A Beautiful Beast for Christmas

Debbie got it and she smiled, "Ok, Khensa. I wasn't thinking of that. I'm a little glad now that you were, though." She made the transaction on her panel and they heard the sounds of her pumps running as the washing water was removed. It took only a minute or so and then they heard the valves switching over to allow the loading of the 'new' water.

When the load was complete, she toggled a software switch on her panel and looked over, "I'm moving some to the heater so we'll have water for showers later if we want. What comes onboard from the facility here is just a little above freezing and I don't want to have a few hundred gallons stealing heat from the rest of the craft. I might as well bite the bullet and heat it now.

We can pick up the filter packs at the office on our way by, since we won't be using any water until we get back."

She looked toward the bed and then she felt a little sheepish.

"I hadn't given it any thought until now, but how do you want to work the sleeping arrangements? I guess I can take my bed apart and I do have a storage space outside. If you'll help me get it apart, we can bring yours and I'll buy a new single bed for myself."

Khensa shook her head, "No, my bed is an attached rack-type bunk on my craft. Let's not worry about it for now. I brought some bedding for me and I can sleep on the floor for a few nights until we decide."

Debbie said no, flat out, "You just said that Shm'Sha are very clean. My bed is a double since Robby and I obviously slept together. Unless either or both of us are the kind of sleepers who sling out our arms and punch the other one in their sleep -- "

Khensa shook her head, aghast at the thought, "Not at all. I don't think that I move very much when I sleep. I am certainly not a wild sleeper."

"Oh thank God," Debbie laughed in a little relief, "because Robby sure was. He'd loll and roll around, and throw his arms and legs out something awful when he slept. I always had to get by on about the last six inches of the mattress most nights. There were times when I woke up on the floor and when I tried to get back into bed, I'd find that he'd taken even THAT from me. I could have killed him in his sleep for that. I couldn't even wake him up then."

"That will never be a problem," Khensa smiled, "I am a very light sleeper. If it ever happens, only shake me a little, Deborah. I will move."

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So back to the commerce sector they went with Khensa listening with fascination to the sorts of things that Debbie would be looking for.

On the way, they stopped in at the office for the filter packs and the clerk looked up questioningly. "Have you had any issues, Mrs. Millhouse? My records show that the same filter pack type has been used on your craft since the beginning -- even before you and, ... " He looked at his screen, "Mr. Millhouse purchased it. Why do you need these ones?"

"My husband was lost on the outside and died three years ago," Debbie said.

After the clerk offered his condolences for her loss, he seemed to notice Khensa for the first time.

"I'm just taking on a roommate to help out with the upkeep expenses, Phil, that's all."

He groaned just a little, "I wish you hadn't said that to me now, even though I asked. I ought to know enough to keep my fool mouth shut sometimes. Now I'm obligated to update the records, listing a change in the domestic status."

"But why is that anyone's business?" Debbie asked.

"It isn't -- in my own opinion, Debbie," the middle-aged human nodded, "but it's the law here on Nanworth.

Strictly speaking, roommates are not allowed in the Monthly section. If you were in the Transitory section, I could just put it down as a crew change. But that would see you paying even more for the slot that you'd be in over there.

For your type of accommodation, I'd have to list,... "

He looked up, and Debbie said, "This is my roommate Khensa, Phil."

Khensa held out her hand a little tentatively, "We have met before. You were the one who helped me to get my craft settled in the Transitory area."

She was a little surprised when he took her hand and shook it. There hadn't been time when she'd arrived. Many humans wouldn't shake her hand in her experience.

"I thought that I recognized you," he said with a small smile.

"Anyway, I'm afraid that the only way that I can list Khensa on your craft, Debbie, is if it were by a change of marital status."

Same-sex marriages weren't all that commonplace on Nanworth, but they were recognized, so that was why Phil had mentioned it as a way forward past the problem.

"Oh fine, then," Debbie smiled, not really believing this wrinkle, "Will putting that down bring the marriage license inspector around? What a crock this place is sometimes."

He shook his head, "No. I doubt that anybody will give a rat's ass, just like me. It's just a legal requirement that I update the records in their stupid way, that's all. What would you like me to put down?"

