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Ankiah looked around the common area in wonder. Excitedly investigating every portion of this new ship to which she would be rooming during her trip to Terran space. "Ohhh, your ship is fantastic! I expected it to be cramped, but it's so sleek and new smelling."

Srettia gently pushed Michael down onto the couch and grumpily took up a spot on his lap, curling her tail around his leg while doing so. "It was a gift from the admiral of the seventh fleet himself. He gave it to me for my role in achieving diplomatic ties between our people."

Ankiah took a spot on the chair that seemed to be already designed for a tail and turned to Srettia. "Now that it's just us two 'Aliens' and your mate, what's the deal with these Terrans anyway? They just swoop in, kill the bad guys like picking fluff from your tail, liberate the befallen and brush it off like. 'ALL IN A DAYS WORK, CIVILIAN! HAPPY TO BE OF SERVICE TO A NON-TERRAN!' " Ankiah was now standing up, giving a Terran salute and looking over to Srettia and Michael. "That seems pretty suspicious if you ask me."

Srettia leaned heavily into Michael's warmth, carefully choosing her words before responding. "I think they're insane or have something wrong with their brain. They did the same with my people. They still are, and they've saved millions while asking for nothing but friendship in return. Do you know of the plight of my people?"

Ankiah shrugged her shoulders and tilted her head. "Not one bit. All I know about this place is that that Koma guy keeps checking my butt out, and the hard light suite is amazing. I haven't had much time or want to slow down."

Srettia chuckled as she wrapped Michal's hands around her stomach. "He did seem quite interested in you. I guess you don't feel the same?"

Ankiah brought her finger to her muzzle in thought before answering. "Nah, I've seen lots of good-looking Terran males, like that commander who saved me. But I heard he recently got involved with another female when I asked about it. Right now, I'm interested in a soldier by the name of Ranarus from your people's military. I need someone like that to keep me in line, I think. I wouldn't say no to a proposition from Admiral Miles, though. He may be old, but he's in a position of power. It would be nice to benefit from that."

"It might be hard to track that Ranarus guy down, but I'll see what I can do if you want. Also, Admiral Miles will still likely outlive you. We Terrans can live up to around three hundred and seventy these days. And while he may look old, it's pretty much his decision to look like that. He can have some nanites injected and look as young as me in a few days." Michael added, placing his chin on Srettia's shoulder.

Turning to look at Michael, Srettia looked intensely at his face, checking for any imperfections. "That's one thing that bothered me, you know? I hardly ever see old-looking Terrans. I know you get wrinkled, and your hair greys. But I hardly see anyone like that."

Michael laughed and pushed Srettia's face out of his own, looking over to Ankiah. "I assure you I am a young boy. Most people chose to keep their youth until their body starts to reject nanite treatments at around three hundred forty. Some don't. It can be an effective leadership tool to show you have the experience of age."

Ankiah sat dumbfounded at the proclamation and decided clarification was needed. "What's a nanite, and how can I get some?"

Srettia chuckled and flared her hood, blocking Michael's view and interrupting him as he opened his mouth. "Super tiny robots they program to mess with your body structure. They use them in everything. Clothing, medicine, food production, blood cleansing, you name it. It won't work for us yet, though. They need to figure out how our bodies work so they can program them properly or something."

Michael pushed Strettia aside and tossed a pillow at her face, chuckling at the confused squeak. "What she said."

Ankiah thought for a quick moment before asking her next question. "So, they just give this knowledge away like idiots? They could make a killing off this type of product."

Rolling back onto Michael, Srettia gave a quick shrug towards Ankiah. "To my understanding, they don't care about that stuff. They moved past a lot of those things, is what they say. I think they only use money for luxury items and the such now."

Ankiah looked over to Michael, who just shrugged and played with Srettia's hair. "Well, I guess that puts me out of a job. Suppose I'll be Ankiah The Super Diplomat and get all the benefits that come with that." Looking over to Caithen, who sat on a chair across the room, Ankiah grinned. "You'll be my bodyguard, right?"

Caithen fought to keep her face straight and shook her head. "Sorry, Ankiah. I'm still stationed here. As soon as you leave with these guys, I'm gone."

"Well, that's a shame." Giving a coy look over to Michael, Ankiah grinned and licked her lips. "Guess that guy will have to be my Bod-" Ankiah froze in place, suddenly sensing the presence of a predator nearby. Slowly looking over to Srettia, Ankiah decided to take a moment to think about her next words thoroughly as the look she was getting from the female told her her next might be her last. "Well, uh, I'm sure I'll be safe with this group."

