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The Translation in Blood	By : Mayamahal Category: +M through R > Mass Effect Views: 19003 -:- Recommendations : 2 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Bioware or ANYTHING in the Mass Effect universe, including the characters therein. I make no money on this story.

Chapter List
- 6
- 7
- 8
Hannah had inadvertently stumbled across what was apparently a Turian norm and social lubricant: the act of play-fighting. Much like the youngsters of predators back on Earth (and across the galaxy, most likely), 'sparring' and 'play-fight' were interchangeable to Turians, and while in the cave she had guessed at it being somewhat of an everyday thing for him, she learned later that it was a lot more than that.
Maybe it was the universal language inherent in touch, or the enjoyment that came with true fun, or the innocence in playful antics, but it seemed to her that there was more being said than their usual one-sided conversations. Both of them couldn't stop smiling, or laughing, or, at least on Hannah's end, swearing.
The guy had reach like she couldn't believe, the water evening out the playing field as far as speed, and while she could cheat and swim out where it was deeper and he couldn't stand, there was zero fun involved with that. No, she preferred trying to beat him at his own game, even if she was failing horribly.
After about the tenth dunk, she managed to wrap her legs around one of his arms and her arms around his neck, clinging like a monkey as she cackled in triumph. He couldn't hold his breath long enough to get her to dislodge, and though he was stronger than she by far, it would have defeated the fun purpose if he waded to the bank and tried to scrape her off on a rock.
Eventually, the playing toned itself down to spashing, and then from there to demonstrating different talents inherent with the species of each: he could climb across the bottom with a speed that struck Hannah as creepy (it made her think of vids she'd scene of octopi gliding over reefs to lunge at some poor unsuspecting critter), and she could float for as long as she wanted without effort.
Then by accident, mostly, it evolved into teaching fighting techniques.
Her opener of jumping on him in an attempt to redeem her pride came up, and she complained about his advantage in having experience with fighting something similar to her, as was apparent by his excellent use of ... well, everything she tried... against herself. He seemed to consider her backwards compliment, made a decision, and showed her how to defend herself against him. And then attack him.
She actually made him stop half way through the third demonstration, holding up her hands and bobbing backwards in the water.
"Look, I ..." Her tongue darted out to lick her bottom lip, a nervous habit she couldn't surpress. "I know we're supposed to hate each other, and fuck, if the shit hits the fan, we may be forced to fight each other someday, or others like us. Are you sure you want to teach me this stuff? Not that I wouldn't be grateful, but..." She let the sentence trail out.
How was she supposed to finish that?
...but we're friends now, right? It doesn't seem okay to show me ways to kill your species. She opened her mouth to say just that, then closed it again. She didn't need to say it, not by the look on his face.
He responded to her with rumbling words, full of thought and consideration, and an eventual nod. It sent a flutter of relief through her belly and a smile on her face.
"Okay. Well, since you showed me a few things ... I think it's only fair I return the favor. For the sake of balance."
He gave a shrug and then a nod; Sure, if you really want to.
So she showed him her favorite headbutt.
"Not all humans are as short as I am, which I'm sure you noticed." She stuck her tongue out at him when he laughed at her. "Most are in fact taller than me, and that's what makes this my favorite move to demonstrate on new recruits." She took them into water that stopped at his hips, then pointed to the middle of his chest, about where his sternum would be if he'd been human.
"This isn't vulnerable to you, is it?" she asked first. At his negative, she pointed to the same spot on herself. "For us, it's a pretty good target, with the right force it can send any human of any size to the floor, and even kill them if you do it sharply enough. It has a lot of names, though most refer to it as the 'solar plexus'. Since most humans are taller than me, it's the easiest, most unexpected target for me to go for, especially as a woman. It actually makes us marginally better hand-to-hand combatants, at least for the opening move; men tend to posture before they make a strike, and women typically do not." She lowered her head and leaned forward, and thumped the middle of his sternum with her crown, explaining how the power came from her body below the neck, blah blah blah. She was pretty sure he knew enough about headbutts to put it together himself.
He did seem to find this all interesting and continued to listen to her, tilting his head this way and that, leaning down to watch her move from a different angle. She showed him how if an opponent was a little taller than her, she could add a jump to her manuever, otherwise it worked on just about anyone she'd paired up against.
