Chapter 5

I'm under a gray cloud and I don't notice him until I feel his warm breath send strands of hair dancing over my ear. My eyes meet at the chest when I turn to face him, and I notice that the alien cloth does little to conceal the muscular pectorals beneath. I can't imagine any human man contesting with those.

I faintly wonder if all sangheili are this ripped or if Kahlo is even the finest example of his kind. It's a thought that distracts me from my grim mood even as I flinch at the thought of facing a sangheili defined as 'buff' by his kind's standards.

"You've been gone a while. I was concerned." Kahlo explains. His shiny dark eyes meet my own and his mandibles dip a bit and flex as he breathes.

My cheeks flush and I bite the inside of my cheek lightly as I begin distractedly counting off the number of fangs in his mandibles. Of course he's worried, I've been hiding in here for twenty minutes as quiet as the dead, and on popcorn night. It's just a personal matter. Nothing dangerous. He's a bodyguard and all but I don't exactly need him to defend me from my own mother.

Probably.

"It was just a phone call." I force a small smile, although I'm feeling exhausted, well, mentally. When did I get so down on myself? College had nothing on this. "My mother."

"Is she well?" He asks.

"She's fine, it's all good." Words spill out like a babble, and I recall exactly why I'm so flustered, and I know Kahlo can read me by now. I'm pretty sure my face is always an open book. Now he gives me an almost stern look, head dipped down to look into my eyes.

I can't look at him, and so I stare down at the hole in the shoelace of my left shoe. I hear his breath release in a gentle huff, and he says, "Lacey, I can't help you if you don't let me in. I don't like to pry, but I feel I must." His dark eyes draw across my face and I look away from the intensity of them. They're so deeply expressive, and large. Dark pools of water that reflect so much emotion.

I guess we have that much in common as different races.

"You are anxious, and I would like to know why." He says again. Firmly. Pressing for answers.

It's nice to have someone care but it also frustrates me. Sometimes I don't want people reading into my emotions, or even caring enough to try. Kahlo however…he is here for me, and I guess I can't just ignore his requests. I just really don't want to talk about this right now.

Even though he's soon to be involved in my family matters regardless.

"I'm fine, I'm just a little nervous about my mom." And I explain to him the phone call I had received.

Apparently my mom was feeling sick for my company and had insisted that she would visit in two days. There was no talking her out of it. She had already boasted about the plane ticket she had received as a gift from a friend at work. I knew better. She had most likely purchased it and didn't want to seem too desperate to see me.

For being adamant about staying single, mom seems awfully lonely. That bothers me, because I feel almost responsible, and I don't know why. She never tried dating anyone when I was a kid, and she had seemed to scoff at affectionate couples we saw on outings to the grocery store or on the street.

"Does she visit often?" Kahlo asks and I meet his gaze, arms folded over my chest. I bite my lip lightly as I regard him. I'm still thinking about how mom will react. She's going to be bothered enough by the fact that I'm in serious trouble with a crime gang.

"No, it's been awhile." I said honestly, "But I'm not really looking forward to it."

"And why is that?" Kahlo asks, so full of questions that I feel an irritating itch at the back of my arm. I scratch it nonchalantly as I frown up at him.

"Well, for starters, I'm going to have to explain the murder of my boss, the fact that I'm involved in a scary criminal investigation…." I stretched out my arm, rolling down the sleeve of my shirt, "And with you."

Kahlo's mandibles flared open in what I knew now was a smile. He had bantered with Leanne the night before about their very different facial expressions, stating that humans looked terrified when they gritted their teeth in a smile. In her opinion, sangheili were quite scary with their pointed fangs jutting out everywhere, but she hadn't had to say it, Leanne had beat her to it. He had merely laughed in response.

"Yes, we are quite involved." I looked up, alarmed. Kahlo gave me an amused look, his chin tilted forward, one mandible set hanging slack, relaxed, and the other curved open in a smile. He looked almost smug.

"I-I'm sorry." I stammer, my cheeks going hot, "But you know what I meant."

He chuckled, "Yes, but I enjoy watching your skin change colors." He looked me up and down, and I feel like a piece of meat on display in a butcher's shop. Blood red and ready to smoke.

