Chapter 20: Honey and Lemons.
Spike sat there rubbing two red hand marks on both of his cheeks while both Whisper and Zachee glared at him, though, at least both T'Sall and Picasso weren't glaring, they were just looking confused and kinda embarassed.
"Serves you right, I warned you," Aiden said with a smug smile on his face, Spike glared at him with an exasperated look on his face, it hadn't helped that when he had tried to escape the vengeance of the two angry females who had woken up and as soon as they realized what sort of position they had been arranged into freaked out.
In fact to be fair nobody had ever heard Whisper yell so loud to the point that they were actually impressed that her voice could go so loud, though it hadn't helped any that her scream had woken T'Sall, who had promptly tried to react to the perceived threat and had tried to sit up, only to face butt Whisper in the crotch, making her scream even louder, she went from cute kitten to pissed tigress in less time than it took to blink, and it was only when Spike started laughing that Whisper realized what had happened to her and went for him.
Her speed and grace were incredible to behold, it's no secret that Felenis feline roots gives them a heavy advantage in this area over just about every other race, well, except for the Colonid, but they were an insectoid race and didn't actually have bones, so yeah, advantage in flexibility much?
She moved so fast that Spike barely had time to register that she was coming at him before she struck and to be fair to her, she showed excellent restraint in Aiden's humble opinion as it was well known that she had retractable claws like razor blades but she chose not to deploy them as it would have cost him an eye at the very least, instead just getting a heavy slap to the face.
A scene that was replayed moments later when Zachee woke up and found the position that she was in with Picasso and, after promptly falling onto the floor, an obligatory scream caused much the same reaction as what happened with Whisper she went for him too after looking around she saw every person in the room pointing at Spike.
But this time he was able to evade her, only to be snagged by T'Kell who, without even leaving her seated position, grabbed the collar of his armour as he tried to dash past her, "You take your punishment like you deserve, ooman," she said very nonchalantly as she spun him to face Zachee, and, before Spike could respond, he got slapped, hard.
So now, he sat perched on the couch, holding both his glowing cheeks, looking like a naughty school boy, "What the hell, Spike? I mean seriously? What, because you can't torment Inferno now you decided to pick a new target?" Picasso said, looking at him.
"Hey, come on, that's not fair, I've always been an equal chances prankster, I've always pranked you all equally, just because Inferno's reactions were more extreme didn't mean that I pranked you guys any less," he said, rubbing his cheeks.
"Hmmmm, he does speak the truth there, like the time he replaced my scale wax with shoe polish, I had a black arse for two days before Tank was able to scrub it off for me," Moodstone said, and Tank nodded in agreement, but he appeared to be smiling at the memory of his girl bending over and letting him scrub her arse clean.
"An lets not forget the time the wee laddie managed to somehow reprogram Picasso's Smartgun with a Japanese anime voice package, so he spent two days on that planet hunting pirates with a talking gun that spoke in a high pitched schoolgirl's voice," Tank said with a slight smirk at Picasso, who let out a loud groan.
"Ugghhh, don't fucking remind me, I was ready to fight them hand to hand till I realized he'd programed the damn thing with abandonment issues as well, so the second I put it down it began accusing me of cheating on it with other guns and begging me not to leave it," he said, which made a few of the Spirits snigger.
T'Kell looked at them in confusion, "Why would you let him get away with such insufferable childishness? You are a team of elite soldiers," she said, and it was Ice that answered.
"Simple, because it breaks the tension up, all work and no play makes the Spirits real boring, sometimes you need to unwind and de-stress and, believe it or not, his pranks actually do just that, gets us all laughing, apart from, obviously, the person who got pranked, but even they laugh afterwards, I mean, just look at Inferno and Reaper, every single person in the team were convinced the pair were utterly made for one another, that they were a couple waiting to happen, so Spike took it upon himself to make it happen, he spent days creating elaborate pranks to get Reaper to see her as a woman and not just a colleague, everything from mocking up her wearing a bikini on a poster in Reaper's locker to changing the cloaking settings on her armor for a training sim so she wound up looking like she was wearing the same bikini and again but this time a peekaboo nightie, now look at them, it actually worked, well, sort of, so yeah, he might be childish, but he happens to also be one of the smartest human beings alive, in fact, you all use something designed by him everyday in the field, the cross comm, all regiments use it to maintain communication in all areas, regardless of hazards, well, he wrote not only compression algorithm to allow it to work, but the encryption to make it unbreakable, so yeah, childish, not stupid, the boy is a genius, and each of us would die to protect him, even if we want to kill him ourselves at times," Ice said with a smile that seemed to echo across the whole team, and Reaper and Inferno actually embraced as if to confirm his part in their love.
