"I'm surprised that you didn't have Aeren or one of the others do it."
The button came free easily and I peered on in fascination as her wings gently unfolded. They were attached to her arms, so while confined she had limited movement with her upper limbs. I could clearly see her joy of extending her glorious flying appendages even though her back was toward to me. Her body language resembled that of a big breasted woman removing her bra after a long day at work.
She rotated to face me and said, "We haven't spent much time together since I joined your team, Kash. I thought this might be an opportunity to reconnect. I realize as captain of the ship that you have a lot to handle."
"How are you acclimating?" I asked as I studied her beautiful face through her mask and goggles. I stood up to get a better look in the bright sunlight. Her blue eyes gave her that magazine cover-girl appearance. Her bald head did little to distract from her elegant loveliness.
"Well," she replied, looking up at me. She was nearly two feet shorter than me. I was tempted to go back down on one knee. Would that be offensive? "Cinnamon and Doctor Vanilla have been very helpful."
In the background I could see Aeren watching us closely as she engaged in conversation with Cinnamon and Honeysuckle. Both regular crew members were much less excited about the outdoor time, but they couldn't resist the opportunity to share it with those that enjoyed it so much.
"And your studies?"
"I believe that I am catching on quickly," Mixi replied as she rolled her shoulders and stretched her wings. Some of her formal manner had faded from her speech lately, but it wasn’t completely absent. "I am eager to become more useful to you, captain. Seeing these strange new places is wonderful, but I must admit that it makes me feel a bit lost."
"Are you homesick?" I asked. Then seeing that she didn't understand the word, I rephrased. "Do you miss your home?"
"Of course, I do," she answered. "But that was my past. I am hoping that my future is with you and your crew. I heard that you renamed your ship after our lost friend, Mavdaios. That meant a lot to us. In a way it was the biggest step in making us feel at home. Thank you for that."
"You are welcome."
"Teddy has been helpful as well," she told me. "Though he is not naturally social our few conversations have been incredibly enlightening. While docked at the station, then again here at the city, we were still the slightest bit worried that we might be sold as pets or slaves."
"What? Did Teddy tell you that?" Was that little furball undermining me behind my back?
"No, I’m sorry for the confusion. He simply revealed how some elements work in the human world. So many things are alien to us, you see. Even some that remain the same can be of concern. It is great to hear different perspectives to help us piece together the full image. It is not a matter of trust, captain. It is a matter of understanding. Please do not be alarmed."
"I see," I responded, calming down from the outrage I was about to have with Teddy. Seeing how he was in a similar position to the new girls, it made sense that he would naturally fill them in on some of the uglier aspects of dealing with humans. "We can talk more about this later, but I want you to know that you have a place in my crew as long as you want it. I'm certainly not looking for an opportunity to get rid of you. Now I can see your wings twitching. Go, enjoy your outdoor time while you have it."
"Very perceptive of you, captain," she smiled. Then she turned and stepped away enough so she wouldn't inadvertently hit me with her wings. Fully spread they looked even larger than I remembered. A second later she was gracefully airborne. Instead of the long flaps like the dragons, she used her wings in quick tiny movements like a mix between a butterfly and a hummingbird. Her one knee lifted while the other leg remained straight to look like a sexy pose purely for my benefit.
I remembered her saying that she had the ability to adjust the size of parts of her body. Is that what she just did with her wings? Did she keep them at their smallest for flying around inside the caverns? And could she really enlarge her vagina to receive the size of my manhood? How freaky would that look? Could she make those itty-bitty titties bigger, too? How much bigger?
"Thank you for getting us some outside time while on the planet," Aeren said as she walked up from behind me. "It means even more to Mixi since she didn't get the opportunity to visit the station. I honestly didn't know what to expect after we fled our city with you. It was a huge risk on our part. It turns out that you have the qualities of a good leader."
"Thank you."
"I've been thinking about our last conversation in my room," she said as she stepped closer and lowered her intoxicating voice. The complete lack of wind and background noise made our voices carry easily. "I apologize for upsetting you."
"I'm not upset with you, Aeren."
"You have not returned, so I assume that I must have done something wrong," she told me as she stepped over to block my view, forcing me to look directly into her eyes. "I realize that I have a lot of changes to make to secure my position on this spaceship of yours. Some of that is learning how to perform a useful function as a member of the crew. With Vanilla's assistance I have also come
