Dachande stared at Vk'leita as the younger male bowed his head in respect. "You wish to leave the ship for 13 sun cycles?" "Sei-i," Vk'leita replied. "I think you know why."

Dachande couldn't help but grin. "It's about time you proposed to her! Why did you take so long to decide this?" Vk'leita raised his head to look at Dachande as he spoke. "I knew Helena would not accept it as long as Da'dtou-di would be here by herself. I was waiting for Lar'nix'va's arrival so the other woman would not be alone. Now that he's here, I believe Helena is ready to start a life with me. . .at least, I hope she is." Doubt crept in to his voice at the last minute, and Dachande shook his head. "A wise choice." He complimented. "I agree, Helena would have no doubt stayed here to be with her friend."

Dachande opened up a panel in his desk that shot a metal frame out of the top. Once the frame was locked in place, he pressed another button and holographic imagery began to fill the frame. Yautjan writing and numbers filled the holographic screen as Dachande began to press the tips of his claws to the writing in the frame.
"I'll have the ship-masters send a personal vessel to dock here by tonight. Be ready to go in the morning."

Vk'leita crossed his right arm over his chest and lightly bowed towards his leader. "Thank you, Dachande." He clicked.

Dachande couldn't help but smirk at him. "Helena will ask where you have gone. Tell her I sent you on a hunt that I trusted only you to succeed on." "I will." Vk'leita turned his head and prepared to go when Dachande stopped him. "Vk'leita, one last thing. Don't make her panic. She wants you alive more than she wants your proof as a capable hunter."

Vk'leita thanked him once more and left.

Vk'leita found Helena already in bed by the time he returned to their room.

Gently creeping over, Vk'leita sat down on the edge of the bed and pressed the palm of his hand to the spine of her back, gently rubbing up and down along the dip. Helena shivered at his touch and Vk'leita smiled at her when she cracked an eye open at him. "It's just me." He softly clicked, bending over and pressing his mandibles to her forehead. Helena yawned and sat up, rubbing her eyes. "What time is it?" She asked, getting ready to get out of bed. Vk'leita stopped her.

"It's still night." He softly clicked again. "Sorry for waking you." Helena yawned again and settled back down in the bed. Vk'leita bent down and pressed his forehead to hers. "I just wanted to tell you that Dachande is sending me on a hunt in the morning. I'll be packing tonight. I'll try to be quiet so you can go back to sleep." He promised.

Helena pressed her forehead more firmly to his and let out a purr. "Be safe when you go." She clicked, reaching down and squeezing his hand. Vk'leita purred back and nuzzled her neck. "I'll be back before you know it."

"You better." Helena smiled with her eyes closed.

Vk'leita reluctantly let go of her hand and began to go around the room, collecting the things he would need.

Helena woke up that morning to find Vk'leita gone already.

Saddened that she didn't get to say goodbye, she went about prepping herself for the day ahead instead. Mainly going down to the healers' bay and learning everything she could from them. She'd stop by Machiko's on the way and greet her good morning.

Knocking on her friend's door, Helena waited while Machiko got dressed on the other side. "Come in!" Machiko called. Helena let herself in and found her friend strapping on her top. Machiko took one look at Helena and tilted her head. "You look sad." She commented. Helena shrugged and closed the door behind her. "Just didn't get to say goodbye to Topknot, that's all." "He left?" Machiko asked curiously. "Sei-i, this morning. Dachande apparently sent him on a hunt." "When's he coming back?" Machiko asked as she finished with the fiddly straps on her top.

"He didn't say and I forgot to ask. He told me about it last night when I was half asleep. I'll have to ask Dachande later." Helena shrugged and stretched her arms above her head.

Machiko picked up her spear from her bedside and turned toward Helena. "That will have to be later then. Don't you have lessons with the healers?" "Sei-i." Helena responded as she finished her stretch. "And I believe you have lessons with the spear master." She grinned. Machiko nodded. "Sei-i, I do. Shorty is going to be joining me today as well." "Don't get too distracted by him." Helena teased. Machiko rolled her eyes but grinned. "No promises. His butt has been looking nicer these days." She joked.

