Into the black depths... of SPACE! (Darian and Geneticmess)

[GeneticMess]

To be fair, they were being quite the overachievers by taking on this task! Then again... maybe Oasis had a stance on this issue, or were meant to be a neutral party? It's hard to really know, nothing about the file briefed them about all... this.

"Then where'd you get that fruit?" This curious Polla's attention is entirely fixated on the boonfruit rather than the seeds they were delivering. Most other Polla were curiously hovering around and watching the alien duo make their way toward the village with interest or indifference, but this Polla right here seemed really keen on the two. As she's nudged, she flutters right back in front of Avery, and starts sniffing the fruit before he jerks it away from her. "Mmm! It smells so... good!" Her face flushes red, the honey-scented insides of a Sap Dragon leaving it's mark on the fruit. "Did you kill a Sap Dragon to get that fruit? You alien people must be really strong!" She muses to herself, with Avery not seeming to have the heart to break the reality of the situation to her.

"... Whose it for?" She asks after a short period of silence, like a persistent child... was she a child? Her age was ambiguous, she looked to be the size of an adult, but her appearance and attitude was... youthful was one way to put it. Childish and immature was a couple others. "I'm sure they won't mind if I have a bite..."

[Darian]

Deciding that the small Polla was far too curious and insistent for her own good, Kelly reaches out with her free arm and snags the little moth girl, holding the fluttering polla to her chest, and snugging them between her impressive breasts.

"Well, whatever the case may be, we're a delivery crew, kiddo. We've got a responsibility to make sure that fruit and these boxes get to their intended owners as soon and as safe as possible." she gently chides the girl with a smile. "Now, we don't mind the company, but if you want any of the fruit... well, you're gonna hafta ask the chieftan when we see them, okay?"

Kelly looks just a bit motherly when she's holding the wriggling moth girl... and attractive, considering the little girl is wedged into her chest.

[GeneticMess]

"Waah!" She yelps as she's snatched out of the air, flailing cutely in her hands before being stuffed snugly in between the lapimorph's breasts. Her protests were muffled, and flails only caused her cleavage to wobble to and fro, but nothing more. It had snagged Avery's attention, staring at the display wide-eyed and lightly chuckling to himself from how, admittedly, funny it was. After hearing what Kelly had to say (or maybe she didn't even listen and just tired herself out), the Polla gives a "harumph", before going still and quiet... and then started playfully rubbing her breasts with newfound amusement. That'll at least keep her busy.

The forestry eventually thinned out, even if just by a little, as they reached a large enclosure in the jungle of Shu'gar. Before them now was a sprawling village which, despite the inhabitants being a good bit smaller than any person either Avery or Kelly had met before back home, was easily as big or bigger than their hometown. Houses were made of alien, strangely-colored wood, leaves, straw, clay, making it look like they'd wandered upon a blooming field of many different fruits. Lots of Polla looked up at them curiously, but a few approached wearing strange caps and brown furred garb, as if they skinned a small rodent to make their uniforms.

"You two are from Oasis, right?" One surprisingly brash Polla hovered up in their faces, although this one did have a sense of personal space and professionalism.

[Darian]

Kelly tried not to react to the cute little figure nuzzling her breasts, but she did smile and there was a tracery of red on her brown cheeks. She was a big bunny, who didn't mind carrying others.

When Kelly saw the more professional Polla flutter in front of them, she smiled in relief. Finally, something normal! "We sure are, Sir/Maam or other! Are you the chieftan? My captain would like to talk to you."

Gently she nudges Avery with her foot. Her hands are a bit full with the seed cart... and the little polla in her cleavage.

[GeneticMess]

"Nope, just the law enforcement. The chieftain is in the square right now, but I doubt you have any personal business with-... sniff sniff..." The Polla officer paused as she caught a certain scent upon Avery being nudged closer to her. They glance down at the fruit in the Gelatoa's arms, and gasp in surprise. "A Boonfruit? It smells like it's been fermented in a Sap Dragon's stomach..." Her face flushes a little red, before she pulls out what looks like some kind of flower and squeezes the bulb it's attached to, some unseen mechanism in between the petals spraying some water in her face to help fight the urges of the strong honey smell.

