Emely

The Empress had bustled out of the room not long after, taking her second, Meli and Rye with her and leaving Dustin in the care of her patriarch. Eriff lounged in the seat his ladies had previously occupied and glanced at where Dustin was walking up and down by the window. “Sit down, you’ll wear out the floorboards if you keep pacing like that. For all my love was serious about a good price, my sister’s husband is not a complete idiot. Unless you really screw up meeting my niece you’ll be fine. So chill out would you?” Dustin sighed in response, stomping over to one of the plush seats and sinking into it. “I wasn’t expecting something quite this grand.” That to his surprise got a laugh out of Eriff. “Grand? My sister? Hah. Our family holding is a tiny rock with a fishing village on it in the ocean, our mansion is barely larger than your shuttle. The only grand thing about it is who I am with, and that will only have a minimal impact on the trade.”

His words calmed Dustin down a little. If all else failed, he’d have to think on his feet - it wasn’t like he had time to magic up a masterpiece work of art before his potential new crew member arrived. Refilling his drink and sipping it to calm his nerves a little, he looked over at Eriff. “So, anything I should know before I meet your family?” The other man tapped his chin thoughtfully. “Not really. Emely is quite the unique character by our standards but if I am understanding all the data we have on humans correctly you two should get along quite well. My brother-in-law is a sensible man and works hard for our clan, more so than most patriarchs. My sister… well, she’ll be talking with your matriarch, so it’s unlikely you’ll have anything to worry about there, and judging by the reports your matriarch should be able to handle her well.”

The rundown didn’t put Dustin any more at ease, but there wasn’t exactly anything he could do. He did ask how long they’d be waiting, at which Eriff had shrugged and suggested it’d be under an hour. Direct orders from the Empress got people moving rapidly apparently - and indeed, it was around forty-eight minutes later that the door opened and a pair of women entered. Dustin stood - Meli had run him through the basics of Feliax etiquette enough times - and waited for an introduction. What happened instead was a squeak from one of the women followed by her diving forward and giving Eriff a massive hug. “Uncle! So this is where you’ve been hiding.” For his part, the older Feliax seemed rather embarrassed and coughed as he went about disentangling himself and bowing to the other woman. “Greetings, Meora. Did my sister request my presence for this meeting?”

The second fox woman (the older of the two Dustin noted now he took in their appearance a little more clearly) tapped her chin in a manner that put him in mind of Meli for a moment before shrugging. “My matriarch didn’t indicate a preference either way. Personally, I’d appreciate it if you were here - Emely is what she is, and I am not as well versed on human culture as I’d like; we do not wish to create an issue for our beloved lady Empress.” Eriff nodded, gesturing for the others to take a seat. As he sat, Dustin got his first real look at the woman that Meli and Rye had apparently picked out.

The first thing that struck him was her short red hair and outfit - where the other women (Meora included) that he had met had all opted to wear dresses of one kind or another, Emely wore trousers and a t-shirt despite being in the imperial palace. Her outfit seemed almost ridiculously casual, and coupled with the hair practically screamed tomboy. Her voice, the three flickering tails that she draped carefully over her lap as she sat, and the manner with which she had greeted her uncle however implied a far more bubbly personality than her outfit would have suggested. Seeing Dustin looking at her she blushed and tilted her head down, looking at him from below her lashes. Dustin swallowed - this woman was managing to make herself look very attractive with a very plain outfit.

“Emely, this is a twofold introduction as your aunt and I explained to you a short while ago” Meora said, before gesturing at Dustin “you will need to decide firstly if you wish to work with the human ambassador’s mission, and secondly if you wish to join his pride. His matriarch has already stated that they are open to you working with them should you just wish to travel.” Dustin blinked at that - he’d not realized it was an option, but Emely shook her head quickly. “Second, you should know me better than that. I might be a serious radical, but I’m not a pervert. I’m not going to go traveling with a male without being part of their pride properly.” Then, glancing back at Dustin, she added “besides, the others seemed to think he was nice. I’m Emely val Motea, aged twenty-one, graduate of the imperial academy in interspecies relationships at the royal-seal level. Why do you want a Feliax on your crew?”

The question at the end of the description had come like a whip, her tone shifting from bubbly to suspicious in an instant. Dustin looked at her and deciding on honesty as the best policy shrugged. “I discussed it with my crew - my pride - and we all agreed that a Feliax would be the logical choice for a communications specialist out of the possible options.” Something about that statement caused a slight widening of the eyes from both Eriff and Emely, and the hint of a smile to form on Meora’s face. Before Dustin could figure out why, Emely gestured upwards as she asked another question. “Why did you want to go to space?” That was an easy question for Dustin - “to see what’s out there. My species has chronic wanderlust, a huge number of us love to see new things. And for me personally, I don’t have anything to keep me held back.”

That got an interruption from Meora. “Nothing? You have no clan to back you?” Dustin winced at that, then nodded. “My parents died defending civilians from a terror attack during the early period post-contact. My grandparents died as I completed my education.” The older woman nodded and smiled sadly at him “I apologize for the question. It was important to make sure you had not been disowned.” Emely coughed at that, and Dustin turned his attention back to the bubbly tomboy. “I only have a handful more questions for you. Firstly, I understand from your matriarch that your species is traditionally largely monogamous. Are you fucking both your matriarch and second?” Dustin choked on the juice he’d been sipping when she asked the question before nodding, getting his breath back as Emely asked a follow up question. “With that in mind, what is the most important thing in a group relationship?” Dustin wiped his eyes and fixed her with a firm stare. “Happiness of all the members. I want to make sure they’re all happy with each other as well as with me.”

Did Emely lick her lips slightly at that? Dustin thought he might have imagined it as the woman smiled before glancing sideways at the two older Feliax. “These last questions I will require private answers for. Whisper them to me.” As she said it, she stood and crossed to sit on the arm of Dustin’s chair. He gulped - by everything Meli had taught him, this was a major breach of etiquette. Whatever these questions were, if Emely thought privacy was that important they were probably deciding everything. Meora nodded at his panicked expression, clearly recognizing that he understood the import of this action. The woman beside him stretched, Dustin doing his best not to stare as she pushed her chest forward. “Question one, what is more important, your pride or your mission” she asked, leaning down so he could whisper his answer. He breathed a sigh of relief - the reason for the privacy was clearly to preserve his dignity as an ambassador. He didn’t even think, leaning in close and whispering “honestly? My pride. This is the first job I’ve ever found that works for me, but if the others came together and told me to quit I’d get the first shuttle to wherever they wanted us to go.”

The red-headed fox girl nodded at that, smiling slightly before turning her head and whispering her final question. “Last one. I agree to join your ship, we are alone for the first time. I tell you that I’ll do anything you order as you are my patriarch and strip out of my clothes. What is your first order.” Dustin’s face turned beet red, and he felt himself stiffen. Glancing up, he noticed that Eriff and Meora had started chatting together, although given the glance the older woman gave him he guessed that talk was just to ensure Emely could ask her questions in private. His brain spun with options, then he suddenly shook his head, deciding to just go with his gut. “I’m an idiot for taking so long to think this over” he whispered to the woman, before adding “I’d tell you to take a contraceptive med spray as my first order. I doubt I could keep my hands off someone as cute as you after that kind of offer, and I don’t think you getting pregnant before we even left the system would be look good to anyone wondering why I wanted a Feliax aboard.”