Adventures of Tash and John Ch. 05

"You are not 'perfectly good'. Having hormone levels this high is... unpredictable." Shel'Vhan said, seeming to choose her last word carefully. Tashaiea couldn't help but notice.

"Unpredictable as in you don't understand what it means? Is that it? A lot of things in life are unpredictable, Mom." She replied, making sure throw her mothers choice of words back at her.

"Yes Tashaiea, that is what I mean." Her mother confirmed. "Yes I don't understand it. Nialaiea, who is an expert in these things, doesn't understand it. And you certainly don't understand it. I'm willing to even say that John doesn't understand it, do you?"

"No, I can't say I do." John replied. Tash could see that he was slightly shocked, and now that she thought about it this was probably one of the first times that her mother had actually addressed him directly. "I've never heard of anything like this before."

"And are you concerned for her?" Her mother continued.

"Yes, of course I am." John said. He gave Tashaiea's hand a little squeeze.

"You see Tashaiea? We all want what is best for you." Her mother said, refocusing her attention back on her eldest child. "There is no malicious intent here, Tashaiea. You may be 'fine' and this is all just a medical oddity. And while I don't approve of your... lifestyle choices," She flicked a look at John "I still love you and want you to be safe. I don't think that is too much of a mother to ask."

"No, I guess not." Tashaiea responded with a somewhat defeated look. She had come into her mothers office prepared for a screaming match. What she hadn't been prepared for was the love and concern of a parent to her child. Tashaiea found it fairly hard to argue against her own well being. Hard, but not impossible.

"Thank you, Tashaiea." Her mother said before straightening up and glancing at something on her desk. "Now I see here that Nialaiea wants you back tomorrow, and that you're going to be bringing John. As with today I will reserve transport for you and I expect to see both of your results when I get home."

Tashaiea twitched. Every reasonable part of her brain was telling her to just shut up and say 'Yes Ma'am', especially after the loving concern that her mother had just shown. However that stupid, dumb contrarian, bad decision making part of her just had to rear up and show itself to the world.

"John isn't K'Shon, let alone Kai'ani! You can't force him to give you his medical records! You have no authority over him!" Tashaiea shouted out, and to the realization that John was now holding her very firmly in her place. She vaguely had a recollection of attempting to stand up, probably just a muscle memory response, but John had been able to (with his one arm) keep her seated.

Shel'Vhan let out an annoyed sigh, probably one she had been bottling up for quite some time now. "That is exactly why I need to see them. If he is to join our family and become Vakal K'Shon, then his records will become family property regardless. All I am asking, and I am asking Tashaiea, is to see the results. And I'm aware that by right he doesn't have to, but I am going to see them one way or another. This is simply the easiest route for everyone."

Tashaiea grimaced. She knew that John enjoyed his privacy, it was one of the most basic of traditions for Humans. Private, independent, individual. It was something she had learned through watching Earth entertainment programs and subsequently reading up on what they meant. Earth still had independent nations. Forgoing the traditional united planet in favor of individual destines. It was still a bit of a foreign idea to Tashaiea. How they were able to get anything done without a united body was beyond her. But the results spoke for themselves. Whatever they seemed to be doing was working. At least for now.

"You'll have them Oassew Shel'Vhan." John's words caught Tashaiea off guard.

Her mother made an approving huff. "I'm appreciate you being sensible, John. It shows the strength of your character."

"I just want what's best for Tashaiea." He replied.

"Hmm, we'll see." Shel'Vhan said, glancing once again at her desk. "I believe that's all that needs to be talked about today. We will continue this discussion tomorrow after I've seen your test results. Now, if you would please go, I have some work I need to do."

Tashaiea and John left her mothers office without another word, waiting until they got about halfway to the kitchen before exchanging words.

"You don't have to give her it." Tash began, stopping jut short of the rooms entrance. "She can't make you."

John sighed and turned to her, grabbing both her hands and looking directly up at her. "I know I don't have to, but I want to." He replied, squeezing her hands for emphasis. "It's very obvious she doesn't like me, so I need to show her I care. Anything I can do to gain her trust, even if it's just a little bit, can help."