"Ahem, e-excuse me. Alright men, escort these boxes to the royal gardens, ASAP!" She barks an order to the platoon of similarly garbed Polla around her, and anywhere from two to a dozen Polla carry each box, depending on how heavy or large it is, soon enough emptying the cart. The officer approaches Kelly again and signs off the paperwork for the delivery with a smile. "You said you needed to talk to the chieftain, correct?" She asks, before Avery decides to answer. "Y-yes, please, this fruit is an offering from... w-well... it's a delicate subject, we probably shouldn't blab outside closed doors..." Avery explains, the officer looking a tad suspicious, but nodding.

"I see... follow me, I'll show you to the square. The Chieftain will decide if she'll discuss these matters further with you."

[Darian]

Kelly nods quickly and stands aside to let the uniformed polla start gathering up the seeds, letting them work. She looks down at the young mothgirl she's snugged between her breasts, and sadly rubs her back.

"Sorry kid. Looks like this is where we have to part ways." Kelly murmurs to the girl. "You promise to be good, now?"

She means to follow after Avery, but doesn't want to be mean to the small girl.

[GeneticMess]

When told she had to leave, the young Polla... just burrows herself deeper into her cleavage. “Nope! It’s waaaay too comfy in here.” She sighs happily, being incredibly stubborn. If Kelly tried to reach in and grab her, she’d constantly swerve around her grasp... and digging into her chest might not be the smartest thing to do in the presence of so many people.

Avery had already started following the uniformed Polla towards the plaza, but came back when she was still in one place. “Kelly? Is something wrong? O-or are you busy sightseeing?” He asks, only to hear some childish giggle come from her boobs and glance at them oddly. Oh, right, that curious Polla from earlier...

[Darian]

"Um... Nah!" Kelly says with slightly forced cheer. "Just some adjustments!"

She looks back down her shirt at the little polla who has somehow wriggled into her shirt. "Alright, you little brat, if you're not going to get out, you're going to have to stay quiet down there and not wriggle for the next bit! We can't let anyone know you're there! Start causing trouble, and I'll swallow you, I mean it!"

With that, she allows her shirt to snap shut, hiding the young Polla from view.

"Coming, Captain!" Kelly calls after Avery, her long, strong legs easily letting her catch up.

(If the polla starts making trouble, Kelly totally will swallow the polla to keep her quiet. No digeston, but still.)

[GeneticMess]

Avery takes care not to stare too much once she says that. "Oh, right! Sorry, didn't mean to... um... I'll be up ahead..." He shyly moves on ahead, leaving Kelly to work on her adjustments. Meanwhile, the Polla girl in her chest just mumbles something to herself.

"Soft and bouncy, soft and bouncy~" She hums, before just giggling at Kelly's threat. "Okay! Hey, are you open for rent, alien lady? I've been looking for a new house, and your chest would be perfect!" She clamors, before her shirt snaps shut over her. "Ow! Aw, you're no fun!"

With that, Kelly catches up to Avery shortly after, following the Polla officer down a few streets. They're all paved out of cobble, and no kind of transportation is in sight. After all, they all had wings, and a bunch of Polla just teamed up to carry anything they couldn't carry on their own. Some wagons at least might benefit them, but their society was well put together without any, so who knows. The gaudiest building of all, looking like a mixture between a teepee, a castle, and a typical government building, sat in front of a grand fountain, this seemed to be the town square. Before they could get any closer, a Polla hovered over to them, and silently dismissed the officer with a hand gesture that looked familiar, but definitely had some alien origins.

