Nae-nae

Dustin paused, taking in the state of his green-skinned lover. Naera’s silver hair was a mess, she’d stripped down to just a strapped top that she was falling out of, and a pair of what looked like sweatpants that he’d not known she owned, both garments sticking to her skin in the humid air of her room. Her eyes when she met his gaze were glassy, a distant stare that made him cross the distance to her in a few swift strides before wrapping his arms around her.

“What… Naera, what is the matter? You’ve seemed fine outside of work recently, but then I went to find you in the galley and you weren’t there, and now I find you here like this…” Dustin asked as the Caenii woman shifted to allow him to sit fully on her bed beside her.

Naera gave a wistful sigh and dropped her head into his lap, gazing up at him with one arm holding him close while the other drooped back down into the mud of her floor. “Everything and nothing’s the matter, Dustin. I should be happy, you know? I’ve got love - so much love, so much more than I ever thought I’d get. And I’ve got a great job, one that I’m fantastic at, and my team are doing really well with their training… and I was the one that did the training, right? Me. But despite all that, I just…” She gave a deep sigh and flopped further, her top riding up to expose green skin before she tugged it down with an irritated huff.

“I think it’s that I don’t feel I contribute anything real, you know? Rye’s amazing at engineering, and Emely makes being sociable look easy… Trea’k’s all sophisticated, and Meli and Bleu know literally everything about anything you want to ask them. Even Sammie has that whole ‘so good at flying she out-flew an explosion’ thing, and I’m just… the one making the snacks.” The plant woman kicked her foot irritably against her bed, sighing again and closing her eyes. “What do I do that you couldn’t get a chef from any half-decent planet for? Everyone else is special, or hand picked, or otherwise important… and I’m just a random girl you saved when my home got attacked. The only person less important than me is Aricia, and she’s not actively part of the crew, so doesn’t count…”

Naera’s voice trailed off sadly as she reached the end of her outpouring of feelings, before she resumed with a clear effort to try and sound more cheerful. “It’s mostly the work, Dustin. As far as relationships go, I’m good okay? I’m not feeling side-lined, and it’s clear the other ladies and you care for me in all the ways I want or need to be cared for and then some, right? It’s just when it comes to my role on the ship I feel like I’m increasingly useless. I’d hoped some new recipes would perk me up - that’s why I was so keen on finding more about the Lieviran’s cooking, but it hasn’t helped.”

Dustin stroked her hair as he formulated a reply, slowly brushing the silver strands back into place with his fingers before speaking. “I expect me saying that you do more for the crew than you know won’t help matters much, but I’ll start with that. You might not notice how people act about your cooking, but I do; hell, I had an automat breakfast this morning because I got up late and I was kicking myself the entire time that I’d missed out on whatever you’d made, because the days always feel easier to handle with your food. Yes, even with the kind… no, especially with the kind of chaos we’ve been dealing with lately.”

Gently shifting his legs onto the bed fully, Dustin pulled Naera up so that her back was pressed against his chest, his arms wrapping around her waist. “Your team asked me to speak with you when I visited the galley looking for you. They’re all worried about you. And as for the rest of the crew…” He paused, trying to find the right words to explain just how much of the morale of the ship was down to knowing that teams could meet over a meal that might come from the cuisine of a hundred different worlds and yet would satisfy the taste-buds of anyone that bit into it.

“…I don’t think we’d have as efficient, capable and effective a crew as we do without downtime. Sure, Trea’k and Bleu keep them mentally and physically healthy - and on that note, I will be asking you to take some time to talk to our ship’s counsellor at some point - but it’s you that keeps the soul of my crew happy, Naera. Every meal you make, or teach your team to make? That builds connections between staff decks apart and helps Sola run as efficiently as she does.” Dustin paused as a drop of warm liquid struck his arm, noticeable despite the moisture in the air.

Naera’s tears rapidly grew into sobs as he held her, unsure of whether to press on with explaining just how much she meant to the ship as well as to him personally or if it would be better to just let her get all her emotions out first. In the end he opted to just sit and be a rock for her as she let all the frustration and self-doubt she’d been experiencing drain away, the plant girl slowly turning into a snotty mess as her last hiccupping sobs turned into sniffles.

