Chapter 6: Cultural Misunderstanding.
Liam felt a little odd walking alongside the huge, incredibly curious Serpentinus woman called Celia, she was utterly amazed by everything she saw, her people were space faring but in her words, "Everything your people has just seems so much more refined than ours,"
They were nearly at the mess hall when she stopped and something caught her eye, he'd noticed that when she seemed to be really fascinated by something her tongue would shoot out and begin tasting the air, the more curious she was the more times she tasted, so far she'd tasted a bulkhead, a control panel, a plant, a passing Xeno, and now as he turned his head he saw what had her attention.
Down the corridor a little ways away was a huge Yautja huntress dressed in her golden armor, Liam recognized her as M'Xen, they'd trained together many times and she was an exceptional warrior and a prime example of Yautja feminity, an utterly solid slab of camo colored muscles with a surprisingly pretty face, now Liam had grown up on the Clan homeworld and was surprised when Jack had told him that there were those back on his homeworld that would find Yautja and Xenos ugly, in fact, Jack had told him that the vast majority of their species were that way and he'd found that this saddened him greatly, he had wondered aloud if his acceptance of them had been created by growing up on the Clan homeworld and Jack had proudly informed him that no, it was because he was enlightened and saw the truth of beauty and knew that it took a great many forms, great and small and just like the Clan had taught him all were equal in his eyes.
M'Xen was standing slightly side on to them, leaning with one hand on the wall of the bulkhead, between her and the wall was a human male dressed in the uniform of one of Sela eleth Mason's Saviors, by his shoulder patch he was one of the Dreamer's engineers as the Saviors, unlike either the Hunters or the Seekers, had a vast amount of divisions.
Now obviously the Hunters and the Seekers had their own divisions like Soul Knights or Tamers for the Seekers, they even had those chosen to walk the line between the two divisions and these were simply called Balance Seekers but they were very few as the vast majority tended to lean one way or the other, either being drawn to the pull of nature and the Tamers, or the spiritual realm and the Soul Knights, now just because they didn't specialize didn't mean the Balance Seekers were not powerful in their own right, quite the opposite in fact, in fact, there was some things they could do far better than either of the two, such as spot unawoken Dream Warriors.
Now the Hunters had a few divisions of their own, they had the Pathfinders who were trained like scouts and usually would have a Savior sniper among their number and operated in small teams of four, they were trained to move ahead of the main formation of the force and do exactly as their name suggested while looking out for signs of the enemy along with booby traps and other problems.
There were the Templars, these guys were specialists in close combat and hand to hand combat, preferring to use bladed weapons and get up close and personal with their enemy, they were truly a force to be reckoned with, nothing like being charged by warriors holding swords as big as they were or giant spears that could nail a Xeno queen to a wall to really put the shits up you, they were paragons of fairness and honor, like the modern equivalent of the knights they took their name from.
Then there were the Guards, these guys protected and held the lines together using advanced shield tech to protect the advancing group, acting as a mobile front line.
Then there were the Beserkers, this is what Tik eleth was, warriors that drove themselves into a whirlwind of righteous anger and fury, the only way to stop them was to kill them and that was a hell of a lot easier said than done, anyone who had ever witnessed Tik on the battlefield first hand knew that, she was a force of nature given a face, she was grace, beauty, power, fire and strength and was driven by a burning need to protect her friends and loved ones, to avenge their fallen and right any and all wrongs inflicted on them and those around them, they were also scary as fuck.
M'Xen was a Templar and having trained with her many times Liam knew she was a genuinely scary individual on the battlefield, she had custom made wrist blades and a twin bladed sword called PeaceKeeper that was forged for her by Jack Mason himself, in fact, all Hunters, especially Templars, dreamed of earning a weapon made personally for them by their Clan Patriarch and named, decorated and inscribed by their Clan Matriarch, it was one of the highest honors these warriors could receive and was given to those who had displayed exceptional honor and bravery in defence of the Clan or its people.
She had earned hers when she'd singlehandedly protected a group of children that got lost in the woods, they'd gone out playing and had gotten lost, sparking a Clan wide search, they'd been out with their teacher on a field trip to learn how the Clan's ecologists managed the world's herds and preserved the delicate balance of nature to make sure that the Clan lived in perfect balance with their surroundings, Angel and her family had been showing them the vast diversity of the fauna living all around them and the kids had wandered off and had gotten lost.
The alarm had been raised and the entire Guardian Core had scrambled, every Seeker, Hunter and Savior available had headed into the woods to look along with a great many civilians, it had been M'Xen who had found the four girls and two boys mixed pure and hybrid Human and Yautja pinned down in a small cave under attack by Shadow Bears.
Now these things were huge, standing fifteen feet tall on their back legs and were built like furry tanks, the kids reported later that M'Xen had not hesitated for a single second, she charged them with a mighty roar and killed the first bear before it even had chance to turn around, nailed it to the wall with her spear before taking on the other two at the same time, when the rest of the Clan came running having heard the war roar they found M'Xen sat cradling the six sobbing children with three very dead and dismembered bears, she was personally honored by the Grand Patriarch and Matriarch who gave her the weapons before the whole Clan and named her Hero of Clan Mason and protector of the innocent, even h'chak's lot got involved and they put up a statue outside the school of her standing as a living shield with the kids behind her as she stood tall and proud against a mighty bear.
