30 Understanding the Heart of the Matter

Four hours after Hellie left, Xa'Gun laid stretched out on the ground upon damp dirt, wet from his sweat.

"Sorry, son... I might not be as good looking as your intimate, little Lili, but I'll have you showing results in half the time, hahaha" Jukzuk laughed while sitting in the back door frame of the burrow.

Xa'Gun huffed, "What's an intimate?" He asked as he didn't understand the orcish word.

"Oh, guess I didn't teach you that one. You know how a mate is to a wife for humans."

Xa'Gun grunted his understanding.

"Then intimate is human for girlfriend. Something just before what humans call fiancée, but more than just a friend."

"What's fiancée in orcish?" Xa'Gun asked mixing common and orcish words together to ask his question.

"We don't really have a word for that, but if you wanted one, it would be your promised-mate, which is as close as you can get," Jukzuk spoke after a moment of thought.

"...?!?" Xa'Gun let out a hard grunt in confusion, "What intimate?!"

"Yours..." Jukzuk lifted his hardened hand and pointed to his adopted son's neck, "She already marked you... Wait... OH? AH! AHAHAHAHA!" Jukzuk held one side as he started to howl with laughter.

Xa'Gun used all the strength his body had left to sit up, as he touched his neck that Hellie playfully bit.

After what Xa'Gun thought were a few awkward minutes of just listening to his father laugh, Jukzuk finally calmed down. He rubbed his old tired eyes of the tears, as he spoke up, "That little girl, hahaha, She marked you and didn't ask or tell you anything! Hahaha, I just can't, hahaha."

"What does this mean???" Xa'Gun had a feeling, but he wanted a full explanation out of Jukzuk before assuming anything.

"Hahaha, I take it she got a bit too excited and marked you as hers. That mark means you have a girlfriend in common or intimate in orcish. However, you want to know it; call it, if other Orcs see that, then they'll know you have one."

"Wait... I saw other Orcs and Orcess... I didn't notice anything like that???" Xa'Gun talked quickly.

"Hahaha, well they fade with time, of course. It's only a small bruise of sorts."

"No, no, no! I mean, wouldn't Orcs and Orcess have them all the time... Like-"

"Calm yourself, son, hahaha, No. Haha, It only takes seeing it a few times for other Orcs to know or get the idea. Some lucky orcs have a lot of them if their mates are very, ahem" Jukzuk coughed into his hand, "Excitable, say like little Lili."

Xa'Gun grunted, but still sounded unsure.

"Is Hellie a problem? You seem to like her and you get along well with her." Jukzuk finally calmed down enough to speak without laughing.

"Well, no... I mean, I like her a whole lot actually..." Xa'Gun rubbed the bandage on his leg from where the human slave's sword bit into his thigh. It seemed his hard training caused it to bleed through the bandages.

"What's the problem then?" Jukzuk pressed the question, as he found the antics of the young orcs amusing.

Xa'Gun stopped rubbing his leg bandages, as he looked up to his adopted father, "It's... I mean... Isn't it a bit too fast?"

"Fast...?"

"And Hellie... She's..."

"She's what?"

"She's really beautiful," Xa'Gun spoke while looking down at the ground.

"...That's a problem?" Jukzuk leaned back to understand. Out of all the concerns that his adopted son could have, this was one of them???

"Well, yeah... I mean... I'm just me... I don't look all that good, and... I'm weak, so why would she even express interest in me, to begin with..."

"Well, Dem-dem expressed interest, as well." Jukzuk pointed out.

"Well, she wants to use me, so I understand that," Xa'Gun confessed.

"Oh? You know?" Jukzuk was taken back. This thick lug could figure out Demze's intentions when most Orcs males couldn't figure her out.

"She looks at me with the same eyes as my human masters... The eyes of someone that just wants to use me."

Jukzuk nodded, as he spoke, "There is no one that does anything without a self-serving purpose."

Xa'Gun mulled the thought over in his mind, as he asked, "Even you?"

Jukzuk sighed, and nodded again, "Yeah, even me."

Xa'Gun looked up in wonderment waiting for an explanation.

"A few reasons. For one, I'm lonely. I already told you that, and I see a lot of potential in you... Even more now that some many strange things are happening around you, haha. Seems to be a fun time. A few of the other reasons will have to just sit tight with me for a little while. Knowing them now wouldn't help either of us, but when the time comes, I'll tell you the rest. Just know, that I really do have your interests in mind, if not because of self-satisfaction." Jukzuk explained after a huff of breath.

Xa'Gun grunted his understanding, "Hellie?"

"Oh? I think she likes you because of the way you look. She might not be as smart as either of her two sisters if you look at learning, but she's surprisingly keen. She's a great judge of character in most situations, when she doesn't get in her own way, haha. But she has some of the best hunches and gut feelings of anyone I know... At least she did when she was younger. Seems in recent years, she might not listen to her guy as much as she should." Jukzuk closed one eye, as he thought aloud.

Xa'Gun listened intently wanting to know more.

"Anyway, you need to go inside and bathe. Contrary to humankind's expectations, We bathe far more than they do." Jukzuk got up, as he walked over to his son, and helped him to his feet.

"I noticed... Why is that?" Xa'Gun had this in the back of his mind, ever since he saw the burrow's bathroom.

"We, orcs, workout a lot. We sweat and get dirty. The places we live, like these moist mountains, also become breeding grounds for infections and rashes... Best to wash the muck off. Go ahead to the bath. I need to see an old friend." Jukzuk patted Xa'Gun on the back, as they walked inside.

Xa'Gun grunted that he understood, as he walked to the bathroom.

"I'll be back by the time those three show up." Jukzuk walked out, as he was saying.

He greeted the two Stonethrower brothers, as he left.

[I feel I thought of made mention of something, but I can't remember.] Jukzuk thought to himself as he was making his way back into the heart of the settlement, forgetting to tell his adopted son, that he might want to cover his neck from Demze and Midka.

Jukzuk shrugged, as he hummed a war song, as he continued.