Kanna preview

It was ten simple words uttered by his friend Thomas that ended up changing Steve’s life that day. “So, I don’t think this is going to work out.”

Steve looked up from his coffee as he stirred in his cream and sugar, a frown crossing his face. “Wait… what do you mean?” For some reason, rather out of the blue, Thomas had sent him a message this morning saying that he wanted to talk. The two had ended up meeting at Starlight Station, the rather cliche name for the diner on the space station they lived aboard. Steve had naturally assumed that his friend would want to discuss their moving to Stranga, after all that was only a couple of days away. “What’s not going to work out?”

Shifting uncomfortably in his seat, Thomas avoided Steve’s gaze as he started dumping sugar into his own coffee. “Well… the whole Stranga thing. I guess.”

Both sat in silence for a moment, Steve waiting for his friend to elaborate for a moment before continuing. “And what exactly do you mean by that?” he demanded, leaning forward with a scowl. The two of them had been planning for these last couple of months to move to the jungle planet of Stranga, mostly due to a very lucrative job offer. There was a brand new space port on the planet that had just been built, and they were looking for competent staff to man it. Fortunately both he and Thomas had been offered jobs at the facility, pretty cushy ones that mostly involved supervising maintenance robots. This past month had been an extremely busy one as Steve made plans to leave, made housing arrangements on the new planet and put in his two weeks notice at maintenance bay here in the space station. So for Thomas to now be saying ‘this isn’t gonna work out’ wasn’t exactly cutting it for Steve. “Well?” he demanded as Thomas was still reluctant to talk.

“Yesterday… was our last day on the job, right?” Thomas finally said, reluctantly looking Steve in the eyes again. Steve nodded in return, of course it had been. “You had left early, to start packing. I stuck around for a bit to clear out my desk, and I was approached by one of the branch managers.” Now that he was getting the story out, Thomas looked slightly more confident as he sipped his coffee. “He told me that the company really didn’t want both of us leaving, so they offered me a promotion. And a pretty nice pay raise too. So I… took the job offer.” With a miserable look in his eye, he once again broke eye contact. “I’m really sorry man. It was too good to pass up.”

Opening and closing his mouth for a moment, Steve found himself genuinely speechless. “So you just… took the job offer?” he finally demanded once he could manage words again. “Dude, we’re supposed to be leaving for Stranga in two days to start this NEW job! We already arranged to get a place together!” The housing situation particularly pissed Steve off, they had just put down a non-refundable deposit on the property mere days ago.

“Oh, well I actually have good news on that” Thomas said, looking pleased with himself as he reached into a pocket. For a brief moment Steve held out some kinda hope that his friend had good news for him, even though there was a sinking feeling in his gut. Thomas passed Steve an envelope, a grin on his face. “I talked to the property manager the other day about the deposit. I had to come up with one hell of a sob story, but I managed to get our money back. So, here ya go!”

Steve had a blank look on his face as he took the envelope and started at it for a moment. “So… you’re saying that now I don’t even have a place to stay when I get there anymore” he said in a monotone voice.

The grin slowly fell from Thomas’ face. “Well… uh…” both were quiet for a long moment as the sounds of the cafe went on in the background. “Well…. Yeah, but… I managed to get your deposit back, right?” he asked with a sheepish grin that quickly gave way to a more serious expression. “Look, I really am sorry. It’s not like I went into all this wanting to fuck you over. I really hope that you can forgive me for doing this to you.”

Letting out a long sigh, Steve slipped the envelope into a pocket as he looked at his friend’s downcast expression. It wasn’t really fair when he put it like that. “Look… fine. I forgive you, alright? I suppose there’s no crying over spilled milk anyways.”

A look of relief spread across Thomas’ face as he let out a long sigh of his own. “Thank you, man. Geez, this was stressful as hell for me” he said as that grin spread across his face again. “I really thought you were going to-” he began, but stopped as his communications device began going off. “Oh, one sec. It’s Dahlia. Do you mind?” Thomas asked as he glanced up.

