Miko
🎖️ Game Master
Planet Yamatai
Shuttle Ship
34日 9月 YE 40
01800 Hours
Alastair had volunteer to pick up one of the crew for the next assignment for the ship. She was a past crew member and one he never really got the chance to meet. He had seen the reports while on ship and were always positive and wholesome. It was time he had the chance to meet with the famed Nora. She had been stationed planet side and would be an easy trip so did not expect any trouble.
The daur had been given only a day’s notice that she was going to be leaving her post stationed near the capital of planet Yamatai. However, the short notice actually came as a relief to the daur. She excited to leave this place and join the crew once again, even if it also gave her the feeling that butterflies were fluttering about in her stomach. After packing her things, getting an abysmal nights sleep, and heading to the starship port, all that was left to complete the process was to fill out some final paperwork.
The attendant waited patiently for her to finish going through the small packet of digitized paperwork on a holographic tablet, the daur taking her time reading over all the fine print. She was burnt out from all the papers she had to deal with, but even so, she never shirked when it came to official documents. With the final signature places, the daur heaved a heavy sigh of relief as she replaced the tablet back on the counter and collected her things, beginning her march across the starport to the wing that saw all the small landing ships, mostly consisting of personal transport vessels for those who had the credits for that kind of posh lifestyle.
He waited patiently outside the ship looking for someone who looked the part of a Daur. He also had his data pad open and could see she had just finished all the paperwork and would be on her way shortly. This was exciting as he was use to working with the Nekos of the crew that having another Daur back onboard would be a nice change of pace. He also figured her last station would be boring compared to the pride of the fleet, the YSS Kaiyo. A few moments later and noticed someone who looked the part. He walked over to see if this was true.
"Hello, would you be miss Shi'non'ha?" He asked with a smile, arms behind his back.
The daur’s crystal blue eyes would be scanning the holographic numbers floating above terminal wings, occasionally flicking her eyes down to the printed detail in her hand of everything from ship type and number to what area it would be docked in. Doing a quick numbers game in her head, she figured that the terminal shouldn’t be too much farther up ahead. At ease, she let her head drop as her eyes absently focussed on her churning feet, the short heeled pumps making a satisfying click with each step.
Without realizing it, she padded right by the terminal that was her designated stop. And she probably would have kept going if not for her last name being called a short distance away. Immediately her feel stopped as her head shot up, ears cocked forward as she searched for the speaker. Doing a small turn, she’d be met by the towering figure of a man in uniform, the white panel of his coat immediately cluing her in and giving at least some idea of his rank, which was well above her’s. She set down her bags and straightened her back, her hand placing itself across her chest as she did a small bow of respect.
“Yes, sir.” She said as she stood back up straight again, her eyes momentarily glancing up over Alastair’s shoulder to catch the terminal number. Internally she groaned as she realized he probably called to her because she was just about to keep walking on by.
He returned the bow with one of his own. He set himself upright to address her. "Ahh so you are miss Nora. Wonderful to meet you yet again. Such a pleasure to hear you will be joining us back on the Kaiyo. I believe there are a few crew who will be very pleased to know you have returned. I know I am personally happy to see your return." He reached down and tugged at his outfit to straighten and smooth out the jacket once more.
Alastair reached down and grabbed one of her bags. This would be odd behavior for an officer but this was Alastair and he did things a little different. "Come, your chariot awaits." He said with a chuckle as he pointed to the docked ship not far from the two of them.
Just as Nora bent down to grab her bags, Alastair would swoop down and snatch one of them before she could. It took the daur by surprise as she rose with only one bag now in hand, the other held in the grip of her superior officer.
“Er..ah, yes.” She was at a bit of a loss for words but decided it was best she not challenge him. And besides, her back would thank him later. With that, she gave him nod before walking with him to the docked ship that was to take them both to the kaiyo crew’s location, wherever that may be.
He grinned at her as the bag was released. First meeting and almost had a hand holding incident. He hurried off with her to the waiting ship. "So how was your time away from the ship? I hope it was not completely boring." He asked kicking up some small talk as they headed towards the ship and open cargo hatch.
Her white ears would flatten a bit as a wide, slightly pained grin spread on her face. “Ah-hah, not boring at all!”
A couple moments of silence would pass, fill with the clicks of their shoes on the hard floor, before she let out a long sigh, her posture deflating. “If I may speak freely? It was the more boring year of my life, sir.” She punctuated her sentence with a dry chuckle.
"Oh gosh I am not shocked to hear this. After being on the roller coaster like the Kaiyo everything else just seems boring. Do I ever have stories to share." He chuckled along with her as the walked into the ship. They moved through to tight hall ways and to a room in the middle of the ship. Alastair walked into the room and placed down her things. "Can use this room if you need sleep though it will be short since this trip will not take long."
He looked to her and walked out of the room. As he passed he put a hand on her head to give a short pat. "When your done here, come join me in the sitting area of the ship. I have stories to share to get you up to speed."
