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Stories They are Smol

Smolive Garden, Chapter 3: High Dining

Sreshec’s work room hung suspended over Gentle Expanse, the blue-green world hanging like a chandelier in the glass observatory. She liked to work at the “bottom” of the station-resort she owned, partly because the views were usually uncluttered, partly because the “top” had the same views but you could charge 10x to put a client there, and partly because no one was going to to sneak through both maintenance and security to get to her quarters anyway.

She hummed to herself as she looked at the simple circular table, bathed in a soft white light, as she attempted to figure out her next steps: color. It is incredibly important to note that colors mean different things to different people, cultures and species. Blue might be the color of the sky, but it’s also the color of blood – if you’re a Dorarizin. Purple is royalty, but it’s also the color of bruising. Green can be grass and ripened fruit, but it can also be the color of mud. It was incredibly important, at an establishment like Sreshec’s, that these things were taken into account for the little details, not just the big “we have the wrong chair for your species” or “this appetizer is a literal poison to your people” ones. Was red lucky, or evil? Was orange a symbol of abundance, or a color of war?

Sreshec sighed as she pulled out a pure, white strip of linen from her worktable. The warmcuddles were incredibly simple – well, that may have been too harsh; they were simple in their tastes, and a lot of what was good in one culture was good for another. White seemed to symbolize purity, and with the research Sreshec had performed before attempting to put together a dining experience for the new species, she was confident she could get it close in one try. Not perfect, but close enough. She draped the tablecloth over the relatively small table, letting it hang. The edges were embroidered in a silver thread that was also tastefully and randomly woven into the fabric itself, causing the cloth to sparkle ever so slightly. Sreshec leaned back and crossed her arms, pacing around the innocent arrangement like a detective about to strike at an unsuspecting suspect.

‘<Should the corners hang like that?>’ She thought, seeing the angled edges of the cloth square dip to the floor. ‘<Maybe a round cloth with no edges, give it a straight line look.>’

She slithered back to her work table, leaning over the side to get a standard prop chair. This she was at least confident in; the humans were not shy in sharing the design schematics for simple furniture as a way to “help with the exchange of cultures”, so the simple flat plane with a straight back would work. It may not be comfortable, but this was all prototyping anyway, so it didn’t matter. She slid the chair under the table, slightly, and imagined a warmcuddle sitting there.

‘<Hmm. His legs are exposed; is that alright? If we seat them between the corners, the corners would provide cover.>’ Sreshec thought, leaning down and adjusting her pince-nez glasses to ride a bit lower on her muzzle. As she was doing so, a soft chime echoed through the silent room, and Sreshec stood up, adjusting her tailored vest and waist sash before letting the call through. Sreshec turned fluidly to face the screen, dipping her head slightly in greeting to the other assembled members of her team.

“<Good evening, everyone.>” Sreshec said, greeting everyone warmly as the interstellar group settled in for a call. “<I’m very thankful that you and the rest of the board have been so patient.>”

“[Oh!]” A greying Dorarizin female said, chuckling. “[We’re already getting to the pleasantries? That either means great news or terrible news.]”

“<I am simply thankful that the rest of the board allowed me so much capital to place this bet.>” Sreshec replied, smiling softly. “<Besides, you loved the idea [Gkrusk].>”

Gkrusk leaned in conspiratorially towards Sreshec, which since this was a conference call she did that to everyone, grinning wide. “[Now now, don’t tell them that! I have to keep my iron bitch persona intact!]” This exclamation was met with cascading cries of bullshit, a couple other playful jokes, and a few muted mics in general. Sreshec smiled a bit wider; the rest of her executive team were in high spirits, which was good – she had a lot rope, and a lot of pull. She snapped her tail against her floor as a call to attention, and eventually the rest of the team focused forward.

“<First, thank you all for your time and resources. We’ve successfully warped in [The Starlight Flower] and have been able to encourage the Gentle Expanse tourism board to use us as a gem on their hood, so to speak; with all things remaining the same this should continue by our playbook, and I expect being allowed to make a planetary bid for land within the next few months.>” Sreshec said, before an indicator ping popped up on-screen. Sreshec tapped an invisible indicator to all but herself, and her cybernetics muted herself and let the boardmember speak.

“[How is the traffic on site?]” Kqi’pi said, smoothing out his crest as he looked off-screen.

“<Surprisingly good, which is a problem.>” Sreshec replied, pulling up and sending reports off to the rest of her team. “<Our initial projections expected to take the diplomat and investor route, but there’s still way too much traffic for them to be system-only patrons; we’ve been handling a lot of outside money clients as well.>”

“[So the dinner call has been crowed, literally.]” Kqi’pi replied, smirking. “[Well, this pivot was already a success, if only to capture that traffic and information; well done.]”

“<Yes, the increased credflow is going to help with operations tremendously; I don’t anticipate dipping into our retained earnings for this project at all, if the pace continues. But, well.>” Sreshec shrugged. “<Since when are our projections perfect?>”

Sreshec muted Kqi’pi as the information was shared with the board, and as they studied the reports Sreshec started her lecture. “<We’ve had a few disagreements with our shipping and material providers; we’ve been able to negotiate around most of those contracts, and for the ones that are adamant about keeping their old routes and not stepping up for us, we’re going to let them go. We already have other providers being screened, so we should not have a disruption in service at all; we are going to double-order for at least 3 months to make sure there will be no disruptions: those additional costs are estimated on page 5, and are relatively negligible. The real issue, is what’s behind me.>”

Sreshec turned from the camera and began to pace around the circular table that stood, defiantly, under the cool spotlight. “<We do not have any real examples of multi-species dining, or fine dining experiences, that incorporate warmcuddles; every bit of data we can glean from interviews and media are always existing infrastructure being used with immediate help, existing infrastructure being retrofitted haphazardly, or, what I’m going to kindly refer to as ‘temp-permanent’ solutions, are things that work just good enough to allow warmcuddles to eat safely. A pit seat might work for everyone, but won’t be comfortable for everyone; same for benches, same for saddles. What you see here,>” Sreshec said, motioning to the lone table between the board and herself, “<is what I’m personally putting together based off of selected warmcuddle media.>”

There was another indicator on the screen, and a second Karnakian – I’krii’t – cleared her throat. “[With the mass appeal of warmcuddle media, I have to ask: why is this taking so long?]”

“<Ah, and there’s the question I was looking for.>” Sreshec said, waving back at I’krii’t who rolled her eyes. “<Ever since joining our wider communities, they’ve been adopting our styles in an attempt to play nice and blend in. Although the dimensions are right for their physiology, it doesn’t help us to look at a repurposed s’ikrii and draw conclusions from that – and yes, I did actually see that, and no, apparently no one told them it was a martial cloth.>” Sreshec looked up, and held back a chuckle. “<Once they learned, they kept it as a table covering though.>”

I’krii’t laughed, very unladylike, and immediately muted herself as she let it all out; the rest of the management team was on mute, and Sreshec laughed at the silent laughter of her colleagues.

“<Ah, but, let’s get back to business everyone!>” Sreshec said, snapping her tail once more to punctuate her request. “<We can take many things from the warmcuddles, we can glean many things from the others who have served with them, but we want to become the brand group for interspecies fine dining, and that takes time. We are already flirting with various floor layouts on Deck 7 – the one we had gutted – to try to figure out a way to have all species coexist and dine peacefully.>” Another ping, another question.

“[So why can’t we just buy and build? There has to be regulations already in place.]” Gkrusk rumbled, brow furrowed in thought. “[Or are we trying to make a statement?]”

“<We can tread on both sand and gravel, you know.>” Sreshec said, coyly. “<But, the unfortunate truth is that there is so much red tape that it’s bogging us down; Our staff has to be trained on how to handle warmcuddles, our products have to be tested and approved by multiple warmcuddle inspectors, we have building codes for interstellar and terrestrial buildings but our construction crew needs to be trained in how to handle warmcuddles so the warmcuddle inspector can safely go on site and nose around without being backhanded out a window.>” Sreshec rattled off with ease, as she picked at an errant but not yet loose scale on her temple. “<And that’s honestly just the top of the mountain here. We would have better luck building a megaplex on endangered land than buying and building that resort we initially forecast.>”

“[What about walkthroughs? We acquired that one cafe a few weeks ago, right?]” Gkrusk interrupted, looking down her nose at the camera not in disdain but in an attempt to get the data to focus on her screen. “[I thought we had some great success coming from that program.]”

Sreshec grimaced a bit, slowly shimming her body as she spoke. “<The only good news that came from that is that we didn’t attach our brand to the cafe; yes, having warmcuddles do walkthroughs and place dummy orders was helpful, especially in bringing in more off-world and out-system dollars, but the added expense for physical and legal defense killed that as a marketing avenue; we had one incident of a well-meaning patron slamming one of our warmcuddles through a display case. Accidental! Accidental, of course, but->”

“[But that’s why revenue dipped last month.]” Gkrusk muttered. “[That must’ve been an expensive one.]”

“<We’ve scuttled the cafe over it; we’ll re-brand and re-launch, but that’s very much a dead idea per legal’s advice.>” Sreshec said, patting the warmcuddle table. “<If we’re going to do it, we have to do it right, and everything needs to be rebuilt and retrained from the rocks up.>”

Sreshec sighed, adjusting the tablecloth as she spoke. “<We cannot afford direct brand damage, and I have been paying attention to our competition; don’t think I haven’t put out leylines to see what moves. Bubble tables can work for… low ticket clientele, and sequestered dining areas seem to be the only way other avenues have answered this question. I’m aiming to have warmcuddles integrated into the overall dining experience; that will play to our exclusive clientele, position us as a safe leader in warmcuddle fine dining, and give our other locations the ability to immediately copy and attract the same. Take, for example, this tablecloth.>”

Sreshec ran her hands over the top of the table, gently smoothing out the fabric. “<White, because it symbolizes purity, and it symbolizes wealth and status because it was apparently incredibly difficult to clean. But note, the nice touches of silver, which not only mean the moon and purity as well, but also righteousness.>” Sreshec looked up at her team with an inscrutable expression. “<I only learned 5 hours ago that if the silver is alloyed with copper, it turns their skin green.>”

The reaction on-screen of a dozen or so high-value, incredibly important businesspeople all lose their train of thought at once was a scene that Sreshec would remember until her dying day. “<I know, I know. Point being, we have to get it right; this station resort will be the go-to destination before anything planetside, and we want every high net worth individual who wants an authentic, upscale experience to have it here, first, and then at any additional properties that we will build within the system, and that can’t happen if the warmcuddles are turning green at dinner.>”

Kqi’pi pinged to talk, but then removed his ping, desperately trying on-screen to keep it together enough to ask his question. “[S-sorry, but.]” Kqi’pi closed his eyes to focus himself. “[Is there any way we can have warmcuddles as part of the dining experience, maybe as staff? Would that. Mitigate. I’m sorry I just – they turn green?!]”