"Greetings, friends from Oasis Express." The down-to-earth, calm looking Polla smiles tenderly, having a wise aura and giving a bit of a sage vibe, despite looking to be no older than 30... by regular species standards, anyways. It was anyone's guess how Polla age worked. She was garbed in a deep purple cloak, and was holding a staff with small seeds on strings strung off the top of it. "I was informed the otherworld seeds were delivered safely. I cannot thank you enough for this, we've been looking to get a taste of all corners of the galaxy with the new gardens and farms we're working on. Your work is much appreciated."

"Thank you, miss... um? Elder?" Avery tries to address her properly, at which the delicate Polla lifts her hand and softly nods.

"My people simply refer to me as the Chieftain of the Polla. But to you kind folk, you may call me Sambucus." She gives the warm smile of a sweet grandma.

"T-thank you, Sambucus. We wanted to discuss something further with you. Of a... delicate matter." The Gelatoa then gently lifts the fruit in his arms in the elder Polla's direction, who's eyes drift towards it before widening.

"Oh! Where did you...? Erm..." She looks around, looking a bit lost, before locking into some woods at the nearby edge of town. "Follow me. There's a glade just outside town where we can talk about this further." Her tone had grown a bit colder and firm, yet her expression stayed the same. Avery looked a bit nervous, but did as he was told and followed the Chieftain out of town.

[Darian]

Kalira groans slightly as she lets the shirt close. "My stomach isn't nearly as comfy, kiddo, so don't push it!"

She follows after the Chieftain and Avery, a bit worried when the calm looking polla leads them away from the village, and all other prying ears... Awkwardly she pats the front of her shirt. "shhhh..." she whispers, very afraid that the girl would give her away. She wouldn't be able to swallow the girl now without causing a scene... so she couldn't make a sound!

Samcubus must have a good reason for keeping so much privacy from her own people...

[GeneticMess]

Her threats only get giggles in response, but the little Polla doesn't say anything further... it's unclear whether she's taking her threats seriously or not. She doesn't seem to be causing too much trouble right now, rather than invasion of personal space. As they leave town, soon the noise of the town fades out for the breeze of the glade... and the Polla's girls voice appropriately hushes as Kelly shushes her, thankfully. She must think this is a game or something.

They walk for about ten minutes before reaching a clearing in the woods, where the wind blows frequently and the trees/taller plantlife drifts back and forth with the breeze. A few stumps riddle the place, and the Chieftain invites Avery and Kelly to sit with her near a cluster of three tree stumps. The Gelatoa places the boonfruit in the center of them all, and the Polla looks up at them with expectant eyes. "How did you get your hands upon a boonfruit? it... sniff... it even smells like its been richly fermented! Oh dear, I hope the Sap Dragons didn't give you any trouble..."

"Actually, um... that's what we wanted to talk about." The orange-slimed captain says, stumbling over his words for a moment. "They were... um, actually pretty... friendly? Barring a misunderstanding, but... they gave us this fruit... and wanted us to give it to you. As a peace treaty?" His voice gets less confident as the chieftain looks completely stunned.

"A what now?! That's completely preposterous!" Some kind of anger flares up in the elder, who bangs the base of her staff into the stump she stands upon. "Surely you jest? I'm not sure if you offworlders are aware, but Sap Dragons are our natural enemies! Savage beasts that trap us in a maze of a scents and misdirection for their rest of our lives! Now, if you're all afraid or ashamed about killing one on your way here by accident or something, there's no need to hide it! You'd be doing us a favor, honestly! You can take that fruit as a souvenir for your troubles, if you'd like."

"N-no, that's not... um..." The Gelatoa gets flustered and tense, before looking to Kelly, his pupils darting towards Samcubus and then back to her, silently pleading for her to help explain things.

[Darian]

"Well, we didn't kill it. It was seconds away from eating both of us." Kelly tries to come to her captains rescue, filling in her view of the story. "We barely knew they were there, and we would've been totally outclassed if we hadn't done some fast talking."