Caithen let out a laugh and decided to help the poor girl out. "Little hint. Aasteran females are extremely territorial of their mates. So unless you want a nice dose of neurotoxins, I suggest you shelf that idea you had floating in your head."

Ankiah broke eye contact with Srettia and looked over to Caithen. "Noted. Thanks."

Michael covered Srettia's eyes with his hand and looked over to Ankiah. "That was pretty bold of you. Something tells me that's not out of place with your people?"

Ankiah tilted her head and shook her ears as she went deep into thought. "It's kinda hard to explain, but I'll try to sum it up. There's a disparity of male to female for us. There are about three females for every male, so while most couples are monogamous and stay that way. Sharing your male isn't uncommon either. However, most females will charge for it or only share amongst their friends if they go into, ahh, ya know. There is also a common practice of having large family groups of a few females and a male or two."

Pushing Michael's hand aside, Srettia shot up and looked to Ankiah."I WILL NOT SHARE MY MALE! EVER!"

Ankiah shrugged and looked over to Caithen. "Well, it was worth a try."

Caithen quickly shook her head in the negative. "Not with a female Aasteran. That's a quick way to death's door."

Realizing there was no budging on the subject, Ankiah looked over to the angry reptile lady and decided to change the subject. "So, uh, the thing with your people you said. Does that have something to do with the clothes you wear?"

This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Caithen got up and stood behind Ankiah, bending down beside her ear. "I would suggest tact on this subject, you idiot."

Srettia looked down at her pants and then back to her top, then back to the fancily dressed Voktlix across the room from her. "What's wrong with my clothes? They're functional, have lots of pockets, and don't catch on things in zero-G. This is standard wear for my people."

Ankiah let out the breath she was holding as Caithen walked back to her chair. "Well, frankly, they're boring. Your mate dresses fine. A nice button shirt and pants that show off his nice butt..." Catching her tongue quickly, Ankiah quickly changed her tune." Um, how about this then. You tell me about your people. And I'll take you cloth shopping while we trade stories."Looking over to Michael suspiciously, Ankiah pointed her ears and waved her finger. "No males. Us three females only. You go do male things."

Srettia looked over to Michael in confusion before getting up to gather her outing gear, leaving Caithen chuckling in the corner.

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Chrarada sat beside Ethuci, mimicking what she had seen on a nursing video a caretaker had suggested. Currently, she was busy butchering something called an apple as her implant informed her of Ethuci's imminent awakening. "One would think with my war blade skills; I could cut something as simple as a stupid fruit." As Ethuci's breath changed, and his body stirred. She plated her best pieces and placed them on the stand next to her mate.

Happily watching as he began to wake, Chrarada moved to gently place her hand on his chest, allowing herself to let out a smile as his eyes opened and he looked in her direction. Savouring the gaze of his eyes, Chrarada took his hand in her own. "You're finally awake."

Ethuci chuckled and gripped her hand back. "My apologies. As I understand it, they grafted a brand-new arm onto my body. It might have something to do with my oversleeping. I'm not fired, am I?"

raising her eye at the response, Chrarada decided to play along and see where he was going. "Would you accept your termination if I said yes?"

"I would not." Ethuci responded sternly, staring directly into Chrarada eyes while saying so.

Chrarada was fighting to keep her composure in front of Ethuci, feeling as though he was staring directly into her soul. " Ahem. Yes. I would expect as much. You'll be happy to know everything went smoothly. Your body accepted both operations."

Looking over to his new arm, Ethuci let out a happy grunt. "This arm. It feels like I never lost it, to begin with."

Chrarada held back a laugh at the noise of wonderment and pulled out a datapad. "As I understand it. It has many functions, controlled by both muscle movements and your implant." "We can also use our implants to speak to each other like this."

"Ahh, so you can summon me with just a thought. How very convenient." Ethuci laughed out. Wondering just how far the range was on this new implant was.

" I can also send you pictures and maps." Chrarada slyly sent a picture she had taken just for this occasion. Mainly to see how Ethuci would react to it.

"Ah, I see. It is very..." Fighting to keep his composure and his tail straight, among other things. Ethuci looked at the devious smile Chrarada had on and wished he wasn't stuck in a bed.

Seductively bending over to whisper in Ethuci's ear as he stammered for words. Chrarada squeezed his hand just a bit tighter. "I find Terran clothing quite fetching. Don't you? Something to look forward to when you get out of here."

Ethuci silently nodded as the doctor finally walked into the room. "I will do my best to recover then."

