Hybridization

Chapter 196 – Last Minute Doublecheck

"Must be nice to live for thousands of years and then be able to talk to regular people. At that point you don't have to try hard to say prophetic stuff, it probably just happens." - Unknown, Public speaking seminar at local community college.

Kurt’s last few days before the trip had been a slow and steady chaos. There was never a big issue or situation, but it was far from relaxing in his opinion. That wasn’t to say the days weren’t enjoyable.

After his little tryst with Val, they had returned to get notified about a rift. Penny had apologized profusely about the assignment, but they waved off her concerns and handled the small dimensional incursion quickly. The biome was marshy woodland with various reptiles ranging from surprisingly quick turtles to spine throwing lizards, both the size of large dogs.

While they had cleared the rift in a couple hours, with the help of Ra and his pack, it was the bookend to their relaxing prep time. After that the next couple of days were filled with duties and obligations, some of which were pleasant.

Kurt had made sure to steal some passionate alone time with Kristi the day after him and Val had. The dragoness had also changed from her normal, intense disposition when it came to their love making. She had chosen to join him in a slow, emotionally charged session that left them both feeling more connected with each other.

Rindi had been another story. Between her own preparations with the girls, she had been getting lovingly interrogated by Kurt’s mother. He had stolen her away from that, taking her on a shopping date to pick up some entertainment for their trip off world.

The date had started with a trip to the bookstore, where they found various things to occupy their minds in any down time. She had taken to the puzzle books and coloring books as a way to relax and had the expensive set of color pencils to prove it. Then they went to an early dinner where Rindi had her first taste of southern barbeque. Already on a heavily carnivorous diet, Rindi enjoyed every bite of the savory foods and exotic spice pallet.

After dinner Kurt had taken them to a store that he once frequented in Traverse City. The woodworking store had been the source of many tools for him while building his house but now it was his turn to watch the wonder on Rindi’s face as she went up and down the aisles.

Once Rindi had done an initial lap of the store, she had asked Kurt if she could get some things. His response was ‘whatever you like’ which she took literally. The pile of books, materials and tools that grew on the checkout counter had left the store’s owner and his young employee speechless but very happy with the sale.

While Kurt would call the evening with Rindi a date, it was strange to him. It had been an odd mix between romantic and friendly, the limits he had set in place hanging over them. That wasn’t to say they didn’t make any progress toward the eventual goal of the relationship.

The date was very intentional. They both knew exactly where the relationship was heading and were actively working toward it. Most of the time was spent talking about each other. They were trying to get to know one another in the ways that mattered and have honest and frank conversations about a possible future. In all, it was a good date and both he and Rindi were happy with how things were progressing.

The rest of the time, when he wasn’t working or spending time with his lovers, Kurt spent with his parents. It was the longest visit they’d had since they had left Earth behind years ago and they had some catching up to do.

Unfortunately, all good things had to come to an end and the morning before the group would depart found Kurt doing a very familiar task. One that he had come to loathe in its necessity.

*****

“Are you certain this is required for our mission?” Kristi asked, looking from her clipboard to the long line of possessions she had laid out in the training facility. “Can’t I just like, us the inventory function of the storage ring?”

Kurt, who was holding his own clipboard with several sheets of paper on it, looked up from where he was walking down is own row of items. “Yes.”

“Yes?” Kristi arched an eyebrow.

“Yes…Dear?” Kurt’s brow furrowed. “Not quite sure what you were looking for there.”

“Some explanation would have been nice.” She grumbled.

“AH.” Kurt finally understood what she was after. “Getting eyes on the item and running down the list we made is an insurance policy. And it’s only the essential items. I wasn’t going to have you unload all the personal stuff you brought.”

Kristi looked away, clearing her throat. “Ahem, that’s probably for the best.”

They both looked over the rows of gear and people moving along each. Kurt’s team, along with Ra’s, were all going through the list of items they had been told to pack. The training facility was the perfect place to have a layout due to the ample room and cleanliness of an interior space.

All the items had been put out in categories, each category having its own checklist. Clothing was in one, divided between street clothes, local clothes and accessories like footwear. Then came armor, a small category that held their individual, uniforms and items like ear protection or the enchanted safety glasses which allowed them to see in a traditional night vision and thermal overlay. The weapons category was relatively small, mostly having various magic guns, knives, ammunition and such.