Sreshec raised her hands in defeat. “<Apparently! It’s just the skin that’s in contact with the metal, but it still sends a message and an experience that we do not want to have associated with us. In regards to having them on as wait staff; that is more red tape. Our staff needs to be trained regardless of if we serve or employ warmcuddles, but if they’re on our payroll then it becomes even more difficult; we have to warmcuddle-proof our kitchen, our break rooms, our offices, our public and private bathrooms, and a host of other things besides.>” Sreshec stepped back from the table and went to her workbench, picking up a nondescript crystal vase. “<There’s still a lot of legal gray area when it comes to what foods warmcuddles can prepare without supervision, or are allowed to prepare at all, given the nature of … well, nature. Stomach acid from preparing a fish, let’s say, may tingle our hands but might be a chemical burn for theirs. Certain pollens and scents can have effects on them ranging from psychoactive to catatonic, and the list continues on longer than I’d like. Since we deal in the high class and exotic, let’s say, we might be the tip of the spear when it comes to discovering warmcuddle gastronomic tastes, but no one can tell me who foots the hospital bill or the legal bill.>”

“[Stay exotic, but known. Only approved foods, be daring but not stupid.]” Kqi’pi recovered, nodding to himself. “[Chef’s menu changes based on location, season and brand… that’d be a nightmare.]”

“<I figure, with some of our suppliers that we’re going to drop, that we can submit those foods to the warmcuddle inspectors and governments to test on their own as a gift.>” Sreshec said, smiling. “<Build goodwill, get good data and write it off all at the same time.>”

“[Well take a bow, my dear.]” Kqi’pi said, grinning widely. “[You very much are the right person for this job… and at least our competition isn’t getting ahead of us.]”

Sreshec dipped her head once more. “<I can assure you; no one else in this system is as advanced in the warmcuddle dining experience as we are.>”

Categories
Stories They are Smol

Smolive Garden, Chapter 2: Where everybody knows your name

“Elder” Ti’miquek – who mused that he could now actually carry that title if he really wanted to get a senior’s discount at the supermarket – chirped softly as he waited for his youngest hatchling to respond to him. After decades of serving his local community, he knew enough not to trust little-needs-protectings when they were in such an excited state, but the stories that they were telling him about his erstwhile pure and innocent daughter were just… well. Raunchy, out-of-character – imaginative, is a good word for it; he had been around the pool enough times to know that Karnakian biology just didn’t work that way, and that you couldn’t bend like that.

Not that he and his wife haven’t tried, mind you, but that’s a story for the emergency clinic and less-than-polite company.

But he stood there and chirped softly in acknowledgment and soft astonishment as escapade after escapade was invented before his very eyes; he would have put a stop to it, but watching his daughter sink into the well-loved cushions of his booth was worth wading through the bullshit. Ti’miquek nodded sagely, gasped when appropriate, and shook his head sadly when necessary, all to watch his little sunbeam die slowly of embarrassment. It’s the little things that make parenting worthwhile, after all.

“[-fourteen Dorarizin at once.]” Little-needs-protecting Plays-with-sand said, his food covered hands spreading wide in the retelling of this very obviously 100% real story that he’s not totally making up. After hearing that one, Ti’miquek knocked on the booth frame and cleared his throat.

“|Well. Since all of this has come to light, I have to say… I am incredibly proud of my daughter.|” Ti’miquek said, smiling as he leaned across the booth to place a fatherly kiss on the top of Seseren’s head. “|Thank you for resuscitating my other daughter during her last drug-fueled orgy at the abandoned ball-pit manufacturing plant.|”

Seseren beamed at her adopted father, as Anne Marie’s hands patted both sides of her jawline. “[Why thank you. It was difficult finding the right vein to start the saline drip, as there were so many needles I had to clear them out first.]”

“|Ah, and I bet her veins were as hard as a rock, too. And thank you, my son, for making sure her… what was it you said, plays-with-sand? [Karnussy]? Went for a high price during the illegal escort auction.|” Ti’miquek said, desperately trying to keep a straight face as the Dorarizin leaned forward, getting rewarded with another fatherly kiss on the top of his head. “|And of course, who could forget my little star!|”

Ti’miquek turned to look at his daughter, who had sunk below the tabletop at this point, desperately trying to build a nest and live underneath the faux plasteel slab to survive the lethal amount of embarrassment she was experiencing. “|Aww, now, come out. You know I’m not mad at you…|”

Tik’akri let out a very unladylike yowlp, peppering her displeasure with two-toned spat songs. Ti’miquek locked eyes with his youngest daughter, his little sunbeam, and leaned down, planting a gentle kiss on the top of her muzzle. “|…but I am going to demand at least 20% of what you’re getting out of these illegal parties to keep my mouth shut.|”

“|DAD.|” Tik’akri cried, crest splaying out in a mixture of embarrassment and anger. “|Please-|”

“|Ah! No arguing, young lady! 25%, or else I tell your mother, and she’ll want a cut as well.|” Ti’miquek said, trilling in soft laughter as his daughter looked up at him from below like a mischievous moltling, narrowing her eyes and frowning at being the object of everyone’s ridicule. Ti’miquek looked up at the other end of the table, determined to change that just a bit.

“|And as for you, plays-with-sand.|” Ti’miquek leaned over his daughter, getting very close to the human in question, who bowed his head to receive his own fatherly kiss. It never came; instead, Ti’miquek rested his chin on the human’s shoulder, slowly tilting him out of his accommodation seating.

“|Don’t you owe me roughly 1,400 GRC?|” Ti’miquek whisper-spoke, loud enough for everyone to hear, as plays-with-sand froze stiff, half-fallen from his high seat onto the broader booth below. “|Me taking 30% of my daughter’s earnings is not going to help you pay back your debts.|”

“[I … thought this food was a gift, between our cultures.]” Plays-with-sand said, recovering from being put physically off-center and leaning back in his chair. “[For me to grace your restaurant with my presence, and ah-AHAAAH~!]”

Ti’miquek tilted his head and shot a playful look under the table at Tik’akri as she grabbed the little-needs-protecting’s ankles and started to pull him under. Plays-with-sand gripped the arm rests of his chair, fighting the undercurrent before slowly sinking down, his hands scrabbling against the tabletop, his fellow customers, and eventually the remains of the singular hushed puppy, before disappearing underneath the table to his probable and apparent demise. Ti’miquek sighed and bowed his head a little in remembrance; if only Plays-with-sand had buckled in, he would still be with us to this day.

Anne Marie sighed as she watched the inevitable happen: Jack was slowly pulled under the table with the same fear in his eyes that her ancestors may have experienced from a shark attack, or from falling into quicksand and slowly being consumed. She continued to pat Sesame’s cheeks, trying to gently get the larger alien’s attention. It worked, eventually, the jornissian leaning to the side and tilting her head to make eye contact with her occupant.

“[Yes, Anne?]” Sesame said, curious.

“Can you ask Doobie for my bag? If I’m going to be held captive, I might as well pretend to be productive.” Anne said, splaying out in the divot that Sesame’s coils provided.

“[And miss this?]” Sesame smirked, tapping her dorarizin booth-mate to get the humans’ bag. “[Are you sure you want to work on spreadsheets when we’re about to bear witness to a murder?]”

“Eeeeh, he’s been killed a half-dozen times before.” Anne Marie said, smirking as she heard a human-like yelp from under the table, followed by a bang as something hit the underside of the table. “See? He’ll be fine, but me missing this assignment won’t.”

“[What’s it for? School or work?]” Doobie asked, handing the bag directly to Anne Marie as Sesame leaned back against the booth backrest, giving a little wave to some other patrons in another booth.

“A little of both?” Anne Marie said, smiling sheepishly as the table banged again, Elder Tictac crouching down to talk to the dead and dying. “I’m doing an internship at Dewey, Cheatham and Howe for efficient multi-purpose zoning laws; we can kind of do more in one square foot than y’all can, no offense.”

“[None taken, you can fit into small spaces so it makes sense.]” Doobie said, nodding sagely. “[So that’s where you’re thinking of landing after college?]”

Anne Marie rummaged around her bag, pulling out a well worn and be-stickered tablet. “As good a place as any; they do forensic accounting too, so my dual-major could be of dual-use.”

“[Sounds like dual-jobs with no bump in pay.]” Sesame said, earning a playful thap to her curled tail by her human companion. “[Well, at least Tomtom’s got it all figured out.]”

“[Mmm?]” Tictac said, his feathered headcrest peeking up over the table’s edge before his head soon followed. “[What’s this? My daughter’s got a job offer?]”

Anne Marie, as well as everyone at the table, gave the elder karnakian a look. “What… do you mean?”

“[Sweet?]” Tictac asked, stepping back to let a much-tossed Jack scramble out from the angry-karnakian-hidey-hole, the human combat-rolling out into the main diningroom floor. “[You’ve got a new job? When did you get the offer – who’s it with?]”

