Chapter Text
“If only, if only…” Ruby sang softly, trying to drown out the banging on the blast door which separated the cockpit from the rest of her little freighter.
A twisted, distorted voice came from the other side of the metal, more like fingernails being drawn across the hull than a human speaking.
“R-rRhuuuuUBeeeeee-!” it wheezed out.
“I-If only, if only, the woodpecker sighs,” Ruby sang louder, her knuckles white on the controls as she angled the Bumblebee towards the local star.
“Heaahcklp mmmmrreeeeeee,” the voice came again.
“The bark on the tree was as soft as the skies!” Ruby was nearly screaming, her arms shaking as she eased the ship up to max speed.
The banging stopped. Ruby closed her eyes, wishing she wouldn’t hear, but she had to.
“Thhhha wOlf whhhAIts belooow, hhhhhUngryyyyy and looonleeeey,” the voice growled through the door, growing more and more clear by the syllable.
Ruby knew hit had gotten through the door. It was coming up behind her. If she turned she could see it. But she didn’t want to see it. She never wanted to see it again.
“He cries to the moon,” Ruby wept, wrapping her arms around her eyes as they shot into the burning sun she’d set the ship towards.
“If only, if only,” Yang whispered in her ear, the horrible voice of the Grimm which had possessed her sister almost invisible beneath it now, but there was no mistaking the sadistic, ravenous glee of a predator which had caught its prey.
“NO!”
Ruby jerked up in bed, covered in a cold sweat and feeling her heart beating wildly in her chest. Clutching at her chest, Ruby felt her pulse refusing to slow, even as her mind caught up with her.
She wasn’t on the Bumblebee anymore. She wasn’t near the Exclusion Zone. There weren’t Grimm hiding in this dark, and none wore her sister’s body as a puppet.
Slowly, very slowly, her heart slowed down, and Ruby remembered where she was. She was on the SSS Indomitable, in her room. They were somewhere between Atlas and Vale. Her nightmare was merely a memory from two years prior. She told herself that, anyway. She wasn’t sure how true it was.
Unfortunately, she couldn’t afford to waste her few sleeping hours on being sad or traumatized. She had to get back to sleep before her shift. They’d be putting into Atlas soon, and she needed to renew her contract.
It wouldn’t be too long now. Just a few more trips, and she’d have enough for her own ship. Then…then it would be finished.
The Schnee Star Ship Indomitable arrived at Ironwood Spacedock right on schedule. Captain Robyn came off first alongside the owner’s representative, a bitter man by the name of Jacques, and son-in-law to the company’s owner. Nicholas himself stood proudly to welcome back one of his best ships and his best captains, dressed in a silver-white uniform with a red cape and sash to accent his attire and make him instantly identifiable in the crowd.
“How fares Vale, my young friends?” the old man greeted them, his arms open for a hug.
Jacques sniffed derisively, folding his arms and glancing back up at the ship in annoyance. The crew were starting to unload the cargo, many with machines which were worth more than their lives ten times over. While his white suit was impeccable, his demeanor soured any professionalism he might have otherwise held.
Robyn accepted the hug brightly, patting Nicholas on the back hard enough to make the old man wince and grin.
“Blooming,” she laughed. “We got 2% over asking for the pleasure items, even if we did have to sell the necessaries for 4% under.”
“And with that clever 5% markup young Jacques implemented last year, we’re still turning a profit,” Nicholas mused, patting his son-in-law on the shoulder. “It seems it was a good idea to pair you two up for this voyage.”
Jacques shook his head.
“We could have sold the items for 4% above asking. They need them too much to deny us.”
Robyn grinned, winking at Nicholas before elbowing Jacques in the ribs.
“He’s just pissy because they didn’t have enough of their famous wine to satisfy his tastes, and then I dragged him around the main city looking for the right ring.”
Nicholas’ eyes lit up like fireworks.
“You intend to ask soon then?” he asked eagerly.
“As soon as I’m sure she’ll say yes.”
“She’d do far better to marry someone with an affluent family to better grow the company,” Jacques huffed. “My daughter—”
“Then it’s time to celebrate!” Nicholas laughed, cutting off his son and grabbing both of his in-laws by the arm and dragging them down the docks. “And perhaps, if there’s time, to see about my other request?”
“I have the list ready, sir,” Jacques said with a sigh, pulling out a small device from his pocket. “I’ll send it to you at once.”
“Oh, I’ve got those names too,” Robyn agreed. “You gave us a lot of good candidates this time. It was the smoothest voyage I’ve ever been on.”
