Chapter 8

Gildedtongue spent the rest of hir day off continuing to grade papers.  The badger herm had gone back to hir own duties after bidding the chakat a good day with a promise to see hir again in the evening.  Hir mind went back and replayed the activities through hir head as shi felt thr warm feeling of the gift Saldura had left within hir.  Shi closed hir eyes, momentarily enjoying it, then felt hir soaring heart plummet like a stone.

The badger was someone else's mate.  Saldura hirself had said it was fine, but shi had never gone to speak to Thallon about this; maybe he wouldn't be quite so open about it.  Then again, the fox'taur had been dry humping hir in the cockpit earlier that afternoon.  First Dreamweaver, then nearly Thallon, then Saldura, all in the span of a single week.  The chakat lifted a hand to clutch at hir own shoulder, shivering slightly.  Shi felt so perverse and slutty.  Shi knew and read all the articles about hir own species, how shi was supposed to act this way, and shi felt even worse that shi was feeling bad about this.

Shi needed to take a walk.  Putting the PADD to the side and pulling a shirt over hir head shi made hir way through the ship's spine.  Several crew members passed and presented Gildedtongue a friendly smile and wave.  Shi returned each with a nervous wave and nod, keeping hir gaze mostly fixed to the floor below hir.  In hir head shi felt that all of these people knew of hir sexual escapade and were sizing hir up.  Hir hearts beat faster as shi felt this anxiety continue to course through hir whole body.  Shi finally made it to the end of the spine, nearly bumping into the doorway leading right into the bridge.  The massive bulkhead was designed to keep the pilot and captain and whoever else was inside  extremely safe.  A biometric security device was bolted to one side of the blast doors, glowing quietly, waiting for someone to try their luck.  Shi looked behind hir, seeing the long way back, unable to make out the end of the corridor to the engineering bay.

As shi continued to stare down the hexagonal passage shi felt sick to hir stomach from vertigo as shi looked back towards the floor in hir return walk.  Shi kept count of each door and bulkhead to fill hir troubled head with useless and distracting information.  Eight pairs of doors, or the equivalent thereof, per bulkhead.  Some rooms, such as the galley, armoury and Holo Room Suite took up a full bulkhead side.  Names of crew etched into a shining metal plaque on each door, breaking up the dull gunmetal grey- and rust- coloured interior.  This was the first time the chakat had really got a close look at the ship and it certainly looked as if it had seen better days.  As shi passed through one bulkhead, a human with a hand-sander was buffing off a patch of rust, finding bright shiny metal just underneath.  Shi couldn't help but smile; the old thing did look like shit, but everyone within was still proud enough to try and make it a home.

The warm feeling was cut short when she heard the crew member spit loudly on the spot he was working on and continue to buff.  The chakat fought down conflicting actions of giggling and revulsion as shi made hir way back into hir quarters, the bit of respite helping calm hir down a little as shi inhaled deeply.  The odour of sex and the badger still hung thick in the air, bringing back the chakat's blush as shi held hir head.  Shi had to get hir work done, but afterwards, shi wanted to to talk to Saldura and Thallon and apologize.

“For what?” shi asked hirself, turning on hir PADD again. “Mature adults having consensual sex... behind the back of one of their mates, who was dry humping the other one earlier that day.  Shit, I see why every other chakat doesn't think about this,” shi muttered as shi spent most of hir time correcting spelling and grammar whilst hir brain was on other things.  Hir psuedothumbs rubbed against each other underneath hir desk, adding to hir multitasking brain in an effort to push out hir current line of thought.

The current homework piece compared modern astronavigation techniques to the early transatlantic sailors of Terra's history.  No matter the knowledge of stars and the size of the sails, those who voyage into the unseen always do so blind.  The teacher looked out of the porthole, seeing the slow moving stars move past.  Shi could only figure that shi was facing core-ward, but shi could just as easily be facing the black as far as shi could notice.  The computers were all that told anyone what direction they were heading inside, forcing all occupants of space to merely accept the cryptic words of a technological shaman and hope that this time will be as successful as the last.  The thoughts had run a new chill through the chakat's spine, but it had luckily driven out hir guilt of hir promiscuous activities.

