Hello, Guys and Dolls! Guess who's back! So this is a stand alone story but I'm tempted to add a part 2 later. Please comment, favorite and follow! Tell me if you'd like to see a part 2!

Thanks^^

His Songbird

Words: ki'cti-pa (spear); kv'var (hunt, The Hunt)

Thelma

Singing was something I'd always done. It was the only thing that soothed the pain in my life that never seemed to fade. It was 1928 in a small town near New Orleans, and people of my color were trying their hardest to find their purpose in life. I had found mine in a small juke joint named "The Lagoon Room". It was a rickety old house that the owner had built himself, the loud jazz music seeping from every window and crack to flow across the waters of the nearby lake.

Thelma Birdie was my name, but everyone else knew me as "The Songbird." People came from all over to hear little 'ol me sing and I made sure I gave the people what they wanted. I belted out the words to songs that sang of our woes and our joys, of loves both found and lost. With the spotlight on me and the mic in my slender brown hand, I strolled across the small makeshift stage with emotion that bled from me with every note. It was a show I put on every Thursday and Saturday night, posters with my face appearing around Tuesday to ready the town for the only real entertainment they had. That juke joint, that rickety old house mattered a lot to a whole bunch of people. Inside, we forgot about the injustices we suffered, and the people we lost, and the invisible struggle we fought every day.

We were free to feel.

Saturday night came like all the other Saturday nights had before, with a raging crowd and instruments blaring. I fixed my makeup in the mirror on the vanity of the small dressing room, my red dress shimmering under the gentle flicker of a candle nearby. My thick curls were pinned up on my head, a few tendrils slipping free to tickle my neck. I fanned myself with the feathered fan and strolled out, smiling broadly as I stepped on the stage and glanced out at the sea of faces.

"Here she is! Our very own Songbird!" Came the voice that I had grown accustomed to hearing the past few weeks.

I stroked the tall metal pole of the mic with a feather light touch, easing up to it with a grace I worked hard to perfect.

"Some men, they never learn." I started, my voice a low octave that settled over the quiet in the room.

Whistles from both men and women soon rang out.

The song continued and I embraced every high and low I sang, keeping my movements light and airy. By the time it ended, a grand applause had started with voices begging for an encore. I bowed and picked up one of the many flowers that had been tossed onstage, smelling it casually as I walked back to the dressing room.

Changing out of the gaudy dress and into my own clothes, I kissed Gus the joint owner on the cheek as I took my pay from his outstretched hand.

"Till next week." He grinned.

I smirked and nodded. Dipping out behind The Lagoon Room, I walked into the thick marsh that surrounded it and pushed through until I spotted the road. Stepping out, I followed it back into town.

Fa'raji

Hunting oomans took far more patience than he had to offer at the moment. Given that he had been sitting in the same spot for days, Fa'raji was growing increasingly anxious. His hunt brothers had already taken their ooman targets out, their skulls cleaned and ready for display. He grumbled angrily to himself as his target yet again evaded his efforts. Fa'raji was starting to suspect that he had bitten off more than he could chew with this one. But he was Yautja, and it went against his most basic of instincts to abandon a hunt because it was "too challenging".
He had waited out a much larger, far more dangerous beast on another planet and lived to sport its skull. He would wait this ooman out as well, even if the ooman repeatedly shot at him with his barbaric weaponry.

Fa'raji had always been a hit them hard first kind of hunter, playing the stealth game took too long in his opinion. However, lately he's thirsted for a new type of challenge. One that he could use as a learning experience to improve himself and his skills as a hunter.

Sensing that the ooman wasn't going to put down its guard anytime soon, Fa'raji climbed down from his perch and laid claim to the shadows of the bustling town. The sun was setting and darkness spread rapidly, a whole new bloom of life emerging. As the night creatures of the planet crawled out of their homes, so did another type of ooman. Gone were the females and their sucklings, and out were the males much like the one he was hunting now. A type of ooman, Fa'raji noticed, that was far more dangerous and trickier to kill without getting discovered by more of them. These males were deemed worthy of the kv'var, so Fa'raji and a few of his hunt brothers decided to take a trip to the backwater planet to try their hands at ooman hunting. To his shame, he had originally viewed the oomans as less than impressive and didn't want to waste his time. Ne'tash, a close brother of his, convinced him that the kv'var would be anything but boring and with a scoff Fa'raji had agreed to come along. Now, he was stuck between giving up out of anger and just crashing into the oomans home and skewering him in his bed. Growling low in his throat, Fa'raji continued walking until he found what he was looking for.

