This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.
The original was posted on /r/hfy by /u/icallshogun on 2024-12-24 12:25:30+00:00.
Showoff
“I do not think he is as weird as you say. He comports himself well, everyone says he is kind and friendly. Yes, his accent is strange. But it is clear, and he speaks more Tsla than I expected. I have heard he mixes a good drink, too. If any Human is a paved path, he is.”
Alex didn’t recognize the voice that came from the washroom that led into the baths. It was young, probably female, and he probably hadn’t met her at the lounge he and Carbon had been running as a bar for the last three days. Didn’t recognize that turn of phrase either, but it sounded positive.
It was still early in the day. Carbon was off being a menace in engineering, and he was relaxing in the pool with just a bottle of water to keep him company. The ‘pool’ that the ship had was actually a simulated hot spring. The absurd luxury of the common areas didn’t extend past the showers - aside from the fact it was a hot spring on a spaceship. This area replicated a rustic wooden building over natural hot springs that reminded Alex of a Onsen. All of the walls were digital, and so he currently overlooked a heavily forested valley in a state of perpetual sunrise, which did fuck with his sense of time. He had found that sitting on a rock, chin deep in hot mineral water was an easy way to lose track of it anyway.
“You were not there. You did not see him in my galley.” Another young voice, just a hair higher pitch than the other one. Possibly male. The chef, apparently.
“Chef’s galley.” The first voice said, authoritative and a few steps closer this time.
The guy who wasn’t the chef exhaled hard, annoyed. “Very well. He was in Chef’s galley. Standing at my prep station with a notebook and every spice we have on hand neatly laid out. And he was just eating them, one by one, and making notes about them.”
Alex had been doing that yesterday. Staying up late had become normal almost the first night onboard, as most of the crew were on first shift during the ‘day’ and the forward lounge had been cobbled together into something a little more lounge-like after reducing the gambling house and sex den vibes, mostly by stealing furniture from other parts of the ship. Kaleta had grumbled about it, but had not attempted to pull rank with Sharadi’s sigil. She was also spending a lot of time there chatting with Carbon so it couldn’t have bothered her too much.
He had a key to the ship, so letting himself in to the galley wasn’t an issue after it had closed, but apparently the actual galley staff had access too even if he hadn’t heard the guy.
“That... That is a little weird.” She relented, splashing quietly as she stepped into hot water. “But all of it must be new to him. Perhaps he is a cook as well?”
Alex was a cook, to an extent, but only of Human food. He didn’t know how all their base ingredients went together, and spices were the first place he figured to start as they were important to making things taste good. He understood a lot of Human spices. Garlic was a known quantity. He knew what it tasted like, how to use it, and that most recipes that called for it didn’t add enough.
Tsla’o spices were still sort of unknown to him. Alex had talked about them with a few people, and tasted a bunch by now, he was sure. Weeks of eating nothing but Tsla’o food meant that was guaranteed. Then there was stuff like the tin of Tolau Kamokoste he found in the galley’s spice cabinet - a powdered tree resin that tasted like pine, lime, and cilantro. He would have remembered eating that. Would those flavors stick around when fried, or boiled in a broth? Could he make something sufficiently similar to Mexican with it? Who knows.
Ok, the guy about to get into the baths did. Maybe his friend, too. Alex might ask later, but the opportunity to surreptitiously listen to people talk about him was too enticing to just pop up, introduce himself, and start grilling them about Tsla’o cooking.
Alex had parked himself at the far end of the pool - there was a large, fairly deep channel that ran nearly the length of the room, with a bunch of alcoves that provided a semi-private seating area. They varied in size, letting you pick the number of friends you wanted in your immediate vicinity. He had taken a medium size one, because he expected Carbon to join him once she was done terrorizing the chief engineer.
“He is a pilot. I do not know that I have ever met one who was also good at cooking.” The second voice hissed as he stepped into the water, followed by a soft curse.
“It is the same temperature as last time.” The woman chided him with a barely suppressed laugh.
