ith the Vultech logo in blue on the nose, just under the windscreen, a logo that could be erased in about ten seconds with an annealer. Two weeks ahead of schedule, the outer coatings had been applied and the shield emitters had been installed and inspected to ensure that the emitters were touching the right layers of the outer shell. There was much more work to be done, but that work was now inside, as they finished running the cabling and testing their work, one emitter at a time, one section of dataline or plasma conduit at a time. The software side was progressing nicely, for Jason and Jyslin often worked at the same time, and they stayed in telepathic contact at all times so they knew what the other was doing to the program. Jason bought a panel just for her, and they would sit at a table in the office, facing each other, each of them tapping away at the holographic keyboards of their panels, both panels and minds linked with the other as they kept track of what was going on.

Jason had been quite satisfied with the work on the dropship, for they'd hit no major snags whatsoever. The only real issue they'd had had been figuring out how to set up and program the spider, but once they had that figured out and working, it had been smooth and efficient.

Work on other fronts was progressing quite satisfactorily as well. Rann was nearly finished with his DNA sequence tester, and had showed it to him the last time Jason had gone to Cheyenne Mountain. It was smaller than a datapad, a tiny rectangular device that Jason could put in his pocket, which had attached leads that ran down to the fingers. Rann had installed those sensors in a glove that would basically allow the user to touch someone's bare skin with the glove and have a reading in about two seconds, which would be fed into an earphone that connected to the unit. It was a solid and sound little device, small, portable, easy to use, and very, very well engineered. Rann could have made one hell of an engineer.

Rann was so damn _smart_. Because he knew that it would be terribly inefficient to have someone go around and test people handshake by handshake, he had devised a cunning, cunning little plan for a similar unit that would be used _remotely_. His idea was to install the sensors on something that a vast number of people would touch, hook it up to an analyzer, and also have a button camera somewhere nearby that would take the picture of everyone who touched whatever the sensor was on, but then save a picture of anyone who produced a positive match. Adding in a small communications device that would have the unit _call_ Jason's panel and upload the data of a positive match meant that they could be set and then left alone. Add in a few anti-intrusion devices that would cause them to burn out if tampered with, scatter them through the world, and then wait for matches.

This had such _potential_. The best place to put these devices would be on door handles, ATMs, and on the card readers on public transportation systems in large cities, on things that would require people to press buttons that had the sensors attached to them. Rann could make a sensor that was so small that it would be almost invisible, so it would just be a matter of setting something up that wouldn't be easily detected, or something that wouldn't break quickly from heavy use.

Jason put Rann to work on the idea immediately, though Rann had expected that and was already halfway done with his design. Jason made a special run to bring Rann some extra materials and supplies he'd need to build the prototype of his idea, and Jason went back to Lincoln with the schematics that Rann had drawn up for the device.

Though he would have loved to have tinkered with Rann's design, getting the dropship's CMS module ready was the priority. He dedicated himself to that as the installation crew finished its testing and started reassembling the interior of the ship, working for three straight days with Jyslin to finish the module, and then to test it with simulations to ensure it passed muster. They finished the installation of the CMS system in the ship before they were done, however, and Jason allowed them to rest, sending Songa out for beer, wine, chips, and the fixings for a barbecue while Jason and Jyslin finished their part.

From what he heard, it had been quite a party. Jason and Jyslin didn't attend, because they were busy, but everyone else in Lincoln did, enjoying a mild late spring afternoon with a grill Songa bought from Home Depot, hot dogs, hamburgers, chicken, shrimp, Faey _meru_, which was a meat from a lizard that tasted like buttered lobster, and more beer than they could drink. Songa got drunk, got full, decided that she was too pale, then went to take a nap while sunning herself on the tarmac... which she did naked. To say that she had quite a crowd of spectators was an understatement. Jason had idly wondered what that must have looked like after he heard about it, and Temika wasted no time sharing an image of memory with him of Songa laying nude on the tarmac, blanket under her, with lots of men looking on eagerly, and not a few of the women also looking on, but more scandalized than appreciative. When Jason publicly mused that her hair wasn't the same shade of blue all over, Songa immediately replied that she didn't get many chances to let her pubic hair bleach in the sun like the hair on her head, then decided that Temika's image wasn't quite flattering enough, so she came down and showed Jason that darker hair, in person... with Jyslin in the room.

