The Swords that Bind- Part 11 Speaking of Distractions

Story by TheNovelist on SoFurry

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#12 of Swords That Bind


I smiled at him and gave a quick wave. He ceased his soldering and lifted up the mask. "Hey Facilier. How goes?" "We're off to Owdis, increased military presence there according to a freighter going the other way. Samis wants Celiana and Silver to trade gems while I give you a hand with the refuelling." Acheron chuckled. "People tend to not annoy Silver. That beak looks quite hefty in combat. You know what to do?" "Yeah, done fighters multiple times." "Cool."

After that, I headed down the length of the ship through the thrumming, pulsating engine bay, past a busily working Silver, to the gunner's room. Climbing up and politely knockng before hand, I found Caboose quietly gaming on a touchpad.He looked at me as I came in. "Uh, hey, Ramon. What are you up to?" "Just chilling. Military presence at Owdis once we get there, you'll get to look at some very pretty hardware as we cruise in." "That would be nice."

I moved over and looked at his game. "So what are you playing?" I asked. "Just a game. Set piece destruction sort of thing." It was a curious game. Very cartoony, it had a bunch of seashells with googly eyes being launched by a trebuchet at a collection of structures made of balancing blocks, with green/teal slimes housed inside them. The objective was to destroy the slimes, and as many blocks as you could, while using the fewest shells.

As I watched, Caboose dextrously moved the trebuchet's counterweight, hurling a shell at the block fortress. It exploded, and caused a digital destruction of falling blocks and squashed slimes. His point tally went up in huge increments, and two large stars appeared in the top right corner. He claimed a third star with his next shell, clearing the level, before shyly offering me the touchpad.

"Would you like a go?" "I won't say no, thank you. I doubt I'll be any good at it though." I chuckled, and gently took the device from him, sitting down on the ground next to him while selecting the first level. This looked a lot less complicated than the one the bunny had been doing. Bunny in question leaned on his arm rest, looking down at me quietly as the game's tutorial messages taught me how to play the game.

Telling me how to play and being good at it were two different things though, and my first shell landed short, and the second one cleared the simple block structure by many, many pixels. "Oh well, at least I've got the range sorted." I joked, and Caboose smiled a little. "It takes one or two goes to get used to the trebuchet mechanic. But it's a fun time waster." "It's no surprise that you're good at this." I looked up with a smile,"Your dexterity is amazing."

For the first time, a genuinely wide smile came across the bunny's face, although he attempted to hide it a little with a paw and a blush. "Thanks. It's nice to be appreciated." I gave him a wink, and after finishing the level with a single star, I went back to the menu, checking the title. "Hmmm, "Incensed Lamellibranches"." I mused aloud," I should invest in a touchpad sometime." "Well, you're free to use mine if you want." Caboose offered.

"That's very kind, but I imagine I'll need my own at some point anyway. I wouldn't want to clutter up your device with Vulpini porn." I gave him a sly wink. Caboose managed an even better shade of crimson at this, and crossed his legs, trying not to meet my eye.I took some pity on him. "It's ok, I don't bite. I heard that you like Acheron's company, though." "He's...he's very nice to me, Ramon... And the others are so...intimidating..." he looked at the ground to my right.

I got up and handed him the touchpad, leaning down with a smile. "I can be very nice too, if you want. You're a great friend to have." I offered my paws to his shoulders in a hug, and while he initially hesitated, he moved in and wrapped his own hands around my back. I felt his head against my shoulder as he shivered, his breath short, and I reached around his own back, stroking his upper back gently. The hug was only a few seconds long, but as he released with me, I noticed a subtle change in the way he held himself. He seemed a lot more at ease, more comfortable in his seat than he had been when I'd entered.

"Thank you, Ramon.I'm glad you want to be my friend too." he said, still a little shyly, but with a confidence I'd previously only heard on the intercom. At this point, the heartwarming moment was shattered. There was a loud bang, and the whole ship rocked, shuddering back and forth. My fur stood on end, and Caboose startled, and as one we both headed to the trapdoor. The engine room was full of smoke. Silver was wreathed in the stuff, already rushing towards a burst pipeline where steam was venting into the room, along with a green liquid. He saw us briefly.

"Coolant leak! Ramon, need help with a patch! Caboose, get the spilled coolant cleaned up." We both dived down the ladder at speed. I ran up to Silver who was busy holding a large fabric rag tightly to the cracked section with his hands, and using his clawed feet to reach for some duct tape. "What do you need?" I asked quickly. Silver motioned with his beak towards one cupboard. "Temporary cover. I can fix it properly at Owdis, but for now we need the crack sealed or the engines won't get enough cooling, and we'll have to drop out of planar jump." He said rapidly, and I nodded and tried to set off towards the cupboard.

Coolant, however, had other ideas, and I slipped on it as I made to move past him, face-planting on the ground and soaking myself in the slippery liquid. I felt my body very quickly chilling being immersed in this unusual fluid, and I rose up and skate-walked the rest of the way. It was like walking on olive oil, or on sheet ice. I got to the cupboard without another tumble, and found four rows of replacement pipes, of varying thicknesses, each labelled by size.