Nora followed behind Alastair as they boarded the ship and moved through it’s interior walkways to end up in a tight room. She waited until he had released her other bag before she moved over to set down the one still in her grip. With that, she patted down her skirt absentmindedly as she rose again and turned to face him.
Just as she did, she’d find the weight of a hand large suddenly press down on her head. Just as fast as it came, the weight lifted off as Alastair’s large frame passed by. The daur was at a loss on how to react. She puffed out her cheeks and quickly checked in a nearby mirror, fixing her bangs where they were ruffled before she exited the room. She showed up in the sitting area of the ship, located near the front with several windows to show a view out to their surroundings, not long after Alastair had arrived. He probably only had time to just seat himself when the daur stepped into the doorway.
Alastair looked up and smiled at her as she walked into the room. "Ah perfect, thank you for joining me. And I must say, that uniform fits you very nicely. So exciting to have another daur back on the ship. Forgive the fanboy attitude but I can't help but love the fluffy tails." He had leaned slightly to the side trying to get a peek at it, a smile across his face.
Beside him was a drink and plate of food. Across from him was another glass and plate of food. Was nothing special but showed he was making sure if she was hungry that something was provided. "Feel free to have something to eat and drink. Its a short flight but figured you may want something." He leaned back upright and motioned with his hand for her to sit.
She stayed in the doorway as he spoke, her head tilting a bit as he mentioned how he missed daurs and their fluffy tails particularly. Her eyebrow would bump to look at him incredulously, her bushy white tail lifting to the side to peek out from behind her slender legs, as if it hand a mind of it’s own and wanted to bask in the attention. The daur would give a glance down to the tail, wondering why it was such a big deal to others, before she shrugged and moved out of the doorway, slipping over to the couches and setting down at the spot where the other plate of food was set out.
“Oh, thank you for the food!” she said gratefully as she settled down, reaching forward to pick up the plate and bring it into her lap. It was finger foods, like cheese, olives, crackers, and fruit, but that was fine by her standards. Just as she took a cracker and pushed an olive and cheese on the top of it, a loud, otherworldly sound would suddenly reverberate from the small girl’s body. Her movements immediately stopped, her expression deadpan, the pale skin slowly growing redder and redder by the second. After a few moments, her mouth would open to let out a stuttered explanation for the sound “I..t-that...I..forgot breakfast this morning.”
He took notice of the tail peeking out from around her legs. He was always fascinated by how tails seemed to express feelings of the person they were attached with. In fact the ears and tail seemed to be more honest than the person would let on. He grinned at her as she took a seat. He admired how well mannered she was. This was his first time getting to really spend time with her outside the first time they met for the introduction on the ship.
"Oh my it would seem I was right to get you some food. Seems that belly is screaming out feed me." He chuckled as he heard the unlady like sounds come from the daur. This was off to a good start. The daur was completely embarrassed and this trip just got started. “Well eat your fill, can't have my crew starving on me after all.” He smiled brightly as her as he picked up his glass of wine to take a sip of it. “Plus as angry as it sounded it might just eat me.” He held a serious look before letting go a laugh.
She chuckled nervously and nodded maybe a tinge too enthusiastically before sinking her teeth into the cracker, cheese, and olive. She made sure to keep herself calm as she chewed, swallowed, and then pushed the rest of the tasty snack past her lips. However, if she were to be alone? It would have been a scene like that of a wild animal tearing into its prey of...hors d'oeuvres.
Having finished that cracker, she popped a couple olives straight into her mouth, puffing up her cheeks as she chewed. Her eyes narrowed slightly at Alastair as she chewed for a moment longer as then swallowed. “So, what were those stories you mentioned earlier?”
He took a sip of his wine. His gaze did not move off of her. Another sip then he put the glass down. "Well, let's start with the mission just after you got reassigned." He leaned in closer to her, his hands holding the end of the chair. "As you may recall we had been tasked with going to another universe to stop Eve. Or at least that is what things turned into once we were there. It was a hard fought battle but we did end up being victorious and putting an end to Eve. Wyatt and Eden were the ones that made sure she was no more." He leaned back and took another sip of the wine. His hand seemed to shake slightly. "Me, well I found a room filled with Eve's enslaved girls she had locked up. Saved every last one of them." He had a mix of a smile and frown. It was as if he was happy to have done this but there was more to the story.
The daur’s snow white ears would be cocked forward as he told his story, her hand absently grasping a bit of cheese or an olive and popping it into her mouth as she watched him, paying more attention to his story than she was her food.
“A bunch of enslaved girls..” She muttered when he finished, her eyebrows furrowing. Slavery wasn’t uncommon in throughout the space systems, plenty of undesirables out there were willing to make a quick buck off of others in every way imaginable. And it did not surprise her that this held true in other universes.
