Before the discussion

Despite the heat of the engine bay and the warmth of the Rabyth woman next to him, Dustin didn’t fall asleep; he was contented, certainly, and tired - but not sleepy despite the relaxing state he found himself in. Eventually, he sat up, pulling Rye with him. Glancing at the chief engineer, he stifled a chuckle. “What’s so funny?” she asked, running a hand over her ears as she did so. “Your fur’s a mess, and you’ve got grease everywhere” Dustin replied with a smile - which earned him a playful punch to the chest. “So do you, captain” she said, her voice dangerously lustful as she called him by his title.

“Again?” he asked, raising an eyebrow - Meli had emphasized before they’d met Rye just what Rabyth could be like, and the whole heat thing seemed to track with her being excessively horny - but the bunny girl just shook her head. “Later, definitely” she smirked, before a hint of that nervousness cut back in “if you want to of course. That did wonders for how I was feeling, I can probably see out the rest of this cycle without losing it - thought I might have to spend the last day or two on my own if that was the case.” Dustin grinned at that, standing up and looking around for his clothes. “I’m pretty sure Meli would have issues with me if I only fucked you once and then left you to your own devices. Let’s get dressed and head up to my quarters. We both need a shower, and then we should talk to my fiancé.” Then he paused, realizing what he’d said just in time for Rye to break into a fit of giggles. “So she finally told you huh?”

“You knew?” Dustin stared down at the Rabyth before bending to retrieve his pants and starting to dress. Rye stifled another laugh and stepped into the puddle that was her dungarees. “Not much point me getting dressed to just go get in the shower” she mused, then added “but I probably should at least have pants on for this discussion with Meli’a. And I guessed. Velca only take on the mannerisms of other species if they are at least partially through their pairing process. Wasn’t going to say anything though - that was between you and her.” Finishing up dressing Dustin shook his head. “I think after today it’ll be between the three of us if I’m honest. I’m not going to leave you high and dry, and Meli’s mine. We’ll work something out.” Rye snorted at that, finishing her own dressing and striding over to the door. A few button presses later and the red lights blinked out. “You really are still a little hung up on human social cues. It’s going to be fun watching you navigate a Feliax on board. Coming?”

The pair made their way out and back up to the notably cooler and cleaner parts of the ship. As they walked they made idle talk - about their home worlds for the most part. So engrossed in the conversation were they that they stepped into Dustin’s ready room and were halfway to the shower when Meli’s voice interrupted them. “Have fun, Rye?” Her tone was warm, and when Dustin glanced at her he saw her ears were floating between amusement and delight. The Rabyth woman blushed and nodded - her usual bluster suddenly gone entirely. “Yes. Dustin… I mean, the captain helped. I mean…” Meli held up a hand to stop her. “That’s adorable, but relax Rye. If I judge our leader correctly and your reaction, then he suggested the pair of you shower after everything that happened. Go take the first shower; I’d like to have a word with my li’ah’a before we all talk.”

Dustin was surprised to see Rye nod and dart for the showers without any argument. Meli sighed as the Rabyth woman slid the door closed. “For someone so sure of herself with engineering, our chief engineer is so timid around relationships” she mused, adding “we will have to support her with that, won’t we?” At this, she stepped up to Dustin and kissed him before pulling back and looking firmly into his eyes. “There. We’re still fine. That should hopefully help with your human sensitivities. Now…” and at that she paused, ran a hand over some of the grease on Dustin’s cheek and liberally smeared it on her own face. “I’m going to go clean up myself and have a talk with our chief engineer. Stay here and no peeking, captain.” With those words, she turned and walked to the shower room leaving Dustin a little stunned behind her. “Alien women…” he murmured to himself, sinking into a chair. As he did so, the automat chimed, and Sola’s voice came from the speakers. “Captain, the chief science officer stated that you might require a drink at this time. I have dispensed one accordingly from the automat.”

Dustin sat sipping his drink and musing the day so far. Since the previous morning he’d discovered that his relationship was actually an engagement, been encouraged to have sex with the only person on the crew not in that relationship, and been shut out of whatever discussion - or intimate encounter, his lower half suggested - the women were currently having in the shower. As he pondered he drained the cup he’d taken from the automat - and had just finished when the door opened. Rye and Meli stepped out, both wrapped in towels. He was about to speak, when they both pointed to the door behind them. “Shower first, then we talk.” Rye said, smiling at him.

The shower water at least was warm, cascading over his back and washing away the grime of the engineering room. Dustin made a note that if Rye decided to do things like that with him there again, they should have a mat or something to keep most of the grease off. It wasn’t that it was unpleasant in itself - it was that every bit of dirt and dust in the room seemed determined to stick to it. After what turned into a longer shower than he had intended, Dustin finally emerged into his ready room, a towel around his waist. He paused as he entered. Meli and Rye were both sitting in chairs, still wrapped in their towels. Tilting his head curiously at them, he gestured to their attire. “I’d have thought you’d have gotten dressed by now?” Meli shook her head as she replied “I decided against it. You need us to have a conversation, and my studies of humans suggest that it could go one of several ways - at least one of which would make clothing pointless. Moreover, Rye wanted us both to be here when you got out of the shower and I wasn’t sure how long you would be taking.”

Doing his best to ignore the obvious risqué suggestion, Dustin ordered more drinks for the three of them. Setting the drinks down and picking up his own mug, he pulled a chair around so that they could all sit without the table between them. “OK.” He said after a moment, taking a breath to formulate his words. “I understand that things are very different away from Earth. But this is also an Earth vessel, and I’m an Earth captain - hell, I’m the Earth’s ambassador. So with that in mind, I need to know that we are all happy with whatever we decide to do from here.”

Meli put her hand reassuringly on his knee, and Rye smiled at him. Dustin smiled back, then gestured around the three of them. “As of right now I don’t know what this is. I made a decision after Rye and I…” he paused for a moment before continuing “…after we had sex. I might need to have multiple partners as part of being an ambassador - but I want us all to be happy with whatever relationships are formed in the middle of that polycule, collection, harem, however we choose to describe it. So with that in mind, let’s start with each of us saying what we want out of our relationship with the others OK? Please be honest with me, both of you.”