Remiel’s Fall From Grace + Enlightenment 1-12

Zmeydros

Edited by Tilquain & Sheera Castellar

Copyright © 2022 Zmeydros

All rights reserved.

To Sheera Castellar, a dear friend who helped me develop Remiel and his world before real life commitments pulled her away from the wonderful world of furry fiction. Glad to know you’re doing well out there and thanks again.

Acknowledgments

Thanks to Secretskunk whose playful hacking of technology and culture provided inspiration for Cuber.

Thanks to Skrime for finding typos that had survived many edits. Her love of this series brings warmth to my heart.

I’d like to offer my sincerest thanks to Arkona Kothe, Navajo Demar, Tiliquain, Warialinth, and Xaziana Tenebris who are my $20 dollar patrons. I strive to deserve the money you're throwing at me.

And a huge thank you to all my Patrons for humoring me when I said I wanted to continue this story. I wouldn't be writing wacky sexy furry tales if it wasn't for your support. Every one of you rocks!

Remiel’s Fall From Grace

Remiel has just boarded the transport that will take him from Trinity Stronghold to Earth only to find he's profoundly attracted to Ramda Uweko, its herm wolf hybrid captain.

No matter how hard Remiel tries to bury these feelings with doubt and self loathing, Ramda's kindness and charisma keep digging them up. Soon Remiel's running out of stamina while Ramda has just gotten started.

Will Remiel succeed in fending off a wolf determined to show him the ecstasy of knowing his true self only to remain ignorant and alone?

Sometimes the best option when being chased by a wolf is to stop running and just accept your fate.

Chapter 1

It had been silly of me to expect I'd get some relief from the Bible cult that was Trinity Stronghold before I made it to Earth. Even in the disembarkation section of Firmament Station, one could not escape the shiny sky-blue treatment that had been done to every wall and ceiling. No matter how many times they told me it resembled God's presence in the world, I still thought it was a color best used in moderation. It was making the coolest thing I'd likely do in my entire life feel like a farce.

Once I got on the ship at the far end of the long hallway in front of me, I'd do my best to never come back. No more offhand comments about how I should cut my long curly dirty-blonde hair. No more awkward, hour-long inquisitions when a family member caught me using a female avatar in a game. And no more God damn sky blue on everything!

Josiah was giving one of his speeches that consisted of a barely-coherent stream of lines stolen from Christian inspirational posters. A couple minutes later, however, he said something that piqued my interest.

"Now, y'all should know, Captain Uweko is an abomination to God, but none of you are to say that to her face or there will be consequences. Not only did her great grandfather found MiraManna Inc., but she's also been our most reliable transport to earth for the last ten years. You will treat her with the respect you'd treat any of your higher-ups."

"An abomination, what do you mean?" Hosanna asked.

How I knew her was nothing special; we were just two mid-level office gophers doing the bidding of people paid three times our salary. Her uniform was exactly like mine, except for the fact that hers had mauve panels of color amongst the pure white, while mine had dark blue panels. They looked like someone's wild concept art of Christians in space more than something someone should actually wear, and crosses were hidden at every intersection between the Picasso-like mosaic of white and colored panels.

"Captain Uweko has perverted the body God gave her by modding herself with animal traits," Josiah answered.

My heart started thumping in my chest. I'd never seen a hybrid in person. I had to meet Captain Uweko.

"So, she's a hybrid," Hosanna said.

"No, she is an abomination. Do not forget that pity for those who lose their way is also a form of respect. Pity shows strength." Josiah looked ten years younger as he spoke, his hundred-and-sixty-centimeter-tall frame brimming with confidence. I had a strong suspicion he'd been a preacher before he joined MiraManna. It was, sadly, very common.

I zoned out for a couple lines of his speech where he referenced random Bible verses, but then his frantic hand gestures caught my attention as if he was a snake charmer and I was the snake. Now he was spouting familiar, mildly disturbing Trinity Stronghold rhetoric I'd heard a thousand times.

"Pity is that burning hope in our hearts that lost souls will find the strength to reclaim their righteousness. It is a belief that all people can give up their sinful lives and come to God to be cleansed. All are equal under God. All have the potential to be saved." He looked us over with his light blue eyes. "Any other questions or comments?"

Everyone was silent because everyone had mentally checked out the moment he started ranting. It was his fifth sermon-like outburst since he'd gathered us up in the lobby.

"Good." His close-cropped brown-and-grey-dappled hair shook as he made impassioned gestures that could be mistaken for martial-arts moves. "As MiraManna Inc.'s head representative on your voyage to Earth, it is time for me to guide you down the path to our collective salvation. Prepare to board, believers!" He outstretched his hands toward the offensively-well-lit, long, sky-blue hallway ahead of us and then started pushing his luggage cart, taking the lead.

I groaned quietly as I went back to pushing my luggage cart. It squeaked, it swerved, and I had to fight it for every foot it traveled. And whenever I pushed off of my right foot, I squeezed water out of my sock, causing it to slosh around in my shoe. This morning had not gone well.

"You okay there, Remiel?" Hosanna asked, pulling her luggage cart up next to mine.

"Of course I'd get the only broken one. Story of my life," I said. Normally, I tried to smile and help everyone feel everything was okay, but I'd already run out of my daily allotment of fake smiles.

"Do you want to push my cart instead? You've probably pushed that one five kilometers. I'm sure I can handle pushing yours a few hundred meters." Her voice had this lilting quality that reminded me of the way a butterfly bounced on its way to a flower.

Scrounging around inside myself, I found one last fake smile. "I'll be okay."

"I'll just hang back with you so you don't feel like a slowpoke, then," she said.

"But I am a slowpoke. Everybody's nearly at the airlock," I said.

"Everyone knows it's not by choice," she said.

In a parallel universe Hosanna and I were probably a couple, but in this universe I had had too many bad experiences with complex, anxiety-inducing Christian courtship machinations. No one was supposed to have a sex drive, but everyone was supposed to make babies. I simply couldn't do the math.

Plus, I wasn't at all attractive and Hosanna's continued kindness could easily have been because she felt sorry for me.

As I got within fifty meters of the airlock, it opened and I saw a two-meter-tall wolf hybrid walk out. Then the janky front left wheel on my cart got stuck on a tiny seam in the floor.

As I tried to push it over the seam, the wheel thumped, squealed, and then cracked in two.

The cart lurched to the side. The forty-centimeter-long greenish gray suitcase that held my VR gaming rig slid off of the top and crashed to the hard ceramic floor.

Hosanna gasped in surprise as I winced, hoping nothing had gotten damaged.

"This day just gets better and better," I muttered under my breath as I grabbed the handle of another suitcase that was starting to slide off the stack.

Running up and leaning against my suitcases so they wouldn't fall, Hosanna yelled, "Hey! Can we get some help?"

I heard boots swiftly thumping on the floor and looked up to see a hundred and thirty kilograms of female wolf hybrid charging toward us. There was a lot of Captain Uweko and I was so lost in her curves that I nearly forgot what I was doing. She was wearing this revealing greenish gray captain's uniform that went perfectly with the dark and light striations of the purplish-red fur that covered her form. Fur that was lighter on the front, and darker on her sides and back.

She didn't just have one set of cleavage. Below her round uppermost pair of breasts was a second smaller pair and below them was the faint outline of a third pair. When my eyes moved lower, I froze worse than my broken cart. There was an obvious bulge in her crotch.

I bit my lip as heat rushed to every centimeter of my skin. Had I gone too long without getting off or something? I felt like I'd been dipped in warm honey.

Grabbing a suitcase that was threatening to fall off, Captain Uweko said, "Let's get all these bags off the cart." She set the bag down and then caught the handles of two more and lifted them as if they were empty. Just how strong was she?

As she set those bags down and Hosanna started struggling to pull a crate off of my cart, I realized I'd just been standing there.

When I shook myself out of my stupor and started helping them, Captain Uweko turned around and said, "Luke, your quarters are closest to the airlock; I want you to bring your cart out to us after you've unloaded it."

Luke's red hair was cut so short it was more like peach fuzz. He said, "Will do, Ma'am."

"Good. Josiah has the manifest and can direct you to your quarters," she said as she stacked a couple suitcases.

Josiah, and the other employees, piled into the large airlock while we worked to unload my belongings.

It was frustrating that I couldn't stop glancing at Captain Uweko. Hosanna seemed to be struggling to keep her eyes on what she was doing as well. But her eyes were following Captain Uweko's fluffy wolf tail, which made far more sense than what I was fixated on.

No matter what I did to distract myself, my eyes kept finding Uweko's breasts and bulge. And the more I stared at them, the more my body tingled. This went on until I stood up after unloading the last bag from my cart and found I had the world's stiffest boner.

Blushing, I grabbed my Firmament Station Welcome Bag and held it in front of my crotch. This was the worst time for my body to act up. How was I going to make a good impression on her while I was this embarrassed? Why did I want to make a good impression? Oh God, this was the same nervousness I got whenever I was trying to hit on a girl.

No, that couldn't be. I'd never met a starship captain and I was understandably excited.

That didn't explain my erection, though. Not that erections always needed a reason to be a pain.

"I'm Ramda Uweko, and you are?"

I blinked twice before I realized Ramda was talking to me and holding out her paw-padded hand for a handshake. Scrambling to catch up with the social situation, I reached out with my left hand. "Remiel. T-thanks for your help."

She pulled her right hand back and brought out her left to shake mine. With a big smile that showed her pointy teeth, she said, "You're welcome."

I'd reached out with the wrong hand! Stupid!

The feeling of her paw pads made me short of breath. They were smooth but also had a bit of roughness. Like, if your skin moved across them, they resisted the movement, but when your hand was still they felt smooth. Oh shit! I was still holding her hand!

"You're shaking, dear, come here." She tugged me toward her. "Booze will cost you extra, but hugs are free."

I stumbled toward her with a white-knuckled grip on the Welcome Bag as my face fell into her cleavage. My right hand, still clutching the bag, slid under her large balls into the space between her thighs as she leaned forward.

I'd never touched anyone else's balls before and the butterflies in my stomach went on a rampage. Feeling the heat between her thighs and the weight of her balls resting atop my fist made my erection surge in my pants. The first part of a moan squeaked out as I tried to control myself. I could feel all six of her breasts pressing against me.

Her scent reminded me of cinnamon and turmeric. My shaking stopped as I hooked my free arm around her and hugged her back.

"See? I knew you were a hugger." She gave me a squeeze before releasing me.

As I left her arms, her balls rubbed against the back of my hand and my cock twitched in my pants. I bit my lip to stifle a moan.

This was so dumb. Here I was getting all excited from a simple hug. I probably would've been equally turned on by hugging a woman in that situation because I wasn't familiar with touching people's groins in general. Even though it had happened by accident, there was something thrilling and forbidden about it.

Ramda either hadn't even noticed or saw no reason to make a big deal out of it. God, I was so closeted.

"While we wait, you two got any questions about my ship or interstellar travel?" Ramda asked.

Hosanna made a cute "hmm" noise as she thought. "Does your ship have any weapons?"

"Nope, I only travel on groomed routes, so we don't have to worry about pirates at anvil points," she said.

Tilting her head, Hosanna said, "Wouldn't it be better to have weapons just in case?"

"If we had weapons, we wouldn't be protected by the Aphelem Accord," Ramda said.

"What's that?" Hosanna asked.

"It's basically like the Geneva Convention, but for space," I said.

"Exactly." One of Ramda's pointy canine ears flicked as the floor vents stirred up the air, heating the hallway.

During a short pause where both Hosanna and I squeed over seeing Ramda's ear move, I realized I had some questions I wanted to ask. "What's the name of your ship?"

"The Gluttonous Pixie," she grinned.

"That has to be a joke," Hosanna said.

"Nope, no joke." She pulled back the sleeve of her uniform revealing a purple-tinged-bronze-colored smart bracelet. A green holographic image of her ship popped into view. It was a simple design: two rectangles on either side of a disk. It kinda looked like a watch with its band lying flat.

She touched the forward rectangular section and the central disk and they dropped from view leaving the aft rectangular section that had the engines. "Oberfesk Ship Systems builds modular ships that are great for people starting a business. This section was my entire ship when I started out. Because she was a small nimble transport, I called her the Zippy Pixie."

She pulled up the rectangle that had been on the opposite side of the central disk and pushed it into the first rectangle. "When I upgraded, she was a bit less nimble, but could carry more, so I called her the Barbarian Pixie."

We laughed.

Pulling apart the two rectangles, she brought out the central disk section and connected them to it. "And...ta-da! Adding this conference space, storage, and biome module made her look and handle like a Gluttonous Pixie."

"When you explain it like that..." Hosanna gave a theatrical pause. "It still doesn't make sense."

Ramda's thunderous laugh could be felt in my chest. I couldn't help but smile at how amused she was. If you'd asked me what a wolf smiling looked like, I would've never imagined what I saw before me. Ramda's face had more muscles than a dog's and was just as expressive as anyone else's. Plus, she had the bonus of ears and a tail. Both of which were active as she laughed. Her tail bobbed while her ears lay flat against her head.

She put a paw-padded hand on Hosanna's shoulder. "You and I will get along just fine."

I must've looked like I was feeling left out, because Ramda's other paw landed on my shoulder. "You too, Remiel. I always get along best with huggers."

After smiling and wondering whether her kind words were because she pitied me, I asked, "What's the bridge like? Do you have a neural interface? Is there a joystick? Does your ship have robots that help repair it and clean up messes? Do plants provide the oxygen?" I stopped, realizing I'd been asking every question as it popped into my mind.

"Cold, yes but it sometimes gives me a headache, yes but it's broken, yeah, and yes but only if I listen to our botanist and leave them alone," she said, not missing a beat.

The airlock opened and Luke started walking toward us, pushing his cart.

"I bet you have a lot more questions," Ramda said, "How about I give you access to all the different crew areas, so long as they aren't high-security?"

My jaw dropped. "Y-you'd do that?"

"Just one sec." Her eyes became distant, darting around to things I couldn't see since she was using her implant. Then she looked at me and brought her smart bracelet near my face. "And done."

Hosanna said, "Ooh, I'm jealous!"

"Would you like access too?" Ramda asked.

Hosanna shook her head, "Nah, I was just teasing. The less I know about the ship, the better. Josiah spent twenty minutes this morning trying to calm me and Caleb's pre-flight jitters."

Having been distracted long enough that my erection had softened, I put my Welcome Bag down and helped everyone load Luke's luggage cart.

"If you're a planet-lover, I suggest you spend time in the biome. It helps loads with space anxiety," Ramda said as she piled on twice as many bags as the rest of us. I wanted to know the secret to her fitness routine. Sure, she was big, but there had to be more to it. Her muscles were gorgeous.

Once the cart was loaded, Ramda pushed it to the airlock for me and I just followed behind her trying not to stare at her tail, or the curve of her nice toned ass, and failed on both counts.

All the industrial pipes, feedthroughs, and panels in the disembarkation airlock were also sky blue, making it very hard to identify individual components.

As we waited for the airlock to cycle, Luke asked, "Captain, do you mind if I ask a personal question?"

"Not at all, I'm an open book," she said.

"What do you consider your gender to be?" Luke asked.

"What the fuck, Luke?!" Hosanna said.

"What? I asked if she minded, first. Isn't that how you're supposed to ask those sorts of questions?" Luke said.

I put my head in my hands. Luke was worse than me. He had no filter and that was a liability on Trinity Stronghold. The fact he was being sent along with us supported my theory that MiraManna shipped all their biggest misfits to earth.

"I consider myself female-leaning as far as gender. I tell people I'm just shy of a tomboy because I like lots of male-coded activities, but I also enjoy painting my claws and wearing dresses sometimes. To answer the question about my physiology that I think you were actually asking: I'm a hermaphrodite. I have both sets of genitals." Ramda had no tension in her voice. If the words had been different, I would've assumed we were having a cozy conversation in her living room.

"Wow, okay," Luke said.

"Are you happy now, Luke?" Hosanna said.

"I appreciate the concern, Hosanna, but I don't mind answering those sorts of questions one bit. I prefer to have everything out in the open," Ramda said.

My erection was threatening to come back. It had been quite warm behind her balls. Did my knuckle graze her...I grabbed the Welcome Bag off the luggage cart and held it in front of my crotch saying, "Glad I caught this before it fell off. I think I'll just carry it."

Thankfully, before anyone could respond, or even think about what I'd said, the airlock door opened along with the outer door to the Gluttonous Pixie.

Chapter 2

The matte gray nonstick ceramic surfaces of the ship's airlock were lit by numerous tiny overhead spotlights, like semi-orderly stars shining down. I stood between Ramda and Hosanna. Everyone was stealing glances at Ramda. Luke's face was hard to read, but I assumed he was perplexed or conflicted due to the deep furrow in his brow.

Hosanna's fixation with Ramda's tail increased with each passing second until she asked, "Can I touch your tail?"

Ramda swished her tail toward Hosanna. "Sure!"

First, Hosanna lightly touched it with her fingertips, but then she stroked it and smiled like she'd stolen a cookie from the cookie jar and gotten away with it. "It's so soft!"

Luke walked over and touched it too, seeming to think the invitation extended to him. Ramda didn't mind, so I started petting it as well. It was soft, luxuriously so. The fur was thick and so clean that it felt like goose down. I wanted to hug it against me and never let go.

The airlock finished cycling and the door opened revealing Josiah standing on the other side. He cleared his throat. "Just what do you three think you're doing?"

"Petting Ramda's tail," Hosanna said, continuing to stroke it

I stopped because Josiah had a righteous fire in his eyes. "Leave Captain Uweko be. We're not at a petting zoo."

Luke pulled his hand away and then Hosanna did so, reluctantly.

"They aren't hassling me, Josiah. Their curiosity speaks to their intelligence. I have to say, MiraManna has a great taste in employees," Ramda said.

Josiah's mouth opened and then closed as he realized he'd been trapped by her compliment. I'd never seen him at a loss for words and it was fascinating to behold. When he recovered, he said, "Get to your rooms and settle in. Dinner's at seven."

The same matte gray composite panels that were in the airlock lined the ship's halls, which were spacious enough for two lanes of traffic, but not if luggage carts were going both ways. The star-like spotlights gave a rather epic feel to our walk to our rooms, and amongst them were lots of pipes and conduits. I knew some of them were for the artificial gravity system, some were plumbing, and others were electrical. Out of everyone in our group, I was probably the only person that wanted to see the ship's schematic and get lost in all the mundane spacefaring details.

Ramda kept pushing my luggage cart while she gave Luke and Hosanna directions to their rooms. Why she was still pushing my cart, I had no idea. I figured she just wanted to finish what she started or there was some obvious reason I was missing.

First Luke, then Hosanna, bid us farewell before taking a right turn to head to their quarters.

Being alone with Ramda got my heart to speed up. My game of looking at her while trying not to look at her was exhausting.

When she stopped in front of my quarters, the domed rectangular door hissed and then lifted off of its frame a few centimeters before sliding to the side along a track in the wall. The lights slowly ramped up to full intensity, which was nifty and easy on the eyes. Instead of a second bunk, there was a flat storage space with a short railing above the lower bunk. Across from the bunk and storage space was a tiny modular composite kitchenette including a sink, a microwave, a small fridge, a few cupboards, and a toaster. All of it was sparkling clean and had a marbled grey facade with wavy purple streaks running through it.

"These are nice quarters," I said.

"I wish I was staying in this part of the ship. The environmental system in my section started acting up a few days ago and it's been way too humid," she said.

"Have you had maintenance look at it?"

"Nothing they can do. It needs an overhaul when we get back to earth. I'd move to passenger's quarters, but my cabin is near the bridge and, as long as I leave my door open, it doesn't get too bad."

"I don't know if I could deal with the hit to my privacy," I said.

"Lucky for me, only members of the crew can get past the bulkhead to my area." She pointed at the back of my quarters to a glass door in the wall. "See the standup shower in the back left?"

"Yeah?"

"The toilet's behind that nondescript door across from it. Most people reach for the handle on that door before they realize it's automatic. Just wave your hand in front of the handle, and it'll pop open. That way you can get to the sink without having to touch anything," she said.

"That's neat," I smiled.

Between the shower and toilet was a four-foot wide counter with a sink and a mirror above it. The mirror had handles under it in three places which suggested there was storage space behind it.

"What luggage do you want above your bunk?" Ramda asked.

"You're going to help me put away my luggage?" I asked.

"Yeah, I can tell you've had a hard day, and my day's been easy. I figure I can share some of my easy to make up for your hard."

"But don't you have more important things to do?" I asked.

"This likely surprises you, but due to the long stints where we're traveling between Anvils, forty percent of my job is just taking care of my passengers' needs. Space travel is really taxing on the human psyche and I get paid when people make it to the other side safe and happy," she said.

I blushed and felt tingly again without any idea why. How could I possibly deserve her attention like this? Pointing to a few of my bags, I said, "These should go above my bunk."

She grabbed two of them, walked over to the storage area, and then hefted them up there with little effort. I grabbed two of them and put them in the closet just inside the door before grabbing a third and putting it in there too.

Once Ramda got all the bags I wanted above my bunk stowed, she said, "Okay, can we put the rest in the hold?"

I pulled two more bags off and then said, "Yeah."

"Okay, tap the panel just inside your door and request a pickup for the rest of your luggage," she said.

I went over to the eight-by-eight-centimeter panel and clicked through the teal blue menu to request the pickup. Then a countdown timer showed up, saying a bot would be there in fourteen minutes and counting.

"Okay, now, if you go to the sync option, the ship will display info through your implant instead of having to use info screens," she said.

I hit the sync option and put my implant into handshake mode. Three seconds later, the timer appeared in the lower right of my vision and when I looked at a closed door to my left, I got teal text saying, "Anything Room status: Vacant. Wave hand to enter."

I waved my hand at the door and it clicked before it slid open to allow entry to the two-by-two-meter room behind it. Seams in the walls showed where couches, displays, and VR equipment connections could be found. Anything Rooms were way more common in space than on planets. They allowed for just about any recreational use from exercise room, to movie theater, to gaming room.

"You're sharing that room with the next room over, but we used the survey we gave you to make sure we didn't end up with bad matchups like pairing hardcore night owl gamers and night owl fitness fanatics."

"That sounds good and I think I'm all set," I said. "See you later?" I held out my right hand for a goodbye shake.

"Some of my cargo's been held up by customs. Always happens at this station, so I can stay and chat a bit longer if you like."

"You sure you don't have any higher priorities?" I asked. "I really don't want to take up more of your time."

"I've made all the necessary preparations and I'm not behind on any of my deadlines. Either you're trying to get rid of me, you don't think very highly of yourself, or you're underestimating how organized I am. So, which is it?" She smirked.

"Underestimating how organized you are?" I said sheepishly.

"Right, that's the one I thought," she said with a hint of sarcasm.

She paused and closed the door behind her, leaving my luggage cart outside to wait for the pickup. "Remiel, you look at my ship as if you already know what the things on it do. And you knew about the Achelen Accord. I know, for a fact, that Trinity Stronghold's education system doesn't cover space much because they don't like giving their inhabitants the idea they can leave. This means, you taught yourself about ship systems and space politics. That, in turn, makes me interested in you. Makes me think you're not like all the other Trinies."

She paused for a moment, "Tell me, Remiel, how long have you wanted to be a starship captain?"

I blushed and stammered a couple times before I said, "I don't know, for as long as I can remember?"

"Then it's my duty, as a starship captain, to tell you to follow your dream," she said. "Save up money, make connections, and take all those little steps that lead toward your goal. And, if you stay in touch with me and I find my initial impression of you was correct, I will do what I can to help."

I felt like I wanted to cry. "But I'm just a gopher getting paid nothing and riding on a starship for the first time."

"Everyone thinks my inheritance from my rich political-activist sister is how I was able to start my business. Before she died, I'd already gotten my first ship through connections and business deals I'd made. My sister's money is what enabled me to mod myself. If you have a good business idea and foster the right friends, you can travel the stars. And, even if you don't start a business, there's ships out there looking for crew members like you. Then, you can work your way to being a captain by gaining experience," she said.

"Thanks for being so nice and encouraging me, but I have good reason to doubt I can do what you've done. I'm not all that good at making business connections and I know I don't have enough experience to get a job as part of a ship crew. Plus, I'm really awkward around people."

"Well, I hope you someday see yourself differently," she said. "In the meantime, you should look around my ship and learn all you can."

"I still can't believe you gave me access to crew areas," I said.

"Well, I tried to explain why, but we've hit a wall." She held out her arms. "How about I just give you another hug instead?"

I hugged her, hating how insecure and whiny I sounded. People complimenting me somehow always made me feel this way. Why was I such a mess?

Her arms tightened around me as I gave her a squeeze and nestled my head in her cleavage. I couldn't help thinking about everyone I'd be leaving behind. Somehow, I was already missing people I barely liked. Being thousands of lightyears from home had excited me for the past week, but now that it was about to be real, I was scared. My family had kept me from expressing myself, but I'd spent so many years learning how to get along with them that I was used to it. Soon, I'd be interacting with people from an unfamiliar culture. There's no way they were all as easy to get along with as Ramda.

Ramda, with her infinite kindness and giant wolf-modded body...Her breasts felt amazing pressed up against me. And her huge bulge was pressing against me just above my groin. No one's bulge had ever touched me and I'd always thought I'd mind. I didn't. God wasn't striking me with lightning. I wasn't setting on fire. I was just sharing an honest tender hug with a hermaphroditic wolf hybrid.

The initial few seconds she held me, it was calming, but then something entirely else happened. I felt warmth rushing south and got this strange urge to thrust my pelvis toward her to bring it into closer contact. I resisted the urge, but in my confusion, I let her go.

She was frowning. Had I let go too soon? Had she gotten some bad news through her implant just now? "Hey, before I go, I want to talk to you about our first hug. This one was kinda to make up for that one where I goofed and made you tense. I honestly didn't know you were going to keep holding that bag and I'm sorry if that got awkward for you."

"N-no, it's fine." And just like that, I was getting hard again. Her balls were so damn big! Did that mean her cock was equally big? Did it have a knot at the base? I was honestly curious.

"Have I made you uncomfortable? You seem a bit tense," she said.

"I'm fine, really." I knew she didn't mean my erection, but the mere idea that she might have been aiming innuendo at me had me throbbing so much I was rubbing my thighs together.

She sighed. "It's because I'm a hybrid, isn't it? I know how that's a touchy subject for y'all. If you want me to keep my distance, all you've gotta do is ask. I really don't mind. If I had such a shifted worldview, I'd likely be nervous too."

"No, that's not it, I love that you're a hybrid," I blurted out.

One of her ears fell in confusion, but then I saw her nose flex as she sniffed the air. "Wow, was I reading that wrong." She laughed. "Why don't you pop by my quarters in an hour and a half, after we've disembarked? I think we should continue this conversation before we go to dinner. Don't you?"

"No, that's not it," I put my hands over my crotch as a tent formed. There wasn't much room in my quarters. We were standing close enough that I could smell her scent getting thicker and I got a wet patch where my cock tip touched my boxers.

"One thing you'll learn real quick about me is that you can't fool this." She tapped her canine nose. "See you in an hour and a half after you've managed to calm yourself down a bit." The door to my quarters opened and she stepped out.

My eyes were fixed on her ass and tail until the door closed behind her. I'd never been this embarrassed or this erect and had no idea what to do with myself. It took me thirty seconds to convince myself that she'd said what I'd thought she said, and then thirty more seconds of being painfully hard to decide to do something about it. I took a step toward my bunk only to have my wet sock squish against my shoe.

"Fucking hell!" I said as I pulled my shoe and sock off.

Knocking that vase full of flowers off of the side table in my parents' entryway had been a fabulous way to start the day.

After pulling my other shoe and sock off, I started stripping out of my jumpsuit. They'd hidden the zipper in the front well, but it was rather easy to slide open and I was in my undies in no time. Then I stared down at the throbbing prick in my boxers thinking, "She knows, oh God, she knows!"

But what does she know? That I'm pent up from being too nervous to get off for a week?

This had to be a big misunderstanding. I'd never seen porn of hybrids or herms because that was blocked on Trinity Stronghold. I could've hacked my way around those protections and risked spending time in the worst penal system in known space, but I'd never had the balls to do it. Mmm, balls...her balls had such a nice heft to them. I brought my right hand up to my nose and sniffed, finding her scent was still there.

I groaned and pulled my boxers off as pre beaded at my cock tip. There had to be some explanation as to why I liked her scent so much. Maybe she'd modded it to be especially pleasing? Like the way she'd gotten both a dick and a pussy?

Oh God! I sat on my bunk and started stroking. I couldn't have been attracted to her cock or her balls, I'd never thought about a prick other than mine. It had to be that she was so new, so different, had six tits, and carried herself with that amazing confidence I wish I had. I'd been way more interested when I'd heard she was a herm, so I probably just wanted her pussy. Yeah, that had to be it.

Sniffing the back of my hand while I stroked so fast my arm went numb, I moaned and trembled. I was stuck in that moment where my hand was sliding between her thighs, where I felt her bulge glide over my hand until I felt the heat from the furnace behind them. Her snatch. Was it modded too?

"HAAAHHHH!" I panted, my moans and breathing getting all mixed up. The pressure in my prostate was so powerful it was aching all the way up to my stomach.

And she knew I was doing this thinking about her, she said she'd see me after I calmed myself down...I couldn't hide my lust from her, she could smell it clear as day. YES! Why was that so fucking hot?!

"GAH! FUCK!" I yelled as my prick convulsed in my grip.

The first shot of my jizz splattered all over my socks. The second shot hit the cupboard four feet across from me. None of the others went that far, but I soon had a mess larger than any I'd made before. The whole time, I was screaming until my lungs burned and my jaw hurt from being open so wide. The pleasure was like an ache in my joints that made me flail my limbs. It wasn't just bliss, it was gale force winds and hail.

When I fell back on my bunk, I could feel my heartbeat in my toes and I was sweating profusely. That was the most effort I'd put into masturbation in my entire life. I didn't know it could feel this good. Boy had I been missing out.

I lost the next few minutes to feeling utterly awesome while my thoughts floated just out of reach.

My prick was spent and I'd likely be able to just chat with Ramda comfortably for the rest of the trip. Thank goodness I'd gotten that out of my system. I needed to learn to get off regularly so I didn't get obsessed with such strange kinks.

Without all that going on in my mind, I could ask Ramda all sorts of things about the ship and her career. I'd never be a ship captain like her, but it would be fun to hear about her adventures. Then I'd get some dinner and flop on my bunk so I could sleep off this bizarre, exhausting day. But, before any of that, I needed a shower.

Chapter 3

Showering while under the spell of a powerful afterglow was like floating amongst warm clouds. The heat of the steam from the water was permeating deep into me, relaxing me in a way I couldn't really describe. Words weren't easy to grasp, not even the concept of what I had cleaned and what I had yet to clean. Had I masturbated myself into a trance?

Time passed without measure and I would've probably been in that shower forever if I hadn't heard Ramda's ship-wide announcement resonating in the shower stall. "Our first jump has been delayed until mid-morning tomorrow. A convoy from Lezveioan space is arriving behind schedule and we don't have clearance until they're through."

People called the Lezveioans space sharks because they looked a hell of a lot like sharks. Trinity Stronghold never officially referred to their gender, but the rumor was that they were a race of hermaphrodites. Trinies used whatever pronoun they felt fit an individual Lezveioan. The Lezveioans, not having any gender pronouns in their language of commerce, didn't seem to care. Getting info on them was tough since our government didn't want us to get too excited about alien races, especially ones that didn't behave nicely within our gender norms. 

I had no idea what all the rumors and hubbub was about because every image I'd seen of them seemed to be obviously male or female. But on Trinity Stronghold, rumors often pointed at fact manipulation of some sort. The problem was that there was another rumor about them that I didn't want to be true: that they were quick to anger and slow to forgive and had a society much stricter than ours.

Deciding I needed to get myself out of the shower before I scrubbed my skin right off, I rinsed off and then touched the wall panel to shut off the flow. It wasn't a small shower, but it was definitely made for one person and had a misting head that maximized the contact of the water droplets getting one as wet as possible with the smallest amount of water. It was a bit odd breathing in this mist and my nose was running a bit as I got out and turned on the body drier.

A couple spins later, all I needed to do was towel off my hair. As I was putting on a clean Miramanna uniform, Josiah came out with his own shipwide announcement:

"The travel delay has given us an opportunity that we must seize with both hands. Tonight we'll have a Bible study before and after dinner! Come to the Biome ASAP so we can enjoy God's creations while sharing God's wisdom."

I balled up a fist. Josiah knew that company Bible studies were mandatory and he was just eating our free time like a lion that had broken into a steak buffet. And he'd said ASAP, which meant I had to get over there the moment I was dressed. With a smirk, I dressed like a drunken tortoise, seeing how far I could stretch out each motion. After a good ten minutes of trying not to laugh at myself, I had my uniform on and headed out the door.

The epic feeling from the spot-lighting of the dark grey composite in the hallways wasn't going to get old. I was on a spaceship for the first time in my life. Every step I took felt momentous.

Crossing the hallway intersection ahead of me was a half-meter-wide cube with an asymmetric arrangement of sensor clusters and multi-jointed spider-like limbs. I started following the cube-shaped robot until it opened a grate near the floor with hexagonal slots cut into it. Then it stuck an arm that had something like a feather duster on the end underneath and gently wiped around.

When I knelt down next to it to get a closer look, the robot made a crabby bweep sound, so I backed away a bit. Then I nearly jumped out of my skin when Daniel knelt down right next to it to annoy it on purpose. I'd been so preoccupied with the robot that I hadn't seen him come around the corner. 

He was laughing as the robot complained repeatedly about his invasion of its personal space.

I said, "You probably shouldn't do that. Ramda said--"

"You think I care what she says? What's this robot gonna do? Feather dust me?" Daniel's thin face sneered under a tuft of his long reddish-brown bangs.

"She's the captain of this ship," I said, my heart starting to race. "And Josiah said we should respect her."

"He also called her an abomination, so…" he trailed off letting me complete the rest of his meaning.

The robot stopped cleaning and took a step toward Daniel, making a shooing motion with the feather duster and another arm with a three-fingered hand. When he didn't move, it made an angry high-pitched beep.

The sound was awful enough that I took a step back.

Daniel tried to push the robot away from him, but it stood its ground and growled. This got Daniel to scoot backwards. "Geez! What a fucking cunt you are!"

The robot growled again and then went back to cleaning the vent.

I was staring at that little robot, wishing I could borrow some of its assertiveness, when Daniel turned away from it and kicked it into the wall with the sole of his shoe.

 The robot made a high-pitched squeal of surprise that made my heart hurt as it went sailing into the wall, still holding the grate. There was a loud crash when the grate and the bot hit the composite that made up the wall.

"Bet you're not so smug now," Daniel spat at the robot and walked away.

Two of the robot's fingers and one of its legs were stuck in the grate and it was whining in frustration, unable to untangle itself.

I tried to approach it, but it growled at me. At first, I considered getting help, but then I remembered how I'd approached my friend's dog when it had gotten a piece of glass in its paw. I got low to the floor and slumped my shoulders and looked as submissive as possible. 

Then I reached out toward the bot very slowly, saying, "Come on, Cuber, let me help you."

It stopped struggling and made a curious trill.

"Wait, can you understand English?" I asked.

It made a soft beep.

"Huh, that's a pretty crude speaker you have there. I bet you're more of a maintenance unit meant to work in parts of the ship that people can't go. Guess your manufacturer wasn't planning on you having to interact with passengers or crew," I said as I gently grabbed its leg and bent it at the joint that was stuck through the grate. Then I lifted the entire bot, which weighed about ten kilos, so the leg came out of the slot easily.

It made a happy trill and waited patiently for me to spread its fingers apart a bit farther than their normal range of motion and pop its knuckles out of the grate.

With the hand I'd pulled out of the grate, it reached out like it wanted a handshake and made the curious trill again.

I gave it a handshake and it cooed before going back to work.

Looking Cuber over to make sure she was okay, I saw a deep nick on the polished black composite of the leg I'd pulled out of the grate.

Josiah was going to be pissed at Daniel when I told him about this. Sure, I could have let it slide, but in the vacuum of space, everything was stacked against human life. So someone who willingly damaged ship systems deserved no protection. I was lucky I was angry, because it was the only time I was able to do something like this. My neck was tight with how much I was clenching my jaw. All I could think about was the pained squeal Cuber had made when Daniel kicked her.

Turning away from Cuber, I made my way to the circular hallway that went around the Biome. This hallway was much like the others besides strips of light near the bottom of the walls that lit one's shoes from the side. Again, it was like I was in some sort of epic movie. No one would expect this level of cool from a ship named "The Gluttonous Pixie," but Ramda was a tough act to follow.

The door to the Biome was a rectangle with rounded corners well over two meters tall. As I approached it, there was a soft hiss as it pulled away from the wall and slid effortlessly to the side. I was surprised to find that I was five meters above the ground on a hundred-and-seventy-five-meter-long bridge that landed in what looked like a small clearing in the bamboo grove directly ahead of me. This clearing was at the top of a large central hill, so the bridge only had a slight slope to it. What was surprising about the ramp was that even though I knew it was made out of space-age materials, it looked a lot like a vine and bamboo bridge someone might cobble together in a bamboo forest.

The bamboo, which nearly touched the dome of simulated sky five meters above my head, had beautiful brownish-red stems with bright green. I'd never seen this variety of bamboo and just stared at it until a soft wind rustled the leaves. Biomes needed to simulate some wind or tall plants didn't grow strong stems and would flop over.

That hill had half the diameter of the entire biome and the bamboo forest continued outward even after the hill ended, only stopping for a running track that appeared to go around the circumference of the Biome. But it didn't run along Biome's wall. Right under me was a shorter several-meter-wide stand of bamboo that hid a service path that ran along the wall. That stand of bamboo had the classic green stems and leaves most people think of when they hear the word "bamboo."

I didn't make it ten meters down the ramp before I saw Ramda running on the track below me. Biting my lip, I watched her six breasts and bulge bounce suggestively. Just before she passed under the bridge, she looked up at me and winked. My knees got weak and I took a couple deep breaths to calm down. I'd already masturbated thinking about her and I would be fine if I just focused on something, anything else.

When I got to the clearing, the bamboo sign post pointed at the three paths that hooked under the three bridges. To my right was a path to the amphitheater and Biome galley, to my left was a path that went to the "Orchid Trail," and the one behind me led to the "Fern Trail."

I took the one toward the amphitheater and galley, thinking about what I was going to say to Josiah after the Bible study. I followed the marked path, ignoring the various other little paths that branched off of it and following the arrows while I tried to further hone what I was going to say to Josiah. The path exited the bamboo forest next to a three-meter-high cliff cut into the hill. I'd thought the hill was a hemisphere, but it clearly wasn't with how this cliff was placed. I completely forgot about Josiah, everything. That cliff was encrusted by red, orange, and yellow orchids. Some with twisted petals, some that looked like birds landing, some that looked a bit like genitals.

Just as my sense of wonder was at its highest and I was padding toward the beauty on display, the echo of Josiah's voice brought me back to reality.  I turned around to see him standing on a  bamboo-wood platform with a Bible in his hand and the backs of over fifty MiraManna employees as they sat on the curved step seating of the amphitheater.

Behind Josiah was the front of the outdoor galley, which looked like a rustic cafe and was built into a four-meter-high hill. Between Josiah and the cafe was an eating area with bamboo wood tables and chairs. Balls of grassy leaves that had magenta flowers sticking out of them on all sides hung from cute little light posts making for a lovely dining area.

As I took a seat, the curly-haired woman next to me immediately shared her Bible. I was not thrilled because this meant that I had to pretend to read it instead of just pretend to listen.

Josiah held up an authoritative finger as he closed his Bible. "The thing about temptation is that it always comes to us when we're weak. If we remain strong with the Lord and talk to him every day, it inoculates us against the wiles of hedonism."

He narrowed his eyes at me for a moment, during a pregnant pause he'd added for dramatic effect. I was the last one to arrive and I hoped that was the only reason he was looking at me. Was it possible he already knew about me and Ramda? Like, did he think she was tempting me? I clenched my jaw thinking about what Josiah would do if he knew what I'd been up to before I made it here. I refused to meet his eyes and pretended I was reading the Bible the woman next to me had offered.

He continued, "You're going to need that on Earth, for it is the belly of hedonism itself. It is the place we fled so we could live a more pious life. But now God has called back to our original home to test our devotion. Our friends, family, and our countrymen are all counting on us to stay on the path chosen for us so that when we return--"

After covertly rolling my eyes at the idea that we'd ever want to go back, I caught sight of Ramda on the track, her six magnificent orbs dancing on her chest as she ran. My eyes followed her as she traveled over the hill the cafe was built into. I wasn't the only one watching, I saw seventy percent of my fellow employees turning their heads in unison to follow her progress.

Noticing this, Josiah glanced behind himself only to stare as well. After shaking himself out of the trance caused by her undulating lewd flesh, he yelled, "Temptation is all around us! Even here on this ship. You must not be swayed by its charm. You must not give in to its exotic allure. Remember, a snake that speaks honeyed words is still a snake. And we do not lay with animals, for that is an abomination."

For a moment, I thought he was talking directly to me and looked at the Bible as if I'd been doing that the whole time. But then I noticed everyone else doing the same and let go of some of the tension in my chest. Only a little, because he'd just called Ramda an animal and I was wishing I had the guts to call him out on his contradictory treatment of her.

She had passed out of my vision, but the afterimage of all her parts bouncing under that tight clothing was stuck in my head. I just sat there staring at the Bible in front of me as blood rushed to my crotch. I unclenched my jaw and took a deep breath before forcing myself to focus on that Bible. I'd hoped to never read another Bible passage for the rest of my life, but between that and sporting a raging boner at Bible study, it was no contest.

Reading the Bible worked like a charm. I wasn't feeling sexy, or like I wanted to spend another second as a MiraManna employee.

As everyone got up to leave the Bible study, I walked straight toward Josiah. 

"Oh good, I was hoping to have a word with you," he said, smiling too wide.

I blinked as my stomach lurched. I was supposed to be the one pulling him aside, not the other way around.

"Have you been struggling with anger issues lately?" he asked.

"No," I said, feeling even more sick. I didn't like where this was going at all.

Daniel was watching us from a seat in the front row, four meters from us and he was snickering.

My eyes widened as I realized what had happened.

Josiah sighed. "I was hoping you'd say yes to that because I can't think of any other reason you'd kick a--"

"It was Daniel!" I said, pointing, "He knew I'd come to you about it and this is him trying to cover his ass."

Daniel wasn't snickering anymore, he was charging right toward us. "Don't you think blaming others for your sins only deepens your crime?"

I glared at him, as my mind was forced to dump all the beautifully-crafted arguments I'd come up with as to why Daniel needed to be disciplined for what he'd done. Making a fist, I said, "Can you imagine what Ramda would do if she saw you kick that robot?"

"Oh, I'd be fine. I'd just pat her belly and she'd roll over like a good dog," he cackled at his own joke.

Josiah laughed with him, caught off guard by Daniel's humor.

It was as if someone had tossed me in an oven on broil. My fists were so tight that my fingernails were digging into my palms enough to hurt. "H-how can you just stand there and laugh at that?" I looked Josiah in the eye. "Daniel clearly has no respect for Ramda or this ship. And you told us to respect both!"

Having never seen me this angry, Josiah stopped laughing and furrowed his brow, before his cheeks reddened and his jaw set. "He was only kidding! Do you not understand the concept of humor? No wonder you're so hot headed. When we get back to Earth, I'm going to enroll you in anger management courses."

"Fff-reaking hell! I didn't kick the robot!" I yelled.

"Either walk away now, or I'll write you up, you understand? Go cool off and we can talk when you're not acting like a toddler."

As I turned away, I experienced so many emotions that I could hardly walk. Fear, shock, anger, depression, sadness, and a deep desire for revenge were coiled around my spine, making me feel like I'd been tossed out of a ten story window. That sick feeling in my gut gave way to tears and I dashed for the nearest path into the bamboo so I wouldn't be seen crying.

Before I could get into the safety of the bamboo thicket, I saw movement out of the corner of my eye. Ramda had spotted me and was on her way. Not wanting her to see me like this, I pretended I hadn't seen her and took the path into the bamboo grove. I yelped when her hand landed on my shoulder.

"So sorry! I didn't mean to surprise you," she said.

I stayed facing away, "I think I just need to be alone now."

"Are you sure? You really look like you could use a friend," she said.

"I'm fine," I said, my voice shaking with emotion.

She hugged me from behind so softly, so carefully, that I didn't flinch. "It's hard being one of the only people that thinks for themselves in a society where that's looked down upon. If you just drank the Kool Aid like the rest of them, you would have more friends, but you'd also just settle for the misery that comes with having no self expression. Out of every person I've seen from MiraManna, you're the guy with the longest hair. That takes a lot of courage. I can only guess how many people regularly tell you to get a haircut."

"Drank the Kool Aid?" I asked, feeling less like crying with her voluptuous front pressed against my back.

"Oh, right, it's one of the terms Trinity Stronghold put a ban on. It was first coined in response to a cult that thought they were all going to meet God if they committed mass suicide at when the world was supposed to end. They put poison in the Kool Aid and all drank it together. I bet you can see why Trinity Stronghold doesn't like that phrase?" She chuckled.

"It describes so much of what they do so well." I shook my head, thinking about how single-minded Josiah and Daniel were. Then I pulled myself out of Ramda's arms, saying, "We probably shouldn't be seen hugging."

"Right. Follow me," Ramda said as she walked ahead of me.

Watching her tail flit back and forth, I followed her up to the top of the hill and then down the Fern Trail.

Chapter 4

Before this point in my life, when anyone mentioned ferns, all I ever thought about were the low-to-the-ground ferns with triangular leaves that had smaller copies of themselves repeated in a beautiful lacework. This left me completely unprepared for ferns that had stems taller than me, ones that had giant hand-like fronds coming out of green clumps of lily-pad-shaped lower leaves, ones whose fronds looked like flame patterns, ones that had broad arm-length leaves with crimson stems, and ones that looked like the fern version of lightning bolts. As elegant and pretty as the bamboo was, the ferns were so much more fascinating.

Grabbing one of the large leaves with the red stem going up it, Ramda said, "Ferns have some of the most beautiful fractal patterns in nature. See the frilly wave pattern going along the edge of the fronds of this bird's nest fern?"

I touched the frond, feeling the lush, rolling texture of it. "Yeah?"

"It's a fractal wave pattern. Waves on top of waves on top of waves. That's what gives the leaf such an interesting texture," Ramda's tail cupped my ass gently.

The way she was touching me and the tone in her voice made me feel like she wanted something from me, something that made me blush even though my mind refused to put a name to it. It was a feeling so alien that I didn't know what to do with it, but my body leaned toward her anyway.

She hooked her arm around my back and pulled me against her side. I tensed up, unsure of how to process the butterflies I had in my stomach.

The moment she let go of me, I regretted tensing up. No one had ever held me the way she'd just done.

"Sorry, we're still in public," she said.

"Y-yeah," I stammered. There were words, questions I wanted to be able to formulate. Being this close to her, hearing her breathe, I felt so calm and excited. My mind was so faulty. How could I feel both those things at the same time?

There were orchids all over the place, many of them hanging from the fern trees. All shades of orange, red, and yellow. Ramda stopped at one that was growing up from the ground and completely entangling the lower part of a fern tree with tendrils that held dozens of crimson flowers that had serrated yellow edges. Then she stepped carefully between some ferns and motioned for me to come over to her. "This is cyrtochilum serratum. Remember the fractal wave pattern on the bird's nest fern? Take a close look at these petals."

It took me a good minute to get over to her because I was horrified by the idea of stepping on one of her treasured plants. Just like Ramda had suggested, the serration on those petals was actually a very intricate fractal wave pattern. It was dizzying in complexity. "Whoa!"

"Take a sniff, I bet you'll be even more surprised by the smell," she said.

I leaned in and sniffed the odd throne-shaped flower with slender legs dangling off it. "Coconut?"

"Yep! I have other orchids that smell like chocolate and vanilla and all sorts of things. But this is easily one of my favorite scents. It's so deep and decadent." She took a sniff with her canine nose, a bit further from the flower than I'd been. She closed her eyes and made this deeply pleased groan.

I'd never heard a woman moan and the sound she made while sniffing that flower was close enough that my prick started throbbing and my cheeks tingled. She was such a kind, amazing person. She was so beautiful and she'd completely distracted me from my troubles with all these beautiful plants. My body started moving on its own as I leaned in toward her muzzle.

She leaned toward me, her lips parting for a kiss.

Just as I felt her breath blow across my face, my dumb brain realized what was about to happen and I stood up awkwardly straight.

"I liked where that was going, but then you slammed on the brakes. And this whole time, I thought I was the one teasing you." She chuckled.

"S-sorry," I said. Where was all this regret coming from? Wasn't I over her? I'd gotten off so good not two hours ago. The urges I felt toward her should've been out of my system.

She patted my back. "It's fine. Let's go somewhere more private so you can tell me why you looked so sad when I found you." Her careful footsteps back to the path were easy for me to follow this time because she went nice and slow.

Once we were both on the path, she led me down the hill and then took a path labeled "Cloud Forest." We ended up at the base of the hill in front of a set of glass double doors that led to an entry way with another set of double doors that looked like they belonged on a giant refrigerator. Going through them, we'd be inside the hill.

She pulled one of the glass doors open and melodramatically motioned for me to enter like a stagecoach driver opening the door for a noblewoman in a period drama. "After you."

The moment I stepped through the door, I was in a cloud. I could only see about ten meters ahead of me. Simulated sunlight was streaming through the fronds of more tree ferns, making a dazzling play of light in the mist surrounding me. It was less than twenty degrees celsius, putting a definite chill in the air. Ramda came up behind me and said, "The ship reports no one's in here, so I just put up the maintenance sign to make sure we have some privacy."

"Oh, why isn't anyone in here?" I rubbed my shoulders. The high humidity made the cool air especially brisk.

She hugged me from behind, pressing herself against my back. "Because everyone comes in here without a jacket on the first day. Only when they come back properly dressed do they stay and see the wonders in here."

I could feel her six breasts through the cloth, she was so tall that her top set of breasts were against my shoulders. Her bulge was rubbing against me just above my tailbone. Putting that last part of her anatomy out of my mind, I leaned my top half more firmly against her, enjoying the warmth and all those breasts. Anxiety that had tightened my chest loosened its grip as she held me with those strong arms and rested her muzzle atop my head.

For a couple minutes, questions and sensations were a jumble in my mind. She didn't break the silence, she just waited till I was able to speak. Till I remembered the question she'd asked before we entered. "Daniel kicked Cuber and she got stuck in the grate she was holding."

"Cuber?"

I blushed at my own silliness. "Yep, that's what I named her."

"A very descriptive and apt name for one of my cube bots. I approve." After I failed to figure out something to say in response to that because I was embarrassed and happy at the same time, she said, "Go on."

"I was going to tell Josiah about it after Bible study, but when Bible study ended, I found out--" My lip trembled as emotions rushed in to fill every bit of space inside me. "--that he told Josiah I was the one who kicked the robot and made us both late." I shook my head. "And I got so mad that I made myself look even worse."