A thick patch of marsh surrounded the side of the town, perfect for Fa'raji to slink through unnoticed and find something to eat. The dull sound of clawed feet as they patted through the mud of the bank and the hiss of warning as its heavy tail struck the ground registered with the warrior. He kept his head turned at an angle as he prepared to strike the reptilian creature the oomans called a crocodile that had mistakenly crossed into his range of fire. One thrust of his ki'cti-pa and the beast was passing into the next life. Fa'raji gathered the dead animal in his arms and started back for his perch. As he walked through the quiet of the night, a sound unlike anything he'd ever heard graced his ears. Gently dropping the animal, Fa'raji purred curiously as he stalked the sound. He ended up in a small clearing where a hazardous building stood.

'This must be some sort of meeting place for the night oomans.' Fa'raji thought as he noted the sounds of instruments and cheers coming from the house.

There was another noise though, one that had attracted him in the first place. Peering into the ooman establishment, Fa'raji felt his breath halt.
There before him was a creature unlike any other. The vibrant red of its casing and the feathered contraction in its hand waved and flittered in the air as the creature moved it in tune with the sounds it was making.

Not sure what he was watching, Fa'raji started looking for hints as to what species this creature was. The oomans seemed to nearly worship it, throwing tributes of flowers at its feet. At closer inspection, he decided it must be female. The gentle swell of breasts and full hips could be seen, confirming that information in his head. The female was doing what they called singing. Yautja lacked the appropriate parts to make sounds like that, so the act was very fascinating to Fa'raji. It filled him with an inquisitiveness that he knew his hunt brothers would tease him endlessly for. He couldn't help it through, he stood there listening as closely as he could. Ducking deeper into the shadows when oomans walked in or out, he always found his way back to his spot. Her voice flowed around him, lifting his spirit and destroying any doubts he had.

As the female slowly ended her singing, the oomans all burst forth with more cheering.

Fa'raji was entranced by the female, how she moved and the beautiful sounds she made all clouded his logic.

Lifting the beast back into his broad arms, he slowly turned and headed back into the marsh before he was seen. After packing up the meat to eat it later, he cleaned the skull and spent a quick second to admire its pearly glow under the gaze of the moon. His thoughts started to travel back to the female with the captivating voice. He was sure she was ooman after a bit more thought, her facial features and body tone similar to ones below her in the crowd.

After a bit of a walk, Fa'raji found himself back on his perch. The ooman male had not moved much, a few other oomans now also occupying the same room. Chewing on bits of the crocodile, Fa'raji settled back and waited. With images of the female still swaying their way through his mind, he found that he had no qualms with waiting now. After all, the longer it took him to kill the male, the more time he had to go and visit the night ooman's meeting grounds.

The more chances he'd get to hear her again.

Thelma

It was strange how something so small could bring you so close to total strangers. My mother used to say that "Pride is loud, but a humble heart is louder." As a young girl, I never understood that. But as I grew and my family shrank, I found myself alone with nothing but my voice.

Then, it slowly made sense.

Fluffing my tightly twisted curls and smoothing down the royal blue dress Gus lent me, I paused to stare long and hard at my reflection. Almond shaped eyes stared back, a deep chocolate shaded by long eyelashes. Smiling, I touched the mirror and kissed the small photo of my family I always taped in the far left corner of the reflective glass.

'For you.' I whispered.

Standing up and unfolding my favorite feathered fan, I strut out of the dressing room and took the stage with an elegant pose of confidence.

"The Songbird, Ladies and Gentlemen!"

I moved my shoulder and hummed out a tune, the fan coming up to shield my face below my eyes. The crowd whistled and hooted, fists beating the tables with unabridged enthusiasm.

"It's like you've put a spell on me." I sang, easing up to the mike. "I'm suffocated, but I love it."

I let myself go like I always did, singing with everything in me. My whole body seemed to vibrate, I closed my eyes and embraced it as I ended the second song of the night. Walking back into the dressing room to catch my breath and ready myself for the last song of the evening, I smiled when a few fans shyly walked in to talk and get autographs. I signed posters and smiled genuine smiles, even hugging a few when Gus came back to rescue me from the blush-worthy attention.

After promising to be back in a bit to check up on me, he briskly kicked the onlookers out.

