Living with Eva

The following night, the first of those accidents I saw coming happens, however, much to my surprise, I'm not directly involved.
In the middle of the night, I wake up from someone pulling at my sleeve.
I roll over half-asleep, recognize Eva in the light of the fire and state, "You should be sleeping."
"Yeah, I know but...but it's cold! And the ground is hard. And...and I swear there are bugs everywhere."
I sigh, "Didn't I tell you that this was nothing like the colony bef...oh you know what, screw it...take my bed for tonight, I'll take the ground...and tomorrow we'll get to building your own bed.

I get up and mumble, "I guess Nym was right about her being the princess now.", while Eva thanks me a number of times.
A few hours later, I hear two high pitched screams coming from the bed area and while I'm still trying to grab for my spear to defend myself against the threat, the screaming turns into bickering as Nym shouts, "What the hell are you doing in Sirus' bed?!"
"I could ask you the same! You have your own bed, don't you?!", Eva barks back.

As I watch the scene from my little corner, I begin to understand, why Ray elected to not come back yet. And even though the scene has a comical side to it, I know that I need to break them up now or else worse things will happen.
I walk up to them and say, "You know, when I told you to make out already, I never thought you'd actually do it. Why didn't anyone wake me?"

Nym glares at me and basically yells, "Sirus, what is that...that trocha doing in your bed?!"
I think, 'It's been a while since she threw Asmodean words around...though I think I have a pretty good idea what this one means...', before replying, "She was cold, so I gave it to her...I thought it fair, since she brought back food for us today."
"But...but...", Nym tries to argue, but I quickly ask, "And what exactly where you doing in my bed?"
"I...", Nym starts, but quickly stops again when she remembers Eva is sitting right behind her, her head flushing a deeper shade of purple before stating with fake confidence, "I just wanted to check on you, that's all."

I laugh, "Nym, it's okay. You could just have told me that you wanted to cuddle. I'm sure Eva would've given us some privacy. Right, Eva?"
Eva replies quietly, "Sure...just like the old times, eh Sirus?"
"...yeah. Just like the old times...", I reply, thinking back to the times on the ship, where there was a small closed off space where people would go to mate. Of course everyone around knew what they were doing the instant they went in there and the makeshift curtain didn't keep much of the sounds in, but you just had to deal with what you had. Talking about sex or who sleeps with whom has always been an everyday business for us, however I quickly realize, that Nym wasn't quite as open with the topic as we were. Her frantic movements with her arms and the completely flushed cheeks were pretty good indicators with that, so I say, "Don't forget breathing, Nym. It's no big deal."

Nym stops for a moment before yelling at me in full volume, "Have you completely lost your mind?!"
I sigh, take Nym's hand and tell Eva, "Excuse us for a moment please.", before leading Nym to the outside. Once there, I explain the situation to her more calmly and Nym also seems to calm down a little.
I end with, "...so you see, it really isn't a big deal. Though I do understand that you'd feel a little...uncomfortable."
"That's...a really large understatement, Sirus...I...I'm sorry. I shouldn't have snapped at you like that...that was...immature of me."
"Nah, I thought it was pretty cute, actually.", I smile at her in the moonlight.
Nym blushes again and I promise her, "I'm sure she'll go back to the colony once she sees that life won't be getting any better than this around here."
"You said that one before...also, what's wrong with the life we have? We have shelter, we have food, we have beds...", Nym counts, but I shake my head and say, "And now think back to your days as princess...would any of these things have cut it for you?"
Nym smiles at me and says, "...I guess they wouldn't have."
I nod and reply, "And now it's her being the princess."

I turn around, when Nym suddenly starts, "Sirus, I..."
I turn around and look at her standing in the moonlit entrance like a small angel who came straight from above, her black hair flowing in the spring breeze and ask, "Yeah?"
"...no, it's nothing. We should get back to sleep."
I agree and we return to sleep.

The following days are pretty much of a repeat of the days we had, with all of us learning a few new things in the process. We build a makeshift bed for Eva, who, despite all my expectations, still shows no signs of being homesick, create some sort of signaling system for the bathing tub and some other things.

Much to my dismay however, we fail to come up with an effective way to have any sort of evening privacy for me and Nym, which means I'll have to go back to relieve myself manually, seeing how sex in the wild may well get us caught with our pants down...quite literally at that.

