2363

January 1, 2363

Travis took me to a party some of his high school friends were throwing for New Years. From what Travis told me, it sounded promising, but in reality, there was only weak earth alcohol available at first. When his friends saw I was half Klingon, they were quick to offer to buy better stuff if I wanted to give guidance.

Knowing I was more than capable of taking care of myself, Travis let me decide if I wanted him to come with me on the booze buying trip. I let him stay at the party. His friend charged with paying for whatever I selected, a terrible flirt and terribly unattractive, kept making lame and flawed references to the Klingon culture in an attempt to hit on me. He shut up pretty quickly when I mentioned off hand I wasn't fond of that side of my lineage.

When the big talking friend couldn't afford any of the good blood wine the store we were at had to offer, I bought a bottle myself. Granted, they were charging for a bottle of okay blood wine what a 2309 would go for on Qo'noS, so I was mildly annoyed. I did point out some less expensive acceptable alternatives, and he eventually settled on Andorian Ale. I suppose being part of the federation makes its import cheaper on a federation world.

We returned to the party, and Travis came up to me with a glass of blue alcohol I didn't recognize, insisting I had to try it if I hadn't before. He called it Romulan Ale, something I'd only heard of. Someone had a parent who worked in Starfleet security and occasionally brought home a bottle when it was seized from someone coming to earth, and so a bottle was “borrowed” from this parent for the party. It packed a bit of a punch, and could be worth drinking unlike the rest of the drivel I'd seen at the party.

The Andorian Ale and Blood Wine were added to the alcohol table, and the party continued. I know Travis had introduced me as his girlfriend, but the guy who'd run with me for the alcohol either didn't care or didn't understand, as he kept hitting on me. His name's Sam Garrick, and I wouldn't be surprised if this was the guy Travis' last girlfriend cheated on him with, simply because his whole goal in life seemed to be getting whatever Travis had. The stories I'd heard about their time together in high school, their dating history, and such, screamed of Sam trying to take away from Travis anything he could.

Sam even had the tackiness to “invent” a mixed drink to name after me. He called it a Dizzy Damnation. It's a mix of Blood Wine, 151 Rum, Jack Daniels Whiskey and Romulan Ale. I wasn't brave enough to drink it because I was afraid of my blood wine being ruined by the earth drinks, and the Romulan Ale just was the wrong flavor to meld with any of the rest of it. Sam downed the cup he was offering me in one gulp, then passed out under the table. I rolled him onto his side with my foot so he wouldn't choke on his own vomit, then proceeded to ignore him.

The party was pretty simple in concept, spend hours getting shit faced drunk, yell, scream and shout at midnight, maybe even kiss someone if you had someone to do that with, then stumble home drunk or pass out on you host's couch or floor.

After the hangover at Mara's wedding, I think Travis learned his lesson about moderation with blood wine, as he hardly touched the stuff. After he saw my reaction to the Romulan ale, he also treated it with the same reserve. I was proud of him, I wasn't looking forward to helping him through another hang over.

As midnight was approaching, he took me to the roof of his friend's house, and we rung in the new year having the most awesome and violent sex we'd ever had. I could hear the drunken yelling and shouting from everywhere around us, but I didn't care because I was very much wrapped up in the glow of awesome sex.

His friends seem to have heard us, as when we came back from the roof there were choruses of congratulations and jealousy. No one intended to make me feel bad for what we had done, and I found myself thriving from the attention. Travis flushed red with embarrassment, and I grinned wickedly at him, then kissed him roughly in front of his friends. This received a rowdy and drunken cheer, and even a few wolf whistles, which only got louder as I grabbed his ass and continued to kiss him.

When he finally broke free of me, Travis warned me he was going to have to take me then and there if I didn't cool it, so I told him to quit teasing. I didn't think he could get any redder, but he managed it.

I wasn't able to provoke him into anymore fun, and we got home about 1am. He curled up and fell asleep right away, and I took this chance to write in my journal.

January 3, 2363

We spent the day on Luna yesterday, and we're on our way back to the station we're based out of now. I was actually pleasantly surprised with how the visit to Travis' family came out. I certainly didn't expect to get my own little one person fan club in the form of a five year old girl, but clearly Grace thinks I'm awesome.

Travis says his mother and sisters like me, the rest of the family was snarky as usual and most comments involved the word alien and should be ignored. I seem to have impressed his friends. Most of them were certain I would skewer Sam alive, and Travis says the report that I don't bother skewering anything that pathetic, I let them figure out they should commit ritual suicide, went over well. Also, Sam seemed sad that he missed the display I drug Travis into, I suppose he'd hoped he'd get to see the floor show if he didn't get the private screening. petaQ.

I did warn Travis that I did not want to see that man again. He said that shouldn't be hard to do, most everyone's getting tired of his crap anyways, and it was really poor form how he was just so blatant about his attempt to pick me up at the party. I also found out my guess was right, his ex Jessica had cheated on him with Sam.

Travis almost forgot to grab a couple of the masters so we could show them to Kang, but I reminded him at the last minute. He grabbed a couple of the Nightwish albums. Unfortunately, we didn't have enough room to bring the record player and the records he made from the masters, so we'll have to wait until we show them to Kang to be able to listen again, but I'm looking forward to it.

February 14, 2363

I guess I was too young to care when I was still on Luna as a child, but the 14th of February is an earth holiday called Valentine's day. Travis caught me entirely by surprise when I woke up to a bouquet of blue roses and a breakfast of cantaloupe, grapes and honeydew.

We'd just finished a run a day and a half before, so we were killing time at the station. I was mildly perplexed when Travis wanted to get a super swanky room, instead of just the standard sized one we usually got.

He didn't stop with breakfast either. There were candles, music and a fancy bubble bath we shared. Sex in a bubble bath is fun, but does have to go a little softer than usual since it's so easy to slip with all the water and bubbles involved.

For an early dinner, he found some filet mignon. The real stuff, not replicated, which he seared for me and grilled to medium well for himself. I teased him about ruining his meat by over cooking it, and he insisted that only sushi and Klingon food should be so uncooked.

When I admitted I didn't know what sushi was, he promised he'd take me to the best place for it he knew, next time we were on earth. His sister Wendy introduced him to the place, so we'll probably bring her along when we go.

From the way he grinned when I asked if we'd take Grace too, I am beginning to suspect that he's intentionally trying to make me into a role model for his niece. It's kind of weird to have a girl who I hardly know, and I'm not related to, looking up to me. It's also kind of flattering that someone holds me in high enough regard that he's not only willing to date me, but he considers me a good enough person to be a role model to his niece. I'm not used to people outside of the family thinking that highly of me.

After dinner, Travis pulled out a box and handed it to me to open. Inside was an earth undergarment called a corset, a leather one. I was puzzled, but he asked me to put it on. He had to help because I'd never seen one before, but he soon had me laced in, wearing nothing else. I'm actually amazed he did finish lacing me in, he kept getting sidetracked with this part of my body and that he felt just needed to be kissed or bit.

I still didn't understand the appeal of the thing once he'd finished lacing me in, even when he'd shown me what I looked like wearing it. He couldn't keep his hands, his lips or his teeth off me while I was wearing it though, so I started to appreciate it. It did annoy me that there were limitations on my movement in it though, but each time I growled about something I couldn't do wearing the corset, Travis was right there compensating or distracting me. I could almost get used to that. I also kind of liked the feel of it being rigid and skin tight, almost like an armor. I even think my orgasm was more intense in the end.

I've been working on Travis on the topic of public sex since his friend's new years party, and he's been resistant so far. When I suggested it during the afterglow of the corset sex, he said he'd consider it if I'd wear my new corset when we do it. I suppose that's a fair trade, though I think that also means I'll have to wear a skirt or something with it to make the outfit acceptable in public.

March 3, 2363

We finally had some time to head to Qo'noS to visit again. Mama mostly gave me a cold shoulder, but she spent lots of time talking to Travis. Kaith was out on patrol, and wasn't going to be home while visiting. I elected to not say anything about him to Mama, but the subject still came up and comments were thrown my way.

Kang hadn't been home when we arrived, but he came home over the weekend. Travis and I showed him the masters, and he suggested we put them through a holoscanner, then have a computer process them to turn into sound waves. He managed to get us some time with his employer's holoscanner for the two disks we had with us, and put together a program that spit out digital copies of the music.

The sound quality was even better than the copies Travis had put together back on earth, and Kang was even sweet enough to give us a copy of the program he made. In exchange he demanded I spar with him, he wanted a real challenge and a bunch of Klingons who stick to traditional combat styles and get pissed at you when you beat them by being creative and adaptive had gotten old.

My brother had certainly improved since the last time we'd squared off, and by the end of the weekend we were fairly even on wins. Travis tried to jump into the fun, but when I failed to talk him out of it, I proceeded to educate him myself by taking him on myself. The ego repairing sex that night was awesome though.

Travis says he's going to send the program to his sister, and see if she'll start taking the disks to someone with a holoscanner and computer to process the data, so that hopefully we won't have to wait until we get back to earth to continue digitalizing the collection.

March 19, 2363

Yesterday, Travis tried to celebrate our one year anniversary. I insisted it was actually today, and pointed out that we had to have hooked up after midnight that night. He insisted that we fell into bed together before midnight.

The worst thing about it is we had this conversation in the middle of the restaurant he took me to, to celebrate. Given the way the staff reacted, I guess it was less of a conversation and more of a shouting match. Dinner went silently after that, as we agreed to drop the subject until we were done with dinner. Other than the silence and the “conversation” to start it, dinner was lovely though.

Travis had me open my gift, regardless of which day our anniversary was, he was determined to have the upper hand on the event. He'd bought me a black leather choker with blue rose tooling on it, and a pair of wrist guards to match it. I suspect he intended the wrist guards to be for defense, but they're hardly thick enough leather to block a good blade. I can forgive him as weapons blows usually don't make it that far with me anyways, and they'll look nice with the choker.