But in truth M'Xen herself, mighty as she was, was actually a rather humble woman and rather softly spoken for a Yautja, you would never imagine it to look at her, Liam also knew the man who was leaning against the wall between her and it, he was called Toby, he was a kind and gentle man, very softly spoken and so very kind to everybody around him, the type of man who would give you the shirt off his back if he thought you needed it more than him, it appeared that M'Xen had taken quite the liking to him and was making sure he knew it which made Liam actually smile, the pair of them both deserved to have someone to make them happy, as a Soul Knight it took very little effort for him to reach out and to see those feelings swirling around them through their auras, watching colorful clouds around them swirl and pulse like they were dancing together, desperately trying to swirl together to make one whole.
As they watched M'Xen very tenderly reached up and stroked Toby's cheek with the back of her hand and seemed to utterly revel in the feel of his warm soft skin, which would have been rather hot to the touch by the blush on his cheeks, then surprising the huge Yautja, Toby made his choice to be brave and he reached up with both hands, gripped her face and standing on his toes while using the wall to support him he brought her head down and kissed the outside of her mandibles before they opened and the pair locked in a very passionate and tender kiss.
Celia seemed utterly enthralled by what she was seeing and her long thin forked tongue was flicking, constantly tasting the air, her head was swaying left and right as she watched the pair kissing deeply, she watched as M'Xen's mandibles tenderly stroked Toby's cheeks before gripping his head so she could kiss him deeply, her hand slipping behind his head and slipping into his hair, finally they broke and her mandibles released him and they both saw her long tongue slip out of his mouth and back into hers.
Then without ever even noticing that they had an audience M'Xen held out a hand to Toby who took it and she very gently lead him away, obviously in the direction of either her quarters or his for a little quiet time, well, probably not so quiet if Yautja love was anything to go by, in fact, the bulkhead walls between quarters were all sound proofed for this very reason, well, that and the Xenos who managed to get their hands on some human love, there was no quicker way to a headache than a section full of female Battle Angels who'd all decided to have date night all at the same time, in fact, Liam often wondered how their mates managed to tune it out, maybe love blinded one to the problems and let you see only the good, but then maybe they loved the sound, who knew.
Liam himself had never experienced love first hand, he had seen it a great many times on others just like Toby and M'Xen there, he'd often wondered what it would be like to be in love, he'd heard it described as having all your senses swept away by a force so powerful your mind truly couldn't comprehend it, a force so powerful and beautiful that it defied all logic and reason.
But when it came down to love Liam always kinda felt like an outsider, like someone on the outside of a house looking in through the window at the warmth and joy inside, but never being the one to walk through those doors and into the warm place, but it wasn't the fault of the ladies of Clan Mason, he'd just never found what he was looking for, in fact, there had been more than one petition to hunt him, all of which had failed, it was no easy task to catch a Seeker, let alone the second in command of the Soul Knights and by the rules of the hunt that meant simply that no one's heart or love was strong enough to guide them to him because if it had been Seeker or not they'd have found him.
Celia seemed now to notice that he was watching her and turned her large head back to look at him curiously with those large golden eyes, "It seems the males of your species are popular among the females of the other two of your clan," she said with that accent of hers drawing out the S sounds she made
Liam chuckled to himself and nodded, "It was kinda part of what forged our clan to begin with," Liam said as Celia fell back into step with him as they continued their journey to the mess hall, well, step was a pretty loose term when describing a twenty foot long snake girl with no feet.
"Oh?" Celia said, curious again, she seemed to have an unquenchable thirst for knowledge and powerful sense of curiosity that was rather charming, out of the corner of his eye he saw her tongue flickering in and out of her mouth again, this time in his direction.
"It started with our Grand Patriarch and Matriarch, they were both kidnapped many years ago before they even knew the other existed and dumped on a planet to be hunted down and killed for sport by Yautja Bad Bloods, or criminals if you're not familiar with the term," he began and as they headed into the mess hall he continued to tell the story, only pausing to ask what she would like to eat.
"Is your species carnivorous or omnivore? I can't imagine you're herbivores," Liam said, and she glanced at him curiously, tearing her vision away from the many delicious looking dishes being served that day by the primarily human serving staff, though there was one Xeno right in the middle of it all who looked kinda funny in his custom made chef's hat barking orders at the team of chefs, food was serious business around here and an army marched on its stomach and despite their mighty ships Clan Mason and the Guardian Core were no different.
"What makes you say that?" Celia asked curiously, her tongue working over time to taking in all the obvious alien but hopefully delicious scents and smells.
"Well, it's safe to say your species evolved from serpent species and I've never met a non carnivorous serpent myself, though maybe you're the first then?" Liam said with a bit of sly smile on his face, Celia flicked her tongue at him before turning to eye the dishes again.
"You are indeed correct, Liam, we are predominantly carnivores though we have evolved to be more omnivorous than our ancestors, taking many nutrients from the bounty of nature that the Great tree provides, but yes, we still require generous amounts of meat to survive," she said.
"Meat it is then, any preference?" Liam asked, and Celia looked curiously at the dishes through the glass serving protector.