“[What are – what are you talking about, Dad?]” Tomtom asked, crawling back up the booth, sliding between the table and the seat itself. She frowned, searching her father’s face for some hint of explanation for the odd line of questioning. “[I told you I’d go to college to help you with the business. We talked about this, years ago – handing the baton, and all that.]”

Tictac opened his mouth, and then shut it, letting out a sigh through his nostrils. “[Oh. Oh darling, I thought… you knew. I know we’ve talked about this before; once you graduate we’re shutting down th-]”

The yell of protest was so loud as to immediately drown out any patron’s music, conversation, or semi-illicit bathroom stall deal, and no voice was louder than those that came from Anne Marie’s fellow humans; tears, cries of pain, a possible battle-cry from Jack as he leapt up from the floor and a stream of upside-down oaths emitted from Brian garnered the attention of every single living being in that restaurant, including the bugs that hid under the welcome mat. Tictac very quickly found himself the target of multiple pointed fingers, teary eyes, and possibly a broken glass bottle or two. Slowly he stepped away, holding his hands up and out in a placating gesture.

“[Everyone, everyone! Just… just breathe, alright?]” Tictac said, shaking his head and loosening his feathers. “[Now daughter of mine – biological daughter of mine, let me add – we can talk about this later if you’d like-]”

“[What, no! Dad, tell me right now.]” Tomtom demanded, turning in the booth to fully face her father. “[I thought I was going to take over ‘the family institution’! Your pride and joy – the thing you’ve built over your entire life!]”

Ti’miquek closed his forward eyes, scratching the bridge of his muzzle as he collected his thoughts. “[Alright, alright. It doesn’t matter this late in the game, so.]” With a sigh, Ti’miquek opened his eyes and patted his daughter’s shoulder with the back of his hand, Tomtom scooting over in the booth to allow for her father. Ti’miquek inhaled and was about to begin, before he was patted on the hip, and with a flat look shot straight ahead, scooted over a bit more to allow Jack to climb up and be a part of the conversation. Ti’miquek cleared his throat, and began again. For real, this time.

“[So. It’s a few things, my chicks.]” Ti’miquek said, opening his hands as he rested his forearms on the table. “[First and foremost, I am well over [600] and I would like to travel the system with your mother. Maybe even visit the old world-]”

“You mean Karnak?” Anne Marie asked, excited, before both the Karnakians just looked at her with visible confusion.

“[That’s… that’s. A word. Thank you.]” Ti’miquek said, dipping his head with a barely-hidden smile. “[Ah, but no. I mean more relative in the near-past; our family came over from [Singing skies], and our main branch of the family is still there. It’d be nice to come visit and see how everyone is… but, that’s neither here nor there. The restaurant put everyone in college, and helped us save up for a modest retirement.]”

“[Dad.]” Tomtom chirped sadly, almost cooing. “[You said we’d work together, and that … that it’d be my place. This is all I wanted.]”

“[Oh my darling sunbeam.]” Tictac sighed, leaning against his daughter in a half-hug, resting his head atop her own. “[I’m so sorry, but we just can’t afford to stay here anymore.]”

“If it’s about the money I owe, I can pay it back!” Jack said, patting the older karnakian’s side as he started to laugh softly. “We can get you that money by the end of the month.”

“[Oh, oh it’s not that.]” Tictac said, rolling his forearm feathers in a soft shrug. “[It’s just, well. Ah, as you know, we’re one of the first true interplanetary colonies for the humans – that has caused a lot of development.]”

“Well, sure.” Anne Marie said, reaching forward and stealing a bit of Jack’s abandoned hush puppy. “But that’s got to have brought you more traffic, right? More customers, more money?”

“[Certainly.]” Tictac said, letting his daughter go to face the rest of the table. “[But with that, an increase in costs; we’re not on the border with Silver City, that’s sure, but being within an hour’s flight is still pretty close. We’ve also got a mixed-species college with human professors as well, so that’s a big draw in and of itself. Over the past few years, we’ve gone from a tax of 1 GRC per [square foot] to 7, my utility costs have doubled, we’re now held to new ‘beautification’ standards – which also include safety updates, and we can’t afford those renovations.]” Tictac let his features sag, and in that moment the weight of his age and exhaustion rested on everyone’s shoulders. “[The resale cost of food from my wholesale connections has also tripled -]” Ti’miquek raised his hand to stave off the flow of questions, and continued unabated. “[- because when you grow food that’s been around humans, there’s a certain… premium you can charge for it. Almost a third of our food is now exported off-planet for that reason alone, and that’s not at all counting the human-grown foods, which. Oh!]” Ti’miquek let out a sharp whistle, shaking his head. “[Proved to me I’m in the wrong business!]”

“The fuck you are!”

All eyes at the booth turned to Bruce, who had apparently been getting more and more agitated, until he finally stood up on his boosted seat, towering over the seated people around him. “Listen here, you seppie cunt.”

“[Please don’t call my dad a cunt.]” Tomtom said, flatly, as she was immediately called a cunt as soon as she opened her mouth.

Bruce rested a boot on the table, posing like Captain Morgan, accusatory finger dancing between the Father/Daughter duo. “You can’t shut down! You’ve been here for 60 years! Longer than that! You’re an institution, and it’d be an actual crime to deny your shit food to generations to come-”

Tictac sat up, staring down the belligerent human. “[It’s quality food establ-]”

“Shut it, you cunt.” Brian spat, jabbing his finger at the air between them. “Do you have any idea how much of a legend your food is?! How many underage college students have drunk themselves into a stupor near the pool table?! How many drug deals have gone on in this parking lot?! Fucks’ sake, my parents met in your bathroom!”

“[Wh-wait.]” Doobie said, shaking his head to try to get that sentence to land properly in his mind. “[Y-your. The bathroom?]”

“He’s got a point, though.” Jack said, patting the older karnakian’s thigh in a friendly way. “You have been here for way too long to just roll up and move out like this.”

Ti’miquek sighed, exasperatedly. “[It’s not that I haven’t been trying to save the restaurant – an establishment, I’ll remind everyone at this table, that I have been running for well over [400 years] with no problems so far!]” Tictac said, a bit of anger creeping into his voice as his talons tapped against the tabletop. “[And this has been a problem years in the making. We’ve seen our profit dry up, trend sideways, and now I’m operating at a loss, and have been until my daughter finishes school so she would end her academic career happily!]”

Ti’miquek inhaled deeply, letting the anger bleed from his voice but keeping his gaze sharp as he looked between the assembled sapients at the table. “[Do you know how much this land would go for if I sold it? It would double my retirement fund. Your mother and I could quit, right now, and not be a worry to anyone. More importantly, I know, this old place has a lot of work that needs to be done, and this frees you from it, from that burden.]” Ti’miquek said, looking at his daughter pointedly. “[There’s nothing wrong with starting this up again, somewhere else, if you really want to.]”

“[But I don’t want anywhere else, Dad.]” Tomtom said, resting her head against her father’s shoulder. “[I grew up here. I like it here – my memories are here. I don’t want to…]”

Silence settled on the table, before being broken by Brian’s soft and dejected “cunt.”

“So, who is your competition?” Anne Marie asked, innocently, as she pulled up the galnet on her tablet. “How are they staying in business?”

Categories
Stories They are Smol

Smolive Garden, Chapter 1: Hospitaliano isn’t a real word.

The restaurant’s sign hung over the entrance, suspended in the misty drizzle as it had for the past 490 years. It was a welcoming sign, originally painted and gilded in bright, vibrant and encouraging colors that had become dull through the march of ages, giving it a homely charm that was sought out for those in the know of it’s existence. Those in the know being, primarily, college students, the lower middle class, and others who would be happy to patronize a small local business that had become something of an institution.

It was Elder Ti’miquek’s Home Style Food, and it was all pretty fucking terrible.

This wasn’t always the case; “Elder” Ti’miquek wasn’t north of 130 when he started the business, but figured pretending that his recipes were handed down to him through generations would bring more people in. As he was in a third rate shopping center next to a community college, ‘home style’ would be how he’d sell his food, to ease the homesickness of everyone who passed through his door. The food would be reasonably priced, hearty, and warm, which would be perfectly fitting for the demographic, and weather, that his part of Gentle Expanse usually got around the middle of the year. He’d not pretend to be something that he wasn’t… well, no more pretending outside of the marketing to sell his food, of course, and for the first few years things went swimmingly.

Then his first clutch came. He cut some corners as any new parent would; Re-using yesterday’s unsold veggies, keeping the fried dough treats under the heat lamp overnight, or reheating some old baked porridge. All of it was still good, still passable, and for the most part people didn’t mind.

Then his first clutch grew into teenagers, and his second was on the way. Employing his children was always a risky bet, but Ti’miquek figured it would allow for some parental bonding and give the ‘home’ part of his marketing spiel some real ground to stand on. The menu had to change, of course; gone were some of the more complicated foods, replaced with easier, cheaper products. Corners were cut a little bit more; oil could be reused for a few days, after all, and the floors … just needed to be swept, not mopped, every day. Life continued, but his walls stopped being freshly painted every few years, and his decor got a little dated. “Cozy”, he’d call it, because “outdated” had the kind of ring to it that would get you put on dish duty if you said it in his presence. 

When his first clutch moved on to college or trade schools and his second clutch were teenagers and with a surprise third clutch was on the way, Ti’miquek just attempted to keep the lights on and his feathers from molting, and it was here that the legend of Elder Ti’miquek’s Home Style Food came to be; the food became greasy, cheap, hot, and sat in your stomach like a leaden rock. In the bathrooms, the marital aid and discrete helper dispensers were replaced with digestif and stomach medicine vending machines, and once Ti’miquek realized he could get away with a “bring your own booze and we won’t ask questions, just rent the cooler” policy, well.

Let’s just say the college crowd moved in and never left.

Elder Ti’miquek got to experience bar fights, bar flights, passed out patrons in bathroom stalls, patrons doing other things in bathroom stalls, and generally all the other chaos that adults who don’t have to quite yet adult in the real world can get into. The hose out back was used less and less to clean mats and grill covers and was used more and more to get unruly customers to comply, or to at least not make such a mess.