Ah, Faey. He just had to admire the utter lack of modesty they had. If anything, it always gave him such wonderful things to look at. There was just something undeniably sexy about a woman with her pants and panties around her knees, proudly showing off a neatly trimmed triangle of pubic hair while talking aloud about how she needed to sunbathe nude more often, without even batting an eye.

But, it was also an important step, Jason understood. Songa was losing her sense of distance from the group, starting to interact, to make friends, and since she was feeling so much more comfortable, she was starting to revert to her more Faey mentality, and that included a lack of human-based modesty. There were no standards of dress in Faey society. In the summer, and on hotter planets, it wasn't illegal, and truly wasn't very uncommon, to see both men and women going topless, or even completely nude, in public. To the Faey, the nude body was an object of beauty, nearly a living work of art to be admired, not an object of shame to be covered and hidden. And the more beautiful the Faey, the more apt he or she was to go without clothes. This was also a human tendency, where the ones with the better bodies showed more of it off, but the main difference was that there was that line of what was considered _indecent_ that didn't exist in Faey society.

Jyslin certainly didn't miss the fact that Songa had turned him on, and made sure to remind him that night just who had the hotter body.

It was that morning, as they lounged in the small bed in the tiny cubicle off the main office that was their private bedroom, that Jyslin broached a subject Jason had forgotten about. _I just wanted you to know, Symone had a talk with me yesterday._

_Oh? What about?_

_Tim._

_What about Tim?_

_She wants me to fuck him,_ she answered immediately. _She felt it's only fair, since she's had sex with you._

_But it's not like she's not here._

_True, but she also feels that it's necessary, and so do I,_ she answered soberly, which caused him to look over at her.

_Why is it necessary?_

_Think of it as a demonstration of friendship,_ she answered. _For me and Symone to feel we're on the same level as friends, and since she's had you, she has to reciprocate by letting me have Tim._

_You sound, eager,_ he accused.

_You bet your ass I'm eager,_ she replied immediately. _Tim is _very_ sexy, and he has a nice dick. I've been wanting to sample that equipment since I got a good look at it in the bathroom back in Hawaii._

_You never told me._

_Why should I? I'm sure you've had thoughts here and there about other women, and I caught that little fantasy about you bending Songa over and sticking your cock in her when she dropped her pants and showed you her pussy. I assure you, lover, women have the same daydreams about men._

Jason blushed furiously, and felt both embarrassed and humiliated.

_I never said I was mad,_ Jyslin told him with a giggle. _It's only healthy for men to have fantasies about women, even total strangers. It's _natural. _And women have the same fantasies about men. I'm just lucky that the man I've had fantasies about is Symone's husband. Since she took care of you while I was gone, now I get to see if Tim's dick feels as good as it looks._

_I'm not sure I know how to feel about it._

_Well, how did you feel about fucking Symone?_

_Very unsettled,_ he answered. _I felt like I was violating my friendship with Tim._

_How did Tim feel?_

_He didn't care at all. I mean he _really_ didn't care. He even seemed to encourage it._

_Well, that's the kind of attitude you need to foster, love. I can absolutely assure you, the only thing I'm interested about with Tim is his dick. I just want to fuck him, and you know Faey custom, love. It's _just_ sex. I'm not going to join minds with him; it's not going to be anything more than buddy sex. I'm curious about him, Symone owes me, and I mean to satisfy that curiosity. And when I'm done, it won't change how I feel about _us_ at all. I want to _have sex_ with Tim, but I want to _make love_ with you. Those are two very different things. You know that._

_Yeah, I know that, but I've always had an issue about it. I think it bothers me more that this is about Tim than it would if it was a total stranger._

_It's not going to change how I feel about you, or about Tim, at all, love. Well, not completely. Afterwards, I can always tell you how good he is in bed, and I'll certainly be a little more intimate with him in some ways. But to me, that's a good thing. Symone is my best friend and I want to be more intimate with her and more intimate with her husband. I want to be able to talk about sex with Tim to her, since we talk sex about you all the time,_ she told him with a naughty little grin.