“Go ahead” Steve said with a wave. Dahlia was Thomas’ personal android, one that he’d been getting more attached to as of late, at least judging by the way he pampered her.

With a nod of thanks, Thomas answered the call as an image of the short, feminine form of Dahlia appeared on the screen. By the looks of it she had a frilly maid outfit on, which Steve found slightly odd. “Hey Dahlia, what’s up?”

“Master, when are you getting back home?” Dahlia asked, looking concerned. “I should have lunch finished soon.”

“I’ll be leaving here in just a bit, don’t worry” Thomas said with a reassuring grin.

Dahlia’s face began to pout a bit as she looked away from Thomas. “...You were already supposed to be here, you know. You promised we’d spend all day together” she mumbled.

“Uh…” Thomas glanced briefly up at Steve and back down again, looking distinctly more uncomfortable. “Sorry, like I said I’ll be there soon” he promised.

“I recalibrated all of my input ports for you” Dahlia said in a husky whisper, as she gave Thomas a smoldering look. “So please hurry, master.” With that, the phone call shut off.

Thomas gave a brief embarrassed chuckle as he continued to avoid Steve’s gaze. “Wow, she… really gets excited, huh?” he asked before sipping at his coffee.

“Hmm” Steve said with a nod. “So, this new job offer is the ONLY reason you’re not going to Stranga with me?” he demanded, narrowing his eyes.

Clearing his throat, Thomas looked like he he wanted this conversation to end. “Well… maybe Dahlia… is kind of a factor there too. A bit. Um… are we still… cool?”

Letting out a long sigh, Steve just shrugged his shoulders after a minute of making Thomas squirm. “Sure. She’s a super cute robot, I don’t exactly blame you after all. Now…” Steve pointed a thumb at the door. “Don’t you have somewhere to be? I mean, she DID just calibrate all of her input ports for you.” Steve couldn’t help but grin as he said those words.

“R-right.” Thomas stood up as he finished his coffee, giving Steve one last look. “And hey, like I said, I’m really sorry. But I’m still your friend, so if there’s anything I can help with just let me know.” With a final nod and a handshake, Thomas took his leave as he headed for the exit.

Now that Thomas had finally left, Steve let out a long and annoyed groan as he rest his head on one hand. Well, now he was pretty fucked. He was officially starting a job on a new planet in two days, but he had nowhere to live. There was only one solution at this point, and it did not sound pleasant at all to Steve. Pulling out his phone with a grimace, he began to search the Internet to see if he could find a solution to his problems.

-

It was nearly an hour later as Steve was still in the same spot, bent over his phone as he browsed through multiple different links. Sitting back, he sighed as he put the device aside for a moment and sipped at what was now his fourth cup of coffee. This was turning out to be a lot more stressful than it had been a month ago. The new space port seemed to be bringing in some fresh faces from offworld, and as a result most of the free and open apartments that had been avaliable last month were now taken.

There were two practical choices ahead of him, going by his budget. The first was the large apartment complex located near the port itself. That was a tempting offer for a number of reasons, namely the rent was cheap and commuting to work would be simple. However there were a number of downsides, the first being the noise pollution from the ships taking off. By all accounts it sometimes went on all night, and Steve wasn’t exactly thrilled about the possibility. Then of course there were the other tenants to consider as well. This was largely temporary housing, all the contracts going on a month-by-month basis, so apparently there were a decent amount of shady characters living in the premises. The recommendation from the people online was to get a second lock for his door if he got a room there, pronto.

Then there was the other option, in other words trying to find someone to move in with. So far there had been no luck on that front either, Steve had spent the last half hour messaging and replying to people only to be met with negative responses. He also made a profile on a local Strangan message board with his information and the rates he was looking for, but he didn’t have much hope that would turn up anything either.