That seemed to make Nicholas very happy.
“Good. Smooth is how I want her first crew.”
“ Her ??” Jacques asked in alarm. “You mean you intend to indulge Weiss’ foolish aspirations? Wasting her talents as a mere ship’s captain when she could be taking the company to new heights??”
Nicholas gave his son-in-law a hard look.
“Weiss’ life is hers to live,” he said firmly. “She will act as my representative, and if she finds the life as romantic as she believed, I will allow her to work her way up like any member of my company. If she finds she prefers the life you’ve chosen for her, then we will accommodate her.”
It seemed to satisfy Jacques, at least for the moment.
“Good,” Nicholas smiled. “Now, let’s see, where shall we go…the Bistro de Fria perhaps? Or maybe you two are in the mood for more hearty food? Pietro’s recently added a new kind of pork bowl to the menu. Then again, perhaps you want pasta? Simple Wok just set up near the theater district, so we can get some food and then nap through a performance of that new Cordova production?”
Robyn laughed at the idea, challenging the old owner to an eat-off of the truly titanic pasta bowls Shopkeep served, but Jacques let out an annoyed huff through his mustache. His plans to take over the company were already in motion.
“Alright, that’s the last of it,” the foreman said, waving the loaders and their tools off. “Your payment’s been sent to your accounts. Be sure to get your things off the ship before we lock it down, and turn in your uniforms. Thank you for your work.”
Ruby rolled her hovercraft back, the lifting arms easing out from around the crate she’d been unloading. It had taken them most of the day to unload the ship’s cargo, but it had to be spotless before it went in for overhaul.
Settling her little forklift down in line with the rest, she hopped out of the control seat and made her way back aboard. Most of the crew were eagerly talking about where they’d be spending their money and their time off, but Ruby was among the despondent ones. Their Schnee contracts were ending that voyage, and only those who were picked back up would have stable work. Those who did not would have to make their payment from the voyages last until they could find new work.
Opening the hatch to her cabin, Ruby stripped out of her Schnee jumpsuit, tossed it into the laundry funnel, and picked up her bag. Her civilian clothes weren’t much to look at, just some shorts and a tank top, but they were hers. Between them and her bag, they were all Ruby had. There was a lockbox back on the moon of Patch with some of her more personal effects, but she didn’t really have the heart to go back for them or take them with her.
Once Ruby had bothered to get a poster. Give some life to her cabin. When she’d had a nightmare of the hot girl on it coming to life and strangling her, she’d burned it. She decided to stick to steel walls and darkness after that. She could have color in the mess hall with everybody else.
As she exited the ship again, Ruby noticed a few people in the Schnee silver and red taking note of everyone disembarking, and calling over a couple people. She was surprised when she heard her own.
“Technician, first class. Rose, Ruby.”
Stepping out of the flow of people, she stood at attention before the woman. She had dark black hair and a mechanical eye which glowed orange, but otherwise wouldn’t have stood out in a crowd.
“I understand your contract has just expired,” the woman said, looking her up and down, “ and that you were hoping to secure a more permanent place with the company?”
“Y-yes, ma’am,” Ruby said, swallowing down her nerves.
“Good,” she sniffed, touching something on her tablet. “Report to Chief Engineer Shield in three days aboard the SSS Steadfast . There’ll be a representative of the company aboard to approve your permanent contract, provided the voyage goes well. Consider it a job interview of sorts.”
“An interview, ma’am?” Ruby asked, surprised. She’d worked with the company several times, and just finished a ten month contract with them.
“For Junior Engineer,” the woman explained with a sly grin. “You’ll be part of the Engineering Corps. at Schnee Shipping Co. going forward, not just a contracted welder.”
“Yes ma’am, thank you ma’am!” Ruby beamed, relief washing through her.
“You’re quite welcome. This file says you’re one of our more reliable hires. We’d like to see how useful you can be. Details of the voyage are already on your personal device.”
Ruby confirmed the message had gone through with a quick check of her wrist, then a nod to the woman.
“Very good. Helmsman, second class. Sur, Abin.”
She’d already moved on to the next person. Ruby got out of his way and headed for the nearest gentlewoman’s club. She could relax now, after all.
Swirling the fruity concoction she’d managed to convince the serving mech to make her, Ruby watched one of the entertainment displays with a vague interest. It was a race around the moons of Vacuo, using all new starship engines and designs. Something of a niche channel for engineers and starship enthusiasts, but since the dock also doubled as a refit station, it was a fairly popular hangout for such people. Truthfully, Ruby was more interested in the available servers.
