Adult-FanFiction.org : Books

Cellulose & Steel	By : Not-Taylor Category: Misc Books > FemmeSlash Views: 1028 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I don't own HDG or its characters and I don't make money from this work.

Chapter List
- 14
- 15
- 16
All they’d had… All they’d done… All the battles they’d fought. Ginger had been sabotaging them the whole time, hadn’t she. That’s why they’d never escaped. And being so close to the pilot… It should have known. Stupid. Stupid idiot dyke. Wouldn’t you know it? Ginger was probably straight all along. It still feels something when it looks at that traitor. Selling out your species, your family, your crew, ship, your… asset. Just an asset.
Its hands start to shake and gripping its knees won’t stop them. Stupid knees. It can’t show weakness, not here in front of that one. It repeats the breathing exercise it was taught on its first day of pilot training. In two three four five, out two three for five. That doesn’t help. It still wants to cry, to wring the neck of the horrible creature beside it. It wants to spit it on a bamboo stalk, the permanent way. It wants to scream and yell and burn this entire stupid ship down. She wants to go back, but there’s no back to go to. Only forward.
Out of the corner of its soaked biological camera port, it sees Ginger staring at it blankly. Is anybody home, or are the xenodrugs that strong? She seems depressingly unbothered. This is what those shrubs do to a strong and resilient- no, Ginger was never any of those things. She knew she would survive because she’d sold everyone else out, even Song. What a win, she’s still a slave to those things, to be sent to a sweat shop as soon as they get wherever they’re going. It regrets trying to protect her.
It regrets protecting a member of its crew? It doesn’t like that thought. It feels dirty thinking that, but there’s no lie. It wants to- No it does not. It wants to walk away, but it knows it can’t because of her and her choices. The only path is complete Affini destruction. It should have known better than to trust anyone, especially after doing so has proven dangerous every single time ever. And now, this time, it suffers the consequences of betrayal. How novel. Except this time too, it’s going to turn back i-
There’s a loud scraping noise of wood against wood and a faint scent of some unknown flower. It’s obviously a flower, what else would it be? The human female is suddenly no longer sitting and is bounding even more vivaciously than it did before toward the door. She jumps up and down on the way. It’s never seen her so energized.
“Mistress! You’re home! Look what I have for you, a covenant!”
“A covenant?” Artemis whoever sounds wary. Clearly she’s not on xenodrugs right now, unlike her property. She stands almost as tall as Verda, still one of the tallest affini the Song has seen (it didn’t know that when it met her). Her vines are shorter but look stronger somehow. Ivy falls from her midsection like a gown. It’s very much up to Terran fashion from just before the war. Ginger never mentioned caring about that. What’s this affini’s scheme?
“Look, come on!”
If it didn’t know better it would have thought the human was dragging the plant, but it did know better. She would be too strong to be moved so easily if she didn’t want to be. They meander into the room, and Artemis pauses, launching Ginger at full speed to the end of her arm’s length beyond. Quite the covenant, eh dirt muncher? It can’t think of anything witty to say about demons so it keeps its communication/refueling multiport shut.
“Who is this?”
“That’s Olivia! We were together aboard the Song of Destruction! Liv, look! It’s my mistress!”
Song doesn’t like that. It doesn’t like being called that, especially by her and especially now. It wants to incinerate the thing in front of it. It deserves that release, doesn’t it? Some fairness, some retribution?
“I’m Artemis Pallas, second bloom, and Ginger’s mistress. It’s very nice to meet you, Liv.”
“Don’t call me that,” Song snaps. “I’m the S-” She remembers something. That shouldn’t…
“I go by Olivia.”
“And whose floret are you, Olivia?” Artemis is looking worried. It must be her ability to respond unencumbered by plant toxins that’s scaring her. Good.
“I’m nobody’s but mine.”
“Oh, I see.”
“But Liv-”
“Don’t call me that!”
“But…”
“You gave that up before you even met this thing.”
“So you’re not a floret, but you’re on an Affini combat vessel?”
“That’s correct.”
Nobody speaks for a moment.
“Well, Olivia, first floret connivent of Olivia, I’m Artemis Pallas, second bloom. I’m very pleased to meet you. Believe it or not, I heard of you even before your custodians told me to expect your arrival. My darling blossom has spoken very highly of you and your skills, so I’m delighted that the mystery floret is you. You’re even cuter than she described!”
Artemis extends a hand for Olivia to shake. Ginger blushes profusely as the affini woman simultaneously runs two of its vines across her neck and shoulders. Her eyes flutter a little. Disgraceful, especially for a Terran naval officer.
“M-mistress…”
“Now, now. She has a right to know how you feel about her. Wasn’t she the one you’ve been asking about every single morning since we met?”