"Aye, was a very sad sight indeed. Most barely had any clothes on and some were even naked. Made my poor heart sink. But that is behind us and they are now located on the Belmont compound back on Yam. Working to get them integrated back into the world." His eyes shifted left to right a few times as he leaned in closer to her and lowered his voice. "Though, since I was their savior they are very fond of me. Glad to have saved them but getting mobbed everytime I go home is just awful." He rolled his eyes and chuckled. "But wouldn't have it any other way. Was good to save them all from the evil hands of Eve." A smile returned to his face as he learned back away from her.
The daur raised an eyebrow at him incredulously, but decided that it was, infact, the Kaiyo and anything was possible on this damned ship. Nora instead shrugged her shoulders and put together another cheesy olive cracker combination before lifting it to her lips to nibble on. “I can’t say I would know what that’s like.”
"Never know, next mission you might end up with a harem of guys." He let out a laugh. "Talking about harem, onto the next mission." He once again placed his hands under his chin. "This mission was more standard operation. Explore a ship we found out in the middle of nowhere. It was the YSS Akagi that was lost ages ago. Entire crew had been "frozen in place" with the ship completely disabled. I thought that was going to be the highlight but we then found signals coming from the nearby planet." He reached down and grabbed his glass and brought it to his lips to sip. "Be damned if on this forsaken world there was not a bathhouse. A bathhouse filled with naked angels of all things."
Alastair leaned back and put his hands in the air. "I seem to be ending up on mission involving naked people. It is part of the job but I am starting to see a trend here." He placed his hands by his side and smiled at her.
She nearly choked on a bite of cracker and cheese when he mentioned a harem of her own. The next few seconds were filled with coughing as she tried not to choke further. After that she set down her plate of food, finding that she probably had had enough of that.
“That sounds like an..odd string of events to happen back to back with missions.” She admitted, but all in all could not quite find the words to respond with. If she had not been a previous member of the Kaiyo crew, she probably would not believe tales as wild as this. Because if she was being honest, they sounded like those bits of information you find your senile grandfather slipping into his stories the more times he tells it.
Alastair had moved to his feet as Nora choked. It cleared quickly and he sat back down and relaxed. "Oh gosh, don't go choking and dying on me now. I don't need to explain in a report why I was giving mouth to mouth to the new recruit." He said with a chuckle. "You heard the stories and know how hard that would be to explain." His hands were off to the side to gesture he was having fun but also serious.
She waves her hands in front of her quickly as her white tail fluffed. “Oh god, no, that’s..no I’m not dying so it’s not necessary.” She scrambled quickly for the words before ending with a nervous chuckle.
The Minkan thought her tail fluffing up was the cutest thing ever. It would seem he had managed to yet again embarrass the daur. "I tease I tease but if it was necessary just know that I will do my part." He said in a strong voice, like a guy who was willing to do it all to save a life.
He paused and locked eyes with her. "So yeah, that is the short of our past missions. Feel free to check the reports for more details." He stood and walked over to the bar to grab another bottle. "So Nora, tell me a little about yourself."
“Ah, well...where do I start?” She chuckled softly under her breath, eyes following him as he went to the bar. Curiously, she observed the other bottles lining the wall behind the small bar. She was silent for a few moments as she decided where to start before giving up and deciding to see if he had anything specific already in mind. “Is there something you want to know specifically?”
"I always like to know what my crew do in their free time. Do you have a hobby?" He asked without looking at her while he inspected a bottle. A smile crossed his face, clearly pleased with what he seen and took a seat back at the table. "More wine my lady?"
She shook her head to the offer of more wine. She’d barely touched her glass this whole time, but then again she was more focussed on food. Even so, the girl’s body mass and sex made her the lightest of light weights and she didn’t want to arrive tipsy.
“Hobbies...hmm…” She paused, thinking on it. Then she’d suddenly blink as an imaginary lightbulb went off above her head. “Oh! Plants, I love to grow plants. I can grow almost anything!” She said with a proud smile. “My family, I come from a long line of farmers, you see.”
"Ahh, a fellow farming is it. I am sure you will spend much time on the observation deck tending to the plants there. I have myself a bonsai tree on that deck I tend to." He poured himself some more wine and took a sip of it. "Now this is some good wine." He commented as he sat the glass back down on the table. "I bet you had the boys back home dancing in the palm of your hand."
“Pfft!” she burst out at his last comment. However, her smile would slowly fade as she realized he was being serious, though. “Oh, hardly.” She said with a shake of her head.
"Oh, so the Nora effect that crossed the ship might of been a fluke huh." He said with a big grin. "I do believe there is something special about you. Have a way of bringing joy to those around you." He said in a matter of fact way.
“The nora effect..?” She muttered under her breath, but before she could get an explanation, he continued on talking. She tried to contain the bashful smile that spread across her face, but failed miserably. “I didn’t know that I had been noticed much by the crew save for a few I worked closer with on the mission I was here for.” She scratched the back of one of her snow white ears, cheeks becoming a bit flushed.
Alastair reached over and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Then I say keep up the good work you’re doing then. Though another time will have to show me those farming skills." He kept his hand in place for a moment longer, gave it a flex then removed it. He was right to learn more about this young fox. She would be a great addition to his team.