Ramda gave me a squeeze, before saying, "That's terrible. I remember working for MiraManna. It was like perpetually being in Sunday school."

"You worked for MiraManna?" I asked.

"Yep, I managed their fern catalogue," she said.

"Is that why your Biome has so many ferns?"

She nodded. "I have over two hundred species of ferns in my biome. Most Biomes go with just a couple species in the right number to properly humidify their ship's air, usually at least one of the species is endangered on Earth to make sure living specimens of it exist."

"That's a lot of ferns," I said.

"Yep, but MiraManna nearly poisoned my love of them because employees that are treated like children, act like children. People that were bullies in high school, like Daniel, stay bullies and people like you and me get our compassion used against us."

"If you dislike MiraManna so much, why do you transport their employees?" I asked.

"Because they pay me well and I occasionally meet someone like you who has been shoved in a tight box all their life and needs a friend who doesn't spout tangentially-related Bible passages when asked for advice," she said.

"Do you hold all of them like this?" I asked, blushing deeper as I realized I'd been in her arms for a long time now. It was the longest anyone had ever held me. All the problems I'd had earlier in the day seemed so far away. I felt like I'd be able to sleep easy after I got back from dinner. Maybe I just liked her so much because she had soft fur and was so free with cuddles and touching.

"Nope, it's pretty rare." She just held me tight after saying that, slowly swaying her hips side to side as we both breathed in the crisp clean air.

Someone liking me like this was so strange. No matter how hard I searched for a reason, I couldn't find one. It was equally hard to figure out why I had this urge to press back against her crotch. Part of it was that I could smell her cinnamon and turmeric scent mixed with a hint of chocolate that must have been from somewhere nearby. It was making me hungry for cinnamon-dusted s'mores. Yeah, I'd never smelled anyone get aroused because of me and I was probably just reacting to that. And maybe, as long as someone had breasts, my body didn't care what other parts they had.

I arched my back slightly and rubbed against that soft place between her thighs only to catch myself and straighten in her grasp so I wasn't touching her there anymore.

Thinking this was some sort of lewd game, she rolled her hips up against my back and grunted as I felt something hard push out of her bulge.

I leapt out of her arms, nervous heat rushing from my stomach up to my cheeks. My prick had found its way through my leg hole and was throbbing against my leg. "I-I'm so sorry. I didn't mean--"

She put a finger to my lips. "You don't have to explain, Rem. I can smell exactly what's going on with you."

My dick reached further down the side of my leg. "You," I swallowed hard, "can?"

"Remember when I told you you couldn't fool my nose? "

"Yes?"

The chill of the room was enveloping me once more, conflicting with the hot rush of excitement inside me. I wanted to be back in her arms, but being this flipping hard while that was going on made my heart race way too fast. It also made me do dumb things like rub myself against her when she was just trying to cuddle me. That's what I got for being over twenty and never having been with a woman. But, back home, that came with marriage and the thought of being in a life-long Christian marriage was as disturbing to me as the original, deadly version of "Little Red Riding Hood."

"Nervousness mixed with horniness tends to make people practically vibrate with tension." She sniffed the air and then said, "Whoops, I just made it worse."

My hands were now in front of my crotch. I'd never felt this naked in my life and I was fully clothed. I couldn't look her in the eye.

"Here, let's get you focusing on something else." Taking my left hand in her right one, she led me further into the cloud forest.

Not far down the downward-sloping path which meandered like a lazy river, I was confronted by little star-shaped blood-red flowers with a white landing strip of a petal between the bottom two arms of each star. I sniffed the air, "So this is where that chocolate scent is coming from."

"Yup, these are O. Sherry Baby's. One of the only oricidiums I have because they're incredibly popular with growers on Earth and are so boringly similar from species to species. I just love the color and the smell of this particular one and it was my mom's favorite houseplant when I was growing up," she said.

"Is your mom a nice person?" I asked.

Ramda sighed and put an arm over my shoulder, leaning against me. This time it felt like she was the one that needed a hug, so I put my arm around her as she spoke. "She's a devout Christian who overflows with compassion, but she's like most Trinnies in that she can't process things unless they fit into very specific, inflexible categories. And my dad is similar, but he has more compassion for his congregation than his own family."

"My uncle's like your dad. He's a youth pastor and he barely ever sees his own kids unless they're at a church event." I sighed. "His wife always seemed angry and tired. I didn't blame her, seven kids is a lot."

"Seven kids is a lot," Ramda said.

"Yeah, but birth control is hard to get on Trinity Stronghold," I said.

"I never wanted to have to deal with that, so I had myself made infertile when I got hybridized."

"So you can't ever have children?"

"I have my gametes stored somewhere safe for the off chance that I someday want a kid."

"What do your parents think of your, uhm..." I trailed off, unsure how to finish that sentence.

"They won't speak to me, so I don't know," she said.

"Sorry," I frowned and shivered from the chill in the air.

"It's fine, it's all water under the bridge now." She trotted a few feet to our left and then pointed out a flower that had three outer petals that were like spade-shaped pieces of frosted glass with hairs coming out of them. I could see fuzzy shapes of what was behind them and the inner petals were bright red and looked a bit like two goldfish kissing.

As I made my sound of awe, she got behind me and took me back into her arms. "Lepanthes pulcherrima. One of my absolute favorite plants, period."

Changing the angle I viewed it from changed what I saw through those translucent petals and it was mesmerizing. The softness of her front, her warmth, was back and I smiled wider than I had since this trip started. "Why do you like me so much?"

Tousling my hair, she said. "I don't just like you, I'm attracted to you. Everything you've ever been taught has told you that someone like me is a thing to be shunned. But other than some nervousness, you want to be near me. You've resisted some of the most potent indoctrination in the galaxy. It is like seeing a unicorn or the birth of a black hole."

Now all I could think about the bulge pressing against my lower back and blood was rushing south again. "You're attracted to me?"

"You're kind, you've got beautiful hair, you treat me like a person, my body excites you, and you know a lot about space travel." She gave me a squeeze.

I squirmed in her grasp a bit and had no idea what to say to that.

She leaned down to whisper in my ear. "In fact I can smell how excited you are right now." Then she nipped the tip of my ear with the side of her canine maw and growled softly.

I moaned when she nipped my ear and then felt hot all over.

"I can't wait to show you a big surprise I have planned for tomorrow."

"A s-surprise?" I asked, imagining her showing up at my room in only a towel. My lip hurt from how hard I was biting it. I was hopeless. I just couldn't stop thinking about her in that way. Maybe I just liked breasts so much that the fact she had multiple sets broke my brain.

"Yep, but I won't spoil it now." Letting go of me, she said, "Why don't you pet the fuzz on that orchid while I go into the back and get you a coat? Then I'll show you a couple more fuzzy orchids you can pet."

Instead of answering her question, I just stared into her electric blue-green eyes, feeling a gravitational pull between our bodies, almost as if I was floating. I adored the playful smile on her muzzle, the way her tail was wagging as we shared this intimate moment, and the intensity of her fantastic scent, which permeated every bit of me.

Before I could chicken out, she pulled me into her arms and brought our lips together.

I felt her wet canine nose press against mine, her whiskers brushing my cheeks, and the tip of her tongue gently teasing at my lips. It was like someone had dropped a firecracker down my shirt. Joy exploded inside me. Joy from the kiss itself and just knowing that someone was fond enough of me to kiss me.

But then I got a stab of worry in my chest and pulled my mouth away. "S-sorry."

She trailed a finger under my chin, grinning. "There's nothing to apologize for, dear."

I looked down at her special paw-shoes. Why had I leaned toward her? How could she like me enough to kiss me like that?

"Well, I think I better fetch you that coat. Feel free to wander a bit, I'll only be gone a minute or two." She sauntered off, letting me stew in the giddy, nerve-wracking emotional reverberations from my first real kiss.

Chapter 5

At first, I thought my morning wood was just me needing to go to the restroom, but it was only five minutes after I'd used it and I was painfully hard again. That's what I got for being too exhausted to take care of all the feelings Ramda's kiss had stirred up. That little errant thought is all it took for me to think back to my time with her in the cloud forest. Her tight workout uniform had let me feel every one of her tits pressed up against me whenever she hugged me from behind. Her tongue had felt amazing on my lips when we...

I unbuttoned the crotch of my pajama bottoms and grabbed my prick. Yes, I just needed to get off. Then I'd be able to calm down. I stroked faster, thrusting my hips upwards, getting close so fast I could barely keep track of the sensations. Damn, she smelled so good and was so strong and her tail wagging whenever we shared an intimate moment was so cute. She'd probably smell that I'd been masturbating later in the day and tease me about it. I was gonna cum, I was so close now!

A message popped up in my implant's HUD, "Captain Ramda Uweko: Hey, hope I didn't wake you. It turns out I have two surprises for you, that is if you can make your way to the bridge swiftly. Apologies on the short notice, I only just got off the comms with the Anvil Traffic Control."

The bridge? Why would my surprise be on the bridge? She'd been talking to Anvil Traffic control. My eyes widened and I jumped out of my bed as I realized exactly what she was going to show me. I had no idea what the other surprise was, but I knew I absolutely didn't want to miss one of them. My shaft was still a bit hard when I hopped into my MiraManna uniform and zipped it up, but by the time I got my hair looking presentable and my shoes on, it was behaving itself.

Grabbing a breakfast bar from a zippered pocket on my luggage, I stepped out of my quarters. An excited bweep got me to look down.

Cuber was standing there, holding a chocolate chip waffle in one of her three-fingered hands. Then she made a soft bweep as if to say, "Here!"

Chuckling, I grabbed the waffle getting melted chocolate on my hand. "Where did you get this?"

Cuber pointed down the hallway and then made a kicking motion with one of her legs.

My eyes widened. "Y-you took this from Daniel's room service tray?"

She made a happy double beep to let me know I was correct.

I tried to hand it back to her, chocolate making a mess of my hand. "You should put it back."

She made an angry beep and stomped a foot.

"Well, I gotta get to the bridge, so I can't eat this right now."

With a sad beep, she looked at the floor.

"I'm sorry, it's a very nice gift." I sighed and brought the waffle up to my mouth.

She beeped several times in succession, each beep coming faster than the last. The weight of her anticipation was intimidating.

I ate that waffle as fast as I could, getting chocolate all over my mouth. It was delicious and tasted even better knowing Daniel would find some of his meal missing. The waffle was the perfect mixture of soft and crunchy, like it had just come off the waffle iron.

Satisfied that I'd thoroughly enjoyed her gift, she reached out for a handshake.

I shook her hand and she cooed before letting go and walking back down the hallway. Quickly going back into my room, washing the chocolate off my face and hands, and getting a drink of water, I sent a message to Ramda. "Got held up. I'm on my way now."

"You'll be just in time for the first surprise if you hoof it up here," she replied.

I jogged all the way past the Biome to a bulkhead door that started to pull away from the wall the moment I stepped toward it. Then it slid to the side as my HUD said, "Crew Access: Granted."

In this part of the ship, there was much less attempt to hide the technical bits. Wires and pipes ran in intricate patterns behind see-through protective panels with a slight pinkish-brown tint to them. Some spots were open, like emergency valves and other things for the cargo containers that were docked to the ship. This whole hallway as cargo pod after cargo pod. In the back of the ship were ones that didn't need life support. All these cargo pods needed varying degrees of it. There were lots of things that didn't do well exposed to the cold vacuum of space. Each cargo container I looked at gave me a vague idea of its contents.

One of them said "Adult Entertainment Paraphernalia: Delivered as of August 2nd 2440." This got me to tilt my head because that was yesterday, while we were docked with Firmament Station.

Putting that question out of my mind, I trudged toward the bridge. The closer I got, the more valuable the cargo got until I saw a container that had been full of Lezveioan flora and fauna for MiraManna to study. Their star flung a lot of radiation at them and all the organisms on their planet had amazing repair properties unseen anywhere else in the Galaxy. Structures in cells could regenerate, even the DNA itself was better at self-repair and error correction than anything anywhere else.

Then I was at the door to the bridge and my heart was pounding in my chest. The bridge of a starship. I was going to be on the actual bridge of an actual star--the door opened and Ramda pulled me inside. "Sensors said you were standing out there, you okay?"

My eyes were wide as I looked at the plethora of interlocks, switches, knobs, levers, and glowing indicators. Even though most things were handled by implants nowadays, everything space-related had to have manual controls in case our implants failed. And it was all beautiful. There were toggle switches above our heads, on the walls, below the big window that looked out into space, on the consoles connected to the captain and first officer's chairs.

"Where's your FO?" I asked.

"Tammy's in the aft cockpit," Ramda said. Then she leaned in and I thought she was going to kiss me, but she licked my nose instead.

I gasped as her long canine tongue dragged across my nose, leaving behind a wet trail.

Because I was staring at her and not moving, she thought I wanted another kiss and she gave it to me. She grabbed me and pulled me against her and pressed her lips, breasts, and bulge into my front. When I gasped again, she licked into my mouth and my member started to dig into her crotch. I moaned, tasting the chocolate she'd licked off my nose as I got swept up in the thrill of making out.

Then there was a sound like a whistle that did two long tones and she suddenly let go of me and flicked her wrist toward the window that looked out into space.

I was terribly light-headed and my face was hot. As a red and pink Lezveioan came onto the screen, my knees gave out and Ramda caught me under my arm to prevent me from falling to the deck and sat me in the captain's chair. "Greetings Captain Aeidou, I'm assuming the last ship is currently traversing the FTL corridor?"

The chair had been made to fit Ramda's tall, thick-bodied frame and I felt tiny sitting in it.

"Affirmative, they're due in about four minutes," Captain Aeidou said. Her eyes were raspberry red and her shark-like muzzle held a charming sharp-toothed smile.

Ramda opened the ship-wide channel. "This is your Captain speaking, we will be jumping to the Trappist system in approximately fifteen minutes. Secure all loose objects and then strap yourselves in. If you have any questions, my First Officer, Tamara LeRange, would be happy to answer them."

As Ramda made her announcement, I couldn't take my eyes off the first Lezveioan, the first alien of any kind I'd ever been in contact with. She was wearing a tight-fitting sea green and pinkish-beige unitard that left very little to the imagination. I had seen their wetsuit-like uniforms before, but every time I'd seen a Lezveioan in the news that had breasts, they didn't have a bulge to go with them. This one did.

There was a flurry of questions tumbling through my mind, but I'd been rendered speechless by the shimmer of her scales as they reflected the light back at the camera. Then my eyes found her fascinating fan-like ears, beautiful thick thighs, and the fins on her tail.

Ramda and Captain Aeidou chatted about something from the last time they hung out together. While they chatted, Ramda's low-key sexual energy kept my prick throbbing and I was feeling rather exposed. I swiveled the pilot console that came out of the side of the captain's chair so it was in the way of my crotch, hoping Captain Aeidou hadn't seen the erection that Ramda had caused.

Moving the console caused me to lose track of their conversation, but Ramda caught my attention when she said, "Remiel here is gonna be a ship's captain someday and I think talking to you a bit would be a good experience for him. He's never met a Lezveioan in person, so why don't we start off with you telling him one of Trinity Stronghold's best kept secrets?"

"Hi there, Remiel! So good to meet you." Captain Aeidou's ear fans flicked closed and then open as she dipped her head toward her left shoulder.

"H-hi…" I was talking to a real live alien. And she was almost as gorgeous as Ramda. This was insanity.

"Trinity Stronghold edits us to look like we are a race of men and women just like their ideal in all media they publish. It has been going on for over thirty years, ever since we met them for the first time." She puffed air out of the slit-like closable nostrils at the end of her snout. It was a bit like a sigh. "We only have one biological sex and we don't even have gendered pronouns. We're all like Ramda, hermaphrodites. And we have asked your government to capitulate and depict us as we actually are, but they seem willing to give up their business with us entirely over it. So, we have relented. But it still angers us to no end." All her consonants had a slight hiss to them. It sounded cool. "We especially do not want to Jeopardize the New Babylon Gardens Project."

Ramda said, "If you wear your Trinity Stronghold uniform in front of a Lezveioan, be prepared for a discussion about your government's censorship. Lezveioans literally had no concept of male or female until they met humans."

If Ramda's goal was to blow my mind, she'd succeeded. "So your people have no concept of gender?"

"We have genders, in a way. Some of us are caretakers, some are builders, and some are entertainers. We treat these aspects of life in a similar way to how you treat genders, but we see it as more of a sliding scale than something that has firm boundaries." She smiled big. "How's Ramda been treating you?"

"Good." I remembered the kiss we'd shared just before the call took place and wanted to bury my face in my hands.

"She's a gift to anyone she meets," Captain Aeidou said. "I've known her for nearly six years now."

Ramda said, "Yes, you've become well acquainted with the depths of my...personality over the years." The deep sultry undertone in her voice and her well-placed pause got my blood pumping.

The underside of Captain Aeidou's chin reddened and her ears flicked a couple times as she tried to figure out what to say. It was nice to see Ramda's ability to render others speechless didn't only apply to me.

I was going to get hard again if the sexual tension got any higher, so I changed the subject. "Is there anything else my government has kept secret about your race?"

She nodded. "We don't marry or commit ourselves to one person in that way and we are not strict, we are actually too lax as a society. Like, we're currently trying to train our populace to take up things like engineering and accounting because jobs that require rigor are seen as boring. Think of us as a giant artist community that's always trying to hook people's interest. Our currency is actually based around that to some degree."

"The entertainers make the most money in their society," Ramda said.

Her ears fanned bigger as she lifted her head a bit, possibly a sign of agreement? "Indeed, we are working on fixing some of the imbalances, but people are quite healthy and well taken care of. We feel very distressed about what we see happening on your home planet."

I frowned. "Yeah, it's bad."

"You likely do not know the full breadth of how bad it is, but that's an unpleasant subject for a first meeting. Ramda said you were going to be a captain someday?"

"Maybe?" The idea just didn't fit in my head.

"I will have Ramda give you my contact information. You can ask me anything you wish and I am happy to be a resource for you if you choose to dive in those depths."

"Thank you!"

"I have to go so that Ramda can initiate her jump, but I wanted to say that I think your hair is gorgeous and I hope we speak again," Captain Aeidou said.

"Bye!" I said, waving and still not fully grasping the fact that I'd been talking to an alien.

"Different than you were expecting?" Ramda asked.

"Yeah, she was really nice." I tilted my head. "Why did she compliment me on my hair randomly?"

"Lezveioans always compliment each other before they say goodbye. There's even a saying about it, 'The gift of a smile is received twofold,' and they put that sort of thinking into everything. Only problem is that, every once in a while, some of them take it too far and it becomes hard to talk about unpleasant things." Ramda was doing something with her implant as she spoke. Her eyes were darting around a bit.

I let her work because I figured she was preparing us for FTL travel. When her focus was back on me, I said, "I was going to say I can't believe my government hid all that stuff about them, but when I think about it, I can't imagine them not censoring it."

"I'm going to give you access to the extranet before you leave today so you can experience the web in its uncensored form." Ramda sighed. "I'm gonna warn you now: don't go poking at things pertaining to your planet much if you're already in a state of anxiety. And remember, I'm here to talk if you need it."

"Is it really that bad?" I asked.

"I'm gonna let you answer that question for yourself." She gently grabbed me under the arms. "New topic: This chair is way too small for you and that gives me an idea."

"What are you--?"

She lifted me right up off the chair as if I weighed no more than a large watermelon and then slipped under me and put me in her lap. "There, now you can watch us go through the Anvil Point from the best seat in the house."

My feet, legs, buttocks, back, and head were all against her now and her chin was atop my head. At first, I was worried I was crushing her huge nuts, but she'd spread her legs a bit to give them room. Then I was thinking about the fact I could feel her man parts pressed up against me clearer than ever. I did my best to focus on the sensation of her tits against my back, but then I was thinking about both those things and couldn't untangle them. The fire in my crotch was back along with a fast thumping in my chest. I was going to go FTL for the first time and I was going to be doing it with a boner. This had to be a dream.

Chapter 6

The Anvil loomed in front of us, the largest structure I'd ever seen. Another ship was already in position between the hammers: rings with a diameter twenty times that of the Biome. The rings were about a third of a kilometer wide and had a rounded triangular cross-section. Connected to each of the rings were three trusses that extended out from the thick arms that hung down from the long blocky power station and control center that ran everything.

The Anvil Point was the bit of space at the center between the two rings that the ships sat in while those two rings created a spatial vortex and slammed into each other. I would've been more nervous about it if I wasn't sitting in Ramda's lap. Her three sets of breasts and sizable package were distractions I couldn't ignore. Distractions that had me painfully hard now.

Ramda opened the ship-wide channel. "All hands prepare for FTL jump. Secure yourselves and all objects in your vicinity. If the tie-down nets for your luggage have not deployed yet, notify me or Tammy immediately. Artificial gravity will be shuttered in T-minus five minutes and counting."

I hid the tent in my uniform with my hands even though I knew she could smell exactly what she'd done to me. When she pulled the harness for her captain's chair out from slots in the sides, I hid my erection even more fervently. After clipping the two V's of side-straps together, she hit a button and the shoulder straps came down from the back of her chair and connected to the center of the harness.

"Could you get your prick to lie flat?" Ramda asked. "I've gotta connect the crotch strap next and don't wanna hurt you."

My face burned with a blush as I reached into my uniform pants, and tried not to moan from how sensitive my shaft was as I got it situated. Out of reflex, my hands went right back to guarding my crotch afterwards.

"Sorry Remiel, you gotta move your hands. I might have to touch you there to get the crotch strap connected without risk to your member. I promise I'll be gentle, okay?" she said.

I gulped and then said, "O-okay," before putting my hands at my sides.

The crotch strap came up from the seat of the chair, but she stopped it short because it was going to go right over my erection. Then, she noticed that my dick was still pushing up and away from my crotch a bit and pressed it down, just under the head, while she let the strap continue on its automated way.

At this rate, I was going to leave tooth marks on my lip. I could feel the paw pad on the end of her index finger pressing against my sensitive flesh through the fabric and I couldn't keep my hips still. Half a moan made it out of my mouth as my pre wet my briefs.

Ramda groaned as the head of her member started pressing against my butt cheeks.

I moaned and started moving more. I didn't know what was happening. No one had ever touched me like this. I was so hot all over, so horny everything looked blurry. All I could do was feel. Feel her continue to get hard against me, feel her paw pad rub against my shaft as I gyrated. And I could smell her getting excited with me. Someone else was getting horny because of me!

She pulled her finger away just after the strap connected and when it tightened, she made sure it was snug, but not painful.

Now that the strap was against my erection and a couple inches of her dick were against my buttocks. When I moved, even slightly, I got pleasure that flickered through me like a strobe light in a hall of mirrors. I was panting and completely unaware of what to do with myself.

The only thing that made it through the lust-filled fog inside me was a sense of awe at the sheer scale of the Anvil Point as we neared the other craft that had just gotten into position. It was one of MiraManna's bulk freighters that was basically a stick with cargo pods attached along four of its sides making a cross-shaped cross section.

But I could barely think about that; five inches of Ramda's length were now out and throbbing and her nipples were hard and I could smell the turmeric part of her scent so clearly. I started grinding against her and rubbing my cock against the strap. This time, when I moaned, I arched my back and pred hard, just on the edge of cumming. My need to get off had an unfortunate, unstoppable momentum, like a freighter barreling full speed toward a rocky moon.

Ramda had been working with her implant and both hands setting up stuff for our jump, but when I started grinding even more roughly against her, she yipped and her shaft twitched under me. "Remiel, please, I'm going to have to put you in the other chair if you can't stop fidgeting."

I froze as my ears burned with embarrassment over what I'd been doing. "Sorry."

"It's fine, dear. I love your enthusiasm, but we have to wait till after the jump or we'll miss our embarkation window."

She brought up the airbag settings on the console that was on the arm that came up from the side of the captain's chair. The same one I'd hid my erection with earlier. There were sensors in the straps and the crotch strap had detected the outline of my hard-on. She lowered the force settings in that area and then put in that there were two occupants in the chair along with our weights.

"Wait, it has a setting for two people?" I asked.

"Yep, for the event that there's only one chair and there's two people that need shock protection," she said as she finalized those settings. She opened the ship-wide announcement channel. "Pre-jump safety check: If anyone is unable to get into a safe position for FTL transit, you have ten seconds to notify me."

Ramda waited ten seconds before saying,"Okay, we're all set. Do you want to hear the radio chatter as we get ready to embark?"

"Oh, yes," I said.

"--eploy magnetic harpoons in five. four. three. two. one. Go!" The freighter and our ship shot out powerful electromagnets connected to cables that could steer themselves with little thrusters.

The electromagnets were self-centering, so when they met each other, they matched up perfectly. Winches on each ship pulled us toward each other until we were at the right distance and artificial muscles in the cables tensed up keeping us at a safe distance of two hundred meters.

"G. Pixie, here. Tethering for twin jump achieved," Ramda said.

"Jehovah's Bounty, here, Tethering achieved," a languid drawling voice replied.

"Requesting suspension of artificial gravity and final systems check," a cool nasal female voice said.

"Wilco," Ramda replied as she flipped a big blue switch on her console.

"Wilco," the freighter said.

I heard a buzzing hum and then I weighed less and less until my hands were no longer being pulled down, they just drifted as if I was submerged under water. We'd had to spend time in zero g to prepare for this trip, so I didn't get sick or anything, but I did feel like I was slowly spinning because my inner ears were understandably confused. The waffle I'd eaten was sitting funny in my stomach, not upset exactly.

Ramda's breasts had a more spherical shape when they weren't being tugged on by gravity. In a way, they felt even softer. It was good our boners had retreated because I felt like rubbing against her again. This was all just so cool and I was feeling really cuddly.

"G. Pixie reporting artificial gravity suspension and all systems go," Ramda said.

"J. Bounty reporting artificial gravity suspension and all systems go."

Looking at space through the ring directly ahead of us was bizarre and unsettling. Instead of stars being points of light, they were little streaks swirling in a vortex of warped space. These rings were always kept spinning at five percent the speed of light, twisting space with the exotic matter inside them.

"Opening FTL corridor to the Trappist system." There was a brief pause. "Connection established. Spatial forging in: ten. nine. eight. seven. six. five. four. three. two. one. go."

Out the window, I saw the ring ahead of us come flying toward us at blinding speed. On the little monitor on Ramda's console, I saw the tower's view of the two giant rings hurtling toward each other. The streaks of stars in the spatial vortex got redder and longer until I couldn't find the end of them. Then the ring seemed to slow and the starlight shifted blue and then deep purple until it was as if everything in my vision had been burned into my retinas.

I never saw the rings strike each other, instead, I saw us and the freighter become reflected by the vortex, looking as though our ships were reflections in mercury swirling down the drain. My inner ears told me I was getting pulled in a spiral of different directions.

There were no stars, no shifted hues of light, only...wait, I hadn't been seeing our reflections. As the distortion waned, I realized I was looking at the aft cockpit. Fire-orange hair, elf-like ears and elongated features, a confident grin. Tammy looked like she'd done this a thousand times. Space had been fully bent in on itself and we were in a bubble! I never thought it would look like this.

My mouth hung open as Tammy's image became more and more distorted and the purple-shifted star streaks returned. As I watched the ring zoom away from us, the streaks got shorter, eventually returning to their proper coloration.

"Spatial convolution resolved. Please report your status," a low warm masculine voice said.

I felt giddy, like I could do anything. I'd just gone superluminal. The photons that had bounced off our ship before the jump would need over thirty years to reach where we were now!

"This is G. Pixie reporting all green," Ramda said.

"This is Jehovah's Bounty reporting all green."

"G. Pixie, you may re-engage artificial gravity."

"Roger." Ramda flipped the big blue switch back into the on position and then opened the ship-wide channel. "Artificial gravity powering back up. Please stay seated until power up is complete."

As the gravity came back, the sensation of Ramda being pressed up against me reached its full intensity. I tried to keep my body still, but focusing so much on that made me twitch and when I twitched, I felt her package and breasts move against me.

"J. Bounty requesting permission to decouple."

"Permission granted." Ramda used her implant to turn off the magnets and the cables relaxed their artificial muscles, becoming flexible again. They retreated back into the ship.

"J. Bounty, prepare for second jump. G. Pixie, welcome to the Trappist System. Please follow your flight corridor to Outer Trappist Station."

"Wilco. Out," Ramda said.

"Why are we stopping here?" I asked, my breath panting a bit from the sexual tension.

"I've gotta pick up some cargo that they need on Earth. They didn't have room to hold it at the Anvil Station," she said, setting us on our course for Outer Trappist Station, which was just short of thirty thousand kilometers from us.

"That was brilliant!" I bounced atop her, finally able to express how thrilled I was.

"Sorry, all I can think about is how good you smell," she said as she started humping against my backside, her prick poking out of her sheath and throbbing ever larger.

I grabbed at my chest, feeling like I'd never stopped rubbing against her. Actually, the need to get off was even worse. "T-that sucks, having to go a couple hours out of your way." I don't even know why I was trying to hold a conversation.

"It's fine." She unbuckled the safety harness and retracted all the straps. Then she grabbed my erection. "It gives us time to do something about this. No way I'm sending you back to the passengers' section with this thing advertising the effect we have on each other."

"HAAAH! D-do something?" I asked.

"Yep!" Letting go of my cock, she flipped me over and pulled me against her.

My dick pressed against hers through our uniforms while she made out with me, using my moans and gasps to get her long canine tongue in my mouth. I could feel her hot breath puffing out of her nostrils. All I could smell was the cinnamon and turmeric-tinged aromas of her body. I ran my tongue along the sharp canine teeth in the front of her muzzle, but couldn't reach all that far. Every time I thrust against her cock, I got more butterflies in my stomach. I didn't actually want to do anything with it, did I?

She grabbed my ass and dug her claws into the fabric making me moan sharply. Then she took one of my hands and put it on her breasts. As I groped them, I found her uniform to be rather stretchy. I loved how her tits had some give while being firm and I could feel a rise from her nipples against the palms of my hands as they hardened.

Her dextrous hands grabbed the zipper of my uniform and pulled it down. Then she undressed me as she made out with me. The air in the bridge was cold, but I was so hot from all this making out that I didn't mind much. Soon she had me in my undershirt and briefs.

When she started pulling down my briefs, a nervous twinge ran up my back and I broke out of the kiss. My heart was hammering so hard in my chest that was hearing this rushing sound. "Are we really gonna--?"

She chuckled. "Not enough time, I'm afraid. I have to prepare for a meeting and taking on cargo. Plus, you smell like you're going to explode if I make you any more nervous. Let's try something relaxing. Stand off to the side and get in the chair after I get out of it."

I obediently switched places with her and sat in the chair. Looking up at her, my lips trembled. Part of me wanted to cry. I needed what was about to happen so bad, but I also wanted to run and hide under a rock for the rest of my life and never have to deal with the uncertainties of human intimacy again.

"Just breathe, Remiel," She said, putting her paws on my chest. "In," she paused, "and out. In...and out."

I took long slow breaths as she gently stroked my cheeks, my chest, and my belly, slowly working herself down to my crotch. When she heard my breathing get uneven, she brought me back to trying to relax, and eventually, her left paw pulled down the front of my briefs, exposing my erection.

"Oh, how beautiful, and with a nice little curve too." She crouched closer to it and took a deep sniff. "Mmm, you smell a bit like lemon meringue. Lovely. I'm gonna enjoy sucking on this," she grinned as her tail wagged.

"Sucking on it?!" my eyes went wide.

"Unless you don't want me to."

I desperately wanted to try that, but I didn't want her to go out of her way for me. There's no way she actually wanted to give me a blowjob. Was there? Words just kinda fell out of my mouth with little rhyme or reason. "I, uhh, think that--I mean, I've heard it feels really go--AAAAH!"

She took my cock into her mouth and started sucking on it, using her tongue to rub along the underside as she bobbed her head.

My hands grabbed the fur on her cheeks, trying to get some semblance of control over the situation. It felt good, way too good! I was already trying not to cum. She was making extra effort to stimulate the head of my cock with the back of her tongue. I could feel the slight brush of her teeth, not enough to hurt, but plenty to make the combined sensations soar into the stratosphere.

Her muzzle was long enough that she was having an easy time going fast and hard. Then she started growling and sucking harder. I moaned so loud my voice broke. My legs were visibly shaking and I was gripping her head fur so tightly I was worried I'd pull it right out. Her saliva was soaking into my crotch, providing more than enough lubrication for how rough she was being.

None of this slowed her down. She just kept sliding that hot wet mouth over my entire length over and over again until I felt a familiar surge of pressure behind my balls and a tingling at the head of my shaft.

"I'm go--FUCK!" I said the F word out loud for the first time in my life as my seed splashed on her tongue.

She took in to the hilt and sucked down every drop of jizz, making me groan and gasp as I saw stars in my vision and felt my entire body fill up with hot fizzy delight.

I felt like I weighed ten thousand pounds by the time it was over. The afterglow had put me in an actual stupor. All I could do was stare at her, muzzle still around my cock, tail wagging furiously, and wonder how this was possible. How feeling this good, and having someone like me enough to give me head, was possible.

I had no answers as she pulled her muzzle off my prick, licked my mess off her lips, and then kissed me on the forehead. "That was delicious. Enjoyed yourself?"

My admission came out as a happy groan.

She chuckled and pulled me into her arms. She cuddled me for the next few minutes, her dick half hard.

When I had my senses back, I asked, "Do you want me to do something to you?" Instantly, I was jittery as a live wire. I had no idea what I'd do to her. There's no way I could provide as much pleasure as she'd just given me.

"Sure, if you're up for it. But I don't want to have pussy juice soaked into my fur for the next couple hours while I get stuff ready, so we'd have to do something with my prick. But we'll have to be quick, okay?"

"I-I can try," I said. There was no way I was going to leave her hanging.

"Well then, I suppose I should show you the goods." Her cock was now climbing up her belly, poking up between her first set of breasts. She let go of me and started unzipping her uniform. As she dropped it to the floor and stepped out of it, her dick was sitting there making a gigantic rise in her boxer briefs and undershirt.

My jaw was hanging open, and my dick was tingling even though I'd just gotten off. I put my hand over my mouth to stifle the moan that came out of me when she pulled up her undershirt and exposed her deep magenta canine length to me. It was over a foot long and thicker than my wrist, even just a couple inches below the tapered head. Then it got as thick as an apple in the middle and tapered a bit in until the swell of her knot which was almost as big as my fist even though she hadn't cum yet.

With her tail wagging furiously and a confident grin that made me swoon, she said, "Touch it all you like." She let go of the base and it flopped forward, angling up at a forty-five-degree angle and nearly touching my chest.

My hands shook so much as I reached for it, that I had trouble aiming them. I didn't like cocks. There's no way I liked cocks. It was just simple human curiosity. As my fingertips came into contact with the head of her cock, she gasped and got pre on my left hand.

"Keep going, Rem, use the pre to lube me up," she said in a breathy, excited voice.

My member swelled to full hardness just from me doing as she asked. I could feel her heat, her heartbeat through her erection. The turmeric smell was strong and I found myself leaning toward the tip, to sniff deeper.

She moaned as my face moved toward her hard-on and grabbed her middle set of breasts. Then she started thrusting forward suddenly and preed right on my lips, yipping.

I licked my lips, in a trance caused by her scent and this situation. Her pre tasted a bit like curry with a hint of cinnamon. As those flavors filled my senses, she gently pressed her hips forward and parted my lips with the tip of her cock.

"Mmm, so eager. I love it," she cooed.

What was I doing?! I wasn't gay! I let go of her dick and jumped back, yelping. Then my eyes widened as I realized my shaft was dripping pre onto the deck.

She walked up to my side so her dick wasn't pointed at me and hugged my shoulders, "It's okay, Rem. It's totally understandable that you'd be freaked out by this. Remember, I was just as inexperienced as you at one point."

I teared up. I was useless. She was going to be left wanting after giving me a blowjob and I wasn't courageous enough to combat the warning sirens going off in my head. Were they from my upbringing? Or were they from me acting contrary to my nature? I couldn't resolve that inner puzzle and now I was going to make her late due to my indecision. Now I was shivering and starting to sweat.

"Just take nice slow breaths like you did before." She guided me in calming down again.

Her boner didn't wane as much as mine. I felt like my brain was going to melt trying to figure out what I really wanted. Eventually, I was just staring at the captain's chair blankly.

Letting me go, she said, "I'm gonna get myself off because I gotta get going. You can either watch or you can go, but I gotta get started now." She climbed into the captain's chair and leaned it way back.

I stood there watching, part of me wanted to leave, another part wanted to stay and help her get off, and yet another part just wanted to stand there and not make a decision. That last part won and I stared at her as she grabbed the backs of her thighs and then pulled her hips toward her muzzle. Then she had her mouth around the end of her cock.

My prick tingled sympathetically as she moaned around her own length, bucking into her maw, giving her own cock the wonderful treatment she'd given mine.

I took one step toward her, then another, and reached toward her lowest set of breasts. Her tail wagged as I did so and embers of the joy I'd felt earlier grew hotter.

She stopped for a moment to say, "I see you looking at my breasts, go ahead and touch them." Then she went back to sucking on her shaft.

My hand reached out and touched her lowest set of breasts, being careful not to brush her cock. She moaned louder around her erection and started thrusting faster, making her huge balls slap against her snatch. I noticed the nipple under my palm getting harder, so I squeezed it through her undershirt and her knot started to swell.

She was going to town on her shaft. I wasn't even that exuberant when I was stroking myself. Her hands were flying up and down it, slicking everything up with her pre as she sucked. I couldn't help but get hard remembering the way her mouth had felt. When I grabbed a nipple on her second set of breasts with my other hand, she yowled and slid her muzzle as far down her shaft as she could.

Then, I watched her grab below her knot with one hand as her entire shaft lurched from base to tip. The knot swelled bigger than my fist and so much cum came up her shaft from those big balls that I saw it swell rhythmically as she delivered her load. Her cheeks puffed out a bit just before she swallowed, each time interrupting her howls of pleasure.

Pulling off her prick, she licked her lips and panted through her wet canine nose. Then she laid back with her tongue hanging out of her mouth. "Thanks!"

"Sorry I didn't do more." All I'd done was touch her nipples and she'd had to do all the work. What a terrible date I was. And now I was hard again undoing the whole reason she'd given me a BJ in the first place. I didn't even know why I was hard.

"It's fine, Rem, I got too excited and pushed you too far outside your comfort zone. I'm just glad you stuck around instead of running for the hills." She grabbed my hand and squeezed it.

Tears started welling up in my eyes. I was such a crybaby and if I let her see me get all emotional, I'd put her even further behind schedule. "Thanks for today, I'm glad I met you." Then I let go of her hand and started putting on my uniform.

"I'm glad I met you too." She got out of her chair, grabbed a towel from a cabinet behind it and cleaned herself off efficiently before putting on her uniform as fast as she could.

"Have a good rest of your day," I said.

"If you want, you can sit in the copilot chair for the next jump in about four hours," she said. "I won't be up against the clock then."

"Maybe," I said as I walked toward the bulkhead door that led to the bridge. This was never going to work. If I couldn't deal with her having a dick, I couldn't give her what she needed. And it was unfair for me to keep leading her on. As I walked past the cargo containers, I started composing a message, "I'm sorry I don't have the courage to say this to you in person, but..."

Chapter 7

The first draft of my message telling Ramda I wasn't worth her time was a mess. Since the second draft only barely improved on the first, I just deleted it and started over. Five drafts and two hours later, I was sweating and my chest was so tight that I worried my ribs were going to snap.

She needed to know the truth, but I was completely incompetent and couldn't write a coherent message to save my life.

Deciding to try one more time, I wrote, "You're a beautiful and kind person and I'm going to cherish the moments we spent together. Because I'm likely going to keep going out my way to avoid a part of your anatomy that you're proud of, I should stop seeing you so you can focus on people who can enjoy all of you."

I thought for a moment and then added, "I remember you complimenting me on my ability to look past my upbringing. Honestly, I don't think I'm strong enough to do that. I'm more likely to go back and forth and never actually figure out what I want. You have better things to do than wait for me to make up my mind and I'm sorry for the time you've already wasted on me. Thank you for believing in me, but you don't need to trouble yourself any longer. I'm sorry I didn't tell you this in person, but I'm really bad at this sort of thing."

It wasn't great, but it rambled less than my other attempts and I didn't think I was going to be able to do any better. Why couldn't I just tell her in person? Didn't I owe that to her? What if she found something I said offensive? Getting off my bed, I decided to just talk to her like a normal person.

Nervous twitches in my body and a feeling dizzy suffocation got me to sit right back down. I wasn't a normal person, I was an utter mess in the shape of a person. The courage I needed to face her just wasn't there. and I'd just have to send the message...

Shit, I couldn't do that either. I was all anxiety without any direction.

The anything room was free and VR games often calmed me down. I stood in front of the door and then waved my hand at it to get it to open. The maximum amount of time I could check the room out for was an hour and a half, which gave me fifteen minutes to strap in for the next jump. It was a shame I wouldn't be joining Ramda on the bridge this time. Wait, the reason we couldn't do stuff with her pussy was a lack of time and she mentioned we'd have more time after this upcoming jump. I blushed. Was she hoping to get up to more lewd stuff on the same day?

If I didn't send my message, I'd kinda be standing her up, wouldn't I?

I was too nervous to be horny, but that didn't keep me from wondering whether her snatch was canine like her prick. And that's all it took for me to remember her cock tip slipping into my mouth. She'd tasted so--

To get that out of my head, I busied myself by activating the VR crane. It came out from a tall skinny door in the front wall, holding an exoskeleton. The crane attached to the sides of the exoskeleton at the center of mass, allowing it to spin freely any which way. Getting into the exoskeleton, I waited for it to inflate the air bladders and get a snug hold on my body. The air was at the perfect temperature and the air pressure was just enough to get a hold of me, so I couldn't actually feel that I was being held. It was like wearing a cloud.

I loaded up a puzzle game I'd been meaning to play and entered a world with incredibly complex Gothic fractal architecture where gravity always pointed to the nearest floor, wall, or ceiling. The great thing about this game was that it managed to trick you into thinking you were walking on walls and ceilings by having the crane tilt you subtly to give your inner ear the wrong idea only to get you standing upright normally without realizing it.

Everything around me was situated in different bands of a rainbow's spectrum depending on my orientation and where I was in the eccentric world. It all kinda looked like polarized light from different angles as it traveled through plastic. It was so breathtaking that I found myself pausing just to gawk at my surroundings. A big hurdle to my enjoyment was me obsessing about my message to Ramda. Every time I thought about that, I worked to get lost in the game again, but I felt like I'd only been playing for like ten minutes when time was up.

It took me a moment to adjust to normal physics when I stopped the game and got out of the exoskeleton.

Walking back into my quarters, I checked the room service menu for quick order items. Basically, you could order from the large room service menu and wait for stuff to be prepared, or you could order stuff that was already on hand and being served in the mess. Sometimes, like right now, there were items that could be delivered within just a few minutes. The trays were magnetic so I could just put it inside and then eat it after the jump. All I had to do was order something that wouldn't get messed up by a bit of zero g.

After the day I had, I felt like I deserved the readily available chicken fingers and waffle fries. The moment I put in the order, I opened my message to Ramda.

If I didn't send the message before we jumped, she'd be wondering why I wasn't there. She might even call me, forcing me to make up some sort of excuse. If I waited too long, it might distract her while she was making final preparations for the jump. I had to send it now!

With my breath caught in my throat and my hands shaking, I hit "send."

I'd just made the biggest mistake of my life. I had to take it back, delete it before she could read it. Shit, the "undo" feature wasn't showing up because messages to the captain of a starship were part of the black box record. The "read" indicator wasn't checked yet, though. Maybe I could hack into the network and delete it before she read it? Even if I could, that would be tampering with ship records and I'd risk jail time.

My room service order delivery notification popped up.

Ramda's voice came over the ship-wide channel. "All hands prepare for FTL jump. Secure yourselves and all objects in your vicinity. If the tie-down nets for your luggage have not deployed, notify me or Tammy immediately. Artificial gravity will be shuttered in T-minus five minutes and counting."

Just after the jump announcement, the "read" indicator on my message to her lit up and I felt a stab in my chest. Was Ramda going to be mad at me? Was I having a heart attack?

My door chimed and I went over, thinking it was a reminder that my food had arrived. When I opened my door, Daniel's hand grabbed the front of my uniform and he yanked me out of my quarters while I yelped in surprise.

"You've got a lot of nerve," he said, shoving me against the wall.

My heart was beating so fast that my body ached. The three-meter-tall hallway felt very small now that I was being held captive "L-let me go," I stammered.

Holding me against the wall, he reached down, opened my room service tray, and ate a handful of my waffle fries. "You think I can't count to three or something?"

"I didn't take your waffle," I said.

"How did you know it was a waffle if you didn't take it!?" he yelled.

"I didn't mean to!" I said.

"How can you eat something without meaning to?"

He grabbed one of my chicken fingers and bit off some viciously before throwing the rest on the floor and stepping on it.

"How about I order you some chocolate chip waffles and we can call it even," I said.

"No," he said. "I'll consider us even if you confess to kicking that robot and ask Josiah to write you up."

"But then I might get sent back to Trinity Stronghold," I said, my stomach clenching.

"It's just as well. Cowards like you don't deserve to go to Earth," he said, his face an inch from mine. His breath smelled like honey mustard dip. He'd probably eaten chicken fingers before he'd come over to harass me.

I'd never felt this trapped and my blood suddenly ran hot. Without thinking, my right knee found his left thigh and he stumbled backwards. I used the opening to try and run, but his hand grabbed my arm and jerked me toward him.

Then he slammed my front against the wall.

"Where do you think you're going?"

"Let me go. We need to get strapped in!" My cheekbone was pressing against the wall so hard that it really hurt.

He laughed. "What? you scared of zero g?"

I stomped on his foot.

He yelped in pain and let go of me.

This time when I tried to run, he grabbed both of my arms and tripped me. I fell to the ground face-first and he stepped on the small of my back while still gripping my wrists.

"Let's try this again. What are you going to tell Josiah?"

Ramda's voice echoed throughout cavernous, cargo-friendly hallways. "Pre-jump safety check: If anyone is unable to get into a safe position for FTL transit, you have ten seconds to notify me."

I started composing a message to Ramda using my HUD, but Daniel interrupted me by pressing harder on my back.

Grunting in pain, I struggled to get my arms free, but he held them firmly, saying, "I see any sign you're trying to send a message, and I step harder. You need to face your fears, scaredy cat."

"This isn't a game, we could die," I said as I started feeling lighter.

Daniel cackled like a maniac as the artificial gravity waned. But then he couldn't hold me against the floor and we were just drifting slowly upwards and backwards. Within seconds, we were a meter and a half above the floor.

My mind was in crisis mode. All the anxiety from before was taking a back seat to me trying to figure out how to survive the gravity being turned back on.

The calm voice of the Anvil Point's flight controller came over the ship-wide channel. "Connection established. Spatial forging in: ten."

"Daniel, you need to let me go," I said.

"No," he said.

" --seven."

"Do you want broken arms?" I asked.

"--five."

He pulled me toward him and put me in a head lock as he said, "You can't scare me."

"--one. jump."

As all the colors of the spectrum separated and my middle ears told me we were spiraling down a drain, I struggled against him, saying, "We need to separate so we don't hit each other."

"Blah, blah, blah, you're not going anywhere until you promise to do as I say," he said.

We were two meters above the floor and slowly spinning, surrounded by chicken fingers and fries. "Try to get closer to the floor, at least."

"What, never jumped off the high dive?" he said in a low, menacing voice.

My voice echoed as time moved erratically before smoothing out when the spatial bubble fully formed. "Damn it, Daniel! You could get crushed by me!" I tried to hit him in the stomach with my elbow, but he tightened his headlock the moment I tried.

As I started to pass out from lack of air, I squeaked out, "Stop!"

"Not until you promise me," he said.

My body went limp, my lungs burned, and my senses blurred. I felt jostling in my middle ears as our spatial bubble reconnected with the universe.

Our slow rotation put the spotlights directly above me and all I could see was a blinding white. Then, I started to feel the pull of gravity. I vaguely heard Daniel cry out and then felt a crunch when I landed on top of him. His arms went limp and I took in a deep breath before getting into a coughing fit. The world came into focus as the burning in my lungs lessened.

As I got onto my hands and knees, I saw Daniel with chicken fingers and fries scattered all around him, soaking up the blood that was gushing from the back of his head. I immediately hit the medical emergency button on my HUD and the ship's klaxon rang loud and clear as blue flashing lights chased each other along the handrails. Ramda responded that she was two minutes away.

Complete and total overwhelm settled upon me. I couldn't think of anything that would help Daniel as he spilled more blood on the floor. They'd told us in first aid class to not move people with head injuries. So I just grabbed Daniel's hand in case he was aware enough to know someone was there.

Ramda arrived with a first aid kit and quickly looked Daniel over, checking for broken bones, before saying, "Carefully lift his shoulders while I lift his head. We have to get trauma sealant into the wound without bending his neck."

"Okay."

She grabbed the hair on the top of his head with her left hand while holding trauma seal spray in her right.

With my whole body shaking, I lifted his shoulders up off the floor. I couldn't see the gash, all I could see was his bloody hair as she sprayed sealant into the wound.

Just as we were about to lay him back down, Tammy arrived with a gurney and she helped us get Daniel onto it.

On the way to the med bay, I mumbled my way through telling Ramda what happened. She was furious at Daniel, but I wasn't feeling much of anything. Instead, I was sick to my stomach and felt like collapsing into bed.

The med bay was a typical compact ship's hospital with imaging equipment, a surgery bay, and ICUs full of monitoring equipment. The doctor was a curly-haired upbeat woman with a blue-scaled dragon tail named Ms. Harmon. Her tail almost matched the color of the benches in the waiting room, which was a metal tube with a bunch of closely-packed navy-blue seats coming out of it. The mesh the seats were made out of had a bit of give to it and was quite comfortable.

The automatic transparent doors throughout the med bay made cool hissing sounds when they opened and closed. The walls were a lighter, happier metallic gray with a bit of pink in them.

I wasn't happy, I was miserable because Josiah had walked in a few moments after I sat down and started interrogating me. With awkward pauses, feeling like an idiot, and stuttering, I eventually answered all his questions.

Then he said, "When he wakes up, I bet he's going to tell me it was all your fault."

Ramda poked her head out of Daniel's ICU and said, "*If* he wakes up. His prognosis is about fifty-fifty at this point. He has serious head trauma and is about to go into surgery."

Josiah bit his lip and then said, "You better hope he wakes up. If he doesn't I'm gonna launch a full investigation."

"Per our contract, formal investigations must be done by a third party." Ramda said, "Would you want it made public that a MiraManna employee died from disobeying safety regulations?"

"How do we know that's what happened?" Josiah said.

"Regardless of what else we'd find in a full investigation, as evidenced by their location immediately after the jump, we know both parties disobeyed safety regs," Ramda said. "There's also evidence of a physical altercation preceding the accident and I think it's in your best interest to work with me rather than against me."