Jason flushed a little. _I'm not sure I want to know about what you two say to each other._

_It's just standard sex talk, love,_ she grinned. _Size, stamina, favorite positions, and how good you are at them. I want to be able to compare with Symone about Tim the way we compare about you._

_Well, I'm so glad that both of you weren't disappointed,_ he sent ruefully.

_Symone _really_ wants more sex with you,_ Jyslin sent honestly. _It's not that she's not satisfied with Tim, but good sex is good sex, and variety is good in sex or you get bored and stagnant. She likes you, she likes your body, and she likes the way you fuck her. There's an idea. While I'm matting pubic hair with Tim, why don't you take Symone somewhere and fuck her?_

_I'm not sure I could do that._

_It's easy, silly. Take her clothes off, spread her legs, get it up, then stick it in her. Slide it out, push it back in, then repeat as necessary._

Jason couldn't help but laugh at that, which made her grin impishly. _Thank you oh so much for that lesson,_ he sent to her dryly.

_Actually, I think I'm going to insist,_ she sent to him, quite seriously_. I thought you were over this hang-up, but I see that you're not, so we need to address it. When I go to collect on what Symone owes me with Tim, I'm going to send her back here and have her give you some remedial education on some of the customs between two very close Faey friends._

_You really don't have to do that._

_Yes, love, I do,_ she told him, her eyes serious. _You felt uncomfortable having sex with Symone when I wasn't here. Well, now I am here, and now I'm sending her to our bed with my blessing, and at the same time I'm going to be going to Symone's bed and experiencing her husband. When two Faey are as close as me and Symone, this isn't just normal, it's _expected. _Your heart belongs to me, but I'm more than happy to lend out your dick to my best friend, and she's more than happy to lend out her husband's dick to me. Symone agrees with it, I agree with it, and Tim agrees with it. How can you still feel uncomfortable with it when your only real issue with it is how you think it affects Tim?_

_You're following your Faey customs, love, and I don't fault or grudge you for it. And I don't think any different about you or Symone because of it. But I'm also following my own customs with Tim. In human society, having sex with your best friend's wife isn't acceptable._

_Yes, but Tim has no problem with it. Let's look at it this way, Jason. Do you trust me?_

_With my life, _he answered immediately.

_Good. Now, tell me honestly, how do you think me having sex with Tim will change _our _relationship?_

_It won't change it at all,_ he answered, again, immediately. It was the simple truth.

_Alright then. You've had sex with Symone. Has it changed your relationship with her?_

_Not really. She got a lot, well, closer afterwards, like having sex with her allowed her to get more intimate with me. I think it really kinda got better afterwards._

_Okay, good, so your relationship with Symone actually got _better_ after you had sex with her. Now, how did having sex with Symone change your relationship with Tim?_

_It didn't, not really,_ he said. _Tim knew I was self-conscious about it and he really tried to make me feel comfortable. He told me he understood what Symone was doing and why she was doing it, and it didn't bother him, but I guess I never really believed him. I still think that he doesn't approve of it on some level, and because of that, it just doesn't make me feel right._

_But that's not true, and that's what you need to understand,_ she told him. _Love, Tim understands Symone and the Faey much better than you do. It really, truly, and honestly _does not_ bother him. In fact, he approves of it. I've talked with him about it when I got back, because I wanted to know where he stood on the matter. Tim told me that if Symone was going to be having sex with anyone else, he _wanted _it to be with you. Do you know why?_

_No._

_Because he's your best friend, and he loves you like a brother. He knows that Symone really likes you, even loves you as a friend, and he also knows that this is one way she shows that affection. But the main reason, is because he knows that you will treat Symone with respect and kindness, and he knows that Symone will be just as good to you. And he knows all this just as much as he knows that no matter what, Symone loves him with all her heart, and he never has to worry about where she stands with him. Have you ever sat down and had a long talk with Tim about this?_

_Well..._

_I thought not. I want you to get up, right now, and go talk to Tim. And I don't mean hedging, hewing, and hawing. Talk about this, and come to understand how he feels by _asking_ him. And talk to him about how he feels about what's coming. Tell him that today, I get him. Now that the ring's going to be on the other post, that he's going to be having sex with _his_ best friend's wife, talk to him and understand how he feels, and tell him how you feel about it. He might be as nervous about it as you were, now that he's the one about to be handed off like a _zer_ ball._