As shi returned hir focus back upon hir work, shi smiled softly to hirself.  It seemed that the majority of hir students were getting the point of the assignments.  A huge weight coming off of the chakat's mind at that, as Education through Application is something people either understand or completely are lost on.  As far as the chakat was concerned, old fashioned fact memorization was a waste of time, and it became more useful to be able to learn research and application.  Shi put down hir PADD as shi thought about it, remembering that at times memorization could also be useful.

Shi shook hir head as hir train of thought had derailed into something extremely tangential and went back to work.  Shi was at the home run stretch of hir work and shi didn't want to get sidetracked from something that would just take a half an hour of concentration.

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Gildedtongue stepped out of hir quarters, stretching long as shi felt hir spines both pop in complaint.  Shi chuckled to hirself and proceeded towards the rear of the ship.  Finally finished after putting hir work to the side time and again, shi was able to relax fully.  The passing crew offered greetings to the wayward chakat and shi shyly waved back, still feeling self-conscious about hirself.  Shi wasn't doing anything too important, nothing that couldn't be done by computer, but it seems that people still learn better in person.

Shi peered into the cargo bay, one of the few placed that shi knew of on the ship.  No one was around as far as shi could see as shi stepped onto the catwalk.  Hir hearts still pounding as shi tried not to peer over the railing towards the stacks of ore containers below hir feet.  From here shi could listen to the ship's engines groaning further aft, building the warp field around the ship as it slingshot through space.

Hir meditation was cut short as the mecha's cockpit opened up with a wheeze when the hermetic seal was broken.  Gildy tried not to leap in fright as hir head snapped behind hir.  The grinning fox'taur offered a friendly wave towards Gildedtongue, chuckling across the distance.  “I'm sorry if I frightened you in our last encounter.” Thallon chuckled, leaning over the vehicle's controls, gazing over the chakat.  Gildedtongue rolled hir eyes as shi started to approach the male.

“Please.  It was... well,  It was nice, I just... you know, that time of the month and all,” Gildedtongue felt hir ear heat up in blush before shi swallowed it down again.  Shi sighed slightly, looking over the todd, recollecting hir time with his mate in hir quarters, biting hir lower lip.  Hir heatcycle was halfway through and shi still felt randy, especially around the cocky male.  “Thallon, look.  Yesterday, well, yesterday Saldura and I, well, we...” Gildy continued to stammer, feeling hir ears grow as red as hir mane, “We had sex, and, well, yeah.” shi finally blurted out, looking up into Thallon's face.

The fox'taur had a look of anger as he snarled, “That bitch!  I can't believe hir!” he said, pounding his on top of the cockpit's console, making Gildedtongue back up, feeling the cold railing stop hir from backing up more.  Thallon continued, “Doing exactly what I told hir to.  I mean, some people can be really ungrateful.”

Gildedtongue's mind found itself slamming hard against a wall as hir personal logic train was derailed.  Shi coughed slightly, cocking hir head to one side, “Wh-what?  You told hir to...” shi trailed off, not quite believing hirself.

Thallon laughed and nodded, “Well, I had gotten you so flustered, I sent hir a message that you might have need for some relaxation.” he chuckled to himself.  His pinkish tail flagged and wagged behind him like a puppy's would.  Gildedtongue had a flurry of emotions, relieved that he wasn't angry, embarrassed for falling for his ruse, and angry hirself for being used like that.

“Now see here, Mr. Rosefur.  Maybe I didn't want to do that.  What sort of right did you have to set me up like that?” shi felt a snarl brew up but swallowed it down, hir tail wrapped rightly around the railing to help hir balance and to not go after the fox'taur.

“Jeez, I'm sorry,” Thallon said, raising his hands in defense, “Just thought I'd help you out.  You really aren't like a chakat.”  Gildedtongue frowned, then nodded at his observation, trying to relax hirself from hir position, breathing softly.

