An HFY Tale: Drop Pod Green

Lirya's leg jostled as she bounced on her heel, the taste of special sauce and cheese heavy on her tongue.

She narrowed her eyes over the top of her burger, slowly chewing as she observed the pair of Humans across the food court. Mohki, looking between Lirya and the pair of female Humans who were enjoying a romantic moment over a few trays of lo mein, arched an eyebrow at Lirya

"... Penny for your thoughts there, moonfur?" Mohki said, pausing the passage of her french fry to her lips. "You've been eyeballing those Humans for a solid thirty seconds now."

Lirya, finishing another bite of her burger and swallowing, leaned sideways towards Mohki. "What are they doing with their mouths?"

"Kissing?" Mohki replied, turning to the two women and making sure she understood. "The thing they do when they press their lips together?"

Lirya nodded, her face twisting. "Yes! Why are they doing that? Does one of them not know how to chew their food, and the other is helping them eat?"

Mohki choked so hard on her laughter that bits of half-chewed french fry spattered onto the table top, spooking Lirya and causing Tyllia to roll her eyes from the other side of the brown fur, having instead chosen chicken nuggets for her lunch.

"Get it together, Mohki." Tyllia said dryly, rubbing her finger tips together on a napkin as Mohki slapped the table top, enjoying another gleeful trill of laughter

Mohki let out another snort, tried to say a word, then broke out into another round of full belly guffaws.

Tyllia's nose wrinkled at all the noise, but turned to Lirya. "They're just kissing, Lirya, like the brown fur said."

"Kissing…" Lirya pondered, flicking away the saliva covered bits of french fry from her tray. "What is that?"

Tyllia shrugged. "It's something Humans do to show intimate affection, they push their lips together and make little… sucking noises."

"That isn't all they do." Mohki said with a devilish grin as she wiped a tear from her eye. "Sometimes they touch their tongues together."

Lirya gaped at the brown furred Kafya, her face a mask of disgust. "Their tongues?! They taste each other?!"

"I mean, yeah, kinda." Mohki said with a shrug. "I guess they like the taste of their saliva, but I've heard about some of the other races having reactions to it."

Tyllia arched a brow as Lirya, face still twisted, went back to watching the two kissing women. "Reactions? Reactions how?"

"Some Kafya said they feel euphoric after getting Human spit in their mouths. I haven't done it yet but I've been tempted by this one male in the docks." Mohki murmured, remembering the odd man and his yellow hair. "I know a female Pwah that says she gets giggly after kissing Human men, like her 'blood tickles' if I remember what she said correctly. The Lilgara have an allergic reaction to Human spit, saying it makes their tongues itch and they get thirsty."

"Huh." Tyllia mused, looking at her chicken nugget. "What about the Kojynn?"

Mohki snorted. "No one has managed to get a mask off them yet, but I'll let you know if a Human manages. You know how they are, the whole mask thing is a pretty big deal."

"The marriage and partner thing, yeah." Tyllia said with a sigh. "Only the Kojynn have seen each other with their masks off, I still wonder what they look like under there."

"I hear they have tentacles that match their long earlobes." Lirya piped up, the two women having apparently completed their ritual and going back to eating their food. "And that they use their tentacles to eat food."

"Ew." Tyllia said in disgust, furrowing her eyebrows. "Tentacles are so gross!"

Mohki let out another trilling laugh that was joined by a short giggle from Lirya, but soon enough it was time for lunch to end; Mohki had more work to do at the loading docks and internal warehouses, while Lirya and Tyllia were due for the next half of their lesson.

After bidding the brown furred Kafya goodbye, the two made their way back through the station towards their classroom.

Despite their time together, Tyllia still stood a full body's length and a half away from Lirya, though she was enjoying a little more small talk with the yellow Kafya.

"Today has been rather fun, don't you think?" Lirya asked happily to Tyllia, the yellow furred Kafya still finishing what was left of her shake.

Tyllia looked over at her, letting go of the straw she had tucked between her teeth and licking her lips before she spoke. "I mean, I guess? Mohki could be quieter in public if you ask me-"

"No no, not her." Lirya said with a soft laugh, wafting a hand. "I mean today's lesson, the Human histories."

Tyllia rolled her eyes. "Oh, those. I find them rather boring, actually."

"Oh." Lirya replied a little crestfallen, her ears wilting slightly. "What would you prefer to learn about then? Fashion?"

Tyllia clicked her tongue against her teeth, though she did smile. "Actually, I've been thinking about something Mohki said, but I know if I ask about it, that big blue lizard is going to blow me off."

"If you want I can ask about it." Lirya said with a bright smile. "Miss La seems to like when I ask questions."

Tyllia stopped and turned towards the white furred Kafya, her lilac eyes glinting mischievously into Lirya's obsidian ones. "Why, Lirya, that would be wonderful. After all, education is important to every Kafya…"

—

"Ex… Excuse me, Lirya?" Miss La stammered out, the white furred Kafya's question catching her off guard. "You want to know what?"

Lirya, her fur quickly fluffing out in embarrassment and nerves, repeated her question with a little more added on. "Well! You know, uh, while we were having lunch I saw a pair of Human women kissing with their tongues, and Mohki-"

"Who is Mohki?" Miss La said with growl, turning away from the display screen with a flex of her muscles.

