Chameleon in Chrome Ch. 06

***Looks like there'll be a chapter 7 to this, since after I added the character, it went a little all over the map. I just need to paste her into what I wrote for the ending.

I didn't intend it, but when I was looking for a name, I wanted to stay middle of the road, but what came to me after I defined her personality in my head was Mischka (MEESHKA) - and I don't even know why.

It got stupid after I added her last name, going for the unusual in the first name and yet something more commonplace in the surname, but it worked for me and I was a little satisfied - until somebody began to sing an old ad song - which I'll just call the wiener song, and we laughed our asses off.

And I've had that thing in my head now for half a week! @#%@^$#

Americans and a few Canadians will probably see what I mean when they get to her name.

0_o

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In the event, it hadn't been all that much of a deal.

As much of a concern as the automated awakening might have been to Ryan, it worked flawlessly and he awoke to the sounds of radio traffic.

Since it took more than a minute to wake up out of cryo in any event, Ryan guessed that the shipping lane that they were a little close to must be one of the busier ones. As he was 'coming around', the first thing that he did was to hit the releases for the cryo-juice sleeve and use his other arm to swivel the smaller status panel toward his field of view so that he could see what was what.

He noted right off that the internal gravity had come on, so that was good.

He hated pissing into a plastic bag.

Everything seemed to be about perfect, he thought as he looked at the timer display on the cryo panel when he'd gotten up a little carefully after being in the same position for a while. It brought him the usual aches and pains. They'd been traveling for slightly more than two months.

That reminded him that he was parched and needed to drink. It also reminded him that his bladder was full. He sighed. A vicious cycle.

He walked over to the commander's chair and retracted the screen shields to have a look and no surprise, it looked exactly as what he'd seen when he'd been preparing to go under, only the positions of some of the stars had changed, since they'd covered a lot of uh, space in the meantime.

He found a positional marker beacon not all that far off and he queried it so that he could place their present position rather exactly.

Ryan almost broke into a wide grin when he learned that there was a trading post – Nanworth Colony, the ID tag flashed at him – within about two days of easy motoring at sub-jump velocity. By then, two days in the slow lane sounded just fine to Ryan. He hit the can and then headed off for a quick shower, quick being the operative word, given the rather finite supply of water available for washing.

It was while he was in there that the wants of his body came to him. He'd forgotten about it.

It was always this way coming out of cryo, he sighed, noting that at the moment, he felt the need to do a rather impossible combination of things; eat, sing, screw, eat, get a little drunk, have a cigarette – even after years of abstinence – screw, eat, screw and last of all, screw.

He only gave in to one of them, and it wasn't even on the list directly. Ryan walked over to look at the two people that he was traveling with, and after kissing them once very lightly, he leaned against a bulkhead and began to masturbate. Given the way that he felt, and the length of time that he'd been under, it didn't take too long, wasn't terribly invasive as far as Taela and Shorty were concerned, and it felt just great.

He gave in to another desire then and made himself a cup of instant coffee with the dwindling supply of the powder from out of the survival packs carried in the shuttle.

He did his best not to try to calculate just how old the stuff might have been at this point, but it just had to be well over a decade old, and that was from the view that it had traveled with him. From the view of the place where it had been grown, it had to be well over a century by now.

He looked at the little packet in his hand for a moment. If nothing else, it told him that the packaging industry had their shit down pretty good.

He finished the cup a little slowly, not knowing exactly when he might have a chance at another in the next little while, and he rinsed out the mug before he placed it back in the rack under his name and re-clamped it into place. Then he walked over to set the controls on Taela's bed to awaken her slowly.

After that, he sat down next to her and he just looked at her as she slept.

He'd gotten his wish, he thought. He had the love of this lovely person. He knew that just about as soon as she figured out that they'd be at a place in a couple of days where there were likely human females walking around, she'd begin to feel a little uncertain.

