Angrily

“That was incredibly reckless Dana,” Bob begins. He's looking me in the eye, and… okay, his face is really hard to read, what with it being more lizard than human.

I raise an eyebrow, “I tried to call… comma were down, and they were just drift leeches. I didn't need to get within fifty feet of them, and gave them something else to target to boot.” Also, I'm immortal… and yes, I've tested that, although it wasn't entirely by choice. I'm not quite ready to spill that, though.

Gregory takes a slow, deep breath, “Suppose it wasn't just drift leeches. Suppose something nasty was out there too, and you died. Right now, if you die, we all die.” He can't quite get his eyes above my chest, though, which undermines his argument a bit. He's shorter than I am… seems like looking up wouldn't be hard.

Frank has the same problem of eye contact, but it's slightly less obvious because he's taller… I could be staring at these guys’ crotches and the only one who'd notice would be Bob… and why does that sound tempting? Oh, right… stupid hormones, stupid curse, “Look, princess, comms were down… fine. The ship isn't that big. Just come looking for us next time, all right?”

But I get more XP if I don't have to share… eh… okay, “Fine,” I chuckle, “I'll avoid killing things solo.”

“Speaking of…” Bob comments, “How did you kill them?”

Eh, the duration hasn't elapsed… “I had my kitty handle it,” I focus a bit to summon my Grimalkin’s Shade, “Go say hi,” I chuckle. The shadow creature rubs up against Bob's legs.

The lizard man kneels down and pets it, “This thing killed them? How?”

“Go incorporeal, please.” I instruct the summoned creature, and Bob's hand passes right through as I continue, “it can cause frostbite with a touch, and is completely disposable… but the slugs don't actually have a way to hurt it. I stood far enough away to not threaten the beasts while my little kitten made ‘em chill out. It took a while, but the shade did the job.” I reach down to pet it myself, and it turns corporeal again, “Who's a good kitty?” The little beast purrs, and I stand back up.

The lizard man stands as well, looking at Frank, who shakes his head, “I've never seen anything like it.”

I chuckle as I dismiss the creature for now. “Anyway, I was careful enough. I didn't get a scratch.” Also, because I did the job, I have more tricks up my sleeve now.

Bob nods, switching to looking me in the eye again as the not-cat vanishes, “I see. Still… do bring us along next time.” He takes a breath, “and… are we all ready to…” he pauses, “...’address the elephants in the room’?”

The very stocky muscled human tilts his head, his eyes still not leaving my chest… why do I find that… oh, right. Stupid hormones. “I'd say you got the saying off, but it fits here.”

The tall, thin elf licks his lips, “Yes. ‘Social relations’. With the… umm…” he pauses, “...current rations… the celibacy route isn't going to work.”

Bob nods, taking a breath, “Correct. The… stimulation… is making all of our hormones a bit excessive.”

I consider: I do have easy and unlimited access to Dream Feast and Megavitamin now, and I could get access to Sustenance from the Creation Sphere without losing too much… but honestly, I want more. The feeding is fun but it also makes that hollow feeling in my middle worse… and these guys aren't too shabby… “What are you thinking?” I go for a saucy tone.

Gregory licks his lips, “Well… celibacy is out, because…” he gestures vaguely at the twin giant orbs he can't keep his eyes off, even covered as they are by my armor, “...and there's only so many ways to keep the peace on a mixed company ship like this…” he swallows as he trails off.

Bob comes to his rescue, “Namely…” he holds up one clawed finger, “Celibacy, which is out for obvious reasons,” he adds a second, “pair bonding: If you have one mate, and everyone fully understands that there's no getting around that, things can go smoothly,” he adds his thumb, “then there's ‘ship's mattress’.” Bob licks his eyes, “there's little jealousy when everyone is… involved… and it's jealousy that causes most of the problems.”

That last one sounds so good right now… “I see…” …wait... ‘everyone’... “Bob, are you sweet on me too?”

“Yes,” he answers, “since the first taste of your ‘milk’, I have wanted…” he pauses, dropping his voice to just above a whisper, “...I have wanted you to lay my eggs.”

That makes me frown… I don't have life science, but… “What do you three know about medicine and microbiology? It does not make sense that Bob is smitten, and I'm suddenly concerned that my milk may have more than just good nutrients,” I look from one to the next.

Frank pauses, “I have a medical kit I could use to check … let's table this for a bit… ah, Dana, if you'd please come with me…” I follow as he heads to one of the cargo bays, the other two boys following close behind. Frank gets out a med kit from a chest, then samples some milk from mine, and runs a number of instruments over it.

After a while, Frank frowns, “Well…” he takes a breath, “You're right to be worried. There's no actual mind control ****, but there's a number of hormones in exceptionally high quantities in here, oxytocin and dopamine especially, plenty of others, but…” he shakes his head, “...but I suppose it doesn't matter.” He looks at my chest… still can't meet my eyes… at least I know why… “We're already hooked: Without you, we're in for a very nasty bout of emotional withdrawal; if we stop before we hit port we're dead anyway, and it'll only get worse the longer we're on it.” Frank looks at Bob, “...but at least it explains your attraction to her.”

I take a slow, deep breath, “I'm sorry. I didn't mean for this to happen.”

“I…” Frank pauses, “...don't think any of us can hate you right now. But you flagging us to check does make it clear enough that you didn't mean anything.”

“Especially as you've been drinking it too,” Gregory adds.

I look down at my exposed chest, silently cursing Life as I take my armor off the rest of the way, “That might be why I'm willing to try the ‘ship's mattress’ approach…” I lick my lips, “...who's first?”