Rylia was bemused as she enjoyed the view. Not the spectacular view of the ocean they had from the private beach. Though that was also nice enough, too. No, she was significantly more interested in the fact that Momo was fully onboard with the fact Asari typically swam nude and was currently providing a glorious view as she walked away from Rylia over to their cooler. While Momo’s boobs were one of the first things you noticed about her if you had a pulse at all, the rest of her was just as delightful. Including a toned ass you hated to see leave but loved watching walk away.
The fact that it was currently completely uncovered by anything but sunscreen only made the view more amazing. The fact she could remember putting that sunscreen on it made it even better.
Given the minimal to borderline nonexistent nudity taboo her species has as a general rule, and the fact they were a semi-aquatic species, swimming ‘au naturel’ was simply the norm. Momo, who had surprised her by picking up on Rylia’s stress and aggressively insisted they ‘take a day off,’ hadn’t so much as batted an eyelash at the idea of skinny dipping. For that matter, she’d barely blushed when she’d asked for Rylia’s help ‘doing her back,’ with the sunscreen. Nor had she protested Rylia’s hands…drifting a bit, in the process.
She supposed a lot of that might be due to the handful of ‘encounters’ they’d had while ‘working on the product line.’ Their initial ‘testing’ of the Nerostimulators ‘for human use’ had turned into a series of extremely charged mutual masturbation sessions as they ‘tested new iterations and products’ together. The excuse was blatantly transparent, so much so the whole thing came off as an aggressively charged form of flirting, which only hadn’t turned into more due to some level of hesitance on Momo’s side.
Hesitance that seemed to have vanished when Rylia wasn’t paying attention, if the way Momo had flirted with her periodically today was any indication. The fact that said flirting had been done casually in the nude only reinforced the idea that it probably wasn’t their ‘encounters’ that led to Momo being so comfortable sans clothing. Much more likely, Rylia thought, was that she was either effectively a nudist or, plausibly, a bit of an exhibitionist.
Possibly both, though she was leaning toward the latter, honestly. She’d seen the other girl preen a bit at attention more than once. Not obviously, not even seemingly consciously, but she’d certainly done it.
Honestly, it was a very Asari-like mindset.
Which was, of course, why Rylia had directed them towards a private beach. Momo hadn’t seemed to even consider that she’d have been drowning in Maidens if she went naked to any of the public beaches. Humans were still the latest craze for younger Asari, given they’d only popped up on the galactic scene in the last decade. A human that was utterly gorgeous, even by Asari standards, with seemingly far less of the ‘silly prudishness’ of other races?
Poor Momo would have been swarmed.
Which Rylia would not tolerate! Momo was her Momo, at least until Momo said otherwise! Those other hussy Asari could stay away! Particularly when she was finally starting to properly respond to flirting with more than blushes! Hmmm, come to think of it, they’d already kinda done a lot of the typical ‘date’ ideas while she was familiarizing Momo with the galaxy at large. Just how was she supposed to properly ask Momo out, when that was true?
Puzzling over that conundrum, Rylia laid back on the beach towel and watched Momo bounce as she lightly jogged back over with a new set of drinks for them both. Huh, hadn’t Momo also been the one to set up the cooler? Somehow, Rylia suspected the unexpectedly sneaky girl hadn’t set it up so far away from them for no reason…
… … …
It turned out that Rylia needn’t have worried about how to ask Momo on a date, as the other woman had beat her to it by asking Rylia to join her at a theater production she’d wanted to see. She’d even, seeing Rylia’s uncertainty, blatantly stated that ‘yes, I mean as a date.’ Rylia had been poleaxed by the bluntness, frozen for just a moment, though Momo’s small grin at having successfully caused Rylia’s brain to crash had gotten Rylia.exe to reboot rapidly. Blushing for the first time from something Momo had done, instead of making Momo blush, had been unacceptable!
So she’d kissed her.
What? It had been a panic reaction! One that had worked, too, since it got the blush back on Momo’s face instead of hers, where it belonged!
