoticed scar that ran along her right arm, before finally saying, "I won."

Six looks to her and sees that she is no longer making eye contact with him. He realizes that even though she won, her family saw her as a failure. To go against the tradition of what was intended for her as a female must have been seen as a dishonorable thing.

With the urge to comfort her returning, he leans over and curls an arm around her shoulder. This causes her to look over at Six as he says, "You did what you were meant to do. Shress. I may not like the prophets," She lets out a loud snort of amusement as she turns her head to look back over to him, "But he was right. You have a warrior's spirit, and no one can take that away from you." "But," She looks away from him and says, "To turn away from the traditions of a female in such a way is considered dishonorable, making me look unappealing…undesirable." Her voice fades as she closes her eyes, but not before Six could see the glimmer of a tear forming.

Six leans over and before he could stop himself, plants a kiss on Shress's forehead. Her mandibles shiver slightly as she opens her eyes and stares at the spartan next to her.

"You came and saved me from the middle of a battlefield." Six tells her softly, "Out of everyone in the UNSC, it was you, my friend from another planet, that came and saved me, you are the most dependable and honorable person I have ever met Shress."

Shress stares over to him, speechless, but he can tell what he said has lifted her spirits. She raises her hand and cups Six's cheek as she says, "Thank you."

He smiles at her and begins stroking her head once more. Shress leans against Six's body as her hand moves from his face to his shoulder and holds him in a form of a hug.

They are both content at the moment, the only sound being Shress's purring as she rests against Six's body. After a few minutes of peaceful silence, Shress leans away slightly and looks over at Six, "What about you?" He gives her a questioning look so she asks again, "Where are you from?"

Six pauses his hand stroking as he ponders over the question. Where was he from? He tries to concentrate on it, concentrate on his life before volunteering to be a spartan. He closes his eyes as he thinks. He remembers something, a room full of people; all of them were laughing and seemed to be talking to one another. A party maybe? Then they started to scream, someone picked him up, he remembers seeing the frantic mob, right before he was shoved into a space freighter. As it pulls away, he watches through a view port as large violet ships hover over a city in the distance before releasing its powerful cleansing weapon. After that…He was on a street somewhere, living on his own until two adults in black suits approached him, asked him if he wanted to fight. As a kid he had no idea what the man was asking, but it resulted with boot camp, the transformation process, and ended with him sitting where he is now, a spartan.

His life was stolen from him in the form of the Covenant. Unlike the Spartan II's, he fought with a vengeance, as well as every other third generation spartan, all willing to make the Covenant pay. Six always figured he would fight the Covenant to the end of his days, hating the aliens for the rest of his life for what they took from him, but here he is…with Shress resting her head on his shoulder, both relaxed and both comforted in each other's presence.

"Michael?" He is brought out of his thinking and looks back into Shress's beautiful eyes once more as she asks, "Where are you from? Are you from Earth, or one of your colonies?"

Six feels slightly humiliated as he answers, "I don't know."

Shress gives an odd look before smiling at him and gives a light laugh, "How can you not know where you are from?"

Six helplessly shrugs before saying; "No one ever told me so…" his voice fades away as he becomes unsure what to say next.

The smile disappears off of Shress as she says in a sober voice, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to imply…What about your parents? Who were they?"

"I don't know," replies Six again.

"Well…what about your family name, can you not find them through that?" She asks.

"I…don't know," Six says now looking away from Shress.

There is a moment of silence between them before Shress finally asks in an unbelieving voice, "How can you not know where you came from, who your parents are, or your family name?"

Six shakes his head, now unable to make eye contact with Shress, "I can't remember… nobody has ever told me."

Silence envelopes them as Six refuses to look at Shress, unsure what she'll think of his situation. However he doesn't expect her hand to lightly grab his chin and pull it up until he is back to looking her in her eyes.

"Well from what I can tell," Shress said as she looks into Six's eyes, "You must be from a great warrior family that resides in a great palace in a powerful city-state."

Six can't take her solemn tone seriously as he cracks a smile at her, "Or I could just be the son of a farmer from the disheveled outer colonies."

She cocks her head to the side a little, "And why, pray tell, would you thi-" She is interrupted by a loud whistling that rings throughout the ship. At the sound, Six groans as he lifts himself out of the comfortable position the two of them are in and begins to make his way to the command deck, hearing Shress quickly stand up from the couch shortly after.

"Michael, what's going on? What is that noise?" She calls out from behind him, her loud footsteps making a sharp contrast to his near silent ones on the cold metal floor.

"It's the early warning signal, we are about to drop out of slipspace." He says, rushing to the control center. "

Already? Perhaps I did a better job than I thought." Her voice has a hint of annoyance and a bit of resignation in it. It does not take him long to piece together why.

He secures himself at the navigation terminal and turns his head to look at Shress in the hatch, seeing her nervously looking toward the floor. "We are not arriving at Earth. Humanity as a whole must follow protocols to prevent Covenant ships from finding our homeworld's location." He explains as he braces himself for the sudden stop. "I would brace myself if I were you."