They looked at each other for a moment and burst out laughing.

Khensa held up her hands and shrugged, "Do as you need to, Deborah."

"Ok then Phil, you just put us down as common law, ok?" Debbie chuckled.

"Can't," he said, "it's in the by-laws. You need to be licensed, so common law is out. They want their fee, Debbie."

He looked even more uncomfortable then. "Who uh, ... I mean which one, ...um, ..."

"Oh for Pete's sake," Debbie groaned, "We didn't think that rooming together would ever get this complex.

Put Khensa down as my husband, since I'm pretty freaking sure that it's the next thing that this stupid colony will want to know about our private business. We're just going to be rooming together."

"Fine," Phil nodded, "I'll need a name and the spelling."

Khensa was still in a little shock over what Debbie had said. She blinked and then, "Khensa Ahhotep -- "

Phil looked up, "How am I ever going to spell that surname?"

Khensa shook her head, "I do not think that it is even possible for you to put it down phonetically. The structure does not exist in any human tongue. Put my last name down as La Croix, please."

Debbie looked over with raised eyebrows.

Khensa shrugged, "I think it will make this easier. If I am now your husband on a data screen, then the least that I can do is to take my wife's name. It is allowed here, correct?"

Phil nodded, plenty relieved at side-stepping the terror of trying to fill in the Anubian's surname.

"I'll just register the name change as well, so to make sure that I'm not putting anything down in error here, you're Khensa Ahhotep La Croix. Have I got that right?" he asked as he swiveled his monitor around for them to confirm the spelling.

Khensa nodded with a pleased-looking smile which astonished Debbie slightly.

"There," he smiled, "all done. About the only thing that this might trigger is the arrival at some point of the Welcome Wagon lady, though if I see her, I'll do my best to tell her to bugger off, ok?

That'll be thirty-five credits, plus the twenty-nine for the filter packs. With taxes, it'll be eighty credits total."

Debbie rolled her eyes and looked at the ceiling tiles, "What um, ... oh, I can't wait to hear this part, what is the thirty-five credit fee for, Phil?"

"The fees for the Khensa'a name change, and I've also changed your surname, Debbie. I remembered that time when you first arrived here and your records needed changing to your married name, AND, ... he beamed a little as he reached over to his printer, "Your brand spanking new marriage license, of course.

I don't give a crap personally and I'm a little annoyed to be forced to go through this shit every so often, but here you go and congratulations.

I wish you two many happy years of wedded bliss. A divorce is a little more expensive, though. Just thought I'd put it out there, that's all."

-----------------------

They walked out of the office and on down the boardwalk which would lead them back to the main part of the colony.

"Just let me say that I apologize for the stupidity of all this," Debbie said, "I'm a little surprised that you went for it just so we could room together. I mean, it's a change in marital status and you even changed your name for this. That sort of thing can stay on your record a long time, so to speak."

Khensa shrugged, "I took it for what it was, Deborah. It was nothing more than the colony trying to make money on something. Think of it as a tax and nothing more."

They walked on in silence for a few moments.

"Though I can admit that I am very pleased, all the same," Khensa grinned a little, " I like my new name, and it will make things easier for you and I now as well. I never thought that I would ever find myself wed to anyone.

To find that I now have such a beautiful wife, ..."

They laughed over it a little nervously and then Debbie added, "Well I used to have my handsome husband."

She looked over for a second, "In your own way, Khensa, you look very regal to me, and a little of that tends to spill over into 'handsome' to me in a way.

Other than that, I'm proud to have a beauty like you too."

They chuckled over it a little more and then Khensa felt Debbie take her hand. She looked down.

"Hey," Debbie laughed, "I'm just going with it, that's all. I don't think I really mind it and I sure don't give a damn what anybody here thinks of me anymore. If you don't mind, let's go and raise some eyebrows, 'dear'. I'm feeling pretty proud right now too."

Khensa nodded, outright grinning now and they walked on for a time until she stopped and Debbie looked up, "What? Or maybe I ought to ask it as 'What, Honey'?" She giggled a little then.

