Sable's fingers dance across the pilot controls while Maya manages smaller nuances of the internal systems, and the ship glides down to the spaceport, landing gear extending from hatches and locking into place as she touches Maya down atop the pad. 

She hooks into the fuel lines for a last top-up before the trip, carefully shuts everything down, and heads out the boarding ramp into the spaceport, a few mental commands from Maya locking the ship up behind them.

The port is crowded and bustling, with people buying transport on ships, or negotiating cargo jobs, or shopping at little stores, or drinking at spacer bars. The smells of ozone and lubricants and sweat waft through the air as Sable weaves through the crowds.

She boards a train, watching the scenery go by as she heads for the Blue Hearts' cozy house out in the countryside, a little ways outside of the city, then takes an autocab from the station to her girlfriends' door.

Soon enough, she's standing on their front step and ringing the doorbell.

I bustle up to the door with a bounce in my step, and swing it open with a warm wide smile. 

"Hello, sweetie!" Sable grins, tugging Romana into a tight hug and kissing her softly. "Good to see you. Today's the day, yeah?"

I wrap my arms around her shoulders - she's so strong and bright and good; and I can feel her and hug her and it's so good - 

I blush fiercely, and meet her kiss with an eager smile and a doe-eyed adoring gaze. 

"It is! It still feels a little unreal, really, that I get to hold my Sable in my arms and that we get to..."

A faint little chuckle slips from my lips. 

"Indulge, like this? You've worked so hard and...~"

My fingertips brush along her cheek as I sigh admiringly up at her, before ducking my head into another blush.   

Fuck she's just adorable, all swept up in this.

"Yeah, it's pretty wild that we get to just have this now, but we do! It's pretty great. Took a lot of work, the improved neuralink was hard to get right, but... we're actually just set, now, and we get to just enjoy it."

She buries her hands in Romana's hair and presses their foreheads together, gazing softly into her eyes and smiling gently.

"I'm so glad," she murmurs.

I let out a long breathy sigh, and flick my eyes closed, a giddy little grin bursting to life on my face as I nuzzle up reflexively. 

"Yeah it's..." 

I lean back a moment, catching my breath, before darting back in to kiss her nose. 

"Amazing, really." 

I tousle my hair and caress down her neck. 

"Hope the trip was alright? Know it's a bit to the port, but there's just... something intoxicating about having you be - Home with me, you know? You should be my home and my hearth, my love and my life and."

I cut it off before I get too overloadedly blushy, biting my lip bashfully.  

She nods softly. "Yeah, the view on the way is pretty nice, and we'd cheerfully travel twice as far to come see you."

Her thumb brushes softly against Romana's cheek, and an eager smile stretches her face.

"Well, you all packed, or d'you wanna take some time to rest here together before we head out? It's up to you, loves."

I let out a quiet little murmur, and lean into her touch. 

"- I should make you some tea, at least." 

Her smile softens and she nods. "Tea sounds lovely. Lead the way, darling."

She takes her hand gently, squeezing it with gentle fondness then eager adoration, before she saunters off to the kitchen, leading the way. 

The kitchen is aglow with warm browns and polished stone, with a nice big island table at the center. She flits over to grab an electric kettle, quickly filling it up and starting it with the customary little thlup-thlup-thlup, the soft blue indicator light flicking on at her command. 

"Maya must be so excited, getting to do something more than a milkrun, shipwise. Though I suppose I could say the same about you, My captain~?" 

Sable bursts into a laugh and nods. "Oh void yes. We're absolutely thrilled. Finally something other than puttering about the Origin system, someone to show all the lovely things in the multiverse, and a chance to really stretch her wings."

She grins brightly as the kettle warms.

She sets out two mugs, and plops in the appropriate bags, and nods along with a smile. 

"Looking forward to it! No intinerary, no schedule, just us and the stars, and whatever we want to show each other."

I push a stray strand of hair behind my ear, and relax my shoulders down a little more.

"It'll be good to get out and about. A lot of us are kind of homebodies at heart, but getting to be aboard her and see your just - delight at exploring and wandering is going to be great. You're great."  

"Awwwww." She blushes and smiles, then pulls Romana into another kiss. "You're great. You've supported us and cheered us on the whole way, and this trip is the reward. And really, travel gets a lot easier when you can bring a cozy home with you the whole way."

She pulls her into it with a smile, kissing soft and sweet and kind. 

"Yeah...~" 

Amber foxy ears sprout from her head, her hair warming and straightening out a little and spilling a little further down her chest, her curves shifting to something a little softer and fuller as she settles in. 

I smile gently, and lean in to kiss her forehead, a tail lashing out to slide along her thigh. 

"...I suppose that makes it a bit of a pilgrimage, for you? Breaking her in and getting to explore the full glory of the inky night does seem like it would be on theme for you two." 

She sighs and leans into Amber's kiss. "Mhm! It's been overdue. We spent a night enjoying Kornephos' rings, and a few other sights around the Origin system, but we really wanted to save our first trip to old Earth for with y'all."