"Which size?"I shouted. "3 inch!" Silver shouted back,"The blue ones on the left!" I grabbed one just as Samis arrived in the door from the corridor, sans cloak or clothes. He took one look at the situation, and moved at a brisk walk towards the struggling gryphon, as I grabbed one of the blue pipes. Running back, Samis held out his paw imperiously. "Facilier, please give me that." he said firmly, and I handed it over without question. Samis reached into the inside of the pipe at both ends, and must have clicked two latches, because the pipe unfolded outwards into two hinged halves.

Samis nodded at Silver, and the gryphon let go of the damaged pipe. Coolant briefly sprayed as the dragon slammed the hinged pipe down on it, soaking the three of us, not that I could get much more soaked. Then the hinged pipe was snapped shut, and Samis rotated parts of the ends of the temporary pipe. There was a brief leak of coolant between the cracked pipe and the temporary one, before whatever fine tuning Samis did sealed the breach.

There was a comparitive silence as we all breathed out in relief, the problem solved for now. Samis's legs and chest were splattered in green, Silver's entire front was tinged with the green liquid, while I was a wandering green monster fox. Caboose was at the edge of the slowly widening puddle using a suction device and a bucket to suck up the spill into the bucket. "Silver?" Samis looked at the gryphon. "Going to guess over-stress at first glance, but I'll know for certain when we dock and I can shut the engines down."

"Right." the dragon looked at the three of us. "We'll get this mess cleaned up, then DAIN can keep tabs on it while WE get cleaned up." We each took a suction device and a bucket. Samis started on me first, which felt VERY weird, my fur being vacuumed of the excess green goo. "Slipped?" he asked. "I saw Silver walking across it, and thought it was fine." I admitted sheepishly.

"Claws, one, paws, none." Silver chuckled, flexing his large clawed toes as he worked the suction device over his front. It took quite some time, even with the four of us, to get the mess cleaned up. But eventually the four of us, stained quite green in some cases, got all the goo into a large storage drum and sealed. "Dain." Samis said quietly, and within a few seconds, DAIN arrived at the door, looking in.

"How can I help?" the robotic creature asked, gleaming through the remaining wisps of steam. "Please keep watch over the engines, we need to shower this coolant off." "Of course. Green is hardly your colour, sir." DAIN nodded. Samis grinned. "Cheeky bugger." he said simply, before leading us all along the corridor to the bridge. Acheron was looking out of the electronics bay. "You ok, sir?" he looked at Samis.

"Coolant leak, nothing more. My scales are easier to clean than your fur." Samis replied, with a chuckle. "I could have helped." Acheron said. "I know, but we had it sorted. You've finished reprogramming?" "Uhh, yes sir." Acheron nodded, a little uncertainly."It should work as you intended." "Much appreciated. Please talk to DAIN, he'll help you attach it."

With this very cryptic exchange, we headed down the ladder to the crew quarters. Samis opened the door to his room, and Caboose baulked a little. "Uhhh, that's your room, Samis..." "It's ok, Caboose, I am inviting you in. Fiery death is not going to await you for coming in. Just the prospect of getting clean and unstained." I gently placed a paw on the bunny's shoulder, and Caboose looked at me briefly, before walking in after Silver. I followed him into the bathroom, and Silver shut the door behind all of us. Silver already had the large shower running, the gryphon stepping in before it had even warmed up.

The spray soaked into his feathers, causing him to briefly tense all the fairly substantial muscles he had. Samis reached into a cabinet and pulled out a white plastic bottle of red liquid. "That stuff stains badly, so regular soap or gels won't work. What we need is some of this. Facilier, Caboose, take a handful of this and rub firmly into Silver's legs. I'll do his chest and arms."

I'd be lying if I said I didn't get a little excited at this, although Caboose looked distinctly shy at the thought. We both did as Samis suggested, and he squirted a portion each into our paws. The spray was redirected against the wall, and the soaking wet gryphon was set to by the three of us, massaging the oozing red gel against his body. It lathered up nicely, but even with this it took some pretty firm strokes to shift the coolant's stains. The gryphon stayed very still, which was some feat with three guys pushing him back and forth as we cleaned.

As I worked on the right leg, I could feel the upper thigh muscles tensing against my firm rubbing, and I couldn't resist saying what was on my mind. "You enjoying this, Beaky?" Silver looked down past Samis's arms at me. "Shall I demonstrate how much?" he replied suggestively. "Maaaaybe." I teased, to a squawk of laughter from the gryphon.

Once the gryphon was finished, Samis took his turn, and he was by far and away the easiest, his scales much easier to clean than fur or feathers, although while I had a leg again, I could see Silver was rubbing the dragon's chest with entirely too much force than was necessary. I could also see Samis was giving a small smile at this. Then it was my turn. I saved myself some significant bother by just pressing my back against a wall, and even then with the gryphon and the dragon running their paws through my fur it felt like my ribcage was straining.