I'd worn the corset to dinner with a long flowing black skirt. He helped me put the choker on after we left the restaurant, and as I finished putting on the wrist guards, I leaned over and suggested we could have some delightful public sex at midnight tonight and split the difference between the dates we each believed to be correct. He hesitated at first, but I eventually won him over by biting at his ear lobe.

We walked around, and I occasionally leaned over and whispered how much I was looking forward to our fun. Each time I did, he blushed and I grinned that much more. Some of the people we passed made comments that only encouraged me, one even said I was leading him around by his balls. I think it was a human who said it.

As it drew upon midnight, he and I picked out a nice spot under a large window that gave a good view of the nearby nebula. There was a large bench, which he sat in the middle of and I sat straddled across his lap, my skirt spread out to cover us. It took some creative fussing, and was a little slow to start because he was nervous about our choice of location, but I was eventually able to get him focused enough on me that he forgot about everyone else.

Things were going well, up until the moment an alien, a species I didn't recognize, suddenly jutted his face in between me and Travis. I shoved him away, and cursed him out as Travis wilted and blushed. When he came back violently, and grabbed me as he hissed obscenities at me, a combination of his voice and his cold hands told me it was Jarzen again. Even with all the advances in medical and cosmetic technologies, one still can't make a Trill's hands not be cold.

One hand wrapped around his throat, my other had my d'k tahg out of my boot and pointed at Jarzen, as I hissed his name and demanded he leave us alone. Travis completely went limp and I sat up a little to get a better grip on our interruption. While I had Jarzen detained like this, Travis tucked himself back into his pants, and I stood up, yanking Jarzen away from Travis.

It went much like last time, he insisted I was the source of all problems in his life. This time he came armed with a phaser though, and his first instinct was to shoot at Travis. Travis saw it coming as I did, and ducked first as I knocked Jarzen's phaser hand away from us.

It took a little longer for Starfleet's temporal investigations officers to show up this time, and Jarzen had clearly taken some time to hone his combat skills. Travis had sense enough to stay out of the way though, and I was able to keep Jarzen's attention on me with some well placed punches even though he had figured out how to dodge my blade.

When reinforcements arrived, they recognized me from last time. When I demanded to know why I wasn't informed when he escaped their custody, they insisted he hadn't yet. I hate temporal mechanics, and I don't even have more than just an idea how they work.

This time the temporal mechanics boys brought along some muscle and Jarzen was yanked off by two meat heads as I had questions asked of me. They didn't seem satisfied as to the answers I was providing, but they had no grounds to hold me, so they eventually let me leave.

Travis was very much out of the mood, and we retired to our room for the night. Sleep was light for me, with too many dreams featuring my psychotic ex, but Travis slept soundly. No matter how many times I woke up he was still curled up against me.

I hate to admit needing the comfort, but just having him there did comfort me. I actually laughed to myself as I wrote that, since should Jarzen burst through the doors and actually constitute a threat, Travis would be able to do little more than get himself out of the way. When we woke up in the morning, and I admitted to him about my dreams involving Jarzen, he insisted we needed to do something to prepare him for when Jarzen pops up again.

What worries me about his request is that he's probably right in thinking Jarzen would choose to target him. He's thus far tried to harm me directly twice now, and both times he's failed. Always but moments ahead of temporal investigations, and still not a match for my abilities. I think he's starting to understand this, given the attention he paid Travis this time. Granted, last time Travis and I had only gotten together the night before, so Jarzen probably figured Travis was a nobody the first time.

Travis is insistent that we attempt to teach him to properly defend himself, as he doesn't want to subject himself to hiding behind someone else next time Jarzen tries something. I just wish it were that simple, but the boy just doesn't seem to have the aptitude. I suppose with a little digging and research, I could find some gadgets that might help him out, but I'd feel better if I could just keep an eye on him myself all the time.

If nothing else, we should get our hands on a personal communication system. The company can't be bothered to invest in such equipment because it pays such high salaries. Blue and I have been considering buying a system based on starfleet technology on the black market, and this just gives us more motivation to do so. He'd mostly been waiting for me to agree to it before he went to acquire it, so I'll tell him he can start looking for something once I'm done writing here.

April 2, 2363

I often forget, because of Travis' combat ineptitude, that he is good at other things that aren't sex. This makes me a pretty bad girlfriend, but thankfully I only forget this silently, and when he does something to remind me that he does have other talents, I do provide acknowledgment and positive feedback.

Blue was able to quickly find something that would suit our communication needs, and brought it back to the ship with him when we were ready to head out for our next run. Travis quickly disappeared into the bowels of the ship, and worked to integrate this new bit of useful into the existing communications system. That part was actually pretty easy, as it only took him an hour or so to do it. The complicated part was finding a way to make the portable bits inconspicuous so that each of us could have our bit on our person at all times.

I think Blue's communicator was the easiest, as he has a pair of wrist guards he wears all the time which he put his into. Travis has never been one for jewelry or anything else that is not strictly utilitarian, but he eventually decided to add his into the ring I gave him for Christmas. I'm even worse about clothing and accessories than Travis, since I would rather just run around without the fuss of clothing if I could get away with it, and so, understandably, there is not one item of clothing or accessory that I wear regularly.

Travis was getting frustrated with me on the subject, as I hadn't decided what to do, and I kept shooting down his suggestions as he made them. He actually threatened to cut me open with my own d'k tahg, and install the thing under my skin permanently. I was actually half tempted to do something like that, though in a slightly more sterile environment under the care of someone a little more trained for the job. The only problem with that was I wouldn't be able to take off the communicator should I have reason to do so.

He eventually convinced me to just put it into the wrist guards he got me for our anniversary. I think half the reason he got the things for me is that the lacing reminds him of that corset he loves so much when I wear it. He had actually suggested the wrist guards at first, but I'd dismissed it originally, as I really didn't really wear them. I wear the choker a lot, but I didn't want to alter it, nor give myself possible reason to ever discard it.

Having given into the suggestion, I've been wearing the wrist guards regularly (and the choker even more frequently than before), and Travis has been showering me with more attention. He'll randomly bite at the back of my neck, and nuzzle at the lacing on the choker, then do the same with whichever wrist he could make the quickest grab for. He does these same things along my back when he's got me laced into the corset too, but that contraption isn't exactly friendly for day to day wear.

Blue has found the whole thing amusing, and has not hesitated to tell me so. He doesn't understand why Travis is so fascinated by bits of clothing and accessories, and he points out that I'm perfectly worth the worship he gives me regardless of what I'm wearing. I can't say I understand it either, but I know Travis is perfectly appreciative even when I'm not wearing these things, it just seems to drive him just that much more when I am.

It does feel weird to know that wherever I go, I'm am but a quick verbal message away from Travis and Blue. Almost feels like a wireless leash. Part of me wonders which of us is going to first revolt and “forget” our communicator when leaving the ship, Blue or I. Probably Blue, because I suspect my worry for Travis and his safety outweigh my desire to not be tracked or restrained in any way.

April 21, 2363

Wendy managed to get the whole collection of masters scanned and digitalized. Travis just received the digital copies when we returned from our last run. Since he got them, he's been playing them non-stop, and I've found it a welcome change. The ship always gets so quiet when we're out on a run.

Blue's not sure what to make of all this classic earth music though. He has grumbled about having to get some Andorian Blues to play for us. I'm not sure if he's making a joke on account of all the earth music and his blue skin, or if there really is an Andorian Blues music style. I suppose I'll find out if he ever comes up with any to play for us.

April 29, 2363

For the first time since I've known him, Blue is going home to see family on Andor. He asked Travis and I to come along. Travis was looking forward to some nice down time on the station that week, but I think it'd be fun, so I've talked him into it.

Travis doesn't like snow and cold. I couldn't care less one way or another. I'm indifferent to it, as I seem to have gotten split down the middle on the Trill resistance to the cold, and the Klingon resistance to the warmth.

When I asked Blue what the occasion was, he said that his younger shi (term for sibling of the shen gender, the vaguely female gender that looks androgynous to most non-Andorians) was being bonded and the family wished for him to be there. His voice dropped when he mentioned the bonding, and when I asked him what was wrong, he just pointed out that his people don't think highly of someone who doesn't contribute to perpetuating the population. I couldn't get anything more out of him on the subject.

We're headed out in a few days here, and he suggested we pack a mix of cold and temperate weather clothing. When I asked what would be appropriate to wear to his shi's bonding, he explained that as an outsider, whatever I do will be scorned, and I should wear whatever I like. When I accused him of bringing Travis and I along just to ruffle feathers, he chuckled and accused me of being part Betazoid.

I'm going to have to corner him with a bottle of blood wine, or Andorian ale, and see if I can pull out of him what's wrong between him and his family. While I can understand alienation and crap between a person and his family, it does also help to understand what's wrong before being drug into the middle of it, if for no reason other than to avoid getting actively involved.

May 1, 2363

It only took half a bottle to get Blue to open up. Andor is in the middle of a population crisis, the fertility window is shrinking and due to the number of people involved in the child making process, it makes it hard to create enough children to make each generation as large as the last. So, in a vaguely self preservation style, any member of Andorian society that isn't contributing to the creation of new life is shunned, guilted, and some times even physically assaulted to remind them of their duty.

This very clearly explains why Blue has been hesitant to return to his home world. He's not interested in having children, and if that's all he ever hears about while he's there, it would be understandable that he'd choose to avoid it. His shi is dear to him, and she's the only family member that seems to accept his choice to not contribute to the next generation without fuss, otherwise he wouldn't even bother going home for her bonding.

While part of his reason for bringing Travis and I is indeed to ruffle feathers, to distract and hopefully distribute strife between the three of us that he'd otherwise have to bear himself, he's also bringing us along to act as his emotional support.

