~~~ Ray, Birdy, and Breezy
It was about two weeks after they had been with Birdy when her girlfriend came into heat. Ray had promised he would invite her to his room when it happened. One thing he hadn't told either woman was he had decided to get the knot modification. He wasn't really sure what his thoughts on it was since he had just gotten it and hadn't had a chance to try it. When they walked into the main lounge he traded a slight smile with Flitter.
When they walked in Birdy bounced over and jumped into his arms and gave him a good hug, "Ray! It is good to see you." Her eyes were sparking when she said it since she had seen the two of them yesterday. Once she had tried to squeeze his guts out she turned to Flitter and gave her a good hug as well, "Guess what?"
"I don't know Birdy? You are tired today since you didn't take me out?" Ray and Flitter snickered when he said it.
Her girlfriend had walked up behind her and was grinning at Birdy's antics. Once Birdy had hugged Ray and moved to Flitter Breezy gave Ray a good hug but nothing like the squeeze Birdy had given him, "Hey Ray how's it going, looking good." She stepped back and smiled at him since he really did look better than when he had first came aboard.
Ray returned the hug and stood there with an arm around Breezy while Flitter was returning the hug Birdy had given her. Breezy was a bit taller than he was and looked to have come from a Collie. She had tri-color hair and small perky ears. Her tail had the fringe like a collie's as well.
Breezy snickered at him and leaned against him as he was teasing Birdy. She rolled her eyes when Birdy made a grumpy face at him. Just for good measure she leaned over and nuzzled his neck and nipped his ear, "Not that silly boy. Should I show you?"
Ray laughed and then twitched, "Sheesh what is it with you Inu's? Those are my ears darn it. Ask before you nip them. At this rate I am going to end up with doggy pierced ears." Just for revenge he leaned over and nipped one of her ears as well. When she melted into him he raised an eyebrow, "Oh, so that's the news huh? Give me a moment." He checked his calendar and grinned, "We will meet you in the dining room and yes it is both of you since Birdy is at the end of her heat."
Flitter rolled her eyes at him, "Hedonist, after watching some of those anime things uploaded for you I think you are trying to start a harem..." Right before they had left Earth they had asked him what he might like uploaded and he had very wide ranging tastes, "At least you don't force me to watch those Sci-Fi movies." She had to shudder.
Birdy squealed at what he said and gave him another good hug, "So are you going to start with me since I am at the end and finish with Breezy since she is starting?" She gave him a winsome look when she asked. Breezy reached around Ray and lightly bopped her.
"Scat girls since I know you have work to do." He gave both a good hug and whispered in Birdy's ear, "I have a surprise just for you and I am not going to tell you what it is."
She gave him a look and narrowed her eyes at him since she had no clue he had talked to Spike, "Hmm... I will have to seduce the answer out of you." The two women were giggling as they left the two.
Ray flopped on one of the couches and shook his head, "Why do I already feel tired and worn out?" When Flitter settled on his lap and grinned he pulled her close and urged her to rest her head on his shoulder.
He looked down at her and leaned over and lightly brushed his lips across hers. One hand twined his fingers with hers and then lifted it to his lips and pressed a kiss against it, "Have I told you how lovely you are today my Liraque? You are as beautiful and fascinating as the lights of hyperspace. Always showing new aspects I have never seen before. You keep drawing me back to your arms and sometimes your lap."
Flitter returned the feather light kiss and was pleased. Ray had come so far since the angry outburst the first morning. There was still a great deal of healing needed but he was doing so much better. When he called her lovely she lowered her ears and nuzzled his neck before sighing in contentment, "And you are a lovely man as well." She relaxed against him and they sat there looking out the view window and ignore the looks they seemed to be getting.
Two of the other Liraque aboard the ship were sitting across the room sipping on some shakala which was a mild alcoholic drink. One had to smile at the two before looking at her friend, "I have a feeling we might be losing a Liraque in the not too distant future. They definitely look more than comfortable with each other sitting there."
The other had to smile at the scene as well, "If I wasn't a Liraque I would be seriously jealous. They do look good together don't they? Good for her and I hope the Goddess spreads her blessings on them." Both traded looks again and settled for simply watching them enjoy themselves.
Several of the nearer crew simply couldn't help but let out a slight 'awe' at the interaction. It was obvious the two of them were very in touch with each other. Most of the crew didn't deal with the Liraque a great deal unless they were having problems. Just looking at the two it was obvious the two had a very deep connection and it had been growing since Ray had come aboard.
In one corner of the room a tall muscular Inu was looking at them and almost went over to talk to them. She forced herself not to since they looked very peaceful and she didn't want to disturb them. Dark Song felt so embarrassed wanting some attention from them for such a silly issue. With a sigh she stood up and after checking the time on her implant she started towards engineering.
