The kiss on my cheek is the first time I notice someone is in the room with me. “You know, it’s customary to spend time with the person you’re dating.”
I look up to find Melissa in a pretty sun dress and a new, shorter haircut. “Wow, you look like how Spring feels. Fresh, sunny, and comforting.” I look at what’s had me occupied for most of the last two weeks. Stupid drone.
She smiles warmly at the compliment, “Good, ‘cause it’s nice outside and you’re taking me out on a picnic before you go into combat tomorrow."
“That sounds like an excellent plan.” I move in to kiss her when I see the muck on my hands, “Let me clean up first?” I grimace apologetically, wishing I could just vanish. Wait, I can!
I pop over to one of the rooms in the workshop that I claimed and order a new set of clothes from the shop while I shower. Tessa got tired of my tedious trips from the Ansible to my workspace and informed me that she could access the shop directly—thanks to Katie—and that the ansible could teleport ordered items to where I wanted them. Magically convenient.
My skivvies, shorts, and tank are ready for me when I get out so is the large sun hat I though was borderline ridiculous. If I get an extra smile out of Melissa, it was worth it.
“Dear Andromeda, that hat is bigger than you are!” She rushes over, grabs the sides of my hat and pulls me into a kiss within the hat-taco. “So cute. Can you drive the shuttle with that on?”
I shrug at that. “Probably not, but I like it anyway. Do I need to order some food?”
“Nope! Taken care of.” She grabs my hand and leads me outside to find Katie and Francesca also outside. Katie’s in capris and a linen blouse with a sheer camisole, while Francesca is sporting yoga pants and a sports bra, but like fancy versions of them.
“So, is this a hint for the boring nerds to get out and touch some grass?”
“No, it’s a hint to get you workaholics to take a break and spend time with people you care about.” She flicks my shoulder.
“Not sure I’d call it a hint, but thanks for doing this.” I bump her shoulder instead of kissing her. I don’t know how the other two girls’ relationship is going, so I don’t want to PDA my way into more awkwardness.
Indulgence fills the once-empty ground and I ask Tessa to lower the loading elevator. I had a decidedly awkward moment when I invited Viper aboard and it was still configured as a bedroom. Fixed that right away. We load up one of the Doc’s cool hover carts with crates on it and rise into the shuttle.
“Alright friends, where we headed?”
“There’s a nice lake upstream of that waterfall about 100km, take us there please.”
I snap to attention and give her my crispest salute. “Aye aye Ma’am.”
She snorts, “Oh yeah? If I’m the Captain today, then I get to wear the biggest hat.” The beautiful trickster steals my hat with face full of teeth glowing with her victory.
I grump and grumble to my pilot’s chair, trying not to laugh.
“I take it back, let me off.” Katie says in her dead-panned way.
“No need to be jealous.” I say an order her a blood red sun hat, one that’s smaller than the one Melissa is wearing, and have it delivered to her lap. I order one of those Jungle adventure hats for the Doc just to make it even. “Hats for everyone!”
I get a snort from Melissa and a smirk from Francesca, assuring me they were received as intended. Katie frowned at me some more, she’s been doing that a lot lately. I decide not to ponder that as I raise the shuttle and set a course for the region that my girlfriend planned for us.
>M] That was a bit cruel Penny. [<
>P] C’mon, Mel. It was a joke. Plus, did you want to stew in their rocky relationship for the next twenty minutes? [<
>M] When did you make time to notice their relationship? You haven’t noticed ours in a while. [<
Yikes. I walked right into that one.
>P] Yeah, sorry hon. I just get to feeling that everyone’s judging me for being stranded here, and every moment I’m not figuring out how to get home I feel like I can hear all the judge-y thoughts people are having. I feel like I’m failing you all every day, and it’s hard to want to face anyone when I don’t have the answers—especially you. [<
>M] Especially me? What does that mean? I know I haven’t said a word about going home except when you bring it up. [<
>P] No, no. Mel, I said that weird. I don’t worry so much about you judging me, really, it’s just that I want you to be proud of me. Proud to be with me, you know? And when I don’t feel good about myself I can’t imagine how you could possibly be proud of me. [<
>M] I guess I wasn’t seeing that. You just seem so certain about yourself, that it seems like arrogance. And the others get annoyed when you get involved sometimes because it makes you seem like you don’t trust them. [<
>P] Viper said something like that too. I’m really not used to trying to lead and organize people. [<
>M] You’re not doing that bad, but we don’t really need to be led like that, Pen. We’re all motivated and good at what we do. We just need you to help point our efforts in a way that gets us there. That memo you sent out with your plan weeks ago was a big step in the right direction. [<
>P] Thanks for that. The feedback, I mean. [<
>M] Oh, if you’re in the mood for feedback, hand out more quests and more money, doofus. [<
I can’t help but giggle at that.
