Chiaroscuro
"I wonder where they went ... I mean, what happened to them?" Ross whispered aloud, his voice carrying ... even though soft. Carrying, still, through the halls of this dilapidated, stone structure. The tall, etched columns with cracks in them. The relief sculptures on the walls.
"There is no sign of a mass extinction. Nor signs of a mass exodus," Arianna said. "I do not know ... " She let out a breath. "I doubt we'll have any true way of knowing. It's almost as if, one day, they were simply ... spirited away."
"Spooky," Wilco whispered, eyes wide, hugging his arms around himself. Wrapping his winged membrane around his front.
Ross paused. Whisker-twitch. Whisker ... sniff ... " ... ah ... ah-choo!"
"God bless you ... "
"Ah-choo!"
"God bless you, again," supplied Wilco, smiling a bit. His bushy tail wavered about.
Ross sniffle-sniffed. "All this dust," he went. "All this dust, and I'm the only one sneezing?"
No one directly answered him. Jinx, flashing his paw-beacon, nodded toward something in front of them. "More statues."
The away team padded in that direction. Led by the skunk, with Ross, Wilco, and Arianna following. Arctic, patrolling the fringes of known and unknown space (never, during the process, putting themselves more than a week away from the snow rabbit home-world) ... this planet was just ... floating there. Empty. All marks indicating a previous populace. The signs (buildings, art) left by millions of furs. But no one still alive. And hadn't been, apparently, for the past two thousand years ...
... and, so, they were exploring. And why not?
Flash!
Jinx blinked, turning.
Ross smiled sheepishly. "My, uh ... I'm supposed to be providing visual documentation," he explained, holding a sleek kind of camera.
"Can't you do it without the flash?"
"It's too dim in here," Ross supplied.
"I believe this is made of marble," Arianna said, a scanner in her paw. "Which would not surprise me." She looked up, in her dignified, logical way. "Most of the structures and statues we've encountered thus far ... have been made of such." A breath. "Though I would wager that, originally, these were all painted in vibrant colors ... but the paint faded."
"Looks ghostly," said Wilco. The flying squirrel went up to a statue. "Whoa ... look at this."
The others turned, slowly filtering over.
"A winged mouse!" Ross exclaimed excitedly. And his camera went snap-snap! Flash!
"A naked, winged mouse," Wilco elaborated.
"A naked, yiffy ... winged mouse," Jinx finished, pointing. The statue harbored a erect mouse-hood. Or the stone equivalent.
"Definitely no fig-leaves here," Ross said, giggle-squeaking a bit.
It was Arianna who finally observed, looking around, "All of these statues ... are in a state of yiffy arousal."
"Well, they're statues of furs ... I guess furs are furs. No matter the millennia."
"Indeed," the snow rabbit responded, brow raised. As she ran more scans. Documenting what she could. "The ones nearer the entrance were stiffer."
"What? The penises?" asked Wilco, blinking.
A sigh. "No," Arianna emphasized. "The standing posture of the sculptures."
"Oh." A sheepish look. "Sorry ... "
"The statues here," she said, looking up again, "are more naturally presented. More muscle definition. I believe these were made later than the others. By about one hundred years."
"Here's a rabbit," said Wilco, wandering off again.
Arianna went over to him. Scanning with her eyes, flashing her paw beacon over the rabbit statue. "It looks to be a hare ... male ... "
"Did the erection give that away?" Wilco asked slyly.
Arianna just raised her brow, eye-smiling. But saying, "It's paws are fisted. As if it's ... preparing to box."
Ross, his bare foot-paws scuffing on the dusty, cracked ... marble floor, walking on and breathing of antiquity, mentioned, "It's so much like Classical Greek art ... it's just ... " He trailed. And then froze, catching his breath. Oh, damn ...
"Greek?" Arianna asked, squinting. "I have never heard of that culture."
"Uh, it's ... just a lost, furry culture," Ross said, trying not to sound nervous as he said it. "I, uh, took art classes in school ... "
"I don't remember anything 'Greek' in my art classes," Wilco said, blinking.
"Well, maybe I'm remembering the name wrong," was all Ross said, and he fiddled with his camera. His ears flushing with blood. "They just look kind of familiar, is all, in ... in the style, you know. It's ... "
" ... yiffing."
The other three stopped, blinked. Ross saved from further questioning.
"These statues," said Jinx, nodding. "Look ... they're yiffing."
Ross, sighing (and scolding himself for his slip-up ... but, really, these furry, marble statues looked so much, stylistically, like the human statues of Classical Greece ... he'd been excited, let it slip ... but, thankfully, there was no harm done this time) ... sighing, he went over, eyes widening. "Oh, my gosh," he whispered.