Stupid alien jerk. I shouldn't even be embarrassed, but as usual, my emotions get the best of me.

"Well, anyway." I say, just to say anything. "It should go alright as long as you don't stand around her or get out any weapons."

"Why can't I stand?" His mandibles quirk. I realize he's confused.

It's not obvious? I'm mean surely he can see how he towers over me, and pretty much everyone "You're just really…tall." My voice drops. Lame. I've never had to tell anyone that they might just be too tall for my mom. She just gets nervous about big, tall…things. That and rollercoasters. I have lived a sheltered childhood. Not even a Ferris wheel…

"Alien. Yes. That." Kahlo's mandibles fold, and his brown eyes crinkle at the corners as he looks at me thoughtfully, "Has she not met a sangheili before? Unngoy?

"No, and no." I've actually always wanted to meet an unngoy. They look small and cute on vids…and yes I realize they're probably the same height as I am, but still. Maybe it's the short squat-ness of them?

"Should I stay upstairs?" He asks.

"Of course not." I say this the same moment I think it. He's risking his life for me. It would be monstrous to hide him away like some dirty little secret. Kahlo doesn't deserve that level of disrespect, and frankly no one does.

"Just…be aware she's never seen anyone like you before. She's also going to be a bit concerned, okay, really concerned, about the whole criminal thing." I draw in a long breath and it comes out slowly, "She's going to be peeved enough about me not telling her. I just didn't do so well with Leanne, and she's my friend. Mom's not going to understand."

There's a heaviness on my shoulder, enveloping it entirely. I know it's Kahlo's hand. I can see his long fingers falling over the arm of my shoulder. A random memory takes residence in my mind. His wrinkles make me think of that day, when mom took me to see the elephants at the zoo. His hand really does look like a darker elephant skin, but his palm is a much warmer brown and you can see it in-between his fingers too, swimming between the cracks of deep black. I was surprised at how smooth they are, only lightly calloused on the edges.

"Mothers care." Kahlo's voice is a warm rumble and his breath tickles my hair against my cheek as he leans over me, "It is their way. She may be angry, but it is only because she is concerned. That is a trait of a good mother."
I understand of course, but I'm not going to look forward to her screeching in my ear about keeping this all a secret from her. She's going to feel betrayed. I know how my mom is. I could imagine being the same way. I hate it when mom tries to keep secrets from me. Like the one time our couch was repossessed to pay off a bill and mom had lied, and told me it had been stolen. Being an overly insistent nine year old, I had promptly rushed to phone the police and she had told me the truth then, snatching the phone away before I could dial. I had cried, accusing her of not trusting me.

Even now the memory has me flinching. Kahlo's fingers retreat and he moves to stand in front of me. I'm surprised when he leans over me, his dark eyes meeting my own, "I will stand with you and explain the situation." His mandibles flick again, and I swear I see something akin to amusement in his expression, "Or sit, if you prefer."

Ignoring the tingling in my cheeks, my lips twist into a small uncertain smile, "Yeah. Thank you." I don't know why I always feel embarrassed when I look into his eyes. It's like he opens up layers in me, and I feel…naked. I just can't explain it. I don't know if it's this alien side of him. Like I'm trying to be representative of humanity…though I'm not and I'm sure he's seen plenty of other humans before.

Does he think I look weird when I blush? Like ugly weird? I think of such crazy things…but I'm glad he thinks it's endearing. The whole, I change colors to express how I feel, thing. To me it's like putting up large printed signs explaining everything I think and feel in excruciating detail. That's just embarrassing.

"You're reddening again." Kahlo points out.

A hot wave washes over my cheeks. Oh boy.

00oo00oo00oo00

That night, after a dinner of ramen, fried sausage and steamed cabbage, Kahlo follows me carefully upstairs.

The first time we did this, climbing the stairs together, I had been terrified our combined weight would cause us to both crash through the floor, but so far so good. There was only this terrible creaking each time Kahlo's weight situated itself on the steps, the sangheili trying his best to walk on the tips of his toes. His foot pads are long and wide, and make walking upward a challenge for him, at least gracefully.

This is even more of a challenge when Clover decides to bound up the steps in a happy doggy huff, her lithe body slipping between Kahlo's legs and smacking my hip as she runs up past us.

