NOVEL WEB Chapter 16: As A Hawaiian Shirt Wearer
It had been apologies all around after Noah and Ukilak had left. Well, not all around, Vivian had done nothing that needed apologising for. Instead, she’d watched quietly, still not sure about how easily Svetlana accepted Augusta again.
She’d decided to wait for the others to leave, after Svetlana pointed out she had to get ready for work. The other three women were all clearly more than a little embarrassed by what had happened and so had been quick to leave, tails metaphorically between their legs (sure, Plynx actually had a tail, but it was too short to literally manage the idiom).
Vivian had slipped into Svetlana’s room as the other woman got changed, Svetlana noticing and not stopping her.
“You think I’m too easy on her, don’t you?” Svetlana asked.
“Augusta? Eh… her latest issue was understandable. I’ve known you longer, so I knew it wasn’t your brain being scrambled, but… alien technology can be weird. Uh, no offense, O’tmyil,” Vivian said.
The android woman mumbled ‘none taken’ while continuing to surf the internet on Svetlana’s computer.
“Then?” Svetlana asked, while pulling a burgundy low backed shirt out of the closet. “What’s the issue?”
“I just don’t get what you see in her. There’s not hating her, and then there’s being in a relationship with her,” Vivian replied.
“Mm… well, I’ve gotten better at saying no to cute girls,” Svetlana said, wiggling out of her dress, “but I haven't gotten good at it.”
Vivian stayed quiet as Svetlana pulled on her shirt.
“And, I don’t know… maybe she’ll be more chill now that she’s not repressing her sexuality any longer?” Svetlana offered. “I still… I’m very surprised about that. I hadn’t seen any signs.”
“She was far enough into the closet she was in Nermia, with the talking lions,” Vivian said, chuckling. “But, there were a few moments that had me suspicious after you were zapped. You were kind of on a cloud of euphoria the whole time, though, so it’s not surprising you missed them.”
“That’s fair,” Svetlana said, pulling on some pants. “Still… the way she was in the bedroom… really would have never guessed she was a lesbian.”
“Should I be taking offence?” Vivian asked, raising an eyebrow.
Svetlana blushed.
“No. No. It’s… she was just different from you. Nights with her made me think that being a guy was pretty good,” she said, while adjusting her bra strap. “While you… you made me feel like I’d just gotten a glimpse of being a woman or… something. I don’t know. I just… well… you know, different.”
The way Svetlana had gone redder left a smile on Vivian’s face. A smile that seemed to make her girlfriend’s flush worse.
“I’m already pushing being late for work and I have a cracked rib… I can’t,” Svetlana blurted to an unasked question.
“Have fun at work then, dear,” Vivian replied as Svetlana hurried out.
She rolled her shoulders and turned to O’tmyil. “How are you feeling, physically?”
“Human range physicality would not strain me,” O’tmyil replied, turning in the chair.
“Oh, make me feel insufficient, why don’t you,” Vivian said, placing a hand on her chest. “I’m hurt.”
“Human physicality is… soft and tender,” O’tmyil replied as she got up, walking over and placing a hand on Vivian’s cheek. “Gentle is nice.”
Her lips were on Vivians as she reached down and began unbuttoning Vivian’s shirt.
Svetlana bit on her knuckle as she sat at the cash, her brain awash with all sorts of pleasant chemicals thanks to her bond with O’tmyil. She did have to wonder how long Vivian was going to be up to whatever, specifically, she and O’tmyil were doing. Svetlana had been at work for almost an hour at this point, and it was very awkward to deal with the couple customers they’d had while she was in this state.
She ended up excusing herself to do inventory in the attic. Despite the mild focus issues, the dopamine rush at least served as a good substitute for motivation, and she got through most of the uncatalogued material before the feelings subsided.
After a few minutes, her mind had cleared and headed back downstairs.
“I wish I had a bond like that,” Cartridge said as Svetlana found a seat near the TV.
“You’ve mentioned that before,” Svetlana replied, reclining the chair as her side began bugging her again.
