----
D'aray opened his eyes again when Kavanaghs breathing became deep and even. To the wraiths disgusted surprise, there were tears coming from his own eyes. 'Why did he have to bring up that cursed Stargate? And why do I feel like I have to protect that man?' Unable to answer his own questions, D'aray brushed the remaining tears from his cheeks angrily.
'How can they expect me to betray my own mate?' his restless mind pestered, 'And why is he a human mate? Am I that tainted? That un-wraithlike?' D'aray jerked back from the path those thoughts were leading him down, he couldn't face his rape again. Not after having it so lightly tossed aside and himself blamed for it, and if Calvin found those thoughts in his head...
The wraith frowned and shivered, staring at his knifed palm-slit. That had just been a cruelty on Treakas part, one more reason to hate the wraith pilot. A cold breeze tickled D'arays shoulders and caused him to shiver again, this time not from disgust and horror. If it weren't so blasted cold he would have gotten out of the make-shift bed and slept on the damned floor, to hell with being this human mans mate. But the chill air caused him to abandon that thought and instead curl closer to the man recently deemed his soul-mate. Finally, warm and more or less comfortable, the wraith was able to let go and drift off into surprisingly gentle dreams.
----
Kavanagh woke up quite suddenly and stared back at the wide predator eyes just in front of his face, both the men beneath the blanket looked rather startled and disoriented. D'aray was pressed snuggly against Kavanaghs chest and the man had draped his arm over the wraith, holding him closer. They were barely far enough apart to have each other in focus.
"I'm-" Kavanagh began, starting to lift his arm, D'aray made an odd sound that was neutral and sat up. "It looks warmer outside," the wraith said quietly, looking towards a window, "The sun's out." Kavanagh sat up as well and stretched, then stood and held out a hand to assist his mate if it were so wanted. D'aray seemed to hesitate a moment, but almost immediately accepted the hand up, wincing and wrapping his arms about his stomach as he stood erect. Concerned, the scientist inquired, "What's wrong?" D'aray shook his head and said simply, "Nothing," Kavanagh touched his mates mind, but all he noted of importance was that the wraith was a little sore and hungry.
After breakfast, the last of the stew, Kavanagh stood and started out the door. Curious, D'aray followed him only to have the scientist turn and tell him not to, "Why?" the wraith asked, the man frowned a little and said, "Well you could come, but I don't normally like being watched while I take a piss." D'aray blinked and said, "Oh," and then looked at his mate with a strange expression.
"What?" Kavanagh asked, a sinking feeling in his stomach. "Humans have to pass what they eat." D'aray looked repulsed, "I didn't think about that!" He sounded slightly panicky and had taken several steps back, as though the human was responsible. "What? Wraith don't... Use the bathroom?" Kavanagh said, sounding surprised, D'aray shook his head and said, more to himself than anything else, "I hate this." and walked back to the leaf-bed.
Kavanagh continued on out without comment since he REALLY had to pee, but he couldn't keep from thinking of the potential problem when his mate had to do the same. 'Will I have to show him how? That'd be really weird.' he thought to himself. Surprisingly enough he wouldn't be quite as uncomfortable as he thought he should be, likely because he felt, deep down, rather responsible for D'aray being here in the first place. It would only be fair to help when and where he could. 'Potty training a wraith though...' he thought with a smirk, it wouldn't really be like that he knew, but the thought amused him. He forgot about shielding his thoughts though...
----
D'aray had been quietly observing his mate through their mind link, learning how to take care of himself. He ignored the thoughts about 'potty training' after a moment of surprise since it didn't really mean anything to him, instead focusing upon the more immediate problem. Even were he to accept Kavanaghs instruction, he could not stand to have another near him in such a vulnerable position. He'd forgotten for a moment where he was when he awoke this morning and the feeling of another so close and with their arm about him had sent a shock through him. Luckily, though it had awakened his mate, the wraith had been able to calm himself and keep the feeling from being obvious.
