---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Michael lurched out of the armour cradle as it slowly opened, a hiss of air escaping the clean edges as Soto stepped out of his own, waving Michael off and deciding immediately to head towards the nearest lift. "I'll see you on the bridge, Captain." Soto stated with a wave, entering the lift and leaving the hangar. "You look tired, Partner. When was the last point you took time to yourself?" "Umm... Back on Earth, I guess? I don't really have time to relax right now, seeing as we're in the middle of a warzone." Michael replied, throwing a shirt over his nanomesh. "Take the night to yourself. I will watch the ship for the evening." "Nope. Not happening, pal." Michael returned, shaking his head. "I don't have time for a break; I remind you. We are in the middle of an active warzone." "I remind you. A good soldier knows when to rest. You will be taking the night off. Your nanites are active and preventing you from feeling your fatigue, and regardless of your contribution, you will be unable to expedite the process of our departure. Rest." Shocked to hear the observation, Michael stopped and checked his nanite status. "Well, damn." He replied, surprised to see them quite active throughout his body. "Alright, you win. I'll take the night off. Maybe a movie date is in order... It feels kind of wrong, though." He breathed out, taking a step towards the exit. "I will speak with you tomorrow, partner. Rest well." "Good night Jack." Michael replied, hitting the lift key." ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Srettia stepped off the lift with a bored sigh, her shift being nearly as dull as the last, seeing as the ship had been stuck at the bottom of a lake for the past few days. As she happily made her way silently down the hall, she finally approached her shared quarters and pressed the panel. THEN SUDDENLY A DRAGONS HEAD APPEARS OUT OF THE HAZE!! And quickly closed the door, pausing to look around the hall in embarrassment as she opened a com to Michael. "What.... What are you doing in there?" She asked, standing nervously outside their quarters. "Cooking a custom spiced dinner." Michael replied, continuing to chop the olives. "But.. What are you doing?" She asked again, still standing outside their quarters. Michael cocked his head as he looked down at the olives, unsure of what Srettia was asking. "Ohh right, the music..." He said, turning the it off with his implant. "Alright, it's safe now." Srettia hesitantly hit the panel, sighing in relief as the cacophony of sound seemed to have vanished as she walked into the room. "What was that nonsense?" She asked, scenting the air and immediately deciding to forgive Michael. "That was not nonsense. It was music, my dear. Music of the highest quality." He replied proudly, sweeping the freshly cut olives into a dish. "I can do with it not being that loud... What are you making?" She asked, walking up behind Michael and wrapping her arms around his waist as she peeked over his shoulder. Michael placed the knife off to the side as he grabbed a tomato and placed it in front of him. "Herb-roasted chicken with a greek salad, pita and garlic hummus. Though this is my first time playing with herbs from Divis, so I'm not quite sure how the chicken will turn out." Scenting the air in excitement, Srettia swiftly scrunched her nose and turned to look at the olives..... "I don't think I'll like those." Michael eyed the olives and picked up the bowl, moving them towards the centre of his cutting board. "You mean these?" He asked, holding onto the olives with confusion. "Yes. I don't like those. Whatever they are." Srettia replied, tasting the air again just to be sure. "Yes. They do not sit well with my palate." "Oh." Michael replied, dumping the entire bowl onto the unfinished salad. "Too bad. You're just going to have to learn how to eat food you don't like." Srettia watched as Michael mixed the olives into the cucumbers and cheese; her shock at watching the delicious clumps of crumbly white cheese touch what amounted to be a toxin quite shocking to her. "What.. But... My cheese!" She complained, curling her fingers inwards and poking Michael with her claws. Michael jerked lightly from the pointed claws but continued to stir the salad, making sure to thoroughly mix in the hated fruit. "They're good for you. You can't only be eating meats and cheese." "But they'll make my cheese taste bad." Srettia weakly complained, placing her chin on Michael's shoulder as he picked up a tomato. "I like the tomato. Can you just take out the olives and put the tomato in?" "The tomato is going in