She smiled up to her superior officer as his large hand placed down on her shoulder. It didn’t make her feel uncomfortable, instead feeling like the warm hand of a father’s reassuring grip. Her chest puffed up a bit with pride as she gave him a nod. “I’ll be sure to!”
"Perfect, and feel free to take a little personal time to get to know the crew better. Life is too short to not have some fun in it." He chuckled giving her a wink as he took another drink of his wine. He could not help but really take in her full figure. He felt sorry for the crew as he was sure they would not be able to resist her. Even Alastair was finding it hard to not try something. Then again maybe that was the drink talking.
Even though Alistair’s eyes traced over her body, the daur didn’t notice it at all. Even though she was military trained, sat up straight in her always cleaned and ironed uniform, and had an air of intelligence about her, the girl seemed to still be ignorant about some things.
“I’ll be sure to do that, sir.” She said with a smile before reaching out to take her wine glass in her pale hand. Slipping up off the couch, her free hand patted down her skirt before she moved over to a nearby observation window, looking out at the sea of clouds and blue sky.
"It will not be long before we reach the ship. Before we land could I have a small favor granted." He got up out of his seat and wondered closer to Nora. "Can I touch your tail? I never touched a daur tail before and it just looks so soft." His smile was big and his eyes full of wonder.
The fox girl turned to face her superior officer, her eyebrows raising in surprise before they fell again. Similarly, her fluffy ears fell back, too, her smile sheepish. Her other hand reached up to grasp the handle of her wine glass, seeking something to do.
“Well you see..” She started, the tail in question twitching restlessly behind her legs. “There’s probably a good chance that the reason you haven’t is because it’s a..” She bit her lip, trying to find the words that could explain it to someone outside her culture. “It’s something that’s only done betweenvery close family member or..lovers. It’s quite looked down upon to freely do such a thing.”
He looked at her with a blank look on his face. Then the gears started to click what this all meant. "Oh my, I had read it was something special but I had no idea it was like that." His smile slowly changed into a straight look. "Forgive the forwardness of my request. Not even kissed and trying to lewd the fox." He chuckled hoping she would see at least some humor in his lack of understanding how things work. "Though, I didn't hear a no." A sly grin crossed his face.
She was nodding along, focussing only on calming her nerves from the incident and not really paying attention. That was until she picked up his slight change of tone and caught what he said. Her mouth would fall open slightly before she realized it was probably a joke. Just being around him for the past hour, she could already tell that much about him. “Nice try, Alastair, but you’ll have to do a lot more than wine and-” She turned to glance at the table with her plate of picked apart cheese, crackers, and olives “-well, snack me.”
He clapped his hands together and let out a laugh. "Damn, burned so good. Well played Nora, well played." He walked over to the window and looked out while standing alongside her. Without looking at her he spoke softly. "I will be sure for a date to do more than snacks, thanks for the tip." He then turned his head and smiled at her.
She glanced to him before rolling her eyes, letting out a small “Pfft.” of amusement. Her tail had settled down now and she was feeling a lot more comfortable in his presence. The fox, remembering that she still had a quarter full wine glass in her hand, lifted the glass to her lips and took a small sip, letting it’s bitter, fruity flavor wash over her tongue.
The smile grew as he watched her have a nice drink. "This was fun, looking forward to our next adventure." He no more than finished talking when the pilot of the ship called for Alastair to take a call from command. He leaned over and hit the touchpad that was next to the window. After a few moments he looked back to Nora. "Welp, hope you brought your snowshoes. Looks like we just got our new mission orders." He tapped the screen to close it and looked at the communicator on his wrist. "Oh, I really wish they would give more time for things like this. Might have to borrow some of your clothes." He let out a laugh as he wandered off to sit back down again.
“Snowshoes?” Her eyebrows furrowed. “My clothes? There’s no way you’d fit! Where in the gods’ name are we going?” She turned as he walked back to the couch. She gave another glance back out of the window before she turned back to him, wandering closer to the couch, her black heels making small clicks on the floor.
"If we had more time I would take up you up on that just for the fun of it." He said with a chuckle. "Takekumori, and based on the report the area is covered in snow." He tapped on his wrist communicator a few times. "And pretty damn cold out too." He looked back up at her. "Hope you don't mind a winter wonderland."
“Don’t get me wrong, I like snow as much as the next guy but…It really clumps on the tail bad.” She said oh so seriously. A few moments later though, she chuckled and shook her head and took another sip from her glass. “I actually love snow as long as I have a warm coat.”
He looked her over for a moment before giving a reply. "Lucky you was born with said fur coat. Though if you need a hand brushing out all the snow I'd be happy to help." It no sooner left his lips than it hit him what that would all mean. Well, at least it was being helpful even if it would mean touching her tail.
The daur raised an eyebrow at him before she shook her head with a smile. “I’ll let you know if I ever need any.” With that, she turned back to look out the nearby window. Her tail twitched with anticipation as butterflies rose up into her stomach. They had just dipped down into the clouds and were descending quickly. It would be time to reunite with the crew soon.