>P] If I’m going to keep us here for 6 more months, it’s the least I can do. [<
The remainder of the ride is silent, Katie and Frannie not having much to say and Melissa just seemed to be enjoying the lushness of this portion of our planet. My mind, of course is itching about work and about how stressed Mel’s side of the relationship must be if she felt compelled to thrust an outing upon us. I can hope it was a multi-pronged plan to help Katie with her relationship after hopefully bonding while building the remote control systems for orbit. That last part is pure hope though.
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
This might be a good opportunity to learn some more of the normal things that couples know about each other. What’s the first thing you’re going to do when we get back, what was your original 5-year plan, do you have a middle name, things like that.
The lake Melissa picked out is at the base of some foothills and the lightly forested flatlands that surround them. Somehow, the shimmer of the silvery grass and the candy-colored trees give it a dreamscape appearance that feels more real than if they were Earth colors. It’s as though my mind is not original to imagine this, so it must be real. That and I can almost feel my girl’s excitement in my mind.
“Okay ladies, who wants to name a lake and some mountains?” The bunch of nerds that we are, they get excited at the prospect. I immediately give the Botanist the ability to name any plant not already labeled, assuming she has some sort of identify plants skill. The other two just start spit-balling names and Tessa dutifully keeps track before Melissa firmly suggests that we should spend the day here before making any decisions.
While the other three manage the lev-cart, I grab a bandolier of varied runic devices and my plasma rifle.
“You expecting some action today babe?” Melissa asks.
“I just don’t want to get caught with no way to defend ourselves.” I shrug. “Though I’d prefer a different kind of action,” I suggest, waggling my eyebrows.
She rolls her eyes and puts a little extra sway in her step as she walks ahead of me. Yep, I need to put more effort into us, yes indeed.
Mel starts breaking out blankets and a pair of collapsible umbrellas from the crates, proving she spent a lot of time and money on this little outing. I offer to help her out and she shoos me off to secure the perimeter or something. So I do. A few motion detectors around the near sections of trees, and a quick scan of the area with my aether sight finds that nearly everything in sight has some aether in it, and some parts of the lake more so.
I walk up to put my hand in the water, to feel it slightly energized as well. Not short-term dangerous, but it could certainly cause a mutation if a normal human stayed in it all day.
Tessa, can you help me assess if the hot spots move throughout the day?
If you use your aether sight once an hour or so, certainly.
Thanks. Oh, hey, since we’re kind of in a relaxed mode, and have an inseparable relationship, I was wondering if there’s anything I can be doing to make your life more enjoyable?
Kind of you to ask. Melissa seems to have hit the mark with this outing. I’ve been enjoying your return to tech-oriented work, so far as it balances out the overbearing amount of aether work you’ve been doing. I’m excited for the pod and shuttle automation, but most of all, I just want to be involved instead of just being tasked.
Okay, I can work on that. Maybe you can help me with the drone then. I have a piloting scheme in mind, but I want to do it in orbit to test the new warp rune configuration. Can you take a look at it and see if my test will be sufficient enough to get the data I’m looking for? More specifically, if you think the warp will cause any issues with your control upon exiting.
I can already see that including a few enchanted components would keep it connected to the Ansible even while warping. I’ll send you a list after I look at it in detail.
You’re the best Tessa. She pings me in the affirmative.
Half an hour after I left, I return to see Melissa fully reclined with her head in the shade, wearing much less than she was. A tasteful two piece swimsuit with board shorts that seem to emphasize the firmness of her thighs. Oof. I didn’t even consider going swimming. Shows the state that I was in when I left. I sneak up and kiss her flat tummy before giving her a quick peck on the lips.
“The relaxed beach look is good on you.” I admire the quick smile she responds with as I sit on the towel next to her.
“It does, doesn’t it.” She reaches back and pulls out a latch-and-stopper style bottle full of a cerulean liquid and hands it to me.