She smiles, tails swishing out happily behind her, before nodding firmly. 

"Yeah. I think... there's a difference between setting sail out to the open sea to see the sights, and feeling the fresh soil of the frontier beneath your feet." 

Her ears fold up for a while in lingering thought, before perk-flopping back out. 

"And the latter, I think, is a joy best shared." 

"It really is. Is there anywhere any of y'all are particularly excited to see first?"

"I don't think so? Places far away tend to feel pretty... ephemeral, for us." 

She wanders over to the fridge, and tap tap taps her fingers on the handle, before pulling it open to grab the milk. 

"Though... I do think I'd enjoy getting to tour a Japan. Maybe visit a nice shrine, see the cities up close and see Mt. Fuji, perhaps?" 

"Ooh, definitely. That'd be a lovely way to start, maybe a shrine, then Mt. Fuji, then duck through the bustle of Tokyo? Get a meal in the city, and then off to an onsen somewhere?"

I nod agreeably. 

"Something like that. Oh and... I'd love to see the cherry blossoms in full bloom, sometime. They really are rather beautiful." 

"Conveniently," she replies with a grin, "the multiverse is big enough that finding a Japan in the peak of cherry blossom season shouldn't be hard at all. That's a sight we've been looking forward to for a while too."

She nod nods, her ears flouncing with the motion a little. 

The kettle stirs, and then clicks lightly as the boiling completes. 

She pours out the water into the mugs - one a deep violet, and the other a brilliant cobalt, drinking in the sweetness of the smell, before plopping in a sugar cube in each. 

"I suppose that's part of the fun of this - getting to... let the little wants we've been harboring slip out from the shore, you know?"  

Sable nods. "Just so. Blow away across the multiverse, whims in our sails and flights of fancy in our hearts." Her fingertips trail around the rim of the violet mug, a playful smile on her face.

Her eyes follow her finger with a bit of a blush for a long lingering moment, before she blinks her eyes and glances back at the tea, pouring out some milk into hers, and tilting her head slightly to ask if she'd like some in hers. 

She smiles wryly and nods. "Yes please, darling."

She pours it out with a timid smile, watching her eyes for the right moment to stop. 

She wraps her hand around the mug's handle, and takes a deep long sip, before depositing the milk back in the fridge. 

"I should ask the same question of you, really - what grabs you as the one of the first places to go?" 

She stretches for a moment, letting the milk settle into the tea briefly before picking it up and taking a sip with a contented sigh. 

Holding it in both hands, smiling warmly as she leans her hip against the countertop, she replies, "Well. Maya and I are always fans of anywhere with a coastline. Yang and Neo are arguing for a Beach Episode, and that's got Maya considering Hawaii for the opportunity to visit the USS Missouri museum ship at Pearl Harbor. I'd personally love to see South Korea, maybe tour Jeju island, maybe a trip through Seoul. Hailey's arguing for old historic forts and sites of enormous battles. So we've got options."

"Beaches are good! I really don't think we've done enough with our new bodies outside of the bedroom, honestly?" 

Her eyes glance down bashfully remembering a few of the things she has done, there. 

"Hawaii seems like a good option, definitely. Beyond that, though still thinking earth places... Maybe somewhere in France or Italy? Heard so much romanticizing about their cuisine and luxury, and I'm sure we can find some beaches, museums and battlesites with a bit of looking, if we want to make a bigger trip out of it. Plus, I know Paris is a classic for a reason." 

Okay, y'know what, she feels blonde now. Her body shifts, curves filling out with her mood while her hair lightens, spade-tipped tail stretching out from behind her to curl around Romana's thigh.

"Yeah! France and Italy are gorgeous, and I bet there are lots of castles and battles to see. And Paris is great, we totally need to see Paris. Good ideas!"

She bounces forward and kisses her excitedly.

She kisses back with her own silly little smile. 

And she bluifies as she vibrates up against her arms and hugs her tight tight tight! 

"We doooooo!" 

She splashes her hands against her back, fidgetting and tapping her feet excitedly. 

"We're really doing this, aren't we?" 

She grins shyly. 

"We are!"

She takes another big sip of her tea, wiggling cheerfully. "Oh and we have got to hit a few karaoke bars."

"M-hm!" 

She nod bobs excitedly before wolfing down some tea with a greedy little shiversigh. 

"Ooooh. What about shopping? We're all so cute now, and so many different kinds of cute, that we have got to get a bunch of suitable outfits."

She smiles a bit bashfully. 

"It's a little overwhelming and hard on me, sometimes? But there's definitely a joy in just - popping into a store to nab a treat, and I don't mind at all getting to dress up for you and play around? Wouldn't want to make a whole day out of it or anything, but that could definitely be fun." 

She takes a longer more contemplative sip of her tea. 

"No worries, just a little burst of it, hit a a couple really good stores with a nice range."

Another smiley sip.

"Oh, and a gondola tour in Venice!"

"That does sound like good classy fun." 

She leans in closer, smiling. "Any places you wanna check out off of Earth?"