Shuttle Ship
34日 9月 YE 40
01800 Hours
Alastair had volunteer to pick up one of the crew for the next assignment for the ship. She was a past crew member and one he never really got the chance to meet. He had seen the reports while on ship and were always positive and wholesome. It was time he had the chance to meet with the famed Nora. She had been stationed planet side and would be an easy trip so did not expect any trouble.
The daur had been given only a day’s notice that she was going to be leaving her post stationed near the capital of planet Yamatai. However, the short notice actually came as a relief to the daur. She excited to leave this place and join the crew once again, even if it also gave her the feeling that butterflies were fluttering about in her stomach. After packing her things, getting an abysmal nights sleep, and heading to the starship port, all that was left to complete the process was to fill out some final paperwork.
The attendant waited patiently for her to finish going through the small packet of digitized paperwork on a holographic tablet, the daur taking her time reading over all the fine print. She was burnt out from all the papers she had to deal with, but even so, she never shirked when it came to official documents. With the final signature places, the daur heaved a heavy sigh of relief as she replaced the tablet back on the counter and collected her things, beginning her march across the starport to the wing that saw all the small landing ships, mostly consisting of personal transport vessels for those who had the credits for that kind of posh lifestyle.
He waited patiently outside the ship looking for someone who looked the part of a Daur. He also had his data pad open and could see she had just finished all the paperwork and would be on her way shortly. This was exciting as he was use to working with the Nekos of the crew that having another Daur back onboard would be a nice change of pace. He also figured her last station would be boring compared to the pride of the fleet, the YSS Kaiyo. A few moments later and noticed someone who looked the part. He walked over to see if this was true.
"Hello, would you be miss Shi'non'ha?" He asked with a smile, arms behind his back.
The daur’s crystal blue eyes would be scanning the holographic numbers floating above terminal wings, occasionally flicking her eyes down to the printed detail in her hand of everything from ship type and number to what area it would be docked in. Doing a quick numbers game in her head, she figured that the terminal shouldn’t be too much farther up ahead. At ease, she let her head drop as her eyes absently focussed on her churning feet, the short heeled pumps making a satisfying click with each step.
Without realizing it, she padded right by the terminal that was her designated stop. And she probably would have kept going if not for her last name being called a short distance away. Immediately her feel stopped as her head shot up, ears cocked forward as she searched for the speaker. Doing a small turn, she’d be met by the towering figure of a man in uniform, the white panel of his coat immediately cluing her in and giving at least some idea of his rank, which was well above her’s. She set down her bags and straightened her back, her hand placing itself across her chest as she did a small bow of respect.
“Yes, sir.” She said as she stood back up straight again, her eyes momentarily glancing up over Alastair’s shoulder to catch the terminal number. Internally she groaned as she realized he probably called to her because she was just about to keep walking on by.
He returned the bow with one of his own. He set himself upright to address her. "Ahh so you are miss Nora. Wonderful to meet you yet again. Such a pleasure to hear you will be joining us back on the Kaiyo. I believe there are a few crew who will be very pleased to know you have returned. I know I am personally happy to see your return." He reached down and tugged at his outfit to straighten and smooth out the jacket once more.
Alastair reached down and grabbed one of her bags. This would be odd behavior for an officer but this was Alastair and he did things a little different. "Come, your chariot awaits." He said with a chuckle as he pointed to the docked ship not far from the two of them.
Just as Nora bent down to grab her bags, Alastair would swoop down and snatch one of them before she could. It took the daur by surprise as she rose with only one bag now in hand, the other held in the grip of her superior officer.
“Er..ah, yes.” She was at a bit of a loss for words but decided it was best she not challenge him. And besides, her back would thank him later. With that, she gave him nod before walking with him to the docked ship that was to take them both to the kaiyo crew’s location, wherever that may be.
He grinned at her as the bag was released. First meeting and almost had a hand holding incident. He hurried off with her to the waiting ship. "So how was your time away from the ship? I hope it was not completely boring." He asked kicking up some small talk as they headed towards the ship and open cargo hatch.
Her white ears would flatten a bit as a wide, slightly pained grin spread on her face. “Ah-hah, not boring at all!”
A couple moments of silence would pass, fill with the clicks of their shoes on the hard floor, before she let out a long sigh, her posture deflating. “If I may speak freely? It was the more boring year of my life, sir.” She punctuated her sentence with a dry chuckle.
"Oh gosh I am not shocked to hear this. After being on the roller coaster like the Kaiyo everything else just seems boring. Do I ever have stories to share." He chuckled along with her as the walked into the ship. They moved through to tight hall ways and to a room in the middle of the ship. Alastair walked into the room and placed down her things. "Can use this room if you need sleep though it will be short since this trip will not take long."
He looked to her and walked out of the room. As he passed he put a hand on her head to give a short pat. "When your done here, come join me in the sitting area of the ship. I have stories to share to get you up to speed."