At this displacement of my weight, I step back to maintain my balance.

I feel my heel slip off the step behind me.

I shriek and swing out an arm to try and catch onto the bannister. My hand falls short, but that isn't a problem, because I can feel Kahlo step up to me, no, against me, and I fall back onto him instead of down the stairs.

"Thanks Clover." I laugh, but it's uneasy, and I can feel the tremor on my lips. That falling feeling is always terrifying. How many people actually die falling down the stairs? That would be a terrible way to go.

"Your beast is quite energetic." Kahlo's voice rumbles into my back as he speaks. I realize I'm still planted against his chest and I quickly right myself, moving up a step. I turn back to smile at him.

Clover of course chooses to run past us down the stairs once again. I can feel his arm reach out to steady me.

"Yeah." I breath out slowly, just relieved that I'm still in one piece, "She's a handful. Lovable, but a little crazy sometimes. Thanks for the rescue."

Kahlo's mandibles spread in a smile, "It is my job." His eyes seem to darken as he looks at me, "And my honor."

I smile, knowing for certain from the heat on my face that I'm all flushed again. I just never expected so much…chivalry from him, heck, from any man. That's so rare to find these days. It just feels special.

Maybe even too special for average me.

Upstairs we head to our separate rooms, and I bid Kahlo goodnight before moving to retire to my room. I'm exhausted, even though all we really did a lot of today was talk and watch television. We also cleaned house, and I got to teach Kahlo how to cook noodles and we both attempted to teach Clover how to bring back items we threw at her… which ended up in her running off with them to probably hide them in the laundry hamper again.

My room is tidy enough it probably looks like a show room in a neighborhood ad for real estate. I just don't hang out in here often enough, and the messiest area, if ever, is the desk in the corner of the room where my computer is. That's where most of my work from home gets done. That's all I usually do, and I just now realize how much time I have to myself. It's actually kind of nice, but if I wasn't with Kahlo I'm not sure how I'd spend it.

I sit on my bed and I think about the past few days. Kahlo is a really great housemate. He's tidy, quiet and polite. He's a great conversationalist actually too. Leanne and he had debated about different subjects for almost an hour and he loved to learn new things. He couldn't stop asking me about the books in my study. He found them fascinating, in their old bindings, and I admitted to my interest in collecting old publications. There's something special about the old written word. There's this feel to the pages, this earthy smell to them. It's stimulating.

I had asked him if he could read in our language, and he admitted he could not, and like a small child he had asked me to read to him.

I was eager to, and it was because, like I had noticed before, I had more time to actually read again. Maybe I do need to stop working so much. I remember how much I used to enjoy literature.

Enjoy leisure.

I had read him most of the classic novel written by an ancient Earth author named Tolkien titled, The Hobbit. It's a fantasy fiction story about a small human like creature who lives in a world of monsters and magic and realizes his potential for heroics. I love fantasy novels and historical dramas best actually.

Kahlo had asked about every little thing, and I found it wasn't annoying having to pause and explain things to him. It was endearing actually. Kind of like a book club, but with just me and Kahlo.

I giggled as I slipped off my shoes and socks, remembering how Kahlo had compared the hobbit race to the unggoy. He seemed fond of the idea of the two races being interchangeable, and had laughed when he shared the idea of an unggoy facing off fantastical creatures being such cowards that they were. Kahlo liked the cleverness of the main character too and the way the writer described the environments they adventured though.

It had been a fun day overall, even when Kahlo had burnt the first batch of ramen. He hadn't realized the pasta had to be covered in water and the noodles had stuck to the bottom of the pan. I had to quickly turn the overhead fan on high to keep from having the kitchen full of smoke and sending the smoke alarm screeching.

Overall, it's been fun. Nothing scary so far.

Now I can hear clover's footpads knocking on the steps as she comes up the stairs. There's the familiar creak of my door coming open and a doggy huff as she runs over to hop onto my legs, dragging half the comforter off onto the floor.

I make a face and sit up, bending to collect my fallen blanket while a satisfied looking doggy face moves towards me. I hold out a hand to collect her pointed face in my palm and she wetly buries her nose there and makes a soft 'whoof.'

"Woof." I say back and gently push her back onto the floor.