When the humans showed up, well. Ti’miquek decided to change up his menu once more; gone were some of the lower-selling staples and instead he tried his claw at traditional [Dirt] cuisine! He introduced such wonderful things as the sushioup, the three-sided hot dog, and the indomitable garbage plate. It’s the last item on the menu that got him his very own human slogan, uttered from a real human professor (!) who gave his establishment a try.

“Oh Dio, portami in ospedale!”

It was music to Ti’miquek’s ears, even though his translator wasn’t updated – he didn’t mind, it was such an exclamation, made with such passion – he just had to get it emblazoned on his wall, painted on his sign, and added to all of his marketing materials. The human in question apparently spread news of his food far and wide, and it was a known open secret among the locals that depending on the day and time, you might find some booths in that lovable dump occupied by some of the planet’s newest residents.

Much like tonight, in fact.

“Ah fuck, ah fuck.” Jack said, running his fingers through tight, curled hair. He inhaled deeply as Tik’akri – nee Tomtom – placed the order in front of the young man, grease pooling at the bottom of the well-used metal plate. “Why’d you order me the Hushed Puppy? I hate shrimp!”

“[Well, you were the one who came into my father’s restaurant and said, and I’ll quote here, ‘I don’t want to take a shit for a week so fuck me right up.’]” Tomtom replied, smiling both with her teeth and feathery crest as she settled in beside the distraught human in the multipurpose booth, placing her drink on the table and tucking the serving tray under her thigh. “[At least I gave you a booster seat-]”

“It’s called a vertical comfort addition, I”ll have you know.” Jack said, sticking his nose up in the air. “It’s not my fault your people are freakishly large. If you were a normal size like a normal person-”

“You’d still need a seat, manlet.” Brian said, a grin on his face as he draped over Seseren, who rolled her eyes at the banter. “It’s no one’s fault but you’re own you’re five-foot-”

“Five foot 11 and 19/23rds!” Jack yelled, pointing an accusatory finger at his friend across the table. “That’s basically six feet, which means I’m not a manlet-”

“When will you ever learn?” Brian sighed, shaking his head. His rebuttal was silenced by the Jornissian in the booth, who gently placed a hand on the human’s head and pushed him onto his side.

“[That’s enough, you two.]” Seseren said, sighing. “[Be nice or I’m telling dad.]”

“[My dad, their dad, your dad…?]” Tomtom asked, and Seseren shrugged. There was a big exhalation of breath, and all eyes turned to Jack as he leaned forward, gripping the bowling-ball sized, deep-fried round meal. Inhaling through his teeth with a hiss, he pulled, ripping out a steaming chunk of food – which he immediately dropped onto the plastic-wrapped table, shaking his hand free of the heat.

“Aaah! Ah ah ah hot hot-” Jack complained, rubbing his hand on the cold pitcher of beer that sat at the human side of the booth. “-why is it always as hot as the fucking sun, Tomtom?!”

Tomtom trilled in soft laughter. “[Look, it’s either that or we don’t heat it up out of the freezer, take your pick.]”

“The service here is terrible.” Jack murmured, taking a sip of his lager. “I should have you reported.”

“[Cool. So I’ll just call dad and have you settle the tab you’ve been building for the past 5 years?]” Tomtom said, leaning over the smaller human in a show of dominance, her saurian smile hovering over Jack’s head. “[Or should I just force you to wash dishes for the next 6 months straight?]”

Jack looked up, squinting. “You know I’d almost believe you could be an intimidating badass if I didn’t catch you crying over a toddler because he was too tiny.”

“[I-hn. Mmn!]” Tomtom replied, turning away from the now-grinning human, refusing to acknowledge him further. “[So. Sesame. How are you today?]”

“[I am fine, and welcome the topic change.]” Sesame said, smiling as she shut her tablet off. “[Finishing up on my Management capstone class project here; they want us to figure out how to remain agile in a changing business environment when exo-solar companies are flooding your local market with nigh-unlimited money.]”

“Wouldn’t know nothin’ about that, sheila.” Brian said, taking a deep drought of his beer.

“[Sure, it’s not your fault, but it’s still something that’s happening. Good and bad and all that rolled into one.]” Sesame replied, sinking into the booth cushion a bit. “[More good than bad, I’d wager.]”

“[Well yeah.]” Tomtom replied, resting her elbows on the table as she propped her chin in her hands. “[Business had a nice upswing when the humans showed up, but so came the uptick in expenses so it’s basically a wash.]”

“Yeah, but you get to enjoy our company though, and that has to be worth all the gold and silver you could ever want, right?” Jack said, batting his eyes at the two ladies, who immediately looked away with feigned disgust. With murmured complaint he turned his attention to his cooling-down deep-fried meal, picking apart hunks of stuffing to rip into, cooling down the molten hot food with ice cold beer.

The door chimed, and Jack looked up – yelling out a muffled greeting that the other patrons of the restaurant only half-paid attention to. Draped over Drzen-of-Azgrn’s shoulders was a low-slung backpack, and sitting on that was a human female who had buried her head in the Dorarizin’s mane. It wasn’t because they were together (they weren’t) or that she was embarrassed about something (that’s par for the course); mainly, it was because she was tired – dead week did that to anyone who actually cared about their grades.

“Oi! ‘Sup Doobie?” Brian called out, waving his hand above the booth wall to get the Dorarizin’s attention. Doobie smiled, raising his hand in a return greeting that Brian could not physically see without turning around and standing up on his own vertical comfort addition.

“[Well hey there. Didn’t know the gang was all here! It’s not trivia night, is it?]” He asked, walking over to the booth.

“[Nope, nothing like that. Just drunken study hall.]” Sesame said, to the cheering of her human companions.

“[Oh speaking of, Sesame, could you-]” Doobie motioned to the tiny arms clasped around his neck, and Sesame raised her own in response. The Dorarizin turned around and felt a weight being gently lifted off of his back… and then the grip tightened around his neck.

“[Anne, if you’re awake you have to get off-]”

No.” Protested Anne Marie, muffled by the mane of her trusty steed. “You are soft and warm and I’m lazy and cold.”

“[Come on. You can share Jack’s singular hush puppy if you get off.]” Coerced Sesame, the gentle tug turning into an insistent pull.

Mnnnnnno. I’ll give you a dollar if you let go.” Anne said, a majority of her torso lifted off of her perch. “Two dollars. Three. Five is as high as I’ll go.”

“[Ah, what a shame, ten dollars would have bought my loyalty.]” Sesame said, smiling as Anne let go and fell onto the waiting Jornissian. Doobie hefted off his much heavier pack onto the dirty floor and scooted into the booth, reaching under Sesame’s tail to help move her over.

“Oh! I didn’t know ten dollars bought you that kind of loyalty.” Brian said, grinning as Doobie shot him a very dirty look.

“[It’s free for such a gentleman.]” Sesame said, giving Doobie a small nod as she positioned Anne within her coils. “[But I wouldn’t fuck you with a rented cunt, Brian.]”

“AYY! You said the word! You’re an Aussie now, cunt!” Brian hollered, getting rewarded with thrown food and insults tossed his way.

“[Really should call his parents.]” Muttered Tomtom, before giving a little wave to her Dorarizin friend. “[Anyway. How goes your studies?]”

“[Eh. I wouldn’t call them studies, per se-]” Doobie started, before Jack butted in.

“Liberal arts isn’t exactly something you need to study for, is it?” Jack grinned, before getting smacked in the arm a bit too hard by Tomtom.

“[I’ll have you know I need to produce a 30 page report on the dissemination of anti-establishment art in totalitarian regimes, and how such dissemination can be used to further revolutionary thinking.]” Doobie stated, matter-of-factly. “[And if you think that’s not a problem or doesn’t require study, I’ll force you to read my rough drafts.]”

“Alright, alright, fuck, I get it.” Jack said, breading-covered hands raised in defeat. “Didn’t mean to start shit so early in the night.”

Doobie sighed, slouching. “[Yeah, sure, it’s fine. I don’t exactly make it a secret that I’m just marking time.]”

“[We all figure out what we want to do on our own time; everyone lives life at their own speed.]” Tomtom said, reaching over the table to pat Doobie’s hand. “[I kind of have it easy with my degree, ‘cause I’m going to help Dad with the restaurant, but you’ll get interested in something and start pursuing it in no time.]”

Drzen looked at his friend with a tired, exasperated expression. “[Of all the sappy romance-novel level speeches ever spoken, I never thought I’d get it from you, ‘Tequila yard Tomtom’]”

Tik’akri ducked her head, leaning forward. “[SSSSH! Shut up, shut up! Fuck’s sake, he’s in the back – He doesn’t need to know my stage name!]”

“[Exactly who is in the back, my youngest daughter?]” An older Karnakian said, and the entire table erupted in various, rowdy emotions.

Categories
Stories They are Smol

They are Smol – Badguys, Boxes and Boops, Epilogue Part 4: The more things change, the more they stay the same.

At every fast food joint, no matter how far into the future you go, there’s always a secret menu. Corporate will never acknowledge it, regional will attempt to tamp it down, but if you go to the fun fast food joints that have lax management and say the secret words, you’ll get the best bad food your money can buy. These could be burgers, drinks, special sides – or special sauces, in the case of the McGangBang. Mike, as a proud American, was well versed in the art of secret orders, so when his motley crew saddled up to the order counter of the Dairy Queen in the Human aid ship Dinosaur Bandaid’s food court, he stared down the teenager at the cash register in the way only an old hat could.

“Can I get uuuhhhhhhhhhhh-”

Bleppy stared enraptured at the menu as it cycled between warmcuddles holding things, eating things, and just existing. P“pacheep was more… well, curious is one word you could use.

Talkative is another.

“[What’s… what’s a [tater]? Is it precious? Does the food actually have fire in it? Can you eat fire? Why does the food get taller the further down the menu you go? What’s that bendy thing that comes out of the cylinder?]”

