Alex sat on her bed, leaning back against the wall with a bemused expression on her face. Eta lay curled up next to her, the woman's head resting on her Mistress's lap as Alex played absentmindedly with her hair. Beside them sat the open take-out boxes, all the food inside long since eaten.
"So if I'm understanding right..." Alex began, letting everything she had just heard sink in. "You had an entire conversation in the shower. With an imaginary person. Who through a combination of browbeating and encouragement got you to more carefully consider what you wanted from life."
Eta nodded shakily. "I know it sounds... mad. I'm still trying to figure out how to properly explain it."
"And you said this imaginary person looked like me?"
"She was you... or... I don't know. Yes she absolutely looked like you, and for parts of it she spoke as if she was you," Eta answered, knowing it did not make her sound sane. Alex reached took one of the woman's hands, squeezing it gently as she let out of a soft laugh.
"Brains are.... weird. And you've spent a very long time with yours trussed up pretty tight. It can only stay like that for so long before it finally tells you to knock it off," Alex pointed out.
"Maybe," Eta conceded, "But... you don't think I'm crazy?"
"I do not," said Alex simply, a smile on her lips.
"But the most important question," she continued, something in her voice shifting.
"Was imaginary me naked?"
Eta blushed, casting her mind back and trying to remember.
"No you weren't. You were wearing... your standard space clothes. Flight suit and this," she answered, reaching up and gently tugging on the sleave of Alex's leather jacket. Alex laughed again.
"Imaginary me has good taste. This is my favorite jacket. Anyway, I think both you and I owe imaginary Alex some thanks. She's a hell of a wing-woman. I was... not looking forward to dropping you off at S&R."
"I'm... grateful you didn't have to," Eta whispered as she carefully rolled over so she was facing Alex, and nuzzled her cheek against her Mistress's thigh. Alex let out a low whistle, painfully away of how close her companion's face now rested to her crotch. But Eta either didn't register it, or just didn't comment.
"May... I ask you something?" she asked after a moment.
"Of course," Alex replied gently, reaching down and brushing a strand of hair away from the woman's face.
"Did... you have any desire to keep me prior to my letter?" she asked tentatively. Alex laughed before scratching her jaw.
"I.... no. I didn't really consider it was a possibility. Like you certainly triggered a protective instinct. And I mean... I thought you were cute as soon as I saw you. And I definitely didn't want you to keep being a slave. But I don't exactly go around and every time I see a pretty face think, 'god I'd like to keep her on a leash.' Like I can certainly be a horn-ball, but that's a bit much even for me."
"I'd be more than happy for you to keep me on a leash if you'd like to," Eta replied in her infuriatingly innocent way. Alex's eyes shot open, and she let out a startled cough as a red flash passed across her face. But when she looked down, she caught just the faintest hint of a knowing smile leaving her companion's lips.
"Are you fucking doing this on purpose?!" she exclaimed indignantly, fixing Eta with a piercing stare. The woman looking back up, wide eyed.
"I'm sorry, doing what exactly?" Eta replied tentatively, but there was colour passing over her own cheeks as well.
"Saying stuff like that! There's been a few times you've said things that gave me absolute horny whiplash. I assume it was just because... you know... slave and not used to socializing. But... is that you trying to flirt??" Alex asked pointedly. Eta blushed deeper, and dropped her gaze, fidgeting.
"If memory serves... are you referring to me offering to let you leave marks on my neck, then saying.... being submissive suits me?" she asked awkwardly. Alex simply nodded.
"I... the first one... I owed you for saving my life, and in the moment it appeared to be something I could offer that you had expressed interest in. I promise it had no ulterior motive beyond that. The second... I admit was an attempt to gage your reaction. And this one just now... was a poorly executed flirt yes. I apologize," she murmured. Alex glared at her for a long moment before eventually her expression softened, and she shook her head gently as she began to laugh.
"Eta, we're going to have to work on your flirting skills. Because zero to one-hundred in an instant is not the way. Your goal should be to turn me on, not make me choke to death on my own spit," she chuckled.
"But are you flirting because you want something?" Alex teased. Eta blushed deeper, and she looked as if trying to contain a smile.
"You... said you had... built up arousal due to me. I... apologize, but would be... delighted to... help?" she answered tentatively.
"Oh Eta," Alex laughed, trying to keep her raging hormones locked down for as long as she could. "You are adorable. But we still have to hash out exactly how this sexual relationship is going to work."
"Isn't it simply that I am yours to use however you want?" asked Eta in surprise. "We've... confirmed I'd enjoy whatever you'd want to do with me."
"Like... that's fucking hot," admitted Alex, trying to ignore the tingling in her lower body.
"And if you're a slave it might be that simple. But here you're not. And sex between consenting adults needs a few more ground rules than that."