Shress grabs hold of both sides of the hatch she is in, and tenses her muscles slightly.

A small beeping noise comes out of the console, drawing his attention to the monitor in front of him, when suddenly the ship comes to a halt in an instant. Six's breath leaves his lungs as the force of the jump drives him into the belt enough to strain his injuries. He grunts in pain as the viewport shows the return to realspace before him. They have arrived at the randomly generated coordinates that he had typed in when they left Reach. They are officially in the middle of nowhere.

"Well that was stronger than it usually is." He jokes lightly, regaining his breath, before he hears a groan of pain behind him and turns to see if his alien friend is unharmed, "Shress? Are you-"

He could not finish, as when he turns around he can see that she is no longer in the hatch. There are claw marks etched into the hatch as evidence that her attempts at bracing herself were unsuccessful. He glances down and sees that she is sprawled onto the floor. However that was not the reason he was struck speechless. No, that had more to do with the fact that she appears to have tumbled head over heels into the room and landed head first in a very awkward position.

Her roughly made kimono is tangled up around her head and chest, giving him a clear view of her naked body. She has no nipples or breasts like a human woman would, her core muscles moving down her body in a rippling wave pattern. The dark grey color of her skin extends down from down her neck all the way past her legs and onto her feet. Her sprawled out position gives him a very clear view in between her legs. He can see that her labia has a very similar structure compared to a human female. Her outer lips are thicker than the normal human and the entrance to her vagina was smaller but otherwise it resembles a human's, other than the fact that it was indigo. Below her entrance in between two muscled cheeks was the puckered star of her anus.

He spins his head back around so quickly, he thought he might accidentally break his own neck. She is not wearing pants under that kimono. He realizes as his face turns extremely red at what he has seen.

He glances down and focuses all of his attention on the navigation and sensory equipment in front of him, utilizing every single bit of his spartan training to attempt to forget what he has just witnessed, but somehow that doesn't stop a warm feeling from blossoming in his chest.

He does a thorough scan of all of the ship's surroundings, completely disregarding the sound of shuffling cloth and angry snarls behind him.

After a moment, Shress walks up behind him, hand rubbing the side of her head. What if she saw me look, would she kill me? At this point I would let her just to stop my heart from beating so fast.

"If we are not arriving at Earth, where are we?" She asks curiously, looking at the viewport over his shoulder, glancing into the darkness of space.

Thankful for the distraction and the ability to shift his mind to something else other than the war going on between his body and his mind, he recites the article of the Cole Protocol that he had been forced to recite daily during boot, "All human vessels fleeing from alien forces must do so on a randomly generated vector away from UNSC core world locations." He informs her in the steadiest voice he could manage. "We do it to prevent any ships tracking us from stumbling on another colony… or Earth."

Shress hums in agreement. "It is a wise policy, though next time I hope you will give me more time to brace myself." She prods his shoulder with a talon. Before he can react, the computer in front of him lets out a series of beeps. He glances down at the screen to see that he has received an all clear from the sensory equipment. They have not been followed. Reaching over to the navigation computer, he begins to type in the coordinates to Earth. He hesitates as his finger hovers over the icon 'enter.' Does he truly trust her enough to reveal his homeworld's location? He looks at her out of the corner of his eye, and for some reason, just by seeing her, just by thinking about her, he knew the answer. With a quick "click" he presses the button. The hum of the engines powering back on filling the compartment.

"I realize I didn't give you much time last time, but we are about to make the jump back into slipspace. You might want to take a seat." He gestures to one of the unoccupied chairs on the deck.

She hurries into the seat next to him and grabs hold of the armrests, this time he can hear the groan of the metal she is gripping as she puts all of her strength into holding on. He is about to explain how the seatbelts work when the boom sounds through the spacecraft and he is shoved into his seat.

He lets out a sigh when the ship becomes stable again, and he clicks the release on his seatbelt. "Well, that was interesting. Are you okay?" He asks, hoping to lighten the mood a bit.

She nods slowly before opening her mandibles wide and allows a yawn to escape. Realizing she is tired, Six is about to ask her if she wishes to turn in when a thought struck him

"Shress?" He asks, "Where did you sleep last night."

"On the couch." She says casually as she gestures to the hallway. Six quickly thought about the furniture In question; it's long enough for Shress to lie down on, but not enough room for her to spread out and such.

"I'm guessing you didn't get a comfortable nap then," Six says.

Shress merely shrugs and says, "I make do with what I have, it's actually quite comfortable compared to some of the other places where I have had to sleep before."

Despite her words, Six wanted her to get some proper rest, especially after everything that has happened to her, from her rescuing him and so forth; she deserves it.

With that in mind, he asks, "Would like to sleep in the officer's bed tonight?"

Shress's eyes lock onto his as she pushes herself up out of the chair, clear indents on the metal armrests where her hands were previously, and asks, "But what about you?"

"I can sleep on the couch tonight," Six said as he starts to make his way to the rec room.

Shress is already shaking her head as she answers, "No Michael, you need to make a full recovery, you need to be sleeping comfortably to do that."

