Into the black depths... of SPACE! (Darian and Geneticmess)

[GeneticMess]

(Sap Dragons could be considered that, but most Polla try to avoid them, despite how tempting endless sexual pleasure is. There is a decent number of Polla who do succumb to the sweets of a Sap Dragon, but you probably won't see them often for...obvious reasons. And I suppose I can keep the Sap Dragons' size a secret if you want, but I'm perfectly fine with telling you.)

"Yeah...they sound harmless enough." Kelly's reassurance definitely helped, at least enough to feel confident enough to take this delivery on. Marisa looked a bit unhappy that she'd have to make this sound even more perilous than it was.

"Unfortunately, Shu'gar doesn't really have anywhere proper to land your ship." She stepped away from them for a moment, and typed something into her computer before coming back. "I've sent the directions and coordinates on Shu'gar you'll need to land at. The coordinates lead to a large meadow, which is one of the very few places that is not overgrown by either forest or the town of the Polla people. From the meadow, you'll have to go through the forest to reach the town, but it's only about 4 miles away, so it shouldn't be too much of a hassle." Marisa could see worry returning to Avery's face. "And don't worry, there's nothing really dangerous there. Sap Dragons are usually far off the beaten path, so you'd have to go out of your way to run into them."

"Alright, I...think we can handle this." Avery accepted, much to Marisa's enjoyment. She walked back over to her desk, and handed them a couple small boxes, some brown and some grey.

"The grey boxes contain the seeds, and the brown ones are your company provided rations. You guys can stay around for a while if you'd like, but I'd say it'd be in your best interest to get started on your first delivery."

[Darian]

(only tiny boxes? I thought it would be at least a large cargo container. I guess it really is a blue milk run for the first time out. though we could have a guy at the landing pad with the REST of the seeds... we'd have to take a small hover-cart, or something. No worries, if we're just going to do this on foot.)

Kelly takes her rations with a grin and tucks them under her shoulder.

"We can always check this place out when we get back!" The big bunny bounces as she throws a mock salute. "You can count on us, boss!"

Honestly, she's really excited! unlike Avery, Kelly wouldn't mind doing some adventuring, and believes she can handle some rough situations. Well... she is almost a foot taller than him and full of sexy muscle.

[GeneticMess]

(Oh, of course. The moment they get back to the ship there's gonna be a guy who hands them 10 other small boxes, and something to the effect of a hover-cart to carry all these things.)

Not wanting to be one-upped, Avery forces a smile and gives a similar salute, although it unsurprisingly doesn't have the same strength as Kelly's. Marisa can't help but giggle, always enjoying handling new recruits, especially the more eager ones.

Avery was mostly into this job for the sightseeing, but the factor of adventure hadn't really settled in until now. On one hand, it was really exciting! On the other...lots of potential peril. Still, with how strong Kelly was, he at least had some confidence.

As soon as the went back up a few floors and reached the docking station, another employee, wearing a uniform of the same design as Avery, was carrying 10 other grey boxes, and laid them down smack dab in front of their ship. The employee waved, and then went about their merry day. Seems their load wasn't as small as they initially thought. Couldn't they have packed all of this in bigger boxes?

[Darian]

"Well, here's the rest of it." Kelly smiles and places her grey box on top of the others. "I saw a hovercart in the ship, lemme grab it, and I'll get this loaded."

The lapimorph tosses Avery her ration box. "Get these stashed in the mess area, would you? We can crack em open after we get our course set in, or after we land."

Kelly trots into the ship, wondering aloud: "I wonder what rations they gave us? Didn't seem like much..."

[GeneticMess]

Doing just that, Avery hauls their rations into the ship, setting them down on a small table in the equally small mess room. Hearing Kelly's thoughts brought up a similar question in his mind.

"I suppose it wouldn't hurt to check now." He insisted, opening the brown boxes without much hassle to find...lots and lots of small, plastic bags? It was akin to a bunch of packages of fruit snacks, all of them a dull grey with a bold black font on them. He looked over them confusingly, before reading the text on them. Each one had different flavors, like "Tomato Soup", "Roast Beef W/ Baked Potato", and "Blueberry Pie W/ Ice Cream", among others. It seemed it was something akin to astronaut food, and would become much more enjoyable once prepared properly with water.

[Darian]

(Huh, and here I thought they would be honey bars. Hope my posts aren't too short.)

"All done!" Kelly powers down the hover cart and inserts it into it's holding slot. The grey seed boxes have been neatly strapped down onto the cart, ensuring their safety.