“Well, yeah, but before that was mostly about O’tmyil being a woman and wanting to know—uh…” Cartridge drifted off as M’gnyz Mynx looking up from the tv and over at her, curiosity in the alien girl’s eyes. “Things that girls know.”
“You-friend do seem to still have many things that you do not know about being an earthling girl,” M’gnyz said, her tone genuine. “Do Svetlana-future-sister’s girlfriends not want to teach you makeup like they teach her?”
“Uh… well, no. Geordi’s offered to teach me, but… I’m also not super interested? It takes time to do all that. I’d rather have more time for games and anime,” Cartridge replied, waving a hand dismissively.
“Ah. Understandable. Zyn-headmate and Feyr-headmate are less invested in Ossid’rian femininity than I-me,” M’gnyz replied. “Feyr had tried to talk us-other-two into becoming boys for our Dyag’i, Feyr is so uninvested in womanhood.”
Svetlana and Cartridge both blinked, the former sitting up.
“So, um, should we call Feyr by male pronouns?” Svetlana asked.
M’gnyz stared at her for a moment, looking a bit confused. “Oh. No. No. We-us talked to Geordi-cool about gender. Feyr thinks they are maybe agender? Not a boy, just liked the idea of being taller, like father.”
“Ah. Tall is good,” Svetlana replied with a nod.
“Unless there’s a low ceiling,” Cartridge countered with a grin. “How many times have you hit your head in the attic here?”
Svetlana stuck her tongue out at her friend.
Plynx rolled her shoulders, stretching a kink out as she headed over to the door. Someone was testing the durability of the doorbell right now, and she wanted it to stop. The fact the ship was letting them meant it was someone she’d listed as an ally, but she was debating revoking that listing from this.
She smacked the opening button harder than she maybe should have, and the smooth metal slipped up out of the way.
Plynx was left staring at Augusta for a moment, mostly wondering when she’d told the ship to consider the snooty blonde an ally.
“I require your advice,” Augusta said, before bending in that ‘bowing’ gestures humans did instead of covering their heads like most of the galaxy.
“You… well, come in to discuss it,” Plynx said, stepping out of the way.
She closed the door after the blonde entered, and led her over to a small table and chairs in the main room.
“So, what do you-Augusta need?” Plynx asked as she sat down.
Augusta took in a breath as she sat down, closing her eyes for a moment. “You’re a princess as well.”
“Yes?”
“Yet you interact so naturally with everyone,” Augusta said. “I… how do you manage it?”
“How… People are people? So… treat them like people?” Plynx replied, quite confused.
“Mais… but, you had servants, no? Were you not raised to stick to only your social rank? For the stability of the social or—the way you are staring at me seems to answer that,” Augusta said, mumbling towards the end.
“Ah. I think I understand. You-humans still have monarchies with power, then? Not just ceremonial government sponsored celebrities?” Plynx asked.
“A few royal families are more like the latter these days, but papa is a firm believer in the concept of divine right,” Augusta replied.
Plynx had to blink, staring at the blonde. That sounded like something out of the First Dynasty Era. Even the worst current despots, like the Corporate Alliance, claimed to have earned their power, rather than it being a gift from deities.
The sound of her bedroom door opening provided a distraction, at least. Glancing over, she had to blush at the sight of Vivian’s solid frame in boxer-briefs and a loose fitting white undershirt. The tall woman yawned as she walked into the room, heading over to the ship’s kitchenette. She stood next to the food processor before stopping and staring at it for a few moments.
“That’s not a coffee maker, is it, Ply—” Vivian said, turning, before she noticed they weren’t alone. “Oh. Augusta.”
The blonde nodded, a different sort of blush on her cheeks. “Miss Wong.”
There was a moment of silence as the pair processed the other’s presence.
“Did you sleep here?” Augusta asked, pointing to her ears for some—ah, yes, Plynx remembered Svetlana complaining about a low hum.
Humans were able to hear some lower sounds than Issiod’rian ears.
“A bit, yes. What are you doing here?” Vivian replied.
“I am trying to work on my people skills,” Augusta replied, half mumbling as her eyes dropped again. “I had hoped that Plynx would have useful insights.”
