Cultural Exchange, Pt. 1

A bit of a teaser as we ease back into the swing of things....

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{GezzkarTek221}[01:25:15]: Hey, @MalteseShrike41, are you online?

<MalteseShrike>[01:27:03]: Yes. That’s why the little tag under my profile says “online” <dog>-brain.

{GezzkarTek221}[01:27:45]: Okay, fine, then I won’t tell you about the traveling human expo about to hit the staion. Also because you like to fall asleep with your terminal open.

<MalteseShrike>[01:28:04]: Wait, what!? They’re coming here!?

<MalteseShrike>[01:28:08]: Oh

<MalteseShrike>[01:28:11]: OH!

<MalteseShrike>[01:28:16]: WHEN

{GezzkarTek221}[01:30:55]: 3 days

{GezzkarTek221}[01:31:05]: 2 days. It got late quick.

{GezzkarTek221}[01:31:41]: It’s a [Cultural Exchange Expo] or something. I heard about it from Aurgrek.

<MalteseShrike>[01:34:20]: I’m totally getting my tickets now, but you heard about it from Aurgrek?

{GezzkarTek221}[01:35:29]: Ye

{GezzkarTek221}[01:35:34]: Yes

{GezzkarTek221}[01:35:37]: Why?

<MalteseShrike>[01:37:42]: I mean, I think they’re adorable, but he takes it too far. Did you see the body-pillow he had with the human-print on it?

{GezzkarTek221}[01:38:02]: Yeah. I could smell it too.

{GezzkarTek221}[01:38:31]: He wants to pet them on the inside.

<MalteseShrike>[01:38:44]: GEZ

<MalteseShrike>[01:38:58]: GEZ THAT’S GROSS

{GezzkarTek221}[01:39:15]: With his dick.

<MalteseShrike>[01:40:24]: jakdsvndakjdmndcvkajdv

{GezzkarTek221}[01:40:49]: To use a human phrase, [the lady doth protest too much, methinks.]

<MalteseShrike>[01:40:56]: SCNMZVLIAEMZCVLKJAVAKVNA

<MalteseShrike>[01:41:00]: HUMANS ARE FOR CUTE NOT LEWD

{GezzkarTek221}[01:41:20]: Of course. Whatever you say.

{GezzkarTek221}[01:41:42]: You fluster way too easy. Still, I’m sure there are some open minded humans out there. And if anyone was going to find them it’s Aurgrek.

<MalteseShrike>[01:42:09]: HUMANS ARE FOR CUTE NOT LEWD, I AM GOING TO BED

{GezzkarTek221}[01:42:42]: If you spent half as much time looking for a boyfriend as you do browsing “artistic_rendering+human+male+swimwear” net searches you could probably find one.

<MalteseShrike>[01:42:57]: HOW DO YOU HAVE MY SEARCH HISTORY

{GezzkarTek221}[01:43:21]: I just guessed. Goodnight Malt. Have sweet, small, human filled dreams . . .

<MalteseShrike>[01:43:46]: why are you like this?

USER {GezzkarTek221} DISCONNECTED AT [01:43:58]

USER <MalteseShrike> DISCONNECTED AT [01:44:36]

::END NET CHAT-TEXT::

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The day had arrived in much shorter order than Sishra'simarsas had expected. Even with the ridicule she had suffered at the hands of Gezzkar of Rawutek, her desire to see those adorable, tiny, smiling faces outweighed her supreme feelings of awkwardness going alone to the Expo.

Those feelings had, however, not even remotely abated once she entered into the large conference center that was currently playing host to a traveling rabble of diminutive aliens. She had dressed casually, prioritizing far more her ability to take pictures of humans doing their little human tasks than style or absolute comfort. While it had seemed a reasonable conclusion at the time, she hadn’t taken into account that more than just unemployed artists with a smol passion were in attendance. It was a cultural exchange expo, and it was bringing in a lot more of the intellectual, well-to-do, and cultural elite of the station. She also hadn’t considered that it wasn’t a Jornissian only event. The end result was that not only was she deeply intimidated by the volume of well dressed high society types attending the event, she was also absolutely freezing. While she wouldn’t argue that a convention center of overheating and overdressed Dorarizin would smell worse than a gym bag of dirty laundry left in locker room located in an equatorial swamp, the unexpected chill made her want to curl up under a heat lamp and go to sleep. 

The resulting combination of anxiety and fatigue drove her past many of the more interesting displays of human artifice. She could hear the absolutely beautiful sounds emanating from what must have been a cohort of humans playing at a piano, and she could smell the mouth-watering delights of some exotic human delicacies, but she really never got close enough to them to get a good look at the adorable smols responsible. 

