A Surprise Crewmate(Cyra V and OstrichFromJoust)

[OstrichFromJoust]

"Earth date: 3rd of August, 3330. We are now a month out from Praxus-7, the garden planet fairly consistent with Earth, minus the atmosphere. Our current shipment is a few thousand tons of coronite, checked in from the Muru Initiative's mining camp on the planet. The Hermes is checking out well, no mechanical issues so far. A potential personnel issue has arisen in the weeks since we've left Praxus-7, several reports are in about things missing from the mess hall, and the personal effects of several crew members. I will be looking into this and presenting my findings in my next report. Yeoman Sanders out." The young woman pressed the holographic display, ending her video message to send it out. Messages could travel much faster than ships, with the specialized transmission tech their company had.

Kara Sanders worked for Muru Initiative, a human-focused corporation that dabbled in lots of markets. Yeoman for the Hermes, a mid-sized transport ship that carried cargo back and forth as needed by the company. She essentially ran the day to day administrative stuff, keeping track of it and reporting back to corporate. Thus, things like the missing items fell into her jurisdiction. She'd already had a few leads, not thinking it was a crew member at all. One of the bags of food in the mess had some holes in the back, and she assumed they'd picked up a stowaway on Praxus-7.

"Aye, aye, sir. I'm approaching the cargo hold now," the woman said, a hand placed against the comm device around her ear. Her light brown hair hung over them, yellow-ish eyes scanning around her. Dressed in a fairly tight suit, the usual fare for space-faring folks, it also had a mounted datapad on her left wrist. She pressed it, turning on a flashlight to poke behind some crates and containers in the hold. Thinking it would be in here, the most space for it to hide in, and their shipment might smell like the planet, remind it of home. She hoped it wouldn't make this too annoying of a task, she had plenty of other work to do besides hunting some random animal for hours.

 

[Cyra V]

How she'd wound up here... well, who knew. She supposed it was just curiosity; curiosity, and the allure of strange creatures and even stranger food. Never mind the fact that it wasn't the first time she'd seen these odd things that walked upright, and spoke in some strange tongue. It was more like the second, only that time she'd shied away from all of it, only observing from far on the outskirts. This time, she'd foolishly decided to go further, sneak along and follow these creatures wherever they were apparently going, and it was... a mistake, in retrospect. She was somewhere very strange, with lots of these creatures around her that she had to waste a fair deal of effort in avoiding at all costs, not least of all for the fact that she had no faith in any ability to communicate with them, at least yet.

But then, at least she had food. Food that was rather strange to her, some of which she wouldn't immediately identify as food, but considering how it was sustaining her and didn't actually taste too bad, it was indeed food.

The creature herself, though, was not something commonly seen even on her own planet... not for scarcity so much as for the fear of possible predators the majority of them held. No doubt even she herself was afraid, especially being stuck here for some time now, but curiosity had won out. Appearing much like a red squirrel of Earth, only perhaps a little larger, complete with the reddish fur, four legs, bushy tail, and pointed ears and semi-pointed muzzle, that was where the similarities ended. More than just the somewhat larger size, golden-green scales covered some parts of the creature, along much of her chest, along part of her chin, even at the sides of her ears and a little along the underside of her tail. An alien creature through and through, despite some elements of perceived familiarity... and now, with her ears perking up to the sound of someone coming, she was certain she was really stuck. She could skitter around all she wanted, but she only knew of one effective escape route... and that was as good as through the person coming. At the same time, she'd seen these creatures bearing lots of odd things they used for various tasks... how far could she really manage to get before being struck by such a thing?

Daring to at least try, the squirrel-like alien darted quickly out and off to the side, making almost a beeline to the only entrance and exit to this area she knew of, just to find it... closed. Grumbling slightly in annoyance, she scratched a little at the door to no avail, before quickly turning and darting off elsewhere. Foolishly making sound like that, she'd little doubt that she'd been seen, but perhaps she could still get away? At the very least, she had to try, doing her best for now to make sure she didn't fall back into the nearby creature's line of sight.

