Ch. 100 - Edibles

  "Be a gift, doin' what ya wanna do, boy. Be a blessin', doin' what ya gotta do. Be a fresh breath, shakin' off a burden. Ain't no evil in tellin' a man to shove off. Yer life ain't his, boy, not even as a Listener. If he won't work with ya, ya ain't gotta waste no time on him."

  – Aunt 'Auntie Care' Carroll, giving advice to her young shadow, April 2056

  ***

  "Threes can really fly, huh?"

  They have reflexes similar to cats, yes.

  "Oh, is that why it didn't flail?" I asked after I'd transported the first quasi-canine via literal asskickery into the pantry with freshly poisoned food jars. It was currently scrabbling against the corrugated steel sheet, one point, from the Class 0 Building Materials catalog, five points, that I'd glued against the doorframe to contain the alien.

  Indeed. They relax while airborne and spread their legs to maximize landing surface area. It helps prevent broken bones when violently dismounting their troop carriers.

  "Huh…"

  It took a few more minutes, and the metal sheet had a bunch of severe dents around the bottom, and even a few gnawing marks, but eventually the Three lost interest in me and went for the food jars instead.

  ***

  The second Three I hung from a silk string at the top of the stairs, and carefully kept at arm's length as I fed it poisoned nutrient sludge.

  It didn't take long for it to start convulsing.

  ***

  I carefully arranged the staircase corpse to properly set the scene for our bait. I wanted it to pass prudent investigation, make certain that nothing looked staged. I did think I succeeded—it really looked like the Three had been carrying the jar up the stairs, slurry-splatters included.

  Better hurry, Tinea, the pulvinophages will make the stink unbearable soon.

  "Gotcha."

  ***

  I studied the dead Three inside the pantry after removing the corrugated steel sheet and any hint of silk. I had some difficulty holding back my bile.

  It stank horribly. And looked horrible, too. The phages had quickly liquefied its musculature from the inside out.

  They left a bloated mess of green juices and a few black armor plates stuck to the corpse's skin. Its shoulders, head, and torso were skeletal and emaciated with the muscles drained from beneath.

  I shivered and grimaced. Uncanny as fuck. Uncanny cubed.

  The gasses from the pulvinophages' activity were turning the thing into a balloon and rendering its dermis nearly transparent with strain, and were slowly seeping through the pores. I wanted to puke from the smell covering my sensilla in an ugly, oily film.

  My stomach really, really wanted to evacuate itself. But I held it in. That would just leave traces.

  At least our bait was going to be effective. Very believable. I didn't doubt that whoever got here would see a phenomenal chance for the development of a commercial Antithesis-killer.

  ***

  I finally, for good, left the facility. A massive weight lifted from my soul as I stepped outside.

  Leah, dwarfed by an awesome spider mech and eating a bar that smelled heavenly, turned towards me and her eyes sparkled the moment she saw my bright grin. I giggled when the gorgeous woman stuffed the rest of the bar down her gullet and came over to hug the stuffing out of me. I barely had enough time to step out of the Myriad before she got her hands on me.

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  Free.

  We were free, and Leah loved me.

  ***

  Leah turned around, and there was Tinea with a huge, open smile on her face. The girl radiated raw happiness and satisfaction. It drew Leah in.

  Before she knew it, she was already choking on the admittedly delicious bar of nuts and grains, had crossed the few meters to Tinea, and pinned the giggling girl against the wall in a big, squeezy, huggy hug. Didn't hurt that the fuzzy tube around her hella curvy hips was so thin that it made Leah's brain short out.

  Tracing a pretty, blushing cheek, she wondered what Tinea would look like in a properly tailored pencil skirt. One that really emphasized the hips, too. The idea had her go weak in the knees; Tinea was a bottom-heavy bombshell, and those curves were her deadliest…assets.

  Hah.

  ***

  As much as she enjoyed having a giggly and touch-happy girl with all kinds of soft pillows sitting in her lap and being her little spoon, the drive to get home still needled Leah. And she was hungry, too.

  So she leashed her libido, summoned them a lunch, and placed the new polymer box on the girl's legs. She opened it up and the rich aroma of steaming broth blasted her nose.