T'Kell clicked her mandibles curiously as she looked at Spike, who was actually smiling while still rubbing his painful cheeks, she actually looked impressed at his skills, but it was the truth, Spike had single handedly brought comms tech forwards in leaps and bounds since he had joined the Spirits, "Hmmm, maybe my servant will have uses after all," she said, and Ice looked confused, as did the others who woke up post T'Kell and Spike incident.
"Servant?" Picasso asked, and Aiden grinned at him.
"Lets just say we gave Spike a taste of his own medicine, and, as punishment for sullying T'Kell's honor by kissing her without permission I gave her his service as a personal servant for the duration of us being on the ground," he said, and Spike made a grumbling noise that earned him an ire filled stare from T'Kell, making him wince, expecting a smack round the head, but she restrained herself this time.
Picasso and Ice burst out laughing and both Whisper and Moodstone looked amused at his predicament, "Ha, so you finally got your first kiss ehh, Spikey boy? And what a girl to have it with," Picasso said with a grin, and Spike nodded silently before flushing as he accidently admitted something that they had all long suspected, that he was a virgin.
Spike's skin went as dark as hell as the blush from his embarassment hit him but, to his surprise, no one laughed at him, he'd fully expected a ribbing and a half for it, "Wait, you all knew!?" he exclaimed, and Ice grinned at him.
"You come in for medical once a month with me, dumb ass, my scanners are so sensitive they pick up any DNA of any species in even the most minute amount, so even the smallest amount of any sexual activity and I'll pick it up, hell, my scanners are so sensitive I can tell if you touched another person, so yeah, I can tell that, as long as you've been aboard, you've never even touched another person that way, plus there's a test now, dumb ass, back in the day it was impossible to check for male virginity but, thanks to advances in medical science, we can now tell, so yeah, I knew, and the others just figured it out," she said, and Spike looked distraught.
"Ahh fuck," he said softly as his deepest secret came out in the open, T'Kell looked at him curiously.
"Why does this cause you discomfort? Is there something wrong with you? Is that why no female of your kind has claimed you as her mate?" she asked rather bluntly, making Spike wince visibly.
"No! At least I don't think so, I mean, shit, I don't fucking know alright!? I don't know why girls won't look at me, probably because I'm a skinny nerdy guy who loves computers and tech and doesn't sit in the gym pumping weights all day long, staring at themselves in a fucking mirror, I'm in my fucking twenties and I've never even had a fucking girl friend, girls, well, human girls all seem to want fucking muscles bound bad boys, oh yeah, they say they want a nice guy who makes em laugh, sure, but then when you see the very same girl fawning over some dickhead so pumped up on roids that his brain is the smallest muscle he's got, and, considering that they shrink your dick and balls, thats really saying something, who then proceeds to treat them like they're nothing and like shit and they wonder fucking why, all the while the nice guy they claimed to want watches on and thinks to himself why? Just fucking why, so yeah, maybe that's why, I don't know, it's not for lack of trying either, but every single girl I've ever tried to approach has either brushed me off or laughed at me or looked at me like she just scraped me off the heel of her shoe, so maybe I am ugly, I mean I'm not Tank, so big some Yautja look up to him, and with a heart of gold, I'm not Picasso, a man so fucking handsome that he can't walk through an art gallery without rich women asking if he's for sale, I'm not Reaper, a guy with enough charisma that, not one, but two alien girls turn their back on their own species for him, I'm just me, the nerdy annoying little tech head, so fuck it, what do I care anyway?" he said with such venom in his voice that it stopped everyone smiling, the young man's pain was blatantly obvious for all to see.
"You're not ugly Spike, you're actually a rather nice looking guy, not to everyone's taste, yes, but you're a long site from ugly," Moodstone said softly, he looked up at her.
"I agree, ooman servant is not ugly, I would not accept an ugly ooman servant," T'Kell said, and Spike laughed softly and bitterly.
"Thanks, I think," he said, then he shrugged it all off, "Right, enough about me and my non existent love life, what are we doing now? How are we working the plan?" he said, changing the subject, Aiden saw the sympathy flitting around through all of them and decided that obviously Spike just wanted to move on to other things so he wouldn't be forced to wallow in pain and could focus on other things.
He thought for a moment and then looked around at the team, "Well, it seems to me that we have a number of objectives to accomplish, so we can go about it in one of two ways, one, we throw all of our efforts into one objective at a time, or split the team up and work on them at the same time, personally, I think that the second option is the best as I think the larger the team operating the more chance of drawing unwanted attention from the undead, so I believe breaking the team down into smaller groups and working all at the same time would be most effective," he said.
