VIII

Other than the restroom, as the Asura called it, there was a room filled with weapons. A room I ran around like a child released into a candy store. He let me fleet about the room. I went to touch one and then looked at Aleksi. These were his afterall. "Go ahead," he said with a chuckle.

The materials seemed strong, the blade was light, "These are excellently made."

"Thank you," he said standing taller. I could almost smell the male pride from where I stood inside the room.

"You made these?"

"I did."

"I might have to convince you to make me some. Or just let me use one during practice?" I asked hopefully.

"That can be arranged my mate. Come we must go see Vinic and get him started on the things you need before the ceremony starts tonight."

I carefully replaced the weapon where I had lifted it from. I ran one of my fingertips along the handle one last time. Weapons were the one thing my family could not completely deny me. I treated them better than most men treated their lovers.

"Are we walking or flying?" I asked him.

"Will you be okay if we fly? It's much faster to fly," he asked.

"I'll have to keep my eyes closed. Until I'm able to form a permanent link I'm still considered extremely weak even by human standards."

"We'll fly then," He said as we got back out to the balcony. He clearly wanted to ask or say something but he didn't. Although the look he gave said he was thinking hard about something. He lifted me into his arms and I wrapped myself around him again as he took off. The wind ripped at my hair. I didn't know where we were going but it didn't take us that long to land. I waited a couple seconds after I felt the wind stop. Then I cracked my eyes open and looked around.

Aleksi had flown us to what looked to be a few hundred feet from the base of the mountain. He waited until I loosened my grip before he set me down. He used a hand on my back to steer me inside. "Vinic! Where are you?" Aleksi yelled. A black male with a small bull like tail jumped from the landing above.

"No need to yell Alek-" the males eyes went wide when he laid eyes on me. He was as tall as Aleksi with enough bulk to make me question if he was on steroids. He was solid black from head to toe with longish dark orange hair. His elbows had a spike on each and there was only one set of tall Ibex horns on his head.

"Hojaji! You didn't tell me you had a female with you!" Vinic yelled swinging his head back to Aleksi.

"Vinic this is my Mate. I trust I can leave her with you to discuss what needs done to the nest?" Vinic nodded with a visible gulp. "I'm just gonna go check that everything will be ready for the ceremony tonight. I won't be gone long. Vinic start with the Bathroom."

"Yes Great Hunter," Vinic said with a small bow. Aleksi looked at him for a few seconds before turning to leave. "If you wouldn't mind waiting here I'll get a Gempad so we get an idea what designs you like."

"That's fine," I said. He jumped back up to the second floor landing without any problems. I looked around the room and noticed some cushions on the floor as well as blankets. Did each type of Asura have different needs? I walked around a bit careful not to touch anything or move away too far from where he had left me.

He was gone long before he jumped back down with what I would have thought was a large SolPad if not for the fact that that he had called it a GemPad. "Would you like to sit while we discuss?" He asked me.

"That would be nice, thank you."

We sat on two of the floor cushions and I realized this must be for females that visited him to talk about changes to their nest. I figured it because he did not sit on one with me but instead on the floor. His house was like an indoor greenhouse. Complete with a glass roof and plants everywhere that wasn't regularly walked on.

"Aleksi said something about a bathroom?"

"Oh yes!" The idea of an actual bath made me overjoyed. I turned on the Gempad without any problems since they were very similar to the SolPads I had grown up on. I typed the search easy enough. Dozens of pictures popped up. "So the main part of any Bathroom is the bath. Since we have to take Aleksi size into account we will need a bigger tub than humans recommend. Although some married couples bath together... Do you think Aleksi will want to bath with me?" I asked him.

"We will make the tub more than big enough to fit the two of you should he decide to join you. It's no problem. I could use a challenge," he said with a smile.

I began looking at pictures with him commenting on what I liked and didn't. He took notes on a tablet of his own. As we talked he drew sketches of some ideas that I really liked.

"Before you start on the Bathroom could we maybe talk about some changes to the restroom?" I asked. I was hesitant since Aleksi had said to start with the Bathroom.

"Of course! What do we need to change?"

"I like the heating plates you guys sleep on but it would be very uncomfortable for me to sleep directly on them. I don't know how hot they get and that could burn me. The plates themselves are very hard and while that's fine for a few days it will start causing me pain within a week if I sleep on them directly."

"What do you normally sleep on?" He seemed genuinely curious.

I pulled up bedrooms as I spoke to give him a better idea, "Humans normally sleep on a soft cushion raised up off the floor. We use the space underneath as storage a lot of times. On top of that cushion we use blankets to keep warm. Some beds have heat and cooling units but I've never been a big fan of those."

My bed was little more than a mat on the floor. My blankets had been threadbare and barely big enough to cover me. "During the cold months our Linked Kira would sleep with us on the bed. During warmer months the sleep by the door or window in their own beds." I showed a picture to him the clearly displayed four circular pillows with three of the four sides raised. Kira beds. It wasn't uncommon for young children to fall asleep with their parents Kira. As they made great babysitters and were at no risk of harming the children it was never an issue.

"Kira?" He asked me.

"Oh right I had to explain to Aleksi too. Kira are alot lot your Jivka although a good bit smaller. Depending on the subspecies they tend to be almost entirely muscle and live closely with the family unit. They watch the house, go hunting with us, watch our children, and give general companionship if our partner is away for work."