"Once every week or two," I answered hesitantly.
"No!" Gako roared. "I go back!"
Then Dawynda promptly bit him on the neck. He screamed out and twisted to get free of her jaw. When he rolled onto his back his tail whipped around and took out my legs. Luckily I broke my fall with my hands and remained in the push-up stance as I watched the two dragons wrestle for a moment. When the big green female dragon broke free she approached me in concern for my welfare. As I started to rise, she flew backwards when Gako bit her tail and yanked on it.
"Stop!" I yelled. Crew members, including the new alien recruits were lining up at the top of the stairs to see what the commotion was about. I had to repeat my demand again before they ceased their aggressive activity that I assumed had playful intent. It was not the first time that they went at it like that. However, this time it began with anger.
"We feel good now," Dawynda explained. "We need more area to roam if we have to wait another two days to go outside. Let us go upstairs."
"Upstairs?" I replied in shock. "It's all small rooms and narrow hallways up there. That’s not going to help."
Dawynda was roughly fifteen feet from nose to tail. Or almost five meters, as I was learning the conversion. The Imperial system of measurement had been left behind more than a century ago. Her body was wiry instead of bulky, less than a meter wide at the hip. With her wings drawn back, she could be able to squeeze through all the doorways.
"We can fit," she said with an excited energy that resembled lust.
"They'll break stuff," Strawberry tried to shut down the idea from her position on the steps. She was hesitant to join me on the floor of the cargo hold as the massive beasts looked a bit feral.
"We won't," Dawynda pleaded, swaying her snout between me and the one outright opposing the idea. "Or, at least I won't. Gako is as clumsy on a spaceship as he is on a mating perch."
"You whore," Gako muttered from behind her. He had been learning all the wrong words since meeting me.
When Cinnamon and Honeysuckle began to support the idea, Strawberry and Vanilla began to argue with them about safety and common sense. But my mind was racing on the possibilities. There had to be some give and take or our situation could get messier than it already was. Two dragons going berserk while docked at this station would be a huge issue. I needed to find a way to pacify them.
"I want you both to use the toilets," I announced loudly so as to be heard over the argument brewing above us. "No more pissing and shitting on the floor, or even in a bucket. If I let you go upstairs you have to behave like the rest of us. No banging into stuff. If you hurt one of us or break anything you'll be confined to the cargo hold again and abide by all my rules."
Dawynda took a moment to look her mate in the eye. She acted like the dominant woman of the relationship, but I knew she conferred with Gako on things that mattered. Then she happily agreed to my terms.
I instructed everyone to go to their quarters except Cinnamon and Honeysuckle. They would each usher one dragon around the circle upstairs and explain how the plumbing worked. Adequate space was required between the two pairings to prevent accidents. I didn’t want anyone taken out by a giant lizard tail while its owner was distracted.
I watched in awe as Dawynda pulled her wings and tail close to her body then tread lightly up the open stairwell. It was the dragon equivalent of pulling up your long evening gown. Gako followed at a good distance and mimicked her movement. It didn't stop her from calling back to him with instructions that he vehemently resented each time.
I stood in the cargo hold waiting for their return. Only Teddy asked to remain with me instead of seeking safety in his quarters. His small size and incredible agility would keep him safe.
"Well, that is the last two," Teddy told me.
"Huh?"
"The Savrad and the Tigritari are gone," he explained. "Now everyone essentially has free roam of the ship, except Sage, which is kind of ironic. Will the dragons be dining with us in the galley now? How long until they can be trained to operate a post in the control room?"
"What?"
"My queries are mostly humorous," Teddy told me, rarely changing pitch or pace in his speech. "However, with everyone free to roam our mobile home, I feel more like a veteran crew member now instead of an outcast. Even Strawberry is treating me differently. When I learn the... Kash, what are you laughing about?"
I had my hands on my knees laughing out loud uncontrollably. After regaining my composure I explained that he had referred to our highly advanced interstellar spacecraft as a mobile home. Then, of course, I needed to define what that term meant in my time back on Earth. He grasped the concept. Yet he failed to see the level of humor that I did. When I told him that it was an inside joke, that began a whole new discussion in explaining terms. It sometimes seemed like half my conversations were spent on what things were like on old Earth.
After several minutes of that, Cinnamon returned with Dawynda in tow. The green dragon almost appeared as though she was being
