Jack looked around and let out a long, pained sigh.

Block 9, bridge 6 that went over the grey water removal river. He knew this dream. He had it for years at this point and no trip to any therapist was going to clear it up. Not that he could go to a therapist at this point at all anyway. He doubted fantasyland would have therapy or even really understand mental health.

His eyes wandered over the buildings of the sprawl he grew up in. Towers of concrete, steel, and glass blocking out the sky and sun and stretching for as far as the eye could see. What little sky filtered through the LED signs and countless streets slowly started to get darker and darker as night fell.

Jack calmly walked out onto the bridge and smiled at his only childhood friend Tim. They had gone on so many adventures together, helped each other out of countless adventures, and even joined the “Block 9 guard dogs” at the same time. He looked his friend over again. Both him and Tim were so young.

He took his normal spot in the dream and leaned over the railing to look at his friend. Watching his face swing from emotion to emotion as he launched into that passionate speech about the future once again. He had heard it hundreds of times in his mind so at this point he didn’t even care to see if the dream changed anything.

He then looked back over the river watching things get darker and darker as night slowly covered their small part of the world. He would have to say goodbye to Tim soon. Just like every other time. Slowly night crept closer and closer as Tim continued on getting only a nod or a canned response from Jack.

Then it was time.

When night fully fell Jack walked up to Tim and gave the boy a warm hug. Feeling his old friend before he felt Tim slip from his hands and once again fall into the river. Once again a look of pain on Tim’s face as he reached up for Jack as he fell through the air before finally splashing into the river without even a scream. The body bobbed a few times in the water before all of Tim’s toys dragged him under never to be seen again. The only hint a body was there was a red trail of blood that would fade soon enough.

He shivered feeling the winter winds slowly drift through him as he walked away from where Tim had died. He shook his head as he waited for the dream to end the same way: Whisked from place to place to hear Tim was never found, not that anyone looked hard. Tim was just another young boy from a troubled block that went missing in a cold winter night.

He felt the dream slowly fade around him as reality slowly dragged him out of it. The cold room where he was meeting with the boss slowly becoming a warm bed surrounded by steel. It took his brain a few moments to process just where he was though as it was his first time waking up in the bed. On top of that he could feel something slowly rubbing his chest.

His eyes slowly drifted open as the memory of him and Nelva slowly drifting off to sleep together popped into his head right away. However, everything around it was still hazy so he did the normal checks when he woke up next to someone:

Clothing? Check.

Injuries? None.

Drug side effects? None.

Still attractive? Very much a check.

He took a deep breath trying hard to not focus much on how good her hand felt rubbing his chest. Slowly he put his hand on hers and looked over at her. “Heya Nelva. Good morning.” He mumbled out as his body still tried to wake itself up from his deep sleep.

“Good morning Jack. Are you okay?” She asked softly. As he woke up more and more he started to realize she had a look of worry on her face. He blinked a few times wondering why before he connected the dots and let out a long sigh.

“Yeah, just a dream. Have it quite a lot.” He admitted as he gave her hand a gentle squeeze. He had to admit it was nice to be woken up like this. Most of the time when he woke up next to someone it was just a fling or something short. Besides the two times it was accidental. Those times were… interesting for sure.

“Are you sure you are okay?” Her voice gently drifted out as she moved a bit closer.

“Yeah. Just need a moment to wake up.” He resisted the small urge to give her a kiss good morning and tapped on the screen over the bed. “Hey, TK. Status?”

>”All systems fully functional. We automatically stopped and resumed following the caravan after they set up for the night to rest and when they started to move again. None of the guests had any issues overnight. John and Zilta have gone around and ensured all guests are comfortable and helped distribute food. Today’s breakfast is pancakes with a basic juice blend to drink.”

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

Jack raised an eyebrow at the food choice considering both him and John had shared beds with women. He knew that neither of them had done anything though. Besides, it would be such an obscure reference he doubted it was even programmed into the AI.

“Thanks. Just give us a few moments and have ours delivered to this room.” He said as he pulled Nelva against himself. The sudden action got a small ribbit of surprise followed by a low rumble as she took in his warmth.

“Mmm what are we doing today?” Nelva slowly asked as she let her large eyes slowly drift close once more.

“Considering we still have to just follow the caravan to the town nothing much really. The ship takes care of itself, all the injured are tended to, and we won’t even get to the town until tomorrow. Even then its not like we have trade goods to package or anything for it.” He mumbled out as he gently rubbed her shoulder.