I figure it'll make things easier if Travis and I at least attempt to respect their culture, so I'm going to spend a little time doing some research, since Blue doesn't want to be very forthcoming on his people at the moment.

He did mention that it might be a bit of a fuss to get me onto the planet fully armed, but his older zhi (sibling of the zhen gender, the other vaguely female gender and looks like what most non-Andorians expect a female to) is in the guard, so he hopes that we'll be able to work around it. He's supposed to get in contact with her, and see what we need to do.

May 7, 2363

So we're on Andor. Blue talked me down to just carrying my d'k tahg, and helped me get the right paperwork to get it through the system without his zhi having to pull any favors. He does assure me that once we get to his family's keep, there will be plenty of weapons I can borrow should the need arise. While he didn't say it, I do suspect that such borrowing will not be welcomed or encouraged with an outsider, but I'm hoping that things don't come to that while visiting.

Blue's family has been nothing but nice to us since we arrived. There was even an extra level of acceptance of me when I started off on my “starfleet is horrible, it took away my father before I even met him!” rant. If Blue had warned me that anti-starfleet sentiments were so high, I would have opened with that.

His family will not let up on the getting bonded and producing children for the good of Andor crap though. I've never seen this man, who I've come to respect and trust with my life, be so withdrawn, submissive, or all together without a backbone. A couple times I wanted to step forward and say something, but he saw my intent, and just quietly grabbed my wrist and gave it a squeeze. The first time I had to turn and look at him, so surprised I was, but he shook his head at me, his antennae reinforcing the indication to let it drop.

I think his shi noticed this interaction, as she sought me out later that evening. Her name's Shieshanna sh'Zhaath, but she answers to Shanna. I also found out Blue's name, Thinshalrablu th'Zhaath, which adds a little depth to his answering to the name Blue when he's off Andor. They call him Thinshal here, but Shanna calls him Blue also so I get the impression he's distanced himself from his culture and family in any way he can, and his shi respects this, unlike the rest of his family.

Shanna commented on the confusion she saw in my eyes when Blue held me back from commenting on his family badgering him. She thanked me for respecting his wishes, and for coming to support him through this visit. It means a lot to her to have him here for her bonding, and she was afraid he wouldn't come due to how hard of a time he's had dealing with family since he went off world and decided he wasn't interested in producing children.

When I told Travis about my conversation with Shanna, he admitted he was surprised that I hadn't lashed out at Blue's family yet. He also admitted that he was getting tempted to do or say something himself, but knowing that Blue was the reason I'd been holding back made him decide he should do the same.

May 9, 2363

Yesterday, Blue got his hands on something small and agile for me to fly. He gave me and Travis an aerial tour of this part of Andor. Since we had some time, we headed up north later in the day because I was curious about flying under snowy conditions. He guided me through some tunnel systems, we buzzed some of the higher mountains, and caused an avalanche or two in areas that were unpopulated.

Usually when I pull stunt flying, people get mad at me, but both of the guys were egging me on. Travis was betting me drinks to see if I could try this maneuver or that he'd only heard of. By the end of the flight, he owed me so many drinks he probably would have been better laying in for regular deliveries of Blood Wine for the next year. I probably won't hold him to any of it though, I had enough fun to make it worth it.

When we made it back to Blue's family Keep, he told me to buzz the place. I wasn't sure about it at first, as I didn't need his family hating me and making the rest of the visit miserable for all of us, instead of just him, but he wouldn't let up. It didn't take long for Travis to join in. What can I say, I'm a push over, so I buzzed it. His siblings, and the other younger members of his clan all seemed amused by it, but the elders were pretty annoyed. At least it seems they won't be challenging me to ritual combat over it, which seems to be the worst they'd probably do.

That night, Shanna wanted one last night of debauchery before she was bonded, so she borrowed me, as well as a few of the younger people from the Keep, and we headed into the nearest town. I was nominated to fly, and encouraged to pull an encore of the earlier buzz. I suspect that if Blue tries to bring me along for another visit, his elders will think twice before allowing it now. I do suspect he's had his fill of visiting home for a while, and he doesn't have any more siblings to be bonded off, so it'll probably be a while before he visits again.

The night reminded me a lot of the times Mara and I used to spend together before she got married to Korth. There was drinking, shameless flirting with random strangers, and absolutely raunchy jokes and craziness flying between the group.

Travis elected to stay behind because he wasn't sure what to make of partying Andorians. Blue stayed behind because he wasn't up for a night of entertainment marred by “why aren't you bonded yet?” questions from anyone he encountered. He even suspected that one or more of the people who came with us would have proposed bonding with them if they could corner him long enough.

There was a chan and zhen in the group who were almost at the age to bond, and the thaan and shen they'd been intended were lost in an avalanche the last winter, so they were on the active hunt for replacements. They'd both attempted to corner Blue more than once in the Keep, but he stuck close to Travis or I as much as possible because of it. I have overheard some of the clan speaking as if Blue's joining a bond with Travis and I, and we just need a fourth before he announces it to the family.

When I shared this tasty tidbit with Blue, after getting back last night, he chuckled and insisted that Travis really wasn't his type, too much like a thaan. He does figure if he were inclined that way, we wouldn't need a fourth, as I would easily fulfill the role of both shen and zhen in the reproductive process, and besides Travis and I will need doctor's help if we're going to have children anyways, so folding an Andorian into the mix wouldn't be out of the way.

Not being sure how Travis would respond to such speculation, Blue and I agreed that we weren't going to mention the conversation to him. It did lead to some shared laughs and knowing smiles each time Blue and I caught someone speculating on that line of thought today, which only served to confuse poor Travis. He's long since learned that when Blue and I elect to leave him out of a conversation, it's not because we're trying to hide things from him, but because we don't think he'd really want that topic floating in his head, so he's stopped asking when we act like this.

The bonding was nice, though it would have been nicer if I'd had any idea what they were saying. Shanna seemed happy, for her part. The rest of her bondmates were nice, if one ignored their manners on the subject of Blue's choice to not bond and have children.

Blue decided to cut our trip short, deciding he'd had enough of the harassment of clan and stranger alike. We're on our way back home right now. Travis and Blue are getting drunk while I sit and watch the navigation console in this little bucket of bolts we'd rented for the trip. Trying to squeeze three people into the Cerulean Comet wasn't going to work. The auto pilot seems to be working correctly now that Travis took a look at it, so I'm probably going to join the boys in their drunken bonding.

June 12, 2363

Happy birthday to me. I called Kaith and Kang each to wish them well on the anniversary of our birth. I found out that Kang has a very lovely girlfriend, a trill named Jelnazia, because apparently my call came while they were enjoying his birthday present in bed.

She's an artist. She mostly paints, but does stone and metal sculpture too. She met Kang when she was commissioned to do a statue for a great family, and some of her tools broke down. Cursing in a beautiful string of Klingon in her workspace near a public walkway, she drew his attention. He sprung to her rescue, repaired her equipment and convinced her to join him for a drink that evening.

That was three months ago, and since then she's been trying to keep up the work flow on Qo'noS so they don't have to play the long distance relationship game. Apparently it's been causing a bit of a stir that she's been bringing my brother with her to the unveiling parties for her commissions. Justifying going off world for an artist is easy, Klingons are warriors, not artists. Justifying your artist dating a half breed? A little awkward. At least we have family in service of the empire, so that makes it a little easier.

Zia promised to send me a copy of her portfolio, when Kang sends the present he said he had for me, after I started asking about what she did when she wasn't capturing the “warrior spirit” in metal or stone. Kang actually blushed a bit when she started gushing about how the nudes she painted of him were some of the best she's ever done. I suggested commissioning her to get a picture of Me, Kaith and Kang painted for Mama's birthday.

Kaith's gotten a promotion, about a week ago. He's a junior tactical officer now. His fluency in English helped even, as they usually start hinting you should learn it when they're starting to groom you for promotion into the higher ranks. Apparently only his fellow low ranking peon crew mates had heard him speaking it, when he'd call and talk to me, as the first time a hint was dropped, he replied in English and gave his commanding officer the surprise of his life. The whole crew is still talking about it a month later.

He tells me Mama's proud of him, but she still doesn't seem interested in talking to me. Nice to know that she can't make up her mind still. I still hear from her all the time because she's started calling and talking to Travis somewhat regularly, and he finds this about as normal as I find my brothers and I interrupting each other's sex. Thankfully this communication channel goes both directions, as Travis reports to me what she has to say when she calls him. I think Mama knows this, and is using him to get around admitting that maybe I'd been right about Kaith needing a military career.

Travis' family sent me out a present for my birthday. They'd managed to time it right so that it arrived at the station right before we pulled out for the run, and Travis hid it away until this morning. The birthday card was drawn for me by Grace, and they found me the prettiest pair of patchwork suede boots, black and white. They lace up the side and come to just under my knee. Travis couldn't help laughing with delight when I pulled on the boots without bothering to put on another scrap of clothing. Because of this, I selected to make this my birthday outfit, at least until I called my brothers. Blue was quite amused as well.

This went over especially well when we had pirates board the ship, and I elected to go help Blue dispatch them as I was. Best Birthday Present ever, getting to cause chaos and pain to pirates while wearing nothing more than my pretty new boots.

When Blue teased that I should spar with him like that, Travis did get a little defensive and possessive. It was cute, and Blue soothed his jealousy by assuring him that nothing he could do would make me stray. While it was cute, it also surprised me, as Travis hadn't shown himself to be the jealous sort before, even though he had clearly established before we hooked up that he was monogamous.

