Discussion

Dustin took a little while before he scrambled to his feet and made his way unsteadily through to the cabin. As soon as the cargo bay door had slid shut, Meli prodded the onboard life support system, and the hiss of gas came from the vents as the cabin pressurized. “Give it a moment and then we can remove our helmets” the Velca said, watching the readings as the craft slid gracefully through space towards the distant form of the Solar Ascent. That moment seemed intolerably long to Dustin, nervous as he was about the conversation to follow - but at last Meli raised a hand and unclipped her helmet. As the dark-haired beauty brushed her hair out of her suit and took a relieved breath of the cabin atmosphere, Dustin unsealed his own helm; a more complicated process - human suits weren’t quite as optimized for quick removal as those of the Velca just yet although they were marginally more manoeuvrable in tight spaces.

Trying quite hard not to think about certain tight spaces, Dustin cleared his throat as he looked at Meli. “So…” he began, then trailed off rather lamely. “What was it you wanted to suggest?” Meli’s ears flickered into a position he was pretty sure meant panic for a moment before she turned to him and gave him a smile. “The issue is that we have both been too busy and too considerate of Rye’s feelings on the matter. I surmise that if we were to broach it to her she would probably laugh us out of the engine bay. She knows we are in a relationship and does not have the…” and here the Velca woman struggled to find an appropriate human word “…las’ith… hang-ups? That humans have regarding intimacy, her own situation aside.”

Nodding at this, Dustin was about to reply when Meli raised a hand. “Apologies, but I have not finished. Rye will be fine as long as we are not actually doing anything too excessive right in front of her without at least making an offer of inclusion. My understanding of her personality suggests that at this time such an offer would be ill advised, but here your human concerns regarding intimacy might be more accurate. Disregarding that, we are left with the option of spending more time together off duty - both in public and more” and here her ears flickered with the equivalent of an embarrassed blush as she concluded “intimate spaces. I am not suggesting we share a cabin - but certainly I would like to share your bunk or you share mine more regularly than at present.”

For a moment, Dustin just blinked, trying to process Meli’s words. “So let me get this straight” he said at last, choosing his words with care “you think Rye will be fine and would like us to feel comfortable enough to go on dates and do… other couple things? And would probably be surprised we were holding off because of her - is that roughly what you’re trying to tell me?” He deliberately left out the bit where the Velca had indicated that at some arbitrary point there might be the potential of a three-way with their resident bunny girl - it was tough enough still to think that they were taking the roundabout route to him essentially getting a harem of sorts, as his brain kept trying to persuade him that this was all an elaborate joke. Meli nodded, before vaguely waving a hand down her body. “You demonstrated excellent intuition on our previous encounters, and I have a range of things I would like to try. Additionally, my… research into Human-Velca relationships would be incomplete without the more romantic elements.”

Dustin nodded. “Ok. When we get back to the ship, I’ll stop being overly helpful with Rye’s project. She already basically indicated that she didn’t really need our help as such, so I’ll make it more official. Caring for my crew aside - especially my research partner - I am the captain, and should probably start acting more like one before we get our next misfit on board. I’ll let you plan our first date - you’ve already got our schedule done with Sola so you know when the downtime will be, but regarding the other thing I’d like a little spontaneity. Let’s just spend a night together tonight rather than planning anything too much in that regard?” The Velca’s ears flickered with excitement as she nodded. “I’ll get started on planning as soon as we are back. Any preferences for our date for me to work with?” Dustin pondered for a second, the bulk of the Solar Ascent’s hull filling the window as they approached. “Something to help us understand each others background more.” He decided at last, before adding “that might help me with the planning for the following date.”

Of course, even the best made plans sometimes go awry. The pair docked a short while later - and both agreed that what they really needed after the drama of nearly getting eaten by baby space rocks (as well as wearing grav and vacuum suits in Dustin’s case) was a shower, preferably hot, followed by a moment to just sit. With that in mind, as soon as they’d finished making sure the shuttle was secure and powered down the pair split up to head to their individual cabins. Dustin called through to Rye and Sola to take the ship out towards the next jump point while he cleaned up; it would be at least a couple of hours flight to get to their outbound destination and that gave him time to shower, change into clothes that didn’t smell like the inside of a vacuum suit, and down a large mocha from the automat.

Shuffling onto the bridge with another mug of the chocolate coffee in hand, Dustin saw that Meli had made it back there already. The chief science officer sat at her post, idly discussing their next destination with the chief engineer as Dustin sank into the captain’s chair and took in the projected flight path. “A week of downtime before our next target?” he asked after a moment, adding travel times up in his head. Meli nodded at his interruption, pausing her discussion with Rye to explain. “Most of the systems we fly through are either uninhabited entirely or only recently became colony options for species. As such, while there might be some drones doing initial construction work, there’s precious little in the way of sapient life until we hit Thera in a week or so. We might want to delay - there’s a couple of asteroid belts we could mine for some useful minerals, Rye and I were just debating that, and also there’s some interesting light formations in one of the systems that might be interesting if you wish to create art.”

Dustin scratched his head at that, before nodding. “I don’t know about creating art right now, but certainly taking a few images for later reference might be cool. I’m not much of an artist, but I’m sure we’ll get one on board eventually - that is if neither of you ladies have a secret painting hobby you haven’t told me about?” Both shook their heads; Meli explained that she preferred writing poetry, while Rye gave a wave towards her thick thighs and said “I can’t do abstract stuff with my hands, it’s why machines make sense to me. I dance pretty well though.” Without thinking, Dustin replied with “that’s cool, perhaps we should all dance together one night” - and then face-palmed when he saw Meli’s expression. Waving a hand in front of his face, he explained “I meant have a party, learn about music from each other’s home worlds, that sort of thing. I wasn’t implying anything…” Rye chuckled - apparently amused by her captain getting flustered - then nodded. “Sure captain, we’ll share some culture. Doubt either of you could keep up with Rabythic beat music, but it’ll be fun to watch you try.”