 

[OstrichFromJoust]

Kara poked her head around a container, flashing her light down the small space. No luck so far, she gave a frustrated look and backed to the lane between the rows of storage. Occasionally she heard noises, either she was doing it to her own mind, or something was actually here. "Come on," she muttered to herself, moving on to the next few where there was another dark crevice. Sure, she could have gotten someone else to help, but others were busy, and she didn't want to have to depend on them. While she worked hard, some thought her job was...unnecessary, and needing help for something as simple as finding an animal might make them think even less of it. More than that, now it was a pride thing, she wanted to find this stupid thing and take care of it.

After a few more empty searches, her eyes caught something in the faded light of the cargo hold, a small dart of red that shot to her left. A small grin was on her face, and she moved after it. Now, at least, she knew it was here. It was just a matter of catching it. "Not gonna hurt you, come here," she called out, as humans tended to do with animals that couldn't understand them. Coming around the shelving, she saw it just before it shot off again into the dark. Keeping this up would just lead to her tiring out, she would never catch it like this. With a command from her pad, the door slid open, and she slipped through, letting it shut behind her. About ten minutes later, it opened once more, but this time a smell came through as the air from outside flowed in. Kara held a plate, several things on it that were being served in the mess. She'd grabbed a few things, chicken, some salad, some bread, not sure what the creature would like best. Finding a spot near where she'd seen it before, she set the plate on the ground, and leaned against the wall a few feet from it. "This should taste better than the bags you've been getting into."

 

[Cyra V]

Not going to hurt her... so they said, and the creature faintly made some sense of it. The door, though... her ears flicked up upon her head at the sound of it opening, and she started to dart off in that direction, in spite of the person around, but too late, it shut on her just before she got there. Grumbling to herself, the creature darted off right back to the hiding spot she was last nearly caught at. It was too late to run all that much, after all; they already knew she was here in the first place, that much was certain. It was, she supposed, just a matter of what this person was ultimately going to do with her. Hopefully not toss her out, since she was fairly certain that wherever they were, it was no longer around the area she was from...

After a little while, however, the scent of food hit her nose, her ears once again perking up in alert as she sniffed a little at the air. More of these creatures' food, sure enough, but... different. Mixed together in some ways or other. Her attention quite efficiently caught, along with her being secure in the fact that, as far as she could tell, there was only one of these creatures around, the alien slowly and cautiously crawled out from her little hiding spot and in the general direction of the food she smelled. When the human came into view, the little alien's eyes periodically flicked to her, pausing for a moment each time just in case. Making sure at regular intervals to check on the nearby human even as her eyes scanned over this curious selection of food, the creature, for all intents and purposes, didn't exactly seem to be picky. The chicken, the salad, the bread, each one was taken into her front paws for a few moments at a time, the creature nibbling contently at it before dropping it and checking cautiously on the nearby human.

Could never be too careful, after all.

On the other hand... it didn't seem entirely fair that she was the only one to eat, and this other creature wasn't. Thinking that over for a moment, she secured a decent piece of chicken in her front paws and a little in her teeth, walking over slightly awkwardly on her back legs a bit closer to the human before setting the chicken carefully down then darting off back to the rest of the food, at what she considered a safe distance for now. "Eat too?" she spoke; and indeed, it was perfectly understandable speech, albeit in a little, somewhat squeaky voice. She'd not been observing these creatures this long without picking up at least a few things, though that itself was fairly close to the extent of it.

 

[OstrichFromJoust]

It took a short time, and Kara slid down to sit against the wall she had been leaning against. It was probably sticking close to the door, knowing that it could get out through there. Unless she'd make an error in judgement and it had no sense of smell, it was now surely catching the whiff of the food. Should only be a matter of time, at least she hoped. Surely enough, a few minutes later, the small creature came out from the shadows, cautiously approaching its target. She didn't make a movement as it came closer, just watching and waiting. Moving might scare it off again, and then she'd be out of luck. It got to the plate and started eating, giving Kara a small smile. "There you go," she said, letting it have its fill. Now at least it was here, maybe she should surprise it and grab it? Never before had she wished so strongly for a net.