I sighed and got up to walk to the small window the room had, opening it to let in fresh air. Gazing out at the stars, I found myself wishing I could be among them. Though I loved singing and connecting with people through it, without my family there to cheer me on it was getting harder and harder to get up on stage. A rustling sound came from out in the darkness of the marsh, my eyebrows furrowing as I strained to hear what exactly the noise was.

"You are too nice to them sometimes." Came from behind me.

I spun around in mild shock only to relax at the sight of the joint owner. He was an older man, a bit younger than my father would have been. With gray bushy eyebrows and soft brown eyes and brown skin a bit darker than mine, he was the closest thing I had to family since I came here. I was born in Alabama, the very memories from there a dark smear in my past. I began anew in Louisiana, picking the small town on the outskirts of New Orleans as my home and my voice as my tool to pave my own road. My own way.

"I wouldn't have gotten this far without them, Gus. You know that." I sighed, smiling inwardly at the memories.

"Just be careful, people are crazy ya' know."

I chuckled and nodded, walking over to hug the older man.

"That's why I've got you, Gus." I grinned against his shoulder.

He grumbled but didn't push me away. I pulled back first, shooing him from the room so I could finish getting ready for the last song.

Sitting back down at the vanity, I was applying a bit of glimmering powder to my cheeks when the window in my room suddenly slammed shut. I couldn't help the squeak of surprise that escaped my lips as I turned around. The window had indeed been closed, but on the windowsill was a small figurine. It was a pearly white color and shaped like some kind of animal, I couldn't be sure.

What I did know was that it had a strange kind of beauty to it that I found incredibly charming the longer I stared at it.

Gently picking up the little trinket, I held it close and peered out of the window. Darkness was all I saw, darkness and the marsh. A steady cheer rose from the joint outside my door, the instruments settling into a hush as the crowd chanted for me once again. Tucking the figurine safely away in my bag, I did what I do best when I left my little room.

I sang and swayed and enchanted every person in the audience.

Fa'raji

The ooman male finally made a mistake.

As he stumbled down the street with only two other ooman males in tow and a hand gripping the neck of a bottle of foul smelling alcohol, Fa'raji had to hold back a deep rumbling chuckle. He knew that waiting would work, and he had for about 10 weeks. Never shadowing too closely to the ooman or alerting him to his presence, the male had finally cracked and gone out drinking.

Perfect.

Fa'raji stalked the trio as they turned a street corner, picking off one guard followed by the other. By time the male realized he was alone, it was too late. Fa'raji had him cornered and his ki'cti-pa was unsheathed and ready for blood. The male hissed and broke the bottle against the near wall, the smooth bottom of the bottle now replaced with jagged edges. Fa'raji clicked his mandibles together under his mask, a look of pure amusement hidden under the metal.

The ooman male swung once, twice, and missed his mark on all accounts. Though it was obvious to Fa'raji that the ooman was incredibly intoxicated, Fa'raji was mildly impressed with how close he had gotten on both swings.

Fa'raji himself, however, only needed one swing.

The male fell to his knees, a gaping gash opening his throat to the cool August air. As the ooman fell onto his face, Fa'raji grunted and puffed his chest out at the victory. Dragging the body into the marsh, he severed the head before dissolving the body with a serum he kept on his waist belt.

The female was the next step for him now. He had visited the ooman building many times to get a glimpse of her. Some days he would hear her sing, while other days she wasn't to be found. He badly wanted to take things slowly, something about her practically demanded it. But, he didn't have much time left, his hunt brothers would soon be looking for him. He took a bone from one of the dozens of crocodiles he'd eaten while there and started carving into it. Once it was a pearly white and shaped perfectly, he started walking towards the ooman building with a silent prayer to Paya that she would be there.

Thinking that the Goddess was surely smiling down on him, he purred contently when he heard her voice drifting through the air to dance around him. Hearing her now only renewed his determination to go through with this plan. The female had a distinct scent, one he instantly found and followed to a small open window in the side of the house. She was inside, a different covering on her body but the same feathered contraption in her hand.

She was embracing an older ooman male and Fa'raji wasn't shocked to feel a bit of anger flare up in his stomach. He had been filled with thoughts of her for weeks now and here she was so close to him yet in another male's embrace. Then she shooed the male away and sat down, seemingly busy with wiping more of this strange powdery substance on her face. Fa'raji took out the small bone figurine and placed it on the sill of the window, shutting the window hard to get her attention.

Moving back into the shadows, he watched as she turned quickly and got up to walk to the window. Finding his gift there, she picked it up and fingered the figurine curiously before pressing it to her chest in acceptance. She looked up and out into the marsh behind him, her eyes meeting his for a second; though she wasn't aware of it.