Somewhat disheartened, she spotted a far less crowded cluster of booths near the far end of the conference center and decided to wait out some of the initial surge. Maybe she’d even be able to snap some pictures of the humans taking naps . . .

As she made her way closer, the intriguing smells changed somewhat, and intensified. She found herself flicking her tongue out a bit more frequently than usual, catching hints of hot grease and salt in the air. Fast food! The promise of which was enough to the spring back in her slither as she made her way up to one of the more prominently situated booths. Painted in red and white stripes, a single brown haired human with tan skin beamed up at her as she approached.
 

“[Hello, and welcome to Queen Wendy McDonald’s White Castle of Fried Chicken! Or, as we employee’s like to say, mom’s!]” It kept revealing it’s cute little blunted fangs at her, pushing it’s tiny chest out to stand up just a little bit taller . . . she just wanted to wrap her tail around it and just swaddle it in comforting warmth. That’s all. Just that.

“[So can I take your order then?]” He leaned forward slightly, glancing between Sishra'simarsas and the menu featured prominently on the wall behind him. “[It might be fast food, but we do it in the old Earth style. Deep fat fryers, with real vegetable oil. It doesn’t get more real than this.]” The menu he gestured to was simplistic. There were a few staples that she admittedly enjoyed a lot more often than would be entirely advisable . . . 

After a moment’s consideration, “[I’ll have 4 of the [Big-Whoppers], a bucket of [Kentucky Style], 2 large orders of [Liberty Fries], and 6 [Frost-Eeeeez], Chocolate please. And 3 of the number 6 [Wombo-Combo] meals.]”

 

She paused to think for a moment. “[With an extra [Diet Cola.]]”

 

An impassive, purposefully neutral look fixed itself upon the face of the smol taking her order, as if something far away had caught his temporary attention. “[Will that be all, miss?]”

She nodded in the affirmative. She new that humans liked to nod in place of saying yes to things. Her twin hearts raced a little at the thought. She was communicating with an actual smol! Using smol body language!
 

“[Alright then . . It’s going to take me a bit to make that though. Do you want it all at once or as I finish it?]” He went back to smiling warmly at him as he punched up her order.
 

“[Whatever is easier . . . what’s the total?]” She reached into her taupe colored knapsack, rummaging around for her stash of credit chips.

He chuckled lightly, a sound that made her already pounding hearts kick into overdrive, and her stomach drop. “[No need. It’s part of the entrance cost. I’ll have the first of it out in a few minutes. Have a seat in the pavilion over there while you wait. Thank you for your business!]” He gestured indistinctly to a table with an umbrella mounted in the center before turning and heading back to the array of frying equipment situated at the back of the stand.

 

“[Y-you t-too,]” Sishra'simarsas mumbled indistinctly before, green color racing into her hood and cheeks as she tried not to die from awkwardness. It was just buying food. It was just buying food, an act that she had done thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of times before. From a human. A human that was adorably cute and she just wanted to snuggle with the intensity of a thousand suns, but that didn’t change the fact she had managed to bungle almost every element of the interaction.

Slinking over to the table he had pointed out, she did her best to appear unobtrusive and unnoticeable to anyone that might have overheard that disaster of a social interaction. She leg out a quiet huff. These things were easier over text. She busied herself with examining the floor for every faint claws scuff or mote of dust, trying to force down the burning embarrassment that seared her soul like it was wrapped in the talons of an angry god.
 

“[Here’s the first part of your order.]” A tray slid into her view slowly, and the human spoke quite gently to her. “[I’m Elias, by the way.]” Before she could lift her head to look at him, he’d turned on his heel to walk away, but there was a specific and intense gentleness to his demeanor. Though she was close to twice his height, and several times his weight, he moved like any sudden motion might startle her. 

Sishra'simarsas tentatively unwrapped the small synthetic protein and carbohydrate sandwich, and took a small bite, glancing up at the back of the human as he retreated to the inside of his stall to continue working. That small bite was still about three quarters of the burger, and by the time the human returned with another tray of food and drink, she had all but polished off the first. “[So I take it you’re a fan of human convenience cuisine?]”
 

The human smiled at her again, one corner of his mouth slightly higher than the other as he gave her a rather impish look. “[And I don’t mean that as a jab. You avoided the sliders. People seem to like the idea of eating tiny human food. The tinier the better, so they go quick, but they’re objectively the worst item on the menu. And you didn’t order any.]” The human paused, leaning against the table for a moment, seemingly eager to make conversation. With her. The absolute socialization-klutz.