Her mind drifted to how she would catch the thing, only snapping back to attention as it approached her with a small piece of chicken, placing it near her and scurrying back to the food. Kara's head cocked a bit in confusion, this was new. Even walking on the hind legs seemed different, at least surprising, not expecting it from the squirrel-like creature. The biggest surprise was, of course, when the creature spoke. English, understandable English that sounded similar to the people of the ship. Kara's eyes widened, her jaw dropped slightly. Sure, humans had encountered aliens that could speak, and some had learned English to communicate with them, but not something like this. The thing looked to be a squirrel from Earth with scales on various parts of its body, yet it had just lifted its head and spoken to her. Asked her to join in eating, offered some of it to her. It was intelligent. "You can speak? You can understand me?" she said after the short bit of silence, unconsciously leaning a bit closer to the plate and the creature.

 

[Cyra V]

The oddity of the situation, how surprised the human was... both were quite lost on the creature at the moment. Food was the main priority, along with, perhaps a bit more so, keeping safe. Making sure this human wouldn't be trying anything, wouldn't possibly catch her off-guard. That the woman spoke back was only a mild surprise in the end; even then, the little alien was only paying so much attention to even that. She had her priorities, after all, and her food so far had mostly just been meager portions. Those hardly compared to this, which had things mixed in together, and obviously some other things done to it to make it taste rather better than that standard fare.

"Can... understand... a little?" the creature hazarded, not entirely certain she'd gotten that right, but not ultimately caring that much; more importantly, there was the definite notice, with how much alert she was keeping, of the human leaning a little closer. She didn't react much to it, ultimately, only pausing and casting a wary glance toward Kara when it happened, but it was clear enough she noticed. As it was, though, the human was far enough from her still that she wasn't worried... yet. Admittedly, it didn't quite escape her that she wasn't likely getting out of this room without some intervention from the human; now that they knew she was here, they were bound to be a fair bit more careful. "What... this?" she asked after a few more moments, glancing down to the food to denote the 'this' in question before casting her gaze curiously to the woman nearby.

Might as well know what the stuff was at least called. If she wasn't going to be able to get away anyway, it would be good to be able to ask for things by name, after all. Speaking of which, there was that as well. "And... your... name?" she asked in addition, tilting her head slightly in curiosity.

 

[OstrichFromJoust]

Kara moved closer, curiosity the driving thing behind it. She wasn't making sudden moves, or reaching out to grab the creature, really doing anything besides leaning in a bit, scooting closer. Obviously, she'd thought the thing they'd picked up was just some random animal, but this was quite a stretch from that. The fact that she could understand her was something of itself, but being able to respond? Kara hadn't seen anything like it, and that said a lot, being out among the stars.

This creature just kept eating, still hungry it seemed even after getting into their stores. Though, this was probably miles ahead of whatever bags or packed substances she'd dug into. "It, it's what we are eating, us humans. This, is chicken, this is bread, this is some vegetables that should be like plants back on your home," she said, not sure what to think as she described the food. "My name is Kara. Are you called anything?" she asked, her task to get rid of the thing all but abandoned.

 

[Cyra V]

As the woman moved closer again, the little creature once again backed off slightly... though, perhaps, not as much as she might have before. Whatever this person ultimately was, they'd given her food, after all, and not made any sort of aggressive movements, really. She wasn't sure yet whether she was going to trust this person, or any of the others, but the fact still remained that she was stuck here with them. In the end, her fate was probably just in their hands and rather far out of hers now that they were... wherever, really.

"...Rhia," she submitted; not much point in trying to hide it now, and who knew, it might be of at least some use to have this person at least know her name. A little familiarity, or something of that sort. Though, since she really thought about it... if she was going to be stuck here anyway, why waste so much time in shying away? Might as well get some idea what this person might really be like, in full confidence that she'd be quick enough to get away. She'd probably still be stuck in this room then, but... it would just have to be something. So with that thought in mind, she lowered herself down to all four feet, the curiously furred and scaled squirrel-like creature slowly and cautiously starting to approach the woman. With how Rhia kept a close eye on her, it was clear she was still watching out for anything she might deem dangerous... but overall, she was finally coming closer, seeing what this 'human' might do about it.

