Do it together

In the end, Dustin had spent almost the entire day with Naera, and not just in her bed or testing the durability of her vines. After the pair had made love a few more times he’d coaxed her into taking a walk in the gardens, and then into the ambassadorial kitchen where he’d had her help him make a passable batch of cakes before dropping her off at her appointment with Trea’k. The Vex’ess woman had promised to keep him informed; she also took the time to update the rest of their lovers before bed that night, so the green-skinned woman fell asleep surrounded by people that cared for her, after a not insignificant amount of reassurance and pampering.

The next day saw the Solar Ascent dropping out of the weave to cross a mostly uninhabited system. While Emely and Meli scoured over a packet of information sent to them by the lone Velca science outpost that was orbiting one of the gas giants, Dustin took the opportunity to **** his pilot into some rest and relaxation and marched Sammie down to the bathroom.

Rye grinned when she saw the pilot arrive, wiping one sealant-smeared hand on the front of her overalls before extending it to help Sammie scramble up the steps. “I really gotta put a railing in there Dusty. Got so fixated on me getting a railing in here that I didn’t think about people going up and down to use the baths,” the Rabyth woman said with a grin before gesturing to the empty pools. “Ya want me to fill them all up, or just the one? Presume you’re gonna help me with the wall while Sammie relaxes, right Dusty?”

Dustin paused for a moment, debating his options. “Yes,” he said at last, giving Rye a tender smile. “I think we should probably finish our pairing in here before we use the room to get intimate with anyone else, and I’m not sure there can be situation where I have the pair of you naked and covered in bubbly water that doesn’t involve us fucking.”

Behind him, Sammie gave a snort of laughter from where she was inspecting the trolley containing the towels. Tugging her top off over her head and tossing it at him, she gave Rye a shrug. “He’s not wrong. So, you gonna run me a bath or not bun-bun?”

Wincing at the continued use of what she had very firmly stated was not her nickname - but didn’t have the heart to really be mad at Sammie for - Rye stomped over to the wall and pulled the lever. Hot water and warm steam began to flow before she adjusted a valve, manually ensuring that only one of the bowl-like tubs filled up. “Bubble-bath is in the trolley with the towels, it’s one designed for fur, to minimize tangling, so it’ll probably make your hair look amazing. Presumed you don’t want to spend the next half a day removing and then putting back in your braids, so grabbed that one rather than anything from Earth”

Sammie nodded, glancing up from where she was half-hopping to remove the last of her clothing from around her ankle. “Bubbles are good. Dustin said you hadn’t organized an automat in here yet…?” Her query was met with a nod by both Dustin and the Rabyth woman, before the latter gestured to a box next to where she’d been working.

“Got some essential supplies and snacks from the galley for ya. Bet Dusty that you were gonna try and work again later, so not brought any booze; if ya want that I’m sure we can send him out on a run to the nearest room to grab ya some. Otherwise, got hot chocolate in a flask, regular chocolate in a cold box, some of those weird Earth biscuits ya like, and a few other bits and bobs.” Rye kicked the box towards Sammie, the pilot managing to free her leg just in time to catch it with one foot before it could fall into her bath.

Frowning at Rye, Dustin and Sammie both spoke at the same moment “Garibaldi are not weird biscuits.” The trio glanced at each other, before breaking into giggles as Sammie slid into the hot water of the bath with a moan of delight that seriously tested Dustin’s resolve as he crossed over to where Rye was busy getting the next stack of tiles ready for applying to the wall.

Sinking to the floor as Sammie continued to wax lyrical on how good the water was from behind them, Dustin watched for a moment before copying Rye’s motions. Apply bonding material to the wall with the spatula-like tool, apply the reagent in a neat x on the back of the tile from one of the tubes, press firmly, move into place with the back of the spatula, tap gently to ensure a solid and level fit, move on. It was oddly meditative; after a time he found himself naturally leaning in to Rye as they worked, their shoulders keeping them in contact as tile after tile slotted into place.

When at last they paused to consider their progress on the wall, Sammie gave a contented sigh from where her head was barely above the water. “You two are too cute when you’re working together you know. Can I get one of you to grab me a towel? I get the feeling it’s gonna be cold when I get out of this water and I don’t want to be uncovered for longer than I have to.”

Rye blushed, before leaving Dustin studying their handiwork in order to go and help their lover. Returning a moment later as Sammie dried herself, the bunny girl gestured at the remaining gaps in the tiles. “Gotta fit the automat and reroute the showers. Any idea when I’ll be good to do that, Dusty?”

Scrunching his face in thought for a moment or two, Dustin glanced at the ceiling. “I think probably tomorrow morning, if you wait for everyone to shower first. Sammie will be flying, and Meli and Trea’k have appointments with Bleu so they’ll be up early. Yea, tomorrow morning for the showers. Automat wise - whenever you want, we can manage with getting Sola to bring stuff up by drone for a day or so if we need to.”

Rye nodded, leaning in for a kiss before grinning at the wall and gesturing for the humans to leave the room. “Gonna start cutting into panels for the automat then, and that’s gonna get messy - which considering ya just got out of the bath isn’t ideal, right Sammie?”

Leaving the bunny girl to her own devices - which included setting up the frame for a precision laser cutter - Dustin more or less dragged Sammie away from her drifting path back towards the bridge as soon as they’d left the baths, instead steering her down to the galley. “But…” she began, and he shook his head. “Downtime. We’re gonna have some proper food, the snacks you ate in the bath don’t count, and then we’re going to go and curl up in my bunk and watch a video. I did not go to the effort of getting a recording of the Mars v Jupiter grav-ball game so I could ensure you got some proper downtime just to then end up watching it by myself.”

The pilot blinked at his words. “You got… a recording of the game? But grav-ball’s so hard to record!” Dustin gave a chuckle as he pulled her along. “Yea, but apparently some bright spark got the idea of using multiple holo-recorders to capture the entire pitch and then editing it after the match was done. No idea how good it is, but I figure if it’s terrible we can spend the entire time griping about the footage quality, and if it’s good we can gripe about the refs being biased.”

Sammie leaned into him with a chuckle of her own. “You’re only saying that because you reckon Mars are gonna lose.” Dustin shrugged. “I don’t really care who wins, I lost interest in the final about five minutes after the last Earth-orbital team got knocked out by Titan in the semis. Of course, Titan then went on to lose to Mars, so the red team had better win after that, but I don’t really care too much.”

The pair walked on, discussing the relative teams - and, just as Dustin had planned, Sammie didn’t immediately try and return to her work even when he insisted on them taking time to stare at the stars on the observation deck between eating and returning to his room. Later, curled up in his bunk, he ran a hand through her still-damp braids and smiled. “Happy?” he asked her as she wiggled against his chest. He should really have guessed the answer given the circumstances, but was distracted by the feel of his lover under his fingertips and let his guard down. Sammy gave an indignant snort, before gesturing at the vidscreen as she replied. “Of course not! The ref’s a fucking idiot for that call!”