She'd wonder how she measured up in his eyes against them. It made him smile a little and shake his head. He knew what he wanted forever, and she was lying right there in front of him, not far away from the other person who'd grabbed his heart in a tight grip in the most surprising way, given that he'd never had a thought in his life before of loving another male.

Now, ...

He couldn't imagine living without them.

But he was well aware of the way that life can take a sudden left turn. It had happened to him before. All that he could do was what he did, finally.

They couldn't hear him as he spoke, but that didn't matter to Ryan. He promised them that if he could, he'd do his best to always take care of their hearts.

It caused his eyes to sting a little and he stepped away long enough to wipe his eyes and tell himself not to be an idiot and that it was only the effects of coming out of cryo.

But he knew better.

Taela opened her eyes a few minutes later and looked up as soon as she could focus her eyes and she smiled. The moment was worth a lot to Ryan.

After she reached for him to lower himself enough so that she could kiss him, he removed the cryo-juice sleeve for her and told her to just relax for a minute. In that time, he told her where they were and what was going on.

"I think I'll need to pee soon," she said in a small-sounding voice, "but right now, ... I want, .. I want ..."

"Shh," Ryan smiled, "I know."

He reached for one of her breasts and she sighed as her hand moved down her belly toward her opening.

"I'll do that for you, if you want. You just work the sweetest tits in the universe a little for me, ok?" he whispered and Taela nodded a little as she moved her hands, "Oh, please."

As his fingers brushed her there in a first grazing touch, he felt her pubic hair stretch a little to try to hold onto what they felt in the softest caress of their own. It always amazed him, the way that they moved, always slowly, and most of all gently, unless she was actually having an orgasm.

That was the way that he always knew, whenever it happened. At those moments, it was as though there was a connection between her vaginal contractions and her pubic hair, the way that it tried to grasp anything near her lips to hold on and pull it in a little more in a hopeful way.

And when it happened while he was licking her there, the sensations to him were, ... well, he supposed that they were indescribable in human terms. That was ok with him; he just knew that he loved her for it just that much more.

She began to move her hips against his hand, moaning a little about her need and how good it felt to her. Ryan just smiled and leaned down to kiss her until she lifted her bottom up off the seat and cried out, her wonderful pubic hair doing its best to grab his hand and pull.

"I've never, ... that was the fastest that I've ever gotten there in my life," she said in a bit of wonder.

"The wonders of cryo-juice," he smiled.

As her breathing settled down, he reminded her to pee and to keep her shower as brief as she could, "It'll take a little while to re-process the water and heat it up again for Shorty. I've already had a quick one, but I doubt there'll be enough unless we give it a little while. You go on, but get up slowly to give your inner ears a chance to get used to being upright again, and I'll make you a bowl of noodles while you shower. How does that sound?"

Taela smiled as she pulled herself up, "Right now, it sounds amazing, but, ... " she looked at him with a hungry expression, "Do we have any of those old chocolate bars left?"

Ryan laughed quietly with a nod, "I've been saving the last one for you – just for this." He stepped away and pulled out the ancient-looking Mylar packet.

"Eat this slow, ok? It's the last one, though I'll try to get some more whenever we get somewhere. I read something once about post-cryo cravings. Do you know what the two strongest ones are for females?

Chocolate and sex."

She shook her head as she tore the packaging open, "Wrong order – for me, anyway," she grinned.

But then the faint bit of aroma that the bar had still retained came to her nose and she looked up, "Wait, ..."

Ryan laughed until he had to wipe his eyes again.

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"He looks so peaceful like that," Taela said as the two of them looked down at Shorty, "I remember him looking like this not long after he came to us. It was a long time ago, but I've never forgotten it. I used to sit and watch him sleep for hours. Look," she pointed, "he's starting to grow hair. That's rare for a screecher. I've hardly ever seen a male with hair before."

She looked a little lower and she chuckled, "It always amazes me the way that males get hard in their sleep." She looked over at Ryan, "Even in cryo?"

He nodded, "Even in cryo. I'll set his controls to wake him up now. It ought to take just a minute or so, I hope, anyway. We only did the trial one time before we left and none of us really know all that much about screecher physiology. I just had to base things on his Morgarod side of things, pretty much."