There were a lot of nods in agreement, "Spike, you make contact with home and send the Queen Bee a status update first and foremost, this will become our HQ for the length of the operation, or as long as we can hold it, whichever comes first, it's comfortable here, we have a limited amount of food and water so I want that on everyone's list of to do's, regardless of what job you're undertaking, always be thinking supplies, ok, here's the teams, to deal with T'Sall's problem of the agent, T'Sall, Whisper, myself, Inferno and Macha will hunt the agent, keeping home base tooled up and secured will be Paul Twenty, Ice and Missy, you guys will remain here and start working on making this place as secure as it can be and defensible as it can, jury rig the power systems, set up a virology lab so both you and Dr. Zachee can carry on working on a treatment or vaccine, or, at the very least, study the living fuck out of this thing so we can pass our data off world to be analysed so it can't be used elsewhere, hunting down survivors will go to Tank, Moodstone, Spike and T'Kell, you guys study the area and put T'Kell's hunting skills to good use, plus, it's going to be your job to shut down the anti-air defence systems, you need to get Spike into a control hub so he can hack the system, the way I see it, we got only two people here with the skills to do it, Spike and Paul, it doesn't make sense to have them both at risk out there, just in case, so that's why Paul will remain here temporarily, to outfit camp, we're not planning on being here for any length of time if we can help it, but, if need be, we may have to be, so lets be prepared for it, finally, getting the medical supplies and testing equipment we need as well as a vehicle will be Picasso and Dr. Zachee, and, don't worry doc, your in good hands with him at your side, we'll outfit you with a weapon and Picasso will show you how to use it, the reason your team will be smaller than the others is you guys will be getting a vehicle, plus, that smartgun of Picasso's makes up for it, so those are the teams and the tasks, any questions?" Aiden said.
Zachee looked incredibly nervous now, "I-I-I don't know if I can do this! P-P-Please don't make me go back out there!" she exclaimed, looking incredibly fearful, Picasso reached over and took one of her hands in his and she looked up at him.
"It's ok doc, you'll be fine, I promise, I won't let anything bad happen to you, I'll be right next to you the whole time keeping an eye on that pretty tail of yours," he said, trying to raise a smile out of her.
He got one, but it was a weak one at best, "Doc, I wouldn't send you out there if we didn't absolutely need to, but your the only one with the skills and the knowledge to not only know what we need, but to spot it quickly, Ice has skills, but this not her area of expertise, not by a long shot, so we need to you, Picasso will clear, and you tell him what you need, then you get it to the vehicle and bring it here, then we'll set up and you can continue your work," Aiden said, Zachee still looked nervous as hell and she tightened her hand on Picasso's, and he patted her hand with his.
"I got you doc, don't you worry about a thing, you survived this long on your own without a heavily armed elite soldier at your back, plus, you'll be armed and trained, and we'll have the added security of the vehicle," he said in a calm and reassuring voice, she nodded slowly and looked at her hand holding his, he entwined his fingers with hers and gave her hand another pat.
"Where are we going to find a vehicle?" she asked softly, her voice still not displaying the note of confidence he was hoping for.
"Well, under the hotel there's a car park, we can check them, they should have survived the damage of the stuff in the streets, so, with a bit of work, we should be able to jury rig one and get it moving, who knows, maybe we might be able to find a delivery truck as well" he replied.
"Ummm, if at all possible, while we are out searching I would like to know what happened to my people as well, there were other queens like me, well, not like me, but you know what I mean, they might need help and they could be of help to us as well, I'm pretty sure that, if they are not bit by now, they'll be real eager to get off this world, so, you know the enemy of my enemy is my friend right? Either way, I'd like to try and convince them to aid us," Macha said.
"Good idea, my love, we'll be sure to look out for signs of them as we search," Aiden said.
"Can we trust them? Most of my experience of Xeno's is not good," T'Kell said cautiously, and Aiden nodded in agreement.
"It's the same with all of us, but, having learned what I've learned through my love, Macha here, and what T'Sall said, I'm willing to give them a chance," he said, and she clicked her mandibles and nodded.
"Very well, then we will be on the look out for signs as well," she said.
"Alright, we'll set out first thing tomorrow, as, thanks to the kiss and everything else, it's taken a good chunk of the day, now, we may be out overnight, so make sure you plan for this, while moving make sure to take note of any and all securable properties that might be used as safe harbor, and also, watch your provisions, take the rest of the day to make preparations and we'll head out at first light tomorrow," Aiden said.
The group split up and set to their tasks, Spike got up to go and make his transmission to Queen Bee, T'Kell's head snapped around so fast her dreads swung like a fan around her head, "Where are you going!? I do not remember dismissing you!?" she exclaimed with what sounded like genuine annoyance in her voice, Aiden noticed every one of the Spirits stop and take notice, they all glanced at Spike and then at him for instruction, he simply raised his hand to calm them.
"Umm, to transmit our status to Queen Bee, our commander in orbit," he said.
"You will ask permission before you act, if I am to be your mistress while we are on world I will dictate your actions, as your service was gifted to me by your team leader, and I will take my responsibilities as your mistress very seriously!" she said indignantly, Aiden got the feeling that she was liking this mistress thing a little too much.
