Daughters of Demeter

"I've been thinking," Sarah said as she emerged from the shower. She grabbed a towel and wrapped it around herself, then picked up another one and used that to wrap up all her long wet hair.

"Mhmm?" I asked without looking up. "You do that from time to time."

With her hair wrapped and the towel balanced on her head, she started to dry the rest of herself off, "Do you think Rebecca would let us take the other officer's cabin? I bet it's got a big enough shower that we could go together, instead of having to take turns. And I bet there's a proper bed in there too, instead of just bunks."

"This cabin was fine when we first got here and barely knew each other," she added. "But we've been squeezing into one bunk for the past thirty-something days now. I think a larger, normal bed would be more appropriate."

I was sitting cross-legged on a towel on the lower bunk, with my big floofy tail wrapped around in front of me. I had a large brush in my right hand while I tried to keep my tail still with my left hand so I could brush it. It felt amazing, and it looked even better once it was brushed, but it was really hard not wagging the thing around.

"No idea," I shrugged. "I kind of have a feeling she still thinks of it as Gabe's cabin? I mean, she might not have touched anything in there since he died."

Sarah frowned, "Ah, I hadn't thought of that. It doesn't seem healthy though does it? Not letting go like that?"

"Not really," I shook my head. "We can ask her about the cabin though if you want."

My girlfriend hung up her first towel next to our tiny washroom, then started to work drying her hair while I continued brushing my tail. I'd already taken care of my hair, and the fur on my ears. My tail was the last step, but it was also the most time-consuming.

She continued drying her hair as she replied "I think we should. Worst she can do is say no."

I just nodded quietly as I kept brushing.

After a few more minutes Sarah hung up the second towel then moved to sit at the other end of my bunk. She held out her hand, "Give me the brush then turn around."

"Thanks Sarah," I grinned as I handed it over.

The only thing better than a well-groomed floofy tail was a well-groomed floofy tail that your girlfriend helped brush. Plus it felt even better when she did it, and for some reason my tail seemed less rebellious when it was in her hands than it was in my own.

I let out a happy contented sigh as I felt her hold it tightly with one hand, while she started running the brush down along its length in long firm strokes. It wasn't long before I started purring loudly.

"Glad you're enjoying this," she said with a smile. "Honestly, of all the things I thought would happen in my life, brushing my girlfriend's tail was probably the last thing on the list."

"Really?" I held back a giggle. "Because having my girlfriend brush my tail is way up near the top of my list."

I couldn't see her eye-roll since she was behind me, but I was pretty sure it happened regardless. She kept brushing though, which was the main thing.

It was another ten or twelve minutes before she finally put the brush aside and said "There you go cutie. The floof has been restored."

"Thanks Sarah," I smiled as I turned back around to face her.

She pulled me into a hug, and we ended up falling back on the bunk together in each other's arms, then spent the next few minutes cuddling and kissing and purring some more.

Eventually the kisses tapered off, and Sarah asked "Apart from that unexpected encounter with the Kennington's XO, yesterday wasn't so bad was it? Even dealing with the Navy wasn't that bad, to be honest."

"It had its ups and downs," I replied quietly. "Getting a message from Nyssa in the morning was nice. Finding out the Navy was looking for us, not so nice. Having some armed Navy officers show up right outside the ship was really not nice. But dinner was nice. And last night was perfect."

After our visit from the Navy folks we stayed inside the ship for an hour or two yesterday, but eventually Rebecca decided it was safe to head out. Me and Sarah got the grav-sled down, then the three of us set out into the city while Jenny stayed with the ship and focused on the courses she downloaded.

Instead of a twenty or thirty minute walk it took us less than ten minutes to get to Gilly's restaurant with the sled, and that was taking our time so the boss could show us a little more of the city. Then we had nice dinner, without any interruptions this time. We still got another big order to bring back to the ship, so we'd be eating BBQ meat for the next few days, which was nice too.

That's all we did though, and after our meal we returned to the ship. Jenny opened the main airlock so we could drive the grav-sled right in, then we left it parked on the deck in the middle of the hold. We put away all the food we brought with us, and finally Sarah and I retired to our cabin and ended our day with a wonderful night.

She gave me another kiss and agreed, "Last night was definitely my favourite part of yesterday."

"This is pretty good too," I smiled as I returned the kiss. "It's a good start to the day."

"Have you thought about sending your sister another message?" Sarah asked we kept cuddling. "Now that you have her direct contact info? Rebecca said that FTL company has an office on this world."

"I'm not sure," I sighed. "I feel like the Kennington might be watching us for a while, so it might not be safe to keep contacting her?"

She shrugged, "Maybe. I still don't think they'll figure out who we are."

"You're probably right," I nodded slowly. Then I asked, "How about you? You said you wanted to get a message to your friend. Assuming you could do that, what would you tell him?"

A thoughtful expression settled on her face as she replied, "Huh, that's a good question."

Finally she admitted, "Honestly if I could get a message to him I'd just ask him to meet me somewhere so we could talk. Maybe get him to come back here on his own or something? Then I'd tell him it's me, tell him I'm happy and that I can't come back to the Navy. Partially because I want to see the look on his face, but mostly because I don't think there'd be any other way to convince him."

I grimaced, "I don't think the boss would approve of that plan."

"Probably not," she replied with a grin.

"Speaking of the boss, I bet she's getting impatient for me to get up and make breakfast," I said with a sigh.

Sarah held me tighter so I couldn't get away, then replied with a smirk "I'm pretty sure Rebecca can fend for herself if she gets too hungry."

"Yeah but it's my job remember? Ship's cook?"

My girlfriend gave me another kiss as she reached one hand up and started scritching my ears. She teased, "Ship's mascot too, right?"

