Neptune
He couldn't help but look across the bar and eye her. He didn't know who she was, but he didn't need to. The look in her eyes told him that she needed somebody. He hoped the somebody could be him. He knew that if he didn't get her out of the bar soon, she'd be swimming in boys and girls alike that would be interested in getting in her pants. He sighed, realizing that he couldn't admit that his motives were any different. Swallowing his ego and preparing himself for possible failure, he got up and slowly approached her. "Hey. I couldn't help but notice you from across the bar. You know, this place is utterly crawling with scum. I could show you around, if you like." She looked up from her drink, eyeing her courter, from the bottom up.
Conner couldn't help but be nervous. The elegant white wolf was checking him out, paying particular attention to his face whilst looking him over. Her poised muzzle and deep blue eyes didn't convey an expression of disappointment, but he couldn't really tell what she was thinking. he mused it was something along the lines of 'Damn, he fine.'
After she noticed him noticing her notice him, she started to blush. Even the slightest tinge of red was obvious on her fur. She couldn't tell if the fox was genuine or not, but he seemed nice enough. Her advice was to hang around the bar until someone nice enough to give her a tour offered one to her. After that, if they tried to invite her into their home, her instructions were to cockblock them. Hard. There was only one problem, and that was getting started...
"What do you say? I could show you around, if you'd like. Maybe as friends," Conner offered, extending a paw to her. She grabbed his paw in hers and rose to her feet. "Attagirl," he encouraged. "So I guess if we're gonna hang out, i'll need to know your name. Is it as beautiful as your face?" he asked, wondering if he was coming on too strong. She turned to look at him, closing her eyes and giving him a nice smile, but nothing more. "Aw, I'm glad you're happy but what's your name?" She squeezed his hand and looked at him with a slight grin. She pointed at her throat and shook her head no.
"Oh... oh!" Conner stuttered. "So... is that... you can't, or you don't want to?" he inquired. Looking at him, she made a quick neck-slicing motion with her paw, signaling that she couldn't. "Ah, understood," he acknowledged. "Doesn't mean we can't have a good time though, right? I'm going to need to know your name first though. Perhaps you could write it down for me?" He stuffed his hands in his pockets, signifying that he wasn't in any hurry and could wait for her. The wolfess dug through her purse for a while, pulling out her Aineko, a robotic cat that was commonly owned by anyone independant. It would notify authorities if its owner was in trouble, play music and project video or images, make phone calls and much more. Taking on the roles of any electronic device anyone could need, many people had them. The wolfess patted the small bot gently on its head, and it awoke to her touch with a small purr. She gently took hold of the metal cat's head and pointed it in the direction of her new companion. It meowed in greeting, then squeaked, "Greetings! I am the Aineko known as Fisk. My owner here would like me to introduce her. Her name is Lauren, age 18, social security number 5-" before the small robotic cat could continue, Lauren gave it a rough pat on the head, signifying for it to stop its current designation. Fisk continued, "I am pleased to meet you. Your name, please?"
"I'm Conner. How are you, Fisk? Ever seen the neptune colony before?" he asked, his tail swishing with excitement at having a real way to communicate with the white wolfess.
"Lauren and I have never before been to the Neptune colony. I have been programmed to ask you to show us around, and to please ask you to refrain from taking my owner to bed unwillingly," Fisk stated bluntly. Lauren blushed a furious red as she patted the cat aggressively on the head again.
"Don't worry, if it happens, she'll want it. They always do." he teased, shooting a covert wink in Laurens direction to which she looked away.
"I'm just teasing!" He reassured Lauren his large ears perking up, amused at her embarrassment. "So, Fisk. Where are you two from? What brings you to the Neptune colony?" Conner asked, staring at the bright blue planet seemingly hovering above their heads. "Did you come to enjoy the view? Neptune is a popular tourist trap. Yup, we've got he overpriced shirts and tacky gifts that everyone from everywhere wants. Everything that you could possible never need, right here in our little slice of space." he rambled, "It sure is beautiful though, that Neptune. Like a large blue moon just watching over you.. Growing up, it always made me feel kinda safe. In a colony with no daytime, the bright blue thing was always my favorite thing in the sky."
Conner felt a tug on his arm, and he looked over to Lauren, who had an inquisitive look on her face. She pointed at the sky and shook her head, slowly lipping 'No?'
"Hm?" he mumbled, following her dainty finger upward. It was just pointing at the sky. Not Neptune, just the sky. He wondered why. The sky had stars... it was dark... nighttime? "Oh!" he exclaimed in understanding. "Yeah, the sun doesn't grace our small colony with its beautiful rays. We're kinda too far away for it to make too much of a difference. The sun does, however, shine brightly on our Neptune." he observed. upon glancing back at Lauren, she looked slightly crestfallen. She urged her Aineko to come to her, and she opened a small subtle hatch on its slender back, revealing a small touch screen. She fiddled with the cat before closing the barely noticeable hatch.