Spike looked at Aiden for help, "She's right Spike, I did, and where would my honor be if I went back on my word," he said, a little apologetically, Spike sighed heavily.
"May I have permission to go carry out my orders and call our ship to update our commander?" he asked, sounding like he was chewing gravel the whole time, something that T'Kell seemed to take note of, if her mandible clicks were anything to go by.
"Very well, you will go carry out your orders and when you are finished you will return to my side where you belong, I may have orders for you to carry out or needs for you to tend," she said, sounding kinda aloof, Spike nodded.
"Yes mistress," he said, and with that, he turned and slunk off to where he'd stashed his E-Warefare pack, it contained his tool kit and the most powerful portable comms unit in the known universe, it was joked among Spirit team that, if he really put his mind to it, Spike could talk to god on it, though, with the way things were going, with Dream Warriors being able to communicate with the dead, and gods popping in and out, pretty soon he'd need a fucking phone book.
T'Kell looked rather proud of herself, smiling as she watched her servant head off to do his work, T'Shara glanced at him and he heard her clicking, to catch his attention, he turned and looked at her, "I will have a word, Yautja to Yautja," she said, seeing his slight concern, they were all enjoying watching Spike squirm and getting a taste of his own medicine after what he'd done, but they would all draw the line at him being hurt.
"Alright, I'm going looking for a vehicle, I could use someone to watch my back," Picasso said.
"I'll help," Ice said, standing up and stretching herself out before picking up her weapon as Picasso did the same.
"I too will assist you, I could be of help," Paul said, and both nodded, he picked up his rifle and the three left together, T'Shara stood up and stretched herself out.
"Sister, would you accompany me for a moment, I wish to speak with you," she said, looking at T'Kell, who smiled at her curiously.
"Of course, sister," she said and got up, T'Shara and T'Kell both headed out of the room towards one of the bedrooms, Tank looked at Aiden curiously as Macha moved closer and snuggled herself up to him, Aiden noticed her sizing up his lap out of the corner of his eye before deciding she preferred it the other way around and pulling him up into her lap.
"She's just having a friendly Yautja to Yautja chat with her, concerning Spike," he said with a smile, and he saw a little tension go out of both Moodstone and Tank, Whisper seemed indifferent to it, as always, she seemed to be to more interested in trying her hardest not to get caught looking at the side of T'Sall's head, which Aiden thought was pretty funny as he was a Dream Warrior and could probably read her mind, he had once already, but, when he did lose his fight and look at her, she was suddenly looking at absolutely anything else in the room from a stray speck of dust to Zachee's flicking tail.
Moments later, the pair returned, and T'Kell looked both confused and maybe a little chastised, she returned to her seat and sat stroking her dreads, as if trying to order her thoughts, "I will check on Spike's progress," T'Shara said, and Aiden and Macha nodded in unison.
Aiden returned his attention to Whisper, and he couldn't help but smile, flustered Whisper if that's what you could call it, well, ok, flustered for her was surprisingly cute, though, even thinking about her as cute somehow seemed wrong to him, ironically to him, his idea of cute would be be Macha in an apron, or T'Shara wearing a frilly little maid's outfit, though, he really couldn't imagine the pain of ever getting her to wear something like that, she'd probably take his cybernetic arm off and slap him with it for just suggesting it, maybe just a frilly little nightie instead?
As warm feelings and thoughts of both Macha and T'Shara dressed in little peekaboo nighties he heard a soft giggle next to him, he turned and saw Macha giving him an evil but warm smile, "What?" he asked, and she coiled her tail possessively around him in multiple loops, pulling him closer so his head was resting against her chest, she leaned her big head down next to his ear.
"I'll wear it for you, but i'll want something in return," she purred in his head while extending her inner mouth to nibble his ear with her inner mouth, it sent hot pulses of pleasure chasing each other down his spine in little trills, suddenly, a soft giggle came from their left and they both turned though Macha kept his ear in her mouth.
Moodstone and Tank were both grinning at them, "You know, I never imagined I'd ever see a human dating a Xeno, but, I have to admit, you two look really good together, and with Inferno as well, the three of you make a perfect trio," Moodstone said with a smile.
Tank was nodding next to her, "Honestly laddie, I thought we were going to have bang yer bloody heads together to get you an Inferno to see that you were both crazy about each other, but it turned out all you needed was a Xeno sized kick in the arse and now two becomes three, just hope your ready to handle them both, I thought it was going to be tough for you loving just a Yautja girl, but a Yautja and a Xeno queen? Boy you seriously don't do shit by halves do ye laddie?" he said, and Aiden grinned, slightly embarassed, but Macha answered for him.