~~~ Ray shows Birdy his surprise
That evening they were in the dining room nibbling on the food. Tonight, it was finger foods which were understandable. After they had revealed themselves to him he had noticed they had claws at the end of their fingers. They started wide at the base and narrowed down towards the tips and tended to be dark. He had also noticed the skin of their palms and fingers were a bit rougher as well. As they were nibbling Birdy and Breezy came over and plopped down.
Ray shook his head, "Breezy how do you deal with her, all she does is bounce around and or flop on things." He winked at her, "Not to mention trying to take out a pack father..." He was grinning when he said it even though it sounded really odd to him.
Everyone nearby laughed at his comment and they settled down to eating and talking. Birdy was tickled pink since she had gotten a message from home her mother had delivered a little boy. Her entire family was stoked since when it happened they would get a nice bonus at the end of the year. She even had some pictures and of course they ended up with a group of crewmembers surrounding them. Everyone was telling her how cute he was and how lucky her family was.
The Captain came over as well and congratulated Birdy as well, "I think this calls for a celebration for the two of you. You are off duty until tomorrow morning and I am going to send a nice bottle of wine to Ray's room." There was a moment of silence at and then everyone cheered.
Birdy actually quieted down for a moment when the Captain said that. Her ears lowered as well, and she gave Vyra a shy thank you. She really hadn't expected the Captain to show up and most definitely hadn't expected the gift either. Once Vyra had patted her shoulder and left Birdy watched Ray stand up and looked a bit confused.
"Well you heard her there is a bottle of wine arriving in my quarters soon and I'm not going to let it go to waste." He reached over and pulled her out of the chair and into his arms, "I am going to show you the best evening possible my friend. Once I am done with you then I am going to deal with your girlfriend as well and smile as both of you lay there recovering." It got a really good laugh from most of the women nearby.
Flitter snickered and pulled Breezy up and wrapped her arm around her and gave her a light kiss, "I will make sure you don't feel abandoned while Ray is congratulating Birdy on her little brother." So far, she hadn't played any with anyone who had come into the room but it didn't mean she wouldn't. She highly doubted Ray would object, "Now I have a strange urge to go to the room, get a glass of wine, and a nice warm bath."
By the time they arrived at their room the bottle was in there in an ice bucket and several glasses. He had to smile since there was a tray of snacks as well. Some cheese, bits of meat, crackers, and some candied fruit, "Man I do appreciate Vyra and we are going to have to do something special for her."
Ray carefully opened the bottle and poured a bit of the wine into a glass and handed it to Birdy, "Since it is your evening you get the first sample. What do you think?" As she was doing the whole sniff and sample he was pouring some wine into each glass. Flitter was in the bathroom running the bath. He had to pause for a moment and wonder just who decided they needed such a massive tub. It could easily hold the four of them.
"Oh my, this is an excellent bottle and has to be from her personal collection." She held the glass out for Ray to fill before taking another sip, "So we are going to soak in the obscenely large tub huh? I can definitely get into that." As she was talking she withdrew her suit and swished her way towards the bathroom. She glanced back over her should, "So are you two coming?"
They traded looks and withdrew their suits as they headed towards the room. Ray eyeballed Breezy and grinned, "How interesting, I had to wonder if all your fur was tri-color." He lightly spanked her bottom and got a giggle from her. One thing he had noticed was even the plain looking ladies was attractive in their own ways. It was an interesting observation though some of it was they were all in excellent shape. Even the ones who might be considered fat weren't. Much of it was the wide range of body types.
When they settled in the tub Ray had to grin at Breezy. She was curled up next to Flitter and they were definitely relaxing with each other, "I might have to be jealous now. If you steal my Liraque I am going to grump at you and not share Birdy's surprise with you." Just for good measure he eyeballed the two women at the other end.
Flitter gave him a lofty look, "You have been having all the fun since you arrived. Maybe I want to have a bit of fun as well." She gave Breezy a good kiss and rested her hand on her lower abdomen.
Breezy preened with the attention and shyly returned the kiss, "I have never been with a Liraque, but I have heard stories. I feel really special right now." To have the attention of a Liraque and especially one who had a Liraqua was extremely rare.
Ray smiled at Breezy and reached over and lightly touched her knee, "Flitter is free to share her attention with anyone she wishes. At the moment our relationship doesn't include sex and even if it did I wouldn't begrudge her paying attention to our closest friends." The touching scene only lasted for a moment before Birdy dunked him.
She watched the scene and with a slight glint in her eye and whipped around and landed on Ray's lap and dunked him as she was kissing him. Eventually they made it out of the tub and in bed.
As Ray was pleasuring Birdy Flitter was making sure Breezy wasn't feeling left out. He couldn't help but smile slightly since this was so different than anything he had done before. Flitter had been in bed the entire time he had been aboard the ship but she hadn't actively participated.
