Act 2: Upheaval III - The Master Weaver and the Arena

In the captain's quarters of the Vulcan, Konrad is relaxing in the bath, audibly scrubbing himself and taking some time, while Femke reads in silence, with her back toward the tub. Konrad likewise faces away from her, and can hear her turn a page every thirty seconds or so.

"You certain you don't mind being in here, young lady? You know how people talk," he says, grinning to himself.

"Yes, I do," she replies. "It is however unlikely that the rest of the crew would believe that we've had sex. And if they did, it wouldn't bother me." Konrad would only see her back facing him from the tub if he looked over his shoulder. She keeps working without turning or looking in his direction.

"Yowch, that's a kick to the nethers." He scrubs some more. "Are you of age among your kind? I'd better ask, before I have a reason to worry."

There's a short pause before she answers his question. "I am of age, yes. You need not worry about this, not with the Tykes."

"'Not with the Tykes'? That itself is a worry, but not with regards to myself...."

He leans forward on his knees to dip his head into the water, then pulls back up, hair now wet and ready to be rinsed. "But, hold on. Is that what you want them to think? Or, perhaps you see something you like? I admit I'm quite the specimen... No, I take it that's not enough to catch your eye. Perhaps you need to examine me more closely?"

There's another pause before Femke talks again. "What would I see that I don't know already about human anatomy?"

"Variation, my dear Femke. You've seen my form, I think I sit pretty high on the curve there. Perhaps you'd like to see how I place on the curve below the belt?" he teases.

While waiting for an answer, he lathers his hair with shampoo. "I wonder how I compare to your kind. Am I an outlier? Or am I more toward the middle? Do you have enough data?" he shoots a lascivious gaze over his shoulder.

It has been at least a minute since she last turned a page. "You're sexually interested in me, am I correct?" She still hasn't turned to face him.

He chuckles. "Yes, you're quite pretty, and part of me does want to see what you're hiding from the world beneath those trousers. I can't decide if your creator was from Myr or Lorinth. You're not the type to dance around the subject, are you? Is this how they do it in Tyke Land?"

"...We do not feel the urge to have sex like humans do. We can do it, but reproduction is impossible this way."

Konrad dips his head back into the water to rinse the shampoo off. Oh my. He comes back up for air. "And yet you can...? If not for the lack of said human urge, I'd say count yourself supremely lucky. What do you do with that knowledge? And, to be extremely selfish, I must ask, what drives you to...'recreational' purpose with the act?"

"...Curiosity could be one factor. I've never experienced this act before."

"Really. Well, now you have my attention." He lifts a leg up onto the edge of the tub and applies soap.

Femke has stopped working on the notes for now. "If you wish, I could spend the night with you once you're back." She then falls silent.

Konrad perks up at this strange offer and eases off on the lewd barrage of taunts. "Hmm...if I wish," he continues, making one final jab. He pauses. "What about you? Which are you more interested in: me, or the experience?"

"I am... uncertain." She thinks for a moment. She then slowly looks behind her shoulder and gazes at Konrad. Her cheeks are red. "You are the only one who has shown interest in me."

Oh.

"Ah, I understand." He stops washing his legs and turns around to face her to treat this with formality, rising out of the bath to a modest height for decency's sake, and places his hands on the tub to steady himself. "You are a person, more than the sum of your parts and more than the experience you can provide."
He can scarcely believe he's talking like this, quite thankful that he is talking to one of her kind right now.
"I wanted to make sure I stand out in some way for you to make this offer. That said, my interest in you is akin to a boar in heat. I've never been exclusive in such matters."
But I can't say I never will be...
"Is that acceptable to you?"

Femke stares at Konrad for a long moment until she finally nods, slowly. "Yes," she says. "Can I... Can I wait for you here?"

Konrad nods. "Here would be the best place for it, yes." She's blushing, and she even stuttered. That's adorable. He goes back to washing himself. "You, and a Tyke's first time, damn. Ain't that a kick in the head." Given what he'd learned in this conversation, it certainly is.

She refocuses her attention on the piles of papers and says, "I'll try not to kick you in the head."

He just laughs. "Thanks, I appreciate that."

There's a short moment of silence, and Konrad thinks he heard a small chuckle. Could have just been the creaking of the ship however.

Konrad sighs in the afterglow and levitates his pipe to him and what he needs to light it, looking over at Femke for any reaction or disapproval before doing so. Magic makes everything better, he thinks to himself. The Tyke woman is still recovering from this new experience. She either doesn't register the floating pipe, or doesn't mind that Konrad wants to smoke. For now, she slides under the cover of the bed and looks up at the ceiling. Konrad, on the other hand, is still uncovered from the waist up.

After he lights up, he floats something over to the bedside to use as an ash tray. "Looks like you're more than just a friend-of-a-friend, now."

Femke turns her head and looks at the red mage. Her cheeks are flushed and her hair clings to her sweaty forehead. "What do you mean?" she asks.

Konrad giggles. "I meant to make a funny, sweetheart. Didn't you get it?"

It is difficult to read her face, although she seems somewhat surprised by the use of the word "sweetheart". She searches for her words and then asks, "...What am I then?"

Konrad blows a smoke ring and smiles at her. "Well, I don't consider my dalliances acts to be shared with mere strangers. I think I'd like to call you...a genuine friend? What do you think of that?"

She ponders the idea for a few seconds before she answers him. "I can try to be your friend. Which would make us.... friends with benefits? This is the right term, right?"

He tilts his head. "With 'benefits'? Were we that good?"

"I... don't know. What is the right term?"

He smiles wider. "That would be the right term, if you wanted to do this again sometime."

So many opportunities to be a smug bastard.

"Oh." She starts to blush and momentarily looks away from Konrad. "I would like to. Would you?"

"Would I..." Konrad pulls her in for a kiss on the cheek. "Yes, I think I would."

Femke rests her head on the pillow and stares at Konrad without saying a word. Her expression is between soft and straight-faced. Konrad's smile lessens when he realizes she's just staring at him now, and he faces forward.

Clearing his throat a little, he asks, "It's...not possible, for a Tyke and a human to reproduce. Right?"

"No, it's not," she reassures him. "Contraception is unnecessary." Again, she seems to be telling the truth.

"Right, right." He nods to himself. "So, what do you think? Was this everything they make it out to be back where you're from?"

"...No," Femke says. "But everything we've experienced has been different than what we expected."

Konrad gets a modest high and a little smug. "In every way you've ever dealt with humans?"

"No. Some of our preconceptions about humans were right. I can't say much, but... we've had to adapt."

Konrad's smile returns. "Well, you may rest here if you wish. It's time to say goodnight."

"Oh... I'll stay then."

Femke chooses a more comfortable position on the bed and then closes her eyes, ready to fall asleep. As she does, Konrad can hardly muster a response, and just turns over to hide his bewilderment at the way she's behaving. Soon, he'll be fast asleep. What is going on with this girl.

From Zeiss in chat:
"Some clarification; Femke looks completely human when naked. Her body has less imperfections than other people, but if Konrad didn't know she was a Tyke, he probably wouldn't be able to tell the difference."

She also has body heat, same as other human beings.

"Matka" - mother
"Ojciec" - father

Konrad will join the others in the galley after Kolson's next two posts.

You get to come in after Kolson's next post.