Turning to look up at him with eyes ringed with a deep forest green - Dustin guessed they’d have been red if she’d not had chlorophyll running in her bloodstream - Naera gave him a weak smile. “Sorry I’m a mess, Dustin,” she said, looking around vainly in search of tissues. Unsurprisingly, there were none in this humid room - any paper there had been would have rapidly turned to mulch in the heat, and so she struggled up out of his lap and stomped unsteadily in the direction of her bathroom. Dustin followed, gently rubbing the shortstack’s back as she washed her face, eyes staring blankly at herself in the mirror.

“Gods, I am so messed up.” She said after a moment, turning back to him with a shaky grin. “I spent so long in my head… I should have talked it over with Trea’k, and I didn’t… and then you said… and…. fuck, I’m an idiot, Dustin.”

Dustin frowned, disliking the idea of any of his lovers being self-depreciating outside of a specific set of intimate activities. Naera spotted it, and tried to gave him a far more normal look, cracking a terrible joke. “Hold the fuck up, Dustin. It’s me, I’m the fuck up,” she said, stretching up on her toes to rest her hands on his shoulders. Dustin sighed, before lifting the shortstack into his arms as he turned back towards her bed and a comfier place to sit than her bathroom (which was also overgrown with plants) offered. As he walked, he muttered in her ear “I should never have shown you all my school essay on culture in the decade before first contact. The others are just as bad at quoting references that were dated and old even before I was born now…” which earned him a chuckle from the woman in his arms.

Settling back down on her bed, Naera wriggled into a comfortable position under his arm with her head on his chest. “I’ll make an appointment to see Treacle in a bit, Dustin. And I know you’re busy and all, but… can we stay like this? Just for now? Just while I work up the courage to ask Treacle to help me unfuck my head and get over myself?”

Dustin squeezed her shoulder by way of reply. “I’ve nothing more important to be doing right now than you.” Realising what he’d said as the woman in his arms gave a far more normal sounding chuckle, he rapidly corrected himself. “I mean, nothing more important than supporting or spending time with you…”

Naera sighed, nuzzling her head into his chest. “Pity… I always found getting my brains fucked out was a good way of shutting them up for a bit.” Feeling him tense up, she glanced up at him. “I will contact Trea’k, Dustin. Don’t worry - that much falling apart is too much, right? When I was just being all sad on my own I could pretend I was just having a bad day, but when you telling me people rely on my cooking gives me a full on sobbing breakdown, I know I need proper help.”

Dustin gave her the warmest smile he could, stroking her hair as he did so. “I’m proud of you for recognizing that, love. When you’re ready, I’ll help you set up that appointment.” Naera gave a nod, before tilting her head up properly for a kiss which he was all too happy to give her.

Breaking the kiss a moment later, she shook herself and struggled out of his embrace. “Better to not put it off any longer. Sooner I get it done, the sooner I can start getting better, right?” Dustin nodded, grinning to himself as Naera rummaged amongst the vines before retrieving a tablet in a waterproof case. Tapping it, she put through a call to Trea’k.

The insect woman was more than happy to book in an appointment - as soon as Naera asked for some time, the Vex’ess woman casually rearranged her entire schedule just to be able to see the plant woman later that day. Session booked, Trea’k smiled through the video link at the pair of them before telling Naera to spend the time before her appointment with Dustin as he’d been the one to help break her out of her funk in the first place.

When the counsellor disconnected the call a short time later, Naera tossed the tablet back in among her vines and glanced around with a mischievous grin on her face. “So, Dustin… I’m supposed to spend the next three or four hours with you before Treacle can see me… and well, I’ve been a brave girl and taken steps to sort my head out…” She took a step closer. “Mind helping take my mind of my woes in the meantime?” She hooked her thumbs into the waistband of her sweatpants, dragging them down just enough to show off the tops of her hips and gave him the first totally genuine grin he’d seen since stepping into her room.