Hordika Under the Bed
The Hordika walked into the kitchen, shaking his left leg to rid it of that universal pins-and-needles feeling. "Mic?" he asked, blinking and sniffed.
The human turned and saw him. "What, up already?"
It was going on one by now, as she popped a pizza roll into her mouth. The human had somehow succeeded in pulling away from Vakama a few hours ago and had taken care of the pets, done a few chores, as well as changed her clothing. She now wore a pair of shorts instead of jeans, and a loose white shirt.
"You're days are weird." Vakama said as he shook his leg out again. He came closer, stepping over the napping dog and then sat beside Mic. He blinked both sets of lids, "Now what?"
Mic's index finger tapped against her thigh as she thought. "Well, I now know for a fact that my family won't be coming home when I thought they would be..." here she had a sad glint in her eyes, "... so that means you're safe to stay longer. Hey, um... can I ask you about some things in your world?" she said, curiosity in her face.
Vakama nodded, but eyed the sink. If he remembered right he could probably work it... "Go ahead."
"How long is your average life-span?" Mic asked, seeing his gaze on the sink. "Do you want a drink?"
"Yes and," Vakama paused to think about it, tail twitching and he hummed softly, "...For a Bionicle in general or a Toa?"
"Mm, both," she said, walking over and turning the water on.
"A Matoran can live for several thousands of years, our years," Vakama corrected waiting for the water, "A Toa...anywhere from less than a day to a few thousand years."
Mic's eyebrows rose as the water reached a good height, and she let out a breath, nervously, "Oh geez, thousands? Heh... human life-spans barely reach one hundred years at the most."
"Young," Vakama muttered as he half stood again and started to drink like he did the night before. The way he slurped it up, was like he had gone too long without it and getting every shot he could to drink.
Mic was silent for awhile, debating on whether the next question should be asked or not... but if she did, who knew how the Hordika would react. She finally blurted it out. "There are rumors that you're in love with Nokama, are they true?"
Curiosity killed the fangirl.
The Hordika choked eyes wide he gargled and attempted to cough out what water he nearly inhaled. Body shuttering, Vakama just managed to get his muzzle over the other, empty half of the sink and got rid of the water in his mouth and throat before backing up and gasping, "What?"
Mic cringed nervously and edged back slightly. "Um, just a rumor that's been around... you don't have to answer that. Sorry."
Vakama coughed again and thumbed his chest before looking up at Mic like she'd grown a second head.
"I shouldn't have asked that," the human said, bending over to pet the now-awake and alert dog on the floor. Still, on the inside she was wondering if Vakama's reaction meant something...
Vakama shook his head, but not in a negative way, more like AT the human. It didn't help matters that whenever he thought of either Nokama or any Ga-Matoran he'd met (or just the word 'female' depending on how far gone he was) his Hordika side metaphorically sat up and cried 'HATCHLINGS!' in glee with accompanying mental images of eggs as well as little Hordika-Matoran cubs.
Abby stood from the floor and wagged her tail at Mic, but eyed Vakama warily, lip twitching slightly. A long moment of, shall we say awkward silence passed before Mic thought of a way to change the subject. "Hey, did you get up earlier? How did Abby get out of my room?" Plus she was suspicious about the Hordika's stained claws.
"I heard something," Vakama nodded, reaching up to shut the water off. He paused to eye Mic warily before finishing his drink, he didn't want to choke again.
"The screen door was unlocked," Mic said, more to herself as the Hordika drank. She then pieced things together and realized fully WHY Vakama hadn't exactly asked for anything to eat. The human made a sickened sound.
'So THAT'S why I haven't seen a single squirrel all day.' She then realized that there were tiny smudges of dirt on the floor leading into the living room, on Vakama, and the same stuff had been all over her clothes earlier.
"When's the last time you actually took a bath?" she asked, an eyebrow raised.
"...does being drown count?" Vakama asked from where he was sitting and doing a cat like thing of grooming his muzzle and sides of his head with his wrist.
