The rest of their date was just as awkward.

Ivy had assumed that Desdemona was in a hurry to get her own turn at the bathroom. Instead as soon as Ivy was done, the taller woman dragged the two of them back to the ship.

When they got back to their cabin, that was when the woman ran to the bathroom.

"`You appear to have food poisoning, Mistress.`"

Ivy put a hand to her mouth, swallowing back bile, "... Yup."

"`A doctor has been requested.`"

She raised an eyebrow as she sat down on the edge of her pot, both hands moving down to her stomach and feeling the uncomfortable and rumbling bloat there. "Can a doctor even help? I just have to moan my way through it, don't I?"

"`It is important to replace the lost fluids. This is especially important in one of your species, Mistress. A home remedy would be to suck on ice chips. However, the cruiseliners of Duffle & Hurley have more advanced treatments available, for the care of their most honoured passengers.`"

Ivy gave that a bit of thought, "So... Like... Fluids by an IV drip? I don't think I'm that bad."

"`The comforts of guests is one of the highest priorities for Duffle & Hurley.`"

She gave a small laugh to that, "Only one? What are the other priorities? Making a shitload of money?"

"`Whilst providing the utmost care and service to our guests is a fundamental part of the business model of Duffle & Hurley, as it benefits both the company and guests in equal measure, the financial success of the company is more reliant upon interworld politics and the extraction of vital ores.`"

Ivy went still, stomach still grumbling. She really hadn't expected that sort of honest answer. Even if the AI was treating her as one of their honoured guests... That kind of answer could publicly sink a company. It was a PR disaster, just waiting to happen.

"Earth is a backwards hole. S'pose they've got a lot of vital ores." Ivy floundered, feeling the need to reply.

Sudais answered clinically, "`The Earth possesses many of the simpler ores, that are vital in manufacturing, such as iron, aluminium, gold, silver and platinum. However, these are left to the general populace. The extraction of lathanides is the purpose of such visits as this one, as it is a vital component in supercapacitor construction.`"

Ivy felt distinctly uncomfortable at that thought. She could see the business sense in turning cruiseliners into miners. Travelling space wasn't exactly the cheapest thing in the universe. She still didn't like the idea of extracting anything from another world, though. Especially a primitive one.

She turned her thoughts instead to the guttural groaning of her date. "Desdemona is from a fiery place? Does that mean she needs more hydration, or less?"

"`The employee in question is perfectly capable of enduring any form of dehydration.`" Sudais sounded out stiffly.

Ivy shrugged and curled up into a tighter ball, her leaves obscuring the cabin as she sank down into herself. She gave a twinge of her cheeks at another lancing pain through her stomach. She really shouldn't have touched the chocolate.

Especially not on an awkward date.

She could not decide if she actually liked Desdemona, or not. As friends, they were great. She couldn't see herself ever wanting to let go of that relationship. It's just... Had they meshed? Did she want to intertwine her roots into that woman's feet?

Ivy hadn't a clue.

The doorbell sounded, and Ivy glared out through a crack at it. "Who is it, Sudais?"

"`The doctor. May I let him in, Mistress?`"

She nodded, "Yup. I'm not getting up."

The doctor in question turned out to have more hands than they had eyes, and that was no small feat. They were incredibly polite and soft-spoken, which made Ivy feel a little speciest for finding the hands so uncomfortable.

They had just handed her two strangely luminescent tablets, and she was swallowing them, when the bathroom door opened and Desdemona emerged. The gigantic woman was more ashen than red-skinned, and didn't even give a glance towards the doctor, before collapsing into a heap beside the bed.

The doctor coughed politely, "Would you terribly mind if-"

Ivy quickly shook her head. Before regretting the motion.

The man spun and knelt down beside Desdemona. His hands flying here and there all over the giantess, checking the plasticity of her skin, her eyes, and her hair. He made a brief and uncomfortable face, before rolling her onto her side and putting one hand to her neck.

He counted off silently, as his other hands grabbed a fluid pack from his bag, and unfolded a portable stand for it. He had it all fixed together and puncturing the soft skin on the opposite side to her elbow, even before he'd finished counting off.

The doctor smoothed back Desdemona's head, between her horns, causing her to mutter and groan. He nodded and stood up slowly, turning back to Ivy. "I am afraid I'll need to take your guest to the medical centre."

"It's serious...?" Ivy's eyes shot open wide, and she went to stand up.

