12

sorry for not updating in a while lol, took a break over christmas <3

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I'd woken up early to go train more for the day. Since I'd started, I felt stronger and trusted my body more. I headed down to the training area, and was practicing my work with the hand blades on my gauntlet device.

I trained for a few hours before the door slid open and Makane walked in.

"I thought you would be in here." he said, looking slightly amused. I paused slashing at the dummy as he came in, wiping sweat off my forehead.

"I wanted to get some extra training in for next week." I replied, retracting my blades. Makane nodded in approval and handed me a towel.

"That is good, but you should not overdo it. You are more than ready for your Chiva next week, Dee." he said, patting my shoulder. I nodded, sighing. Maybe I had been overdoing it a bit, I'd trained all day most days for almost three months now.

"Yeah.. I know. Maybe I should take a few days off." I sighed.

"Come." he said, tugging me closer and surprisingly into a hug. Makane hadn't been particularly affectionate like this even though I'd lived with him for a bit under four months now. The most I usually got was a pat on the head or back, even though there was clearly a bit of tension between us.

I awkwardly hugged him back, still baffled he was doing this. His mandibles chittered against my hair, and I could admit it felt nice to have a hug. He smelt musty, like an old relic, which was ironic as he was over 200 years old, and a mix of foreign spices from his world. I sighed and leaned into him more, and his hand went to my head, stroking my hair. "You are so squishy." Makane said quietly, squeezing me slightly to prove his point."I'm less squishy now. I've actually built muscle." I replied and he grunted."You are still squishy to me."

"That's because you're built like a machine." I said, lightly punching his chest. As expected, it was rock hard. We pulled away from each other and he held his hand out for my gauntlet. I pressed a button and it eased off my arm, and he took it."Your blades are worn. You should keep their maintenance up or they won't be as effective." he said, looking over the wrist blades. They were duller than I remembered, now I thought about it. "Oh right... Do I take them to Ek'te?" I asked and Makane nodded sharply, handing me back my device. "I will come with you, I have some weapons that need buffing." he said and we walked out the training room, heading back home.

Since I'd lived with Makane, he'd allowed me to make his home a bit more mine too, letting me put art up from Earth that I liked and installed a way for my gauntlet device to connect to Earth radio and music services. I wasn't allowed to listen to most music back in the facility so being able to find my own taste made me feel like a normal person for once. I mostly did whilst training, but sometimes showed him my planet's music to get his opinion.

Makane wasn't super keen on most of it but I caught him listening to some older 80's rock a few weeks ago when he was cleaning his trophies so he obviously liked that.

We returned home so he could pick up his weapons before we headed out again to Ek'te. When we arrived, he was busy as usual, making weapons for the clan and reinforcing others' armour. His eyes moved up to lock onto us when we came in, before he stood up straight.

"Makane. Dee." he grunted, nodding as a greeting. "What do you require?"

"Our weapons need maintenance." Makane said. I'd been quite shocked at the way he spoke to others at first, since the facility had taught us strict manners, especially when asking for things. When I'd brought it up to him though, he found it really amusing how concerned I was, before telling me how his kind spoke very directly and it wasn't considered rude here.

We handed over our weapons to Ek'te, who took a quick look at them before grunting. "I will have it done by tomorrow." he said, and went back to what he was doing.

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"Faster." Makane grunted.

"Move faster." he grunted again.

"Makane, I'm tired-." I complained but was cut off. "Keep moving."

We'd been doing hand-to-hand combat for at least an hour now, and he'd made me repeat the same move over and over until I got it perfect. My body was aching, but Makane was pretty firm that he wanted me to perfect this move, insisting it was a very effective technique for my Chiva.

Finally I'd managed to get it right enough to make him let me stop. I groaned and flopped onto the training room floor. Makane chuckled and pulled me to get up, letting me lean on him. "You did well, Dee. Come, we will go home and I will make your favourite meal while you bathe." he said."Mmm.. that sounds nice." I replied, following him out the training building. We walked slowly back to his home, and I went off to the bathroom when we got in. i knew how to work all the stuff in the home now, and ran myself a bath as I took off my armour and clothes.

Getting in the hot water felt like bliss, and I groaned softly as my muscles relaxed after so long of moving.

After a while, Makane came in with a bowl of food for me. I mumbled a thank you and lifted my arm out the murky water to take the bowl. He grunted and sat down by the bath with his own food. He seemed to enjoy eating together most nights, and had come and sat in the bathroom with me if I was in there to eat.

After I finished eating, he took my bowl and briefly left to put them in the kitchen before he returned. "You did well today. You are more than ready for your Chiva." Makane said quietly, and patted my head. I smiled slightly, enjoying the rare affection from him. He'd been more affectionate lately but I think it was because he was worried when I did my Chiva. I didn't know what to expect for it exactly, but I trusted he wouldn't let me into a literal deathtrap.

"You should rest. You need strength for tomorrow." he said, stroking my hair a little. I nodded and he left the room so I could get out and changed for bed.