With a single jump, she hops up to the upper level, and joins Avery in the kitchen.

"Looks like old style spacetravel food." Kelly actually wrinkles her nose cutely at the images. "Well... the upside is, It'll keep no matter how long we put off eating it. It won't be anywhere near as good as real food though..." She picks up one of the packages, and reads the ingredient list. "Huh. I might be wrong. And some of this stuff... wow, it's pretty heavy. At least they'll be filling."

[GeneticMess]

(Nah, it's fine. I just have the habit of putting too much detail into every other speck of dirt. )

Avery looks through some of the other flavors, out of curiosity. "I've gotta admit, some of this stuff sounds like it belongs in a three-course meal rather than a tiny packet like this."

After fawning over some of the food, he heads back down to the lower level. "I'm gonna get everything running, come down when you're ready to take off." He pauses. "And, uh, if you try some of that stuff, tell me what it's like!"

[Darian]

"Sure!" Kelly sets about putting things away neatly, so that they can both sit at the mess. A few minutes later, she comes back with a two cups of a brown, frothy concoction.

"I figured since we left behind your Chocolate Massacre milkshake, we should at least enjoy a re-hydrated chocolate one on the company dime." She puts the drinks in a safe place and takes her seat, strapping in.

"Ready for take off, captain?"

(This is how I Imagine the layout of their ship, as seen from the side.)

Back<[Cargobay][Bunks/Messhall]
Back<[Cargobay][Hallway/engineering][Bridge]>Front

[GeneticMess]

"O-oh, thank you!" The Gelatoa's eyes lit up as he saw the frothy drink, taking it once Kelly put it down and eagerly downing it in one gulp. If she looked close enough, she could see a blurry outline of the drink going down in his mouth and down his throat, due to the somewhat translucent nature of a Gelatoa.

He let out a sigh of relief before grabbing the wheel again, the Adder soon ascending and passing through the Earth's atmosphere once again. He tapped in the coordinates and activated the ship's warp jump.

"Should take about...15 minutes or less." Avery relaxed in his seat once more. "I dunno why, but...I feel pretty excited about this now. Still afraid, but also excited!"

[Darian]

"Of course it's exciting, Avery!" Kelly waved her hands in a slightly silly fashion. "We're going off to a whole new world, to see people and things we've never seen before in our life! This is what space travel is all about! Travelling is awesome!"

She take a deep slurp of her milkshake, and her ears perk up a bit. "Mm, not bad!"

"And after this, we can go explore earth, or just take another job, or... just GO someplace!" She gestures out to the stars blurring before them. "The whole universe is open to us now, Avery!"

(Idea: as couriers, we don't always have to go back to earth. We get requests that send us to one planet for a pick up, and another for a drop off. Jobs tend to go to whoever is in the area or requests one. That sound good?)

[GeneticMess]

"Of course, that's why I signed up for this job in the first place, I just...get a bit too over concerned, I think." Avery tried to laugh it off, scratching his head. He then took off his delivery boy hat and placed it in a safe place.

"I'm going to go take a shower, I've been wearing this jumpsuit for so long, and..." He paused, starting to undo his jumpsuit but not taking it off yet for Kelly's sake. "Why do so many species insist on wearing clothes? They feel like a hassle most of the time..."

[Darian]

"Some species don't, but it's considered a mark of civilization. Most species aren't stupidly durable or cold or heat resistant, clothes mitigate that effect. Add in humanity's incredibly strong nudity taboo, only species with a really heavy cultural preference for nudity go around unclothed. Some species can get away with token effects, but those species tend to be... macro sized, or covered in natural armor."

Kelly rolls her eyes a bit at Avery's hesitance. "Trust me, clothes aren't that big a deal, as long as you're choosing what you're wearing. I'm sure I don't need to tell you about the social cues based around clothing or a lack thereof..."

The bunny pauses for a moment, then leans back so that Avery can see her lips puckered up around the straw of the milkshake, and she lowers her eyelashes in a sensual fashion and starts slooooooowly pulling down the neck of her shirt, and she uses her shoulders to press her boobs up and together in a truly brainmelting fashion.

[GeneticMess]

"Fair enough." Avery admitted. He hadn't really considered a lot of that...but then again, he had yet to personally know a lot of species who had such unique anatomy that required clothes.