One of the doctor's hands caught her knee, and eased her back gently into her pot. He smiled politely, and shook his head, "It is not something for you to be concerned about, Mistress Green. Your friend appears to have eaten something that she rather should not have."

"Chocolate. Me too."

He sighed, "Ah, but Mistress Green, your friend's digestive system is rather complex. I am afraid she's... Well... Clogged it. The treatment is not altogether polite, but she'll need to take a couple days to recover."

"It's my fault." Ivy went ashen.

The doctor smiled and shook his head, "Not at all. She took her own action. But she'll be fine, in a couple days. Sudais? Might you call a stretcher, to help transfer the miss."

"`I have already placed the notification.`"

Ivy sat back into her pot slowly, feeling almost as guilty as she felt nauseous.

*****

Ivy woke up to the sound of a jangling bell.

She glared up, to find a face shoved through her leaves. Talia grinned at her, scrunching up her nose, "You're awake!"

Ivy shoved the other woman back, and curled into a tighter ball. "Just wanna sleep..."

"Aw." Talia sounded genuinely disappointed, "I get it if you're tired after your date... But... I was kinda hoping you'd do something with me."

Ivy sat bolt upright. "Date! Shit. Uh... Desdemona is in the clinic. She got sick after eating chocolate, and it worried the doctor and-"

Talia raised an eyebrow, "Blaming yourself?"

"... Maybe."

The bovine woman shrugged, and then flicked a bell now hanging from a necklace of leather around her neck. "Do you like it? Desdemona got it for me. Apparently she got you a present, too. But she wants to wait to give it to you."

"How the...?" Ivy blinked, "I was right with her. When did she manage to get secret presents for anybody?"

Talia shrugged and grinned, "She's fine, Ivy. And she doesn't regret anything. Apparently you're a much better friend than date. Sorry if that's a heartbreaker. You're just not her type."

"Thank the stars." Ivy breathed out, touching her chest.

"She a bad date?"

Ivy quickly shook her head, "No! She was wonderful. It's just... Well, I haven't even dated a woman, before. It felt more like... Best friends."

"You better not be a better friend with her, than me."

Stolen novel; please report.

She cocked her head, "You're... Jealous? None of us have known each other that long, Talia."

"Nope." The woman nodded, "Which is why I let Desdemona burn out on the first awkward date."

The implication was not lost on Ivy. She blanched.

The other woman laughed, "Oh, don't freak out. All I'm wanting is a dinner date. I got us a seat at the restaurant at the bow of the ship. Place has a captain's table, and everything. What do you say? Wanna chew some cud with me?"

"Better than vomiting chocolate." Ivy gave a small laugh, and then shrugged in resignation, "Sure. May as well. Don't expect anything."

Talia bounced from one hoof to the other, grinning. "'Course not. I'm springing it on you, after all."

Ivy eased up slowly, holding her stomach. It felt uncomfortable, but not painful. Whatever medicine the doctor had given her was doing something. Not fixing it, but something.

Talia hooked their arms together, grinning as the two headed out the door of the cabin, and into the nightmode of the cruise ship. The lights were dimmer, to let the stars overhead shine through brightly. Little speckles danced around the bottom edges of all the walls, as well.

"Is there any reason you wanted a date? I'm not exactly the world's best romance option. I'm a... Maid. From an isolationist planet." Ivy prompted.

The bovine woman laughed, "Are you kidding me? You're wonderful! So frenetic when someone gets you going. You're fun, Ivy. That's exactly all that matters to me. You're fun."

"I've fallen off the spaceship, been chased and nearly eaten by a guest, and now I have food poisoning. I think I'd say I have the worst luck in the galaxy." Ivy disagreed.

Talia laughed and squeezed her arm, "Like I said, you're fun."

Conversation stopped as they stepped into the elevator. There were a half-dozen other guests, all of them dressed to the nines. Gorgeous dresses that screamed of efforts to break the colour spectrum as they shone and sparkled.

Many-armed suits that spoke of a regal and gentle upbringing. The hands of wearers would never have known the efforts that might bring a single callus. Whilst both Talia and herself were still dressed casually from their trip to the planet below.

Talia however, didn't seem the least bit self-conscious. Her eyes were sparkling, and the grin she'd had since waking up Ivy was still there. They were genuinely excited to bring her to the restaurant.

Which... Ivy should be excited for. She hadn't thought she'd be able to afford going to any restaurant aboard the ship. Having Sudais serve them in the cabin was higher quality food than Ivy had hoped for.