It did feel weird being this cuddly with someone he wasn’t dating or “doing things” with yet, but he wasn’t going to complain. Hell, he was fully planning on trying to start dating her soon after that kiss!

>”New request from me: Please pre-approve Zilta to become a crew member like Nelva. I am detecting high compatibility with John and she has more skills that would compliment the group. Notably skills in close quarters fighting and military knowledge to aid in threat assessment.”

Jack opened his eyes seeing a few minutes had ticked by before the request was pinged to his screen. Seemed TK wanted to give them a moment together before bothering them.

“Approved. When John asks just go ahead and inform him that I cleared it. Anyone that can get the boulder to talk gets approval in my book.”

Nelva couldn’t help but chuckle a bit at the unfortunate nickname for John, but couldn’t help but agree with it. She did feel a bit bad for it however.

>”Affirmative.”

With that he patted Neval’s back a few times before slowly sitting up. Grunting as he pulled the frog up with him since she refused to let go of her warm, soft, good smelling cuddling partner. He took her over to the table and slowly she sat down at her chair looking at the strange thing before her. It looked a little like the round things on Jack’s plate, but clearly was different at the same time.

>”I made a pancake like meal that is primarily made of carnivor friendly parts. I will not state what they are out loud due to it possibly offending Jack’s mindset of what “food” is, but I will have it available in the archives for you to study.”

“Thank you TK.” She said before taking a bite. She let out a rumbling moan that made jack blush a bit and eye her pancakes with jealousy. All of just a few moments though before he realized what he was being jealous of and looked back up at Nelva.

“Ohhh that was good! So sweet and savory! It is like one of those pastries I read about but could never have.” She took another bite and looked Jack in the eyes. She knew one thing they had to talk about now that they were up and he was fully awake. She just didn’t want to be the one to bring it up.

He was no idiot himself and fully knew what she was waiting for. It was time to talk about them. They had to after not just snuggling in bed that whole time, but such a kiss as well!

“Alright, so. I know we just met, but I think after… last night we need to decide what we are.” Jack admitted as he finished his meal and sipped on some coffee.

“Agreed. However. I think we should at least be considered as courting. Anything less feels rather lacking after you took my first kiss.”

Coffee spewed out across the floor followed by hacking and coughing. “Wait. That was your first kiss!?” He asked shocked. “Shit! If I had known I would have tried to make it more special!”

Nelva just stared at him in shock for a bit. “Jack. You kissed me while showing me technology from another world as I laid in a bed in an outfit both fit for nobility. All on a ship that I have decided to not even try to understand because…well…” She just motioned to the air with one hand. “All while being warm, smooth, fun, and nice to be around. That and clean. How would you possibly top that for me in any reasonable length of time?” She bluntly asked him before giving him a grin.

He thought for awhile before nodding and letting out a small chuckle. “Ah fuck, guess you are right there.” He finished his coffee before standing up and walking behined her. He gently rubbed her arms a bit before resting his hands on her shoulders and gently massaging them getting a long ribbit out of her as his dexterous hands made short work of her sore, stiff shoulders.

“Ohhh that-… That is the spot.” She groaned out before nodding. “Courting. We are courting now. I want to be the first maiden you romance here in our world.” She looked around and nodded as she thought things through a bit more. “Hmm yes. Being your first wife would also bring about many, MANY benefits if it gets that far.” She mused aloud to herself.

Jack blinked a bit in surprise as he looked at her. “Wait, first wife? Why would you already be planning for divorce when we just started to date?” He asked in surprise.

“Hmm? Why would you bring up divorce?” She asked blinking in surprise herself. “I was just wanting to think of the benefit of being the first wife of many. A man like you, rich, exotic, and clearly powerful would get many women.” She pointed out bluntly.

Jack looked at her in confusion before his own brain started to take hints from another part of himself. “Wait… waitwaitwait. Are you saying that in this world one is allowed to marry multiple women?!” He asked in shock.

“Yes, and a woman is allowed to take multiple husbands. It is restricted to only the head of the household is allowed to so such to prevent messy webs of marriage again. Nearly brought down three duchies, a kingdom, and a merchantile empire. As well as a research institute and a small fishing boat as well interestingly enough. Oh, and all existing wives and husbands must approve of any new additions.” She mentally added that one on to the list of reasons to try to be one of the first.

Jack just sat there staring at her awhile. Fully unsure of how to take such news. For now though he decided to commit to the obvious: “Hey, uhm… how about we just start dating first before all of that?” He offered slowly.

“Of course my dear.” She added in a voice that did help to clear away the polygamous thoughts from his head. It did fill his mind with plenty of other thoughts however.