The Firmament Ch. 01

Author's Note: Hello beloved readers! I've had this idea in my head for a while and set aside a Saturday evening to put this story together for all of you to read. I hope everyone enjoys it, I haven't written in this category before. Please let me know what you think in the comments and what you would like to read in the future.

*****

Erika leapt from the low reaching branch of the tree and landed softly on the ground. She wiped the sweat from her forehead with a cloth and sighed. The mid-day sun shone down on the trees in the jungle, and even with the protection of their leaves Erika could feel the heat. She tied her shoulder-length, jet black hair back into a strict ponytail. It was time to head home, to the shelter of the enormous temple that she and her mother lived in. Erika walked down the path she had made, cutting away a few branches that were already starting to grow over it again. She had been sitting in the branches of the tree, surveying her week's progress. Over the past few days, she had been slowly carving a path to the edge of the glass bubble that housed the jungle and her home. She had grown up in the bubble, never knowing what it was like outside. On her twenty-first birthday she started to make a path through the dense jungle. She wanted to see what lay on the other side of the glass.

It wasn't that she wasn't grateful for The Firmament - which was its official title, the one that her mother named it when she created it. But really there was no harm in looking, was there? As the sun reached its peak, she pulled her tan jacket off her body, deciding to only wear her white tank top. Beads of sweat soon started appearing on her neck and shoulders. It seemed like the jungle was getting hotter and hotter each day. She couldn't remember if it had been like that the last couple of years. She made a note to ask Mother later to see if it couldn't be fixed. Finally, she arrived back at the large, yellow stone temple that was her home. It was built into the side of a mountain, and the temple's pointed peak stood out against the dark green of the mountain. She jogged up the stairs easily, her body accustomed to the exercise, and headed inside. The temple was cool, and immediately she felt her sweat dry. It was suddenly more comfortable, and she headed towards the dining room with renewed energy.

**

Her mother was already sitting at the dining room table, waiting. Small plates of food were on the table, including two table placements. The table was built from the ground, the same smooth, yellow stone as the rest of the temple, and two benches lined either side. Erika took her usual place on the opposite side of the table of her mother. Her mother was wearing a long, flowing white dress with a deep v neck, prominently displaying her collar bones and cleavage.

Mother always looked good, especially in colors that complimented her long, jet black hair that fell to below her shoulders. Mother had said that Erika was the spitting image of her when she was younger, they both had the same straight, jet black hair, thick eyebrows and skin that always seemed to have a healthy glow.

Personally, Erika had seen pictures of Mother from when she was younger and knew Mother was far prettier. Growing older seemed to have made Mother even more attractive, her features had leaned out and grown more refined. She looked sophisticated and elegant. Erika knew she was in shape but she felt fat when she compared herself to Mother, and her face looked softer and childish. Even now her Mother was taller than Erika despite her growth spurt a few years ago.

Mother flipped her hair behind her shoulders gracefully before smiling at Erika.

"How was the jungle today, my dear?" Mother asked as she took Erika's bowl and started adding food into it with a pair of wooden tongs.

"It's alright, it's getting hotter and hotter every day." Erika said. "I can do it, Mother." She said, taking the bowl. "I told you, you don't have to wait for me." She added quietly as she placed some sliced cucumbers into her bowl.

"I know, but I like to. You're up before I am these days."

Erika mashed the round potato fritter in her bowl, combining it with the spicy sauce from the cucumbers. "I just like to get a head start on the day, before the heat sets in."

"Hm." Her mother took a delicate bite from the potato fritter on her fork, her brow slightly creased thoughtfully. Erika took a bite of the mix of mashed up food in her bowl.

Movement out of the corner of Erika's eye distracted her, and she looked over to see her mother's robotic jaguar moving towards them, its black metal skin moved, the glossy darkness appearing almost a trick of the light. It walked languidly past Erika before leaping onto the bench beside Mother. Its glowing yellow eyes closed partway as Mother stroked its sleek metal head. The creature was never affectionate towards Erika in that way, and she had long gotten used to it. "Faruth told me he saw you in a tree today, please do be careful out there." Mother said.

Snitch. She never saw the robotic feline do anything other than saunter around the temple, and yet he must have gone out occasionally, because he always tattled on her.

"I am, I promise." She said. She ate the last of the dark grain in her bowl. "May I be excused?"

"Of course, honey." As Erika walked by, she noticed her mother's bowl was still half full.