Lirya inwardly gulped; The muscles were showing through her sweater, which meant that Miss La was rather upset.

Lirya glanced towards Tyllia, who was resting her chin on her palm and enjoying the little show.

"Um… dock… worker… Kafya?" Lirya whispered tentatively, having unknowingly kick-flipped onto a landmine.

"Ugh." Miss La said in disgust, reaching up with a massive draconic hand and pressing her thumb and forefinger to her temples. "Freelancers…"

"Sounds like a pretty fun subject, Miss La." Tyllia said aloofly, grinning with bright fangs at the blue scaled Skalathir. "I'm sure many of us would be quite interested in a short lesson."

Miss La glared hotly at Tyllia, connecting the dots instantly. "You asked her to pose the question, didn't you?"

Tyllia's grin evaporated as Lirya let out a worried whimper.

Miss La's scaled tendrils, that ran down the sides of her face and neck, flared with coiled energy.

Tyllia barely had the time to jerk her head off her hand when the full telepathic assault from Miss La slammed into her nervous system, causing the yellow furred Kafya to gag and spasm. She fell lamely to the ground in a tangle of limbs, her chair squeaking as it slowly spun.

Miss La already had the clearance to do this, so she held down the buzzer as she swept her gaze along the Kafya in the room.

"I don't care how things are done on your planets, here, in the eyes of the United American Authority and the European Unified Council, everyone is equal." Miss La intoned, her voice edged with warning and anger. "If you have a question, you ask it yourself, you don't try to be clever and get someone who you believe is lesser to take the blame. Lirya is as equal here as the rest of you skittle colored sons of bitches, and I will not have you trying to use her as a buffer!"

Miss La's eyes flared as she stared down the Kafya in the room, all while the other races avoided her gaze. Her voice boomed across the room, all while Tyllia let out another strained gag. "Am I understood?!"

Terrified, nodding heads answered her back, though Lirya couldn't help but notice that Miss La took on an oddly… Human accent when she was angry.

Miss La released Tyllia from her mental hold, and the yellow furred Kafya jerked upright with a deep, ragged inhale, her fur flared out end to end and sweat pouring down the strands.

"Sit down, you idiot." Miss La growled, turning back to Lirya with a face that was rather hard to read. "Are you really interested in this subject, or was it purely Tyllia's idea?"

Lirya lightly tapped the pads of her fingers together, nails softly clicking. "I mean… I was curious why… you know… kissing and stuff…"

Miss La, despite her anger, rolled her eyes with a short snort of a laugh. "I bet the rest of you are wondering the same thing, the Humans on this station aren't shy about their love lives."

All heads were nodding now, though a few wore smiles, many curious glances, and the Kojynn masks were displaying little twittering lines of emotive lights.

"Fine." Miss La said with a heaving sigh. "We can pick up the history stuff tomorrow. I usually leave these lessons for certain classes, but all of you will likely sign up for those anyway."

Miss La took a few minutes to find the right data folder, and opened it up on the larger display.

"Alright, so… Humans. Where do I even begin…" Miss La said as she started clicking her tongue, then chose a particular slide of a male Human smoldering at the screen. "To start, much like their diets, Humans are omnivores when it comes to potential partners as well. Unlike most races, they do not discriminate when it comes to who they find attraction in. Humans pair up with opposite and same sexes all the time just within their own race, and their proclivities have caused a bit of a… stir in the council and the aligned races."

Miss La switched to another slide, showing a Human female twirling around a male Pwah, both of them laughing happily. "Humans come in many heights, shapes, and sizes, which allows them to adapt quite readily to most other races. However there are a few things about Humans you must pay attention to and be aware of, such as their odd mannerisms, and the ways they show affection."

"One of these is the hug, an embrace of their arms that holds different levels of allowances depending on multiple factors." Miss La mused, pulling up a chart that showed the many 'levels' of hugs. "A language in and of itself, a hug can let a Human know what their status is purely by touch."

Miss La wrapped her arms around herself, one hand patting her ribcage and the other her shoulder… though with difficulty. "A simple hug, face to face where the arms stay below the shoulders and above the hips, is what we non-Humans call 'The Friend Zone'. This area is safe, a common ground for hugs that don't insinuate anything."

"Hugs can insinuate something?" A male Pwah asked, who was paying an oddly large amount of attention to the chart.

Miss La nodded once, then relaxed her arms in order to point at the chart. "Indeed. Once the arms go above the shoulders in order to wrap around the neck, this is considered highly flirtatious. Arms around the neck, especially from a female, is considered an aggressive engagement movement. This gives them control of your neck and head, and usually means they are going to go in for a kiss."

Dozens of hands fwipped into the air, though a female Pwah shaking hers back and forth caused Miss La to smile.