  Tinea's antennae twitched, one jumping away and almost smacking into the wall, but the other dove down to tease the sensitive bundle of extra-long fluff at its tip along the surface of the broth. Pieces of meat floated half submerged, with a variety of other ingredients, including nuts and vegetables suspended in the slowly swirling liquid.

  Leah's lap-lady shuddered a little from the intense experience, and squirmed against her thighs and belly while groaning. The antenna lifted away, all brothy residue just sliding off of it due to the sensilla's hydrophobic nature.

  "Oh crap, that smells amazing. What's all in there?" She asked, turning to look up at Leah, who felt the corners of her mouth kick up at the hunger on the woman's face. "I can taste nuts, beef, carrots, onions, and some other green stuff?"

  "Mhm," Leah nodded. "Ypsi just called it a beef stew. Very filling. Wanna try?" She lifted the bowl to Tinea's lips, who happily let herself be fed.

  Leah's free hand softly stroked the uncovered belly of the girl as she drank the liquid dinner and caught the occasional bit of solid food, which she chewed on with pleased noises that settled in Leah's gut as comfortably as the savory nourishment did in Tinea's.

  After she'd eaten half, Tinea handed the bowl to Leah and got busy enjoying one of the bars instead. Comfortable silence accompanied the shared meal, until both were sated. Leah's eyes wandered to the discarded cap of one of those food jars and she shuddered at their—literally—distasteful content.

  Never again, she thought with relief. Never taste that shit again. Not even to save on points.

  Tinea's tail had wandered up to wrap around Leah's shoulders, and she sighed into the relaxing fluff. Her eyes drifted closed and her mind floated in peace as she allowed herself to ignore the pricking thoughts of Get going already, at least for a little while.

  But eventually, Tinea kissed Leah on the side of her mouth, popped a big piece of the second bar between Leah's lips, and asked a question.

  ***

  "Leah, Tynea told me you've still got that flare going up there." I said, pointing vaguely in the direction of, uh, the universe, as I sat on Leah's warm and comfy lap. "Did you have any specific plans for it?"

  Leah made a beautiful impression of a surprised chipmunk with her cheeks stuffed. Then she chewed hurriedly, swallowed, and answered, "I'd forgotten! I was gonna tell my friends and Littles that they can track it. See me moving closer to home."

  "Okay." I nodded, kneading Leah's thighs a little by alternatingly squeezing my glutes until the tall, protective valkyrie's eyes blitzed with amusement at my antics. "Want another call home?"

  "Yes, but I'll take care of that while we're traveling. Say, do you think the flare will further convince the kidnappers that we're gone and they can sniff around this place?"

  "Probably. We still need to make sure there's nothing that'll make them think we've booby trapped the facility. We'll make it look like we sealed it off, but the Threes broke in. Cover the entrance with a silk sheet, then rip it up." Grumbling, I continued, "Doesn't matter how we twist or turn things though, no way they won't think the place is trapped."

  Leah shrugged. "They'll come. They're greedy enough to risk kidnapping samurai. They'll risk traps if they think they can get away with it, and someone will take the bait eventually."

  "Huh." I nodded. "That's true, isn't it?"

  My attention was stolen by Leah's hands as they moved from stroking my belly down to my hips, squeezing my plush, and then wandered up to knead my thighs, dipping to the inside just high enough to plunge my imagination into steamier territory.

  But before I could even really get a blush going—much less turn fantasy into reality—her hands clapped the top of my thighs lightly, and Leah booted me off her lap.

  I pouted with big puppy-dog eyes as we stood up, stepped close to Leah placing my chin on the swell of her boobs, and let my hips shift against her like liquid honey even as my hands captured hers.

  "Leaaah…" I moaned quietly, letting that rasp out to play.

  Her reaction was instantaneous. Her full attention snapped to me, eyes wide and glistening, fingers tightening on mine, twitching to explore my hips again, and lips opening on a strangled gasp.

  I smiled with smug satisfaction, pooling my heat in hooded eyes as I slowly, so slowly, rose onto the tip of my toes to steal a kiss.

  Part of me giggled with possessive glee as I stepped back and enjoyed the hot mess I'd made of Leah with a seductive chuckle.

  Yup. Leah was mine.

  ***

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