"They all look so exotic and smell so delicious, ummm, well, since I am the guest here you may choose for me, I will trust your judgement, Seeker Liam," Celia said, drawing herself up and looking both regal and diplomatic at the same time.
Liam laughed softly, "Very well, ambassador, how much is your typical meal in size?" he said, she looked thoughtful for moment.
"About twenty pounds in weight," she said, and he nodded, remembering they they only ate every couple of days so it made sense.
"Hey, chef," Liam called out, and the male Xeno turned to look and upon seeing who was addressing him saluted.
"It is good to see you, Seeker, what can I get for you?" he asked.
"Do you have any of the barbeque pulled pork left, I need about twenty pounds?" Liam asked, and the chef nodded.
"I can do that, sure, is it for our guest?" the chef asked, and Liam nodded.
The chef looked thoughtful for a moment then snapped his long fingers, "Go take a seat, it's table service today for our honored guest and her Seeker chaperone, leave this to me," the chef said, and he was off, hissing and screeching orders at his team who flew around like it was Tik eleth herself yelling at them.
"Well, m'lady if you'd like to join me?" Liam said, gesturing her to a booth table and Celia smiled and followed him, slithering herself into the gap and coiling her tail under the table and perching what actually looked to be a bum of some sort onto the seat and he slid in next to her.
Only moments later the Xeno chef appeared, carrying their meals, it was easy to forget sometimes how incredibly strong Xenos were with their spindly long limbs, but he carried a huge plate and and his much smaller one next to it and placed them on the table, not only had he prepared pulled pork for her but a full mixed grill with sweet potato mash for her and chips for Liam, "Enjoy your meal, ambassador, and you too, Seeker," the chef said, and he was gone before they could say thank you.
Celia watched curiously as he used his utensils to cut the meats into small mouth sized bites, she tried to emulate him but unlike humans didn't have the same sort of teeth they did, "Don't stand on etiquette, Celia, please, eat how your species normally do," so with that she speared a large chunk of chicken and much to his amazement wolfed the whole thing in one go, swallowing it with ease.
'This is amazing! This food is delicious!" she exclaimed, and Liam smiled.
"I'm glad you approve, the chefs will be pleased you approve," Liam said as he watched with some amusement as she tried tackling the pulled pork.
"Ohh, this is incredible! It's so succulent and flavorful! Oh, we have nothing like this back home, and I know chefs in the royal court who would trade their right arm for these recipes, your chefs are true artisans and are to be commended," she said, in the corner of his eye he saw the male Xeno looking over at them hopefully.
"The lady ambassador passes on her whole hearted compliments to you and your team, Lewis, true artists as always, but of course we all expect no less of the best chefs in the Core," Liam called, and the Xeno clapped happily before clapping his whole team on the back.
Celia looked at him with wide eyed surprise, "Do my compliments mean that much to your people?" she asked, surprised, and Liam smiled.
"Of course, Celia, you are both an ambassador of your race and the first of your kind that we have encountered, we take our first impressions and honor very seriously around here, more foundations inherited from our Grand Matriarch and Patriarch," Liam said.
"Oh, yes, you were telling me the riveting story of how they met and the clan was formed, please, continue, unless of course your kind find it rude to eat and converse of course," she said, and he smiled.
"Not at all, we embrace it whole heartedly, so, where was I? Oh yes..." he said, and continued with the story of the clan while they ate their dinner.
Celia ate in rapt silence, seemingly hanging on his every word, in fact, he timed his story perfectly because as he finished his story bringing her up to current day of the modern day Clan Mason with their fledgling but growing Guardian core and space fleet and its swiftly expanding civilisation she seemed utterly amazed by it all.
"That's an incredible story, Liam, your people are striving so hard to build something truly wonderful out of something so utterly terrible, it's inspiring," she said.
He laughed softly and she cocked her head and he swore he heard her scale rustle, "Did I say something funny?" she asked, her pride obviously kicking in again.
"Oh, no, it's not you, Celia, you just reminded me of something our Grand Matriarch always says, to grow the biggest trees and the strongest crops you need a whole lot of shit," he said, and Celia nearly spit out her drink as she choked down a laugh.
"Your Grand Matriarch certainly has a way with wordsr" she saidr coughing a bitr and he grinned.
"You can say that again, she also always says that given what her and our Grand Patriarch have gone through our trees and crops will be the size of mountains," he said, making her laugh again.
"Your world sounds like an incredible place," she said, and Liam smiled and nodded.
"Thank you, Celia, and, yes, it is," he said.
"Tell me something, I was wondering about the Yautja girl we saw out in the hallway kissing with the human male," she said.
"M'Xen and Toby? What about them?" Liam asked as the chef's staff took their empty plates and glasses away and the the pair waved their thank you to the chefs who all waved back as they exited the booth, Celia unwinding herself from under the table and falling in beside Liam.
"Well, I'm still a little hazy on your interpersonal relationships, I was so phased when I first came aboard, probably from the lack of proper sleep and food that when your Grand Patriarch mentioned something about it to me it left me feeling a little confused," she said.
"Well, ask away and I'll do my best to try and explain what I can," Liam said.