Josiah tried to say something, but Ramda ignored him and returned her attention to what was going on inside the ICU. After a frustrated huff, Josiah walked out.

Dr. Harmon and a short male nurse brought Daniel out of the ICU on the hospital bed and through the automatic double doors that led to the surgery bay.

After he was done helping maneuver Daniel into surgery, the nurse checked me over to see if I needed medical attention. Nothing hurt too bad, so he just gave me an extra-long-release anti-inflammatory. I was supposed to come back if I ended up in more pain.

Despite being cleared to go back to my quarters, I stayed at the med bay for another hour without really knowing why. Sure, I was worried about the complications that would arise if Daniel died, but that wasn't what was stressing me the most. I kept running the scenario through my head, trying to figure out how I could have saved Daniel from himself. Nothing I could think of worked because he had so much more fighting experience. I was so powerless.

And earlier today, I'd sent that stupid message to Ramda. Daniel was right, I was a coward. Having had it with this entire experience, I just kept beating up on myself until I was completely exhausted.

I was only vaguely aware of Daniel coming back from surgery because my eyelids felt really heavy and my eyes weren't quite focusing on him. Time passed without me noticing and just when I was about to doze off in my chair, Ramda walked into the waiting room.

With her wolf ears perked up and her tail wagging softly, she said, "He's awake and we think he's going to be okay."

"Oh good," I said, letting out a breath I didn't know I'd been holding.

"At first, they couldn't get his brain swelling under control, but things took a turn for the better a half hour ago," Ramda said, sitting next to me. "I can finally relax."

I hugged her from the side. "I'm so glad."

Josiah entered, glanced at me hugging Ramda with a raised eyebrow, and then went in to see Daniel.

Taking my hands off of Ramda like she was a pot of boiling water, I sat straight up. Josiah had just seen us together, shit.

Ramda leaned her head against the wall and stared at the ceiling, looking as drained as I was. Then she grabbed my hand. This had a different energy to it than the other times she'd touched me. This time, I felt more like when a friend reaches for your hand after hearing bad news: just happy to have someone else there who knows what they're going through.

Honestly, I felt the same, and her paw pads felt really reassuring against my palm.

Through the frosted laminate that made up the ICU's wall, we saw Josiah's silhouette move toward the door.

Taking her hand away, Ramda moved over so she wasn't sitting next to me when the ICU's door hissed open.

Josiah looked down at me, saying, "Since your stories don't match up, I'm going to issue both of you a formal warning."

"What?" I furrowed my brow. "What about the bruising on my trachea? I couldn't have done that to myself."

"Is this true?" Josiah asked Ramda.

"Yes," she said.

Josiah thought for a moment. "That just proves you two fought like children. Even more reason to give you both a warning."

I made a fist, but I didn't say anything.

"I'll have it written up by tomorrow morning." Josiah narrowed his eyes at me. "You two better behave yourselves the rest of this trip or I'm sending you both back."

"Yes sir," I said, weathering a wave of nausea.

Satisfied he'd put me in my place, he walked out.

Turning to Ramda, I said, "I can't believe I'm getting written up for that."

"Josiah's not going to see the truth because he's not actually looking for it," Ramda said, getting out of her chair.

"Yeah, you're right." I sighed.

Dr. Harmon stepped out of the ICU, saying, "He wants to talk to you."

Having no idea what to think, I walked in to find Daniel lying on a hospital bed, looking very tired.

The moment he saw me, the heart monitor showed an increase in heart rate and blood pressure. "Why the fuck were you waiting out there?"

"I thought you might die," I said.

"But I've done you no favors," he said. "Are you gay or something?"

I turned and left the ICU. Daniel was acting exactly like my dad, like the voice in my head that made me send that message to Ramda. The voice in my head that made it so I didn't even know what I wanted. I was done with today, and Daniel.

Dr. Harmon went back in.

Ramda was standing near me, and the moment the door closed behind Dr. Harmon, she said, "You rest tonight and don't worry about anything. Then, tomorrow afternoon, I'll come to you so we can have a talk. That sound okay?"

"I hope you're not mad at me," I said.

"No, not mad, but we definitely need to talk through some stuff." She opened her arms. "Hug?"

As I dove into her arms and pulled her six-breasted front tightly against me, the stabbing tightness in my chest finally started to wane.

Chapter 8

Staring at the light gray composite walls of my quarters, I kept trying to believe that Ramda wasn't actually mad at me. She'd said she wasn't, but people often said that to keep others from worrying. And I was very worried because I still didn't know what I wanted from Ramda and it was only a matter of time until she lost patience with me. That is, if she hadn't already lost it.

My foot tapped on the floor as my leg started to shake. Why did I care if she had patience for me or not?

Probably because I was obsessed with her to the point it was hard to sleep soundly. I'd woken up in the middle of the night remembering her drinking down her own seed while in the captain's chair and had to get off to get back to sleep. I didn't know my sex drive could be this high. It didn't make any sense. Maybe I was just thrilled to be leaving Trinity Stronghold behind?

No, it couldn't have been that simple. With the looming possibility I'd get shipped back due to Daniel's childishness and stuff with Ramda, I was under a hell of a lot of stress.

My feelings for Ramda were so confusing. I normally avoided things that overwhelmed me and yet here I was looking forward to our talk despite feeling like I needed to hide in a storage compartment for the rest of my life. All this obsession over her made even less sense since I hadn't actually seen her pussy. She'd said that she had one, but the only physical evidence of it I had was the warmth behind her balls when I accidentally goosed her on the first day. And the more I tried not to think about her dick, the more I thought about it. It just...belonged on her and I couldn't imagine her without it.

Not that any of this mattered. She was about to tell me, very kindly, that I was right. That she needed to move on.

I bit my lip, not wanting to cry right before she arrived. I'd been holding in my tears for my entire life, not wanting to burden others with my emotions. But now I was actually on my own for the first time in my life and I couldn't stop them from leaking out. My dad liked to tell me that only gay men cry.

No, I was a normal guy and it was great that Ramda was going to leave me be. I wasn't as strong as Ramda and I'd never know what I actually wanted, so all I had to do was just continue forward doing what everyone else wanted for me. It was time to stop fooling myself and just be a good MiraManna employee so I could gradually get more responsibility and pay. Then I'd find a wife, volunteer at the chapel, and raise a good, God-loving family. It was what my parents wanted, what I was raised to do, and I didn't know any other way to live. I bit my lip harder, forcing those tears to stay put.

My breakfast started trying to make its way back up my throat. Why couldn't my body, my emotions stop fucking with me? Was I in some sort of unbeatable VR game where every decision I ever made was wrong no matter what I did?

My eyes widened. Wait, every decision I made was wrong because no matter what I chose, I was still miserable and overwhelmed about everything.

Going to Earth wouldn't save me. I'd be like this for the rest of my life. No, I couldn't live with this... I couldn't... no... no... no...

When my door chimed, I was curled into a ball on my floor, shivering as if I'd been dropped into arctic snow. It chimed again before I managed to get to my feet.

When my door lifted off the frame and slid to the side, Ramda was standing there in her close-fitting, gold and greenish gray uniform. The moment she saw me, her brow furrowed and her smile became a straight line of concern.

Too ashamed to look her in the eye, I walked over to my bed and sat down. "I'm sorry."

She sat down next to me, ducking a bit to make sure she didn't hit her head on the luggage rack above it. "You don't have to apologize. The only thing that rubbed me the wrong way was you deciding what's worth my time."

"S-sorry," I cringed as the stabbing in my chest got worse. Now she was going to tell me that she was done with me.

Grabbing my chin with a paw-padded hand, she looked into my eyes. "You. are. worth. my. time," she said very clearly before letting go of my chin.

I looked into her eyes and tried to believe her. "H-how? I can't even enjoy all of you."

"I have a pussy too, dear," she chuckled. "Even if you only play with that, it'll be an improvement over me doing stuff alone."

"No one on your crew does anything with you?" I tilted my head. How could she want me?

"Rarely, yes, I've played around with a couple of them. But they're actually in relationships with each other or people at the stations we frequent. I'm good friends with all of them, but they're my subordinates and that's a hard relationship to navigate, especially when I'm not the sort to settle down." She sighed. "I know this is hard to believe, but I get a lot out of meeting people like you. It's awesome to see someone in awe of what I've become. It helps remind me that I've done it, I've brought the wolf girl inside me to the surface. That I survived Trinity without getting everything that makes me special choked out of me."

"I feel like I'm choking," I said, looking at the floor. "I don't feel like I'm going to survive."

Grabbing my hand, she said, "You're aware of what you've got to lose. That's so far ahead of everyone else. Think about how indoctrinated the rest of the employees traveling with you are. How indoctrinated Josiah is."

"Maybe they're just normal people and I'm an oddball. Maybe I'd be happier if I was normal like them." I shivered.

"No!" Ramda growled. "Every single person alive is eccentric. Normal is a layer of gray paint we slather on everyone to pretend we're all the same. Trying to live in societies like Trinity's tends to put people under so many layers of medium gray paint that they don't even remember what's underneath it until it breaks through the surface. So many of them don't even think about or realize how strange they are because it doesn't fit the collective narrative. I caught Josiah putting a pat of butter and a dash of black pepper in his coffee yesterday morning. When I asked him about it, he tried to convince me that lots of people from Trinity do it."

I looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "Butter and pepper? I've never heard of that before."

"Butter, I've seen once or twice before, but those people weren't from Trinity. And the pepper? He's the only one."

I scrunched up my face when I tried to think about what that would taste like.

"See? We're all bizarre, and I have a suggestion for you," she said.

"Oh?"

"Forget being normal, no one, under close inspection, is completely normal," she said. "Deciding what's normal and what's not is how disabled kids get abused in education systems and how people spend their whole lives living someone else's lie."

"But if I don't try to be normal, I could get sent back," I said.

"That's a valid concern." She put an arm over my shoulder and hugged me against her side. "However, you also have to consider your mental wellbeing. It's dangerous to stuff all your eccentricity and sexuality into a dark corner when you're just starting to feel comfortable exploring yourself."

I didn't know what to say to that, so I just stared at the hand gripping my shoulder.

"I needed a lot of help to get mentally and physically away from Trinity and I'm prepared to support you as you figure yourself out."

My mouth hung open for a moment before I said, "B-but you barely know me."

"Anyone who befriends my temperamental robots and sits in a waiting room to see if the rotten sack of human refuse who just bullied them is going to survive is someone I'm willing to put trust in," she said.

I blushed, having no idea what to do with that compliment. The tension in my muscles was finally lifting. There was this spark of belief that she actually liked me and it was giving me this odd warmth. Like holding a cup of hot chocolate when I'd just come in from the cold.

"Did something happen to you this morning?" she asked. "When you answered the door, I thought you'd been shot."

"No, nothing happened. It was stupid," I said.

"I doubt that. Was it something you were thinking about? You don't have to tell me, but I was a bit worried."

"Am I gay?" I asked.

"I'm a woman with a cock and you really seemed to like my breasts, so I don't think it's that straightforward," she said. "Plus, you're still figuring yourself out and there's no deadline for you to turn in the results. If you rush it, you could end up like me when I was in my twenties. I was so dedicated to the idea that I was straight that I was sleeping around all over the place trying to find a woman I was attracted to. Turns out I'm only attracted to people who have dicks. Nowadays, I don't even really think about what my sexuality is, I just live it."

"I don't know what's up with me or what I want." I gave her hand a squeeze. "You're incredibly attractive and I don't know whether it's because you have a--" I paused. "--thing or it's just your chest and other parts."

"You don't have to know any of that. It might take you years to figure it out and I'm happy to just let you be you." Ramda paused. "You ever just cuddled with someone?"

"N-not really. Wasn't allowed to be in bed with anyone I wasn't married to," I said.

"My folks weren't quite that bad. As long as I kept my clothes on, they let me have some leeway," she said. "How about we just lay on your bed together and hang out a bit?"

"Are you sure?" I asked.

"Yep, I think it's been a while since you were able to relax and let your guard down," she said.

"Don't you have stuff you need to do?" I asked.

She chuckled. "Nope, but I can find something else to do if you'd like time to yourself."

"Okay," I said.

"Okay, you want to cuddle, or okay you want me to give you some space?"

I froze, unable to get myself to say it aloud.

"Let's try this, if you want me to go, just let go of my hand and I'll go," she said.

I squeezed her hand tighter than I meant to, I didn't want to be alone with myself again.

Her tail wagged as she grabbed me and laid me on the bed, wrapping her arms around my torso. She was resting the underside of her muzzle on the top of my head while my back was against her six-titted front. I could feel her balls against my buttocks, but I didn't really mind it. It was the most intimate hug I'd ever had.

I found myself breathing deeper within a few minutes of us lying there. My hands and arms became limp, my legs, shoulders, chest, and back loosened. My racing thoughts slowed to a crawl and my eyes felt heavy. No matter how much I tried, I couldn't think of anything to talk about. It was like I was in a thick haze of safety and reassurance.

When she moved her arm out from under me, I noticed it was over twenty minutes since the last time I'd looked at my HUD. I'd fallen asleep on her. "Sorry!"

"I responded to a bunch of messages while you were dozing off," she said as she rolled onto her back. "Come, lay atop me."

I did as she asked, squishing her breasts between us. She encircled me with her arms again and just stayed silent. When I noticed my prick pressing against her package, I blurted out, "What was it like when you changed into a hybrid?"

"As your body's getting hybridized, it takes a while for your brain to figure out what to do with the new parts. Moving my tail naturally, and not constantly knocking stuff over with it, took me months. The fur coming in was really itchy, but I soon started liking it. It dries faster than you'd think and it helps me feel comfortable in a much wider range of temperatures than I would otherwise."

"Did it hurt?"

"For the most part, it was more irritating than painful. The changes to my jaws and teeth, however, those hurt a lot sometimes."

"What about your, um, other parts?" I asked.

"Do you mean my genitals?"

I nodded sheepishly.

"It was quite confusing because my body didn’t know how to single each set out. When I touched my snatch, I could feel sensations on my cock, and when I touched my cock, I felt sensations on my snatch. They call this sensory bleeding and it complicated everything. If I got aroused or excited, both would go along with it. And if I got off one, the other got off at the same time. The orgasms were good, but lacked clarity. Gradually, over the course of a month or so, I was able to perceive them as two separate parts."

As she explained this, my body started heating up and it took some willpower to stop myself from squirming atop her. It was so easy to talk to her about this stuff because she didn't make a big deal about it. "Do you like having b-both?" I asked.

"Oh hell yes," she said. "It allows me to be sexually omnivorous. Couples love me because I can be like a sexual connector for them. Guys and girls can play with me however they like. And when I find another herm, we can go two rounds one after another, which might be the best thing ever. Orgasms from my prick are sharper and more sudden. Orgasms from a pussy are more like waves." As she spoke, her prick started pressing up the front of her uniform, into the space between us. "Does that answer your question or have I just rained TMI down on you?"

"It's fine!" I said as I started wiggling against her, feeling tingles all across my skin as her dick rubbed against my belly through our clothes.

She grunted and humped against me. "Can I do something really lewd? It would involve my prick, but you wouldn't have to do anything with it and it would feel really good to me."

"What is it?" I asked.

"No pressure as to whether you go through with it or not, but I'd like to surprise you," she said. "I'm gonna let you take a peek at my snatch whether or not we do this first thing."

"O-okay," I said, very curious about what she was planning.

"First, I gotta get out from under you and drink a nice big glass of water."

"Sure." I got up, filled a glass of water, and handed it to her.

She was sitting on the bed, her prick was up between her lowest set of breasts, making a clear outline in her uniform. She drank the entire glass and then handed it back to me, saying, "Just one more glass, please."

I refilled the glass and gave it back.

She drank it, then she laid on her back. "Just let me know if you don't want to do this and we'll try something else." She undid her pants, pulling her gorgeous prick out of its confines. "Take off your pants and then stuff this up under your shirt as you lay atop me."

Getting ordered around took away that whole step where I second guessed myself, so I just took off my pants, went over to her, and slid her dick into the space between my shirt and my front.

Pulling me against her to sandwich her prick against my bare skin and her breasts, she said, "This okay?"

I moaned and hid my face in the crook of her neck. My shaft was hardening so fast it was aching along with each heartbeat, pressing itself against her sheath and balls. A jolt of joy shot through me at having our intimate flesh touching like this.

Just as I started to worry about whether what we were doing was gay, she said, "You smell so good."

"Ngh! What do I smell like?" I asked.

"A bit like hibiscus tea with an earthy undertone," she said as her cock reached further up my chest, leaving a trail of pre.

"W-why did you go for such a big--" I couldn't say it.

"Having one big enough to go up between all my sets of breasts sounded like fun when I was deciding on my enhancements and they assured me that it's very popular for people to get their capacity modded so there'd be a lot of people that could fit me." Her prick rocketed to full hardness as she spoke. "Turns out they were right and I love my giant cock!" She growled and started thrusting her thick tapered canine shaft, nearly making it out of the collar of my shirt.

I was all movement and no thought, grinding my cock against the well-lubricated base of hers. The more we bucked our hips against each other, the harder I tried not to think about what we were doing and just concentrate on the sensation of her hot hard length caressing mine. I bit my lip to stifle my pleasured exclamations, not used to making so much noise.

She whined and panted as she kept picking up the pace. Her pre, which was soaking into my shirt, was slicking up my whole chest and she was holding me against her as she fucked the space between us. My shaft got even harder as her knot swelled.

Unable to keep a lid on myself any longer, I cried out every time I thrust my prick against hers, my voice cracking as I pressed my face against her neck and the bed.

She gave me a bear hug and thrusted erratically as her cock contracted along its length. Then she howled as cum gushed from the tip, soaking me and my shirt as her knot got bigger than one of my fists.

Hearing her enjoy me so much, feeling her squirm in ecstasy below me, and her shaft pulse against mine, I exploded. My prick bounced as it stung from how hard my jizz came out. I let out something between a howl and a yell, holding her against me so tight that both of us could barely take in air. There was so much cum. She drenched my shirt so badly it was soaking into her uniform and into her fur until I could feel all six of her nipples through our clothes. The curry smell of her thick cream was filling my senses, making this whole experience inescapable.

Though I couldn't bring myself to taste her, I was only slightly nervous about her shaft being against me, even as my horniness waned in afterglow.

Chapter 9

As her dick retreated back into its sheath, I said, "Huh, I guess I'm gay."

"Is it really that important to answer that question? I'm not offended by you deciding you're gay, but as far as I'm concerned, I'm a woman. What'll you label yourself if you get excited while playing with my pussy?"

"I don't know," I said.

"We both grew up in a place where people were so busy labeling things as sins that it's hard to stop thinking about things in those terms." She nibbled on my ear until she got a moan out of me and then chuckled. "If being gay wasn't a sin and everyone was completely cool with it, would it still matter whether gay described you or not?"

All that came out of my mouth, was, "Huh." I couldn't imagine people not caring whether I was gay or not. On Trinity, being gay was a death sentence, sometimes literally.

"It's a good thing to think about because people living in the Trilliant, or in other densely populated areas on Earth, wouldn't even bat an eye if you told them you were gay."

My eyes widened. "Josiah keeps telling us that the armies of Satan haven't won. That LGBT stuff is rampant on Earth, but there are a lot of good Christians helping keep people from sin."

"News flash: Satan won. All hail Satan." Ramda laughed. "Well, at least Trinity's conception of Satan. On earth, even the Christians are happy to live and let live. Church attendance has been in free fall from even before Trinity Stronghold was founded. To survive, the churches had to accept everyone into their ranks. Lots of churches have gay or lesbian pastors. Some denominations don't even really label themselves as Christian anymore. Having a place to gather and get to know people in your community has superseded Bible readings in importance for a lot of people."

My brow furrowed and I lifted myself off her a bit so I could look her in the eye. "What?! There's nothing about that in any of the materials they gave us."

"I just blew your mind, didn't I?" She nuzzled my cheek and whispered the next part into my ear, letting me feel her hot breath and whiskers. "If you told someone on Earth you were mainly into herms, they'd likely blush."

I buried my face in the fur of her shoulder as a wave of embarrassment carried me away. It was astonishing what she could do to me with words alone. Ramda let the silence linger for a half minute and then a message from her showed up in my HUD.

"Just realized I forgot to give you what you needed to get on the extranet, but that's fixed now," she said. "Use it to find out what Earth's actually like."

"Are you sure it's safe for me to use it?" I asked.

She nodded. "It's a secure encrypted connection. Even your browsing history will be encrypted, so MiraManna will have no idea what you're looking at."

"Thank you," I gave her a hug.

She hugged back before saying, "Hey, we better shower together before the spooge dries."

"T-together?" I asked.

"After what we just did, showering together is rather tame, wouldn't you agree?"

I nodded, pressing my face against the fur of her neck. It felt so safe.

She rubbed my back. "Heh, you're really enjoying yourself."

I hid my face even more, my cheeks burning. For the next few minutes, she let me just stay like that and I took in her cinnamon and turmeric scent, feeling wonderfully calm.

Then she let go of me and said, "Let's go get wet."

I got up, biting my lip at the feeling of her spooge under my shirt. She'd cum many times what I did. Why did thinking about that give me tingles?

She got off the bed and stripped out of her clothes, including the neat six-cup sports bra that she was wearing. Now that I was thinking about it, her scent was a bit heavier from exercising, but still nice. Had she been planning to shower at my place? That couldn't be right. It would mean that she was into me enough that she was hoping we'd do something together.

After she'd tossed all her clothes toward the door, she stood there in front of me with her hands on her hips, and said, "Your turn."

Every bit of her was covered in beautiful purplish-red fur and she had the hints of muscles everywhere. Her large sheath and balls sat nestled between her thick muscular thighs. Each pair of her pert round breasts descended in size, topped with plump, dark magenta nipples.

Fiddling with my uniform shirt, I got it off and then put it in my hamper along with my pants, which I'd tossed off the bed earlier. Then I covered myself with my hands, getting a chill from the room air as it cooled the thick cream she'd deposited all over my front.

She got a twinkle in her eye as she leaned in, sniffed my hair, and then moved her muzzle down to my chest. Dragging her tongue over my naked flesh, she licked her spooge off of me.

Her hot breath on my skin, the feeling of her wet canine nose, and that long, smooth tongue got me gasping and moaning as she cleaned me. I loved every second of it. No one had done anything like it to me and I was sure I'd be haunted by it later when I was trying to sleep. It was worth it.

When she finished, she said, "You're a lot of fun."

I furrowed my brow. "R-really?"

"Yeah, once you get into something, you put your all into it. A very good trait to have during sex," she said as she led me to the shower and turned it on. The fine mist poured from the specialized nozzle that maximized the surface area the water could wet per drop.

"You're..." I tried to form a compliment. "Very good at telling me what you want."

She pulled me in with her, saying, "Took a lot of practice. I was as shy as you starting out."

The shower was cramped with the two of us in there. I was against the wall the shower head came out of and she was against the opposite wall.

"You were shy?" I tilted my head.

"Yeah, very shy," she said. "I couldn't talk about sex to save my life."

"That's hard to believe," I said, looking at her amazing body.

She smirked. "Yeah, I know. Stark comparison to now."

I nodded.

Once she was thoroughly soaked by the shower mist, she turned off the water and said, "Lather me up, dear. You can touch me everywhere."

My heart sped up as I got shampoo on my hands and started lathering her head. I scratched at her fur and scalp making her let out happy groans. I rinsed off the shampoo to prevent it from getting in her eyes before moving on. As I did her neck, shoulders, muzzle, and arms, she just closed her eyes and leaned against the wall.

Then, as I got to her uppermost breasts, I said, "Back home, I would go a few days without food for this."

Her maw hung open for a moment. "You'd go multiple days without food to touch someone's tits?"

"Punishment for the sin," I said.

She nuzzled the top of my head, saying, "I know exactly how that felt and I'm glad we're no longer on that ghastly planet."

"Me too," I said.

Her uppermost tits weren't too big for her frame, but they were quite large. I was having trouble wanting to move on from them because they felt so good in my hands. When her nipples hardened, I pinched them a bit, getting her to gasp and roll her hips.

"Are you getting horny again?" I asked, wondering how that could be the case.

"It's been a long time since I had someone touch me the way you are. Last month, I was constantly busy. Plus, my pussy gets jealous when only my cock gets attention," she said. "But don't worry about that, I can take care of myself and rinse off when I get back to my quarters."

Her middle pair was a really nice size. They were more than a handful and had some heft to them. The bottom set was the smallest, but something about them fitting so perfectly into my grip was amazing. Any time I brushed or otherwise manipulated a nipple, she moaned and rocked her hips a bit. When I rinsed her chest off, her left hand went to the two inches of cock that had pushed free of her sheath and started stroking.

My own prick was getting hard again even though it was a bit sore. "You look amazing."

"You're not so shabby yourself. I can see how much work you put into that curly hair."

"I would love love straight hair... But straightening it would raise more questions than I want to answer right now." I gasped as she massaged shampoo into my scalp. "How do you manage with all of your fur?"

"Well, I love your hair, so I'm pleased you decided to grow it out. Shows you're not afraid of looking a bit feminine to the Trinnie's narrow view of gender." She rinsed the shampoo out of my hair. "My body drier is a truly wonderful thing. It's not all that hot and does most of it's work through air pressure. I also use very efficient shampoo and conditioner so I don't need tons of bottles bottles on a trip."

"I'm not sure I'd want to be covered in fur, but it's good to know that it's pretty easy to take care of." I reached around her, grabbing her firm buttocks in my hands as I lathered her up back there.

She humped the air and growled as more inches of her cock spilled out of her sheath.

I got shampoo in my hand and crouched down lower, accidentally hitting her prick with the side of my face. Then I started lathering her legs.

She slowed her teasing of her prick as I did this, just relaxing while keeping it half hard.

Then her legs were clean and I had her turn around to get her tail and back. I massaged her as best I could, trying to show her how much I appreciated her being so open with everything. She relaxed so much that she was barely keeping herself upright.

When all that was done, she turned around and said, "Now you gotta wash my fun bits." Her dick swelled larger as she looked into my eyes.

Still half-hard myself, I knelt down in front of her and carefully touched her balls. As I lathered the short fur of her sac, I cupped her balls and shivered a bit, feeling their weight in my hands. They were the size of big apricots.

"Doesn't it feel uncomfortable with your, uhh, stones pressing against your womanhood?" I asked, feeling a bit dumb.

"No, it feels good. Too good, oftentimes." Her tail wagged as her prick reached out further from her loins. "They press against my canine clit if I don't get things arranged properly or I get in certain positions."

"Wow," was all I could think to say as I got so hard it hurt. "May I look at your woman parts?" I asked.

"Of course, you can do whatever you want down there as long as you're careful with your fingernails," she said.

I lifted her balls and immediately smelled the cinnamon coming from her sex as well as felt the heat radiating from it.

Her snatch was somewhere between canine and human, triangular with long sides going front to back and a short side along the back. I was in awe of how swollen it was. It's dark magenta color matched her cock, and it was glistening with her wetness.

"I-is it usually like this?" I asked.

"When I'm with a hot guy like you, yes," she said.

I bit my lip, blushing. "Can I touch it?"

"Remiel, close your eyes and take a deep breath."

I did so, releasing a bit of tension I didn't know I had while still holding her balls out of the way of her snatch. Their weight was so reassuring. Did I wish I had balls that big? I blushed at the thought.

When I opened my eyes, she said, "Do I want you to touch my girl parts? Hell yes, I do. Just wash me off gently and then go to town down there if you want!"

That time, I heard her and put a bit of body soap on my hands. The closer they got to her canine pussy, the faster her tail wagged.

Her prick got to full size above me as I carefully put body soap on her big puffy labia. Then she handed me the nozzle and I rinsed it off. I was just going to wash myself off and be done with the shower, but it was time to make up for writing that message to her. And thank her for being so amazingly patient with me.

My hand shook as I reached toward her snatch, it's heat permeating my fingertips. Then I gasped as I made contact with her feverish slick flesh.

I felt around until I touched the nub at the top and her pussy clenched as she yipped in pleasure.

"Yes, that's it, you can rub at it or stick your fingers in there. It's really inviting inside."

I circled her opening with my fingers, before gently sliding my pointer finger in, having absolutely no idea what I was doing. The feeling of her inner walls made my dick ache and my whole body heat up. It was like hot, slick satin inside her and she could grip me harder than I expected.

"Hnngghh!" she groaned as her hot needy snatch twitched along my invading finger. She stroked her cock harder, panting and moaning as her tongue stuck out the side of her mouth. "Yes, more!

Her walls relaxed and I pulled my pointer finger almost all the way out so I could add my middle finger. As I slid them both in, her left hand started flying up and down her dick while her right toyed with her middle left nipple. When I wiggled my fingers, she shook her hips, yipping.

She panted out, "Try using all your fingers and moving them in and out, like you're fucking me with them."

I tried to look at her face as she spoke, but her shaft was directly above me, blocking a large portion of my vision.

Taking her advice, I added my other two fingers and started moving them in and out. Each time, I went a little deeper, seeing how much of my hand I could fit in. I was careful as I picked up the pace because I'd once heard that going too deep was painful and didn't want to do that to her. It was soon clear that her pussy was meant for cocks her size: my whole hand was nearly slipping in. There was no way I was going to hurt her, either. She kept toying with me because her muscular passage could stop me in my tracks whenever she wanted.

Her furious stroking got some pre to drip on my back while she panted heavily and moaned from me going harder.

Being so caught up in the moment, I'd almost forgotten about the huge cock above me even though I had her balls in my other hand. Something about the way she was moving now was more desperate, more frantic. Her voice was hoarse from all her moaning, growling, and grunting. My heart started pounding in my chest as I realized she was going to cum from both parts at once and that I was helping her do it.

"Mmm! That's divine. Stick your whole fist in there," she groaned. "I-I'm close!"

Blushing deeply, I took my hand out, made a fist and tried to press it back in, but it didn't quite work. After a brief moment to think, I decided to try something tapered and made a beak with my hand. My eyes widened at the sensation of her pussy lips spreading over my well-lubed skin. Her cinnamon smell was intoxicating and stronger than ever. She yipped and ground her sex against my hand, forcing me to go faster than I'd planned.

Then, at my knuckles, she got impatient and squatted a bit.

She howled as my hand popped in so hard I jumped in surprise, planting my face in her balls and bonking her swelling knot with the top of my head. As I attempted to pull my face away, I instinctively tried to move my right hand, but it was caught in her pussy and didn't budge. Scrambling to reposition myself, reached up and grabbed her shaft. I realized what I'd grabbed onto and let go only to get a face-full of her balls again. The turmeric scent from her male equipment gave me an odd horny calmness. I breathed it deep, grabbing my dick with my free hand. I had to get off, the aching in my shaft now encompassed my entire groin.

Her hot tunnel spasmed around my fist, squeezing so hard it almost hurt. There was also a rhythmic twitching behind her balls, at the front of her snatch. Her breath caught in her throat and she squeaked before moaning so loud I felt like covering my ears. One powerful contraction traveled up her prick and then another, and then I heard a hard splash against the shower wall as droplets of her first jet of jizz rained down on my hair, shoulders, and back.

The whole situation was too much for me, I'd only just started stroking myself and was already tipping over the edge, feeling sparks of pleasure flash all over my body. My prick jumped in my hand as it spurted onto the shower floor. I moaned into her balls while her prick kept spasming atop my head, getting cum everywhere.

That moment stretched on long enough for me to press my face against her balls and take deep sniffs of her scent, causing tingles in my arms and legs. I was too caught up in the moment to think about why I wanted to do it or what it meant.

"FUCK REMIEL! YES!" she cried as she ground her knot against the top of my head, pointing her prick at a steeper angle so the shots splashed down on a wider area.

I wiggled my fist inside her, extracting every gasp and groan I could, feeling on top of the world.

The moment her twin orgasms came to a close, she panted out, "That was something else. Fantastic."

I let go of my prick and hugged her leg while my fist remained stuck in her snatch, a strange pride swelling in me. I'd done this to her. I'd made it so we'd have to get clean all over again. And that was awesome.

Chapter 10

The oranges, pinks, and reds mixed with wispy clouds in the biome's morning sky matched the giant orchids on either side of the bench Hosanna, Luke, and I were sitting on. Diagonally to my right was the biome's rustic outdoor, cafe-like galley. Big balls of grass-like leaves with numerous magenta flowers hung from slender lamp posts above pressed bamboo-wood tables and chairs strewn throughout the outdoor eating area.

That eating area had been bustling twenty minutes ago, but now it was empty because most of the MiraManna employees had left to explore the Biome while waiting for the morning Bible study. Luke, Hosanna, and I had already spent more time in the Biome than most and were just relaxing with full stomachs. When Ramda wasn't running past us on the track that went around the Biome, I stared at the simulated sunrise. The colors and clouds were too crisp because there was no atmospheric haze, but it was still gorgeous and lifted my spirits. This morning had not gone well.

I’d had a vivid dream where I was sleeping in Ramda's bed. When I woke up to find she wasn't there, I got a tight chest along with an intense sense of wrongness. And that feeling clung to me all the way through breakfast. It was stupid, but I could hardly get myself to say a word to Luke or Hosanna.

Especially right now, because Ramda was running toward us again. I tried to look at her face this time, but the bounce of her big package brought my eyes right back between her legs.

"Remiel, if you want to talk to her, why don't you wave her over instead of staring at her?" Luke asked.

"She seems to like you, I'm sure she'd be happy to chat for a bit," Hosanna said.

I immediately looked away from Ramda, unable to remember anything Luke and Hosanna had been talking about before they mentioned her.

"No, I'm sure she's busy," I said. If they saw me and Ramda together, they might figure out that we were doing more than hanging out.

"She doesn't seem all that busy." Luke waved at her, saying, "Hey, Captain."

I steeled myself, remembering the last time Luke and Ramda were in the same place.

Ramda jogged over, her gray and cyan workout outfit leaving almost nothing to the imagination. Her tongue stuck out as she leaned on her knees, working to catch her breath before she said, "Hello, you three."

"Hi, Captain Uweko," Hosanna said.

"Just call me Ramda," she said. "It's faster and far more personable."

"How's your day been so far?" Hosanna asked.

"Pretty good, though I may have had a bit too much carnitas. That breakfast burrito bar is temptation made manifest," she said.

"I wish we had it every day," I said.

"Are you trying to destroy my diet?" Ramda asked.

I chuckled, glad the conversation was being pretty normal.

Hosanna asked Ramda, "Do things taste different now that you're a hybrid?"

"I can catch nuances I didn't before. You'd think it would make me a picky eater, but being able to smell better just gives me more options in finding things to appreciate about an entree. And no one can trick me with cheap flavorings or preparation steps anymore." Ramda looked at me. "I can pick up even the faintest scents."

I shifted slightly on the bench, I could smell her cinnamon and turmeric scents clearly since she'd been running.

Luke nodded like he was a scientist conducting a study on hybrids. "I hear on Earth, they use dogs to diagnose medical conditions. Can you smell if people are ill?"

"Well, since they've invented machines that do what dogs do, they don't really need me. But, yes, I can smell when people are ill. Someone with an immune disorder smells different than someone who has hypertension, for instance," Ramda said.

Luke thought for a moment. "What about sexual need? Usually dogs seem to know when other dogs are in heat," he said, matter of factly, as though he had just asked about the weather.

My face burned as I looked at Ramda's feet, trying to shrink into the bench so no one would ever see me again.

As Hosanna started to object, Ramda said, "Of course, pheromones are something even humans notice if they concentrate. But I don't just smell it, my ears can pick up differences in breathing and, if I'm close enough, heart rate."

"So it's not just other canines? If, say, Remiel was getting aroused, you could tell?" Luke asked.

My eyes widened as my heart skipped a beat.

Hosanna slapped Luke's thigh. "Luke! Can't you see you're making Remiel nervous? Why not use yourself as the example if you're gonna be so perverted?"

Ramda laughed, "It doesn't matter who's aroused, I can tell it as easily as I can tell whether someone drank a bit too much the night before."

I kept my thighs firmly against each other and blushed so severely I got lightheaded.

Hosanna put her head in her hands, "You don't have to keep encouraging him."

Ramda shrugged, "I find just about everyone wonders these sorts of things. Every group needs at least one person who asks the questions on everyone's minds."

Luke said, "It's not like Remiel and Ramda are sleeping together. That would be very inappropriate. Oh, speaking of spending time with the Captain, Remiel, you have been with her a lot recently. Have you two done anything fun together?"

The sensation of Ramda's cum raining down on me in the shower was all I could think about for a good two seconds, but then I managed to stutter out, "We've been together, I mean, like in the engine room and stuff... And, uhh, she showed me things, t-technical things."

Hosanna raised an eyebrow, looking at Ramda and then me. "Alone together in the engine room? Her showing you things?"

My breakfast sat poorly in my stomach as I cringed. This was it, both of them were about to figure it out and there was nothing I could do.

Ramda shook her head, "You two are giving Remiel a heart attack. I was being quiet about this to respect his privacy, but I think I should set the record straight. Remiel knows more about space travel and spaceships than anyone in your group. So I've decided to teach him as much as possible about the ship's systems while he's here and I've enjoyed his company immensely."

Hosanna nodded. "Better him than me. Learning about spaceship systems just makes me more nervous. I like pretending it's all just magic and infallible."

I closed my eyes for a moment, letting go of some of the tension. This was good, Ramda had saved me again. I said, "Ship systems and procedures are very complex, but in a way that makes them safer. There's a lot of redundancy and checklists so everyone gets stuff done perfectly the first time. I bet you're more likely to make a mistake tying your shoelaces than a space crew is while repairing a life support system."

Not to be dissuaded from his original line of questioning, Luke said, "Every ship has complex systems. This is the only ship that has Ramda and this is a great opportunity to learn about people from outside our colony." He looked Ramda in the eye. "Have you ever had thoughts about sleeping with someone you're not married to? And do you prefer other hybrids like yourself as partners or humans?"

If Ramda hadn't been directly in front of me, I would've run back to my room and locked the door. Luke's one track mind was going to be the death of me.

"As far as my views on coupling and sex, I'm an Earther. Marriage is more about life partnership than sexual exclusivity and sex is more about having fun with someone you enjoy being around than making babies. That said, I don't want to impinge on your religious views. My views are just that: views, and I have no wish to influence you beyond letting you know that other points of view exist and what they are," Ramda said.

Hosanna said, "I respect your view, Ramda, but I don't see the point of marriage if there's no actual promise being made. Like, if there's no exclusivity, why marry in the first place? Sharing a tax bracket isn't all that romantic."

Ramda tilted her head. "I mean, I'm sure some people role-play being tax collectors and collecting their taxes via sexual favors. So, even taxes can be romantic and sexy. But I do see your point. Honestly, marriage is not nearly as important on Earth as it used to be, but that's led people to not be trapped in relationships that are abusive and hurtful and exist just because of financial interdependence. For me, marriage is more about a promise to share your life with someone while keeping open and honest communication with them so you can work through relationship problems and continually do what's best for both parties."

"So, a promise is still involved, huh." Hosanna looked off in the distance.

Ramda turned to Luke, "To answer your question, I'm interested in anyone who I find attractive and is also attracted to me regardless of species, gender, or creed." She glanced at me with a slight smile on her muzzle as she said the last part.

No matter what I did, no matter how much I thought I was screwing up, she just kept liking me. The throbbing in my pants just wouldn't quit. Why all this embarrassment wasn't killing my erection, I had no idea. It seemed to be making it worse.

Luke leaned forward as he said, "Have you seen anyone from our planet you would like to sleep with? Josiah maybe?"

Ramda busted out laughing and it took her a moment to recover. "You already know the answer to the second part. But about the first part, I'm going to surprise you. I grew up on your planet, living as a man until I was twenty-two. I had many girlfriends during my time there, always looking forward to marriage, never having things work out because I had gender dysphoria."

"Gender dysphoria?" Luke asked.

Ramda paused for a moment. "All three of you now have files with information on it. If you read through some of them tonight, I'm happy to chat about it tomorrow before you disembark or through messages once you're settled in on Earth."

"Thanks!" Luke said, "Have you ever been with someone from our planet?"

Ramda took a step forward and then spoke quietly. "Since it's not safe for me to mention specifics, I'll just say that I recently had an incredibly satisfying fling with someone from Trinity Stronghold. People from our homeland are just as fun in bed as people from elsewhere. It just takes a lot more effort to get things started because of the strong views on human sexuality."

How could she have liked what we did enough to compliment me in front of them like that? My hands went to my lap, gripping my uniform pants as I tried to get images of her naked body out of my head.

Luke said, "You can't just say something like that without at least giving us a hint."

Looking Luke straight in the eye, Ramda said, "Luke, honey, are you meaning to say you don't remember last night?"

I smiled at the joke while Hosanna laughed so hard she nearly fell off the bench.

Ramda's eyes darted to me and she pointed at her nose for a brief second.

I swallowed a moan and squirmed a bit.

"I did no such thing!" Luke said before nudging Hosanna. "Hey! Stop laughing."

As Hosanna's laughter trailed off, Josiah left the cafe and stormed across the cobblestones of the outdoor eating area, heading straight for us.

Hosanna said, "What's his problem?"

Ramda turned around and called out to him, "Hey, Josiah, something wrong?"

Getting up to us, he said, "Ramda, I apologize for my employees' behavior. You've already done such a good job accommodating us on this trip and I'd be embarrassed telling headquarters that we took up so much of your personal time."

"I'm an educator at heart, Josiah. Surely someone with as much leadership experience and talent as you can understand my desire to see that they get proper guidance. I'm happy--no, honored--to help you steer them in the right direction," Ramda said.

Sweat beaded on Josiah's forehead. "Well, that's all fine and good, but I don't want you to overwork yourself."

Ramda's ears fell slightly as she somehow managed to sound completely sincere despite me knowing she didn't mean it. "I'm touched by your concern. But you don't need to worry about me. I've been at this a very long time and know how to take R&R when I need it."

Josiah looked like he wanted to set Ramda on fire just so he could watch her burn. "Well, morning Bible study starts in ten minutes so we won't be bothering you much longer." Then he got a twinkle in his eye, "That is, unless you want to join us."

"Oh, that reminds me. I need to borrow Remiel for a bit. There's a problem with the plumbing in the Biome that I could use his help with." Ramda said. "I'm sorry I wasn't able to give you any forewarning, the problem just popped up a few minutes ago."

"I didn't realize he was skilled in that." Josiah furrowed his brow and then looked at me. "Just try to be back ASAP, okay?"

I nodded, purposefully trying not to work out what Ramda was implying.

Luke said, "Ramda has been teaching him a lot about the ship. Wouldn't surprise me if plumbing was part of it."

"Ship systems have nothing to do with his office assistant job, but I'll let him decide how best to spend his free time." Josiah narrowed his eyes at me. "I just hope you look back and feel you spent it wisely."

"Oh, I can assure you, his love of spaceships guarantees every minute of his training will be a cherished moment." Ramda motioned for me to follow her.

"Hosanna, Luke, I have Bible readings I'd like each of you to do. Follow me," Josiah said.

The moment they got up off the bench and walked toward him, Josiah set out toward the amphitheater. I couldn't help feeling that he was trying to punish them for talking to Ramda.

Josiah had killed most of my excitement, but not all. I stood up sheepishly, interlocking my fingers in front of my crotch, hoping it looked like a natural way to hold my hands. Ramda smelled wonderful and the way she was grinning told me exactly what she'd meant by "plumbing."

Ramda's tail wagged as she led me into the outdoor galley cafe, which had an interior full of blonde, steam-bent wood. Every piece of wood had a curve to it, flowing like a river across walls, floors, and ceilings. We went through the archway that led to the restrooms, past the door to the kitchen, and then Ramda waved her hand in front of the back door and it popped open. She took my hand as she stepped through it, leading me to the service path that was hidden by a ring of bamboo that went around the entire biome. The cafe was one of a few buildings that broke up that ring of bamboo.

The textured composite plates that made up the path sounded hollow as we stepped onto them, but I figured it was just a property of the material. Lots of stuff in starships was specially made to be lightweight because every bit of extra weight cost money.

As I was trying to decide what the plates were made of, Ramda grabbed me and pushed me up against the back wall, licking all the way up my neck before biting my ear and growling. "Your scent is driving me crazy."

When I tried to suppress my groan, it came out as a squeak and my dick reached full hardness in an instant. I was shivering in her grasp as I said, "Do you think Luke knows?"

"Nah, he tried to pair me up with Josiah." She chuckled, pulling off her fitness top and six-cupped sports bra. The end of her dick was sticking out above the waist of her tight workout shorts. "If people do more than just make blind guesses about us, I'll send out a message saying that I'm tutoring you on space systems."

Pushing her front against me, she sniffed the top of my head. Her naked prick throbbed against my clothed belly as she ran her claw-tipped fingers down my sides. She let out a deep murr that vibrated both of us before she kissed me on the lips. Her whiskers tickled the corners of my mouth as her wet canine nose nuzzled my boring human one. Dominating my tongue with hers, she chuckled into the kiss. Only after I made a good try to get mine free did she let up so I could explore her muzzle.

My hands quivered as I reached up to embrace her. The pulsing of her dick made me hesitate for a moment before interlocking my fingers behind her. I felt so warm and smiling was so easy. Why did her cock make me so happy even when I was nervous?

She grabbed my ass, digging her clawtips in as she pulled my lower half against her so her shaft and balls were firmly against mine. As she moved her hips in little circles, her prick pressed further and further up my belly, between her lowest set of breasts.

At the first touch of her equipment against mine, I flinched, but then I surprised myself by grinding against her. Standing on my tiptoes, I tried to get my crotch better lined up with hers. My enjoyment might've just been because pressing my dick against something hard felt good and not because I actually liked frotting.

Bucking her hips, she thrust her prick against mine as it advanced further into her cleavage. She was feeling around my mouth, sending tingles down my spine as her tail wagged furiously. Her fingers kneaded my ass while all six of her nipples got stiff enough I could feel them through my uniform. With a growl, she lifted me off to ground, bringing our waists to the same height.

Shocked at being lifted up for a moment, I gripped her fur tightly while continuing to make quiet moans into her muzzle. Since I had no idea what to do with my tongue, I let hers chaperone mine. I avoided thinking about what we were doing as I pushed my fingers into her fur to get a more secure hold on her.

Her knot made a rigid bump that was digging into the base of my prick. The thing felt amazing pressed up against me and I was panting through my nose as we continued kissing.

When her shaft started throbbing rhythmically, she broke the kiss to say, "Fuck, I'm cumming already."

As I looked at the tip of her lurching dick, I clamped down on my impulse to lean forward and wrap my lips around it. Did I really want to do that? Why?

I hesitated just long enough for it to be too late and she put her muzzle around it instead. Then she slurped around her massive dick as she worked to swallow her load and not spill any on my uniform.

The bigger her knot swelled, the more amazing it felt as I ground against it. But I couldn't cum. Her whines of delight, her shaft contracting against me, and her whole body trembling in orgasm still weren't enough because my brain wouldn't cooperate. All I could feel was a mountain of regret. If I'd just gotten over myself, I could've shown her that I liked all of her, dick included. I wanted that to be true so bad. And it hurt even more that it might have been true, but I was just too fucking good at doubting myself to ever be sure.

No, I had to do it, I had to taste...I couldn't even say it to myself. The moment she pulled her muzzle off her prick, I leaned in and kissed her. I moaned at the layers of curry-like, salty and tangy flavors left over from the cream she'd just drank down. The head of my prick and my prostate tingled as I got right up to the edge, imagining tasting her cum from the source.

But at the same time, there were butterflies in my stomach. How could I like cum this much? Why did the bit of jizz that was leaking onto my chin make me so giddy?

When the kiss ended, we were just staring into each other's eyes, panting.

Her question didn't even register the first time she asked it, so she had to ask again. "Remiel? Do you want me to help you get off? I can spare a couple more minutes if you like."

My chest was tight while my shaft ached. I wanted to hold her close and I also wanted to flee. "I, uh, I'll be fine."

"Are you sure?" she said, lowering me to my feet.

"Yeah," I said, reaching down to grab her uniform top and bra. Handing them to her, I added, "My... parts... are being stubborn."

Putting her sports bra on over her slowly-receding prick, she said, "Yeah, I get that sometimes too."

"It's okay, I should get to Bible study anyway. Josiah's only going to get more angry the longer I'm gone," I said.

After licking her cum off my chin, she said, "Yeah, sorry about pouncing on you."

I gasped at the feeling of her tongue and then stumbled over my words as I said, "I l-liked it."

"You seem really anxious," she said, putting on her uniform top.

"It's not your fault, I'm just a mess," I said, looking at my feet.

She pulled my chin up, kissed me on the lips, and then said, "A beautiful mess."

I smiled despite myself. There's no way I deserved her.

"If you want to talk about whatever's bothering you, come find me later today or tomorrow," she said.

"Okay, I will," I said.

Taking my hand in hers, she waved her other hand in front of the back door of the cafe and it swung open. Then she led me back inside.

Before I could say goodbye she tugged me into the second restroom, saying, "We got one thing to deal with before I let you go." She grabbed a washcloth off the little wooden shelf set into the wall next to the sink and got it wet.

"Oh?" I said, looking at the washcloth with a raised eyebrow.

"I got a bit of cum on you, but your uniforms are stain-repellant, so it should come right off." She rubbed at the trail of cum leading down from the cross in the neck of my uniform. Then she nudged me over to the high-velocity hand dryer and put my front under it.

"Thanks," I said. A few seconds later, I stepped away from the dryer while trying to think about anything other than her cum.

"I know you could've done it yourself, but I feel a bit dumb about not getting you out of your uniform. That was an unnecessary risk," she said.

"I wouldn't have changed a thing," I said.

She chuckled as she booped me on the nose. "I gotta take a shower and then send out a bunch of messages. Hope the Bible study isn't too boring."

I shrugged. "It's probably going to be half over by the time I get there."

"True. See you later, hon," she said before turning around.

"See you," I said.

Her ears turned to the sides so far they were pointing a bit backwards when my voice came from behind her. I watched her leave, taking in her shapely backside while feeling warm. As if I'd just been told fantastic news. Was this what it felt like to fall for someone?

I shook my head. She'd be gone from my life soon and getting too attached would only lead to pain. I had to get to my Bible study and not think about her for a while.

Despite my determination to distract myself, I thought about her during the entire Bible study. It was to the point that Josiah said my name twice to get my attention during it. Then I was walking back to my room without remembering leaving the Biome. That moment I'd nearly put my lips on Ramda's prick wouldn't stop playing through my mind. And every time, I scolded myself for holding back. By the time I was near my room, I was clenching my fists. Why couldn't I just let go of all the crap I'd been taught and put her pleasure first for once?

Why couldn't I--why was Cuber in Daniel's room?

It wasn't just Cuber, there were three slightly smaller robots that shared Cuber's cube-shaped body design with thin spidery limbs. They were all helping Cuber put a floor panel back down. But something was off, they all had magnetic zero-g attachments to their legs and Daniel's luggage was floating above his luggage rack. They'd shut off the gravity to Daniel's room!

