Author's Note
This one's a strange little slice of life story on board The Black Prince, complete a little light bondage and a bit of food porn. Try to keep an open mind.
*
Chapter 15: Marmite
On board The Black Prince, in the stateroom.
Captain Jade pushed up with her palms and then lowered herself onto her elbows so the length of her body hovered a dozen centimeters or so over the towel on the floor. She supported herself solely with her forearms and toes. Beside her, Reg laid his pincers on the floor and pushed up on his rearmost pair of legs. The two held this pose.
Jade raised her head. Projected on the wall in front of her, a woman clad in neon green spandex and sporting a short blonde pony tail did the same.
Jade blew out a long breath.
"Last one, everybody," said the woman. The driving beat of last decade's number one dance hit underscored her words. "Looking great. And remember, if it gets too intense you can drop down to your knees. Perfectly fine. No judgments here."
"Never," mumbled Jade. The perspiration on her brow coalesced into a single bead that grew in size as it trailed down her forehead to stop just over her left eye.
Jade blinked. She turned to look at Reg. His back legs began to quiver. "You can do it, buddy," she said.
"Looking great," said the woman on the wall. "Five more seconds."
"Come on, Reginald me boy," said Jade through gritted teeth. "You can do it."
Reg quivered.
"Three... Two... One..." said the woman on the wall. "And take a break. You've earned it."
Jade dropped to floor, cheek flat on the towel with arms and legs spread out over the edges. She reached up to wipe the sweat from her brow. Reg collapsed onto his belly, with eight legs loose at his side and pincers askew.
"Great job everyone," said the woman on the wall, as she pulled herself up to standing. The dance beat accompanying her instructions continued. "Now's a good time to grab a sip of water and get ready to roll onto your back. Next up... And I know it's your favorite... crunches."
Jade groaned as she pulled herself up to seated and stretched to reach the pouch of water atop the nearby dresser.
As she sat sipping, Jade caught a glimpse of Amaliya tearing down the corridor, her feet pounding on the deck and hands waving in the air above her head. "People!" she hollered.
Reg turned his eye stalks to Jade. Jade shrugged.
"Alright, everyone," said the spandex clad woman on the wall. "Hope you all got a chance to hydrate. Here we go."
"It's people!" This time the words were uttered by Emily as she ran past. Emily waved her arms as well.
"Let's get down on the floor and get comfortable," said the woman, over the driving beat, "Roll onto your backs and let's get in position for crunches. We'll start easy with a set of ten. Everybody ready?" The woman crossed her arms over her chest.
Beside Jade, Reg flipped onto his back.
"Soylent Green is people," hollered Amaliya as she came running past the doorway, this time from the other direction. Her hands were still waving frantically.
"People!" replied Emily. The sound of her running feet joined in with Amaliya's. The pounding faded as the two of them ran toward the conn and then increased as they circled back aft.
Jade waved her hand at the wall. The woman in spandex froze, mid-crunch.
"So glad we got the gravity back on for this," mumbled Jade. "What the actual--"
"Soylent Green is people!" The blur of Amaliya and Emily streaked by the open doorway once again.
"People!"
Reg rolled his eye stalks in a semicircle. Jade reached over and helped him get himself upright again. Reg reached out with his pincers toward Jade and she scooped him up to perch on her shoulder.
"Nice form on your planks," said Jade.
As Amaliya and Emily ran giggling down the corridor, Jade stuck her head through the doorway just in time to catch their tail ends of as they reached the conn. "We have have workout videos, you know," she called out after them.
Amaliya and Emily reached the conn and turned around.
"Joan gave me a whole stack before we left," said Jade.
Amaliya and Emily ran back, arms waving, and stopped outside the doorway where Jade and Reg stood. They lowered their arms.
"It's people?" said Amaliya.
Emily covered her mouth and snickered.
"Do we need another stopover?" asked Jade. "Too much time in space?"
Amaliya shook her head. "It's people."
"People," said Emily.
"Whatever," said Jade. "You two are goofy." Jade setting out into the corridor. "I'm going for tea."
Jade turned her gaze to Amaliya then Emily. "Anyone care to join me?"
"It's not tea, it's... people?" said Amaliya and then, looking at Emily, broke out into hysterics.
"Whatever," said Jade, and walked on down the corridor.
* * *
In the lounge.
"Hi LĂșcia," Jade said, pausing in her journey to the galley. "Aidoru."
LĂșcia gave a little finger wave. She was completely naked, lying flat out on the Megacomf sofa, ankles crossed. Her wrists were crossed as well and tangled up in one of the recently installed hot pink seat belts. Aidoru, with all three of her bodies loosely clad in black silk robes and hovering over LĂșcia, shot a glance over her shoulders and blew a kiss in Jade's direction.
"You girls being safe?" asked Jade.
"Yes, of course, captain,
"LĂșcia is in control,
"I serve only her," said Aidoru.
"And you're okay with this?" Jade let her eyes linger on the bar code tattoo on LĂșcia's wrist before settling her gaze on LĂșcia's face.
"We have had a discussion and came to the agreement that Aidoru may only kiss me," said LĂșcia, "and only above the waist or below the knees."
"Sounds reasonable," said Jade.
LĂșcia tugged at the pink seat belt securing her wrists, arching her back over the cushions of the Megacomf, before turning her half-lidded eyes to Aidoru. "Tu as ma confiance. Aujourd'hui, je suis Ă toi."
"That's fucking beautiful," said Jade. She turned to look down the corridor. "Amaliya, Emily, you're really missing out on some beautiful shit here with all your running around."
"It's people!" shouted Amaliya from the aft end of the ship.
"People!" followed Emily.
Jade shook her head.
Aidoru grinned. "LĂșcia's pleasure,
"Will result in orgasm,
"If I am successful."
"Kissing only, huh?" said Jade. "I like your sense of adventure."
LĂșcia sighed. "My safe word is Soylent."