Sighing again, Steve finished off his cup of coffee. He was just debating if he should other another or just ask for the check when he heard the ping of an incoming message from his phone. Curiously he picked up the device, though he cynically expected it to be more spam again. However it seemed to be from an actual person, the subject of the message reading “hey i herd u were lookin 4 a place”. Curiously he tapped it and glanced over the brief message inside. ‘hey i saw ur post! ive got a room i just clened out u can use. rent is 650 credits + im prety near teh spac port, ull hav ur own bthrm but we share kitchn + living rom. if u wana stay tho i got to meet u first 2 make sure ur not a loser ot anything LOL! :D oh + im a ma pilot btw, hope thats not weird 4 u! hop 2 c u son! -kanna’. At the bottom of the message this Kanna person had also included an address, likely to her (at least, he assumed it was a her by the name and the way she typed) home, that was equally as poorly spelled.

It took Steve a moment to decode the message. At first he was inclined to think this was a joke, or possibly even some kind of scam, and even if that wasn’t the case the fact that this Kanna person was an MA pilot sent red flags up. True most of the MA pilots he’d met had been perfectly fine people, but others… hadn’t been. Frowning to himself, Steve drummed his fingers on the table as he first deciphered the address and then entered it into the web browser. “Hmm… it IS pretty close to the port…” Steve muttered to himself as he checked the info closely. It was actually closer than the house he was going to get with Thomas, that and the rent was cheaper as well. He was originally going to be paying 800 credits in that house, so this was a notable drop in price as far as he was concerned. It was all very convenient. Almost suspiciously convenient. There had to be a catch, right?

For nearly ten minutes Steve sat there, arms crossed as he considered. Finally with a nod, he looked up with a determined expression and typed a quick response to Kanna’s message. ‘Sounds good. My shuttle to the planet will be landing 2 days from now your time, sometime in the afternoon. Will you be around that day? I can stop by as soon as I’m able.’ Sending the message, Steve turned and waved towards the robotic waitress. “Check please?” he asked.

It was right when he was paying the bill and getting up to leave that he heard the chime of another incoming message, once again from Kanna. ‘sure ill b aroud all day! heres my # btw just call me whn u lnd’. The message managed to bring a small smile to Steve’s face despite the crappy last hour he’d just endured. Well this was probably gonna end up being a bust, but he might as well check it out just to be sure.

-

As Steve rode along in the automated cab headed towards Kanna’s address, he couldn’t help but think he’d made a huge mistake.

It wasn’t like anything particularly bad had happened since landing here on Stranga. In fact Steve’s shuttle had turned up an hour early, and since he was one of the few people here in this remote spaceport it had been easy as pie to get his bags. However his feeling of trepidation had begun almost immediately as he was leaving and he noticed the large posters along the wall. They had the words “WARNING - REMAIN WITHIN CIVILIZED, HABITABLE AREAS OF THE PLANET! REMEMBER TO CHECK WEATHER FORECASTS AT LEAST ONCE EVERY THREE HOURS AND SEEK SHELTER AS NECESSARY! IF YOU ARE BITTEN BY ONE OF THE FOLLOWING SPECIES, CONTACT POISON CONTROL AT ONCE!” In large, bold red letters, along with around thirty pictures of various dangerous-looking creatures on the bottom.

Of course it wasn’t just that, there was also the weather to consider as well. He had heard that it was a bit hot and muggy here, but he had no idea it would be as overwhelming as it was. Right now he was just enjoying the brief respite of the car’s air conditioning as he very much did not look forward to stepping outside again. Then there was the last thing, namely Kanna. He had called her right when he got off the plane like he’d said, but he hadn’t got a response, and it was only now while riding in a cab to her home that he realized he hadn’t actually talked to his person beyond a few quick messages. He didn’t even know what Kanna LOOKED like.

Steve pursed his lips as he considered his options, staring down at his feet. Though he hated to admit it, he was actually thinking of going back to the space station. From what he’d heard they hadn’t quite filled his old position yet, maybe he could just go and beg for his old job again. Sure it’d be humiliating, but he wouldn’t get bit by some weird spiked bee on an alien planet. Maybe he could even get a shuttle back to the station today if he went back soon.