“I…”
“And wasn’t she the one who you were crying about because you didn’t have a chance to explain that you… Perhaps you should tell her that.”
“I can’t. She- It’s too late.”
“I see.” The affini looks in Olivia’s direction questioningly. That means it’s her turn to say something. Does she even want to? Actually, this is a great opportunity for a test.
“I kind of want to know,” Olivia says, feigning timidity.
“MNo..” Olivia flinches. The first time she hears sounds like that from Ginger in months and it’s directed at their enemy. Artemis picks up on it and is struck with awkwardness.
“Dear one, please.”
“OK.” Ginger turns and nearly loses her balance turning to face her. “So Liv.. The thing is, I always wanted to tell you…” She suddenly looks devastated and turns to her mistress for reassurance, which isn’t forthcoming. “I.. Liv, I- I love you.”
Those words sting more than anything the affini or their pets have said to Olivia in her entire time in captivity. She doesn’t believe it. She can’t believe it. Ginger was right, it’s too late for that, especially after her little revelation. Olivia doesn’t want to believe that it’s possible.
“I did. I know I… It’s just that I know this isn’t your fault. It’s mine and I’m sorry you had to be around me. Because I… I know I sold out, but that was before we even met! I… Mistress called me and I was working with her to help my ship before the end of my last tour. She was sad she couldn’t come for me before then, but our ship was bigger, so that meant more humans to save. I couldn’t disappoint my Mistress but I couldn’t hurt you, not after I got to know you really, so I was stuck. I wanted to turn us in right away, but I knew that would hurt you and I so wanted to talk sense into you, to get you to see this is for our own good! Liv-”
“Don’t call me that! Are you serious right now? You were with them the whole time, and you expect me to feel bad that you felt guilty about treason?”
“But I just…”
“‘You just’ is right. How could you do this?”
“I don’t know… Mistress kind of… made sense when we talked. I couldn’t find anything wrong with her arguments.”
“And you don’t mind being property?”
“I’m happier now than I ever was.”
“There’s your answer. Thanks for being honest.”
“I…” It slowly dawns on Ginger what she just said. “What? No no no no no, I d-”
“You meant it. You’re happier now. That’s what I wanted for you. I know you wouldn’t lie about that.” Olivia sighs.
“I’m sorry, Liv.”
“I know.”
So that’s it. That slut drops a bomb with an L on its forehead, and immediately admits she doesn’t mean it. It didn’t take her long to get over those feelings if they’d ever existed. But she’d really been in love with the plant, as anyone with two terran eyes could see. Olivia gets it. She wasn’t a real interest, just a bed warmer for long distance. It’s not her fault, she tells herself. It could’ve been anyone there. It doesn’t work. She doesn’t believe herself. She isn’t stupid, of course. It still hurts and it probably always will, somewhere inside her.
Artemis’s brain matrix blatantly sputters as she tries to figure out some way of salvaging the situation. Her floret is certainly going to suffer for it if she fails. Terran pseudomates aren’t supposed to reject confessions when they reciprocate attraction! What’s the problem with Olivia? The biorhythms! That must be what she doesn’t understand. She’ll get it if Artemis can just explain it in a nice way. Preimplantation terrans are always so difficult, suns know Ginger was.
“Olivia. What your…” Artemis doesn’t remember what they called their relationship. This is a problem. “Lover” wrong answer, bad reaction “was trying to explain is that she wasn’t able to complete her mission with the knowledge that you weren’t in agreement as to her thinking. That’s why she took so long to ask us to intervene. We were following her determination because you were so important to her.”
“Oh.” Now to make the real argument.
“As a matter of fact I was her contact within the Compact intelligence apparatus. She was my contact in the Accord. The role of my team is to bring in ships without a fight, because the shedding of innocent terrans’ blood is abhorrent to us. The reason Ginger of all people was that contact isn’t because she’s somehow weak or unfaithful” why is that the wrong word? “It’s because she’s the one who was most sensitive to my signal. She heard something others couldn’t and because of that she was willing to listen to me.”
The filthy weed stammers out some sort of excuse for Ginger’s actions, but it remains the case they’d gotten together under a lie. How could she subject somebody to captivity after playing with her heart for years. That must be why they weren’t formally a couple after that long. Figures.
“So how did you buy her off?”
“Buy…”
“How cheap did she sell her soul, Big M?”
“Come again?”
“What did you bribe my shipmate with to secure her loyalty?”
“I… never thought of that. I didn’t think my biorhythms would-” She said it. She knows what she said. Olivia knows she knows what she said. Artemis knows Olivia knows. Ginger doesn’t know, and everyone else knows that without asking her.
