Draft - Remiel's Fall From Grace - Chapter 2 (Patreon)

This is a fairly polished draft, but please let me know in the comments if you spot anything.

Remiel's Fall From Grace - Chapter 1
by Zmeydros
(Edited by Tiliquain and Sheera Castellar)

The matte-gray non-stick ceramic surfaces of the ship's airlock were lit by numerous tiny overhead spotlights, like semi-orderly stars shining down. I stood between Ramda and Hosanna. Everyone was stealing glances at Ramda. Luke's face was hard to read, but I assumed he was perplexed or conflicted due to the deep furrow in his brow.

Hosanna's fixation with Ramda's tail increased with each passing second until she asked, "Can I touch your tail?"

Ramda swished her tail toward Hosanna. "Sure!"

First, Hosanna lightly touched it with her fingertips, but then she stroked it and smiled like she'd stolen a cookie from the cookie jar and gotten away with it. "It's so soft!"

Luke walked over and touched it too, seeming to think the invitation extended to him. Ramda didn't mind, so I started petting it as well. It was soft, luxuriously so. The fur was thick and so clean that it felt like goose down. I wanted to hug it against me and never let go.

The airlock finished cycling and the door opened revealing Josiah standing on the other side. He cleared his throat. "Just what do you three think you're doing?"

"Petting Ramda's tail," Hosanna said, continuing to stroke it

I stopped because Josiah had a righteous fire in his eyes. "Leave Captain Uweko be. We're not at a petting zoo."

Luke pulled his hand away and then Hosanna did so, reluctantly.

"They aren't hassling me, Josiah. Their curiosity speaks to their intelligence. I have to say, MiraManna has a great taste in employees," Ramda said.

Josiah's mouth opened and then closed as he realized he'd been trapped by her compliment. I'd never seen him at a loss for words and it was fascinating to behold. When he recovered, he said, "Get to your rooms and settle in. Dinner's at seven."

The same matte gray composite panels that were in the airlock lined the ship's halls, which were spacious enough for two lanes of traffic, but not if luggage carts were going both ways. The star-like spotlights gave a rather epic feel to our walk to our rooms, and amongst them were lots of pipes and conduits. I knew some of them were for the artificial gravity system, some were plumbing, and others were electrical. Out of everyone in our group, I was probably the only person that wanted to see the ship's schematic and get lost in all the mundane spacefaring details.

Ramda kept pushing my luggage cart while she gave Luke and Hosanna directions to their rooms. Why she was still pushing my cart, I had no idea. I figured she just wanted to finish what she started or there was some obvious reason I was missing.

First Luke, then Hosanna, bid us farewell before taking a right turn to head to their quarters.

Being alone with Ramda got my heart to speed up. My game of looking at her while trying not to look at her was exhausting.

When she stopped in front of my quarters, the domed rectangular door hissed and then lifted off of its frame a few centimeters before sliding to the side along a track in the wall. The lights slowly ramped up to full intensity, which was nifty and easy on the eyes. Instead of a second bunk, there was a flat storage space with a short railing above the lower bunk. Across from the bunk and storage space was a tiny modular composite kitchenette including a sink, a microwave, a small fridge, a few cupboards, and a toaster. All of it was sparkling clean and had a marbled grey facade with wavy purple streaks running through it.

"These are nice quarters," I said.

"I wish I was staying in this part of the ship. The environmental system in my section started acting up a few days ago and it's been way too humid," she said.

"Have you had maintenance look at it?"

"Nothing they can do. It needs an overhaul when we get back to earth. I'd move to passenger's quarters, but my cabin is near the bridge and, as long as I leave my door open, it doesn't get too bad."

"I don't know if I could deal with the hit to my privacy," I said.

"Lucky for me, only members of the crew can get past the bulkhead to my area." She pointed at the back of my quarters to a glass door in the wall. "See the standup shower in the back left?"

"Yeah?"

"The toilet's behind that nondescript door across from it. Most people reach for the handle on that door before they realize it's automatic. Just wave your hand in front of the handle, and it'll pop open. That way you can get to the sink without having to touch anything," she said.

"That's neat," I smiled.

Between the shower and toilet was a four-foot wide counter with a sink and a mirror above it. The mirror had handles under it in three places which suggested there was storage space behind it.

"What luggage do you want above your bunk?" Ramda asked.

"You're going to help me put away my luggage?" I asked.

"Yeah, I can tell you've had a hard day, and my day's been easy. I figure I can share some of my easy to make up for your hard."

"But don't you have more important things to do?" I asked.

"This likely surprises you, but due to the long stints where we're traveling between Anvils, forty percent of my job is just taking care of my passengers' needs. Space travel is really taxing on the human psyche and I get paid when people make it to the other side safe and happy," she said.

I blushed and felt tingly again without any idea why. How could I possibly deserve her attention like this? Pointing to a few of my bags, I said, "These should go above my bunk."

She grabbed two of them, walked over to the storage area, and then hefted them up there with little effort. I grabbed two of them and put them in the closet just inside the door before grabbing a third and putting it in there too.