anyway." "Nooooo!! What is this dastardly salad" Srettia laughed out, releasing her hold as Michael picked up the knife. "I'm going to go get cleaned and change. Call me when dinner is about to be completed, please." "Alright, then." Michael replied, picking up a new cucumber as Srettia left the room. "Bleehhh, that thing stings my tongue." Srettia mumbled, throwing her shirt off towards the recycler and sitting on her stool to pick up a brush. "But I suppose he has a point... With all this new food, I must learn to eat the things I hate if it will benefit my health." She mumbled, applying warm oil to her brush and beginning to work on her scales. Thankfully, not having to wait very long. Srettia scented the air as she nearly finished her cleaning. The scent of this herb chicken overpowering any other smells as she got up in excitement, making her way to the kitchen as Michael sweetly called her name. "It smells wonderful." She said, walking into the kitchen and over to her regular chair opposite of her mate. Michael was finishing plating the dinner as Srettia walked in, pausing to enjoy the sight as she walked over to her chair before beginning to plate his own meal. "I think you're missing something." He politely suggested. Srettia looked around the room, inspecting the area for whatever it was Michael was referring to before turning back to watch him bring the dinner over as an excellent mate would. "I don't know what you're talking about." "Oh. Alright then. Guess I'll just enjoy the show while I eat my dinner if you're fine like that." Michael replied, sitting down in his chair and ignoring her confused look. "Fine, you're missing your top." Srettia looked down at her chest, her tail twitching in embarrassment as she looked back up to the smug Michael. " Well, enjoy the view while you can then. I will be enjoying this meal before I go change for our movie." She saucily replied, scenting the air and enjoying the taste of the chicken, though surprised to see her salad was missing its olives. "Perhaps I will forgo the shirt tonight." She continued, tasting this new salad and letting a hum of satisfaction slip though as the cucumber and cheese went rather well together. "I thought you said I must get used to food I don't like." "I did. That doesn't mean I'll force you to eat what you hate." Michael replied, cutting off a piece of his chicken. "Softy." She laughed out, sampling the chicken with a grin and nearly drooling from the taste. "This is absolutely splendid... Though now I'm confused, and I have to ask you this because it has been bothering me since I spoke with your mother. Where did you learn to cook? You obviously didn't learn from her as she told me she couldn't." "Ahh, I did learn from her, though. See, if I ever didn't want to use the fabricator, I was forced to make my own food. That is if I didn't want burnt potatoes or dry beef." Michael replied with a laugh, remembering how his mother always tried to make him eat grown, not fabricated food. "Ohh.. That makes sense." Srettia replied as she finished off her plate with a sigh of content. "Looks like I definitely won big on the mate lotto." Michael snickered as he got up, taking Srettia's empty plate and bringing it over to the recycler. "Ahh, so food is all I'm good for now?" Srettia nodded in confirmation, lazily getting up from her chair and walking over to the couch. "Among other things." She said, draping herself over the couch and waving Michael over with her tail. "Got it. Food and movies. That's respectable, I guess." He replied, walking over to the couch and tossing Srettia over to the opposite side so he could sit. Srettia righted herself with a laugh and pointed a claw at Michael. "You!! Well, perhaps more than two things." She replied, crawling up to Michael and pushing him down. "Mobile heating unit works too." Michael shifted to lay across the couch, pulling Srettia up to lay on his chest. "Any idea what you wanna watch tonight?" He asked, softly rubbing her back. Srettia yawned and continued to enjoy her heating unit, forgoing even a weak attempt at keeping her eyes open "Anything is fine. I will most likely fall asleep soon anyway." "Alright, then. Have a nice nap." Michael replied, powering the display. