Maybell answered a knock at the door from someone who seemed intent on breaking it down. After opening it, and without saying a word, she padded back to the loveseat where Heinemann sat on a towel. She snuggled into his lap while peering at their visitor with an eye.

"Howdy, Business Partner!" Heinemann said, greeting Sara Jane with cheer.

She stood in the doorway for a moment, filling it with her frame. "Do you guys even know where your clothes are?" she asked.

Maybell closed her open eye, and snuggled further into her man. "No," she said without emotion. "Go away."

Sara Jane fisted her muzzle, snorting while entering the room. "Your two days are up, Bitch. It's time for work."

"Fuck you," Maybell said from deep within Heinemann's embrace, who pet her while smiling at Sara Jane.

"Don't you just love her to bits?" he asked, praising his snarky mate.

Sara Jane snorted again, this time while shaking her mane. "Yeah," she said, matching Maybell's unemotional tone. "She's a hoot."

Heinemann gave into such animation that Maybell had to cling to him to keep from falling from his lap to the floor. He craned his neck and twisted his head, trying to see behind Sara Jane.

"Oh!" he exclaimed after some yips and laughs. "Is Kelles with you?"

"No. She's with Gavin, helping him get the store room in order."

Heinemann murfed in response, while Maybell reached up blindly from his lap to scritch him on the shoulder. She had her face turned towards the back of the loveseat, to better ignore Sara Jane. In response, Sara Jane let out a third snort, contemplating the fact that Maybell's bare butt was sticking out in her direction.

Maybell spoke before Sara Jane could come up with anything unladylike to say. "Kelles isn't coming back. Am I right, Girlfriend?"

Sara Jane plopped her own butt into an upholstered armchair, so hard that it creaked and groaned as if it were going to collapse. Maybell peered over her shoulder with curiosity, to see if the event would occur. The chair then creaked and groaned further, as each of them stared at the other while Sara Jane shifted her weight.

"I know you well enough to say that, when you say something like that," Sara Jane said, "you know something I don't."

Maybell turned her face back to the loveseat. She wrapped herself more around Heinemann, who seemed unable to stop grinning from ear-to-ear.

"Yeah," Maybell said to the loveseat, "It means Kelles is gonna stay dirt-side with Gavin."

The chair creaked again as Sara Jane fidgeted. "What makes you think so?" she asked.

"Because they're hot for each other."

Both of Maybell's new business partners made a host of animal noises.

"Oh-ho!" Sara Jane then said, practically laughing. "And what makes you think that?"

Maybell clambered up Heinemann a bit, turning over so she again faced Sara Jane. With her forehead pressed to Heinemann's temple, Maybell's eyes were hidden from Sara Jane by his cheek. Sara Jane could only see Maybell's lips, as she took to kissing her man where his neck met his chin.

"Look," Maybell said between smooches, "I know Gavin really well. And he feels very much alone sometimes on this mudball moon, as he spends all his days sitting in his storeroom."

Maybell peeked at Sara Jane with an eye, to see if she was listening. Satisfied that she was, Maybell returned to hiding the top half of her face behind Heinemann's head.

"That's why I hang out with him," her lips said about Gavin. "Because he likes me, sure. But also because I know he's lonely."

"And I know how being lonely feels," Maybell said after a pause. "Kelles and me, you see—we're alike."

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

That got another snort out of Sara Jane, while Heinemann took to giggling.

Maybell defended her statement. "She is. Come on, guys. Figure it out. She's a redhead. She's real small, compared to you. But she's wily and strong, and likes to speaks her mind." Maybell peeked at Sara Jane, watching her contemplate these similarities. "She's all human, too, just like me, and has the hots for a big white horse."

Seeing that bring a smile to Sara Jane's face, Maybell added an off-hand compliment. "A horse who gets her hots over strong-willed, little red-haired women."

"Like you?" Sara Jane asked rhetorically, smiling into the eyeball Maybell was using to peer at her from behind Heinemann's head.

"Totally like me."

The chair creaked under Sara Jane's butt as she leaned back in thought. "You may have a point."

Maybell again closed her eyes, to better snuggle Heinemann. "I do. And so now, look at this. Gavin, who is also like me, is a slob. And Kelles is super neat. So she sees in him a man she can take care of. And he in her? A woman he knows he can love, because she'll let him be himself."

She started talking baby-talk to her man, crooning into his face as she stroked his cheek. "Isn't that right, my Heinie-cake? Isn't Kelles so hot for a man?"