Once Ramda got all the bags I wanted above my bunk stowed, she said, "Okay, can we put the rest in the hold?"

I pulled two more bags off and then said, "Yeah."

"Okay, tap the panel just inside your door and request a pickup for the rest of your luggage," she said.

I went over to the ###eight-by-eight-centimeter## panel and clicked through the teal blue menu to request the pickup. Then a countdown timer showed up, saying a bot would be there in fourteen minutes and counting.

"Okay, now, if you go to the sync option, the ship will display info through your implant instead of having to use info screens," she said.

I hit the sync option and put my implant into handshake mode. Three seconds later, the timer appeared in the lower right of my vision and when I looked at a closed door to my left, I got teal text saying, "Anything Room status: Vacant. Wave hand to enter." 

I waved my hand at the door and it clicked before it slid open to allow entry to the ###two-by-two-meter## room behind it. Seams in the walls showed where couches, displays, and VR equipment connections could be found. Anything Rooms were way more common in space than on planets. They allowed for just about any recreational use from ###exercise room, to movie theater, to gaming room.##

"You're sharing that room with the next room over, but we used the survey we gave you to make sure we didn't end up with bad matchups like pairing hardcore night owl gamers and night owl fitness fanatics." 

"That sounds good and I think I'm all set," I said. "See you later?" I held out my right hand for a goodbye shake.

"Some of my cargo's been held up by customs. Always happens at this station, so I can stay and chat a bit longer if you like." 

"You sure you don't have any higher priorities?" I asked. "I really don't want to take up more of your time."

"I've made all the necessary preparations and I'm not behind on any of my deadlines. Either you're trying to get rid of me, you don't think very highly of yourself, or you're underestimating how organized I am. So, which is it?" She smirked.

"Underestimating how organized you are?" I said sheepishly.

"Right, that's the one I thought," she said with a hint of sarcasm. 

She paused and closed the door behind her, leaving my luggage cart outside to wait for the pickup. "Remiel, you look at my ship as if you already know what the things on it do. And you knew about the Achelen Accord. I know, for a fact, that Trinity Stronghold's education system doesn't cover space much because they don't like giving their inhabitants the idea they can leave. This means, you taught yourself about ship systems and space politics. That, in turn, makes me interested in you. Makes me think you're not like all the other Trinies."

She paused for a moment, "Tell me, Remiel, how long have you wanted to be a starship captain?"

I blushed and stammered a couple times before I said, "I don't know, for as long as I can remember?"

"Then it's my duty, as a starship captain, to tell you to follow your dream," she said. "Save up money, make connections, and take all those little steps that lead toward your goal. And, if you stay in touch with me and I find my initial impression of you was correct, I will do what I can to help."

I felt like I wanted to cry. "But I'm just a gopher getting paid nothing and riding on a starship for the first time."

"Everyone thinks my inheritance from my rich political-activist sister is how I was able to start my business. Before she died, I'd already gotten my first ship through connections and business deals I'd made. My sister's money is what enabled me to mod myself. If you have a good business idea and foster the right friends, you can travel the stars. And, even if you don't start a business, there's ships out there looking for crew members like you. Then, you can work your way to being a captain by gaining experience," she said.

"Thanks for being so nice and encouraging me, but I have good reason to doubt I can do what you've done. I'm not all that good at making business connections and I know I don't have enough experience to get a job as part of a ship crew. Plus, I'm really awkward around people."

"Well, I hope you someday see yourself differently," she said. "In the meantime, you should look around my ship and learn all you can."

"I still can't believe you gave me access to crew areas," I said.

"Well, I tried to explain why, but we've hit a wall." She held out her arms. "How about I just give you another hug instead?"

I hugged her, hating how insecure and whiny I sounded. People complimenting me somehow always made me feel this way. Why was I such a mess?

Her arms tightened around me as I gave her a squeeze and nestled my head in her cleavage. I couldn't help thinking about everyone I'd be leaving behind. Somehow, I was already missing people I barely liked. Being thousands of lightyears from home had excited me for the past week, but now that it was about to be real, I was scared. My family had kept me from expressing myself, but I'd spent so many years learning how to get along with them that I was used to it. Soon, I'd be interacting with people from an unfamiliar culture. There's no way they were all as easy to get along with as Ramda.

Ramda, with her infinite kindness and giant wolf-modded body...Her breasts felt amazing pressed up against me. And her huge bulge was pressing against me just above my groin. No one's bulge had ever been in touching me like this and I'd always thought I'd mind. I didn't. God wasn't striking me with lightning. I wasn't setting on fire. I was just sharing an honest tender hug with a hermaphroditic wolf hybrid.

The initial few seconds she held me, it was calming, but then something entirely else happened. I felt warmth rushing south and got this strange urge to thrust my pelvis toward her to bring it into closer contact. I resisted the urge, but in my confusion, I let her go.

She was frowning. Had I let go too soon? Had she gotten some bad news through her implant just now? "Hey, before I go, I want to talk to you about our first hug. This one was kinda to make up for that one where I goofed and made you tense. I honestly didn't know you were going to keep holding that bag and I'm sorry if that got awkward for you."