"We'll discuss what a kiss is in a minute, put your hands down." Miss La said, the hands falling back down to the desk tops. "Now this pattern of behavior is followed by a reciprocal movement by the target. Arms around the neck means the opposing force's arms should drop to the hips, a way of showing approval. If the target of the neck hug keeps their arms around the ribcage, or lets go all together, it is seen as a refusal." She then pointed to a secondary picture. "Now you may be asking why around the neck, and the hands near the head, right? This is due to natural Human aggression. There can be hair grabbing, neck cupping, or running their fingers through hair or along the scalp. We are not sure… why they do this, except that they like it."

Miss La brought her hand lower, pointing to a few more alarming looking pictures. "Humans are grabby by nature. Even while hugging, they may grab onto your hips, buttocks, or whatever their little fingers may be laying on. Now even from here, there are other areas of the hug. A hug from the side is considered pure friendship, but can quickly accelerate to other territory depending on what their hands are doing. A hug from behind is going to be substantially more romantic in nature, but must be approached with caution." She pointed to a picture of a woman flipping a man over her shoulder, smashing his face onto the ground. "When approached from behind, Humans will react defensively, either spinning around to engage you, or ripping you over their hips or shoulders in order to break something off of your body. For a Human to allow you to hug them from behind means they trust you, and this will be seen as a romantic gesture. These from behind hugs are elevated with things such as rubbing the hands along the chest or stomach, cupping the neck or the lower…"

Miss La cleared her throat, blinking a few times as her many nights of novel reading came back to her. Lirya noticed this immediately and titled her head prettily, her hands folded in the lap of her jeans as she listened.

"Um… where…" Miss La looked back up at the chart, then cleared her throat again. "Right, or other movements of the hands towards the lower portions of the body."

The temperature in the room rose a few degrees, and not only from Miss La.

"The… lower, portionsss?" A female Lilgara asked, her hood flared.

Miss La shrugged. "Humans are creatures driven by touch… a lot of it. Touch is a large part of their mating rituals and bonds, and if you get involved with one, they're going to likely read you like a map for the blind."

There was a murmur of voices, but a raised hand from Miss La calmed it back down to silence. "Don't get too excited, you're more than likely going to be greeted by a handshake. Remember our customs and courtesies section?"

There was now a chorus of grumbles, as handshakes now seemed rather boring.

"Anyway, hand and arm position is important when hugging a Human, as well as where. Side for friends is safe, front to front is fine for a few moments, but don't linger. Humans are constantly tracking a clock in their head when it comes to touch. A few seconds is safe, friendly, agreeable. If a hand lingers, or a hug goes a few breaths too long, Humans will begin calculating in their heads what it means. If the Human does not know you and is not interested in you romantically, they will see it as creepy, too forward, or as just 'weird', likely souring your possible friendship with them. However, if they do like you, and you linger, especially if looking at each other such as in this picture here, you are opening a door to them. Humans will step through-"

A hand went up from a Kojynn, and Miss La pointed to him. "Yes?"

"When you say a door, do you mean that in an emotional or physical sense?" He asked, his mask displaying markings and lights of studious curiosity. "I assume if I am hugging a male Human, as a male myself, and I linger, he may find it awkward and off putting. However if I hug a female Human, and she is interested in me, she may take note of my lingering touch as a… signal?"

Miss La smiled. "Why yes, you understand it quite well. Kojynn hand ribbons of braided cord to possible romantic partners, Pwah with their bells, Lilgara with their unique stones, Drafritti offer their silent song, and the Kafya with their… application… forms, but Humans learn of advances through touch and eye contact. Before you ever get to hugging, it all starts with the eyes. Humans communicate silently through eye contact, lowered eyelids, furtive glances, it is a language within itself that baffles even the Drafritti."

A few Drafritti had a giggle, nudging one gray furred male, and he rolled his eyes before raising his hand. Miss La pointed at him, and he let out a weary sigh before he spoke.

"B'fah I knew'wat it'all meent', I lookt'at a'barristah too'lan." He said, eliciting more giggles from his friends. "I got'er numbah' accidenahly'."

Miss La along with the other students had their own quiet laugh, the blue scaled Skalathir pulling up a slide quickly while she had the moment.

"Yes, much like lingering touches, lingering glances can bring a Human into your orbit. They will approach and begin questioning you or making small talk, gauging your intentions and what you want of them. This can be weaponized by Human salesmen, but that is a whole other lesson in and of itself… why I tend to avoid walking too close to the center walking aisles of the shopping district." Miss La said with a slight bitterness, remembering the pushy perfume salesman that came running after her just because she caught his eye. "Now with their physicality, and their ability to bond with anything that bears a pulse, Humans have very… physical displays of affection."

Miss La audibly heard dozens of chairs squeak as their occupants leaned forward, including Lirya.

"The ultimate display of affection is touching the lips together." Miss La slowly began, though she had to measure her breathing, as this was something she, too, wished to feel properly one day. "As I taught you before, kisses to the cheek, forehead, and hands have their own meanings, but lip to lip is a place where only lovers tread. Kissing is applied during all forms of contact, whether that is greeting their romantic partner, randomly, or during their throes of passion."