She saw that Khensa wore a slightly strange look right then, "I was just thinking that where I come from, it is customary when getting married for the groom to kiss the bride.

I have never kissed a human before, and I'd guess that you have never kissed an Anubian -- well, who knew of it at the time, I guess. I think that I would like to try -- if it will not cause you to feel badly. Could we?"

Debbie looked up, a little astonished for a moment, but she thought about it quickly and she nodded, "Ok, Khensa. I think I'd actually like that. I am warning you though that I tend to be a little mischievous sometimes."

She looked down for a moment, "Now that I think of it, I haven't really felt mischievous much at all since I was widowed, like that part of me died with Robby."

She looked up then and Khensa saw the gleam there in her bright blue eyes, "But I sure feel that way now, so I might just feel a little like playing on that while we're out together, if it doesn't embarrass you."

Khensa slipped her long arms around Debbie's waist and she smiled for a second, "If you are not embarrassed to be seen with what I know that some humans refer to as walking Pharaoh hounds, I think that I'd feel very proud to be seen with you like that, knowing that we are married, and I cannot even explain that feeling to myself. I only know that I like it very much -- and I like the look that you carry in your eye a lot right now as well."

Debbie looked up into the Anubian's long, dark face for a moment and her gaze settled on those quiet and observant yellow eyes for a second. She'd never done anything with another female before in her life, but in the Anubian's own quiet and very strong way, Khensa looked very good to her and she wondered at herself for a second before she pushed the thought away with a smiling little shrug.

"Hey, we're married, Khensa. We've got a license to kiss now. I'm willing to try if you are."

She reached to put her arms around the Anubian's neck and she had the quick amending thought that Khensa was no longer just an Anubian.

Khensa -- on paper at the very least -- was Debbie's Anubian now and for some reason, that made this much better and not awkward at all. She had to stretch just a little as she felt her chest against Khensa's and she closed her eyes for the kiss.

It felt a little strange and right after that, it felt very new and really good to them both, though it didn't last long and they looked at each other afterwards.

"That felt really very good," Khensa said as though it had surprised her.

Debbie shook her head, "No it didn't.

It felt fantastic. Can we do that again? I like kissing my husband the sexy Pharaoh hound if you like kissing your wife the ape."

Khensa's hand reached up to touch Debbie's cheek softly for a moment. "I think that I would love to kiss my beautiful blonde ape again."

Their second kiss lasted a lot longer and they pulled themselves apart rather reluctantly.

"I loved that," Debbie said, almost as a sigh, "I've never been kissed like that in my freaking life before, but unless you want to forego the Christmas that I promised you, we'd better get moving."

Khensa nodded and they walked off, holding hands and still feeling the surprised shock of something that nice.

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"Do Shm'Sha people do what we've done?" Debbie asked as they walked through the mall, still holding hands, "I mean, do they ever pair off as couples of the same sex?"

Khensa nodded, "Yes. It has always been so. There is always a percentage of the population who do this. I read somewhere that this has only happened for humans within the past few hundred years. For us, it is a natural thing. If we met another Shm'Sha here, it wouldn't even be a surprise to him or her -- other than the differences in our species."

"Haven't Shm'Sha ever married apes before?" Debbie asked.

"You are not an ape, Debbie. You are a human. The apes on your home world were only the starting point of your origins. I do not know if it has ever happened. I think that statistically, it must have. I doubt that we could have been the first pair in a hundred years. It doesn't stand to reason out of probability alone."

Debbie pulled Khensa over to her and she smiled as she kissed Khensa's long ear for a second in a hidden way while breathing in that wonderful scent, "Listen, I'm amazed and pretty happy to find that I have something that I want to explore with you. I liked you as soon as I laid eyes on you. I just didn't ever expect this. I've never done something like this, but I really, really want to now.

So, just allow me to feel a little bit, ... uh, primal here in a way. The thought of being your ape is a very surprising one for me. But I like it, Khensa. Please don't tell me that I have to stop now."

"You do not have to stop," Khensa smiled as she looked at Debbie, "I only thought that you were saying it in a self-depreciating manner which I didn't like if that were the reason for it.