The cab same to a halt, stopping any more thoughts. “We’ve arrived at your destination, sir” the robotic cabby chimed as it opened the trunk and turned to face him. “Your account has been charged six credits. I hope you had a pleasant trip.”

“Oh... right. Thank you” Steve said with a brief smile, looking out the window. The place was pretty much what he expected an MA pilot’s house to be like, namely a large metal bunker to house a tank with a metal structure bolted onto the side. However there also looked to be two large greenhouses to the far right, which was a bit curious to him. Kanna obviously liked gardening, he supposed, though that seemed excessive. Reaching up to the handle, Steve hesitated before opening the door. It’d be very easy for him to just tell the cabby to turn around and head back to the spaceport, after all.

“...Sir?” The cabby eventually asked, snapping Steve back to the present. “Is everything alright? Did I perhaps go to the wrong location?”

“No. No, sorry.” Steve smiled reassuringly as he opened the door and got out, holding the door open for a moment. “But I was wondering. This may sound weird, but can you hang around for a few minutes, like thirty or so? I might need to go back if things don’t work out here.”

Nodding, the cabby tipped its hat. “Of course. I’ll wait around the corner, so just call me if you need me.”

“Thanks” Steve said with a grin as he shut the door and grabbed his bag, Hopefully he wouldn’t need it, but it was good knowing a potential escape route was waiting if this didn’t go well. As the cab sped off, Steve made his way cautiously up to the door, or what he figured to be the front door. Frowning, he let out a long sigh before pressing the doorbell. Better just get this over with he supposed.

There was a long pause as Steve stood there, drumming his fingers against his leg. Then, right as he was considering turning to leave, he heard a voice faintly from inside. “Just a minute!” came a cheery, female voice as he faintly heard footsteps getting closer. The door suddenly flew open a moment later, causing Steve to take a tentative step back. There was a person standing there in the doorway, a decidedly female one at that, who was a little taller than him. “Oh! You’re Steve, right?” she asked, her face perking up even more.

“Uh…” Steve said, finding himself speechless for a moment. There were two major features about this woman that his brain registered. The first was her head as she kept smiling at him. Not to mix words, it looked like a flower pot. However it clearly wasn’t completely solid, at least judging by the way her expressions and mouth animated freely. The top of her head was blooming with a number of long green plants, styled back in a sort of hairdo complete with a flower in the center. The second thing Steve noticed (and the thing that was now taking up the bulk of his attention) was her shapely green figure. She had an extremely large pair of breasts, the green cleavage barely held in with a watermelon top and criss-crossing strings. Below that her waist was narrow and her hips wide again, frankly he couldn’t help but stare like an idiot. It was just when he was looking at her clothing, a jumpsuit zipped halfway up, that he finally realized she was looking at him with some concern.

“Um, are you alright?” the flower lady asked as her face nearly stopped smiling for a moment. “And you ARE Steve, right?”

“Oh, yes, I’m Steve” he quickly replied, giving her a reassuring smile. “Sorry about that. It’s been a long trip.” Steve was hoping that brief excuse would somehow explain away the way he was clearly gawking at her, and he held out a hand in a desperate attempt to move the conversation along again.  “It’s nice to meet you. You must be Kanna, right?”

It seemed like Steve was nervous for nothing however, as she beamed right back with a huge smile and began shaking his hand. “Yup, I’m Kanna. It’s real nice to meet you too!” Suddenly she dropped his hand, and without any warning pulled him into a hug. “Oh, why are we shaking hands? We’re gonna be roommates soon! Get over here!”

“I… um…” Steve stammered. He was currently being pressed right into Kanna’s chest, his head resting right on top of her boobs. His mind went blank as he savored the feel, not really knowing what else to do. Finally she disengaged the hug, and Steve could only smile stupidly for a moment as he tried to think of something to say.