“No, no I'm not.  Look, I'm sorry.” shi began, feeling hir ears blush once more, “But, well, yes.  I really did enjoy it.  Ah, thank you, Thallon.”  The chakat went back towards the cockpit, seeing the once again grinning fox wag his tail again.  Shi sighed slightly, still feeling awkward about the whole thing, but glad that there wasn't any bad feelings going around.

“Well, I'm glad you did enjoy it.  That was part of the point, now, wasn't it?” The fox'taur snickered and got up out of his seat, “Now, how about we go and get some dinner?” he asked, backing up half a step in the cramped cockpit before leaping out of the mecha towards the catwalk rather than the disembarking platform.

Thallon's forefoot caught the heavy seal around the cockpit, compromising his trajectory.  His usually carefree face distorting in a yelp, seeing the railing coming towards his face.  Gildedtongue couldn't move, frozen in confusion before seeing Thallon's face slam hard into the metal railing with a resounding clang, bending the metal downward.  His body sent spinning the opposite direction, a pinkish spiral heading down towards the far away ground.  Gildedtongue found hir feet and dashed towards the railing, but as shi shoved hir hand out, all shi caught was air.  Shi was helpless in watching Thallon descend to the ground, making a small whimper as shi heard the fox'taur hit the ground with a wet snap sixty feet below.

The chakat muttered every single prayer shi knew as shi made hir way down the metal staircase, tripping twice and was sent tumbling down to the closest landing.  Time raced ahead and slowed down for the chakat at the same time, feeling that the fox'taur's life was slipping and hir motion wasn't fast enough.  Shi stumbled onto the ground floor and raced towards Thallon.  He was sprawled all over the floor, a foreleg was bent in a perverse position from an unnatural joint.  Shi saw both of his chests huffing air as shi felt a wave of relief finding him alive.  Shi looked back up the stairs and then readdressed Thallon, seeing his spine looked normal.  “Are you awake?” shi asked, hearing a pained grunt from the fox'taur.  Shi slowly picked him up, grunting at the weight before moving him onto hir backs, careful of his foreleg.  Urine dripped from his side from a puddle he created out of the pain, but for the most part his bodily fluids remained inside his body.  Shi had only hoped that nothing inside was hurt.  “Keep talking to me, Thallon.” shi said in a panic.  Thallon responded with a grunt and an unintelligible murmur.

Gildedtongue kept talking to Thallon, getting him to respond somewhat in hir ascent of the staircase.  Thallon's grey eyes were slightly out of focus from being concussed on the railing.  Gildedtongue found wells of strength shi didn't know shi had when shi made hir way to the top, continuing to carry the male into the ship's spine.  Shi looked left and right, shouting at the nearest crew member, “Where's a God damned doctor?”

The startled human snapped at attention at the chakat carrying the fainted todd.  He was in the process of repairing a floor light, but quickly decided this was more important.  “Ah, follow me!” he said, getting up and lead Gildy bridgeward along the corridor.

Blood was pounding inside of Gildedtongue's ears, drowning everything out and just followed the person in front of hir.  They made their way three sections from the hold opening and the human lead hir inside a large room, about the size of the galley or the holoroom.  A short human of both Latin and Oriental heritage looked up from her PADD and gave an exasperated sigh.

“Get him on the table.” she said with a tone sounding closer to someone having to clean a pet's mess than an emergency situation.  “What happened?” she asked in the same bored tone.  Gildedtongue slid Thallon onto the padded table, making him hiss in pain, both of her lungs were on fire as shi tried to find breath to speak.

“F-fell, from his robot.” Gildedtongue stammered, “Hit his head hard on the railing and fell to the ground.  His leg is broken but, I'm not sure what else.  You've got to save him, doc!” shi said.  Hours later shi'd realize how cliché that sounded but at the moment hir brain wasn't quite on the ball.  The doctor nodded and sighed looking over the fox'taur, then turned to the chakat.

