Necessary Research (Hahvoc Requiem & Mr. Master)

[Mr Master]

He nodded as she described the organization of the Councils. Distributed organization, to deal with the needs of a limited and highly independent population. A government that operated independently from the other human nationalities that they existed within. It was intriguing, and certainly there must be some special avenues of money and authority to allow them to operate freely across national boundaries. Or maybe they just walked around in cat form when they needed to cross.

All the data Serai dumped on him, and it seemed reasonable. If you could accept the fact of shapechangers, then you ought to be able to handle the rest of it. Then she told him about meeting the Council. "Okay, so be relaxed but tough. I don't know what I can do about all of my body language, but I am used to some pretty cutthroat interactions. You get in a real competitive hospital, staff meetings are nothing but jockeying for position and status. I know your people tend to get a bit more literal in the 'going for the throat,' but there wouldn't be anything I could do about that, anyway. I'm just going to have to stay on my toes, I suppose. Keep my wits about me."

He was, after all, quite proud of his wits. He was a few years out of practice, but his instincts had always been good, and it's possible that his time outside of the ivory tower of medical practice might have given him a few more edges than he used to have. At least his experience was broader than it used to be. It's true, he got a little nervous about meeting the others, the ruling shapeshifters, especially if they were all as intimidating as Rajah. But it was necessary. And he'd do what he needed to. He was still filled with a sense of wonder about everything that had happened to him the past few days; it was like something out of a pulp novel. But he was living it. He had never felt so lucky.

 

[Hahvoc The Decepticon]

"Just watch out for the one they call The Beast of Europe."

She said with weight as her eyes narrowed in seriousness. Her body language depicted tension and anger, and fright. But she didn't expect Jack to truly catch on to it. But her voice gave it enough oomph. She leaned close as she softened her expression, not wanting to scare her mate but needing him to know the seriousness of the situation. He would understand as soon as she finished explaining.

"He is one of the most dangerous shifters around- a Dragon-shifter, and one of the most ruthless and clever son of a bitch around. During one of the Dark Wars, he slaughtered thousands. He kills people still, when he sees fit to do so. Women are his property and he doesn't treat them well. Before you ask why he is still allowed to live, it's because he is one of the few Alphas amongst the dragons and he needs to keep them in line. His attitude has tempered over the past four hundred years, but he is still an ass and cruel. I know from the histories that he wasn't such a bastard, but he changed completely when his mate was raped and mutilated beyond any kind of recognition but smell. I believe that was six hundred years ago. But regardless, he will be gunning for you because you are human, amongst other things."

She took a breath as she felt sleep already settling upon her again. But she trucked on, explaining to him the Who's Who in their world. She told him all of the alphas' names, classifications, and who to watch out for, who was mated and who wasn't, how to act around a mated female, mated couples, etc. She probably talked for hours about the world that she had grown up in, and her voice soon grew crackly and raw, the hours slipping away and causing stars to wink at them through the windows. With a feline yawn, she looked at him with a lazy smile as she finished, so very tired from so much talk.​

 

[Mr Master]

Jackson felt his eyebrows climb. "A dragon... shifter?" he started, but then he listened. Six hundred years? Was that just dragons or did all the shifters have such lifespans? Did he, with his limited time on Earth, just doom her to an early death, unless she could break the pair-bonding?

He listened carefully, resisting the urge to take notes. He'd need a refresher before he memorized all this, but the basic overview was good as a foundation. So many strange traditions, so many strange customs, but all fascinating. Plus, it was all her world, and possibly the rest of his. If he could find a place for him to survive, that is. If he could help.

When she finally finished, he nodded. "That sounds... extremely complicated. And intimidating. But I have one advantage that the rest of them will not." He eased over to perch on the arm of her chair. "You."

He leaned in and kissed her tenderly. He didn't mean that she would back him in a fight, although clearly she would. No, he meant the support she gave him, the emotional and intellectual reinforcement, that would help him more than anything else he could think of.

"You're exhausted," he said softly. "And I can't say I'm fresh as a daisy, either. Come on, let's go to bed. Was... was that the main bedroom we used, before?" His ears turned a little pink at that, but he really didn't know.

 

[Hahvoc The Decepticon]

She nodded slowly at the expression on his face when he learned of the Dragon shifter. They were the longest living of the shifter class, but they also took the longest to reproduce. They didn't reach maturity until two hundred, after all. Still, she was amused by his reactions since this was her world, but even she had been surprised when she learned about the Beast.

"I am not so young as you believe. But that's all right."

She smiled secretly at him and blushed faintly at his praise but was soon lost in the slow and tender kiss. It arrested her senses until he eased away and spoke once more. She was indeed exhausted, more so than usual-probably because of their activities. Still, she couldn't help but smile at him when he blushed blossom pink and wasn't sure of which bedroom they had been shagging in. She kissed him light and quick before she took his hand and led him back upstairs to the master bedroom.​

 

[Mr Master]

Once in the master bedroom, he held her close. Had it really been such a short time since they actually had first met? It seemed like forever, like he'd known her forever, he was so comfortable. Which made sense, given the psychic connection they were forging together. He could almost feel her, he thought, in his mind. Not with his intellect, but with his emotions. Admittedly, he could be imagining things, projecting what he saw and felt into some sort of mental communication. But it comforted him to think that here was that kind of link that lovers and spouses always hoped they'd have.

He held her, and kissed her, and slowly undressed her. This wasn't a sexy, arousing kind of undressing, it was more a gentle, practical removal of what little they actually had on, still. It was a gesture of caring, not of passion, as he helped her take off her clothes, even as she helped with his. He didn't make a move toward sex, but intimacy was written in his every gesture, his every touch.

They climbed into bed, and he just folded his arms around her. It wasn't a protective thing; she was clearly the superior fighter when she needed to be. But he liked to hold her in his arms, feel her head rest against his chest, and just know that he was desired, and she was desired, and they matched each other.