Valley After

Navalea is a polyamorous and pansexual woman who gains a penis one day. Her story is a sexy slow burn of friends discovering themselves, and each other, while surviving the fall and rebirth of civilization. Common themes include trans/lesbian relationships, body-positive exhibitionism, and free love.

Hearts ❤︎ indicate erotic chapters. Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoy!

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Refuge 2.3: ❤︎ Housekeeping

"What's intriguing for students of early Commonwealth theology is the new transcripts depict MacLeanach of Veilwood not as a prophetess or spiritual leader, but as a caretaker assigned to communal quarters. Ecclesiastical commentaries have sought to reframe this period of her life as a form of disguised ministry, but such readings are speculative, and lack textual basis. These new discoveries strongly indicate her presence was unadorned, practical, and strikingly human. I submit this is precisely what gave her later authority its enduring weight."

-- Dr. Arlen Voskar, Second Symposium on Post-Collapse History, Year 312 A.C.

The next day was especially dark as clouds blended with the smoke-filled skies to cast a dim reddish light across the landscape. Thankfully, those clouds brought the first autumn drizzle! The light rain washed away the ashes blanketing the ground. The distant haze of burning cities still lingered high in the atmosphere, but at least it cleared the air enough to go outside without a mask for a while.

Lily spent most of the day in the administrative building, speaking with refugees and community members to help the newcomers find homes in our town. She asked me to join her in mid-afternoon. I shared friendly smiles with a young woman I passed in the hallway, then stepped into the temporary office Lily had acquired, where I hung up my raincoat.

"What did you say her name was? Kenna?" I asked while settling into a comfortable arm chair.

"Ceana," Lily replied, shuffling through her notes. The rain pattered on the window outside, adding a quiet rhythm to our conversation. "It's been difficult to find her a good job in town. She graduated high school with honors a few years ago, but then bounced around between a bunch of minimum-wage jobs."

I frowned slightly, my curiosity piqued. "If she did well in high school, why didn't she go to college?"

Lily sighed heavily, her fingers brushing lightly over the notes. "She got a full-ride scholarship but couldn't take it. Sick mom. Ceana had to stay home to support her. The father was out of the picture long ago, back in Scotland." Lily shook her head as her voice dropped. "Her mom passed last year, and by then, the scholarship wasn't available anymore. Ceana started taking courses at a community college, then everything happened."

"That's rough," I murmured, feeling a tightness in my chest. I was uncomfortably familiar with a difficult family life, though nothing quite like this.

Lily nodded slowly. "Yeah. She's surprisingly cheerful considering everything she went through. There's maybe a bit of masking going on, but I didn't feel it was my place to pry."

I shifted in the chair, considering. "Fair enough. Well, she sounds smart, and can probably pick up some skills quickly. In the meantime, where can she contribute?"

Lily shrugged her shoulders, setting the notes aside. "The kitchen already has plenty of people, and she has no experience with wilderness survival or firearms, so hunting and security aren't immediate options."

She paused, her gaze drifting towards the window with hesitation clear in her posture. "When I explained that to her, she..." Lily bit her lip briefly. "She asked to be our housekeeper."

I blinked, momentarily startled. "Really?"

"Yeah," Lily confirmed softly, her eyes searching mine carefully.

"Just ours, or more broadly?"

"Oh, all the cabins," Lily explained with a gesture of her hand. "She wants to stay with us, though. We got along well on the journey here."

"I'm not sure how I feel about having housekeepers in town," I admitted slowly, unease swirling inside me. "People can take care of their own messes. We're trying to do things differently here, after all, and I'm not exactly eager to dive back into the social caste systems that put people down."

Lily offered me a faint smile. "You have a kind heart, Nav. However, you lived a rather... sheltered life, and don't have experience with these sort of things. The problem is how society treats workers, not the work itself."

"Oh." I blushed, feeling embarrassed. "Yeah, that's true." My childhood was so difficult in some ways, that it was hard to recognize the privileges I did have. I'd never had to do manual labor and hadn't really interacted with people in such professions either. It's tough to set your biases aside.

"Okay." I took a breath. "Well, it doesn't hurt to talk it over. Was that her sitting in the hall outside?"