"D'aray?" the wraith looked up from where he was seated on the bed, sorting out the two sets of clothes. He saw his mate closing the door, wiping his hands on his pants. "It's just water, I used the stream nearby to wash. We can bathe if we get stuck here for too long." it took a moment for D'aray to realize the human was saying this wryly. Neither apparently had any intention of being stuck that long. D'aray looked up as Kavanagh walked over and stood before him, "May I sit?" the wraith sniffed and said, "Why are you asking me?" the scientist frowned and sat down beside his mate, "Because it's polite to ask when someone seems to not like being bothered." D'aray looked over at him, sensing a slightly sharp tone under the casually put point.
"D'aray, what's bothering you? I could find out if I wanted to, I know one of the things has to do with that skinny wraith who knifed the two of us." D'aray had definitely not been expecting that to come from his mates mouth and his alarmed expression betrayed him, "I already figured I've got several reasons to hate him already, and I'd rather you talked to me than keep going back and forth with your moods. You're driving me nuts. First your warming up to me, we're starting to not hate each other on principle, then the next minute your either biting my head off or getting sullen and silent."
D'aray looked away from Kavanagh and tucked his injured hand against his stomach, it ached almost constantly. Kavanagh gently reached out and took the hand in both his own and warmed it, easing the pain. D'aray looked up at his mates eyes once then down at their hands as he came to a decision. Taking a breath he said, "Treaka is the wraiths name. He and I were brood mates and rivals." the wraith took another breath, half wanting to pull his hand back, half enjoying the cessation of pain and not caring that a human was doing the healing.
"Treaka has always disliked me and I honestly don't know why. But several months ago, we ran into each other in a passage. I doubt it was accidental, he was waiting for a chance to catch me alone." D'aray had closed his mind to the human, but some emotions were still quite evident and the wraiths discomfort and pain were obvious. Kavanagh brushed against the others mind without thinking, gently reassuring.
D'aray accepted the gesture without showing it and continued, "We fought, and he, he over powered me." the wraiths breath caught and he stopped talking for several moments, D'aray had not let himself think about this since Treaka had molested him and he was taken by surprise by the flood of emotions. Before Kavanagh could express his concerns about the long intermission, his wraith-mate looked up, eyes pained, "Calvin," D'aray whispered, sounding vulnerable, his mind-blocks suddenly falling away as he lost control of his emotions, flooding his human mates mind with everything that had happened, and all his hurt and fear as well.
The wraith, apparently horrified at this, pulled his hand back from the mans and made to flee. Kavanagh, slightly shocked, caught him about the waist and pulled him back down, not any closer yet, though he instinctively wanted to hold D'aray close and comfort him. "It wasn't your fault! God D'aray, just because you lost the fight doesn't mean the rape was your fault! The others were wrong to tell you that!"
Kavanagh stopped with an effort and tried to calm himself so he wasn't yelling at the surprisingly emotional wraith before him. "That is one place where I personally think the wraith have fuc- messed up badly. I suspected something like that kind of thinking after you 'submitted' to me." the man stopped, he didn't know how to say what he felt, how he felt and was frustrated at his inability to express himself before remembering the mind link.
Kavanagh touched his mind to D'arays and let the wraith simply feel what his human mate was feeling. He seemed disbelieving and the scientist felt irritated because that was the way D'aray had been trained and taught coming into play. "Dar," Kavanagh said softly and put his arms about the wraiths waist, pulling him in against his chest. D'aray was too upset, confused and in need of comfort to resist and relaxed into his mates arms, starting to cry all his frustration over the past days and the months before that out. The part of his mind that protested about showing a human that wraith can have emotions drowned out, at least for the time being. Kavanagh buried his face in D'arays shoulder and rocked the wraith gently, holding him consolingly.
