Cassiopeia arrived at the front door of a hulking metal airship, panting. It looked like a giant clothes iron on its flat hovering base, with a glass dome on the top level, a wooden dock structure built around the back acting as a back porch, distinctive rounded windows, and a shiny silvered hull. Cassiopeia was here, in an airship docking yard on a high plateau in the middle of nowhere, for a job interview.
According to the digital display on Cassiopeia's wristwatch, it was 09:18. Her interview had been scheduled for nine. Having stayed at an inn at the base of the plateau, she'd overslept and rushed out the door, throwing on her coat and only taking the time to comb her long green hair out and wrangle it up into a haphazard bun. She hadn't even had the chance to use the bathroom that morning, and her full bladder was straining as she knocked on the rounded metal hatch that served as the craft's front door.
After two tries and five minutes, it was starting to look like the dock owner either wasn't home or wasn't answering the door. Cassiopeia turned around to look at the dockyard: it was a cold late-summer morning, and a thick fog blanketed the plateau. There was a squat shed in the distance, but no bathrooms around. The same deciduous trees that populated most of the area surrounded the yard, offering her best chance at cover, trailing off in the fog. Cassiopeia's bladder throbbed, and she pressed her legs together: she decided that she would knock one more time, and if there was no answer she would hurry back to the dockyard entrance, go into the trees and finally have her morning pee-
A shadow caught Cassiopeia's eye from the other end of the yard, speeding toward her: a pair of dark blue wings, with lighter beige tips like a peacock's. They were attached to a tall figure, who landed gracefully on a nearby walkway. Folding their wings behind them, the figure strode forward through the fog: it was a woman, tall, wearing coveralls and a pair of green-tinted goggles, with dusky blue hair pulled back in a knitted headband.
"C-Cassiopeia Will-" the figure puffed, stopping to catch her breath when she reached Cassiopeia, towering over her. "Cassiopeia Williams?"
"That's me," said Cassiopeia, a little intimidated as the winged woman removed her goggles. She wasn't wearing makeup, but she had high cheekbones and an elegant face, pink from the effort of gliding across the yard. It made Cassiopeia feel crumpled and sloppy in comparison.
"Hi," panted the woman. "I apologize for keeping you waiting for so long." She approached Cassiopeia and held up one gloved hand in greeting. Cassiopeia touched palms with her. "I'm Mayra Eneko."
Mayra led Cassiopeia into the large hovercraft. The front door entered into a small mudroom on the bottom level, with a closed hatchlike door on the left and a stairwell to the right. Mayra removed her work boots and Cassiopeia followed suit, pulling off her shoes. After that, Mayra led the way up the stairwell to the next floor, which housed an open kitchen and living area. There didn't appear to be a bathroom, and Cassiopeia tried not to look desperate to pee when Mayra directed her to sit down at a small table next to a round window overlooking a small, disused orchard behind the hovercraft.
"Have you had breakfast yet?" asked Mayra, stopping at the sink to wash her hands. Seeing the running water made Cassiopeia twist her legs together under the kitchen table. It didn't help that Cassiopeia wasn't wearing any underwear under her dress, and the cold seat of the chair against her butt made her need to pee even worse.
"Not yet," said Cassiopeia. "I overslept a little and left in a bit of a hurry this morning." It wasn't a lie, but she omitted how late she'd been.
"If you help me out by making coffee, I'll make us some food," said Mayra.