I blushed and bit my lower lip. It felt good enough that I started purring again, so I let her rub and scratch my fuzzy ears for the next minute or two.

When she finally stopped I made my escape. I pulled free and got up out of the bunk, "C'mon Sarah. Let's go see what the boss has planned for us for today."

She pouted but didn't argue. I pulled on a nightshirt and some panties, Sarah got a t-shirt and panties, and that was good enough for the moment. The two of us emerged from our cabin and rounded the corner, to find Rebecca sipping a coffee as she and Jenny sat waiting for us at the table.

I grimaced, "Sorry boss, we had a bit of a slow start this morning."

Rebecca smiled and shook her head, "It's ok. I trust you two had a good night? And a good morning?"

"Very good thanks," Sarah responded with a wide grin, while I just blushed slightly.

I went straight to work preparing breakfast, while Sarah set the table then got drinks for me and herself before she finally sat down with the others.

"So what's the plan for today boss?" my girlfriend asked.

Rebecca shook her head, "I don't actually have any plans. If you two want to go into the city I can come along if you like. Or you can do your own thing."

Jenny added, "I'm working on some of my studies. I expect to complete the robotics and at least one of the programming courses before we start working on the robot body. Though I'm available if needed."

I looked back at her, "You're going to finish a couple university-level courses in the next few days? That's ambitious."

The AI smiled as she reminded me, "I can operate on a much faster timeframe than you, and I can divide my attention with only a minimal cost in efficiency. I'll probably cover five or six days worth of studying in the time it takes the three of you to finish breakfast."

"Wow," I commented.

When the food was ready I served it up for the three of us, then sat next to Sarah as we all got started eating. It was just the basic fare, imitation scrambled eggs and bacon-flavoured strips of generic protein.

"I can't wait till we stock up on fresh food again," Sarah commented with a smile. "You make this stuff taste ok Amanda, but you can do so much more when you're cooking with quality ingredients."

"No arguments here," I stated. "This stuff's edible, but it's nothing like real food."

Rebecca grinned, "Don't worry, we'll definitely be stocking up before we ship out again. I'll be taking care of all that business tomorrow. Or maybe today, if nothing else comes up."

It didn't take long for everyone to eat their fill, then I got up and cleared the table and started the washing up.

While I was doing that, Sarah spoke up. "Question for you boss. That cabin Amanda and I share was ok to start with, back when we were just getting to know each other. Things between us have obviously changed a lot since then, and now I'm wondering, do you think we'd be able to move into the officer's cabin across from yours?"

She added, "I'm assuming there's a proper bed in there rather than bunks, and I'm hoping officers get better washroom facilities."

Rebecca was quiet for a few moments. I looked back and saw she had a thoughtful frown on her face, though I took that as a positive sign. It meant she was considering Sarah's question rather than just outright denying the request.

After another couple seconds she asked, "Amanda, do you feel the same way? It'd mean sharing a bed instead of just sharing a cabin."

I turned to face the captain. My cheeks probably had a slight pink hue as I replied, "Yes ma'am. Sarah and I have been sharing a bunk since the last time we were on this world."

"Ah," she smiled. "In that case a proper bed would definitely be an upgrade."

Sarah and I both nodded, while Rebecca's smile faded back into that thoughtful look again. As I watched her I found myself wondering if my earlier guess was right. Maybe she'd left that cabin untouched since Gabe died.

The boss remained quiet as I finished the washing up. I got everyone some more coffee, then sat back down with Sarah as we waited for an answer.

"Ok," Rebecca finally nodded. "You two can take the other cabin."

Before we could respond she added, "Not right away though. I need a bit of time to have a look in there, I'll probably have to clear a few things out."

Sarah smiled, "Thanks Rebecca."

I nodded, "Thanks boss, we appreciate it."

Jenny smiled as well as she asked, "Are congratulations in order? I understand it's a significant milestone in a relationship, when the parties move in together."

I blushed while Sarah giggled, "Does it even count? We're already sharing a cabin, so we're not really moving in..."

"You're moving from two bunks to one bed," the AI responded with a straight face. "I'm sure it counts."

"Ok that's a good point," Sarah agreed with a smile.

I stayed quiet but I was still blushing. I had a smile on my face though, because I knew Jenny was right. It was a milestone in my and Sarah's relationship.

In fact I found myself looking around the table at my three shipmates as I thought about how things had already changed between the four of us. It was just thirty-three days ago when I realized the Demeter was my home and my ship-mates were like my new family. Now I felt like all four of us were even closer.

Rebecca opened up and told us about her past, now we were using her first name and it felt like every day she was more relaxed and friendly with us. Looking at her, I decided she was like an older best friend who had more experience. She looked out for us and kept us safe.

Then there was Jenny. In some ways she was like another slightly older close friend, but where Rebecca was the friend who was world-wise and street-smart, Jenny was the bookish one who was clever and had lots of knowledge, but not so much experience. And she'd been opening up more with the rest of this too lately. Plus it felt like this android project was going to bring her even closer. At the very least we'd be able to hug her, which was something I felt she needed.

And finally there was Sarah and myself. Thirty-three days ago we'd only just started sleeping together and I was a bit overwhelmed with things. Now we were girlfriends, we were in a relationship. We'd even gone on a proper date during our shore leave a couple days ago.

Last time we were in this spot I still felt really new to this life. Now the four of us had completed our first full delivery circuit together. There were some things I still wasn't comfortable with yet, this planet being the main one. But for the most part I was settling in and making the most of this new life.

And one thing I couldn't deny as I looked around the table, here on this ship with my new friends and my girlfriend, I was unbelievably happy.

~ The End (of Book 2) ~