"See you in a bit." Erika said, picking up her own bowl and utensils. She gave her mother a quick kiss on the cheek before leaving. She deposited the bowl and utensils in the auto-washer, her mind on what to do for the rest of the day. To leave the temple in this heat would be madness, so she decided to go to her room and read.

***

Erika took her personal electric device off the solar charger and turned on the display. She flopped onto her bed and stuffed a pillow under her head. She probably would have gone insane had she not had the device, it offered everything from games to educational applications, news and novels. Unfortunately, the news was forever stuck on the months before the apocalypse.

There was one article on the grand opening of The Firmament. There was a short blurb about her mother, Sophia Nushant, senior systems architect. She talked of the ability of The Firmament to provide enough resources for a small town, and her ambition to further the technology with the help of funding. From the short snippets of information that she had gathered from her mother, Erika learned that the technology had still been in its infancy at the time, a protype of the actual design. It would have never been ready when the bombs dropped during The War. She had asked what The War had been like, but her mother had always gone tight-lipped to her questions and she had learned to stop asking.

Erika switched to the Library application. She knew there were a lot more novels out there, but Mother decided the selection. She clicked on her bookmark for a Wrinkle in Time and started reading.

***

Erika woke up. She hadn't even realized she had been sleeping, but the bed had been so comfy and she had been tired from her morning activities. She put her device back on its cradle and left the room.

She walked past the living room and down the stairs to a large room in the basement. The buzz of computers was loud in this room, and the lighting was dimmer than the rest of the temple.

"Mother." Erika called, and when the woman seated in front of the five monitors did not answer, she walked over. "Mother." She said louder, putting her hands on her mother's shoulders.

Her mother jerked in surprise and pulled off the headphones.

"Oh! Hello."

Erika hugged her from behind. She looked at the screens but it was all just computer code and meant nothing to her. She saw the bowl with still a quarter of food beside the mouse.

"Busy working?"

"Mm." Her mother kissed the back of her hand. "Trying to fix the heating issue."

"Have you been working this whole time?" Erika demanded, turning the computer chair around so her mother faced her.

"Guilty." Her mother raised her hands up in faux surrender, grinning. Still, she looked tired, her light green eyes didn't have their usual luster and the creases around them were more noticeable.

"You should take a nap." Erika suggested, putting her hands up to her mother's temples, massaging them gently. Her mother sighed and closed her eyes, enjoying the massage. Erika sat down in her mother's lap to have a better position. After a few minutes her mother opened her eyes, a mischievous look on her face.

"You know what would make me feel better?"

***

Erika gripped the wooden swords in her hands and look across the training. Her mother had on a black tunic and also held two wooden swords in her hands. She spun her two swords almost nonchalantly before spreading her legs, taking a stance that Erika recognized as an aggressive one.

It was not one she was familiar with, but she took a defensive stance nonetheless. Her mother was the first to break the distance between them, striking with a ferocity Erika didn't know she had. But Erika was young, and her training and the treks out into the jungle had made her strong and tenacious. She blocked her mother's strikes and spun to the side, aiming one blade at her mother's side. Whack! She fell onto the padded ground.

"Hm. You're so eager to strike, you forget to defend yourself." Erika's mother chastised.

"Let me try again." Erika said, getting up.

"Fine, once more."

Erika got up again, determined to hit this time. She was cautious this time, blocking and blocking. It would just take a while, and she could just tire her out, then she could- WHACK!

Erika fell onto the ground, side stinging. "Ow!"

Her mother tossed her blades to the side and grasped her wrists. "And don't wait too long to strike either, or you'll lose your chance." Erika felt a leg being pressed between her open thighs. She let out a small whimper.

"Well maybe if you started teaching me sooner, I could win."

"Perhaps. But I doubt it. I have a lot of years on you."

The leg pressed up harder against her, rubbing against the fine fabric between her legs. Erika felt her cheeks getting warm from pleasure.

"Do you yield?"

Her mother's braided hair caressed her cheek.

"Yes."

"Good girl."

**

"Oh, don't pout."

Erika felt a slap against her butt as she headed towards the outdoor pool.

"I'm not." She insisted. She felt her mother's hands on her training tunic, untying the knot and letting it fall onto the ground. The evening air teased her bare skin.

"I took it easy on you." She felt a kiss on the back of her neck, a hand on her back.

"Well if that was easy, I'd hate to see you try." Erika groaned, rubbing her side gingerly. "I don't know why you only let me start training at eighteen when you were already the state Fencing champion when you were seventeen."