"You shouldn't have to." Tashaiea grumbled, bending over and resting her head on John's. "I claim you, that should be enough."

"I'm not going to pretend I understand the culture, because I'm still learning." John admitted. "But what I do understand is that what your mother thinks is very important. To all of you." He paused and pulled Tashaiea in for a hug. "And I know I'll never truly be accepted, so anything I can do to help her opinion of me is worth it."

"I know, I just... Wish it to be different." Tashaiea replied, pressing herself momentarily closer to John.

She stayed in his embrace for a while longer, neither one of them speaking. After a few minutes of silence, John loosened his grip on her, prompting her to pull away. She sighed a defeated sigh and kissed her Human lover on the top of his head. There was no point in dwelling on it. John had made his choice, and like it or not, she was going to respect his decision. Besides, nothing would be determined until the morning anyways. Until then they still had the rest of the day to distract themselves with. And what better way to distract themselves, Tashaiea began to think, then with something that by virtue was designed to distract a population.

Tash once again took John's hand and lead him with her. As always John was curious about where they were going, to which Tashaiea simply replied 'Don't worry about it'. She took him back through her parents house and back into her room. She told John to sit on the bed, to which he complied. She then began searching through the various containers and shelves in the room with a singular goal in mind. A sudden fear that her mother might have thrown it out when she had left were instantly quelled when the last container she opened had exactly what she was looking for. She reached in and produced a hand sized device, flat on one end and slightly curved all the way along. A large smile showed on her face as she excitedly made her way back to the bed, and an increasingly intrigued looking John.

"What's that?" She heard him ask as she mounted the bed and sat cross legged in front of him.

"A thing I forgot I had." She cryptically explained, ushering John to move back a little on the bed so she had more room. She pushed the small power on button and a moment of anxiety washed over her as she feared that it might have lost its charge. Thankfully that was not the case and a small projected holographic window appeared, prompting her to choose an option. She disregarded it momentarily to look back at John, who was curiously studying the projected image. "It's a... video projector?" Tashaiea stumbled to find the correct words.

"Oh, okay." John said as he continued to examine the projection. "What are we watching?"

"Animation?" Tashaiea replied as both a statement and a question. "I have a lot of Earth programs to watch. Is that okay?"

"Fine with me. What are we going to watch?" John once again inquired.

"What do you want to watch?" Tashaiea responded.

"I don't know." John said with a chuckle and a slight shake of his head. "What do you have?"

"Oh, ah..." Tashaiea began as she hastily selected an option on the menu and started to scroll through it. "What do you like?"

John chuckled again. "It doesn't matter dear, choose whatever you want."

"Okay..." Tash continued to scroll through, eventually stopping at something that she thought John might enjoy. "How about 'The Big Thing'?"

"'The Big Thing'?" John said with a hint of confusion in his voice. "I don't think I've heard of that one."

Tash frowned. "I don't actually know if that is a correct name." She explained. "It's a bad direct translation I did when I was young and still learning." She looked closer at the title. Along with the terrible translation, young Tashaiea had also written it out phonetically from English sounds to Tehki script. Mostly as just an exercise in trying to find correlating words between the two languages without consulting a translator. Almost all of the titles had come untranslated and with only very basic Tehki subtitles (something she had requested specifically). She looked at it again and attempted to sound it out. "'Lee-Vai-Ah-Thon'."

"Leviathan?" John perked up. "I know that show. I use to watch it when I was a kid."

"So you like it then?" Tashaiea said with a smile, content that she had chosen the correct program.

"Yeah, I haven't seen it in years though. Last I saw was that they were making a movie to finish off the series." John informed her. "That was a couple years ago though, so it's probably already out."

"Oh! Well, I don't have the movie." Tash admitted, a little surprised and disappointed that she didn't know about the series ending. It had been in the top contender spot for her favorite animation for quite a while when she was younger. It was eventually usurped by the countless other favorites she had had over the years.