The Sky Dive was one of Ruby’s favorite places to get distracted. It served good drinks that weren’t too high in alcohol, it accepted and employed people of all species, and the waiters doubled as escorts if they found you attractive and you had the money. Ruby had enough spending cash from her job, even after shunting her usual amount to savings in various banks, and she’d been told by many a boy and girl working there that she was cute as a button. Now she just had to pick a couple girls to keep her mind occupied for a few hours.
There was a trio of Vanillo girls she rather liked to pay for their services, a species with no vocal chords and with skin usually made up of primary colors, but also with wickedly deft fingers and attentive eyes. Their species came from the subterranean caves of Mistral, where sound was dangerous and they had to light up their skin from inside to communicate. It was very kinky to see one orgasm, if you had sunglasses. The brown-and-pink Neo, the green Emerald, and the blue May were all still on the board of employees by the bar, but evidently they’d been taken already.
A Zheel Ruby had once spent the night with was also on the board, but with a small note attached which said she’d been moved up to the more prestigious levels. The other May was from a species which had the same skin tones as human, as well as a much more functional screaming voice, but only had one eye and one ear, the other half of their head instead devoted to some rather unique sex organs. Kinky, if you could get past the claws. Ruby wondered if she was unique in that way, or if other Zheel had different methods of gripping their mate. Maybe she should stop by Vacuo sometime and find out.
Ruby was bummed to see the two non-humanoid waiters she liked had been fired, their pictures removed from the board. She wasn’t usually the kind of girl to go for ladies who had transparent skin and no bones, but those two had been artists. She wondered what they’d done wrong? She knew one had family on their homeworld, but would that be too personal a reason to drop by Argos? Probably.
Lastly the quartet of Faunus she’d enjoyed burning a few hours on were already engaged with other clients. Then again, she wasn’t really in the mood for any of them. Ilia was fun when she wanted to make a girl melt, but she wasn’t really up for the effort today. Deerie liked it rough, so she was out too. Neon was entertaining several men at once, which was a shame since Ruby found her one of the few girls who could keep up with her stamina. And lastly, the only boy she’d ever bothered to sleep with, good old Sun. His tail did wonders, but Ruby had to be in a particular mood to want a guy. Genetically engineered superspecies or not, Ruby needed to be very pent up for her not to want some tits to play with.
The only available one of Ruby’s regulars she could see was the android, Penny. Penny was…hard to enjoy. She was, bluntly, too innocent and happy to be a good hooker. Ruby spent too much time laughing at her jokes to properly get off, and while she certainly was distracting…it took a little too much engagement when all she wanted was some mindless, carnal pleasure to keep away her demons.
“Lonely tonight?” a voice asked at her elbow.
Glancing to the side, Ruby saw a beautiful pair of silver eyes staring back at her, though behind a skull-like mask which hid the top half of the woman’s face. Black tresses fell around her face, with deliciously dark skin Ruby found instantly appealing. She had a sarcastic smile, a lovely throat, and a generously revealing gown which tempted Ruby quite effectively.
“Only a little,” she admitted to the stranger, turning slightly and looking them up and down.
It was a Calaver, a semi-humanoid race Ruby had only seen a few of, even on all her voyages on different ships and with different companies. From the waist up she was humanoid, and a very striking one at that, but the poofy dress which fell from her hips covered whatever she had below. It wasn’t certain where their species had come from, but given some were just straight up mermaids and centaurs, Ruby personally suspected they were like the Faunus, and some mad geneticist had made them.
“Just got off a long voyage, in the mood to be pampered and tell some wild space stories?” the woman guessed.
Ruby didn’t want to seem easy, and flirted back a little.
“You think you got me all figured out already?”
The woman might have blushed under her mask, it was hard to tell, but her eyes widened a bit before she pushed ahead.
“I think I could stand to learn some more,” she mused, walking her dark fingers up Ruby’s pale arm. “Miss…?”
“Ruby. Ruby Rose. Or, what’s left of her, anyway.”
Holding up her arm where most people would have a personal implant device, she revealed the whole arm was mechanical, the joints opening up to reveal the circuitry within before closing back up and looking just about as human as it could get.
“You?”
“Maria,” she introduced herself, tracing small circles at one of the spots which had just opened up. “How much of you is…”
“Soulless machine?” Ruby guessed a bit bitterly.
“Sensitive enough to handle a woman,” Maria countered with a smirk. “I don’t care if your tits are synthetic, I just care if you can feel them.”
Ruby blinked, surprised. Some people had…prejudices against cyborgs.