"Enjoying themselves, aren't they?" Wilco asked, swallowing.
"That is a safe assumption," said Arianna.
The sculpture looked to be of two red squirrels (probably red, cause of how their ears were, and how their tails were presented) ... in a missionary position. The femme's legs and arms wrapped around her lovers back. Their muzzles in a bit of an off-kiss, and lips hinting at definite smiles ...
"Mm," went Wilco, eyes wide, pupils dilated (from the statues and from the dark).
Arianna flashed her paw beacon further back ... and found other 'coupled' statues. "They are all in a different ... position."
"And all are a different species."
There was a moment of quiet.
"Shall we move on?" Arianna finally suggested, clearing her throat.
"Mm ... uh-huh ... "
"Yes," was a deep breath.
And they started to move into another chamber.
"Vases!" said Wilco, trying to change the subject (and their thoughts). "Wow, vases ... "
"Okay, okay ... don't overdo it," Jinx chuckled.
Ross brought up the rear, stealing glances backward ... almost bumping into what looked to be a Doric-style column. He blinked, and took a deep breath, proceeding ...
... the next room, indeed, filled with vases and such.
Less easy on the eye, vases. But ... easier on the pulse!
"Hi."
Alabaster looked up. "Hello," he replied plainly.
"Uh ... I'm Ollie."
"The snow mouse?"
"You could say that, yes. Though, uh, snow mouses aren't really like other snow furs."
"That is unfortunate." A pause. "Is there something you wanted?" The snow rabbit stood up straight, his waggle ears white and slender, rimmed with charcoal-colored fur.
"Yeah, I need to borrow an engineer sometime ... "
"For?"
"I'm not entirely well-versed in computers. I need some help with the computer, uh, for the church."
"Your 'project' in cargo bay two?"
"I wouldn't call it a 'project' ... but, uh, yes. I need to access the ship's database from in there, but it doesn't seem to be routed to, uh ... I don't know."
"My engineers are busy," was Alabaster's level answer.
Ollie whisker-twitched a bit, scanning engineering with his eyes. The warp core glowing that cornflower/lavender color, all swirling of light, humming, and the railings of the upper level all glinting, and ... the snow rabbits all standing around ... no chatter, no nothing. "Uh ... okay," Ollie went, confused.
"I am sorry."
"I'll just wait 'til Arianna gets back, then. She knows more about ship-systems than me ... "
"Arianna," Alabaster whispered. His whiskers did a twitch. His ears moved.
Ollie met his eyes. The same color of clear, ice-blue.
"I asked her twice," the snow rabbit said.
"I don't ... "
"To be in my breeding party. I asked her twice." A breath. "As you know ... she refused."
"So, what ... are you, like, jealous?" Ollie twitched.
"Snow rabbits do not get jealous."
"My tail, they don't," Ollie whispered, not convinced.
"Did you just say 'my tail'?"
"Yeah. I did."
A tilt of the head. And a nod. "Mm," was all he went. "Your tail ... it has no fur."
"So?"
"It is exposed. Vulnerable. Just like you. Your 'mate' would find greater protection ... and satisfaction," Alabaster added, "with her own species."
"It was her choice."
"And you are to be congratulated ... for her choosing you. I do not know what your campaign was, but ... "
Ollie, starting to get flustered, his dishy ears swiveling, demanded, "Are you trying to make a point?"
"Our breeding habits are no less pure than yours. Arianna is a snow RABBIT. Not a mouse. You do not KNOW," Alabaster argued, "what is best for her."
"And you do?"
"Yes."
"You furs don't even breed for love ... you breed for instinctual release. Simple pleasure," Ollie said, with a bit of scorn in his voice. "It's a spiritual act. It's intimacy ... not ... simple swapping of genes. It's holy."
"You claim we 'breed for pleasure.' Is that not true of all furs? Is that not why God made it pleasurable? To encourage us to do it?" A squint. "Do you not breed for pleasure, mouse?" Alabaster countered smartly.
"I do, but ... "
"But what?"
"I do it in," he said, "and for ... for LOVE. For deep, committed purpose, and a show of devoted, burning affection and need, and ... and breeding without love is just breeding. Just empty. And that's what you do."
"Love," the snow rabbit continued, priming up, "is nothing more than an artificial, emotional construct ... designed and entertained by certain species of prey furs," he continued, meaning, as Ollie took it, 'designed by rodents' ... though rodents were hardly the only cluster of furry species to adhere to 'only in mate-ship' yiffing, and to believe in the spiritual imprinting of the whole act ... but, regardless of such things, Alabaster continued, " ... designed, out of weakness, to give meaning to something that requires NONE. You cannot assign subjective emotions to objective biology. Love is nothing more than lust that's been given a name-change."
