It was the damndest thing Jerry had seen on Centris so far, and it was just a restaurant. While “sushi” is what he mentally translated the equivalent in galactic trade to, the actual impact of the restaurant they’d all gone out together was... way too Japanese to be a coincidence. Maybe it was just his mind projecting, but the refined, elegant simplicity of the very classy establishment was just too similar to a very nice sushi joint he’d made a habit of visiting while stationed in Okinawa for a couple of years.

Then there was the staff. Mostly aquatic beings themselves, the local equivalent to a sushi chef was a Mnenmi, a blue skinned woman with ‘hair’ made of prehensile tentacles. She made quite a show of handling her razor sharp mono edge blades with her tentacles as she sliced various aquatic proteins and prepared them for dining. It was quite the spectacle just while walking past her to the private room Jaruna had gotten for them all.

He hadn’t quite known what to expect after the debrief when the armored merc had exchanged contact information with him and told him where to meet her with his wives the next evening. She’d said to dress nicely, which had ended up meaning dresses for the girls and his dress whites for him.

His snappy dress uniform with its tailored jacket and mandarin collar was complemented by the black Sam Brown belt crossing around his waist and over his right shoulder. The now very clean and polished kukri rode at the small of his back in a matching black leather dress sheath with gold trim to complete the martial ensemble. He could have carried his officer’s saber like the Admiral liked to for public outings, but it was a bit too cumbersome for him. He’d also skipped publicly wearing his pistol. He had quick access to it, and that was enough.

While he was certainly getting his fair share of stares, both as a man, and clearly a human on top of that, he thought the girls deserved to steal the show in any sane world.

Syl was wrapped in a light blue silk dress with a cut similar to a qipao that seemed to merge with her fur in places, and made the bright oranges of her coat and hair stand out like living fire. It slithered across her curves in ways that had made keeping his hands off of her while she was dressing a trial fit for Herakles or some other legendary hero, not a mere mortal man.

Nadi had asked for, and received some money to go clothes shopping. She’d never really had a chance to dress up before, so Jerry had told her to go all out. She’d promised to get something special, and the little dragon woman hadn’t disappointed. Her dress was a bit more familiar to Westerners, bunched up over one shoulder as if based on a toga or something similar.

What was special was the material.

It appeared to be black if she stood in the shadows, but when the slightest bit of light hit the material it coruscated with a dazzling display of colors that all seemed to tie back perfectly to the natural greenish blues of her scales. Apparently you could get even more out of the colors if you could see in the ultraviolet range, and Jerry regretted not being able to get the full experience of the dress immediately.

Which brought everything back around to Jaruna, the last member of their party with Eymali still off on her hunt. Jerry wished she could have been here for the event. They’d mostly done nights in, and their few nights out hadn’t been particularly fancy affairs. A quick discussion with Syl and Nadi had found them quickly voting Eymali to count as wife number three in any discussions with Jaruna.

Her hunting quest was more or less a formality, and one that suited Eymali’s culture perfectly and had utterly delighted the woman. Still, Jerry would have felt better about conducting what amounted to a marriage interview with all three of the girls here. Even if the entire concept was still utterly mind boggling to him.

Jaruna had dressed up to the nines, meeting her own request and then some with a stunning red ensemble that managed to be beyond pornographic while staying stylish and... classy might not be the right word, but Jerry had heard a few women make appreciative comments of the Cannidor’s outfit. So what’s stylish out of Cruel Space clearly might vary wildly. It was a dress with a hemline down to Jaruna’s knees, but had a high slit up to nearly her navel, leaving her legs completely unimpeded and looking amazing thanks to sturdy Apuk made high heels, and let her show off hints of lacy black lingerie that admittedly was right in Jerry’s strike zone.

With the sheer volume of woman to cover, certain areas had been left strategically bare. Her back and stomach were not just nude, but framed and on display. Her rippling musculature and washboard abs slinked under the Cannidor plasma reflective fur coat, which did absolutely nothing to detract from the fact that Jaruna was absolutely shredded. Her powerful physique was perfectly complemented by her mostly covered, thick childbearing hips, and breasts that could only truly be done justice by listing them as capital grade weapons.

Her shock of red hair had also been tamed into a silky, shiny waterfall of scarlet, contrasting the crimson of her dress and the blue of her eyes perfectly. He’s not sure what had to be done to get the unruly mane he’d seen under her helmet earlier like that, but he assumed the death toll must have been comparable to the shoot out with the Nagasha gang.

Far from her rough and tumble merc persona, Jaruna proved to be a thoughtful, polite and utterly charming woman who had perfect manners the entire evening. She’d even brought Syl flowers to congratulate her on her pregnancy! It was something of an act, but it was an act with a point. That she could live in their world. Live in any world for that matter. Plus sometimes a girl just wanted to get gussied up and go out, and Jaruna was no different. Even if she was more likely to go gun or power armor shopping instead of dress shopping.

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The meal had been almost as interesting as the company. The menus were tailored to species, and he’d been given a Cannidor menu on Jaruna’s request. The staff apparently knew her, and she had some idea that humans liked a bit more zing in their lives food wise.

The real change between the menus however was the level of cooking for the various pieces of protein. Some things could be served universally raw, and they had a subtle flavor in this environment that everyone at the table, including Jerry, could appreciate.