"I have been instructed to inform you that we are from Earth. We traveled to the Neptune colony in order for Lauren to attend to Universe of Neptune, widely regarded the most prestigious University in our Solar System. It is our first weekend on the colony, and we request politely to be shown around. Lauren would also like to remark that is saddens her that there is no sunlight. She loves the sun. She would also like to add that the colony has a much nicer view of the cosmos, and that Neptune outshines even Earth's moon." Lauren looked at Conner with a quaint smile.
"So you come from Earth, huh? And you came to study at the UNC? What is Harvard or any of your other earth schools not good enough for you? Smart and good looking. How could a guy like me get so lucky?" he thought outloud. He could see their first destination in the distance now. "We're almost there," he observed, "I figured you might like an activity a little more old-fashioned. You don't look like one for LAN-nests or that virtual reality crap that most people our age are into. I figured I would just take you dancing."
Lauren would've squealed right then, had she a voice. She had always wanted to dance, but Earth culture moved too fast to even allow it. Dancing became 'obsolete' and deemed a useless skill somewhere around the early 2100's, over a hundred and seventy years ago. However, she didn't know how to dance, and she didn't want her first time dancing to inhibit the good time of her new partner. Although it would've been strange to admit, she really like Conner despite not knowing him for a long time. Within the ten minutes she had known him, he had demonstrated a clear understanding of her handicap, and didn't refuse to take her out despite her disability. He seemed easy to trust, and was actually she quite good looking. Foxes were rare catches on earth, and before coming to the Neptune colony she had only ever seen two. She felt like the lucky one. Too lost in her thoughts to hear Conner, the wolfess snapped out of her deep thoughts when she saw him point to a brightly lit building just across the plaza from where they stood. She hopped up and down with excitement, her bushy tail flopping and her canine ears perked perfectly forward.
Conner glanced down at her with a smile to her reaction. He didn't know she would want to dance quite that much. But then again, he knew that earth had barely retained any of its culture, whereas the colonies retained the culture of those who pioneered the giant stations nearly 200 years ago. "Well, somebody's excited. Do you dance?" he asked, watching her face turn from pure joy to that of worry and anxiety. She looked up at him, a slight tinge of fear in her bright blue eyes. Noticing the look, conner did his best to comfort her. "Never, huh?" Thats okay, i'm not too good at dancing myself. Don't worry, you'll do fine. Just shake that ass of yours and all the boys will be staring." he chided, remarking on his admiration of her body.
"The ass comment was unnecessary." Fisk remarked, nearly forgotten up until that point. Lauren, slightly annoyed, opened up the panel on the back of the cat and tinkered with the settings again. After closing the panel, the cat concluded, "I am now comfortable with Conner, and will recognize him as Lauren's significant other." Lauren face-palmed, and Conner looked over to her with a sly grin. "We've only just met hon. Significant other, huh?" She blushed and looked down, trying to explain what she meant through actions. Of course, its hard to explain 'significant other is the only recognition in which Fisk will leave you alone' in body language.
When Lauren looked up from her embarrassed state, they were already inside of the building. Conner guided her over to the storage area without words, as the music was booming. The atmosphere was so overwhelming that she bumped into everything in the storage room that wasn't in her immediate field of vision, which was straight up at the electronic ceiling. The ceiling overhead was pulsating and waving, shattering and colliding with itself with the rhythm of the music. Quickly Lauren realized that the ceiling was made entirely of RuCon, a synthetic bastard child of rubber and concrete. Malleable yet strong. After Conner gently pushed her in the direction of her storage cube, she realized that she was probably making him wait.
Conner found her amusement to be quite relaxing. He didn't know whether or not she would actually like where he was taking her. It was kind of an action on a whim. He was glad that at least the atmosphere seemed to catch her attention. He had never really paid too much attention to the ceiling before. Yes, it was made of Rucon, but that was kind of common out in the colonies. Barely anything this far out other than Rucon could actually withstand the harshness of space. Plus, there was always the chance that space dust or small meteorites could impact with the colony at any time. The actual neat thing about the dance floor was their ability to make it into a seemingly living entity. The malleable material was impressive, sure, but to make it dance to the music, simulating those below it - that was the true feat. Conner looked over to her storing away her purse and some of her valuables, as well as her Aineko. She hadn't yet programmed it to process dancing. It would probably recognize dancing as assault or something. "So..." He started off, very awkwardly. "Did it hurt?" She looked at him, her eyes slightly inquisitive. She didn't know what to expect from him, at this point. "When you..." He cleared his throat. This was so fucking cheesy. "You know..." She pointed at her throat and looked at him quizzically. "No, when you..." He looked at her again, "Fell from heaven?" He finished.