"You really, REALLY don't wanna debate this with me," Ollie whispered.
"No?"
"No ... " A breath.
"And why is that?" Alabaster whispered. So cooly.
"Because you," Ollie promised, "will lose." And the fire in the mouse's eyes betrayed no bluffing. A huff, and a whisker twitch. "Tell me something, Alabaster ... just a bit earlier, you said how Arianna wouldn't join 'my breeding party' ... my?" An intense stare. "Yours? Do you RUN the breeding party? Because, you know," the mouse whispered silkily, stepping closer to him, "I didn't know snow rabbits HAD alpha males."
Alabaster squinted, his paw grabbing at the mouse's wrist, claws showing ...
Ollie swallowed, unblinking, and ...
"Boys?"
They both turned their heads.
"Is there a problem?" Aria asked. The Captain, having slipped into engineering, was on her daily rounds, checking in on each deck, with each department.
"Captain ... I did not hear you approach," was Alabaster's response, removing his paw from Ollie's wrist.
"One doesn't when one is thumping his chest." She looked to Ollie, too, as she said this. "Are you both quite finished?"
The mouse stammered. "I, uh, just ... was chatting here. I was gonna leave." His whiskers twitched, and he nodded. And nodded again.
"Very well ... AFTER," she ordered, "you take a rest."
"I don't have access to ... my, uh ... my mate's on the planet," was all Ollie said, which summed up his situation ...
"I know. And it would be awkward," Aria said, eye-smiling, "if I had to order you to paw, but ... it is an order, nonetheless. You need to be defused."
A flush. A nod. "Yes, ma'am." A sheepish pause. "I'm ... uh, s-sorry," the mouse said, stealing a glance at Alabaster.
Alabaster just nodded slightly. They didn't see eye to eye, but ... might as well make nice. Especially since the Captain had witnessed their friction.
Ollie lingered a bit, and then went off ... leaving engineering. Head swimming. Going somewhere (his quarters, probably) for some tea and, uh ... stuff ...
When it was just the two snow rabbits in the vicinity, Alabaster muttered, "Mice."
"What about them?"
"They do not adhere to reason. They are volatile."
"I am mated to a mouse," the Captain reminded.
Alabaster said nothing. He hadn't ... remembered that fact. But, then, how could one forget? His mind was too hazy ...
"When was the last time you bred?"
"This morning." A fidget. "Five hours ago."
"Then find one of your partners. I do not need my crew fighting amongst themselves ... because of deprivation."
"Deprivation was not the only stimulus," Alabaster said, looking into her eyes, "of our disagreement. You know that. The philosophy of the 'warm-blood' furs is ... "
"Different. I know that ... I do," Aria whispered, with a weight in her voice. Oh, she knew. "But I'm hoping you'll be mature enough to handle the ... differences," she emphasized, "in belief. I would hope such a thing would need to go unsaid."
A quiet nod.
"And I do believe we have a lot to learn from them."
"THEY have a lot to learn from us," was Alabaster's rigid counter.
"Hence the mixed crew on this ship," was Aria's smart, composed reply. "Keep in that mind. Please?"
A sigh through the nose. "Yes, Captain." A tiny nod. "Well-said."
Aria nodded back at him. And, lowering her voice further, said, "But I did overhear ... your argument. Part of it."
He didn't meet her eyes. His tail flicked. He drew a breath.
"Snow rabbit breeding parties do NOT have alpha males. That is an Arctic fox practice. I will not allow it on my ship ... "
He looked back to her. "I am simply the group member with the ... charisma, the skill. I became the center of my group by pleasing the others. You've been in breeding parties before. You know how it is. I have no ASKED to lead it, nor have I attempted to grab ... "
" ... regardless, breeding parties tend to BREED unsteady things. I saw that. That is why I sought a mate. I am just advising caution on your part. It is possible," she told him, "for a snow rabbit heart to be broken. Though we would collectively deny it."
He swallowed, nodded very quietly at the truth of her words. And he looked at a nearby console. And then looked back to her. He was an inch or two shorter. "May I ask you something?"
A nod.
"When did you join their side?"
Aria raised her brow, and only replied, "There are no SIDES, commander, other than the ones we, ourselves, project. We were all designed by the same Creator. We are all on the same side ... "
"Admittedly. But not all created for the same PURPOSE ... "
"You would rather our species return to an isolationist state?"
"Yes."
"That is impractical. Population growth, technology ... alien threats. We are very much involved, now, in the affairs of this quadrant. We can either be passive participants, or active ones. I see no fruit in passivity."