When he finally got down to business and slid his unit into Birdy he spent some time stroking in and out before he activated the nanite modification, "Now for your surprise." He pushed into her before it was fully activated and waited for it to finish and then started working her again.
Birdy was already enjoying what he was doing but when he growled in her ear and pushed the swelling in she froze for a moment. As the swelling finished it pressed on some nerves inside and her body responded by tensing muscles around the opening of her tunnel locking them together. When he started the short fast strokes her body definitely started reacting and it didn't take very long before she came and hard.
Ray hadn't been expecting her reaction but when her tunnel clenched down on his unit he almost blew a nut as well. When she finally did he did as well and ended up collapsing on his side. He took her down with since they were stuck together. At the time he hadn't noticed Flitter pausing and resting her hands on them but afterwards he did.
All he could do was lay there and pant. The only sound which came out of his mouth was a sort of whining 'nnnngggg'. As he was laying there a small message played on his interface, "Well I see you have used the modification. I ensured it works as close to our males as possible. You are going to be tied to her for a while. Relax and enjoy." It was a canned message thank god.
Ray started laughing, "Oh man Spike is a stinker. I guess we are going to be here for a while Birdy." His hand was stroking her side and abdomen, "I hope you are pregnant as well if you want." It was a very quiet murmur in her ear, "If so you will have some lovely pups and I think you will be a great mother to our pups." He had gotten used to the term to an extent.
Birdy snickered at him when he called Spike a stinker, "I think I could lay here and relax for a while." Just to tease him she lightly rocked her hips back and forth, "Well if I am pregnant then I am sure I will have some darling babies. If you knock my girlfriend up I am sure she will have some darling babies as well."
~~~ Ray thinks about friends
The next morning, they finally crawled out of bed and everyone was looking rather tired and worn. All of them had been very active last night. Both girls had seriously gotten off with the knot he now had.
In a way the night also seemed to seal the friendship of the four of them in stone. In an odd way it also firmed up his relationship with Flitter. He wasn't sure why it happened, but it did. What almost made it worse was he couldn't put a finger on what had changed. Flitter still acted the same, but something was different and as much as he wanted to know there was no way he was going to ask.
~~~ Ray's family
Ray's mother came back to the city. So far there hadn't been any credible tip on what might have happened. There had been a number of crackpot callers who were calling in tips on where he was. One person insisted he was in Arizona on a vision quest. Another person swore he had been taken to Atlantis to learn new skills and bring enlightenment to the world.
Probably the wildest caller had said he had been taken by aliens for medical experimentation purposes. To say she was both annoyed and ticked off with the stupid callers was an understatement. She wanted her son back and not stupid calls with idiotic locations he might be.
When she exited the plane, Gloria met her and gave her a good hug, "Hello Juanita. I would say welcome back but..." She had to grimace since all of them were still being impacted by his vanishing. It had been a month, and nobody had any information on what might have happened to Ray. It was literally as if he had vanished from where he had been. There simply weren't any traces of him anywhere.
Juanita shook her head as she returned the hug before stepping away, "I know what you mean Gloria. I just brought the carryon, so we can just go." She had a hotel room already reserved since she wasn't going to even consider staying at his place. If he was gone too much longer then they would have to consider packing his belongings up and putting them in storage.
Gloria couldn't say anything at the moment and simply led Juanita to her car and unlocked it. Once both were in she took her to dinner with Simon, "What are your plans Juanita? I know you came for another broadcast. Beyond that, do you have any plans?"
Juanita lowered her head and looked at her cup of coffee before shaking her head, "Other than the broadcast I simply don't know what else to do. As of now the police have given up on a quick resolution. They have been gentle yet blunt about not hoping too much for him to be found alive. We haven't mentioned it to the children, but Misty knows even though she hasn't spoken about it." She finally took a sip of the coffee. Her hands were starting to shake, and she had to put the cup down, "I just want my son back." Her voice was a whisper.
Gloria reached over and grasped her hands, "I understand Juanita. We want him back as well. Call me if you need anything and don't worry what time of day it is. While you are here I'm here for you." She let go of her hands and took a sip of her tea before going back to eating.
~~~ Januita and the news
The next day she had spent some time wandering around the city before she finally went to the news station. Once there Juanita was greeted by the anchor and they discussed how it would go. It wasn't going to be all that long since there wasn't much to say since there wasn't much information.
By the time the recording was done Juanita was on edge again. She was going to go to the hotel and have several drinks and fall apart. Both she and Jared had cried many times once the kids were asleep but now it was for her and her alone.
Gloria had been there for her and had taken her back to the hotel. Juanita had done some drinking, so she had finally tucked her in and fell asleep on the couch in the room. The next day Juanita was flying back, and Gloria was going to make sure she was on the flight.