Finding downtime

Sammie had nagged Dustin repeatedly about his promise to spend time with Rye and Defia on the flight back the ship. He didn’t really need the reminder; he was well aware of how hard his two technically minded lovers were working, and absolutely agreed with the need to give them both some time off.

Getting the pair to take that time off once he got back onboard Sola however turned out to be far trickier. He’d approached the rogue Fractal first, on the basis that she was the one with the task that was the more important to not disturb. “Defia, how likely is it you’ll be able to take a break?”

The woman didn’t look up from where she was stood, her hand melded with the circuit board of a thruster pre-charging unit. “Statement. I have purged approximately sixty five point two percent of Fractal infestation aboard. Based on current calculations, I will be free in twenty nine hours and fifteen minutes. Addendum. Breaking from this process will result in firewalls I have established decaying before the infestation they are containing can be purged. This will increase my workload and time, as well as potentially endangering the ship.”

As he turned to go, she raised her free hand. “Inquiry. You wish for me to have ‘downtime’?”

Dustin nodded, knowing she’d be able to sense the movement even if she wasn’t looking at him. The rogue Fractal took a moment to consider his acknowledgment before she continued. “Statement. I appreciate it. I will be at your disposal as soon as I have ensured the infestation does not compromise our craft.”

Leaving her to her work, Dustin went in search of his bunny girl. Rye was unexpectedly not in engineering, but in the swimming pool, head first in a maintenance hatch. Settling onto one of the nearby loungers, Dustin opted to look rather disrespectfully at the curve of her ass until she finished whatever she was doing. Sure enough, a short time later Rye pulled back and stretched, before turning and grinning at him. “Ya get a good look, love? Alright, what do ya want Dusty, cos I’ve just spent…” she paused and glanced at her tablet, “about three hours tryin’ to make sure the water purifiers for the pool don’t start spitting out sulfuric acid instead of water. That’s why there’s the great big ‘closed - danger - repairs’ sign on the door.”

Dustin glanced around at the otherwise empty recreation area. “If you’re working on the pools, does that mean you’re at the point you can take downtime?” he asked, hopefully.

The bunny girl shook her head instantly. “Cogging hell, no. I’m working on the pools because all my techs are working on other ‘fun’ little surprises those Fractal drones left us, and if the purifier didn’t get sorted out the odds are the acid would eat through the floor plating and into the conduits below and blow out power to the entire deck. Got it sorted now tho. But I’ve a list of jobs that are similarly high importance a mile long, and mostly stuff I can’t leave to my team. Gonna work until I crash tonight, then maybe, maybe I’ll be able to start slowing down sometime tomorrow or the day after.”

Groaning, Dustin nodded. “I really want you and Defia to look after yourselves, but it looks like you both need another twenty four hours at least. Well, I’ll not keep you, chief engineer.”

As he stood and helped Rye carry her tools out of the pool room, Dustin took the opportunity to wrap an arm around his lover. “We’re all grateful for the work you two are putting in you know. As soon as you get downtime, I’m taking the pair of you wherever you want to be pampered however you want, understand?”

Rye snorted, but leaned into the hug regardless. “Fine. The baths then, once it’s all squared away me and Fi-oh will meet ya there because I intend to soak for about a month… among other things, if you’re offering. Get Naera to make us snacks, you’ll need them.”

The next day passed in a blur of meetings, messages back to Star Command, and liaising with the various teams working to get everything back in order once Rye’s engineers and Defia’s purge had swept through parts of the ship. It wasn’t until lunch the day after that Dustin’s tablet finally pinged with a message from Rye. “Captain, the ship is fully ‘functional’ again - will take some time to clean up the mess, but all systems are go. Get ya ass to my cabin, I need a hand carrying stuff.”

Pondering her message given he thought the plan was to spend time in the baths, Dustin made his way to the Rabyth’s room. When he arrived, she was busily tugging a chest out into the corridor and grinned at him. “Ah, good, hold the other end Dusty,” she ordered, adding “not trusting the grav-sleds at the moment, we’ve cleared any infections out but I’ve not had time to go through and make sure they’re not going to smash folk into the ceiling when they’re turned on. So, manual labour.”

Manual labour it was - the chest was heavy, and Dustin’s arms were straining when they reached the baths. As soon as they had set it down with a heavy thud in one corner of the steamy room, he rubbed his arms and turned to Rye. “What on Earth is in there that you need that badly in the baths?”

The bunny girl chuckled. “Present I made for myself. You’ll see later on, but for now go make sure the water’s warm while I set it up - this is for much, much later.” Then she shooed Dustin away, turning to start unpacking lengths of metal and brackets from the chest.

Leaving Rye to it, Dustin headed for the nearest pool and dipped his hand in. He didn’t really have to bother - the water was always kept comfortably warm, and unless Rye or Defia needed a deep soak in a hotter tub it would be fine, but she’d asked him to check and so he did. Standing and shaking the water from his hand, he turned as he heard the curtain leading to the showers rustle behind him.

Naera and Aricia stepped through, a hamper held between them. “I may have overdone the cooking a little, but there’s something of everything in here,” the Caenii said, steam already condensing on her green skin. Beside her, Aricia shook her wings, water sparkling in the light as it scattered off the delicate surfaces. Naera smiled up at Dustin. “Take good care of the ladies, Dusty. We’ll all be in the bedroom if you need any accomplices.”

As the pair of women turned to go, the curtain was brushed aside once more and Defia arrived. Inclining her head to the plant and butterfly girls, the rogue Fractal walked over to where Dustin was stood and glanced at the size of the hamper. “Statement. I believe if you and Rye consume all of this, she may look as pregnant as Emely.”

Dustin blinked. “Was that a joke, Defia?”

The Fractal nodded, smiling a far-too-toothy grin. “Affirmative. I have been practicing. Addendum - you are currently too dressed for a bath.” As she spoke, her form rippled, the uniform she was wearing sinking into her void-black flesh to leave the mechanical woman naked as she stepped past Dustin and into the nearest pool.

Dustin didn’t hesitate, Defia was right about his being too dressed for the current situation. Stripping quickly, he dumped his clothes in the dry area by the hamper of food, turned, and paused. Sometime between Naera arriving and his stripping, Rye had finished with whatever she’d been doing with the contents of the chest, and was now standing waist-deep in the pool. Water trickled down across her skin, golden fur a stark contrast to the void-black arms wrapped around her.

Defia stood behind the Rabyth, her chin resting on her lover’s shoulder as she moved a hand up to caress the bunny girl. “Statement… please join us, Dusty?”