Miss La, unsure if the students were ready for the main examples, decided to choose a more subdued image of two Humans play wrestling. She then addressed her class again, double checking the display to make sure the image was correct. "So you may be thinking to yourself that all of this is very physical, and I'm afraid you'll find no relief when it comes to actual mating practices. 'Love Tussling', as Human Studies Scholars have put it, is a key factor to Human mating. This can come in the forms of actual wrestling in which the two Humans make a play-display of dominance as foreplay, softer forms such as affectionate grappling, or even rougher forms of contact including… er… well…"

Miss La wasn't really sure how to broach the subject of BDSM, but it had become a rather odd cornerstone of Human studies and was discussed at length. It was popular in many forms before their war with the Pactless, but it had grown in popularity as more rougher forms of Humanity had survived the conflict.

"Uh… how do I put this?" Miss La said in a dull murmur to herself, as she knew none of the images she had would help shed any light. "Humans in general have a sliding degree of fondness for violence."

The class drew back, even Lirya, and Miss La let out a dangerous sigh, flicking to a chart she usually reserved for the closer cultural studies she held on Earth. The chart itself involved a bar that went from the color blue to the color red, the most subdued forms of violence on one end and the far more dangerous ones on the other. The blue side had small drawings of hair pulling, biting, nail dragging, etc, while the extreme far end held an image she personally found deranged.

It was agreed that Humans were the most deviant of the races found amongst the children of the stars, which included some Humans having a fetish of being hung from hooks attached to rope.

"Some of you may have heard, some of you not, but Humans have a deeper scale of feeling when it comes to mating, or pain for that matter. For the majority of Humans, pain is as common during mating rituals as flowers and jewelry. When we of the IDC first began studying Humans properly, as we were rather involved with a war of survival in the beginning, we found our rescuers turned out to be the most lascivious deviants we had ever seen." Miss La pointed to the blue side of the scale. "Let's start at this end, the far side of the safe blue. Now where Humans show similarities with the rest of us is in displays, either sexual such as prostrations or erotic wordplay, or softer forms of contact such as massaging of the muscles or deeper kissing. This comes in line with all races of the IDC; The Lilgara are renowned for their forms of dancing during mating in order to arouse their partner, or the Pwah in their erotic poetry in order to get their gears moving. The Kojynn are more about exposure, exposing the hidden parts of their body to their partner that no one else sees, such as the face. The Skalathir are more known for their tail massaging and prostration, the Drafritti for their ear rubbing, and then of course the Kafya… who have to rely on a cocktail of drugs just to get anything done."

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There was a wave of tittering laughter around the classroom as the Kafya looked annoyed, or rolled their eyes. Kafya in general felt very odd after eating Human food and no longer consuming Kafyan made meals, and there was a certain vitality that came back to them over time.

"All this is still true of Humans. I'm not saying that they don't have a softer side, or that there may be more gentle Humans that prefer more subtle forms of sexual engagement… but that is unfortunately not the rule. Things can escalate quite quickly during the processes of mating, sometimes so quickly that it catches other races of the IDC off guard." Miss La said professionally, moving her hand along the scale. "Male and female Pwah have been induced into near erotic shock by Humans who suddenly grabbed their hair, the Human dragging their nails down their back, or from biting. Not even the Lilgara were prepared when a rather adventurous Human got ahold of them and over powered them by pure muscle strength, taking control of the arms by pure brawn or preventing them from getting away by grabbing the hips. Three Lilgara, which I know some of you have heard of in the news, were sent to the hospital purely for over stimulation. They were fine of course, but Humans are all about over stimulation, making the Lilgara panic and believe they were going to have a heart attack."

Miss La then slowly moved her hand down the scale as she spoke. "Sure, biting, overpowering, wrestling, hair pulling are extreme enough for some, but it only gets 'worse' from there. They are into blinding, strong physical contact with flat instruments in order to cause pain, degradation, extreme forms of mating, odder instruments of pleasure that are banned on multiple planets, punching, kicking, harder biting, cutting of the flesh, applying burning wax to skin, tying their partner down and removing all methods of escape or resistance, flogging, whipping, and so on." She said, blinking rapidly as she went down the list. Those long nights of research were odd… and rather graphic. "Yes, there is usually a bond of trust in these applications and a phrase used to call it all off, but it can be extremely terrifying for a non-Human of the IDC. It got to the point that a lot of planets banned mating with Humans, while others set decrees that anyone of their planetary residency mating with a Human forfeit their legal protections."

There were quite a few wide eyes around the classroom, staring up at the chart as if it were a radioactive warning label.

"Other portions of Humanity, farther into the red section of the chart, prefer knife play, torture, or other forms of extreme pain as foreplay, and that is why you must be careful." Miss La finished, ending with her hand at the far end of the scale with a flourish. "Kissing is merely the beginning of it all, as Humans are an extremely physical race when it comes to love, romance, and mating. For many Humans, violence, conflict, love, and romance go hand in hand. Many of those who came before you didn't have the research you have now, and ended up getting themselves in a whole mess of trouble-"

"Miss La?" A Pwah interjected, raising his hand and looking both bewildered and worried.

Miss La paused, mid gesture towards the chart. "Yes?"

"Can we wind back to something else Lirya said?" He asked, gesturing towards the white furred Kafya. "Do the Humans really do that tongue thing in public?"