“Uhhhhhhhhh-” Mike continued, as the teenager started to look between the group nervously. Nate peeked out behind Bleppy and waved, while Drongo – the only other responsible adult in the group – made sure to hold back his inquisitive xenos charges.

“Um, Sir, if-”

“Three peanut buster parfaits with chocolate soft serve, additional caramel, banana and strawberry sauce on top.” Mike suddenly said, smiling.

“S-sure thing.” The teenager responded, the automated attendant behind him quickly getting to work producing the custom order. Within a matter of seconds the food was prepared, and the sweet treats were passed out to the three xenos – while Mike maintained eye contact with his son the entire time. P“pacheep, not to be ungracious to his hosts, thanked his chaperones, the assembled bemused crew of Dinosaur Bandaid and the teenage server behind the counter before promptly eating the whole thing, plastic capsule and all. Drongo at least had the sense to uncap the top and lick at the treat, but Bleppy…

Bleppy cradled the gift of custom, authentic and real warm-cuddle food in his hands, turning it over as if it was a rare jewel. No amount of persuasion, or ice cream melt, would convince him to devour the contents inside – so as his parfait turned into a soup and started to smear over his hands, Mike saddled back up to the counter and made his second order. Another custom parfait for the Jornissian, a large dipped cone for himself, and absolutely nothing for his son.

“Come on Dad-”

“Isch!” Mike said, raising his hand in a slightly-threatening gesture. “The good sons get ice cream because they don’t worry their mother for days on end!”

Nate sighed, but spread his hands defeated. “Fine, fair. How are you enjoying it, Bleppy?”

The Jornissian dipped his head to stare at “his” warmcuddle, holding the treat to his chest – but still not opening it. “[I don’t… I love it. I’ll cherish it forever.]”

“You’re gonna cherish some ants real soon if you don’t start eating, boyo.” Mike said, taking a bite into the hard shell of his ice cream. “Come on, then. Eat it or not, we gotta get back with the group.”

“What’s the plan?” Nate said, falling in behind his father as he led the group back to the shuttlecraft he commandeered from The Last Word.

“Simple. You’re going to get checked out six ways to Sunday by medical and interviewed by some nice suits who are all named “John Smith”. Everyone else is going to have a nice trip to Sol.”

“How is home, by the way?” Nate said, sliding his hands into his pants pockets. “It’s been a few years, but it couldn’t have changed that much.”

Mike laughed as he waved his ice cream cone around. “You’d be surprised, son. We’ve still got a long way to go, but we’re starting to put colonies on the gas giant satellites-”

Nate whistled. “Impressive! Is that just Jupiter? Or Saturn too?”

“You’ll see.” Mike said. “Now come on – we’re supposed to be home for supper by 6.”

Sol was… Sol.

This isn’t just a recursive statement; Sol was how humans shorthanded the name of their home system. They are a proud and noble race, so when it was pointed out that the name roughly translated to “best star, I like”, humanity dug in it’s heels and refused to change the name of the system. This kind of stubbornness extended to everything from ship design to the location of outposts and colonies; to the minds of their xenos allies, things were placed haphazardly with little regard to future growth, ease of access, or safety standards. When asked, humans generally responded with something about aesthetics, or long-held racial dreams, or how “cool” it would be to make the surface habitats of their moon (called moon, of course) into a giant happy face. Or dick. Depends on who you asked.

Sol was also Sol. As a home system, it had the same rights and responsibilities of the other home systems of the other races; the Senate met here. There was power here in this system; thousands of ships came and went every day, shipping people, raw materials, cultural tchotchkies, media, exotic foods, pets – you name it, it could be found here. It was remarked by xenobiologists that the human race – for being so primitive, for having so many problems at almost every level of their society and being – adapted remarkably well to suddenly opening up to the entire galaxy. They adapted to new ideas, to new sensations, to new cultures and everything that came with them at a breakneck speed, all while still holding true to who they were before first contact.

They were hesitant about the new food, though. Alien food poisoning was something no one wanted to experience first hand.

Sol was Sol. An industrial powerhouse endlessly fueled by material poured into it by their galactic neighbors; logicians would be able to proudly point to an influx of material that roughly equaled the volume of Pluto coming into the system every single year. Ships were being cranked out at dockyards that orbited every single stellar body that had a stable gravitational field, prefabricated products were built by the billions, personal effects were exported by the metric kiloton to be sent to all the corners of a ravenously curious galaxy. The demand was endless, the supply was endless… all that mattered was that the ships docked on schedule, filled with riches, and left on schedule, filled with riches.

Task force Old Yeller warped into Sol far outside of the Oort cloud, passing IFF indication to the outermost Senate patrol ships. Only the bridge crew – and those with enough clearance to listen in to the wash of chatter broadcast on every single EM wavelength – were able to get an idea of the majesty, the industry, and the sheer volume of OSHA complaints that were occurring all around them, in every single passing moment. With minor fanfare the task force was escorted by UTF tugs to the Shipworks station in orbit around Titan, and with almost no recognition at all, the surviving crew of The Perfect walked from one alien ship to another.

Nate, however, saw and heard none of this, as he sat in a bare metal room with a few dozen CENTRAL spooks for almost the entire ride in, going frame-by-frame through every single video camera, personal recording, and eye-witness testimony.

Stk’shzsk stood in awe at the size of… well, everything. His space port at home was nothing more than a glorified flat tarmac, and the pirates that he worked with had the most industrial capability that he had ever seen… up until now. When The Last Word docked at the shipyard, Stk’shzsk assumed he’d be pressed into a small room with a couple hundred other people, queue up to be processed, given a bare room and a bunk… but not this. Dumbfounded, he looked around – at people moving, talking, bartering, arguing, meandering around a room that was easily double the largest warehouse his former employers ever stepped foot in. This was on top of the fact that there were warmcuddles about, and everyone acted as if they were nothing special… as if they were ordinary! He watched as the little aliens would climb on walls, yell out orders, drop food, apologize to cleaning robots, install greenery, talk to the plants, crawl into vents, appear behind panels and doors that looked flush and inconspicuous to the naked eye – all the while the other races treated it as normal.

Normal!

“<You looking for someone?>”

Bleppy turned to face his escort, a female Jornissian who studied him a little too intensely. She picked him up from his room aboard The Last Word, and was his only companion out of the ship and onto the station. He would never dream that the look she was giving him was one of interest, and if anything, the fact that she also held a pretty aggressive-looking weapon in her hands dissuaded him from continuing that line of thought.

“<Ah, well, yes. I was looking for my warmcuddle->”

The Jornissian chuckled. “<Yeah, that’s not going to happen. Over here.>” She motioned with her rifle, and the two stepped out of the main thoroughfare of the dockyard’s ship terminal. As they did so, the flood of xenos and human crews filled in the gap, moving through the space they used to occupy like living water.

Stk’shzsk started to wring his hands, coiling up on himself as he looked near his escort – not at her, mind – as he didn’t want to… challenge her. “<What do you mean? Wiggle-nap should be getting off of the ship soon enough->”

“<First, you’re not cleared to know what happened to your warmcuddle guest.>” His guard said, matter-of-factly. “<Just because you spent some time with him doesn’t mean you get to keep doing that.>”

“<Oh.>” Stk’shzsk said, softly. “<I… thought->”

“<That you’d continue your little adventure?>” The Jornissian said, completing his sentence with a wry smirk. “<Nah. At least, not yet, not without approval, and definitely not without his consent.>”

Stk’shzsk looked down at the bare metal floor, before looking up and around once more. Dozens and dozens of warmcuddles would catch his gaze, give him a wave or a smile, and continue about their day – but none of them were his, and none of his fellow xenos looked like they were giving him the time of day. He continued to look – to find his brother, to find someone who worked with New-hope, to find anyone familiar…

“<We can stay here all day, but nothing’s going to happen.>” The Jornissian guard said, and paused for a few minutes. When it was clear that Stk’shzsk wasn’t giving up, she sighed.

“<Here.>” She snapped her tail, the sound attracting a few eyes – but getting Stk’shzsk’s attention. “<You are still on parole, and you are still … well, totally unqualified to be anywhere near this solar system, let alone these people.>”

“<S-so?!>” Stk’shzsk replied, doing his best to look determined. “<I spent days with New-hope, and->”

Bleppy’s guard shrugged, her torso rolling. “<And if he wasn’t in that suit you would have killed him->”

“<I WOULD NEVER.>” Stk’shzsk furiously roared, staring fiercely down the barrel of a live rifle.

“<Easy.>” The Jornissian guard said, coldly meeting his gaze. “<I didn’t mean to insult you->”

“<Then how dare you->Stk’shzsk began, before the muzzle of the weapon was pressed firmly against his forehead, and he remembered himself and his current situation.

“<Easy. I’m just one of your guards, but I know you’re harmless as a warm breeze, which is why I haven’t blown your brains out right now.>” The guard said, words cold as ice. “<But if you lose your scales like that again with someone else, you may not be so lucky.>”

Stk’shzsk inhaled sharply, but said nothing. Moments passed, before his guard lowered her weapon. “<I wanted to let you drink it in, but that might not be the best idea. Come on.>” She tilted her head, and without a protest Stk’shzsk slithered down a side corridor.

“<Slower. Near the wall.>”

Stk’shzsk did as his guard instructed, holding his hands tightly against his waist. She directed him – a right here, a left there, down this way, stop here – for what seemed like an hour, and as she did the chaotic din of warmcuddle life started to fade from his hearing, until it was silenced altogether, replaced by the unfeeling hum of electricity and machines.

