They spent several days getting the ship arranged and cleaned out. The fragments of Kwei's shattered trophies had been tossed into the sea with a lot of disgusted anger on his part. R'ka couldn't blame him at all. He had clearly worked hard to obtain that many trophies in the short time he'd been on planet, and now all of the effort to hunt them, and the work involved in cleaning and polishing the skulls was now being tossed into the ocean. She knew exactly how he felt.
Once they had returned to the cave, Kwei and R'ka both had gone about making a sleeping spot for the male. Jenn watched curiously while the two cleared out a shallow depression before lining it with furs and hides for cushioning. There hadn't been a lot of options in places where it could be put, so they settled on placing it between the entrance and the fireplace on the opposite wall of R'ka's bed. Kwei's attitude made it clear that he was quite pleased with the arrangement.
It was agreed that because of her small size in relation to the Great Yautja, that Jenn would sleep with R'ka. Jenn found this particular arrangement to be more than comfortable, because it gave her someone to snuggle up to at night. R'ka's body was warm… actually, it was more than that. The huge alien woman was a furnace, and in spite of all the solid muscle, her body somehow felt soft and pleasant at the same time.
When Jenn woke up in the cave that first morning, she found herself draped over R'ka's sleeping body in a way that allowed her to use the mounds of those huge breasts as a pillow. Upon realizing the position that she was in, Jenn blushed deeply, and felt her body flush with heat. The fact that they were both completely nude did nothing to ease the direction her thoughts took.
'Get your mind out of the sewer girl!' Jenn admonished herself as she sat up.
She had learned that neither of the aliens viewed nudity the way that people back on Earth had. For them, clothing was merely a means of being comfortable while active. Jenn could easily understand that, because the parts of their anatomy that would be jostled by moving around were large indeed. In the case of R'ka, she was sure that the bouncing of those huge breasts would be extremely painful at the least; not that Kwei had a small package between his legs, but still. She had also learned that R'ka had been a little leery of being nude around Kwei until she was convinced of the male's honor. Once that single doubt was settled, R'ka had displayed no qualms at all in going around nude either in the ship or in the cave.
Jenn glanced over at the coals of the fire, and decided that she could put some of the stuff she'd brought back to the cave to good use. She went over, filled the camping percolator coffee pot with water, added some grounds from the partial can of Folgers coffee she'd discovered among the stuff, and set the pot in the coals to brew. She sat there, leaning against the wall next to the fireplace listening to the coffee brew, and watching both Kwei and R'ka.
Four days. She'd spent four days with the two aliens, and though she'd spent most of her time around R'ka, she'd learned a lot about them. Both had once been the same species, but a long time ago, R'ka's ancestors had separated from the original race and continued down their own evolutionary path. That the evolutionary path had been altered by genetic engineering had caused a seemingly irreconcilable rift between the two races. The primary difference was size and strength, but there were other differences that were not as apparent.
She had learned that there were some differences in the culture as well, but not many. Both races seemed to focus very intently on the hunt, honor, and respect. Courage, bravery, and skill were eschewed by both.
What really had surprised Jenn though were their ages. At twenty eight years old, she could look forward to maybe another decade of combat before she was either 'kicked upstairs', meaning being promoted beyond field work, or drummed out of the service. Neither option appealed to her. R'ka though… she was a different story altogether. At thirty four years old, she would be nearing middle age if she were human, but she was still a teen! Now that Jenn understood things, she knew that R'ka hadn't even had her first period yet! While that had been surprising enough, finding out that Kwei was a full seventy one years of age had made her jaw drop. He was in damned good shape for an old man! That was when she learned their average life span and her mouth fell open. She simply could not imagine living that long.
When the two had learned her age, Jenn had immediately been bombarded with questions about her skill and experiences in combat. They questioned her about what a 'terrorist' was, and why she and her team had been among those assigned to deal with them. After hearing a lot of the sordid details, R'ka and Kwei had turned to stare at each other for several long moments. Then Kwei had said 'Arbitrator', and the two had left it at that.
Jenn thought about these things while she waited for the coffee to perk. When it was done, she took one of the camping mugs and filled it with the steaming brew. She then closed her eyes and inhaled deeply as she savored the rich and enticing aroma.
'Now this is the way to start a morning!' Jenn thought with a smile. 'Black and powerful… just like my .44!'
Before she took her first sip though, she moved the pot over to one side so it would stay hot, before adding wood to build up the fire a bit. After that, Jenn allowed herself to savor the first mug of coffee she'd had in several days.
R'ka had awakened the instant Jenn shifted her position of being sprawled across her body. She had to admit that she liked the way that small body felt while nestling against her own. The little female seemed to fit so perfectly, and it just felt… right for some reason that she couldn't explain. She watched in silence as Jenn went over to the remains of the fire. She wasn't sure exactly what Jenn was doing, but she'd been told that there would be a new kind of broth made this morning. She was looking forward to trying something that Jenn seemed to be very fond of. When Jenn leaned back against the wall of the cave and waited for the broth to finish brewing, R'ka simply observed her.
The muscles on the small body were also small. They were mostly well defined, but not very prominent on Jenn's body. There were very few scars on the ooman female, and the two that were most noticeable were the two that were made when she and Kwei had saved Jenn's life. Small and lean, Jenn looked much like a Warrior who had somehow been shrunk in size, except that she didn't have the large muscles of a Warrior. The physique she did have though, seemed to serve her needs very well. With the inertial enhancing units in her boots, Jenn had proven difficult to stay ahead of. R'ka had been moving through the branches of the trees, while Jenn had been on the ground moving very swiftly!