She smiled and flicked her tongue at him, making it dance in the air, "Well, I was kind of wondering, will she keep him to herself for the first night before she shares him with her sisters? Or will she share his company with them right away?" she asked, and then followed up her question with, "What?" as she saw him staring at her with her mouth hanging open in shock and surprise.
Liam recovered himself quickly as his brain caught up with her statement and processed it, "Oh, of course, you said female births outweigh males by four to one on your world, don't they?" he said, and she nodded.
"Yes, why, and what's with that look?" she asked.
"Sorry, I was just trying to imagine how many pieces a woman would be torn into if she tried to take a Yautja female's hard won male from her would be, they take their mating rights very, very seriously, especially if it is a member of another species they have won over, for some reason they seem to go double down for humans, I guess it goes hand in hand with the taboo their people consider it, double the price double the prize, and to answer your question fairly, our birth rates of either gender are pretty much equal and all our relationships are exclusive, two partners whether they be one male one female, two males or two females of any species mix and match, they are exclusive and all of us are incredibly protective of our beloved ones, it's hard wired into us from the time we're old enough to understand, you stand for the one you love as they will stand for you, together through unity and love, a perfect pair of souls," Liam explained.
Celia who was now obviously more mentally awake than she had been when she'd first come aboard was utterly stunned by this statement, "One male each? To keep for life? How positively extravagant," she said, looking very thoughtful indeed.
She suddenly noticed the way Liam was looking at her with an eyebrow raised, "We live in family groups of four, not all of them are related, in fact, more often than not we join a pack of like minded individuals and draw up a contract to stay together, it is not a romantic thing, it is for convienence, we live together, work together and exist together, we call them our sisters even if there is no blood relation because to us they are our sisters, sometimes they are of the same cast as us and sometimes not, back in olden times they used to be made up of four family members within the ruling elite or royal households but this led to sickness and inbreeding so it was pretty much abandoned and now our packs are as diverse as possible, eventually one of the group will find a male and bring him home to meet the rest of the pack and if it is agreed that all four like him then he is offered a place in our pack and he then lives as part of the pack, taking care of all of its members, loving them all equally," she said.
Liam's eyebrow remained raised, "And what of the male, does he not get a say in all this?" he asked, and she looked at him with wide eyes that brimmed with hurt, she was obviously offended and then lowered his eyes.
"Of course! We are not at all like our despicable sisters in the Draconis or Scalathor, we love our males dearly, we would live, love and die for them happily as without them our pack will never grow, everything that happens to him within the pack is done with his complete consent, if he doesn't like one member of our pack he does not have to join it, it is not forced upon him, nor is anything sexual done to him without his permission, his body equals his rules just as it does for us, the females of my race may be the sexually dominant and aggressive ones but that does not mean they are rapists or male forcers and enslavers like the Scalathor or Draconis, we pursue our males in a healthy consensual way, they must first agree or no one will lay a single hand on them and our laws are utterly absolute on this, the punishments for male forcing are very severe and at the very least will land an entire pack in prison even for the actions of a single member," she said sternly.
Liam blew out a held breath and nodded, "Sorry, I meant no offence, ambassador, it was just the way you began explaining it sounded kinda forced at first but I believe I now understand and my apologies if my tone sounded accusing," he said, and Celia seemed to relax and unwind herself a bit and nodded.
"Understandable, interspecies interactions are quite tricky and tenuous, what is normal for one may be outlandish, offensive or downright astonishing for others and it can be a minefield for misunderstanding like the one I made when I saw the interspecies couple back there, though I am glad I chose to ask you and not her or I get the feeling I may be down in the medical bay again, attempting to regurgitate my tail," she said, which made him laugh and instantly lifted the mood.
Liam laughed out loud and nodded, "Yes, you may well have been doing just that, Yautja girls are somewhat, ahem, passionate when it comes to matters of the heart, even the non alien loving ones are like that but the ones who love outside of their species are even more so, probably because they have to work harder to secure themselves a love and what with the taboo of breaking Yautja law to do it despite living on our world and that not being a problem for a lot of the older ones who came from the other clans to join us it's still kinda hardwired into them, so, yeah, their reaction would be rather negative," Liam said.
"Is it obligatory that members of your clan choose a mate outside of their own species?" Celia asked, and Liam shook his head.
"No, far from it, freedom of choice is what we promote, which is an irony when you think about it," Liam said, and Celia cocked her head and flicked her tongue at him in an almost curious tasting of the air.
"Why ironic?" she asked.
"Because I never met a person who chose to fall in love with anyone," Liam said with a smile, and Celia looked thoughtful and then nodded.
"True words, true love cannot be made to happen, it simply does, once upon a time arranged marriages were common on my world, they weren't forced exactly but it was common among both noble and powerful bloodlines, mothers would arrange marriages of their sons into powerful or wealthy packs to both ensure their own power and status but also to ensure a good life for their sons, it was always assumed that the son would simply grow to love the members of his new pack if they took good care of him and in some cases this was true, it did, but from the many, many stories I have read from our history it just as often or more likely more often lead to a great deal of sadness for the young males, they did not want to disappoint their families so they did as their mothers bade them, can you imagine how those young men or even boys back in the day must have felt? Despite it often being done out of love and hope that the women would take good care of him to him it must have felt like he was being sold like cattle, that his life was worth no more than the prestige his family would reap from it, truly horrible I must say, the practice is strictly banned now but every so often we hear whispers of it still happening in very remote corners of my world and it makes me so very sad," Celia said.