“I spend my money from the animal surge on picnic supplies. If no one else is going to be the health and welfare officer, might as well be me.” She shrugs, looking slightly embarrassed.
Why embarrassed? Embarrassed she didn’t have anything else to spend the money on? Or is she feeling underutilized in the colony?
“You’re amazing, you know that?” I flip myself around so that I can look at her, put my hand on her belly, and drink whatever she handed me at the same time. I pop the lid back and test the drink to find it a floral berry beer. Like a hoppy sweet tart, it’s divine. This is what living must feel like. “And damn is this good, solid choice Mel. I’ll have to get the order from you later. What are you drinking?”
“Something that tastes like a prickly pear margarita. Our AI’s helped me pick them out. Same with some of the food. I’m addicted to these little roasted bug bites that eat like bacon-wrapped steak.”
“Wow, are you now the colony’s Exchange expert?” kind of joking, but still interested.
“I guess? You three probably only go there for project related items. I spent several days seeing what the Supercluster considers worth selling. Almost without exception, it’s people selling things they’ve already made, or contracts to make things. Basic subsistence things like food, water, and shelter equivalents can be ordered from the system, but that’s it. Any luxury item has to be made by a member of the community.”
“That’s really cool, actually. Makes sense why Tessa recommended buying the fabricator and a pattern for the mundane stuff then. Also explains why the old Sundering Bench sold so well.”
“Wait, you can sell stuff? I didn’t even have the option to.” Melissa narrows her eyes at me, “Penny, you can’t just assume we have the same options as you do. You need to spend time with the settlement interface. I know that Francesca and Katie would love the idea of Galactic commerce. Katie might actually try to stab you for keeping this from her.”
“Oh shit. Maybe I should tell her after we’re back on Earth?” She flicks my leg.
“No, bad Penny. Confront your mistakes with your big leader panties on.”
That makes me snort, like how oversized are these underwear.
“Bah, not while we’re here. She’ll want to rush back or spend all of her time with her AI instead of Fran.”
Speaking of my big girl panties, “Speaking of time, we’ve been going from one mission to another for years now, and I kinda wanted to know what you’re thinking about when we get back to Earth?”
She pulls off her sunglasses and huffs. “I was supposed to ask you that. You ruined my elaborate plan to pull personal details out of you!” She squeezes my thigh hard, but leaves her hand there afterward. I enjoy the contact.
“Now it can be less elaborate as we enjoy your well-planned alone time.”
“It was a good plan wasn’t it?”
I grin wide at her fishing for compliments, “Yes honey, thank you for making me take a break from work to spend time with people. Especially this person.” I slide my thumb across the bottom of her belly button, enjoying the smooth texture morphing into goose bumps.
A slight blush and curled corners of her lip let me know my flattery was appreciated, “Well, first thing, I guess, will be to see my family. We were really close before I left, and we lost my brother Andy to the conflict with North Korea, so I can’t imagine what my parents and sister are feeling right now.”
“I’m so sorry Meli,” I want to say more but a squeeze on my leg lets me know it’s okay not to.
“What about you? How’s your family going to react?”
I take a swig of my berry beer, feeling the tartness more as I focus on an uncomfortable topic. “I have a brother that was an aide to a Senator who’s not so bad, but my Parents never understood my love for hard sciences. When I got ostracized by the scientific community, Mom became distant and disconnected, wanting very little contact with me, and my dad turned petty and mean. When I was occasionally between living arrangements and needed money, I would let my dad parade me around as a charity case to show others how benevolent and caring he was. I did that until the shame hurt more than I needed the money, then I joined the Navy to fix a few problems, chase my last chance at my work, and a final fuck you to my parents, who have a poor view of the military in general.”
I can’t place the emotions warring on Melissa’s face, but I know at least one of them is pity.
“So I have no plan to seek them out. I was thinking I would try to find out if I can wiggle out of the rest of my enlistment, or, failing that, try to get a post that doesn’t melt my brain.”
“God, I forgot that we would still owe service to the organization that left us to die.”
I nod at that. “Not to mention that they’ll want to control the information and technology that we have. I can teleport out of a shit situation though, so I’m really worried about you.”
“As long as you keep our mind link, you’ll be able to find me. I trust you.” This time she thumbs my skin, a reassurance for my worry about her safety.
“Damn right I will.”