Jack relaxed in his room as he sipped a nice and strong stout. He was amazed that the replicators were now able to handle even more intricate things like aging. He was happy that there was pretty much nothing food wise he would have to miss from his home dimension. Sure the food lacked the spark of inspiration and the little twists that a human could provide, but he could add those himself if he so desired.

As he sipped and savored his drink he watched his door open and the tall, slender figure walk in. He motioned to the chair he had brough in for her and watched her slowly take her seat. He calmly slid her a small square bottle and a shot glass before giving the newcomer a wink.

“Time to relax.” He told her as he sipped his beer watching her simply pick up the bottle and sip straight from it. “That rough?”

“Yes and no. Most of the injuries are fairly manageable and those showers helped clean everything pretty well so the healing spells are able to focus more on mending than purification.” She took another sip before letting the air rumble out of her mouth. “Ohhh you humans have such wonderful firewater.” She groaned out as her wide mouth curled into a big smile.

“So you finally get to relax for the night Nelva?” He asked his guest as she let out a long sigh.

“Unless John accidentally tears any of that gnoll’s stitches yes.”

Jack let out a laugh and shook his head. “I am STILL shocked she got him to cuddle her! I though the man didn’t know how to hug until two weeks after I met him! And that was only proven when he got a bit too drunk!”

Nelva blinked a couple of times in surprise but shrugged. She was after Jack right now. “So… Jack… I noticed the caravan leader seemed to get along well with you and that these people are not… normal.” Her large eyes glanced down at her bottle trying to figure out how to ask.

“Hey, its alright. Got nothing to hide from a teammate.” He took a big swig for courage before starting his explanation. “Parents were middle class meaning we had money, but they never had time. Always working and leaving me all alone in a neighborhood getting worse and worse by the day. They were never home so they never really knew. One day a few gangs started fighting for our area and it was getting nasty so a small gang in the area rose up and started recruiting to fight them off. I had nobody watching me, was lonely, and angry at having to deal with all the shit the other gangs were causing so I joined up.”

He took another swig. “We won. Cleared them out and no, I will not tell you how.” He leaned back in his seat. “Once we had the area under our control we started making things better. Well, as better as we could. Did such a good job the cops, uh those were our guards, went from staying away due to thinking our area was a lost cause to not coming by due to there never being anything for them to do. We did such a good job a much bigger group took notice and came in. Offered to let us join them with a great offer. We agreed.”

“Went from making a good amount of money to living the high life. They saw potential in me and pulled me from the streets and illegal side, tossed my ass into an accelerated college course, and soon I was working a normal high paying job. Through it all felt something was missing, got the offer for this job, took it, and so far I have never felt so… right in my life.” He finished the beer and let TK take the bottle away.

“Any questions?” He asked before holding up a finger. “And no, I will not tell you some of the stuff I did. That is for later when we are closer.” Jack warned before lowering his arm and relaxing with a grin. “If we-“

Nelva held up a finger this time. “When is right.” She cut him off with a wide grin before taking another sip of her whiskey. “I got many questions, but I am not going to judge you for that. Thanks for letting me know so soon, but it sounds to me like you had your reasons.” She put the bottle down with a deep sigh. “Besides. A monster wouldn’t save me, fill their ship up with injured, give two gold to a stranger, and have a c-“ She let out a croak realizing just how much the human firewater had gotten to her. After a moment she continued on saying “-uhm. A smile like yours.”

She tapped the table to try and draw attention from her flub as she quickly thought up some questions. “So! What kind of things do you humans do for fun? I want to learn something but I am too croaking tired to go into anything too mind consuming or world altering.”

Jack’s laugh echoed through the room. “I’m sorry, but even our entertainment would be pretty mind blowing for this world I think!” He admitted before looking her over once more. “Hm. I am not even going to pretend that me drinking is what leads to this. Want to watch some together?” He asked motioning to the bed. She blinked a little bit as she turned to face the large bed realizing he was asking her to lay with him! She ribbited a few times before she managed to get herself under control.

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No, he was not asking for THAT! He was just asking to share a bed.

“I gotta admit I am jealous of John.” He confessed as he got up and had pajama pants and a T-shirt delivered to him from TK. “Getting comfy in bed with someone honestly sounds amazing. I’m not asking for anything more right now. Besides, as packed as the ship is it would be a bad idea.” He changed shirts right in front of her before sitting down on the bed.

