Tapestry

Rye had slept for practically the entire day in the aftermath of the ice world. When she’d awoken, she’d stumbled into the showers, an incautious sniff of her body reminding her of the reason it was always advised to wash before dozing after wearing vacsuits for an extended period. Half an hour of scalding hot water and soft bubbles later, and the engineer felt marginally more alive. Padding back into the ready room, she moved to the next task - finding something to wear so that she could go around the rest of the ship without giving the crew a show.

The automat spat out suitable underwear and a nutrient bar for breakfast, and after a bit of a rummage in the pile of clothing that had been shoved to one side of the massive sleeping space (that they were all intending to put through a wash cycle and just… hadn’t, yet) she found a pair of combat trousers that she was pretty sure were Sammie’s. They were clean enough for now, and so the bunny girl tugged them on. That, plus a t-shirt of Dusty’s she found hanging over the back of one of the raised cushions that only slightly smelt of him would get her down to her quarters and her own clothing - automat-wear was fine for things like her bra, but she really hated the fabric it used for any kind of serious heavy-duty work-wear.

She didn’t really have any particular goal in mind for the day as she wandered along the corridor in the direction of her own space. Dustin had made it clear that she was to take the day off along with the rest of the away team, and in any case they were currently in the middle of a weave jump. Tinkering on any of the things that currently needed looking at during weave-transit wasn’t a particularly good idea, in a “you need to override three safeties and get the captain to authorize it, and even then the ship won’t be happy” kind of way. So, on reaching her cabin she opted to dress for comfort rather than practicality for once.

Tossing what she was wearing into the laundry-chute after only a moment or two of debating whether or not to keep the t-shirt, Rye rummaged through her burrow until she found the clothes she was looking for and pulled them on. Standing up, the bunny girl considered her reflection in a hand-mirror she’d fashioned out of scrap parts, one of a number of projects she’d done purely to keep her hands busy over the past few months. Looking back at her, the golden-haired Rabyth’s reflection smiled. Her powerful thighs were being shown off in detail by the tight leggings, while the baggy top did a lot to hide both her other curves and just how tight the leggings got in the rear. If she walked or sat normally, she’d be decent - but if she bent over in front of him, Dusty would get quite the view.

Pausing to adjust her bra strap where it threatened to fall down one arm, the Rabyth woman nodded to herself and stepped outside. This part of the ship was fairly deserted at the late hour she’d risen, and given they’d not been in the ready room when she emerged from her slumber she assumed Dusty and the other ladies would be down in the galley feasting on whatever Naera had cooked up. She didn’t feel particularly hungry after the nutrient bar, didn’t have any work to do… With a shrug, Rye began walking in the direction of the lab where Mallow was currently housed.

As she passed a door much further down the passage however, it slid open. A rather sleepy looking cow girl peered out blearily before spotting Rye and yawning. “Are you going to the dining hall?”

The princess’s appearance indicated that she too had arisen only recently. Rye supposed she’d struggled to get to sleep - the Tho’unn had after all taken a tumble in the dark on that icy rock, and unlike the engineer hadn’t then been able to curl up surrounded by lovers willing to hold you while you processed everything that had happened. The bunny girl did however have other plans for the day, so she shook her head before pausing and explaining.

“You keep some kind of sand-bug as a pet?” Jaisyl’s nose wrinkled, before the Tho’unn woman sighed. “I wonder why Aricia didn’t mention it to me? Very well… I don’t know if I could handle the crowd in the galley right now anyway, but I didn’t want to be alone. I shall accompany you.”

Rye nodded, and was about to lead the way when the princess’s stomach gurgled rather loudly. Turning, the engineer raised an eyebrow at the other woman. “Want me to order ya a snack from the automat first?” The horned woman’s difficulties with ordering anything from the ship’s automat supply were well known by now, and it was with a grateful nod that Jaisyl stood aside to allow Rye entrance to her quarters.

The Rabyth had been expecting the rooms on the far side to be as pompous and self-aggrandizing as the princess herself had been during her first days on board. Large portraits of the princess with her family perhaps, with maybe some banners of the house crest and a bunch of full-length mirrors. What she found instead was a space not a million miles from her own burrow.

Jaisyl had adjusted the lighting much as Rye had done to a mix of orange and brown - although where the Rabyth’s mimicked an underground dwelling, here it brought to mind wood-panelled drawing rooms. The walls themselves were almost invisible behind stacks of books and bolts of cloth; there was further cloth hanging from the walls and parts of the ceiling, but instead of house banners it was long curtain-like drapes in various stages of sewn decoration.

Pushing one particularly detailed curtain depicting a pastoral scene - all wheat fields and farmers - to the side, Rye prodded the automat to life and turned back to her host. Gesturing to the desk, the bunny girl grinned and chuckled. “Ya keep the place almost as messy as me.” It’d been intended as a bit of friendly banter, but to her surprise Jaisyl paled.

“I… umm, that is to say, I have been very busy of late and have not had time to tidy. Back home I would have a maid, and more time, and…mmpf!” The princess’s words were cut off when Rye took the simple option to silence her sudden panic by shoving the nutrient bar into her mouth.

“My comment wasn’t intended to freak ya out. Was tryin’ to be friendly” the Rabyth woman said by way of explanation for trying to **** the Tho’unn with a block of concentrated foodstuff. “Ya get wound up over the weirdest things. I like what you’ve done with the place - tho those book stacks are a health risk. Ya want me to stick up some proper shelves for you?”

The princess took a bite from the bar, swallowed awkwardly and nodded. “That would be… yes, yes please Rye.”

Nodding to herself, Rye walked to the door. “Alright then. Well, let’s go see Mallow first, then I’ll go grab my scanner and tablet and we can start planning some renovations. Ya will need to take most of the drapes down before I can do any work though. I like to fit bookcases and shelves firmly, and a plasma-torch would turn that much fabric into an inferno pretty fast.”

The princess followed behind, a soft smile on her face at Rye’s ongoing chatter. Aricia was the closest thing the Tho’unn had to a friend - but the bunny girl seemed to be making an effort to bridge whatever frostiness lay between them - most likely the aftermath of the pair’s traumatic encounters during the recent mission to the research station.

Any thoughts of that frosty iceball were shoved from their minds when Rye opened the lab where Mallow lived. A wave of dry heat rolled into the corridor, and the cause was obvious as soon as they stepped inside. One half of the large room had now been given over to Mallow’s pen - a glass and steel construction that kept the bug safely in one location, with rocks and sand alongside a few shrubs providing it ample places to hide. The presence of several balls in various stages of destruction attested to Naera and Emely’s ongoing attempts to provide the creature with recreation and enrichment - but it’s favourite hobby remained interacting with the crew.

As they crossed the floor, the centipede reared up and chittered happily at them, before coiling around on itself excitedly. “Calm down ya muppet, I’ll get ya some snacks…” Rye remarked as she crossed the room, glancing back over her shoulder. “Ya can pet Mallow over the edge of the pen while I grab some kibble, she won’t bite.”