 

[OstrichFromJoust]

Kara wasn't a scientist, but that drive to learn and figure out new things was aflame in her all the same with this creature. Just being able to speak, to actually understand her speech just from what she'd learned while on the ship and the small time she'd had with humans, was fascinating. Though, now she wondered what would come from this. Was she going to tell someone about this? Give her report and just hand her over? What would happen to her? The brunette felt some worry, not knowing if she could do that.

She gave a small smile at the name. She had her own name! "It's, it's a pleasure to meet you, Rhia," she said, moving to extend her hand from habit, but stopping. She didn't exactly have a hand to shake. Rhia started to move a bit closer to her, slightly to Kara's surprise. She seemed still hesitant, which made sense, but just as curious as her. The fact that Kara had given up her hunt and was just sitting her with her perhaps interested her. The hand that was extended slightly turned, cupping to give the usual 'come here, it's okay' motion one gave to something they wanted to approach. "I mean it now that I'm not going to do anything, don't worry," she said, not sure how much it helped but wanting to put it out there.

 

[Cyra V]

As that hand started to move a little again, Rhia blinked in surprise, pausing to watch it until it mostly stopped again... but not, at least, backing off. Not this time. She still wasn't sure how much she really trusted this 'human' person, but still, she was confident in her ability to get away if need be. And, admittedly, she couldn't really deny that she was a bit curious about these folks. She'd picked up enough of their speech to get somewhere, but there was still a ways to go there... and the food, it proved, wasn't bad at all.

So the squirrel-like creature inched still closer, her light blue eyes fixed on this 'Kara'. "What you... do with me now?" she curiously asked, tilting her head a little to the side. By now, she was mere inches from that extended hand, something she'd especially made certain to keep a close eye on... and, since it seemed safe so far, went a bit closer still. Her little cheek rubbed curiously against the side of the woman's hand, only to be followed by her lifting herself up to her back feet, one of her paws coming to curiously slide over the palm of that hand, taking in what it felt like. "Could... teach me... speak better...?" she asked, turning her eyes up from that hand to the woman's own eyes. "Not sure if... can do anything for you, but... can try?" she offered in turn. Hardly seemed fair to just take without trying to give, after all.

 

[OstrichFromJoust]

Her smile widened a bit as Rhia stayed, not backing away. Kara was still thinking she was going to dart off at some point, not trusting her even with the food she'd brought. Still, she seemed curious too, now that she'd gotten a taste of what the humans had, what they were like. She even got a bit closer to her hand, just inches away, now rubbing her cheek against it, little paws moving to feel it. She was adorable, getting a good, close look at her now.

"I, I'm not sure," she said, admittedly. Her goal of catching her was out the window, now. There was no way she'd just be handing Rhia over to someone, and have who knows what happen to her. She gave a small nod, still smiling to her. "Sure, I'd be happy to," she said, giving a chuckle. "You don't have to pay me back at all, I'm fine with helping you out. We, uh, we might have to be a bit sneaky about it. My superiors won't be too happy to know that you're on the ship, and that I didn't bring you in, but that shouldn't be too hard," she said, eyes moving to the side a bit as she thought, planning it out. Her job would be pretty handy now, managing all the things she did, anything they might need shouldn't be too hard to acquire, hopefully, at least.

 

[Cyra V]

"Can sneak. Not been seen before now," the little alien assured with a little nod. Even then, she'd seen plenty of these odd people, both back on her planet and now here... and, for the most part, they'd not seen her. For all she knew, they probably didn't even know she existed in the first place. Until now, perhaps, at least for this one female. That would just... have to do, as long as she wasn't sent off to some other odd, unfamiliar place in the process. That would be... not so good.

"Where we go now?" Rhia curiously asked. Caution abandoned just a little bit more, she hopped up and skittered along that still outstretched arm to come to rest on one of Kara's shoulders. It would hardly be ideal for sneaking out on, she already knew well enough, but it did give her a somewhat higher vantage point to look around and see if there might be anything usable to sneak out with. Hardly was she an expert on that sort of thing, considering she normally just darted along when she was confident people weren't around, but... it was a thought. "Can stay here if not a way somewhere else... er... I can," she offered. It was hardly comfortable, she was sure, but it offered places to hide. If she couldn't get back to where this female stayed, hopefully alone, it would be something.