Lauren nearly fell over laughing, if her laugh could actually be called that. It was strange. She was having such a good time, laughing, yet you could not hear her. It was a strange thing to observe, but it wasn't a bad kind of strange to Conner. He actually embraced the uniqueness of her. He started to chuckle watching her sit there and laugh beside herself. "I have more, if you wanna hear them," He offered while he took her hand and led her to the dance floor slowly. "How about this. Do you have a map? I'm getting lost in your eyes." He joked. He glanced over to her following him by her hand, and she was keeled over laughing. "Right, another one! 'Damn, if being sexy was a crime, you'd be guilty as charged!'" He quoted directly from his dictionary of bad pickup lines. She stopped dead she was so ecstatic. "Okay, last one for now. 'Baby, if you were words on a page, you'd be what they call fine print.'" he said suavely. His suave composure only added to the fact that she thought he could actually be serious, which she found even more ridiculous. Barely able to breathe, she tried to regain her composure as best she could, squeezing his paw to signal that she was ready to move on. Conner gave her a characteristically sly grin before leading her onward.
Once they were on the dance floor, Lauren was shocked at how many people there actually were. Unable to look before, she realized that the Neptune Colony was actually very in tune with the late 2000's. Before dancing was considered obsolete, it was considered a very fun thing to do. Strangely enough, that's the reason it lost its appeal and became considered a useless skill to possess. Conner jumped onto the dance floor with youthful vigor, inviting Lauren to join him. She was undoubtedly nervous. She kept envisioning how she didn't even know how to dance, let alone -
Her apprehensions were swept away as soon as Conner grabbed her and pulled her into the fray. She would have squeaked from anxiety, but it didn't matter, as nobody could hear her, and she had no voice to begin with. Conner politely informed her that in about 10 minutes they would change the music to something slower so that she could learn to dance. He also told her that it usually happened around 10:00, if she ever felt like returning by herself or with a party of friends. She gave him a look of gratitude, but also her clumsiness and lack of participation seemed to tell him that she didn't exactly know what she was supposed to be doing. Much to her embarrassment, he put his hands on her hips and arms and started to dance for her, just so that she could learn the rhythm and movements more appropriately. Eventually, she started to get the hang of it, and even grew a kind of nostalgic taste for it. Something about moving her body, just having fun appealed to her. It was a lot more personal and definitely a lot more physical than any of the virtual crap that occurred on Earth. She giggled as she felt his hands guide her about dancing. Looking at the laser-etched clock on the ceiling, she knew that the slow music would be starting fairly soon. After another 3 minutes of the fast-paced dancing, the rucon ceiling melted into a more calm state and the lights dimmed for slow-dancing
Conner watched as most of the others on the dance floor left. Most of them were there for the hyped up atmosphere and the fast-paced electronic music, and as soon as the slow dancing commenced they were on their way. He grabbed Lauren by the paw and led her to the center of the dance floor. "Dancing isn't all that bad, right?" He asked after her first few minutes of learning how. She shrugged and looked at him as if she couldn't really give him an answer. "Oh come on, it's not that bad." he assured. "Like i said, you did fine. Slow dancing is a little more complex than just shaking your ass, though." the building took on a more relaxed shape as the slow music started playing. The rucon ceiling would no longer shatter and reform against itself. Instead, it flowed like mercury's volcanic oceans, forming waves and small ripples. The lights, rather than flashing and strobing different colors would slowly fade and ebb, unlike the epilepsy-inducing patterns of before.
Conner spun Lauren around and looked her in the eye. "Just follow my lead," He instructed, putting his left paw on her hip and continuing to hold her paw with his. He started stepping around, and at first Lauren followed, albeit very clumsily. She even stepped on his paws a few times, looking at him with frustration and sorrow. "Its okay, you'll pick it up. Look, just step to the rhythm. It always helps if you know the rhythm," he taught. She looked around them nervously, hoping not to embarrass him in front of a crowd. She observed the other couples dancing very closely, none of them paying much attention to her or her partner, and for that she was extremely grateful. She kept staring at her footpaws, desperately attempting not to screw up.
