Rowan whistled 'Hall of the Mountain King' as he rolled a large bin through the dark corridors of the station. He knew that Paige's maintenance robots were hard at work repairing systems throughout the station because at every corridor nexus security cameras trained their lenses on him.
It was at these times, the long lonely walks to and from work, that Rowan had started to miss the small talk he would have with Dicia. The polite female voice would ask him about his day and tell him interesting statistics about the station, like how many micrometeorites had punctured the station's hull that day.
He spun the cart around when he got to the security door leading to the abandoned human section and placed his eye on the retina scanner. He hated that these bigger doors always had a bottom lip he had to lift carts over.
As he dragged the bin over the security door, it yelped, "Ouch!"
"Shhh!" Rowan hissed at the bin of outfits for Paige and Carmen. He spied the fuzzy ear of a fox girl flicking out of the pile of clothes and quickly covered it and hurried back to his home.
When he finally got the bin into the garage for his apartment he sighed and said, "You can come out now Indigo, we're safe now."
The fox girl poked her head out and panted. She said, "Thank the gods! I was overheating in there. You better have something cool to drink inside. Why did we have to sneak into your apartment?"
"If the cameras spotted a non-human entering the section, security androids would be sent down to us. We'd have to answer questions, it's a big pain in the ass. I'll make you a rum punch when we eat, does that sound good?"
"Yes!" The lithe woman hopped out of the bin and held Rowan by the hands. "Teddybear, before we go in and you introduce me, I have something important to tell you. Ollie is going on rotation tomorrow. His crew is going on a deep space scouting mission. Something about a border skirmish between the nictids and the graxlians. He was pretty tight-lipped about the details."
"Oh is that so? Any idea about how long he'll be away?"
"He said he wouldn't be back for at least a month." The lycan smiled revealing her tiny fangs. "It's going to be much easier to see you, Teddybear. All his friends are on the ship as well. Would you mind terribly if I brought a suitcase over next time and some personal items?" She wore a pouty face and traced her finger on his jumpsuit. "I need you to teach me some more dance moves, and the observation dome is so far away."
Rowan gulped and replied, "I think that depends on how the next few hours go. Carmen and Paige are very sweet girls, just like you, so I'm sure they'll love you. They already know about us, so there won't be any surprises." He gave her a peck on the cheek and then opened the door to the apartment.
Inside, the apartment smelled of pho noodle soup. Paige looked like she was reviewing something at a portable terminal and Carmen was working in the kitchen. This time she was wearing clothing under the apron.
Carmen looked up from chopping and squealed and said, "Is that who I think it is!" She dropped the knife and hurried to the now stunned lycan and gave her a big hug and rocked from side to side. "Rowan, she's so fricking cute!"
Indigo lifted her hands up for a moment before patting Carmen on the back, replying, "Hi, my name is Indigo, you must be Carmen."
"The one and only. Hah! Oh my goodness girl, you have to show me how you get that lycan haircut looking so good! My disguise doesn't come close."
Carmen's hand started to rise up to touch Indigo's ears when Rowen patted her on the back and said, "Why don't you give the girl just a little bit of space. I'm sorry Indigo, Carmen can be a force of nature at times." He sidehugged her by the shoulder. "That's why she's so great."
Carmen blushed and backed off, "Sorry, I'm just an extrovert through and through. If it gets too much just tell me. Paige does it all the time."
Paige walked up and extended her hand. "Hello Indigo, I'm Paige, I'm a member of the station's control officer corps. It's a pleasure to meet you."
Indigo nodded and swished her tail, taking Paige's hand and shook it. "I heard so much about you. It's a pleasure. You have to tell me how you managed to get from the control section to here."
A timer beeped in the kitchen and Carmen raised her hands. "Hold that thought, the pho is almost done. Paige, can you set the table? Rowan and you prep the drinks? Good. I hope you brought a healthy appetite!"
After the group ate large bowls of pho stuffed with vegetables and spouts, Rowan did his assigned duty of clearing the table and doing the dishes. He always griped about how dish washing technology hadn't advanced in hundreds of years. As he scrubbed the pots he could hear the girls chatting and giggling every once in a while. He popped his head up to see Carmen making gestures with her hands that would have made a sailor blush, then cackling and slamming her hand down on the table.
He dried his hands and returned to the table where the girls were drinking small cups of coffee. When he got within earshot the girls clammed up and blushed.
Rowan raised his eyebrow and said, "Now what are you all chatting about that I can't hear?"
Paige stifled a laugh and then muttered, "Carmen was just telling us a story about one of your sessions."
"Carmen, you didn't tell them about the tentacle monster did you?"
"Sorry! I just couldn't help myself, it was so funny when you tripped on his dick and body slammed his testicles! Bwa ha ha!"
"It was super slippery. He could have gotten hurt!" Rowan said.
"He paid you extra! They never said they were a masochist!"
"Ugh." Rowan sat and put his hands to his face. "Hey Paige, I have something to ask of you."
"Sure, what is it?"
"Would you be able to add an exemption for Indigo in the roster for permitted non-humans to the human section of the station? She'll be living alone for the next month and rather than trying to get past station security every time, it would be nicer to just have her be official."
Paige's eyes slightly narrowed for a moment. "Isn't that a bit brazen?"
"Well actually, no," Indigo interrupted. "Before meeting Rowan, I spent most of my time at our apartment on the station. Being seen outside of the human section and going out with Rowan would be riskier and being here with you. Anyway, most lycan's think fox girls are at the bottom of the pile, like I don't exist. Maybe that's why Ollie thinks he can…" Indigo started to sniff back her tears.
Rowan put her hand on Indigo's back and rubbed it. "We'll figure something out. It's okay."
Paige sighed and said, "I'll get you on the roster Indigo. Sounds like you need as many friends as you can get. I know how lonely it can get on the station."
Indigo wiped her eyes, "Really?! Thank you Paige! That means so much. I'll be a good roommate, I promise. I'll pull my weight, you'll see."
Carmen launched from her chair and wrapped her arms around Paige, pushing Paige's head into her cleavage. "I knew you'd do the right thing! You're the best!"
Paige yelped and cried out, "Carmen you big titted bimbo! I can't breathe!"
Carmen got up and turned to Rowan and said, "Babe, I almost forgot. Electra told me to tell you that a shipment is getting delivered to the brothel's maintenance bay. It sounds like we're getting a male cyborg to help you out. Isn't that great!?"
"What?!" Rowan yelled as he fell off his chair.