(Feel free to skip ahead after a few days of teaching or so if you want!)

 

[OstrichFromJoust]

Kara chuckled. "Yeah, I know. I'm surprised I even found you, guess I know your weakness now," she said, teasing a bit. The little thing could certainly sneak around, that was true. It was still a worry for the woman, though. She'd have to lie on her report, and start sneaking away provisions. Getting caught, at the minimum, would be the end for her career. Probably worse, she wasn't sure what laws there were about hiding and harboring an alien life form on a human ship. Still, small as she was, it shouldn't be too hard to keep her hidden away, sneak a little food out here and there. Kara didn't tend to cross over or even skirt the line of breaking protocol or rules, so she was just paranoid about things. Even more impressive that she was even going to do this.

Rhia scurried up along her arm, finding a place to rest on her shoulder. Kara smiled, turning her head, a hand coming up to gently scratch under her chin. She was adorable. "Let's get back to my quarters. It'll be nicer than hanging out in the stockroom, I hope," she said, picking up the tray and standing, carefully. "I can find something to sneak you out in," she said, starting to walk around to find a small box or something, some kind of container she could hide away in once they were out with other humans. Eventually she was able to move some things around and found a small container, a button on the side sliding open the top. Just big enough for the alien, but not much wiggle room. "Sorry, I promise you won't be in there long."

It was a few cycles later, and Kara opened the door to her room. She'd been standing outside it for a few minutes now, warding off the advances of a crewman that was giving his all to come inside with her. Not being forceful, just persistent. The yeoman wasn't interested, even if she wasn't hiding an alien inside, she went for other girls, men not on that particular radar for her. "Good night, Crewman Smith," she said, the door sliding open and she entered, a tired sigh escaping her as it closed, glad that had passed. "Rhia?" she called out, looking around for the little alien. The few days that had gone by, she'd spent her time teaching the girl more about their language, giving her the basics, providing some context for things she'd heard, they'd made some good progress but obviously there was plenty more to learn.

 

[Cyra V]

As the woman moved a hand to scratch under her chin, Rhia was still clearly a bit cautious at first... only for her eyes to partly close in content and her head to tilt up a little as she enjoyed the gentle touch. Maybe these creatures indeed weren't so bad, if anything... or at least this one in specific. Besides, she was still interested to see more as it was, and if it was where this Kara lived that she'd be staying, then all the better; there might actually be somewhere more comfortable to lay, for one, rather than all these hard floors in what secluded corner or such place she'd been able to find in her time on here.

Thus she stayed in the woman's room, perfectly content to have somewhere comfortable to rest, to have some better food, and, perhaps more than that, just to learn. Hardly was she perfect even now; after all, it had just been a few days. All the same, her language skills were improving, that much was certain.

"Why people keep coming when you keep saying 'no'?" the little creature curiously asked, her particularly good ears mostly catching every bit of the conversation. Moving out from one of the little hiding spots she'd found to use around the room, she soon skittered up onto the bed, tilting her head a little in curiosity as her light blue eyes glanced up to Kara. "You not want a male?" she asked in turn. At least, that was what she figured some of those other people were persisting for, but what did she know, really? All she ultimately caught were tidbits from her hiding place in here, which wasn't bad, but sometimes she wanted just a little more. Someday, perhaps.

 

[OstrichFromJoust]

Hearing the now familiar voice, Kara gave a smile and looked down to the floor. Rhia moved up onto her bed, and she gave a chuckle at her question. "There are lots of people that don't like to hear the word 'no,' and don't like to not get what they want. Those people are usually persistent," she said, moving to the side of the room. A hand pressed a panel on the wall, the door to a closet slipping to both sides. The brunette glanced over her shoulder at her next question, giving a smirk. "Correct. I do not want a male, not in the way they want a female, in the way I believe you mean," she said, looking back to her closet to shift some things around. She was done for the day, work all taken care of for now. Pending some huge emergency, she was free for the night.