Her mother pushed her hand away so she could examine the injury.

"Yes, but your grandparents put a lot of pressure on me. I wanted you to have a normal life. Well, as normal as the circumstances would allow." She said, nodding at the bubble. She finished examining her. "Just a bruise. I'll take care of this after."

Erika looked over to see her mother taking off her black tunic. She looked enviously at her mother, who was taller, thinner and also more endowed, her light brown aerolas large and beautiful, her breasts round and soft. How nice it would be to look like her, so gorgeous and mature! Erika thought as she rinsed herself in the shower area and walked down the stone steps and into the pool. She heard a splash of water behind her.

"Come, let's have a good look at you."

She turned around to her mother, who was looking at her expectantly. Her mother made her way to her.

"Ah, the beauty of youth." Sophia squeezed her daughter's cheeks. "Such full cheeks." She cupped Erika's breasts, causing them to tingle with excitement. "And pert breasts." Her mother looked at them almost hungrily, and Erika' felt the area below her stomach clench.

"Not as large as yours." Erika said.

"Mmm... I can only do so much." Her mother chuckled. "Besides, they're lovely." She pinched Erika's nipples, causing her to gasp in surprise.

Sophia picked up her daughter in her arms, the action made easy in the water. She carried her over to the ledge where they could sit. Here on the high level of the temple they could see out into the expanse of the jungle and the setting sun against the streaks of orange and red sky.

Erika looked longingly at the edge of the jungle.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Erika's mother said softly. She tucked a strand of hair behind Erika's ear. She stroked Erika's ankles, hands trailing up to her thighs, rekindling the fire that had started to grow from the fight earlier. Erika squirmed. She stopped looking at the view and leaned against the pool's wall. She felt her mother's lips press against hers, soft and warm. She let out a relaxed sigh. It had been a good day today, and she was glad to be spending some of it with Mother. Maybe Mother would also like to join her in the jungle when she was done making her path.

She leaned in for a kiss again but her mother had pulled away. She leaned over some more until her mother' warm lips pressed hers again, this time with her tongue seeking entrance. Erika opened her mouth, touching her tongue to her mother's. She felt large breasts against hers, and reached out, squeezing them. The water lapped at the edges of the pool. She felt hands against the inside of her thighs and spread her legs. She and Mother had both been busy lately and haven't had time to enjoy each other like usual. She wrapped her legs around her mother's thin waist eagerly.

Her mother's skilled fingers rubbed her pussy lips, up and down the sides and over the arch. Even in the cool water Erika could feel her body growing warmer in anticipation. She wanted those fingers rubbing her clit but Mother took her time, always moving just over to where Erika wanted her to go. She sucked eagerly on her tongue, imagining that tongue also elsewhere. Maybe if she was good she would get eaten out. Her stomach clenched hard at the thought, and a sexual longing emerged within her.

Mother had an enormous amount of patience, she was capable of teasing Erika for an indefinite amount of time, until she was soaking wet and begging for release.

She pressed her breasts against her mother's, rubbing them together.

"Please, I want your fingers inside me." She said in a quivering voice.

"Only if you forgive me." Her mother said conversationally even as her fingers moved to the outside of Erika's clit, encircling it and causing it to pulsate, demanding more.

"Of course I forgive you." Erika said as she gripped the edge of the ledge. She felt like she was going mad with lust already.

"Mm alright then, how many fingers should I fill you with?"

"Two!"

"Two? Dirty girl." Her mother cocked one elegant eyebrow but complied. It was like a dam relased inside her, Erika let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. She almost came when Mother started thrusting her fingers in and out of her. This feeling... nothing in the world could match it. She shut her eyes as lights danced behind her eyelids. It felt so good, and so right. She came soon after, clenching hard against Mother's fingers as she climaxed. Mother held her lovingly but she wasn't done, her fingers still inside "Oh!"

Erika bit her lip as Mother slowly rubbed her thumb over Erika's clit. Erika remained still in her mothers arms, taking shallow breaths, her arms around Mother's shoulders. She knew better than to interfere with her plans, and soon Mother was slowly coaxing a larger, deeper orgasm from her. Erika's legs, now wrapped around Mother's waist, trembled in anticipation. This time she clenched even harder on Mother's as she came and came. The cool air felt so good on her heated cheeks when she finally came to her senses. Mother kissed her deeply on the lips.

"I love you, Mother." Erika said, hugging her and resting her head on her shoulder happily.

"And I love you too, my daughter."