Unfortunately, she was nervous about breaking the heart of her friend, along with the nervousness of not belonging here. Dating her friends twice in a row was a truly stupid idea. Though, with her luck... Mr. No would suddenly proclaim his love, and ask her out on a date, and expect her just to go along with him.

Ridiculous jerk.

They stepped off the elevator, and Talia quickly dragged her forward, pointing out the curious bits of art on their way. One of the other servants was offering cubic modelling, and so Talia insisted they stopped and got a sculpture to remember the evening.

The man was good, Ivy had to admit. He absolutely captured her nervous and uncomfortable smile.

Talia was holding the little object and grinning at it, when the two of them reached the front restaurant. The man in the suit who greeted them blinked and nearly, but not quite, lost his smile.

"And how may I help you, this evening?"

"Table for Talia Bovina-grego." The woman answered with a pretty smile and an innocent blinking of her eyes.

The servant's smile vanished completely, and he swallowed nervously, "But of course. If the Enchantress would like to come this way."

He clicked his fingers, and a maid ran up to them. The three headed into the restaurant, and Ivy forgot what she was about to ask Talia when she was blinded by the richest thing she'd ever seen.

Overhead hung several chandeliers, decorated with crystals, diamonds, and constructed from a carbon fibre hybrid of some sort. The floors were made of a polished marble, speckled with gemstones of blue benitoite. Even the servant's outfits were more expensive than anything that Ivy would ever be able to afford.

The place was even more extravagant than some of the palaces that she had dug up on her home planet. More luxurious than anywhere that her ancestors had been.

They were led down several staircases, made of black opal of all things, and to a table set for four people. It was in front of an enormous transparent shielding that looked out at the planet below.

The maid helped both of them sit, and curtsied, "Commander Amir wishes to send his apologies, Enchantress. He is caught up in the unrelenting rigours of bureaucracy. He asks that you begin without him."

"Sure." Talia shrugged, "Can I get a banana daiquiri to get things started? That's an Earth thing."

"Of course, Enchantress." The maid curtsied, "And for yourself?"

Ivy blinked, "Uh..."

"How about a champagne?" Talia supplied.

The maid headed off, and Ivy turned to stare at her.

Talia blinked innocently.

"Ex. Plain."

The bovine laughed nervously and twirled a finger around an ear. "Okay. So... You know how Desdemona is from a trading family? But she's like... Hiding from them? Doesn't want anyone to say her name."

"Not really. But I guess she dropped some hints." Ivy admitted.

Talia shrugged, "I got the rotten luck of being born to a half important family, too. Not especially important, mind you. Otherwise you might have heard of me. I'm part of a performing family. We make plays and recordings that get thrown around our galaxy a bit."

Ivy shook her head in amazement. "Wow. So I'm the only unimportant one in the cabin. Bloody heck."

"You are important!" Talia instantly insisted, reaching over and squeezing one of her hands. "You're... An amazing person, Ivy. Apparently your research is a thing. I didn't understand half of it, when I listened in, but some of the guests are talking about you. These ridiculous people, living way above my level of living, know who you are. You're important."

"They know you, too." Ivy replied, not quite believing that the guests were talking about herself.

Talia sighed, and shrugged, still squeezing Ivy's hand, "A bit. Everyone likes watching a play. That Enchantress title? Not a real one. It's from their favourite role for me. I've made other things since, but no one cares. I'm the Enchantress."

"How come a famous actress is acting a maid, on a gigantic cruise ship?" Ivy asked uncertainly.

The woman blushed, and then shrugged sheepishly, "Okay. You got me. I probably could afford a cabin. Um... Would you believe it was research for a role?"

"Nope."

Talia looked down, pulling back her hands, and her cheeks getting even redder, "Why do you have to be so good at that? Anybody else would believe it."

"If you don't want to say... That's fine." Ivy said with concern.

As Talia looked up nervously, and went to speak, their drinks arrived. The woman's mouth snapped shut, as the maid laid out both drinks with a reverence and respect that they didn't deserve.

Ivy sipped at the yellow-ish liquid in hers, blinking at how pleasant and soft it felt. She also felt it instantly saturate her nervous system with alcohol. Her people were not good drinkers.

Talia took another few minutes to get up the courage, but when she did, she looked out the window in front of them. "What... Do you see?"

"Another world. It's... Amazing. Worth everything, to be here."