Her uniform, the fairly tight business suit, slowly peeled away as she pulled down the zipper in the front, pulling it off her shoulders and down, then stepping out of the legs. The crew all had jumpsuit-esque uniforms like this, customized and different for the various jobs one might have. Hers resembled business casual for Earth, but was still suited for life on a ship, tight-fitting, functional. Standing in a pair of blue bra and panties, she reached in for some more casual clothes, jeans and a t-shirt, the faded logo of some band on the front. "I could go get us some dinner, then perhaps continue with the lessons? Hearing things in use can be really helpful when you're learning a language, maybe we could pull something up to watch. Get you some Earthling culture."

 

[Cyra V]

Hm. She supposed she could understand that much, at least. There was a thing to be said for persistence sometimes, but Rhia just didn't get it from some of these people. Maybe subtle hints were just lost on a lot of these 'humans'? Maybe it just had to do with her own greater senses that she could pick up on them? She... wasn't sure, really, but she supposed it didn't really matter. They were gone for now, and would probably be back sometime, anyway. What she was interested in a bit more so, though, was Kara's next response. She wasn't interested in males, then... so females? That was an interesting thought, the little alien had to admit, on which she found herself idly glancing a little over the woman's form as she stepped out of her suit.

It wasn't something she'd given any thought to before, but she had to admit, there was definitely some appeal to it. And she'd told the woman some things about herself by now, but there was still one particular, fairly big secret to herself and her kin. Soon enough, though... not just yet.

"Watch?" she blinked in curiosity, drawn out of those idle thoughts easily enough. "I stay here; will wait. Should... do anything while I here? Turn anything 'on'?" she asked. If she was going to be here anyway while Kara was away for a bit, might as well try and do something useful, she figured.

 

[OstrichFromJoust]

Her relaxing clothes slipped on to cover up the view, Kara turned with a smile to the small being. "Right, uh, humans crave entertainment, we like to create things like art, and so there are..." she said, thinking, never really having to explain the concept of a movie or show before. "Cameras that can take a view of something, record it, and then we can look at it later. It can help to learn a language by watching things like that, seeing conversations happen that we aren't forcing," she said, giving a bit of an awkward smile, and chuckling, hoping that made some kind of sense. She wasn't much of a teacher, all of this quite new to her.

"Yes, it shouldn't be long though," she said. She didn't like that Rhia had to wait here alone while she was out and taking care of things for the ship. At least in the hold she'd had a lot of space to roam, but here she was quite limited. Kara was looking into some things on that front, but wasn't quite sure. Through the auspices of the job she had gotten a hold of some ship schematics, but needed to look them over more before mentioning it to Rhia. The woman gave a small smile to her, and nodded. "There's a small pad somewhere around here that we'll need to use, about this big," she said, making a small square with her fingers, " and has a small screen on it. If you could find that, it would be helpful. I'll get us some food," she said, giving another nod and moving to the door, checking outside before she opened it fully and shut it.

 

[Cyra V]

'Cameras'? This wasn't really... helping her to understand much, but if nothing else, it sounded kind of interesting. She'd just have to see it for herself, Rhia supposed; just one of these many oddities to her that these 'humans' had and her kin didn't, which... really wasn't saying much, at that. They had forests, and foraging, and families, and sleeping, and... that was about it. These people, on the other hand, seemed to have everything.

With a curious little tilt of her head as Kara described what she was apparently looking for, Rhia gave a quick little nod, her light blue eyes already wandering over the room once Kara left. Hopping down from the bed, she darted this way and that, hoping to find this 'pad' thing by the time the woman got back. Failing catching anything that was probably it anywhere she could access just like this, the little alien grumbled slightly before glancing momentarily to the door. Well... she'd find out soon, anyway. No sense just sitting on it for much longer.

So by the time the woman came back, the pad had been found, if at the cost of a few pieces of clothing winding up getting tossed around the floor during Rhia's search. The little squirrel-like creature, however, was nowhere to be found... at least, not as such. Rather, there was a female form around the woman's size, bust and all, perfectly naked but for the reddish fur, along with the golden-green scales around her chest and chin, the tips of her pointed ears, and the underside of her tail, just the same as they had been on the creature before. The only real difference was the size and body shape, along with a crown of short, darker red hair. Without a seeming care in the world, she was laying flat on her back on the bed, bared form fully exposed as she held the pad up over her, seemingly looking it over to try and possibly figure out how it might work (not that she really could). "Oh... found it," she cheerfully spoke, offering Kara a grin as soon as the woman walked in.