June 25, 2363

Blue and I have violent needs, due to our respective genetic backgrounds, that no amount of awesome sex (me with Travis, he with whoever he finds at our port of call), nor beating each other senseless on a nearly daily basis by sparring, can satisfy. So, we have a tendency to go out and start fights in bars we're not likely to return to any time soon. Travis, after objecting the first few times, then having to be stuck on the ship with us for the next cargo run when we didn't indulge these violent urges first, has since stopped arguing with us when Blue and I leave the ship armed to the teeth. Usually I'll just lean over, kiss his on the lips, accented with a sharp nip, and assure him we'll be back after we've purged some of the pent up rage. Sweetheart that he is, he'll usually have bail money prepared, a regenerator and bandages out, and the ship ready for departure whenever Blue and I return. Travis never objects anymore, as I always return horny as all hell and ready to fuck his brains out.

Usually these violent outings go pretty much the same. One of us makes up some pretense to piss someone off, provoke them into attempting to beat the shit out of us, then we let loose. Usually with a proper bribe to the bar tender or other authority figure in the bar, and a promise to also cover damages, we usually have an alibi to pin the blame on the other party too. When executed as planned, we've never had this backfire on us.

The problem this time, and the reason why it gets a journal entry, is that this time, we hadn't finished scoping out the bar yet. I'd been just starting the delicate negotiations with the bar tender to see if he was the sort who'd take the bribe and Blue had been looking over the other patrons in the bar, when a trio of Andorians walked in. Out of the corner of my eye, I didn't like the curl of Blue's antennae, and I turned to look, letting my current statement to the bar tender just cut off mid word. A shen, a zhen, and a chan, they already had turned their attention to Blue and were headed towards us. I hissed an inquiry as to if he knew them, and he shook his head.

The conversation started pleasant enough, they addressed him with respect and noted the lack of shapla. I wasn't sure what a shapla is, or why Blue not having one would be of any note, but he tensed in response to this observation. He muttered something about having somewhere to be, and stood to leave. I moved to follow, but the group blocked our path to the door. One of them asked if he was bonded. Seeing there wasn't any tactful way to get away at this point, he let silence be his answer.

The zhen moved forward, moving so close to him that I felt uncomfortable on his behalf. She explained that they'd lost their thaan, and that for reasons that were complex and hard to explain, they couldn't return to Andor to seek another until they would likely have little to no fertility window left. Unsure how he was planning on responding, but knowing that he wasn't interested in their offer, I started searching for distractions, ways out of this situation that wouldn't require combat. One crazy Andorian was challenge enough for me to handle, Blue and I are a pretty even match, but three of them with only Blue to back me up? Not on my list of things to try if I can avoid it.

He tried to politely decline the invitation. I'm sure if all they'd been seeking was sex, and someone to just donate genetic material to produce children, he might have cooperated just to get out of here without stirring any trouble. However, it was clear they were seeking a bond, a lasting commitment, even if only to produce children. I know he doesn't want to be tied down like that, and suspect that he would only ever consider making such an exception if he found himself truly in love. Part of his objection, his reason for not returning to Andor to contribute to the whole, was this very emphasis upon the production of children, and the neglect of love and lasting commitment to the people with whom one is bonding.

The shen and chan both dropped their hands to handles of weaponry clearly on display on their persons. Blue hissed back at me to not do the same, even as I was moving to do just that. This provoked commentary about his pinkskin pet, in response to which I growled. The shen quickly moved to hold her knife to me, only to find me gripping her by an antennae, and my own knife ready to remove it. Both the zhen and Blue muttered a string of curses in Andorian, strangely complementary yet conflicting, as they drew their weaponry.

I eyed the chan and the zhen, even as I warned the shen that any movement on her part, and I couldn't guarantee she'd still have her antenna. I knew that I was probably only making things worse, but I was pretty sure by this point we were going to have to fight our way out just judging from the looks in the eyes of the trio as Blue had repeatedly tried to politely make it clear he didn't want to become a part of their bond. When we'd been on Andor for his shi's bonding, we'd been lucky to have not encountered anyone who was violently opposed to Blue's choice not to contribute to the whole, but it looked like I was going to be getting some first hand experience with this now.

Blue and the zhen faced each other, the shen held very still, though she still gripped her knife, and the chan eyed me warily, attempting to size me up, nearest I could tell. When everyone started moving, I don't actually remember what happened, other than Blue and I found each other back to back fairly quickly, our normal bar fight instincts kicking in without fail. The three circled around us, the shen having managed to escape my grip with little more than a nick at the base of her antennae. I was both annoyed and relieved at this. If I'd succeeded at removing the antennae, it likely would have taken her out of the fight, leaving her unable to balance herself, but likely would have left her zhen and chan doubly pissed and seeking revenge for the horrid act. As it was, it probably left the three of them royally pissed off that I had even threatened such an act.

We stood like that a short while, the three of them circling Blue and I, until a couple of other bar patrons started to provide commentary about the situation. When one started to offer wagers on the outcome of the pending fight, I quickly produced a throwing knife from what would have looked like no where to most observers, and threw it at the jackass. When he made some snide remark about how I missed, the knife having embedded itself in the wall a hair's width from the side of his head, I simply told him that was a warning shot, and the next one goes between his eyes.

The whole bar fell silent at that point, everyone was watching us. The trio took this as a sign that we'd been posturing and sizing each other up too long, and attacked almost as if they were one mind. Blue and I were quick to realize that while they outnumbered us, our combat skills were actually better, so the fight wasn't nearly as lopsided as I had expected. It still left a large mess, and puddles of blue blood everywhere, thankfully very little of it belonging to Blue.

After probably a half hour of brawling, we finally had the three pinned down. I turned to the bar tender, offered up what was originally going to be our bribe for the evening as a down payment on repairs. Meanwhile, Blue made it crystal clear to the trio that if he were to find any of them in his presence again, he wouldn't have the courtesy to leave them alive. Not a single one of them would raise their eyes to meet his. The whole of the bar was still dead silent by this time, staring at Blue and I even as we walked out the door.

When we made it back to the ship, Travis expressed surprise over the blue blood covering both of us. Even as the question of if Blue was okay was leaving his lips, Blue starting throwing one fist strike after another into the metal wall. Travis' question fell dead even as I grabbed Blue to stop him. Travis was quick to offer up bandages and the regenerator, even as I had to hold Blue in a crushing grip as I attempted to talk him into calming down. As I realized that it was going to take a little longer to soothe Blue than I'd hoped, I had Travis get us cleared for departure quickly, and get an electronic funds transfer to the bar we'd left in a shambles for the amount agreed upon with the bar tender to cover damages.

Even once I got Blue seated in a chair, calmed down enough he wasn't physically lashing out, his antennae trembled, and a cold fire burned in his eyes. I silently bandaged his bloodied knuckles as Travis went and sought out something alcoholic tucked away among our personal effects. When Travis left the cockpit, Blue looked after him a moment and sighed as he turned to look at me. His antennae drooped a little, and I saw him make an effort to try to unclench his muscles and sit back in the chair. I took his hands in mine, and gave them a gentle squeeze, careful not to agitate his raw knuckles.

He smiled wanly at me, and thanked me softly. When I insisted it was nothing, and pointed out that's what friends are for, he looked at me quizzically. His eyes then lit up, and he admitted that he really hadn't been sure what to call that, that he hadn't properly understood the term until now, even though he'd heard me use it frequently. It was about then that Travis returned with some blood wine, and seeing Blue's improved mood, grinned widely as he offered it up.

I could tell he was still troubled by what had happened in the bar, but he'd calmed down enough he could at least function like normal. Between the three of us, we killed the bottle of blood wine, even though it'd been unopened before Travis dug it out. Travis had the smallest share between the three of us, but he was clearly the least sober, and elected to drink some water and sleep it off. Blue and I hung in the cockpit to talk a while.

After small talk of trivial sorts, something he'd only started indulging Travis and I in during the recent months, I asked him what a shapla was, and why the trio had made note of his lacking one. When his muscles tensed up again, I apologized softly, resting a hand on his forearm. He closed his eyes, leaning his head back against the wall we were sitting against, and set his other hand on top of mine. There was a silence, and just as I was about to offer another topic up for discussion on the assumption he didn't want to address that one, he spoke.

He explained what it was, its significance, and how pointing out the lack of it had all but asked the question of if he was bonded. He figures the question only got explicitly asked because they were probably trying to make the point for me as well. It was possible, he explained, that they thought he and I were bonded, of a sort, when I elected to stand by his side when they challenged him. This concept of friendship, as he'd explained earlier, was foreign to his people. You were either family, someone you worked with, or a stranger. Sex was pretty much meaningless, so lover was less a social and relationship term, and more of a description for an activity partner.

There was a period of silence again, and I eventually elected to break it by teasing him about the dents he left in the wall when he'd punched it. He leaned forward, and turned his head to look up above where we were sitting, and stared at the new curves on the wall, splattered with a little bit of the dark blue of his dried blood. Seeing the look in my eyes when I'd pointed it out, he grinned and said I couldn't possibly leave dents as fine in the wall. I punched him in the shoulder and stood up. He was on his feet right next to me, and we grinned, having no need to actually say anything, as we headed for the corner of the cargo bay we'd set aside for sparring.

He was in a much better mood by the time we'd beaten the pulp out of each other. Travis had crawled out of bed in time to watch us finish up, and Blue finally decided he needed his small ration of sleep. Travis and I made our way back to the cockpit, even though the ship was usually fine on autopilot when we didn't have cargo yet, and I curled up with my head in his lap as we talked for a while about Blue. Travis still hadn't really understood what'd happened, we'd been so busy trying to calm Blue down that I hadn't had the chance to explain, and Blue was still so worked up about it, I would have been surprised if he'd been able to get it out himself.

Once I'd brought Travis up to date, I admitted it was time for me to sleep too, so he sent me off to the bunk room and took watch in the cockpit. Blue was out like a light when I got down there, and I'm going to be also soon, I just wanted to get this all written down when it was still fresh in my mind.

July 12, 2363

The last couple times we've put into station, Blue has hardly left the ship. The first time he started off, he saw another Andorian across the docking ring, and turned right around to go back. The second time, Travis and I tried to frog march him on out to a bar, and he sulked around until he could get away, then back to the ship he went.