This was bad. Daniel was only a few minutes behind me. I ran toward Cuber and her helpers, my heart nearly bursting in my chest.

Chapter 11

"Hey, you've got to turn the gravity back on. This is going way too far," I said, looking at Cuber while standing just outside Daniel's doorway.

His quarters were just like mine, with cabinets made of marbled grey composite with wavy purple streaks in it, and a storage space for his luggage above his bunk bed. With each passing second, that luggage was drifting further away from its storage space.

Cuber turned to look at me, and then trilled while bouncing excitedly.

"Please, turn the gravity back on," I said. "I don't want either of us to get in trouble."

She let out a few beeps as she thought about what I said. Then she shook her cubical body, mimicking the way someone would shake their head.

I couldn't keep my desperation out of my voice as I said, "They're going to blame me for it, Cuber. And then they're going to send me back to Trinity and I'll never get a chance to see you again."

Cuber made a succession of worried beeps and then worked in conjunction with the other robots to lift the floor panel back up. I looked on with interest at the neatly routed cables and meter-wide, composite-encapsulated artificial gravity flywheel underneath. Next to the flywheel was a junction box with a bunch of breakers, all of which had been switched off.

Hearing two people conversing behind me, I turned to see Josiah and Daniel. Josiah's eyes were on the floating luggage behind me.

His nostrils flared with rage as he said, "REMIEL!"

Keeping myself outwardly calm despite feeling queasy with anxiety, I said, "I-I was telling them to turn the gravity back on."

"Was the gravity on when you left, Daniel?" Josiah asked.

"Yep," Daniel said, grinning wide as his eyes twinkled with delight over my predicament.

I felt cold and woozy.

"Clearly you weren't ordering these robots to turn the gravity on, then. Don't make me dig for the truth, Remiel," Josiah said.

My eyes wanted to cry, my legs wanted to run, and my chest wanted to cave in. I had no other story to tell him. "I was walking back to my room, I noticed Daniel's gravity was off, then I asked them to turn it back on. I'm not certain why it was off in the first place."

Josiah got frighteningly calm. He was even smiling, but it wasn't good. I'd seen him this angry once before, it made him giddy and that scared me. "I want to watch you try and get Ramda to believe that story."

"She's on her way?" I asked.

"Yep, and she'll see right through this." Josiah smiled broadly.

Ramda had to come to my rescue constantly. Why she liked me enough to do that just didn't make any sense. Everyone wanted to blame me for everything. Maybe it was because I was a fraud and this would be where everyone figured that out. My fists clenched as I held back a wave of frustration. Everything got so chaotic around me. I couldn't do anything right.

Josiah was waiting to make a retort and further flame me with his righteousness, but I never gave him the opportunity. Not by choice, I just had no idea what to say. He had dismissed every point I'd made since this trip began.

Cuber trilled as the artificial gravity flywheel wound up with a soft whirr. Something of Daniel's crashed to the floor so loudly that I winced.

Holding back tears, I said, "See? The gravity's just been reset."

"That proves nothing," Josiah said.

Daniel said, "Can't wait till you're sent back to Trinity."

Having no idea what to say, I just looked at the floor.

"And if Ramda lets you off the hook for this, she's gonna get in trouble. Maybe even lose her contract with us." Daniel grinned. "Then your abomination of a friend will get exactly what she deserv--"

"Shut up! You can't say that," Josiah said.

Daniel said, "But you--"

"You will not use that word while on this ship," Josiah said.

"What word? Abomination?" Ramda said, from far down the corridor to Josiah's right.

Josiah's face went pale. "Captain, I apologize for Daniel's outburst."

"With my abominably good ears, I've heard you and other MiraManna employees refer to me that way many times," Ramda said. "Did you know, in English translations of the Bible, the ancient Hebrew word tow'ebah is rendered either as 'unclean' or 'abomination,' depending on context? If given a choice, I'd take 'abomination' over 'unclean' any day because I shower regularly, thank you."

Daniel's eyes went wide as his jaw dropped. Only Religious and government officials were allowed to study Hebrew. I was just as surprised as he was.

"Please accept my deepest apologies," Josiah said.

Ramda shrugged. "Don't sweat it. I find it hilarious to think I could achieve that status simply by combining traits found in the very natural world God created. But I guess I should expect such things: according to the Old Testament, anything that lives in water that doesn't have fins and scales is an abomination. Too bad shrimp tastes so good, eh?"

Josiah laughed, but his heart was not in it.

Daniel's eyebrows were deeply furrowed as he looked at Josiah, wondering why Josiah wasn't trying to contradict Ramda.

I laughed because I was so tense that I would've exploded otherwise.

After Josiah ended his fake laughter, Ramda asked, "So, why did you call me over?"

Josiah's wicked smile was back. "I'm terribly sorry to report that we caught Remiel using his crew clearance to tamper with Daniel's artificial gravity."

Ramda stared off into the distance. "He has issued no commands to the maintenance robots and he does not have clearance to issue commands to them in the first place. On top of that, this robot would never take orders from someone who kicked her. I believe I overheard you mentioning that the other day."

"Tell me this, then: if he wasn't ordering them to cut Daniel's artificial gravity, why was he here talking to them when we showed up?" Josiah asked.

Ramda looked at me, confused.

"I was asking them to stop," I said. "Maybe they recorded what I was saying on video?"

"Sorry, my contract with MiraManna clearly states that no personnel are to be recorded under any circumstance," Ramda said. "That said, Cuber can likely tell us what happened if we give her a chance to."

"Who's Cuber?" Josiah asked.

"The largest robot in Daniel's room." Ramda pointed at Cuber. "She's an Organizer and can direct other simpler units to help her with tasks."

"Is she capable of speech?" Josiah asked.

"Not exactly, but she can communicate." Ramda turned to Cuber, "Could you come with us to the starboard conference room, please?"

Cuber trilled softly in question.

"Let your friends go back to working on the ship and come with us, please," Ramda said.

Cuber walked up to me, putting me between her and Ramda. Looking down and back, I said, "Just follow me, okay?"

She made two pleasant beeps. Then we all walked down the corridor, the light from the overhead spotlights feeling ominous rather than epic.

When we got to a doorway not far from the Biome's starboard entrance, Ramda waved her hand in front of it. It opened to reveal a room with a large conference table and walls that were made out of high-resolution displays. The tabletop was also a display and was pretending to be beautiful striped mahogany. The only reason I knew it was a display was because my HUD now had an option to send media to the walls or the table.

Cuber was the last to enter and the moment the door closed behind her, she stayed right in front of it, impatient to leave. I could relate.

"Okay, Cuber," Ramda said. "Are you upset at Daniel?"

Daniel scoffed. "Oh come on, if it can't talk, what's the point in even asking it? We caught Remiel red-handed. What more do you need?"

"Cuber's meant to work near reactors and engines and not interact with people much, but I found that her model was capable of a lot more than what people typically use them for. Just because she's mute doesn't mean she can't give useful testimony," Ramda said.

Cuber backed into the door. I wanted to try and comfort her, but I had to stay put or it would look like I was interfering.

As calmly as I could, I asked her, "Are you upset at Daniel?"

She nodded and then opened the door.

"Cuber, you can't go yet," Ramda said.

"Please stay a bit longer," I said. "We'll try to get through this as fast as we can."

She stepped back in and closed the door.

"Huh, she seems to understand English rather well..." Josiah looked puzzled. "Why would she be mad at Daniel? Do your robots just pick someone they don't like? We once had a parrot that only liked my wife and would pick on everyone else."

"These robots are very intelligent and their perfectly natural desire for retribution is actually an asset because they get cross with anyone who abuses them or ship equipment. If they didn't do that, I'd have to record video because I'd never catch vandals," Ramda said. "I can offer you over two dozen jointly filed incident reports that show these robots only pick on someone when it's warranted."

"Fair enough, but I'm only going to entertain this for so long and I'll require proof that Remiel hasn't tampered with this robot." Josiah said. "You may continue questioning the witness."

"You can ask her yourself if you like, Josiah," Ramda said. "I know you want to get to the bottom of this as much as I do."

Josiah's face softened and he leaned down a bit, looking into Cuber's sensor cluster. "Why are you mad at Daniel?"

When Josiah tried to put on a nice face, it never quite looked believable and Cuber immediately scuttled over to me and hid behind my legs.

"Well, that's proof enough for me," Josiah said. "It's exactly as I suspected. Remiel's done something to your robots."

"Hah, what a waste of time," Daniel said.

"I don't think this is conclusive." Ramda looked at Cuber, frowning. "She seems overwhelmed."

"Overwhelmed or not, she doesn't seem willing to testify beyond signaling Remiel's involvement," Josiah said.

It was over, Cuber was too scared to testify and I didn't blame her. There was nothing I could do. My chest stabbed with anxiety. I was going back to Trinity with only myself to blame. And now I was overwhelmed too. I had no idea what to do, I couldn't even think with all of them here.

"If you'll excuse me, I've got paperwork to fill out," Josiah said.

"Hope you enjoy your one day on earth, Rem," Daniel said, walking toward the door.

My mind raced. What could I do? I had to do something. But Cuber was too terrified to-- "Wait," I said. "Cuber b-barely knows how human social stuff works. If we don't stare directly at her, s-she might show us what happened."

"Give it up, Remiel," Daniel said. "Know when you've lost."

"No, I think he's right," Ramda said. "This is the largest number of people Cuber's ever interacted with in her life."

"You two had your chance," Daniel said. "Josiah and I have better things to do than babysit a spiteful robot."

"Daniel, why are you calling Cuber spiteful?" Ramda asked. "I thought you said the gravity shut off was Remiel's doing. Did Cuber do something to you directly?"

"You said it was spiteful, I'm just going off of the way you described its model." Daniel smiled confidently to hide his worry.

"No, I didn't. I said they desire retribution." Ramda said. "Spiteful is what one would say about a bully."

Daniel winced. "Well, I, uh, used the wrong word. That's all."

Josiah thought for a moment and then grabbed the back of one of the chairs to lean on it. "You two have five minutes to get that robot to do something other than cower."

My blood was rushing in my ears as I looked down at Cuber, but I knew what to do. "Everyone, stop looking directly at her and watch her out of the corner of your eye instead."

Daniel glared right at her, his face turning red with frustration.

"Face the wall, Daniel," Josiah said.

Daniel directed some of his fury at me before turning to face the wall. For a moment, I thought he was trying to blow my head clean off my shoulders using only his thoughts.

Ramda faced mostly away from Cuber and so did Josiah.

I asked Cuber, "Why are you upset at Daniel?"

Cuber beeped softly and hid behind my leg. It felt like Cuber's nervousness was feeding off of mine and I was only getting more tense. Then I remembered when Ramda told me to breathe. Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath in, and then blew it out. I did this two more times, thinking about how alike Cuber and I were. If anyone could get through to her, I could.

For once in my life, I had to calm down and just trust that I could do this one thing.

Opening my eyes, I looked down at Cuber and said, "Come on, girl, where's your inner rebel? I know you have a sense of justice and want to see it served. Don't let them think you're just a spiteful robot who pulls pranks without reason."

Cuber backed away from my legs, looking me in the eye.

"Can you show us why you're upset at Daniel?" I asked.

Cuber tilted her head at me.

I knew she understood me, but something was confusing her. She'd gone after Daniel's gravity and him kicking her just didn't seem like enough to get her to do that. Maybe she had multiple reasons she was mad at him and when we asked her a general question, she wasn't sure what we wanted her to show us.

To test my theory, I asked, "Why did you steal Daniel's food?"

"Wait, what?" Daniel said, trying to look behind himself without turning away from the wall.

Cuber walked over to Daniel and kicked him in the calf with one of her skinny legs.

"Ow! What the fuck!?" Daniel said, rubbing his calf.

"Wait, you kicked Cuber?" Josiah asked.

Daniel said, "No-OW!"

Cuber kicked his other calf, bleeping angrily.

"You stupid robot!" Daniel swung his heel toward Cuber and stopped at the last second when he realized he was being watched.

"Did you kick that robot?" Josiah's eyes narrowed at Daniel. "If you lie to me, I will make sure you regret it."

"Okay fine! But she was growling at me while I was just walking down the hallway. She's no better than a stray dog!" Daniel said, not sure which calf to rub.

"She warned you about going into her personal space and you didn't listen," I said.

Cuber made a trill of agreement.

Ramda and Josiah were looking at each other with wide eyes. Then they both turned to Cuber and asked the same question two different ways. The result was unintelligible.

"You go first," Ramda said to Josiah.

"Is that why you cut the gravity to Daniel's room?" Josiah asked.

Cuber shook her body.

"Then why did you do it?" Josiah was making an effort not to look directly at her. It was the most respect I'd seen him show anyone since this trip started.

Cuber walked over to me and tapped my left shoe before moving her three fingered hand toward herself.

"You want my shoe?" I asked.

Cuber nodded.

I took off my shoe and she grabbed it. Then she went over to Daniel and tapped his left shoe.

Daniel spun around, his face looking like he was about to snarl. "You want my fucking shoe? Go get it!" Pulling off his shoe, threw it across the room.

Ramda grabbed Daniel's shoe out of the air and then tossed it to Cuber who caught it with one of her three-fingered hands. Then Cuber trilled in thanks before taking both shoes to the wall next to the door. Then, in the view of me, Josiah, and Ramda, she used Daniel's shoe to pin mine against the wall. Her third arm moved from Daniel's shoe to the ankle of mine, strangling my shoe. Then, she followed our fight perfectly until Daniel's shoe had mine pinned against the floor.

Ramda, Josiah, and I gasped in awe while Daniel walked up to see what was going on.

When she slowly moved our shoes upwards to show the zero-g phase of our fight, Daniel said, "I kept t-telling Remiel we had to strap in."

Josiah stood up straight and set his jaw as he looked at Daniel. "You, in my quarters, now!"

"But Josiah, I--"

"The only thing I want to hear out of your mouth is an apology for your serpent's tongue," Josiah said.

"No, you're not listening, Rem--"

"You're the one who's not listening." Josiah grabbed the collar of Daniel's uniform shirt and dragged him out the door, saying, "That wasn't an apology and when I ordered you to my quarters, I wasn't making a request."

After they left and I got my shoe on, Cuber picked up Daniel's shoe. Then she handed it to me, trilling excitedly.

"I think she's handing you a trophy," Ramda said.

"This is the shoe that kicked you, isn't it?" I asked, grabbing Daniel's shoe.

Cuber nodded.

Setting the shoe down next to the door, I said, "I think he deserves to be without it for a while, then."

Cuber trilled.

Turning to Ramda, I asked, "How did Cuber know what happened during our fight?"

"She's assigned to your section and has a nook in the wall that she gets into when she's inactive or we're going to jump. I think it has a good view of that hallway," Ramda said.

I looked down at Cuber. "You've been keeping an eye on me?"

Cuber trilled and nodded.

"I keep forgetting how resourceful her model is," Ramda said.

I knelt down and offered Cuber a hug, feeling a bit giddy over how much I liked her.

She looked at me, tilting her central cube for a moment before reaching out with her three arms and grabbing my sides. I held her for a moment and then patted her on the back. She beeped and then patted me on the back the exact same way.

Ramda got on her knees next to us and joined the hug, saying, "I've never hugged a robot before."

Happy tears streamed down my cheeks. "This is awesome."

"Yeah," Ramda sniffled. "I'm gonna miss you a lot, Remiel."

I started crying. "M-Me too."

Cuber took her third arm and reached into a compartment, pulling out an absorbent pad. Then she blotted at my tears. She beeped when Ramda's tears dripped on her top and used another arm to grab a second pad. When she was drying both Ramda and my tears at the same time, seeming confused as to why her human friends were leaking, we started cracking up.

First Ramda laughed and then I did and then we kept laughing until we fell on our asses.

Cuber backed away from us. Then she made a trill that had the cadence of a question while tilting her cube portion so far that I thought she was going to fall over.

When I managed to stop laughing, I said, "Sorry, I don't know what just happened there, either."

"Cuber, do you want to hang out with Remiel this evening while I take care of some stuff?" Ramda asked.

Another question-like trill.

"We're getting full maintenance when we get to earth, so you can just spend time with Remiel until he has to go to sleep if you want, if he's okay with that, I mean," she said.

"Are you serious?" I asked.

"Yeah, Cuber's more interested in human interaction than other units with her model number and I think all this would've been a lot easier if I'd made an effort to socialize her earlier," Ramda said.

"Maybe I could show her how to play Go Fish or something," I said. Looking at Cuber, I asked, "You want to try playing a silly human card game?"

Cuber nodded, but still looked confused.

Ramda said to Cuber, "Hide Daniel's shoe in the maintenance locker just outside. I'll have Remiel come and join you in a couple minutes."

Cuber beeped an affirmative and then the door opened as she grabbed Daniel's shoe.

Once she was on the other side, I asked, "Are you going to give it back to him?"

"Sure, right before he disembarks," Ramda said.

I chuckled.

She hugged me. "I wish I could stick around tonight."

"It's okay, you've gotta run the whole ship, after all," I said, hugging back.

"Yeah, too many random things happened today. Feel free to bug me anytime from nine AM until noon tomorrow, though. No need to plan or anything. I just want to make sure I get to see you before you disembark."

"Sure, I'll message you after breakfast or something," I said, amazed she wanted to see me badly enough that she'd leave her whole morning open.

"I'll count on it, then." She kissed me.

I kissed back.

We both knew she had to go soon, so we made the most out of the moment we had. When we were done making each other shiver with our tongues and hands, our hearts were beating a bit fast and our pants were very tight.

Chapter 12

Oh how I wished that the Gluttonous Pixie was my home. If there'd been a way to make the hours before I disembarked stretch out into an eternity, I would've taken it. Luckily, this evening, Cuber was here to keep me company.

It had taken a while to find paper and markers to make a set of little squares of paper Cuber could put down to ask for the cards she needed in Go Fish, but it was so very worth it. We were nearing the end of our fifth game and the pool was empty. This time, her beginner's luck had finally run out and I was poised to win.

Smiling, I asked, "Do you have any aces?"

She shook her cube-like body.

"What? Did we lose a card?"

She nodded.

I looked around and saw no cards laying on the floor. A funny thought crossed my mind. "Are you lying?"

She nodded.

My eyes went wide. "Did you lie during the other games?"

She nodded.

"That's why you've been winning them all?"

She nodded, trilling happily.

I dropped my cards and held my head in my hands. "Ramda's gonna kill me. She wanted me to socialize you, but I taught you how to lie instead."

Setting down her cards, she crossed her arms and bleeped to scold me.

"Yeah, I'm the worst," I said.

She shook her head and made a "wrong answer" sound straight out of a game show.

"I didn't teach you how to lie?" I raised an eyebrow.

She nodded, trilling confidently.

I blinked. "I'm not sure that's something to be proud of."

Pointing at me with one of her three-fingered hands, she scolded me again.

"Okay, fine, you're the first robot I've had lie to me. I guess that is an accomplishment."

She bounced happily.

"Let's not tell Josiah or Daniel about that." Grabbing the cards, I started getting them all together so I could shuffle them. "New rule, we can't lie about what's in our hands."

A disappointed bweep came from her.

"You'd get bored if you never lost," I said.

The wrong answer sound again.

"Okay, I'd get bored if you never lost," I said. "So, no lying from now on."

She beeped and gave me a thumbs up with her third arm, something I'd taught her at the beginning of the evening.

We played six more games before we went into the anything room and watched an awesome fantasy show. It took Cuber a bit to adjust to just sitting idle, but when I hugged her against me, she settled down and started watching. I wasn't sure whether my show of affection was more important or the actual sensations she got from it, but I was glad it did something for her. She must've been able to sense touch, perhaps as temperature deviations on her composite body and limbs.

The only awkward part of watching stuff with her was that the show had some very-well-rendered werewolf transformations that got me biting my lip and squirming.

Cuber seemed to like the werewolves more than the humans and was fascinated by the bit of gore when the werewolves fought their foes. Discovering we had similar tastes made it all that much harder to leave her behind.

It was difficult for me to stay upbeat as it got closer to bedtime, and after I bid farewell to Cuber, I laid awake for a long while, dreading my impending departure. I'd hoped to go to bed early and wake up in time to watch the simulated sunrise in the Biome one last time, but that didn't pan out. By the time I woke up, the most colorful part of the sunrise had already passed. So I languished in my bed, sad and vaguely hungry.

The only thing I was happy about this morning was that Bible study had been cancelled so people could get ready to disembark.

Since I wasn't sure if I'd be able to meet Ramda right at nine with how slow I was going, I held off on giving her an ETA and opened up the link to the extranet that she'd given me. It led me to install a special browser and a program that hid encrypted storage banks in my implant.

The first thing I searched for was "Trinity Stronghold" and the top hit was something I'd heard stories about, but never had access to: Wikipedia. It was a lot like Trinpedia, but had way more articles and was written from a very different point of view. Every other piece of writing I'd read that referred to my home colony had been like a commercial. Wikipedia was like a textbook with a couple sections I didn't expect: "In Popular Media" and "Controversy." I'd never seen a section labeled "Controversy" on any page related to my colony and immediately clicked on it.

My jaw dropped farther and farther open as I read the very first paragraph. For over a hundred years, the human rights violations on my planet had been a subject of heated discussion amongst all the other space territories and colonies. Even the few things Trinity got right had this hanging over them. For instance, our healthcare system was very efficient and affordable, but it didn't provide any help for queer people and was rather poor when it came to women's rights. I'd have to read more about human rights, women's rights, etc. once I learned more about queer people.

Back home, we only talked about them in hushed whispers and seeing such frank public discourse was dizzying. I had to know about human rights to understand more of what the article was talking about, so I dove into that next.

The list of human rights was thirty items long, and as I read it, I mentally ticked off all the ones Trinity didn't provide. Basically, the law could be thrown at anyone who upset the wrong people, which broke four of them because not only were people being persecuted by the law, they were guilty until proven innocent: very much the way Josiah had treated me this trip.

Two of the rights confused me. The thought that anyone should be able to participate in government was hard to get my head around. On Trinity, you had to be sponsored by a member of the government to get into the school that trained all the politicians and there was a lot of room for corruption in that. But lawmakers were trained in how to run the planet and were often rather competent even though they maintained a death grip on the party line. That said, it was hard for me to imagine some rando off the street getting to hold office. What if someone was elected that had no idea what they were doing? Wouldn't they just gum up the works?

Now that I thought about it, that happened even with Trinity's system. Daniel's dad was an absolute wanker and was caught embezzling money from the new hospital he'd commissioned for his home town. His friend in government was forced to denounce him publicly, saying he'd made a grave mistake in sponsoring him. And then Daniel's world had come tumbling down. At least, that's how Hosanna had told it.

Freedom of speech was also a hard one because we'd always been taught it would lead to chaos. "If people could say anything, then lies would rule," was a saying I'd been fed since childhood. But seeing how functional the extranet was while having free speech had me questioning that.

Feeling short on time, I got ready to go to breakfast while reading about gender dysphoria. Dealing with that on top of everything else I had going on with me would've been a nightmare and I was glad I wasn't trans. I was way too much of a guy to ever be considered female, so there wasn't much point in considering it. My heart ached for Ramda, though.

Honestly, I could understand some of what she went through. That feeling of being an outsider was something I knew all too well. It hurt immensely because when we were back on Trinity, we'd been forced to play characters who were devout Christians and didn't like dicks, even when they were attached to beautiful women...

Wait, where was the doubt I'd been feeling since the day I first saw her? Her dick was so beautiful!

That thought had me wanting to dive under the covers and hide. But I resisted it and walked out of my room, headed toward breakfast.

The taste of Ramda's cum was so clear in my memory that heat was rushing to my crotch as I entered the Biome. The sound of her huge load splashing against the shower wall echoed in my mind along with her howls of ecstasy. The sensation of her knot swelling against the base of my prick while she came was so vivid that my knees got weak as I stepped off the bridge and walked down the hill toward the outdoor galley.

Ramda's kindness, blunt honesty, tight hugs, toned muscles, expressive lips, whiskers, dexterous tongue, six breasts, powerful hips, and fluffy tail sat in my mind, distracting me from my meal. And her thick canine shaft with big round balls hanging under it were more on my mind than ever. There was so much I wanted to do with them, but kept holding myself back. I didn't want to get to earth, regretting what I didn't do. After breakfast I was going to--

"Hey Remiel," Hosanna said.

I looked up from my table and tried to put on a straight smile despite the raging boner running down my pant leg. "Hey," I said.

She set down her tray, which had two croissants with jam and butter on them, and sat across from me. "Got any plans before we disembark?"

"Ramda and I are going to, uhh," I stopped myself, not trusting my sex-crazed mind. "...fix her plumbing?"

"Again?" She raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, she, I mean it's going to burst if we don't find a way to relieve the pressure," I said. It was definitely time to go, I'd spoken in innuendo without even intending to.

"Is it dangerous?" Hosanna asked, looking a bit worried.

"Not if we deal with it soon." I grabbed my tray.

"Don't let me keep you, I don't even want to know what happens if you're two are too late," she said.

I got up, holding my tray in front of my crotch. Then I put the croissant I'd only eaten half of in a room service takeaway container and held that in front of myself as I raced out of the Biome. My haste probably unnerved Hosanna, but it sold my story.

Even though it was still twenty-one minutes to nine, I made my way straight toward Ramda's quarters, figuring I could just wait outside her door and finish my croissant.

It was awesome that the door that led to the fore section of the ship just opened for me like I was a member of the crew. The closer I got to Ramda's quarters, the more it felt like I was going to get caught. That somehow someone was going to find out I'd been seeing Ramda and send me right back to Trinity. The spotlights from the ceiling weren't helping because I felt like I was on display in my gaudy cross-ridden Trinity Stronghold uniform.

Striding past the doors to the fore cargo holds that lined this long hallway, I jumped at a sudden whirr from the life support system.

The air got more humid as I got up to Ramda's cabin. Her heavy breathing was echoing down the hallway, like she was in the middle of jogging in place or something.

Peering through her cracked-open door, I marveled at a multilevel, floor-to-ceiling orchid terrarium flanked by amorphous wall panels that were made of three-dimensionally tessellated triangles lit by red mood lighting. They looked like low-res surfaces from a video game and were beautiful. Neither the wall panels nor the orchids held my interest for long because just off to the side, not far from her orange couch, was Ramda laying atop her weight bench. Stretching her canine pussy was a knotted dildo the same size as her massive cock while her dick was buried in a masturbation sleeve that was being stretched to its limit.

Biting back a moan, I rubbed at the rise in my pants while leaning on the door frame with the other.

I'd been so focused on Ramda that I didn't realize what I thought was the door frame was the door itself and I stumbled into the room as it slid out of the way.

"Hi, Remiel. I'm a bit indisposed at the moment," Ramda said.

"S-sorry! I should leave you to your, uhh, exercising." I scrambled to my feet and quickly closed the door, but then my eyes went wide. I'd meant to be on the other side of the door. My thoughts were glitching from how much I wanted to fuck her.

A sucking sound came from her pussy as she pulled the dildo out and then took the sleeve off her prick. Setting them aside, she sat up. "You don't need to leave. I'd love some help with my exercise routine." Pre dripped from her prick onto the textured composite floor as she gave it a nice long stroke.

I took a few steps forward while grasping at my sides. It was embarrassing to be this horny and I could only manage to mumble, "If you're sure you're okay with me--" I gulped, "--with me helping."

Her tail wagged as she looked at the tent in my pants. "Of course I am." She leaned back, lifted her balls out of the way, and spread her pussy open. "Put that boner in here."

I walked over to her, reaching for the button on my pants, but unable to fully commit. My eyes were locked on her spread pussy and her cinnamon and turmeric scents were so heavy I could barely keep still. My cheeks flushed as my pre wet my boxers.

My nervousness just wouldn't leave so I repeated myself. "Are you sure?"

Her wetness was making the fur around her pussy shimmer. "I want to feel you shudder as you get used to being in something so hot, soft, and slick that you nearly blow your load right away. Then I want to feel you fuck me until your dick twitches along its length, filling me with cum."

Panting and moaning, I undid my pants. I pulled them down with my boxers, my face not far from her balls and snatch.

"You smell nice," I said, my face burning with embarrassment.

"So do you," she said.

Letting my pants fall to the floor, I leaned in closer to her balls, pressing my nose into her furry sack. Then instinct took over and I drew in their turmeric scent. As she gasped in delight, tingles traveled down my extremities.

She stroked her cock as her tail wagged between my legs. "Gah! Yes, get your face in there." Her other hand grabbed the back of my head and pressed my face into her balls.

Her pussy was warming and slicking up the backs of my fingers as I nuzzled her sac. I groaned as a wave of searing arousal traveled through me.

"Could you--NGH!--lick my knot?" Her tail rubbed the underside of my balls while tickling my cock. "No pressure, just, I would really like that."

I moved my mouth up to the base of her dick. Looking at her knot, I hesitated before instinct took over. Her scent was too appealing and... Closing my eyes, I reached out with my tongue and licked across the slight bulge of her uninflated knot. She yipped and thrust her hips violently. I never thought that touching someone else's cock this way would feel and taste this good. The experience was contrary to everything I'd been taught: I loved it. A surge of confidence hit me, making me go to town on her knot. I licked at it, nuzzled it, and sucked. She started making noises I'd never heard her make before: whines and little growls.

Between licks, I said, "I still can't get over your size." Her prick was occupying most of my view. The thickness alone was impressive.

"Haaah! Hybrids tend to go for big equipment overall and I wanted to be able to satisfy them." She released her cock, letting it stand on its own. "Why not check out my pussy before you fuck it? I know you're wondering what I taste like down there too."

She was right, I couldn't resist. The cinnamon scent of her snatch filled my senses as I put my lips up against her labia. Her canine clit throbbed against my nose while I licked across her triangular snatch. She yipped, moaned, and got her nectar all over my face as she held me against her. I thrust my tongue into her deep-fuchsia-colored folds, tasting cinnamon, salt, and a bit of tanginess like yogurt. It was so soft and satiny in there and her muscles were tussling with my tongue. More pre leaked from my cock as it burned with need.

Eventually, all the rubbing and licking had her yelling louder and louder. Then, as my lungs burned for me to pull away, she shoved my face against her pussy harder and soaked my face, howling. Her pussy clenched rhythmically on my tongue while her hips went crazy. I nearly passed out before she let me go.

Pulling away from her, I gasped for air.

"I want you in me when I cum again," she said.

"Will you even feel me? Your toy was really big compared to me," I said, moving my prick closer, feeling the heat from her cunt with the head of my cock. My heart was racing now and I felt like I was about to skydive off a skyscraper.

"I felt your tongue didn't I? Trust me, if you put effort into it, I'll feel you just fine," she said.

I pulled off my shirt and then hugged her rock hard dick against my chest, using it to pull myself forward and into her. Plunging into the supple suffocating embrace of her folds, I groaned and bit my lip. Because she could take dicks so much larger than mine, I was able to hilt myself in her in one go.

Grabbing her nipples and thrusting against my chest, she cried out, "Yes! More!"

The end of her dick went up to my sternum. Her pussy clenched around me as she kept thrusting and I gasped, looking down at her canine length. From the pointy tip down, it gained girth until the center of its length where it was a bit thicker than my wrist. After which, it tapered slightly thinner until it hit her sizable uninflated knot. Squeezing it more firmly against my chest, I picked up my pace, smacking my loins against her balls and sopping cooch.

She panted and growled as she pushed back against my thrusts, angling her hips different ways to get both of us making as much noise as possible.

I couldn't take my eyes off the pre streaming from her cock head, lubricating her fucking of my front.

"Oh Remiel, suck on it. I know you want to!" she said.

I leaned forward, moving her prick so that I could stroke it with both hands and get my mouth over the end. My lips parted as I kissed the end of her shaft. She'd used her lips to protect me from her teeth, so I did the same and she let out a happy yowl, shoving more of herself into my maw. I happily took more of it into my mouth while moaning around her sensitive flesh. Part of me expected Josiah to burst through the door and smite me for the sin I was committing, but I couldn't bring myself to care.

The delicious hint of curry in her pre as she spurted in my mouth, the sensation of her canine tip twitching against my tongue, and the way she was running her hands over her six breasts got me thrusting my length into her so fast my legs burned. I was close and if I hadn't been concentrating on giving her head, I would've cum already.

"Use your tongue more," she said with a long gasp. "I'm--AAAH--about to cum both ways." She grabbed my head and started guiding my motions, warm paw pads pressing into my scalp, blunt claw tips adding a bit of danger.

Flicking my tongue across the bottom of her shaft, I got sharp moans from her, and even more pre. Then I used my tongue to increase the friction of her thrusts into my mouth and she grabbed my hair so she could thrust upwards in quick succession, getting herself to the edge in a dozen seconds. My prick was a bit numb from holding back and the overwhelming amount of sensation. I could feel her muscles coordinate within her passage as they tugged on my prick, making me cry out around her dick every time I pulled out or shoved back in. She felt so tight, almost too tight for our combined ferocity.

"Grab my knot!" she yelled.

I reached down with both hands and grabbed her knot as it swelled bigger than my fists.

She howled as her dick convulsed along its length, just as my prick did the same. When her delicious jizz spewed out of her titanic length, I creamed inside her, shoving myself in all the way. My whole body clenched as a rolling thunder of pleasure got me screaming around her cock. Then my cheeks bulged out as her productivity overshadowed my capacity to swallow and cum sprayed back out of my mouth, raining down on us.

Milking my cock, her snatch got me yelping between swallows. I was woefully ill equipped to get even half of what she was giving me down even though I wanted it all. Not that I had a choice: her hands were making sure I stayed on her dick until she was done with me.

Her legs wrapped around my waist as she pulled me against her, keeping me in as deep as possible. She let out one more howl, grinding against me and giving me another gush to drink down.

"That was damn good," she said, letting go of my head.

I pulled off her dick, coughing and sputtering. I couldn't smell or taste anything other than her spooge, and as I let myself collapse against her front, I grinned at how well it had all gone, at how good I felt. I could pleasure a woman just fine, even one with a ridiculously large package.

She hugged me against her, trapping her receding shaft between us. I kissed her lazily and we made out. Then we were just lying there, hardly moving at all. My brain was far from idle, it was replaying sensations from what we'd just done over and over.

Several minutes later, I started rubbing my front against her and when her nipples hardened, I did it even more exuberantly. I had no idea what I wanted, I just needed to feel her body move because of my touch again.

"Remiel, are you--are you getting hard again?" she asked.

I stopped. "Sorry."

"Don't apologize, let's keep going," she said, pulling off of me. Then she got on all fours and lifted her tail, saying, "Here, you won't have to bend your legs as much."

Without a second thought, I shoved in and started thrusting, getting back to full hardness. I couldn't believe that my first and second times penetrating someone were with the same woman, not fifteen minutes apart.

When I grabbed the base of her tail, she started panting and bucking her hips while she stroked her dick with one hand. Her other hand was on the bed, keeping her front from crashing to the bed as I rutted her.

Having gotten off so recently, I lasted until a couple minutes after her pussy went off yet again. As my cock went a bit numb from cumming violently a second time, she let go of her prick and just pressed back against me. My whole body was tingling and I felt light headed, so happy that I stared at her furry back, dumbfounded. When I was spent, she turned around, grabbed my head, and shoved the end of her dick in my mouth. I squeezed her knot and she came a more manageable amount, still tasting amazing. I swallowed it down greedily.

Then we kissed, sharing her cream before we wordlessly went over to the shower and got clean. After that, she took me to her bed and cuddled me from behind. Her balls and sheath against my bare ass didn't bother me one bit. It was the most comfortable I'd felt in all my life.

I grabbed her furry forearms as they encircled me. "I don't want this to be wrong. I feel so at ease with you and you understand me in a way not even I did."

She ruffled my hair with the underside of her muzzle. "We're two adults making our own decisions. I don't see how this can be wrong, but I've blown up a lot of my puritanical past. It's not easy and I'm glad I was able to help you figure some stuff out. You're inherently a good person, one of the absolute best, and you are fantastic in bed."

I bit back tears. Ever since I met Ramda, it was like my emotions were all crowding in my mind, waiting to be expressed. Uncovering all the things I'd buried within myself was terrifying and wonderful at the same time. "You're the first person I've ever been with. The most supportive person I've ever met. I can't thank you enough."

"You're the most open-minded person from your planet I've met besides myself and I think you have the thickest human cock I've ever had in me. You're going to want to warn the next girl you want to do sexy things with." She chuckled.

"I thought I was average," I said.

"Maybe for length, but definitely not for girth," she said.

I grinned. "Wow, okay."

"Whoever gets to be intimate with you next is going to be very lucky." She gave me a squeeze.

"I wish I could stay." I frowned.

"Me too, I wish my contract with MiraManna didn't ban me from offering employment," she said.

"Wait, you'd hire me?" I tried to crane my neck to look at her.

"After you've had some time to experience Earth, in a heartbeat," she said.

"Ahh, so you wouldn't want to employ me right away," I said.

"You owe it to yourself to experience Earth for a while. The society there is completely different from anything you've known."

I sighed. "But I'm going to be working for MiraManna."

She nodded. "Make connections on Earth and stay in touch with me. Keep finding out things about yourself, keep exploring."

"I will," I said.

"And I visit Earth semi-often. When you leave tomorrow, it won't be goodbye, it'll be 'till we meet again.' I'd totally be up for dinner, long conversations, and sex whenever I'm in town."

"R-really?"

"Absolutely! How else are you going to get practice swallowing my load?"

I blushed and squirmed against her. "I don't think anyone could swallow it all."

"Does that mean you don't want to try?" she asked.

I was too embarrassed to answer.

She chuckled. "Thought so."

"Can we order room service for lunch?"

"I was already planning on that," she said.

"Good, because I'm going to stay here as long as possible."

"We might end up needing another shower, in that case." She licked my ear, getting a gasp from me.

My crotch tingled as I wondered whether I was even capable of going again. The only way to know was to try. Before I had to leave, I was going to extract every bit of joy I could. For once in my life, I actually felt like I deserved it.

Chapter 13

Ramda and I stayed together all through lunch and then she had Cuber accompany me for the rest of the afternoon before our disembarkation.

My thighs, buttocks, and prick ached from the three times I'd fucked Ramda and my jaw was sore from the four times I'd taken her prick into my mouth. She'd had two big glasses of water during lunch and I suspected she'd modded herself heavily in the jizz-making department because she'd had something to drink down all four times. Another reason I absolutely had to do stuff with her again in the future.

Sexual satisfaction at this level was more like a pervasive, unshakeable joy and I doubted I'd get excited again for at least a day. Which was good because my leg muscles were spent and I needed to focus on my packing. Cuber wasn't being much help because she kept taking random objects and examining them closely. She currently had one of my socks and was quite pleased with how stretchy it was.

When I heard it start to tear, I said, "Hey!" and reached down for it.

She pulled it away.

"Please don't put a hole in them, I only brought seven pairs," I said.

She reluctantly gave it back and I checked it for holes. Finding none, I put it in the resealable bag I'd put my dirty clothes in and then closed my suitcase. Now that everything was ready, I just laid back on my bed and sighed.

Cuber hopped on my bed, avoiding stepping on my legs.

I hugged her against me, saying, "I'm gonna miss you."

She made a sad trill and hugged me back.

"You don't like people, right?" I asked.

She nodded.

"But you like me and Ramda?"

She nodded.

"Huh, I just don't see why I'm all that special," I said.

Hugging me tighter, she let out a flurry of encouraging beeps.

I smiled and sat with her for a bit before I took out the complementary deck of cards I'd gotten from room service. They had a nice image of the Gluttonous Pixie on the back and the value of each card was related to the rarity of the orchid species pictured on the front.

Cuber and I played "Go Fish" because I didn't want to teach her a whole new game just before we had to leave. We got through four games and were tied for wins. At the end of the fifth game, Cuber's third arm moved at the corner of my vision. My pile of matched fours was now on her side.

I said, "You can't win by grabbing one of my piles."

Continuing to play the game like nothing had happened, she put the pile back.

At the end of the game, I found my pile of fours on her side again and said, "Cuber, you didn't need my fours to win and that's not a legal play."

She put the pile of fours back, trilling excitedly. At this point I was sure she was just playing with me because she'd taken my pile of aces while I was watching her place the pile of fours back on my side.

"Cuber, you're utterly devious," I said.

Bouncing and beeping excitedly, she put all my piles on her side in a flurry of movements that my eyes couldn't keep track of. Then she cheered, announcing herself as the champion cheating at "Go Fish."

I stared at her for a moment, my eyes widening. With sleight of hand that quick, she could move cards around all she wanted... Is that why she always seemed to have more cards than she should have? Had she learned to let me win sometimes so I didn't become suspicious? Did she even know how to play a fair game of cards?

Instead of being angry at her, I just hugged her. She dropped the cards she was holding and hugged me back really tight. Perhaps Cuber and I weren't as alike as I thought. I'd never cheated at a game of cards in my life. She was definitely her own person and that made her even more fascinating.

My eyes got wet. "You're hilarious and I wish I had time to get to know you better."

She cooed and patted my back.

I patted her back, completely in awe of her humanity.

After the hug, Cuber insisted on loading and pulling my luggage cart and I was glad because my legs felt like overcooked noodles.

The Columbia Hangar on Earth's equatorial orbital ring was at least four hundred meters tall and wide and long enough that I didn't know where the end was. Numerous gigantic cranes moved along tracks, handling ships and cargo. There were starships of all shapes and sizes and I only recognized a third of them. I wished I could go on a walk and see them all, but I knew Josiah would object if I strayed too far from the group. Currently, he was talking to Daniel just outside the ship while everyone else was further away, near the far wall that had a holographic map of the station and some other stuff.

Josiah said, "Ramda's gonna take you to Epsilon Eridani and then you're gonna board a small transport back to Trinity Stronghold. If you do well with your anger management courses, you'll be back to Earth next year."

"Okay," Daniel said, sounding meek for what may have been the first time in his life.

Josiah patted Daniel on the shoulder. "Don't fret, God's just got some unfinished business with you and needs you to come back home. If you open yourself to his wisdom, you'll do just fine."

My stomach lurched and I picked up my pace so I didn't have to listen to any more of Josiah's religious rationalizations.

Ramda was talking to Hosanna and Luke next to a giant robotic cart full of luggage that had "Columbia Hangar" spelled out in big navy blue letters across its base. Behind them, all the MiraManna employees were looking at the holographic map, "Welcome to Earth" kiosks, and a wide variety of vending machines along the wall. If Josiah had been paying attention, he would've been lecturing them, because the vending machine everyone was congregating around was the one that sold a wide variety of sex toys.

Walking toward Ramda, I said, "Hey," while trying to forget the fact that this was the last time I'd see her for a long time, possibly ever.

"Remiel," Luke said, "Ramda's dick has a knot, like a dog's!"

I blushed and thought about fleeing.

Hosanna blushed deep red. "Don't announce it to the whole freaking spaceport!"

Luke said, "But Remiel was farther away, I had to speak louder for him to hear me."

"Josiah's also farther away, do you want him to hear you too?" Hosanna sighed. "It's bad enough you even asked her."

"Bad for who?" Ramda asked. "Tell me honestly, Hosanna, was it something you were wondering about yourself?"

Biting her lip, Hosanna remained quiet.

I asked a question I already knew the answer to in an attempt to distract Luke. "Ramda, do you like getting pet?"

Ramda's tail wagged. "Yeah, as long as it's not some random stranger."

Hosanna looked at Ramda's tail. "Can I?"

"All of you can pet me, you don't even need to ask," Ramda said.

Hosanna stepped closer, then she felt along Ramda's tail, stroking the fur. Luke reached up and gently felt Ramda's ear, which flicked when he tried to touch it higher up. He laughed and started petting the base of it. Ramda's eyes closed and she groaned happily.

I started scratching under Ramda's muzzle and Hosanna soon joined me, which made Ramda sway on her feet while cooing in delight. When she let out a yip and wagged her tail furiously at all of us getting even more into petting her, I went for her chin, making her gasp.

Hosanna giggled. "You're just like my dog back home."

Ramda pulled her head away from all of us, "I'm not a dog, I'm a wolf, and don't you forget it." She growled.

"Sure you are." I scratched her chin and she sighed, closing her eyes.

She pulled her chin away, "That's cheating."

Cuber beeped in protest at everyone ignoring her. It was good to see that she liked Hosanna and Luke enough that she wasn't hiding behind my legs.

Looking down at her, I asked, "Are you sure you want me to talk about you? It might be better to keep what I learned about you this morning a secret."

Crossing her arms, she made the wrong answer sound. She had pride about the strangest things.

"Well, I tried." Turning to Ramda, I said, "Cuber cheats at cards. And instead of having remorse about it, she's proud of how many times she duped me."

Cuber trilled happily.

Ramda shook her head at Cuber. "What am I going to do with you?"

Cuber shrugged.

"I was looking at incident reports last night and I found you were the problem robot in over fifty percent of them," Ramda said.

Throwing up her arms, Cuber cheered.

"That and you cheating at cards makes it hard for me to believe you're ever going to learn how to be a good robot," Ramda said. "And the only human you've ever taken a real liking to is Remiel, here."

Cuber hugged my leg.

Looking at her, I felt a wave of sorrow that I'd be leaving her behind.

"After I had to report your antics with the artificial gravity, MiraManna demanded that I take you off my ship," Ramda said. "So I have to figure out something to do with you."

Luke, Hosanna, and I all looked at Ramda with wide eyes.

Hugging my leg tighter, Cuber made a sad trill.

Hosanna said, "Are there charities that take in difficult robots?"

"There's charities that repurpose robots," Ramda said. "But wiping their memory is usually part of it because most robots don't have as much personality as Cuber. She's rather unique and that poses a big problem."

"Oh no," I said. "What's going to happen to her?"

"Well, I have one idea." Ramda knelt down in front of Cuber. "How would you like to take care of Remiel instead of my ship?"

I started crying instantly. Tears just started streaming down my face. "W-what?"

Cuber bounced happily, ruffling up my pant leg.

"If you'll have her, Cuber is yours from now on," Ramda said.

"Yes, oh yes, oh wow," I said, crying in front of people other than Ramda or my family for the first time in my life.

Ramda pulled me into her arms, letting my tears wet her uniform. "This way, you'll have part of the Gluttonous Pixie with you wherever you go."

"Thank you, thank you, thank you," I said.

She hugged me tighter and kissed the top of my head. "I should be thanking you. I had no idea what I'd do with Cuber if you refused."

Luke hugged us from the side, "I read about gender dysphoria last night and I've wanted to hug you ever since, Ramda."

Ramda hooked her arm around Luke.

Hosanna hugged us from the other side. "I think you two are cute together."

"Y-you know?" I asked, a chill running up my spine.

Hosanna said, "You've been happier than I've ever seen you and I don't know what to think about it, but it's God's responsibility to decide what's right for you, not mine."

Luke said, "I'd love to get a beer with you and talk about Ramda once we're settled in on Earth."

"Same goes for me," Hosanna said.

"And I'll be messaging you regularly. I come to Earth often and you are at the top of my list of people to visit," Ramda said. "Plus, I'm gonna have to check in on Cuber so I can track her progress toward becoming a criminal mastermind."

Cuber trilled excitedly.

"Thanks guys," I said, sniffling.

Josiah walked up to us, saying, "What's all this?"

"A farewell group hug, Josiah," Ramda said. "You're welcome to join if you like."

"Yeah, come join the hug, Josiah," Luke said. "If you're nice, Ramda will let you pet her."

"I, uh, we're leaving in five minutes. Be ready," he said before walking away.

After the hug, Ramda set a large water-tight case down in front of me. "Cuber's charger, spare parts, and adapters for different interfaces are all in here. I suggest you find something for her to do during the day or she'll upgrade your living space out of boredom and let me be clear: Cuber doesn't fully understand human needs or aesthetics."

Pointing at Ramda, Cuber scolded her with harsh beeps.

Ramda narrowed her eyes at Cuber. "You know I'm right, don't get all melodramatic about it."

Cuber crossed her arms.

Luke, Hosanna, and I laughed. It was like watching a married couple argue.

I knelt down next to Cuber and patted the top of her cubic body. "It's okay, I'll make sure to show you how to be a good housemate and give you clear boundaries for what you can and can't do."

She gave me a thumbs up.

Ramda asked, "Did you teach her that?"

"Yep," I said.

With her tail wagging, Ramda said, "I think you two will be just fine."

"Me too," I said, hoping I could hang on to my current mindset. At the very least, I'd be living on a world where no one would think to call Ramda an abomination or paint everything a godawful sky blue.

Ramda Art (NSFW)

Remiel’s Enlightenment

After departing from Ramda's ship, Remiel tries to settle into his new life working for Miramanna. Struggling with loneliness and his recently unearthed attraction to herms, he tries to keep his head down and weather the religious cultiness of his workplace.

As he wrestles with questions about his sexuality and identity, Remiel seeks out Ramda's horse-hung-herm friend who works at the FTL history museum. While she helps him explore his identity, he helps her make a major life decision and they fast becomfriends with benefits.

By the time Ramda visits him, Remiel's starting to ask deeper more terrifying questions about himself and his life. Does he want to try to play nice with Miramanna and work on his career or does he want to rebel and take his chances?

If you like slice of life, explorations of sexuality and identity, thoughtful science fiction, and hot hybrid herm on human sex, read this story.

Chapter 1

The last day of Miramanna Earth Operations Orientation had left me feeling like a sack of tungsten bricks that had been dropped from orbit. The smoking crater around me was my life and I had no means of climbing out of it. After my time amongst the stars with Ramda, everything seemed so dim.

Luke and Hosanna hadn't seemed as drained by orientation week as me even though I had less belongings to find places for. I'd thought moving to Earth would change things, and it had, but I was not making the most of it. Something was wrong with me. Something where I never felt fully like myself, like I had to make excuses for using up oxygen. Happiness still seemed like a stranger who only came over when I came up with a scheme to make it worth her while.

Why was I such a lump?

As I waved my hand in front of my apartment door all I could imagine myself doing tonight was opening the forty-centimeter-long mystery package that was leaning against my door and then just lying in bed while Cuber tried to cheer me up.

After my door and my implant exchanged security keys, it popped open. I picked up the package and set it on the gray-and-white-striped quartzite countertop to my left and then took my shoes off and put them on the shoe rack under the metal coat hooks that had been affixed to the wall just inside the door. The need for a coat was so rare in the Trilliant that I wasn't sure why there were coat hooks at all. I just used them to hang bags and produce on.

"Cuber? Are you home?" I called out.

It would've been an act of cruelty to make her stay in this long sliver of an apartment all day, but giving her freedom left me worrying that she'd get herself into trouble that I couldn't get her out of. Even though she was a common model of maintenance robot that typically went unnoticed, if someone looked closely they could tell she was built to work on starships, not mega-tall city-containing skyscrapers.

Looking at the far end of my apartment, past the herbs growing in the rectangular planter in the center of my sunroom, I could see the last sliver of the sun disappearing behind Mount Charleston.

