Three’s Company
Posted on August 19th, 2016 by Kuari and Kathryn Harper

by Kuari and Kathryn Harper, with Roxanne Carre

Kuari trotted down the corridor towards the Captain’s quarters. When she reached the door, she hesitated and sat back, staring at it for a moment. It wasn’t Ian Blackthorne she would find behind it, it was now Kathryn Harper. She had to remind herself to come here instead of Kate’s old quarters, and now that she was here, she wasn’t sure if she should proceed.

Furrowing the ridges over her eyes, Kuari mustered her courage. Even though Kate was now a captain with much more responsibility, she was still the same inside. Perhaps now she would be even more receptive than in the past. Determined, Kuari pressed the door chime. It certainly wouldn’t hurt to try.

It was after hours, but the Captain was still at work, laying on her couch reading a PADD from the pile that graced the coffee table. Kate found herself rubbing her temple to try to stall an oncoming headache when the door rang. She stood, returning the PADD to its brethren, and answered, “Come in!”

Padding in as the doors swished open, the Rucara immediately spotted Kate. She dropped her tail to the floor and curled it around her feet so the door could close. “Am I disturbing you, Captain?”

Half-expecting Lexy to be at the door, Kate was surprised as Kuari instead entered the room. It had been some time since the Rucara had paid her a visit, and she couldn’t help but to smile. “Of course not, Kuari. To what do I owe the pleasure of your company?”

“I know there is a lot going on right now, and you’re very busy, but…do you remember what we used to do, before Roxy left? I was wondering…would you like to go for a swim?”

Having grown up in a coastal town, Kate had always been an avid swimmer and greatly enjoyed the activity, so it was natural that she and her like-minded friends would gravitate toward the water. The three of them used to make it a point to go once a week or so, but her draconine friend had a point; they had stopped swimming when Roxy left the ship. Her mind wandered for a moment, remembering the first time they had all found a pool together, which had to be at least five years ago now, if not more.

=/\=

Through the relaxing steam rising from the surface of the jacuzzi’s bubbling surface, Kate watched Kuari approach the swimming pool.

Roxy snickered under her breath, thinking of the huge dragon trying to bathe in their suite’s small restroom upstairs. She smiled, glad that there was an alternative for her friend and coworker. “Last one in’s a rotten egg!” she yelled as she cannonballed into the pool, hoping to douse Kate with some cooler water.

Kuari, her front paws at the edge, stuck a tentative tongue into the water. As Roxy hit the surface, she grinned good-naturedly, turned, and quickly retreated from the pool. Putting all her energy into her back legs, she sprinted from the wall and cleared the edge, landing a good ten feet beyond Roxy. As she quickly bobbed to the surface, her face fell.

“You splashed better than I did!”

Kate eyed them both from under still-languid eyelids, despite the double splashes of cold water. “I would say you both did quite well,” she said, her voice mockingly flat.

Roxy laughed and made a face at Kate. “C’mon, don’t be a spoilsport! You were far too relaxed and made an obvious target.” Turning, she looked at Kuari. “You make a bigger splash if you can contort part of your body into a ball shape, so think torpedo and try again.”

Kuari was already snaking to the edge of the pool and climbing out. The water slid off her fur like it would a duck’s back, beading on her shoulders and on top of her nose before she shook it off. She turned and paused, thinking, then ran for it again.

This time, the Rucara tucked her feet as closely as she could against her body, and she made a slightly bigger splash, but it still didn’t match what Roxy could do. Kuari whipped her head from side to side, flinging water.

“I’m just not heavy enough, even when I expel all my breath. You win! Champion Jump Splasher. Although…” A slow grin stretched back across her face as her tail moved, sliding across the surface and sending a fine spray across Roxy, Kate, and halfway up the far wall.

After a sharp gasp from the shock of the colder water, Kate rose from the hot tub’s protective warmth. “Okay, okay, I give up!” she said, raising her hands in surrender. Wet footprints followed her as she walked across what must have been the one remaining dry patch of floor to the diving board. With two quick bounces, Kate sprung off the board’s end and arced gracefully into the pool, barely making a splash. The temperature was still a shock after the jacuzzi, but by the time she surfaced, it felt refreshing. Slicking back her hair with both hands, she made her way to water shallow enough to stand and flashed a sunny smile. “How was that?”

“Hmmm, not too bad on the dive,” Roxy judged,“but your form needs a little work. Watching Kuari wield that tail into an awesome spray-arc was something, though!” Roxy eyed the food longingly. “Since my butt is getting mooshy, it’s twenty laps for me, then I’m hitting the jacuzzi and the food. Also, the movie is queued up.” Roxy winked at Kate, but addressed Kuari, “I hear there is a pretty hot dragon in this movie!”

“And it’s fifty times my size, right?” Kuari swam around, the surface of the pool drawing a straight line from her nose to the tip of her tail except when she lifted her head to speak. “I don’t think I’d like to be so big. I couldn’t fit into people houses!”

Kate had reclined into a back float once the waters settled a bit from the splashing and let the water take her where it would. Raising her head briefly out of the water, she added, “You could just sit on them, though.”

Kuari made an amusing face of confusion. “The people or the houses?”

“Well, either, I suppose.”

There was a significant pause before Kuari said anything more. “Hey, Kate? You’re one of the Sharks, right?”

“Yes, of course. Why?” Kate asked quizzically, wondering why that question would come up now.

“Well, because I’m the shark, now!” Kuari began swishing the water with her tail and lowered her head to the surface menacingly in Kate’s direction.

While Roxy laughed uproariously, Kate feigned fear and began to quickly swim the other way.

=/\=

“You know, Kuari, you are absolutely right.” Kate began, regarding her friend with an apologetic look. “We stopped when Roxy left, but there was no reason to, and I could certainly use a break now. But, would you mind if I invite Lexy along? After all, we need a third person to laugh at us, yes?”

A broad, zipper-like grin spread over Kuari’s face. “Not at all!”

With a smile, Kate answered, “Then I will give her a call! Just give me a few minutes to change into some swimwear and to get a towel.”