"That's fine. We can just watch from the beginning." John said, patting the bed and beckoning her over.

Tashaiea set the projector to begin playing and crawled over to John. She found a comfortable position with her back laying against his chest and his arms wrapped around her as she settled in to watch. The program was, as far as Tashaiea understood it, about a clandestine agency on a (pre-modern) industrial era fantasy Earth in which the agents would go around and hunt down supernatural creatures. She was sure there was more to it than that but it didn't matter. The story was enjoyable and the animation was stylized in a neat fashion. Tashaiea found that she actually understood more of what was going on now then when she was younger.

Probably because she was older and 'wiser' now, and certainly because she had a better grip on the language as a whole and didn't have to heavily rely on subtitles anymore. The fact that John knew what was going on and could explain things definitely didn't hurt either. They watched quite a few episodes before having to stop. John had been called away by her father to help with the family meal and, due to lack of anything better to do, Tash followed. As usual she was completely useless in the kitchen, being simply delegated to ingredient fetch duty and 'moral support' as John had put it. It didn't bother her. Being cooked for was so much better than doing it yourself.

It took about an hour but eventually the two men had produced something that looked good and smelled better. Roasted meat and vegetables, a whipped... something (it was like a sugar root or some kind of sweet tuber that Tash had never really tried) and soft bread. It was a combination that made her mouth water. As for the dinner itself, it was a quiet affair. Her mother barely said anything. Most of the conversation was between her father and John. It was a relatively nice contrast from the previous nights shout-fest. About an hour and a half later the meal was finished. Her and Kesse stayed behind to help clean things up as her mother disappeared once again into her office. Tashaiea could tell that she wasn't exactly happy, but at the same time she didn't seem as angry as before either. Perhaps it was wishful thinking but Tashaiea hoped that maybe she was coming around to at least accepting what was happening. She could only hope.

"So, how far away is this place?" John asked as his, still quite groggy, Kai'ani lover lead him to the small, waiting vehicle.

"Not far." She replied, accenting her statement with a yawn. "It won't be long."

John nodded and followed the tall woman as she entered their waiting 'personal transport vehicle'. It had amused him the first time she said it. It was such a long description for something that could be easily summed up in three letters. Which had got him to thinking why she would chose to describe it like that. It could be that she was just reciting a direct translation of what it was into something he could understand. That would be the most logical conclusion. But even if the words were said in Teheki (which he had heard them said), at least for his translator, it still came out as 'car'.

It also could very well be the regional pronunciation, just like how for in English North Americans said 'truck' while the British said 'lorry'. Maybe if his regional setting wasn't set to American English and to International English there might be a difference. John was pretty sure he was just reading to much into it as there was a much easier, simpler explanation for why Tash did what she did. And it was simply that she didn't want to call a 'car', a 'fuck'. John chuckled quietly to himself at the idea. As funny as it would be, he could absolutely understand why she didn't.

He entered the car after her and sank down into the slightly too small seat, taking a moment to inspect the interior. There were no manual controls that he could see and way more head and leg room than he was use to. Also no seat belts or other safety harnesses. He had to admit that it concerned him a little, but if the Kai'ani who created it didn't think they needed them, so be it. No longer than a minute after they had settled in the door closed and the car began to move. Tash had shifted herself so that she was laying her head on his shoulder, eyes closed and neutral faced. John wasn't exactly sure if she was just resting or had fallen asleep until about twenty or so minutes into their journey he heard the unmistakable sound of her deep sleep breathing.

They hadn't even stayed up that late the previous night. After dinner (which to John's relief had been completely uneventful) the couple headed back to their room and continued watching Leviathan. They did so until they had eventually fallen asleep, clothes on, huddled up next to each other. As the car approached what looked like a series of large offices it turned and began to come to a stop. John very gently shook his girlfriend awake. An action that she was very much opposed to. Eventually she was able to be roused enough to sit up straight and exit the vehicle when it came to a stop.

"This way, come." The Kai'ani woman said, grabbing his hand as soon as he exited.