Mic frowned. "Not really. You really need a real popper bath... you smell kinda weird. AND, it'd be a help to your wound," she said, looking at the loosened wrap on his leg.
The Hordika shifted uncomfortably, looking leery at the word bath. Honestly it was half an elemental thing and half that he's seen Nuju and Nokama pin Onewa down and made the bigger Hordika take a bath despite him being three times as big as either of them.
"Oh, but you wouldn't fit in the tub," Mic realized to herself, fingering a curl in thought. Abby happily ran out the cracked screen door and onto the concrete, covered patio outside. Mic suddenly grinned. "I think Abby just found the perfect spot." The human sounded very sure of this whole 'bath' thing.
Vakama leaned away from the human without truly getting up and moving. "Tub?" he echoed softly, not sure it was the same thing he was thinking of.
"Yeah, it'd be waaaay too small," she replied. She noticed the reluctance in his moving away, and sighed. "Vakama, you're staying in my house. The least you can do is get clean and smell better," She turned and walked outside and onto the patio, happy when she found that there was a hose hanging on the wall. Perfect.
It took half a minute before the Hordika came out, sighing deeply and slouching a little as he did so.
Mic had opened a creaky old door in the wall where the concrete floor stretched from and was inside the cluttered garage in search for some soap. In fact, maybe she should grab two bottles. The Hordika was rather large after all. The human found what she was looking for and pulled out the bottle... to see a wolf spider sitting happily on the cap.
It was a mad scramble backwards, before she remembered to LET GO of the bottle. But the spider fell from it and onto her bare shin. That was enough to cause the female urge to completely freak out to occur. Which she did. "GAH, FREAKY LITTLE SPIDER, GEDDOFFME!"
In her scramble to go backwards Mic would find herself tripping over and into the red Hordika's arms. Vakama had trailed after to see what she was doing, and at the yell he reflexively growled started forward only to have the human run into him. One spazz and confused Hordika later found Vakama somehow on his back with his arms wrapped around Mic and a small (to him) spider on the end of his nose.
The mutated Toa snorted it off to the side.
Mic let out a shaky breath-spiders did NOT work for her. At all. Mainly any sort of bug, actually. It was a common reaction from a teenage girl after all. Plus wolf spiders were freaky, with all those hairy little limbs and beady little eyes...
The human started up, blushing furiously at the fact her immediate freak out had caused both her and the Hordika to end up on the hard ground. "I'm sorry," she stuttered, watching the spider vanish behind a shelf and cringing. "I have a fear of bugs..."
Vakama snorted again, rubbing the end of his muzzle to get the ticklish feeling off, "Don't go to Metru Nui right now than."
The thought of all those giant spiders running around only increased the sickly feeling in her stomach and she fully stood to her feet, finding the bottle once more. "Okay... shall we continue?"
The Hordika made that grumbling sound in his throat again, but at the same time wasn't REALLY protesting. The still sane Toa part of the mutated Bionicle's mind was sighing, wanting to get the grit out of joints and the smell of blood off his claws.
Mic led the Hordika back onto the patio and set the bottle down. Abby was currently relaxing in the grass across from them, and she watched the Hordika and her human with a careful eye, but wary because she knew what her human had in mind. The dog didn't like baths, so she stayed away. Mic worked at the hose, trying to get the water to come out at a good amount. "This'll just be a minute." Of course, the water was ice cold.
Vakama eyed the hose, made a soft growl...and then his spinner patch started to humm to life again.
Mic looked up and frowned. "Vakama... it's just a hose. I'd rather you didn't blow up the roof just because of that."
"I know that," Vakama didn't snap, but his tone was like that of an adult telling a younger child not to be silly, "Just...hold still."
Now she was confused. "Why?"
Vakama position changed, head and shoulders dipping down, back end lifting, and he fired the partly formed spinner before the human could guess or react. The spinner itself broke apart as it hit the hose, the loose tendrils of elemental energy wrapping around it and clinging to it.