With an excited look on her face, Kanna reached down and took Steve’s hand in her own, pulling him gently inside. “Alright well, come on. Let me show you around for a bit. I just cleaned your bathroom today too so you’re all set to go!” It was only now as she turned around that Steve properly noticed what looked like a tail at first glance, swishing back and forth as Kanna walked. It dawned on him though, due to the unusual shape, that it was more than likely a root of some kind. Made sense, she was a plant after all.

As they entered the house, Steve looked briefly around the room as he placed his bag next to the door. Unlike the outside which was metal and uninviting, the inside was rather cozy. There were a few couches and chairs in various shades of green or pink, and the walls were painted with a pale melon-looking pattern. Though it may have been tacky for a normal person, he had to admit that it pretty much fit Kanna like a glove. Finally he glanced back to Kanna as he spoke, who was looking at him excitedly. “Well I’m really glad you’re so excited but… are you really ok with me moving in? Just like that? In your message the other day you made it seem like you wanted to meet and talk first.”

“Huh?” Kanna looked confused as she tilted her head to the side slightly. “Hmmm… oh!” Perking up, Kanna’s smile brightened as she clapped her hands together. “That’s right! I got so excited I nearly forgot. Well, why don’t I just ask you questions while I show you around then?” she offered, turning and walking deeper into the house without waiting for a response. Steve found himself rushing to catch up, still not quite used to her energetic pace.

The two entered what was obviously a kitchen next, the tiles on the floor colored the same pale green as the walls. “And here’s the kitchen!” Kanna exclaimed rather unnecessarily as she strode around the island in the middle of the room and up to the massive pale green refrigerator, putting a hand on it. “We get plenty of fruits and veggies from the greenhouses, and they’re restocked automatically so feel free to have whatever you want. I was also thinking of making you dinner tonight as a sort of welcome gift, if you want.”

Steve couldn’t help but grin back at Kanna like an idiot. He seemed to be doing that a lot since he met her. “That sounds great” he said without thinking, though he quickly kicked himself mentally. He shouldn’t just be assuming he was going to move in, even if Kanna was. After all, this could still all be too good to be true. In fact, the more he thought about it that only made sense. It likely was too good to be true. There’s no way some sexy plant lady was going to give him a nice, cheap place to live AND want to fuck him moments after meeting him. There was a second shoe that was bound to drop, he just knew it. “Well, before we talk about that… you said you had some questions for me?” he prompted, hoping he could find out what that second shoe was exactly.

Nodding, Kanna actually got a serious look on her face for once as she clasped her hands behind her back. Steve tried not to notice how it made her chest poke out more. “Right. Yeah. Can’t get distracted. Ok, first question. You said you’re gonna be working for the space port, right? What are you gonna do there exactly?”

Feeling strangely relieved that he was finally being asked an actual question someone might ask a potential roommate, Steve shrugged nonchalantly. “Well, nothing spectacular. I’m part of the service crew for the maintenance and security robots. Mostly it’s just monitoring everything to make sure things are going smoothly, though I’ll also be helping to do some programming as well.

“Oh.” Kanna’s face drooped into the first frown he’d seen on her face yet.

“What’s wrong?” Steve asked, looking concerned. He wondered if he’d said something to offend somehow. That did happen occasionally with aliens.

As she looked down at the floor Kanna kept frowning and mumbled, “That sounds like a pretty important job, right? ...So that means you’re probably not going to be home very much, huh?”

Shaking his head, Steve gave Kanna a nervous grin. This was the part that might dissuade some potential roommates. “Well, not exactly. For the first week or two, yeah I’m going to be at work a whole lot. I’ll probably have to pull a few twelve or sixteen hour shifts. But once everything is up and running properly, I’m actually going to be at home a lot. The systems are all automated, so if everything goes right then some weeks I’ll only have to stop in a couple times to check up on things.” That was the part of the job that drove some people crazy, the amount of downtime you had. It was likely why the wages were so high, almost nobody wanted work like this on some remote planet with nothing to do after all, but it had always suited Steve pretty well. Of course, if Kanna had a problem with him being home all the time then it might just backfire on him here.

Heaving a sigh of relief, Kanna smiled widely again. “Awesome! You really had me worried there, Steve. I thought I was hardly going to see you at all.”