The actual camping or travel equipment is what took up most of the floor space. Tents, cooking utensils, sleeping gear, hygiene kits and more were laid out for inventory. Following that was the food stuff, not counting treats they had each packed, which accounted for an equally impressive pile all its own. After all, high-performance bodies needed high-performance food, and in large quantities.

The most variable category for each of them was the ‘special equipment’. Kurt had brought a large, yet portable, selection of enchanting equipment along with several items he made already for trade purposes. Val had a selection of things to help with scouting and infiltrations. Kristi had a large selection of pioneer tools for rough work, not that it was expected. Rindi had brought most of her newly acquired tools for any detail work, which was also dubious in its necessity.

It wasn’t long after they had returned to their lists that Kurt heard a muttered curse and looked over his shoulder to see Kristi scribbling on her clipboard. “Missing something?” he teased.

“Something I would call essential, yes.” She grumbled.

Kurt looked at where she was, standing over her clothing, and glanced over it. He immediately spotted what she was missing. “Socks and undies.”

The face Kristi made was not one of amusement. “I really don’t want to forget those. I have grown to like modern Earth under garments too much to go back to how most people do things on Talth.”

“How’s that?” Kurt didn’t remember that mentioned in the material he had read about that world.

“Foot wraps or sandals rather than socks.” Kristi said, moving on as she spoke. “For under clothes it varied from nothing to crude chest wraps and wedgie inducing underwear.”

Seeing he hadn’t put his hygiene kit in the pile, Kurt made his own note before moving along. “Well, after our recent shopping trips, I think you guys have that covered.”

“Yeah, I got them, but they are in a separate bag that I didn’t put in the ring yet.” Kristi was moving to her travel equipment. “I guess the layout works after all.”

Kristi had stopped at her own hygiene things and Kurt saw something he didn’t recognize. Well, more unrecognizable than a lot of female toiletries. “What are those disks?”

“Some novelty items for convenience.” Kristi picked up one of the oblong stones that was the size of a hockey puck. “It automatically does your hair. All you need to do is have it brushed out and hold the needed materials in your other hand.”

“Needed materials?”

“Hair ties, gels, scrunchies. Stuff like that.” Kristi pointed to the clear plastic boxes holding those very items.

Kurt was rather impressed that such a thing was possible. “Huh, that’s super cool. Why do you have like… ten of them?”

Tossing him the device, Kristi explained. “Each one is a specific style. See the depiction and name on the face of the stone? The back has the items needed. All you do is hold the stone, hold the supplies and channel mana into the stone. About ten seconds later, your hair is done.”

His eyes flicking up, Kurt looked at the long braid that her hair was in. “And it does that?” when Kristi nodded, he realized something. “That’s why you guys haven’t been taking so long in the bathroom. Makes sense now.”

“Haaha. Yeah, guess we should have told you.” Kristi smiled and took the stone back. “We got them from some of those enchanters we liberated.”

“I hope you paid them.” Kurt grunted. He hadn’t been happy with the amount of stuff the former slaves were just going to give them because he and the girls had been a part of that raid. He still had an issue with the deference they showed his team and the willingness many of the enchanters had to give away their products.

“Yeah, and we picked up a bunch of other stuff for personal hygiene.” Kristi was down to where her food was. “I guess a few of them got together and are trying to supply a store that handles all that.”

“What, hair care stuff?” Kurt wouldn’t be surprised but that was a pretty narrow market in his opinion.

Kristi shook her head. “Nah, they are trying to streamline a whole bunch of stuff like that. Household cleaning, chores, personal hygiene, and a couple other things under the ‘quality of life’ umbrella.”

“Think they will do ok?” Kurt asked.

“Hope so. They are offering them at a pretty sweet price since the guild isn’t controlling the market here anymore. The cost on a lot of things has dropped after they left.” Kristi made it to the end of her row while filling him in on the price of enchanted goods around the Order. “And that’s it.”

Finishing his own list a moment later, Kurt walked over. “Missing much?” He looked at his clipboard. “I got some small things but that’s not surprising.”

“Just those clothes and some camping gear.”

Val approached as they compared lists. “I am short some shoes and towels. Rindi is missing a uniform top, but she thinks it’s in her room.”

“It’s draped on the desk chair.” Rindi sighed. “I put the pants in the ring after our rift but forgot the shirt.”

“How did that happen?” Kurt asked.

Blushing but not looking away, Rindi answered him. “Well, I took the top off when we got back and then I went to shower. I was only wearing my pants and under clothes at that point. I think you remember?”