She blush-preens a little, and flicks her hand up in thought. 

"...Does doing a moon walk count? Really I'm just not too sure what my options are?" 

"Oooh. Moon walk, definitely. And your options are basically yes."

She hums and slowly teas, taking the time to enjoy the extra little concentration and sugar-slime at the bottom of the mug. 

"I'd love to go anywhere you have a - personal investment in? I really love listening to you telling your stories and talking about what's gotten you swept up in things. Alternatively, just somewhere good for relaxing or that has a lot of nice shiny architecture to bathe in, maybe? Think it might be the sort of thing that works best if we just spitball things in the moment, though, given the scope of all the options we're gonna have..." 

"Awww, yeah, we can hit some of those, too. There are a lot of places with stories to tell. And honestly, you're right. Playing it by ear is best."

She takes her last sip of tea and grins, bringing the mug over to the sink and rinsing it out.

She bounces up and hugs her from behind, kiss-nibbling gingerly along the surface of her ear, ninjaing her own mug into the sink as she goes. 

"Playing it by ear is up there with playing with ear, it's true!" 

That gets a giggle from her, and she twist around in Topaz's embrace to grab her in turn, and twirls her into a spin and then a dip, kissing her deeply before standing her back up.

She kisses and giggle sputters for a moment, smiling wide and warm. 

"- I should really go fetch my baggage before I get too many more ideas, shouldn't I." 

"Probably, yes, despite how fun getting carried away could be."

"Okaaaaaaay." 

She whines playfully, then skips off over to her room, hauling out a big suitcase on wheels. 

"Off we go, then?" 

"Off we go!"

She leads the way out the door and into the waiting autocab, and loads Topaz's suitcase into the trunk for her.

Chivalry isn't dead, it's gay. No, it still exists just fine, but cute lines remain cute.

The cab takes off toward the train station.

She flumps into the cab happily, and nuzzles quietly up against her shoulder once she gets in, a hand idly stroking along her thigh as she presses in near. 

She's so good and she has so many little thoughts and big thoughts and she just wants to be good and there for her and let her get to enjoy this all without nattering too much at her but she likes talking with her and... 

Sable scoots in beside Topaz and kisses her temple, then looks concernedly at her. "Are you getting tangled up in your head again?"

She blushes terribly. 

"I totally are, aren't I? I just..." 

She laughs shyly. 

"This is so - good and important that it feels silly to talk about anything else, but I also don't want to ramble at you about things that we've already discussed a million times either, you know?" 

"You totally am," she agrees, nodding sagely. "But you don't need to worry about that, sweetie. I like your ramblings, be they about this or something else. Silly girl."

She leans up against her shoulder. 

"You're good. You're - warm and beautiful and great and sweet. I'm so glad that - we've managed to - put in this time to build a life together in a way that - counts to the fullest, for you, and for us?" 

She rubs a hand softly along her thigh, and sighs out blushily. 

"There's so much I want to see! I kind of want to do a moonwalk on Remnant, now? There's also just so much little superpower tourism that could be fun and I'm just... excited for Maya, you know? I want to curl up in her embrace in her." 

Her eyebrows wiggle warmly. 

"In all the ways that matter, and just - explore her and feel her and - relax? Have so many fond memories of just - talking about what she could be but it's so different now that she's - here, settled into the frame and just - She gets to be wholly mine and wholly whole? I want to handfeed ruby some sweets - maybe something alien, maybe just some cute maple candies, and - I want you to get to be as bright as you can? There's so many little cute cringe things you can just do as a tourist, you know, and I want so badly to - see you free." 

Her cheeks burn as she nuzzles in a little closer. 

She mumbles softly. 

"Even if that makes it a little hard to share ideas, sometimes?" 

Sable grins softly and runs her fingers through Topaz's hair.

"Yeah, getting to relax into Maya's embrace, rest aboard her hull, has been really nice. There are even enough sensors and little features on the ship that she can feel where we are and what we do, to an extent. Can't wait to see how you enjoy her. 

"And as for those ideas, I love the idea of walking on the shattered moon. That's someplace no one's been, that would be so amazing. All of those ideas are so good."

She presses a kiss to Topaz's forehead.

She preen-coos little, just sort of - leaning into the fuzz of being together and being loved, shivering a little at her words. 

"...now I'm thinking a little about burying Yang naked in a beach's sand. SEPing hard is going to take a while to get used to, but...~"

She grins shyly. 

Sable laughs and smiles. "That sounds fun. If we park Maya right we can probably get the SEP stretched over a bit of beach, and either way there are plenty of completely unknown beaches if we travel far enough. Or just nude beaches."

"Mhm!" 

She titters softly, and tangles her fingers through hers, snugnuzzling up tight, little fawning fond touches tracing along the back of her hand. 

This... 

She takes a deep breath, and preens out a little satisfied sigh. She can picture her eyes glimmering, the sand streaming down her curves, her signature wry smile, joking and smiling at each other as they come to the beach with a nightly glint in her eyes...~

This is good. 