“Nope, after those first couple of weeks you’ll see me plenty!” Steve said with a laugh, feeling like an idiot as he did so, but to his relief Kanna giggled along like he’d made a hilarious joke. As he smiled though, Steve had a brief curious thought. Why had she been so worried she wouldn’t see him much?

Before Steve could even think to ask however, Kanna was already off again. “Ok, next room!” she called as she strode deeper into the house once again. This time Steve was at least more prepared, and he followed along as Kanna lead him down a short hallway. Off to the left was a bathroom and stairway leading up, but Kanna turned instead to a door on the right wall. There was a hand scanner there, and as Kanna placed her hand on it the door slid open with a gentle hiss. “This is my lab, and kinda my hangout spot. I make medicines and junk here” she said over her shoulder as she walked inside.

“Wait, you make medicine?” Steve asked, feeling a bit bewildered as he followed her inside. He almost laughed, for a moment he thought that Kanna was trying to make a joke. However looking around properly that thought died. This place actually looked like… well, a proper laboratory. There was a large work desk against the back wall that was covered in various beakers and corked vials, and against each wall there were various pieces of medical equipment, most of which he was clueless of. He recognized a centrifuge that was currently spinning some strange purple liquids, but most of the rest he could only guess at. “Wow. I guess you do” he said, not knowing what else to add. This girl had been full of surprises so far. “What are you working on here?” he asked, pointing at the spinning purple vials curiously.

Glancing over at the centrifuge, Kanna shrugged. “Oh, nothing much. Just an antitoxin for one of the creatures out there in the jungle. There’s a reward if someone can actually make it and I was bored, so I figured I’d give it a shot. It’s been harder than I thought, but I think I’m getting close. Ever since I started using my flowers as a component I’ve been making a lot of progress.” Perhaps she saw the confused look on Steve’s face because she quickly explained as she pointed to her head. “Oh, I can grow various medicinal herbs up here. It’s real useful, I’m basically like a walking pharmacy!”

“Cool” Steve said, feeling especially like an idiot now since he had nothing to add to that. “Well, I’m rooting for you to finish that then!” He grimaced, realizing what he just said as he glanced at Kanna’s tail. “That… wasn’t a pun on purpose. I swear.”

Though he was expecting Kanna to react negatively in some way, Kanna just looked blankly at him for a second before she let out a snort of laughter. “Oh, I get it!” As she giggled, she reached out and pulled him in for another brief hug. “Thank you, Steve. I think you’re a sweetheart~”

Laughing a bit nervously, Steve tentatively reached out and hugged back. “Well, I think you’re pretty awesome too.” He thought it might just be his imagination, but Kanna seemed to linger for a bit before she finally let go this time.

“...Well. I guess we should continue the tour” Kanna said as she made her way back into the hallway and started up the stairs. “There’s really not that much to show you in the lab after all.” Steve followed behind, admiring her ass as it swayed in front of him, until she stopped by another door. “And here’s your room!” she said cheerily as she entered, standing aside to let him in.

The room was completely empty save for a broom in the corner, though there was a faint earthy smell in the air. However, Steve nodded with approval. This looked fine, the delivery vehicle would be showing up on the planet soon with his furniture and it looked like everything could fit nicely in this place. There was even a window that overlooked the jungle, and he spent a moment admiring the view before looking back to Kanna. She was standing there, a nervous expression on her face as she shifted in place. He was about to ask what was wrong, until he realized what she was probably waiting for. “This looks fantastic, Kanna” he said as he gave her a thumbs up. “Plenty of space for everything.” It was actually a bit smaller than his place back on the space station, but frankly it was still enough room, and there was no way he was going to let that be a factor right now. Frankly it could have been half the size of his old room and he probably wouldn’t care as long as he could get his bed inside.

The look of relief was instant. “Whew, that was the part I was most worried about! I wasn’t sure if this was enough space for a human or not.”