Vivian smiled. “And you’re asking an alien… no offence, Plynx… I keep doing that tonight…”
“Oh, none taken,” Plynx replied, before her eyes drifted over Vivian again. Closer up, she realised there were scratch marks on the other woman’s shoulders and thighs, and had to blush. “We should… we should clean those scrapes.”
“Scra—oh, right. Yeah. They hurt less than I thought they would. I’d always wondered how Svetlana put up with them,” Vivian mumbled while Plynx pushed her into a chair.
Plynx then hunted for cleaning and healing ointments. As she tried not to die of embarrassment about still accidentally scratching humans when she got… excited, Vivian continued the conversation with Augusta.
“Well, if you haven’t bought Svetlana’s birthday present yet, I can take you to the mall and try to keep you acting like a normal person,” she offered.
“Svetlana’s birthday present? Is it her birthday soon?” Augusta asked.
“Yes. The 9th,” Vivian replied flatly.
Plynx found herself fumbling with the two sprays she’d grabbed as she heard that. “The 9th? I swear it wasn’t until—oh! Oh yes. My planner is still set to the Galactic calendar. Earth years would be different.”
Vivian nodded. “Alright. I’ll take you both shopping.”
“I will definitely need assistance,” Augusta mumbled. “What sort of thing would be a good present for her?”
“Well, I do have to leave for work soon, but I can give some starting ideas,” Vivian replied, wincing only slightly as Plynx applied some disinfectant spray to her shoulder.
Svetlana scratched at her ear as she, Cartridge, and Mynx walked home after work.
“Why is my ear so itchy right now?” she grumbled, vaguely wondering if it was an alien rash, or a side effect of the painkillers she was taking right now.
“Well, it is almost your birthday. It makes sense for people to talk about you,” Cartridge replied.
Svetlana stopped walking, focus drifting into space. “I forgot. With everything else…”
“Really?” Cartridge asked, staring at her.
“Yes. It—oh. This is going to be my first birthday as a girl. I need to invest in that,” Svetlana said, bringing her hand to her chin in thought.
There were so many girly birthday options she’d missed out on growing up. She could make up for lost time, she supposed. Do a few things at once. She prefered purple over pink, but there were some nice shades of pink she wouldn’t mind including in a colour scheme. Oh, and wearing fairy wings could be fun, if she could find any in her size. And then—but what about—she could—
“That sparkle in your eyes is ominous,” Cartridge said.
“How much do you think renting a pony would cost? Or… wait. Do you think Thisbe might know how to rent a unicorn? I—are unicorns real?” she asked.
Cartridge massaged the bridge of her nose. “You don’t even like horses.”
“Well, no. Cows are way cuter, but I don’t dislike them. Plus, it seems like an important step in a girl’s life, to have a horse themed birthday party,” Svetlana replied.
“What’s a horse?” Zyn Mynx asked, while crouching on top of a nearby flyer box as she waited for the two women.
Svetlana pulled out her phone to show Zyn a few pictures.
“Huh,” the feline girl replied, sounding unimpressed. “I think sharks are much cooler.”
“Oh, they are,” Svetlana replied. “A less typical girl interest, though… I think.”
“If I were an Earthling girl, I would have had a shark themed birthday. Oh, and M’gnyz would have a giraffe themed one. She likes their spots,” Zyn replied authoritatively.
“Good choices,” Cartridge said.
“And Feyr?” Svetlana asked.
Zyn’s eyes fell and she scratched at her neck. “Um… Feyr-first doesn’t like birthdays, after… ah, but they let us-two have the body’s birthdays, since we-all don’t know the date we-two both came about.”
“Oh. S-sorry,” Svetlana replied.
Zyn looked up and smiled, even if her eyes were still a little sad. “We-two would not exist if it hadn’t happened, and that is a bright side. We-all focus on that.”
“Sounds like a good thing to focus on,” Cartridge replied, smiling as well while she kept her voice gentle.
Svetlana gave a supportive noise and a nod. She was going to make sure to ask Plynx for more details later, though. She didn’t want to accidentally tread on the Mynx girls’ toes again in future.