Miss La stood there, eyes fixed on the Pwah, then let her arms droop with a slap of palms to thighs.

"Really? That is where you're hung up?" Miss La asked, her face incredulous.

The Pwah quickly replied. "Just seems kinda gross is all, is that normal?"

Miss La narrowed her eyes at the Pwah, who started to sweat visibly under the gaze, then began tapping at the pad of her thumb with her finger. "Fine, we'll back this up to Human public displays of affection, and we'll work our way back down."

—

Rhidi's heel was rapidly bouncing, thumping dully on the deck from her thick paw-boots.

She was ten minutes early to her date with Morris, and she kept looking around her, seeing if she could smell or see him before he spotted her.

They had agreed to meet at a fantasy-styled bar that was themed after a treasured game of Human history, a classic, online multiplayer game that was based around swords, spells, and a tragic addiction to not showering. It was comfortable, with lower light based off of fake torches and a mostly wooden interior.

Rhidi had been a mess when Morris had asked her to the tavern, standing with her little group of female Kafya and going over stuff with them. She had managed to wrangle all of the female Kafya droppers into one place and aired out things with them, making direct contact and actually taking her role as Kholihl seriously.

It had been rather nice until Morris showed up, asking her out to a drink aboard the Moose before they had to set off the following days. Rhidi had locked up, eyes wide and ears erecting while all the female Kafya made a grouped "oooOOOoooh!" at Rhidi, many of them fanning their faces. Inthur and Pobilo shared a look, while Enflia pointed at Rhidi and went "hah!", clearly enjoying Rhidi's discomfort.

The moments after Morris got his answer and left was a blur of wagging tails and high-pitched Kafyan voices, while Rhidi had to quickly excuse herself and sprint back to her barracks room.

She had no idea what to do in terms of how to prepare for a date with a Human, so she spent most of the night brushing her tail, going over her face fur with a narrow gaze, and fussing with her ears for far longer than she would have liked.

Rhidi, much like the other Kafya in service to the Humans, had all developed a curl to the tops of their ears. This was due to the long periods of time wearing their helmets, and while the Humans could make the ear modules long enough, they refused.

Long pointed ear outcroppings on helmets were targets, caught on low hanging branches, and brought down combat efficiency.

This in turn caused the long Kafyan ears to curl forward at the tips, and was starting to become a marker that differentiated a military Kafya from a civilian one.

Rhidi fiddled with the curl on her left ear, trying to see if she could rub it back to form again, and scrambled to her feet when she heard Morris clear his throat behind her.

"Morris!" Rhidi stage shouted, spinning around and placing her hands together in front of her stomach. "Hi!"

Morris smiled, inwardly knowing what was coming. "Hello, Rhidi."

"Hi, Morris." Rhidi said, smiling brightly and struggling to keep her tail under control.

"Hello, Rhidi."

"Hi, Morris."

Morris just laughed, a sound that Rhidi found comforting, then reached forward and placed his hands around Rhidi's.

"Hello, Rhidi." Morris said softly, bringing silence to the yellow Kafya before him.

Rhidi's heart sped up like the engine of a rally car hitting a straight, and her tail lost all form of decorum, happily wagging back and forth without restraint.

Morris was wearing a simple outfit, nothing more than jeans, boots, and a clean black shirt, but his smell was there. Rhidi looked down at his hands, then up at his face, breathing in deep and dragging his very essence into her brain.

It was that classic Morris combination of his favored toothpaste, cologne, and that odd smell of old motor oil that would likely never leave his hair, something that Rhidi never found herself tiring of.

"So… drink?" Rhidi said cooly up at Morris, her voice edging nearly to a purr.

Morris grinned down at her, leaning down slightly so their faces weren't so far apart. "One or two, I think."

Morris transformed their clasped hands to her hand being in the crook of his arm, escorting her into the tavern styled bar.

The place was warm and inviting, despite the chill of the ship, the ambience achieved through the clever use of a central heating element in the middle of the tavern. Modeled after the forge of a blacksmith, dark iron colored glass acted as coals for a burning yellow center of short flame, heating the room with ease.

Rhidi and Morris found a smaller table designed for two people and sat down, though Rhidi had a bit of fussing with her tail. It took some manoeuvring, but she managed to get it through the open space in the back of the chair.

Rhidi looked around with a bright smile; Fake, or at least she hoped they were, animal heads hung around the room in random places, sharing wall space with leather rucksacks, mining picks, swords, spears, polearms, suits of armor, barrels, all the usual artifacts that would come from the mindset of a fantasy adventure.

The place was rather sparse of customers at the moment, which meant the timely arrival of their Kojynn barmaid.

"Good afternoon." She said, her mask adorned with the engravings of frothing beersteins and glasses of wine. "My name is Dolphira, welcome to the Quest."

Rhidi turned her head to observe the Kojynn, and found her rather interesting; Forgoing the usual garments they wore, this Kojynn had instead chosen to wear what appeared to be some kind of barwoman costume, complete with a dark blue skirt, ruffled white shirt, and a light brown apron that came just under her chest.

As per usual, Rhidi found herself undergunned, giving the Kojynn's ample chest a glare before looking up at her mask.