Though he smiled back Steve’s brain reminded him of the potential second shoe, and he decided to check again for the catch. “So, what else do you have to ask me by the way?” he prompted.

“Well, there is something I’ve been wondering. But it’s a little personal. Is it ok to ask?” Kanna had a curious smile on her face as she walked closer, tilting her head to the side.

“Sure, shoot” Steve said with a shrug. She didn’t seem too concerned, so it couldn’t be that serious.

Standing up straight, Kanna looked Steve right in the eye with a piercing glance. “Do you have a girlfriend?”

Once again Steve found himself momentarily speechless. Kanna was looking at him very intently, clearly anxious for the answer. Why was she so eager to know? He was tempted to think that she was making sure he was single, but part of his brain played devil’s advocate and reasoned that she was probably just making sure he wasn’t going to have someone over at the house all the time. Either way, he quickly shook his head. “No, nothing like that.” He was about to say more, about how he wasn’t exactly very popular with women, but thankfully his brain silenced his mouth in time.

Nodding, Kanna looked very pleased. “Good” was all she said as she turned towards the door. “Alright, only one more stop left, come on!” As he followed along, Steve’s mind was busy trying to process her response. What did she mean, good? Was it good he was single, or what? Before he could properly ask that question though, Kanna had already brought him to a door across the hallway and opened it, revealing a pretty standard bathroom with a sink, shower and toilet. “And here’s the bathroom. I’d show you inside, but it’d be kinda cramped with both of us, and you’ve seen bathrooms before.” Shutting it behind her, Kanna turned and pointed to the end of the hall, where one last door waited. “And there’s my room. I’d show you inside there, but a girl has to keep her secrets you know~” she said with a wink.

“Don’t worry, I get it. We’ve all got a right to privacy” Steve said with a nod.

Nodding back, Kanna’s smile was wide as she maintained eye contact. “Great! Thanks for understanding.” Clapping her hands together, she looked quite excited as she bounced in place. “So. Are you gonna start moving in soon or what?”

“Uh…” Steve hesitated in the face of Kanna’s boundless enthusiasm, his response stalled as he briefly watched her bouncing breasts. He nearly gave in and just told her sure, but he pulled it together as he tried one last time to find out what the catch here was. This HAD to be too good to be true. “Are you sure that’s all you wanted to ask me? That was only like, two questions after all.”

“Well I never had many questions really. I just wanted to see if, you know, you were a loser or not. And since you’re not I’m ok with you staying here.” Kanna’s smile was bright, though it slowly faded as something seemed to dawn on her. She gasped, and looked at Steve with wide eyes. “Oh, no! I forgot! I had something really important to ask you! It’s… kind of something I wanted you to do while you’re staying here.”

This was it, Steve thought to himself. This was the second shoe right here. “Well, go ahead then” Steve said, bracing himself for the worst. She was probably going to ask him to help clean out septic tanks or to help with repairs around their workshop. Either way it was going to be something horribly unpleasant, he just knew it in his gut.

Fidgeting in place, Kanna looked a bit nervous again as she put her hands together and began twiddling her thumbs. “I-it’s not something I’d ask you to do for free of course. You wouldn’t have to do it, but if you did I’d be willing to take fifty credits off your rent.” That didn’t make Steve feel any better but he didn’t interrupt her as she worked up the courage to say it. Finally, avoiding eye contact, she spoke again. “W-would you maybe be willing to water and feed me?”

“Water you?” Steve asked, his mind going to a completely different place for a moment before he realized what she was talking about. “Oh… you mean your head?”

“Yeah.” Kanna gave him a nod as she tentatively made eye contact with him again. “I mean, I can technically do it myself, but it’s just kinda hard to do right. I end up splashing water everywhere.” Giving a brief frown, Steve was surprised to see her actually look annoyed as she spoke next. “And Kenwood just doesn’t really do it right. He doesn’t do a bad job at all but… Anyhow, so I was hoping maybe you could give it a try.”

“Well...” cocking his head to the side, Steve raised an eyebrow. “Who’s Kenwood?”