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Walking down the street with her new friend Srettia, Ankiah happily jumped from place to place as her datapad began directed her to the various clothing stores in the area. "OHHH!! Let's go here first!" Pointing one store out in particular. Ankiah couldn't help but run towards the nav point her pad was displaying.

Looking over to their escort, one Private Caithen. Srettia shrugged and ran to catch up. "What kind of store is it we are visiting?"

Ankiah stopped in front of the door and turned to Srettia in amusement. "An ancient Terran clothing boutique! Don't you want to see what the ancient Terrans used to wear?"

Srettia stopped to think before pushing the door open. "You bet I am!" Walking into the store, Srettia stopped to look around in wonder. "Look at that hat! It's huge! What's a cowboy?"

Caithen walked up behind her and laughed. "They ran cattle ranches back in the olden days. They rode horses in the sun and took care of all sorts of animals. The hats were to keep the heat away or something like that. You would be a cowgirl, in that context."

Srettia looked at the hat and laughed. "I would enjoy the life of a cowgirl? I think. The hat is nice but would be unnecessary."

Ankiah walked around the store, laughing as she picked up all sorts of odd dresses and shirts. "Ohhhh! Look at this. This is a fancy dress! A Victorian-age dress? Why is the bottom so big? Did Terran females have giant butts in their ancient times?"

Poking a head around a corner in frustration as her new customers began shouting out their surprise, the store clerk quickly shrunk to her knees and wiped the anger from her face before standing tall and walking around the corner. "Hi! Can I help you with anything?"

Srettia waved at the Terran. "Umm, I'm just looking for now. Thank you, though."

Jumping out from around the corner, Ankiah plopped the cowboy hat on Srettia."You got a hat that her horns won't damage?"

The clerk looked the two aliens over and smiled in amusement. "Nope. No hats for your ears, either. We can make something, though."

Ankiah handed the hat off to the clerk. "She wants to be a cowgirl. Can you make this hat fit her head?"

The clerk managed to keep a straight face and nodded. "Of course. I'll have one made and sent to your residence tomorrow. Anything else you need help with?"

Ankiah looked around the shook her head. "No, we're good. Thank you!"

Grabbing Srettia's hand and dragging her out of the store, Ankiah laughed. "Did you smell her? She was terrified and excited at the same time. Cute lady."

Srettia shook her head and let out a chuckle. "No, I didn't want to be rude."

Caithen burst out of the store and tore down the street after them. "Stop running everywhere we have all day! AND YOU FORGOT TO PAY YA SHIT!"

Ankiah stopped and looked at Caithen. "That's what you're for, right?"

Srettia laughed and gave an apologetic look to Caithen. "Sorry, she just kind of dragged me out of the store."

Waving it off, Caithen motioned them on. "Well, go find the next store, you shit. You seem to have some kind of plan already. "

Ankiah grabbed Caithen by the hand and dragged the two females to the next store. "It's a modern fashion store. Let's go take a look!"

Srettia looked to Caithen and nodded. "Alright, just slow down a bit."

Walking into the clean store, Srettia's eyes went wide in shock. "It's all... " Seeing one set in particular, Srettia walked over and paused to study it in awe. Quickly she waved the shocked clerk over. "Can you get a set like this for me?"

The clerk's eyes went wide at the sight of both an Aasteran and a new alien, and a smile crept across her face. "I can have a set ready within the hour." She replied. "I'll just take a quick scan so we can make an incision for your tail...And done, come back in an about hour, and It'll be ready."

Ankiah walked up and scrutinized the piece. Two colour set? Not bad. goes well with your scales and umm.. not scale colour?"

Caithen laughed and pat Srettia on the shoulder. " You may awaken something in Michael wearing that, ya know."

Srettia handed her cred chip to the clerk and smiled back at Caithen. "Exactly."

After a quick look around the store, Ankiah quickly lost interest and left, taking the group in a new direction. "What's with that fashion. No...ribbons or patterns. Just... Or frills! Not even chains or gems. It's boring."

Srettia looked over and sighed. "I thought the clothes were beautiful. They were very regal and clean-looking. No unnecessary bits to them."

Following closely behind the girls as Ankiah led them down the street around a corner, Private Caithen paused..... "Uhh, Do you... Do you know what's in their Ankiah?"

Ankiah pushed the door open and looked behind her. "Oh, course. What? Don't you like cute things? Or are you scared of this type of store?"

Srettia looked at the two fussing females in confusion and pushed past them into the store. "What's so scary about...... Oh."

Ankiah walked into the store. "Gotta have something cute to go under your new clothes, right?"

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