The moment that she accepted his gift, Fa'raji looked to his wrist gauntlet to summon Ne'tash and let him know he was ready to be picked up. When he asked about how the kv'var went, he simply told him he had two trophies to take back home.

Thelma

I held the figurine tightly in my hand as I pushed through the thick of the marsh. It felt different, as if the darkness harbored something other than its usual horrors. An owl called out in alarm over head, its wings beating harshly in a hasty retreat. I came to a full halt when I decided that the feeling of eyes on me wasn't just a part of my imagination. I quickly put the figurine into my bag and looked around my feet for a weapon.

Bending over, I picked up a thick stick and held it up threateningly,

"I know you're out there! Come out now and I won't have to hurt you!" I growled between clenched teeth.

The shadows around every tree bent and turned until something emerged from them, from the blackness of their depths. I felt my mouth gap open in shock when a great figure stood out from the darkness, the features still not easily discernable though.

Stiffening my spine in fake bravery, I gripped the limb tighter,

"Come closer, into the light."

I took a few timid steps back when the figure took one big step forward.

The moonlight poured over the creature, the rough skin a patchy work of brown, black and stripes of red. Long inky strands come from its head, looking awfully like hair to me. Silver and gold bands covered almost every thick strand, a few of them falling over its broad shoulders. I couldn't explain it, but I got the feeling that the creature was male. There was just this overwhelmingly masculine air that he oozed with every deep breath he took. He was also tall, unbelievably so in fact. His face, however, was covered with a metal mask and faint clicking noises were filtering out from behind it.

"What are you.." I whispered before I could stop myself.

He purred, like some sort of large exotic cat, and took another step toward me. I instantly held up the tree limb, praying that I looked intimidating enough.

"Hey! Not another step, mister!" I ground out, backing up and putting more space between us.

His large hands curled into tight fists with every step back I took. I barely blinked before the tree limb was ripped from my hands and his rough palm was wrapped around my much smaller right wrist. Standing at 5'8 myself, I had to crane my head up to the point of pain so I could peer at his masked face.

"Let me go." I seethed.

He responded by pulling me clear off my feet by my wrist, raising me up until I was face to face with him. The purring started again, my wrist slowly growing numb as I dangled there defenseless and highly agitated. A deep underlying fear of him was the only thing that kept me from lashing out too fiercely, for now anyway.

"I said, let me go." I repeated in a lower voice.

He simply continued to purr, gazing at me with a small turn of his head.

"You have a lot of courage for one so small." Came from the creature before me.

I stared in complete shock at hearing my native English spoken so clearly from something that was certainly not human. Having noticed my sudden silence, he used that to throw the rest of my body over his broad shoulder and started at a light trot through the marsh. I forced myself from my stunned state and started pounding my fists against his back, spewing the curses I'd heard said at "The Lagoon Room." Then, I started kicking and squirming and doing just about anything to get him to release me. He had his large hand clutched against the back of my knees to stabilize me on his shoulder as I thrashed about in vain. After a bit of this, he seemed to crack from irritation as he ran his clawed fingers roughly up one of my legs toward my bottom in evident warning, adding a deep growl for emphasis.

I gasped at the feeling of his rough skin against the sensitive skin on the back of my legs. Hating how my skin seemed to warm up at the abrasive touch, I settled into a livid silence.

"We're nearly there." He said in a deep rumbling voice, the sound of it vibrating through his body and into mine.

'Where was there?' I thought with worry as I was carried hastily through the darkness of the marsh.

A bright light appeared suddenly, its origin facing the creature and therefor hidden from my sight. I felt my breath catch as he let out numerous clicking noises followed by deep rumbles and hisses. Then, there was another voice. This new addition replied back in the same fashion, clicks and hisses and rumbles flittering around me to be consumed and then spewed back by my captor. I waited and listened as they continued to communicate in their strange ways, barely believing my eyes or ears though they were proof that this was all real. He seemed to have no qualms with what was evidently being said because the next thing I knew I was being carried into the light. I closed my eyes against the harsh brightness and kept them closed as we maneuvered through what I assumed were hallways of some kind. All I could think about as I swung limply in his hold was Gus, and "The Lagoon Room." The old man's heavy lidded eyes paired with a sincere smile and the way he'd shoo the overly excited fans from me all clouded my thoughts. His nose and his ears and his funny mannerisms, they all made my heart ache. Looking down, I noticed that I still had my bag. It had been flattened between my body and his muscled shoulder. I longed to reach inside and take out the feathered fan he'd given me as a gift for performing at his nightclub the first night I had premiered as a jazz singer.