Nelva thought for a bit, casually rubbing her chin as she went through everything in her mind before slowly nodding her head. “Alright. I accept your courtship.” She declared as she gave him quite the playful side-eye. “But this entertainment better be something good if it is worth pulling a maiden into bed with you.” Her grin only barely held her laughter back as Jack cleared his throat.

“I hope it is. Now, do you want to share a bed with me wearing that, or can I get TK to get you something more comfy?” He asked as he motioned to her still rather skimpy pet outfit. Her ribbit was loud and clear as she remembered she usually didn’t have to worry about wearing anything at all while she slept!

“That will be fantastic. Thank you Jack. I will go change in my room while you get things set up. However, you humans get things set.” She explained before slipping out of the room. As she walked back to her room she took a few deep breaths. She never really shared a room with anyone before! Even when she was with other adventurers everyone got their own room unless they were “together” in one way or another. Even as a child her older sister was always with the shaman leaving her all alone!

She watched a few of the caravan people relaxing with some even cuddling into small piles as they all got comfy in their own way. Together. She couldn’t help but eye them with envy even though she knew that soon she would be finally able to feel the embrace of another. Her ribbit was barely held back as she realized just how luscious that phrasing was before stomping down such thoughts and sliding back into her own room. She eyed her bed with its moved sheets. She had only had a moment on her own bed and briefly considered turning down Jack to return to it.

But that just wouldn’t do.

This was her big chance to be courted, to share a room with someone, to not be alone for once in her horrible life! She grabbed the silken red tank top and pants that the ship gave her and quickly slid them on. She paused and shivered as she loved the feel of the softest, smoothest fabric she had ever felt in her whole life enveloping her body.

Once the moment had passed, she practically hopped back to Jack’s room determined to return before her resolve left her. A quick nock and a “come in!” later and she was alone in a darkened room with the human male. He had already laid down in the bed under the covers leaving more than enough room for her to join him. A warm smile on that sharp face as his piercing eyes looked into hers.

She just kept looking into them as she moved. The next thing she knew she was surrounded by warmth as his heat had warmed up the bed and covers. She couldn’t help but sigh as she let herself sink into the warm, soft bed and let the blankets cover her tired body. It was all so amazing she found herself almost falling asleep on the spot!

They just laid there for awhile laying close to each other, watching potatoes being turned into chips. Turns out that this new world had something very similar to it, but the tubers grew more cylindrical and were a bright red with the chips being long strips. This was something Nelva was all too happy to share, still unable to take her eyes off the screen. She never had any though due to her carnivore nature.

He then decided to show her one of his favorite cheap foods: hot dogs. She watched as sausage after sausage rolled off the line, amazed that humans in their dimension had the sheer ability to even have enough animals in the world to feed such a machine, much less enough animals nearby to not slow down production.

Soon that video ended as well. “So, what now?” He asked her softly, finding her now pressed up hard against him. He knew it was probably due to her seeking out warmth, but also could tell she was pressing up against him just a little bit too hard to just be that. “How about a fictional story? How we envisioned a world like this?” He asked with a grin.

She nodded, moving her head close to his and he casually turned to the “fantasy” section of the collection. He paused a bit and looked down at her trying to decide if he wanted to make a move or not. As soon as she glanced up at him to see why he paused he smiled and made up his mind fast. He picked a romance movie and settled in with her.

He decided to focus far more on the woman in his arms as she took in everything. Her laughing at the bad magic, her commenting on bad wand design, and her comparing the fantasy stuff to their own stuff. Her words grew softer whenever the main couple appeared on screen, however with he quickly realizing what kind of movie he had put on. At the end of the movie, she was rumbling a bit in a brand new way to him with her face clearly blushing, only to blush even harder at the final kiss.

Watching them kiss for only a moment she looked into his eyes right before he gently rubbed her cheek. She was amazingly hot, smart, talented, and was into a lot of the same stuff he was. That, and she didn’t mind his past. He had to be bold and make a move. He leaned in and kissed her on the lips getting a squeak from her, only to feel her kiss him back.

To her he was funny, kind, smart, relaxing to be around, and more. She realized as his lips pressed against her own that she had been hoping that he would make a move first. Her mind raced and her toes curled a bit as she found herself loving her first kiss.

Once their lips left each other they both took deep breaths. They both knew it was too early to go further, plus the ship was jammed pack full of other people to even try. Jack gave her another quick kiss and turned off the screen as they settled for pressing tightly together before drifting off to sleep.