_That's true. I know I was nervous enough when Symonewell, you get the idea._

She grinned. _Jason. You can talk sex about Symone with me. Trelle knows, I talk enough sex about you with her. It'd be interesting to see if you think she's as hot as she thinks you are._

_Yes, but then we start getting into those "questions with no answers" questions where you ask me to compare her with you, and no matter what I say, it's the wrong answer._

She laughed. _Point. So get up and go talk to Tim._

_I can't._

_Why not?_

_You're on top of me._

She slapped him on the shoulder, but did roll off of his chest and give him room to move. _Now, go talk to Tim._

_I guess I will._

                                        * * *

That conversation was both enlightening and somewhat surprising, because Tim was indeed nervous about the idea of sharing a bed with Jyslin. Outside of that, though, Jason found that Jyslin had been dead-on about Tim. He truly did understand, even better so than Jason, about the intricacies of a Faey relationship and his comfort within it. After sitting down over coffee and donuts and talking with Tim for most of the morning, putting off work and duties to do so, Jason felt that he had misunderstood both Tim and his own outlook about their rather unusual situation.

"Yeah, at first it bothered me a little," Tim admitted. "I mean, my wife was gonna go sleep with another man. But then I remembered just who my wife is, and what we've shared. I've look into her soul, Jason. I mean all the way into her soul," he said in a distracted manner, his eyes distant. "After that, I just can't find any jealousy in me. None at all. She could sleep with every guy in the warehouse, and it still wouldn't change how I feel about her, or how I know she feels about me. Isn't that the way you feel about Jyslin?"

"Exactly the way, but I just wasn't sure how you'd feel about it," he said. "I wasn't sure just where you and her stood like that. I've never asked, and I wasn't gonna. It's just too personal. That's why I've never really come to talk to you like this before. Not like _this_. It just seemed something I shouldn't be talking about, even to you."

"Well, now you know that it's alright. I'm not mad, I'm not jealous, and I really didn't mind. Actually, I'm rather grateful. You made Symone happy, you showed her real friendship by doing what you did, and you made her feel both special and responsible. So, I should really thank you for putting aside how you felt to make sure she felt good about herself. So, does that help some?"

"Yeah, it does, actually," he admitted. "It's not like I'm gonna be pulling Symone's pants down whenever you're not looking, but it makes me feel better about the past."

"Hell, if you want to, go for it," Tim shrugged. "Symone sure as hell won't say no. She thinks you're the second best lay on Earth, and she's told me straight out that she'd really like more time in bed with you. Just don't wear her out to where she's not up to it when _I _want some."

Jason gave Tim a wild look, then both of them burst out laughing. "I'm not sure if you were serious or not," Jason said.

"Oh, I was serious enough," he said honestly. "And now I guess it's my turn to feel like a slab of meat."

Jason laughed delightedly. "That's exactly how it made me feel, but I can tell you that it's not going to be out of duty. Remember back in Hawaii, when Jyslin walked in on you in the bathroom?"

"Yeah."

"Well, she told me that ever since then, she's entertained the idea of a night with you," he repeated what Jyslin had told him. "She thought you had some good equipment."

Tim laughed. "I _knew_ she was staring at my johnson," he said.

"She was. She told me this morning she's looking forward to getting back from Symone what Symone got from her."

"Well, that makes me less nervous. I mean, if Jyslin wants to ride the pony, then it won't feel like it's being forced, that we're doing it because we have to."

"Well, just be nice," Jason told her. "Nothing she doesn't want to do, stuff like that. I know it doesn't matter here or there, but you have my blessing. Because, like you said, I know where Jyslin will be tonight, and that's enough for me."

"Well, can we have fun?"

Jason laughed. "Well, I _guess_ so," he drawled. "Just don't have too much fun, or I'll never see her again."

Tim gave him a look, then burst out laughing. "Oh yeah, I remember that," he said. "For days after Symone's first time with you, that's all I heard about. Jason this, Jason that. She went over every minute of it. It was almost embarrassing. She even compared the sizes of our dicks."

"She _didn't_!" Jason gasped.