Kavanagh woke with a slight start, he had held D'aray till the wraith had cried himself to sleep and then carefully moved around to the bed, laying back, still cradling the wraith in his arms. 'Fell asleep myself,' he thought inanely, checking the slant of the sun. It looked like mid-afternoon and his stomach confirmed this. D'aray made a small noise of frustration in his sleep and Kavanagh looked down to see the wraith frowning, one hand fisted in his mates shirt, "Dar," the scientist murmured, stroking the silvery hair back, revealing the mutilated cheek. A surge of protectiveness and anger swelled in the mans chest, he would make sure he and Treaka crossed paths again, what that ratty haired prick had done was unforgivable. And the fact that D'aray was a wraith no longer seemed to matter to the human, that bridge had been conquered.
D'aray opened his eyes and lay very still, Kavanagh half sat up, adjusted his glasses and pulled the wraith into a more comfortable position, "Are you alright for now?" the wraith seemed a bit uncomfortable with the closeness of the man, but made no indication he wanted his mate to let go, "I will be. I do not like losing control of myself like that." the scientist thought for a moment, then said, "Maybe it's because of all these changes you're going through. It's a lot to deal with, being thrown out of one world into a completely foreign one where the rules are all different." the man smoothed his mates hair back and then rested his cheek on the top of the others head.
"And so where do you and I stand Calvin?" D'aray asked, sounding truly curious, Kavanagh thought for a long time about his answer before saying, "Ideally, when humans choose a mate, they choose someone they've known for a long time and now want to be with for life. Through vows, they make a promise to be eternally faithful to each other. Their goal is to learn to work as a team, supporting each other when needed and stepping back when needed. That's sort of what I am doing right now," the man paused and the wraith reached out with his mind, wanting him to continue. "I don't love you D'aray, at least not yet. But I think I could learn how to if you're willing to do the same. I'm not stupid enough to think we'll have an easy time learning to live together, but I can't imagine living without you now."
D'aray pulled back so he could look his human-mate in the eyes, Kavanagh looked back and the wraith put his hands either side of the scientists face, then rested his forehead against Kavanaghs. "Even after I spilled my darkest secrets you aren't rejecting me. I am a wraith and you are a human but you still are trying to make the best of a bad situation. I will also try to learn to live with you and your ways Calvin, I don't wish to leave you either. I'd rather learn how to be a human and live in your world." Kavanagh tightened his arms about D'arays waist and the wraith allowed himself to be pulled close again, he was more relaxed this time, seeming tired and inclined to a real nap. Then he sighed as his stomach growled, "I think I need to eat, I feel wea-," he tripped over the word, "Weakened."
"I'm hungry too, let's try the weird green package," D'aray shrugged, "I suppose. I'll fix it while you try the radio. I think it's broken though, or got too wet."
The radio had gotten damp, but Kavanagh checked it out and could find no reason for it not to turn on. He fiddled with it till his mate held a cup of something in front of his face that smelled a bit like salad but tasted like green beans. "Weird," the scientist muttered and looked up in time to see D'aray wrinkle his nose, "I'll fix you something else," the man offered but the wraith shook his head, "It is just strange, I don't like the texture." D'aray stated, trying to tilt more of the mash into his mouth, "My teeth are not really made for chewing," he growled around another mouthful, "Do you think that can be altered?"
Kavanagh frowned thoughtfully as he himself chewed another mouthful, "It's at least something to ask Dr. Beckett about when we get back to Atlantis," he conceded. Both finished the greenthing and then D'aray stood and bent to take Kavanaghs cup, "No, I'll come with you Dar," he said, standing as well. The wraith nodded once and headed out the door without comment.
The scientist was right behind him, but looking about at the scenery, "Nice now it's not raining and has warmed up," the man commented. D'aray nodded and knelt to wash his cup, Kavanagh kneeling beside him. Both nearly fell into the stream when the radio, attached to the scientists jeans, crackled to life and Major John Sheppard came in, the line staticky and hard to make out.
After several repeats on both sides and more fiddling with the radio, Kavanagh and D'aray had learned that rescue was only hours away. When they finally signed off, the scientist was jubilant and grinning from ear to ear. The wraith went suddenly pale though and grabbed his mates shoulder, "Call them back Calvin! It's a trap!"