Talk to Brianna, she'll know what to do!

After your lunch break, you and Gurwa had different tickets to work on, taking you to different rings of the station. You weren't sure if this was for better or worse, Gurwa had seemed to have a slight reservation to it, which had surprised you the most.

"Ticket 3286.08.10.0024... Tram from Ring 1 to Ring 2 needs general maintenance. That should take the rest of the day..." You sigh, only being able to take on the next ticket, instead of getting to choose like you wanted.

"I would only take a couple hours with the two of us, Mr. Zambac." Gurwa stated, back to her usual formal self now that you both were back on shift, "We would be able to take on a second ticket after that."

"We'd have to take time crossing back here. I'll take this one, you take the next one?" You respond, "Save a bit of time, keep getting closer to the bottom of this stack."

"We have no guarantee that the next one would need only one person, or that it could be completed by the end of the day." Gurwa continued.

"Martin is available, if you need his help..." You took a step closer to her, "Are you okay, Gurwa? You never fuss this much about work tickets."

"Yes, I am okay." She replied, making more direct eye contact than usual

"Then why the protestations?" You tilt your face with a look of concern, wondering if something were truly wrong

"Because, Mr. Zambac, I enjoy working with you, and would much rather do that than work alone or with someone else." she said a little quickly before clasping her hands and calming herself with a short breath.

"I understand, but.." You access the next ticket, 3286.08.10.0025, "I think you are more than capable of providing maintenance to the Ring 3 Number 5 Lift by yourself."

"I am." Gurwa responded

"Uh, look, after work-- how about we spend some extra time here and clean the auto-wrenches, hm?" You ask, not wanting Gurwa to be too despondent. She immediately perked up

"That sounds excellent, Mr. Zambac, I look forward to it." she quickly picked up her tablet and tool case and exited. You took a moment to watch her her hips and rear shook with her steps and how her thighs wobbled. Though you did smile as she had spoke, you could tell how much she had been smiling at the suggestion. You cleared your throat and picked up your own equipment, going off to your own work order.

To be fair, the maintenance on those trams was greatly overexaggerated. Scientists with no technical experience think that one little rumble means the whole thing was going to fall apart. All you had to do was replaced a few bearings and pass through the maintenance inspection, leaving you with extra time to fulfill or start on another ticket. Or seek some advice from an uninvolved female friend.

Finding Brianna was easy enough, she was in the cafeteria closest to her botany lab. You strode in, hands still a little greasy from the oil of the tram. She was sitting in a booth with two others, a couple junior lab assistants from the look of it. She saw you approach and you got a good look a her. She was still obviously growing, several empty plates lay in front of her, and she was working through a fourth one. She was getting massive: round face, those delectable full lips, massive breasts pushing out of her lab coat, a huge belly holding them up that almost pressed against the table, this belly being pushed up by massive thighs, fat hips, and an even bigger rear. every part of her was almost equally massive. You slowly stopped mid step.

"Oh, Michael! Hey! Come have a seat!" Brianna noticed you and waved you over, her thick arm jiggling from the motion. You regained yourself and moved over, hoping to remain decent. "You two can go~" Brianna dismissed the two. You watched the two, a male and female human, get up and walk past you, peering at you as they did.

"Fan club?" You asked as you sat across from Brianna, trying not to stare at her breasts.

"Sorta, they said seeing me had given them some sort of 'awakening' or whatever, I certainly enjoy their attention, though, makes it easier to get more food." Brianna smirked as she took a bit of a slice of pizza heavily laden with toppings.

"Still hooked on those berries?" You smiled, drawing your eyes back to hers

"No, Doctor got me off of them, and gave me some Anicitozine to prevent withdrawal, but she says she can't stop what they're doing to my system, so I'm just always hungry." she replied, cheerily continuing to eat.

"You don't seem to bothered by it." You reply

"I kinda like it, honestly, getting to eat so much tasty food, and now my little fan club? I don't know if I can go back to being so skinny... did you come to see me?" Brianna set down her slice and cocked an eyebrow

"Sorta yea, uh, I n-need advice." You reply blushing slightly

"Advice? About what?"

"Uh, you remember Gurwa? She is developing romantic feelings for me, and I'm not sure what I should do."

"Michael. You need my advice about women? I recall you telling me over drinks about just how many partners you had gone through on your last assignment." Brianna guffawed

"This is different, I y'know, actually have some feelings for her too, which is very different than just getting someone-- of the same species-- into my bed." You shot back a little cross.

"Sorry, sorry, I just.. am surprised! I'm happy for you, but you have more experience with Selanians than I do. Have you tried looking up some info about their courtship practices? Can't imagine it would be similar to ours." Brianna a little awkwardly took a large bite of her pizza.

"I'm sorry, I came for help, can't get upset when you're surprised; and she told me during lunch today, so I haven't had time. I'm actually still on the clock, technically."

"Michael, first romancing a coworker and now laying around on the clock? Love certainly does strange things to a man." Brianna winked as she finished up her meal. Anyway, it's nice seeing you, don't be too much of a stranger." Brianna winked at him and squeezed your hand before starting the process of getting up. She shook and jiggled while you just stood up and offered a hand, which she gladly took. She gently pressed against you when she stood, blushing slightly, then waddled off. You took a deep sigh and headed back to maintenance, you guessed you could call it a date.

You sat in your room, the little date had gone as expected, Gurwa and yourself exchanging glances while silently cleaning the autowrenches. It took a bit, only because of the number of them available, but went by without issue. You typed furiously at your console, trying to find anything about Selanian courtship. There was plenty about how their society functioned on a governmental level, about how after the Dorsal Plague 500 years ago, their male population delcined significantly, and has remained there despite everything they could do.

You figured this would be your rabbit hole to get what you needed to know. Your left hand scribbled on a notepad while your right searched the documents you were finding. A technique that had helped you greatly in school. Taking everything in and notating what you needed to, then reviewing those notes later. While archaic, it was effective. You learned that Selanians usually had broods of 4 to 8, with 12 being as common as twins, and the record being 20 pups in a brood. You learned that, as Gurwa had said, parents took on the teaching role of their young, and that they usually remained at home until their, in human terms, mid teens where they would go away for higher education. That was not related though. Your went back a few documents and redirected your search. You learned that Selanian females lead in courtship, and that younger Selanians had priority. Your brow furrowed as you though about some interactions with Gunna you had had and how adversarial Gurwa had been. It didn't mention how this mark was manifested, so that was something to worry about, you reckon.

Next it mentioned that most Selanians use the human love language of touch, though they often have close seconds that they use for building affection until a formal relationship is established, unless they have marked a desired mate. Which reminds you of how Gurwa got you a set of oil rags and Gunna had started hugging you at seemingly random times, but only in front of Gurwa.

"Are they... fighting? Like some kind of Col War?" you mumbled to yourself as you indulged in a burning question you had had for a bit. You accessed a diagram of Selnaian skin tones, most being grey, but always have a white or off-white portions. Always present on the inner thighs, under the arms, on the front of the hole torso and groin, and sometimes the front of the neck. You learned that these zones are highly erogenous. "Hmm. Explains why Gurwa was so cagey about it..."

You reviewed your notes. Showing affection would mean reciprocating what Gurwa was showing you, so far this was just gift giving. You spent the rest of the evening speculating on what to give her.