Sable kisses the top of Topaz's head and holds her close.

"Thanks for coming with us for this."

"You're welcome! I'm just - glad to be with you, wherever your journey takes you, you know?" 

She smiles innocently and leans into her, a fond sigh on her lips. 

She smiles warmly and widely.

"And we appreciate that so much. You're a joy to have on the journey, love."

She wordlessly preens up at her, and just listens to the ride go by for a while. 

"...Is it weird that the thing I'm most excited about right now is making a bunch of fawning and cooing noises and affectionately stroking bits of Maya when we get to her? I don't know how tightly you scheduled everything but I want to treat her right, you know?" 

Sable laughs and smiles. "Adorable. No, we don't have a tight schedule. Once we're aboard, the only time limit is that if we stay past midnight we'll have another day's berth fee to pay at the port. Plenty of time to run your fingers over her exterior, and you can caress her interior while we're in the sky."

"Aww okay! Good to know, dears." 

She curls up a little closer, and nuzzles a little more. 

"I just - you cannot simply walk right onto a ship as majestic as her, you know? I want to... feel what it's like to see her like this, so big and bold and beautiful, and solidify my model of how she soars through the skies before getting to experience it myself. I can always feel out all the little secrets inside her later, but... the frame itself feels a little different, I guess." 

"Too true. She's a beauty, and well worth the tender inspection."

And on they ride, making their way back to the spaceport.

She nods firmly! 

The tri-city spaceport stretches out before them, a few dozen landing pads in varying sizes strung together by enclosed concourses, organized radially around a central hub with a wide variety of services available, a broad, pentagonal edifice of steel and glass surrounded by vast stretches of concrete. The aircab lets them out at the main entrance, where they can see other travelers walking in and out around them.

Sable stretches happily as she gets out of the cab, then heads around to the trunk to grab her girlfriends' suitcase.

She traipses out with a smile, stretching out her arms after the warm little trip cuddled up with her, spinning around on her heels before just jumping up and down to wring herself out. 

"I think I forgot a little how shiny and industrial chic this place is! Technology is incredible, isn't it~?" 

She dances over to give her a soft kiss on the cheek, then ducks her head. 

"I'm just saying words now, aren't I. It's just - all a lot and you're here and we're here and -" 

She stims her hands against her shoulders and pulls herself up for a kiss up against her nose with a little ee under her breath. 

Sable giggles and pulls Topaz into a hug. "Yes, but they're adorable words."

They start inside, passing by kiosks where cargo or passage can be offered or requested, crew members negotiating with clients and passengers, and ticket desks for scheduled shuttle lines.

She lets out a little wordless flattered wiggle, hugging up to her with a bashful smile. 

This is no time for distractions! She wants to see her, all big and strong and shippy, and there's no need for distractions! Besides, she's always been a bit better at trip prep than her, and the point of this is to be - freeing and fun, not about having every little thing arranged down to the moment! She's not going to rush-rush her but she is totally going to bound forth with an excited little trot off to the mayashipbod! 

They pass through into the terminals, into long, wide hallways with numbered doors out to landing pads. When they reach pad thirteen, Sable turns and leads them outside.

And then Topaz's eyes land on the ship. Maya's body is a sleek, curving blade of a craft, with a sweeping delta of wings, rising up into a smoothly domed body. She's easily fifty meters wide, and at least sixty-five or seventy long, with visible portholes in a few spots, a transparisteel bridge window, and a little observation dome over a spot at the top of the dome. Landing gear extend down from the wings, propping her off the ground, and her aft end is covered with a dense band of powerful fusion thrusters. A few hoses and cables connect her to systems on the landing pad, taking on fuel and charging batteries.

(She lets out a faint little snicker seeing the 13. It's so... her.)

- She reaches out, reflexively, to clasp her hand, head yawning back to take her all in. 

Gosh she's beautiful. There's something about seeing her all shining, like this, cleaned up and shipshape but still all exposed and working and...~ 

She can't help but smile. Goodness it's going to be weiiiiiird thinking about her even more explicitly like this, as the computer and the thing thing that has the nerves on the ship, and her lovely girlfriend all together, something special and refined and polished and preening and all prepared for this journey, and having her shipshape so... solidified. She even managed to fit in all the glass touches too! It's going to feel so roooomy, just the two& of them, having all of these little spots to look out at the world and marvel. She didn't know quite why she wasn't expecting landing gear - they can break up the silhouette a little, but she's always been one for having the shiny rockety solution, so it's not too suprising in retrospect. It's interesting that she's charging at port, but honestly it makes sense that her Captain would want something that she could own, and have a bit more of an excuse to wander around ports rather than some sort of hotswap-focused solution... 

And it's hers! She gets a lil room and she gets to see how she contextualizes having her feet on her and she gets to do all the cute lil posing for kissing things that she's dreamed of and she's gotten her here!! And she even managed to be sleek and all strong like that... It's amazing. She's amazing. 

(...She may be getting a little misty eyed.) 

Her lips dart out to kiss her cheek. 