"Do it then," Taela smiled, "and I'll give him something good to wake up to."

She moved to position herself as best she could and then she licked her lips just before she began to suckle the thin hardness standing at attention in front of her. Her two males were very different between them, she thought, but as far as she was concerned, this difference was one of her very favorites.

The only limiting factor for her was the length of time that it took for her lips to go completely numb. Other than that, there had been times when she'd happily done this for them one after the other over most of an afternoon. The trick, she'd learned, was to not ever hurry things. It gave them all that much more time, and anyway, she thought, she was sure to always get them there no matter what.

Shorty began to come around about twenty seconds later and by then, Taela had his small scrotum in her hand, cupping it and caressing gently. There had been a time when Shorty felt a little deficient in this regard when he'd compared himself to Ryan. But it had been the human who had set Shorty's mind at ease by taking the time to actually measure their comparative outputs, so to speak, though he felt a little silly to have to do it.

Shorty had been amazed to find that the volume that his little balls put out was actually just a tiny bit more than what Ryan gave. Of course, Ryan knew that it was also a matter of how much seminal fluid they each delivered as well, but he left well enough alone, having made his point and most of all, caused their smaller lover to feel a lot better about himself.

Shorty opened his eyes and smiled up at Ryan for a second before he grew a wondering expression and raised his head to look. Ryan removed the sleeve and Shorty reached for Taela's head with a whispered sigh, his fingers slipping into her slowly moving hair as it wound itself around his hands affectionately in response.

None of them knew it, but Shorty was at a stage of his life which marked the final destination signpost on the road to screecher maturity, and it happened some years after young adulthood for them – assuming that they lived that long, of course, since they tended to have a rather dicey lifespan among others like themselves.

All that really happened at that point was that he actually began to grow a mane, signalling to the females that he'd lived long enough for it to happen and so must then be a successful male, thus making him more desirable as a mate. Shorty was actually a lot closer to Taela's age than any of them knew – especially Shorty.

It was only about an inch and a half of fine blondish hair at this point and a little difficult to see, given that it was the same shade as his sandy-colored skin, but it caught Ryan's eye then and he leaned a little closer for a better look and then he smiled.

It was moving, so that feature carried a little Morgarod in it. It also showed him that it could never be cut, just like Taela's hair. But Ryan didn't mind. He tried to envision what Shorty might look like with a long mane of hair. From the very occasional look at the ones that he'd seen, it might end up most of the way down Shorty's back in a long stripe, reaching almost all the way back to where his thin tail began.

None of them could see the extent of it given Shorty's position at the moment, but it had already begun over the two months that he'd been in cryo and for some reason, the growth rate had been accelerated under the influence of the fluid.

Shorty came then and Taela groaned a little before she got to work swallowing what she could. The taste was very different between them as well, but she loved the taste of them both in her mouth equally.

They didn't say anything as Shorty walked away to urinate and have his shower, but after he was gone, they looked at each other with raised eyebrows. "Did you see?" Taela asked in a whisper.

Ryan nodded, "He's growing a mane. I love it on him, but, ..."

"But nothing," Taela smiled, before she feigned a frown, "I'm already jealous."

Shorty was back right after his shower, "I am, ... "

Ryan nodded, "We know. I think it looks great."

Shorty looked a little dubious and Taela was beside him in an instant with a towel to dry his back a little more and to offer her reassurance," We like it, Shorty."

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None of them seemed to be able to help it a little while later. Ryan set the controls to an automated course just off and parallel to the lane while Taela and Shorty scanned for nearby vessel traffic and came up dry.

After that, Ryan made them a hot meal in the galley, and after eating that, ...

They just couldn't help themselves.

Taela found herself on her back with her head on a pillow, looking at Shorty while he held up her legs as he copulated with her slowly. She had one hand on Ryan's flank above and behind her as she toyed with his genitals while he waited for his turn with her.

