Dead Star Dockyards

Titanyana found herself curled up against the wall of a hallway, ears straight up and tail held firmly in her hands. She was panicked, but she wasn't having a panic attack. No, Titanyana had just overheard something she felt she really shouldn't have.

She hadn't intended to hear it, she hadn't wanted to hear it, but she had heard it anyways. A persistent mix of 'feminine' and 'masculine' 'noises' originating from somewhere above for what felt like hours assaulted her ears without her consent. Confusion and fear gripped her at first, wondering what she should make of it.

Obviously 'they' didn't intend for her to be exposed to their 'music', the walls of the Barracks were surprisingly well insulated to sound, but the excellent hearing her ears provided mitigated that design point to a considerable degree. She couldn't hear them like they were sitting right next to her, there was definitely some muffling and warping as it traveled through the building, but she could make out enough to know what it was they were doing. 

The worst part was that she couldn't seem to walk away from it. It was torturously embarrassing to sit and listen to, and she knew just how much of an invasion of their privacy it was, but she just couldn't bring herself to move away. Beet red and nervous though she may be, Titanyana was starting to get curious about the process of reproduction. 

It shouldn't be surprising, Titanyana was at the age where she should start having children. Her body had matured to the point where pregnancy no longer imposed a pressing health risk (even if she was a little bit disappointed that her growth stopped here) and she was in the most fertile period of her life. She also understood that in order to guarantee the survival of her people going forward, babies were going to be a necessity. Lots of babies meant lots of people, lots of people meant lots of babies, so on and so forth. If she was to be the queen her people needed to lead them into the future, then she needed to set an example. She needed to know how to do 'it' if she wanted to be that example.

In truth, those were just half-excuses she was telling herself in order to avoid facing the real issue at hand - that being the fact that she had recognized someone as her desired mate, her desired male. All of those other reasons weren't wrong, they were concerns and questions that she needed to address for sure, they just weren't the reason she was here, on the floor, listening to them. No, Titanyana was going through something much more embarrassing than just listening to someone else have sex. It went beyond the realm of imagining what the scene looked like too. 

Titanyana was imagining herself in Diana's position.

Donovan's scent was still very fresh in her mind, having left an impression that was unlikely to fade for the rest of her life, and she was currently imagining herself absolutely inundated in it. She couldn't actually smell it, it was just a figment of her imagination. At the same time, she 'felt' Donovan's hands and body all over her own. She remembered his touch, the pressure, the pleasure, and was in the process of reliving it. She was also being supplied with an ample number of examples of how he sounded in the bedroom.

Right now, Titanyana felt like she was experiencing what it was like to copulate without even being in the same room as the person 'doing it', an overload from sensory organs not even being stimulated. 

The worst part about all of this wasn't what she felt, no she had a handle on those. She could contain the phantom touches to her back and arms, resist the allure of Donovan's scent, and muddy the sounds reaching her ears by flattening them. The same could not be done for the sensations she had yet to experience.

A warmth on her lips to silence her.

A tightness on her breast to pull her closer.

A tickling on the back of her neck as he exhaled on her.

A pressure on her legs as he shifted her around.

A radiant bliss from her lower back and posterior as he used his hands to please her.

All of these sensations and more tormented her, never having experienced them. Her imagination, given the liberty to run wild with them, proposed to her a plethora of combinations, each more mind-numbingly pleasing than the last. However one thing never changed, the most frustrating sensation of all, which originated from the region on her stomach just below her belly button. 

It wasn't a surface level sensation. She couldn't scratch or rub it to settle it down. No amount of twisting, contorting, or stretching would satiate it. It was borne of a primal desire, one she would not be able to satisfy without the assistance of another. It was the desire to mate.

"Titanyana?" She froze, more still than she had been previously, as someone called out her name. "Are you okay?"

What's worse is that the voice belonged to someone who really shouldn't learn that she was just eavesdropping.

"Sweetie, you look like you're burning up! Are you sick?" The back of Diana's hand pressed gently against Titanyana's forehead shortly after she said that. "And you are sweating so much! What happened? Did you overwork yourself?"

"A-ah, e-e-eh?" Titanyana was panicking, guilt and fear consuming her as she seized up slightly. "H-huh?"

"Oh no. You really don't look too good. Let's, um, let's go to the bath, shall we?" Diana took one of Titanyana's arms and attempted to hoist her up. "Um, Cherry? Could I get some help?"

Another set of hands grabbed her other arm, the light little Nekh not being too terribly heavy with the added assistance. 

"There we go." Diana patted off some non-existent dust from Titanyana's shoulder. "Let's walk downstairs. Cherry, please get a spare set of clothes for her."

"Of course!"

- - - - -

Titanyana didn't really need Diana's help getting down the stairs, nothing was wrong with her. The guilt made her want to die, and going along with Diana's suggestion that she might be suffering from some unknown ailment might conceal the actual reason she was so disheveled. There was one problem though, Diana.

Well it wasn't so much that Diana herself was the problem, more that she was drenched in the smell of Donovan and his pheromones. Ultimately, due to her reliance on Diana for support down the stairs, her 'condition' was only getting worse. His scent was stronger now than it was before, even if it was second hand, and some new scents she could identify as distinctly not belonging to Diana only made her legs weaker.

"Alright, that's the last step. Are you sure you don't need water or anything? We are about to go into the bath after all." Titanyana appreciated Diana's concern, but her presence was threatening to render her unconscious. "You know what, I'll have Cherry bring us something while we are in there."