"Am I to assume your family deals with libations?" Rhidi asked, remembering that the Kojynn did like to dabble in the trade. "Rather interesting place to find work."

Dolphira shrugged, her digital markers along the mask showing a rather smug, if proud, pattern. "I know my way around the kegs and the bottles, I find it to be fine work. Would you like anything to drink? Kafya normally start with the lighter ales."

"I'll have what he's having." Rhidi said firmly, nodding towards Morris. "I'm a Dropper, not some civilian straight-ear."

Dolphira's readout lights moved slightly, as if showing she was looking at Rhidi's ears, then back down to her hot ivory eyes. "Very well, and you sir?"

"Pastry stout." Morris said with a kind smile. "Whichever is sweetest."

"Very well." Dolphira said with an incline of her head, and turned on her leather, heavy boot heel, striding towards the bar.

Rhidi watched her go, then noticed the stools. "Oh, they have bar seats."

"Would you rather sit there?" Morris asked, turning to look over his shoulder at the long row of empty leather bar seats.

Rhidi nodded. "Yeah, my feet may dangle, but at least my tail isn't trapped."

Morris chuckled, helped Rhidi out of her chair, and they transferred themselves to the open bar seats.

This of course was a ploy by Rhidi; Here on the bar stools she could sit shoulder to shoulder and thigh to thigh with Morris, and she could press her cheek to his bicep far easier. Dolphira also appeared rather pleased that they chose the bar, her mask emitting light in the same manner.

"Ah, good, I never like when my bar is empty." Dolphira murmured, her voice coming through clear and without interference.

Rhidi knew then and there that the mask must have been worth a mint.

Setting down the two foaming glass steins of stout, Dolphira placed her lower hands on her hips, and folded her upper arms under her breasts. "So what brings two Droppers into my humble space Squid tavern?"

"We're on a date!" Rhidi said a little too excitedly. She then quickly cleared her throat, picking up the glass stein with her hands and speaking in a more calm tone. "We're on a date."

The lights of Dolphira's mask slowly swiveled towards Morris, who smiled at her kindly.

"A date, you say? How curious." Dolphira mused, her lights swiveling back towards Rhidi as she took her first gulp of stout.

The taste and thickness hit Rhidi's tongue like a foreign invader, and it took everything she had to not retch and spit the stuff all over the bar. Her eyes watered, but she did not move the stein away from her lips.

"You okay Rhidi?" Morris asked, picking up his own stein.

Rhidi nodded with a hum of the affirmative, then gathered all the power in her nervous system to give a heavy swallow of the stout in her mouth.

She felt the cold, pressurized burn the entire way down her throat, producing an instant burp that threatened more than just discomfort.

"How is it?" Dolphira asked, leaning forward at the waist. "My family specializes in Human beer now, we are quite proud of it."

Eyes watering, Rhidi gave her a single thumbs up. "I-It's good!"

"Good. Drink it all now, it is a shame to waste good stout." Dolphira mused, turning to point at Morris, who was happily draining his first stein as if it was water.

"Aw man…" Rhidi whispered under her breath, then shook her tail back and forth before once again plugging the stein back to her lips.

While she had greatly enjoyed the taste of margaritas, this was a whole other level of Human alcohol, a thick, creamy, malty monster that tasted a lot like coffee. Rhidi mentally gritted her teeth, and managed to clear the entire stein a few seconds after Morris did.

Morris let out a happy sigh, but Rhidi let out a ragged exhale as if she had been holding her breath. Her spine wanted to wriggle and crawl out of her skin, her stomach gurgling unhappily and wondering just what the hell she had dumped into it.

"That is a mighty fine stout there, miss Dolphira." Morris said, looking down into the stein. He cut his eyes ever so slightly towards Rhidi with a smile, watching as the yellow furred Kafya held her fist to her lips and let out another wet burp. He remembered she had enjoyed the taste of sour gummy frogs before, so he decided to pivot. "I'm suddenly curious about what else you may have. Do you by chance have sours?"

Dolphira nodded. "We have many sours, though the pucker bear is popular. Apricot and honey."

"I think we'll have two of those." Morris said with a wink, while Rhidi let out a gurgling burp and was fighting the beast she had let into her stomach.

As Dolphira poured the beers, Rhidi looked over to Morris.

"Are those lighter than stouts?" She asked, her stomach finally settling.

Morris nodded. "Lighter, and sweeter."

"Thank fuck." Rhidi exhaled, running the back of her pawed hand across her lips. "That was awful!"

Both Morris and Dolphira shared a chuckle, the Kojynn placing two new glass steins of amber colored beer before the two.

Rhidi took a sip of this one and found it to be a bright, crispy, sweet, and sour brew that fit better to her tongue. She took a true, long pull from the stein and smacked her lips, her tail flicking back and forth for this one.

"That is awesome!" Rhidi exclaimed with a smile. "It's sour like those candies on the Wild Hunt!"

Dolphira's mask twitched towards Rhidi, her blinking eyes hidden. "Did you say… the Wild Hunt?"

Rhidi looked up at her, murmuring "mhm!" around the rim of her stein as she took another drink.

