The next chapter is here! Enjoy :)
After she finished eating, Raelyn did inform Bhu'ja that she was pretty tired and wanted to lay down.
That's when it occurred to him that there was only one bedroom on the ship; his. And that is the only place he could think to bring her if she wanted to sleep.
The Arbitrator stood up and told her to follow him.
Raelyn stood up and he showed her where the plate and cup could go to be washed. Then he led her out of the kitchen area and back down the hall.
She followed him close behind, all while looking around the place. It was funny, it seemed like all yautja ships were like a maze of halls. Which meant it wouldn't take much for her to get lost in this place.
After a couple minutes, they finally stopped at one door, and it slid them open to allow the pair in.
The young woman noted the obvious bedroom. Something that made her tense up and freeze. Whenever one of those sick fucks brought her into a bedroom, it meant they wanted her for something.
Bhu'ja entered his room.
He stopped and turned around and noticed Raelyn was still hanging around the doorway. Something he found a little odd and wonder why that could be. Her body seemed taut like a bowstring too and her fists were clenched at her sides as she stood there very rigid.
"What's wrong? You can come in you know." He told her.
She hesitated for a moment, then let out a small sigh before stepping inside, and the door slid shut behind her.
Bhu'ja cocked his head and walked back over to her. He noticed she froze and was looking down at the ground with her fists still squeezed at her sides.
"You ok? Why you so nervous?" He asked.
She didn't look at him though. When she did decide to speak, she was still looking down at the floor between them.
"It's just...I normally didn't sleep in a bedroom. Only time they brought me into one was to..." Raelyn trailed off and wrapped her arms around her front.
It didn't take long to realize what she meant. And it angered him greatly that they would do that to her.
"I won't do anything like that to you. Remember, you're safe here. I am sorry they did that to you. But this is the only place I know to bring you so you can rest. Obviously, I would never put you in a cage to sleep." Bhu'ja assured her.
Raelyn looked around and spotted the very large and inviting bed in the back corner of the large room on the left.
To her, it felt like ages since she was in a warm, soft bed. And she longed to be able to sleep in one again after a month of pretty much sleeping on a thin pelt on the grated flooring of her cage.
"So, am I to sleep on the floor in here then?" She somewhat asked.
The Arbitrator reared back a little at her question.
'Paya, they made this poor female sleep on the floor like an animal!? Disgraceful little fuckers!' He thought.
He reached up to place a hand on her shoulder. But stopped short when he saw her flinch. It was clear they did a number on her, trying to break her.
Seeing and hearing the damage they have done to this small female; it made him wish he could've drawn out their deaths longer and made it more painful.
One time he caught an ooman rapist during one of his hunts on Earth. And he strung up the fucking bastard and skinned him alive. If that wasn't enough, he cut off the disgraceful male's prick during the process before finally ending his miserable existence.
"Raelyn, you can use the bed. I have no problem in you doing so. Was never going to make you sleep on the floor like an animal. They may have treated you as such. But I won't.
I understand your hesitance and you're still afraid. But I will never hurt you or treat you disrespectfully in any way. You may not trust me now, which is fine, because I can understand that, given what you've been through.
But eventually, you will come to see you are safe here." Bhu'ja reassured her.
A couple tears rolled down her cheeks as he's telling her this.
None of the captors have ever treated her kindly. Not like this. And here, this yautja went out of his way by saving her, feeding her a good meal, and now is offering this bed to her.
Her gaze finally slowly drifted up to meet his eyes. There was kindness and sincerity in those eyes as they gazed down at her.
A small, grateful smile lit up her features.
"Thank you." Raelyn said, barely above a whisper.
He nodded, "Just want to inform you though, that this is my room. So, don't be alarmed if you wake up and see me sleeping in it not far from you one of these nights. As I said before, I will never touch you like that. But this is the only bed on this ship. So, we will have to share it. Thankfully, it is very large, so we do have a lot of space. And hopefully, you don't snore." Bhu'ja ended with a light joke.
He thought he saw amusement in her eyes and a faint smile. Which was a good start.
"Can't make any promises there on the no snoring part." She lightly teased.
His grin widened, "Can't be any worse than one of my cousins. I lived with my aunt growing up. And I had to share a room with one of her sons and daughters. So, it was three of us sharing a room.
And when my female cousin slept, I swear, her snoring sounded like one of your world's freight trains coming through the room each night."
That did it, and Raelyn couldn't hold in her laughter and let out a chuckle at his remark.
"So, you had to sleep with a half a dozen pillows over your head then?" She said, with laughter in her voice.
"Trust me when I say, no amount of pillows could block out such an ungodly sound like that. Eventually, I had to tell my aunt to move me to another room. Because after a while, I couldn't take it anymore.
And to this day, my cousin still claims she doesn't snore, and I made that shit up. While her brother who shared the room with us rolled his eyes in the background and would mutter under his breath about a stampede of rjet weren't as loud as her." He said.
Raelyn chuckled again. She knew exactly what he meant. She had slept over a good friend's house a couple times. And she too snored loud enough to wake the dead.