That was when R'ka caught a whiff of whatever Jenn was making. Whatever it was smelled incredibly appetizing. It was strange, because she was certain that the scent was somehow invigorating as well. Curious as to just what Jenn was doing she lay there and watched in silence.
Jenn was sure that R'ka was awake or at least dozing very lightly, because the woman had the habit of waking up the second that she roused. Given that R'ka wasn't showing any signs of being alert, Jenn kept as quiet as she possibly could to avoid waking her or Kwei.
Kwei huffed deeply as he sat up; in fact he was sniffing and huffing so hard that one might have thought there was a ready female nearby. He was pulled from his slumber by an aroma that he'd never encountered before. Whatever it was, he wanted a taste of it, because it was the most rousing scent he'd ever smelled.
"What is that wonderful scent?" Kwei asked when he spotted Jenn sitting against the wall of the cave by the fire.
"Shhhh! Put your helmet on!" Jenn whispered swiftly with a finger to her lips.
Kwei looked at her for a moment before he donned his mask, and saw that Jenn was doing the same.
"R'ka's still asleep, so keep your voice down. I don't want to wake her up just yet, because she needs her rest." Jenn whispered.
"Do you believe that you don't?" Kwei asked softly.
"I'm used to waking up early… not that I have the slightest clue what time it is." Jenn said ruefully as she poured a cup of coffee.
"Here, try this. I think you'll like it, God knows I love the stuff. Hell on campaign I practically live on it!" Jenn said as she handed Kwei the cup.
Kwei scanned the contents of the cup with his mask and found that he could safely consume the stuff. Taking off his mask, he sipped at the hot beverage, and his eyes widened in surprise. He had no idea what the stuff was, but it was hot, it was strong, and it was different!
"What is this stuff? It doesn't taste like it has meat in it." Kwei said as he looked up at Jenn in surprise.
"It's called coffee, and it's made out of beans grown on a plant, so it doesn't have any meat at all. What it does have is caffeine which helps get the blood flowing and gets you alert when you can't get enough sleep. It also keeps you going when you can't get any sleep!" Jenn replied as she lifted her helmet up so she could take another sip of coffee.
That was one reason they each wanted to learn the other's language. Communicating with each other was a tedious affair while eating because it meant that they had to don and remove their helmets while alternating between talking and eating so that they could understand what was being said.
"Even though it has no meat in it… it smells wonderful but it doesn't taste that way; this is strange!" Kwei exclaimed with a slight frown.
Jenn nodded to Kwei while he tried his first cup of coffee. Then, the sound of rustling furs drew her attention to R'ka who was sitting up. She smiled over at the much larger woman, before grabbing an empty cup and filling it with the hot brew. She knew that R'ka was going to comment one way or the other, so she lowered her helmet to be able to understand what was said.
Jenn handed her the cup of strange but wonderful smelling brew, and R'ka just had to try it! She had no idea what this stuff was, but she loved it. To her, it tasted exactly like it smelled, and she couldn't get enough of that scent! That wonderful aroma was so enticing that she couldn't decide if she wanted to smell the beverage or actually drink it!
"You do not like this?" R'ka asked while looking at the smaller male strangely.
"No, I don't… but the scent is a truly wonderful thing." Kwei admitted.
R'ka donned her mask as she moved towards the fire. "Kwei does not enjoy the taste of this morning beverage, but he does like the smell. I on the other claw… find both the smell and taste to be wonderful. What is this called?"
"It's called coffee, and I happen to love it!" Jen answered without hesitation.
"I can understand why. This is excellent." R'ka said with a smile as she pulled her mask off to enjoy the steaming brew.
R'ka placed her cup to one side while she prepared her typical morning beverage. She was making it strictly for Kwei, since he had said he didn't like Jen's coffee.
R'ka was watching as Jen donned the awu'asa that Kwei had modified for her. She could readily see that while Jen wasn't at all familiar with it, the ooman female was still looking all of it over very carefully. It was clear to her that Jen was looking for any signs of wear or damage. Then Jen began checking some of her ooman weapons, and the little ooman was going over those just as carefully. Although the ooman's obvious familiarity with the equipment showed in the speed with which it was examined. It was a strange thing to know that in spite of her very young age, Jen probably had even more combat experience than Kwei. She knew that while Kwei had been able to hunt intermittently for almost half his life, Jen had by comparison been in near constant combat for almost a third of hers. It meant that the ooman had been forced to learn fast and hard. That was now an advantage as far as she was concerned, because Jen had already made it clear that she would give freely of her experience, knowledge, and even trophies if it suited her or provided some type of equalization. The sheer number of Jen's trophies, combined with their value in regard to survival, was an act of incredible personal honor! It was this selfless concern for the three of them, the group as a whole, which convinced her to share her own trophies in such a manner if it ever became needed. The furs that were being used was an excellent example. Kwei had not yet had the opportunity to hunt any fur bearing creatures. Thus, the furs he was sleeping in had come from her kills, while the meat that they were now eating had come from his kills.
It was something that Jen called 'teamwork'. It was where one placed the needs of the group before the wants of the individual. It was a unique and amazing concept. Kwei had often fought in groups, but never before had he even heard of such a thing. Jen had needed to explain the idea to them in great detail. It turned out that she had been trained from the start to understand and adhere to that concept. Individual accomplishments meant very little so long as the team was able to succeed. It was something that was difficult for R'ka and Kwei to understand, and yet it made good strategic sense.