"Oh yes she did," he answered. "But then I think she realized she was getting close to stepping on egos, and declared that we were the same size."

"I'm starting to feel a little, abused here," he grunted with a rueful chuckle. "Symone talks about it with you, and she talks about it with Jyslin, but doesn't talk about it with me."

"This is why you should look up from your panel from time to time," he teased.

"I think I'd better start," Jason grunted.

"And about not talking about it, well, she wasn't because she knew it made you feel a little uncomfortable. I mean talking about it the way she did with us. She was trying to work you up to that point."

"Yeah, Jyslin said more or less the same thing."

"At least now I know why it was. You should have come to me about this earlier."

"I know, but I didn't want to jeopardize our friendship, Tim."

"I don't think much of anything can do that, Jayce. We've been best buds for a long time. It'd take way more than that to push us apart."

"That makes me very relieved to hear that, Tim," Jason said.

Tim reached out his hand, and Jason clasped it, which brought a familiar tickle to Jason's mind. Jason and Tim touched each other with Talent, and in that brief moment, all of Jason's reservations and fears about driving a wedge between himself and Tim vanished with a simple, heartfelt assurance that Tim truly, honestly, and sincerely understood, and not only didn't mind, but actively approved of Symone's actions and behavior.

"Now, I hate to talk and run, but I need to run a few more simulations. We're trying to fix a bug in the CMS module, and I'd like to get the module done by Friday. I suggest that you don't get involved in anything until afterward."

Tim laughed. "I'll make sure to keep myself available. You know what this means, though."

"What?"

"Now, whenever they start comparing us, we can start comparing _them_."

Jason gave him a look, then laughed. "I'm not sure I'm that brave, Tim."

"We should be. A healthy dose of 'her tits feel nicer than yours' could really shut one of them up when she starts getting smug."

"And if you say that to the wrong one, you're gonna be sleeping on the floor."

"A risk worth taking," he said with an evil smile.

Jason had to admit, he really didn't have as much of an understanding as Tim did, but after talking to Tim, and talking to Jyslin before, he was starting to _understand _what he already _knew_. There was a big difference between knowing something and understanding it, but now Jason was finally starting to comprehend the difference. He was finally beginning to _understand_ the rather unusual situation that he, Tim, Jyslin, and Symone were in... or unusual to him. To Symone and Jyslin, it was perfectly natural. And for Tim, who had come to understand it long before him, it was much less surprising. Jason and Tim were marrying _Faey_, not _humans_, so that meant that they had to be more tolerant and understanding of their women, because they had customs and a culture that were not their own. The special relationship between Jyslin and Symone had implications that reached beyond their friendship and affected Jason and Tim. And Tim had come to understand those unique responsibilities, because he understood Symone, and understood his relationship with her better than Jason had understood his own relationship with Jyslin. Tim had understood both Symone and Faey culture, and so, when that culture created a situation that would be considered out of bounds in human society, Tim was able to understand it, and move past it. Jason had not.

At least not until now.

Now, Jason could truly say that it no longer bothered him, what had happened, because he knew that it did not bother Tim... and that had been at the core of his issues with the situation between Symone and Jyslin. Jason had felt uncomfortable because he felt that it was highly improper for him to sleep with his best friend's wife. It was a clash of his culture with Symone's. But Tim had looked past that, and knew in his heart that Symone loved him, so it wasn't really an issue with him. And like Jyslin had said and Tim had confirmed, if there was anyone that he would prefer Symone to sleep with, it was Jason, because Jason would treat her right. Now Jason understood that. And since Tim was alright with it, Jason could at least understand it, and look from the other side with the same consideration and grace. He would permit Jyslin to enjoy the same privileges that Symone had, because he loved her, he knew that it was her way, and he knew that she loved him in return and would always come back to _him_.

It was almost a strange sense of... freedom, knowing that he had such faith in Jyslin that he would allow her to sleep with another man, but there it was. He knew that she was going to go have sex with Tim. It was what she wanted to do, and it was what Symone wanted her to do, for it was Symone's way of finalizing the bonds of friendship between Jyslin and Symone. Symone had had sex with Jason while Jyslin was away, serving as a surrogate, and now that Jyslin was back, Symone wanted to give back to Jyslin what she had taken with Jason. And there was also the fact that Jyslin had always had a fantasy about Tim, so it certainly wouldn't be about duty.