“I have told you, my pads are sensitive to heat. It takes me time to adjust.” Somebody didn’t like getting teased about not tolerating the hot water. “Speaking of that: Computer, adjust scenery. Winter snow, night.”
The overhead lights dimmed, the baths lit by lanterns that had sat unused during the sunrise simulation. The digital walls adjusted from perpetual morning to light winter snowfall at night. Same valley, covered in a thick layer of snow now, but a distant town was more readily visible now that it was lit up.
It was pretty cozy, actually.
“Ah, Keta. You are a romantic.”
“Yes, well... I know you like the mountains. It should be snowing now.” He grumbled, the water moving quietly before he sucked in a sharp breath. “Are you sure it is the same temperature?”
“It is always this temperature. I do not think it has ever been another temperature except when we shut it off for maintenance.” She was still amused by his sensitivity to heat.
“Fine, fine.” Keta groaned, annoyed. “Do you think it is possible to turn this down, perhaps ten degrees?”
The reply came with a hint of playful disdain. “You could relax in a tepid bath?”
“This makes my skin prickle, so yes, I could.”
“Even if I did turn it down, it would take hours to cool. These are real stones, and they hold heat forever.” Her statement was punctuated with the quiet smack of a kiss. “You are always so much more relaxed once you soak for a while, or I would not keep suggesting it when the baths are available.”
“Is it so?” He wasn’t annoyed anymore, just a little confused.
“Aye. You have not noticed?” Likewise, she was confused.
“No.” Keta did a good job sounding completely flummoxed in just one word. “I thought you just liked coming up here.”
“I do! I like seeing you at ease just as much.” There was genuine fondness in her voice as it quieted, slipping into an alcove of her own. “You stand a little straighter, your shoulders are not so tight. You return affection much more readily. It is a good look on you.”
Keta made an affirmative grunt, the conversation between them settling into a lull for some time. He sighed, and when he did speak again it was laden with regret. “I wish I had met you when there were still mountains to go to.”
“They are still there. The ash cannot fall forever, and when it stops we can reclaim what is ours... They found other planets we might someday enjoy, too. Tatena follows all that, and he was saying that the Humans have actually terraformed several planets to the point where they can support life on the surface. The planet we’re due to stop at is one of them.” She sounded surprisingly hopeful for someone discussing their home planet’s destruction. “If it came down to it, we seem to be on better terms with the Humans than ever, I am sure they must have a mountain we could borrow for a day or two.”
The planet they were due to stop at? This was news to Alex. While he was pretty sure that frontier planets didn’t have public networks the same way that core planets did, he would have to make some calls about that, and a meeting that had gone on way too long may have mentioned IP ranges. He didn’t have the ARGUS properly loaded with fake data, and they did not have the facilities onboard to make that happen, so he would have to be careful approaching this.
That got a chuckle out of Keta. “Perhaps the Prince would lend us one his family owns? He seems agreeable enough.”
“Did you not hear? He is a commoner like us.” There was a hint of surprise in her voice.
A pause. “Is he? That does explain... Most everything, I think. Except how he was chosen for such a prestigious assignment. Surely they would have sent a Royal, or at least someone from a noble house.”
Alex almost laughed at that. Oh, buddy. There was such a story there. Not a lot of royalty to choose from in the Confederation as well, though some of the member states were aristocracies.
“I do not think they have royalty. He is supposed to be an exceptional pilot anyway. They probably just chose on merit.” Someone had been paying attention to the... However the Tsla’o learned about the Confederation. Alex was unfamiliar with their educational system and how news was disseminated. Another thing on the stack of stuff to learn about.
“Really? How curious.” He had a tone to his voice that said he didn’t understand how it would work.
“He might know how we could get access, at least. Perhaps there is a program that allows visitors? I wonder what their buildings look like in places like this.”
Alex actually knew the answer to that, on Earth at least. Different planets had different requirements, but on Earth you usually had to apply for visitor permits for the more wild areas. There were still plenty...
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