The princess's dating diaries (Part 3)

Naera frowned. “Careful, if you mix it too quickly the mixture won’t get enough air and will collapse. Imagine you’re stroking… no, wait, you’re a prude, that metaphor won’t work. Imagine you’re petting a really scared creature. That’s it - keep it at that speed, I’ll add the extracts.”

The chef was stood in the small galley in the ambassadorial quarters, Jaisyl at her side with a mixing bowl between them. The shortstack had been firm about her choice of date - while she had no strong feelings either way about the princess as a friend or guest aboard Sola, if she was to join their bedroom she needed to at least appreciate the art of good cooking.

“Like this?” Jaisyl was humming under her breath, a steady song that seemed to be helping her keep the mixing of the batter steady. “This is really rather fun, almost meditative in a way. I can see why you like it so much.”

The Caenii woman grinned. “It is, isn’t it. Of course, not every recipe is like that - next time, we’ll make flashcrisp pastries, something from my people’s homeworld… but I thought I’d ease you in gently. Now, tilt the bowl a little, there, and I’ll pour this in - keep it moving.”

As she did as she was told, the princess smiled to herself. She was covered in flour, the result of an over enthusiastic bag opening. She was sticky with honey and butter. She was pretty sure her fingers would get stained if any of the extracts Naera was adding spilled onto her hands. But more than that - the Caenii woman had said ‘next time’.

As Naera watched the extracts blend into the mix with a careful eye, Jaisyl risked a glance at her. “Next time? We’ll be doing this again? I’d like that…”

A green arm reached across her, a spoon dipping in and out of the mixture as Naera tasted it before nodding. “We need to pour this into the trays we prepared earlier. I’ll grab them out of the fridge. And yes, there’ll be a next time - before you ask I’m not going to tell you how I intend to vote, but if you’re enjoying it I’m more than happy to take the time to teach you to cook, lover or not.”

The princess was hopeless with machinery. Rye knew that, which meant that a date in engineering would be out of the question - she’d just got the ship back into functional order after the Fractal attack. Drinking would be her next go to - but she wasn’t sure how well Tho’unn handled their alcohol, and in any case she couldn’t drink due to the pregnancy. Bleu said that she would be fine to keep fully active for quite some time, an advantage of being a Rabyth, which meant that some of the more physical recreational activities would be possible… but she didn’t really feel like that would be a good idea for a date either.

It was annoying in the extreme. Honestly, she would be happy just letting the woman join. It was obvious to anyone with a pair of eyes that Jaisyl was head over heels for Dustin, even if the Tho’unn herself tried to remain blind to the fact. But, they’d set this protocol up for a reason, and she wasn’t going to ignore it just so she could get more time to tinker with shuttle thrusters… or join Emely in enticing Dustin into getting his dick sucked. True, Rye usually enjoyed that particular act, but ever since her hormones had kicked in she’d found herself really enjoying it. Which was good, because Bleu had told her that she wasn’t allowed to be too physically restrained which meant that playtime with Trea’k or using her bondage frame were both completely out of the question for most of the next year.

Although, on the subject of the frame… She had an idea. Humming to herself, she pulled out her tablet and went to check if Sola had the required things in storage. Thankfully they did, and after a moment to gather everything she needed and ping a quick message to the others requesting use of the ambassadorial chambers, she headed out to locate the princess.

A short time later, the two women sat in the ready room, Jaisyl staring at what looked like a collection of torture implements and dead hides set in front of them. “So, Rye, umm… what are we doing?”

Rye grinned and held up a strip that she’d been cutting from the pile of leather. “Embossing! And hole punching! It’s… sort like what ya do with your embroidery, only with much tougher fabric. I’ve never done it before, but I want to make some fancy… bracelets, for me and Emely to wear. I figured we could learn together.”

Jaisyl blinked, then began to giggle. Rye raised an eyebrow as the princess took the leather out of her hands and wrapped it neatly around a wrist. “Bracelets? Rye, do you have any idea how many books I’ve read? I know exactly what sort of ‘bracelets’ leather cuffs are, and I am well aware that all you ladies are perverted so I can put two and two together. Also, if we’re making cuffs I’m lining them with something soft, leather will chafe against your skin chronically, and that’ll make Dustin sad.”

The Rabyth sat open mouthed as Jaisyl moved to the automat, retrieving a bolt of what looked like some form of thick woolen cloth after a few minutes searching through menus. “This will do. I’ve never done leather-working before either, but it sounds like a fun way to waste materials and spend time together. Oh, and sorry for the giggles a moment ago. I just never thought that it would be you out of everyone that would get me doing something directly linked to the depravity you all live in.”

Rye opened her mouth to reply, but Jaisyl held up a hand. “I’m not complaining. It’s sweet that you trust me enough to ask me to help with this. Now, we should start by figuring out attachment points for these, unless you just want to make a set of handcuffs with a central stud… I read a book about a pirate king who kept the heroine in those for a week while he…” Suddenly realizing what she was saying, Jaisyl trailed off as her face rapidly turned red.

Patting the overheating princess’s hand, Rye grinned. “Attachment points, deffo. I’ve got a few things in mind I’d like to be able to fit them to in the future… also, what ever are ya reading princess? Ya go on about us for depravity and perversion, but it seems like the nobles in your stories aren’t always as ‘noble’ as ya been making out…”

As far as Bleu was concerned, there were never enough hours in the day. Between ensuring the crew didn’t manage to get themselves all killed by any bacterial or viral threats that might to be circulating, training her admittedly rather competent juniors, and dealing with whatever the latest madness that Dustin had thrown Sola into happened to be on any given day, she was rushed off her feet. Then, there were the evenings - a time of pampering and softness and exploring the women and man she loved. In between all that, she still somehow found time to read up on the latest in medical science and managed to scavenge a few minutes to practice her control of her own body, something she’d neglected until her current relationship gave her a range of reasons it would be useful.

With all that in mind, the slime woman wasn’t entirely sure how she’d find time to spend with Jaisyl. Honestly, she wished she could veto her date and just agree to let the princess join. Leaving aside the fact that she already got on with the Tho’unn as well as she got on with anyone, and the fact that Dustin had accepted the woman’s request, Bleu had a far more base reason for wanting to let the bovine woman in. Those horns…

While the Queri medic might not have been as casually dominant as say Trea’k with her webbing, and certainly preferred Dustin to take the lead when he was involved, she did rather enjoy being in charge around the others. Especially Emely and Rye, both of whom seemed to take great delight in being womanhandled around… If she were to tell the truth, Bleu really just wanted to see how Jaisyl would take to having her horns grasped and her head moved into position. Either she’d hate it, love it, or more likely would love it to the point of distraction but claim she loathed it. If forced to bet, Bleu would have gone for the latter option.

As she pondered that particular set of thoughts, the door to the medbay slid open and a rather nervous looking princess stepped inside. “Bleu? Are you here? I umm… I thought we could go for a walk, if that’s alright?” The Tho’unn seemed oddly unsure of herself for once, and Bleu smiled as she flowed out of her seat. Oh, this was going to be fun.