"I'll have you know that their love is the greatest thing in the world and, besides, he handled us both just fine last night, literally blew my mind, I never imagined joy like it, I understand what you mean by human love being so utterly worth it, Moodstone, it burns like fire that warms your heart and burns your body up inside, you revel in their gentleness, their kindness, their softness, and, just when you think you've got him figured out, he unleashes a wonderful passion on you that turns your mind into utter mush, makes you lose control of your senses, makes you literally beg for release while he holds you at his mercy, a divine torment from a creature you'd never have imagined capable of such things, but it's a torment you'd do absolutely anything to keep for as long as possible before they blow your fragile senses into absolute pieces, then there's that wonderful afterglow and after care, oh, what a bliss, there is nothing like it, the way he strokes, cuddles, caresses, I feel like I could lay for a thousand years in his arms, just listening to his heart beat, but that's just the human side of my joy and love, then there's the raw barely restrained passion and power that is my Yautja love, all that power and strength and passion all wrapped up in that skin, I've never ever looked at a female before in that way, and, know I'm not attracted to females, but with her its different, it's like the three of us were made to be together, not her and him, or me and him, or me and her, all three of us together as one," Macha said, both joyfully and proudly.
Aiden while he felt a bit well of rather embarassed with her speaking so openly about their sex life though it was still in it's infancy, if you could describe what they'd done last night as infancy, but he scanned the room for their reactions and he saw quite a rainbow.
Tank looked both understanding and curious, as a non human lover himself, he understood the joys of exploring a different species and exploring the delicious differences and the delightful similarities.
Moodstone looked positively busting with knowing pride, "I know exactly what you mean, oh, by the great tree, there is no feeling in the heavens above like it is there, having someone so utterly different from you but so wonderfully similar, trust me, Macha, there is nothing like just taking the time to explore the one you love and exploring their beautiful differences, I'm not ashamed to say I am utterly addicted to the feel of my Tankies skin and his hair, no Scalathor has either, and just winding my horn into his beard while running my fingers all over his super soft skin, it's utter heaven," she said.
Tank nodded knowingly, "For me it's her scales and that incredible tail, I could spend hours just stroking the super soft scales on it," he said, and Moodstone gave him a rather sultry and playful look.
"You know they're only soft on the underside," she said, and he grinned just as playfully.
"And how do you think I found that out, same way I found out they taste different," he said teasingly, and Moodstone's tail swished and came up to stroke under his chin, twisting the tip through his beard until he took hold of it and popped the very tip into his mouth like he was sucking on her finger, making Moodstone let out a truly feminine little squeak as he caught her by surprise, and she retaliated by pouncing on him and knocking him off balance and onto his back on the cushions.
"If you keep teasing me like that, my human, I may very well just forget myself and unleash the dragon that lives inside me right here, in front of everyone," she growled in a voice that none of them had heard before, while winding her horn through his beard making the bright red hairs wind around it like it was a knitting needle.
Tank reached down and, with a deft flick of his wrist that was blatantly a practiced art, he flicked her horn free of his beard and licked it right the way along its length making her gasp, as her mouth opened to draw in the gasp he seized her chin and plunged his tongue into her mouth and sealing the tip of her snout to his mouth.
When they parted she gave him a playful swat round the ear, "Sneaky human, I think I will have to punish you later," she said a soft growl penetrating her voice, but Tank gave her a growl of his own.
"I look forward to it ya wee dragon beastie," he said, placing a lightning fast kiss on the tip of her horn, making her growl again, Aiden couldn't help but smile at this little display, but then again, he was used to it, he saw the pair of them everyday, and this was tame by their standards, the pair of them were not shy about their love at all, and each was incredibly proud of the other.
But it was obvious by the reactions of those not in the group that this was a whole new thing, both Zachee and T'Kell were perched on the edges of their seats watching in utter fascination, "He's looking forwards to punishment?" she asked, sounding both surprised and curious, and Moodstone gave her an evil smile.
"My Tankie is a glutton for punishment when it's me dishing it out," she said with a grin, and Tank laughed, softly stroking her scales.
"Ye be the only woman for me ya wee dragon beastie, like I'd ever submit to anyone else, ya won me heart so its only right ya get everything that comes with it, the good and the bad, no way in a million years I'd let anyone else get away with the sort of stuff I let you get away with with me, I'd rip their guts out through their arse, Reaper's not the only one who can punch real hard you know," he said in a soft, but utterly defiant, voice.
Both T'Kell and Zachee actually looked like they were taking mental notes, "So, ooman males will submit to the right female?" T'Kell asked, and Moodstone nodded.
"Yup, if done right, they will turn themselves over so completely its beautiful, I tamed this gentle giant right here and made him all mine and no one else's, this big beautiful bear of a man all for me," she growled, softly raking her fingers through his beard, Tank just looked utterly content to take it.