Jason stayed in the office and worked on the CMS module, just letting things basically go the way they were going to go. But of course, he knew when Jyslin went to Symone, and then Symone summoned Tim, because Jyslin told him so. And in that moment, when he knew that it was inevitable, that Jyslin was going to be having sex with his best friend, Jason looked inside himself to see what was there.

Grace and blessing.

If it was what Jyslin wanted, then so be it. In Faey culture, what she wanted wasn't only accepted, it was expected. Jyslin and Symone were friends, Symone had slept with Jyslin's husband, and now Jyslin would sleep with Symone's husband. Was he jealous? Maybe a tiny bit, knowing that she was no longer his and his alone. But that was just her body. Her heart was still his, and only his.

And that was really the only part of her that mattered.

The door opened, and he didn't have to look up to know who it was. Symone flopped into the chair on the other side of the table, put her elbow atop it, then leaned her cheek in her hand. _Jason,_ she sent with open eagerness. _Jyslin told me to come down here._

_I know she did,_ he answered mildly.

_Well?_

_Well what?_

_Well, let's go._

_Symone, you don't have to._

_Oh, I know I don't have to, but I _want_ to,_ she answered immediately and with utter sincerity.

Jason looked up at her. _Well, if you _want_ to, that's another story,_ he sent honestly. He offered his hand to her, which she immediately accepted. _Shall we?_

_I can't wait,_ she said with a slowly blooming smile, a smile that became radiant as her eyes registered that Jason seemed to finally understand the complex relationship that the four of them shared, and had found his place within it.

                                        * * *

And he was right. That day did not change anything in the relationship of the four with one another.

In a way, it made things a little more open and honest. Freed up of his reticence about speaking to Tim about certain subjects he'd always felt were off limits before, it let Jason and Tim deepen their own friendship and become even better friends. Jyslin and Symone were almost smug about it all, at least until Tim started comparing. That earned him a kick in the shin from Symone when she started coming up on the short end of a few of those comparisons.

Jason had always felt very close to Symone because of what they shared, a kind of intimacy that only a man and woman who had had sex could feel, and now Tim felt a similar closeness to Jyslin. He remarked on that to Jason the next day, remarking that he'd been so nervous at first, but then he felt so comfortable, and afterwards it was almost like Symone in how totally at ease he felt with her, joking with her, making what some would consider lewd comments, and having one of those necessary episodes of comparison, as Jyslin compared him to Jason, and Tim compared her to Symone. After all, after a man had sex with a woman, how could anything else feel out of bounds? They'd already engaged in one of those most intimate actsfor a human at leastthere was to undertake.

And how did Jason feel? The exact same he did before. He loved Jyslin with all his heart, he was still best buds with Tim, and Symone was still one of his closest friends. He didn't feel jealous at all, because Jyslin had come home to him, remarked about what she felt was a _very_ pleasurable encounter with Tim, made some of those inevitable comparisons, remarked that future trysts with him would certainly be worth pursuing, then she kissed him... and that kiss told him that she was where she belonged, and that was with him.

And that was that. The matter quickly became just another aspect of the relationship between Jason, Tim, Symone, and Jyslin. They were two couples that happened to be close to one another, couples who were best friends with the other.

It didn't go without notice, that was for sure. Temika cornered Jason about it the next day, and after he told her what happened, she blushed furiously, stormed away... and then came back and demanded details. Temika was a very close friend of both Jason and Tim, and it took her a while to come to understand the complicated issues underlying what was going on. But, to Jason's surprise, when he finally managed to explain them in a manner that made sense to her, she had no problems at all with it.

"Y'all are adults, sugah," she told him. "And heah lately Ah've started understandin' the blueskins a little better, what with there bein' so damn many of 'em around lately. As long as nobody got hurt and you and Tim ain't mad at each other, and Symone and Jyslin ain't mad, hell, what mo' needs be said? Er, y'all aren't like wife-swappin' now, or like all doing it in the same room at the same time, are ya?"

Jason laughed. "No, I don't think that we are," he answered. "Though Jyslin did mention that she might ask Symone about giving her another g