Conner lifted her face, and Lauren looked into his brilliantly auburn eyes. "Hey, its okay to mess up. It is a little rude to ignore your partner, though." he pushed, teasingly giving her a hard time. She blushed and stared straight into his eyes, never breaking contact. "See? That's much better. Now I can see your face, and you're not doing so bad anymore." She looked at him and blushed. She could swear the longer she looked at his face, the more she would stumble and slip, not to mention step all over his footpaws. Surprisingly, though, the opposite was true. She knew where his legs were, despite not looking. It was as if by just staring into his face, he just communicated where he was going to be, and she followed. She liked slow dancing, because she got to stare at his features without it being awkward.
Conner was glad that she was learning how to dance. The less she worried, the better. He gave her a sly grin, typical of a fox, before sliding his paw lower and lower down her waist, testing the waters. She started to blush so crimson that it could be seen through her fur; she almost looked pink. He chuckled at her embarrassment, but relished the fact that she didn't stop him. "Whatsamatter, girl? I don't bite. Unless you like it that way, that is," he poked, and Lauren tripped up for the first time in a couple minutes. She giggled and looked up at him, regaining her composure and starting to return to the rhythm. "Am I really that corny?" Conner asked, his face fading into a slight frown, though he wasn't truly offended.
Lauren looked up, still giggling, and licked him right up his muzzle, then resumed dancing, as if nothing had happened.
It was Conners turn to be embarrassed now, and he certainly was. He stumbled over her, and blushed a deep shade of red that was visible over his emblazoned pelt. She started full on laughing, and everyone glanced over at the odd couple, as conner had found him on the ground. His muscles seemed to have locked up due to shock. She noticed everyone looking at them, and offered Conner a paw to help him up. "I'm fine, babe." He smiled up at her and stood back up. She signaled at the clock, and Conner caught wind of the time. They had been dancing for an hour? She then gestured towards the door. "You think we should get out of here?" he pondered, and she nodded. "Okay, then! We'll leave." He acknowledged with a smile.
After dusting himself off and leaving the scene of his accident quite unnoticed with Lauren, Conner wondered to himself what would come next. He could always take her to his apartment, but it was extremely messy and probably wouldn't be in any fit shape to have company. He would probably just walk around with her, taking her to other spots he figured she might enjoy until she decided to leave.
Before he could make a decision, however, Conner felt a slight tug on his arm. Looking down at Lauren, she pointed to the right into a brightly lit street. It was Ren avenue... it led to the University of Neptune. "Yeah, UNC is down that way. You're going there next semester, right?" He questioned, looking down at the back of her head as she stared down the road. She turned to look at him, tugging on his arm again, this time pulling him down the road, pointing and giving him a slight smile. It was obvious to him now that she wanted him to follow, so he did. Of course, it was hard not to do so as she held his paw in hers. Stopping for a second, she quickly remembered something: she stopped in the quiet street and reached into her purse. Conner watched her search around for a bit before withdrawing a seemingly slumbering Fisk. She opened up his primary control panel and tinkered with his settings a bit before patting his head to wake him up. The robotic cat started to purr, and stood up in a natural way.
"I have been designated to inform you," he began, hopping down from Laurens hands and into the road, "that we are currently heading to Lauren's dormitory. Though she has been in town for a short while, she has already managed to set up a bed and toiletries." He informed, now peering up at Conner from the road.
"Is it your first year of college?" He inquired towards Lauren, the wolf giving him a nod. "Don't worry, its not so bad. First years are treated with respect at UNC. I would know, I was a first year last year." He said as reassuring as possible. She looked up at him questioningly, again pointing down the road. "Oh yeah, I might have forgot to mention... I also attend the University of Neptune." He stated bluntly. "Maybe i'll see you around. Assuming you have classes near mine, of course. Maybe if you're smart enough we'll even have some classes together." He grinned with chagrin, gently nudging her playfully.
Lauren looked up at him with an excited but surprised face - she would be seeing him around school, and the thought of bumping into him between classes was appealing to her. She smiled up at him and squeezed his paw in approval.
"Lauren is at the top of her class. She has always received the best marks for her work. Some even call her a prodigy." Fisk informed. Lauren blushed furiously and stared at fisk with disapproval. Without real cognitive abilities, however, fisk just continued his musings. "She is hoping to get a degree in biology, especially in studies concerning foreign life. the great mysteries of foreign life will always interest her. She is currently investigating a cell sample found on a moon of a distant planet. from what data she has stored inside me, the study seems to be very interesting."
"Are you referring to the cell samples found on Sega III's moon? That sample was gathered by the capsule I designed! I've been studying engineering. I eventually want to get an engineering doctorate." Conner informed to both Fisk and Lauren, his face beaming with pride at the triumph of his probe.