Liam nodded, "The social politics of my world are rather complex also, especially due to the different species involved, from what I understand there were arguments in the early days, which is understandable, I guess, we have a big influx of mainly Yautja females coming to us to escape the trappings and prejudice of their own clans and to try and find a taste of the forbidden love for themselves, we had males too but not as many, they had read the words of our Grand Matriarch describing the freedom and joy her human love had brought her and they wanted this for themselves, we didn't have nowhere near enough male humans to go around so fights and squabbles became common, so our Grand Patriarch and Matriarch sat down and devised what we call the Love Hunt, also known as the Right to Hunt," Liam said, and Celia looked amazed.
"Right to Hunt? That sounds force and rather violent, it makes it sound like they are prey," she said curiously, and Liam laughed and nodded.
"Yeah, when you put it like that it does kinda sound like that but I assure you it is nothing violent, it simply occurs if it is known that a male or a female has many particular suitors or parties wanting of their attention or love, it uses the rules of the hunt set out by the goddess of the hunt herself, Paya, in fact, it was she who spoke to our Grand Patriarch and Matriarch and with her help they outlined it and the rules of it, iron clad and absolute, but built on one simple principle, choice, free and pure choice, if it is known that many are interested in one they go to the arbiter and lodge their petition to hunt, once all signatures are collected the person is simply offered a choice, to allow themselves to be hunted or not, they can even go in early and register a non consent if they are utterly opposed to it and that is an end to it, simple and pure, once that form hits the desk not a single hand may be placed upon that person lest the full weight of the clan come down upon the perpetrator, no arguments and no problems, but if they have no problems then the hunt is on, it's basically like a game of cat and mouse or hide and seek, the hunted runs and the hunters chase, each and every hunt is blessed by our lady of the hunt, Paya herself, it is said that only the one whose feelings are strongest and their love purest will be able to catch the hunted, if no one is worthy then the prey escapes and the hunt is done, this leaves the hunted free to choose if they wish but no more hunts can be called for them, not a single Love Hunt has failed to reveal the truth, not one, the hunted was only ever caught by the one they were meant to be with, their true soul mate being the one to catch them," Liam said proudly.
Celia looked both thoughtful and utterly amazed, "It sounds so incredible but so oddly fair, everyone has equal chance but if it is as you say then only the one whose love is pure has a chance at all," she said, and Lian snapped his fingers while pointing at her and nodding.
"Exactly! Exactly, perfect fair chance for both parties, love and heart both proved through the power of will and the purity of your heart guiding you to the one who's soul was meant to share yours," Liam said.
Celia looked thoughtful, "You make it sound so romantic," she said, and Liam smiled.
"I have seen my fair share of them, Seekers are the ones who stand in judgement of the hunts because of our connection to Paya and the spiritual realm, though usually it's our Grand Patriarch as head of the Seekers and leader of the Soul Knights, not to mention Paya's chosen one who does it, but often we are called upon to do it, we may not intervene, simply observe and to conclude it as well as watch for any instances of unfair play, though in all my years I have never once heard of such a thing happening, the hunts are taken very seriously and anyone who tried to interfere with one would be severly punished by the clan, for us, taking or robbing someone of their love or their chance of it is a very serious thing as it is one of the building blocks of Clan Mason and to spit on it is to spit on the clan as a whole," he said.
Liam could see Celia's utter fascination but before she could ask him her next question they reached her quarters, "Ahh, here we are, this is our guest quarters, if you'll place your hand on that panel to the right I'll key the door to you so only you can open it," he said.
"I thought we were going to see the ship?" she asked, curiously doing so and Liam used his wrist comp to key the door to her.
"Oh, we can, I just thought that after all you have been through you may like the chance to freshen up first, Ambassador, plus, maybe a change of clothes as, forgive me for saying so, but I believe those ones have seen better days and do not befit someone of your station," Liam said, a note formality creeping into his voice.
Celia looked down at her rumpled, torn and dirty clothing and she suddenly looked embarrassed and nodded, "Thank you, Liam, yes, it would be most appreciated, umm, if I may trouble you to not only explain how everything works but to also wait for me within the room?" she asked, and Liam felt kinda surprised but nodded and she smiled, flicking her tongue at him.
Celia touch the panel and the door opened, allowing them entrance, Celia looked around the nicely decorated room, it wasn't huge but it was comfortable, Liam opened the bathroom door, "Your ensuite bathroom is through here, the shower is very easy to operate and should accommodate you, this one is rated for Yautja so it shouldn't be too much of a squeeze for you, the only bigger ones we have are rated for Xeno Queens," Liam explained.
Celia slithered into the shower cubicle and it appeared that if she coiled herself up she'd fit just fine, "Umm, would you show me how to operate it? I am unfamiliar with these controls, our showers don't look anything like this, though to be fair most of ours have a sand option as well," she said, and Liam raised an eyebrow in question.
"Oh, it's a very, very fine sand, it's great for getting rid of problems between your scales or clinging scales during a shed, also leaves your scales lovely and smooth," she said, her voice almost sounding rather sultry as she said the word smooth.