I grabbed my package and walked through the living room into the sunroom. Because of how they arranged the studio, single bedroom, and multi-bedroom apartments, the sunrooms all provided rather good panoramic views, even though some of them were much bigger than mine. My view wasn't as interesting as one might think, however: my apartment was over seven hundred meters above sea level. Unless you were looking at mountain peaks, cloud formations, or looking down, all that greeted your eyes was a featureless blue sky.

The moment I plopped down on the seating that was built into the walls of the room's central planter, I noticed the package was from Ramda and my heart started to race. Forget the view from my apartment, what I wanted was the view from her spaceship.

After trying and failing to open it with my bare fingers, I scanned over Cuber's bizarre, efficiently-stacked pile of junk electronics that sat under a wide plant table we'd constructed together.

Grabbing a circuit board with metal tabs for screwing it into place, I carefully cut the paper tape on the plain cardboard box and then opened it. Under a bunch of magenta tissue paper was a thick canine cock over a foot long and a canine pussy masturbator. Both were modeled perfectly to look like Ramda's herm parts.

Sighing, I wished I could feel something other than frustration. Even being annoyed and embarrassed at the way she was teasing me with it would have been an improvement.

I'd masturbated a few times thinking about her during my two move-in days, but I hadn't done anything since the five-hour-long church service that Miramanna forced on us during our first day of orientation. Subsequent days of orientation taught me that almost none of the other employees had a problem with that church service. Most of them would probably have called girls with dicks, like Ramda, an abomination without a second thought. And I'd be spending a lot of time with these people. Josiah had made it clear during orientation that working remotely wasn't an option, no matter the task. I was sure this was so they could keep an eye on us as much as possible so we didn't "stray from the path."

Since this bellyaching was doing me no good, I left the box where it was and went into the kitchen to make dinner.

Despite my sour mood, I soon had two synth-eggs and grilled synth-chicken strips sizzling in a cast iron pan. I sprinkled it all with curry powder and healthy dashes of cinnamon. It smelled delicious as I tipped it out of the pan and onto a plate. Then I salivated as I braised some lettuce and waited for my toast to pop up.

Pulling a stool out from under the kitchen island, I sat down and started eating my meal with a bit of tamarind chutney I'd picked up at an Indian grocer on the way back home from work. Other than following some general themes with ingredients, I had almost no idea what I was doing when cooking. Sometimes it tasted a bit off, but today it tasted amazing. At least I could do this one thing right, at least not every part of my life sucked...Wait, these flavors were really familiar.

My eyes went wide as I realized that I'd made a cinnamon-heavy curry flavor that tasted just like Ramda's cum. I took a deep breath to calm myself and not get carried away, but that just pulled the turmeric, curry, and cinnamon scents into my nose. I sat straight up and took long breaths through my mouth. I was overreacting. There was no reason to get this worked up about someone who'd easily forget about me within the next few months.

Now that I was on Earth and working at Miramanna, the best option was to just put my sexual urges off to the side like I'd always done. That way, I'd feel less like I was having a brain aneurysm when I was at work and listening to their rhetoric. Plus, my first day of my actual job was tomorrow and I'd need to be focused so I could start impressing them from day one. Working as a glorified office servant needed to be as temporary as possible because I already knew I hated it. Maybe Ramda had another friend on Earth I could give the sex toys to. Someone less forgettable than me.

I took another bite of my meal, trying to taste the seasonings for what they were and not compare them to Ramda. A couple bites later, I was doing fine, but then I bit into the egg yolk and immediately set my sandwich down. Blood rushed to my cheeks and crotch as I squirmed in my seat. A patch where the seasoning was prevalent, mixed with the creamy texture of the yolk, put me right back on the Gluttonous Pixie with Ramda. Her wonderful scent overwhelmed me as I wrapped my mouth around the pointy tip of her cock, drinking down her cum as I filled her wet snatch with my seed.

My heart was pounding and my prick was straining against my pant leg. A flood of joy and horniness swept me away to the point that my eyes teared up. I raced over to the box and pulled the toys out of their sterile packaging. Then I scanned a code on a card in the box using my implant and got some information about the toys to pop up on my HUD. I removed more tissue paper to find a bottle of cum-like lube and a bottle of clear lube, then turned on the toys by pressing buttons near the back of each one. While synching my implant with them, I filled their lube reservoirs.

By this time I was panting and moaning because both toys had heated themselves up to body temperature and felt like the real thing. Pre was beading at the tip of the cock and the snatch was getting quite wet while they pulsed to a moderately fast heartbeat, just like Ramda's parts did when she was really excited and horny.

I yelped when I realized I was doing all this with my sunroom's windows completely clear and quickly pulled up the window's HUD menu, selecting "crystalize." The layer of transparent plastic just inside the window formed crystals in it as a small electric current was applied, giving the window a faceted texture that got rainbows of color to speckle the entire room.

As the pre started to drip off of the cock tip, I brought it up to my mouth and licked it up. Moaning, I shoved the warm, hard prick into my mouth. Ramda had made the lube taste a lot like her cum. Shivers ran up my spine as I sucked on the toy. Then I stopped and unzipped my pants, wanting to try out the masturbator. The moment I had my dick out, I kicked my pants off and pulled off my boxers. Then I took off my shirt too and put my Miramanna work uniform under me to protect the seating area in the sunroom from my naked body.

While sucking on the dildo, I used my other hand to shove the sleeve on my prick. It clenched as I went in, as if I was going too fast, so I slowed down. It was so wet and hot inside, so ready for me, so much like Ramda had been on that last day we were together. I started pumping it up and down my prick, groaning around the massive dildo as I tested my barely-practiced oral skills.

Fuck! If I closed my eyes, it was like Ramda was right here, feeding me her dick and riding me. I squirmed as I imagined her grabbing my head and pushing it down toward her shaft. As I felt a tightness behind my balls and a tickling on my shaft, I slowed down. I wanted to savor this, I hadn't gotten off in so long and this was exactly what I'd been needing all this time. Wetness from Ramda's pussy was dripping off of my balls and her cock was drooling pre that I was happily swallowing. These toys were amazing. Ramda was amazing!

Ngh! I wanted to feel her do something to me. Something we hadn't done yet. Searching for the relief I craved, I pulled the dildo out of my mouth and moved it down to my crotch. I could do this. I'd had sex with Ramda and I hadn't been hit by lightning for that sin. No one was here, no one would see, whatever happened was my secret. I moved the dildo between my legs, gasping as I spread them wider. The simple anticipation of what was about to happen got me thrusting into the masturbator hard enough it was making sucking noises.

Instead of pressing the cock tip up against the obvious target, my back door, my urge directed me to put it against the skin just a centimeter or three above it, where I was getting tingles from holding back on my orgasm. Where a pussy would have been if I had one. I had no idea why I wanted to be poked there, but I was too horny to analyze it.

As the warm cock tip smeared pre on that sensitive area, pressing against my prostate from the outside, I saw stars. A jolt of pleasure got every muscle in my body to tense while I squeaked from my breath catching. My orgasm triggered the dildo and it started gushing cum lube, making a warm sticky mess of my groin. Screaming, I jammed my dick into the masturbator so hard I was afraid I'd break it. As my erection erupted, Ramda's simulated snatch came around me, milking me for all I was worth.

I kept rubbing the head of Ramda's prick against that magic spot behind my balls, wondering what women felt when someone was inside them. This orgasm wasn't as intense as when I'd been with Ramda, but something about where I was stimulating myself changed the feel of it. There was this warm cozy wave of bliss that settled in, making me feel like I'd scratched an itch I'd been ignoring for a long time.

Pulling the dildo up to my mouth, I sucked on it to get the last bits of the delicious cum lube. If only she'd been around so I could have shared this little moment of discovery with her.

A chill ran down my spine. What had I discovered, really? That I wondered what it was like to have a pussy, like every other guy who'd ever watched a girl cum? During my move-in days, I'd listened to audio of wikipedia articles about human sexuality and the biggest thing I'd figured out was that I wasn't all that special. There were lots of people who liked women with dicks. Lots of people wondered about things that were beyond their body's capability to experience.

It wasn't like I wanted to be a hybrid, be a woman, or a herm, or anything, I was just a curious young guy. Reading about gender dysphoria had helped me understand what Ramda went through, but it was giving me some strange ideas.

I needed to give real trans people room to exist and not worry about being one of them every time I did something new during sex. Otherwise, it was gonna be exhausting.

Cleaning up was easy and I had the toys stowed away in a drawer built into my walk-in closet a few minutes after finishing my shower. When I sat down to continue my dinner, I just sat there and smiled for a moment. I'd forgotten what it felt to be this calm inside.

As I was finishing my second curry sandwich, Cuber opened the door and strutted in on her four spider-like legs, holding a rose gold Rolex with one of her three-fingered hands.

The moment I looked at her sensor cluster, she lifted the Rolex above her cubical body and made a flurry of ascending beeps that sounded like a victory fanfare from a VR game.

My chest tightened. "How did you get that?"

Chapter 2

Despite all of Cuber's beeping and gesturing, I had no idea what her story about acquiring this watch involved. It was the nicest watch I'd ever seen. The hours were marked by rubies and the band was made out of the same rose gold as the rest of the watch. Rubies and sapphires were set around the bezel which shaded from red to yellow seamlessly.

After another minute of having no idea what Cuber was trying to tell me, I said, "You know what? Never mind how you got it, we'll worry about that later. I want you to show me where you got it."

I went over to my living room, which was also an anything room. The wall and floor looked like a well-stuffed quilt and the quilt sections actually popped up to become different furniture. I used my implant to make a thin big screen slip out of a slit in the wall and unfold into a four-foot wide display. I used the adjustable arm it was on to lower it to the floor so she could interact with it. And then I pulled up a map of the Trilliant.

Uninterested in the screen, she came over to me and offered me the watch, beeping excitedly as she reached up as high as she could, just past my waist.

Knowing she'd keep trying to give it to me no matter how many times I told her "no," I took the watch.

She trilled and motioned for me to look at it.

"Cuber, this is the most expensive thing I have ever held and I need you to show me where you got it." I pointed at the map.

One half of the screen showed the Trilliant from above and the other half had a side view. All three of the Trilliant's towers were faceted to look like rough quartz crystals that tapered as they rose from the ground. Connecting them were central complexes that looked like trilliant-cut gems similar in size to the great pyramid, but upside down so amusement parks and other things could occupy the flat top of each.

As I sat beside Cuber, she used her three-fingered hands to manipulate the touch screen. Even though she was going so quickly that I was getting dizzy, she wasn't damaging the screen at all. She slowed down when she was at the ground level gem, which was two gem levels below ours. Zooming into the ground-level train station, she tapped a finger on the floor next to one of the pillars.

"So, it was just laying on the floor?" I asked.

She shook her cubical body, giving me a game-show-like wrong answer sound.

Sweat beaded on my forehead, "Did you steal it from someone?"

She crossed her arms and beeped harshly at me.

"Then how did you get it?" I asked.

Cuber went over to the shoe rack and grabbed two different shoes. One was dark blue and part of my work uniform, the other was one of my grey-green walking shoes. Then she walked over to her stash of electronics and came back with a screw. Beeping to make sure she had my attention, she pointed at my watch and then pointed at the screw.

"Ahh, so the screw represents the watch?" I asked.

She nodded, tilting the cube upper part of her body on her spider-like legs. Setting the shoes down, she tied the screw to the end of the gray-green shoe's right shoelace. When she picked the shoes back up, she grabbed that shoe lace with her third arm and had that shoe offer the screw to my work shoe. It shook with anger and batted the watch away with a shoelace. After that, she pantomimed the shoes arguing with each other. During that argument, the watch fell to the ground.

Cuber stopped her puppet show and picked up the screw, making the same victory fanfare she'd made when she'd come in with the watch.

My heart was pounding in my ears. Was some drug lord going to come looking for this watch? Was Cuber going to be the death of me?

"Did they see you grab it?" I asked.

I saw a flash of movement and then the screw was in my hand while the watch was in hers.

My mouth dropped open. "Cuber, you're a pickpocket?"

Cuber cheered.

"No, that's not a good thing. You can't just take other people's stuff," I said.

She crossed her arms and scolded me.

"We could get into trouble, I could get into trouble. Stealing stuff like this often results in the cops getting involved and we don't want to have to talk to them about stolen watches and such," I said. "You should give this back."

Cuber held out the watch to me, making a pleading rising beep.

I took the watch because I got the same feeling I did when a dog brought me its leash to get me to take it on a walk.

She curled my fingers around it and made a soft, reassuring bweep.

"Are you trying to cheer me up?" I asked.

She nodded.

I tried to hand the watch back to her, but she closed my fingers around it again. "Hey!"

She scolded me with harsh beeps.

"Cuber, stop!" I said.

She backed away.

"Giving me stolen things won't cheer me up, it'll only make me anxious," I said. "If you really want to cheer me up, you're going to have to do it in other, less illegal, ways."

This time, she took the watch, walked solemnly over to her electronics pile, and carefully tucked it into a container full of lighting strips. Then she went over to her charger and sat on it.

It was no surprise that Cuber was worried about me and I wished there was more she could do. But there was so much about the world she had yet to learn. I'd given her an allowance to buy stuff, but she hadn't used it so far. Maintenance bots didn't need to buy transit tickets or anything and I wasn't sure she even knew how to use money. I should've shown her how, but leaving the apartment meant I had to deal with people and each of my job's orientation days had sucked my social battery dry before I'd even gotten home.

Maybe I needed to start trying harder to distract myself. Entering the hallway that led to the bathroom, I opened the door to my right and went into my tiny bedroom. I walked to the far wall, which had a sliding door in it. When I opened that door, I revealed a walk-in closet that was bigger than my entire bedroom. It was meant to be my main storage space in addition to a closet and was one of the things I liked most about my apartment.

I grabbed the case with my VR headset and other gear and brought it into the living room. As I summoned the VR crane from the wall using my implant, I popped the case open and noticed that things had gotten jostled a bit from the case falling before I got onto Ramda's ship. The case held everything pretty firmly, but I'd been forced to put the cool pistol-shaped controller I'd gotten as an Easter present in with the headset.

I pulled the pistol out of the headset, grimacing at how realistically heavy it was.

Then I got into the VR exoskeleton dangling from the crane and put on my headset, only to fuss with it because my long hair had gotten snagged in it. I loved my hair and didn't want to risk breaking any of it by being too rough. Once the headset was situated, I put my arms in the arms of the exoskeleton and it inflated air bags to fit snugly around me. A couple seconds later, the VR system was running and I was getting a headache. The stereo vision wasn't lining up and I was seeing double on the menu screen to the point I had to close one eye to read it.

"God DAMN it!" I yelled. Now I couldn't even entertain myself.

After getting out of the VR exoskeleton and taking all my stuff off, I just laid on the couch, sulking.

Cuber came over with my VR headset and trilled in question.

"It's broken," I said.

Cuber tilted her head and trilled again.

"It's not functioning correctly."

She brought it closer and started pointing at various parts of it and then looking up at me to get a response.

"You want to know how it's broken?" I asked.

She nodded.

"The stereo vision got misaligned because it fell."

She nodded, turning it in her hands. Then she opened up a panel on her side and switched out one of the fingers on her left hand for a screwdriver.

"Maybe we should leave it alone? Opening it might void the warranty."

Cuber tilted her head and then let out a series of critical beeps while making frustrated gestures.

"I know it's a stupid idea on the manufacturer's part, but I might be able to get them to fix it," I said.

Cuber pointed at my Miramanna shoes and then at my VR headset.

I sighed. "You're right, it was made on Trinity Stronghold and it's probably a lost cause."

With a happy trill, Cuber started taking apart my headset.

As I watched her, I said, "Cuber, your nonverbal communication is amazing, but it's really difficult to talk about abstract stuff. I think we need to teach you how to use written language."

She beeped and bounced excitedly while holding her hands completely steady.

Her excitement worried me.

I entered the Miramanna Earth Operations's lobby carrying lattes in a multi-cup holder. Passing the sky blue reception desk with a slab of wavy-patterned sandstone behind it, I walked through the frosted set of double doors that went into the office. Stretching out before me was an open office space filled with desks and no privacy. Twenty meters to my right, a wall of glass made out of triangular down-tilting windows offered respite from the light blue and white of the office interior. Through the windows, one could see a large expanse of desert surrounded on two sides by white-and-green-capped mountains that were about an hour's drive from the Trilliant.

The lattes in the cup holder were the result of ridiculously complex instructions. Miramanna higher-ups liked to put their underlings off balance by making even the most simple tasks overwhelming. My cheat on orders was just opening an ordering app with my implant and let the app parse their orders for me. Why they didn't order their own food or let automation handle menial tasks in this day and age baffled me. The only reason I could think of that they wanted us to do the ordering and other stuff is that they liked the idea of having human servants who they could berate for making mistakes. And that was creepy, like everything else about Miramanna.

The conference room I was headed for obscured some of the window space with more goddamn sky blue. When I entered, Josiah grabbed his cup right off of the carrier while still talking to Noah about some buzzword-infested business thing that was probably going to make my job suck even more down the line.

Nothing good ever came from my bosses talking. I'd learned that during orientation.

Noah, a tall thin man with overly-gelled gray hair and a giant gold crucifix hanging from his necklace, grabbed his cup without even acknowledging I was there.

I turned to leave.

"Whoa, hold up there, Remiel," Noah said, with more drawl in his accent than Josiah had.

With my heart sinking, I turned and faced him. "Yes?"

"I think you need a haircut, young man," he said.

Josiah nodded. "Good catch, I'd been thinking he didn't fit the image we're going for."

I forgot to breathe. My hair was the only thing that helped me stand out. Growing it out was the only openly rebellious thing I'd ever done.

"Strange that you didn't address it before he got to Earth, isn't it then?" Noah raised an eyebrow at Josiah.

Letting out a fake chuckle as his cheeks pinkened in embarrassment, Josiah said, "I suppose it is. The trip to Earth was far more eventful than I was prepared for."

"If your trip here was too much to handle, Earth might not be a good fit for you," Noah said.

Even though it wasn't directed at me, I felt a chill in the air after that statement.

"I'll admit, it's been challenging to switch from preacher to company man, but I'll catch up." Sweat beaded on Josiah's brow. "Managing a parish in the outlands prepared me well for change, after all."

"Good, I'll see that you keep your word," Noah said, before turning to me. "Young man, the next time I see you, your hair needs to be a more appropriate length, understand?"

"I--I can tie it back..." My stomach lurched as I tried to think of other ways to meet his demands, "or put it under a hat," I said, the tightness in my chest causing pain to travel down my arms.

"Tying it back will only make you look more like a girl and we can't have that," Noah shook his head. "And you have to start standing up straighter. Your chest should be swelling with so much pride that God made you a man that your shoulders are back and your head is held high. Women are the ones who should slump, they're the ones that are carrying more sin, after all."

As I processed what Noah had said, my nervousness turned into something hot and angry. "But Jesus had long hair," I said.

Josiah said, "Everyone had long hair back then, especially carpenters and other people on the lower rungs of society. Getting a haircut was a luxury many couldn't afford."

"They fed themselves, didn't they? They had to have knives. Why couldn't they cut their own hair?" I asked.

"None of that matters, long hair was in style for men back then and it's not in style now. That's why you're going to get it cut," Noah said.

"I see tons of men with long hair on the metro every day," I said.

Noah showed his teeth. "Are you saying we're Earthers now? That we should wallow in sin like pigs in their own shit?"

"No, I'm just..." I said, wanting to run out of that room and never come back.

"You. Guided prayer. The rest of your shift," Noah said. "I'll tell Pastor Thomas what you need to work on and I'll expect to see that you cooperated when he sends his end of day report. Now go." He pointed out the door.

Not wanting to hear another word from Noah, I walked straight out of the conference room, toward the chapel.

The chapel was directly across the office from the conference room through doors that had red-and-white marbled stained glass windows in them. Inside were sky blue pews on top of a maplewood floor. To my left was a trio of confessionals and to my right was a mahogany pulpit with maple inlays that depicted the backs of a crowd watching Abraham about to sacrifice his son to God.

There were a few other people in the chapel praying and I sat in the first pew to be as far from them as possible. I wanted to hit something or just jump around and scream. Knowing Noah had more power than Josiah made me so anxious that I could hardly sit still while I waited for Pastor Thomas or one of his assistants. My job was like a form of torture I got paid for.

A heavyset assistant soon walked out of the door behind the pulpit and led me through Bible readings and prayers that reinforced traditional gender stereotypes, until I was just mumbling the bare minimum to not have him make me repeat stuff. I had to work really hard to stop myself from sprinting out of the building when it was over and I opened the chapel doors hard enough that Luke had to dodge them.

In his arms were takeout containers that higher-ups had left on their desks. He asked, "How are you, Remiel?"

I spoke quietly, saying, "They want me to cut my hair."

He asked, "Jesus had long hair, didn't he? Why would they care?"

After cringing at his lack of volume control, I decided that this conversation needed to happen outside of work. "How about I tell you over dinner?"

"Sure! Get us a table at Greta's and I'll join you in about fifteen minutes," Luke said. "Hosanna will likely want to come too."

"Greta's, again?" I asked.

"They give out free popovers," he said.

"Luke, that can't be the only reason," I said, keeping my volume low.

"Greta's gay, so no one from here goes there," he said.

"Oh," I said, feeling really dumb. Of course the woman that I often saw Greta with was her lover. This was Earth, not Trinity Stronghold.

"See you soon," Luke said as he walked toward the trash chute.

Exiting the building, I squinted at the light from the sun lamps dozens of meters above my head. The walkway I was on was suspended above the next level down and went between two wide buildings that leaned toward the road. Just outside the building on the right, in front of a transit stop, was a cologne ad featuring a skinny naked guy with his hands over his junk while a burly naked guy whispered in his ear. Whoever paid for the ads on that tall screen seemed determined to piss Miramanna off and I loved them for it.

The transit stop's circular seating area was cut right out of the front of the building, as if someone had pressed a spherical eraser into it. At the center of the seating area was a little moss garden guarded by tree ferns. I took a right after passing the transit stop, going through a tunnel that was cut through the building. The tunnel was lit with reds and yellows that slowly rippled across the walls opposite the direction I was walking.

At the end of the tunnel was a diamond-shaped plaza that had two levels. Looking down at the street that went around the plaza's lower level, I spotted a health clinic, an augmentation shop, and a delicious steamed bun restaurant. Across the composite walkway ahead of me was a rock garden with miniature trees surrounding a boba tea place with a steeply-tilted roof. I turned right and followed the walkway that went around the periphery of this level, passing a store selling anime paraphernalia and an Ethiopian market that had really good bread before entering Greta's.

Greta's entire ceiling was covered with a bunch of colorful flags that I didn't know the meanings of. Every table, chair, or other piece of furniture was made of repurposed wood glued together to form free-form mosaics. Nothing matched, but somehow that made everything fit together. I used the touch screen on the podium at the front to ask for a table and then an antique lantern on a table near the front flashed. I went over and sat at it, waiting for Luke and Hosanna.

A woman with blue fox ears and a floofy tail walked up, asking, "It says you're waiting for two more?"

"Yeah," I said, trying not to stare at her tail.

"Is there anything you wanted before they arrive or should I just wait till they get here?"

"No, I'll just wait for them," I said.

"No problem," she said and walked away.

A couple other people in the restaurant had augments. A guy with bunny ears, a woman with small antlers, and an ambiguous person with a raccoon tail. They all looked so happy. If I'd been born an Earther I definitely would've--

"Hey Remiel!" Hosanna's voice came from behind me.

As she sat to my left, I said, "Hi."

Luke plopped down asking, "So why did they ask you to cut your hair? I don't get it."

Hosanna's jaw dropped. "What? I don't get why they'd have a problem with it, Jesus had long hair, after all."

Apparently everyone used the Jesus long hair argument. No wonder Noah had been so unimpressed. I sighed. "Noah said that it was normal in the past, but I have to match current men's fashion."

The waitress came back and Hosanna looked her curvy body up and down. I hadn't seen her look at another woman this way since Ramda. Maybe she liked ears and tails as much as I did.

The waitress smiled at Hosanna, saying, "Your eyeliner game is out of this world, girl."

Hosanna giggled, putting her hand over her mouth. I'd never seen her react quite that way. She was blushing.

Luke's brow was furrowed.

Hosanna said, "Thanks, I love your ears and tail. They're my favorite color of blue. Just a hint of green."

Now the waitress was blushing. "You are just the cutest--" she bit her lip and offered her hand to Hosanna, "I'm Julia, what's your name?"

"Hosanna," she said, shaking Julia's hand exuberantly.

Julia turned to look at me and Luke, "Sorry that I got so distracted by your gorgeous friend. Would you like anything to drink?"

Luke and I ordered sparkling water. It was a house special that had a couple mint leaves in it and was very refreshing.

Hosanna asked, "What do you recommend, Julia?"

"Do you like thick and creamy or light and fruity?" Julia asked.

"Light and fruity?" Hosanna said, in a bit of a daze as she glanced at Julia's lightly-wagging tail.

"How's our iced peach green tea sound? It's got lemon and ginger in it too. It's my favorite thing on the menu," Julia said.

"That sounds perfect," Hosannah said.

"Actually, I want to try that," I said.

"Me too," Luke said.

Julia's ears perked up. "So, nix the sparkling water and bring three peach green teas instead?"

"Yep," Luke said.

"Okay! I'll be right back with that and your popovers," Julia said.

Luke looked straight at Hosanna, asking, "Are you attracted to Julia?"

Hosanna blushed bright red. "Don't say that out loud."

"So you are?" he asked.

"I don't know, I've never felt quite like this and I have goosebumps," she said.

"If you want to hang out with her, Remiel and I won't tell anyone," he said.

Her blush got worse and then she turned to me. "Remiel, they were saying you have to match modern male fashion or something?"

My chest tightened. "Yeah, Noah sent me to guided prayer when I tried to argue with him about it."

"Noah isn't a good listener," Luke said. "You should probably talk to his boss, I've heard that guy's a bit more reasonable."

"That's not what I heard. I heard he's more by the book than Noah. So, it depends on whether the rules favor Remiel's stance or not. Plus, if we go over Noah's head, I think he's the sort that will get really petty about it," she said. "Let me check our code of conduct quick." Then she stared off into the distance as she used her implant to bring up the document.

Luke started to speak, but was interrupted by Julia setting down our popovers and drinks. When she leaned toward Hosanna to set her drink down, she made a point of letting Hosanna stare down the cleavage window in her blouse.

"Are y'all ready to order or should I give you more time?" Julia asked.

Luke ordered synth beef curry stew, Hosanna and I ordered the synth chicken massaman curry. The whole time, Hosanna was unable to focus on anything other than Juila's tail.

After taking our orders, Julia walked closer to Hosanna and turned so her tail was well within Hosanna's reach, saying, "Why don't you stop gawking and admire it more closely? I don't mind."

At first, Hosanna just fidgeted nervously, but then Julia flicked her tail so it was a millimeter from Hosanna's right hand.

Hosanna touched it with the tips of her fingers, "It's so soft!"

"No need to be shy, I like being touched by pretty girls like you," Julia said.

Hosanna giggled at the compliment and then started petting Julia's tail while inspecting it closely.

Julia bit her lip and arched her back a bit, breathing a soft sigh through her nose. Then she closed her eyes, letting out a deeper sigh that was just shy of a moan.

The deeper sigh got Hosanna to let go and then readjust herself in her chair.

It took Julia a good few seconds to shake out of her pleasured daze. "I'll be back with your orders in about fifteen minutes."

"Hosanna, your face is really red," Luke said.

"Not now, Luke." Hosanna sat up straighter, pretending nothing had happened. "I can't find anything that mentions the appropriate hair length directly. Lots of the code of conduct is pretty straightforward, but the part about the dress code is so tangled up in legalese that I can't make heads or tails of it. They say that men's styles should be shorter than women's, but they don't say how much. For just about everything associated with our dress code, and even some of our conduct, they keep using the phrase, 'appropriate for an off-world corporate missionary setting.' I think they're just giving our managers free rein to decide what's appropriate while taking away our ability to argue."

Luke leaned toward me. "Why don't you ask Ramda about this? She seems to know a lot about dealing with Miramanna."

"She's probably too busy to deal with something like that," I said.

"You two had lots of sex, Remiel, I think she would want to help you," Luke said.

"Luke!" Hosanna said.

"What? It's true," he protested.

Now I was blushing. "I shouldn't go asking for her help every time I hit a minor snag like this."

"This isn't a minor snag, Rem, it took you over a year and a half to get your hair to grow that long. And you look really good with long hair. I bet Ramda likes it too," she said.

"I need to stop being so belligerent and just do what they ask of me for now. I'll never make it to a higher position if I fight them every time they ask me to do something as small as cut my hair." I said, feeling a bit sick.

Hosanna put down her glass and swallowed some peach green tea. "You look really unhappy, Rem. I don't think it's a small thing for you."

"Yeah, you seemed really off when you came out of the chapel today," Luke said.

"This is so stupid." I grabbed the edge of the table as my chest ached from all the tension in it. "I'm so stupid."

Hosanna put a hand on my back and stroked lightly. "You're not stupid. We can't just do everything they tell us to do because they tell us to do some really questionable things, especially now that we're on Earth. If they get the idea they can just order us to bend ourselves into pretzels, they'll keep doing it."

"Yeah, I had to tell them at orientation that I can't do company stuff past nine in the evening. I get really clumsy after nine p.m.," Luke said.

Julia arrived with our food on a tray and set it in front of us. "Are the popovers and tea not to your liking?" she asked.

"No, we love them," Hosanna said. "We just got caught up in conversation."

"Well, your food's really hot, so you can enjoy the popovers while it cools. But don't wait too much longer. They're best fresh out of the oven when they're hot enough to melt the cinnamon honey butter," Julia said.

"We'll get right on that," Hosanna said.

"Good," Julia said. She started to turn away, but then stopped and looked at Hosanna. "Where are you from, Hosanna?"

"Trinity Stronghold," Hosanna said, grimacing a bit.

"I thought they killed all their lesbians," Julia said.

Hosanna stared at Julia with her eyebrows raised and her eyes wide. Julia winced, realizing her macabre joke had gone too far.

Hosanna recovered a second later, saying, "I'm not a lesbian."

"Are you sure about that?" Julia raised an eyebrow. "Because if you say you're sure, I won't ask you on a date."

Luke's mouth dropped open. I blinked and felt blood rush to my cheeks.

Hosanna's eyes went wide and her hand stopped in the middle of grabbing a popover. "A date?"

"Yeah, it's been ages since I had this much chemistry with someone," Julia said.

"I, uhh, you--" Hosanna's mouth hung open for a moment, steam practically coming out of her ears.

"Don't worry, hon. You take all the time you need to think about it," Julia chuckled and trotted off.

Luke and I stuffed our faces with food, but Hosanna was on a mission to make sure her mouth was too full to hold a conversation. Out of all of us, I was the slowest because I was very preoccupied by how incredibly good the iced peach green tea was. The bit of lemon and ginger in it made me completely unable to set the glass down for long.

The moment we were full, Luke asked, "Are you going to go on a date with her?"

"I don't know, I've never had a girl ask me out," Hosanna said.

"Neither have I," I said.

"But didn't you do stuff with Ramda?" Luke asked.

"She never actually asked me out," I said. "We just kinda did stuff."

"That makes sense," Luke said. "Hosanna, what's making you so unsure?"

"It's just, wouldn't I be going against what God wants for me if I do it?" she asked.

"How can we truly know what God wants for you?" Luke said. "I read that many of the Christians on Earth are LGBT people. I think Josiah, Noah, and all the other people that tell us what to do only know what they want for us, not what God wants for us."

"Yeah, and if God's watching and you believe in him giving us signs sometimes, how much clearer of a sign can he give you than having Julia show up?" I asked.

"But what if she's some sort of test? Temptation?" Hosanna asked.

"Since God never bothers to tell me what's good or bad himself, I just do what I think is best and then ask for forgiveness in case I did the wrong thing," Luke said.

"I'm not sure that's how it's supposed to work," Hosanna said.

"Are you sure? If I use other people's assertions about what God wants, they can, and have manipulated me into doing terrible things I never would've done otherwise," Luke said. "It's basically letting other people pose as God to steal my free will."

My eyes were wide. Every once in a while, I got a firm reminder as to why Luke was one of my best friends. "I'm sure if we asked Noah and Josiah if God wanted me to cut my hair, they'd say, 'yes,' but I doubt they know for sure how long God wants my hair to be. God probably has bigger things to worry about," I said.

"That's a good point," Hosanna said.

"Yeah! How about if Remiel agrees to send a message to Ramda about his hair, you agree to spend some time with Julia and see how that feels?" Luke said.

"Sure, it's not like anything's going to happen on a first date, anyway." Hosanna said. "I'll have plenty of time to decide how far I want things to go."

"Are you two sure I should message Ramda? It seems silly to bother her about this," I said.

"Remiel, if you don't promise to message Ramda, I'll opt out of Julia's date. That's the deal," Hosanna said.

"Okay, I'll do it," I said.

A few minutes later, when Julia walked up to the table, Hosanna said, "I'll do it."

Julia's tail wagged excitedly as she beamed a huge smile at Hosanna.

Chapter 3

Even though I was in a building so tall that it literally touched the sky, the stars felt profoundly out of reach. Working for Miramanna was much like being back at Trinity, the only exception was that I had a better idea of what I was missing out on. Being closer to the stars, or the grass on the other side of a prison fence didn't make one any freer.

Soon after I’d woken up this morning, I'd sent a message to Ramda telling her everything I told Luke and Hosanna last night. Then I’d spent my whole workday looking forward to her reply while hoping Josiah stayed busy enough to ignore me. I'd gotten a tight chest and shortness of breath from thinking about scheduling my haircut over a dozen times. I was the world's biggest idiot for trying to rebel in the first place. There was no way around me having to throw away the twenty-something months I'd spent growing it out. It was just dumb luck that it had been overlooked by my superiors until now.

Even now that I was home I still couldn't get myself to make the appointment, so I was just laying on the bench in the sunroom, looking up at the stars while feeling sorry for myself.

When I finally managed to get myself off the bench, I walked over to the kitchen and opened the freezer to see if there was anything incredibly lazy to make for dinner. Just as I got my hand on a box of taquitos, a notification popped up on my implant's HUD.

It was Ramda's video reply to my message. Putting the taquito box back, I shut the freezer and leaned on the counter before playing the message:

Ramda was wearing a thin night gown that did nothing to hide the dark fuchsia of her six nipples. Her large bulge was making the nightgown catch on her crotch while her dark reddish-purple fur was damp like she'd just gotten out of the shower.

There was a slight frown on her wolf muzzle as she said, "I'm going to miss your hair a hell of a lot, but I can help you buy treatments to get it to grow out a lot faster once it's safe to do so. On my ship I have lots of power, but outside of it, I have to get my legal team involved. Miramanna has lawyers like a swamp has gators. And even if you did win, they'd find an excuse to fire you. My advice is to play nice for now and start collecting data on their workplace shenanigans. If you keep good records of the shit they do to you and other employees, you can help me build a case against them. You're not alone, there's other employees looking to fix Miramanna's Earth operations."

Gripping the counter, I held back tears. The fact that Ramda didn't think I could keep my hair destroyed what little hope I had left.

"To counter that bad news, I know the head FTL historian at the Vegas Space Travel Museum and she’s interested in meeting you. Her contact info is attached."

My jaw dropped open and I forgot how to close it again while I thought about meeting an actual FTL historian. I already had questions…Wait, this was one of Ramda's friends. I bit my lip. Did that mean she was a hybrid or one of Ramda's sex partners? Was she a herm like Ramda? No, no, no, there was no way she was all those things and an FTL historian. I was getting way too excited about this.

"Good luck with Cuber. I'm glad you two get along, but I sometimes fear I gave you more to deal with than I should have. I can't even imagine what teaching her how to use human language would be like. Honestly, if Cuber were here with me now, I’d try teaching her. I’ll try anything at this point. This route pays well, but it’s super boring. And you’re not helping with that boredom since you didn’t even mention the new toys I sent you. Did you cum so hard you were too embarrassed to mention them?” she said with a toothy grin. "If you don't let me know what you thought of them, I'm going to arrange to send them to someone who’ll give me more of a play by play ."

I bit my lip as I watched her message a second time. There was no way to avoid talking about her gifts and therefore I most definitely couldn't give her a video reply back.

So, while blushing and squirming, I sent, "I loved your gifts, they had the exact same effect you described. I'll contact your friend sometime in the next week, thank you for everything."

My dick was half-hard when I sent the message and it stayed that way all the way through me making and eating my taquitos. Then I got a message back.

Ramda was naked and the tip of her prick was poking out of her sheath. "Mmm, thinking about you playing with them has me a bit worked up. Want to see more? Contact Ezzie right now and I’ll give you some quality fapping material." She rubbed her finger on the tip of her cock and slowly worked two inches of it out of her sheath. Then she winked and ended the video, leaving me with a rock-hard erection.

Damn her for knowing I needed encouragement to contact Ezzie. I just went with a simple:

*Hi, Ezzie.*

*Ramda said we should get in touch and I thought I'd ask what your availability is this week.*

*Thank you for your time,*

*Remiel*

Then I messaged Ramda telling her I'd contacted Ezzie and got out Ramda's toys. By the time I had them all ready, she’d sent me another video.

In it she was straddling a huge equine dildo which was attached by a suction cup to her weightlifting bench. Moving the handheld camera so I had a glorious view of her triangular canine snatch, she lowered herself onto the dildo. Her pussy lips spread wider and wider until the head popped in. She gasped and growled as she slowly made the dildo disappear inside her.

I lowered the masturbator that looked and felt almost exactly like her sex onto my shaft in time with the video, moaning.

Soon, she was rubbing her paw-padded hands all over her six tits. Her moans became higher pitched as she popped past the medial ring and started bouncing.

I grunted as I thrust into the toy, my hips lifting off of the bed and slamming back down over and over. Blushing, I realized that I was conditioning myself for the next time she rode me. I was getting a very nice workout, Ramda was so hot, and this felt so good. Fuck! Sex was so awesome and I loved it!

Positioning the camera behind a thin pane of transparent material, she stroked her thick canine dick while riding the dildo. I now had a really good view of her entire front looking upwards so her erection appeared utterly titanic and got to be the star of the show. Her moans and gasps made me hot all over and watching her six breasts bounce with her motions was enthralling. I sucked on the dildo she gave me, getting pre in my mouth.

There was no hesitation in her movements, nothing to stop her from going right over the edge when she got there. So I didn't worry about lasting and just thrusted while giving her simulated cock the best blowjob I could. Matching her pace was making me starved for air, but I didn’t want to slow down, I couldn’t slow down. As I wondered if my body could keep going, she started growling and taking the dildo all the way to the base while jacking her cock so fast her hand was a blur.

Then, as her knot inflated, she sat on the toy and ground her muff against the base while grabbing behind her knot. Grunting and squirming, she carefully aimed her twitching shaft before she fired cum directly at the camera.

“OH REMIEL!” she cried as she covered the pane of transparent plastic with ropes of her thick, creamy jizz.

“AAH! RAMDAAA!” I screamed as I buried my dick in the masturbator and orgasmed so hard I was moaning and writhing in passion.

Then the dildo came, giving me a huge load to swallow. My imagination went wild, putting me right at the end of Ramda’s cock as she flooded my mouth with her tasty load.

Before the toy dick was fully spent, the same urge I’d had before got me to put the tip behind my balls. As it kept cumming, I moved the tip around until it was just above my hole. I saw stars as my voice cracked from yelling so loud. Then I was staring up at the ceiling while trying not to chew on my lip too hard. Why did it feel so much better to have something between my legs when I was cumming? Maybe I was more gay than I initially thought?

Yeah, that had to be it. Me being trans was so unlikely and the fact I didn't like myself was more due to how nervous and awkward I was all the time than something like gender dysphoria.

What would it feel like to have someone inside me? Their throbbing hot cock spreading me open, filling me. Grabbing a pillow, I buried my face in it. I'd never thought seriously about using my back door like that and my full body was blushing. Did I really want to try anal sex?

A wave of disgust hit me so hard that I got sick to my stomach. It was the same feeling Trinity’s anti-gay advertising gave me, and even though I knew that, I couldn't shake it. I rolled off my bed and headed straight for the shower. Why was I so bad at everything?

At least washing myself gave my mind something to do other than relive the thoughts and emotions I'd been trained to feel. Sometimes I wondered if there was even a real me under all the conditioning Trinity had given me. The more I learned about Earth, the more I felt like some alien creature that had never been human to begin with. All the Earthlings I'd met had zero hangups about gender and sexuality. Everything I viewed as rigid, they viewed as flexible.

A message from Ezzie came in just as I was toweling off:

*Hey Remiel,*

*I'm not going to be all that busy on Friday. Could you get to the museum by 18:45?

*Sure,* I sent back.

*Do you like banh mi sandwiches?*

I looked up ‘banh mi’ and my mouth watered seeing grilled meat, cilantro, and shredded carrots laying in a fresh baguette. *I’ve never had them, but I really want to try them.*

*Great! There’s this amazing banh mi place in the museum’s food court and at the end of the day they sell the extras for nothing. I’ll pick some up and we can eat them in the employee break room. By the time we finish eating, it’ll be past 19:00 and the museum will be closed so we’ll practically have it to ourselves. Sound good?*

I nearly jumped up and down thinking about getting a private tour from an FTL historian in an empty museum, but then my heart started pounding from anxiety: What if all the questions I was thinking to ask were actually really dumb or Ezzie got annoyed by my social awkwardness?

Trying to push that thought out of my mind, I sent back, *Works for me!*

*Yay!* she replied. *Just mention you have an appointment with Ezzie when you get to the ticketing desk and I'll come out to meet you.*

*Okay,* I said.

*Looking forward to meeting you :D,* she said.

*Me too,* I said.

Before I went to bed that night, I looked up the manual for Cuber’s model of maintenance robot, trying to get an idea of how hard teaching her language would be. The answer was: hard.

The next morning, I woke up from a nightmare where a giant pair of scissors was trying to cut off my tail even though I didn't have one. Somehow I was still terrified and I couldn't even get myself to look up places to get my hair cut. All I needed to do was just go in and ask for a short style and have a boring conversation for a quarter of an hour. Heck, I could even go get one from a robot in a styling booth and not have to talk to anyone at all.

My heart pounded every time I thought about it. It was hard to feel good about myself when proof that I was useless was so abundant.

Work was exhausting because Josiah needed help with some data that had gotten entered so badly that our database cleanup algorithms couldn't sort it out. I asked him multiple times if I could write a script to help with some of it, but he declined. The monotonous work didn't keep my mind busy enough to prevent me from worrying about Noah showing up and chastising me for still having long hair.

When I got home, Cuber was in the entryway holding my VR headset. She trilled and handed it to me.

I grabbed it out of her three-fingered hand, saying, "You got it working?"

Cuber bounced her entire boxy body, nodding.

"Thank you!" I said.

She pointed at the part of the wall the VR crane was in, making a rising chitter of beeps. She was as excited for me to try it as I was.

After getting into the VR crane and putting on the headset, I started up my VR rig. Seeing that the stereo vision was no longer screwed up, I said, "It works!"

Cuber cheered.

I played a puzzle game where I was an engineer trying to fix a planet's weather control system. It was a really hard game because some of the puzzles were linked to each other all across the planet. The world was beautiful with animals and vegetation everywhere. Sometimes I just sat there looking at the nature around me, wanting to enjoy the view. I got a bit sidetracked feeding some raptor-like toucan things some of my rations. They fought, chirping and snipping at each other as I gave them bits of MRE mashed potatoes. Then one stole my spoon and I had to chase it down since I didn't know where to get another one.

A couple hours later, I shut down the VR system and put everything away.

Finding Cuber near her electronics pile, I asked, "Want to learn how to write?"

Without looking at me, Cuber trilled and bounced.

"Both of us can look into giving you the ability to send text messages, but you can just type on a screen for now," I said. "Meet me in the living room in a few minutes and I'll have stuff ready for our first lesson."

After making the large screen emerge from the wall, I sent a command for it to split into two screens, each on a separate section coming out of the main arm holding the screens. I opened up a document on Cuber's screen and then opened that same document on my screen, giving myself editing privileges.

Cuber came over just as I was bringing up an on-screen keyboard.

I used my implant to type out, "Hello Cuber, welcome to your first English lesson."

"You know what that means, right?" I asked.

Cuber nodded.

“Try writing the same thing under it," I said.

She typed it so fast that I didn't even realize she'd started by the time she’d written the whole sentence.

"Okay, typing won't be an issue."

She trilled and typed the sentence again.

"Let's have you write down something you hear." I thought for a moment. "Try this sentence: roll a ball."

She paused for a small fraction of a second and then typed, "Roll a ball."

“Wait, how can you do that? Your quantum neural net is only configured for understanding speech, not transcribing it. You don’t even have a phonetics library,” I said.

“Me hear + see words,” Cuber typed.

My eyes widened. “Oh wow! I actually understand your first sentence!" I raised my arms in celebration.

Cuber did the same, chittering in excitement.

When we calmed down, I said, “You aren’t even supposed to be able to generate human language, you weren’t built for that at all.”

“Me = outlier,” Cuber said.

“Yes, you absolutely are. I think you’re co-opting your general problem-solving neural net to try and solve English,” I said. “That’s probably why it’s so hard. Language is actually really chaotic.”

“Yes and yes and yes,” Cuber typed.

“Luckily, you have a lot of extra general neural net nodes so you can take on new skills. You should probably be pretty generous in allocating those resources to help you learn language,” I said.

“Already doing,” Cuber replied.

"Good! Now try typing: A light on the ceiling."

"A light on the sealing," Cuber wrote.

“The last word is that.” I pointed up at the ceiling. “Not the stuff we use to keep air from escaping through joints and stuff."

"Both sownd sealing," Cuber typed.

"Only a couple things we need to work on. The thing that's above us is spelt C-E-I-L-I-N-G not S-E-A-L-I-N-G."

Cuber made the wrong answer sound.

"Hey, it's not my fault that English is full of exceptions to the phonetic spelling rules. There's a rule that states: I before E except after C. It's how you know what to do after the C in ceiling. Okay, now try spelling 'weird.'"

"Wierd," she typed.

"Nope, W-E-I-R-D. It, and a lot of other words, randomly disobey that rule."

She made the wrong answer noise and wrote, "No!"

"English is a heavily-fermented language. Like, it’s been gaining exceptions and confusing problems ever since it started being spoken and no one’s ever successfully given it a spelling reform," I said.

"Ceieling, Weierd. There, fixed," she typed.

I chuckled. "Maybe we should stop for today."

"Seieling, Wyrd," she typed while chittering in a way that closely resembled curse words.

"Yep, we're stopping," I said.

She cursed a bit more and then typed, "Cealing."

I took the screen away and then hugged Cuber. "You're adorable."

She hugged me back, still swearing like an eight bit sailor who only had beeps and boops.

I laughed.

After the hug ended, I went to bed. In the morning, Cuber was watching me from my doorway and the moment I started to sit up, she left.

I called after her, but she didn't respond and the microwave started running. She kept messing around in the kitchen as I stumbled out of bed and got on clothes. Rubbing the sleep out of my eyes, I went after her only to find a plate of leftover waffles with chocolate syrup on them.

At first, I thought everything was normal, but then I noticed the chocolate syrup spelled out, "Mor words," and Cuber was holding a butter knife.

"Are you threatening to stab me if I don’t teach you more English?" I raised an eyebrow.

She let out a frustrated flurry of beeps and then pantomimed cutting a waffle.

I smirked, knowing exactly how her mind worked. “Are you trying to make some sort of deal with me? Cutting my waffles for more language lessons?"

She nodded and then motioned for me to eat.

I put my fork in a waffle, wondering what exactly she was planning, but then I saw a flash of movement and there was a bite-sized piece cut out around my fork.

"Thank you," I said, popping the waffle bite into my mouth.

As I ate, she seemed a bit impatient, but the gesture was so kind, so thoughtful, that I started getting teary-eyed. Cuber was making my prison of a life so much more bearable. And soon I’d be meeting Ezzie. Hopefully, I wouldn’t make a fool of myself.

Chapter 4

The green-grey and hot pink interior of the metro train was done so tastefully that it didn't bother me. Whoever designed the train cars for the Trilliant knew that a tiny bit of hot pink went a long way. It had a soft glow, running along outlines of textures and the edges of objects in the train so one could see a wireframe of every surface in the train when the overhead lights were dimmed at night.

The FTL museum was in the top gem that connected the Trilliant's towers, just under the spaceport. Anyone using the spaceport could enter the museum for free. Well, when the museum was open. On the weekends, the museum closed early because it couldn’t compete with the legendary spaceport sector nightlife. And randomly throughout the year, the spaceport ran giant special events that often utilized some of the museum’s large spaces.

I'd thought of going to some of these events, but I either was scared that Miramanna would find out I was attending something too adult or accuse me of being too much of an Earther. Either way, I didn't need any more attention than I got.

As I got off the train, I stopped right in the middle of the station. My mouth hung open as I stared up at a giant holographic representation of gravitational wave polarization. Circularly polarized gravitational waves were so trippy that I was practically hypnotized by them. It was like a swirl traveling through spacetime.

This metro station had been made to look like a spaceship scrapyard, complete with switch panels, hoses, electrical wires, pressure doors, heat shields, and boosters. Over a hundred years of space exploration strewn about as if someone had started sorting them, but had decided to make artful arrangements of them halfway through. I recognized parts from famous early ships, including SpaceFarer Geneva: the first ship to use a fusion torch for propulsion.

Riding the escalator through the cryogenic storage area of a SpaceFarer Geneva, I made it to the street. My eyes widened as I looked at the entrance to the FTL museum. The arch for the entryway was made of a section of a hammer ring that had been decommissioned. It must have been an early hammer ring because it was only big enough for one mid-sized starship.

Walking up to the ring section which was two meters thick and glimmered with a faint spectrum of colors, I felt a bit weightless. This ring section was only about a third of the entire ring and it went up thirty meters. I could barely imagine how big the more modern ones were. They could send several ships across space at the same time.

The ticketing kiosk at the front of the museum had a giant rocket fin lying atop it as a roof. The ceiling for the museum itself was twenty meters above that, curved and speckled with high intensity computer-controlled spotlights. A steady stream of people was walking past me on their way out of the building while the wild, white-haired man at the kiosk looked at me with a raised eyebrow.

"I'm here to see Ezzie," I said.

His expression softened. "Ah, Remiel, is it?"

"Yes, that's me," I said.

"She's on her way," He said.

As I was waiting, I realized the lobby had all the parts of a gravitational sensor array on display. The precision laser internals were affixed to the wall next to the ticketing desk. The mirrors had been incorporated into the light fixtures, and the vibration isolation system was holding up the ticketing kiosk. Looking at the front of the desk, I spotted the photodetector, which was small compared to many of the other parts and just kinda looked like an industrial camera.

"Interested in interferometry?" a gentle resonant female voice said.

My head snapped to the side as I stood up spotting a curvy woman whose soft, amber-colored skin had a warm glow to it. I'd meant to say something, but the obvious package hidden by her black-and-gray-striped skirt stole all my words. She had to have worn a skirt that was tight in that area on purpose and I was embarrassed by the tingling in my crotch and my inability to think of anything to say.