Aiden saw Whisper glance thoughtfully at T'Sall, while Zachee and T'Kell both seemed to be looking thoughtfully into the air, like he could actually see trains of thought leaving their mental stations on a journey into the unknown, gods above, what had they bloody started here, they'd only come to save people from whatever threat was down here, not start a love revolution.
Aiden got up to stretch himself, only to feel Macha's tail reach out and wrap itself around him again, "And where do you think your going, lover human?" she purred, pulling him back into her lap and binding him on.
"To get ready for the mission," he said, lifting his head to look at her.
"Aww, I wanted to cuddle for a bit longer," she said, he tried to reach up to stroke her face but realized she had his wrists bound up as well, for some reason a little thrill shot through him, her tail was so incredibly long that it not only bound his body but his hands as well.
"There will be plenty of time to cuddle tonight, but now I need to prepare," he said, Macha let out a huff and nodded.
"Fine but I'll hold you to that," she said, and he grinned.
"I'd cross my heart, but you kinda have my hands tied up," he said, and she slowly released him from her tail, letting him move, he stood up and, turning on his heel, he placed a tender kiss first on the top of her head before lowering his face and kissing her mandibles one after the other before moving to her inner mouth.
Once done, Aiden turned and headed for the roof, he was planning out their route through the city, one of the things Spike was doing as well as contacting the ship was repairing his comms unit so he'd have personal comms, but he still had his writ comp on line, he was planning on using it to try and uplink to the GPS satellites and to help him plan a route through, combine that with on ground intel and they could maximise their search potential as well as possibly ID both potential survivor hold outs, as well as other potential supply caches, good intel and prep work was essential to any mission, but, in territory as hostile as this, it was utterly life saving.
"Good idea, boss, I'll come with ye, could do with stretchin me legs anyway," Tank said, and together, the pair headed out of the room and up to the roof.
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"I'm going with them, I could do with some fresh air and to spend some time with uncle Reaper before you all go out," Missy said, jumping up, and, before anyone could stop her, vanishing out the door.
"She really is a lively one isn't she?" Moodstone said, watching the door close behind her, and Macha nodded.
"For someone who has suffered as much as she has, she is incredibly strong, both in spirit and will," Macha said, T'Sall nodded.
"I feel her pain coming off her in waves, it saddens my heart greatly to know that someone so young has suffered so greatly and intently, but it gladdens my heart to see and feel the bond she has forged with you, she relies on you more than you know, Macha," he said knowingly.
Macha shook her head and looked him right in the eyes, "I know exactly how much she relies on me, Dream Warrior, I feel it too, but she is a part of MY hive now, and I will stand for her, I am both her queen and her adoptive mother, while I draw breath NO ONE will harm a single piece of fur on her body, and, with the help of my divine given loves we will stand strong together, one love, one heart, one soul, one perfect hive," she said with such fierce pride in her voice they all felt the power of her determination burning around her.
T'Sall brought his mandibles up into a heart warming smile, "That is what I want to see, you remind me so greatly of the queens from my world, Macha, it is heart warming to see, the love with such fierce passion and intent that it is incredible to see, there is nothing that they will not do to protect their hive, or their clan, which they see as an extension of their hive, being that the safety and protection and acceptance of the clan is the very reason they have a hive in the first place, to them, we are all family, one big extended hive, all equally loved, with only one exception, their mate, he is given pride of place in their hearts, they call it their heart throne, the king who sits on the throne of their heart," he said, and Macha's tail swished and danced as she leaned forwards on her seat.
"Yes! This is how I feel for Reaper and Inferno, they share my heart throne, I am their queen and he is my king, she is also my queen, all three equal together, no one superior to anyone else, each propping the other up with strength and love," she said, and T'Kell tilted her head curiously.
"But how can one so weak in strength possibly prop up a queen or a huntress, let alone both together!? Oomans, in my experience, are weak!" she said, her voice both curious and surprised.
T'Sall looked at her, "I'm genuinely surprised at you, T'Kell, that you would hold such a narrow minded view of them, yes, while I do agree that oomans can be perceived as physically weak when compared to other species like our's or Macha's, but never ever doubt the strength of the ooman heart or spirit, there is little that can stand up to it's strength in this universe, when all around him whimpered in fear, ran in horror, cowered in panic at the onslaught of the darkness, our Grand Patriarch stood tall and proud before the jaws of death itself and taunted it, he fought with everything he had, determined to protect those he cared about, and, by extension, everyone else, and he still stands, oomans have the capacity to surprise," he said.
She looked thoughtful, "I've got respect for their battle tactics alright, they tend to win by speed and cunning rather than by outright aggression and strength, but, when faced with an opponent with overwhelming strength they almost always lose, especially if the opponent's will is stronger, I have never lost in one on one combat with an ooman," she said proudly.