Travis and I are both worried about him. Travis is currently trying to get him to open and up and talk to him. If he fails, I get to go in and try. Usually I have better luck getting through to him, but lately, he has been opening up more for Travis too, so who knows which one of us will have luck figuring this out. Whatever it is, I hope it's something we can help him through, as I am starting to miss my old friend. He hasn't even been sparring with me lately!

July 13, 2363

While Blue opened up to Travis, I'm still not sure that he's back to normal. Travis says that he's just being melancholy because he doesn't like being an outcast. I can understand this, even though he's a private person, he is very much a social creature. Being reminded by everyone around you that you don't fit in, it gets weary. I've been dealing with it my whole life, and honestly, between Blue and Travis, for the first time in my life, I have found somewhere I don't feel like I'm the odd person out. It's refreshing, and I've found myself the happiest I've ever been.

I pointed this out to Blue, in hopes of making him feel better, to remind him we're here for him, but he didn't seem to take it the way I meant it. He got quiet, and excused himself. When I asked Travis if he had any ideas what I did wrong, he was as mystified as I was.

I am going to go insane soon if I don't get to either go out and start a fight in a bar, or spar again. Sex with Travis, it's awesome, but it's just not the same as getting in a right proper fight. I suppose if I lob enough insults at him, he'll rise to the challenge. Might be fun to see what happens if he actually gets pissed, instead of just playing with me.

July 14, 2363

Yeah, I am awesome.

So, after finishing that last journal entry, I marched right up to Blue and called him a coward. Just out and out, “coward!” I have never seen that man more confused in my life. It amused the hell out of me, and I had to use every last ounce of self control not to burst out giggling and spoil my efforts. When he looked up at me silently for a moment, then called over to Travis that “his woman” was acting suicidal, I cackled like a madwoman.

Both Travis and Blue regarded me with cocked eyebrows. I pointed out that calling me suicidal was big talk from someone who hadn't taken up a weapon against me in nearly three weeks, and grinned when this statement seemed to have made it under his thick blue skin. I think Travis figured out what my goal was and started marking cracks about how he was just going to have to write up my eulogy, nothing he could do about it.

When Blue shot up out of the chair he was seated in, and slammed me against the wall, Travis was utterly floored. Even as I grinned and attempted to get the wind back into my lungs, he looked as if he was trying to decide if he should attempt interjecting into the fight. I was absolutely thrilled that not only was Blue taking the bait, he wasn't even waiting to take it down to our little sparring corner of the cargo bay. Blue held me pinned to the wall, staring at me wild eyed, waiting to see what I'd do now that he'd taken my challenge.

I have to admit, being pinned to the wall by him like that really turned me on, and if I wasn't happy in my relationship with Travis, or if he gave me permission to enjoy others too, I would have likely kissed and bit Blue then. Instead I did the right thing and threw him across the cockpit with a predatory grin. Travis smartly took cover behind a chair where he could watch, but was very clearly out of the way.

From there, this was pretty much like normal for one of our sparring matches, though Blue was more fired up. Probably due to a combination of having not released any of the violent energy that'd been stored up during his moping period, and the fact that I went out of my way to push his buttons. As my laugher and teasing only increased, the more forceful he got, he eventually realized that I was intentionally provoking him. I think he even realized it was for his own good, as he started playing off my silliness and antagonism. Once Travis realized that Blue knew what I was doing, he started playing cheerleader for both of us, alternating back and forth based upon who appeared to have the upper hand at any given moment.

We finally came to an impasse when he and I each had the other in a hold that the other couldn't get out of, but weren't fully submissive to as long as we held our own hold. I asked if he was feeling better yet, or if I needed to keep kicking his ass. When he insisted he'd like to see me get out of his hold, I returned that he was welcome to go first, to which he insisted that ladies should always be first. To this, Travis laughed and insisted that if we didn't either get on with it, or agree to stop, he was going to be forced to kick both our asses. Blue and I laughed so hard we both let go of the other at the same time. Travis failed to be amused when Blue offered himself up as a willing and nubile sex slave if Travis could indeed kick both our asses.

I have a few new bruises, and from the way Blue's been walking since last night, I know he got his share too. There's also a couple bits and pieces we'll need to replace on various panels in the cockpit, as well as some blood to scrub up. However, given that Blue's been in a better mood since that little tussle, I'd call it a win even if I had to do all the repair and cleanup work myself.

September 10, 2363

Travis, Blue and I are on Qo'noS right now. Zia agreed to do a group portrait of me and my brothers to give to Mama for her birthday. It took some doing to find a long enough block of time that not only could Kaith get enough leave, but that I could find a long enough lull in the shipping schedule to spare me. Thankfully Zia doesn't need more than a week to whip up a proper portrait, so when that's all Kaith and I could come up with at the same time, and it was right before Mama's birthday, it worked out pretty well.

The lull worked out such that instead of just sending me off and making Travis and Blue settle for a substitute for a run or two, they were left with nothing better to do. Blue elected to come along, and I would have been surprised if Travis hadn't wanted to come.

My brothers and I sat for the first session of the portrait today. During this, Blue and Travis disappeared. I would have been worried for Travis if Blue hadn't been with him, but I trusted Blue to keep him from getting into any trouble. I'm currently waiting for their return so I can have my boyfriend back and get some much needed sex. Having heard tales from both Kang and I, Kaith's chomping at the bit to spar with Blue. I'm looking forward to watching my brother get his ass handed to him, since I don't expect Kaith has gotten over his traditionalist tendencies with combat.

It's nice to be staying with Kang and Zia this time, instead of having to put up with Mama's silliness of setting Travis and I up in separate rooms, or lecturing me for having sent Kaith off to a career that's made him happy for the first time in a long while. Kaith's already stopped in to see her, but he didn't mention that Travis and I were here yet. I'll probably take Travis by later in the week, she'll be happy to see him. They certainly talk over subspace enough, usually about me.

September 12, 2363

As predicted, Blue handed Kaith his ass on a platter, and it was fun to watch. In the name of good will, he drug the lot of us out to the bar he and Travis had found in their wanderings during the day, and bought the first few rounds. Kang, Zia, Travis and I held down a booth for the group of us, while Kaith and Blue prowled the bar and acted like macho idiots to attract the ladies.

Despite being shorter than most of the ladies in the bar, Blue did attract quiet a bit of attention. He wasn't prepared for the suggestions that came up that his very sensitive antennae should be used as handles. Being the tactless wench that I am, I actually helpfully called out some suggestions as to what would be a better way to treat said antennae, which caused Blue to flush a deep blue color and Travis to all but choke on his blood wine. When Zia and Kang laughed merrily, and Zia suggested she wanted antennae now, Blue elected to try to pretend he didn't know us.

I do know that Blue eventually succeeded in his quest for sex that night, as he snuck back into Kang and Zia's place in the wee hours of the morning, then tried to just curl up and sleep without being noticed. His bedroll was on the floor next to the fold out couch that Travis and I'd been set up on, so I leaned over the edge of the bed to ask him about his adventures. Even in the dim light, I could see the beginnings of bruising, and he was grinning from ear to ear.

As he and I sat up talking quietly, Travis eventually woke up and wondered what all the fuss was. The three of us ended up sitting up the rest of the night to talk. Blue, growing tired of being on the floor while Travis and I were on the bed, climbed up to join us. When Zia found us like this the next morning, she offered up raktajino, but the boys both admitted they needed more sleep as Travis had only gotten half of what he needed, and Blue was long over due for his small ration of it. When I climbed out of bed, the boys didn't take long to sprawl across the bed and fall asleep.

When I followed Zia into the kitchen to get the promised raktajino, she made an off hand comment about my harem, and it hit me sideways. When talking about the two together, I'll often call them “my boys” or “the boys” as if they're a single unit, and if Travis were to tell me it was okay, I would happily start having sex with Blue again. Zia laughed when I admitted this, and pointed out that the only person in the trio the sex actually mattered to was Travis.

Kang joined us in the kitchen not long after, and the three of us just chatted until Kaith showed up. The day before, Zia had shown us how much of a slave driver she was, insisting we sit like statues, fussing with how we were positioned, and generally fussing with us as much as she fussed with her oil paints. Despite seeming like she spent so much time fussing, and so little time actually painting, I was amazed to see what she'd done on the first day. Remembering this, it made it easier for me to indulge her the next day. At least until Travis and Blue woke up and found their way into the studio to watch.

It started innocently enough at first, they just hung around watching Zia work and talking to all of us. Then somehow we ended up on the subject of Blue's sexual exploits of the night before. Naturally Kaith and Kang were curious, and Travis seemed to be also, though he wouldn't admit it. As when I'd started to inquire into it earlier when Blue had returned, Travis had woken up and guided conversation in another direction, so I elected to jump into the conversation when it came up again in the studio.

When Kaith decided to stir the shit, and suggested that Travis should try painting himself up blue and sticking something on his head to mimic antennae, he looked horrified at the prospect. The troublemaker came out in Blue at this suggestion, and he started nosing through Zia's paints, stealthily, testing the occasional blue against his skin to look for a good match. When Travis figured out what Blue was doing, he started likewise sampling the paints, looking for a good pinkish skin tone. All this was occurring behind Zia's back, and it took me and my brothers all our self control to not start laughing at the boys' antics. They each found the right color to match their skin tone at about the same time, so next came the paint brushes. They each loaded up a brush, and brandished them like swords. Form wise, Blue probably had the advantage, having actually held bladed weapons of that nature before, but with the egotistical lunatic factor on his side, Travis landed the first splatter of paint on Blue. A pale peach stripe down his nose.