"Well, if I do snore. I can guarantee it wouldn't be that loud. So, you should be good." She replied.
"Don't really care. Especially if it means you'll actually get sleep. Because sleeping on a floor sucks. Trust me, I know." Bhu'ja stated.
Yes, there were plenty of times in his younger years where he had too much c'ntlip and passed out. His friends would drag him back to his room. But instead of dropping him on his bed, they'd leave him on the hard floor.
Then he'd wake up the next day, stiff and sore as hell from sleeping on the metal floor.
Amusement was still ever present in her eyes. He definitely was a humorous one. And his joking attitude did make her fell a lot better and put her at ease.
"Sounds like you had a lot of personal experiences yourself." She stated.
"Let's put it this way. Alcohol. It really isn't your best friend. Even worse when you think you're a hotshot that can handle a large amount of it because you thought it neat to show off to others. And I didn't learn this after the first nor second time around either. But more like the sixth. So, yes, spent plenty of times passed out on the floor." He replied.
Raelyn couldn't help but silently laugh again at this hunter.
But then she recalled there was at least one incident where one of her captors got drunk. And then the humor kind of disappeared from it all.
Still, the young woman needed to remind herself that she was here and safe. And they were all dead and hopefully rotting in hell, where they belong.
"So, I should make a mental note to ensure you stay away from large amounts of alcohol is what you're saying?" She teased.
Bhu'ja chuckled, "Nah, I kind hold my alcohol much better now. But just in case, just leave me on the floor, and then you have a right to call me a dumbass for it, along with a few other choice names."
Normally, he wasn't always this carefree with someone. It could be perhaps, it was nice to have someone else to talk to after ten months in space all by yourself.
That and it was clear she was upset a few minutes ago. And it was ingrained in a male's DNA to comfort an upset or distressed female.
Her smile broke and then he saw her try and stifle a yawn. That's when he knew it was time for the conversation to end and to let her get some sleep.
"Anyways, I won't keep you. I can see you're tired and wish to sleep." Bhu'ja said.
Then he moved aside and gestured for her to go over to the bed near the back.
She gave him a small, thankful smile as she passed him and approached the bed. Her smile grew a little bigger as she sat on the incredibly soft pelts.
It really was nice to finally be able to rest on a soft bed after sleeping on the hard surface of a grated floor. Funny, the little things you take for granted like having a bed.
Raelyn pulled herself further up and onto the very large bed. He wasn't kidding when he said it was huge enough for both of them to share. And it allowed enough space between them too, so he wasn't flush up against her when he decided to sleep.
When she seemed settled, Bhu'ja turned around to leave the room. When her small voice rang out.
"Rae." She said.
He paused and turned around to face her.
"What was that?" He inquired.
"My friends, they tend to call me 'Rae'. Shorter version of my name. You can call me Rae, if you want." She told him.
A small grin appeared on his face, "As you wish, Rae. Goodnight."
"Goodnight." She replied.
Then Bhu'ja left the room.
The lighting in here was pretty dim as it was. Between that and the super soft pelts, it wouldn't be hard at all for her to fall asleep. Plus, the added fact that she was very exhausted from the whole ordeal that had taken place.
As soon as her head hit the plush pelts, it was lights out.
Bhu'ja went back to the control deck for a little while. While the young ooman female seemed to be pleasant company, he was still unsure of what to do with her.
At the moment, they were very far from Earth. His ship was currently not even in the same Universe her planet was located in. Those bad bloods really dragged her out to the deepest recesses of space.
And while Raelyn told him that one of her captors told her they only had her for a month, it was likely, they could've had her a little longer than that.
A month for a yautja was different in terms for a month for humans. If he does the math right, one yautja month was equivalent to about three human months.
And this is assuming the bad bloods didn't lie to her.
Either way, he felt he had a dilemma here. They were very far from Earth. And according to most their laws, he is unsure he could send her back to Earth.
She just already knew so much about his race. And the yautja didn't want oomans to have a lot of knowledge of their race. It could prove a problem for them.
So, what in Paya's name could he do with her?
The only thing the young Arbitrator could think of at this time, was to keep her with him aboard his ship. He's not sure at the moment how others will feel if he brings her back to home world.
Though, at some point, he may have to eventually. Can't keep her aboard a ship in space for the rest of her life after all. That would be just plain cruel.
He ran a hand over his face with a small grunt.
Bhu'ja never thought he'd find himself in this kind of predicament. Then one thought occurred to him.
'Perhaps, Ci'tde could give me some insight or advice.' He thought.
The older Arbitrator was always good to call up for advice or to simply confide in. Bhu'ja always looked up to him and it was Ci'tde who encouraged him to take up the status as Arbitrator.
He even put in a good word for Bhu'ja and everything.
'Why not? That's what best friends are for right?' Bhu'ja thought.
The young Arbitrator leaned forward in his seat and pressed a couple buttons to contact one of his oldest friends and mentor.
Hopefully, Ci'tde could give him a couple good suggestions on the matter about the ooman female currently takeing up residence in his room.
Until Next Time ;)