T'Sall regarded her curiously, her pride was obvious, and so was her arrogance, but he could see that it masked a deep seated insecurity, it swirled around in her aura like a small silver snake, it was going to take something monumental to pry that snake out of her soul, he'd seen plenty of Yautja just like her, so completely assured of their superiority that they couldn't even process the thought that there was strength in things other than physical strength, even things like mercy, it took a far self assured and strong person to let an enemy live when you had the chance to end their life, but, more than once, he'd seen it from his Grand Patriarch, not so much from his Grand Matriach, but that's where they balanced each other out, her strength gave him strength to do what he needed to at times and his empathy and mercy stopped her from going too far when needed, a perfect balance, in his opinion this is why humanity and the Yautja both needed each other and were stronger together than apart.
"So what about you, T'Sall, would you prefer a soft gentle human woman or a strong proud fierce Yautja one?" T'Kell asked, focusing on him, and suddenly, he became aware of all of them focusing on him, he balked at the question, but, out of the cornor of his eye, he could see Macha giving him a shit eating grin with her mandibles, thats when he realized she could read him as easily as he her.
"Neither, Humans or Yautja are not his flavor," she said, making him gasp, Whisper snapped her attention to the big Xeno queen as she reclined in her seat.
"So what is?" she asked a little too quickly, he opened his mandibles to speak, but Macha got there first, again, due to her speech not requiring breath like his.
"Felenis, he likes his girls with a bit of fur," she said teasingly, and he shot her a warning glance, was this what it was like to have a Dream Warrior crawling around in your head? Boy, it was annoying, now he suddenly realized why his kind elicited fear in some.
"He likes my kind!?" Whisper exploded before clamping her paws over mouth in embarrassment, he shot another glance at Macha as if to say 'Oh great, thanks a lot,' she just shrugged.
"What? Wasn't it you that said Dream Warriors are taught to be truly honest with their feelings and their loves?" she said, and a stab of guilt pierced his heart, she was absolutely right, he'd been denying this since it had first happened, even more so, since he'd touched her, he really really liked Whisper and it grated his brain like an itch.
"Yes it is, fine, you want to hear the words, I'll say them, and I'll say them proudly, I like you, Whisper, I think you're the most beautiful creature I have ever seen, and I have traveled a great section of this universe, but never have I seen one as beautiful as you," he said proudly, turning to look her right in her dinner plate sized eyes.
She bolted, Whisper was out of the door as fast as her legs could carry her, and, given that Felenis were famous for their speed, that was really something, all of them just stared after her, "Wow, I have never seen something freak her out so quickly in my life! Damn, stud, I think you just blew her tiny feline mind to bits with that confession," Moodstone said.
T'Sall jumped to his feet and went to chase after her, "I have to go to her! I have to apologise to her! My words have caused her fear and harm!" he exclaimed, but Moodstone tackled him and Macha hoisted him off his feet and plonked him down on his seat again.
"Don't fear so young Dream Warrior, yes, she was scared, yes, she panicked, but, as she ran I felt something else entirely," Macha said, he stared at her.
"What!? What did you feel, oh, queen!?" he exclaimed, she smiled happily.
"Two things actually, joy and happiness," she said, Moodstone smiled brightly.
"See? She'll be fine, just give her time to calm herself down, she's really not used to emotional stuff, scares the hell out of her, so, someone just telling her somethikng like that, and, someone who's she's blatantly interested in, by the way, she's been gazing at you like a love struck cub all night, it hit her a bit too hard is all, give her time, she'll calm down," she said.
T'Sall seemed to calm down at this and he breathed a sigh of relief and slumped into his chair, Zachee turned to Moodstone curiously, "D-D-Does that approach work on humans too? you know, the direct approach?" she asked curiously.
Moodstone grinned at her, "I guess it all depends on the human, they're so incredibly different from one another its a wonder that they pair off at all sometimes, some respond better to a gentle, soft approach, gently teasing and snaring their sense and luring them to you, think of it like a swamp trapper plant, it really really wants to eat the bee, but the bee doesn't want to get eaten, so the trapper plant makes itself look pretty and gentle and soft and alluring, it lures the bee in, and, when the time is right, it closes the trap and boom, it's got itself a bee to eat, well a lot of humans are like that too, they're scared of your intimidating nature so you make yourself appear soft and gentle and alluring, you lure them to you and when the time is right and the feeling is right and they are comfortable in your presence and just being with you, boom, you close the trap, revealing what you really are and you got yourself a tasty human, though, without the actual eating and killing bit obviously," she said, making a shape like a Venus fly trap with her hands closing them as she pretended a bee was flying into them.