Kira gave a small nod, then slipped around the desk and quietly opened the door. A moment later, she returned with a young woman trailing behind her, shoulders squared with a practiced grace. Ceana's reddish hair was woven into a tight crown braid, framing a freckled face as pale as morning fog. Her faint makeup was subtle, but deliberate. The black dress she wore had crisp lines and a high white collar, the kind of uniform that once belonged in upscale hotels or corporate front desks. I hadn't seen anyone else wearing something like that. Did she bring the outfit with her? I didn't ask.

I offered a welcoming smile. "Hi, I'm Navalea, nice to meet you."

"Ceana MacLeanach," he replied, her voice lilting with a gentle Scottish accent. She dipped into a neat little curtsey, one hand briefly lifting the hem of her dress.

"No need for that," I gestured for her to sit, feeling awkward. I'd never seen someone actually curtsey before.

Ceana laughed, cheerful and light. "Oh, I know. Just one of those polite habits my mum drilled into me. Is it okay?" She glanced between Lily and me like she was trying to read a room she hadn't been invited into yet.

"Oh, of course!" I reassured her. "I just don't want you to feel pressured to act any certain way."

"Okay!" Her smile was bright and immediate, like a ray of sunshine breaking through the clouds.

"So, Lily said you wanted to be our... housekeeper?" The word hung awkwardly in the air. "I'll be honest, I don't know how I feel about that." Her expression dimmed. Not dramatically, just a flicker in the eyes, but it landed like a weight in my chest. I rushed to soften my words, "I mean, um, you can do what you want, of course! I just don't want, well, you to feel... obligated to helpourhousehold-"

Lily interrupted to save me from myself. "What Nav'stryingto say is we're happy to have you here, and would be thrilled to get your assistance around town." While Ceana wasn't looking, my girlfriend gave me a frown and quick shake of her head.

"Oh!" Ceana brightened up. "Yeah, I really want to help however I can! Lily was so kind to me on the road, and you're her friends, so I'd like to stay with you too, if possible."

"That would be lovely!" Lily responded with a smile. "Of course you're welcome in our home."

I nodded bashfully. "Yeah! Though of course, if you ever change your mind, please let us know?"

"Will do!" Ceana responded with a bright smile. "Thank you so much!" Then the young woman bounded up and out of the room happily, leaving me to apologize to Lily for thoroughly making a fool out of myself. I might not always be the best person in social situations, but that was downright embarrassing!

~~~~~

Ceana jumped straight into her work that afternoon, going around town and meeting people in all the households. Later in the evening, she moved her stuff into our cabin, grabbing the empty bunk below Lily and I. She set up some posters on the wall, and replaced the pillowcase with a pink one acquired from the storehouse.

Early the next morning, the drizzling rain had faded, and the sun was drifting in over the mountaintops. I was writing in my journal when I heard a knock on the door. "Come in!"

Ceana entered in that snappy dress, pushing a cleaning cart. "Hey there, Navalea! I'm just making the rounds." She hurried inside and closed the door, then took off her mask. The smoke had started entering the valley again, and our air purifier whirred in concern as a faint whiff drifted inside.

"How's it going?" I asked and turned a page in my journal, starting on the next one.

"Pretty good. Most people are really nice and friendly!" she said in a chipper voice, and pushed the cart into the bathroom, where she remained a while. After she came out, she started cleaning the main room, tidying up the beds, folding and tucking in sheets. I glanced over as she kneeled down to clear dust and debris from under one of the beds. I blinked in surprise, then looked quickly away. Back at my journal. Feeling myself blushing. I tried to continue writing but struggled to make any progress.

"Is everything okay?" her quiet voice snapped me out of my reverie. Ceana had stood up to straighten out our bedsheets, but glanced my way briefly.

"Oh, yes, I just was a bit surprised, that... well..."Is it rude to ask?I felt like I'd started a sentence I couldn't easily back out of. I tried to keep things casual and friendly as I continued, "I'm just surprised it's... comfortable, to do work without, um, underwear on?"

"Oh, same here. I wear panties everywhere else," she responded cheerfully and continued straightening out the bed. "I just enjoy being a little more free in our home, you know?" She shrugged while going about her work. "Everyone in this household is so open and body-positive. It's nice!"

She leaned over the bed to tuck the sheet into the opposite side, giving me another view up her dress. A view of fuzzy, untrimmed red hair sparsely covering pretty nethers between pale, freckled thighs. I felt my heart racing in confusion and excitement. "Well, I'm... glad you feel, um, comfortable here!" I said, trying to keep my voice calm.

Ceana finished cleaning up. Then she picked up her panties from the cart, gave me another flash as she tugged them back on, and left the cabin. Lily got back ten minutes later. My girlfriend was barely inside the door before I pushed her up against a wall, quickly leaving us breathless and sweaty. In the afterglow I told Lily how Ceana apparently felt comfortable with nudity, like Kira did. I didn't want to hide anything from her. Lily shrugged her shoulders.'We'd seen a lot more from other people.'I suppose she was right?