As I was thinking about that, I felt myself being lifted and then dropped onto a soft lush surface.

Fa'raji

The female had put up more of a fight then he thought she would but they had managed to make it back to Ne'tash and his hunt brothers. Ne'tash had reacted as he predicted and had asked a plethora of questions that Fa'raji had answered all calmly. It wasn't an unknown thing to take creatures from a planet and keep them as pets while on hunts. His hunt brothers were more curious about why Fa'raji had chosen to take her of all the other creatures off planet.

Fa'raji had merely escaped their overly zealous looks and remarks, fleeing to his private quarters with the female quietly laying across his shoulder.

He moved his hand from the soft skin of her legs to her back, where he removed her from his shoulder to drop her on his bed. The female laid there for a split second before shooting up from the bed to sit and look up at him. He had his arms crossed over his chest, watching her heart beat quicken the longer he stared down at her. Not wanting to scare her too much, he decided to get on a level she would feel comfortable with.

He sank to his knees slowly, keeping eye contact with her as he did.

"Are you hungry? Thirsty?" He asked after a moment of silent observation from both parties.

The female shook her head no, small curls flying this way and that.

"Why?" She asked instead, her voice low.

Fa'raji didn't say anything, simply looking at her from his kneeled position across from her.

She clenched her blunt teeth together tightly, anger fogging her eyes.

"Why! Why did you take me! Why couldn't you have just-just-left me there..." She ended, her voice small even to her own ears.

Fa'raji considered his reply, thinking over several different options before picking one that he felt summed up his reasoning best.

"Your voice."

The female blinked and pondered that for a long time, her eyes going from the metal floor to his mask then back to the metal floor.

"My voice?" She asked, a small finger reaching up to trace a gentle path across her top lip.

"I have grown fond of you and the music you make. That is why you are here." He replied in a matter-of-fact way.

"You-Yo-." The female appeared to be stuck for words, her eyes lifted and searching the walls for answers.

Fa'raji leaned forward then, the foreign scent coming off of her drawing him in. He reached a hand out and captured her small hand in his larger paw. Oomans were known for having extremely smooth skin, something that he'd always thought of as a pitiful weakness, but now all he could think about was his longing to run his hands all over her.

She instantly looked up at him when she felt his clawed fingers wrap around her hand, nearly swallowing it. A strange heat started to form there, a heat that started between their joined hands then slowly traveled up her arm and down her torso stopping for a moment to warm her belly. Snatching away her hand, Fa'raji smirked under his mask at the swift action. He had purposely released a bit of his musk into the air around them, the hormone particularly potent when used in mating season.

Her heart was racing, he could hear the rhythmic beat of it through her dress.

"Sing for me, ooman." He entreated, his own breathed hitched in anticipation of her response to his request.

She appeared to still be flustered though. Her breath was coming out in small pants, her strange hair coils coming out of their constraint to tumble down around her shoulders. The female brushed at them in evident anger, then started moving in an attempt to stand.

"St-stop it! I don't know what you did, but I know you did something! And, you put your hand on me again and you won't get it back!" She seethed, hands on wide hips and a blushing frown on her face.

Fa'raji felt his muscles twitch from the threat, but had to remind himself that she was just like a cornered animal. A cornered animal could be quite dangerous too though. The female slowly moved around his kneeling form, climbing out of his bed and moving towards a corner of the room.

He followed her careful movements with his head, his kneeled position moving into a crouch before he stood up to his full height of 7'4. He started walking toward her only for the female to kick her foot out at him, catching him in the shin. He grunted, more in shock at her feeble attempt than in pain, and growled deeply. She visibly shook before him.

"Either you get back on the bed or I'll put you on the bed. Your choice, Ooman." He grounded out, stalking toward her.

She shook her head and kicked out at him again.

Growing tired of trying this the nice way, Fa'raji grabbed her by the neck and forced her back toward the bed. He lifted her and dumped her very unceremoniously back on the furs, this time crawling on the bed with her. He grabbed her arms and pinned them on either sides of her head, pinning her legs down with his own as well to avoid getting kicked again.

"Get off of me! You're hurting me!" she screamed, her teeth clenched tightly together.

"I do not enjoy hurting you!" He barked back, settling most of his weight on the side of the bed to avoid seriously injuring her.