Worst of all was the neck, muzzle and groin. They had to be cleaned, and while I knew they were being more gentle than they had for each other, it felt quite uncomfortable being pressed by large paws against my delicate bits. Caboose's paws against my legs felt nice, but the work of the two others was putting any attempts to enjoy that to rest. But while it felt unpleasant, they did their job effectively, cleaning all the green out of my orange and white fur, until I looked more like myself and less like a swamp monster. Finally Caboose had to have a turn. Only his feet and hands had been stained, because he had been at the edges of everything, but that didn't stop us working on him. He wanted to sit down because of his size, and Silver vacated the shower so Samis and myself could get down on our knees next to him. Silver left to get back to his precious engines, closing the door behind him. Samis started rubbing Caboose's right foot, while I took his left.

Which, of course, was when we realised he was ticklish. He gave a jolt, and eeped in surprise, kicking a little. "Gah! So-sorry, Samis,..." he began. "It's ok, never had someone else do this?" the dragon smiled, understanding, and Caboose shook his head furiously. "Well, it has to be cleaned firmly to get the stain off. Facilier, will you please sit on Caboose's legs?"

Caboose looked between us, somewhat fearful. I stepped astride the bunny and sat on his thighs, our sheaths practically touching. I looked down. "Don't be afraid to hug me if you need it." I said, and Caboose immediately embraced me tightly.I returned the cuddle in a more fatherly way, holding him gently against my chest with one paw. Samis then started on the bunny's feet, and boy the bunny struggled hard, laughing despite himself. He gripped me like a baby with candy, both paws pulling me into a vigorous hold, his ears brushing against my muzzle.

It wasn't a long process, but it also wasn't long until I felt something stirring down below. My sheath was being prodded by the bunny's hardening penis escaping, clearly aroused in one way or another. As Samis changed from legs to hands, where thankfully the bunny wasn't ticklish, I whispered into Caboose's ear. "Is someone enjoying their hug?" I heard a quiet little whimper emanate from the bundle of fur in my grasp, before he whispered back."Please, don't make fun...I couldn't help it..."

I smiled and whispered back "It's ok, do you want me to do anything, or would you prefer me to leave it alone?" "I...I...don't know..." the reply came back quietly, just as Samis finished the bunny's paws. I motioned to the dragon that the bunny needed a minute, and Samis nodded and left the shower, grabbed a towel, and went into his bedroom. Only then did I let go of the cuddle, and look down at Caboose.

He was looking almost ashamed of himself, while his seven inches of bunny cock stood at full erection against my fur. I interrupted his look before he tried to speak. "It's alright, Caboose. I really don't mind. I'd be happy to give you a hand with it." I said in a soothing voice. "It's...I'm..." Caboose managed. "Or would you prefer if Acheron gave you a hand instead? Someone you now better in that area?" I suggested gently.

At the mention of Acheron, the bunny gulped and nodded weakly, still blushing fit to burst. I reached out of the shower for my communicator. "Acheron, how busy are you?" "Not particularly, why?" "Caboose needs your help in Samis' bathroom." "Wait, in Samis'.... Ok, on my way." the kitty clicked off.

I moved back into the shower properly, stroking the bunny's sides and chest softly. "Acheron's on his way. Will you be ok?" Caboose nodded, looking down a litttle. I reached a paw underneath his muzzle, looking into his eyes. "You have nothing to be ashamed of." I said gently. " It's such an intense sensation being touched like that, plus you had me in very close contact." "I, it's just, I only just met you..." the bunny mumbled, "Didn't want to offend you..." he tailed off.

I smiled and reached down, stroking the member with my paw, causing the bunny to moan. "You haven't offended me, I don't mind at all. If anything, I like what I see. But if you need more time before you feel comfortable enough, that's fine." I got up off his legs just as Acheron came in, the kitty looking concerned. "What's up....oh." he saw the situation. "Quite, Samis was cleaning him, he's ticklish, and he would like a hand." I nodded, and left Acheron to it.

Samis was outside, lying on his bed, still undressed.His cock was also fully erect, something I'd missed as he'd left. I sat down next to him, putting my splattered laundry on the ground. He looked at me. "Not even a week in, and you've charmed everyone in the crew except Cee. Is this the famous seductive nature of the Vulpini I've heard about?" "Like you weren't doing this sort of thing before I got here." I retaliated with a smirk. "Well, I'm not complaining, especially given how Caboose is warming to you." "Yes, he needs some good friends who don't scare him. No offence, Samis, but you are too big for your own good."

Samis lay back with a rueful grin," Man, if I had a diamond for every time I'd heard that...." he said, giving his cock a little wiggle. I chuckled, reaching out and rubbing the underside of it. "I can imagine." I said, traversing the cock tip with one finger. "You still want it in you though, don't you?" Samis teased. "Oh, completely." "Good."