“That all?  You still here?  Get out, unless you think that you've got a degree in medicine!” she shooed out the chakat and the crew member.  Gildedtongue looking slightly bewildered, and would have fought against the human for getting rid of hir had the doctor not seemed more an alpha than shi was.

The human gave half a chuckle, shrugging slightly, “Don't worry.  Wu's a bit of an interesting person, but she'll get him fixed up for you.”  Gildedtongue gave an opened mouth slow nod, looking at him before he started to go back to his work.

The chakat was startled, feeling a hand rest on hir flank, making hir jump up.  Shi quickly turned hir head to look at the person next to hir, sighing slightly in relief, “O-oh, it's you.” shi said, looking at the stern look of Saldura as hir relief became dread.

“So, what did that idiot do to himself now?” Shi asked, crossing hir arms before hir.  Gildedtongue loosed a long breath before retelling the story to the badger.  As hir words moved across the air, it didn't change the expression on hir face at all, rather made it darker.  Saldura sighed slowly, shaking hir head, “Well, sounds like something he'd do.  At least you were there or he'd probably still laid out on the floor now.  I'm sorry that he put you through this.”

Gildedtongue shook hir head, “No, no... it's fine, really.  Just...” shi trailed off mid sentence, sitting down on hir haunches, as shi started to smell hirself, reeking of sweat and the todd's own water.  “Think I need a shower, and a really cold drink.”

Saldura's face softened, nodding quietly, “Okay.  How about you hit the showers, and come back to my room and I'll hook you up with something.”  The chakat nodded quietly before walking towards the communal showers.  The day's events slowly starting to process in hir brain as hir mental cache had been stuffed to capacity, and a bit of deprogramming would be useful.  The chakat disrobed when shi saw that the place was empty, sighing in luck of hitting the place between shift rushes.  The water was warm and ran through hir fur, allowing hir to feel the grime and sweat run off of hir flesh towards the drain below.

“I hope he's doing okay,” Gildedtongue said aloud in the empty room, enjoying the warm water start to soak into hir flesh.  Powdered soap was scrubbed underneath hir fur while hir palms and fingers worked it in.  “If he wasn't trying to show off he wouldn't have gotten hurt,” shi muttered.  Hir mind continued down that line of thought, “Though, he wouldn't have shown off had I not been there.  He'd also not have felt as such had I just got his joke earlier.  Hell, he wouldn't have needed to joke if I was just chakat enough to have just enjoyed a casual fuck.  Or I had been more of a person than just some craven animal in heat.” shi muttered lightly to hirself, feeling a few tears roll down hir cheek.

The chakat let out a long breath, feeling the guilt compound rather than wane.  Stepping from the wet area to the heated dry room, shi towelled off hir form for the next ten minutes, the large towel sponging off moisture efficiently ready to take the fluid and reprocess the grey water for new purposes.  A new shirt and the chakat made hir way down the hall, pausing in front of Saldura's and Thallon's quarters.

Shi contemplated simply walking on to hir own room, not wanting to face the badger after what went on inside of hir head, but courtesy dictated that shi at least pay hir respects to the appointment.  Hir eyes shut lightly before rapping hir knuckles over the metal door.  A sharp hiss slipped between hir tongue and teeth as hir thin skin broke across an inlet edge of the door.  The door slid open, the uniformed mustalid seeing the pained chakat sucking on hir fingers.

Saldura offered Gildedtongue in, offering the promised drink to Gildedtongue who first used it on hir knuckle.  The chakat ddn't say anything for several moments, looking blankly at the ground.  Awkwardness was filtered into the cabin while both hermaphrodites sat in the quiet.  Gildedtongue's eyes roamed over the room, looking pointedly more decorated and developed than hir own room, but not terribly so.  Several posters of films and bands emblazoned half of the room, mostly action movies and various rock and pop bands, the eyes of one ferret singer sporting an enormous perm hairstyle seemed to follow Gildedtongue's eyes over towards the still somewhat spartan bed.  Finally the chakat could not stand the deafening silence before finally speaking, “Look, I'm sorry for what happened.”