It wasn't long before Blue landed his first patch of blue paint on Travis, painting his left collar bone. From there, it pretty much snow balled, and soon both had most of their exposed skin, as well as not a little of their clothing, covered in paint. When Travis decided he was covered with enough paint, he elected to start mocking Blue's antennae using his two pointer fingers. This was the point where my brothers and I failed to maintain a straight face anymore. Almost as if in slow motion, Zia spun around to see what had us all so amused, and she stood silent and angry for a minute before she turned back to me.

“Diziara! Get your harem to behave or get them out of here!” she ordered. Blue and Travis looked at each other, Blue's antennae twisted into a puzzled gesture, and Travis imitating such the best he could with his fingers, and they mouthed the word harem at each other. Before I could say anything, Blue asked if two people could constitute a harem as Travis asked if they could be a harem if he was the only one of the two currently having sex with me. Despite the mess of her paints and torture of her paint brushes, she couldn't help being amused by this, and giggled.

They were still banished from the studio, but not before I picked up the holocamera Zia had laying around, I assume for taking reference pictures. I intend to get the picture put into a little holodisplay, so I can leave it somewhere like a desk or something, and embarrass my boys decades from now. They even elected to ham it up for me, crossing paint brushes as if they were dueling with swords. I think Zia muttered something about rendering the picture in oils eventually, and titling it The Harem. I look forward to seeing how it comes out.

Travis and Blue drug us out for another evening at the bar that night, and this time Blue hung around the table with the rest of us, while Kaith prowled the bar on his own. Somehow the subject of the tendency for Blue and I to get into bar fights came up, and Blue surprised me by telling about the encounter with the Andorians who became violent when he refused their proposal to join their bond. Kang told Blue he considered him like a brother, and I think Blue took some comfort in this. Travis piped up, wondering why he hadn't been told such too, and I pointed out that when they got him smashed on Blood Wine during Mara's wedding, and repeatedly kicked his ass sparring, they were welcoming him into the family.

The evening ended earlier than it did the night before, and the five of us left Kaith to prowl the bar alone. Kang and Zia were quick to make for the privacy of their bedroom, and it didn't take a genius to figure out what their goal for the rest of the night was. I had harbored hopes of a similar sort involving Travis, but he quickly squashed those flat by instead curling up against me to sleep when he, Blue and I ended up in the living room, on the pull out bed in the couch. Commentary about this turn of events, including ribbing from Blue directed at Travis as he was drifting off to sleep, was exchanged all while the three of us lounged on the bed.

Travis has a thing about skin to skin contact, where he seeks it as much as possible, but he doesn't seem to like the idea of anyone else seeing me naked. He isn't particular about what part of my exposed body makes contact with his, and he seems to have come to terms with the fact that Blue's just going to see my naked body from time to time, due to the nature of the living arrangements on the ship. Sometimes, I even get the idea that Travis is still a little worried, jealous even, of what there'd been between Blue and I before we got together. He might even be worried about if I'm going to pull what his ex did, and cheat on him with Blue. I think the only thing that soothes his worries is that the same reason why Blue's just going to occasionally see me naked also makes it so we wouldn't be able to hide anything on that ship, even if we were the sort to betray his trust like that.

At any rate, when Travis settled down to sleep, and leave Blue and I to talk, he nuzzled up against my leg, flipping my skirt out of the way. Once he was asleep, Blue asked me about the Harem commentary from earlier in the day. My responses were vague, because while I knew Blue would understand how things really stood, the last thing I needed was for Travis to wake up to hear some of it, and misunderstand what he was hearing. I did rib Blue for his choice of commentary, and I think there's more there he's not telling me, but his reasoning for not talking about it may be similar to mine. I love Travis dearly, but he puts too much emotional value into sex, and therefore sometimes gets a little stupid about it. It's not his fault, it was the culture he was raised with, and so I work within the boundaries he's comfortable with.

When the conversation got too weighty, such that it got stuck and couldn't move forward in the vague state it had tried to hide within, I decided to lighten the mood and rib Blue about the paint mess. Blue tried to insist that Travis looked better in the blue paint than he did in the pink paint, and I wouldn't hear anything of it. When he scoffed as I implied that he was my property, in the process of insisting I was color blind about my boys, I teased that I would strong arm him into submission if it weren't for Travis being asleep on my thigh.

I was actually getting tired, so he excused himself to go read in the garden. My brother Kaith apparently has a Shakespeare collection in the translated English, as that's what Blue was going to the garden to read. When I expressed my confusion over this, he explained that Kaith claimed it gave insight into the Terran culture, and language, when compared to the original plays in Klingon; comparing the mistranslated words, verse, and sometimes whole acts even, to the original, gives one a feel for the largest and most subtle of cultural differences. Normally one would be a scholar or an actor to want to pay that much attention to The Bard's works, and the social implications, but apparently Kaith believes that it gives him a tactical advantage to know these things, and that one needs a tactical advantage over the human race. Seems Travis is one of the only humans he finds to be worth associating with, which seems odd given his tactical failings, but it might just be he cares about his sister, and seeing me happy is the important thing.

The next morning, I woke up before Travis. Blue had been outside reading the whole night. I managed to grab my journal from my bag without disturbing Travis, so I put this down. Zia will likely be awake soon, so I'll probably leave Travis in bed and go see how a night of Shakespeare did Blue.

September 16, 2363

Zia said today should be the last day she'll need us to sit for the portrait, though she might grab one or two of us for a short bit of reference here and there while she puts the final touches in place. We're taking Mama out to dinner at a nice place tomorrow, on her birthday.

Travis and I stopped by to say hello to her yesterday. She hardly talked to me, so I wandered the family compound, talked to my aunt and uncles a bit. Even sparred with them some, that was nice. Mama and Travis spent a lot of time talking, and every time I was within ear shot, it was about me. Usually he was defending me, for some thing that he really shouldn't have to defend me for, or she was going on about something that she wanted him to try to change in me. While it's disconcerting that my mother gets along better with my human boyfriend than she ever has with me, her own flesh and blood, it does reassure me that Travis cares about me enough to stand up for me against this woman.

Honestly, there have been a few times where I could tell I'd scared the living daylights out of him. Like watching a bar fight that Blue and I didn't plan erupt while he's there, when people have made threats towards him, or any of those sorts of things. I become a wild beast, and after a couple of these events, he's admitted to me that he was afraid of me. He knew deep down, I wouldn't hurt him, but he was still afraid. The fire in my eyes, the wildness in my actions. Compared to my mother, I'm as tame as a kitten. He's seen her in her full Klingon temper, she got baited into the sparring grounds by her brother while we'd been here for Mara's wedding, and Travis was there to watch. Even knowing this, even knowing I'm a watered down version of her, in the way of a temper, he will stand up to her. This is both entirely stupid, and deeply endearing to me.

I think this means I can keep him, even if he can't hold a bat'leth straight to save his life.

September 17, 2363

Amazingly enough, dinner went well with Mama. She loved the portrait. I hadn't realized she'd taken to Zia as well as she'd taken to Travis, but she actually treats Zia like more of a daughter than she does me. She did have quips to direct at Kaith about his lack of being involved with anyone, but Travis did jump to his defense.

I was surprised when she actually addressed me reasonably and held a bit of a conversation with me. Probably the first real conversation of any sort she's held with me since Kaith joined the defense force. I suspect she still holds me responsible for that, but seems to have come to terms with the fact he's happy because of it.

Travis had been perplexed as to why we were making a fuss over her birthday this year, where we hadn't last year. His human manners kept him from asking her age during the dinner, and he was surprised when I told him she had turned 50 this year. He insisted that she didn't look anywhere near that old. Humans always have such a hard time judging the age of anyone with Klingon DNA.

I still remember when Travis found out how old I was. Blue and I laughed at him while for the next week he insisted he was robbing the cradle. Then he proceeded to wax poetical about my having a fetish for older men, since Blue's older than he is. Oh, then it got really entertaining when he remembered my having been involved with Toby when he'd originally met me. He didn't know how much older Toby was, but he was pretty sure that he was older than Blue. That's actually what got him over the fixation on the cradle robbing, he eventually asked me what happened to Toby. When I explained that he'd run off on me, tears and growls blended together in this statement, he murmured an apology and held me in his arms. The subject hasn't come back up with him since then.

Speaking of Toby, I'm not sure what's going to happen with him when he returns. Travis makes me happy, and I don't foresee anything changing that, but Toby did mean a lot to me before he ran off. That said, the jerk did up and disappear on me without so much as an invitation to join him, a forwarding address, or even an guess as to when he'd come back. Also, given that while Toby had made it clear he was perfectly fine with sharing me, Travis is very much a monogamous kind of a guy, and would make me choose. I really suppose it's not much of a choice; Travis is here for me, I love him, and Toby ran off on me before I could decide if I loved him or not.

I just wish it felt a little more cut and dried.

September 27, 2363

Well, I asked for it to get more cut and dried. I suppose I should have been a little more specific as to what I meant. I certainly didn't want Travis to find my journal and start interrogating me on the contents there of. However, that's what I got.

It started simple enough. I'd just come down from the cockpit to catch a little shut eye, and Travis was waiting in the bunk room. As I walked in, he read to me from my journal. The bit from when I snapped Blue out of his funk after the fight with the Andorians in the bar, and how I admitted how turned on he'd gotten me when he'd thrown me against the wall.

He was angry over my still being attracted to Blue. I was angry that he was nosing around in my journal, and how I didn't think there'd been anything I'd been hiding from him. I don't know why he was so surprised to find there was still attraction between Blue and I, and it especially surprises me that he didn't realize it was because Blue respects him, and I love him, that neither of us has acted on it.

After I said some things, made comments about how backwards, repressed and selfish humans are about sex, he started expressing his concerns about our relationship. Most of it just stemmed from his previous relationship with Jessica, and so I had some trouble dealing with it tactfully. He eventually walked out on me, claiming that he needed time to think.

The conversation left me so frustrated that instead of getting the sleep I needed, I instead headed down to the cargo bay to vent on the punching bag Blue and I share down there.

