Annie XXVIII, Not nautical knots

(Chronological index: Ray/Denise Married, Ruth known)

Annie woke to the sound of the kitchen door. She rolled out of bed and jumped through the cage door.

"WAIT!" she shouted as she jumped over the edge of the cage table. The floor cushion was where it was supposed to be, softening her landing. She ran down the fabric covering and across the living room floor. "WAIT! WAIT!"

She rounded the fireplace and shot down the hall. The kitchen door was propped open by the sylph-aid. She turned sideways and slipped through. "Oh, please WAIT!"

Then she hurtled past the trash can to skid to a stop at the edge of the back door.

Denise stood in the open doorway, looking down at the little pet. Annie took a deep breath then bent over and started to gasp. She also realized that Denise was wearing her robe, not her work clothes.

"Yes?" the human asked. "Wait for what?"

"Just…a… Please." She held up a hand for patience and tried not to vomit.

Denise shut the door and reached down to pick Annie up off the floor. "Annie? Did you think Ray was going off to work without you? That he… That we were going to leave you home alone all day, with no one to play with?"

"I… Well…." She was on all fours on the woman's palm. Between the fear and the exertion, she was kinda glad that she was naked. If she did spew, she wouldn't have to change.

Denise stroked the naked back gently and spoke soothingly. "Annie, for one thing, we promised you that we wouldn't do that to you.

"For another, it's Saturday. I was just going to get the paper." Instead, she sat down at the table and continued to calm the sylph.

"That's not it," Annie lied as she regained control of her lungs. "The, uh, the TV remote was acting squirrely last night. I might need giants to change the giant batteries before they leave me. I mean, before they leave. For work. On Monday."

She swung around to sit on the edge of Denise's palm. The human regarded the sylph critically. Annie knew that Denise was at least as smart as Ray. But where her owner had been willing to accept lies as the cost of reducing drama, his wife was less so.

"And thanks, Denise" Annie said quietly, "for waiting when I wailed like a little orphan lost in the forest."

Denise smiled and hugged Annie to her throat for a second.

She left the sylph on the table, with a drink of water, while she went out to get the paper. Then she unfolded the comics. Annie walked along them while Denise made breakfast.

Ray woke to the smell of muffins and came down to join them. "Did I hear someone screaming before? Hate?"

"Date," Denise said smoothly. "Annie woke up wondering how much longer she'd have the living room to herself. She wanted to know today's date.

"And your mean wife wouldn't give it to me. She just went out and got the paper and told me to figure it out."

Ray looked back and forth, knowing he was missing something but unable to guess what it was. He finally kissed each of the conspirators and poured two glasses of orange juice.

Denise put the half-dozen muffins on the table and sat down. Then she looked at Annie's empty plate and her eyes widened in alarm.

The sylphs had usually split one muffin or popover or scone between the three of them. Denise worried that so much food would remind Annie of her missing running mates.

Before she could figure out an alternative, though, Ray sliced a hunk of his first muffin off. He placed that on Annie's plate and shoved the butter close.

She smiled and set down by the plate. Denise shook her head. She'd known Pet for literally the sylph's entire life. They knew each other inside and out.

Ray and Annie, though, were more in synch by an order of magnitude.

----------

Annie was a little confused when they got ready to go out. No one told her where they were going.

And Denise helped her pick out some clothes, but those weren't any help: white shorts, a blue tank-top, and slip-on sneakers.

The woman stood by the dresser and looked the sylph over for quite a while.

"What?" Annie asked. "What are we going for, here? Relaxed? Nautical? Picnic friendly? Easily undressed? Disposable clothing?" She caught her breath in a gasp. One of Ray's girlfriends had always wanted her to wear clothes no one would mind getting torn when they came off.

"Are you guys putting me on a passion cake?" Her mind raced down the path that idea led to. "And then coming back here? For a threesome? No, wait, what do they call it on the sylph forum? Sex with a sylph and a partner…A weesome! Are we having a weesome?"

Denise's eyes popped wide. "Ray!" she called. "Annie's making a pass at me!"

Ray stepped out of the walk-in closet, slipping a wind breaker on. "I told Pet you two would bond while she was with Buttercup."

He stepped up to look over his wife's shoulder. "She looks good." He made a point to look Denise over in the mirror. "And you look hot."

Then he checked his watch and turned for the door. "We should get going."

Sylph and spouse stared at each other in the mirror. "Did my revered master just compliment you and then leave you in his wake?"

"Yes," Denise replied.

"The Philistine must pay," Annie said, holding her hands up for a life. Denise took her up with a nod.

"Keelhauled," the woman promised.

----

The destination didn't provide any clues. They pulled into the downtown parking garage near the Landing. Taste of Jax wasn't this weekend, and they preferred the Hooters nearer to the house.

As Ray pocketed his pet, she was racking her brains for any reason to be down here today.

"Annie," Ray started to explain as they walked into the sunshine, "do you remember that effort to bring a battleship down here?"