"That." Vakama said smugly as he sat back down.
Mic blinked from her little statement and looked at the hose then at the Hordika with an expression that seemed to be saying 'huh?'
"I don't like cold water." Vakama explained, "Nuju showed me how to do that...granted it was on a pipe."
"Oh, neat!" the human replied, once feeling the water for herself. The then promptly began to hose him down as she came closer, spraying water all over him.
The Hordika huffed and ducked his head, firmly closing his inner lids but at the same time wasn't moving away from the water. After a minute he rose to all fours and reflexively gave a half shake.
Mic made a small cry and ducked away, trying to avoid most of the water. Her side got splattered however by the flying droplets. Though it wasn't much(for now) she immediately aimed the water on him again to replace what he had shaken off, a grin on her face.
Vakama didn't sit back down but lifted his head and turned so the water got under his neck. He paused and then a faint smiled formed that right there wasn't bad at all. He was more than grateful that a certain tall dark female hadn't found this spot.
Mic fully drenched him until she was satisfied before grabbing the soap bottle. When this was done, the Hordika was going to smell like coconuts. Using a cloth to spread the soap faster, she started at the base of his back having practice at doing so with Abby. Of course it was somewhat different with Vakama's body.
There was actually more organic matter on the Hordika then in the movies, and more then in his Toa form too for the matter. It blended against the visible armor seamlessly, and if Mic felt in some of the other spots she could feel the metal under the thick hide.
After awhile Mic asked him, "Did I miss anything?" The Hordika was covered in a thick lather of white bubbles.
The mutated Toa chirped and shifted, afraid to talk for fear of eating the stuff (it didn't taste good as good as it smelled). So he stretched out his neck and lifted his head instead.
Mic smirked and attacked his neck with the cloth and bubbles. She was making sure to get at all the dirt she found on him so that there would be a clean Hordika in the end. "Looks like we're ready for a rinse," she said after awhile.
Vakama didn't hear her at the moment, he was busy purring and starting to lean against Mic. The threat of her getting soaped too now extremely high!
"Yo," she muttered, leaning away. Another spot had been found! The human stored this information away for later and tossed the soapy cloth to the side before grabbing up the hose. The unsuspecting Hordika was soon blasted with water once more, while Abby still lay happily across the yard.
If the water had been cold, Vakama would have protested much more than his startled trill. Making a face but keeping his lids closed Vakama was snapped out of that light trance he'd been in. "...thank you." he said after turning his head into the water and blinked his lids open.
"At least you smell better," Mic mumbled, rinsing his torso and moving to his hind legs. She suddenly tried to pull it forward, but the blasted thing had snagged around a flowerpot. Carefully setting it down she went over to un-snag it, leaving a dripping Hordika on the patio.
A soft whine, more humm of power came from behind Mic as she moved away.
"Stupid hose," the girl muttered, pulling it out. She did catch the noise behind her though, and raised an eyebrow. What was he up to now? She turned to find out.
She was knocked back on her rump, but not by the Hordika, or the puppy either. It wasn't exactly hot but warmth spread out over Mic from the chest to shoulders, arms, mid-drift and around to her back and up the neck with a tingling sense of power before fading.
Vakama smirked from where he was shaking off his feet and flicking his tail. There was a distinct, playful gleam in his glowing eyes.
Once most of the shock had faded, Mic gaped at Vakama. He just-! Somehow, she had never expected to see such a playful act by him, not with what happened last night and what she had seen in the movies... the surprised melted from her face and an evil glint set into her dark eyes. She grabbed the hose and aimed at the Hordika.
'This is war.'
The moment the hose was aimed at him, Vakama was up and crouched on all fours, back humped up and giving a mock-growl, his tail arched up at well. On his back the spinner patch was humming once more.
Mic's body tensed, ready to dodge and she fired the water at full blast with a grin. Playing with a Hordika... who knew?