Avatar: {Hybrid and Alien]

{65}

The group thought it would be best to rest for the remainder of the night and leave in the morning.

The na'vi led the group back to their village, offering them to stay and sleep in a new cottage until the morning came. Which Asim and the others accepted since they had no other place to lay their heads down. The na'vi returned to their homes, to their families, in order to tell those that were still awake what they have seen the humans do in the cavern. The gossip and whispering was heard by the humans all around the place as the news spread, making Asim and everyone smile as they knew the ones that didn't get the chance to see would soon do. "What a night, isn't that right?" Emeralda said as she laid down on the ground, stretching and seeming more relaxed than ever. "I agree. The na'vi really liked how we drew our home as it was before, with nature as beautiful as the entire forest of this world." Shaka said, sitting down and leaning against the cottage wall. "Good. Now that we are done doing that, I would be grateful if we get home in the morning so that I can get this 'paint' off my fingers." Kentaro said, gesturing to his hands that were still stained in the red and white paint everyone used for the drawings. "You do know that doesn't come off, right? It's permanent. One of the na'vi told me to be careful not to smear it in my face a eyes." Lily pointed out, making Kentaro start to panic a little while looking around for the nearest water source. "She is just kidding! It will eventually wear off." Mikhail said all of a sudden, chuckling and nudging Kentaro on the shoulder while the others giggled and laughed. "I also think it was fun, the drawing and telling of our home. It makes me kind of wish there would be a way to show them how it really looked like." Asim said, laying down and leaning his head against the other wall of the cottage. "Hologram pictures would be best for complete accuracy, but we don't have that unfortunately. Still, what we did was the best we could." Emeralda said, sighing and moving a bit to get comfortable. "You think we would once again see it?" Mikhail said, sitting down near the fireplace. This brought upon them a moment of silence as they pondered about such thing that would seem like a faraway dream. "That would be up to the ones on Earth to decide. Until that happens, us that are here will keep doing what they couldn't do in the first place." Shaka said. Asim and the rest of them agreed to his words, their thoughts calming down as they watched the outside of their cottage. Each of them knew that they would live free in Pandora, and over time they will teach others how to live like the na'vi instead of continuing to live in the old ways.

Once everyone was settled, they all laid down comfortably so that sleep could take over them.

***

Some hours passed when Asim began to wake up from his sleep. He felt something moving close to him, making him slowly open his eyes a bit and move his head to see.

It was dark all around the cottage and outside in the village, the fireplace and the torches outside having died down. Yet Asim could still see well even in the dark, and could make out a shape starting to approach from the side of the cottage he where everyone was sleeping. The hairs on his skin stood on end as it warned him that this one was getting close, and he slowly moved his hand to the pistol in his holdster. However, instead of being a na'vi or another one that was possibly an enemy, the shape turned out to be...Layontsin? Now that her shape was distinguishable due to her four arms, the crest plates on the head, long flat tail, and red bioluminescent pattens on her dark hide, Asim began to calm down. The eyes of the anthro thanator reflected what little light there was, making them glow green in the dark. Layontsin stepped into the cottage, taking careful steps as to not wake them up. Asim was awake, eyes opened a little so they seemed closed, and made sure that he didn't startle her as he moved slowly to get up. Of course it did startle Layontsin as she thought he was still asleep due to him having his eyes seemingly closed. "What are you doing here?" Asim asked her, rubbing his eyes so that he could open the more.

The anthro thanator looked to the side out from the hut, tail swishing behind her as she seemed doubtful. "May I...sleep here?" Layontsin asked in a low voice, making a gesture and sounding worried like if she seemed doubtful. Asim looked at her puzzled, not understanding why the anthro thanator would want to sleep with him and the group. And then he remembered that she cared about his well being, and would not manage to sleep well if she were left alone without him. So, looking around in the hut and making sure that everyone was alright, and that there was enough space, he nodded. "Sure. Come in." Asim said, moving so that there would be space for the large anthro thanator to settle in. The crest plates and quills from Layontsin perked up as she gave her best smile before she went inside. She lowered to all six limbs and crawled around, moving around Asim in a sort of circle before lying down near him. Now more up close against the creature than ever before, Asim felt how strong every inch of her body was as he felt it press against his back. When more close up, the burnished dark skin from the anthro thanator exposed its beautiful red bioluminescent dot patterns. The small lights also gave to show that Layonstin's skin was not just dark, but had some lighter shades of dark patterns like stripes in other animals. The quills on top of Layonstin's head that were connected to the crest plates were yellow and turned red to the ends of them. Some four long curved teeth were exposed, being obsidian in color and reflecting the little light that there was. And her eyes...they also glowed even without being in direct light, showing that they were green and a mix with a dash of yellow.

Asim was somewhat dazzled by seeing and feeling her up close that he didn't realize that his hand was unconsciously reaching out to her head.

The anthro thanator tilted her head a bit as she saw his hand reach for her, making Asim retract his hand when he realized what he was doing. "Sorry. Didn't know what I was doing." Asim apologized, looking away. There was a moment of silence before the anthro thanator was heard moving, then one of the four hands from the creature moving to clasp around the same hand Asim used to reach out. To Asim's surprise, Layontsin brought the hand back to where he was first reaching, towards the snout, until his palm and fingers contacted the skin. The surface of the anthro thanator's hide was smooth like expected, but it was more warm instead of cold. Furthermore, as he ran his hand across the 'nose' of Layontsin, Asim looked at her eyes and saw her pupils go from thin slits to round and calm circles. The other hand from the anthro thanator came by and took the other hand from Asim, guiding it down until it reached the lower area of the chest. When he looked down, Asim noticed that this area was where the four breathing orifices laid on each side of Layonstin's neck. They expanded and contracted, making a rumbling sound that made the area close to where his hand was placed vibrate. It was a weird thing to feel, yet Asim felt oddly relaxed by this vibrating noise that the thanator made with these respiratory openings. Not only that, he could also feel the large beating heart that laid beneath her chest. "Wow. This feels...great. Relaxing." Asim breathed, looking up at the eyes of Layonstin again. She smiled and then used her other two hands to place them on his head and on his chest where the heart laid.

There was a moment of silence, now being her turn to feel the heart beating beneath Asim's chest, before the anthro thanator moved her snout and nuzzled it on top of  his head, the vibrating sounds she made continuing at a slightly more higher volume. "You have a very strong heart. Warm..." Layonstin said, voice low almost like a whisper. "...Thanks..." Asim said, feeling more calm and tranquil thanks to her words and gesture. He didn't know why she let him do what he did, but now he saw that instead of being wary of him...she trusted him more than ever.  And in all honesty, Asim began to feel the same as he came to realize he was trusting her when he let her place her clawed hands on the most vulnerable spot. He looked back at where his hand was on Layonstin's chest and moved it gently up and down, rubbing it carefully across her chest. Then some sort of instinct started to come out from Asim, which made him move his head closer to Layonstin's neck with no hesitation. This pleased the anthro thanator as she now nuzzled the side of his face, not stopping with the vibrating sounds. Asim chuckled a bit before he yawned, realizing he needed to sleep again. "Goodnight" he said before settling down again, feeling that Layonstin understood his words and used all of her four arms to bring his body closer to her. And he let her, not worrying about anything as he felt more in peace than ever.

Soon he felt asleep, thinking about how exactly he could express what lay beneath his own heart.