 

[OstrichFromJoust]

Some crew members spoke to Kara as she got to the mess hall, but she was distant. Most of her thoughts now a days were about Rhia, still fascinated with the creature and what might come of her. She spoke a bit to the other crew, getting some food on a tray, tonight a pasta dish with some vegetables, she grabbed two things of milk and a small desert. A friend, Telly, an assistant pilot, offered her a spot at the table she was at. Kara gave a smile, but shook her head. "I gotta get back, reports to file, barely enough time to get this. Rain check," she said, moving back to the exit and to her quarters. It would be hard to keep this up for long, she was quite social before, and now she'd been isolating herself in her room the last few days. Someone might come check on her, or start asking questions about why she wasn't around much.

Not followed this time, Kara swiped her left wrist with her datapad at the door, unlocking it as it slid to the left. "Got something different tonight, I hope you li-" she said, words stopped as she stood just in the entrance to the room. The door slid closed behind her, and she stayed in place, shock freezing her body and thoughts for a few moments. When she'd left, there had been a small alien, whom resembled a scaled squirrel. What she had come back to was a naked human with matching fur and scales along her body, and some dark, red hair. Other features were similar to Rhia, and in fact, this woman looked just like her, except, you know, taller, bi-pedal, and with bare breasts and bottom exposed to Kara. She blinked, quite a few times, as if that would cast away the illusion in front of her. She spoke, the voice matching Rhia's, of course. "You, but, how, small, boobs, the, I," she said, then hung her head a bit and sighed. "You're killing me with the surprises, girl," she said, looking up with a smile, chuckling as a sort of "Whatever" reaction. "So, you can change your shape now?" she asked, moving forward to the bed with the tray in her hands.

 

[Cyra V]

Ah... food. A bit different indeed, and it smelled enticing as ever. Though as Kara stood there staring, Rhia's grin faded a little into more of a look of curiosity. Sure, she was bound to be surprised, but she hadn't... broken the woman, or something like that... right? Some warning probably would've been good, in retrospect, but it was a bit late for that now. When the woman spoke again, though, that friendly grin returned to the alien girl's face. All was good, it seemed.

"Mm... can only change to shape of people around," she replied; and indeed, resting the pad on the bed for now and standing up, she was right at Kara's own height, body shape included. "So... what we watch?" she curiously asked, glancing back to that pad for a moment before taking a seat right next to the woman as soon as she sat. "And... you like shape?" she asked in turn, her bushy tail meanwhile flicking over to wrap partly around the woman's waist... while at the same time at least staying out of the food.

 

[OstrichFromJoust]

Kara had been just a bit broken for a moment there. The whole talking thing was surprising and had taken a bit to get used to, but this...This was something else entirely. Rhia looked just like a human, well, mostly. It was incredible, not ten minutes ago she'd been the small, squirrel-like creature, and now she was...this. The woman sat on the bed, Rhia immediately sitting next to her, causing her to chuckle a bit. It was odd, but definitely welcome. She couldn't help but eye the girl up some, truly appreciating the form she'd chosen. As Rhia had learned just a little while ago, Kara didn't care much for males in that way, attracted to other females. Hard to know if she'd just chosen that form at random, or purposefully, knowing how...attractive it actually was.

Shaking her head to get the now dirty thoughts out, the woman smiled again. "That's pretty amazing, Rhia. Any other abilities you should warn me about?" she asked, teasing a bit but also fairly serious, wondering about what other surprises she may have in her sleeves. "That's a good question, feel free to start eating and I can find us something," she said, placing the tray down for her. The servings for them would be a bit more even now, but there should be enough still. Her eyes shot to her waist, the much larger tail around her, tickling slightly. "I, I do like your new shape. I really do," she said, eyes looking back to her with that same glint as before.

 

[Cyra V]

Definitely something a bit... curious about these looks from Kara, but she couldn't exactly explain what it was, really. Ah well; probably not too important. Or then again... perhaps the woman was attracted? It wouldn't exactly be something Rhia would complain about, but she didn't quite know what to do about it... yet. Failing that, there was the food to worry about, and whatever it was exactly they were about to 'watch'. Hopefully something interesting, but then it would be difficult for it not to be for her.