Somewhere along the way I suggest that Eva could simply wait outside, but Nym still can't come to terms with the idea of someone knowing what she's doing with me, which is really strange, because she never had any problem with any of our animal friends knowing.

At some point Eva suggests that she could just join us while Nym is out to get water, but I quickly tell her that this would be a really bad idea.
She tells me that she's joking while laughing, but for some reason I suspect otherwise.

And while I can tell that she's trying really hard to accept me and Nym, I cannot help but notice her looks in the moments she thinks she's unmonitored and wonder how much longer we can keep this little makeshift family work. My father had two women and got exiled from the community and now I have the exact same problem at my hands. And the worst part of it all is, that Eva just keeps getting hotter with passing days as her hair slowly grows back and her fursuit is a sight to behold too.

If nothing changes soon, I'll have to make a clear cut decision or live with the possible consequences...right now they're still putting up with each other, but it's only a matter of time until this fragile peace breaks into tiny pieces.

About a week later, during the evening hours, while I'm cleaning my spear from the hunt, I hear a familiar voice, "You have two mates now, Sirus?"
I look up and see the hulking figure of the grown-up Ray slowly walks towards me.
After recognizing him, I smile and reply, "Good to see you pal...hey girls, Ray is back!"
Nym is the first to leave the cave with steady steps.
She looks around and once she spots Ray, she smiles too and replies, "Hey big guy. We missed you."

From the back of the cave, I hear hasty steps as Eva shouts, "Wait, wait, I wanna see too!", right before she almost stumbles out of the cave, getting blinded by the evening sun, stumbling forward a few more steps and eventually planting her face in the dirt, causing all of us to laugh.

Ray stands straight in front of her and I whisper, "Really, Ray?"
Ray's voice echoes in my mind, "Don't worry, I'll just say hello."
I whisper, "You'll give her a heart attack."
"A mate of yours needs to be tougher than that.", Ray replies, as Eva recovers, raises her head from the dirt and looks around, asking, "Where is he?"
I reply, "Straight in front of you."

Eva looks around some more and then up, straight in Ray's bizarre grin.
Right afterwards, her face changes from expectational to horrified and then to blank as she faints.
Ray asks, "...do I really look that scary?"
"Give her some credit, she's been with us only for a few weeks and you...well, with your father there was that one time where he insisted on waking me up. Seeing a snout like yours up close, with all those tears the first thing in the morning does get you started...oh and violent. I think I fought him to the death for a full minute, until I realized that it was Zero...though I think he was just playing."

Ray cackles, "Yes, I believe I remember this incident. A really fond memory of father."
"Ah yeah, you remember what your father knew...sorry, I forgot."
Nym interrupts me and says, "Excuse me, I know you're happy to see each other again and all, but I could use a little help with the princess here...she's heavy, you know?"
Ray walks next to the unconscious Eva, stretches his wings out briefly and tells me, "Allow me...after all, I'm responsible for her current...predicament."
"Sure thing...say, what happened to you? You sound different. I mean...a lot.", I reply, while helping Nym heave Eva on Ray's back.
"You have grown, Sirus and now you are able to understand me fully.", Ray replies.
"...still, that style of speech...I'm just not used to it, that's all."
"...man, I'd love to hear him speak too.", Nym admits a little jealous.
"She still hasn't obtained the voice?", Ray asks a little disappointed.
I shake my head and reply, "She can't eat meat, remember?"
"But the voice is everywhere. In the blood, in the trees, in the air, in the water..."

"What? What is he looking at me like that for? What is he saying, Sirus?", Nym asks.
I repeat what he just told me and Nym seems to understand it better than I did as she says, "Ah, it must be my filters."
"Your...filters? What do you mean?", I ask.
"Well, there's a number of filter implants in my body. They filter the air I breathe and the cleanse the blood coursing through my body. Without them, I'd die before dawn."
"...why is that?", I wonder, genuinely surprise.
Nym explains, "My body, even though it has gotten considerably stronger, is pretty frail, Sirus. The air of Tisis contains a number of substances toxic to me."
"But...I can breathe just fine. So how..."
Nym says with sad eyes, "Sirus, you're forgetting that we're different species. I...was born for a different world..."
Ray interrupts, "I shall carry your other mate into our home."
"Hey, she's not my mate!", I say sharply.
"I seem to recall you saying something similar about your first mate and yet here we are.", Ray chuckles as he walks off.

