Gifts given and received

The ceremony was not yet done, Dustin knew. Theirs was not a usual relationship, nor was it a usual ceremony. In the aftermath, gifts were given by the guests - a table set aside for that purpose becoming loaded down with presents from friends and family. Liselia presided over everything, true to her word - including marshalling the guests to leave the ceremony area for another part of the garden that had been prepared for the after party. “The happy couple will be joining us shortly. They have one final part of their ritual to complete first, without us bothering them.” She’d said when one of Dustin’s human friends had asked why the pair weren’t already there and getting ready for their first dance.

As the last of the guests left, Meli took her new husband’s hand. “Our route lies this way, li’orpha’la. Husband.” She seemed to turn the human word over in her mouth. “I think I shall call you that, if you do not mind. It has a pleasant feel to it, husband mine.” Dustin was still in a dream of amber eyed beauty and just nodded along as she led him through the garden to a small circle of trees. Under it sat their lovers, along with a small packing crate, the locks to which the Velca rapidly opened. “Dustin…” she paused, and then nodded to herself. “In Velca culture, where the couple being wed are in what you would term a polycule, it is tradition for the spouses to give a gift to the others to show that they remain a family. Specifically, the spouse who most pushed for the date to be set must do this.” She blushed as she said it, before turning to the gathered women.

“Dustin is my… husband, now. He is your pair, your patriarch, your mate, your lover - I do not wish for any of that to change. Husband, if I give these to you will you hand them to the relevant women?” Dustin nodded, moving forward. She’d vaguely hinted at this, but he’d thought that after Bleu had scoffed that she didn’t need a gift to know that they were still okay with each other that the matter had been dropped. Evidently, Meli felt otherwise as she handed him a small packet and gestured to Emely. “For Emely; I’m not the best at crafting but I hope you will accept this.” The Feliax opened the package and put one hand to her mouth in shock before holding up what had once been Meli’s engagement choker - now set at it’s centre with a closed loop of metal carved into the image of a fox resting it’s head on it’s tail. The sculpted circle sat under the wearer’s chin in a way that was both elegant and yet somehow put Dustin in mind of a collar when Emely put it on.

Before he could ponder that too much, another parcel - this time for his ship’s counsellor. “For Trea’k. This was my first science project; it’s a diffuser aimed at calming nerves - although it can inflame the senses if adjusted.” The Vex’ess took the gift with care, four eyes locked on the dark haired woman. “I am honoured at this gift, mate of my mate. I know the import of your first project to your kind.” The third parcel went to Bleu, who seemed surprised to have gotten one at all. “For you, doctor, my modified scanner. I adjusted it when I first came aboard to better review human physiology, but after working on it with Rye for some time it’s now significantly better in that regard than anything any of our individual species have as standard. It’s also got a complete set of data on it of some… encounters, you might find useful.”

The Velca’s cheeks tinted at that, and Dustin could pretty much guess what kind of encounters she’d been letting the device record. He probably should have minded, but given the holo-recording they already had of him taking her anally among a few others that he’d been talked into making, he didn’t really have any reason to complain. Before the blush could spread any further Meli thrust another packet at him before closing the crate with a snap, holding the final parcel - far smaller than the rest - in her free hand. “That’s for Naera” she said, indicating the parcel he was holding. As he handed it over to the plant girl, his new wife added “it’s my childhood cookbook. My parents and I would write down recipes in it - things we cooked together. It’s pretty battered now, but…” The green-skinned woman’s eyes went wide, and she held the tatty old notebook that she’d unwrapped even more reverently than Trea’k had held the diffuser. “I’ll cherish this, Meli.” She said, gently turning the pages and scanning the writing within.

Rye meanwhile was shifting her weight uneasily from side to side. “Ya know, ya don’t really have to give me anything nerd. You and Dusty already showed me the stars and made my life better in so many ways ya know? We’re good, really.” Meli shook her head. “No. You most of all, Rye, deserve this. I… I didn’t expect to end up feeling as strongly for you as I do when I first suggested our love help you with your problems. I love you, Rye Steamtender, as strongly as I do my husband. Please, even if you think I’m a nerd, please…” Rather than handing Dustin the packet, the Velca moved to stand in front of Rye, offering her gift with the tiny parcel balanced on her open palms as if scared the other woman might reject it. “I’ve worked on this for so very long… please take it.”

The Rabyth looked at the newly wed couple and nodded. “Of course, Meli. And for the record, I love ya too, nerd. Aww, cog it all. I love ya enough that if Dusty were a Rabyth I’d have tried to avoid pairing so we could all stay together. What’s in here?” As she spoke, the bunny girl finished pulled the wrapping off - before holding up a medspray and blinking. “Wha…? Nerd, I don’t need a top-up of contraceptives any time soon, and that’s a really fucking weird gift even for you. Na, too weird in fact. What’s really in this thing, Meli?”

Hesitating before replying, Meli bit her lip and flashed a glance sideways at Dustin before taking a deep breath. “It’s the only gift I felt I could give that’d match the risk you’d be taking with me marrying Dustin. Trea’k helped; there’s a genetic sequencer in there that will… it will…” Rye’s eyes flickered from the amber pools in front of her to Dustin and back, before Meli managed to finish her sentence. “It will adjust the Rabyth fertility lock so that you’ll still have normal numbers of children if you get pregnant by a human. That is, you’d still have the same risks of being impregnated due to their odd biology, but you’d only have one or two at a time not a dozen or more. If you and Dustin want them, it’ll make it safe for you… I mean… it’ll…” Further words were smothered by Rye’s shoulder as the golden haired woman suddenly pulled her in for a hug, tears streaming down her face.

Dustin stood awkwardly as the pair hugged, unsure of what to say. When Rye broke the hug, sniffling and rubbing her eyes with the back of her arm, he glanced between them. Before he could say anything, the Rabyth took Meli’s hand in hers and asked “There’s no time limit on this spray is there?” Running her free hand down the other woman’s arm, the Velca shook her head. “You can use it whenever you like, it’s inert nanites primarily so the shelf life is decades or more.” Rye nodded, then turned to Dustin, her voice back to it’s usual sass, albeit one rough from the tears. “This is your wedding to this sappy, amazing, genius of a nerd, Dusty. So I’m not gonna drag any of the focus away from that onto us having kids at any given point in time. You, mister, if you ever, ever, ever intend to get me to help you handle keeping it up for all of us again, get any bunny butt or hell, have even so much as a glance at me without my clothes on are going to forget this little gift got given until after your honeymoon. Then, all three of us are going to have a nice long chat which I really cogging hope is going to end up with little miss amazing here pumping me full of her magic spray.”

What could he say to that? Dustin nodded, hastily trying to communicate that he was already really focused on Meli before Rye’s grin made him relax a little. “Good. Now, love, will ya kiss your husband again, properly this time? Some of us aren’t going to a random spot in the Welsh hills for days as soon as this party’s over, and we’d like a memory for us rather than one for public consumption. Go on, make us drool. Which reminds me; your little gift might have a long shelf life, but one of mine doesn’t. There’s a handful of droppers in the fridge on your ship that Bleu assures me should be good for the few days you’ll be away. One dropper a day should do it with just the two of you, don’t complain if ya end up sore if you let him take more than that. And you can thank me for the amount of time it took to me to fill that many when ya get back.” Dustin was still processing that particular statement when his vision was suddenly filled with his new bride, her lips pressed to his, and the pair of them did their best (while still remaining clothed) to put on a show for their lovers that would leave all five of them with steamy dreams for the time they were apart.