Sishra'simarsas had to swallow hard, before fixing her eyes on Elias. “[Y-yeah. I eat a lot of human fast food. It’s good. I mean, this is good.]” She tried not to stumble over her words, and hoped his translator smoothed things out for him. He smiled a bit wider while crossing his arms. “[Well, I have to say, I appreciate your patronage. We have a daily quota, and you just put me over mine. Have to conserve things for the next two days of the exchange expo.]”

The pit in her stomach turned into a boulder at his words. She had always been a tad . . . softer, than some of her peers, and she definitely could put it away a bit extra at meal time, but she had literally just eaten this human out of stock for the day. It was barely even halfway through convention hours too.

“[Oh. Sorry.]” Was all she could muster. The human though, seemingly undaunted, waved her apology off. “[No no, it’s fine, really. Besides, that means I can close up and wander around.]” A faint beeping started to emit from his watch, and his brow furrowed as he glanced at it. “[One second, last batch of stuff is coming up.]” She watched him go in stunned silence again.

She didn’t dare hope that he was implying what she thought he was. That maybe . . . maybe he wanted to go wander around with her? She didn’t have long to ponder it though, as he was back with the third tray before she could wrap her mind around the possibility. Dropping the tray of fries and shakes with a light clatter, he slid into the oversized (relative to him, at least) seat across from her and leaned forward. “[So . . . maybe I could show you around the place. If you want, that is.]”

Her hood flared slightly, and more blood rushed to her face than when she had bungled her order. “[I do! I mean, yes!]” She snapped up in her seat, body rigid and tail twitching slightly as began to do more than just ponder and hope. “[Sorry . . . I mean I would very much enjoy you showing me around.]” 

His grin widened at her response, and he drummed the tabletop a few times before nodding enthusiastically. “[Great! Let me get changed out of this uniform, close up the stand, and I’ll be back to give you the grand tour! I can even get you a sneak peak into some of the human only areas . . . promise you won’t tell anyone though?]” 

She nodded vigorously, so vigorously it made her slightly dizzy. “[Of course. Nobody will know.]” 

He laughed lightly as he slipped away into the stand, and began the little minutia of shutting down fryers and closing up the stall. All told, it took him less than 5 minutes to take the place from open to closed, but that was still about 3 more minutes than it took Sishra'simarsas to finish her food.

Elias returned, a changed human in her eyes. Gone was the cutesy, bright colored uniform, and in its stead was a fairly plain if body hugging set of casual clothes. She could feel the heat radiating from his skin, and the way he casually slouched up to her only to bump into her side lazily made her hearts flutter a few inches higher in her chest.

“[Hey. Ready to get going?]” Was all that he offered. Well, that and a coy smile.

“[S-sure,]” she stammered so badly that the translator stuttered as well.

True to his word, Elias showed her around the convention. He talked about the occasionally dramatic and sometimes lighthearted stories behind the many paintings on display. He half whispered to her secrets and odd flights of fancy that accompanied the impressive musical works. He pointed out where the humans would tuck away for a snack, chat, or quick break between demonstrations. It slowly dawned on Sishra'simarsas that she was on the receiving end of a tour more in depth and honest than any of the V.I.P. guests with badges and passes and escorts. She was walking with a human, talking about human things, in that adorably casual human way. It eased the springs of her tightly wound hearts, and before she even really realized it was happening, he was walking hand in hand with her. The faint warmth had come on so slowly, and she had been so enraptured by the cutest little creatures doing such incredible things, she barely noticed his fingers entwined with hers.

The hours passed by with surprising speed, and as the convention wound down Sishra'simarsas found herself suddenly and acutely aware that there was a small human holding her hand. Holding her hand and staring up at her with an unexpectedly intense gaze.

 

“[Umm . . . Elias?]”

The human just grinned, stepping a little closer. “[Yes?]”

“[The convention is ending . . . you can let go of my hand.]”

 

He just chuckled more. “[I’m aware.]”

She hesitated. She had to go, but she didn’t want to.

The human leaned forward, his head gently bumping into her size, making her back stiffen and her tail start flicking about madly. “[There is another option though. If that’s the sort of thing you’re into.]”

His words were muffled by her hoodie, but the translator brought them through loud and clear.

“[W-what sort of option would that be?]”

The human, grinning impishly once more, looked up at her. His green eyes seemed to glimmer with intensity. “[There is another as of yet human only space I could give you a tour of.]”

Her mind went blank, except for that search history of humans in swimsuits.

A long silence hung between them, and Elias’s expression turned from impish to slightly tentative. “[I mean my room. Upstairs.]” He pointed meekly with the hand that wasn’t entangled with her. “[I mean, I get if that’s not your speed, and I hope it doesn’t give you the wrong idea about humans, I just mean that you seemed kinda-]”
 

“[Y-yes please. I’d like that.]” Her voice was small, and though she couldn’t look at him, he was grinning ear from ear.