"The other thing... well, hmm..." she began, pausing to step back and eye him a moment. "Oh. Oh.. Yeah, you have another advantage we don't."
She waded into the shallows and beckoned him to her, until the water was just above her knee. She eyed his waist, and then his hips and the obvious absence of his genitalia. Hannah understood pretty quickly what was up, and loosed a low whistle.
"Evolution is an amazing thing; human males have their sex organs on the outside of their bodies." She grinned at his bark of laughter, his disbelieving exclaimations.
"It's true! It dangles between their legs like berries on a branch." His amusement was infectious, and she laughed with him. "Right, see, a lot of us women feel the same way; even a bad hit to the balls will make a man curl up and fall over. Nature was a lot smarter with the creation of the likes of you and me." She put her hands on her hips though and eyed his pelvis, curious.
"So ... ah ... do you keep it all tucked inside?" She started to lean down, trying to see.
She heard a snort and looked up at him. He was grinning and gave a nod, gesturing to an opening that was almost a seam, right above the juncture of his thighs. It made Hannah think of other creatures that kept their bits internal unless they ... ah ... needed them. Reptiles, birds, mammals ... it definitely made sense, especially if his people evolved with such a tough looking epidermis. Obviously, they must have needed such protection, making her wonder what kind of world his people came from.
Really not thinking about personal space, Hannah's curiosity took over her hands and she brushed his hip, noting his flesh to be tougher, harder than hers. She wondered if it was sensitive as she felt the texture of its surface, tracing across his hip and down his thigh. It was then that she noticed his thick hide shift and move, in particular that seam he'd gestured at before.
"Oh- did I hurt you?" she asked in alarm when he took a startled inhale and a quick step back. "Hey... why is your skin seperating? Are you okay?" Her tone grew baffled as he continued to step back into the cold water until it lapped at his sternum.
He shook his head at her and flared his jaw bits at her in a grin, but she noticed they quivered a little when he drew them back in. Maybe he was cold?
"Wow, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable," she said, brow furrowed in concern. "Are you sure I didn't hurt you?"
He shook his head, cupping water and sluicing it over his head, rubbing his hands into his face.
She shrugged at him and smiled back. "Okay then. That's enough soaking for me today, anyway, before I do anything else stupid," she said cheerfully, trying to let go of the awkward moment, inwardly yelling at herself for being so forward. God, what if she'd offended him?
She retreated to the bank, stripping her undershirt from her torso and laying it out near her other clothes, pulling off her panties and doing the same with them; it wouldn't be the first time she'd let herself air dry before bed. Habit had her hand stray to her chest to check for her dogtags, only to find them missing.
"Crap," she mumbled, glancing into the water, wondering if they'd come off in there. Logic, however, reminded her she'd been flipped over and backward and thrown into the floor before her swim, and it was more than likely then that she lost it. Naked and damp, she wandered over to the cave wall that bordered the edge of the lake,where she'd first attacked her Turian. Their antics had ruined the growing lichen, the surface marred and scraped. There was a brief flash of guilt over that before she started to look for her tags.
She crouched and brushed the cave floor with her hands, scurried along the edge of the wall and retraced their steps. At one point, she was facing away from the lake and, tired of kneeling on the ground, had bent over at the hips, one hand braced against the rock as she leaned over to peer into a jagged crack that ran along the bottom.
"Ah-ha!" she breathed, fingertips stretching out to snag the chain, metal glinting in the crevice.
Just as she snagged it, there was a noise behind her, bringing her head up to look over her shoulder as she retrieved her necklace. The Turian stood about four yards from the edge of the water, looking to have stopped in mid-stride, staring at her with mandibles twitching.
Without intending to be provocative, she blinked at him and straightened slowly, trying to figure out if there was a danger she didn't see or something.
"What?" she asked warily.
Almost unconsciously, she pulled her long hair over her shoulder, trying to peer down her right shoulder-blade before looking back at him.
"What?"she repeated, anxiety fading to irritation. Why is he looking at me like that? Is there a cave spider or something on my back?
He let out a loud exhale, straightened his spine, turned on his heel and marched right back into the frigid water of the lake, not stopping until it went right up to his throat.
The hell...
"WHAT?" she called after him, completely baffled. "What is it??"
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- 6
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- 8
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The Translation in Blood