A Cause for Celebration

Serai loved materials collection days. Leaving the habitat in a pressure suit and a bubble car was a rare treat afforded only to the scientists whose research most depended on human discretion during the collection process. Even most medical research was confined to the habitat. Red dirt quickly covered her pressure suit.

Walking on Mars was often quite different from walking on Earth. The new people on her team could be spotted easily as they fell repeatedly. Serai was on month four, and her astrobiology research afforded her more pressure suit time than anyone else in the habitat.

Today was a rare treat. Her boss, Benji, was in a good mood the day before and authorized a solo adventure. Serai took full advantage, twisting her thick, strawberry blonde braid into the suit's helmet and allowing herself the joy of going braless in a lower gravity environment.

Every step brushed the tips of her nipples against the inside of the pressure suit, moving them around in a way that was entirely distracting. Each time she knelt, the stiff inner fabric brushed her clit. All of her body was becoming increasingly more reactive to physical sensation.

Despite the distractions, Serai made it back to the decontamination station (or decon, as it was more commonly known) at the edge of the habitat. On a planet with thin atmosphere, there was no real need for guards. Even humanity's newfound friends, the Leltn, required equipment to function out in the free air of Mars.

Serai dumped the suit into the automated laundry shoot in the decon stage one room, then walked, stark naked and unabashed, into the second stage. Decontamination showers lined the walls, and she opted for one towards the middle. The rarity of being the only person in the decon showers was something Serai intended to enjoy.

The first round was awful. Almost enough to ruin all of the pent-up sexual energy from the raw sensations of the pressure suit. Fortunately, 30 seconds of freezing antibacterial solution wasn't quite enough to ruin it for her.

As Serai twisted the lever to a normal shower, she heard a muffled thump, followed by silence. Thinking nothing of it, she traced the path of the water rivulets down her body. It was difficult to stay fit in the reduced gravity, but all of her hours spent outside the habitat in heavy pressure suits kept her muscles reasonably toned. She relaxed against the wall while drifting her fingers lower.

"Hallo?" the unmistakable, rounded-vowel accent of a Leltn drifted through the decon stage two area.

Serai's fingers were still drifting across her skin, perilously close to her clitoris. She bit her lip before deciding it would be offensive to not answer.

"It's just me in here," she called in response.

"S'rai? It's Irnla." Irnla was a female Leltn, assigned to the same research team as part of a diplomatic exchange. They'd become close in their work together, as had the team as a whole. However, Serai had a fondness for the lanky otherworlder that she didn't quite have for the other humans on their team.

Thus it came to be that Serai opened her curtain a little more than was considered decent as she observed Irnla.

"Oh. They told me you'd be back. I didn't realize you were showering still." Though she sounded embarrassed, a keen interest was apparent in Irnla's large, silvery eyes. Her dark, blue skin had strips of a shiny, pale green that resembled a cardiovascular layout.

Serai pulled the tie off her braid and began undoing her hair.

"Well, it could be perfect timing, for the right person," she grinned as she spoke, letting Irnla take the comment however she wanted.

Irnla shifted forward slightly, jet black hair shifting with her movement to hide her face, before falling back again. Serai took in her coworker's tentative stature and debated on taking pity on her. Irnla's fantastic sense of smell took over, though, and she took another two steps towards Serai.

"You smell amazing, even from here," her voice shattered the space between them. "I can't tell if you're serious, but I can tell the thought is exciting for you. It's gotten stronger."

Serai bit her lip, suddenly feeling unsure. Relationships within teams often put the entire team off-balance. And this wasn't even a human. She wanted to feel Irnla's gorgeous, blue fingers on her skin, but she didn't even know for sure that the feeling was mutual.

Finally, Irnla broke Serai's bought of anxiety by finishing her movement to the shower stall. She placed one of those impossibly long hands gently on Serai's cheek, and everything suddenly seemed so much less important. All that mattered was the feeling of Irnla's skin on hers. The sensation shifted as her fingertips tilted Serai's chin up.

"We shouldn't do this," Irnla whispered, leaning into a soft kiss with Serai. "You'll excuse me if I do it anyway?" The rounded vowels and unusual shifts in her voice were melodious and soothing to Serai.

Serai took a step back, realizing she was already out of control. Rather than allow Irnla's hand to fall away, she gently took it in hers. Simply holding the taller woman's hand made Serai feel a rush in her veins and a fluttering in her stomach.

Irnla stepped back and sighed, leaning against the stall.

"Why did you come find me, anyway?" Serai tipped her head back into the water, allowing a clear view of her clearly aroused nipples, cutting the air as sharply as they could manage. She scrubbed her hair out with multipurpose soap, while Irnla searched internally for words.

Her skin flushed, the dark blue turning almost black in places. Irnla's nostrils had widened visibly, and she appeared fixated on where her hand was entwined with Serai's. Peach colored skin gently depressed against dark blue skin, forming a contrast she found mesmerizing.

"I wanted to congratulate you on the publication and the new grant award." Irnla finally found the words, moving her eyes slowly up from their hands. She took in the wonder if Serai's curvy but strong body, admiring every inch of her. Finally, she met Serai's suddenly intense gaze.

Serai just kept staring, as if a new appendage had erupted from Irnla's head. Water cascaded to the floor and down the drain, as she continued staring. Her face gradually lit, followed by a grin splitting across her face like lightning.

"You didn't know?" Anything else Irnla might have said was cut off by Serai squeezing her into the closest thing she could manage to a bear hug. Irnla leaned down and brushed her lips across Serai's, altogether taken by the enormous quantity of emotion pouring from her.

"Can we celebrate later?" Serai inquired, still meeting Irnla's eyes with a fierce intensity.

"Sure. Just drop by my room when you're dressed." Irnla gently brushed a thumb across Serai's nipple, then swooped her in for a full, passionate kiss.

Serai watched Irnla's slender form drift gracefully from the room before returning to her shower, hands sliding up to her nipple and down to her clit at the same time. Feeling drunk on elation, she ran a thumb across her nipple as her middle finger circled her clit, water raining down on her skin.

No amount of lip biting could stop the moans that began to escape from Serai as she contemplated all the ways she wanted to celebrate with her coworker. Her back slid down the wall as she came, loudly moaning into the echo chamber of a room. A soft thump followed immediately after, and she turned bright red. Irnla had stayed to listen to the entire thing.