Nym looks after him, when something hits me and I ask, "Hey, those filters...are they the reason why you haven't gotten pregnant yet?"
Nyms eyes grow wide in a matter of milliseconds as she hurls around and asks, "What?!"
"Well, I was just thinking, if they keep you 'clean' and all that stuff...is that the reason why all that sex hasn't gotten you pregnant yet?"

Nym opens her mouth, apparently trying to tell me something, but then laughs and says, "You know, you're right! I completely forgot about that. I'll try turning that one off the next time we have some alone time. I mean, Ray is back now, that means he can take care of Eva while we have some good old fashioned fun! Hahaha!"
But Nym's laughter is hollow. There's something she's not telling me. Something she's scared to tell me.

But before I can even ask what it is, we hear a loud scream coming from inside the cave and only microseconds later Ray bolts out of the cave and takes to the sky in a flurry.
Nym smiles, "I guess Eva woke up again."
"Sounds that way...", I reply, while jogging back to the cave.
When she sees me, she drops her gun, jumps up and dashes against my chest, hugging me tightly and crying, "There...there was a terrible monster in here! It...it tried to eat me!"

I have to strain every bit of willpower to not just hug her back, but I manage and say, "Eva, please let go...Ray would never do anything like that."
Eva takes a few steps back, stares at me with wide eyes and asks, "That thing was the pet you were talking about?! It's huge!"
"First off, he's not my pet...but yeah, all grown up he's pretty intimidating. Too bad that you couldn't meet him when he was little, he was just too adorable back then."

A few minutes later, I hear Ray's voice, "Has she...calmed down?"
I shout, "Yeah, you can come in! But slowly! You don't want to spook her again."
I then turn to Eva and say, "Okay, Ray will be coming in now. He may look dangerous, but he's really kind and my best friend on all of Tisis."

As the large creature steps into the cave with careful and slow steps, Eva cringes again, but eventually gets up, walks up to Ray and asks, "Will he...bite?"
"Only if she insists on torturing my ears more.", Ray replies.
I smile, "No. Try to rub behind his ear. He loves that."
"I...", Eva stutters, when Nym gets up, sighing something like 'Hopeless' and puts her hand on Rays head, saying: "See? Totally safe. He's our friend. And I'm pretty sure he's waiting for an apology from you. After all he went to the trouble of carrying you in here and then you go and threaten him with a gun."

Eva carefully extends her hand, itching away each time Rays muzzle moves ever so slightly to pick up Eva's smell, but eventually she manages to put her hand on his muzzle.

I smile and ask, "...hey Eva, wanna go for a ride?"
"A...ride?", Eva asks carefully.
"Yeah, on Ray. Just a quick spin around the area. That's alright, isn't it?"
"I believe so, yes. However I'd rather not carry the two of you. I fear my wings might not support the entire weight."
"Okay, then just me for the first round and then Eva...Nym, do you want too?"
"No thank you, I prefer my feet on solid ground.", Nym replies.

"Spoilsport!", I laugh and together we go outside into the setting sun.
I look up and smell the air, saying, "Good...no sign of rain."
"So you are aware that wet feathers do not fly well?"
I tousle through Rays mane and reply, "Yeah, crashing that one time taught me that one good...anyway, you ready?"
Ray spreads his wings out and cackles, "I thought you'd never ask."
"That's the spirit!", I laugh, carefully sit up in front of the wings, while Nym fetches me my spear, telling me, "Just to be safe."
"I'll be right back.", I reply before giving her a quick peck on the cheek.

Ray goes back a few steps and then flaps his powerful wings, causing strong gusts and with a few leaps we're off into the sky.
As we approach the fluffy clouds, all the good memories of Zero come flooding back and my eyes fill with tears trickling to the ground below.

During the short flight around the immediate area, neither of us speaks a word.
I just enjoy the feeling of flight on Ray's back and think, 'One more thing and my life would be perfect...', going back to the conversation I had with Nym.

I will have to talk this over with her, whether Eva is around or not.