...She snickers. "Right. You've seen my borehole already."

Cannonwards they go! It's in a storage unit near the rail yard. There's an armed guard at the place's entrance, and her unit is very locked. 

And there is a cannon. It looks fancier than the entry model they tried to sell her at Abraham's. Bigger, more extra bits.

"That's a nice cannon. Better than entry grade, I'm pretty sure. What model is it?"

"It's a Caminus Yards 'Grimalkin'. Caminus Yards are the last word in implements of destruction, around here. This is probably their cheapest product, though. It shoots really fast and it's water-cooled and it's sort of like an enormous revolver, see!"

She smiles. "Nice. I'll be very happy to see this fitted to an engine. How do you aim it?"

"It hooks up to the steam pipes in the weapon mount, here and here, see - and that drives hydraulics, so you can control it with these levers here by the seat-"

Lenora will excitedly explain all the features of her shiny gun for a while. She has some ammo for it too, stored in carefully-packed crates. She even has a propellantless round to demonstrate loading with.

"This is perfect. It's higher-grade than standard, comes with ammunition, and it comes for the low low price of continuing to have you as a girlfriend. I think someone deserves a kiss for this."

"Ooh!" Kiss acceptance occurs.

"I chose it as my bonus when the best captain I've worked for was retiring! And even then I had to pay something like a fifth its value, to be fair. First Officer got the engine herself less a lot of bits, navigator got the charts and a hundred Sovereigns, chief engineer got some choice pieces of the engine, signaller got a very fancy jeweled arm-guard thing we found in a ruin... I'll miss old Harold, that's for sure."

"Any chance we'd be able to track down that former navigator and buy the charts from them? Or do you know they're serving aboard another ship...?"

"I heard she went to Eleutheria, but not how or when. 'Fraid not."

"Any chance at any of the other officers? I know it's a slim chance if it's been a while, but..." 

"I think they're all serving on new engines now? Except Marty, old Smiling Soldier himself, he's a captain now. And Genevieve wanted to go back to her family before she died."

"Alas. Well, they could still be useful for information, but that feels kind of callous. You served with them, you know them, I'll leave those connections in your hands. In the meantime, I think I'd best deposit my map funds... and then back to your place?"

"If I run into them I'll certainly ask. Sure. Oh- I'm gonna head back now and start packing, though. Some of my stuff needs to come here if I'm gonna let the month-to-month on that apartment end. And I'll drink the Mercury Reaches before I forget again."

"That's fine by me; see you later!"

Bank! Where she'll deposit two hundred sovereigns and add another three months of leeway to her safety deposit box just in case. And then it's back to Lenora's apartment. 

When she sees Thorn coming up the street she suddenly has an idea. One that scares her slightly and excites her a lot more.

The door is unlocked when Thorn arrives, and Lenora says "Come iiin~"

She grins from the bed, lying on her side in a pose that emphasizes her hips and legs, covered only by a section of sheet draped over her butt.

Thorn stops in the door and stares for a moment, then carefully closes and locks the door behind her. She discards her shirt on her way over to the bed, and bends down to kiss Lenora. 

"Good girl," comes instinctively to her lips. She flushes. "Help me out of my pants, would you?"

"Haha. Good girl?"

She reaches for the pants buttons. Her hands wander perhaps more than they need to unbutton them. 

"Eager to, mmm, please, adoring, lovely. Traditional... endearment, back on my Earth. Especially said by a, mmmmistress to her submissive. I think I have some of my past selves' instincts, evennn if I don't have the memories."

"Huh. I like it a bit, but..." She sits up and caresses back and forth over Thorn's butt and hips, slowly pushing her pants down. Her head close enough for her breath to feel warm against Thorn's belly. "Nnnnot really submissive, I think."

Thorns steps out of her pants, and pulls off her bra. She leaves her boots behind as well; now she's wearing nothing but her socks. She nods. 

"Yeah, I think you're many delightful things, but submissive isn't one of them. No wonder it felt a little... off."

She kneels on the bed, and kisses Lenora. "You're lovely."

Kiss! "And so are you, o adventurer into whole new universes! I wanted to look all sexy for you, and I just did it, and now I get to kiss you and it's excellent."

She lets her hand slide over the front of Thorn's panties. "And I am maaaybe a little worked up and impatient now."

She grins at the explanation. "And it's much appreciated... So let's stop being impatient and start having fun." She kisses Lenora and shifts in closer, a hand tracing along her inner thigh. 

Lenora has less patience for foreplay this time. She wants to see if she can translate what she knows how to do with her mouth to... New anatomy.

After a few false starts and a little experimentation, Thorn is very appreciative. She shows her appreciation by being a bit more direct with her hands. This particular encounter could be short.

It may be short, but it's no less fun!

During cuddling after she asks what it's like to be kinda-sorta a bunch of people. Not quite sisters or friends, not quite herself... Lenora is having trouble imagining it.