Grinning, Ruby reached out and ran her finger along the exposed part of Maria’s cheek with a feather’s touch.
“I can feel that,” she winked.
It was quite cute to see Maria’s blush get below her mask line, her eyes fluttering in sudden shyness. She glanced away, her smile turning flustered, which sold Ruby on having her tonight. She’d prefer two, but one would do. She was a bit drowsy, after all.
“So, how much do you charge a night?” Ruby asked smoothly, a card emerging from her wrist. “Or do you offer special discounts for cuddling afterwards?”
[NSFW Section: Start]
Maria found herself pinned to the hotel bed the instant the door closed. Ruby moved to take off her mask, but she caught the hand and shook her head slightly.
“The mask stays on,” she said, firmly but not rude. It wouldn’t do to drive her off, but it wouldn’t pay to turn her off either. “Everything else can go.”
“Then everything else will go,” Ruby hummed, leaning in and stealing a kiss.
Kissing wasn’t a foreign concept to Maria. She’d done it many times. But damn if this girl wasn’t setting a new standard. She tried to give as good as she got, but she felt like she was falling short.
Nothing for it but practice.
Despite her best efforts, Maria didn’t feel like she got on Ruby’s level by the time she realized her skimpy top had been slid off her, exposing her bare breasts and subtly defined abs. Ruby hummed in aroused delight, moving down to inspect her prize, leaving Maria gasping.
“Well, I didn’t expect this,” she giggled, placing a kiss on Maria’s stomach, just above her belly button. “Nice and taught. You must be a lot of fun at parties.”
Maria was glad she’d chosen to keep her face covered. How was she supposed to respond when her face was on fire??
Ruby distracted her with another kiss, her hands sliding up to caress either breast. Maria gasped into her lover’s lips, surprised at the tender motions of each finger as they explored her chest from base to nipple.
“Your lips certainly taste good,” Ruby mused, moving to place a kiss on the upper part of her neck. “I wonder if that goes all the way down?”
With a whimper, Maria realized Ruby was starting to lay hickeys along her sensitive neck, drawing out small moans of delight.
“No…fair,” she managed.
Ruby paused, halfway through leaving a necklace of love bites along her collarbone.
“Oh? You want a turn?” she mused.
Maria grabbed her by the shoulders and flipped them over. Instead of Ruby straddling her dress, her gown was splayed out overtop her waist, the weight distributed far too evenly for a single pair of legs to be underneath.
“Yes,” she growled, attacking Ruby’s throat with a desire to mark her in return.
Ruby’s shirt and shorts were quickly discarded, leaving her quite bare. Her breasts were much smaller than Maria’s, and probably supported a little better thanks to her mechanical miracles inside. Still, they fit her hands nicely and Ruby’s voice seemed to indicate they were sensitive enough.
Weaving her way down, leaving kisses across every bit of pale skin she could find, synthetic or home-grown, Maria found her target between Ruby’s toned legs.
“My species have some different dietary requirements from yours,” she said in her most seductive voice. “So when we eat a human out, it’s quite literally a meal.”
“By all means, dig in,” Ruby grinned masochistically.
Wrapping her lips around her lover’s vagina, Maria’s tongue got to work massaging each and every bit of her, inside and out. Ruby let out moans of delight and glee each time she ventured deeper or pauses to give her clit an extra firm tug, one hand cupping her own breast while the other ran through Maria’s hair.
Unlike her other lovers, Ruby didn’t cum within the first minute. She took two. A testament to her experience, but also a challenge Maria was delighted to meet.
“My turn,” Ruby managed between breaths as Maria pulled off her. “Assuming you have something for me to nibble on?”
“Well…”
Unfastening her belt, Maria let her dress fall away, revealing a cluster of tentacles the same tone and texture as her skin. They didn’t have a defined inside or outside, merely coming to rounded tips at each end. At the center of them all was a small orifice, moist with arousal and with a pleasant pink flesh inside, along with a much smaller tentacle from the tip which waggled almost invitingly. She seemed to float off the bed slightly, only one or two of the tentacles touching the sheets and not looking like they were carrying a lot of weight.
“Only if you really want to,” Maria said smugly. “Not everyone’s brave enough. I’m more than happy to—Ooop!”
Ruby had grabbed her hips and yanked Maria down to her face, her lips meeting those of Maria’s pussy so fast she almost didn’t have time to gasp in amazement.
“Tastes like sushi,” Ruby giggled from under her skirt of tentacles. “And the little one is fun to play with.”