"Lies!" She fumed in reply.

"I only wish to hear you sing, grant me this wish and I will return you to your planet." He fired back.

The female was quick to grow silent under him as his words washed over her.

"Sing for me." He tried again this time with a purr, his deep voice a soft caress.

"Release me first." She challenged in a low voice, tugging on his iron hold over her arms.

He watched her face carefully for any hint of foul play, but after seeing nothing he let her up. She rolled out from under him but didn't lift up from the bed. Instead, she sighed and crossed her arms over her chest,

"What should I sing?"

Thelma

Most women would have fainted from the utter shock of not only talking to something nonhuman but fighting with it, it just left me physically worn-out and mentally drained. So, even when I could've attempted to run again or put more distance between us- I didn't. I saw no real reason honestly, if he wanted to harm me he would weither I fought first or not.

"What should I sing?" I asked softly, my heart still racing at being so close to him.

"Anything.." He purred.

I glanced over at him, his masked face turned to me with an arm tucked under his head.

"Oh, you blow my mind."

I started singing, the song being one that I had been working on for a while. The words flowed from me, my soul fluttering away in my chest as I let out all my inner uncertainties. With my emotions there on display, hanging from my sleeves, I let go of everything.

"Like a fire, we burn and embrace the flame."

"Oh, I can handle it baby. Just, you promise me."

"We'll still be together in the end."

"If so, then that's all I need."

I continued on like that, glancing over every now and then at him to see his masked face stuck on me from his side of the bed. He had moved a bit closer, which I noticed right away, but strangely I didn't really mind it. When I finished the song, I sat up on the bed and looked down at him.

"One more song." He said before I could even get a word in.

"You said to sing, I sang. Now you have to hold up your side of the bargain." I frowned. Then I wondered for a moment if I had completely lost my mind, arguing with a creature that stood twice as tall as I did with more muscle than I would ever hope to gain.

"And I will. But, only after we return to the clan ship. That is where my ship is docked and from there I can take you where ever you wish to go."

"I want to go home." I replied back in a soft voice, sighing and falling back onto the bed.

"Then, that is where we will go. For now, sing for me, little one." He rumbled, his deep voice unconsciously making my stomach do flip flops.

I watched in silence as he scooted closer to me and didn't comment at how one of his arms found its way under my head, pillowing it gently. I think for a second of a song to sing then decide to hum one instead. I start my humming and listen for a growl or grunt of disapproval, never hearing one though I continue on. It was a song I remember my mother singing, though the memory is a blurry one. She would hum it as she cleaned or as she cooked, her back always bent over in some manual task.

A vibrating purr started to mix with the humming, the two sounds swaying and joining together in a teasing dance for dominance. I smiled sleepily, my eyes growing heavy lidded.

"Sleep, little one. We will be at the clan ship soon." He said softly, his voice like velvet to my drowsy senses.

For the first time in a long time, I felt safe. Safe enough to sleep without fear. When my thought infused dreams settled on the idea of returning to the home I knew, the home I was born in and grew up in, I felt stupid for feeling sad that he wouldn't be there. A woman alone is never safe, something that is taught and passed down from generation to generation, and I was just that- 'a woman alone'. It truly was the loneliness that I hated the most. Even though I had Gus and the club, I found myself wanting something more than that.

I wanted a haven, a woven sanctuary laced in promises never to be broken.

And oddly enough when I looked at his face, an alien creature whose very existence was the furthest thing from innocent and harmless, I felt that warm cocoon feeling wrap around me. It made me want to stay with him, at least until I found a real 'home' that could give me that same feeling.

"Do you have to take me back to my planet?" I whispered.

He let out a raspy chuckle, "I will take you where ever it is you wish to go."

"I think," I yawned and turned on my side to face him, my eyes still shut halfway in sleep, "I want to stay."

"Stay?" he inquired, purring more and lulling me back into a cozy sleep.

"Yes, stay," I yawned again, "with you."

Another chuckle filled the room followed by a deeper purr, his other hand coming around to settle on my side and pull me closer into the circle of his arms.

"Then, stay."

"My name is Thelma by the way." I murmured, stifling another long yawn.

"I am called Fa'raji. Sleep now, my Thelma. Sleep."

"Fa'raji…F-fa'raji." I smiled in my sleep at the way his name sounded on my tongue.

Letting go of the last bit of consciousness I had left, I felt the tension lifting away and sweet calm befall me at last.