Soon I've gone through the cycle of getting teeth clean, slipping on a nightgown and brushing my unruly hair out before bed, preparing for yet another pillow-tussled hair morning.

"Up girl." I tell Clover, but she's already hopped onto the bedspread the moment I'm situated between the sheets.

I feel for the pull string of the table lamp near the bed and blink in the darkness. I smile as I feel Clover tuck her wet nose between my fingers, her long slick tongue parting the folds of my fingers.

Several minutes pass and I ease into the warmth of the mattress, Clover's hot body wrapped around one leg.

I'm an easy sleeper. It doesn't usually take long, and I feel as if I'm ready to blink out. But then there's something that interrupts the process.

A sound.

I perk up a bit in bed, pushing up on my butt to rest my head against the pillows stacked against my headboard. There's this sound. It's like a slight creaking.

Clover utters a soft whine, and I slip both legs out from under the sheets, the pads of my feet resting on the cold wood floor.

I freeze when I recognize the sound of steps on the stairs.

Someone is in the house. They're coming for me.

My eyes turn to the dark slit of the half-open door, and I imagine a body standing behind it, a perfect dark silhouette.

Suddenly the dark slit in the door widens as a body pushes though and I scream as it comes for me.

00oo00oo00oo00

My heart is in my throat, and I'm choking on it as I gasp, throwing my body back and away from the intruder.

Clover isn't being a protective canine companion, and I can see her face, tail wagging at me as I fall back off the bed and onto the floor.

I'm dizzy and my head hurts.

I moan and roll on my side, arms over the sides of my head, gripping the throbbing bump on the backside of my skull.

"Lacey!"

Kahlo?

I squeak as I'm suddenly pulled into the air.

In Kahlo's arms.

It's only him. I can see his face, his shape in the blue light from the window. It's Kahlo.

I'm an idiot.

"Lacey?" His warm breath fans my face and I wrinkle my nose at the slight stench of cabbage, "Are you alright?"

I wiggle a bit in his grip and I freeze when I feel his hand across my buttocks. Oh my.

"Um, Kahlo? Could you maybe?" I gasp as I try to reassert a more proper position, but it's like he just doesn't get it. Kahlo actually tightens his other hand on my waist, and as I'm readjusted in his arms I can feel a long finger prodding my thigh.

And yeah, a girl in a nightgown can feel pretty modest being held up like this. In the air.

"You're hurt." Instead of releasing me I gasp as he turns with me in his arms and rushes towards the bathroom.

"Kahlo!" I feel warmth on my head drop down to tickle my nose and I realize he's right. I damn well cut my head being a moron.

Of course, In his urgency to get us both into the bathroom, he forgets his alien dimensions and I flinch as I hear and feel the thud of his head colliding against the top of the doorway.

He lurches back, one leg pushed backwards to catch his balance and I tumble against his chest as he curses.

"Are you okay?" I squeak. I look up towards his head, trying to crane over the length of his gaping mandibles to see the damage, "I'm so sorry!"

Instead of answering me, Kahlo continues into the bathroom, ducking this time as he enters.

Finally he bends to release me and I catch the sides of my gown as he does so to keep some amount of modesty intact. I can taste the blood now and I silently curse my stupidly as I wipe it on the sleeve of my gown. I must have smacked by head against the side of the bed when I fell.

Lights flicker on and water runs in the sink, and soon we are both treating one another. Kahlo sits on the edge of the bathtub, weight on his toes, as he gently presses a wet washrag to my head.

He insists on babying me. It actually reminds me of my mother, and then the headache returns when I recall that she's going to visit and yell at me in a day or two.

I stand between Kahlo's legs and brush my hand over his brow, and wince at the purple-red splotch glaring off the top, "It's just a bruise."

"Lacey, I frightened you. This is my fault." I flinch at the shame in his voice. He sounds like a beaten down puppy. Clover sits at our feet and actually tilts her head, looking puzzled, as if she thinks the same.

"Kahlo, it's not your fault." My voice is gentle, I'm really not upset about what happened. My head hurts, but I know he didn't mean to scare me. If anyone was to blame, it was my own paranoia. After three days, you'd think I would have gotten used to having someone else in the house.

Besides the fear of being knifed by some psychopath haunting my dreams.