"Nice work! Gosh I'm going to have so much more to say once I've taken a proper stride around her and we get inside and I can um." 

She blushes and ducks her head. 

"Say certain things more openly, but goodness!!" 

"I'm so glad you like her. We put some work into getting her shape right."

Then Sable gives her a cocky grin, and she snaps her fingers.

Behind Sable, there's a click-hiss from the ship, and her boarding ramp lowers.

"Wanna come aboard?"

She bounces in place a little. 

"You know I can't resist an invitation to slip inside someone so sexy~" 

She darts up and kisses her cheek, then saunters forward. 

Up the ramp, Topaz finds a sleek, metal cargo hold, with some crates and storage bins strapped down to tie-off points, and a pair of cargo compartments with metal doors sealing them shut. Forward, she can see a staircase of the same sleek metal, and a pair of doors on either side of it.

Sable follows behind her, pulling her luggage.

Off she trots! 

It's odd to think of how much a ship can have an - exoskeleton, like this. There's so much bustle and busy here, and it's not quite her, but there's a beautiful little... integration, nonetheless. 

She places her palm against the skin of the ship as she meets the door. It's... metal, firm and polished and steady. It's not really warm, but it's... here, and that's what matters. And besides, hupping up through the hold isn't the biggest thing. She's always been about the bedrooms and the bridges and the engines, so she'll just keep wandering in ^^. 

She was a little tempted to take her shoes off out of respect, but it feels like if anything that'd be unrespectful for a space so... industrial. 

Sable leaves the suitcase in the hold for the moment, walking up to the far doors with Topaz. "So this is her cargo hold. Mostly we just have supplies in here for now, but we can do trade runs if we want. The compartments are for things that wanna be stored without any risk of vacuum exposure. Up the stairs you'll find most of the ship, but through here," she gestures toward one of the doors, which opens to reveal a room full of gleaming machinery, the ramp closing behind them, "is the engine room, and beyond that the workshop."

She leads the way inside. The middle of the engine room is dominated by a machine running the length of the room, the center of which is dominated by a violet crystal torus with its central axis running port to starboard, encased in a metal reaction chamber, with a transparisteel window. Six metal cylinders arrayed in two inward-tilted tripods connect to the bottom third of the torus, feeding reaction mass into the drive chamber, and machinery forward and back of the torus processes the material for injection. On either side of that drive are a pair of walkways, one of which Topaz and Sable are standing in, and outward of those are two walls of machinery. Toward the aft end of the room are the primary and secondary fusion reactors, powering the ship and generating plasma for the thrusters, while forward are the slip-field generators for the worldstream drives. At the far end of the room are a pair of doors into the workshop, where parts can be maintained, or fabricated if need be.

"Ooo..." 

She smiles wryly. 

"Goodness, ff course it's purple... And it's so... big, too! Seeing her all... spread out like this is charming, too..." 

She takes a moment to watch the crystal, seeing how the light catches it and it shines as the engine does its work. There's just enough going on where she can see it that she can feel the motion of it, too, feel just a little bit more of what it means for her heart to be caught in this frame, and burn oh so brightly in it. 

She chuckles faintly, and bobs her chin down against her chest. 

"I feel like I should have more to say, but all I really have is a bunch of small words and a desire to tell you well done and to just - get myself comfortable and settled and - find out how she can be a more-literal-than-usual home, for me?" 

She smiles, shyly, and then pulls her in for a little cheek kiss again. 

"But I am looking forward to just... getting to watch her run and get back up to speed on everything, too." 

A familiar voice echoes over the speakers. "I am so very glad you appreciate this view of my heart, darling Topaz."

"It's a good view and a good heart!" 

She smiles a little, reflexively casting her eyes up and around the whole place, turning it into a little pirouette. Gosh it's going to be a little weird getting used to looking for big noteable polite ship things to talk at over cute girl for this. But suppose that's part of the fun ^^ 

"And hi! Was wondering when you were going to show up a little more. Very good to see you and how well the integration has gone for myself, too." 

She tap tap taps her fingers against the railing, staring into the engine thoughtfully. 

"Anywhere else in particular you'd like to show me? I feel like the observatory would make the most sense with something to observe, and I kind of like the idea of only going to the bridge to set off. I suppose there's always the bedrooms, though, and I'm kind of curious if you set up anything more experimental that you got yourself all wired into..." 

"My galley is pleasant enough, and it is at least important to know where the medical suite is. The observation deck and the quarters are particularly nice to see, however. I think I would recommend that order, in fact, and then finish with the bridge."

"Sure, let's do that, then!" 

She smiles, and idly glances between pirates and the walls, wondering if she's got some sort of navigational system set up here.

"I was just a bit shy about going for the observation suite because like the idea of getting a proper wow moment out of it, but there's also a - charm to having it be a bit more - registered as home, first, before seeing the sights?" 

She wiggles a bit excitedly. 

"That does make sense, but I think making sure you have seen all the living spaces first will be good for your overall comfort on the trip," Maya comments from a nearby speaker as they walk.

