Really short one, but I wanted to try and write something from Fran's point of view and still have it part of these.
Mating Rituals
The more she observed Hume's the more Fran was sure that there were something she would never be able to understand. Their very odd mating rituals being among those things. Why did Hume's insist on making it so unbelievably complicated? If a Viera wanted to mate they found a partner and mated... that simple. If they were blessed with a life out of the union the couple would live together, separate from their home villages until the kit was old enough to learn the Way of the Wood, then they would return one again to those separate homes with the child going with either the mother or father depending on it's gender. Then if the urge struck again at a later date they would wander out, find another to mate and repeat.
Hume's on the other hand tended to mate for life after a very long and complicated dance of pursuit and catch and while there were many rules and rituals that might interfere with that simplistic theory in all her years living among them Fran had seen even the most 'liberal' minded of Hume's fall to the eventuality of following that dance.
And Balthier was definitely among the most liberal of minded Hume's she'd ever met. But Fran had to wonder why he continued on this particular path. Her head cocked to the side her ears and nose twitching as she observed the closed door to her fellow pirate's room. The thief was back, she hear the murmurings of their voices and sense the rising heat of the thief's temper as well as the cool amusement that continually rolled off Balthier. Again the dance was on. Why Balthier didn't just take the woman and be done with it and why the woman did not just let him... both insisting on this strange game of words rather then giving into what they both obviously wanted it Fran did not understand. This silly little game of cat and mouse could end so easily. The thief simply take back what she insisted was hers and just as easily as Balthier could give it back. Fran did not like out easily this woman kept getting on board the Strahl ; however Bathier ignored her complaints and advice and continued to allow the intrusions- another thing she did not understand.
Fran shook her head. Hume's really were the strangest of creatures who made things so unnecessarily difficult. The Viera went back to her own quarters, those two were giving her a headache.