Dolphira felt a crawl of unease wriggle along her nerves; She had watched this woman mow down people live on camera, the feed brought to her by one of the drones that had been orbiting around her.

She tilted her head at the Kafya, taking her in fully now.

This is the Kafya that killed over two hundred souls? Dolphira asked herself, watching as the Kafya bumped her elbow into the Human's, making him sputter on his beer and laugh. Her?

"Do you have any other flavors?" Rhidi asked, setting down her half finished stein. "Anything with a sweeter fruit maybe?"

Dolphira shook herself mentally, placing her finger tips together. "We do, but you should pace yourself, Kafya, there is still food to come and these are Human alcohol portions."

"Pssh!" Rhidi shushed out, picking her stein back up. "I'm a Dropper! I can handle stuff this size!"

Dolphira pondered that, but shrugged, grabbing a freshly frosted stein from her cooler. "Very well, might I recommend the prickly Paris?"

Despite the vigor that Rhidi was filled with, her liver and blood stream found itself in the same predicament it had during girls night after she had completed her training. Beer, or at least the ones here, were full of fun little bubbles that went straight into her brain, making Rhidi into a giggling mess that was doing a lot of cheek rubbing on Morris's arm as she laughed at his jokes, stein in hand.

One stout, the apricot sour, and two of the prickly beers appeared to be doing a number on her, something that Morris found terribly cute.

Dolphira kept a curious eye on the pair, knowing who they were, and was still shocked that a pair of people with such blood lust could be so…

They're cute, right?"

Dolphira looked over her shoulder to Adolgo, a male Kojynn that bore the mask of pans and the wafting air of cooking food.

"I suppose." Dolphira murmured as she slid her long earlobes over her shoulders, the two masked Kojynn watching the pair as they laughed at each other. "You saw what she did, though."

Adolgo shrugged. "I know, but I also know it was a great feat of warrior prowess. She is learning to cope as the Humans do."

"That is what worries me." Dolphira murmured, taking a pair of plates from another Kojynn behind Adolgo. "A Kafya that can cope like a Human."

Adolgo tapped a raised finger to his mask. "We cannot speak of that, not here. We still have to wait for the go ahead from Miss La."

"Why?!" Dolphira snapped, turning to look at Adolgo as she held the hot plates in her two sets of hands. "Why must we wait for the Skalathir? The highest ranking rogue Kafya is here on our ship and we know what the Kafya fear to let out, why should we wait?"

Adolgo set two of his hands on Dolphira's shoulders. "Because she is not the top Kafya yet. There is the second rogue with the EUC, another yellow hair, their fate has already been set in motion by Miss La and Mr. Radishow."

"All this… underhandedness. I don't like it, Adolgo." Dolphira grumbled, turning to look at Rhidi as she finished off her sour ale. "Look at her, she is just a young girl."

Adolgo just chuckled. "That young girl butchered over two hundred people and has the Human war religions scouting her. Just give her a good evening with the male, everything else is out of our hands."

"It isn't out of our hands." Dolphira growled. "Everything is in our hands! We are the ones who found the data-cache, we are the ones who smuggled them aboard this Human warship where they are safe!"

Adolgo leaned forward, touching the brow of his mask to Dolphira's. "In time my love, in time. I'm impressed your English has improved this quickly, by the way."

Dolphira sniffed from an unseen nose. "You learn quickly from the Squids. Go get the girl some bread! She deserves a free loaf at least!"

"Yes, my love." Adolgo chuckled, ducking back inside the kitchen as Dolphira swished her way towards the bar, plates of food in hand for Rhidi and Morris.

Rhidi, completely drunk off her tail from the beer, clapped her hands together happily as Dolphira made her way behind the bar. "Yay! Is this the meal set?"

Changing her voice from its angry tone to a more professional, airy tone, Dolphira set the plates down before the two. "Roast beef shank, beets, cabbage, and roasted sweet potatoes for the two love birds."

Rhidi grinned up at Morris, her eyes glassy and bright. "Hah, we're not birds, we killed all those during the Ur war!"

"Good grief…" Dolphira whispered from behind her mask as she grabbed the bread from Adolgo, Rhidi and Morris laughing to each other quietly.

Rhidi, well and deep into her cups, ate happily, leaning sideways against Morris as she chewed on her food and spoke quietly to him about their time down on the planet. Morris, buzzed but not nearly as drunk as Rhidi, leaned back against her so she was stable, looking towards her with an easy smile.

Rhidi rambled on as she drunkenly chewed on the bone of her beef shank, her tail swaying back and forth contentedly as she leaned against Morris. More food and beer flowed between the two of them, and time ticked by with calm measure. When she got to the part about how she knew exactly how Morris smelled, the Human let out a chuckle.

"Funny, I can always pick your voice out from the crowd." Morris said in a murmur, polishing off the rest of his other stout.

Rhidi looked up at Morris with a bubbly smile, her drunken face pressed into his arm. "You can? Really?"

"Really." Morris replied, rubbing his thumb along the bottom of his lip to skim away some beer foam. "Your voice always finds its way to my ear, and I can always find where you are."

Rhidi glowed, her heart thrumming happily as if it were a guitar in Morris's hands, and she let out an indulgent, rumbling giggle.