"Mm." Titanyana really just wanted to get this whole ordeal over with. Hopefully once Diana washed herself off she would start feeling better.

- - - - -

'Oops' - was the single most common exclamation amongst Diana's thoughts in the past fifteen minutes.

When she stumbled on one of the final steps leading to the third floor - oops.

When she failed to recover and fell out into the hallway - oops.

When she almost fell onto Titanyana trying to get a read on her temperature - oops.

When she remembered that people with split don't get sick from bacteria or viruses - oops.

When she failed to stand Titanyana up - oops.

When she realized that Titanyana was like this because she had overheard their 'activities' - oops.

When she got a whiff of herself and understood that the little kitty cat might be in something like heat - oops.

Yeah, Diana was not exactly scoring 100 on the decency and elegance exam at the moment. At almost every turn she found she had made or was in the process of making a relatively grievous mistake. The bad news? She couldn't get out of it now. Doing so would be tantamount to admitting she knew about Titanyana's feelings towards Donovan, something she wasn't comfortable about revealing just yet. The time for that conversation was likely to be some time after Diana talked about it with the King of the Nekh and got permission for Donovan to take Titanyana in marriage.

Some of the romance might be lost that way, which would be a shame, but there was always time for Titanyana to try to seduce Donovan anyways. It would certainly be struggle considering how dense Donovan could be at times (he hadn't noticed Titanyana lusting after him when he was consoling her) but it should be possible once Donovan was aware of and looking for the signs.

"Would you like me to scratch your ears?" Diana was trying desperately to find some bullshit but reasonable explanation for what she thought Titanyana was suffering from. "Actually, did something happen when I scratched them yesterday? Is this my fault?"

Diana knew that it was her fault, kind of, in the first place. She was really just hoping that Titanyana would take the chance to accept Diana's 'misunderstanding' as the truth. After all, Titanyana believed it to be in her best interests to conceal that information.

"U-um. Maybe something happened?" Titanyana shivered a little bit as the cold water from the bucket ran down her back. "A-all I remember is that I was feeling really weird. . ."

"Is that so? Hm. I'll ask Arc about it."

"N-no! You don't have to do that! I-I'm sure I'm fine now."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Okay then." Diana took the opportunity to back off. Now both of them could be comfortable that they had managed to conceal their secrets. "I'm still worried about you though. I should probably have Donovan do a physical of sorts, just to make sure there isn't anything wrong."

Now that she couldn't be accused of acting with malice, Diana put forth a suggestion that would help further both of their goals. It was pretty standard political fare, absolve yourself of guilt and then counter, though she had modified the tactic somewhat.

"H-huh? Why?"

"Because I'm worried about you? Titanyana, I don't think I can adequately express how important you are to us. If something is wrong we need to make sure that we can help fix it, or monitor the problem if we don't have a solution to it." Diana scrubbed Titanyana's back a little bit more, buying time before they went to the tub. "I'd like to do it myself, but I'm not exactly a doctor."

"I-is Donovan?"

"No, not really, but he knows more about the body than I do. He can probably work with Arc to determine if something really has gone wrong." Diana splashed some more water to wash away the soap. "Would that be okay with you?"

Titanyana's ears flattened, and Diana's heart sank a little bit. This was usually a sign of rejection or shame.

"Okay. . ."

- - - - -

Titanyana left the bathroom well before Diana, who bid her a good day. Diana was 'off', so to speak, and therefore had the luxury of being able to spend her free time relaxing. Titanyana may not have to exercise today, but there was a host of other menial tasks for her to perform. She was just as much Donovan's squire as she was his teacher, and now was a perfect time to get the equipment maintenance done.

giurwaAahhww

She wouldn't be able to do that on an empty stomach though, so she was off to the dining room.

"May I-"

"It's already on the table, Lady Tempest. Cherry informed us that you would be coming here after your bath."

"Ah, t-thank you." Titanyana walked past the butler at the door, moving to the exquisitely presented plate of food.

Cherry must have put in some sort of word that she was not feeling well, because the main feature of the dish included one of her beloved fish. From the smell and texture it was most likely a freshwater species, which didn't taste the best, but they were likely the only fish that Gretts could get her hands on in any appreciable numbers. Titanyana wasn't going to complain.

It may be a little bit blander than she was used to, but it was more than made up for by the assortment of seasonings and side dishes. Besides, fish was fish, she wasn't going to raise a fuss over it.

"Titanyana?"

"Hm?" The butler approached her. "What is it?"

Usually they would keep to the side during meals and wait for them to leave their places so that they may collect the dirty dishes and clean the tables. They would occasionally bring some food and drinks out, however that treatment tended to be reserved for Wall. He just ate a lot more than anyone else. 

"Lord Trebar has arrived."

"Mm? Donovan is sleeping after his attendance at the trial, and Diana should still be in the baths. He might have to wait."

"Um." The butler shook his head. "As far as I understand it he isn't here to speak with them, though he may do so later. It would appear that he specifically requested your presence."

"He wants to speak with me?" The butler nodded. "Why?"

"I was not told, so I suspect it is a private matter. Would you like me to prepare a room?" Titanyana looked from the butler, to the hallway, to her fish. She was curious about what news Trebar was bringing to her, probably an update on their mission to Nekh, but she also wanted to finish her fish. "I think that getting the meeting room all cleaned up might take a few minutes. . ."

"Thank you."