The Princess's Dilema

Jaisyl Reh’unn paced her cabin, the soft lighting and carefully arranged drapes doing little to calm her mood. When she’d voiced her request for a meeting with Dustin, she’d expected it to be weeks away - certainly, with the harem he maintained, finding time for her to spend an afternoon with him should have been a major undertaking. How could she have known that Meli’a would be able to fit something in within a day? And now she needed to figure out what she was going to say to him, how to explain everything that was going on and…

With a huff of frustration, she turned and swept an arm across her desk, sending books tumbling to the floor. Then she squeaked in concern, dropping to her knees as she began to retrieve the volumes, checking each in turn to ensure her outburst hadn’t damaged them. Setting the books back in a haphazard pile, she rose and glanced at the clock. There was still a few hours before Dustin had arranged to meet her, so she could probably fit in some time at the gym to burn off her stress and still have time to shower afterward rather than risk damaging her belongings any further. Nodding to herself, she grabbed her tablet from where she’d left it on the bed, sent a questioning message to Yaerwen, and rummaged through her clothes in search of her exercise outfit.

The gym was mostly empty when she arrived; Yaerwen was waiting for her of course, but to Jaisyl’s surprise so too was Bleu. Asides from that, they had the space to themselves - it was one of the smaller gyms, and it wasn’t that unusual for it to be unoccupied for large parts of the day. The Hoxx woman moving past Jaisyl as she arrived to lock the door was unusual, however. “Don’t worry, princess - we just wanted a talk before you spend time with Dusty, and don’t want to be interrupted. Or overheard for that matter,” Yaerwen commented as she moved back to the running machines. “C’mon, lets run since that’s what you came here for.”

Unsure of herself, Jaisyl stepped onto her machine and began a light jog, Bleu and Yaerwen moving to flank her on either side as their own exercise devices sprang to life. “So… what do you want to talk about?” the princess asked, her breathing steady as she focused on a measured pace to start off her run.

Bleu spoke first, the slime’s usual blunt manner cutting any subtlety out of the conversation. “Have you decided you want to pursue Dustin?”

Jaisyl half stumbled, catching herself on the console of the running machine as she tried to maintain her balance. Getting back into the rhythm of her jog, she risked a glance sideways at the medic. “Wh…what do you mean by that?”

The slime woman shrugged. “Exactly what I asked. You have requested time alone with our love, you have quite clearly been rethinking your prior opinion of him and us, hence why Yaerwen is now willing to spend time amicably with you, it’s not hard to reach the conclusion that one of the reasons for your requested meeting might be to ask to move forward with your ‘marriage’ to him.”

Yaerwen chuckled at the other woman’s words. “That’s a lot of talking to say we think you have the hots for our man and you’re not as good at hiding things as you think, princess. Bleu does love to get all long winded sometimes, she’s almost as bad as Trea’k and Fi-oh for that.” The medic huffed at the Hoxx’s comment, but didn’t say anything as Yaerwen continued, “seriously though, what are you planning with this meeting? We’d like to know.”

Jaisyl tapped a control, slowing her machine down to walking pace before she responded. “I… I don’t know,” she said, before wincing at the disbelieving looks from the other women. “I mean it. I don’t know what I want. Part of me wants to be helpful on the ship like Yril’k and Aricia are, get a job that I can help with - like you do in engineering Yaerwen, or something like that. I feel… useless, most of the time. Like I’m an ornament that doesn’t have a shelf. I’m hoping Dustin can help me find a role to fill on the ship to help with that feeling. But then also…” she trailed off.

“But also you are trying to deal with your feelings around Dustin,” Bleu finished for her. Jaisyl groaned and nodded, tapping the controls again and speeding up into a breathless run as if making it harder for herself to find the air to speak could help get her thoughts across.

“I always… wanted… to marry… a knight.” She panted, sweat beading on her skin as she kept up the pace. “A warrior… you know? Like… in the stories.” Jaisyl’s eyes fixed on screen in front of her, the forest trail the running machine was simulating opening into a wide clearing as she spoke. “Dustin…. Looks so different from… what I imagined a man I… I would be interested in would look like.” The machine beeped, slowing automatically as she reached the end of a burst segment. As it did so, Jaisyl’s breathing gradually got back under control, and she concluded, “…but he’s so damn noble. Like, literally a hero, unlike most of the nobility I’ve ever met. How can I not get my feelings all messed up when Dustin is just so… so…”

Yaerwen and Bleu exchanged a look, grinned, and finished the princess’s sentence as one. “He’s just so Dustin.”

For a moment, Jaisyl didn’t say anything. Then, she began to giggle in a most un-royal manner. The others stared at her for a heartbeat, then they too began to laugh. Soon enough, the gym was full of the sounds of mirth as the three women resumed their run at a more measured pace.

Wiping her eyes some time later as she jogged, Jaisyl glanced to either side. “So… now you know, what difference does it make?”

Yaerwen shrugged, the Hoxx moving effortlessly as she ran, her skin glistening with exertion. “To me personally? Not a lot. The job side of things is Dustin’s business - he’ll find you something to do. Maybe sewing initials on everyone’s uniforms?” She chuckled at the princess’s horrified expression. “Na, he’ll find something more fun - though sewing is probably gonna be involved. We all saw the work you did for Sammie’s wedding, you’ve got real talent there.”

The Queri medic meanwhile took a moment to collect her thoughts. “If you approach him about the other matter, expect to be rebuffed in the short term. It’s not as simple as just deciding you want to be with him - our relationship is complex.”

Yaerwen snorted at that remark. “Yea, right. I had to wait ages before he’d fuck me ‘cos of that.”

Frowning at the interruption, Bleu continued, “as I was saying, it’s not as simple as wanting to be with Dustin - if that is indeed what you decide following your discussion with him later. We have a procedure for these things and… and why are you laughing again?”

Jaisyl shook her head, trying to get a hold on her emotions. “Sorry, sorry. It’s just… a procedure? Of course you have a procedure, there’s so many of you how could you not bring bureaucracy into the bedroom? Please, go ahead. If I… well, if Dustin and I… what do I have to do?”

The medic rolled her eyes, then hopped off her machine and walked to her bag. “First of all, here.” She tossed the princess a medspray, ignoring the way Jaisyl’s eyes widened when she saw what it was. “Everyone has to have one of those, I can’t remember if I’ve talked to you about how human biology works but let’s just say it’s extremely important you’re protected. Yes, Yaerwen, I am jumping the gun a bit by giving it to her now, but also I’ve just spent an entire day dealing with the fallout from corrupted contraceptives, so I am very much working on a safer-rather-than-sorry basis at the moment.”

As Jaisyl applied the spray under the medic’s glare, Bleu continued her explanation. “Secondly, Dustin will rebuff you initially. We insist that any new partners get approval from all of us before anything happens. And yes, in case you are somehow that socially inept that you don’t realise, it does mean that your rudeness when we all first met has made your life decidedly harder. Not impossible though - if that were the case, Meli wouldn’t have found a time for you to spend with Dustin so quickly.”