“<Here’s where I drop you off, for now.>”

Stk’shzsk looked at the nondescript door that stood before him, and rolled his jaw nervously. “<What’s… behind there?>”

The Jornissian guard shrugged. “<I could tell you, or I could point out that you have no choice. Go in.>”

Stk’shzsk turned around and shot the guard a look, but she grinned in response – her hood flaring out smugly. “<You gotta love what you do or else every day is a mire. Now go on.>” She motioned with her weapon, and Stk’shzsk turned back around. As he slithered forward the door slid open – to a nondescript room. On the right was a Dorarizin … doctor, it looked like, and a Karnakian technician surrounded by the tools of their respective trades. There was a warmcuddle, in a suit much like New-Hopes, and Stk’shzsk’s hope rose unbidden. Before he could say anything a voice called out to him, and he turned. Standing to the far left was a warmcuddle… made very obviously out of hard light. It waved to him, and he noted that the suited warm-cuddle was mimicking the gesture – or was it the other way around?

“[Haha, hi! I’m warmcuddle don’t-feel-bad! Come over here and give me a nice hug, new friend!]” The hard light simulacrum said, bouncing in place. Stk’shzsk looked at the panel of xenos, before turning back to shoot a questioning look at his guard – and was rewarded with a prod from her weapon. He looked at the suited warmcuddle, before moving towards the hard light doll.

“<Oh, hello warm-cuddle-don’t-feel-bad. I’m Stk’shzsk, and it’s nice to meet you.>”

“[Likewise!]” The warmcuddle said, raising it’s arms in the universal symbol for “uppies”. Stk’shzsk smiled and pulled the warmcuddle into his arms, holding the dear new friend tightly.

“[Fatal Move.]”

“<Wh-what?>” Stk’shzsk said as he pulled away, the hard-light doll contorted in a horrific new shape, covered in big blocks of orange and gray. He looked between the doll and the panel, who were busy talking amongst themselves.

“[Terminal damage to spinal column: 14 crushed vertebrae.]” The doll said, hanging limply in Stk’shzsk’s shaking arms. “[Damage to rib cage: 9 fractures. Terminal damage to internal organs: Lung punctured 4 times. Heart punctured once. Esophagus crushed. Liver-]”

Stk’shzsk fell into a panic, picking up the doll as he spun in place. “<N-NO! No, I didn’t – I didn’t mean to->”

“[-internal bleeding— Well there we go.]”

Stk’shzsk looked at the doll in his arms, which now no longer looked deformed and instead looked … well. Somewhat normal again.

“[Sorry about that bud! But that’s why they call me warm-cuddle-don’t-feel-bad! Hah!]” The doll smiled a human smile, reaching up to pat the shaking Stk’shzsk on the snout. “[Welcome to training!]”

Stk’shzsk darted his head out of the way, looking the doll over in fear. “<Wh-what?! Are you ok?! Ar->”

“[Easy there, bud. Everyone who wants to interact with my people needs to go through this training-]” The warmcuddle pushed against Stk’shzsk’s chest, and he let it go, the doll standing upright as it’s hard-light shell reformed. “[-and what you just experienced is something everyone goes through.]”

Stk’shzsk tore at his face and neck, collapsing on the floor in anguish. “<I-I’m sorry, I would never->”

“[Woah! Woah, hey, easy there bro!]” The doll said, moving forward to console Stk’shzsk – who for the first time recoiled at the touch of a warm-cuddle. “[Look, I wasn’t kiddin when I said don’t feel bad – Scrubby, the doctor, actually decapitated his doll the first time he went in for a headpat.]”

“<He-who-wha?>” Stk’shzsk babbled, before his vision was filled with a softly smiling Dorarizin female.

“[Hey there – yep, that was me. Crushed the warm-cuddle’s skull like an ice bubble.]” The doctor said, reaching down to check Stk’shzsk’s vitals. “[You’re having a mild panic attack right now, just roll your breath for a minute, alright?]”

“<I, hnnn->” Stk’shzsk whined as a hand was pressed against the nape of his neck, his rapid heartbeat slowing down as his gaze darted between the doctor,  the floor, the hard light human looking at him with pity

“[You gotta calm down, friend.]” The doll said, crouching down. “[You’re going to be “killing” me thousands of times, until you don’t anymore.]”

“<Wh-why?!>”

“[Because you’re built of heartier stuff than we are.]” The human doll said matter-of-factly, tapping it’s chest. “[And so until we’re all certain you can handle humans, physically, without causing damage to them… well. You won’t be leaving this part of the station. Everyone who comes to work in Sol has to go through this training, and a lot more – but for you, we’re speedrunning it.]”

The human doll smiled a smile, and for the first time Stk’shzsk couldn’t tell if it was kind.

“[Now.]” The doll said, pointing directly at Stk’shzsk’s face with an extended arm. “[Pull my finger.]”

“[Alright. Five minutes left in the shift, everybody – let’s finish strong.]”

Bleppy hummed to himself as he moved his crane into position. The ship he was working on – a shuttle craft colloquially known as a “puddle jumper” – was about halfway done, and the next shift to take over would finish the job; all he had to do was position the back frame properly for the welders to do their work. With speed borne out of years honing his craft he ordered his small swarm of utility drones to latch onto the skeleton of the ship, his crane arm moving outwards while the gimballed jets of the drones kept him true. He slowly moved the metal and carbon structure into place, and slowed it’s momentum down just in time for his shift timer to ding.

“[That’s it! Sixers and Twelves, change your shifts – and thanks again for your work today!]”

“<Thank you too, foreman.>” Bleppy said over intercomm, to a cascade of warm-cuddle sign-offs and babble. It had been 8 months of “training” to be let out of his part of the dockyard, and another three to be rated to do the work he was brought here to do. During that time he somehow became a minor celebrity with the warmcuddles on the station, and he enjoyed the attention he got from them and others. Clicking off the analog switches to his station he pushed his terminals away from his body, the egg-like capsule that was suspended in space slowly retracting back to the body of the station. He felt the minor jolt of actuator arms clamping down on his operator’s nest, and with a slight hum the feeling of artificial gravity kicked back on. His screens turned off and bay doors closed around his vision, cutting off his view of the warmcuddle gas giant “king thunder guy” and the wider Sol system. He tilted his head back and reached up, unscrewing the lock on his operator’s nest, and with a hiss of equalizing pressure the airlock door opened. He slithered up and out, waving at his fellow operators as they did the same – some warmcuddle, some Dorarizin, some Karnakian or Jorinissian like himself.

He tapped the implants on the back of his head, opaque hard-light vision adjusting visors shrouding his eyes before fading to clear. He was offered the chance to get corrective surgery and geneological scrubbing – get his brain wired to see depth of vision properly – but was dissuaded from doing so by almost every single warmcuddle he met. He smiled to himself as he slithered onto the moving walkway, tapping his wrist computer to check in with his parole officer that his shift was over. He hesitated for a moment, his finger hovering over additional commands; he was invited to yet another warmcuddle after-work party, and although he enjoyed his coworkers immensely, it just… didn’t feel right. He wasn’t ready.

He told his parole officer that he was headed right home, and turned off his computer. Straightening his back, he waited for the door at the end of the walkway to open up into the working part of the station, and braced himself for the wave of sights, sounds and smells that almost always overwhelmed him. It was a good type of sensory overload, and Bleppy never wanted to get used to it. The doors slid open, and –

“[Well hey there, stranger!]” Nathaniel Callaway said, standing arms akimbo behind the now-opened door, a gigantic grin plastered across his face. “[I see they got you in uniform now!]”

“<Warm-cuddle-New-hope!>” Bleppy yelled, gaining the attention of quite a few people as he darted forward, before remembering himself and recoiling back. The end effect was him flipping himself onto his back, landing on the cold metal floor with a hearty thud.

“[I didn’t know I had that effect on people.]” Nate laughed, walking forward to stand over his one-time guardian. “[You doin’ alright there?]”

Two well-worn hands darted forward and wrapped gently-but-firmly around Nate’s arms, slowly pulling him down to lay flat on Stk’shzsk’s chest in the most awkward horizontal totally-not-gay-bro-hug the station had seen in the past 3 weeks.

“<When did you get here? What’s going on? How long have you been waiting? Where have you been?!>” Bleppy said, the thousand questions rolling around his mind finding no filter as they poured out of his mouth. He was rewarded with laughter, and a few hearty pats on his cheek.

“[Hey there, hey there. Let’s go grab something to eat first, and then we’ll catch up, yea?]”

“[So.]” Nate said, smiling softly as they sat in one of the many food courts on Titan shipyard. Bleppy had coiled himself underneath like any proper gentleman, sitting with a straight back and goofy smile on his face, drink long forgotten in his hands.

Nate, for his part, was drinking 8oz of pure espresso.

“<So!?>” Bleppy replied, wiggling in place. “<How have you been? Do you want to come over again? What have you been up to? What->”

“[Hey, hey!]” Nate laughed, waving his hand for silence. “[One at a time. I’ve been fine – more than fine. Had a lot of debriefing to do, wrote a book, spent time at home, checked up on the crew. Everyone’s in good health, and my family would love to get to know you.]”

“<Really?>” Stk’shzsk squeaked out, and Nate nodded.

“[Yep! Your brother also sends his regards; He’s going to be staying in Andromeda doing something or other, but he’s in good health as well.]”

“<Oh. I had, uh, I guess->” Stk’shzsk mumbled, embarrassed. “<I kinda forgot->”

“[Don’t be! He’s going through the same shit you did – just as intense.]” Nate said, sipping his drink. “[Considering you’re both ex-felons, you don’t even really have the ability to talk to each other just yet. I just wanted to let you know I checked in on him, he’s doing fine.]”

“<Thank you, New-hope.>” Bleppy said, rewarded with a pshaw from his human friend.