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Vattitha stooped over, her hands on her knees as she gasped for air, attempting to cool herself. "This is. Is this legal?" She asked, panting heavily as Ankiah stood a few paces away. "You need to get used to it. Terrans can run forever as far as I can tell, and if you're going to be a combat medic, we need to work on your stamina." Ankiah replied, also feeling the fatigue build-up. "I'm still no match for an average Terran if it gives you any idea what a Terran soldier is like." "How... How is that possible?" Vattitha asked, still panting. "I think. I need to study their biology... It's too unfair." "You mean like how we can slice them open with our hardened fur?" Ankiah replied. "We may not be as hardy or even close to having the same endurance as a Terran, but we have our own advantages, doc." "I suppose." Vattitha replied, standing up and stretching. "Ready?" "Sure. We still have four kilometres to go, so let's get on it." Ankiah replied, walking back onto the track. "FOUR!!! Are you trying to kill me?" Vattitha asked in shock, moving onto the track with Ankiah. "These Terrans are unfair." ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tanda keyed in the lock code and waited for the door to open, excitedly stepping into the lab as the chime rang to inform him it was safe. As he took his first step in, he looked across the room, taking in the sight of his blue mate surrounded by hard light implements and floating screens. Taking a seat. Tanda waited patiently while Viscia finished her current task, finding it quite impressive how involved she could get when a new discovery was to be made. Though, he had to admit, even having to wait nearly two hours, it was quite enjoyable to watch her work. Stepping out of decontamination, Viscia looked over to Tanda and gave him an apologetic look. "I'm sorry for being late, Tanda. I know you wanted to spend time with me tonight." "Don't be. It looks like you made some good progress." Tanda replied, pulling Viscia into a comforting hug. "I did! I think the trees are a type of parasite." She excitedly replied, laughing at the odd sound tanda made as she returned his hug. "A parasite? How so?" Tanda asked, confused at her discovery. "Ahh, It's definitely a tree. But the mineral can be ingested or absorbed in its early stages, forming a symbiosis with its new host before it hardens into the super metal. I think this entire planet is a deadly forest due to the hosts spreading the minerals through their excretions all around the planet. Umm... I'm not quite sure how the tree's sprout from the combination of mineral and fecal matter, though." Viscia replied, her findings still stuck in her head. "Uhh.... So say Earth had a Voktlix on it... And it.. You know." Tanda asked, his face going deadly serious. "I don't know. Maybe a tree would sprout eventually if the conditions were right." Viscia replied, shaking her head to get the thoughts out. "Enough of this for now, let's go eat and have fun!!" Tanda shrugged, figuring there was nothing he could accomplish being so far away from the Earth and decided to join Viscia for her meal. Though honestly. He was looking forward to the fun part. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yirphayen finished its current song, finding that both Terrans and Aasterans immensely enjoyed listening to it sing during their meals. The cheering for another song resounding through the mess hall as it fought to keep its form from all the excitement. Yirphayen sang out in sadness at its predicament, however, not wishing to upset its new friends. "I am happy you enjoy my sounds and singing. Unfortunately, I have run out of tunes from the playlist I have learnt for this occasion." "Then sing us something from your people" One female replied, her face showing what Yirphayen now knew as happiness. "Yeah! It doesn't have to be a Terran song." A male added. Yirphayen sang out in confusion as the other carbon forms echoed the two speaker's sentiments, finding it in a rather odd predicament. "My people do not have music such as yours. In fact, we do not have music." "What! How the hell is that possible? Just you talking is one of the most beautiful things I've ever heard. This travesty must be corrected!!" A male stated, smashing his hand on the table. "How would we fix this situation?" Yirphayen asked, chiming in acceptance to the Terran carbon forms statement. "Uhh.. I don't know. I'm not a music guy. How about you just sing however you want, and we can help you out. Maybe make it a nightly thing?" The male said, eliciting cheers from the crowd. Yirphayen let out a song of understanding, thinking to itself for quite a while on what Terran music sounded like and how it's own sounds were made when speaking before coming up with what it thought might be a satisfactory song. "I will try. Inform me of what you think of this melody." It said, beginning a song and enjoying the cheering of the large gathering. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------