“That’s right, you’ve never met him.”Kanna motioned in what seemed to be the general direction of the hangar attached to the house. “He’s my support droid. I did mention I’m an MA pilot, right?” Steve nodded, and Kanna smiled back in return. “Good. So… would watering me be ok with you?” Though Steve would have liked more actual details about this Kenwood droid, he supposed he’d have to ask about it when Kanna wasn’t so focused.

Scratching his head idly, Steve considered the offer. Well, watering didn’t seem like it’d be a big deal. Kanna was acting pretty shy about it, but he imagined this was a pretty personal thing to her. It certainly sounded like it’d be worth the fifty credits a month though, on his end. “Sure, of course. That sounds perfectly fine to me.” Steve shrugged, trying to sound casual about it.

“Awesome!” Reaching out, Kanna wrapped her arms around Steve’s waist and hugged him harder than ever. “Thank you! I’m so excited to have you as my roommate!” After she spoke though she hesitated, and pulled away from the hug a bit. “Oh, I’m sorry. I keep on hugging you like this without asking, don’t I?”

“Don’t worry, I’m completely ok with it” Steve replied almost as soon as Kanna was done talking, his brain immediately supplying the words this time. “We can hug as much as you want.” He hoped he hadn’t sounded too eager, but the feeling of her tits pressing against him was simply amazing.

Looking surprised, Kanna’s eyes widened and she smiled before going back in, wrapping her arms around him. “Really? Kenwood told me that some people are uncomfortable with this, so I just wanted to make sure.” Kanna let out a satisfied sigh as the two held each other, and Steve could see her close her eyes out of the corner of his own. “You know, we only met today but I really like hugging you more than Kenwood. Humans are really warm. It’s very… relaxing” She squeezed just a bit tighter, and remained like that without moving or speaking.

Steve just remained silent himself, completely unsure of what to do. He really didn’t mind if they just stayed like this if he was being honest, but he was also painfully aware of his erection, and from this angle he could see her ass quite clearly. He was really tempted to just reach down and grab it right now, though the rational part of his mind told him that it’d likely be a terrible idea.

However before Steve could do anything, a sound cut through the silence. A sudden insistent beeping came from Kanna’s belt, and both seemed to come back to their senses as Kanna reluctantly disengaged the hug. “One sec” Kanna said briefly, pulling a communicator off her belt. As she glanced at it she groaned. “I didn’t even realize what time it was.” She gave Steve an apologetic smile. “Sorry, I’ve gotta go run a few errands. Kenwood will get reaaaal angry if I don’t get things prepped properly. I should be back in time to make some dinner tonight though.”

“No problem, do what you need to do.” Checking his phone, Steve saw that the movers had landed on the planet and were awaiting instructions on what to do with his furniture. He looked back up at Kanna with a grin. “I’ll have all of my stuff moved in by then, so that works out just fine actually.”

Replacing the communicator back on her belt, Kanna nodded. “Then let’s both do our best! I’ll see you at dinner!” As she turned and made her way to the stairs, Kanna paused and looked back to Steve with a smile. “Oh, and Steve? I really am glad that you’re my new roommate.”

“I’m glad you’re my new roommate too, Kanna” Steve said, once again feeling like he’d been a bit lame with his response. She was really making him feel self-conscious. But Kanna just giggled and waved, and like that she disappeared down the stairs.

Now that he had a moment to himself, Steve waited a bit to make sure Kanna wasn’t going to reappear before he let out a long sigh of relief and slumped against the nearest wall. He ran his hands through his hair, taking a few deep breaths. “Alright… alright” Steve told himself, standing up straight once his heart had calmed down a bit. “First things first.” Whipping out his phone, Steve typed out the address to the movers and sent it off, receiving a message in response that they’d be arriving in around fifteen minutes with his things. That was just enough time. Turning to the bathroom door he opened it up and entered, locking it firmly behind him. The image of Kanna’s body was still fresh in his mind, and Steve quickly got to work relieving himself after all that buildup.

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