Sable takes Topaz's hand and leads the way back into the hold, then up the stairs into the galley. There is a cozy table with seats around it that look to have small pads on the feet, a refrigerator, a replicator, and a selection of kitchen appliances, and wall cabinets, all bolted in place and with latches on their doors to keep them from spilling open during maneuvers. Sable points out a foot on one of the chairs. "That's a mag-lock, Maya can trigger those to lock the furniture to the deck plating, keep things from sliding around."

She squeezes the sablehand! 

She'll take a quick peek inside the cabinets and refrigerator - anything interesting in there? She's half-expecting to see some cloned human meat in there to aurafarm, but that's probably a bit much to do earthside, at least. 

She'll grab a cup of water and fill it from the lil fridge water spout - wandering around with those has always been one of her guilty pleasures. 

"Oh that does sound useful. Remember having an old kitchen table that drifted around a bunch, just from being leaned on a little, so feel like that's good to have just to keep the room together, even without any spaceship specific shenanigans."

Neither the refrigerator nor freezer appear to contain anything clearly labeled as human meat. There are a variety of stackable resealable containers, each with a little button on either side to unlock their magnets and detach them from the container or shelf below, labeled to contain beef, fish, chicken, tofu, and a wide variety of other ingredients, as well as a few dessert things like ice cream. Mounted under a cabinet is a rotating spice rack, with little spice shakers that each lock into place and have both a label and a window to see the level of its contents. Inside the cabinets are canned foods, dry goods, and a variety of pots, pans, and other tools, again all secured in some fashion or another.

As Topaz finishes her inspection, coppery lights in the deck light up, faintly pulsing glows forming a line toward a portside door.

Schmancy! One advantage of having a habit of tolgirling is that she has a habit of just aggressively reaching deep for things, but a rotating rack is a nice touch.

- she gives herself a lil mental note to play floor is lava with those sometime, then scurries onwards obligingly! 

That door appears to lead to a medical suite, with a liftable bed to lay on various angles, a few scanners on articulated arms, and various medical supplies in cabinets.

"We got first-aid certified when we added this to the design, just so we'd be able to use it. A few of the arms can help with stitching or such, too."

She nods. 

"Hoping the augments can take care of that stuff, but never the best idea to rely on something so intricate as your last and only line of defense, yeah." 

...Her eyes wander down a moment, before shaking it off a little. It does look clean and nice, though. It wouldn't be too bad to lie about recovering here, if she had to. Just... 

Sable nods softly, squeezing Topaz gently. "Yeah, better not to have to. We just prefer to have a backup."

A little timid noddy nuzzle up against her shoulder, before she slips back with a steadying breath, and glance out and away for their next step. 

Up the stairs they go, entering a lounge with comfy carpeting, plush chairs and couches around the edges, a couple low tables, and a lightly domed transparisteel ceiling. "The observation lounge," she declares, gesturing around them.

Fun! 

She will flop onto her back, and stare up at the sky through the ceiling for a little while. There's something so - freeing, about doing this, sometimes, and the carpet feels just cozy enough to support it. 

Sable flops down beside her and squeezes her hand. "it's really nice to share this with y'all finally. To fully be us with y'all."

"Yeah...~" 

She smiles, and curls her head up against her shoulder, before floating up to look at the sky again. 

"We should get some plushies in here to cuddle, just to make it maximum overcozy." 

"Ooh, definitely. Love that idea. Oh, what if we start picking up a few everywhere we visit?"

She stretches and grins.

"Maybe! Doing a proper set of fox and/or you plushies is probably the first priority, though." 

She shimmies her head, rolling her shoulders and holding her hands up into the air, before flopping them back down, and pushing herself back up, walking over to her to offer her a hup hand. 

Sable accepts the hand up. "That sounds great."

The copper lightpath guides them back downstairs to the galley, and then down a corridor toward the bow, with two doors on either side, and a door at the end. 

Sable pulls the suitcase behind them, then pauses in the middle of the hallway. "Living quarters. Wanna see one of the free to claim ones first, or ours?"

She wiggles contemplatively, a hand cupping her chin in thought. 

"Hmm. Wanna see yours first! Want to be as fresh as possible for that - figuring out what wanna do with mine is more of just a loose end to clean up, y'know?" 

She nods and heads to the forward-starboard door and pushes it open. Behind it is a cozy cabin, with a desk against the far (starboard) wall, under a fairly expansive viewport. Sitting at the very back of the desk is a holoscreen that can project anything from normal monitor sized panes all the way to a full entertainment center. in the port-forward corner is a cozy, queen-sized bed, with a good view of the desk and viewport. In the port-aft corner, on the other side of the door to the corridor, is a very plush-looking couch (with a similarly good view), with bookshelves set in the aft wall next to it. On the aft wall, at the starboard end, are first a wardrobe and then a door to the head and the shower. Sitting on the corner of the desk is a photo frame cycling through photos of various Pirates and Hearts together, and a few photos of pretty worlds fill the forward wall as posters. The entire cabin is carpeted in plush, dark purple. 