And then, Avery went from a hesitant smile to a big-eyed stare. His eyes couldn't help but follow every bit of skin that was revealed as Kelly teased him hard. Being so used to seeing people clothed his whole life, the whole idea of seeing someone naked, as he preferred to be, was suddenly so enthralling...he tried to return the tease with one of his own, slowly pulling up the skirt like bottom of his jumpsuit and showing some leg.

[Darian]

"Huh, expected you to fall over blushing. Just goes to show that you can't predict everything." Kelly dropped the look so suddenly it was a surprise neither of them got whiplash. Her shirt snapped back up. "Normally when I try to get people drooling over the idea of sex with me, it's to make it easier for to sucker-punch them."

Kelly turned her attention back to the controls.

"The other reason, Avery, is that people who prefer to go nude either A: really don't care about how they appear to society, and are tough enough to take all the judgement that'll get them, or B: are such sex-starved maniacs that they go nude or close to it to minimize the time between spotting someone and the act itself." Kelly gives Avery a much cooler look. "so how you dress is a bit important, especially regarding your species."

Riiiight, Kelly had to wear a scanty outfit back at the bar... and she often commented that as much as she hated the uniform, the only other work options she had would've made her wear something MUCH WORSE. Being judged for her sensuality isn't something that Kelly likes, even if she does tease Avery just a bit.

(Doesn't really make sense to me that Gelatoa on the Gelatoa homeworld would have a nudity taboo. So wouldn't Avery be raised around people who DIDN'T wear clothes, and suddenly had to wear them when he moved to another world?)

[GeneticMess]

Avery let go of his tease in a flash, quickly patting down his jumpsuit.

"...I guess you're right." He sat right back down, deciding he could get his shower later. "Maybe I take these things for granted." He thought out loud. "And, uh, I guess you of all people would really come to appreciate such things after what you had to wear at Vash's. Sorry 'bout that." He rubbed his arm awkwardly, and sunk back into his seat. "I think I'll hold off on that shower, so if you wanna get one you can..."

At that moment, Avery remembered his, in hindsight, poor judgement and decision to leave Kelly's panties behind. If she got a shower, she'd definitely notice. "...or not."

(The way I see it, Avery grew up in a generation where the taboo of nudity overtook the native culture, and was raised to believe it was as such. But being a Gelatoa, he finds clothes uncomfortable anyways. If that makes sense.)

[Darian]

(Right, right, that makes a bit more sense. Sorry about the sudden cut off with the tease. I'm still working out how Kelly will react to certain situations, or subjects. Her characterization might be a bit inconsistent for a while.)

"It's cool Avery. I guess I'm just used to teasing you a little. I'll try to stop." the big bunny slurps her milkshake a bit more, and shakes her head at Avery's offer.

"yeah, probably not a great time for a shower. We're going to have a lot of work to do when we get to the planet. Besides, the change of clothes I got earlier will hold me till then. I'll watch the controls if you want to take a real fast shower though."

[GeneticMess]

(Nah, it's fine. Better to develop the character over time than try and rush something.)

Avery chuckled a bit, looking out at the stars. He, of course, didn't mind the teasing...but if her feelings for him weren't even there, he'd rather not have her be someone she's not. Not implying that he had feelings for her or anything, that'd just be weird. They've known each other for a long time, just really, really good friends...

Avery stopped that line of thought, started to worry himself over the most trivial things.

"I'm...I'm good, thank you." The Gelatoa insisted, sitting there kinda awkwardly. He didn't seem super sure of himself what to say or do next, so he just opened the file Marisa had given him and kept himself busy with that.

[Darian]

"Anything interesting?" Kelly asked, glancing over at the file Avery was reading. She really did need to get to know the guy better... but right now, they should probably focus on the delivery they'd be making in a few minutes.

[GeneticMess]

"...Hm." Avery was looking at something that had caught his eye. It was a paper, chock full of the nitty gritty details of Shu'gar. Specifically, he was reading over a section about the natural flora and plant life that grows there.

"Apparently, there's lots of exotic and unique fruits that grow around Shu'gar." His face grew a bit wistful at the thought. "Wonder how they taste? It would be nice to take some back with us as a souvenir...as long as there aren't any laws against that or anything."

The ship then suddenly jerked to avoid some kind of incoming debris, which nearly shook Avery out of his seat. Luckily, he managed...until the ship jerked about three more times in a row, and then halted to a stop. The Gelatoa had to swallow his pride and pull himself off the floor as he started to follow the coordinates given so he could land in the clearing he had been instructed about earlier. The one time he didn't wear a seatbelt...

[GeneticMess]

(bumpe)