“[It was nothing. I finally renegotiated my contract, so I wanted to swing by and see how you were doing before I went out again-]”

“<Wait.>” Stk’shzsk leaned forward. “<Went out again?>”

Nate sighed. “[Ah, yeah. I have to finish the terms of my contract-]”

“<S-so you’re leaving?! You’re leaving me? But->” Stk’shzsk looked around, swallowing hard as he searched for some answer in the faces of strangers that passed the two of them by. “<But you just got here. You can’t->”

Leaning forward, Nate gently booped Bleppy’s snoot. “[Buddy, I know. I spent weeks railing against the system, but… well. When you make the agreement with the UTF that you go to see the stars, they demand their pound of flesh. Eer.]” Nate muttered something under his breath, before starting over. “[Getting into the internship program is something that you have to earn. With it comes space adventures, new friends, tons of money, but also – and I know it’s odd coming from me, but – responsibility. When we, ah, “met” it disrupted my contract; the UTF demands I finish it out. I was able to get them to agree to this meeting, here, but…]” Nate tilted his head to the side, and Stk’shzsk followed his gaze – eventually locking eyes with Drongo, who was leaning against the adjacent wall. He gave a little wave, and Stk’shzsk nodded slightly. “[…I’m going to be out of system by the end of the day.]”

Stk’shzsk looked down at his drink, closing his eyes tightly as dark emotion washed over his heart. “<S-so I’ll never see you again?>”

“[What?! Th’fuck, no. You dork.]” Nate laughed, shaking his head. “[It’s like, two years, tops. Also, did you forget the galnet was a thing?]”

“<Oh.>”

Nate sighed, placing his cup on the table between them. “[I’m not going to be going anywhere, Bleppy. They’re making sure I only travel between high-security systems from now on – the boring routes only. We can trade letters when I’m near a node, and I’ll send you my family’s comm numbers so you can connect with them too for real-time communication. Besides, you’ve probably made dozens of friends these few months-]”

Stk’shzsk looked away, and Nate hummed. “[Bleppy, buddy. You have to make new friends-]”

“<But, but they’re not you->”

“[Sure, but they’re them.]” Nate said, grinning.  “[They’re just people, brother. You’ll do fine.]”

“<You sure?>” Stk’shzsk said, rotating the untouched cup in his hands nervously.

Nate nodded. “[Yes. I am sure, and you can trust me.]”

“<Well. I’ll do it for you, warm-cuddle-new-hope, but I won’t have any other best friends!>” Stk’shzsk replied with way too much determination, causing Nate to burst out with laughter. In the middle of his gigglefit his PDA pinged, and with a fading grin he read the notification.

“[Ah, beans. I really gotta go, we’re finishing prep on bay A-18-]”

“<Oh! That’s your ship?>” Bleppy said, perking up. “<I worked on that ship!>”

In a flash, Nate leapt up, gripping Stk’shzsk’s shirt tightly. “[The name! Bleppy, please, the name!]” Nate begged, looking over with mounting fear as Drongo sensed something was amiss, making his way towards the duo.

“<It’s… warm-cuddle-new-hope, really?>” Bleppy said, placing an awkward boop on the human’s forhead. “<You don’t know?>”

“[Pleasehurryplease-]” Nate rambled, and with a confused tilt of his head Stk’shzsk leaned forward and whispered the name into Nate’s ear. The effect was instantaneous; his brow furrowed, he frowned, and his grip went slack. He stared into the eyes of his friend, shaking his head slightly as he processed the new information.

“[That’s… such a stupid name.]” Nate said, as with a small apology Drongo pulled him away from Stk’shzsk’s lap and took him back to the stars.

Categories
Stories They are Smol

They are Smol – Badguys, Boxes and Boops, Epilogue Part 3: Lmao the smol fukkin died, AGAIN.

“Oh hey now what’s all this then there, bud?”

The secret is, of course, that Mike Callaway already knew exactly what was going on. As soon as the main doors opened up to Rec Room 12-B and he had a good look around, he pieced together the exact type of shenanigan that was unfolding before him. It wasn’t his first rodeo, and it certainly wasn’t his first time seeing the ol’ Tibetan Pinata. He made a simple show of crossing his arms with a soft smile plastered on his face, as he looked up at his son – who sheepishly waved back at him. It had been a few years since Mike had seen his son in the flesh; video and hard light simulacrum never did it justice, and Mike spent a little while in silence, just looking over his middle child.

He was eating, which is good… Beth always worried, but Mike knew his son had inherited his appetite – the small paunch he was developing a testament to that. There was still muscle underneath – Nate had to be strong to hold himself up on the rafters like that for so long, which means he didn’t fall into the trap a lot of interns did and stop their workout regimen. No wounds, scars, blood… nothing. He only half-believed the UTF reps when they swung by his door, and had kept his doubts about his son’s health under wraps for the entire duration of the trip… but now he breathed a sigh of relief. The little shit had him worried…

“Hi Dad.” Nate called out, rewarded with another “Oooooooooooo~” from the assembled peanut gallery. Mike looked down and nodded to himself, before looking up again.

“Uffda! I see you’ve worked on your high jump – that basketball scholarship is back on the table then?” Mike said, laughing as Nate shrugged. Mike turned his gaze down, tilting his head slightly to the side as he watched the Dorarizin compose himself.

“Ope! I didn’t mean to stop your fun there, bud. Name’s Mike.” Mike said, extending his hand but not walking forward. He kept looking up with a half-grin on his face, and as Drongo walked over and introduced himself the surrounding peanut gallery began to talk amongst themselves.

Perfect.

“So, Drongoeh, I see you’re trying to knock him down a peg or two?”

“[In a manner of speaking, yes.]” Drongo said, rolling his head from side to side. “[It’s good exercise, too.]”

Mike laughed. “Oh, well if you want to do that you don’t need to grab him, you just need to get him down!” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a well-worn phablet; with a simple thumb imprint he unlocked the device and opened up a peculiar app. “Now, have you ever seen his baby photos?”

DAD NO-” Nate yelled, scrambling across the rafters over his father. “PLEASE-

Drongo cooed as the first picture popped up, a picture of a just-born Nate blearily looking at the camera. “Oh yeah he was a bit of a pinhead when he came out – and that ain’t changed, it seems.” Mike looked up pointedly at his son, who was trying to swipe at his phone from a couple dozen feet in the air. In a few seconds, Mike’s vision was obscured as Drongo almost leaned on the man, almost pressing his nose to the glass of the device.

“[Awwwwww~]” Drongo sighed as the picture switched to a toddler Nate, the gif looping of him on all fours, lifting his head, wobbling, and then dropping it back on the floor with a thump. “[Ooooh…~]”

“Nnnnnnnn Daaaaaaaaaadddd~” Nate whined, as his baby photos were shared. Mike was kind enough to shoo away anyone else other than the Dorarizin, but did not pull the device away for a few more minutes.

Those minutes were spent staring at his son. Preparing.

Mike inhaled, slowly, before blowing it out in an explosive sigh. “Jeez, Nate, what’s the matter? You know your mother and I have been worried about you since you got all starry-eyed and decided to run off-”

“I didn’t run-off, Dad-”

“Son.” Mike said, in the tone that brooked no argument. Nate wisely shut up, and his father continued. “-you ran off, and Beth has always tried to keep you safe – though she couldn’t do it on the ice, and you remember how that trip to the emergency room spun her up in a tizzy! Over a broken wrist! And if you think that wasn’t bad enough – hearing from some suits who came in and told us that you could be missing, that you could be dead – remember your siblings? Keith demanded to be transfered to whatever group was lookin’ fer ya, and Michi almost stole a skipper! To look for you, son – and that’s not talkin’ about everyone else who was trying to keep your mother together. Not to mention Uncle Oscar’s ulcers sent him to the clinic once he learned what had happened!”

Nate slumped against one of the vertical supports, any semblance of joy of playfulness drained from his body and face.

“You remember what you told us, when we saw you off from that space needler, yeah? That you’d pick a safe career, that you’d stay in-system once it’s done, that you’d be home on the weekends eh there? And we were so proud that you were gonna start your own business and get a career going – how is this doing that then there? Ya puttin’ your friends in danger, breaking your promise to your family about puttin’ yourself in danger – but now what, bud? Anyone who ever hears they have a Calloway in their crew, what are they going to think? We’ve always been builders, always workin’ with our hands – what are people gonna think now, when the only Calloway that’s been this far out from home acts like such a townie?”

As Mike continued to publicly chastise his son – who was aging in real time before him, he was pleased to note – he took some time to glance around surreptitiously. The smiles on everyone’s faces were gone; instead, there were awkward grimaces, avoided gazes, pursed lips and furious attention paid to tablets and communicators that just a few moments ago were put on DND. A few of the peanut gallery attempted to leave through a side door – but again, this wasn’t Mike’s first rodeo – and his earlier odd request to this ship’s captain was fulfilled.

He stood in front of the only unlocked door to rec room 12-B. If anyone wanted to leave this thrashing early, they’d have to go through him.

“Awh Jeez son, what would you think gamgam would say, if she was still here – Lord rest her soul? Or auntie Bell? You know she wanted to go travel the stars but her heart wouldn’t let her, and I know she put that idea into your mind – I see her in you, son, and I don’t know what she’d say.”

A few of the xenos attempted to stealthily pry the doors open, but to no avail.

“Now I don’t know much – I got through my trade schoolin’, married your mother young, and been faithful to her and you and the whole family. I ain’t ever seen one of our neighbors outside of our skipper trips, but I know good folk when I see ‘em. Nate, you should count your blessings that you’re surrounded by such good people – and do try to remote into church more often, bud. The congregation misses you, and I know you’d be a great speaker to the youth group. Now go catch him, Drongo.”

“[Sorry wh-OH]” Drongo said, before darting forward as Nathaniel Callaway slumped over, his very will to live drained from his body. Dead fingers attached to a living body let go of his perch, and he fell the few dozen feet into his doctor’s waiting arms, activating Mike’s trap card.

“Speaking of, bud.” Mike said, scuffing his Newbalance tennis shoe against the floor as he lowered his gaze to Drongo, who now looked less like a menacing wolf-bear killbeast and more like a deer in headlights. “What about you? I thought you were supposed to be taking care of my son?”

Drongo crouched down in instinctual fear, memories of past dressing-downs from his own father starting to play in his mind.