Different proteins had different cooking standards, and in some cases cooking required different sauces and other fancies to tailor things appropriately to a different flavor profile. It was just enough like sushi back home that he found himself aching to get his hands on some proper sushi. Or just a nice bowl of rice and some soy sauce. On the plus side, the local booze, something vaguely white wine adjacent, was just enough like sake he could close his eyes and pretend it actually had some decent alcohol content.

“Right, no, with proper sushi back home everything’s raw. A lot of what we’ve had tonight would be called sashimi, it’s slices of raw fish, usually you don’t even season them, letting the delicate flavor of the fish speak for itself on one’s palette. Other times you prepare it in a style called nigiri, where you take a small pad of a grain called rice and place a piece of fish on top of it. The rice is prepared specially to have its own subtle flavors. Occasionally a little dollop of a ground root called wasabi is added, it’s quite spicy and would probably be a no go for all of you besides Jaruna. The other condiment is a fermented sauce called soy sauce... and I think that one would actually be safe. I’ll have to make a small batch of tuna and salmon meat and prepare you girls some human style sushi.”

“Every time he talks about food you two look scared but I get a bit hungry even after we’ve been kicking back all this delicious stuff. I wonder why that is?”

Jaruna winks at the other two women, keeping up her show as a good hostess.

Syl however, seems to be done with the games of the evening. “Right... that’s enough playing I think, let’s get down to brass tacks shall we?”

That gets the Cannidor’s attention, and she leans in. “You don’t mind that I’m still the same foul mouthed bitch you met earlier do you? I just wanted to prove I can clean up and act like a people... I know you’re something of an upper class gal, and for all this stud’s rolling around in the mud like a grunt, I think he likes classy.”

“I’m a fan of girls who can do both, and you’ve certainly done that.”

“Vote of confidence from our husband aside, and setting aside your timely rescue Ms. Jaruna... I would like to know a bit about your family circumstances if you don’t mind.”

Syl actually pulls out a data pad as if she’s about to start taking notes. Clearly she takes her status as head of the household more seriously than Jerry had previously thought when it was just himself, Syl and Nadi. Then again, they’ve been adding rough and tough warrior women at a somewhat steady rate now. Not that he wanted much more than three wives. Or hell even any more than Syl. But this was how the galaxy worked.

“Well first off I don’t have a clan name. Tossed it with the rest of my clan. They went into some business my honor couldn’t agree with... and I wanted to do things my way anyway. My father... was a good man. A kind man. I didn't know him much, just the usual important events for a growing Cannidor girl, but he always gave me a new book or two to read. Philosophy, history. The food for thought my father gave me taught me to be something more than just a bad ass. That I couldn’t only rely on my strength, and that underestimating smaller beings was a good way to end up dead in a ditch. He showed me what honor meant as much as told me, and that it was worth living, and dying by. I think some Cannidor have forgotten about honor in our rush towards faith... and those that lose their faith become little better than animals a lot of times. I’ve been a full time independent merc for a couple decades now, always been looking for something better than merc work. If I’m lucky I found it.”

“So you wouldn't have a problem leaving your mercenary life behind?” Syl’s eyes widened slightly. A Cannidor disowning their entire clan was a big deal in their society. Being willing to quit being a merc was interesting too, and indicated Jaruna was deadly serious about her pursuit.

“Well I’d need to find something else to do to support myself, do my bit for the family and our hubby, and my primary talent set is violence, but bounty hunting’s always on option even without leaving Centris...”

Jerry raises a hand. “I think I can handle any work worries as far as you’re concerned if you join us, Jaruna. So if that’s everything you had after tonight’s discussion Syl... I think we need to vote. Because I have some pressing business to table for the whole family. We’ll have to hypercom call Eymali to bring her in on the discussion once we get home. In fact... purely for security. We’d need to have this talk at home anyway. Over drinks for a nightcap or whatever. Girls? Thoughts on our candidate Ms. Jaruna?”

Nadi leans in. She had liked Jaruna quite a bit from the start. Cannidor were nicer to Kohbs and similar creatures than most already, but Jaruna had been appropriately polite to her as a potential senior wife, not just as a cute little thing that needed to be protected.

“I think she’ll be a fine addition to the family. She’s certainly a Cannidor, and she’s certainly a mercenary, but as she’s shown us quite brilliantly on this date, she’s a proper lady too, and I think she’d make a good wife to Jerry, and a good sister to us. A good mother for the children as well.”

Syl takes her time, mulling things over for a moment. Not exaggerating, just giving the subject the due consideration and seriousness it deserved. “You’ve strong morals, a good heart and you’re more than capable of helping protect our husband and our children when they arrive. I agree with Nadi, I suspect you’ll be a good mother to our children too. I say yes.”

Jerry smiles. “Sounds like you’re in if you want to be in Jaruna.”

His smile’s returned by a broad grin from the Cannidor woman. “Always did want a proper courtship, even if we threw it off a bit by meeting in the middle of one hell of a fight, but damned if that didn’t get me all sorts of worked up. We’ll have to deal with that properly... but after we get home and discuss this serious family business you want to bring up Jerry. I’ll get the check, let’s go home shall we?”