Nora followed behind Alastair as they boarded the ship and moved through it’s interior walkways to end up in a tight room. She waited until he had released her other bag before she moved over to set down the one still in her grip. With that, she patted down her skirt absentmindedly as she rose again and turned to face him.
Just as she did, she’d find the weight of a hand large suddenly press down on her head. Just as fast as it came, the weight lifted off as Alastair’s large frame passed by. The daur was at a loss on how to react. She puffed out her cheeks and quickly checked in a nearby mirror, fixing her bangs where they were ruffled before she exited the room. She showed up in the sitting area of the ship, located near the front with several windows to show a view out to their surroundings, not long after Alastair had arrived. He probably only had time to just seat himself when the daur stepped into the doorway.
Alastair looked up and smiled at her as she walked into the room. "Ah perfect, thank you for joining me. And I must say, that uniform fits you very nicely. So exciting to have another daur back on the ship. Forgive the fanboy attitude but I can't help but love the fluffy tails." He had leaned slightly to the side trying to get a peek at it, a smile across his face.
Beside him was a drink and plate of food. Across from him was another glass and plate of food. Was nothing special but showed he was making sure if she was hungry that something was provided. "Feel free to have something to eat and drink. Its a short flight but figured you may want something." He leaned back upright and motioned with his hand for her to sit.
She stayed in the doorway as he spoke, her head tilting a bit as he mentioned how he missed daurs and their fluffy tails particularly. Her eyebrow would bump to look at him incredulously, her bushy white tail lifting to the side to peek out from behind her slender legs, as if it hand a mind of it’s own and wanted to bask in the attention. The daur would give a glance down to the tail, wondering why it was such a big deal to others, before she shrugged and moved out of the doorway, slipping over to the couches and setting down at the spot where the other plate of food was set out.
“Oh, thank you for the food!” she said gratefully as she settled down, reaching forward to pick up the plate and bring it into her lap. It was finger foods, like cheese, olives, crackers, and fruit, but that was fine by her standards. Just as she took a cracker and pushed an olive and cheese on the top of it, a loud, otherworldly sound would suddenly reverberate from the small girl’s body. Her movements immediately stopped, her expression deadpan, the pale skin slowly growing redder and redder by the second. After a few moments, her mouth would open to let out a stuttered explanation for the sound “I..t-that...I..forgot breakfast this morning.”
He took notice of the tail peeking out from around her legs. He was always fascinated by how tails seemed to express feelings of the person they were attached with. In fact the ears and tail seemed to be more honest than the person would let on. He grinned at her as she took a seat. He admired how well mannered she was. This was his first time getting to really spend time with her outside the first time they met for the introduction on the ship.
"Oh my it would seem I was right to get you some food. Seems that belly is screaming out feed me." He chuckled as he heard the unlady like sounds come from the daur. This was off to a good start. The daur was completely embarrassed and this trip just got started. “Well eat your fill, can't have my crew starving on me after all.” He smiled brightly as her as he picked up his glass of wine to take a sip of it. “Plus as angry as it sounded it might just eat me.” He held a serious look before letting go a laugh.
She chuckled nervously and nodded maybe a tinge too enthusiastically before sinking her teeth into the cracker, cheese, and olive. She made sure to keep herself calm as she chewed, swallowed, and then pushed the rest of the tasty snack past her lips. However, if she were to be alone? It would have been a scene like that of a wild animal tearing into its prey of...hors d'oeuvres.
Having finished that cracker, she popped a couple olives straight into her mouth, puffing up her cheeks as she chewed. Her eyes narrowed slightly at Alastair as she chewed for a moment longer as then swallowed. “So, what were those stories you mentioned earlier?”
He took a sip of his wine. His gaze did not move off of her. Another sip then he put the glass down. "Well, let's start with the mission just after you got reassigned." He leaned in closer to her, his hands holding the end of the chair. "As you may recall we had been tasked with going to another universe to stop Eve. Or at least that is what things turned into once we were there. It was a hard fought battle but we did end up being victorious and putting an end to Eve. Wyatt and Eden were the ones that made sure she was no more." He leaned back and took another sip of the wine. His hand seemed to shake slightly. "Me, well I found a room filled with Eve's enslaved girls she had locked up. Saved every last one of them." He had a mix of a smile and frown. It was as if he was happy to have done this but there was more to the story.
The daur’s snow white ears would be cocked forward as he told his story, her hand absently grasping a bit of cheese or an olive and popping it into her mouth as she watched him, paying more attention to his story than she was her food.
“A bunch of enslaved girls..” She muttered when he finished, her eyebrows furrowing. Slavery wasn’t uncommon in throughout the space systems, plenty of undesirables out there were willing to make a quick buck off of others in every way imaginable. And it did not surprise her that this held true in other universes.
"Aye, was a very sad sight indeed. Most barely had any clothes on and some were even naked. Made my poor heart sink. But that is behind us and they are now located on the Belmont compound back on Yam. Working to get them integrated back into the world." His eyes shifted left to right a few times as he leaned in closer to her and lowered his voice. "Though, since I was their savior they are very fond of me. Glad to have saved them but getting mobbed everytime I go home is just awful." He rolled his eyes and chuckled. "But wouldn't have it any other way. Was good to save them all from the evil hands of Eve." A smile returned to his face as he learned back away from her.
