18

A/n - hello! i'm so sorry this took so long to come out but finally here you go. i will hopefully be posting more regularly again now i've finished my courses. i wanted to get this chapter out sooner but writers block is a bitch lmao. please enjoy more of makane and dee, and more exciting things (and more sex) will be coming soon! xxx

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I woke up that next morning, feeling the sun on my skin. I was pretty achey, but feeling Makane pressed up behind me made me forget the pain for a moment. He was asleep still, snoring softly into my hair, one of his thick arms wrapped firmly around me to prevent me from moving away. I lifted my head enough to look around the room, seeing our clothes still scattered around and the bedsheets tangled around us.

I laid there for a while, going over the events of last night in my head. Did that actually happen? As I was lost in thought, Makane stirred and woke up, huffing softly. He sat up a bit and looked down at me with hazy eyes. He didn't say anything but his hand slid to my hip before he got up and stretched, not bothering to put anything on. I could admit, he looked very good naked, not even in a sexual way. As most of the yautja were, his body was muscular, chiselled like a piece of greek artwork I'd seen in books, and showing off his complex skin markings.

As he walked off to the bathroom, I also appreciated how good his legs and behind looked as a man. The way he walked and held himself, Makane knew he was attractive as a yautja, or at least to me. He returned after a few minutes and walked out the bedroom. I was sort of expecting some sort of affection, especially after last night. I slowly got up and dressed before going to find him. He was in the main area of the home, tapping on the food synthesiser. He glanced at me when I walked in but didn't speak, which pissed me off a bit.

"Morning." I said, breaking the silence.

"...Morning." Makane replied, pressing a button so a yautja tea drink appeared that he then picked up.

"Did you sleep okay?" I asked and he nodded. His short answers were annoying me, and I made it obvious with a sigh which made him look at me.

"What is the matter, Dee?" he asked, putting his drink down.

"You could be a bit more talkative, you know. We literally had sex last night." I replied slightly snappy. He grunted and his mandibles chittered quietly as he took in my response. "You wish to talk about our coupling? Why?"

"You just want to move on?" I retorted, frowning. He could see his answers were upsetting me and paused to think again.

"Yautja do not normally... dwell on mating. I was not aware humans were not the same." he said finally before finishing his tea. I scoffed slightly and walked out the room, going to take a shower to get any leftover sticky or sweat off me. We'd cleaned up last night but only lazily before going to sleep, and I still felt a bit icky.

As I got in the shower, Makane walked into the bathroom with a handheld device and a confused face.

"Your kind indulges in... pillow talk? What is this?" he asked, holding up the device where he'd obviously researched human things. I personally hadn't heard that exact term before, but assumed it was talking after sex and the searches on the device confirmed it.

"It's just talking after sex... like we talk about what happened, how we feel." I replied, washing my hair. He grunted, looking at his device again.

"Why? What is its purpose?" he asked, looking back at me as I showered. I finished rinsing my hair and properly faced him.

"To just talk, I guess. People have sex more for fun than to make children on Earth... so it's like partners just checking in on each other."I said. Makane seemed mildly confused on the concept still but didn't ask anymore questions.

"Yautja mate for more than just offspring, yet we do not indulge in this... pillow talk." he replied, watching as I got out of the shower and dried myself off. His eyes moved over me as I wrapped a towel around myself, and he huffed at me covering up.

"We don't have to if you don't want to, you know. I just thought it would be nice to talk after, maybe you could tell me more about you." I said, walking into the bedroom with him following.

"About me? You know who I am." Makane said, sitting down on the bed as I got some clothes.

"I meant like about you before we met, how you grew up, stuff like that."

"I grew up in the clan, like all young." Makane spoke bluntly, clearly not getting what I meant. I sighed and got dressed.

"No, like what was your childhood like?"

"A challenge, everything in a yautja's life is a challenge. I succeeded in living past a suckling." he replied and I nearly facepalmed. I went and sat down opposite him on the bed, crossing my legs together.

"Did you not hang out with your mother or father? I know all the children here get raised together but surely you know your parents somewhat?" I asked and Makane shook his head.

"I am aware who my mother is, she is an elder of the clan. I do not know my father, most don't. Female yautja mate with many males during mating season, so it is not dwelled upon." he explained.

"Well, what's your mother like? I don't think I've really met any of the elders yet."

"We are not close. She is wise, as elders are. She has lived many years, and has lots of experiences and advice to give the clan before her death." he said. Although he said they weren't close, I could tell he respected his mother a great deal, she clearly had an influence on him despite not knowing him well. I asked a little more about his childhood, but there wasn't much to say. Yautja's childhoods were mostly all the same, and Makane's was no different.

"You have asked a lot about me. I wish to know more about you, Dee." Makane said. I was slightly uncomfortable talking about my life back on Earth, but I wanted to be open with him if whatever we had was going to develop.

"Uh... okay, ask away."

"I saw you when I was captured in that ooman facility. Was that your home?" he asked.

"Yeah, I guess so. I grew up there."

"Do you know your parents? I know oomans work in smaller communities when raising their young, yes?"

"Yeah, they usually are, by a mother and father. I don't know my parents though... I never met them."

Makane didn't seem overly phased by that, used to it himself but he could sense I was uncomfortable.

"Those others I saw you with... were they familial to you?" he asked more gently, like he sensed there was something more touchy there. I didn't immediately answer, my mind going back to my old life, my old friends. I'd just left, I didn't even know if Jakob and Ben were still alive... and of course dear Pepper, she didn't even get a proper grave.

I didn't realise I was crying until I felt tears drip onto my shirt. Makane was staring at me intently, waiting for me to speak.

"...No, but they were special." I whispered, my voice cracking a little. I sniffed, wiping my eyes although more tears kept coming. I mumbled an apology and turned away slightly, sniffling. Makane saw that bringing that up had clearly reminded me of bad things, and reached over to try and pull me closer to him.

"Come." he said, pulling me to scoot next to him. I didn't resist, and leant into him a little.

"I feel horrible for leaving them." I whimpered softly. He chittered soothingly, his arm going around me.

"Do not worry, I am here now." he said. It did comfort me, but I knew that he fully didn't understand how I felt. He sat there cuddling me until I slowly stopped crying, but didn't push the topic further, not wanting to upset me again. We sat there for a while in a mostly comfortable silence, with his hand touching my hair every few minutes. It soothed me a lot, and although I was still thinking about my friends, his presence brought a sense of peace to my mind.