Kurt remembered as he had almost run into her while leaving his room after changing. “Umm, yeah, I remember.” He had a hard time looking away from her chest that was almost at eye level and barely contained in her bra.

Val grinned and nudged him with her elbow. “Hard to forget a pair of tits like hers.” She whispered, barely loud enough for their circle to hear.

“What, no spank?” Kurt looked to Kristi who grinned back, bouncing her eyebrows. Normally that would have earned the kitsune a reprimand, being in public as they were.

Shrugging, Kristi reached out and ran her hand through one of Val’s fluffy tails. “Nah, not this time. We are all family and know where this is going.” She jerked her head to the side, toward where Ra had gathered his people. “Plus, they can’t hear us when talking this quiet.”

Feeling a familiar tap on his hand, Kurt looked up at Rindi as she smiled at him. “Yeah. Guess so.” He looked over to see Ra coming their way. “Let’s get this cleaned up and head out. One last pass on the stores to get our missing stuff, then dinner.”

*****

“I will be back in a little bit.” Rindi said after she and Kristi had finished helping with dinner cleanup.

Kristi glanced over. “Where are you going?” Her voice was filled with curiosity, Rindi assumed it was because she rarely went anywhere by herself.

“Oh, getting a little exercise and wanting to try something.” Rindi smiled and patted her belly. “It’s why I ate light tonight.”

“You ate an entire chicken pot pie to yourself.” Kristi didn’t bother hiding the smirk. “But I will let the other know you will be back in a while. Have fun or whatever you are doing.”

Rindi ducked her head in acknowledgement and walked out the door. She waved to Beth and Al who were sitting on the porch chairs. She had found it amusing that Kurt’s parents were so different than him, choosing to take life slowly when their son moved from one project to another as fast as he could.

Shaking her head from the distracting thought, Rindi focused on what she was doing. She picked up the pace and resumed her quick walk to a particular tree she had found on one of her previous wanderings.

It was a large oak tree that was on the edge of a nearby farm field. It just so happened that it was a field that gently sloped away from the tree, ending a few hundred yards away and many dozens of feet lower.

Reaching the tree, Rindi jumped, hauling herself up with her arms while her toe claws found purchase in the bark. Her climb was made all the easier by the tree missing a quarter of its branches on the field facing side. She assumed it was storm damage, based on the way the main trunk had been peeled away like a large limb had fallen. Still, that damage was what had given her the idea of what she was attempting.

In short order, Rindi had climbed the tree and perched on one of the large branches that sat next to the gap in the canopy. She looked around, seeing that there wasn’t anyone in sight except for a few deer on the far side of the field that hadn’t noticed her.

After taking a deep breath, Rindi summoned her mantle. Her ephemeral wings snapped into place behind her before solidifying into the membranous striped limbs that had replaced her old winglets. This new pair was significantly larger and the control she had over them seemed to be all the greater for that size.

“No time like the present.” Rindi said and flared her conjured limbs before leaping outward.

Rindi had gotten the idea of flying on one of her previous walks. It had been particularly windy and gusty that day, so she had moved into the woods and ravines while she explored. When she had climbed a tree for fun, she had the idea of trying to glide to get down and summoned her wings. When a surprise gust of wind had caught her wing like a sail, she had been elated, after the initial terror at being literally blown off course that is. The result had been her spending a lot of time on her tablet looking up how flying worked.

Now that idea was coming to a head as she once again felt the membranes fill with air and snap taut. The pressure threatened to make her wings fold backward but she managed to compensate and held them level. She also tried to rotate her body a little, using the connection point of her wings as the pivot. It was only partly successful, resulting in her body being slightly angled, rather than a flat plane like a bird or gargoyle. The wings were also magically conjured despite them appearing and feeling like a part of her body after she summoned them.

Despite her lack of experience, the first flight went well. It was more of a glide than actual flight but that didn’t matter to her. The slope of the field and height of the tree had given her more than enough in terms of glide path. Combining the terrain with the lack of obstacles helped prevent a repeat of the last time and she didn’t get tangled in any trees.

When Rindi touched down, coming to a running stop so slow her momentum, she was proud of herself. The landing had been the part she feared most, its necessity only offering the option of hard or soft landings. Her success saw her go back to the top of the hill and repeat the process several times.