After a while, he showed up in the cargo bay. I am not sure how long he'd watched me before I noticed him, but it did unsettle me to find him sitting at the edge of the mat watching me without my having noticed his arrival. Thankfully, before I could say or do anything to make our fight any worse, he apologized to me in such a manner it left me blind sided long enough for him to get his concerns out.

It didn't take long to get to the heart of the matter. He still loves her, and blames himself for not having been able to prevent her cheating on him. Thus his perspective on our relationship is tainted by this, as he says he loves me as much as he does her, and is afraid that things will fall apart with me as they did with her.

Just as I thought we'd sorted everything out, aired all his fears and addressed them, he pulled another ace out of his sleeve. He asked me about Toby. I had been thinking about him since my last journal entry, but I hadn't been sure what I thought until I started talking it out with Travis.

My first impulse had been to assure him that if it came down to him or Toby, he would be the one I'd choose. It really isn't something I'd need to consider, he's here for me, Toby wasn't. However, after all the fuss over Blue, and his recently aired concerns, I did make a point to very clearly lay out the rest of the equation for him. I explained that while I wouldn't leave him for Toby, like Blue, there was still potential interest there. With Toby it was more complex though, there was the detail of having to forgive him for deserting me so suddenly.

I shouldn't have been surprised, not after his confession of still loving Jessica, and the fuss he raised over my comments about Blue in my journal, but it still surprised me when he asked me point blank if I loved Toby. Answering him was a little harder than I would have expected, but it led to the conversation going full circle back to what started the whole fight. Travis admitted to having talked to Blue while he'd run off to think, and realized that he might have been over reacting.

Part of me wanted to feel triumph for having come out of the fight having had to concede the least ground, but I just couldn't help feeling like an ass for that thought. Yes he started the fight, and he eventually admitted that the problem was in his head, but I can't help but be concerned for him over this insecurity. I worry that it'll negatively effect our relationship, I worry about his well being, and I worry that I won't be able to help him past it.

I didn't get a chance to express these concerns to him, as it didn't take long for our interactions to fall back upon sex once he seemed to have gotten all his concerns off his chest. It's probably for the better though, give us both a little time to process the conversation before we start discussing it further.

I'm just not sure how long it'll take for the topic to come up again. I'll try to bring it up in a couple days if he doesn't do so first.

October 29, 2363

Travis is already talking about going home to Earth for Christmas again. This time he wants to stay a little longer than last time, which is why he's bringing it up in advance. Something like a week or two before Christmas through somewhere into the new year. I told him we have to see if our employers will be able to spare us for that amount of time, but he seems certain we'll be able to get away.

I suggested we bring Blue with us this time, as the three of us are kind of a little family unit by this point, and he has brought us home to his family, for better or for worse. Travis says he'll run it past his mother, but he's okay with it. Should be interesting to see how the extended family takes to an Alien of a different hue.

December 15, 2363

So Blue decided to dare subject himself to Travis' family and Christmas. I also found out that he'd never been to New York before, this is something I've decided to fix. Travis gets a little huffy about it, comments about how Boston's just as great as New York, and New York's just over rated... even if there's a large Christmas tree and a skating rink that's world famous. He gave up arguing when I pointed out the various theater options in New York.

I think it's just pride in his home town, and the fact that Boston often lives in the shadow of New York, simply because it's so close by, and it manages to do everything New York does, but in a more understated and classic manner. Travis also starts bringing up old Earth history to support Boston's greatness. A lot of significant events took place in this city. It actually sounds pretty interesting, I'm going to have to make some time to do a little reading on the topic. The Klingon schools I was subjected to certainly didn't cover Earth history, and I'd been too young when I'd lived on Luna, they hadn't really started on the history in school there yet.

At any rate, I've talked Travis and Blue into an outing to New York tomorrow. We'll probably try to get in to see something on Broadway, and wander through the major tourist attractions. My mother saw to it that my brothers and I saw them all when we still lived on Luna, but it's always interesting to people watch at those sorts of places.

Also, I still have some Christmas shopping to do. Where better to do it than a major metropolitan hub?

December 18, 2363

I somehow managed to get Travis and Blue to indulge me for two bouts of musical theater.

Early in the day, we stopped by The Metropolitan Opera House, a theater that has stood in the city for centuries, and landed tickets for Tosca the next night. We did some shopping after that, and hit some of the major tourist attractions. We ended up near the Broadway theater district near dinner, and arrived just in time for a ticket lotto at the Gershwin. They were putting on a twentieth century classic, Avenue Q, which Travis couldn't resist the idea of when he read the synopsis.

Typically they only do pairs of tickets for the lotto, so we might have ended up with an odd person out if Blue hadn't made friends in the line. I honestly think she just had a thing for him, but we weren't going to argue when right after I got called in the lotto, she did, and she agreed that Blue could be her second ticket. I think in exchange, she insisted that Blue take her out for a drink later in the week, but I'm not sure.

Even though we probably lost some of the amusement from the cultural references of the era it was written, Avenue Q turned out to be a lot of fun with some catchy tunes. Travis was humming The Internet is for Porn earlier today, and got flustered when I challenged him to actually sing the song for his mother after she asked what the catchy tune was.

Blue suggested that perhaps we should consider doing this again next year. Since I know they'll indulge me, I'll likely pick out what I want to see in advance and reserve tickets, so we don't have to depend upon luck for all three of us to be able to make it in.

December 20, 2363

Ever since we arrived, Grace has been begging me to take her out flying again. Blue is utterly perplexed by the hero worship that Grace directs at me, but where he usually gives children a wide berth, Grace has endeared herself to him. I was worried when right off the bat she'd started asking him all about his blue skin and antennae. He's handled the questioning well, and even laughed when one day Grace emerged from her bedroom in the morning with a crudely fashioned pair of antennae, made of what looked to be blue pipe cleaners attached to her headband. Her mother was horrified, but as Blue chuckled at it, the rest of the family relaxed.

Travis had been worried about how his family and Blue would get along. Sure, they accepted me well enough, but Travis' concern wasn't about being alien, at least not with the direct family, but the weaponry. Yeah, I'm usually just as armed as Blue, but he's a lot more open about what he has on his person at any given time. I usually tuck my stuff away where it won't be noticed, and he wears everything on open display.

If Travis has paid attention when we visited Andor, he would have noticed that Andorian culture does condition its people into disarming themselves when entering a family home. Granted, the ship we work on is kind of like a home to us, but Blue's always armed there, so that might have colored Travis' perspective. That's out of necessity though, given that pirates could attack at any time, and having to run to a storage locker for weapons can make the difference between surviving or not.

It was entertaining when Cindy greeted us at the door, and her eyes got large as the moon when Blue started to disarm himself and politely asked where he was supposed to leave all of it. I had to bite my lip to not laugh at the look on her face. She took it in stride though, as she quickly directed him to the coat closet, and found a box she could keep on the top shelf so she wouldn't have to worry about Grace and Andrea happening across any of it.

Once he'd put away his armament, and saw that I hadn't pulled out any of my hidden toys, he seemed to realize something was off. It only took him a moment more to realize that he'd surprised Cindy, and was quick to apologize for it. Being the good hostess she is, she assured him to think nothing of it, and I could see that she was starting to calculate in her head some changes she'd need to make in order to accommodate her son's companions properly.

Later, after she'd shown Blue to the guest room, and Travis had gone to take a shower while I listened to music in his room, Blue came and started to question me about what'd happened. He opened up with asking me about why I was still armed, and why it'd surprised Cindy so when he'd shown her the respect of disarming himself upon entering her home. I pointed out that most of Travis' friends here on earth aren't the sort who feel the need to be prepared to defend themselves, and that Earth was generally less chaotic than the places we frequented. Cindy simply never had encountered a need to worry about if anyone Travis brought home was armed. Also, those who arm themselves on Earth don't typically do so in a obvious fashion, so if someone were to arrive armed to the teeth, most people wouldn't notice it and most wouldn't worry about disarming themselves upon arrival. If there was going to be a problem with being armed where they were headed, they'd typically either conceal better, or they'd simply go without arms.

This prompted him to ask if perhaps next time he shouldn't bother removing his weaponry, and just plan on going lighter on what he carried. I explained that Cindy adapted pretty well, and that if it made him more comfortable to show respect by disarming on his way in the door, to go ahead and continue doing so. If he wanted to, he could talk to Cindy about it to make sure it wasn't going to cause a problem. He hadn't met Grace and Andrea yet, but when he later did, he was quick to realize that they weren't familiar with the sight of weapons, not to mention the safe treatment of them, and this prompted him to ask me how I kept mine out of their hands. When I showed him a little box that had a bio-lock on it, which opened quickly for my touch, but required a much more complex set of actions for anyone else to attempt to open it, he asked me where he might get one of his own.

December 23, 2363

The woman from the ticket lotto line did indeed convince Blue to come back to NYC to buy her a drink. Blue had asked Travis and I to follow along, but we ended up wandering off and leaving the two of them to alone not too long after we arrived. Blue's date was named Trish, I'd somehow missed her name the first time we encountered her. A tiny little Blond thing, apparently a thespian herself. I can only assume that she took him back to her place to enjoy his company. Despite her small size, I got the impression she could keep up with him well enough.

Travis and I enjoyed a good fuck in Central Park, then headed home. We expect Blue to return this evening, but we'll likely contact him if he doesn't check in by early afternoon.

December 25, 2363

Having gone through my first Christmas experience last year, it was entertaining to watch Blue go through his this year. Outside of Human society, particularly what was called “western society” in centuries past, this Christmas thing is practically unheard of. I hadn't actually realized how obvious it was to everyone else that I found Christmas to be such an oddity, but when I'd comment to Travis about this and that reaction Blue made, and almost every time he had something to point out about my reactions last year, it quickly made the oddity of this holiday that much more clear.