As far as my feelings go, I am, ..." she searched for the word for a second, "thrilled. I am feeling thrilled at the thought of being out shopping for Christmas with my new bride. We did not plan this, though I felt much the same as I think you did when we met. The first moment when I knew that you had to be the one that I was looking to meet was a difficult one for me. I had to force myself to speak."

Debbie felt the words come to her as palpable things and she kissed Khensa right there in the mall, in front of everyone for a long moment.

"I don't know how this is going to work out or even if it will work at all," she said, "All that I know is that right now, I'm feeling hope inside of me. I haven't felt something like that for a long time, so as odd as this is between us if you look at it from outside, it doesn't feel that way to me. I love this feeling."

As they walked on through the mall, Khensa's eye caught the small flash of red, green and white up above the central part of the main hall where all of the other halls met. There was something attached to the underside of one of the structural braces which held up the cathedral style roof.

She pointed, "What is that up there? It looks to be a small type of plant growing on the metal."

It took Debbie a second to see it and she sighed with a smile, "It's not growing there. It can't grow there for a couple of reasons. For one thing, it's fake and made of plastic, and for another, it's supposed to look like a parasitic plant which grows on living trees back on Earth.

That's a plastic imitation of a sprig of mistletoe that someone has hung up there for Christmas. It's deadly poison if you eat a real one, but it's also a really old Christmas tradition.

People hang it up at this time of year. If you see somebody that you like, but you don't really know yet, or if it's a person that you just like, you can stand under it and if they see you there, they have to kiss you.

Long ago, boys could kiss girls there like that, but they had to pluck one of the white berries off after each kiss. Once all the berries are gone, you can't have any more kisses until you hang up another sprig. Come on."

She dragged Khensa under the mistletoe and she threw her arms around her neck to kiss her, and in a moment, she felt it as Khensa returned her joy with kisses of her own and they stood there for a time kissing.

"I have found another human tradition that I love," Khensa chuckled.

As they turned to go, Khensa felt the tug on her sleeve and looked back. There was a human male there with a leering grin and his breath almost fumed in the air between them from the booze that he'd been drinking at lunch.

"Hey," he smiled sloppily, "you don't need to kiss her if you want somebody to smooch on. Kiss me, and I'll kiss her after."

Khensa turned to Debbie, "Must I?"

Debbie shook her head, "No, of course not."

Khensa nodded and moved to walk away, but the man hung onto her sleeve.

"Hey, what am I, chopped liver?"

Khensa's face changed a little in an instant as she turned her head back with her long ears lowered flat against her head and her lips pulling back from her teeth.

"Do you wish to be?" she asked in a low snarl.

He let her go and they walked off.

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They didn't intend it, but they found that their purchases mounted up a little in no time, so Debbie bought a little wheeled carrier to drag along behind them as they went. Most of what they'd bought was food, though there were a couple of bottles of wine as well. As they were leaving the wine shop, Debbie looked over across the mall for a moment.

"I've never been close enough to really look whenever I saw Anubian couples shopping together in here," she said, "Is there a way to show that a pair of them are married? Humans use rings to show it."

Khensa nodded, "It depends on the time in history. The first things were collars worn by both partners. Later on, we wore bracelets which were too small to be removed and were worn forever.

These days though, many of us seem to have taken the human symbol of rings, though I have seen couples who use all of those things at the same time. I have always thought that those ones must have done it while in the first blushes of their love after being wed."

"That sounds really nice," Debbie smiled, "We're not like that though -- at least, I don't know. This is all really strange to me, since I only met you today. But I do want something to start with -- since we seem to be together in a strange little fairy-tale somehow.

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The sales clerk at the jewellery store that Debbie had seen looked very surprised. "Do you want like a matched set or something?"

Debbie nodded, "Yup. Nothing really fancy though. We'd like to see some matched wedding rings."

When the clerk looked up, Debbie smiled, "We just got married."

The clerk's eyes widened as she regarded Khensa, but she was profit-oriented enough to smile and offer her congratulations.

As she searched a little in an effort to present them with a good selection, she thought about it. She didn't have much of a thought about two females together at all. She was only thinking about their different species and she wondered how Debbie had even gotten the Anubian to notice her, never mind want to marry her.