"There will be at least some human females there when we arrive, won't there, Ryan?"

"Probably," he said, "Why do you ask?"

"No reason, really," she said quietly and punctuated it with a little groan, "I guess that I'd like to see how they dress. Other than a flightsuit, I don't really have anything else as clothing to wear – other than my fur bikini."

"I'll make sure that we access some of their ad programming on the way in," Ryan said, "just to give you a look at the current fashion trends, but out here this far, and given that a lot of them are crew on the ships passing through, I'd guess that what they mostly wear are –"

"Fur bikinis?" Taela asked with a chuckle.

"I was going to say flightsuits, the same as yours, pretty much," he smiled down at her.

"Lean forward," she said, "I want this in my mouth now."

Ryan leaned forward and placed his hands on the floor on either side of Taela. Shorty leaned a little as well and he kissed Ryan for a little while as Taela sucked. Ryan reached to run his fingers along either side of Taela's labia until Shorty came a few minutes later. Taela hadn't gotten there yet, but it wasn't a problem, since Ryan took her the rest of the way in minutes as Shorty watched.

"I think that Ryan wants you now," Taela smiled up at Shorty, "I'll bet that he's dying to run his fingers over that new fur."

Shorty beamed and moved to position himself over Taela as he moved his tail aside for Ryan. A long minute later, Shorty was on his forearms, kissing Taela and hissing out his pleasure as she and Ryan ran their fingers over and through the soft beginnings of his mane.

"Our big male likes you like this, "she whispered to Shorty as he whimpered softly, "Ryan loves his boy just like he loves me, Shorty."

"Lucky," Shorty hissed quietly through his teeth, "I love, ... him and, ... you."

Ryan said nothing, but he sure felt fortunate, and he ran his hands over Shorty's hips for a moment before he reached for that new mane again. It seemed to spur him a little and he picked up the pace. Taela noticed and she reached for Shorty's balls to caress them, feeling the way that Ryan's bumped against her fingertips softly. She only had minutes to wait and then Shorty began to whine.

It signalled that he was close and when Ryan groaned loudly, she moved her hand to hold the smaller phallus and she worked it as Shorty cried out, and then she felt the warmth of his seed as it sprayed onto her belly. She sighed, "My beautiful Shorty."

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As they neared Nanworth, Ryan called and set up the inspections that he knew would be required to fully register the craft. He also inquired about whether there was a representative of the company who he'd worked for while on the freighter on hand. He was in luck and his next call was to that office.

He identified himself and said that the ship had been a total loss with him as the sole survivor. The conversation took a while and he was informed that there would be a rather informal, though official board of inquiry when he arrived regarding the loss.

"What was that about?" Taela asked with Shorty next to her looking very curious.

"I need to tell them what happened out there. I was careful not to say anything in that call, since it's nobody's business. But that ship – even as lightly loaded as it was at that point, represented a fat pile of money to them. I'm sure that they'll get a ton of it back from the insurance, but it all needs to be told – especially what was going on and what happened to the rest of the crew.

I'm not sure who it was even now, but somebody committed quite a few murders out there – and there is the other thing as well."

They looked at him, waiting and wondering what else and Ryan grinned, "They owe me a pile of pay and I want it. Seven years of flight pay, plus bonuses for coming out of cryo and going back in each year, plus almost three years while I was there with you guys.

As soon as I can, I'm going to make out a will, so that if anything happens to me, you two won't have to worry about anything. I'll register this thing as mine to keep it simple, though it'll be yours if I die or anything."

He turned in his seat slightly, "And as soon as I can sell what we're carrying, I'll see about getting your wing finally fixed properly, Shorty. I want you to be able to fly the way that you were meant to."

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They only learned what Nanworth really was by seeing it. As they hung in the thin atmosphere of the thing looking at the bay through the open doors, Ryan was rather concerned.

"They tell me that this bay is large enough for us to get in and turn completely around in, but I'm having my doubts. I'm going to fold the wings in and give it a slow try – if this wind doesn't slam us against the side of the doorway."