“You…” It’s weird hearing an affini sound guilty and defeated. Olivia feels she could get used to that. Shame deserved though.
“I can’t say I’m surprised.”
“So you understand?”
“War is hell. No crimes in a war and all that.”
“Look, please. It’s simply one of our many tactics. Your generals would have done the same.”
“I know that. It makes me a little sad to hear is all.”
“If it makes a difference, all of her feelings were and are real. I can’t prove that to you, but I believe it.” Artemis’s voice quiets as she pets her floret to draw her away from her mouth. “As much as I treasure my darling floret, I’ll always know that that’s how she came to me.”
“What a thing to admit.”
“Is there a point to lying? All I care for right now is her happiness, and losing you would hurt her more than almost any torture I could devise. There’s no lie I could tell to change your mind, but my hope is that the truth will have that effect.”
“Then please remove your vines from the space behind my ear. I know that that region is sensitive to vibrations and changes of angular momentum.”
Guilty again. Stupid overconfident plant.
Her tone turns harsh. “Then you’re aware of our relative situation on this issue. Make my floret happy. Now.”
Olivia feels a sharp object in the back of her neck. Before she has time to react, the needle has released its contents into her blood, and the world is starting to feel fuzzy.
Artemis still looks somewhat dejected, but Olivia is quickly losing sight of her as more pressing things come into her awareness. Ginger yips, stabbed by a different needle. Olivia’s vision goes black momentarily as she feels pressure on her back pulling her off her feet. The next she sees is a huge bed, bigger than king size, and Ginger on it, rapidly liberated from her clothing. She’s more beautiful than when they had lost contact (which happened because of Affini kidnapping, Olivia forces herself to remember). Her eyes linger on her former navigator’s breasts and legs and arms, before a flash of darkness crosses her face and she realizes she’s naked too. Ginger doesn’t seem to mind. She’s looking back just as intently.
“It’s been so long, Liv.”
“Yeah, it has. I thought you were dead before I…”
“I’m not, thank goodness. I thought we’d be gone before you were anywhere near me again. I thought they were leaving you behind. How did you last so long?”
“Just good, I guess. It wasn’t easy, being free.”
Somehow they’re much closer that they were before. Ginger and Liv whisper as they stare into each other’s eyes, nearly touching noses.
“You’re not getting free of me again, not easily anyway. You don’t know how much I’ve thought about you, Liv. How much I’ve been aching to see you again. Right now I just…” She reaches out to Liv and holds her shoulder. “Don’t want to let go, ever.”
Liv’s breathing is suddenly much heavier. Fucking xenodrugs, she thinks. But Ginger…
“Then don’t.” Her hand is on the side of Ginger’s face, dragging her in for a kiss. She doesn’t remember how it got there, but it’s not worth complaining about that. This is what she had been waiting for since that day. Liv’s skin sparkles as it makes contact with Ginger’s. Ginger’s lips spread tingles across her face and down her neck, while her tongue fills Liv’s center with embers and glowing warmth. They stay locked together for an eternity.
Suddenly, Liv’s hand slips down onto Ginger’s breast. She can’t tell if the gesture was intentional or not, but it’s one she’s glad about. Ginger’s lips break away as she moans, the sound filling Liv’s ears and setting her whole body into vibration. They lock eyes for a fraction of a second. Liv is so happy to have her back, to feel her, to see every bit of her, to see how she smiles and the hunger in her eyes at times like this. A gentle flick of Liv’s thumb, and Ginger’s smile parts just enough for their separation to be remedied.
Finally, Liv feels Ginger against her whole being again. She drinks in the tactile feedback that her biovessel has missed for months. She reacquaints herself with Ginger’s entire 3D profile, memorizing every bone and freckle of her form. She feels how Ginger’s muscles push against her and with her. It feels… right. Everything is once again as it should be. Liv feels as if she’s touching Ginger’s mind again, sychronizing with her thoughts and feelings. Ginger o’Smerie and Song of Destruction are as one. Everything is as it was. Except… something extra in Ginger’s mind? Why does her foot move 2% differently with that particular stimulus? It doesn’t matter, it’s fine.
Liv stays on the bed tangled in Ginger for as long as she can comprehend. She doesn’t feel time passing or even think of time. Her senses are so filled with her recovered flight partner she no longer even feels the bed beneath them. It’s too perfect. It’s as though they had never been apart. Actually, it’s even better than that. They envelop each other and lock together beyond comfort and energy and caring. They feel nothing else and most of the time see nothing. Right now is always, and right now, Ginger is Liv’s entire universe.

Note: Big M is Mephistopheles. Olivia is referencing an old historical docudrama about Herr Faust's bargain made in the mid 2400s.
- 14
- 15
- 16
You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.
Report Story

Cellulose & Steel