The sangheili just makes a gruff unhappy noise at me, as if he is irritated that I won't accept him as the guilty one, "I should have announced I was coming in. If I had, you wouldn't have gotten hurt."

He placed a too-large hand on my shoulder and I feel the weight of it there, and even more so when he looks into my eyes. They look dark with regret.

"I'm supposed to protect you." Kahlo says somberly, "But instead, I've damaged you myself."

I feel a prickle of irritation, and I push his hand away. I refused to let him continue. "You were not at fault. I'm an idiot, and a coward. My imagination ran off with me, and I tumbled off the bed because I rolled off it like a fool."

I draw out a long breath, "Listen." I smile at him, trying to ease back into 'blameless' territory. "Let's just pretend this never happened, alright?"

He grabs one of my hands gently and rolls one of his large fingers across it. I didn't expect him to, and I watch his large warm hand envelop mine, "Forgive me Lacey. I did not mean for you to get hurt. I promise it won't happen again."

I laugh lightly. Kahlo's sweet, I hope he knows how much I appreciate it, "You can't promise that. I'm a klutz, it's bound to happen again."
My heart thuds in my chest as his hand pulls me against his chest. I feel his own heart thudding against my palm. He regards me with those serious dark eyes, mandibles tight against his face, "It won't happen again." He promises.

There's something about the intensity of his voice. It's the dangerous confidence of it that has chills dancing across my spine.

And I believe him.

00oo00oo00oo00

The next morning we're sitting together in the kitchen, knee to knee. His legs are just that long. I find it amusing still, but I'm also a bit unhappy that it's kind of an inconvenience to him.

"Kahlo, do you want me to get you some furniture?" I ask over toast, my hand moving over the table to replace the cap on the jam jar.

"I don't require it." He says. He has already eaten five pieces of bread slathered in jam, and was already coating another piece thickly, the knife looking ungainly in his huge fingers. He handles the blade good regardless, with this sort of nimbleness, and I recall that he is a swordsman.

I stifle a laugh when I imagine him fighting off bad guys with a butter knife.

He looks at me, "What is amusing?" He sounds curious.

I just smile, "Hey Kahlo, can you throw swords too?"

He just looks confused, his mandibles flaring out almost helplessly, "What? You cannot throw a sword. Do you mean a Kuvu?" Alien word. It sounds like either Kubu, or Koo-voo. I guess translators can't cover every part of the language.

"What is that?"

He seems to understand my intent now, and holds up the small butter knife. I actually can't help but wince at how easy he does this, "This is similar." He explains, "But ours have larger grips. They are meant to reconcile sangheili with the memory of our ancestors, we merely use kuvu to perform with during ceremony."

"What do you throw them at?" That is fascinating. I wonder what kind of parties they throw. Puns. Gotta love puns.

"We set up targets, but sometimes younger males will form hunting parties to pursue edible meat. The respectable quarry is dangerous to pursue, but it is a great honor to make a kill and bring the meat to a feast for all the village."

"Have you used them, the kuvu I mean?" He does handle that knife pretty well.

Kahlo then proceeds to flip the knife into the air. I can only watch it for a second before it's in his other hand. No time to react. That was quite possibly the coolest thing I have ever seen.

"A few times." He smiles with his mandibles, "I joined a hunting party once. I prefer the long blade to the kuvu though."

I hold out my hand for the knife and he places it in my fingers. I smear more red jam across another slice of toast. We literally have a whole plate of just toast. I should probably try a bacon and eggs morning one day just for Kahlo to experience 'real breakfast' foods.

"You could just throw knives, err, -kuvu at people and then be done with it. You wouldn't have to get close to them." I say. Because it makes sense to me. Why would you want to get close to some crazy jerk who wants to kill you?

Kahlo's mandibles tuck a bit and I notice he looks stern with me again. I sigh, and put down the knife. We always disagree on at least one thing a day.

"That is not the way of the honored warrior." Kahlo says firmly, "Only a coward would fling kuvu, a hunting tool, at his rivals. My blood is that of my fathers and his fathers, and we have never used kuvu as tools of war."

"The covenant used guns." I snap my mouth closed, but it's already out. I open it again, but I don't know what to say.