The daur raised an eyebrow at him incredulously, but decided that it was, infact, the Kaiyo and anything was possible on this damned ship. Nora instead shrugged her shoulders and put together another cheesy olive cracker combination before lifting it to her lips to nibble on. “I can’t say I would know what that’s like.”
"Never know, next mission you might end up with a harem of guys." He let out a laugh. "Talking about harem, onto the next mission." He once again placed his hands under his chin. "This mission was more standard operation. Explore a ship we found out in the middle of nowhere. It was the YSS Akagi that was lost ages ago. Entire crew had been "frozen in place" with the ship completely disabled. I thought that was going to be the highlight but we then found signals coming from the nearby planet." He reached down and grabbed his glass and brought it to his lips to sip. "Be damned if on this forsaken world there was not a bathhouse. A bathhouse filled with naked angels of all things."
Alastair leaned back and put his hands in the air. "I seem to be ending up on mission involving naked people. It is part of the job but I am starting to see a trend here." He placed his hands by his side and smiled at her.
She nearly choked on a bite of cracker and cheese when he mentioned a harem of her own. The next few seconds were filled with coughing as she tried not to choke further. After that she set down her plate of food, finding that she probably had had enough of that.
“That sounds like an..odd string of events to happen back to back with missions.” She admitted, but all in all could not quite find the words to respond with. If she had not been a previous member of the Kaiyo crew, she probably would not believe tales as wild as this. Because if she was being honest, they sounded like those bits of information you find your senile grandfather slipping into his stories the more times he tells it.
Alastair had moved to his feet as Nora choked. It cleared quickly and he sat back down and relaxed. "Oh gosh, don't go choking and dying on me now. I don't need to explain in a report why I was giving mouth to mouth to the new recruit." He said with a chuckle. "You heard the stories and know how hard that would be to explain." His hands were off to the side to gesture he was having fun but also serious.
She waves her hands in front of her quickly as her white tail fluffed. “Oh god, no, that’s..no I’m not dying so it’s not necessary.” She scrambled quickly for the words before ending with a nervous chuckle.
The Minkan thought her tail fluffing up was the cutest thing ever. It would seem he had managed to yet again embarrass the daur. "I tease I tease but if it was necessary just know that I will do my part." He said in a strong voice, like a guy who was willing to do it all to save a life.
He paused and locked eyes with her. "So yeah, that is the short of our past missions. Feel free to check the reports for more details." He stood and walked over to the bar to grab another bottle. "So Nora, tell me a little about yourself."
“Ah, well...where do I start?” She chuckled softly under her breath, eyes following him as he went to the bar. Curiously, she observed the other bottles lining the wall behind the small bar. She was silent for a few moments as she decided where to start before giving up and deciding to see if he had anything specific already in mind. “Is there something you want to know specifically?”
"I always like to know what my crew do in their free time. Do you have a hobby?" He asked without looking at her while he inspected a bottle. A smile crossed his face, clearly pleased with what he seen and took a seat back at the table. "More wine my lady?"
She shook her head to the offer of more wine. She’d barely touched her glass this whole time, but then again she was more focussed on food. Even so, the girl’s body mass and sex made her the lightest of light weights and she didn’t want to arrive tipsy.
“Hobbies...hmm…” She paused, thinking on it. Then she’d suddenly blink as an imaginary lightbulb went off above her head. “Oh! Plants, I love to grow plants. I can grow almost anything!” She said with a proud smile. “My family, I come from a long line of farmers, you see.”
"Ahh, a fellow farming is it. I am sure you will spend much time on the observation deck tending to the plants there. I have myself a bonsai tree on that deck I tend to." He poured himself some more wine and took a sip of it. "Now this is some good wine." He commented as he sat the glass back down on the table. "I bet you had the boys back home dancing in the palm of your hand."
“Pfft!” she burst out at his last comment. However, her smile would slowly fade as she realized he was being serious, though. “Oh, hardly.” She said with a shake of her head.
"Oh, so the Nora effect that crossed the ship might of been a fluke huh." He said with a big grin. "I do believe there is something special about you. Have a way of bringing joy to those around you." He said in a matter of fact way.
“The nora effect..?” She muttered under her breath, but before she could get an explanation, he continued on talking. She tried to contain the bashful smile that spread across her face, but failed miserably. “I didn’t know that I had been noticed much by the crew save for a few I worked closer with on the mission I was here for.” She scratched the back of one of her snow white ears, cheeks becoming a bit flushed.
Alastair reached over and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Then I say keep up the good work you’re doing then. Though another time will have to show me those farming skills." He kept his hand in place for a moment longer, gave it a flex then removed it. He was right to learn more about this young fox. She would be a great addition to his team.