"You haven't said one word and I already like you," Ezzie said, holding her left hand out so I could shake it.

I reached out with my right hand out of habit and while she was switching to her right hand, I switched to my left.

She laughed when we failed to shake again and then held her arms out. "How about a hug instead?"

I hesitated at first, but I hugged her when I saw the warm smile behind wisps of her wavy black hair.

"Ramda told me you’re having a rough time, you can hug me as tight and long as you want," she said, giving me a squeeze.

All the loneliness I’d been feeling, the stress, the existential dread got me to hold onto her like she was the only handhold in a venting airlock. I put my head on her shoulder, willing myself not to cry right in front of her. Her scent was a bit like a pine forest with a comforting earthy undertone. She hugged me tighter and I was right on the edge of losing my battle with my tears when I noticed her perky breasts pressing up against my chest and felt some sort of sheath pressing against my prick through the fabric. I got butterflies in my stomach as blood rushed southwards. Her sheath, or whatever, felt really thick. What sort of cock did she have and just how much bigger was it than mine?

I started getting hard despite myself, my erection pressing into her hefty ball sac. I let go of her, wishing that there’d been a bush for me to hide behind.

She let go of me and motioned for me to follow her. "You must be hungry, let's go eat."

To my relief, no one around us seemed to have noticed our hug’s lewd turn, but my heart was still pounding and I was speechless. It was my first hug with Ramda all over again. Was I unable to give women with dicks normal hugs?

Remembering her question, I said, "Yeah," while watching her spin on her heel fast enough that her dress fanned outwards. Her hair was a bit wild, but I loved how it looked and watched its slow curls bounce as she led me straight toward the back. When she got to a pair of big double doors, the right one clicked and swung open.

As I followed her through, I asked, "Is it really okay for me to be back here?"

"If a museum staff member is with you, absolutely," she said.

I followed her, trying not to get distracted by all the conduit running along the walls. She took a door on the right, entering the staff breakroom. There was a cafeteria in the back, couches to my left, and tables to eat at on my right. On a table very close to the door was a bag of wrapped banh mi sandwiches.

Going over to the sink and filling a couple glasses with water, she asked, "You want to eat on the couch or at a table?"

"I'm fine e-either way," I said.

"Hmm, I feel like being on the couch, more casual that way." She walked over to the dark grey couches and set the water glasses down on the long octagonal coffee table in front of it.

I grabbed the sandwiches and put them on the coffee table as she sat on the couch and adjusted her junk with her free hand.

"See something you like?" She beamed a smile at me while spreading her legs a bit.

"No, I mean, yes." I blushed as I got more butterflies in my stomach. "S-sorry I, uh--"

"You're fine." Patting the spot next to her, she said, "Have a seat."

My legs felt clumsy as I sat down.

"I've got chicken, pork, beef, egg, and portobello banh mi. Which one would you like to try first?"

"Portobello, I think," I said.

She pulled out a sandwich with "PTB" written on the wrapper in black marker and handed it to me. Then she pulled out one with an "E" on it and unwrapped it.

I unwrapped my sandwich, saying, "Thanks."

"You're welcome," she said before taking a bite.

The portobello was wonderfully juicy and a lot like meat the way it had been prepared. I still had butterflies in my stomach, however, and my eyes kept darting over to the bulge in her skirt.

"Ramda thinks really highly of you. I'm surprised by how much of an impression you left on her," she said.

After chewing the very satisfying baguette and slightly-crunchy pickled carrots, I said, "Oh?"

"Yeah, it usually takes a lot longer for her to warm up to people."

"I didn't really do anything. We just shared a lot of interests."

She finished chewing and washed it down with some water before responding. "She said you don't give yourself enough credit."

"I don't get why she likes me so much. I'm nothing special." I took a bite of my sandwich, fighting my nervousness which was killing my appetite.

"Nope, you’re special. Deal with it," she said as she made an emphatic gesture with her sandwich. A bit of shredded carrot fell out of it and landed on top of her right breast, leaving a bit of wetness on her blouse. As she retrieved the bit of carrot and then tried to sop up the wet spot with a napkin, her full breasts jiggled.

I lost my ability to focus on her face and looked back and forth from her breasts to her bulge as my prick started shoving its way down my pant leg. I should've guessed she'd be this hot.

"Maybe after I give you a tour of the museum, I'll give you a tour of what's under my skirt." She winked.

I choked on my sandwich and then started coughing.

She handed me my water glass.

The water did the trick and while I was recovering she said, "Sorry, Ramda gave me the idea you were a horndog like us," she said.

"Of course she'd do that," I said, not sure if I was annoyed, amused, or thankful about Ramda trying to hook me up.

Ezzie nodded. "Wouldn't be the first time and it won't be the last."

"She's sent other people to you for, uh--" I couldn't finish that thought.

"For sex?" She laughed. "Many times."

Her shaft was lifting up her skirt and I couldn't look away. My nipples tingled and my dick throbbed as I remembered the way Ramda's balls felt against my face while I was tasting her pussy. Did Ezzie have a pussy?

She tilted her hips, making the tent look much larger. "You sure you're not as big a horndog as we are? You look like you're wishing you had X-ray vision."

I looked away and pressed my thighs together. "No, I just--" My mind crashed. I couldn't think of an explanation for my behavior that wasn't the embarrassing truth. "You're very attractive."

"So are you. You have some very feminine mannerisms and that long hair is so luxurious. But you liking hung girls is what turns me on the most." She gripped her shaft through her skirt, letting me see that five inches of it was deployed and that it was one thick cock.

"W-won't someone see you, us?" I asked.

"Hiding this thing at full mast is a fool's errand and I've caught my coworkers mentioning how big it is a few times now. Ever since I got modded, I've had trouble keeping this guy at bay. Loads of gender euphoria that I don't always have enough outlets for. I'm glad my boss doesn’t mind me getting a friend to play with during my lunch breaks because I don't think I could survive otherwise," she said as her tent grew by another inch.

That was it, pre was leaking from the tip of my cock, wetting my jeans. Thinking about her being hard at work while trying and failing to hide her dick was making my entire body warm. I tried to respond to that, but a moan was trying to get out of my throat. I wanted to lean over and... I groaned as my dick got so hard that it ran out of room in my pant leg. Then I covered my mouth, blushing so hard it hurt.

There had to be eight inches of cock under her skirt now. She took my hand and coaxed it toward her erection, saying, "Why just stare when you can touch?" Her voice was breathy and playfully dominant. "Everyone's gone home by now."

My chest tightened. This was only the second woman with a dick I'd met and it felt like her cock was a powerful magnet and my hand was a lump of iron.

Her shaft was thick and had a cylindrical shape that was completely unlike Ramda's. It was hot through the fabric and the head was a bit wider, kinda saucer-shaped. The outer edge of the head stuck out further than the shaft and was softer.

She let out a sharp moan and jabbed her prick upwards.

I yelped and pulled my hand back, pre still leaking from my shaft. There was now a wet spot on her skirt.

She laughed. "Ramda's got a bit more control than me. If we don't stop here, we'll never get around to the tour. How about we put this on pause and pick it back up in a couple hours?"

I nodded, still distracted by her amazing prick. No matter how much I tried to visualize it, I wasn't sure what sort of cock she had and I needed to know. The only other time I'd felt this nervous and awesome was when I was on the bridge of Ramda's ship.

"Good, now you're going to have to help me not get too worked up or we'll never make it through the tour. We've got about two and a half hours before a maintenance bot does the flooring and I want to be able to show you all my favorite stuff before then," she said.

"I'll try," I said. For the first time in my life, I didn't trust myself not to flirt. At the same time I had this idea I wanted to flirt, but no idea how to do it even though she’d already offered sex.

"Are you going to eat the rest of your sandwich? I'm thinking I want one more, so you don't have to rush or anything," she said. The fact she was acting normal while seven inches of her length were still pushing up her skirt was throwing me off.

I blinked. "Oh? This? I'll save it for later."

Opening a pork banh mi, she said, "Have I made you nervous or do you not like the food?"

"You didn't make me nervous, I'm always nervous. And it tastes good."

She put a hand softly on my shoulder. "It's okay if you're nervous, hon. I was nervous a lot of the time before I figured out I was trans."

My chest tightened. Why was I so tense all of sudden? "Did you figure it out recently?"

"Nah, I suspected I was trans since I was eighteen, but going full female didn't seem like the right direction. A few years ago, I got up the courage to come out as a trans herm. And that's when things got way better," she said.

"What helped you figure that out?"

"Herm camgirls and then a hookup with Ramda when she was in town. We actually first met in a camgirl's live chat." She chuckled.

"Whoa, really?" I was dumbfounded. I'd seen herm camgirls online, but never interacted with them.

She nodded, chewing her sandwich. Once she swallowed, she beamed a smile at me. "It was on one of Pink Fawxxx's live streams. We were both trying to get her to hit on a massive dragon herm at the party she was at. Then we started hitting on each other."

"That's really cute," I said. "Did she hit on the dragon?"

She drank some water and then said, "Oh boy did she. They had one of the most epic herm on herm romps ever caught on film and have been friends ever since. Ever since then, Pink will randomly chat with me and Ramda online. It often devolves into us sharing nudes because we’re a bad influence on each other."

"She sounds like a cool person," I said.

"Yeah, she's probably my favorite celebrity. Sometimes, she has expensive tastes and forgets where she came from, but her heart's in the right place and she works hard to make things right if she makes a mistake." Ezzie got up off the couch. "I'm gonna pop the rest of the sandwiches in the fridge. Don't let me forget to send you home with half of them."

"I won't. I'm sure I’ll be hungry once my stomach stops being dumb." I wrapped up the half of my sandwich that I didn't eat and handed it to her before she went over to the fridge.

After putting them in, she closed the fridge door and said, "Let's start the tour!"

Chapter 5

The first room in the "History of FTL" exhibit was sectioned off by wavy walls with triangular tiles that displayed a starscape. It gave the feeling that someone had crystallized space and used it to make walls. A plethora of industrial lab equipment that looked like particle accelerator parts were strewn about and on the back wall and the phrase "Testing The Limits," was written in letters that bent and warped periodically.

Ezzie led me to a disk the size of a dinner plate with a giant bizarre motor attached to it. Connected to the motor was a cryogenic cooling pack. She said, "This is the first device that produced a calculable spatial warp. The disk is made out of a graphene composite and spun at ridiculous speeds in a vacuum chamber while emitting a magnetic field that could make a nail file go supersonic. The little spheres on the periphery have exotic matter in them that was harvested from particle accelerators."

My eyes widened "Wait, these particle accelerator parts are for making exotic matter?"

She nodded while stepping a bit closer to me.

"How did they even get the idea to rotate everything so fast?" I asked, my eyes darting to her package. From the side it was even more noticeable.

"Observations of spatial curvature around spinning black holes," she said.

"Oh! I'm assuming exotic matter enhances the effect?" I asked.

She nodded. "But it's incredibly expensive. It took the combined resources from twenty-two nations to build this device and it cost over eight billion dollars in materials alone. Future designs used faster spin rates and larger magnetic fields to decrease the amount of exotic matter needed."

"I'm assuming the price for exotic matter has gone down since then?" I said.

"Yes, it used to be seventy-six-million dollars per gram and now it's one point seven million per gram," she said.

My mouth dropped open.

"Don't even get me started on how hard it is to capture once it's created in one of these wakefield accelerators," she said, leading me into the next room.

This room was a bit bigger and had a few more spatial warping machines. But the disks were different shapes ranging from concave to having a small hole in the middle to having spokes so most of the mass was on the outer edge.

Standing in front of the spoked one, she said, "When this thing's spinning, it warps space so bad that researchers could see the lensing effect with their own eyes."

"What does it look like?" I asked.

"Light gets twisted, much like the effect from a whirlpool."

"Did they ever try to toss anything in?"

She pointed to an aluminum can laying at the base of the machine. The can was twisted, but not in any way I could fully understand. The letters were bulging in some places and getting crinkled in others. If I hadn't known any better, I would've thought I was staring at the red and yellow can through a turbulent vortex of water.

"Whoa," I said.

"A week after they dropped that can into it, the cryogenics failed and it blew up the lab. Dr. Prana Bujrati had to get most of her right side reconstructed and replace most of her organs with cybernetic ones due to the shrapnel. She became the first person to be more cybernetic than biological."

"She's very lucky she survived," I said.

"She was very lucky that the University of Chicago's main research hospital was only five miles from her lab," Ezzie said.

"Did she live a long time after that?" I asked.

"Until she was sixty-two, but then she died during The Great Blackout."

"Aww, that's sad."

"Yes. If it hadn’t been for The Great Blackout, we would've had FTL several decades sooner," Ezzie said.

I nodded. "I imagine it took a lot of work to get back to this research after all that craziness."

"Especially when some of the most lucrative stuff the looters could steal was in FTL labs." She started walking to the next room, her hips swaying beautifully. I wished my hips were as wide as hers, mine were far too narrow.

"Can't imagine where they thought they could sell it. People weren't doing much lab work," I said.

She shrugged. "When disaster strikes, the precious metals market tends to explode."

"That's really unsettling to think about."

"Agreed." She pointed at a three-meter-wide disk, with thousands of holes in it, that was attached to a massive cryogenically-cooled motor. "This Taiwanese device destroyed anything put in the spatial warp because the warp was unstable. But it was a bigger warp than ever before."

"Did they just keep going bigger or did they learn to stabilize it?" I asked.

Pointing at a 3D headshot of a jovial-looking Asian woman with an awesome black and white sunhat, Ezzie said, "Hiriko Tseng from the Perimeter Institute of Physics calculated that using two rings instead of a single disk would lead to greater stability of the warp. Then she oversaw the design and operation of this." She walked past the portrait into the next room.

The contraption was the size of a small house. There were two rings a meter taller than me separated by a couple meters of open space.

"This was constructed inside a giant lava tube on the dark side of the moon, seven kilometers from the lunar observatory. Some objects that were sent through this device were never seen again, others were turned inside out. All sorts of things were possible, depending on the settings," she said.

"Things just disappeared?" I asked.

She nodded. "Yep, things kept disappearing and Hiriko commissioned the design of some powerful compact beacons. Then, nineteen days after they started sending beacons, at nine forty-eight in the morning, they got a signal from near Neptune's orbit."

My eyes widened. "They didn't even know they were sending stuff long distances?"

"The whole physics world was in disbelief when stuff started disappearing due to these experiments. Many speculated space travel, but only short distances. In fact, some were worried that objects might pop up in bad places, like in the middle of a nuclear reactor or something. But near Neptune was beyond their wildest dreams." She looked at me intently. “There’s an even more interesting follow up question you can ask and I bet you know what it is.”

I thought for a moment and then remembered what museum I was in. “How long did it take for that beacon to get to Neptune’s orbit?”

“It had started broadcasting only six seconds after they sent it though.”

“Doesn’t light take four hours to get here from Neptune?”

She put an arm over my shoulders and said, “Yep, beacon HL53X traveled four point four billion kilometers in six seconds.”

I hugged her side. “I can only imagine how excited they were.”

“None of them were as excited as Hiriko. She stayed up for the next two days straight analyzing the data until she could confirm beyond any doubt that FTL transit had actually occurred. When they went to an Irish pub to celebrate, she still hadn't slept. There, she had a manic episode where she jumped up on stage and shredded electric guitar until her fingers started bleeding.”

“Whoa, was she bipolar?”

“Yes, but she only got the mania part.”

“I didn’t even know that could happen. I guess it’s good she didn’t get the depression part?”

“Not really, the decisions people make when manic can really screw things up. Imagine if you decided you could afford a house while manic only to discover you were very wrong once you came down from it.”

“That would suck,” I said.

“Yeah, and Hiriko refused treatment because she thought it would destroy her genius. So she ended up in jail a couple times.”

“Dang, did she ever get help?” I asked.

“After the second jail sentence, she did.”

"Why was she in jail?" I asked.

"That's a long story with some very... human behavior," she said. "I'll tell you about it later."

“I’m guessing she wasn’t right about her genius being destroyed?”

“Exactly. If you ask me, she did her most impressive work late in her life surrounding the question of spatial convolutions and how the universe avoids causality loops,” she said.

"How does the universe do that?"

"Very carefully and in a way that isn't fully understood, but we can talk about it sometime after a good fuck." She was grinning ear to ear.

With the way she was looking at me, I felt naked and covered myself with my hands while blushing all the way down my neck.

Ezzie laughed and clapped her hand on my shoulder. "The tour's almost over. Just have a couple more things to show you."

"S-so, did they keep sending stuff to see where it would pop up so they could refine their model of what was happening?" I asked, desperate to change the subject.

She grimaced. "Yeah, but they soon regretted it. One of the beacons appeared in a giant tank of rocket grade hydrogen peroxide. The chemical plant and most of southern Albuquerque had to be evacuated due to the fire that broke out."

"Oh shit," I said.

She nodded, "Six dead and eight wounded. It was a dark day for physics. While watching the news report, Hiriko decided to close her lab."

"Ahh, so that must've been when Dan Seidel started figuring out the rest, like how to send things to specific locations," I said.

"What?" Ezzie tilted her head.

"You know, Dan Seidel, the person who formalized the mathematics behind FTL travel," I said.

Ezzie put her head in her hands and sighed. "I can't believe Trinity would stoop so low. Of course only a man would be allowed to take credit for FTL travel."

"So, I'm guessing he never existed?" I asked, embarrassed about my strange cult-influenced education.

"He did, but he was her assistant and specialized in exotic matter handling. A really talented guy who regularly baked goodies for the lab, but not the person who formalized the mathematics of FTL travel. Follow me." She led me to the next room, which was four meters by four meters and the walls were filled with lava lamps. The shelves alternated between blacklight fluorescent ones and normal ones, creating a rather spectacular display.

Looking around the room, I wondered what this beautiful display was doing in the middle of the FTL museum.

There was a twinkle in Ezzie's eye as she said, "Hiriko was on vacation in Las Vegas at a retro hotel that had this lava lamp display in the main lobby. While Hiriko was staring at the lava lamps, she got an idea that changed everything, forever. Instead of globules of wax, she saw bubbles of spacetime that had broken free of the universe only to recombine with it in a different location.”

"Oh wow! I'll never look at lava lamps the same way again," I said.

"Neither will I," Ezzie said, gently hugging me from behind. "After that, Hiriko went back to her room and started laying down the mathematical foundation for traveling to different points in space without traversing the space in between."

I relaxed against her, watching colored globules slowly rise and fall for a couple minutes. The whole time, she just swayed slowly back and forth with me, rocking me. It would have been more relaxing if I hadn't felt her sheath and balls bumping against my butt cheeks. By the time she let go, I was half-hard.

Leading me into the next room, she said, "We're gonna skip the whole saga of setting up the FTL transit network because it's a lot of history and drama between space colonies that's worth its own tour."

"Oh okay," I said, following her past a bunch of Anvil Point equipment, diagrams, and maps showing the growth of the FTL network.

Then we were in a large domed room with tons of glass lenses pointing inwards. The moment we were inside, the lights faded as an intricate hologram of the FTL network flickered to life. Every color of the spectrum was being used to encode information about the routes and locations. It looked like the branches of a gigantic, asymmetric tree where the highest volume routes had the thickest branches. Whenever I looked at a solar system, images from various bodies in it would come up. If I looked at an Anvil Point, it would tell me what ships last went through. It was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen: an intricate dance of infographics and art.

Noting my awe, Ezzie just tossed an arm over my shoulders and stood next to me while poking at the hologram to highlight different routes and locations. Eventually she used both hands to zoom in on Epsilon Eridani which was almost as well connected as Earth.

"A bunch of native Hawaiians got Taiwanese billionaires and Japanese resort companies together and made a 'Hawaii in the stars' which has been a very big hit. The other main industry is nature conservation and there's numerous different rotating habitats with different biomes. Many of which are open to tourism making the two main industries feed each other a bit." she said. "If you like herms, you've definitely gotta visit Double E. Largest concentration of herms outside of Lezveioan space."

"Why all the herms?" I asked.

"They set up the best protections for sex workers ever devised. So lots of trans herms paid for their transitions by going there and performing on camera, making adult virtual reality content, or taking real live clients," she said.

Looking up at her I asked, "Wait, only trans herms took advantage of that?"

"There were other people that paid for their mods that way, but the herms outnumbered them because the doctor who developed the first genetics-based herm mod procedure set up shop at a modding resort in Double E."

"That must've been a long time ago," I said.

"About fifty years ago," she said. "One thing you might want to prepare for if you go there is that Double E also has a ton of clothing optional areas."

"People just go around naked?" I asked, feeling warmth in my crotch and butterflies in my belly again.

"Yup! Ramda and I fucked on a beach in one of the rotating habitats while half the beachgoers watched. It was delightful." She bit her lip and shifted her stance.

Seeing her get excited, I rubbed my thighs together. I couldn't help thinking about people just happily watching women with dicks get it on. It was so beautiful and hot to think about. My pants were starting to get tight and I couldn't help but glance down at Ezzie's shaft as it started to lift her skirt again. She'd been so open about how interested she was in me, now it was my turn to return the favor. Compliment her on her tour? No. Mention liking her bulge? Too embarrassing. Mention how much I liked the idea of her and Ramda getting it on? Too creepy and indirect. Maybe I could come up with another comment based on the scene she described? Hey, I actually had something!

"I bet they liked the view, y-you're gorgeous," I said, wondering if I was flirting correctly.

"My, my, Remiel, are you trying to flirt with me?" She looked at me with a grin as her skirt was lifted up farther by her pole.

I nodded.

"If you keep staring at it, I'm gonna get to full mast. Are you sure that's what you want?"

"Umm, would that be bad?" I asked, forcing myself to look at her face.

"No, but I'd expect you to take responsibility for getting me that hard." She made a dominant-but-playful chuckle.

The way she said "responsibility" nearly caused me to lose my balance. As my eyes fixated on her clothed erection, my chest tightened and my prick ached. I had to know what was under that skirt. Her cock wasn't human or canine. Just what was going on with it?

She rolled her hips back, lifting up her skirt so much, I could see her knees. All that cloth was being supported by her dick. "Flirt with me again. Tell me what you're thinking right now."

I stammered, not used to saying lewd stuff aloud.

She just waited, hands on her hips, prick still rising. "Better think of something to say before this gets fully hard and I have another use for your mouth."

Goddamn was I hard. This was my chance to forget my crappy work and feel the way I did with Ramda again. It wasn't appropriate to be so obsessed with her already, was it? She had to be placating me, trying to make me feel better as a favor to Ramda. All I had to do was look away and put her dick out of my mind. Then I could tell her that she didn't have to keep acting like she wanted to have sex with me. That I'd be fine.

Wait, how could I put her cock out of my mind? It was only the second girl dick I'd seen and it was...my eyes widened as I realized something. "Is it even bigger than before?" I put my hands over my mouth and looked her in the eye with my face blushing so hard it felt like a hot summer day.

She put a hand on my shoulder and turned me toward the exhibit's exit. Pushing me ahead of her, she said, "If you'll just come with me to the back. It's time for the show and tell section of the tour."

Adrenaline surged through me as I stiffly walked ahead of her, her hand still firmly guiding me like I was a misbehaved tourist. Rooms whizzed by without me paying attention to them. The only thing on my mind was the way her cock head kept bumping into my ass through my jeans. Just before going through the double doors into the back, she sent a signal to them and the thin strip of light at the top turned green.

As she led me into the break room, she closed the doors behind us and then said, "On your knees."

I knelt down as if following the order of a commanding officer. There was no thought of disobeying her. Instead, all I felt was awe that we were in this situation at all.

She stood in front of me, her prick pointing at my face. "Everyone who's caught sight of my dick can't seem to leave it alone. You still sure you want to see it?"

I gulped and nodded. Other than sucking on Ramda's dick, I couldn't think of anything I wanted more than seeing what lurked under Ezzie's skirt.

"Okay, don't say I didn't warn you." She pulled her skirt back and then pulled down a pair of soaked panties. Panties that were stretched so taut that her prick jumped out when she pulled them down. As her cock flicked upwards, a bead of pre got launched into the air, hitting my cheek. I froze in place as I stared in wonder at her black cylindrical cock which had a medial ring and a flat head.

"I'm literally hung like a horse," she said, giggling.

I whined, my brain having no idea how to process the fact that her cock was easily as thick as Ramda's and more than eight inches long. The balls hanging under it were the size of apricots and covered in smooth, shiny black skin, just like I'd seen on a stallion.

While I took in her equine equipment, she exposed her full-figured bust and tossed her blouse and bra to the side. Then she moved the cock head closer to my lips, saying, "Want to make this a full sensory experience?" Pre was beading at the tip, about to fall to the floor below.

My tongue lapped across her flat cock head, feeling the little nubs that ran around the periphery. She tasted piney, like spruce tea, and salty with a hint of sweetness. Feeling feverish and utterly obsessed, I lapped at her dick until she was moaning and getting pre all over my lips and chin.

As I licked her mess off my face, I took in her pine forest-like scent. Unable to look away from her beautiful erection and the heavy balls beneath, I blurted out a question that had been in my mind from the moment I saw her, "Do you have a pussy?"

"Lay back on the couch and you can see for yourself," she said.

I felt like I was floating as I got onto my back atop the couch cushions.

She pulled off her skirt and panties fully, then straddled my head and lowered herself. The black horse flesh from her cock and balls ran all the way back to her pucker, which was more donut-like than a human's. Between that and her balls was a mound of flesh equally non-human. It was slicked up by her excitement and had been forced to stretch into a teardrop shape by a swollen clit that was wider than my thumb. As she brought it closer to my face, she squeaked out a gasp and her clit pushed out towards me a half inch, making her pussy open wider as her wetness dripped onto my lips.

"Sorry, it winks when I'm excited," she said.

"Winks?" I asked after licking up her delicious piney nectar. Her scent was so strong that it was making me wet my jeans with pre.

"It's a way mares tell a stallion that they're ready," she said. "Essentially, my body really wants you."

Her hefty balls were dangling right in front of me, so I grabbed them and groaned at their weight. It was like being with Ramda all over again. Except the smooth skin and amazing mare pussy.

"Gah, fuck!" She shoved backwards, planting her snatch on my face.

My tongue slipped into the center of the teardrop while my lips kissed her clit. I licked at her as she winked over and over again, slathering my skin with her wetness. My dick strained in my pants.

She pulled her muff off of me, saying, "I wanna play with your cock. That okay?"

I nodded.

"I can't see you, hon," she said. "Was that a nod?"

"Uh-huh," I said, trying not to think about how much I liked her balls rubbing against my chin.

She planted her pussy back on my face and started undoing my belt.

Her wetness was practically drowning me and her muff was a lot plusher than Ramda's. Not better, just different in a really enjoyable way. Her equine pussy lips were stretchy, smooth, and easy to toy with. They had a clear edge to them where her plump labia gave way to her velvety folds. Along this edge was a set of muscles that let her open or close her sex. Muscles that twitched with each of her gasps and groans.

Her hands freed my cock from my pants and then my undies. I lost control of my moans, crying out into her folds as she ran her fingers along my rock hard shaft. Pre from her cock dripped on my belly and her hips ground her pussy against my face as she figured out how to hit all my buttons.

Soon, she leaned forward, trapping her shaft between us as she took my dick into her mouth. I pred on her tongue while focusing on her clit. She moaned and humped back against me, bobbing on my shaft.

We just kept going like that, me feeling more and more pressure behind my cock while trying not to burst too early. Other than that, not one worry was in my head and I felt like I was flying. This was exactly what I'd been hoping for: to forget about everything that was bothering me. Her thick dick was rubbing against my chest, slicking it up with pre. Soon our pace was fast enough that my tongue was getting tired and I was openly thrusting my hips into her mouth. Our moans were getting sharper, we were so close, just about to burst.

Pulling off my cock, she said, "Wanna cum in me?"

"Mmmhmm!" I nodded eagerly against her pussy and then felt embarrassed as she got off my face and turned around. I screeched as she took my whole length inside. Her muscular walls were so slick and smoldering that I forgot to breathe. Her plump pussy lips smacked against my groin, her wetness getting everywhere. I had to control my breathing to stop from cumming.

But I'd miscalculated. She'd been right on the edge and her walls started undulating, tugging on my shaft. Then she arched her back and cried, "Ngh! CUM REMIEL!"

I couldn't cum with her. I'd just put a damper on my orgasm and needed to work my way back up. Even thrusting into her over and over as her orgasm lingered didn't work.

When she came down from her peak, I said, "Sorry."

"It's fine," she said. "Anything I can do to help?"

"I-I don't know." Then I remembered where I'd put Ramda's toy. As my face flushed bright red, I asked, "C-could you put your prick between my legs?"

"There's no way I'll fit, hon, unless you've been practicing." She chuckled.

"Doesn't need to go in," I said, wanting to hide my face.

She pulled off me and then put her face between my legs. Before I could ask what she was gonna do, she licked under my balls, right across the area I'd put Ramda's toy on. I gasped so hard, it hurt.

"You're girly in the best ways." She licked me a few more times, leaving me unable to draw a single breath the entire time.

Wetness between my legs felt unfathomably good as did her pretending to lick me out as if I was her lesbian date. Then she stopped, moved my legs, and pressed her erection between my thighs. I instinctively parted my legs and she lifted my balls as she shoved forward. The moment her cock head rubbed at that space behind my balls, I squeaked and fidgeted. Stroking my dick, she thrust against that spot, smearing her pre all over. The blunt head of her dick was making me feel hot flashes in my extremities and the tips of my ears.

When she grabbed one of my nipples gently, I screamed and writhed under her. She fucked along the insides of my legs, whacking my magic spot over and over with her prick's equine head.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd think I was breeding your virgin pussy," she said as she stroked me faster.

Hearing those words, the dam in me burst. I clawed at the couch, arched my back, and groaned as my cock fired its payload all over Ezzie's tits and belly. She laughed joyously as she watched me, amused by how far gone I was. Then she started grunting and thrusting harder, her prick flaring as a bulge developed at the base. Before I was done cumming, she growled through her teeth as her spunk flooded out. I screamed like a woman possessed and ground myself against the end of her lurching shaft.

Feeling her hot sticky mess get all over my sensitive flesh, bliss flooded through me, making every part of me burn. It was almost too much because this bizarre joy was also mixed in. Like I'd stumbled into a beam of sunlight on a dreary day.

A couple minutes later, Ezzie wordlessly got off of me. I just stared at the lighting strips on the ceiling, barely aware of her wiping up our mess. What the fuck had just happened to me?

Chapter 6

Ezzie got a bucket from under the sink, filled it with warm water, and started cleaning up our mess. She could probably tell by the look on my face that I was not gonna be able to find words for a bit. Her half-hard dick was on full display as she cleaned her own cum off of it. Then slowly worked to clean between my legs, getting a groan out of me. The couch had a purple-diamond-patterned non-staining fabric that liquids beaded up on.

Before she could wipe up the pearly white streak she'd left on my chest when one of her spurts missed the space between my legs, I scooped some up with my fingers and tasted more of her salty spruce-tea-like jizz. The warmth in me deepened as my crotch tingled. It was like Ezzie had flipped on a light switch inside me that I didn't even know I had. Even though I was blushing, I licked it up and was rewarded with more of that warm feeling.

"Feeling good, girl?" Ezzie asked.

Four letters. One word. Tears blurred my vision as butterflies, millions of them, swirled around in my chest.

"Oh! Sorry! I should've asked before calling you that," Ezzie hugged me from the side, the wet washcloth laying against my arm.

As tears traced down my temples, I said, "I'm not sad."

"Oh good." She squeezed me, "You're safe with me hon. I won't pry or anything, I'll just hold you close while you let all those emotions out."

No, I couldn't be trans, I couldn't like being called a girl. But why was I so happy and blushing? And I couldn't stop crying because my emotions were a mess. Why was I so fragile? When she'd talked about my pussy, I'd felt so... Damn it!

My heart pounded as a question spilled out of my mouth. "Am I trans?"

She held me more firmly. "You could be a lot of things, non-binary or genderfluid, even. I'm pretty sure you're not cis, however."

I sniffled and she grabbed a tissue from the box on the coffee table.

After blowing my nose, I asked, "I've seen those words, but I'm not completely sure what they mean."

"Non-binary and genderqueer both mean that your gender identity lies somewhere outside the simple male and female boxes. Genderfluid means you feel more masculine sometimes and more feminine other times. Cis means that your gender identity matches the gender you were assigned at birth," she said.

"Where do you fit in all that?" I asked.

"I'm non-binary and see myself as a herm through and through. Somewhere between male and female, preferring women's clothes and presentation most of the time." She paused, remembering something. "Though, I love dressing in men's clothes sometimes now that I have breasts and such a clear feminine shape. I can rock a tuxedo, especially if I'm only wearing the suit jacket on my upper half. Makes for an epic boob window."

Thinking about having breasts while wearing a tuxedo gave me more odd butterflies. "You said you thought you might be trans when you were eighteen? Why?"

"It started in puberty. I hated body and facial hair and the more of each I got, the more I felt like my body was wrong, that I was wrong somehow. I felt nervous around my closest male friends. I'd be hanging out playing video games and feel the same way most people felt on a date. And I kept wanting them to do something to me, something that wasn't normal gay sex. Something my body couldn't do," she said. "I liked women too, but I felt fake being with them, like I would never be enough."

My heart raced as I avoided thinking about how familiar that last part sounded. "That must've been really hard."

"Oh, it was. Later I tried anal with guys and getting pegged by a woman. They helped, but I still felt like something was missing. I wanted to be penetrated somewhere else. A place I didn't have." She cupped my balls and then applied pressure behind them. "I think you know the rest."

I shuddered and gasped, blood rushing to my prick. It was like Ezzie had my launch codes. I was completely at her mercy.

She let go and put her hand on my belly. "I don't know what you ultimately need, girl, but I think you should join me in VR sometime. I'll show you how to try out having a snatch."

"What?" My shaft throbbed harder as my cheeks burned.

"Full immersion VR can trick the brain pretty well. It's not perfect, but it would allow you to explore gender stuff without making any big decisions," she said.

"Are you serious? I could be a herm and feel stuff?" I asked.

Ezzie nodded. She had a twinkle in her eye, like she knew she had me.

A wave of excitement hit me so hard I giggled. Then I put my hands over my mouth.

"You even laugh like a girl," she said, kissing my cheek.

I squirmed. When I was a kid, I giggled a lot, but I got teased about it so much I'd learned to laugh more like a guy. Ezzie was bringing things out of me that I'd tried to bury my whole life. Maybe I was, had always been... No! I pushed that thought out of my head.

"After you knew you were a trans herm did you just go out and get--" I couldn't say it, so I pointed at her equine shaft. "--those parts?"

"I would've just gotten normal human ones, but I've never really felt like a human. Mixed in with my gender dysphoria was species dysphoria. That realization came from doing stuff with Ramda."

"Species dysphoria?" I blinked.

"Not feeling like a human body represents your true self. Lots of people that are more attracted to modded people than normal people have it. And I have it bad." She sighed. "I'm really jealous of Ramda, actually."

My neck started to ache. Was I just like Ezzie? Maybe I just liked her so much I wanted to believe I had the same problems she did. Yeah, that was probably it. Plus, who would want to be just a normal human if given the chance to be something more interesting?

"Jealous?" I prompted.

"She knew what she wanted and just went for it. And I'm sitting here still indecisive when there's a way I can get modded practically for free," she said.

"Are you trying to figure out how you want to be modded?"

"Well, I've had the same fursona for about a year, but before that I had a different sona for a few years. I'm afraid I'll change my mind again." She traced a finger along my sternum.

"Fursona?" I asked.

"An animal-modded persona I used when interacting in VR and online," she said.

"Oh! What was your old one like?" I asked, thinking of how much fun I'd had playing characters with animal characteristics in games that got past Trinity's censors.

"First one was a Lezveioan, they've made a fortune by selling cheap, fully-outfitted models to people that want to experience being one. I think they enjoy corrupting people with their hermyness."

"Did you do anything to make your model unique?" I asked.

She nodded. "Mine was green with darker green spots and had a horsecock and mare parts instead of Lezveioan equipment most of the time."

I wanted to ask about Lezveioan equipment, but I was too embarrassed to get myself to do it. "What's your current fursona like?"

"Let me pull that up." She looked at the wall the couch was facing and it flickered before displaying a green dragon with darker green spots. Her breasts were a bit larger than Ezzie's, but all of her was bigger than Ezzie. The scale to her left showed she was two point two meters tall. Her balls were heftier, she had a mane going down from the top of her head to a third down her tail, she had two ivory horns swooping up and back, and she had a thick dragon tail. But overall, there was something odd about her.

"She's part horse?" I asked.

"Yep! An equine dragon." Ezzie grinned. "Horsey muzzle, a mane, and horse parts."

A thick dark-green horsecock, bigger than Ezzie's, pushed out of the model's sheath. Then she had the model lay back and lift her balls before spreading her dark green, almost black horse pussy showing the pink inner folds.

I bit my lip as my prick hardened so fast that it hurt. "She's gorgeous!"

Ezzie grunted as her shaft hardened against my leg. "You really think so?"

"Absolutely, but are you sure you want to be that tall?" I asked. "You'd hit your head on stuff."

"That's what the horns are for." She giggled. "Actually, I've always wanted to be taller. Feeling like I can protect people gives me a lot of peace. Plus, then Ramda might realize she's not as dominant as she thinks she is when I'm plowing her with a cock that's the largest she can take."

I moaned and pre beaded at the tip of my cock. Thinking about them going at it with their modded bodies, it was too much.

Ezzie's dick was quickly reaching full hardness against my leg. "I can't stand it. Whenever I see myself like that, I just have to get off!" Ezzie straddled me and then looked into my eyes. "After I sit on your cock, I want you to push me over and fuck me while I lay on my back. Good, old fashioned, missionary. Oh, and make me suck on my own cock. Sound good?"

I nodded, my shaft as hard as it'd been the first time we did stuff.

She sat on my prick, making both of us moan. Then I followed her directions, feeling my own jizz ooze out of her snatch as I fucked her. She kept asking for me to go harder until our movements were a blur and I was out of breath. Then she was swallowing her load while looking me right in the eye. That got me cumming immediately and I squealed because she grabbed my nipples and tugged as I did so.

After I collapsed on top of her, she hugged me against her front and her cum-drooling prick, saying, "You're submissive in a rather feminine way. Every time I said, 'harder,' you seemed like you were worried you were going to hurt me. And it took a fair amount of reassurance to get you to put your all into it."

"I'm sorry," I said, burying my face in her cleavage.

She held me tighter. "Not something to be sorry about. You've had sex what? Only a few times now? Everyone has different needs and abilities when it comes to sex. You're just barely scratching the surface of what you'll know when you've had as much sex as I've had. Plus, I came pretty hard, didn't I? I thoroughly enjoyed myself and don't regret anything. I found your hesitation adorable, touching even. It was like being with a submissive lesbian who'd been given a big strap-on."

Her description made me want to giggle. And other than suppressing my giggle, I had no idea how to react.

She tickled my neck with her tongue.

I giggled, blushing immediately. Men didn't laugh like this. What was going on with me?

Once I calmed back down, I said, "You should do it."

"Do what?"

"Start changing into that horse dragon form," I said. "You've tried it out in VR, right?"

She nodded.

"Are there any other changes you've tried that you liked more?" I asked.

"No, actually," she said.

"Then it sounds like you've figured out what you want to be," I said.

"I'm just worried I might change my mind."

To think she'd be second guessing herself when she had such a beautiful and sexy idea for what she wanted to be was so sad. But I was even worse: I didn't have the courage to do anything with the fact that I might be trans.

Words poured out of me as my chest tightened. "Don't be like me, Ezzie, don't stop yourself from getting what you want because you're afraid you'll make the wrong choice. You'll just end up doing nothing and be worthless like me."

"You're not worthless." She hugged me.

"I'm never gonna let myself be trans, I can't get out of my terrible job, and I can't do anything for myself." I hid my face with my hands, forcing myself not to cry in front of her.

"You decided to visit me, you decided to let me treat you like a girl, and you acted on your attraction to me," she said. "I understand that you're terrified, but let's be real about tonight. You made me very happy and you probably had some gender euphoria."

"You should get modded and forget about me," I said.

"No, there's no way I'd be able to forget about you." She put her head on my shoulder. "Whether you're a trans girl, genderqueer, genderfluid, whatever, you're safe with me, you can explore it with me. I'll treat you whatever way makes you happiest."

"Why does everyone want to help me? I have nothing to give back," I said.

"Two orgasms," she said.

"What?" I tilted my head in confusion.

"You gave me two orgasms tonight and I had lots of fun playing with your girly side," she said. "You didn't hide yourself from me, you were honest and kind. What more could I ask from anyone?"

"I, uh, I don't know." I sighed. "I'm so screwed, Ezzie. They want me to cut my hair."

"Oh no!" She pushed her fingers through my curls, lazily untangling snarls. "I love your hair."

"Well, it violates Miramanna's dress code and there's not much anyone can do about it. Even Ramda told me she didn't know a way out of it," I said.

"If someone had made me cut my hair when I was growing it out, I would've been devastated." She pulled at some of my long strands, removing dead hairs and tossing them to the floor. "You're going to need something else to help you feel girly, otherwise you might get hit with dysphoria hard when you get it cut."

"Something else?"

"I'm gonna buy you a couple easy-to-conceal sports bras and a few pairs of herm panties: they're girly while still having room for your junk."

"P-panties and bras?" I hid my face, terrified and excited at the same time. "There's no way I can wear those."

"Why not?" She asked.

"I'm not a girl," I said.

"Men can wear bras and panties if they want, plus, I think you're plenty feminine enough to pull them off regardless," she said.

"I'm too much of a coward to wear them," I said.

"You don't have to wear them outside your apartment, but I don't want to push this on you. If you tell me to drop it, I'll hold off on buying them." She stroked my hair. "Is it okay if I pick some out for you? You can return them if you decide you just can't wear them."

I was happy that my tiny nod was felt by her as she continued to stroke my hair because that was all the affirmation I could offer.

"I'll get you some girly knee-high and thigh-high socks too," she said.

I squirmed, stifling a moan as my whole body heated up. "Y-you're spending too much money on me."

"If you get even one giggle out of it, I'm spending the exact right amount," she kissed the top of my head.

After a bit of silence where I had no idea what else to say, she asked, "Do you like your beard?"

"Not particularly," I said.

"Well, I used to have one before I was trans and I later discovered that I was basically using it to hide my face," she said.

My eyes widened. "I don't like my face either."

"Are you hiding it with your beard?"

"Maybe?" I said.

"It might be good to see what's underneath it. If they're gonna force you to cut your hair, you can fight back with some nice smooth skin on your face," she said.

"I lost about forty pounds over the last couple years, so I don't even know what it looks like under the beard," I said.

"There's a chance you might actually like what you find. I used to have a bit of a baby face, but once I was over twenty-two, it looked a lot better."

"I don't even remember what my face looked like before the beard," I said, feeling her cock sliding back into its sheath, gliding across the cum she'd splattered all over our fronts.

"Then it's probably time to find out." She gave me a squeeze.

Chapter 7

Saturday morning, when I opened the solar shield, red-orange light poured in. It was unexpected because my windows faced west. As my eyes adjusted, I saw that billowing clouds above the mountains were reflecting the sunrise hues. Those warm colors fit my mood perfectly. If Ramda hadn't introduced me to Ezzie, I would've never felt quite like this.

Starting a message to Ramda, I thanked her and then I took my time gushing about my amazing time with Ezzie. Whenever I got to a part that embarrassed me, I just told myself that Ramda was going to ask me about it until I told her, anyway. Once I was focusing on how to best describe what happened instead of focusing on the embarrassment, something unexpected happened: I got hard!

I couldn't help it, every memory of my time with Ezzie either brought me joy, turned me on, or both. Embarrassment didn't make it back into my mind until I was proofreading the message, seeing all the horny things I'd written down.

Was I really going to send this? It was like I'd written porn. Maybe I needed to edit it to make it more matter-of-fact?

No, Ramda would prefer it this way. It wasn't like I'd be able to hide anything from her, anyway. Ezzie would likely share the details I didn't. Plus, Ramda might have useful thoughts on me possibly being trans.

Getting to the end of my message, I realized that I'd forgotten to mention that I was about to take Ezzie's advice and shave my beard. After adding that, I sent the message. Then I went into my restroom, which was full of semi-reflective silver tiles, and got out the shaving stuff I'd picked up on the way home from the FTL museum. First, I used the clipper attachment to get most of the hair off.

With the bulk of my facial hair gone, I saw that I'd lost a lot of the baby fat that I'd hated when I was younger and I felt some hope that I'd actually like what I saw once I'd done the close shave pass. I started feeling a bit off in my stomach. What did I want to find under the short hairs that were left? I wasn't like I was going to magically have a girl's face. But not absolutely despising what I saw would be nice.

I put on the close shave attachment and slathered my face in a thick, moisturizing shaving cream. Then I worked methodically from my right side to my left, rinsing the shaving head whenever it indicated I needed to do so. It took longer than I expected, but I hadn't done more than trim my beard in ages.

As I washed the shaving cream off, my heart pounded with excitement. Running my fingers across my cheek, I wondered how I ever let those coarse hairs become a beard in the first place.

It was impossible to stop touching my skin, it was so smooth it was reminding me of Ezzie's equine pussy lips.

I blushed and grabbed the edge of the counter, feeling a bit dizzy as I remembered her sitting on my face and the way her giant clit dug into my lip before I started sucking on it.

Focusing on washing the rest of the shaving cream off, I put that out of my mind and then I did something I normally avoided doing: I looked at myself in the mirror. My baby face had gotten some refinement since a few years ago. My cheeks weren't overly round, they had a bit of an inward scoop under them. I smiled and then giggled. Oh God, I looked kinda like a woman with this long hair and no beard!

I squirmed, getting hard instantly. What on earth was going on with me? The last time I'd felt this way was when I was with Ezzie.

My eyes went to my hair again as I continued ogling myself in the mirror as if I'd never seen my own reflection. Gosh, my curly hair was so cute! Wait, they were going to make me cut my hair, fuck.

Ezzie and Ramda liked my hair and I didn't hate my face right now because of it. If they made me cut it, I'd lose the first thing I actually liked about myself. The only overtly rebellious thing I'd ever done. Pain shot through my chest and down my arm. My heart was beating so fast that the only reason I knew it was working was a rushing sound in my ears. The room started spinning around me and I grabbed onto the counter.

Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit! What was I supposed to do? There was so much pain in my chest. Was I dying? My legs got weak. I'd forgotten to breathe.

The burning in my chest subsided a bit as I took deep breaths but I didn't feel like getting up off the floor.

Cuber came up to me and beeped questioningly while sending *U OK?*

"I don't know," I said, the aching in my chest was letting up a bit.

*Hug?* she held out all three of her spindly arms.

With me sitting on the floor, her cubic body was at the perfect height to hug me. So when I opened my arms, she walked forward on her spider-like legs and wrapped her arms around me. Her body was hard and unyielding, but the hug was still appreciated. I didn't know where she got this behavior from, because I doubted there was much she could get from it other than knowing she was comforting me. She was good at it, though. Her soft consoling coos and the pats on my back were pretty darn effective.

*R U Remiel?* she asked.

"Yes, who else would I be?" I raised an eyebrow, forgetting what I'd been upset about for the moment.

*Other purson without beard,* she said. *UR hair I cognize. Nothing else.*

"Cognize?" I giggled and then felt self conscious. Cuber had never heard me giggle.

*RE is dundant,* Cuber sent.

"You can't just remove the R and E from the beginnings of words because the rest of the word they're connected to doesn't show up in other words. That's not how English works."

She gave the wrong answer beep, like I'd missed a question on a gameshow. *I make nu English.*

"Your English is new, that's the only thing we agree on so far."

*You stil understand.*

"Yes, but that's not the point," I said.

*What is point, then?*

"Communicating in the way that most other people do so that they see you as an equal and feel comfortable."

*Not equal. Am repair robot,* she said. *English broken. I fix.*

"You're so adorable!" I tightened my grip on her, my eyes a bit wet. "Fine, you can do it your way. All I ask is that you take statistics and see how well people understand you and adjust your way of communicating to maximize the quality of your communication."

*Yes. Already plan,* she said.

The floor was making my tailbone hurt, so I let go of Cuber and waited for her to back up before I got on my feet.

*U better?*

"Yes, you actually helped a lot."

*Good. Why face change?* she asked.

"Because I feel happier when I look more like a girl." I got butterflies in my stomach just from saying that out loud.

*OK. U girl. She.*

"You're not confused that I want to look more like a girl?" I asked.

*No. Humans change look often. Look + pronouns no matter, U still Remiel. Very good human.*

"You're awesome!" I said, bouncing in place.

*I know,* she responded.

A message from Ezzie came in as I was showing Cuber the shaver I bought. *I really enjoyed yesterday. Seeing you get in touch with your feminine side was incredible. Even writing this message, I'm hard and smiling.*

Blushing, I squirmed as my crotch tingled over her admission. *I had a good time too.*

*Oh, I could tell. You were moaning like a college coed.*

I blushed more, my face feeling sunburnt. *So how is your weekend so far?*

*It's cute when you get so flustered that you change the subject. <3*

Now I was getting hard. This is one of those moments where Ezzie was reminding me a lot of Ramda. They were so sexually free and I felt so closeted compared to them. *I don't know what to say.*

*Hmm, I bet you've never talked dirty through text. Tell me, Remiel, am I making you hard?*

*Yes,* I sent, getting so erect that it hurt.

*May I send you a lewd picture?*

*Yes,* I sent, my heart starting to speed up.

*Tell me the first thought that comes into your mind when you see this.* A beautiful loop of her cock cumming popped up, her huge flare twitching while she made a lake on her belly.

I bit my lip and moaned. Then I sent, *I want to put my mouth on it.*

*And drink my cum?*

*Yes,* I sent back, rubbing at my cock through my pants.

*See? You're doing fine at dirty talk,* she said.

*I am?*

*Yep, main thing in the way is shame and we've plowed right through that. I'm about to get off, I've been playing with a toy while we talk. I'm gonna save a video of what's about to happen to tease you with later,* she said.

*You're evil,* I sent.

*I know. Give me five minutes and then we'll talk more. <3*

Dashing out of the bathroom on autopilot, I grabbed Ramda's toys, went to my bed, and got off so hard that Cuber came in to check on me.

While I was panting on the bed, after drinking down cum from Ramda's simulated cock, Ezzie sent, *Did you shave yet?*

*Yeah, just got done before you started talking to me,* I sent.

*Can I see what you look like now?*

*Sure! Let me snap a facemap.* I got out of bed and wiped my own cum off my belly with a shirt that needed to go through the wash.

Going into my living room, I opened a padded cubby in the wall and grabbed my 3D scanner. Then I called the VR crane out from the wall and attached the scanner to it. As it leveled itself, I combed my hair with my fingers to get it under control. When I triggered the scanner, a bright strip of light traveled across my face as an arm on the crane guided the scanner around my entire head. It only took about thirty seconds and I did a few facial expressions to give the AI inside the system a good idea of how my facial muscles moved. All the models I'd made before had me with a beard, so I wanted to update everything anyway.

