The Moon and the Three of Cups

Posted on Sun Feb 28th, 2021 @ 9:07am by Alden Loxley & Alison Bliss & Kindra Graham

Mission: Sweet Emotion
Location: Quantum of the Stars
Timeline: 2515 - After The Fool and the Ace of Swords

Kindra had showered before Alison and Alden arrived at her cabin at the end of the long evening. She was dressed to relax in a mid-thigh-length red silk nightgown with matching robe, her hair clipped up in a loose bun. Room service had delivered an ample tray of cheese, crackers, and fresh fruit, as well as a bottle of single malt whiskey to offer an alternative to her personal supply of quality wine, as well as a jug of sparkling water. She grinned, deeply pleased the two of them had agreed to meet back at her room, for drinks.

She took a sip of whiskey from her dram glass, then Kindra picked up an apple and sat in the center of the sofa, within reach of the tray.

Alison arrived at Kindra’s still wearing the dress she borrowed from the companion. She had soft, almost predatory grin of self-satisfaction on her lips. She won quite a solid sum. With it, she was already planning to buy some clothes tomorrow for herself and Alden. She was also quite satisfied as she was able to keep herself in check and not go all in at the casino. She was confident she could clean easily winning of ten times higher but that would bring scrutiny on her - something she wanted to avoid.

Entering the room on Kindra’s invitation, Alison moved toward the sofa. Her normally feminine, suave, but studied stride was very much sultry oozing sensuality. “You look absolutely fabulous, Kindra, did I say that before?” She giggled and sat down a bit closer than she should to the companion, considering how little they knew each other. “And you… Alden… you looked out there very… uhmm… inviting.” She narrowed her eyes.

"Huh?" Alden directed his half-question at Alison as he stumbled into the room. One hand messed up his already dishevelled hair, the other was shoved down the front of a pair of gym shorts that were a just a little too small for him. Apart from that he wore only a crumpled t-shirt with the cruise liner's name on it, the sleeves roughly cut off at the shoulders. He smelt faintly of someone else's colognes (yup, plural) and some kind of fried food. "Invited to what?"

There was the definite scent of expensive alcohol on his breath as Alden padded - bare-foot - across the floorspace and dropped to sit on the floor, legs stuck out in front, both arms now used as a bracing support system behind him. He looked up at the two glamourous women, wide-eyed like a small child and chuckled. "You two look real pretty," Alden said, with a happy smile. "S'good to see girl-parts again."

Kindra watched Alden's entrance with a concerned frown. He was intoxicated and judging from his appearance and smell had probably fallen prey to the amorous advances of Cuthbert and maybe one of the purser's friends. And yet Alden wore a familiar tell-tale satisfied grin that suggested whatever happened had been consensual. Kindra smiled, glancing with raised eyebrow at Alison. She had not anticipated that Alden was so… flexible in his tastes. "Looks like you had an interesting evening, Alden."

Alison seeing raising Kindra's eyebrow only giggled.
"If there was some action, it wouldn't be the first time my brave hero saves me with pleasures of his body." She said not hiding amusement. While she knew she was slightly intoxicated, Alden seemed like he was way past her point on the scale. "However, even though he hardly refrains from using his charms to save me, never really shared them with me. Why is that?" She asked turning her eyes from Kindra to Alden. Watching Alden, Alison decided that going barefoot was like the perfect idea. Raising her left foot of the ground, she began fiddling with her shoe and moments later, it fell on the ground.

"Sup?" Alden asked, looking with suspicion from one woman to the other as they exchanged loaded glances. He frowned, then shook his head and smiled again. "Was in't'resting, yeah," he confirmed, casting his gaze to the ceiling as his fuzzy recall played out in his booze-addled mind. Then he looked straight to Alison with an accusational stare. "That was one time!" Alden protested. "And she was mean... real unkind-like." His gaze wandered from Ali to Kindra, expression stating clearly he wasn't sure if he could seek help from the Companion or not.

"Too much respect for you, partner," Alden slurred a swift reply to Ali's question as he waited for Kindra to answer his unspoken one.

Kindra's amused interest shifted abruptly to uneasy concern. The way Alden's speech was slurred suggested he was far more intoxicated than she'd first thought, and therefore unable to consent to anything. Kindra poured a glass of the sparkling water and knelt next to Alden, holding it close to his lips. "Drink this. It's just water. How much liquor did you drink? Do you remember what happened?"

Alison was intoxicated, but still she noticed the sudden change in Kindra. Because of that she fiddled with the other shoe twice as long but it too finally dropped on the floor. She pulled thighs off and went barefoot. Flapping on the sofa, Alison watched Kindra taking care of Alden and her thoughts circled again around both of them, wondering what was between them exactly. By now, Alden was pretty much an open book for her, but Kindra was not. Even though she wasn't doing particularly good job at controlling her emotions when around Alden, there were still question marks. It did seem to align with what Alison heard and Alden seemed to be Kindra's, Alison decided to call it weakness for now. She would need to watch those two closer or push things further. She was able to read through anyone she slept with...

