Today the rest of your life begins

Posted on Mon Jun 29th, 2015 @ 11:08pm by Ensign Honey Flanagan

Mission: Debts to be settled......
Location: Flanagan Institute of Genetic Research

"Honey! Are you in here?" The older woman called out, as so many times before. This time though, there was a slight sadness to her voice. Dr Madeline Flanagan was pushing sixty now, her hair grey, wisdom in her eyes. She made her way through the living room towards the indoor swimming pool, placing the box she was carrying on the living room table. At this hour of the day her daughter was often in the pool.

Daughter ...

Part of her still saw Honey as an experiment, a 'what if' that went incredibly right, for one out of fifteen samples. But this was only a tiny part. By far the majority of feelings Madeline had for Honey were that of a mother, having provided half of the DNA that gave rise to Honey, having raised her, having educated her, guided her, helped her make very difficult life choices, having supported her. Yeah ... Honey was her daughter.

"Yesss mom!" came Honey's reply, hearing Madeline's voice. The half human creature dove under water and with a few powerful strokes of her webbed hands and feet and a lash of her tail she dashed through the water with an ease and a grace that even the most powerful human swimmers could only stare at with envy. But then, she wasn't human.

The young, gray-skinned woman with the powerful tail and red markings climbed out of the water. dressed in a simple black one-piece swimming suit, open in the back and across her tummy to help with hydration, she shook off most of the water from her dripping figure before walking over towards Madeline. She grabbed a towel underway and dabbed herself a bit with it, mostly her face and hands. "Wassssup?"

"Hi Honey." Madeline smiled. "Got something to tell you, and got something for you. Why don't you get dried off, dressed, and we'll speak in your living room?" she said, much to the confusion of the younger halfbreed. " ... Mooo." Honey replied, flicking out her forked tongue and blinking golden eyes, out of synch. Then a shrug. "Hokay. I'll be like a minute."

True to word, only a few minutes later she walked into her living room where her mother was waiting. She flopped down on the couch, then rolled over to look at Madeline. "So. What'sss up?" she asked, still a bit confused, giving the box a questioning glance.

"Well, it's been a few weeks since you completed the academy curriculum, and as you know we've been looking for a ship for you to serve on." Madeline began. "We've found one. The USS Victory. She's a Sovereign class, and she has room for a Xenobiologist." She smiled, but there was a sadness hidden behind it. She knew it meant Honey would leave the Flanagan institute, would leave her. This 'leaving the nest', she knew, was a normal aspect of any parent-child relationship - at least, the healthy ones - but in this case it also meant that this would be the first time Honey was away from her. Out in the real world. Alone. "We're just waiting for the ship to report back. Shouldn't be long."

The younger woman's eyes blinked again, once more out of synch with eachother. Her tail twitched a bit, and she sat up more straight. The couch had provisions for her tail, as did every other piece of furniture in her home, the section of the Flanagan station that was built specifically for Honey and designed to resemble a normal home as much as possible. "I sssee." she responded after a moment's silence. "That meansss I will have to go, doesssn't it." she added. "Like, very ssssoon."

"Having second thoughts?" asked Madeline.

"Oh, mew! No, not at all!" Honey exclaimed, shaking her head. "It'sss jussst that - well, I've been preparing for thisss, but - " A pause. The halfbreed woman wilted slightly. "It'sss happening. It ssseemed ssso far away, but now it'sss happening. Thisss makesss it more real, if you underssstand what I mean." She looked at her mother, then smiled softly, flicking her forked tongue out. "But I think you do underssstand. I will be okay, mom. Promissse."

"Oh I know you will be." Madeline smiled slyly. "You see, I brought you something." she said, motioning at the box on the table. It was perhaps 80 by 45 by 40 centimeters, a simple cardboard box with holes in it, and a lid. "Or should I say, someone. G'on, open it."

And Honey did. Webbed hands of clammy skin hefted the lid, to reveal a blanket inside, upon which lay a furry creature, groggily waking up from a very pleasant and warm sleep. Triangular eyes flicked then swiveled towards Honey, followed by relatively large golden eyes with black pupils, much like her own. Whiskers twitched, then the creature gave a wide yawn, showing a small set of sharp, predatory teeth. Again, much like Honey's own.

"You got me a - ... cat?" Honey blinked, then looked at Madeline, smiled happily, looking back at the creature again. "N-no. The facial structure isss off. It'sss not a cat. What isss you?" she questioned, carefully reaching down to lift the creature up out of the box. As she did it pawed at her - with all its ten paws - and stuck its tongue out in Honey's direction, slowly blinking large eyes.

"It'sss ... A - " Honey's eyes went wide as she recognized the creature, then instantly embraced it, hugging it tight, much to the being's chagrin. "You got me a multipaw!" Honey squeed, even as the Voltaran Multipaw waved its ten paws, trying to free itself in the embrace. Honey quickly let go, allowing the beast to just settle down on her lap. She had tears in her eyes and was beaming the brightest smile Madeline had ever seen her daughter wear.

"I'm glad you like her. She seems to like you as well." Madeline smiled warmly, moving to set next to Honey. "But she's going to need a name."

Honey smiled, scritching the multipaw between her ears. A universal token of affection, and universally appreciated by creatures small and furry. "Her name ... isss Abigail." A satisfied murrr escaped the multipaw as she leaned into the scritches, closing her eyes, pawing at Honey.

"Abigal Bissscuit."