The giggle ended in a hiccup as Rhidi's brain had enough of these Human beer bubbles, and she promptly passed out, sliding down across Morris's arm and thumped down onto his thighs.

Dolphira was unimpressed, her mask rolling its markers in order to follow her eyes. "She barely finished that second pucker bear, five beers total is a rather meagre showing for a Dropper, I'd think."

Morris chuckled, taking the moment to lightly brush Rhidi's hair away from her mouth. "Yes, well, she is lighter than me and I think she is mostly beer at this moment. Mind charging my card?"

"You got it, squire." Dolphira said, tapping at her data-slate. It let out a quiet 'yeay verrily!' as the charge went through, and the Kojynn turned her head back to Rhidi. "Little bottomless pit though, I didn't think she was going to finish that third loaf of bread."

Morris looked down at the happily snoozing Rhidi and his face softened in a way that surprised Dolphira. "Yeah… she is full of surprises, this one."

"Should I fetch a transport for you?" Dolphira asked, waving to other customers as they entered the bar.

Morris smiled at Dolphira with a slight squint of the eye. "And miss out carrying her back to the ship? I think not, barkeep."

"Go on then, before she blows chunks all over my floor." Dolphira replied with a fair amount of cheek, waving them off kindly and her mask showing plenty of smile that the free light would never see.

Morris gathered Rhidi up in a princess carry, her face tucked close to his chest as she snoozed in her warm inebriation, and he set off back towards the Wild Hunt. It was peak shopping hours on the Moose, and while many did stare, smile, or talk behind their hands, no one did it openly.

They all knew who was being carried in those arms and to whom those arms belonged, as it was hard not to recognize the Drop Pod Lycan and the Handsome Helsing.

Morris's nickname was a little more on the nose, as the data-streams and internet thought it would be funny to give him a name based in hunter folklore.

That being said, no one impeded Morris's path to the Wild Hunt, nor did the Marines on duty bother to check their identification. They instead waved Morris through with a shared chuckle, and warning him to not "wear the Kafya out".

Morris found that a little out of taste and gave them a fair amount of side eye as he stepped through the gackcan portal.

As they began to float, Morris looked down at Rhidi as her hair began to drift around her, face serene in her sleep.

There was an odd pain in his heart as he watched her, her tail drifting weightlessly around his knees as he held her in his arms. He was worried that the moment was going to end too soon, this moment of true weightlessness, a lightness of both the body, mind, and heart.

It may have been the beer bubbles in his brain, but he felt as if he was afraid she was going to break. It didn't make much sense to him, seeing her drifting along in the dead air after seeing her in combat, but he reflexively pulled her tighter to him, gathering her tail with a long sweep of his arm.

A small thought crept along his mind, of the woman who had left him behind after he had joined the military. His eyebrows narrowed, his heart growing suddenly cold at the memory of it.

Rhidi clutched at his black shirt in her sleep, nuzzling happily into him with a soft sigh, and the thoughts of his betrayed love from long ago vanished like smoke in the wind.

When Morris felt his feet touch down to the decking on the other side of the gackcan, he blew Rhidi's hair away from her eyes as he stepped past the female Marines who threw jealous glances at Rhidi.

Morris made his way along the alleyways of the ship towards Rhidi's room, and with a bit of finagling he managed to get the door open.

When the door opened, he was met with the presence of nearly half the female Kafya Droppers in Rhidi's room watching a movie, and Morris could tell just by the music that it was Treasure Planet.

Morris, thinking quickly in order to not look suspicious, raised his hand enough to press his finger to his lips, Rhidi letting out a soft exhale as she snuggled closer to him.

"She's drunk." Morris said quietly, nodding towards Rhidi's bunk. "Make some room for her."

Imridit and Oin shuffled the other Kafya away towards the ground and got Rhidi's blanket flipped up to receive her, Morris stepping slowly through the forest floor of furry thighs and pawed feet.

"Got too deep into the tequila again?" Quinnit asked, the yellow furred Kafya relaxing on a ground pillow with her legs crossed. She was wearing a tank top and athletic shorts, which left very little of her legs unexposed.

Morris grunted, placing Rhidi down onto the bed. "Sour ales."

"Sounds tasty." Pobilo mused, though she was more looking at the seat of Morris's pants as he bent over.

Morris tucked Rhidi into her blanket, the Kafya making small, fussy noises as she was extracted from Morris's arms, though Imridit happily tucked herself next to Rhidi, keeping herself between Morris and her Kholihl.

"Goodnight, ladies." Morris said as he made his way back out of Rhidi's room, waving over his shoulder. "See you tomorrow, make sure Rhidi doesn't puke all over her bed."

There was a light wave of tittering laughter as the female Kafya waved Morris off, the Human shutting the door behind him softly.

"Man, Jim Hawkens is hot as hell." Saffi said, having never stopped watching the movie and eating her popcorn. "Are there any Humans that have that ponytail thing going on?"

There was another round of laughter as Rhidi turned and cuddled into Imridit, everyone settling back down onto their ground pillows and ready to finish up the movie now that their Kholihl was safe and secured.