"N-no, it's fine." And just like that, I was getting hard again. Her balls were so damn big! Did that mean her cock was equally big? Did it have a knot at the base? I was honestly curious.

"Have I made you uncomfortable? You seem a bit tense," she said.

"I'm fine, really." I knew she didn't mean my erection, but the mere idea that she might have been aiming innuendo at me had me throbbing so much I was rubbing my thighs together.

She sighed. "It's because I'm a hybrid, isn't it? I know how that's a touchy subject for y'all. If you want me to keep my distance, all you've gotta do is ask. I really don't mind. If I had such a shifted worldview, I'd likely be nervous too."

"No, that's not it, I love that you're a hybrid," I blurted out.

One of her ears fell in confusion, but then I saw her nose flex as she sniffed the air. "Wow, was I reading that wrong." She laughed. "Why don't you pop by my quarters in an hour and a half, after we've disembarked? I think we should continue this conversation before we go to dinner. Don't you?"

"No, that's not it," I put my hands over my crotch as a tent formed. There wasn't much room in my quarters. We were standing close enough that I could smell her scent getting thicker and I got a wet patch where my cock tip touched my boxers.

"One thing you'll learn real quick about me is that you can't fool this." She tapped her canine nose. "See you in an hour and a half after you've managed to calm yourself down a bit." The door to my quarters opened and she stepped out. 

My eyes were fixed on her ass and tail until the door closed behind her. I'd never been this embarrassed or this erect and had no idea what to do with myself. It took me thirty seconds to convince myself that she'd said what I'd thought she said, and then thirty more seconds of being painfully hard to decide to do something about it. I took a step toward my bunk only to have my wet sock squish against my shoe. 

"Fucking hell!" I said as I pulled my shoe and sock off.

Knocking that vase full of flowers off of the side table in my parents' entryway had been a fabulous way to start the day.

After pulling my other shoe and sock off, I started stripping out of my jumpsuit. They'd hidden the zipper in the front well, but it was rather easy to slide open and I was in my undies in no time. Then I stared down at the throbbing prick in my boxers thinking, "She knows, oh God, she knows!"

But what does she know? That I'm pent up from being too nervous to get off for a week? 

This had to be a big misunderstanding. I'd never seen porn of hybrids or herms because that was blocked on Trinity Stronghold. I could've hacked my way around those protections and risked spending time in the worst penal system in known space, but I'd never had the balls to do it. Mmm, balls...her balls had such a nice heft to them. I brought my right hand up to my nose and sniffed, finding her scent was still there. 

I groaned and pulled my boxers off as pre beaded at my cock tip. There had to be some explanation as to why I liked her scent so much. Maybe she'd modded it to be especially pleasing? Like the way she'd gotten both a dick and a pussy?

Oh God! I sat on my bunk and started stroking. I couldn't have been attracted to her cock or her balls, I'd never thought about a prick other than mine. It had to be that she was so new, so different, had six tits, and carried herself with that amazing confidence I wish I had. I'd been way more interested when I'd heard she was a herm, so I probably just wanted her pussy. Yeah, that had to be it.

Sniffing the back of my hand while I stroked so fast my arm went numb, I moaned and trembled. I was stuck in that moment where my hand was sliding between her thighs, where I felt her bulge glide over my hand until I felt the heat from the furnace behind them. Her snatch. Was it modded too?

"HAAAHHHH!" I panted, my moans and breathing getting all mixed up. The pressure in my prostate was so powerful it was aching all the way up to my stomach.

And she knew I was doing this thinking about her, she said she'd see me after I calmed myself down...I couldn't hide my lust from her, she could smell it clear as day. YES! Why was that so fucking hot?!

"GAH! FUCK!" I yelled as my prick convulsed in my grip.

The first shot of my jizz splattered all over my socks. The second shot hit the cupboard four feet across from me. None of the others went that far, but I soon had a mess larger than any I'd made before. The whole time, I was screaming until my lungs burned and my jaw hurt from being open so wide. The pleasure was like an ache in my joints that made me flail my limbs. It wasn't just bliss, it was gale force winds and hail.

When I fell back on my bunk, I could feel my heartbeat in my toes and I was sweating profusely. That was the most effort I'd put into masturbation in my entire life. I didn't know it could feel this good. Boy had I been missing out.

I lost the next few minutes to feeling utterly awesome while my thoughts floated just out of reach.

My prick was spent and I'd likely be able to just chat with Ramda comfortably for the rest of the trip. Thank goodness I'd gotten that out of my system. I needed to learn to get off regularly so I didn't get obsessed with such strange kinks.

Without all that going on in my mind, I could ask Ramda all sorts of things about the ship and her career. I'd never be a ship captain like her, but it would be fun to hear about her adventures. Then I'd get some dinner and flop on my bunk so I could sleep off this bizarre, exhausting day. But, before any of that, I needed a shower.

END OF CHAPTER 2

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