She slithered out again and allowed Liam to step in, "Well, these controls run the overhead, simply use this to set the tempature to your liking, though be wary of the Yautja button unless your species can handle very high temperatures, their skin is far denser than human skin and they like it hot, very hot, and it would scald humans so those controls are separate and clearly marked to prevent accidents," he said, pointing to a button with an obvious picture of a Yautja head in a hunting mask on the silver control panel, he never heard her slither into the cubicle behind him but he felt the air displace near his left ear and something tickled his ear for a brief moment and he turned to find her in the shower leaning right down to head height, in fact, her face was so close to his he could make out the individual miniature mosaic that made up the scales on her face.
Her tongue flicked out again and was so close to his cheek he could feel the air being displaced as it flicked and danced right next to his head as she looked at the controls, her huge golden eyes turned to him and he saw the vertical slit pupils dilate somewhat, making his heart flutter in his chest which was an utterly new thing for him, her body slithered into the cubicle and slowly from her tail down it wound around him a bit without touching him so she could fit inside the cubicle as well, "Umm, err, these controls here operate the side jets and under jets so you can be washed from all sides at once, it, err, saves time and effort for our, umm, lager species," he said, an odd lump catching in his throat.
"Do you find me large?" she asked in a soft, low voice, once again turning her attention to him, instinct told him to tread carefully as that sounded like a loaded question, now if you were to call a human woman large she'd bite your head off, but call a Yautja woman large and she will beam at you all day long, Xenos it kinda depended on their cast and evolution.
"Well, um, yeah, compared to my kind you are very large, yes," he said, using his best diplomatic voice at the oddly beautiful serpent female who was almost right in his face now, she was obviously evaluating his answer but her face broke into a wide warm smile.
"I am glad you think so, a female of my kind is considered to be more healthy the larger and longer she is, thick coils and a healthy, long tail are the hallmarks of a healthy and virile Serpentinus woman," she said happily.
Her coils tightened slightly but still didn't touch him, just simply watched him closely for a moment that seemed to last for a very long time, "Ummm, if you'll excuse me ambassador, I'll go and order you some new clothes to be brought up while you enjoy your shower, the towels to dry yourself are on the rail there," he said, and she nodded.
"Of course, thank you, Liam," she said, slowly unwinding to allow him to squeeze past her, though this did kinda force him to have to touch her scales to do so and to his surprise they were smooth as glass and cool to the touch, obviously a cold blooded species or at least cooler than his mammalian blood, "Umm, will you wait for me in my room? I would very much like to both continue my tour and our conversation, I find you a most fascinating individual and good company and I am learning so much," she said hopefully, and he nodded.
"Of course, ambassador," he said, and she smiled at him before he closed the door and contacted the stores to have a uniform made up for her, thanks to their onboard facilities they could manufacture clothing to fit any species as long as they had the measurements which they did from her medical scans, it had actually been an idea that had come out of Zara and Cortez's hive in order for relief efforts if needed, to help refugees or anybody they rescued and here it was, already proving its worth but making a uniform for a totally unknown species.
Liam sat on the bed as he waited for Celia to take her shower and he could hear the water running as well as her splashing about in there, suddenly thoughts began to swim through his mind, in his mind's eye he imagined what Celia looked like in the shower, her huge coils glistening with water and shining like wet glass, his mind's eye envisioned her using the puff ball like scouring scrunchie to rub herself all over with thick soapy lather, his mind traced the passage of those thick globs of soap lather as they glided down over her smooth scales, sliding down the valley of her ample bosom, winding its merry way down over her flat smooth stomach, sliding down, down, down towards her...the doorbell snapped his mind like an elastic band and he literally jumped off the bed and to his feet, his heart bouncing in his chest like a super ball hit by golf club inside a squash court.
He opened the door and found a happy, smiling Xeno standing there holding the ambassador's new uniform, "One fresh and new uniform and underwear for the ambassador, fresh off the press," he said.
"Thank you, Vem," Liam said, taking the uniform and the Xeno saluted and then looked at him curiously.
"Are you ok, Seeker? You look kinda, umm, flustered," Vem said, and Liam smiled at him.
"I'm good, Vem, just this whole meeting a new species thing, you know?" he said, and the big Xeno smiled and nodded.
"Yeah, everyone is utterly stoked, Seeker Analise brought the Draconis boy down to the mess hall for something to eat earlier, poor thing looked like he'd never seen that much food in his life, he was so nervous and excited all at the same time, he literally didn't believe that he could have anything he wanted off the menu, though I have to say watching his face when he tried pasta for the first time was a true joy, though not as much as watching him tackle cheese cake, I don't think I've ever ever seen someone so happy," Vem said, and Liam smiled.
"Yeah, Celia was kinda the same with the pulled pork," he said, and Vem laughed.
"Yeah, I heard about the ambassador's appetite, not even my queen eats that much," he said with a soft chuckle, and Liam nodded.
"Big healthy girl needs her nutrients to stay that way, plus, according to her, they only eat every couple of days so the quantity kinda makes sense in that context, I mean, think about how big your queen's meal would be if she took it all in a one weeks worth hit," Liam said, and Vem looked thoughtful then laughed.