Both women chuckled and left the room for the day.

The day passed and Helena was getting ready to head to bed when there was a knock on her bedroom door. "Come in!" Helena called as she slipped her top back on. When no one entered, Helena turned and cocked her head at the door curiously. Pressing the button on the side of the wall, she watched the door slide open and saw no one on the other side.

But she did see a dead animal resting on a piece of fabric on the floor.

Approaching with caution, Helena bent down and inspected the animal. No note was attached to it, and by it's clean look, it wasn't there as some sort of twisted message for her. From the smell, it was fresh as well.

Gingerly picking up the mysterious animal, Helena stared down at the fabric underneath and saw Vk'leita's symbol printed on it.
It took her a second, but Helena remembered the talk she had with Machiko the day before during dinner. About how Yautja proposed with 'food' for twelve days and that Machiko thought Shorty was going to propose to her soon. That little liar!

'Machiko, Vk'leita! You twerps!' Helena thought to herself with a grin.

Gingerly picking up the animal, Helena carried it inside and closed the door behind her, forgetting the cloth on the floor in her sudden moment of realization about the animal's purpose.

From down the hall, Vk'leita peaked his head around the corner and smiled to himself.
The first hunt was done. Now he needed to immediately go back to his ship for the next day. But first, his offering cloth.

Silently running down the hall, Vk'leita picked up the cloth piece and folded it up before running back down the hall again and sneaking away into the night.

The next twelve days, Helena eagerly awaited whatever animal Vk'leita would bring for her next each night. Not only was the whole proposal process exciting, but seeing each new species of animal was a fun experience. Thanks to her gauntlet, all she had to do was take a 'picture' of the animal and their archives would immediately pull up what species it was. It also listed if the creature was edible, and how to skin and carve it. Helena would forgo her lessons with the healers those days and just focus on carefully removing the meat from the bones and preserving both either in the yautja version of a fridge, or up on her wall. She had her own personal fridge as well, thanks to Dachande pulling some strings for her and Machiko.

The animals were getting bigger by the day, however, and it was getting harder to store all of the meat. She definitely couldn't eat all of it by herself.

The bones were another issue. After talking with Dachande, she learned that she only had to return the skulls to Vk'leita if she accepted the proposal. That cleared up some space in her room, but still left her with fairly large skulls to maneuver with.

When the twelfth day came, Helena found the biggest animal yet waiting outside her door. It looked like an elephant, but had horns like a Rhino's going up its trunk. And she didn't think it had any eyes.
Heaving the creature inside, Helena slammed the door shut and placed her hands on her hips. Her fridge was already full, and her wall couldn't hold a skull as large as this one, since it was crowded up by the others.

Suddenly, an idea came to her.

Pulling up her gauntlet, Helena made a call to Dachande and waited. When he received her call on the other end, Helena wasted no time, despite the tired look in his eyes. "Dachande, it's been twelve days. Is he back yet or did he leave on his ship again?" Dachande blinked tired eyes at her before replying. "Sei-i, he's back. The ship he borrowed has already been sent back to the ship masters. He told me he was going to be taking a bath before finally returning to your room."

"That's all I needed to hear, thank you." Helena ended the call and got up.

Looks like she was going to be taking a bath as well.

When Vk'leita had returned to the mother ship, he had immediately delivered the animal and left to take a bath. As much as he wanted to see her, he didn't want her cringing at his smell. That and he was slightly procrastinating his return, because he knew that as soon as he did, he was going to get his answer of whether she accepted his proposal or not.

The bath had been empty when he had entered, thankfully.

Now in the middle of scrubbing his arms, he suddenly found out that it was no longer just him in there.

Vk'leita found himself being pulled back by two long arms. The arms wrapped around his chest and pressed him to a firm yet soft body, his head resting between a pair of large, perky breasts. A rapid purring went on behind him as the smell of his Bhu'ja jehdin reached his senses. He didn't even hear her get in! Vk'leita felt himself relax as Helena bent her naked body around him. "I was wondering when you'd show yourself to me." She clicked, still purring at him. "I haven't seen you in twelve days." Vk'leita lifted his head and brushed his tusks under the bottom of her chin gently. Her purring picked up speed. "I am sorry about that." He clicked softly. "I guess I forgot to explain that the male is supposed to keep his whereabouts hidden during the twelve days."