“I thought the whole deal with this internship thing was that you were all trained? And don’t think we don’t know about pirates – I was told that my son would be in no danger – and yet you somehow managed to find the only ones in the entire galaxy?” Mike leaned forward, tilting his head slightly as he stared into Drongo’s eyes. “No? So if they’re not that rare then bud, this shouldn’t have been a big deal? Right? Were life rafts not a possiblity? Did you not have a way to call for help? And even then – why did you abandon my son? Are your lives worth so little that you’d throw them away so quickly? Why would there not be a plan of action if this very thing happened? Mmm?”

“[I-I didn’t, I-]”

“Isch!” Mike said, silencing any dissent. He looked around the room, and as he did dawning horror spread across the faces that his gaze touched; they knew. There was no escape, there was no more future, there was no more hope.

There was only Dad.

Perfect.

“And you all there, the ones runnin’ this ship.” Mike said, pointing in the direction opposite of where he stood. “You’re the ones with the long years here – of all of us, you all should know better. From what I was told when I was younger, you’re all beacons of hope and nobility in this chaotic universe – but what do I find, once I’m actually out and aboot? I see strangers who were alive when my grandparents were born, betting on my son’s shame! When I leave – when the humans here leave this room and this ship – what story will we tell our children, about our supposed friends among the stars? When the first man was stolen, and the galaxy rallied to save him, this is the story that will be told, defacing any honor you may have had in helping us. And you!”

Mike pointed to a random human, who suffered physical emotional damage, and curled in on herself.

“How could you let one of your kin get into this mess? I’m all for messing with the toeboots, but this? And…” Mike’s gaze wandered over to a Karnakian pressed against the wall, who looked both very confused but also very concerned – a residual guilt hung about him, even though he radiated a desire to help. Mike looked him up and down for a moment, before pointing a finger at the offending xenos.

“…you’re ok though, bud. Don’t know why, but you’re alright.” Mike said, as P“pacheep beamed at the sole compliment in the middle of the emotional genocide. Wiping his hands on his shirt, Mike walked over to the intercom panel for the ship – with the knowledge that no one had the energy to leave the room – and pressed a sequence of buttons (with the help of his own phablet) to hail the bridge.

Captain Fierce-gale answered the call, flicking his ears forward in professional eagerness. “[Well hello there, tin-]”

“You’re a puddle-jumper who can’t keep his junker clean or his crew loyal.” Mike stated, matter-of-factly. He turned away from the screen and pointed at the far wall, where both xenos and human crews dove for cover to get out of the camera angle. “Unless you want to tell me why your crew was betting on which one of them would rip my son off of the rafters of this gym, eh?”

Captain Fierce-gale said nothing with his mouth, but his eyes. His eyes spoke volumes. Without waiting for a formal response, Mike checked his phablet and keyed in a second set of commands, somehow conferencing in Admiral Hawkings, who answered the call with a professional smile. “Well hello there, Mike! How’d the family reu-”

“Uffda, I’da liked a reunion, but I came in on your crew betting on which onna the aliens was going to rip him off of the rafters!” Mike said, turning away again as the gap of people on the side opposite the wall camera grew, the crew pushing against each other to get out of the incensed brass’ vision. “Now I could expect that from the Senate, what with it being a different culture an’ all, but from us? Although my son may have died in space, after seein’ how the people who are supposed to protect us treated ‘em, it would have been better he did than to experience such shame!”

Mike did not know the tells of the alien species – he spent most of his time near the lakes, and he preferred it that way. However, he did know the tells of his fellow man, and he was internally pleased to see the Admiral’s jaw clench so hard his hat shifted on his head. Without skipping a beat he added in another caller – Admiral Hawkings turning his head slightly on camera – but not moving his eyes, not for one fucking second from the screen – as Captain Kirk (no relation) picked up the call.

“Uh, hey there- Mike? What’s-”

“Oh nothing much there bud, I just wanted to congratulate you! I really appreciate that nice, slightly greasy film that’s been on everything I’ve touched since was transferred to your ship, and I didn’t realize it was there until I got onto this ship and didn’t notice it! Yours feels very lived in, and I like that.”

Captain Kirk pursed his lips, any expression of kindness and camaraderie lost immediately. Mike made one last dial, and the unblinking Captian Fierce-gale turned his head slightly as Admiral Star-Eater of the Senate fleet, picked up the line.

“[Sir, I can assure you-]”

“Your homemade chili is weak, your tastebuds are dull from years of breathing recirculated air and eating government chow, and I don’t know how you can call this junk a boat, let alone a ship – I’ve checked multiple so-called rec rooms on my way here, and not a single one of them had a hardwood or charcoal briquette grill anywhere on the premises. I was under the assumption that, as an advanced species you would have all the amenities necessary for civilized life, but I was wrong.”

Admiral Star-Eater, for her part, kept her response muted, which rightfully terrified everyone else in the room.

“All I’m saying, boyos, is that… well. I’m … I’m so tired. I’ve been warpping myself around the axle, hoping my son – and everyone here – was going to be safe and sound, and I come in to see this?

Mike inhaled deeply, letting his breath out in an explosive sigh. It was time.

“I’m not mad… you’re all adults, you make your own decisions. I just wish they were better decisions.”

He looked around, slowly.

“I just wish I wasn’t so disappointed, is all.”

Mike stared at the two lumps of flesh that lay against the rec room floor. One was his son’s on-call doctor, a Dorarizin by the name of Drongo, who was curled up in the fetal position around the other lump of flesh, his son. Neither one of them were moving, both were staring into the middle-distance, and if Mike didn’t check it would’ve been difficult to tell if they were breathing or not. After his PTA conference call there was a flurry of activity – to put it mildly – and the peanut gallery was calmly, but firmly ushered out to parts unknown by what appeared to be almost every officer of every ship that was part of the task force to save his son.

Speaking of.

“Son? Come on now.” Mike said, nudging his boy with his foot. Slack-jawed, Nate’s head rolled against the larger xenos, staring in the direction of his father but not focusing on any one thing.

“Well jeez, I guess I hit too hard. What do you think, bud?” Mike said, turning towards the three Karnakians against the wall. P“pacheep began to bounce in place as he was being noticed again, and picked at his hands as he turned to his left and right for some form of support. Unfortunately, on either side of him were the half-molted living corpses of Tiki and Toko – who, although being trained against physical pain, had absolutely no defense and no preparation for the guilt that slammed them against the ground not fifteen minutes earlier.

P“pacheep looked at the human, and fluffed himself – and his confidence – up. “[What’s a charcoal briquette?]”

“Oh you poor child.” Mike sighed, shaking his head. “We gotta get you some Vernors and a good dog.”

P“pacheep bounced in agreement, stepping forward. “[I would like to help! Um, how can I-awk!]”

P“pacheep let out an awkward squawk as, quick as a flash, Toko’s hand reached up and gripped the boy’s ankle. “[No. No interaction, period.]”

“Oh, why not there then?” Mike asked, thumbs hooked into his jeans’ front pockets. “He seems like a nice FIP.”

“[He’s-]” Toko grunted, as he wobbled to his knees, and then upright once more. “[-not trained, at all.]”

“Ah.” Mike said, giving his son another nudge with his foot. “Come on, I got the winnebago out back.”

“[Sorry, the what?]” Tiki mumbled, lifting herself up from the ground with extreme effort.

“Oh yeah, so. I’m here to basically pick up the kids – Nate and you all and the entire crew – and take ya back to Sol. You don’t have a ship no more, but we can pank a replacement for ya local. In the meantime, if you want, you get to putz around and be a fudgie.”

“[…why did only half those words translate?]” Tiki asked, as with another grunt she wobbled to her feet.

“Oh I don’t know but-” Mike started, before the door behind him opened. He turned to look, expecting his escort – and it was, partially. His guards stood at the entrance to 12-B, but they were joined by an additional group of guards, some of which were human, who were corralling a Jornissian that … well.

Mike figured he was trying, and that’s all that mattered. The Jornissian was dressed in head to toe in an orange cotton garb, and – though he didn’t wear any shackles or cuffs, held his hands demurely in front of him. The two looked at each other, studying one another, before the Jornissian looked around, with confusion.

“[I um. H-hello?]” He mumbled, shrinking down just a bit. “[I uhm, I’m-]”

Mike pointed at the Jornissian.

“You’re good Nate.” Mike said, with such a certainty of fact that it brooked no argument. It did finally rouse his son from his stupor, and with half-confused protests Nate finally woke up.

“D-dad, what do you me- Oh, hey Bleppy-”

“Nope. Not Bleppy. That’s Good Nate.” Mike corrected, reaching down to pick up his son from the still-slightly-catatonic Drongo. Nate wiggled free, stumbling forward towards his friend.

“Hey there, buddy.” Nate said, smiling. Blepp- sorry, Good Nate rumbled softly and wiggled in place.

“[Oh! Oh you’re alive, wiggle-nap-]”

Yeah I am, buddy. You doing alright?” Nate asked, looking between the guard and his friend with concern.

“[Yes! I’m – I’m fine. Lifetime parole, but, they haven’t told me where – I’m glad to see you again, though.]” Good Nate said, bobbing his head in gratitude. “[I’m glad we get to see each other before I go-]”

Mike wetly coughed, scratching his chest. “Oh yeah you’ll be with the union – I’ll put in a good word for you, Good Nate. Didn’t have no chance to tell ya that yet, bud.”

“Wait what-”

“[I’m sorry, what?]” The two asked, turning towards Mike, who was smiling softly.

“Ah, yeah. Took a look at whatcha do at your old docks – we always need dockworkers, especially around Titan, sos that’s where you’ll be doing your parole.” Mike stated, matter-of-factly. “The paperwork’s already done, bud.”

“[I-in Sol. I’m, I’m spending m-my life, I-in Sol-]” Good Nate said, dumbfounded.

Mike smiled. “Eyup. And since you’re the good one, I figure we can getcha a single treat from Dairy Queen on the way home.”

“Dad, are you serious?!” Nate said, spinning on his heel to look at his father, who was grinning from ear to ear.

“Eyup! That one over there can get a treat too.” Mike said, pointing over his shoulder to P“pacheep with his thumb. “But only one.”

Dad.”