"Home sweet space-faring home."

"Nice!" 

She plops her butt down on the bed for a moment, stretching out her legs a little as she sits back and watches the viewport a little. 

"Very clean. I'm sometimes a little fond of bustle, but there's something to be said for making it something all open and... fresh."

It's a bit officey, maybe, but she's always been one who likes bringing her whole self to work when she can, so...~ 

She bounces up and out, and palms the photo frame for a moment, smiling down at a photo of Yang peace signing, with Moonsilver's arm slung around her shoulder with a wry little smile. She puts it down as it changes into another image, before wandering away back up into her arms. 

"We like bustle too, but everything needs to be secure if the grav plating fails or the inertial dampeners flicker."

A closer look reveals that the furniture is all bolted in place except the desk chair, which uses the same magnetic pads as in the galley, while the bookshelves have transparisteel doors over each shelf, and even the photo frame had a brief magnetic pull before it released into her hands.

"mmmmmmhm." 

She slides up and pecks her cheek, chest sliding up against her arm. 

"As much as I'd love to linger, Maya did want to show me the bridge, so...~" 

"True, true!" She squeezes Topaz close and leads her back out, following the slowly pulsing copper lightpath to the end of the corridor, where they reach the bridge.

The curved, transparisteel viewport taking up most of the sloping wall is the first thing they see on entering the bridge. Faint, almost imperceptible hexagons traced in the transparent alloy reveal the presence of an enormous holoscreen that can replace the view outside at any time. Immediately aft of the viewport is a large, U-shaped console area with a comfortable swivel chair mounted in the middle, quite the array of buttons and screens occupying the surfaces, a throttle and control stick front and center among them. A bit behind and to either side are two more consoles, each with their own swivel chair, and then behind that is a holotable projecting the spaceport and its surrounding surface and skies. 

"Oh this is nice... Very star trek." 

She wanders idly around, watching the little way the light catches the hexagons, the little details of the holotables' finish. 

"Talk me through what you were thinking for the consoles? I know that you've been big on making it something just you can run..." 

It's funky, looking at this - she's seen a bunch but of course she's done something freshly custom. And besides, she might as well get her to explain, and getting to know her controls is part of the fun ^^

Maya's voice purrs smoothly into the air around them. "Everything can be controlled from the primary, central console. It is optimized for piloting, specifically, and secondarily for worldstream FTL, but it has simplified access to the features of the other two consoles as well. The starboard console is for navigation and comms, featuring detailed control of my sensors and full ability to plot courses both intra- and inter-universally, both FTL and sublight, and all communication bands across several universes. The port-side console, on the other hand, is optimized for weapons and engineering, able to manage targeting, ammo fabrication, and reactor controls." Copper glows light up around individual panels on both the central console and the respective specialized console with each feature Maya describes.

"The holotable provides a broader tactical and strategic view of surrounding space, and can combine plots of all my short- and long-range sensors with my available star charts and maps, as well as plotted courses and tactical plans."

She closes her eyes, shivering a little as she listens, before flicking her eyes out hungrily to watch each of the controls. It's an elegant trim, and she can see how it makes sense - control flowing out from the captain's chair, with more stations for fussing with navigation and interfacing with the outside world, and fiddling with the inside world, as well. The rest of the little things can be filled in by her, and she can... settle it all in. 

"Lovely... "

She hums soft and light. 

"Oh and...

Do send me the full write up on the controls! Wanna get them down pat sooner rather than later." 

A little fluttery breath flows out of her chest. She feels so - new again, exploring something so strange and special. She's trained a bunch for all sorts of things and goddess knows that she's helped a lot in little places but seeing it all put together, and not just as some abstraction to fuss with in the code... 

"It will be waiting on your personal terminal when you select your quarters, dearheart, along with an interactive model of the bridge. Would you like to sit at the navigator's console while we take off?"

She ducks her head and blushes a little. 

"Sure!" 

She'll plop down at the seat, feel how far back it leans, before bobbing up into something more sensible. 

Sable sits down with a grin, spinning into place and dancing her fingers across the controls with a series of satisfying clacks. A very faint hum fills the ship as the fusion reactors spin up out of their idle state, and an array of icons dot the viewport to indicate nearby ships in the sky.

Finally, Sable presses down a button at the base of a microphone, saying, "Port Westfall Control, this is Union Civilian Ship three six niner mike two four delta, Heart's Handbasket, requesting orbital ascent vector out of pad thirteen."

A cool, profeessional-sounding man replies over the radio, "Heart's Handbasket, Port Westfall Control; ascent request acknowledged. Departure vector will be transferred to your navcomp momentarily. Ascend to three zero meters directly over pad, then clear port airspace before bringing main thrusters above zero five percent."

A few seconds later, an orange line draws a path on the viewport to indicate their intended path: straight up for the first thirty meters, then a gently curving path from north to northeast until they're out from over the spaceport, and finally up into the sky on a slight easterly path. As Topaz shifts in her seat, she might notice that the line and icons appear to shift on the viewport to maintain a fixed position in the world beyond. Presumably they do the same thing for Sable, highlighting the true path regardless of where in the bridge one stands or sits.