"Perhaps not ... "
"Anyhow, I do not want to see a feud develop between you and Ollie. You are both good furs. There is no grounds for it. Arianna has chosen him ... as her mate. You must let her go. And do not hold her choice against him."
"Yes, ma'am," was all Alabaster said, fidgeting. "Is there anything else?"
"I am not an 'average' snow rabbit, Commander, and I know you and the other snow rabbits on this ship are not completely convinced I was the right fur for this post. But I am STILL a snow rabbit, nonetheless. And still the Captain."
"To the benefit of us all, I'm sure," was Alabaster's eye-smiling reply. He gave a tilt of the head.
A little nod from her, eye-smiling back. "Now, take your break ... "
A nod, and Alabaster let out a breath, pupils dilating, moving off ...
... and Aria, herself, stood there for a bit, breathing the air. Closing her eyes. Mm. She needed a break, too. Mm ... and off she went, to her ready room.
Bic turned away from the food processor. With Ross being planet-side, today's lunch was a replicate-what-you-will affair.
"Lieutenant ... "
The chipmunk's eyes settled upon Arabella. The kangaroo rat. Who was sitting with Ezri, the squirrel. "You can join us ... 'rodent femmes only' table."
Ezri giggle-squeaked at that.
And Bic nodded, smiling. "Okay ... well, thanks." And she took one of the seats at their little table, which was in the mess hall's middle.
"What'd you get?" Ezri asked, her nose twitch-sniffing, and her bushy tail flagging behind her.
"Food," was Bic's smart reply.
"Oh, that's so funny, I forget to chitter," the squirrel teased.
"Pasta, tomato sauce, a wheat roll, some seeds ... a bit of fruit. And water," Bic elaborated, sipping from her glass. The ice cubes clinking delicately inside. What a nice sound ...
"You need some vegetables," the squirrel observed. "Like broccoli. Mm ... "
"For supper," the chipmunk promised.
"So," was Arabella's injection, stepping into the conversation. "How are things in the science lab?"
"They're good."
"Bet it gets kind of boring in there."
"I enjoy the work, so ... I mean, that's why I'm a science officer."
Ezri gave a playful shudder. "I guess SOMEONE has to do that stuff ... just glad it isn't me!"
"Yeah, all you gotta do is listen to the comm channels," Arabella teased.
"AND be able to run the universal translator. I'll have you know, I know DOZENS of dialects from dozens of species ... none of you could memorize all that."
"Okay, okay," said the kangaroo rat, smiling, holding up her paws. "You win."
And, for a moment, they concentrated on eating.
Chew-chew ...
... nib-nib-nibble.
Crunch!
"Bic ... "
The chipmunk looked up. To Arabella.
"We were, uh, thinking ... "
Ezri mouthed (pointing silently at Arabella) " ... she ... she was thinking ... "
" ... that you don't have a mate yet," the kangaroo rat finished. Her mouse tail with the furry, tufted end ... going back and forth behind her chair.
"Mm," was all Bic did, twirling some noodles on her fork. "Guess I'm a hold-out, huh? Was kinda hopin' no one would notice."
"How come?" asked Ezri, blinking.
"Cause then they try to play match-maker."
Arabella shook her head. "It's not that we're trying to play MATCH-maker. It's just ... you know ... us rodents gotta stick together. Seriously, it's down to six furs," she said, "that are unmated. Out of forty-four."
"I know. I know, but ... to be honest, I've just been ... "
" ... immersed in your work. But, Bic, are you a machine? Or a fur?"
The chipmunk grinned, her angular ears cocked. "That a trick question?"
"I'm serious," Arabella went. "You know how furry ships work. The first few weeks after launch ... it's just a big meet-and-mate."
"Arabella ... "
"Now, there are three males left, okay ... "
"Arabella ... "
"What?"
"I can handle it," Bic said, sticking her fork in her muzzle. Pulling it out. Chew-chew. " ... really ... " Swallow. "I can."
"You can?"
"Yes." Reaching for her water again ...
"Then why haven't you?"
A sigh, and the chipmunk leaned back in her chair. "Is this, like, an intervention?"
"What's an intervention?" Ezri asked.
"No, it's not," Arabella said, ignoring Ezri. "We've just ... you know, we know what loneliness feels like. We know what furs NEED, you know. There's NO way you're happy being alone all day, holed up in the science lab. It's like you've got your burrow in there."
The chipmunk sat for a bit, breathing quietly. And sighed again. "Look, it's ... you know, I've been on other ships before."
"This is my first ship," said Ezri.