"Oh... I respect you too, partner." Alison said to Alden with a wicked smile. "So... should I leave you two alone? Or do you feel like doing us both?" After the last question, Alison smiled lustfully.

With both hands, Alden grabbed the glass from Kindra's hand and gulped it down in its entirety. He felt... dry like the desert and yet comfortably numb in a way that didn't suck... then he remembered something from the haze his evening had been and chuckled some.

"'Member cuddling," he said. "Someone bit me," he handed the glass back to the Companion and pointed with two fingertips to a mark on his right shoulder. "See?" Alden's expression shifted from flippantly thoughtful to serious frowning for a moment. "Didn't drink tha'much," he stated. "But feeling oh so happy light. Then his gaze shifted from Kindra to Alison. "Nope! Dunna leave. Doin' ya both what?"

"I'd like you to stay, Alison." The possibility of the three of them together had been simmering in the back of Kindra's mind all evening, the two of them were a package. To hear Alison express the thought out loud just then had sent a thrill to her core. Then she considered Alden's current condition and let out a long, exasperated sigh. "It would seem that our young man here has been done quite thoroughly already."

"Come on." Kindra stood and tried to coax Alden to his feet. "Sit on the sofa with us." She wanted to make sure he was only drunk, and not drugged.

"Oh yes... sit with us." Alison said and sat straightening up and her lustful smile broke even wider. She patted the sofa and made Alden a place, but otherwise didn't move to help Kindra. One of the reasons was that Alison knew she was happily intoxicated. Doing any sudden moves might not end well for her. She licked her lips. "Is he damaged? No one did anything permanent to him?" The question was directed at Kindra.

She could see that Alden's shoulder had a bruise, but no broken skin. He would have told them if he was injured… right? Kindra considered undressing Alden for an examination. With an amused half-smile she said, "Best we wait for Alden to sober up a bit before playing doctors-and-patient."

Alden was clearly missing a lot of the nuances going on between the two women, but he suddenly seemed to key into the fact that there was another layer to the conversation. A suspicious frown creased his forehead and he canted his head to one side and then the other in a jerky motion that implied he was trying to see things from different angles, both literally and figuratively.

"No," he said, tone stronger as Alden shook his head vehemently. "I'm not falling for that one again. They said 'jus' come sit on the sofa' but then there was..." he looked aghast and clenched both his hands into tight fists then back out to relaxed fingers again. "They tried to..." Alden backed a little way across the floor, scooching on his backside while keeping Kindra and Ali under a furtive gaze.

"It wasn't water, was it?" He said plaintively, casting an accusational glare at Kindra and waving a pointy index finger at Alison.

Kindra soothed, "No, Alden. It was only water. I promise I would never-" But then, this last of his symptoms fell into place.

"Ta ma duh. Alden is pliant, drowsy, and confused. He has memory problems and now dissociation." Kindra turned to face Alison, hands clenched at her sides. Angry… so angry with herself. This was her fault for trusting the purser. "That joo bah jeh Yeatman roofied Alden."

"Give him a black eye though," announced Alden with a childish glee.

"Good." Alison pointed her index finger at Alden in a pistol gesture and tsked winking. "I am proud of you."

Straightening up she waved with her hand calming.
"It's all right Alden. I didn't take advantage of you so far, why I would do that now..." She gave him playful grin. "Unless you like it this way."

Alison understood Kindra's anger and to a degree she shared it but she was also aware there was little they could do about it. About being abused in the current situation and to be honest, that beat walking through the trash planet. "Nothing happened Kindra. Let's just keep our heads down until we get to our destination."

Still on her feet, Kindra looked from Alden to Alison, fingernails biting into her palms, mind spinning. She did not want to let it go. If she had been the victim, she would not let it go. Kindra had the privilege of her station as a companion, backed by the guild. She could call on the protection of her stepparents' position and wealth. But calling the authorities… would only get her two friends in more trouble. Slowly, she relaxed her fists and pressed her palms against her fortunately-red silk nightgown.

Later, she would take steps to make sure Yeatman faced consequences. A black mark in the companion registry, definitely, and a complaint to the cruise company to get him fired. Oh, yes. But first she would make sure Alden and Alison were safe on Conrad. Kindra sank onto the sofa, leaving a space for Alden to sit between herself and Alison, and observed Alden's condition.

Alden offered a boyish grin along with a return finger-gun back to Alison, then scooted back closer to the two women on the sofa. He reached out then and gently grabbed the blond woman's bare foot, cradling it firmly against the palm of his right hand.