Maria squealed in surprise as she felt Ruby french kiss her clit, the small tendril within her vagina dancing with Ruby’s tongue.
“C-careful Ruby, you m-might—FAUCK!”
The little tentacle was far more sensitive than the rest of her sexual organ, and brought her to orgasm almost immediately. It stiffened and shot a small spurt of thick seed onto Ruby’s tongue, spasming twice before falling limp. Maria did the same, barely held up by the small underbelt around her waist which kept her aloft in the lower gravity.
Ruby peeked out from under her, pulling apart a couple tentacles eagerly.
“Naughty girl, cumming in my mouth like that,” Ruby teased. “I didn’t know you had both sets of gear down here. Let’s try the other one.”
“W-wait—!” Maria gasped, but Ruby was already going to town on the rest of her pussy. She didn’t last especially long that time either.
It took them both a bit to recover after that, with Ruby offering Maria some water. She accepted graciously, then decided to give Ruby exactly what she paid for.
Pinning Ruby to the bed with a tentacle to each of her limps, Maria slithered one to the tip of Ruby’s larger clit and one to either breast. The last moved up to Ruby’s lips, teasing them invitingly.
“You’ve got me all riled up now,” Maria accused her. “Are you going to take responsibility?”
Ruby’s response was to open her mouth and suck Maria’s tentacle in with an eager slurp. While they weren’t strictly sexual organs, the tips of her tentacles were intended to be quite sensitive, so Maria let out a small whimper of delight. Then she plunged inside her new lover from both sides, ravaging her with energetic thrusts. Ruby melted beneath her, eagerly accepting Maria’s lovemaking.
While her own species were used to such coitus, Maria hadn’t expected Ruby to take so much of her. Even with her legs pinned, she clenched her thighs to draw the penetrating phallus ever deeper into her, brushing against her womb and sending her back arching in delight. Maria moved down, connecting their waists and allowing her true cock to ease into the meager space still available inside Ruby’s cunt.
“You shouldn’t be genetically compatible with my seed, but I still wanna knock you up,” Maria growled possessively, starting to pump inside her. “It isn’t large enough to please you like a human cock, but it can tease that adorable clitty of yours nicely, can’t it?”
Ruby’s throat convulsed and Maria drew out her tentacle in case she was about to choke. Unfortunately, that seemed to be Ruby’s plan all along. She grinned evilly, leaning up and whispering in a sultry voice that broke Maria: “Breed me.”
Maria came. Hard. Ruby did as well, laughing as she rocked her hips to force more of Maria’s spunk out of her.
Unraveling her tentacles, Maria flopped to the bed beside Ruby, curling up against the woman’s shoulder as they both gasped for breath.
“Wow…” she managed, sliding her arms around Ruby’s torso to hold her close. “Are you sure I shouldn’t be paying you ?”
Ruby giggled, wrapping her up snugly.
“After that way you pinned me? I feel guilty about not paying you more .”
“I work for tits— I MEAN, TIPS!”
That earned a laugh, and Maria relaxed against Ruby’s warm skin.
“I’m gonna have to come back to you next time I’m in port,” Ruby decided. “Maybe do it properly though. Treat you to dinner, bring toys, maybe some nice lipstick so you can admire my handiwork in the mirror.”
“I’m sure I’ll have quite a view anyway,” Maria tittered, several places feeling rather bruised from the intensity of her lips.
[NSFW Section: End]
The girls lay on the hotel bed for a while, just taking in the silence together. Then Ruby began to sing under her breath, so silently she might have been half asleep as she did so.
“ ”If only, if only,”
The woodpecker sighed,
“The bark on the trees was as soft as the skies.”
The wolf waits below,
Hungry and lonely,
He cried to the mo~on,
“If only, if only…” ”
Then Ruby let out a sigh. A sigh so heavy and full of loneliness, Maria wondered if she had given up the ghost there and then. But her chest rose once again, and then she breathed normally.
“That’s a beautiful song,” Maria whispered.
Ruby stiffened.
“I’m sorry,” Maria backpedaled. “I didn’t—”
“Get out.”
Maria jolted back at the ice in her voice. The sudden comfortable quiet after their activities shattered in an instant.
“I didn’t—“
“GET OUT!” Ruby screamed, rolling away and burying her head in a pillow.
Gathering up her dress, Maria left. She wasn’t sure what had set Ruby off, but she knew she’d accomplished her goal.
Still, Maria thought, checking the implant in her tentacle which had copied the data from Ruby’s arm device, revealing the course her ship would be taking, I could use a new cabin girl, and she’d look quite nice in a collar.