Travis warned me that the family had been a little perplexed as to what Blue would enjoy for gifts, but they seemed to have done a good job. Wendy and Alice found a leather vest with blue tooled Celtic knot work on it, and Cindy had come up with a pair of knee high leather boots with a sheath for a knife on the side. Her gift had surprised me, given how she reacted to his weaponry upon arrival, but she'd even managed to figure out which piece of his collection was his favorite and had the sheath sized to it.

My gifts this year were awesome. Wendy found me a collection of history books, focusing on old Earth air and space craft, all actual books. I've kind of developed a fascination with actual books, instead of the digital things that are so common, the heft and smell of them as you read, the aesthetics of them on a shelf. Then factor in my love of flight, and being able to learn how it sprung forth on this planet, and I was grinning ear to ear once I realized what I'd opened.

Alice had found more music for Travis and I to add to our collection, more 20th century music. She had somehow come up with live recordings, even video, of some of the bands and artists that Travis had in his collection of Masters, but she also found bands we hadn't previously encountered. There was swing music, not really my thing but Blue seemed interested in it, and there was metal, which both of the boys kind of shied away from but I enjoyed the weight of it. She'd also found recordings of Earth Operas. Mama had mostly brought me and my brothers up on Klingon opera, but I'd gotten the chance here and there to experience the sound of the Human sort also.

Cindy's gift seemed a little odd until I had a chance to flip through the books that Wendy gave me. When I saw the pilots in the open cockpit airplanes sporting the same style scarf, hat and goggles, I understood why she'd given me the set. I plan to wear them when I get a chance to take Grace out flying again. I know Cindy will be happy to see that.

Travis and I had noticed how much Blue had enjoyed reading the Shakespeare my brother had loaned him, so we picked up copies of a couple of the plays. We'd found the nice editions that were the Human translations and the restored Klingon side by side, with the nice leather covers and everything. As for my gift to Travis, he'd been talking big about wanting to learn to cook, instead of having us live off of those replicated and prepackaged rations that the company provides. So I found him the basics to get him started; the utensils, a burner and a pan. To complement this gift, his mother and sisters had put together a spice collection of key Earth spices and not a few from other planets too.

Travis and Blue found me some new pens for my journal writing. I hadn't mentioned that I'd been noticing that my current pen was running low, but either they knew, or just felt that it couldn't hurt for me to have extras, given how much I write in my journal, but they found me some nice ones that I like the feel of.

Like last year, we went to visit the extended family for a dinner on Christmas day. Blue elected to wear his new leather vest, and his new boots, though with the sheath detached and the weapons mostly left behind. I managed to find something that would still allow me to conceal my d'k tahg. Blue and I ended up hiding off in a corner most of the time, Travis going back and forth between keeping us company and making the diplomatic pretense with his extended family.

Somehow over dinner, someone got Blue and I started telling stories of bar fights. It was actually quite accidental, as Blue overheard one of Travis' teen-aged cousins going on about some holo-drama he'd been working through, and talking about the combat in it. Blue spoke up and started picking apart the flaws he could tell just from the vague descriptions. Of course, the teen then challenged Blue as to what he could possibly know about combat.

At Blue's insistence that he'd injured more people using nothing more than his little finger, than this kid could have even faced in the holo-drama, there was an awed silence from the kid. Most everyone else hadn't been paying attention to this exchange yet, but Travis chuckled softly to himself, and explained that his cousin Jimmy was usually all talk anyways. When Jimmy finally got over his awed silence, he asked Blue to tell him about something he'd done.

Blue elected to start with the tale of the time he and I took on a pair of Nausicaans. This was actually one of our intentional bar fights, but the group of jackasses we intended to provoke into starting the fight instead dumped us onto the Nausicaan's table. Well, they'd dumped me, and Blue was too good of a friend to leave me to get pulverized on my own. I was actually surprised we he and I ended up being the ones to walk away from that, but not nearly as much as the people who'd watched and started making bets over the outcome. One little old Chinese human had taken all the bets in favor of me and Blue, and when everyone else was floored over the fact they had to pay up, Blue and I went to settle damages with the owner, the little old man followed right behind and threw half his winnings towards the damages settlement.

Even though Travis knew about the Nausicaans, and how the settlement cost less that time, somehow Blue and I hadn't mentioned the little old Chinese man to him. He was absolutely tickled pink about that aspect of it. The story also managed to draw in the attention of more of the younger cousins, and Travis suggested we talk about some of the Klingons we'd squared off with. The rest of dinner, and then in the den after dinner for a good portion of the remainder of the evening, Blue and I held court relating our tales of chaos and violence.

I suspected, and Travis confirmed for us, that the older generation mostly disliked it. To my surprise, Cindy was actually fascinated and lingered along the edge of our group. Wishy washy or not, I suppose she enjoyed a good story told as much as anyone else.

By the time we left, it was pretty clear I had new members of my fan club, and Blue had developed a fan club of his own. It was mostly split between the genders. Among the younger children, the girls mostly idolized me, and the boys mostly idolized Blue. With the older kids, they tended to drift towards whichever one of us they were inclined to crush upon. Some of the oldest cousins that fell in Blue's fan club whispered some offers to him that I could tell he was sorely tempted to take, especially since most of the ones so daring usually were above the age of consent according to the planet, but for some reason I failed to catch, he declined each and every one of them.

The funniest thing of the evening was Grace. When Cindy insisted it was time for the Foster clan to make their way out the door, and I scooped Grace up onto my shoulders, the look on her face made it clear that she felt she was the president of my fan club, and the younger cousins were clearly jealous. This was also when she gloated that her Aunt Dizi had not only taken her out flying, but let her do some of the flying. We left the house to a clamor of children insisting to their parents that they wanted to go flying with Cousin Dizi too!

After Wendy put Grace and Andrea to bed for the night, she cornered me and guided me to the kitchen for a late night chat. When Travis tried to follow, she playfully slugged her brother in the shoulder, and insisted it was girl chat, so he should go find Blue for company instead. Travis pouted, but when I whispered promises of good sex later if he'd let his sister have her way with me first, he made his way off with little more than a kiss and an ass smack.

Wendy opened up conversation simply, as she replicated some hot chocolate for us, by asking what the nature of my and Travis' relationship with Blue is. The first claim that he was a dear friend and a coworker failed to satisfy. She mentioned having been coworkers with a couple of Andorians before, and knowing of their culture's lack of concept of friendship. She also indicated there was an added level of comfort between he and I that she didn't see between him and Travis.

When I asked her if she was trying to imply something, she admitted she was just trying to understand the dynamic because she didn't want to see her little brother hurt again. Having such a bond with my siblings allowed me to take this at face value, especially since she was up front about it when asked. I told her about what the nature of my relationship with Blue had been before Travis and I had gotten involved, and how he'd stepped aside for Travis and I to get together. I also told her of the Harem quips when visiting Qo'noS, the quips about the three of us forming a bond when visiting Andor, and the conversation Travis and I had on the subject after he'd nosed through my journal. She was especially amused over the bonding thing, but promised not to say anything to Travis about it, agreeing with my and Blue's opinion that Travis wouldn't be as amused. She also suggested that with time, he might come around to accepting the idea... but not to push him on it. I'll have to ponder on that for a while, but I'm not sure if I should tell Blue, not even sure what he'd think of it.

At any rate, the concerns being addressed, she then admitted to having been fascinated by the Andorians she'd worked with, and the rumors about how casual their society was about sex. She blushed when I suggested she should have explored that interest before getting married, but she quickly admitted that she'd gotten pregnant and married entirely too young. I hadn't asked why her husband wasn't around this year, but she admitted to me that they had been fighting more. After last year's unfashionably late arrival, and the way he seemed to play his children off their mother, I can't say I was surprised by this development.

I quickly turned the subject back to Andorians and sex, having not intended to bring the conversation so down. She hadn't actually understood what it meant when being told Andorians were a quad-gendered species. Like most, she simply assumed that only the shen and chan genders were different from the bi-gender “norm” and that the thaan and zhen genders were fairly the same as the male and female genders respectively. She became absolutely fascinated as I went into some detail as to what the key differences between a thaan and a human male happened to be. I also happened to mention I'd gotten Blue off once, doing nothing but playing with his antennae. This was about the time we noticed we had a tiny eavesdropper lurking just outside the kitchen.

Wendy quickly scooped up Grace, and told me to go find Travis as we could talk more about this another time. When Grace fussed and insisted she wanted to stay up and talk with Aunt Dizi too, I told her to be a good girl if she wanted another flight. She was quick to listen to her mother's insistence it was bedtime, and Wendy directed a thankful smile at me as she headed down the hall to the room Grace and her sister were sharing.

When I made my way back to Travis' room, I found him and Blue deeply involved in a game of 3D chess. I watched at first, but as it looked like it was going to take a while to finish, I eventually elected to write in my journal instead. They're still going now, which is mildly annoying. Maybe they'll stop if I elect to masturbate while I'm waiting. Probably shouldn't though, poor Blue wouldn't be allowed to play and that wouldn't be fair to him.

December 28, 2363

Travis wants to spend New Years Eve with his friends again. My first reaction to this was that he needed to confirm that Sam wasn't going to be there. This led to an interesting revelation. While talking to his buddy Chris, it came up that Sam was out of town with Jessica. Jessica who was on a winter break from high school and was only a little over a year younger than I am.

Travis knew a can of worms had been opened when as soon as the comm channel closed, I elected to clarify this bit of information I overheard in the conversation. After teasing him about the drama he raised when he first found out my age, I almost started to feel a little bad about it, until Blue found out and agreed that Travis needed to be teased about it.

Poor guy is going to need lots of loud make-up sex for this. Good thing we'll be able to ring in the New Year properly like we did last year. I am looking forward to that. Besides, he tends to be more torturous and playful with sex when he's been made to feel guilty for a couple days first.