Work Text:
Mira didn’t quite know why she decided to go with Corus today. He agreed to help Zeke work on something for another human. Kaya hated watching things like this. It reminded them how small they were. How strong the two humans were compared to anyone their size. The ease for the humans to hurt them.
She didn’t feel that way. An odd curiosity filled Mira as she watched the two humans. Even a safe distance from the two she could see how their muscles tensed. The way they bulged when something was lifted. Panels of wood, chunks of metal, even the light pillows. Things that she couldn’t dream of moving.
A part of her wanted to be closer. Study the differences between her kind and humans. She still didn’t quite know what she was. Not human, definitely not human. Not just an animal or tiny thing that looked like humans. Humans had stories with people like her. Nothing that cleared anything up. It made watching humans even more interesting. Studying anything different.
When she strained her muscles, she couldn’t see the flex how a human’s muscle did. For her kind, there was something else. A system of nearly invisible lines that covered them. A subtle glow that not everyone had. That had been growing stronger in her own body as she lived with humans. As she learned about them.
“Mira, is something wrong?” Corus asked.
She stared up at his eyes. Something that felt different from her own. She noticed it on Kaya lately, a small nearly imperceptible ring of color. Her own pink eyes had a subtle ring of black at the edges. Sometimes the hue changed, replaced with almost any color she could imagine. Most often a blue that matched Corus’s eyes.
“I’m fine,” she said.
Corus walked over to her. Heavy steps. Heavy on purpose. She never minded it. In fact it made her smile. He would always grin once she did. He saw so much more of her than he should. Another thing she couldn’t explain. Other humans, Zeke even, didn’t notice the changes on her like Corus did. He did for Kaya though. As if something her kind did made human partners see so much more.
He stopped in front of her. Tight shirt slick with sweat. The only time he looked muscular, usually he dressed in clothes that hid his physique. Baggier, loose, anything to avoid showing his form. She didn’t fully understand it. Her kind preferred tight clothing usually. Easier to avoid getting caught on anything.
She watched as he raised his arms above his head. Stretching. Cracking noises echoed across his body. Another difference, her kind didn’t have that. Nothing popped, cracked, or anything remotely similar. The already tight shirt pressed against him. Firm, toned abs visible. In a way it made her curious. How would he survive at her size? Built so heavily, she couldn’t imagine him climbing a string or squeezing through cracks in the wall. Let alone avoiding the predators in nature.
Palms slammed down next to her and made her jump. A quick glare at Corus only for a smirk to show on his face. He knew what she was thinking, somehow he always knew. Slowly he leaned closer, brought his face less than a breath away. The smell of spearmint made her smirk. He never forgot how angry she got the only time he had bad breath.
“Maybe I should start working out at home again,” he whispered. “You always stare so much. If I didn’t know better I’d think there was something else you wanted with the way you stare at me.”
“What do you mean?” she asked. He often made comments like that. An implication of something she didn’t get. This one wasn’t a difference between her kind and humans. This was a difference between her and the world. A difference Corus never seemed to mind.
“I mean, you’re looking at me like you’re after something. That’s all.”
“I’m after… understanding the differences between us.”
Corus’s hands moved. Slid across the table until fingers pressed against her legs. They turned slowly until palms surrounded her. His fingers curled in, closing off all her escape routes. Things she used to need at all times. Things she didn’t need when it was Corus, not now. Not while he learned control and she learned to trust.
“You know,” he breathed. The pause lasted as he leaned closer. Blue eyes taking up her entire world. “One day you’ll have to tell me all those differences you see. We always seem pretty similar to me.”
“One day I might. Once I know more about it,” she said. Mira placed a hand on Corus’s skin. Dug her nails into his skin. “Maybe when I finally know what you think I might be wanting when I’m studying you.”
“That’s something for a different time. One when we’re alone.”
Mira’s eyes went wide. There was a lot more she could understand with that addition. It never crossed her mind usually. His fingers tightened, she leaned into them. They were different people. Different beings. That didn’t ever matter to him.
“Cor, let’s get back to work. You and Mira can flirt later,” Zeke called.
A sigh filled with spearmint coated her. Immediately massive lips crashed into her. Pressed her into skin. Into fingers. Into the hands of the person she was in love with. Too quickly the hands and warmth were gone. She sat down, her knees pulled to her chest.
She knew a lot about what he could think about when alone with her. Things that she didn’t necessarily care about. That was something to worry about another time. For now, she would continue studying the differences between herself and humans. Until the day she understood what she was next to them.