Kelly sighs, then explains the situation she laid out for the Sap Dragons: that if the polla managed to get offworld help by becoming a valuable farming plant, they'd be able to beat the sap dragons in time.

"But, that goes both ways." Kelly holds up her finger. "I didn't tell the dragons this, but if they make themselves enough of a nuisance, if keeping your orchard open is bad for business, the offworld companies will abandon you Polla. Either way, there's going to be a lot of fighting and pain... but not if your two species are able to work together, from the get-go, right not. That's why we agreed to deliver this fruit, and their desires for peace to you. This is the best chance you have to actually get the Sap Dragon's on your side! If you don't at least try now, you risk everything you've built."

Kelly points up the stars. "And even if you win, you'll be stuck working for whoever owns your farm... and they could be much worse than the Sap Dragons ever were! Trust me, I know plenty of offworlders who would love to enslave your species, if they get the chance to. If the Sap Dragons are really on your side, you'll be more free than if you're alone. You just have to work out how to live together and trust each other."

[GeneticMess]

The chieftain looks baffled that the two had talked their issues away with the Sap Dragons, and briefly interjects. "Masters of deception, they are. Be careful, if one of them gave you that fruit, it might be poisoned!" She warns, before Kelly continues. She nods, it had indeed been part of their plan in partnering with foreign planets galaxies away in order to further diversify the local fauna, as well as hopefully introduce a new type of plantlife that'd choke out the Sap Dragon population, one way or another. "That's why we need to get rid of them. To keep them from being nuisances, trapping our people or ruining our economy, whichever happens first!" She huffs, gripping her staff tighter.

Still, her eyes follow the lapimorph's finger as it points to the stars. The stern, stubbornness in her eyes grows more weary and uneasy, knowing Kelly's word had some truth. Sap Dragons might be bad, but even they didn't actively kill Polla. But beyond Shu'gar? Nothing was off the table. "... You have a point. But surely we could find better, more trustworthy allies than Sap Dragons. If not on Shu'gar, than another planet?"

"But... I'd say your species already share a strong bond, being natives to this planet." Avery finds his voice again to join in. "From what I heard, you guys were involved in some kind of war? Constantly living in fear of one another... one afraid of entrapment, the other afraid of being blown to bits?"

"That was a century ago, long before my time. My grandparents were a part of that war. It was... an onslaught. One-sided, even." She says, starting to look a bit forlorn. "... N-not for the Polla, mind you. Our weaponry was second-to-none, gifted to us from strange otherworlders who left as soon as they'd arrived. We drove back the Sap Dragon population hard and far enough that one hasn't come anywhere near town since. I'm... surprised one would be bold enough to try and make amends with this fruit after what... we did." Sambucus looks oddly saddened, and increasingly unsure of herself or how to proceed.

[Darian]

Kelly shakes her head. "Trust has to go both ways. If they're willing to give you a chance, even with all the bad blood... surely that's better than trusting strangers? I know no company would be eager to get on the bad side of sap dragons if they were actually teaming up with you..."

The bunny hesitates a moment, then walks over to the fruit. "Besides... I can think of one way to prove that this sap dragon was honest, if letting all the captured polla go wasn't good enough."

And Kelly cuts off a piece of the fruit, noting the thick honey smell, and pops it into her mouth.

"Mmm! Wow, that really warms the belly." She grins and licks her fingers clean. "See? Not poisoned at all. Looks like a true peace offering to me..."

Of course, Kelly had forgotten she had a young polla hidden in her cleavage. It was more like a pouch than vore, but the Polla was still there... and probably could still smell the honey-fruit.

(Sorry this took so long. Been pre-occupied with Borderlands and a friend. Hope you're still up for this! I still remember the next thing we had planned: mistaken Identity with a mecha-maid? And I also totally wouldn't mind if the polla ends up leaping down Kelly's throat soon. It'd be both sexy and hilarious.)