Helena tilted her head curiously at him. "Why is that?" She asked. Vk'leita shrugged. "I'm not entirely sure. I honestly think it has something to do with the fact that we've been hunting for twelve days straight and wouldn't smell pleasant until afterwards." Helena chuckled at this and nuzzled his neck. "Well I'm glad you're back and whole." She softly clicked, pressing him closer against her. Vk'leita started his own purring and just enjoyed the moment of being in her arms before he let himself question anything.

After a while though, he couldn't take it. He had to know. "So. . ." He began, not knowing how to phrase his question. Helena smirked behind him. "So?" She replied, a hint of teasing in her voice. Vk'leita unwillingly gulped before continuing. "About my proposal-" "Ah, that." Helena interrupted, letting go of him and guiding his body to turn around and face her. At his nervous look, Helena couldn't help but softly smile at him.

"I will only accept your proposal on one condition." She held up a finger for emphasis. Vk'leita watched her anxiously as she let the ax drop. She grinned at him teasingly.

"You have to help me eat all of that meat. It's too much for me to eat alone."

Vk'leita stared at her in surprise. "So. . .the answer is sei-i?" Helena nodded her head at him. "Sei-i, it is." She held her arms out to him for a hug. Vk'leita couldn't help himself. He wrapped his arms around her hips and hoisted her up high, swinging her around joyously as he laughed. Helena giggled and wrapped her legs around him in return to keep her balance as she held on to his shoulders. Vk'leita pressed his head against her stomach when he finally slowed down. He rubbed her belly with his mandibles as he spoke. "You have no idea how happy you make me." He whispered to her. Helena bent down and pressed her forehead to his while holding the sides of his face. "Care to show me?" She purred seductively.

"I will show you for the rest of our lives and even after when we enter Paya's presence." Vk'leita promised, turning his face towards hers. "I will strive every day to make sure you're happy with me and the life I provide for us."

Moved by his promise, Helena lowered herself down to his level and wrapped her arms around him. "This is a team effort." She purred into his neck as he hugged her back. "So I'm going to be making sure you're happy with me too."

If Vk'leita had human lips, he would have kissed her right then.

When they were done bathing and had returned to their room, Vk'leita helped her skin and carve the last animal and even helped her set up a late night dinner in her room to help clear space in the 'fridge'.

Full from their two-person feast, they laid in bed together with their arms firmly wrapped around the other. As Helena snuggled against him, the pair looked over at the newly acquired skull still sitting in the middle of the room. "You know, women used to carve into the trophies before returning them to the males." Vk'leita commented, rubbing Helena's side as his mind drifted on the matter. Helena shifted against him before replying. "What would they carve?" She asked. Vk'leita shrugged. "No one knows. The practice died out a long time ago. The skulls that still have carvings on them are too faded now to tell what their carvings were."

Finding herself with another idea, Helena reached up and gently rubbed Vk'leita's chin with her thumb. "Mind if I bring the practice back?" She asked.

Eager to see what she would do, Vk'leita nodded and released her from his hold as she got up. Striding over to the skull, Helena took out a nearby hunter's knife and began to carve into the forehead of the animal. Vk'leita leaned over to try and peak at what she was writing. To his dismay, he realized she was carving in her human language, which he still couldn't read. "What does it say?" He asked once she was done and returned to his side. Helena grinned and pressed her forehead to his before replying. "That's for you to find out." She purred as she climbed back into the bed.

Vk'leita waited until she was asleep before getting up and scanning the carved words with his gauntlet. He might not know the human written language, but it was definitely logged into their archives.

Several minutes later, a translation finally came back to him and Vk'leita sucked in a breath of horrified shock as he read it.
"I love you."

Oh no. . .

Author's notes: Translation time!

- Sei-i: Yes.

-Bhu'ja jehdin: Spirit Spar (Yautja equivalent of a soulmate).

Dun dun duh! Why is Vk'leita freaking out now? You won't know until the next chapter.

See ya!