Satisfied with the model it made, I sent it to Ezzie. My chest got a bit tight. What if she hated the way I looked without a beard? I thought it was better, but there was no guarantee she'd feel the same way.

*Oh you're adorable! You have good cheekbones and some makeup could make you look quite girly,* she sent.

Butterflies returned to my stomach. *Really?*

*One sec,* she said.

I set about cleaning Ramda's toys and myself while I waited. When I was drying off, Ezzie sent back an edited model of my head. I gasped at how feminine her makeup job had made me.

*Are you sure you didn't edit my facial structure?* I asked.

*All I did was add some eyeliner, a single layer of foundation, and some blush. Something you could do in ten to twenty minutes with practice. Or in a few minutes if you got a makeup bot,* she sent.

Even though my chin wasn't as feminine as I'd like it to be, I couldn't help but think I looked beautiful. But the more I looked at my face, the more I wondered if something was wrong. Was this really me? I liked the idea I was only some makeup away from this, but I couldn't label it as my face. The face I'd seen in the mirror never really looked like my face no matter what I did to it. I was so happy seeing I could look this girly, but...

*You okay?*

I blinked. *Yeah, just surprised is all.*

*Well, if you want, next time we hang out, I can bring my makeup and the prosthetic breasts that I wore before I grew my own.*

For some reason, I'd never considered the possibility that I could try out breasts that way. I knew breast inserts existed, the idea that I'd ever wear them was the sticking point.

*It's something we could try,* I sent.

*Cool, I'll get that stuff together so it's ready when you are,* she sent.

*Okay.* I wasn't sure what to say. Why did I like the idea of wearing fake breasts so much?

*I'll let you enjoy your weekend and on Monday morning I'll check in about whether you want to meet up sometime next week. Sound good?*

*Yeah,* I sent back.

*Can I share your clean shaven face with Ramda?* Ezzie asked.

*Sure!* I sent back, knowing I might feel shy about sending it myself. I was already feeling odd about everything today.

From the moment I stopped talking to Ezzie until dinner, I worked to completely exhaust myself with highly active VR games. After dinner, a message from Ramda arrived.

*You're really attractive without your beard, hon. And Ezzie's right, makeup goes on you pretty naturally. You'd make a wonderful girl,* she sent.

My eyes got wet and I continued reading while wiping my eyes.

*Even though you're doing amazing without me, I wish I was there to help more with finding yourself, but I don't think I'll be able to see you in person for at least a month. Captain Aeidou will be in for the first half of next week, however, and she wants to meet you. Lezveioans are really chill about gender stuff and you might get a lot out of hanging out with her. Do you want me to tell her to contact you?*

At first, the idea of meeting Captain Aeidou was overwhelming, but then I realized that I couldn't pass up the chance to meet a real live alien for the first time. *Yes! I'd love to meet her and it's okay that you're not here. You introduced me to Ezzie and she's been a huge help. I'm so glad I met you and I still can't believe you still think I'm worth all this trouble.*

I felt energized after hearing from Ramda and hopped back into VR. A few hours later, I got a message back, saying, *I don't think you realize how courageous you are. And I have a question: How do you feel about your dick when you think of yourself as a girl? Do you really feel like a herm as Ezzie suggests? I'm worried that she might be coming off of her own trans journey and projecting too much of what she felt on you. Also, I know both of us are always on the lookout for more trans herms, so we can get a bit overexcited.*

*I don't mind my dick being there, really. It never felt wrong. I'm not sure I'm a trans herm, but no matter what happens, I don't want to lose my dick,* I said.

Two hours later, just before bed, Ramda sent, *I'm glad it doesn't bother you and I'm excited to see what you discover about yourself. I highly recommend Ezzie's idea for trying out VR sex. It answered a lot of questions for me.*

I sent back, *It sounds too good to pass up. I'm just worried about what to do with what I find out.*

In the morning, I had a message from Ramda. *I know it's hard to think about, but even though we don't know what the path forward is, we will find one. Just be the most you that you can be, whenever possible and learn as much as you can about yourself.*

*I'll try, but I'm very not used to it and I don't know for sure who I am,* I sent.

As I moved to get out of bed, my rough face scratched my shoulder and for some reason, I just stopped. After having a smooth face yesterday, it felt wrong. Really wrong. I got up and shaved, dreading having to do it every morning or feel the wrongness I'd just felt come back. Maybe I'd look into getting my facial hair removed. I looked at my arms and legs. Didn't most women shave hair off their arms and legs or get it removed if they had it? It was worth a try.

Getting in the shower, I switched to the body shaving head on my shaver and put cream on my arms and legs before I shaved them. It was so easy and I was kinda in a daze, so I just started shaving off all the other hair on my body until every bit of me was smooth. I even carefully got my balls and the base of my cock.

When I got out of the shower and dried off, I ran a hand down my arm, across my chest, and then I shivered as I touched my nipples. I bit my lip and groaned. My chest felt amazing without hair on it. I reached down and found my smooth pubic area, and then cupped my balls. Reaching behind them, I moaned and nearly lost my balance. The need to get off was incredible and I got on my bed the moment I was dry.

Gasping and writhing, I pressed my smooth skin against the bed, my nipples hardening so much that they sent tingles throughout me. My dick throbbed to life as I kept feeling my smooth balls and the space behind them. Soon I was thrusting into my hands, feeling warm all over. I was so happy, so damn turned on by my own body.

Before I knew it, I'd rolled onto my back and was cumming all over my belly while screaming like a girl.

As I laid there, cum running down my side and into my sheets, I stared at the ceiling. With how I felt right now, I didn't want any of my body hair to grow back.

What was happening to me? There's no way I could be this sure of something so major. I made a fist. I needed to actually do something about the way I felt this time. If I didn't take the advice I'd given Ezzie, I'd continue being a hypocrite.

I opened a message to send to Ramda and Ezzie. *I think I want to go to a hair removal clinic. I tried shaving my body and I don't know why, but I love the way it feels and I don't really want the hair to grow back.*

An odd thought hit me and I added, *But I wonder if hair removal would prevent me from growing fur if I decide to become a hybrid someday? Does that even make sense? Anyway, it's something I'd like to possibly do that I know nothing about. Thanks for all the support and I hope you are having a good day.*

Asking for help felt so weird.

I got up off my bed and then washed my cum off and tried to play VR games, but ended up looking at hair removal clinics. Some of them were also mod clinics, so I lost a couple hours browsing mods as well. They were all pretty darn expensive, but boy did they look fun. Having a tail that could be another limb to hold stuff for me? Like, who wouldn't want that? I was surprised Ramda hadn't gotten one. And all the animal ear options were so cute!

I stopped myself when I started considering using a chunk of my savings to get my ears modded. It was one of the cheapest options, but it was also something that would instantly get me kicked out of work and sent back home. Maybe I'd be satisfied with smooth skin, letting Ezzie and Ramda make me feel like a girl, and doing stuff in VR? Things that wouldn't be visible to the management at Miramanna. But, ugh, even my hair was a problem for them.

Maybe I needed to ask Ezzie if we could do the VR stuff today and try to know myself even better before work tried to erase it. No, Ezzie had already given me so much of her time and I already had too much to think about.

After an hour of VR games, Ezzie got back to me about the message I'd sent earlier. *It does make sense and it won't affect you getting fur. There aren't enough human hair follicles to have a coat of fur and human hairs are different than most fur, so when you get modded your body has to make new follicles anyway. There's a chain of good hair removal clinics that use an automated process that only takes a few sessions. It's kinda freaky to watch because of all the electrolysis needles going in at once and you need to stay very still, but it is rather easy overall.* At the end of her message was a link to a hair removal clinic.

*Thanks! I'm going to check this out!*

*No problem! Let me know if you need anything,* she sent.

*I will,* I sent.

While I was looking at setting up a new patient appointment at the clinic, I got a message from Ramda. *It's totally fine to do and isn't something that would be conspicuous at your job. It's not even that expensive these days. Well, as far as mods go.*

*I think I'm gonna do it, then,* I sent back.

Before I could do anything else, I got a message from Captain Aeidou. *Greetings friend, would you be able to meet me on Tuesday evening at 7:15PM for a night out? We could either do a human place you pick or my favorite Lezveioan dinner spa. If you choose the second option, it'll be my treat, but I must warn you that it's definitely not a normal human experience. There would be nudity and possibly openly sexual things going on around us. But it would give you a very clear view of our culture. Your choice and happy to meet you in whatever context you're most attracted to.*

I sent, *I think we should just go with a human place this time to be on the safe side, but I'd love to go to a Lezveioan place another time,* and then instantly regretted it. The safe option, the thing I was most comfortable with was so boring.

After I went to bed, I laid wide awake wondering all sorts of things. What did "dinner spa" mean? What on Earth did her warning mean? Did people actually have sex in the restaurant-spa thing? Was that what Lezveioan culture was like? What did Lezveioan dicks look like? Their pussies? Then I remembered how hot Captain Aeidou had looked and blushed profusely. Would I get to see her naked if we went to the Lezveioan place?

Opening up another message to Captain Aeidou, I wrote, *Actually, I want to go to the dinner-spa place with you and experience your culture. It's an opportunity I can't pass up.*

After sending that message, I slept like a rock, dreaming about finding Captain Aeidou and Ramda making out in my shower.

Chapter 8

Ahead of me as I walked out of the metro station was a woman shorter than me with long black hair and greenish-blue fox ears and tail. It was Julia, Hosanna's crush. I didn't pay any mind to the 1960's Vegas casino paraphernalia this station was chock full of, I'd seen it a hundred times over, but Julia was staring at it, well, through it. It was one of many Las Vegas history monuments in the Trilliant.

As I approached, she turned to look at me saying, "Hello Miss?"

I smiled really big as a wave of delight crashed through me. Over my lunch break, I'd shaved my face because I'd gotten up too late to do it in the morning. And my shaver shaved incredibly close. But maybe it was also the lighting? Most of the light was on the gilded slot machine under the spotlight above. Another wave of emotion hit me as I saw a trans flag pin on Julia's purple lapel.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, Remiel! I didn't recognize you without your beard and misgendered you."

"No you didn't," I said automatically, only to blush deeply as I realized what I'd just implied.

She gestured for us to walk out of the station together and then asked, "A-are you trans?"

"I don't honestly know," I said, wishing I had a better answer for her.

"Just starting to figure stuff out?" she asked as we passed a Roman pillar from the original Caesar's Palace casino.

"Yeah," I said.

"You seemed happy when I called you Miss," she said.

"It's the first time someone called me that in public." Just remembering her referring to me that way was making my heart flutter.

"So you've never gone out as a woman? Like dressed up and such?" she asked.

"No, but I have a friend who wants to help me do that," I said. "It's a bit terrifying to think about, though."

"Oh, I was terrified the first time, but I picked a time when I'd be surrounded by people who were really chill and supportive about gender stuff," she said.

"I've heard Lezveioans are like that," I said, glancing at a fancy roulette table off to the side.

"Oh! Do you know some Lezveioans?" she asked.

"Not exactly? I've only talked to her briefly on video when we got introduced," I said. "I'm going with her to a Lezveioan place tonight."

Her tail started wagging. "Oh my God! That's like the perfect opportunity for you to try dressing up, girl! They are fucking amazing to be around if you're trans."

"You think I should try to dress up tonight?" I asked, my heart pounding.

"You seem to have questions and it's a safe way to answer a lot of them," she said. "So, if you feel comfortable with the idea, I'd totally go for it."

"I'll ask if it's okay, I don't want to suddenly show up as a woman when I met her as a guy," I said.

"If she's like other Lezveioans, she won't care at all," she said.

"R-really?" I blinked.

"Their concept of gender is incredibly flexible," she said.

We passed the original seventeen-meter-tall sign from The Sands Casino, leaving the metro station.

She broke the brief silence with, "Remiel is a pretty name, but you might want to start trying out other names and see if you find one that fits you better."

"Huh." For a moment, I just stared at her. Changing one's name wasn't possible on Trinity Stronghold unless you were a woman taking on your husband's surname. I'd never thought about the possibility of changing mine.

"Sorry, did I say something wrong?"

"No, I'm just thinking. I like the way my name sounds, but nothing else about it is all that appealing to me," I said.

"It might not be appealing because it's a guy's name and you might feel better with a more feminine one. Like Amelia or something," she said.

My mouth dropped open. "Oooh, that's pretty in the same way Remiel is."

She nodded sagely. "I picked it for that very reason."

"I really like it," I said.

"Then is it alright if I call you that for now?"

I blushed as I said, "Sure."

"If you want more help with picking a name or any other trans stuff, feel free to contact me," she said, sending me her contact info.

"I will," I said. "Can I ask you a personal question?"

"Sure," she said.

"Does Hosanna know you're trans?"

Julia's eyes lit up the moment she heard Hosanna's name. "Told her that on our first date and we have a second one planned."

"So you two had a good time?"

"Yep! We watched an interactive VR film and afterwards we found out that she's a very good kisser," Julia said, practically glowing.

Warmth welled up inside me thinking about them kissing. "I'm so glad!" I said.

"Me too!" She looked down the street as we exited the station. "Sorry, but I gotta get home."

"No prob, we can chat more later," I said.

"Yes, later Amelia!" she waved.

I waved, smiling. Then, as I turned to walk back to my apartment, I remembered something she'd said. Something that made me blush all over. This was my chance to do something that would answer so many questions and I needed Ezzie's help.

Starting a message to Ezzie, I wrote, *Could you help me get ready for my outing with Captain Aeidou tonight?*

*When is it?* she asked.

*I'm meeting her at 7:15PM at Tev Auritoa'i,* I sent. "Sorry, I didn't think this through.*

*Don't be sorry, today's perfect, the last bit of stuff I ordered for you arrived this morning. What tipped the scale and got you ready for this step?*

*I don't know, I feel like my time's limited because they're gonna make me cut my hair eventually and every time I've done something to explore trans stuff, it's felt incredibly good. And I've spent so much time doubting myself that I'm afraid what'll happen if I slow down or stop,* I sent, my eyes widening at what I'd just said. I hadn't even given myself time to think about what I was doing, which is probably the only reason I'd been moving forward.

*That's very relatable. Feeling good about oneself for a change is kinda addictive, in a good way,* she sent back. *I'll be at your place in twenty to thirty minutes, depending on how long it takes to shuffle my schedule around. Use the time to shave any part of you that needs it.*

I wanted to ask her to forget it if there was a conflict in her schedule, but I knew she'd come anyway. So I just sent back, *Okay, I'll set the security system to open for you in case you arrive when I'm in the middle of shaving.*

*Good thinking, see you soon!*

The moment I got into my apartment, I stripped down and headed for the bathroom. I washed myself off a bit and then got to shaving. When I only had one leg left, I heard the door open followed by furious beeps from Cuber. The last time I'd heard her that upset was when Daniel had kicked her.

Ezzie's voice rang out, "How can you still hold a grudge? I was just doing my job! I swear!"

I got out of the tub, shaving cream still on my leg, and stumbled to the bathroom door.

"Fuck, you're strong! REMIEL! A LITTLE HELP, PLEASE?!" Ezzie cried out.

Peeking through the door, I saw Cuber scolding Ezzie while trying to pull Ezzie's carry-on bag out the door. Ezzie was hanging on to the carry-on bag and being slowly dragged back out the door.

"Cuber! Stop that!" I yelled.

Cuber turned toward me and Ezzie stepped fully into the apartment.

Cuber sent, *She bad!*

"No, she helped me a lot," I said, my brow furrowed in confusion.

Cuber gestured toward her and then let out an annoyed beep. *She not let me fix FTL assist pakage. Dangerous. Kick me out of engineering. Bad!*

"What's Ramda's lead maintenance bot doing here? It hates me," Ezzie said.

"Cuber got herself into trouble by picking a fight with a really annoying guy who kicked her and Ramda had to get her off the ship, so she gave her to me," I said. "She says you stopped her from fixing the FTL assist package and kicked her out of engineering."

"A-are you communicating with her?" Ezzie asked, one eyebrow raised high.

"I taught her some English and she can send messages," I said.

Her eyes widened. "Are you sure that's a good idea?"

"Well, before she had language, all she could do was gesture and beep and figuring out what she's been up to is a bit impossible with only those," I said. Some of the shaving cream I'd had on my leg made it to the floor.

"Okay, I guess that makes sense, but I'm still a bit concerned. She's a bit of a rascal," Ezzie said.

"Yeah, she gets up to some mischief, alright," I said, purposefully leaving out the part about Cuber stealing the watch. Ezzie seemed stressed enough as it was.

Cuber beeped and got between us, waving her arms.

"I think she's telling us it's rude to talk about her as if she's not here," Ezzie said.

With a beep of agreement, Cuber crossed her arms.

"Sorry, I got distracted, I was actually about to apologize to you." Ezzie knelt down in front of Cuber. "I'm sorry, hon, like I told you before, I had to troubleshoot the safety interlock after the firmware update."

Cuber turned away from her and sounded the wrong answer buzzer.

"Come on, Cuber, Ezzie wouldn't do anything simply to upset you," I said.

Cuber made a beep that sounded a lot like a sigh and then walked away from Ezzie, toward her pile of components.

"I think we have a truce," Ezzie said.

"Yeah, seems like it. I need to finish shaving my right leg and then I'll be ready," I said.

Ezzie pulled out a chair and laid her carry-on-sized luggage on it before opening it. "I'll get my stuff out while you're doing that."

"Okay!" I said and then went back into the restroom and finished my shaving.

After I was done, I put on a pair of boxers and came out of the restroom. I wasn't sure what Ezzie was going to do to me and felt odd about just walking around naked.

As I got up next to her, I tilted my head. "Are your ears more pointy?" I asked.

She nodded and then turned around, pulling the back of her skirt down. A two-inch-thick scale-covered nub was sticking out from the base of her spine. "I took your advice and got my full-body mod started."

My mouth dropped open, "Y-you did?"

Turning back toward me, she lifted her blouse, showing her belly. There were green scales spreading upwards from her crotch. "Yep!" Pointing at her nose, she said, "Take a close look."

"Oh! it's wider and a bit flatter!" I said.

"Muzzle is starting right at the beginning because changes to the face need to go slow. Lots of nerves, bones, and teeth," she said.

"Does any of it hurt?" I asked.

"Not really, it aches a bit at times, but things are being done very carefully. They fully imaged my body and got lots of lab tests before they even started." Ezzie pulled off her shirt and then her bra, revealing some green scales just above her cleavage and that her breasts were a bit bigger. Her nipples started hardening in my cool apartment air as she said, "Some places have been really sensitive."

Without really thinking, I reached out and put my hand on her left breast. God she was gorgeous and she seemed a tiny bit taller than the last time I saw her. Her hefty tit felt amazing under my palm.

She gasped as a bulge formed in her giraffe-patterned black skirt.

I pulled my hand away.

"I'd ask you to go farther, but we'd never get around to dressing you up," she said, putting her bra back on and then her reddish-orange blouse.

"True," I said, looking at her bulge as I remembered drinking down her cum. My boxers started getting a tent in them.

"Hmm, you seem a bit distracted." Ezzie pulled down her skirt and panties, revealing three inches of her horsecock. "Do you need a drink first, hon?"

I got on my knees, getting eye level with her shaft and grabbed it. Then, I started stroking and she was fully hard, thrusting into my hands, within a minute.

She threw her blouse and bra off, grabbed my hair, and shoved my mouth onto her prick. I moaned, grabbing onto her shaft for support while she fondled her breasts. Not caring about lasting, she just went for it, fucking my mouth as fast as I could tolerate. I made sure to use my tongue to give her flare extra stimulation while I slipped a hand behind her balls and stroked her wide clit as if it was a little cock. As her pussy juices coated my hand, I was rewarded by her shoving forward, and cumming right down my throat.

I shivered and squirmed, my dick aching as she came like a stallion, her cock flaring in my mouth.

She tugged on her fat nipples while crying out, "Ngh! REMIEL!"

When it was over, I fell backwards and her thick flare popped out of my mouth. As I panted to catch my breath, her dick dripped cum on my leg.

"You need me to help you get off, dear?" She asked.

"Nah, I'll be fine," I said, not sure if I was right. "Plus, we don't have much time as it is."

"Alright, let's get your face washed off and then get this show on the road," she said.

When I got back to the dining table after washing up, she opened a small box and pulled out two breast forms that looked bizarrely real. "Want to wear these?"

I stared at them, blushing and trying to stop myself from squirming. The thought of having breasts on for the date was destroying me.

She started putting them back, "Maybe too much too soon, I get it."

"No," I said, blushing more.

She stepped up to me, holding the flat sides toward my chest. Then she slowly put them against my skin, saying, "These automatically attach themselves to you and there's a bunch of little electrodes and such that stimulate the flesh below, faking some of the sensations of having breasts."

My breath caught as they attached to me, sending tingles all throughout my chest.

Ezzie poked one with her finger and I could feel it, like it was my breast! The sensation was slightly hollow, like not feeling a lot from inside the breast, but it tricked me enough that I moaned and pred in my boxers.

She giggled, "Pretty great, aren't they?"

I looked down at them as they changed to match my skin color. They were pretty big, like at least high-C cup. Just seeing them there got tingles all throughout my belly and crotch. Their weight on my chest was like getting a perpetual hug. "They're amazing!" I said, not quite having the courage to touch them.

"Stop hovering over them with your hands and give them a squeeze, hon."

I steeled myself for what was about to happen and then grabbed them with both hands. My knees buckled and Ezzie had to grab me to stop me from falling to the floor as I forgot how to breathe. They were warm and so close to the real thing, the nipples even started hardening as my palms slid over them. Somehow the sensation of touch was getting to my actual nipples, making them harden too. More pre leaked from my dick, making a bigger wet spot on my boxers.

"Okay, I'm definitely letting you keep those." She giggled.

I blushed bright red, taking my hands off my tits. "You don't have to let me keep them."

"I was saving them for a girl who needed them and now I've found one," she said.

My eyes darted back down to my synthetic boobs and I felt weightless, like giggling for no reason at all. "They're so awesome!"

"Yes they are, but we gotta cover them up so we can get you dressed," she said, grabbing a skin-colored bra that clasped in the front. She handed it to me, saying, "Front-clasp ones are way better for beginners. Just put it on like a shirt and then secure it in front."

As I grabbed the bra, I squirmed at the thought of putting it on. I'd never worn women's clothes and it felt forbidden. My stomach clenched as I put it on, then my heart raced as I clasped it. I bit my lip at the sensation of the bra pressing against my breasts, especially my nipples. Luckily, the longer it was there, the less distracting it was.

"Okay, take off those boxers and put these on," she said, reaching into her bag and pulling out pink panties with a white rose mosaic on them.

Now my heartbeat was pounding in my ears, and as I pulled my boxers down, the butterflies in my stomach escaped to my entire body leaving me a bit dizzy. There had to be some catch. There's no way all this was actually happening. My hands shook as I took the panties from Ezzie and then they shook more as I stepped into the leg holes.

"Gently angle your cock down and back as you put them on if you want to go out with a less obvious bulge," she said.

Not ready to go out as a proud herm like Ezzie, I used one hand to position my dick and then pulled the panties up my legs as my entire body got warm.

"If you want to be even more sure no one will notice you'd have to tuck."

"What's tucking?" I asked as I got the panties fully on, shivering at the perfect way they cupped my dick and balls.

"It's a way of trapping your cock between your legs to make sure you have no bulge, but comes at the cost of possible discomfort. I never got into it and we'd have to look it up if you wanted to do it."

Having to lean forward with my head to see past my cleavage to my crotch made me want to dance around with happiness. My bulge looked so good in a pair of panties that I couldn't help but smile. "I think this is fine."

"Oh, it's better than fine, you look adorable and sexy!" she said.

I giggled and bounced, getting my breasts to fight the bra's elastic. Moaning, I arched my back as my prick swelled in my panties.

"Damn, if you don't turn down your girliness, I'm gonna need to get off again." Ezzie chuckled, her prick just starting to harden.

"Sorry," I said.

She kissed my forehead. "Never apologize for being girly. The world's made you do that enough."

Instead of crying in front of Ezzie, I followed my second impulse, which was to kiss her. As my lips met hers, I pressed my boobs up against hers, gasping and grabbing her around the middle.

She kissed back, grunting as she pressed her huge bulge against my modest one. The moment my prick started straining in my panties, she pulled us apart, saying, "We better get your makeup on. Otherwise, you're not going to have all that much time to try on outfits before you have to leave."

"Okay, is there anything else I need to do before we start?" I asked.

"Sit still while I get out the stuff for putting on your foundation. I used the facemap you sent me to pick out the right color of concealing foundation in case you decided to try makeup," she said, grabbing a clear plastic case with a bunch of small rectangular bottles in it.

Cuber came over and pulled a chair out from the dining table before hopping up onto it. The chair complained because she wasn't exactly light. Staring at me over the edge of the table with her sensor cluster, she made a soft beep.

"Hi there, Ezzie's about to put makeup on me," I said.

Cuber gave the wrong answer sound.

"If I don't put makeup on her, she'll have a bit of a shadow on her face and will be sad when she goes out," Ezzie explained patiently as she pumped the foundation onto a fine-grained egg-shaped sponge.

As she reached for my face with the sponge, Cuber jumped onto the table and growled while sending me a message, *No me. I fix. Not her.*

"You don't know how to put on makeup, Cuber," I said.

*I learn fast. Show 3D video. No mistakes. I am robot. Can do better than Ezzie.*

"What's going on?" Ezzie asked, looking wary of Cuber.

"She wants to put on my makeup," I said.

"Does she know how?" Ezzie asked.

*Show me 3D maykup video. Then I can do.*

"She says she can do it if we show her a 3D makeup video," I said.

Ezzie thought for a moment, looking at Cuber. Then she reached for my face with the sponge, saying, "How about you watch me and then you'll know how to do it?"

Cuber grabbed the sponge right out of Ezzie's hand so quickly that neither of us noticed the sponge was gone at first. Ezzie was just staring at where the sponge used to be while her hand hovered in midair.

Cuber cheered, holding up the sponge like a prize.

"Let Ezzie show you how to do it and then we'll let you do it," I said.

*No,* Cuber backed away.

"Cuber, I know we got off on the wrong foot earlier, but I'm not trying to trick you or manipulate you. How about I just show you the technique for each part and then you do the rest?"

Cuber made the wrong answer sound.

"If we just get random videos online, they won't be tailored to Remiel's face and she won't be as happy with the result," Ezzie said.

"You can call me Amelia, if you want," I said.

"Ooh, I like that! How did you come up with it?" Ezzie asked.

"Julia, a trans woman I know, figured it out for me," I said, smiling at the memory.

"I'll be supportive if you try out other names, but boy is that a good starting point," she said.

"Yeah," I said, smiling so big that my cheeks hurt. Being around people like Ezzie and Ramda made me smile a lot more than I was used to.

Cuber made an annoyed beep, waving the arm holding the sponge.

Ezzie turned to me and said, "Can we pull up the makeup edit of your face that I sent you the other day and send it to Cuber?"

"Yeah, one sec." I found the file using my hud and then dropped it into a message to Cuber. *This is what Ezzie's planning on doing to me.*

*Good if want look girl. I try.* Cuber sent back, getting closer.

"Give Ezzie the sponge so she can show you how to apply it. I won't let her do more than show you, I promise." I reached for the sponge.

Cuber let me have it, sending, *Okay. I watch.*

"With your advanced motor skills and memory, you'll probably be even better than me at doing Remiel's makeup. I'm looking forward to teaching you. Truce?" Ezzie held out a hand.

Cuber shook Ezzie's hand, grumbling softly.

Ezzie then took the sponge and dabbed it across my cheek, spreading the foundation evenly before pumping a bit more of it out of the small container and onto the sponge. Cuber grabbed for the sponge and Ezzie handed it to her, saying, "Just spread it evenly in one layer and be careful not to let globs of it get in one place."

Then I felt a vibration on my cheek as Cuber went about applying foundation at a rate that I wasn't sure was safe. After the foundation was applied, Ezzie used a wide brush and some blush to add a bit of warmth to the foundation so it looked like it was just my skin. Cuber copied that process on my entire face in one tenth the time it would've taken Ezzie...it felt like someone trying to beat me up with a feather. Then Ezzie led Cuber in completing the makeup job she'd designed using my facemap. Cuber seemed fascinated by the process, but I kinda zoned out because they were so busy working together that I didn't have much to do.

Before I knew it, Ezzie was holding up a mirror, asking me, "So, Amelia, what do you think?"

Chapter 9

As I left the metro station and entered Glamour Street, I felt lighter than air. The moment I'd seen my face in the mirror, I'd felt beautiful. My purple eyeshadow, the blush on my cheeks, the bit of shading to de-emphasize the squareness of my chin, all of it was elevated by Ezzie's tremendous sense of aesthetics and Cuber's precision. To top it off, the frilly, greenish-white dress I was wearing fit my surroundings perfectly.

Mosaics of iridescent broken glass depicting a vast array of different flowers from pomegranates to poppies to pansies were spread out over the street and even the walls of buildings. It was like stepping into a blooming garden made of glass that changed color as I walked past it.

Directly ahead of me was a voluptuous mesh of glowing threads that comprised the entrance to Tev Auritoa'i. The flowing shapes reminded me of flower petals and, well, things that made me blush.

Three humans, two of them with mods, and six Lezveioans were hovering near the entrance. Everyone was in oddly little clothing. In fact, four of the Lezveioans and one human with cat ears and a tail were in something between a kimono and a beautifully-patterned bathrobe. These garments had triangles randomly cut out of them to expose bare flesh and it seemed the way you were supposed to wear them was exposing most of your chest, barely even hiding your nipples.

I shivered as I imagined myself wearing one of those fancy bathrobes while having these breasts on. God this felt strange, and good, and scary. And I was still processing all this when a Lezveioan in a shiny light blue low-V neck blouse, and tight-fitting white flared pants that showed off her bulge, waved at me. The moment I saw her raspberry red eyes and pink scales with red splotches, I knew it was Captain Aeidou.

Her wave wasn't typical because she was opening and closing her hand instead of waving her arm back and forth. As I approached, her fan-like ears opened more and more.

"Hello Captain," I said.

The moment I was in front of her, she looked me up and down. "R-Remiel?" she asked.

"You can call me Amelia," I said.

"Ooh, I like that name," her ears relaxed, closing a bit. "You can just call me Aeidou. It's actually my first name. Lezveioan culture is far more casual than most Earth cultures."

"Oh, okay," I said.

"For a moment, I thought you'd sent your twin sister over to meet me or something."

"R-really?" I asked, feeling incredible.

"Yes, you make a rather beautiful woman," she said. "Are you transitioning now?"

"Nope, just trying this out while I can." My voice didn't match my look and my stomach was suddenly unhappy about that.

"While you can?" she asked, her right ear fanning.

"My work is going to make me cut my hair sometime soon," I said, wishing my voice wasn't so harsh.

She dipped her head, frowning. "That is severely unfortunate."

"Yeah," I said, looking at a tree behind and to the right of Aeidou. "Can we go over there for a sec? I need help with something." I pointed at the tree.

"Sure!" Aeidou said, turning and walking to the tree.

I followed her and then said, "So, uhh..."

"Go on," she said. "It's no bother for me to hear what's bothering you."

"My voice just doesn't fit my look at all and I'm feeling really off hearing it," I said.

"Mind if I touch you?" she asked.

"No, I don't think so," I said, wondering where she was going with this.

She put her hands on the sides of my shoulders firmly and looked in my eyes. "Just breathe and try to find any muscles you're clenching. Then try to release them. Especially in your neck."

As I looked at her smiling shark-like alien face, she moved her hands across my shoulders and to my neck, massaging any tightness she found. Then she found big knots where my neck met my shoulders.

I closed my eyes and groaned as her strong hands and blunt claws kneaded my flesh.

The moment my shoulders were just kinda hanging at my sides, she put her fingers on the sides of my neck and said, "Now speak, but don't allow yourself to tense up."

I started to speak, but she put a finger to my lips, saying, "You're tensing up. Try again."

"Is this right?" My voice was a bit softer.

She leaned in, puckering her lips lightly. Her movement was slow, giving me plenty of time to avoid her kiss, but I didn't. Something about her just drew me in, like I was getting hypnotized. There was this look in her eyes, desire, confidence, and kindness that reminded me of Ezzie and Ramda. But there was something else too, a calmness, as if kissing me was as natural as a firm handshake when one made a new friend.

When our lips touched, she ran her forked tongue along my lips. This lazy kiss continued as she pulled me into her arms. Soon our breasts were touching, then our bulges as she pressed against me firmer and firmer. Her hands massaged my back and then my buttocks. Eventually, she broke the kiss and rested her chin on my shoulder.

"I could tell you were attracted to me from the moment we met, so I figured letting our bodies break the ice would be easier than trying to do it with words." She gave me a squeeze. "No matter how feminine or masculine your voice sounds, I'll see you as a woman. A woman who is sexy, inexperienced, and deserving of respect. Tonight, you will be in a place where your voice cannot invalidate your gender expression. We believe humans are whatever gender they assign to themselves, no questions asked. In fact, most Lezveioans don't even know how to differentiate between human genders."

Tears welled up in my eyes. I believed every word and I couldn't figure out what to do with that. So I just grabbed tightly onto her while I teetered on the edge of tears.

She just stood there for what seemed like hours, holding me against her as she swayed from side to side. It took a while for the urge to cry to get soft enough that I started noticing things. Her breasts were more firm than anyone I'd been with, but they still had a nice give to them. Her abdominal muscles were firm even though her belly had some roundness to it and her balls were bigger than mine.

Damn it! Now all I could think about was her balls and then her sheath as my prick throbbed to life, pressing against it.

"Mmm," she pressed her bulge against the stiffening situation in my panties. "Okay, girl, let's see if we can coax out your feminine voice. Seduce me."

"S-seduce you?" I asked, my whole body warming up.

She nodded. "Take all that feminine desire inside you and put it into your voice."

"You feel so good against me that I just want to stay like this forever." It was the truth, and it came out of my mouth resonant and deep, but cooing, like I'd heard women do in VR games when they were trying to use their sex appeal to get something.

"Yes, good! Keep going," she said.

"Your arms are so strong. I feel really safe in them," I said.

She held me tighter. "You are safe in them. Ever since I saw you on Ramda's ship, I've wanted to hold you."

"Is your species always this...uhh..."

"Quick with physical affection? Yes." She lifted her head and loosened her grip. "Is it bothering you?"

"No, I just can't believe we're doing this already." I grabbed her and held her tight, gasping at my breasts being squished against hers.

"You needed a hug," she said. "Can you hear how relaxed your voice is now?"

"Yeah," I said.

"Just hang on to that. Most of the trans women I've met learned a more masculine way of speaking due to outside pressure. And when they relax and speak naturally, they sound far more feminine. Lots of cis women have low voices, after all," she said. "But if you want to go farther than that, modding your larynx can be done pretty easily. Voice training can lead to great success as well."

"Do you know lots of trans women?" I asked.

She let me go and stood back a bit. Grabbing my hands, she said, "I was adopted by human parents who had trouble thinking outside binary human gender roles and treated me like a boy my whole childhood. Ramda and I met when both of us were discovering we were trans herms."

"They really raised you like a human boy?" I asked.

She nodded. "It was a small asteroid mining colony and I was the only Lezveioan."

"But now you see yourself as a herm?"

She nodded and then smiled wide, showing she had four pointy canine teeth instead of two. "Yep, I feel like a full member of my species now and I have Lezveioan citizenship."

"I'm so glad," I said.

"Ezzie and Ramda probably know more in depth what you're going through, but I think you'll find I'm quite sensitive to your situation," she said. "Now, Amelia, are you ready to witness the sort of debauchery your employer frowns upon?"

My eyes widened. "What do you mean by that?"

Her grin made my knees weak. "I think you already know. Otherwise, you wouldn't be blushing so hard," she said before leading me toward the entrance.

As we walked past the people outside, Aeidou held my hand. The moment the door to the entryway opened, I stopped in my tracks, yanking Aeidou back a bit.

To my left was a clear semicircular floor to ceiling window and pressed up against the glass was a naked light yellow Lezveioan getting fucked from behind. Her small breasts and large balls were smooshed up against the glass as her two pink prehensile cocks writhed, leaving twin trails of pre.

I gasped as my prick started to throb. That Lezveioan looked like she was having the time of her life.

Aeidou said, "You look like you wish you could be in her place."

I quickly muffled my moan with my free hand.

With a chuckle, Aeidou brought us closer to the glass. My heart started pounding while my panties felt far too tight.

The yellow Lezveioan's moans had this warble to them, like there was a purr under her voice or singing a low note with her diaphragm. I could feel it in the soles of the cute pink shoes Ezzie had given me. The source of her cries of ecstasy was a giraffe hybrid with full breasts that bounced every time she thrust into the Lezveioan.

Just as I was trying to pull my eyes away from the spectacle, the giraffe bellowed and shoved forward one last time. The Lezveioan yelled something in her native language while her dicks twisted around each other and let loose a torrent of thick seed that slowly slid down the glass.

I bit my finger to avoid moaning more as I felt a rush of heat through my entire body. When I finally turned away, I saw twitching in the front of Aeidou's blouse. The outline of her shafts went all the way up to the low V in her blouse where I could see the slender orange tips of her twin cocks.

She said, "I was going to keep our anatomy a secret until later, but, as they say, the cocks are out of the bag now."

I laughed, caught completely off guard by her quip.

"At first, I was worried this place might be too much for you, but I'm no longer concerned." She grabbed my hand and started tugging me toward the second set of doors.

A sharp gasp from the Lezveioan behind the glass got me craning my neck to look back. The giraffe hybrid was pulling out and when her thick horsecock came free, cum rushed out of the Lezveioan's snatch and made a pool on the floor. A mostly-nude Lezveioan attendant gave the giraffe a stack of pre-moistened hand towels.

"Let's get some food and then we can roam around and do whatever you like," Aeidou said in a way that made me squirm before gently tugging me through the second set of doors.

A punk band against the far wall was playing something fast and frantic that slowed down into a sensual, pulsing rhythm for the chorus. Alternately singing and screaming the lyrics was a dragon-tailed tiger who also played lead guitar, the light blue Lezveioan drummer twirled her drumsticks in intricate patterns whenever the percussion got especially complex, the beefy hyena bassist was providing some backup vocals while getting hard when she got to do her bass solo, and the fennec fox on the keyboard was controlling the sound system. All of them were nude, all of them were herms, and all of them were so deep into their music that they were a flurry of movement and sound. I knew they were herms because the chorus of the song they were playing was "Herm orgy in the airlock, thrusting into you with my cock, putting cream in your tight box. And the seconds count da-ow-own, and the seconds count da-ow-own..."

In front of the stage was a vast seating area surrounding a circular dance floor where the flowery tile mosaic that covered the floor switched from wine-colored, tarnished gold, and orange to cyan, gold, and hot pink. The long diamond-shaped tiles that made up the mosaic depicted dazzling cubes and flowers in a random pattern that never seemed to do the same thing twice. The tables and chairs were all wicker made of light-orange-hued grass. The tables had glass tops and the chairs all had cushions with white towel-like covers wrapped around them.

The cushion covers made sense since about a quarter of the people dining were nude. Not that the people wearing clothes were leaving much to the imagination. There were so many women with bulges that I could hardly keep track of it all, especially since a lot of them were on the dance floor.

As two Leveioans not four meters from me went from making out to one of them bending the other over and shoving inside, I moaned. Watching her balls swing below her pussy made me tingle from head to toe. Then a hybrid fox herm got behind that Lezveioan and made her the filling of a herm sandwich. I gasped in both pain and delight as my panties got unbearably tight.

Aeidou stopped talking to a tall Lezveioan server who'd come up while I was distracted and sniffed the air. Leaning in and speaking into my right ear, she said, "You might want to take off your panties. Girls with tents in their skirts are more than welcome here."

I didn't really have a choice, but my heart still pounded as I reached under my skirt and pulled down my panties. As my prick flipped up and freed itself, I groaned. Then I had my panties in my hand while my skirt jutted out where my dick was. Seeing my clothed erection while feeling the weight of my breasts on my chest compounded my embarrassment while also making me want to dance in joy.

Aeidou made eye contact with the server and pointed at my panties.

I hid them behind my back immediately, having no idea what was going on, but before I could ask, the server pulled out a simple drawstring bag that had thin straps for wearing as a backpack. Taking the bag, I put my panties in it, saying, "Thank you."

The server glanced at my erection and grinned.

Joy, fear, embarrassment, doubt, and arousal. Chaos. I started crying, feeling all and none of those emotions at the same time.

The server said, "Sorry, I'm so sorry!"

"I doubt it's your fault." Aeidou pulled me into a hug carefully to avoid getting poked by my length. "Are you overwhelmed? Do you need us to go somewhere else?"

"No, I love this," I said, bawling.

"But it still could be too much," Aeidou said.

"I'll be okay," I said, still crying. It didn't feel normal, it felt like I was on the edge of laughing because I was so happy, but I just couldn't quite get there.

Aeidou hooked an arm around me and guided me toward the right-hand wall. Then we entered a shower room which had group stalls and individual stalls and a nice tiled floor with bumps that made my shoes grip it extra well.

Passing a couple trans women that were having sex up against the wall, Aeidou pulled me into one of the small shower stalls. "Are you sure you don't need to go somewhere else?"

"I don't want to leave, but..." My crying got in the way of my speech. "But, I don't know what to do."

"You don't have to do anything." Aeidou hugged me. Her small breasts were just soft enough to make the embrace feel cozy.

Aeidou held me close while I cried a bit more. I felt stupid for crying in front of someone I'd only known for a half hour, but she was handling it so well I trusted her as much as Ezzie or Ramda by the time my tears stopped.

"I know this might be tangential to what you were crying about, but I want you to know that I think you're beautiful," Aeidou said.

That almost got me crying again. Instead, I grabbed her and pulled her against me, my half hard cock poking at her balls though the fabric separating us.

After I relaxed a bit, she asked, "You still overwhelmed?"

"No, crying helped a lot," I said. "Still feel weird, though."

"Weird?" she asked.

"Yeah, when I see herms having sex in real life it's incredible, but I also feel like crying." I sighed. "I'm making no sense."

"Mind if I chat with Ezzie? She understands a lot of human emotions and trans stuff better than me," Aeidou said. "I have an idea of what I think is going on, but I want to check with her."

"Sure, I just want my brain to stop being stupid," I said.

"It's not stupid, emotions are just prohibitively complex," she said.

I just stood there for a few minutes, resting my head on her shoulder.

"We think you're jealous," she said.

"Jealous?" I moved my head back to look her in the eye.

"Not in a bad way, more like you want to be a herm so bad that seeing them makes you feel frustrated. And women often cry when really frustrated or angry."

"I don't know if it's jealousy, but when I see them I feel empty inside," I said.

"You ever been penetrated?" Aeidou asked.

I blushed, hiding my face against her shoulder. "N-no."

"Well, maybe you're feeling literally empty," she said. "You seemed the most fixated on the herms who were getting fucked."

It was impossible for me to avoid squirming against her. I didn't have words. I was too embarrassed and too horny.

She kissed my forehead and said, "It's perfectly natural to want someone inside you. You're a woman, after all."

Good butterflies were back in my belly. "Say that again," I said. "The last part."

"You're a woman, Amelia. A woman I want to play with tonight," she said.

"You want to do, uh...stuff with me?"

She chuckled. "The fact that your erection hasn't gone down fully ever since I started hugging you makes me want to be intimate with you because I love being desired. When I add in you being adorable and sexy, I can't resist."

My stomach growled while I was trying to form a reply. Which was just as well since I had no idea what to say to her compliment anyway.

"How about we get some food and then I show you what my species does to relax?" She rubbed her balls against my half-hard shaft, making my skirt slide against my length.

That sent a hot shiver up my spine and got me to moan so loud that I was afraid I'd been overheard by the two lesbians still going at it in the entryway.

"Was that a yes?" she asked.

I nodded shyly.

"You just saw people having sex in the open, I think you can give me more than that," she grinned, her ears fanning wide with interest. "Do you want to have me inside you tonight? It's something I'm happy to do if you want to experience it."

"Yes," I said, blushing and hiding my face against her neck. Oh God, I was such a slut. I'd just met an actual extraterrestrial in person for the first time and I'd just asked her to fuck me. Maybe I'd find out I didn't need to get modded to be happy. Maybe dressing up and going out and getting someone inside me was all I needed. Was that too much to hope for?

Chapter 10

The light fixtures above our heads repeated the voluptuous shapes from the entrance, looking incredibly lewd without outright depicting anything outright erotic. This establishment didn't need to put porn up for people to know what happened in here, they could see it for themselves. Two tables over, a pair of lesbian newlyweds were making out while they sat in the laps of Lezveioans who were clearly enjoying being inside them. Every so often, they'd grab translucent lavender-colored candy-bar-like-things on a plate next to them and share it as part of their kiss.

"Always nice to see human couples who share an attraction to our kind," Aeidou said.

My head whipped toward her so fast, I got dizzy. I don't know why I cared if anyone in here noticed me staring, but it was just one of those feelings I couldn't shake. "Is that a common thing?"

Aeidou nodded, "We're very popular with couples because we're known for our conscientiousness and openness around sex. It also helps that we run places like this where it's safe for people to explore their sexuality without judgement or human cultural expectations."

Scrolling down on the menu that my implant had suspended above the glass tabletop, I asked, "Do you think humanity meeting your species is why Earth is so sexually open now?"

"I'm sure we've contributed, but Earth was pretty sexually open by the time humans met us, otherwise they would've been far less able to form a friendship with my species."

"That's a good point," I said, still having no idea what to order. The descriptions were in English, but most of the ingredients were Lezveioan. They had descriptions like "fruits from wetland guava-persimmon bush," but these were alien plants and they probably tasted nothing like their descriptions.

Seeing my confused expression, she said, "Would you like help ordering?"

"Yes, please," I said.

"You haven't had our food before, correct?" she asked.

"Never even looked at a Lezveioan menu," I said.

"How about I just set up a sample platter for us? If you don't like something, I'll be happy to eat it."

"That sounds perfect."

My foot was twitching to some very old school Earth trance music while I waited for her to put in the order. The herm band had stopped playing right after we sat down and the fennec had put on some music. Now the band was mingling with fans throughout the seating area. Every one of the band members seemed completely at home in the nude and when people glanced at their bulges, they just got a proud twinkle in their eye that made my whole body warm.

The hyena bassist was the band member I just couldn't take my eyes off of. She was currently fucking an orange Lezveioan who had her tail buried deep in the hyena's pussy. The hyena was so beautiful from her beefy arms and legs and wide body to the fuchsia highlights on her mohawk and the tip of her tail. I'd never thought about hyena hybrids before, but it was such a good look and she carried herself with a confidence that reminded me a lot of Ramda. The Lezveioan drummer was talking to someone, the iridescent yellow laced throughout her blue fur flashing me as she gestured. It made sense to see she'd modded herself to have fur since everything else about her pointed toward her having a wild streak. As she conversed with a taller orange Lezveioan, her eyes kept darting in Aeidou's direction whenever she seemed bored. Possibly trapped in a conversation she wasn't especially enjoying.

As I turned to look back at Aeidou, my eyes drifted across her snout, neckline, and chest and the moment I was staring down into her cleavage, she said, "Need something?" she asked, her ears fanning wide with interest.

"I was just realizing that Lezveioans are not as shark-like as I thought," I said. "Instead of shark skin, I'm seeing tiny round scales?"

"Yes. The closest comparison to an Earth species would be semi-aquatic lizards. Like iguanas or sailfins," she held a hand out across the table so I could get a closer look. "The differences being that we're human-sized, sentient, and warm blooded, of course."

Her hook-like claws had been carefully blunted. They were wider at the base than the tip and I wasn't sure how they worked because it didn't look like she'd filed them into that shape. There was this stretchy, semi-translucent webbing that went a bit past the first knuckle on each finger. As she flipped her hand over, I caught a flash of purple iridescence amongst her red-splotched pink scales and my gasp of awe got her to smile wide. The pink scales on her palms were a lighter pink and larger, looking far more protective.

"Early in our evolution, we actually had the same niche as semi-aquatic reptiles, but eventually outgrew it, literally and figuratively," she says.

I smirked at her comment as I felt her palm, my fingertips finding the scales smooth, but slightly grippy, kinda like a human palm, but more leathery.

"Do you have thicker scales in other places that get a lot of abrasion or just your palms?" I asked, blushing as I realized what Aeidou might do with that.

With a big toothy grin, she said, "Mind if I take off my clothes?"

"Y-you want to take off your clothes? Like right now?" I asked.

"Yes," she said. "I'd prefer to not to be introducing you to Lezveioan anatomy in the middle of sex and I'm in the mood to sate your curiosity."

As my gaze drifted to the dozens of nearby patrons who were naked, some of them having sex, my heart started fluttering as my cheeks got warm. I was the only one here that would feel much of anything about her getting nude.

"It's okay if not, it was just an impulse I had," she said.

"No," I said, immediately running out of words.

"Have I offended you?" Her ears drooped.

"No, umm, you can..." I couldn't say it even though I doubted anyone could hear me.

"Get naked?" Her ears fanned with excitement. "Nod if I've understood correctly."

I nodded, my crotch warming.

As she exposed her tummy by pulling off her long, low-V neck blouse, I realized most Lezveioans had torsos a bit on the long side which led to them being several centimeters taller than humans on average. Her bra was made out of a sheer red fabric that showed her modest breasts and large nipples. Her bra didn't look especially supportive, but her breasts didn't hang quite as much as human ones. And, come to think of it, there weren't any Lezveioans with pornstar breasts in here. Lots of them had moderate breasts that stood out more due to their pertness than their size.

As Aeidou pulled her bra off over her head, I saw that the scales under her chin were larger than the ones on her neck. She rubbed her nipples and made a moaning purr as she arched her back. Her nipples got longer as they hardened, like twice the length of any human nipples I'd seen. Longer than the ends of my pinky fingers.

"Our nipples get a lot more erect than human ones when we get excited," she said as her hands went to work unbuttoning her pants in front and back, freeing her tail.

She slid her pants down revealing balls nearly as big as Ramda's, and a sheath that was a bit wider horizontally than vertically. All Lezveioans had pretty sizable balls, but considering they had twin shafts, it kinda made sense. I figured the sheath was wide because of the two pricks as well. Below her balls were some thicker scales on her inner thighs and ones on her knees that were a bit bigger than the scales that covered her elbows.

She moved to my side and turned away from me, putting her round buttocks and thick tail right in front of me. "My tail might interest you."

Now that it was naked and in front of me, the impressive width of her tail was even more obvious. It was easily a third the thickness of her torso and flattened out dramatically on the underside, the cross section practically a bell curve with the edge where the bottom met the top surprisingly thin. These thin flaps reminded me of shark fins; firm, but still elastic. If I pushed into one with a finger, I could make it curve at the edge, but it resisted deflection. It seemed like it would be useful for moving through water.

Remembering the hyena and Lezveioan from earlier, I asked, "Are you able to manipulate stuff with your tails?"