Kahlo speaks for me.

"Yes, the prophets of lies and death properly equipped my people for the slaughter of countless billions." Kahlos' voice doesn't sound angry, just pained. I stare at the table at my folded hands as he continues.

"We were tools then. Tools that did not question the wielder and that merely performed as they were made to in war." Kahlo's tone became bitter, "We were displaced from our past, and molded into tools. We performed atrocities at the command of masters who sent us out like dogs to murder and burn."

"This past is why I am who I am today." Kahlo continued, "I will never be able to wipe away the sins of my family, and the sins of my race."

I need to speak now, because I can't hold back. This is just too serious a conversation, and I just don't understand how Kahlo could feel this way. He wasn't there. It wasn't his fault.

"You've told me this before Kahlo." I say quietly, "I understand that you feel guilty for the past, but it wasn't your fault. You don't have to redeem yourself for something you had no part in."

Kahlo stands, and the chair smacks the linoleum with a crack. I flinch as his shadow falls over me, "You don't understand." His voice is like a growing thunder, and I realize he is growling underneath his breath. I don't know if I should feel afraid or not, but right now I'm only confused.

He holds up a hand, the hand that was just holding my own the night before. I now recall the feel of his hearts beating against my palm. Kahlo has so much heart, and I can see it now, burning fiercely in him.

I'm afraid, but not of him, for him.

"This hand was given to me by Haduvee Modem, an old father." Kahlo's voice is low, but intense. Angry, "His blood is my blood. He served as a shipmaster during the war. Unrelenting Pursuit. And they were relentless in their mission. He murdered countless people on command."

"Mother told me of his crimes." Kahlo said slowly, painfully. I grip my fingers together tightly.

"He swore that we were cursed until we could redeem ourselves for our mistake." Kahlo recounted, "We were all told stories about how he tore his clothes from his body and wept at my mother's feet. Like a child." His voice was thick with disgust.

Kahlo breathed in deeply, "And the sangheili were like children once. I won't be misled again. We won't be."

He grows silent and I listen to the sound of his breathing. My eyes see the dip of his shoulders, the slack look of his mandibles. He looks tired. But angry. I can see the simmer in his eyes and in the heaving of his shoulders, the twitching of his two long fingers, the smaller ones pinched between them.

I get up then, and I don't ask his permission. I don't say anything.

I open up my arms and I wrap them around one massive shoulder. I'm not shy, I'm emotional, and impulsive, but it feels right. I know it probably looks awkward, he's so big, and I'm so small, but it works.

I rest my head on his large shoulder, and I feel the thunder of his twin's hearts moving against my hand. Like war drums pounding.

Kahlo's hand finds mine, and I feel like I'm surrounded by one big thundering heart as we continue this big, albeit awkward, embrace.

I'm embarrassed as I pull away, more out of reflex from Kahlo suddenly turning to gaze at me. I realize now what I've done. How do my actions define me in his culture? Was what I did taboo? Do sangheili even hug at all?

Oh gosh, what is its intimate only, what if-?

"You have a good heart Lacey." Kahlo looks into my eyes and my thoughts disperse as soon as they had come into being. His hand pulls my chin up and I flush as he regards me with those large coffee bean eyes again.

"You have two….err, big, great ones too." I could smack myself as soon as that babble came out, but I'm too busy being stiff and red faced to move.

Kahlo just smiles and we separate. I stand there awkwardly while he merely stares.

"I will let your beast out. I can hear her at the door." Kahlo's hand lingers before he pulls away. I had forgotten it was even in his grip. He looks at me a final time before leaving the room.

I exhale slowly. I feel cold as soon as I realize just how hot we were together.

Ugh.

Some things are not meant to be spoken out loud…

Yeah, sorry guys, just another touchy feely chapter. Haven't gotten into the intense bits yet, still trying to fill out that part for the best effect. Hope you guys enjoyed nonetheless…and yay! I'm still alive…and updating. Sorry it took so long, college is taking my time once again.

Until next time. Let me know how you guys felt about this chapter. I enjoy reading your comments. If there are any errors…sorry, I probably should reread these things at least three times. And yeah, sexy sangheili should have to carry female characters around. It's kind of hot…moving on. XD Hope you enjoyed!