Lauren nodded, acknowledging that it was in fact the cell sample from sega III's moon, Nameh, that she was studying. Despite herself, she couldn't help but feel more and more attracted to this fox. He knew how to have fun, and he was also an academic. Because he had initially approached her in a bar, she didn't have a great first impression of him, but now she couldn't help but feel that she liked him... a lot.
They strolled casually through the automatic gates of the campus, their student cards wirelessly opening everything locked to the outside as they approached. Conner and Fisk continued to exchange personal achievements with Fisk speaking for Lauren, much to her dismay. She didn't want to come off as arrogant. She noticed that they were nearing her dorm, as she was leading the way while Fisk and Conner traded achievements. She didn't particularly want her night to end, as she had had such a great time.
Conner chatted with Fisk, but the entire time his mind wasn't on the matter of talking. Lauren was striding in front of him, and he couldn't help but keep his eyes on her behind. He especially loved how her hips swayed as she walked. It was as if she was teasing him. She stopped walking but he was still staring. It was only when she turned around that he realized he had been mesmerized. She made a gesture to the door that he managed to put together in his head. "So this is it, huh? You live in the brainiac wing. You don't have a roommate, right? All part of your scholarship?"
Lauren hadn't even ever mentioned her scholarship to him... maybe he knew just by seeing where she would be staying the next couple of years. She nodded quickly to show that she had no roommate.
"Well thats nice," he commented. "I don't personally have a roommate but thats because I'm up all hours of the night. The University likes my work, but they don't like it when roommates complain about me so they finally just gave me a room by myself. Its still a normal sized dorm, though. Not all big and fancy like yours. Isn't that right, smart girl?" He teased, patting her head.
She blushed and opened the door, the dormitory obviously not very furnished. In the room there was a couch and a bed set up. The Television was still on the floor and not magnetically mounted to the wall. Though there were boxes everywhere, the dorm was still relatively clean. Looking into the bathroom, Conner could see that normal toiletries involving hygiene had been established, but nothing else.
"Oh, nice place you've got here." He complimented sarcastically. She shrugged and gave him a look that she didn't much care about the state that it was in. "Well, it was a fun night, but i'm sure you're glad its over. Touring around with a guy whom you'd just met isn't always the best, I assume." Lauren shook her head no. "No? I was that bad? Sheesh, I had actually thought you were having a good ti-" She covered his mouth before running to get a piece of paper and pen from a box.
Lauren hastily scrawled something on the paper before handing it to him. No, it wasn't a bad night. I had lots of fun. Upon reading it, Conner's face brightened up a little bit.
"Well I presume I should be going, then." He remarked, hitchhiking his thumb over his shoulder as he started to leave. Before he could turn, however, Lauren grabbed his shoulder and briskly turned him around, planting a clumsy but good-intentioned kiss on his lips. Both of them fell silent as soon as it ended, only the stagnant sound of their breathing breaking the silence. Moving abruptly, Lauren grabbed Conner and pulled him into her dorm.
***
Conner's eyes opened slowly and he sat in a daze, his brain hazy as it always was from waking up. He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply, preparing to fall unconscious again, until he caught an enriching and refreshing scent in the air. He once again slowly opened his eyes, the scent piquing his cognizant interests. He lifted his head slightly and looked around, realizing that this was not his room at all... and there was a moving thing that he was spooning. He scanned his brain, trying to remember last night, and after mere seconds he could recall the evening completely.
Surprisingly to him, he hadn't been drunk last night, and thus it was easy for him to remember that he had been with a girl - Lauren. He had enjoyed his evening, as she most likely had, as she pulled him into her dorm and proceeded to... thank him for a nice night. He pulled her closer to him, relishing in the warmth of her body during the cold Neptune morning. He got up from bed and put on his boxers which were lying untouched in the living room from the night before. He found his pants and put them on too, leaving his shirt off for the sake of eye candy. Not knowing particularly what to do, as it was the first time in years since he had woken up in good company, he started to cook a little breakfast.
As he labored over the stove cooking a stereotypical breakfast of bacon and eggs, Lauren meandered out of her bedroom wearing a bra and some shorts. "Good morning!" He started, to which she nodded. "I'd like to thank you for last night, my sweet little pup, so breakfast is on me today. Of course, they are technically your eggs and your bacon." He pointed out, holding the spatula to his cheek in a thoughtful manner. She walked up and kissed him before giving him a long hug, which he returned enthusiastically.
At breakfast, Conner and Lauren dined casually on her couch while watching the TV that Conner had installed for Lauren earlier in the morning. "So I was wondering, if you weren't doing anything later toda-" He started, before being interrupted by her finger over his mouth. She looked straight into his eyes, and in the most assuring way possible nodded yes.