~~~~~

The next day I didn't have anything to do at the infirmary, so I slept in. By the time I woke up the cabin was empty. I knew Kira was on patrol, while Julien was inspecting the dam again, where there was constant risk of damage from aftershocks. Lily left a note that she needed to help fix something with the community's internal computer network.

I woke up still feeling incredibly frisky after the confusing swirl of emotions the previous day, so I pulled out the toy Kira had given me. Naked on my bed, I started caressing my breasts and pleasuring myself with the fleshlight, while my other hand teased my pussy. I was on the verge of a hasty climax when the door tapped with a sharp knock.

Fuck!I didn't realize I'd slept that late! "Just a moment!" I called out and quickly threw a sheet over myself, then turned onto one side, trying to hide my erection while pulling out my journal. "Okay, come in!"

Ceana entered the same as last time, pushing her cleaning cart in front of her. "Sorry, am I interrupting?"

"No, not at all," I said in a somewhat strangled voice.

"I can come back..."

"It's okay." I responded more firmly, and gestured casually around the room, while pretending to be focused on my journal. I scribbled some nearly unintelligible words at the bottom of the page. Ceana nodded and came in, cleaned the bathroom, then started to tidy up the various beds. When she turned away and her dress hiked up, I didn't look, but just being aware of her presence made it impossible for my arousal to go back down.

Then her voice grabbed my attention. "If you wouldn't mind, could you move to the table for a minute?" she asked and gestured to my bed. Oh. I felt like an idiot. I was so worked up, I'd forgotten she'd get to my bed eventually.

"Oh, um, that's okay," I said with a wave of my hand. "You can skip it today."

"It's really no trouble."

"Well, um, I..."

"Miss, it's..." she paused. "It's okay if you're not clothed," she said, still in that calm cheerful tone, without a hint of shyness. "We've both seen that a few times already, while changing clothes and showering and stuff."

"Oh. Okay." I guess that was a good point? Roommates will inevitably see each other naked sometimes. I felt my cheeks burning. I hesitated a moment, then slipped out from under the sheet, and pulled my panties under the shirt dangling down over my hips. That didn't do much to hide my arousal; there was no way to tuck things in when I was that hard. I tried to ignore it. Quickly sat down at the table, struggling to actually write in my journal. The chair under my butt felt cold through the panties.

"Thank you, Miss," Ceana said without missing a beat, and started tidying up my bed. No awkward looks, no comments, just professionally continuing her work. After she finished, she pushed the cart back towards the front door. She paused a moment, then said without looking at me, "If you ever need help with anything else, please let me know."

Then she left. I breathed a sigh of relief. Maybe she was right. We'd seen each other naked a lot over the past few days, and I was just masturbating. No big deal.

Right?

...then I saw the fleshlight laying atop the dresser at the end of the bed. Which I'd left under the sheets.kill me now

Refuge 2.4: ❤︎ Laissez-faire

When my girlfriend returned home half an hour later, I somehow hadn't died of shame. I explained how our new roommate caught me masturbating. I didn't want Lily to think I was concealing something like that from her! "I'm sorry. I'll be more careful," I said and sighed deeply, feeling incredibly anxious about the whole event.

Lily looked at me silently for a while. Right when I started getting worried, she shook her head and said, "You're so dense sometimes."

I blinked in confusion. "Huh?"

"Well, do you want it to happen again?" A faint smile touched her cheeks. I felt bewildered... and why was she grinning like that? "Navalea," she said gently and reached out to caress my cheek. "I know because you're neurodivergent you sometimes struggle with social cues, so I'll be blunt. If we were at one of those queer parties from before, and a girl in a maid outfit came up to you, flashed her pussy, and said 'let her know' if you needed help with anything, what would you do?"

"But I, w-well, I... she..." I stammered, then froze as it finally sunk in.Oh.

