"Reasonably well," Sweet Pea said. "Should I be worried about you?"

Ehri considered.

"Not directly," she said.  "I don't intend you any harm; I have no desire to take you away from where you are, either.  I am curious about you, and wouldn't mind studying you, but I'm not going to do that unless you give me permission, and I'm not going to pressure you for that, either."

"I'll consider it," Sweet Pea said.

"That's quite reasonable," said Ehri.  "Do you want a way to get in touch with Olive and me when we aren't here?"

"It couldn't hurt," Sweet Pea said.

Ehri rigged up a phone for Sweet Pea.

"There you go," she said.  "Keep in touch, all right?"

"Thanks," Sweet Pea said. "Pretty impressive you can get that working underwater."

"Once you have to work out the tech for maintaining communication in a galactic empire, this isn't so bad," said Ehri.  "Not my work, but I know the principles."

"Impressive," Sweet Pea said. "But I need some sleep. See ya!"

Sweet Pea climbed back into the jar.

Well, that was that.  Ehri went back to the lab.

"All right," said Ehri.  "Now, you should have some new weapons, a high-speed mode, some shields, things like that.  But get some distance from the town before you try them out."

"Right," Umuru said, taking off and beginning to test everything.

Enhanced Str 10, Lifting Str 4
AE: Focused Blast: Ranged Damage 10, Improved Critical 4
AE: Spread Blast: Damage 8, Area (Burst), Selective
AE: Force Walls: Create 8, Selective
AE: Tractor Beam: Move Object 8, Perception
Pre +1

"Thank you, Ehri. May I kiss you?" Umuru asked.

"Certainly," said Ehri, smiling.  She intended it to be a good one.

Paha was staring.

After the kiss, Umuru looked over at Paha.

"Is there a problem?"

Paha blushed and shook her head, her eyes huge.

Umuru kissed her girlfriend again.

Paha was making noises again, perhaps excitement?  It was hard to be sure.

"You seem upset," Umuru said.

"No!" squeaked Paha.  Her eyes were wide, shining.  "No, you can... keep doing that...

"...what does it feel like?"

"Has no one ever kissed you before?" Umuru asked.

"...No," said Paha in a very small voice.

"Are you curious?" teased Ehri.  "Did you want to try it?"

Paha nodded, mutely.

Umuru flew over to Pahaliah and kissed her.

"Do you want to as well, Eri?"

"I believe that I will," said Ehri, and she did, rather thoroughly.

Paha's blush was bright enough to light up the entire beach.