Momo had asked on their way to dinner, which had been a romantic private table for two that told Rylia the entire thing had been planned from the start. The theater production that had followed had been immensely enjoyable as well. It was something that would have, a decade ago, been an extremely unusual choice of entertainment for a Maiden. Yet, in the last several years a number of Human musicals had been adapted for Asari audiences, and many of the more famous productions of the 21st century and beyond had proven wildly successful with Maidens. Wicked, for example, once adjusted a bit for Asari culture, had been a smash success due to its themes. As had other ‘classics’ like The Phantom of the Opera and Les Misérables.
Thankfully, Shakespeare, the utter hack who had only gotten popular due to appealing to the lowest common denominator of his time, had not done well with anyone but the Elchor so far. Rylia, or more accurately Hazel, deeply approved of her fellow Asari having better taste than that. ‘The Bard’s’ work was an insult to actual competent playwrights through the ages, after all. Sadly, she knew the works not doing as well were mostly the result of Asari having their own equivalents of his tragedies. It was the Musicals that were a bit out of the ordinary for Asari, having drawn in a much younger crowd than the Matrons and Matriarchs that had previously dominated Asari theaters. This story is hosted at novelping dot com.
Pleasingly and somewhat fittingly given their own entrepreneurial bent, Momo had picked an adaptation of The Greatest Showman for them to attend. Another musical whose Asari adaptation deeply appealed to Maidens and had gotten rave reviews, capturing much of the energy of being a young Asari. It had been incredibly well done, as might be expected of a species that went big into the arts, and the pair had deeply enjoyed the show.
Now, as a negligee-clad Momo shared Rylia’s bed, she had to admit she felt massively better from the day off. They hadn’t done anything physical, as it were, despite the fact they were sleeping together. Yet there was a contentedness and monetary peace in having Momo curled up in her arms that bled away her stress. Cuddling was, she idly reflected as she drifted off to sleep, honestly far more intimate than any amount of sex. Even better, there was a lot of Momo to cuddle, in all the best ways.
Not that she was going to say no to sex with Momo if things developed to that point! And she was pretty sure they were now firmly drifting that way…
… … …
The next morning, after Momo’s intervention left her feeling at least a little less overwhelmed, if still more than a bit anxious deep down, Rylia faced the proverbial music about what had been causing the stress in the first place.
Of course, the fact that she was ‘facing the music’ to a Momo who was wearing nothing but a Thessian Silk robe that clung to every curve made it a little easier. As had been the somewhat humorous discovery that Momo could manage to burn toast when she’d earnestly tried to help with breakfast. Apparently, cooking wasn’t a skill the wealthy girl had ever picked up, always having had a staff to cook for her. Something that was true even now, as the high-end luxury section of the archology they lived in had kitchen services that would deliver a wide array of freshly cooked food. Much like a high-end hotel, really, despite the fact they were permanent residences.
Thankfully, both as Rylia and Hazel, she herself had been a half-decent cook and had managed to save breakfast without needing to make use of those services. It had been enjoyable watching Momo intently study what she was doing, even if the end result after they’d finished the meal had been her…new girlfriend? Hopefully her new girlfriend. Even if the end result had been said hopeful girlfriend pinning her down about what had been bothering her. Gently and without accusation, but firmly. Rylia, having desperately wanted to talk about it, in truth, had folded almost instantly and spent the last three quarters of an hour pouring it all out in a barely half-coherent babble.
“So, I guess I was just…overwhelmed by the size of what we’re doing. I’m not really anything special and I have no idea why the Marketplace chose me. There’s just…so much to do, you know?”
Momo nodded, thankfully without showing the slightest trace of judgement. Not even after the babbling and a few embarrassing tears.
“I get it, that sort of Imposter Syndrome was extremely common in the better Professional Heroes, and the task before us is far larger than anything they ever had to face. Yet, I will point out a flaw in your logic. Specifically, you are something special, Rylia. Perhaps not in your background, but certainly in your adaptability. The number of even my fellow Pro Heroes who could have taken in the scale of what they faced and effectively hit the ground running? Tiny. There were perhaps one or two in my entire graduating class at UA that might have been able to pull something like that off, and I certainly wasn’t one of them.”
Rylia leveled a look of pure disbelief at Momo, but the other woman only smirked and shook her head.
“I wasn’t. Not at that time, at least. After running Yaoyorozu Industries for several years? Perhaps. Even right now however, as I am, I would have lacked the other important spark you’ve brought to this. Lateral thinking. I likely would have aimed to either alert the powers that be and hoped for the best, or built a more traditional military-focused industry.”