She smiled up to her superior officer as his large hand placed down on her shoulder. It didn’t make her feel uncomfortable, instead feeling like the warm hand of a father’s reassuring grip. Her chest puffed up a bit with pride as she gave him a nod. “I’ll be sure to!”
"Perfect, and feel free to take a little personal time to get to know the crew better. Life is too short to not have some fun in it." He chuckled giving her a wink as he took another drink of his wine. He could not help but really take in her full figure. He felt sorry for the crew as he was sure they would not be able to resist her. Even Alastair was finding it hard to not try something. Then again maybe that was the drink talking.
Even though Alistair’s eyes traced over her body, the daur didn’t notice it at all. Even though she was military trained, sat up straight in her always cleaned and ironed uniform, and had an air of intelligence about her, the girl seemed to still be ignorant about some things.
“I’ll be sure to do that, sir.” She said with a smile before reaching out to take her wine glass in her pale hand. Slipping up off the couch, her free hand patted down her skirt before she moved over to a nearby observation window, looking out at the sea of clouds and blue sky.
"It will not be long before we reach the ship. Before we land could I have a small favor granted." He got up out of his seat and wondered closer to Nora. "Can I touch your tail? I never touched a daur tail before and it just looks so soft." His smile was big and his eyes full of wonder.
The fox girl turned to face her superior officer, her eyebrows raising in surprise before they fell again. Similarly, her fluffy ears fell back, too, her smile sheepish. Her other hand reached up to grasp the handle of her wine glass, seeking something to do.
“Well you see..” She started, the tail in question twitching restlessly behind her legs. “There’s probably a good chance that the reason you haven’t is because it’s a..” She bit her lip, trying to find the words that could explain it to someone outside her culture. “It’s something that’s only done betweenvery close family member or..lovers. It’s quite looked down upon to freely do such a thing.”
He looked at her with a blank look on his face. Then the gears started to click what this all meant. "Oh my, I had read it was something special but I had no idea it was like that." His smile slowly changed into a straight look. "Forgive the forwardness of my request. Not even kissed and trying to lewd the fox." He chuckled hoping she would see at least some humor in his lack of understanding how things work. "Though, I didn't hear a no." A sly grin crossed his face.
She was nodding along, focussing only on calming her nerves from the incident and not really paying attention. That was until she picked up his slight change of tone and caught what he said. Her mouth would fall open slightly before she realized it was probably a joke. Just being around him for the past hour, she could already tell that much about him. “Nice try, Alastair, but you’ll have to do a lot more than wine and-” She turned to glance at the table with her plate of picked apart cheese, crackers, and olives “-well, snack me.”
He clapped his hands together and let out a laugh. "Damn, burned so good. Well played Nora, well played." He walked over to the window and looked out while standing alongside her. Without looking at her he spoke softly. "I will be sure for a date to do more than snacks, thanks for the tip." He then turned his head and smiled at her.
She glanced to him before rolling her eyes, letting out a small “Pfft.” of amusement. Her tail had settled down now and she was feeling a lot more comfortable in his presence. The fox, remembering that she still had a quarter full wine glass in her hand, lifted the glass to her lips and took a small sip, letting it’s bitter, fruity flavor wash over her tongue.
The smile grew as he watched her have a nice drink. "This was fun, looking forward to our next adventure." He no more than finished talking when the pilot of the ship called for Alastair to take a call from command. He leaned over and hit the touchpad that was next to the window. After a few moments he looked back to Nora. "Welp, hope you brought your snowshoes. Looks like we just got our new mission orders." He tapped the screen to close it and looked at the communicator on his wrist. "Oh, I really wish they would give more time for things like this. Might have to borrow some of your clothes." He let out a laugh as he wandered off to sit back down again.
“Snowshoes?” Her eyebrows furrowed. “My clothes? There’s no way you’d fit! Where in the gods’ name are we going?” She turned as he walked back to the couch. She gave another glance back out of the window before she turned back to him, wandering closer to the couch, her black heels making small clicks on the floor.
"If we had more time I would take up you up on that just for the fun of it." He said with a chuckle. "Takekumori, and based on the report the area is covered in snow." He tapped on his wrist communicator a few times. "And pretty damn cold out too." He looked back up at her. "Hope you don't mind a winter wonderland."
“Don’t get me wrong, I like snow as much as the next guy but…It really clumps on the tail bad.” She said oh so seriously. A few moments later though, she chuckled and shook her head and took another sip from her glass. “I actually love snow as long as I have a warm coat.”
He looked her over for a moment before giving a reply. "Lucky you was born with said fur coat. Though if you need a hand brushing out all the snow I'd be happy to help." It no sooner left his lips than it hit him what that would all mean. Well, at least it was being helpful even if it would mean touching her tail.
The daur raised an eyebrow at him before she shook her head with a smile. “I’ll let you know if I ever need any.” With that, she turned back to look out the nearby window. Her tail twitched with anticipation as butterflies rose up into her stomach. They had just dipped down into the clouds and were descending quickly. It would be time to reunite with the crew soon.