"Yeah, I'm not delivering that, I'd need a dump truck and then my poor king would have to endure a week of her nagging him about her tail getting fat," he said, and Liam laughed and nodded.
"Alright, I'd better get back, the ambassador will be done with her shower soon," he said, and Vem nodded and waved as he left, Liam closed the door and he heard the shower shut off, after that silence except for some rustling which he guessed was her grabbing the towels, it was amazing how quiet their kind moved but then given that they had no feet and their weight was in a constant transfer state not to mention so evenly spread out it kinda made sense.
He looked at the uniform they had made her, it was based on what she was already wearing, it kinda looked like a dress suit with a bit of a regal flair to it, the underwear was also very human, well the upper ones were, it was just a plain old bra, but the lower ones looked well, rather exotic, a kinda stick on triangle designed to cover her up.
"Umm, Celia, I have your clothes here when you're ready," Liam said.
"Ok, thank you, if you could just hand them through the door please," she called, and Liam walked over to the door and she opened it part way, sticking her bare arm out through the gap, he handed her the clothing and she pulled it back inside with a surprising yank hard enough to pull Liam right along with it.
"Whoa!" Liam exclaimed as the door swung open and he began to fall but like the purest instinct his Dream Warrior instincts kicked in and his whole body lit up like a sparkler, it was like time itself slowed down to a near stop, as he was falling Liam saw Celia's face was a mask of pure surprise and shock, Liam coiled up and propelled himself up and over her with a leap, spinning and kicking off the ceiling and then vaulting off the floor using his hands before flipping back onto his feet once again, clearing her and landing on his feet at the door again only this time with his back to her.
Time sped back up and Liam's power subsided, "Whoa! I'm so...sorry? Wait, what? How?" Celia exclaimed all at once, her voice rapidly changing through a spectrum of surprise, Liam turned back to her with a big smile which froze on his face as he turned just in time to see the towel that had been wrapped around her large body fluttered to the ground at his feet and he felt his eyes go as wide as saucers as his mind drank in the sight before them.
Pure alien feminine beauty made flesh or rather scale, two large, pert breasts swung free, revealing two dark green nipples at their centre, a stomach made of rippling abdominal muscles that would make a hardened Yautja green with envy, they looked like they'd been chiseled out of pure emerald, following that bumpy road down lead into what looked like flared hips though why she'd have hips without legs was a bit of a mystery, but nestled perfectly in the little triangle they created in her glass smooth scales was a perfect little slit in her scales.
Her face changed from one of surprise to to one of embarrassment and anger and Liam instantly snapped his mouth shut and spun on the spot, "Ambassador, my sincere apologies!" he exclaimed, then quickly picked up her fallen clothing and held them out to her blind feeling them being snatched from his hand he quickly closed the door behind him and headed to the bed where he sat down opened his eyes, blew out a held breath and tried in vain to push the image that was now seared into his mind.
A few moments later the ambassador slithered out of the bathroom, now fully dressed but still wearing the angry and embarrassed look on her face, "Ambassador, I am so sorry, please accept my sincere apologies, I never meant to look, I swear I didn't, it just sort of happened, I'll of course assign you another guide to escort you around the ship," he said.
"No!" she snapped very quickly and surprisingly aggressively and moved quicker than he would have guessed possible for someone of her size moving forward towards him but not touching him or grabbing at him, just moved closer.
"I do not wish to have someone else escort me, I asked specifically for you and your Grand Patriarch assured me that you would do just that," she said, her voice sounding conflicted but purposeful.
"Well, of course I will if that is what you wish ambassador but I just thought that maybe given the circumstances you would prefer another," she said.
"Do not presume to make judgements or decisions for me, I am quite capable of making them for myself, thank you very much," she said in a rather sharp tone that took him aback slightly.
Liam drew himself up and put on his professional face and he looked her right in the eye, "Very well ambassador as you wish," he said in a rather flat neutral tone, it was obvious to him that he'd embarrassed her, albeit by accident and different species reacted to embarassment differently, for example, embarrassing a Yautja was quite often the last thing anyone ever did, he guessed that her kind were similar, the females obviously didn't handle it all too well.
Celia glared at him for a few moments as they stood in an awkward silence then she seemed to break her conflict and she blew out a heavy sigh, "My apologies to you, Seeker Liam, I did not mean to react so harshly towards you, it was an accident after all, I misjudged my strength towards you and inadvertently pulled you from your feet, so if there is fault here it is mine, it's just no male has ever seen me...seen me..." she said, trailing off as her embarrassment began to flare again and this time he noticed that her scales around her face actually seemed to flush blue.
"Naked?" he said in a soft voice, and her head snapped up and her eyes locked onto his with a fierce glare again that made him step back and wonder whether he was about to have to defend himself as her coils tightened and her muscles bunched beneath them sending ripples through her scales.
"Yes quite," she almost spat.
"Like I said, I offer my sincerest apologies to you, lady ambassador, it was not my intention to look upon you like that," he said.
"Why not!?" she snapped, taking him aback again and his brain seemed to short circuit as it tried to figure out what was going on.
