Chapter 31 #2
"All right, little Pip, this is where our food is located.
" I opened a fridge that had a small generator attached to it and pulled out some purple root vegetables that seemed cheap enough.
We weren't exactly splurging on food, and the printers needed the ship online. I was surprised to learn just how much power the neutron core generated and how much didn’t work with just a single generator running on fuel.
But that didn't matter.
What mattered was getting Pip fed, some food in my stomach, and then having a conversation with the two women who were walking behind me like puppies expecting to get a firm scolding.
"Food," I offered Pip, holding out two of the root vegetables.
He understood well enough, swooping in and eating the ends.
Thankfully, he seemed to know well enough not to eat my fingers.
I was incredibly grateful for that natural intuition.
The part of the vegetable he didn't eat, I turned and snapped off between my teeth before turning to Lily and Violet.
"Now," I started, and they both went ramrod straight. If I were perfectly honest, I felt a small high seeing both terrifying women being docile towards me. But I resisted reveling in it and instead focused on what needed to be done.
Both of them seemed a little less put together today. Violet’s tails clearly needed brushing, and Lily was oddly pale.
"I understand the two of you are becoming more than a little competitive towards each other," I said, getting the problem right out in the open.
"You don't understand. Violet—" Lily started, and I held a finger up.
"You can talk when you’re holding—" I looked around and grabbed one of the root vegetables.
"When you're holding the garshon," Violet filled in.
"When you're holding the garshon." I nodded. "So right now, we're just going to talk about the problem before we do any addressing." I wagged the garshon, and Pip swayed from side to side, eyeing it greedily. The little guy must be starving, but I would feed him more later.
"I understand that I've been wrong," Violet said, reaching out and taking the vegetable from me, attracting Pip's unwavering attention.
I wasn't holding the talking stick, so I just lifted an eyebrow for her to continue.
"I was interested in pursuing you, Captain, and by your answer, I felt that it wasn't that you were disinterested, but that you wouldn't be in a relationship with someone else because of Lily.
" She gave a quick glance towards the other woman.
"And so I felt pushing through that would be my best option. "
I nodded along. While her words made sense, I wasn't exactly thrilled being seen as something to fight over, and apparently, I wasn't giving her the reaction she expected, because she became less sure of herself as she continued.
"So that's why… and I apologize for pushing. It just didn't seem that there was a way through without being forceful," Violet finished, looking down at the garshon for something to focus on that wasn’t me.
Lily reached over and snatched the garshon from Violet's hand. "Well, good. I think I showed my intention quite well. The captain doesn't need nor want another woman."
I crossed my arms. "And who said that?" As I spoke, Lily froze.
"Do you want another woman?" She looked at me with big, pitiful eyes.
"I'd be lying if I said it wasn't at least somewhat interesting. However, I'm most interested in keeping my relationship with you."
Her pout turned into a smile of victory.
"That said, I am disappointed in how you handled this situation," I corrected before she could get too excited. "You being this rough or rude to your crewmate is not something I want to see now or ever."
Lily looked properly chastised, suddenly finding her hands incredibly interesting. "Where does that leave us?" Lily asked.
"It leaves me in a relationship with a woman who needs to make up her mind on what she does or doesn't want."
Lily bobbed her head quickly. "I want you."
"Good. Then perhaps we should think about a way to assure everyone involved that my decisions are mine to make and not forced by you," I said, realizing that I wasn’t holding the garshon, but at least no one was talking out of turn.
Lily dug a toe into the metal plating, a grumble escaping her. "But you don't need another woman."
"I do not." I put a hand on Lily. "You are wonderful, and it's important for you to know that you are enough. However, it does seem, for multiple reasons, that I should at least give Violet a chance," I said.
Lily took a deep breath, sucking it in and holding it. At least, that's what the move resembled. I honestly wasn't even sure if Lily breathed. Did she need to? But my curiosity was dismissed in favor of remaining serious in the face of this dispute.
"I'm thinking I owe Violet a chance." I handed the garshon over to Violet. "And what do you think of that?"
She held her chin up. "I find it acceptable. All I wanted was a chance. It's not like I can force anything between us, and I never would." She got Lily's hard glare from the start of that comment.
Lily took the garshon. "I think that is acceptable.
However, should the captain no longer desire to continue a romance with you"—she narrowed her eyes at the kikai—"I expect you to behave appropriately, and if you cannot, you should leave the ship.
After all, you're currently borrowing much of the captain's goodwill simply by allowing him to give you as much support as he is already.
You're currently facing a dangerous enemy and dragging him into the fight.
" Lily jabbed a finger, only to soften the gesture after a glare from me.
"You are a danger to the captain. Thus, I can somewhat agree with this, as long as your top priority in what may come is the captain's safety. "
"Of course. However, there will be some level of ensuring my own safety before I can protect the captain." Violet nodded slowly.
"Of course," Lily said, though she sounded less than impressed.
"Then where does that leave this?" Violet said, a hesitant smile on her face.
"I think after the present danger, I owe you a date." I nodded to Violet and then turned to Lily. "And I owe you plenty of cuddles and affection to make sure you don't feel left out." That caused Lily to beam. "Of course, all of this can only happen once we're safe."
Both ladies seemed happy with my solution. I let myself smile at the result. Pip then began cheering, as if he knew there had been a resolution.
"Pip, pip, pip."
"You're right, Pip. They did good. And perhaps in the future, both of them can help take care of you.
" I knew Pip was sentient, thus he would become, I assumed, increasingly self-sufficient.
There was a momentary flicker of horror that I could be dealing with a small, unintelligent being for decades, before I shook that off.
Pip already seemed smarter than a human child right out of the egg.
Violet reached out for the garshon, and when Lily gave it to her, she just took a bite out of it. That was one way to confirm the talking stick was no longer useful.
"I suppose that means we should go find Melgara and start on some of her experiments?
" Violet asked Lily, and I was glad to see they were already beginning to work together.
"It hasn't been long, but she should have some new experiments.
We should also try to see if we can learn anything more about levitons.
Melgara does have a decent library on her drives. "
Lily nodded, and Violet nodded in agreement before taking off.
I found myself suddenly alone with Pip.
"Well, how do you feel about going to check on the mechanics? It seems some of the recent incidents have stalled their progress," I said to Pip. "After all this is done, I'm pretty sure we want to get the heck out of here before more problems have a chance to descend on us."
Pip gave his usual response. "Pip, pip."
I smiled, patting him on the top of the head as the little floating whale ground his skull into my hand. I took a moment to appreciate just how heavy he felt, pushing against me.
"Pip, can you land in my hand?" I asked as we began walking out of the ship.
"Pip, pip," he said and landed, putting his weight completely in my palm as I staggered forward, staring down at him. He couldn't be more than ten inches nose to tail, but he easily weighed fifty pounds. I wasn't even sure a lump of lead would be this heavy.
"All right, I guess you did eat a bunch of metal. That had to go somewhere," I said to Pip, as my mind suddenly wondered how a black hole digestive system worked before tossing that idea aside.
Melgara said her friend's name was Minnie. Well, that's what Melgara called her. Her real name was apparently a mouthful enough that Melgara seemed uninterested in even attempting.
"Pip, pip."
"Yes, yes," I said, mostly pretending to understand him, as he floated off my hand and began hovering around my shoulder.
He settled down, but it was featherlight.
Whatever he used for propulsion was likely still partially engaged, if I wasn't feeling his full weight.
Which would have been like someone dropping a fifty-pound barbell on my shoulder.