"Yeah. A tourist attraction, permanently anchored by the Landing." She nodded. "But it was too expensive."

"Do you remember the model?"

"Thirty foot replica of the…the… I don't know. Some boat. Had it on a trailer, trying to drum up support."

"Well, they're trying something else."

There was a marina across the river from the Jax downtown. The small mall on the waterfront, The Landing, had a few docks of its own.

Pulled up beside one of those docks was a model battleship. It may or may not have been the one that'd been on display before. Annie couldn't tell.

But rather than a trailer, this one floated on the water, rocking gently in the waves.

And it was manned.

The ship's hatchways were open and sylphs walked in and out of them. Some were dressed in Navy-looking uniforms, others were civilians. No one was naked.

"Can…Can we tour that?" Annie asked. "Actually tour that?"

"No," Denise said. "We can't. You can."

"You can even sail on it. If you want," Ray added.

An afternoon hanging out with people of her size, in an environment to her scale? She'd swear off sugar for the chance. She wouldn't tell her revered master that, though. The masterd would hold her to the promise for at least a week.

"Um, I suppose," she said calmly. "If you guys can find something to do while I'm checking this out…"

Ray bought the ticket and set Annie down on a plastic wharf. A smiling sylph at the top of the gangplank, or whatever, waved her aboard.

"Welcome to the USS Massachusetts," he said as she handed him her ticket. "And don't you look ready for a sail?"

"I just wanted to fit in," she said. She made a mental note to bow down and worship Denise later.

"Well, you do," he assured her and sent her forward.

The ship was a traveling display. It included a full tour finishing with a sail after sundown.

Presentations in the various spaces included the history of the real USS Massachusetts, the all-sylph construction of the replica, the engine (an Evinrude 2.5 horsepower engine with sylph-scale scaffolding around and running through it), and pictures of their travels up and down the coast.

There were also exhibits on sylph history (what there was of it), sylph contributions to national defense (mostly espionage), and the future of sylph-specific technology.

To her utter amazement, there was a picture of 'unnamed sylphs helping program a sylph-sized remote.' She didn't tell anyone else 'that’s me' but she was quite proud to be a part of the exhibit.

Amelia Anthony's picture on the wall drew a tiny, involuntary cheer from Annie. The other sylphs looked at her curiously.

"I, uh, I met her," she said. Everyone nodded and smiled.

And there was food. An actual galley, with proper sized tables and chairs, plates and silverware, napkins and condiment containers. And food. A whole buffet of food that, if not quite grown at their scale, was cunningly shaped and molded to resemble what she remembered food looking like. Back when.

On the tour of the Bridge, she stepped onto the lookout's spot, borrowed working binoculars and searched the Landing area for her Master.

They were sitting at an outside table at Hooters, just finishing their meal. She waved but they didn't notice.

"Wanna get their attention?" The captain had crept up behind without her knowing.

"Can we?" she asked.

"Which one is your owner?"

"The guy there."

"The one kissing the redhead?" He lifted a mike and spoke into it softly. One of the forward gun turrets lifted the barrels and swiveled.

When it was pointing directly at Ray, the CO led Annie inside to pull on the cord for the ship's whistle.

Everyone on the wharf jumped a little bit. When Ray saw the guns pointed at him, he jumped a little bit more.

Annie ran out to the flying bridge again and waved. Ray finally noticed her and waved back.

----------



After dark, a motorboat paced the replica as it sailed into the river. At the midpoint, hatches were opened beside each of the forward gun turrets.

Roman candles under the hatches fired flames up into the night sky. Sylphs crowded on the fantail reacted like New Year's Eve in Times Square.

Annie cheered, jumped up and down, hugged three or four people, got groped four or five times, and gave as good as she got.

She seldom felt as connected to others as she did that night. Someone started a song, but it wasn't one she knew. She still sang along, cheerfully butchering the melody along with half the riders.

Inspiration drove her up onto the storage locker for life vests.

No one else on board knew the words to 'Fifteen Men,' but they lustily joined in for 'Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum.'

They laughed together and actually cried when the ship nosed back into its slip.

"Not bad," a voice said as she was walking along the weatherdeck for the plank.

She turned to find the officer that had welcomed her aboard. "If we ever need a Morale Officer, we might look you up."

"I'd like that," she said. She lifted her arms to wrap around his shoulders and kissed him deeply. He returned it with passion. "Is every night like this?" she asked as she stepped back.

"We try," he said.

She nodded and walked off the ship. The crowd jostled her. She loved every push and shove.

Halfway down, she saw Ray waiting for her and started running. "Oh, that was the most WONDERFUL day!" she said as he picked her up.

"Great. Ready for the weesome?" Annie felt Denise dope-slap him, the tremor running through his body into hers.

"It'd be worth it," she said. Ray smiled, then raised an eyebrow at his wife.

She dope-slapped him once more.

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