"Mine, too," Arabella added.
"Well, yeah, but it's not MY first ... each time, on every ship, I took a mate during that initial frenzy. And each time, after each promotion or transfer for me?" An uncomfortable pause. "None of them came with me," she whispered. "Had it been reversed, and had THEY been ... you know, given the promotion or moved to another ship ... I would've followed them," the chipmunk said quietly. "I love males. I love ... being mated. I ... give my soul to ... " She stopped. Cleared her throat. "I've just been in a string of bad relationships." A pause. A breath. "This is my fourth ship in two years. I'm only twenty-two, but I feel ... I've been shrugged off so many times," she said, "to where I feel older. And I don't plan on being strung along again. Tossed aside again. I mean, I need to learn my lesson. Just ... " She trailed.
"Aw," went Ezri. "Aw ... "
"Ezri!" hushed Arabella.
"It's okay," Bic said. "It IS pitiful, isn't it? I know that. But ... "
" ... well ... you still gotta breed," Ezri whispered.
"Look, I WANT a mate, okay?" Bic said. "That's not the issue. The issue is that I'm terrified of investing my entire sense of self into another relationship ... only to have it dissolve on me. Leaving me in pieces. It hurts too badly." Her eyes flicked down to her plate. "I use the simulation room after-hours ... and I paw while on duty, so ... I can take care of myself. I'm doing fine."
"Aw ... "
Bic looked back up. "Okay, maybe you CAN stop with the, uh, 'aw' stuff ... now ... "
"Bic, not every male is inconsiderate. That's, like, a total stereotype ... you can't assume they're all like that just because of a few. You don't wanna risk getting hurt, but ... in the process, you're putting yourself at a GREATER risk of unhappiness." Arabella paused. "Okay, so I'm not very eloquent, but ... do you understand what I'm saying?"
"I don't know," Bic whispered.
"Arabella and I both found mates," Ezri said. "And, me, I'm ... you know, pretty scattershot, so ... and I still got one!"
"It's not GETTING one that's been my problem," Bic said, meeting the squirrel's eyes. "It's getting them to STAY when the newly-minted glow of young love," she waxed, "has worn off." A whisker-twitch. "Who you mated to?" she asked the squirrel, out of curiosity.
"Jinx. The first officer. And the tactical officer, too," she added. "He's a skunk."
"Mine's Wilco," Arabella injected, as if bragging. "The flying squirrel."
"I've talked to them briefly. They seemed like nice males. You're both very blessed."
"Well, Bic, just ... you know, come on ... there are still three un-mated males left."
"One of them's a snow rabbit," Ezri said, looking to Arabella.
"Oh. Well ... okay, so he'll probably end up in a breeding party. But the other two: there's crew-fur Mortimer. He's a raccoon. And Barrow. He's ... "
" ... a bat. The doctor," Bic finished. "Yeah, I've talked to him."
"You know bats are telepathic, right," Ezri said.
The other two femmes looked to her.
"I've read stories about how they, uh ... do it," she said, and she nodded.
"Ezri," said Arabella, making a face. "Be quiet."
"What? What'd I say?" A bit of a face. "I'd think if you knew a prospective mate was a proven, dynamite yiffer ... you know, that's a plus!"
"Taking a mate shouldn't be done based on yiff," Arabella said. "You gotta think personality, heart, soul. There's gotta be a spark there."
Ezri just leaned back a bit, going quiet. Spark ... did she and Jinx have a spark? Again, it nagged at her ... and, again, she decided that, yes, we do. We do have a spark, so shut up.
A sigh from Bic, who was poking at her food. "I'm really grateful for your concern. I mean, from the both of you. I really am. But, uh ... "
"You said you'd talked to Barrow?" Arabella asked.
"A little."
"And?"
"And ... I don't know. It was just a brief chat. It wasn't a personal talk."
"Promise me you'll find an excuse to visit sickbay?" Arabella asked. "Just ... make him run a physical on you or something. Get to talking. You know ... he's a doctor. You're a science officer. Your work is very similar."
"Not really ... "
" ... well ... you both specialize in science. I mean, that's something in common right there!" Arabella said, smiling.
Bic couldn't help but smile shyly ... and nod. "Yeah. Well ... okay," she said, the smile sticking. "I'll, uh ... give it a try. Just not today, though." A breath. "I'm not feeling up to it today."
"Fair enough ... "
"Are we having dessert?" Ezri asked. "Anyone want ice cream?"
Arabella raised her paw.
"I still gotta finish my lunch," Bic said, chew-chewing, swallowing.
But the three furs stayed and chatted about any and everything, sharing giggles and squeaks. And some decent replicated food.