"Kelles needs a man, all right!" he replied, his grin splitting his face.

"She does not," Sara Jane retorted.

Maybell and Heinemann stopped their silly crooning, and silently stared at Sara Jane.

"She has me," Sara Jane said under their glare. "She has the hots for me."

"That is also just like me," Maybell pointed out. "Yet I, too, very much need a man."

Again, the trio stared in silence. "You know I'm right," Maybell said after a while.

Sara Jane threw her hands up in the air. "How do you do that?" she asked, much too loud. "How do you figure out things like that?"

"I know people," Maybell said. She smiled like as imp at the noises Sara Jane made, her full lips glowing red. "And do you know how I know Kelles? I know her because we bathed together."

Again, Maybell crooned into Heinemann's face. "And I take such nice baths, don't I, Heinie-cake?" She carried on with sickening sweetness. "I take nice baths all the time, with my great big you, and with itty-bitty Kelles." She peered at her old friend. "And even sometimes with great big Sara Jane."

Sara Jane clomped her boots on the floor as she stood up. "If you don't stop dripping sugar on me," she griped, "I might have to go barf."

Heinemann giggled full throat, while Maybell turned her silly crooning towards Sara Jane. "Would you like to bathe with us? We'll get the water scrubbed." While both Heinemann and Sara Jane laughed, Maybell furthered her silliness, "We'll even get new bubbles! Ooh! You'll smell so good!"

"Yeah!" Heinemann chimed, as Maybell joined in on the laughter. "Get in the tub! Take a bath!"

"You might as well just take out the water," Sara Jane said, still amused. "There won't be any room for it I get in there."

Maybell popped to her feet at the thought, her soft breasts bouncing as she giggled and laughed. "Yeah! C'mon Girl! Get in the tub! Me and Heinie-cake, we will be your water!"

Sara Jane moved towards Maybell to nudge her playfully. But, being naked, a huge horse in gauntlets and space boots was too intimidating. Heinemann sat up straight after Maybell had stood, and as she backed away from Sara Jane, she stumbled over his feet. So that she wouldn't fall into his lap, he placed his hands on her hips to help keep her steady.

Maybell mood suddenly soured. She looked down at her bare feet and apologized, embarrassed by her behavior.

"I'm sorry, Babe. I got scared. You've gotten so big, and with all the horse in you, I don't know what to do."

Sara Jane put a gentle hand on Maybell's shoulder, comforting her with understanding. "I know, Bell. And I'm sorry." Maybell looked up, smiling with love into Sara Jane's big brown eyes.

"I'm just so happy," Sara Jane said. "You know, being who I am. I like being big. I like being strong and intimidating people. I mean, heck, I'm loud and obnoxious, and I holler all the time."

Sara Jane bent her neck to lower her head, forcing Maybell to keep eye contact with her. "If it weren't for all the horse, no one would listen to me. No one'd put up with all that noise comin' outa someone like me."

Slowly, and with tender care, Sara Jane wrapped Maybell up in a lover's embrace. As Maybell returned the hug, Heinemann secured his towel around his waist, to wear like a loincloth

"She's got it all figured out, Bounty Hunter," he said about Maybell to Sara Jane. "She knows the whole business plan. It's gonna work like a charm."

"Are you sure?" Maybell said, her voice muffled by her face being pressed to Sara Jane's chest. "I still don't quite see how."

Heinemann let out a series of vocalizations, muttering as he stood up. He placed a powerful hand on the shoulder of each woman. They separated a bit to better acknowledge his presence.

"Maybell? Honeycakes, you know I can't show my face in public. I've been working all sorts of angles, and setting things straight, but I still have that price on my head. And with a bounty as high as mine, and being labeled a gunner, a person gets a portion of those creds for just bringing in my dead hide."

Maybell turned her head towards her man, and pleaded from Sara Jane's embrace. "But you're not a gunner! You killed in self-defense."

"That won't make a difference if I'm dead." He squeezed her shoulder upon noticing the sadness welling in her eyes. "And Honeycakes? I don't have to worry about that. I have you, and I have Sara Jane. You guys will protect me."

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"And Kelles," Maybell pointed out. "With her staying dirt-side, she'll help clean up this mess."

Both he and Sara Jane pondered the thought. "Hmm." he murfed in agreement, while Sara Jane clomped her boot.

Maybell suddenly backed away, fearing Sara Jane might smash her naked toes. "I'm sorry," she said, again apologizing. "You're just so damn big."