"Control, Handbasket. Ascent vector and airspace power restriction confirmed, will depart presently. How're the skies looking?"

    "Clear out to the Karman line, Handbasket. You've got a thunderstorm due in thirty at flight level one niner zero, but you'll be long gone by then."

"Glad to hear it, Control. Heart's Handbasket, out."

    "Safe travels, Handbasket. Port Westfall, out."

And with that, Sable takes the maneuvering controls in hand — a keypad in her left hand and control stick in her right — and presses a key to lift off the pad. The ship rises into the air with barely a whisper of felt force, then pitches upward just a bit to follow the line, a light touch to the throttle bringing the main fusion thrusters just barely online. The ship glides smoothly away from the spaceport.

Oh it's nice that this is decently quiet and smooth... It's impressive how far this has come in time! It's satisfying though, hearing how much power there is, thrumming behind all this. 

her hands gently sink into her lap as she lets all the radio chatter wash over her, dreaming of the new horizons she's sailing off towards. 

Soon enough, they clear the edges of the spaceport's airspace, the boundary drawn on the viewport with a transparent orange border from Maya, and then Sable pulls back on the stick, pitching up toward the sky and smoothly pushing the throttle forward as she goes. Maya's thrusters come up to half burn as she soars higher, then full once she clears a kilometer up. They steadily accelerate into the sky, the blue above them deepening as the atmosphere thins.

Over the next few minutes, the sky darkens further, stars twinkling into view. The flight path gradually levels out and curves into an orbit, with Maya starting out on her back, letting Topaz enjoy the view of the planet overhead, before rolling over to the stars above. 

Finally, Sable turns to Topaz. "Welcome to orbit, love."

She smiles, and hugs herself up a little. It's... goodness. She's seen the pale blue dot, and a bunch of astrophotography, but seeing it for herself, seeing it for the now, being able to slide her head around it see it... 

"Happy to be here!" 

She grins shyly, and laughs lightly. The stars are beautiful, too - there's so many little tiny lights she can see, even through the glows of the consoles and all the efforts put in to keep the radiation out. 

She stretches out a little, and sinks back again. 

"Gosh this will take some getting used to, even with the grav on. So much to see, and so many little places to get perspective from... Wonder what it's like, for her, actually, having all the little gravity projections inside her but still floating around so freely, up here...~" 

"Freeing," Maya replies after a moment. "And enfolding. I can feel the graceful arc of our orbit around the planet, the occasional bursts of my maneuvering thrusters to adjust the trajectory, and at the same time some of the gravity I feel is me, is my safety and comfort being wrapped around you. It is wonderful."

She blushes warmly, smiling fondly as she describes it. Ah, what a wonder...~

"Being a ship is kind of the ultimate expression of being the big spoon, if you think about it." 

...A giggle erupts from her chest, snuggling back into her seat a little, feeling the softness and plushness of it, before she calms, getting a little more reflective. 

"And... I can only imagine. I suppose it's like... the peace of floating on your back on the waves, but you can see the sky in every direction around you, shining and waiting for you, the lapping waves of the pool even steadier,  mingled with your own little touches as you stretch out into the endless sea. There's something so nice about having something just... wrap up around you in a pool, too, a second weight and a second skin as you skim and swim through the water, sometimes?" 

"Yes, dearheart, it is very much like that." The smile in her voice is audible. "The most relaxing stretch in the most refreshing pool, and the biggest of big spoons around people I love so dearly."

The seat warms beneath Topaz a bit.

She nods along, and sinks in, little happy noises spilling out of her throat. 

"Okay, we're in a high-enough orbit, and far enough from any other ships, to avoid making a mess with our jump-scar before it fades." Her fingers start dancing across more controls, on the starboard side of her console. "Please keep your arms and legs inside the tear in the fabric of the multiverse, and refrain from making eye contact with any abyssal creatures you're not already dating."

Something about the space around them, even inside the ship in the air between them, seems to contract, everything feeling closer and closer together even if the objective distances don't change. Orange and violet lightning sparks along the hull, visible through the viewport.

She giggles lightly at her last comment, but mostly just sort of settles in to watch the colors. It's pretty, even if she's not really invested in enough of the mods to try to make sense of it all... 

The pressure and tension builds in the air around them for a moment or so longer, before Sable laughs, bright and wild.

"Next stop, Earth that was!"

With a firm press of a big red button under a little cover, something in the twisted space all around them feels like it tears, and the lightning dissipates. 

A rocky moon, familiar from old photos, is visible above and ahead.

"I took us in behind Luna, to make sure no one got a look at the jump scar before we got the SEP up. You've got a few minutes before we get close enough to Earth for a good view, if you wanna take the time to set up your quarters."

Luna is pretty, it's true!

She smiles, and unseats, bounding off to kiss her captain's cheek.

"Will do!"

She bounds off to settle in to her room, and start up getting the full experience of this whole ride.