We remain in silence for a while, with him striking the stone and me trying not to watch the way his stars run over his muscles. It's an oddly comfortable silence. I don't get the feeling that I'm bothering him by being here, and it's kind of nice to be away from the noise of the feast for a little bit.
"What is Rynn forcing you to build?" I ask after a while.
"My High Spear is not forcing me to build anything," Mavyx says, throwing down the tools and standing to lift the huge stone with a grunt before placing it on top of another. He stands back to assess his work, running a dry hand over the rock. "I am building you a hut of your own."
I'm taken back for a moment and just blink up at him while he continues to work, not looking at me. "You're...building me a hut?" I can feel my brows knit together as I ask the question. This dude doesn't even like me but he's building me a house? Those heart-twinkles must be affecting his brain.
"Yes," Mavyx says simply. "I-" he pauses, his tail twitching as he twists his torso to look at me. Wetting his lips before he swallows, his throat bobbing with the movement. "I saw you when-...when you were upset."
I stare back at him.
"The night you showed Aloryk your skin etching-" his hand comes up to the inside of his own arm, right where my mother's tattoo is placed on mine. His skin-stars gather at the touch and faintly, I recognize the shape his little lights are trying to make; an elegant star - just like mine. "You then came outside and I watched as you told the night sky you were scared. I... I do not know what you are afraid of, Ah-Lanah, but I will battle it for you, if I can."
I don't really know how to respond to that. I'm... well, I'mtouched. "Thank you," I breathe, the words sounding small and quiet, and entirely not enough.
He shrugs it off as though his declaration is nothing. "I thought perhaps a space that is yours - not an old storage hut, but truly your own for-" he turns away and clears his throat, "-forgreaterprivacymight help you feel part of the tribe - make you feel safer with us."
I stare at him as he continues to build - to build a hut, ahome, for me. "That..." I feel so caught off guard, I don't know how to react. "That's really thoughtful, Mavyx. Thank you."
He stands from a crouching position and straightens to his full, impressive height, looking at me with a devilish smile. "I have been known to be thoughtful," he teases, tapping the side of his head with a thick finger, his skin stars bursting to life at his temple with the contact. "I do occasionally think of things other than training and combat."
"Oh, really?" I chuckle. I can feel my smile stretch wide across my face. "Like what?"
I had meant it to be a tease - to lead on from the playful tone Mavyx had started. But, I end up biting my lip, cursing myself when his golden eyes drink me in and then drop down my body before his own grin falls and he catches himself, his gaze averting. I watch as Mav rubs hard at his chest with one of his big hands - directly over the heart-stars pulsing bright as though physically pained by their glow. He acts like he's not really aware he's doing it though. Maybe he isn't. And I'm reminded all over again that he didn't ask for this - he didn't ask for those lights on his chest. Dropping his hand, he clears his throat and turns back to his work. Suddenly, I feel regretful that the light tone of our conversation is lost.
Perhaps that's why I try teasing again. Though, why I think asking, "this isn't a ploy to seduce me into being your mate, is it?" is a good I idea, I don't know.
Luckily, Mavyx takes my words for the playful poke they were meant to be, when he turns back around to face me with a good-natured huff. "Would it work if it was?" he asks, a fake put-upon expression on his face, hiding a barely contained smile. He kind of makes me want to laugh, with his huge hands on his hips and his tail flicking against the stone.
"Depends how nice this hut is gonna be," I grin, shrugging.
Mavyx snorts -actuallysnorts. He looks so different, so unguarded tonight.
"What? You're not building me a sprawling mansion with a games room, pool and underground garage?
Shaking his head with a grin, Mavyx's eyes drop to where he's dusting off his bound hands, his chest expanding as he sucks in a breath. "Female," he teases, voice dripping with faux-exasperation . "I do not know what half of those words mean, but knowing you, you are asking the impossible."
"Knowing me?" I say, brows raising. I watch as Mavyx lowers himself to sit on the floor beside me, his back to the foundation stones of my new hut. "You think you know me, Second Spear?"
He sighs, elbows resting on his bent knees. "Not as much as I should, I fear."
He blinks those pretty golden eyes back at me - framed with enviable dark, thick lashes - and almost simultaneously we seem to realize we're just sat staring at one another and avert our gaze at the same time. Staring ahead, I can see the embers of the feast-fire twirling up into the sky above the huts. It sounds as though things are starting to wind down over there, with only the occasional bout of laughter and merriment caught on the night-time breeze.
Those and the chirps and buzzing of the jungle insects are all I can hear for a time. Until Mavyx's low, velvet-smooth voice quietly cuts through it all when he says, "you could ask the impossible of me, Ah-Lanah, and I would try. If it meant you were no longer scared, I would try anything." I don't know how to respond, so I'm quiet. He still doesn't look at me. "I..." he pauses to sigh. "I do not say this to persuade you into matehood. This ismyproblem to overcome, not yours." He's absently rubbing at his heart-stars again. I watch his thick fingers rasp against his muscled chest, not sure why there's an uncomfortable twist in my gut at his phrasing. "I will not push you for anything, but please, the thought of you being scared has me feeling-"
He cuts off with a sharp inhale, his big hand falling away from his chest.
Lowering myself to sit beside him on the ground, I nudge his knee with mine, careful not to lean back and trap his huge wing behind me. "Feeling what?"
He looks at me, blinking, his tongue swiping across his bottom lip before he looks away again. "Feeling this...fear.It is not a feeling I am accustomed with."
"You're never afraid?"
He chuckles darkly beside me. "Oh, no. I have experienced a healthy amount of fear. Fear when battling the mimyckah, fear that I have not sufficiently prepared my Protectors for the wilds, and fears that I might fail in my duties as my Tribe's Second Spear. But this-...this fear... Ah-Lanah, I-"
Mavyx's tail flicks against my calf, and by the way he stills I think he hadn't meant for the contact to happen at all. He shifts uneasily in his seated position beside me.
"I was crying that night because of my mom," I decide to say. I can feel Mav's eyes on me but I'm still facing straight ahead. "I got the tattoo I have on my arm because of her. She was really ill for a long time and it took her life. She told me she'd never leave me - not really. She said that when I miss her, I should find the brightest star in the sky, and that would be her, watching over me. I miss her every day and I-" I pause, taking a deep breath.I'm scared shitless that I'm pregnant right now."I was just feeling extra lonely without her that night, I guess."Coward.