"Don' mind lil rough 'n' tumble," he told Ali as he shook his head and made a fist again with his left. "But no one's putting one of those up..." Alden's eyes went wide. "No-one's putting nuthin' up there," he clarified. "You'll protect me, right?" He asked, conveying innocence as he batted long eyelashes at his partner in crime.

"Always." Alison said with a gentle smile and leaned forward. She patted Alden on his head. "I will always protect you." Her voice was semi-playful but also clearly ringing with a soft sincerity.

She looked at Kindra and gave her a wink.
"How to not love him?"

A slow nod accompanied a weak, wry smile. "Impossible, indeed." Alden was so vulnerable, so unguarded in his drugged state. Seeing the way they were together, Kindra felt more than a little envious of the bond Alison shared with Alden. Then, partly because she knew Alden was unlikely to remember, and partly because the bond he shared with Alison demanded an honest response, she spoke the unvarnished truth, admitting it to herself for the first time. "I do love him. I have since we first met."

Even being intoxicated Alison noticed the weight of Kindra's statement. It was enough to leave her speechless as she didn't expect Kindra would admit openly to that. She gave Kindra a small, soft smile before she looked down on Alden, wondering if he caught it.

Letting go of Ali's foot, Alden took up a sudden interest in more comfortable seating - or rather lying - and stumbled forward to place both his hands on the middle cushion of the little sofa. He looked from Alison to Kindra and back again as the two women spoke, then climbed up into that cosily vacant space.

Once up on the sofa itself, Alden slowly extended his bare legs out across Alison's lap and his upper body towards Kindra. As his head found a comfy position atop Kindra's thighs, he exhaled softly, gazed peacefully up at the ceiling and offered up a soporific smile.

"Love both of ya muchly lots," he declared, voice coloured with a blurry verbal happiness.

Alison raised her eyes from Alden and looked at Kindra with a theatrical sigh.
"See what I have to put up every day? Let me know if you want to take part in that."

Kindra ran her fingertips over Alden's forehead soothingly, and smiled down into his handsome, drug-addled face. Once again, her time with him was no more than a vignette and in the morning he wouldn't even remember half. Her gaze shifted to Alden's partner, not quite certain what Alison meant by take part in that, but she assumed it was the previously implied threesome. Kindra reached out and gave Alison's hand a warm and regretful squeeze. "I'd want to, except Alden is in no state of mind to know what he's doing."

"Tell me, Alison, how was your evening in the casino… did you win?" asked Kindra.

"These days... I always win." Alison smiled predatory showing off her teeth. "Though I had to be careful. I won enough for us both with Alden to get new clothes, and I think I won few small items that might be useful too..." Alison hesitated as there was something she won that fitted Kindra perfectly in Alison's mind but decided to give it to her later. "...but I tried to stay under the radar. The house always wins. That is the rule of any casino and I didn't want to draw too much attention."

Alison could sense that there was shared interest in Kindra for something more, but with the state Alden was, Alison was doubtful anything would happen. Still she took Kindra's hand in her own and raised it to her face to give tips of each finger a very sensual and slow kiss. "What about you Kindra? How was your evening?"

Kindra's breath caught at the sensation of Alison's lips on her fingers. She swallowed and put off answering the implied question by replying to the spoken question. "Usually I wouldn't discuss a client, but with your companion background... He was a guest at Yeatman's event in the casino, a senator, there because he wanted to explore his sub fantasy. I watched the show with him, we talked in depth about what he liked, and worked out a scenario to play out in the privacy of his room. And then… well, let's just say his anticipation preempted his execution." Kindra shrugged, expecting Alison had dealt with similar situations as a companion. "After the Quantum leaves Conrad he wants a follow-up session, so I can administer his punishment."

The unspoken question still lay between them, like the man stretched out across their laps, and Kindra considered her response. Trouble was, her desire for Alison was linked to her desire for Alden. They were partners, a bonded pair. "Alison… you are gorgeous and desirable, and I was into making love with the two of you together. But leaving Alden here on the sofa to sleep off the drugs, whilst indulging with you… doesn't feel right to me. It would feel like a betrayal. I've hurt Alden before and I don't want to do it again."

Kindra looked back down into Alden's face, his head still resting on her thighs. "Alden, are you awake?"

His eyes closed, Alden had been quarter-listening to those two female voices while the other seventy-five percent of his attention span juggled all the warm and wonderful sensations around him. Alison's familiar light musk coupled with the exotic perfumes and pleasant scent of perspiration from Kindra, together forming the cocktail one he was currently drowning peacefully in.

"M'wake," he mumbled and nuzzled his face closer in towards to Kindra's body. Any past hurt was currently faded and absent, but morning would likely revisit reality whether Alden liked it or not. For now though, his gentle snoring called the man a liar.

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