"Oh, so it wasn't comfortable to sleep there then is it?" Six questions.

She gives him a small growl, "I can take it, you, on the other hand, need to rest."

"So do you." Argues Six, "You deserve it, I feel like we both went through the same hardships together. If I need rest then so do you."

She growls once more, "Well I'm not sleeping in the bed tonight." "Well then neither will I." Counters Six, to which Shress snarls at.

They both stare hard at one another, trying to find weaknesses in the other's arguments until the spartan finally sighs and says, "Why don't we compromise?"

"How?" Demands the sangheili with a snarl.

Six is starting to get annoyed with her, it is because of that he says his next words without thinking, "We can share the bed."

Anxiety, confusion and just plain awkwardness suddenly clouds them as they stare at each other as they try to remain calm and appear as if they are in control of themselves, but Six feels his body slightly balking a bit over his radical resolution. Shress appears the same way, unable to even believe what it is that Six has said as she freezes like a statue.

Finally after a near minute of silence she stutters, "W-what?" "N-nothing," Six answers, his face returning to it's flushed appearance. "Just a slip of the tongue."

Shress shakes her head, "That's not what you said." When she looks into his eyes she asks, "Did you invite me to your bed?"

Six quickly raises his hands, "To sleep in, n-nothing more." Or so he hopes.

Shress looks as if she is having a hard time processing this as Six struggles to keep himself from flushing fully.

Shress looks into his eyes, "Just to sleep in?"

"You have my word," Six says as he holds up his hands once more as if he is surrendering.

Shress eyes him closely before saying, "Well…it would be more comfortable than that piece of furniture…"

Six moves to the door, holds out his hand to her and says, "Alright, then…uh, shall we?" He asks, now feeling the blush receding a bit.

Shress seems to be shivering slightly as she takes his hand, "Alright." Nervously and anxiously, they leave the room, walk down the hall in silence and enter the officer's cabin, Six is pretty sure she is feeling the same way he is; like a giant boulder is on top of him and threatening to crush his insides. Within, it was as if the bed was placed in a spotlight, making it almost impossible for Six to ignore it.

"Do you, uh," Six voice fails before he finally asks, "Have anything you wish to change into?"

Shress quickly shakes her head before asking, "Do you?" Six shakes his head as well before sighing. Might as well get it over with.

He walks to the bed and pulls back the messy covers before lying down on his side, the right side of the bed. Shress approaches as well and very slowly lies down on the left side. Six watches out of the corner of his eye as she pulls her leg closer to her so that they can rest on the bed as well without sticking out. She lets out a content sigh and Six guesses that his assumption that she wasn't comfortable on the couch was correct.

Six coughs lightly before saying, "Good night Shress." "Good night Michael." Is her reply as Six reaches for the switch close to the bed and turns the lights off.

The room is shrouded in darkness, and Six became very still, and so has Shress. He feels like he is on a lone scouting mission as he lies there unmoving, and Shress is the thing he is observing. He watches from the corner of his eye as she sleeps, unmoving. Or so he thought, the slight twitching of her body reveals that she is still awake and the slight turns of her head suggests she too is observing him, unaware that he is still awake as well.

This is going to be a long night. He thought to himself.

Six is sure at least two hours have passed and yet Shress remains awake. He has become as still as stone while breathing low and even breaths as he watches her with half open eyes, waiting for what he has no idea.

Suddenly Shress makes a move. Slowly, she begins to wriggle her way closer to the center of the bed. It takes all of the spartan's training not to move, not to flinch and not to allow himself to start hyperventilating. Shress works her body closer to the border of the bed, ever so carefully so she wouldn't disturb him he assumes.

Six thought she was going to stop when she reached the middle, but she doesn't, instead she keeps on moving until she is a mere centimeter from Six. He wanted to reveal he was still awake but holds his position as he waits to see what she does next. Finally, Shress closes the gap and leans her back against Six's chest. He hears her let out a soft breath of satisfaction as she relaxes and rests her head close to Six.

The spartan smiles at her and wishes he could wrap his arms around her, but he holds back since she is still awake.

Looks like this compromise is working after all. He thought as he listened to Shress's soft breathing.

\/\/\/AUTHORS NOTE\/\/\/

The changes to his age and her backstory were made to keep in line with how old he was supposed to be in canon. They graduated in 2545, and Kat, the other beta company spartan III in noble team was only 22 when she got brain splatted. Shress didn't date Ripa because that would then make her a cradle robber, so instead she is younger with actual history with truth and a bit more insight into her family past. Also this gives her a bit less time to climb the ranks to become a zealot, emphasizing her skill as a warrior from the get go. For the last one, I mean sure he is stepping on Preston Cole's "grave" (maybe?) by bringing shress directly to earth, but in the original, anyone could have tracked him back, fancy fast new slipspace drive or not. "Until we decelerated, no one could have missed that hole we tore in Slipspace." -Cortana

Also give a shout out to PyreElergy. Yesterday was his birthday.

My group editor is off right now. If you are reading this Verbus stay safe and let us know that you are ok.