"You said you did not wish to look upon me in that way, does that not mean that you would not find me attractive? Is my species repulsive to you or is it just me who is repulsive to you?' she asked in a voice that was both aggressive and almost desperate.
"T-T-That's not what I meant, lady ambassador..." he began, but she cut him off.
"Then what did you mean? Explain it to me at once!" she barked, slithering right up to him and this time coiling herself around him like she did in the shower, invading his personal space but not actually touching him, she lowered her head and her eyes locked onto him.
Liam's defensive measure kicked in and he dove clear, moving so fast that to her eyes he would have appeared to shimmer and then vanish before reappearing on the far side of the room with his back to the wall facing her.
Celia looked utterly stunned, her head swished to locate him and when she saw him she moved towards him again but this time because of his position she was unable to encircle him, "How do you keep doing that!? You move like nothing I've ever seen!" she exclaimed.
"I'm a Dream Warrior, we're a lot faster and stronger than we appear, among other things," he said.
"Dream Warrior, I though you were human?" she asked, dancing back and forth in an odd sway that kinda reminded him of a cobra being charmed by a flute that he'd seen in a vid back in school when they'd learned of Earth fauna and its similarities to their own.
"I am, human is my parent species but a Dream Warrior is something more than our parent species, we have abilities far beyond that of them, we're faster, stronger, we can read minds if we touch another, things like that, it's how we become a Seeker, you can't be a Seeker of Truth without first being a Dream Warrior, the Clan takes us and trains us and gives us a chance to use these abilities for good, to allow us to protect the innocent and root out evil and darkness, to seek the truth among the lies and to use it to protect those who need it," Liam said, repeating part of the Seeker oath as an explanation, all the while his heart was hammering in his chest, though only part in fear, he wasn't quite sure what else was there.
"Read minds by touch...so that's how your Patriarch got inside my head and put your language there, how he took mine from me, he's one too, right, a Seeker of Truth?" she asked, and Liam nodded.
"Yes, he's the leader of all Seekers and the commander of the Soul Knights, his son Ryan Mason is the leader of the Tamers," Liam said.
"Soul Knights? Tamers? What are they? Explain," she demanded.
"They are different sects within our order, you see, most Dream Warriors are drawn either to the ethereal and spirit or to the warm embrace of mother nature herself, I, like our Grand Patriarch, am a Soul Knight, that means my gifts let me touch the realm of spirits and the beyond, Analise, the human female Seeker you saw with the large fire tiger at her side called Zed is a Tamer, her gifts let her commune with nature itself, to tame the hearts of even the wildest of beasts and draw them under her thrall," he said.
Celia seemed to visibly calm down now as her mind began processing all of this, she drew herself back and coiled herself up tightly, tapping her chin as she thought this over, "Are all Seekers human?" she asked, and Liam shook his head.
"No, I can see why it looks that way but honestly there are more Yautja Dream Warriors than human by about ten to one, it just so happens that we were the first found and trained and therefore have the most experience, so we've risen through the ranks," he said.
"So other species can be Dream Warriors too? Do you think that there are Dream Warriors among my people?" she asked, and Liam shrugged.
"I could not answer that, but if there are there we'll find them or they'll find us, Seekers of Balance are better at finding others than the other sects, well, apart from the Grand Patriarch, he seems to be kinda a blend of all three, but he favors the spirit realm so he leads the Soul Knights," Liam explained.
"These Seekers of Balance find other Dream Warriors like you?" Celia asked, and Liam nodded.
"Incredible, it seems there is so much more to learn about your people than I could have ever even began to believe," she said, and Liam nodded.
"I'm happy you think so and I'd be glad to teach you for the chance to learn about your people in exchange," Liam said, and she looked at him again and he was relived to see a smile cross her face.
"I'd be glad to teach you, but first there is the matter of the slight I suffered in the bathroom, I'd like to address this issue first before we can move on," she said, and Liam nodded.
"Agreed, like I said it, was regrettable and it was an accident, but I also apologise for my part in it, I should have immediately looked away or closed my eyes and I did not, my curiosity caught me off guard so for that I offer my sincere and heartfelt apologies," he said.
She nodded approvingly, "I understand that this is your people's vessel and therefore is under your laws and therefore I cannot enforce this only request it, but my people have a custom, we believe if an apology is indeed sincere it must be made with a gesture that shows the truth of the words made and the sincerity behind them," she said, looking at him right in the eyes.
"A gesture?" Liam said, and she nodded.
"We believe in equality and fairness, and a gesture like that is often made of equal nature to make up for the slight," she said.
Liam nodded, "That sounds actually very logical to me, so you would like me to make a gesture to you to show the sincerity of my words in apology, correct?" he said, and she nodded.
"Yes, that's correct, since my honor was sullied it is only fair, correct?" she said, and he nodded.
"Yes, that sounds fair, ambassador," he said.
Her face broke into a wider smile, "I'm glad you think so and I am happy to know that your people believe in fairness," she said.
"So what gesture to prove my sincerity would you like me to make, ambassador?" Liam asked.
"Oh, that's easy, since you saw me as I truly am I believe it is only fair that I be allowed to see you as you truly are, therefore I want you to strip," she said, still wearing that smile and Liam's heart sank like a stone before hitting his stomach and exploding into a billion butterflies.