Saldura lifted an eyeridge, looking over the chakat, “What, did you throw him over the railing?” Gildedtongue shook hir head before taking a sip, finally, from the offered drink.  Shi expected one of the sodas shi had been given, feeling the bitter beer run over hir tongue shi nearly spat it out, looking at the can shi was holding.  The leonine feli'taur held the fluid in hir mouth for a few moments, appreciating the beverage with a more conscious matter now, swallowing finally.

“No, no.  I didn't do anything like that.  I just, feel somehow responsible for the whole thing, though.  Had I not been there he wouldn't have done anything like that, and I guess I wouldn't have been in there if I hadn't been with you, and...” shi trails off, seeing the bemused face on the badger before hir.

“Oh, please, don't let me stop you.  I find Catholic Guilt so unbelievably fascinating.” Saldura chuckled softly to hirself, feeling hir tiny tail flick across hir buttocks.  Gildedtongue swallowed a whimper behind another swig of beer, averting hir eyes towards the metal floor.  Sal let out a slow sigh, padding over next to Gildedtongue, resting a hand upon hir shoulder, squeezing gently, “Look, Thallon did something stupid, and you were there to see it, that's not exactly your fault.  Hell, were you not there, he'd probably be on the ground until I decided to check upon his location. The guy would have snapped his neck off had we been in proper gravity, he's lucky the ship is rated at only 0.6 Gs.” Gildedtongue nodded quietly.  “Furthermore,” Saldura continued, “I guess it's my fault that you feel such about our sex.  I guess I should have made sure you were mature enough for such a thing.”  Gildedtongue shot back a hurt and offensive glare to the younger biped.

“Okay, okay, poor choice of words” Saldura said, lifting hir hands up in defence.  “But true enough as is.  I mean, most people these days are pretty cool about casual sex.”  Gildedtongue rolled hir eyes, not at Saldura, but at hirself, blowing something that should be trivial out of proportion like shi has.  The chakat let out a four lunged sigh, closing hir eyes slightly.

“I guess you're right, though.  I don't know, I suppose I haven't had a lot of practice with the whole concept.”  Gildedtongue muttered.

“Well, considering your background, I wouldn't think so.  But, I suppose now's a good enough time to learn.” Saldura wiggled hir eyeridges suggestively.

“Aren't you on shift now?” Gildedtongue shot back, getting a chuckle from Saldura.  “But, really.  I don't know, maybe that kind of thing might work out.  Though, I have to admit, both you and Thallon are rather striking.”

Saldura nodded, the white parts of hir face reddening a bit with blush, “Well, thank you.  I think you've done a bit for the big oaf and me as well.”  The badger looked up at the ceiling in quiet contemplation, “Well, we've got several more months together on the same boat, so, who knows, perhaps we'll enjoy something some time that's a little more than casual.” The badger chuckled, sipping from hir own drink, a bottle of water, before walking back out to the spine.  “I suppose you can let yourself out when you'd like, but, you're right, I am on shift.”

Gildedtongue nodded, watching Sal depart and bade hir farewell as shi left.  The chakat nursed hir drink quietly, tempted to see how Thallon was, but, considering the doctor's demeanour, shi felt it smarter to wait after class was over tomorrow.  More of the bitter fluid rolled along the rough chakat tongue down hir throat.

Shi couldn't locate the waste disposal unit in the officers' room, and slipped the bottle into hir shirt pocket, unsure about any dry rules on the ship, making hir way back towards hir own quarters to throw it away, figuring the only one that would get hir into trouble was the very person who gave it to hir, and thus punishment, if any, would be light.

Gildedtongue's eyes glanced out into the starry scene once more, seeing the slow moving beads of light make their way from one end of the porthole to the other, taking twelve minutes, by the chakat's count in hir still slightly shell-shocked brain.  “Several more months indeed.” Gildedtongue muttered to hirself before walking to hir bed, crawling in for a nap.