The bovine nodded slowly, "It's... What I see. I wasn't lying before, when I said I'd never been to another planet. People come to see the Enchantress, she doesn't go to them. Not allowed to go to them."

"Not... Allowed? You're an adult."

She nodded, "Exactly. Rules of my world? If you're of age, then you're not allowed off-world until you have a kid. Everything for the empire. Except... Whether or not I even want a kid, I can't have one."

"Oh." Ivy said sympathetically.

Talia snorted and shook her head, "Nah. I can. Not being able to have one is... It's more the people I'm interested in, have wombs, too."

"But... You went out with men on the planet..."

Talia grinned, "And who got treated for it? Never said I wasn't shallow. It's just... We're second-class citizens, on my world. Women. So I ran away."

"A famous star, is a second class citizen." Ivy winced.

The bovine nodded, "Yeah, yeah. I really am. It's horrible. I came out when I was still a kid. I was famous then, too. The Emperor sent me to five years of re-education camp. I learnt to keep it to myself."

Ivy was silenced, staring in both horror and amazement.

All Talia could do was give another small shrug, and look off awkwardly at the window out to another world. One where she was free to be who she was, instead of the lie she had to live by on her own world.

Ivy was still flabbergasted, when a suited man approached the table, "Presenting his honour, the Commander Amir."

She jerked to her feet instinctively, knocking over her chair and then falling over it. Her head sprung up in time to see a gigantic claw descending towards her.

Ivy let out a frightened squeak, before it gently closed around her wrist and effortlessly lifted her into the air. Her boots softly touched down onto the decking, and the suited crab gave an extravagant bow.

"My apologies for frightening you, Mistress Green."

She put her hands behind her back, and quickly rubbed at her wrist. Claws are not soft. "Entirely my fault, Commander Amir."

"Not at all. Please, be seated." He waved a hand, and a nearby servant raced to help Ivy into her seat, and another hovered beside Talia, looking like they wished they could help.

The Commander sat down, owning his own chair without asking. It was his ship, after all. The man turned away from Ivy, and smiled pleasantly, "I was much surprised to hear that the famous actress was among the staff. I was entirely convinced that Sudais had finally got something wrong. Is this research for a part, m'lady?"

Talia shrugged and sipped at her drink, "Non-disclosure agreements cover much of my work, Commander Amir. I am afraid I will not be available for a signing, if that is the thought."

"Not at all. The staff of Duffle & Hurley would never presume to ask someone into such an official and uncomfortable capacity." He replied smoothly, "However, for your own comfort, you may ask for a cabin. Free of charge."

The woman smiled over at Ivy, and sipped her drink, "I'm already in a lovely cabin, thankyou. Quite comfortable."

Ivy felt the conversation was more politeness than anything, and the political back-and-forth wasn't about to go anywhere comfortable. She also felt the alcohol in her system might have been weakening her usual inhibitions.

"Sudais seems fairly open with me, Commander. Is the AI really treating me as just a guest?"

"Commander Amir." He corrected her absent-mindedly, and then frowned, "Sudais... Is a curious one. Technically speaking, within the structures of Duffle & Hurley, she outranks me. Not in every duty, mind. I am the commander of the ship. All the same, I do not know everything."

Talia's nose crinkled, "An AI outranking a commander? That's... Kinda gross."

"It took quite some getting used to, for myself." Amir agreed, "AI were banned, on my planet, during our industrial revolution. They put too many artists out of work, whilst simultaneously ruining the art."

Ivy rubbed her chin, "I'm not sure my people ever actually invented AI. I think they arrived with galactic trade? There might be something in that. When you can remember your ancestors, you're not looking for more people to tell you what to do."

"The employees of Duffle & Hurley are extremely grateful for the guidance of the software identities developed by our research departments." Amir said stiffly.

Talia snorted and her bell jingled, "AI is a pain in the butt. I know, I know. Violating my contract or whatever. I read it. But I don't care. AI always finds a way to stick their nose way inside your ass, just to shake out an extra coin or two."

Ivy's stomach twisted, and she felt like her earlier nausea was back in full force. The entire room seemed to sway, and her mind yelled out that it wanted to empty whatever traces of chocolate might still be left behind.

Except, as Ivy's head hit the table, she saw Talia toppling back in her chair, and Amir scrambling to his feet.

She rolled her head sideways, and saw the chandelier swinging dangerously, creaking at the base connections.

The room was actually swaying.