After several more leaps and some experimentation, Rindi discovered that she had some natural instinct when it came to her fledgling attempts at flight. Little things like pressure on some points of her wings or how warm the air was were indicators that she compensated for. She knew what was happening based on her previous study but feeling the sensations was definitely more impactful to her learning.

She was once again walking up the hill when she noticed Val standing below the tree she had been using as a launch point. “Having fun?”

Rindi smiled, her tail curling as her wings shuffled against each other. “I am. This wasn’t something I could do before.”

Val tilted her head, ear flicking slightly. “Are you sure? You had wings or your mantle, whatever you call it.”

“Yeah. I had wings but they didn’t support my weight and at best could extend a leap or slow a fall.” Rindi flared her wings, looking over her shoulder as she did. “These still shouldn’t be large enough to lift me, but I think magic might be involved in the process.”

“Probably.” Val’s expression turned thoughtful as her swaying tails went still for a moment. “Actually, you really might be onto something there. That’s how dragons work.“

Rindi dismissed her mantle. “I don’t know if I can fly or not, but gliding is at least possible.”

“I saw.” The look on Val’s face and the tone in her voice told Rindi she wasn’t there just to watch her glide around.

“Something you wanted to talk about?” She had come a long way since she’d had her talk with the other girls but was still nervous about the way Val was looking at her.

“Tomorrow and your plan.” Val said and sat on the grass, inviting Rindi to sit beside her. “I know my husband and am willing to bet the first stop after we get our bearings will be to get your brand annulled.” Her voice was stern but still friendly, like trying to have a delicate conversation with a friend… which she was.

Rindi didn’t say anything, not trusting herself to speak and not get emotional. She just sat on the grass, her body mostly facing Val but not directly across from her. She looked at Val, making eye contact and making a little nod

Val continued after seeing Rindi waiting for her. “He told me about your agreement and while I may have opinions on it, you are the ones having to deal with it. I think that it will be very wise for you to follow through with it. Regardless of if you decide to stay or go.”

“I… I don’t want to go…” Rindi muttered, pulling her knees up and wrapping her arms around them.

“Oh, sweetie, I know.” Val reached out and patted her arm. “But, you need to take that time and have an actual, honest, sit-down think about it.”

Rindi sucked in a shaky breath and nodded. “Ok. Then what?”

Scooting around to sit beside Rindi, Val leaned against her a little. “Then we figure it out. If you go, you will not leave with nothing. We will ensure you are well supplied and set up for success.”

“And when I stay?” Rindi didn’t want to think about giving up at that point.

“Then Kristi and I will make sure you and Kurt have some time to yourselves.” Rindi’s tail had somehow ended up in Val’s lap and the kitsune was playing with it, plucking at the fur as it curled around her wrist. “What you do with that alone time is up to you two.”

Enjoying the casual contact with Val, Rindi felt relaxed enough to ask some more pointed questions. “It’s umm. It would be my first time…”

“That is ok.” Val said. “Kurt won’t care. His relationships with us are not about conquest or ownership and having your first doesn’t matter to him as long as you are happy.”

“You won’t uh, you won’t be there?”

Val looked up from Kristi’s tail. “Hmm? No, we won’t. Why?” she seemed confused about the intent of the question.

Rindi felt partly relieved and partly nervous about that prospect. It would be a lot of undivided attention from Kurt. “Well, you guys are always doing it… as a group.” She fought the urge to hide her face behind her arms.

“HAaaha. No, it’s not like that at all.” Val chuckled. “It was a while before Kristi, Kurt and I were all together at once. We took turns for a long time, well, a couple months. Kristi and I only just started having those moments between us not long ago.”

“So, you won’t expect… me to-to join?”

Val smiled warmly. “Of course not. But if you want to, we can go at your pace. There isn’t any rush and you can ease into it like we all did.” She shrugged. “But if you want to at least sleep in the same bed, I would like it. I know it’s silly but there is a different sort of closeness when we are all together and not having sex.”

Nodding sharply, Rindi let out the breath she had been holding. “Thank you.”

“Not a problem.” Val resumed playing with her tail and leaned into her. “Kristi and I are here for whatever you decide and for any questions you might have. Absolutely no judgement from any of us, Kurt included, if you change your mind or ask any questions.”

“Val?” Rindi asked.

“Hmm?”

“Can we sit here for a little longer?”

“As long as you want.” Val threaded her arm through Rindi’s. “Or until the mosquitos come out, whichever is first.”