"Thereyou go," she giggled with a gentle smile. My girlfriend took my hands in hers, stroking the palms reassuringly and looking into my eyes. "Look, we're not exclusive. If a pretty girl's trying to seduce you, don't hold back on my account."

"But she's... she's our..." my words trailed off again.

"Servant?" Lily shook her head. "Cmon, Nav. We talked about this already. If you think of her that way, that's on you, and something you should work on. She's just doing a job like all the rest of us, as an equal in our community."

"Oh." Now I felt embarrassed in an entirely different way. "Yeah, Ihadbeen thinking of Ceana as a... yeah."

"It's hard to set your preconceptions aside," Lily reassured me and lovingly caressed my check. "Especially when she wears that hot maid uniform and flutters her pretty eyes at you."

"Oh, stop it!" I laughed and shoved her playfully.

"Make me," she growled. I grinned and pounced her, and before long we were stumbling over to our bed.

~~~~~

Later that evening I took Ceana aside for a private conversation while the others were out. I wanted to make sure I hadn't tremendously misunderstood things. Our new friend was wearing a cute sundress that paired wonderfully with her red hair. It had been one of Kira's. My best friend hadn't worn it in a while, and she and Ceana were the same size. A nice gift, considering Ceana hadn't been able to bring many clothes with her on the rough journey to the valley.

"Hey there," I started to say cautiously. "About earlier... I'm sorry I forgot to move my, um, toy out of the way."

"It's okay!" she said in a chipper voice and shrugged her shoulders. "Nothing I haven't seen before."

"Even so, I didn't want to give you, well, the wrong idea..." my voice trailed off.

"Eh, that'd be a weird way to seduce me," she giggled and gave me a wide smile. "Besides, it's okay if you wanted to."

I paused as it took a moment for that to sink in. "It... would be okay?"

"Well I mean yeah, you're hot," she responded with another casual shrug. "And I know you and Lily are open. I wouldn't mind."

"I'm not really looking for another girlfriend right now, though," I responded gently, not wanting to hurt her feelings. "I'm focused on Lily."

"That's okay, I'm not either. Nothing serious, at least," she said with another bright grin. "But hey, girls have needs, and I don't find myself... umm, attracted to many people here. I'm just not, you know, ready for a steady relationship. I've been through a lot lately, and need to work on myself first." She paused a moment, then blushed a little. It highlighted her freckles beautifully. "I just want you to know that you... um... you don't need to use the toy. I can... be that, for you."

I'm embarrassed to say I just stared at her, trying to process that.

"If you want!" she added.

"Oh, yeah!" I staggered out the words. "That could be fun!"

"Cool." She nodded confidently.

"Yeah. Cool." I felt a hot flush on my cheeks. I'd explored a lot of different kinds of relationships, but never anything quite like this, with her living with me. It did seem exciting, just a little... scary? I didn't want to damage her confidence, though, so I tried not to let it show. "When would you, like to... um..."

"Any time really," the young woman said with another smile that banished her bashfulness. "Whenever you want. You don't have to ask."

"Oh. Okay."

"Yeah. I'm looking for something, umm, casual. Spontaneous!" She waved a hand in the air.

"I'll... keep that in mind," I said awkwardly as my thoughts swirled, hearing footsteps approaching our cabin. "Thank you for telling me."

"No problem!"

Then Lily and Kira came in through the door, pausing our conversation. Ceana hopped up joyfully to give them both big, bouncy hugs. She was so... nonchalant about it all. No big deal, I guess? Just casual sex.You've done that before, right?

Right.

~~~~~

The next day I was feeling somewhat feminine, so I put on a skirt and halter top after coming out of the shower. Lily pounced me and dragged me back to bed, where we snuggled and she teased my body all morning. Then around the time when Ceana heads to our cabin during her rounds, Lily left with a grin, and the flimsy excuse of "hanging out with people at the cafeteria."

Which left me alone in my thoughts. I wasn't even sure yet if I'd follow through on Ceana's request. I was certainly attracted to her, and didn't want to make her feel unwanted, and yet...

'Stop being so in your head about it.'Kira's words came back to me. I had talked it over with her and Julien too, since we all shared the same cabin. I didn't want to cause any drama for our group.'You want it. She wants it. Just do it, silly.'Best friends can be so blunt sometimes.