T'Kell made a snort noise and she glanced up at her and smiled knowing what she was thinking, "Of course this doesn't work for all humans, like I said they are all different, you know I once read a dating guide written with the explicit goal of seducing humans away from their species, it had a ton of different methods depending on the human you were after, sections for both males and females, but there were four methods that kinda stuck out, the one I just described was one, the second is kinda like what T'Sall just did, it outlines getting to know them as friends first, building a relationship through trust and friendship before just outright being honest with them and putting the choice on them, letting them know where you stand and what you want from them, then letting them choose, sorta like what T'Kell did, outright honesty, except he skipped the long burn of getting to know the person as friends first," she said.
Zachee nodded thoughtfully, obviously taking mental notes, "And the third?" she asked, and Moodstone scratched her chin thoughtfully.
"I believe this method is a bit more tailor made for our kind, or possibly Yautja, it's a bit more...forceful, it outlines how to spot a human with submissive traits to their personality, then how to draw them to you by domination, pulling their will into your own and making them submissive to you without out right forcing them, it involves showing them how strong you are, how you can get along just fine without them, but how you are willing to grace their live with your presence as long as they accept your control over them, in short, your strength becomes their strength, you basically take responsibility for them as long as they adhere to your wishes and follow your lead, its a bit niche if I'm honest, and for me there is no appeal, but, like I said, lots of humans are just so incredibly different, so each approach is different, remember what I said earlier about so many of our race loosing that which they craved so badly because they just couldn't get out of the mindset of taking what wasn't offered freely, humans are very fragile like that, hurt one in that way and they will never forgive you, no matter how hard you beg them to," she said with a note of caution like a hard steel edge in her voice, her eyes flicked between the two and she could see Zachee actually looked disgusted by the thought, but T'Kell looked curious, not exactly convinced, but curious.
"What is this forth method of which you speak," T'Kell asked, and Moodstone nodded.
"That is an all together different approach, that one involves making them chase you, you catch their eye then pretend like you not interested, this, to some, is like the most sweetest of nectars, they will go out of their way to impress you and to chase you, to win your favor and catch your eye, when you feel like they've done enough you simply give in and let them feel like they've won a victory, when in reality it's you who has won, it's sort of like reverse hunting," she said, this made both Zachee and T'Kell curious and thoughtful.
"But you must remember that no two humans are the same, what works for one won't work on another, so you must tailor your approach to the person involved, as I'm sure T'Kell could appreciate, you tailor your hunt to your prey, you don't go armed with plasma castor's and heavy weapons if your only hunting shimmer lizards," she said, and T'Kell nodded, liking and understanding the hunting analogy.
"Now I see why they call it ooman hunting," she said thoughtfully.
"Exactly, and trust me when I say they are the sweetest of prey, once caught you will not want to let go, ever," she said.
Zachee nodded in understanding, as did T'Kell, but she could see a flurry of ideas scurrying about behind their eyes, "What method did you use with Tank?" Zachee asked, and Moodstone grinned.
"Lets just say I caught my buzzy big bee with honey not with lemon, show him who you are what and what you offer, then let him decide if he wants it or not, kinda like waving a flower infront of him" she said with a devilish grin, but then a note of caution flashed into her eyes, "What ever you do, don't go down the domination route with Picasso, not only will he rebel against it, what with his strong sense of self and will, but I can tell you now he'll resent you for it and that boy does not forgive easily, look what happened with that human female who did it to him, he's devilishly smart and strong and loyal as they come, but under his mask he's a sensitive soul, his ego is kinda fragile at times so don't attack his emotions or you'll fail badly and I swear if you hurt him you'll answer to all of us," she said.
Zachee balked and looked like a deer caught in headlights, "H-H-How did you know!" she exclaimed and Moodstone grinned.
"What? you don't think I can recognise when one of my own kind is the same as me? A human hunter?" she said, and Zachee shrank.
"D-D-Don't tell him, please, I want to decide what to do for myself" she said softly and Moodstone nodded'
"My lips are sealed," she said, and just then, the door opened and Tank and Reaper came back in, Moodstone sprang up and stretched herself, "Now ladies and gents, if you'll excuse me I have a buzzy bee who needs to pollinate his flower" she said, walking up to Tank and, reaching up, she grabbed the end of his beard and yanked.
"Owww! What are ye playing at now ya wee dragon beastie!?" he exclaimed, but Moodstone never said a word, simply leading him by the beard from the room, her grip never slackening on him for a second, and they all couldn't help but grin and laugh at the huge male rendered powerless by the small female and then being led around by his beard like a dog on a leash.
Aiden looked confused and looked at them, "What was that about?" he asked.
"Pollination," Macha said, and now he looked even more confused, then she jumped up and headed over too him and encircled her tail around his throat, though not tight enough to cut off his air, "Come on, my king, lets go find our huntress, I want to make the most of our day before we head out," she said, and with that, he was gone from the room as well.
"Hunt with honey, not with lemons," she said quietly to herself.