"Just this. Not have any other special things," she replied, glancing curiously over to whatever the woman was doing as she started on her portion of the food in the meantime. Good as usual, no doubt of that... not that she was expecting anything otherwise. "Like your shape too," she offered with a friendly smile, comfortably leaning a little against Kara's shoulder while she idly ate and watched whatever the human was doing with that 'pad'. "Alright if sleep together later like this?" she curiously asked in turn, hardly aware of the implications she might otherwise be suggesting with a question like that.

 

[OstrichFromJoust]

Kara sort of felt the same way about that. She was definitely feelings some attraction toward Rhia's new form, after all, she'd made it up to be a just about perfect woman form. Her curves were amazing, let alone the fact she was lying there naked in front of her. Even so, Kara wondered if they could do the same things together that humans did, if it would work, if she would even like it. Rhia, of course, not Kara. Kara was sure she'd have an absolutely lovely time with the alien girl. The woman used the pad, flipping through to find a romantic comedy for them to watch, just something random that Rhia might be able to pick some words and context up from.

"Got it. Good to know, you have some very cool abilities," she said happily, splitting the food and taking part of her own as the show went on. The yeoman chuckled a bit at that, smiling and nodding. "Thank you, Rhia," she said. There was that, at least. Kara let her lay back against her, putting an arm around her, more friendly than flirty, for now. Her eyes widened, face looking to her quickly at the next question. "I, yes, sure, I don't mind that at all," she said. The context of what she'd just asked might become a bit apparent as they started talking about "sleeping together" in the movie, and being fairly obvious what that implied.

 

[Cyra V]

Giving a little smile as she felt the woman's arm wrap around her, Rhia soon shifted a bit more, happily snuggling up a bit further against Kara. Certainly a lot different than her usual, little form, either hanging around on the human's shoulder or resting in her lap or some such thing. This, though, wasn't so bad, she had to admit; nice and comfy, and warm. Perhaps she should've done this sooner, but now didn't seem a bad time all the same. Though a bit more than that, her eyes were locked on that 'pad', ears remaining perked up some so she could easily catch everything she was seeing and hearing from it. More words, some of them yet unfamiliar, odd situations, at least to her... it was interesting, certainly.

For now, though, the alien girl curiously watched and listened in silence, blinking in curiosity as they mentioned 'sleeping together' and... that, apparently, in that context. Seeming to fidget just slightly as she made that little discovery, she nonetheless didn't say anything further, at least yet. Not until the 'pad' started showing lots of scrolling words, and what they were actually watching was, probably, over.

"Mm... did you... want to?" she asked, turning a bit more to actually face the woman... which, in turn, put their faces mere inches apart. Rhia doubted it wouldn't be obvious that she was referring to a little more potentially implied by her last question, but... her light blue eyes flicking momentarily to Kara's lips, how close they were right now, would only further that. "Would... have to show me," she added, moving a hand to rest on the other female's hip.

 

[OstrichFromJoust]

The scenes played out through the movie, a few coming up that let Rhia know what she'd asked Kara to do, in a certain context. It could mean simply sleeping together, and that was how Kara took it from the innocent alien. Though, in the body she had now, she certainly wouldn't mind at all using another, more fun kind of context. Still, they sat together, finishing the food and the movie, and finally the credits rolled through. Kara moved to look to her, going to suggest perhaps learning some more, when she asked her question. Her eyes widened a bit surprised she'd said it, and clearly meant what they'd seen and what had been allured to in the movie.

She gave a small smile, and nodded slowly. Her arm moved, having been around her shoulder and now moving to the small of her back, the other resting just under her breasts on her stomach. "Yes, I do. Don't worry about a thing," she said, crossing the short distance between their lips and taking her in a deep kiss. Her hand moved just slightly, petting at her side, much more fur now that her body was bigger, and just as soft. A few moments of kissing, and Kara moved her hand up, to grip Rhia's breast gently, caressing the soft mound and letting her fingers tease her nipple, gently introducing the girl to the pleasures of her new body.