Momo shrugged, which did distracting things to her silk-covered chest and threated to split the deep V in her robe. Yet, despite her eyes following that enticing motion, Rylia was still riveted by Momo’s words and the utter sincerity behind them.
“At absolute best, I might have tried to reproduce something like the Hero System and gambled that creating Heroes would be a force multiplier on top of everything else. Instead of any of those things, within just days, you came up with and executed the start of a long-term plan that allowed you to build up while staying successfully staying under the radar. A plan which I genuinely believe stands a very good chance at manipulating the entire galaxy into preparing itself for what’s to come, whether it wants to or not. That’s incredible, Rylia.”
Blushing at the slight awe in Momo’s voice and admiration in her expression, Rylia tried to speak, failed the first two attempts, then tried to demur. New chapters come out on g.com first.
“It…wasn’t that crazy. I mean, I just put together the pieces that were already there. Original Rylia’s engineering talent and profession, and the outside-context knowledge and tech I and the Marketplace brought to that. Anyone could have done that…”
Momo’s head shake of denial was firm. As was the finger that ended up pressed against Rylia’s lips and Momo leaned forward and silenced her.
“No, they couldn’t have. Yes, some people could have, but certainly not ‘anyone.’ That sort of lateral thinking approach to a problem is far rarer than you seem to think. Combining that with someone who didn’t panic and simply threw themselves into creating a solution? The Omniversal Marketplace was obviously given to you specifically for a very good reason.”
Seeing Rylia visibly trying to come up with a counter-argument, Momo firmly chopped a hand across the attempt. The fact that leaning back to do so finally caused her robe to give up and allow a nipple slip failed to detract from the moment.
“The rest? Logistics, expertise, and material? The Marketplace provides those things. Including people, as evidenced by yours truly. They chose someone who had the sort of off-kilter thought process required to envision a path to victory, then gave you access to the tools and people to make it possible to execute it. So far, you’re doing a stellar job, from everything I can see.”
Soundlessly working her jaw for a few long moments, Rylia took a deep breath and soaked in how serious Momo was about that. Maybe…just maybe…she was right? With another deep, bracing breath, she did her best to accept that. Solidifying the thought just a bit shakily, she pushed forward with determination. Maybe Momo was right. But if she was, then it was time to be about doing something about the situation again.
“Alright. I’m not entirely sure I believe that. But I’ll trust maybe there is something to it. In that case, though, there’s a decision we need to make. We clearly need more help, and I’ve got enough Karma points banked now to summon another Tier 2 helper. So, let’s go over the possibilities and figure out who it should be…”
Momo smiled in clear approval and nodded, bouncing a little in a way that made Rylia’s eye track downward and lock onto that errant nipple. Momo followed her gaze, then rolled her eyes at what she saw. Much to Rylia’s disappointment, she closed the robe up again. Oh well, probably better off not being distracted, what with the seriousness of the topic at hand.
“Okay, lay out what you think we need most and I’ll try to help you sort through the options.”
Rylia nodded and flexed her biotics, pulling one of the high-security and non-native datapads she’d started inputting details into during her crazed attempt to map everything. In some ways less efficient than an omni-tool, she’d started using them for the same reason as the non-native, high-security holo display she was still working on completing. The very fact that the architecture was so alien to anything the locals used added an extra layer of protection, as did inputting everything in Galactic Basic which only she, Momo, and the droids understood.
This particular datapad contained a number of dossiers she’d copied from the Marketplace, with exactly the idea of getting Momo’s input on the people in question. She still hadn’t found any way for Momo to directly see the Marketplace screens, so it was the best alternative she’d been able to come up with.
“Right. There’s a bunch of stuff we need. But I think additional help in Research and Development or someone to start running clandestine operations are the two biggest. I’ve got shortlists for both, along with a few other options that would be generally useful and possibly cover multiple angles. Both of us could really use a reliable personal assistant, for example. Though that might be a job better fit for a droid of some sort.”
Momo was the perfect audience, focused and asking insightful questions, as she and Rylia worked their way through the shortlist dossiers…
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A/N 1: Moving the relationship into an actual relationship, rather than just lemons :-p.