She grabbed my wrist with the end of her tail and then stuck the tip between my fingers before squeezing. "In antiquity, we hunted a lot in the shallows while there were strong waves or tides. We used the end of our tail to anchor ourselves." Her tail started twitching to the beat of a rather bouncy minimalist techno track that was playing in the background.

"Oh neat, just how dexterous can they be?" I asked. The scales on the underside of her tail were like the ones on the palms of her hands, but thicker and a bit more slick. Near the tip, they were not exactly rough, but grippy.

"As with all limbs, it all depends on the natural aptitude that person has as well as how much they practice manipulating things with it. I'm pretty good at wrapping mine around things and moving them, but I can't write my name or use tools that require precision." Aeidou looked at the Lezveioan drummer. "Heta'u can steal things from people's pockets with hers. She's not a thief, she just likes showing off." Aeidou chuckled, which had a bit of a purr to it. I don't know why I found it sexy, but it got me squirming.

"Did she do something funny just now?" I asked, trying to avoid staring at Aeidou's scaly package.

"No, I was remembering a time when Heta'u's intricate twirling of her drumsticks led to her losing one in the middle of a song. A crowd member tossed it back and she just had to show off by catching it with her tail. Then, since she never knows when to quit, she played the rest of that song with her tail holding that drumstick. But her tail isn't quite as nimble as her hands and her drumming sounded terrible even though she looked indomitable while doing it," Aeidou said, untangling her tail from my hand.

Heta'u noticed Aeidou looking at her and waved that odd Lezveioan way, opening and closing her hand.

Aeidou waved back. Then she turned to me and pointed at the scales that covered her muscular inner thighs, she said, "Can you guess why these are here?"

I was too busy staring at her balls and sheath to realize she was talking to me and looked dumbly up at her.

"I'll take that as a 'no'." She chuckled. "One thing humans often complain about is chafing due to their thighs rubbing together. My species spent lots of time going in and out of the sea and without these smooth scales, we'd probably get a lot of chafing. We have thick thighs due to our bodies being specialized for leaping into the water after prey." She grabbed my hand gently and brought it toward her right inner thigh. "Here, feel them. I think you'll like it."

As I got butterflies in my stomach, my hand came into contact with the satiny scales between her legs. No human skin, nothing I'd ever touched, felt this smooth. A long, drawn out, "Wow," was all I managed to say.

"You can reach up higher," she said.

My wrist brushed her balls as I moved my fingers up. I froze, feeling the heat between her legs.

"Don't worry, I knew what I was asking you to do. You can keep going if you'd like," she said.

The blush on my cheeks spread down my neck as I reached up under her balls, finding warmth and more smooth scales. The back of her sac was resting on my wrist, feeling nice and heavy. Although Aeidou wasn't moaning, I could feel a vibration, like purring and hear her breathing deeply. I looked up at her, my hand freezing again. If I reached up any higher, I knew I'd bump into her sex.

Running the tips of her claws lightly across my scalp, she said, "You don't have to do anything you don't want to do. I won't be disappointed if you stop and I will welcome you if you continue."

What made Aeidou so different from Ezzie and Ramda is that even though I nearly had my hand against her snatch and we were in public, I felt far less nervous than I should've been. It was like she radiated calm along with her sex appeal.

Having about ninety percent of the courage I needed, my eyes darted around to nearby tables and found only the hyena was keeping an eye on us. Everyone else was watching a Lezveioan laying atop a table who was getting utterly destroyed by two others. I gulped and took a deep breath. Feeling my breasts rise and fall, I felt giddy: maybe I wanted the hyena to see me.

As my fingers came into contact with Aeidou's plump, hot slit, she let out this gentle coo that made my heart soar with happiness. I started feeling around, my prick tenting my skirt within seconds. Her pussy lips twitched against my fingers as very viscous wetness developed. I'd never felt something so smooth and well-lubed in my life.

Spreading her legs, she said, "If you want to see my cocks before our food arrives, all you have to do is keep going."

Biting my lip to stifle a moan, I felt around to see if I could find a clit or something. Instead, I found this row of ridges on a flap of stretchy skin that was at the front end of her snatch that made her gasp when I touched it. It got stretched taut when her pussy lips were parted. There was another one at the back of her slit.

She squeaked and grabbed my shoulders. "Some people call those Lezveioan clits. We call them fulcrums because they're often what tips us over the edge toward orgasm."

"Makes sense," I said, wishing I was more comfortable talking about this stuff.

"We also get a lot of sensation from penetration. We often make love by moving our cocks inside each other, after all." She got a twinkle in her eye. "If you push in with three fingers, I'd enjoy that very much and you'd learn something."

Easing three fingers into her, we both gasped. Not only did her pussy have muscles like Ezzie's, there were ridges inside. They were spaced further apart near her entrance, but as I pressed in, the space between them decreased. Feeling her twitch around my fingers got me to squirm in my seat as pre wetted my skirt. Her deep purr got stronger until her twin cock heads poked free of her sheath. As inches of her dicks spilled out of her, she moaned sharply.

Her cock tips aimed themselves at my mouth, but then she growled as she took control, making them point up instead of out.

I think I'd developed some sort of oral fixation from sucking off Ramda and Ezzie because, without even thinking, I grabbed her shafts and guided them into my mouth. Then I was staring at her crotch with her dicks shoving themselves further and further in as her snatch grabbed at my fingers.

I could tell she was trying to hold her hips back as she grabbed handfuls of my hair, saying, "Oh Amelia!"

That's when my brain sorta crashed. I couldn't even remember how I got into this situation or that we were waiting for our meal. I just started licking at her shafts and bobbing my head. I couldn't help it, her pre tasted like caramelized lamb with a hint of mint. I'd never tasted pre with this much umami and the way my breasts were bouncing felt amazing as I sucked her off. In fact, I felt beautiful, desired...I desperately wanted to make Aeidou cum in my mouth while I was dressed like this.

Making me feel even more like eye candy, the hyena walked up next to Aeidou with a full hard-on and grinned at me before grabbing the back of Aeidou's head and giving her an open-muzzled kiss with lots of tongue. Several seconds into the kiss, Aeidou was stroking the hyena's length and pre started to bead at the tip. The hyena was hung like Ramda and I couldn't resist pulling my mouth off of Aeidou's twin shafts to catch the pre before it fell to the floor. She tasted like honeycomb and apple.

The hyena shoved the end of her dick past my lips.

"Beatrix!" Aeidou pushed the hyena's shoulder making her step back so her dick was no longer in my mouth. "You're going to wait your turn this time."

Beatrix growled playfully.

Aeidou swatted her nose. "Bad yeen!"

My heart started pounding. Two herms were fighting over me...This was amazing!

Aeidou grabbed my head and looked into my eyes, her ears were fanned and her cock tips were millimeters from my lips. "You ready to make Bea even more jealous?"

I dived onto her cocks, getting my face flush with her crotch and clenching my eyes shut as I fought my gag reflex.

She started thrusting, slapping my chin with her balls while her cocks slid over each other and explored my mouth. It was like the world's most delicious French kiss as I moaned around her dicks and attempted to keep up using my woefully under-equipped human tongue.

As I breathed through my nose and fought my gag reflex so I could give her the best experience possible, her tail fumbled up my side until it found my prick. Then, part of it pressed up against my dick while the end reached up and fondled my breasts. I moaned and got butterflies throughout my whole body. Aeidou was now letting loose warbling moans like the Lezveioan that had been pressed up against the glass. She had less control of her shafts and her hips as she got up to the edge. Instead of trying to do much more with my exhausted tongue and jaws, I just bobbed my head faster while using my free hand to stroke the part of her long, slender dicks that I couldn't get in.

"Ah-Amelia, I'm about to--haaah!" she started bucking faster. "And it comes out really hard! Be careful!"

My eyes widened as the tips of her dicks flared, tripling in thickness and her snatch started tugging on my fingers, rubbing those ridges against them rhythmically. Powerful contractions ran up her pricks as she screeched and got a death grip on my hair. The cum that gushed out of her was thicker and richer in taste than what I'd had before. It lacked some of the sweetness of Ezzie and Ramda's cum, but the soy-sauce-like umami was incredible. The hint of mint made me want more after every swallow. And there was more, a lot more. By the time Aeidou's last spurt splashed against my throat, I was in a daze, feeling hot all over. She'd cum about as much as Ramda.

As I sat there with her dicks still in my mouth and her thick girl juice leaking down my arm, Aeidou let go of my head and Beatrix grabbed me.

As I looked up at Beatrix's bulky, powerful form, she growled, "My turn!" and started fucking my face.

Her dick was hard, delicious, and so much like Ramda's that my whole body was tingling. It felt natural to reach up between her legs and find a canine pussy waiting for me. Putting fingers inside her, I moaned around her cock and found stamina I didn't even know I had.

My tongue lapped across the underside of her dick, as I sucked with all my might to make sure I impressed her. Every time she nearly withdrew, I flicked my tongue across the tip of her prick, making her gasp and growl and shove back in hard.

"Hey! Bea, she's inexperienced and you have to be careful. She might need a break." Aeidou sounded very concerned.

"She's shoved most of her hand into my cunt, Aeidou. She's not inexperienced, she's a-Aaaah! herm slut!" Bea said.

I squealed in delight at what she'd just called me, feeling my prostate twitch as my lower abdomen got full of a weightless feeling and my nipples hardened. If I hadn't been sucking her dick, I would have been giggling and rolling around on the floor.

Bea's knot was getting bigger and I had to be very careful with my teeth even though she was giving me barely any time to breathe. Desperately wanting to taste her load and knowing my aching jaw muscles didn't have long left, I grabbed her knot and squeezed while shoving a fourth finger into her canine pussy.

She grunted and then yipped and then did a really badass hyena laugh as she parked her massive balls against my chin and let loose a torrent of her salty cream. I struggled to swallow with my jaws spread so far open and a bunch of it fell from the sides of my mouth onto my dress. I drank as much as I could and when it was all done, she grabbed me, pulled her dick out, and lifted me easily to my feet, forcing me to remove my hand from her snatch. Then she hugged me fiercely as she made out with me, sharing the taste of her cum and the fruity, chocolate-like something she'd eaten before walking over. I grabbed handfuls of her spotted hyena fur and pressed myself against her, a complete stranger, touching our crotches and breasts together. She grabbed my ass and squeezed until I gasped and broke the kiss. Her body was so well-muscled that I felt like I'd never make it out of her arms.

As we both panted and my cock dug into her balls through the pre-soaked fabric of my skirt, the server came by and set three steaming towels down, and then put our food platter in the center of the table.

Bea sent me her contact info and then said, "We play here once a month. Look me up next time we're in town. You give very good head." Then she let go, picked up one of the towels, and trotted off with a confident swagger.

With a big smile on her lips, Aeidou ran her claws across my scalp. "I really like you." Her pricks were a bit softer and starting to retreat into her sheath.

Pulling my face back so I could speak, I said, "Oh?"

She grabbed one of the warm cloths that smelled like lavender and lemon with maybe a hint of rose. The fragrance was gentle and calming even though it was definitely alien. As she cleaned cum off my chin and where I'd smeared it on her bosom she said, "Even though you seem very embarrassed and a bit overwhelmed, you couldn't resist putting Beatrix and my dicks in your mouth. Ramda and Ezzie described you very well."

"Thank you," I said, blushing.

"For what?"

"For just letting that happen," I said. "And making things so much less awkward than they could've been."

"There's no reason to be awkward. Sex is as natural as the sun rising each day and whatever your preferences, you should go after them as passionately as you can," she said. "Because only then will you find the limits of your own capacity to feel pleasure."

What she just said was something I wanted to live by, take into myself and never let go of it. It felt so sane compared to the way I'd been raised that I didn't even know what to do with it yet. But I was sure if I spent more time with her, I'd start figuring it out. As she pulled the towel away, I looked into her raspberry red eyes. Even though she'd just cum in my mouth, I could see that same confidence and calm sexual interest she'd had since the moment we met. I wanted more from her and she knew it.

After planting a kiss on my lips, she used a towel to wipe off her sheath, pussy, and balls, saying, "Let's eat, but not too much. We have rigorous post-dinner exercise planned."

Chapter 11

On the table were triangular pyramids with sides that looked like toasted white bread, small burritos wrapped in translucent lavender tortillas that the candy bar things I'd seen earlier were made of, and a small pile of thick pancakes made out of a yellow flour that reminded me of cornmeal.

I grabbed one of the white toast pyramids. The outside was stretchy and spongy, having way more give than I expected. As I bit into it, my eyes widened at the custardy inside, but then I frowned at the taste of that custard.

After a good chuckle, she said, "We have a saying: there are no neutral opinions on ei'twoh, the crustacean jelly in the center of those pyramids. People often joke that it's not edible because most edible things have an 'i' at the end in standard Lezveioan and that word came from a language that has a very different grammar."

"Wait, do you have crustaceans on your planet?" I asked.

"They're close enough. We have crabs, they seem to evolve everywhere," she said.

I laughed. "So true!"

Tasting a bit more, I grimaced. "It's even more potent than Vietnamese fish sauce: way too fishy for me," I said. "I wouldn't go as far as saying it's inedible though."

"It's heavily fermented, but I enjoy taking my time with it," she said. "Because everyone knows that savoring fishy things is best." She took a small bite of one.

When I realized the innuendo she was making, I bit my lip and rubbed my thighs together. Her tail rubbed sensuously along my exposed ankle until she got a moan out of me. I don't even know how she made it feel so erotic. She wasn't anywhere near an erogenous zone. She took another bite, her ears fanning as she watched my blush deepen.

Curious if I liked the bread part on its own, I pulled a bit off and tasted it. It was very moist and took more effort to chew than normal bread. It tasted almost like sweet grass with a little coconut in it. "This bread is really good. I'd like to try something else with it someday or maybe have some on its own."

"It's very good as brat buns," she said. "One of my friends makes currywurst using that bread for the bun."

"That sounds really good," I said, picking up one of the yellow pancakes. My brow furrowed as I took a bite. It tasted exactly like a corn pancake, but in the center was a paper-thin slice of a very flavorful meat that was close to bacon. I immediately grabbed another one.

"Lezveioans love corn meal, masa, corn flower, polenta and all sorts of other things made from corn. The taste appeals to us even more than humans and those are corn pancakes with ka'bei'i: very thinly sliced fatty meat that we use to add flavor to things. We use it similarly to how humans use cheese," she said, moving her tail further up my leg. "This is one of my favorite examples of Lezveioan-human culinary fusion."

"Well, it's my favorite thing so far. The flavors are perfect for each other," I said, my mouth still full of my last bite. I didn't want to stop eating to talk: it tasted that good.

Aeidou started eating one of the pancakes between bites of the pyramid thing and we both took some time to just get food down. My sips of water were interspersed with bites of the delicious pancakes. As I ate three of them in a row, Aeidou's tail made it further and further up my leg. Grabbing a burrito, I was surprised by the velvety soft texture of the tortilla it was wrapped with.

Her tail found my balls just as I was about to bite into the burrito, I moaned and dropped it on my plate.

She laughed. "That's the reaction I was looking for." Her tail went under my balls and rubbed just behind them.

I squeaked and rocked my hips as my prick got rock hard.

Moving her tail to tease my thighs instead, saying, "I think I'll be done after one of these burritos, how about you?" She bit into her burrito as she waited for my answer.

I nodded. She had me just short of moaning, the maximum amount of teasing she could do while still letting me eat.

Biting into mine, I was assaulted by something gooey that I knew wasn't cheese, but set off all the same delicious notes. It went really well with the tortilla outside and there was a meat like smoked chicken along with a veggie that was like green bean mixed with potato. Lastly, there were tiny slices of what I could've sworn was leek. It had that same odd position between onion and garlic. Just as I was about to tell Aeidou how good it was, her tail slid along my cock and then wrapped around it.

Since she'd caught me right after I'd swallowed, I could moan without any risk. Her tail was muscular and gripped firmly and I was fully hard in like ten seconds.

She purred out the words, "You're preing so much that I wish I was in your lap."

My face flushed as I stammered, trying to think of something to say.

"Apologies, but I've eaten enough that hunger is no longer my main concern," she rubbed the end of her tail on the head of my dick.

I gasped and humped into her tail.

With a purr, she said, "Keep doing that. My pussy's getting jealous."

As I obeyed her, my heart pounded and I kept looking around as if someone was going to spot us and throw us out. I had to keep reminding myself that I'd already sucked her cocks in here and no one had even cared. The pleasure soon put me into a daze where I forgot about everything other than her scales against my intimate flesh. She watched me with this amazing warm smile while she basked in my delight.

"I've been unfair. Here, you can have something to play with too." She moved closer to me, took my free hand, and put it on her dicks. Probably very aware I'd burst if she didn't let up some, she loosened the coil around my dick and picked up her burrito.

As I felt her muscular, well-lubed dicks move in my hand, it was a struggle to remember to breathe. I kept grabbing them and she made a game of wrestling them from my grasp while squirming sensuously with her entire body. It took a couple minutes for me to get used enough to the new sensations that I could start eating again. And whenever I switched my focus to chewing my food and got even a tiny bit soft, she squeezed and teased my dick with her tail. We weren't eating especially fast, but I couldn't get enough of this wave I was riding with her.

Pausing after eating two-thirds of her burrito, she said, "The sauce inside is made of something similar to fermented oatmeal. It is very nutritious to humans and our kind, both."

"It seems like Lezveioan food has lots of fermented things," I said, glad she'd turned down the heat on her teasing by letting my cock rest a bit.

Aeidou nodded. "We spent a lot more of our societal development without refrigeration. We had no fossil fuels, so we had to figure out simple ways to power things using the wind and sun. It's amazing what we accomplished without electricity or refrigeration."

"Wow, so no refrigerators or AC for a long time?" I said.

"Much more of our industrial development was done without them than your species," she said before taking another bite of her burrito.

As I tried to speak, she tugged on my cock, making me squeak.

She laughed.

I blushed.

"I love the noises you make," she said.

"Lezveioan noises are awesome too," I said.

"I'm glad you think so." She took the last bite of her burrito.

There were only a couple bites of my burrito left, but I couldn't concentrate. Something about the way she was looking at me had me short of breath and I couldn't resist the urge to thrust lightly into her tail. She responded by gripping it harder. I grabbed the table and gasped while moaning. It almost sounded like a chirp.

"I'll let you relax for a moment while I get the server to box up your leftovers," she said.

"My leftovers?" I asked.

"I've been eating all this for decades and you've never had it before. It makes far more sense for you to have it, well except the one thing you didn't like," she said as she extended an arm and did a Lezveioan wave to get our server's attention.

While she talked to the server, I finished my burrito and had another of those corn pancakes. I was gonna be addicted to them at this rate.

She said, "There's a Lezveioan-human fusion restaurant chain that's much cheaper than here that makes a comparable version of those. I'm sending you the info on it for later."

"Thanks!" I said, barely aware of what she was saying. She was still nude and so freaking hot and her rock-hard pricks were still against my hand.

"The server will pack our stuff up and save it for when we leave," she said, standing up and slipping her shafts from my grasp. They slowly rubbed against each other while she continued, "I have the urge to put you on display as I pleasure you. Mind if we go to the bathhouse area?"

"Whatever you want to do, I'm hot all over and I've never felt quite like this," I said, feeling up my breasts as I reveled in the sight of her plump ball sac and dicks. There was no way this was really happening, was there? She wanted to shove inside me, like I was a woman. I didn't have words.

"You sure? I feel like it might be a bit too far too fast," she said.

"Please, just fuck me! I don't care where," I said and then put my hand over my mouth as I stood there in disbelief of what I'd just said.

Aeidou's ears fanned wide as she stared at me for a moment before giving me a big toothy grin. Then she grabbed my wrist and led me across the dining and dancing hall, saying, "Remember, we can stop at any time and there will be no judgment."

As we got up to a set of glass doors decorated with intricately-arranged thin slices of wood, Aeidou's tail cupped my ass. I smelled seawater as the second set of doors slid open. To my left were well-insulated multi-paned floor-to-ceiling windows looking in on a public bath stylized like ocean shallows complete with tide pools. Nude humans, Lezveioans, and a few hybrids, were enjoying the water, hanging out on the periphery, or having sex right out in the open while others watched. Half the non-Lezveioans were herms and happy as could be having their junk on display.

Lezveioans came in a wider array of colors than I imagined and some had been modded to have otter-like fur. There was a light green one, a light blue one, two red ones, a few pink ones, five light orange ones, and a coppery tan-colored one. A third of the Lezveioans were in a herm pile, and in the center of that pile were two herm hybrids. One was a fox with black hair, a bushy tail, and dark blue eyes, and the other was a short spotted bunny with a giant horsecock that was even bigger than Ezzie's. Somehow, a Lezveioan was fitting that dick inside herself and it was making a rise in her abdomen. As I watched the fox and bunny hold hands while making out, I couldn't help but imagine myself in the middle of it.

Most of the tide pools were big enough for people to sit in and the terrain was rocky instead of sandy: not what humans tended to do with indoor beaches. To my left, there was a big natural-looking pool that had room for about twenty people. It was only about half-occupied at the moment, but there was a massive orca herm who had to be at least eight feet tall in the pool, making it look small while she fucked a Lezveioan who was buried in her massive cleavage. That jealous feeling came back full force and I set my purse on the floor before pulling off my dress. It didn't matter that this was in public: the rush, the euphoria was incredible.

For so many years, I'd had no idea why I ached deep inside when I got super horny. It was something that I thought I couldn't do anything about, but right now I knew exactly what needed to be done. Something needed to go inside me soon or I was going to lose my mind.

Aeidou went up to the wall of lockers opposite the windows. She used her implant to pop a locker open, put her clothes in it, and then turned to me. Her ears fanned very wide when she saw I was already mostly naked.

My heart pounded as I took off the shoulder bag I'd already put my panties in. After stuffing my dress in it, I undid my bra and my breasts fell out of it. Feeling them hanging heavily on my chest out in the open air, I moaned and my cock throbbed. Putting my bra in the bag, I handed it to Aeidou. My cheeks felt numb from the intensity of my blush: I'd never been naked within view of strangers before.

"Those synth breasts are so attractive on you," she said, putting my bag in the locker.

That change of subject made me feel bubbly and like I couldn't smile enough. After a happy giggle and bouncing on my feet so I could feel my tits jiggle, I said, "They're amazing!"

When she bent down to get my purse, her face was within millimeters of my dick. With a purr, she ran her tongue across my balls and the underside of my shaft. I moaned and pred right into her mouth. She sucked on my cock head to get it all, while purring. Grabbing her head, I stomped my feet, feeling so vulnerable, exposed, and horny. She shoved her muzzle on all the way and then gave me hard and fast oral where she kept licking behind my balls to make me squeak. Then she pulled off and helped me out of my shoes before putting the rest of our belongings in the locker and closing it.

Turning around and taking my hand, she led us into the bathhouse. I paid more attention to her dicks than where we were going and we ended up in a corner next to a rock that was smooth and somewhat flat on top. Aeidou kissed me deeply while cupping my balls with one hand and teasing my right nipple with the other. I moaned into the kiss and fidgeted, not knowing what to do with myself.

She reached behind herself with one arm and got lube from an automatic dispenser. Maintaining the kiss, she moved her hand down behind me and lubed my entrance thoroughly before gently pressing her finger into me.

I yelped and grabbed onto her, pressing her fully-hard cocks against my belly. I couldn't stop moving, it was like my body wanted her fingers in as deep as possible. It made my cock feel incredible, my nipples sparkle with pleasure, and my whole body tense up. She just kept at it, making little circles with her finger until I relaxed. That's when it felt so good I was moaning loudly. I felt so vulnerable, in a good way that I didn't even know was possible.

Breaking the kiss, she said, "If you're ready, spin around and stick that beautiful ass out."

I didn't know it was possible to be horny enough to not feel doubt, but turning around and bending forward was so damn easy. How could something so vilified by everyone I'd grown up with feel this natural? I needed someone inside me and there was only one way I could do that. Only one way to scratch that itch given my current anatomy.

As I watched her line her left cock up with my opening, I moaned, shivering with expectation. Why did I want this? I took a deep breath. No, it didn't matter why. I wasn't going to let myself chicken out, I had to stick with this until she came inside me! When her tapered tip touched my sensitive ring, I pressed backwards against it immediately.

"Mmmmnnnhhh!" she purred out as she shoved inside me. "I feel like a sex goddess around you."

I moaned with my mouth wide open, overcome with sensations I was barely able to separate: being stretched open felt satisfying, the way she was holding my hips gave me a feeling of safety, and the way her dick was rubbing against my prostate as she slid in felt unbelievably exquisite.

"Your pussy feels so good!" she said.

I pressed back against her, needing to have more of her inside me, needing to feel her crotch meet mine. The problem was that I'd never had anything in there and she got thicker with every added inch. About two-thirds of the way in, things got tight enough that my body clenched to stop her from advancing. I groaned in frustration.

She took some of the pressure off, saying, "Don't forget to breathe."

As I took a couple deep breaths, the tiger hybrid lead singer and guitarist of the punk band walked through the sliding doors into the bath. Scanning the room with her blue eyes that shaded to green in the center, she quickly caught sight of us. Her confident strut as she walked toward us made her look like the herm in charge while adding a hypnotic sway to her heavy balls. Looming over those balls was a big sheath with the tips of two tapered cocks poking out of it.

Her sleek athletic body mixed lewdly with her being so hung, but somehow her thick dragon-like tail balanced out her look a bit, making her even more attractive. The upper part of her tail had fur and continued her beautiful tiger stripe pattern while the underside had scales. When my eyes made it to her feline muzzle, I couldn't get past how cute it was. I'd never seen a feline hybrid this close up and naked, which wasn't surprising due to where I grew up, but it was still distracting enough that I briefly forgot I had Aeidou inside me.

Seeing that she had my attention, the tiger laid back on the rock in front of us with feline grace. Then she lifted her balls out of the way, strings of her wetness connecting the back of her sac to her voluptuous equine pussy. "I got really wet watching you tease each other in the restaurant. Want to help a girl out?" she asked with a giggle.

Aeidou offered no escape from how much I wanted to lick this tiger out when she said, "Ooh, Amelia, your cock's twitching. Isn't Mei incredible?"

Mei brought the scaly end of her tail up to her mare pussy and gasped as she shoved several inches in, while looking into my eyes. Then she pulled it out and brought her tip up to my lips. "Taste tests are free."

I licked her femme nectar off of her tail, marveling at how it tasted like really good sweetened black tea, a flavor that always seemed to make things better. It was so embarrassing how little self control I had when it came to tasting people. And I also had no self control when it came to staring. Mei's equine clit was easily as big as Ezzie's and I couldn't stop thinking about sucking on it.

Aeidou grabbed my hips and took a couple steps forward to put me in reach of Mei, saying, "If you're interested in her, go ahead. She's one of my favorite people."

"Are you sure it's okay? W-were you hoping for one on one?" I asked, having no idea how sex with more than one person worked.

"If I'd wanted one on one sex, this is the last place I'd bring you," Aeidou said before pushing on my back to make me lean forward. "Don't worry about me, dive in and enjoy."

Mei caressed my chin with a paw-padded hand. "You want some dessert, gorgeous?"

I leaned into her hand, feeling tingly from her paw pads and fur pressing against my smooth skin. Being covered in fur like her had to feel amazing. And she was so beautiful... I nodded weakly, staring once again at her snatch. Then she reached for the back of my head, grabbed my hair, and pulled my face to her muff. I shivered and moaned, feeling her clit bump up against my nose as her whole cunt smeared wetness on my face. As I shoved my tongue into Mei to taste more of her, Aeidou started thrusting into me while making a slight wavy pattern with her cock. I felt so whole with her dick in there, like I was loved and safe and desired. I moaned and gasped and felt tingles across my whole body.

Her thrusts were pressing me into Mei's muff, making her balls bounce against my cheeks.

Taking Mei's huge clit into my mouth, I sucked on it and let Aeidou's powerful thrusts bounce it in and out of my mouth like a little dick. Mei yowled and grabbed her dicks as they shoved further out of her sheath. I could now see clear feline bumps on them and their thick tapered shape. Grabbing Mei's buttocks, I went at her stretchy pussy with reckless abandon.

Aeidou's right dick reached under me while she backed off a half inch. Then, as it wrapped around my cock, she said, "Time to make you feel like a herm."

"Oh, I can help with that," Mei said. "Well, if Amelia wants to stick her cock in me, that is."

"NGH! Yes!" I said, practically hissing through my teeth, both at the idea of me fucking Mei and the unbelieveable sensation of Aeidou's muscular shaft stroking mine. The tips of my ears were burning while my nipples felt far more sensitive than normal: I don't know if I'd ever felt anything more erotic.

Aeidou pushed me forward and the tip of her prick entered Mei. Time slowed for me until I could count my own heartbeats. The head of my cock got closer and closer to Mei's equine snatch and then I felt her smooth, slippery, and warm flesh parting for me and Aeidou's prick. Both Mei's pussy walls and Aeidou's shaft gripped my dick while Aeidou pulled back and slammed her cock into my ass. As I saw Mei's twin dicks move while she stroked them, I nearly came on the spot. My mind and body were overcome with arousal and pleasure: this was unfathomably hot and felt so good...I was the middle of a herm sandwich!

Gripping my breasts, Aeidou started going harder, using me to fuck Mei who was panting and gasping and stroking herself like mad. Shooing Mei's hands away, I grabbed her dicks and shivered from feeling them twitch and move in my hands as I stroked them. Pre was everywhere, her bumps felt amazing, and I was gasping and squeaking. When Aeidou let go of my breasts to grab my hips, Mei grabbed my breasts and I yelped, barely holding back an orgasm. As she tugged on my nipples, I felt her tail move between me and Aeidou. Then Aeidou purr-screeched as Mei stuffed Aeidou's pussy with the end of her tail.

After a few minutes, none of us cared about lasting and I felt the tips of Aeidou's cocks thickening. I couldn't get enough of the way her prick stretched my ass or Mei's strong equine passage gripping Aeidou and my cock to make everything more intense. Then there were the knots inflating at the base of Mei's dicks which I squeezed to make her cry out in ecstasy.

Aeidou gasped and then let loose a warbling moan as both of her dicks pulsed from base to tip, the tips flaring inside me and Mei. Grabbing my ass and squeezing, Aeidou made little fast thrusts while her dicks undulated. It was too much for me, especially when Aeidou's left prick started squirting hot jizz into me. The tight ball of pressure from me holding back my orgasm exploded. My mouth flew open, my whole body tensed, then I made quick instinctual thrusts into Mei before jamming myself in as deep as I could get, pressing her clit and balls firmly against my groin. I screamed as I came inside her, feeling like I'd been lit on fire. My prick shot ropes of cum inside her to add to the mess Aeidou was already making.

Mei's eyes opened wide the moment both me and Aeidou were cumming. Then her head flew back, her back arched, and her pricks showered cum all over her breasts as her knots swelled to full size. Her pussy convulsed around me and Aeidou while she kept squirming, her flexible feline skeleton allowing her to grind like a pornstar. Her hands smeared her cum all over her bosom as she grabbed at her breasts and tugged on her nipples, a bit of milk coming out of her nipples to mix with the thick white cream that she continued splattering all over her front.

When I finally stopped moaning at the top of my lungs, I flopped forward, splatting against the legendary mess on Mei's front. I'd never felt this relaxed or satisfied before: it felt like my body had the consistency of warm pudding. Aeidou gently moved her dicks from time to time to get Mei and I to twitch and gasp. I felt so wonderful, but I also felt like the odd one out. Both of these women were gorgeous hybrids while I had pasty human skin, no muzzle, and no pussy. If only I could have a body like Mei's or Aeidou's or Ramda's or Ezzie's. What was wrong with me? After all they'd done for me, why was I letting my brain ruin this moment?

Mei must have sensed I was ruminating uselessly because she gently guided my mouth to one of her nipples, saying, "You did this to me, so you should get to enjoy it."

Wrapping my lips around her nipple, I shivered at the satisfying soup-broth-like taste of the cum covering it and then sucked down warm creamy milk that had just a hint of chai flavors. That hint of chai was like a tease to my senses and I found myself sucking harder than I'd intended to.

"GAH! FUUUCK!" Mei said as she bucked her hips and gasped. Were her nipples as sensitive as her clit?

Sucking and licking at her nipple, I tried to answer my question. She came, making Aeidou and I gasp and shudder. Her pussy was strong and our dicks were really tender from what we'd just done. Wanting to make Mei do that again, I went for her other nipple and thrusted lightly inside her, my heart racing. I felt so powerful, so freaking wonderful with Mei's cum smeared all over my tits and me making her writhe in ecstasy. Pressed up against her while flicking my tongue on her nipple and sucking on it, I got her off again, her pussy twitching as she ground her clit against my groin and her cocks got a bit harder.

After her third orgasm, Mei grabbed my head and pulled me into a kiss where her whiskers, wet nose, and rough tongue assaulted my senses. It took a couple seconds to process it all, but then I was kissing back, sharing the taste of her milk with her.

Breaking the kiss, she said, "Mmm, I normally stick to doing stuff with hybrids these days, but you're way too much fun for me to overlook." She sent me her contact info. "I'm gonna be around until the end of next week, so don't be shy, okay?"

"Though I appreciate the offer, there's not much to me, honestly. You'd probably have more fun with your hybrid friends," I said.

"Let me guess, the only thing keeping you from being modded is your Trinity upbringing and a rather scary work contract?" Mei said, running her blunted claws across my scalp.

"Did Aeidou tell you about me or something?" I asked.

Mei said, "You may not realize this, but the Trinity accent is rather strong. It's like if the Australian accent was put in a whiskey barrel and aged in Mississippi. And it's pretty obvious you want to be some sort of herm hybrid. I could tell from the way you looked at me when you first saw me, that hint of jealousy at the edge of your wonder. It felt like I was looking at myself before I got modded."

"Hint of jealousy at the edge of your wonder," Aeidou said. "Sometimes I don't know whether you're writing a song or having a conversation."

Mei laughed, making Aeidou and I groan from the way it tensed the muscles in her abdomen. "That makes two of us. I'm gonna make a note of that line, though, I think that would work well in a song about a trans herm egg."

"Egg?" I asked.

"It's slang for someone who's trans but hasn't fully figured it out or acted on it yet. Be careful where you use it, though. It's rather insensitive to label people as eggs before they hatch and start growing into their true selves. It's better to use 'egg' to refer to the time before they knew they were trans," Mei said.

I bit my lip, a wave of emotion blindsiding me.

"Oh, I'm sorry, hon," Mei grabbed Aeidou and squeezed me between them to deepen the lazy cuddling we were already doing.

"Is something wrong?" Aeidou asked.

My stomach felt sour, but being squished between them was helping a lot. "A-am I a trans herm egg?"

Chapter 12

As I walked into my place, I struggled to believe I'd gone to my hair removal appointment in the frilly light orange dress Ezzie had left with me. Today, I'd opted for wearing a mask because I needed to have nothing on my skin for the hair removal to work right. Cuber had insisted I get eye makeup before I went out, though. Part of me was annoyed that her new makeup artist hobby required my face, but on the other hand it had encouraged me to go out all made up in a dress almost every night since my amazing dinner with Aeidou. Even though it had all been errands, it was well worth it because I'd slept better and woken up more energetic last week than I had in years. In fact, I felt so good today that I'd sent a message to Aeidou, Ramda, and Ezzie thanking them for everything they'd done while I was in the waiting room of the hair removal place.

The hair removal process itself was creepy in that there had been millions of needles coming out of the tube surrounding me and they'd gone in without me feeling anything. When they all zapped me in crazy unpredictable patterns, I was glad they led me through a breathing exercise. In the end, it had all been so easy that I didn't even register it much. Well, other than the reusable bag full of lotion and a couple other skincare things they'd given me hanging from my arm.

As the door to my place popped open, having sensed the wireless signal from my implant, I pushed the bag of groceries I'd had delivered inside with my foot and then set the bag of skincare stuff down on the dining room table. When I took off my mask, Cuber came in balancing five more wireless hubs on the top of her cubical body. Two of her arms were holding them to make sure they didn't tip off of her, the third arm ready to unstack them.

"Cuber, I was okay minding my own business when you only had four wireless hubs, but I'm starting to get nervous. Where are you getting all those from?" I asked.

*Extra,* she sent.

"Who decided that?" I asked, already knowing the answer.

*Me.* She trilled with pride as she walked over to her corner of the sunroom.

The sunset contrasting with the deep blue to black sky above distracted me for a moment. Being this far above the ground led to some incredible views. "So you stole them?"

*Were redundant. Low traffic staff area,* she sent.

"It's still stealing," I said.

*Not my fault architect = idiot,* she sent.

"What if they remodel or something?" I asked. "They might need them back."

*Remodel = update wireless infrastructure.* She was stacking the hubs in her area.

"Cuber, please put them back," I said, crossing my arms to look more authoritative.

*More conspicuous. Keeping safer,* she sent.

I didn't know how to argue with that, so I said, "You're going to make me worried sick if you keep stealing things."

*Not steal. I maintenance bot.* She looked at me and pointed at herself. *I fix.*

"But this city isn't your ship," I said. "Find other ways to fix things that don't involve theft. It's against the law and we could get in trouble."

*Understand,* she sent. *If help cook, you teach more language? Need understand law.*

"Shit! Everyone's coming over in a half hour and I haven't started on anything yet. I actually really need your help tonight." I stooped down and looked Cuber in her sensor cluster. "You're in charge of the beer caramelized onions. I'll send you the video recipe for it and I want you to ask questions if you get confused, okay?"

"Understand." Cuber hugged me. "You look woman. Pretty."

I started crying. Cuber was incredibly attentive to people's reactions and she'd learned that calling me pretty got me to smile.

*Happy cry?* Cuber asked.

"Yes, glad you know the difference now," I said.

*Past few days, many times, I learn,* Cuber sent.

"It's true, I've done this a lot lately," I said.

*How many people come tonight?* Cuber asked.

I let go of Cuber and dried my eyes. "Five. Crap, I almost forgot again."

All I needed to do was fry some bratwurst on both sides, simmer them for a bit, then add the curry sauce I bought in a jar and then maybe tweak it a bit with some spices I had. It honestly wasn't too different from things I'd done for myself over the last while. I'd given the hardest part to Cuber, but when she had good directions, she could do just about anything and that video I'd found was incredibly detailed. Oftentimes, I didn't watch her too closely because she did terrifying things with her three-armed dexterity that humans tended to suck at. For instance, right now she was getting a bowl out of the cupboard while setting a cutting board full of chopped onions on top of the counter. She probably could have cooked everything on her own, but wearing this flowery apron while my breasts were on had me feeling lighter than air.

The Lezveioan bread buns smelled a bit like sourdough and molasses as I toasted them in the oven. Cuber and I were putting the finishing touches on our creations as my door chimed.

I was humming the opening song to a lesbian high fantasy show Ezzie had shared with me as I walked to the door. As it opened Hosannah's face went from lightly smiling to shock with her mouth hanging open. Julia's blue fox tail was sticking up and to the side while her matching blue fox ears were folded down in surprise.

My eyes followed their gaze right to the swollen bosom under my apron. "Oh fuck!" I said, crossing my arms in front of myself. My dress was girly, my stockings were lacy, and my nails were painted with cyan polish: something Cuber had insisted on trying before I went to my appointment.

"R-Remiel?" Hosannah asked.

"Nope, hon, we're having dinner with Amelia tonight," Julia said, acting like everything was normal now that the shock had worn off.

Words just bubbled up as my embarrassment strangled me. "I'm sorry--I was going to change--I didn't mean to--Shit-shit-shit!" I started curling up into a ball, my stomach threatening to implode as I blushed deep red all the way down my neck.

Julia sat down next to me. "Why would you need to change, Amelia? That dress looks fantastic on you."

"Yeah, you look beautiful," Hosannah said, sitting on the other side of me. "Too bad Remiel couldn't make it tonight."

"You two can stop, it's okay. I shouldn't be in a dress, I don't have makeup on, and all the spots they put needles in are red. What was I thinking going out like this? It's not like anyone's actually going to think I look like a girl," I said, trying very hard not to cry.

"I know you're shocked to be seen like this, but you honestly do look really good in that dress, hon," Julia said. "And those breast forms you're wearing are the perfect size for you."

"I really like seeing girl you," Hosannah said.

"But it's not real," I said, feeling really tight in my chest.

"If you're like other trans people, your brain is physically different from a cis person. If it wasn't real, it wouldn't be so painful for you to live counter to how you feel inside," Julia said.

"Listen to Julia, with everything I've learned over the last couple weeks, she knows what she's talking about," Hosannah said. "And if real you is a woman, it would explain why I feel so safe around you. My brother and father were monsters and getting away from them was part of why I worked so hard to leave Trinity Stronghold. I've always been more comfortable around women. And before I met you and Luke, I'd struggled to make friends with male-bodied people."

"Wait, Luke is trans?" I asked.

"No, but he kinda doesn't do gender?" Hosannah said. "Sure, he follows the rules, but have you ever looked closely at his mannerisms or heard how he giggles when he gets excited about something? I think his superpower is that he's blind to social expectations. He's been able to be more himself more of his life than any of us."

"Huh, I never thought about it like that," I said, feeling less anxious.

"Statistically speaking, your brain is more feminine than a typical guy's and you feel like you should have more feminine attributes," Julia said. "Some women get their breasts and hips during puberty and other women have to wait until they have the courage to claim their breasts and hips later in life."

I smiled, fighting tears.

Julia patted my shoulder. "The women who claim their femininity later in life are badasses."

"Do you want to know what surprised me the most when you opened that door?" Hosannah asked.

"That I was in a dress?" I asked, blushing a bit.

"Nope. At first, I didn't even realize it was you because you seemed so at home in that dress. And then I noticed how you were filling out--"

Julia started laughing.

"Hey! Why are you sniggering?" Hosannah reached behind my back and smacked Julia's shoulder.

"It's nothing," Julia said. "Go on."

"Not until you tell me what's so funny," Hosannah said.

"When you said 'filling out that dress,' you were staring directly at her tits," Julia said.

"N-no, I wasn't," Hosannah said.

Julia just raised her eyebrow as her pointy ears stuck confidently straight up.

"Argh, fine! Yes, I was." Hosannah blushed.

"Hosannah here, is more into breasts than anyone I've ever dated," Julia said.

"Urgh! I had this whole thing I was going to say, but she ruined it, so I'll just say...Breasts look like they belong on you, Remelia, Amelia, I mean," Hosannah said.

The tears made it out, it didn't matter that she'd gotten my name wrong. Thankfully, it was very soft crying.

"Yeah, you have nothing to worry about, girl," Julia said. "You look like you belong in that dress and you have gorgeous hair."

"They're going to make me cut it." I cried harder.

"Hey, hey, before I grew out my hair, I wore wigs. Pretty darn good ones and I'm happy to give you a couple," she said. "Not like I'm gonna need them anymore."

"Oh wow!" I'd never thought of wigs and felt both incredibly stupid and incredibly happy.

"The bad part is going to be when you can't wear a wig," Julia got up and offered her hand. "Your workplace is diabolical."

"Yeah, I look forward to when I can finally leave," I said as I grabbed her soft, warm hand and let her help me to my feet.

As Hosannah got up, Julia hugged me from the side, her arm just under my tits. "I'm so happy to see you come out of your shell, hon."

"I'm not fully out yet," I said.

"But you have made some huge steps and seeing the girl inside you come to the surface like this is fabulous," Julia said.

I put a hand on her arm just before Hosannah hugged me from the other side. "Ramelia. Amelia! Damn it! Sorry it's gonna take some getting used to, but I like this change."

"Me too," I said. "And don't worry about it. I'm not used to being called Amelia yet, anyway."

Cuber was setting out the food so it could be served and drew Julia's eye. "Is this a chef robot?" she asked.

"No, that's Cuber, the maintenance robot from Ramda's ship that Amelia ended up with," Hosannah said, letting go of me.

"The one that caused all that trouble?" Julia asked, releasing me from the hug. "He's adorably alien-looking."

"She's capable of more trouble than you can imagine," I said.

Cuber cheered with her typical high-pitched 8-bit croak.

Julia and Hosannah laughed as the door chimed.

When I opened the door, Luke stared at me while I stared at Ezzie, who was only a couple inches shorter than Ramda now. Her hybridization was well on its way: she had a green scaly muzzle that went a few inches out from her face, pointy ears with scales on them, a tail that went down almost to her knees, and scales splotched all over her body. Her hair was now more of a dark green mane running down her back from the top of her head.

Aeidou said, "Isn't Ezzie gorgeous?"

"Oh yes," I said, feeling a twinge of jealousy, especially about her tail at this moment.

Ezzie grinned. "You should've seen poor Luke when he first saw me on the front steps."

Luke didn't give any sign he was paying attention to the conversation and interrupted with, "Remiel, you have breasts now?"

I blushed deep red. "No, they're synthetic."

"Do you want to be a woman?" he asked.

"Let's get everyone out of the hallway so we don't block traffic," Ezzie said, saving me from Luke's question.

I stepped to the side and let everyone enter my place. When the door shut behind them, I was standing there awkwardly with my hands clasped in front of me, not sure how to answer Luke's question. "Woman" felt right, but slightly dishonest after what I'd recently discovered.

As Luke regarded me, about to ask his question again, I blurted out, "I want to be a herm." It felt good to say aloud, but also like my heart was going to explode.

Aeidou and Ezzie smiled, their scaly muzzles getting beautiful elongated curves that arched all the way across the sides. Luke's face lit up with excitement as he thought of follow-up questions. Julia was blushing slightly while Hosannah was blushing deeply. None of them seemed all that surprised which made the tightness in my chest worse, not better. How could they be this sure about something I'd only just figured out?

"Do you want to be a hybrid, like Ramda?" Luke asked.

I nodded shyly, the shock slowly wearing off.

"How much like Ramda?" Luke asked.

"I, umm, I don't know," I said, realizing that I had seen so many hybrids and too many options over the last couple weeks.

"She'll probably figure it out by trying out various configurations in VR," Ezzie said. "We should do that this weekend, actually."

"That's a very good idea," Julia said.

Cuber warbled as she pointed at the food with all three arms.

"Thanks, Cuber. I'm starving," Hosannah said.

Cuber made a pleased coo as she put two buns on a plate and handed it to Hosannah.

I got out a small ladle to serve the curry the brats were sitting in and a pair of tongs to serve Cuber's beer caramelized onions, saying, "Cuber made the onions. I made the sausages and curry."

"This looks delicious," Hosannah said, putting curry in her buns, then brats, then onions on top.

"Yeah, it smells amazing in here," Luke said while Ezzie nodded in agreement.

Aeidou said, "I'm happy to see you embracing Lezveioan-human cuisine. Looks like you both did a fantastic job."

Cuber messaged me, *Green scales = Ezzie? She hybridizing?*

*Yep, she's becoming a tall hybrid dragon,* I sent.

Aeidou, Luke, and Julia got a plate with two buns from Cuber, but when Ezzie came up, Cuber gave her a plate with only one bun while giving me a plate with three.

Ezzie tried to grab another bun, but Cuber intercepted Ezzie's hand, making a wrong answer sound.

"Cuber, be nice," I said. "Ezzie taught you how to do makeup, remember?"

"Cuber did your makeup?" Hosannah asked.

"Yeah," I said. "She likes doing it so much she won't let me do my own."

Hosannah stepped closer to Cuber, "Could you show me how you layered Amelia's eye shadow later?"

Cuber made a happy trill and bounced in place.

While Cuber was distracted, I gave Ezzie my third bun. Then we loaded up our buns with curry, onions, and sausages before going over to my dining table, which I'd folded out bigger. Normally, dinner and conversation went together, but everyone was making pleased noises and enjoying the food so much that no one stopped to talk, other than tell us how good a job we'd done. Cuber's onions were slightly overdone, but the bit of sweetness in the curry balanced out the excess bitterness perfectly. Julia and Hosannah split Hosannah's second currywurst and Julia gave her second one to Ezzie, who was quite pleased to have more fuel for her growing body.

As most of us were finishing eating, Luke turned to Aeidou and said, "Your race has two prehensile penises?"

Hosannah swallowed wrong.

Julia was quick with a pat to Hosannah's back and Hosannah coughed out a chunk of bratwurst.

"A question like that with no warning can be dangerous," Aeidou said with an amused smile at the edges of her shark-like muzzle. "The Lezveioan way of answering your question would be to just show you my anatomy after dinner."

Julia laughed along with Ezzie. Hosannah's cheeks were a new shade of pink while I started thinking about Aeidou being inside me. It had felt so damn good and I wanted to ask her to stay after dinner along with Ezzie. I bit my lip as I fought to keep my cock from getting hard since I didn't want a tent in my dress when I got up from dinner.

Luke was blushing for the first time since I'd met him. But his surprise lasted only a second before he said, "That's a very efficient way to answer my question."

"Anyone ever told you that you think like a Lezveioan?" Aeidou asked.

"No, never," Luke said.

"That's unsurprising given where you grew up," Aeidou said.

I said, "Yeah, even talking about Lezveioans was looked down on back home. The government tried to make your race seem boring and like us."

"While I grew up on Earth where 'thinking like a Lezveioan' was either an insult or high praise, depending on the context," Julia said. "Though, I always considered it a compliment, myself."

"It's infuriating how Trinity Stronghold treats us. If we felt more shame, we'd be incredibly awkward in our dealings with them. Shame is their main currency as far as I'm concerned," Aeidou said.

"Ugg, tell me about it, I had a bit of a panic attack when I realized I was a lesbian," Hosannah said.

"But I was there and you made it through to the other side," Julia said.

"The other side?" Hosannah asked.

"Yep, now you're an evil lesbian like me," Julia said.

Everyone, except Luke, laughed.

"Evil?" Luke asked.

"From Miramanna's perspective? I'd say so," Hosannah said.

"Huh, that does make sense," Luke said, before turning to Ezzie. "What does the hybridization process feel like?"

"It feels itchy, tingly, achey, throbby, prickly, arousing, and pleasurable. Easily the most distracting experience I've had. Even the most basic things are needing adjustment: I've been practicing how to say "s" sounds after work without hisssssing." She laughed. "There we go. An example of why having your tongue change shape isn't all good."

"Oh, is your tongue more reptilian now?" Luke asked.

Ezzie stuck out her tongue which had a bit of a fork in it and was very dexterous. She coiled it and even grabbed her finger with the fork of her tongue. Hosannah squirmed in her seat, getting a chuckle out of Julia. Aeidou's ears were fanned wide while I got a bit warm in my crotch. Ezzie knew she had everyone's attention. Even Luke was blushing. Ezzie and Aeidou had both made Luke blush...did he have a thing for scales?

Once she was done teasing us, Ezzie said, "The tongue part is hard, but that's not nearly as disorienting as having a tail and getting taller. I'm glad my horns are coming in, because I'm hitting my head more than is probably good."

I missed Hosannah's response to Ezzie because I got a heart-stopping calendar notification from work:

"Dress Code Compliance Appointment: Tomorrow at 1:15PM, TrinityCutz, Miramanna Complex."