She lead him through a series of garden paths that were so meticulously maintained that John wondered if they were real. Everything perfectly symmetrical and not so much as a leaf out of place. John had been so preoccupied with admiring the landscaping that he nearly bumped into Tash when she suddenly stopped about ten feet away from a large set of doors leading into the building.

"What's wrong." He asked as she simply continued to stand there. After a long few seconds she responded.

"Nothing." She said, turning to look at him.

It was a lie so obvious that John had to stop himself from rolling his eyes. "Please Tash, just tell me what's wrong." He said, as if he hadn't already guessed.

"I'm... scared." She said finally.

John let out a breath he didn't know he had been holding in. He pulled her close and gave her a hug and attempted a kiss, something to which she immediately pushed away from.

"Please, don't in public." Tash said with an almost ashamed look on her face.

John wanted to pry more but decided that there was a better time and place. He backed off and instead looked her in the eyes. He could see the fear in them. He grabbed her hand, something she didn't seem to object to, and gave it a squeeze.

"This is something we need to do, Tash." He said, squeezing again and continuing to look her in the eyes. "I love you. Everything is going to be alright."

"But what if it's not?" She replied, trying hard to keep her voice level.

"Then we'll deal with it." He said, taking her remaining hand in his. She fidgeted if as she was going to pull away, but didn't. "There is always something we can do. Medication or surgery or something. But we have to know first. Right?"

Tash nodded, the look of fear still not subsided. He gave her hands one final squeeze and let go, ushering her towards the door. She hesitated for a moment and then began leading him once more. Upon entering they were greeted by an older man sitting behind an enclosure who John assumed had to be the front desk 'receptionist'. He flashed him a curious look before speaking.

"Madam Tashaiea and acquaintance... John Henry Baird?" The man said, having some slight difficulties with the sounds in John's name.

"Yes." Tash responded, stepping forward and standing slightly straighter than she had been.

"Excellent." The man said after viewing something just out of sight. "Your appointment is ready. Please take the lift to the tenth floor, office five."

"Thank you." John said in what was probably very broken Teheki. Tash snickered.

The receptionist looked at him awkwardly for a moment before clearing his throat. "Ah-hem. Yes, of course. To you as well."

Tash began to pull him away, now visibly trying to hide her laughter. And failing. John had the feeling that he had just made a fool of himself, however he waited until they were in the safe confines of the lift before inquiring.

"I'm guessing I didn't say what I thought I said." He asked. Tash no longer attempted to hide her amusement. After a moment of leaning against the side of the lift and giggling like an idiot she pulled herself together long enough to respond.

"No, you did not." She managed to get out. At least she was smiling now. He let out a sigh and rubbed his face.

"Alright, what did I say."

"You said..." She paused for a moment, seeming to think it over. "'Thanks beautiful'. But in a way that made no sense." She paused again to let out a laugh. "You thanked him for beautiful. But a beautiful what you didn't say."

John let out a chuckle of his own. Figures he'd mess up something so simple as a thank you. Languages were just not in his strongest skill set. During high school he had done two years of Spanish in an attempt to learn a second language, and a regionally important language at that. And do you think he could remember any of it now? Granted it had been just about a decade since he had spoken any of it. Back then one of his education councilor had even suggested that he drop the classes so that it wouldn't hurt his grade average. But being the stubborn teen he was he hadn't decided to take that advice until he had failed the second year, crashing his average anyways. Thank fuck for modern translator technology.

Tashaiea leaned over and tussled his hair lightly, letting out one last chuckle as she did. "Just speak English. I'll do translations." She said.

John smiled. The lift had started to move while Tash had been explaining his case of mistaken words, so no more than twenty seconds later the door opened up into a natural light filled hallway. Tash grabbed his hand once more and lead him onward. The view from the hallway's large window was actually quite stunning, John thought. Geometric and hard angled structures of civilization clashed well with the rolling hills and predominantly red foliage of the valley's plant life. It really was a nice little city that Tash's family had here, and for a few fleeting moments John could imagine himself settling down here. They could build a house. Something small, cozy but not restricting.