Shoving that thought away where it couldn’t hurt her, she took the time to relieve herself again. The yellow AI person showed her how to use the shower last night, but she had been on the verge of collapse by then thanks to the adrenaline crash, so she couldn’t remember it now. Rather than try to work it out, she instead did some of the homework necessary to maintain the language imprint. Alred had shown her a screen in their room where she could access the learning modules.
Really, it just involved her reading a short story out loud. It worked to cement both her understanding of the words, the written language, and her ability to speak it. She muttered everything under her breath and, by the time she was done, she was fully awake and restless.
“Goldie,” she turned to her sister, shaking her gently.
“Hm?” Goldie cracked her eyes, a flash of blue making Garnet smile.
“I’m going to go explore.”
“’kay…” She yawned, turning over to go back to sleep.
Garnet smiled at her before grabbing her boots. She quickly zipped them back up before pushing the button Alred showed her that made the door slide open. She stepped out, looking around excitedly, trying to decide where to go.
She was on a spaceship. And that was a much more enthusiastic thought than it had been just yesterday. No way she was letting this chance go without poking around a bit.
Turning right – basically flipping a coin in her head – she began strolling down the hall. Looking around curiously. The doors all remained unopened as she passed them. She touched experimentally at their control panels, but they flashed a sign saying locked, so she gave it up and continued on.
As she got to a corner in the hall, she looked to the right and jumped because there was someone standing there.
It was that three eyed domini from yesterday. The one with the ponytail and the large belt weighed down with weapons. He looked just as surprised to see her before smiling, fangs glinting in the bright light overhead.
“Well, I’ll be,” he chuckled, standing straight. “You’re up. Tanin’s been getting real antsy. Thought humans only slept four marks a night.”
“How long was I asleep?” She asked, cocking her head. Not sure how long a mark was but getting the general gist.
“About nine marks,” he chuckled. “Feel better?”
“Hungry, actually.”
“Figured. Come on. I’ll take you to the galley. Oh.” He turned back before taking more than a step. “Name’s Trove, pretty thing. Nice to meet you.”
“Garnet,” she smiled. “Sorry for freaking out on you yesterday.”
He laughed, waving her to walk with him. “Don’t apologize to me. Apologize to Rok. He’s been going mad. Thinking he scared you and now you hate him or something.”
“Rok is…?”
“The big one.” He held his hand up, indicating to a height over his head. “Black and teal scales. Roars like a beast. Four arms.”
“Oh. Him.” Garnet grimaced. “Er, no. I mean, yes, he did scare us. But we don’t hate him. We were kind of freaking out there.”
“Understandable,” Trove hummed along, sticking his thumbs in his pockets. “But I will say, your pretty faces are certainly a welcome sight. Best surprise I’ve had in a while.”
Garnet chuckled along with him. “Where is Tanin at, by the way? I want to talk to him.”
“Cap is usually on the upper bridge. Likes to keep watch from up there. I’ll take you to him after I get some food in you. Little thing like you needs some meat on her bones.”
Garnet really wasn’t that short by human standards, though she was much shorter than Trove. She was about on eye-to-chest level with him. She wasn’t that big weight wise either, but she certainly wasn’t small. She wasn’t used to people calling her little. It was a bit weird.
But she let that slide as Trove led the way into the galley – the spaceship kitchen. It wasn’t very big, but he explained they didn’t tend to eat there. Everyone would grab their food whenever they got hungry and either eat in their room or at their workstations.
He showed her the food synthesizer and how to use it. All their food was synthesized, he explained – no real meat or veggies, though all the completed nutrients of anything she wanted to make. Their model was pretty basic, so it only made simple foods.
After a few questions, he made her a bowl of, essentially, oatmeal. It was a dish from the home planet of one of the crew named Sway. His species was vegetarian, but more importantly, most of their food was safe to eat for nearly all species. It was something he knew he could give her without making her sick.
“Can you make me another bowl?” She asked once she’d finished scooping it into her mouth. It was just a little sweet, but it was also richer than oatmeal from home. It was heavy in her belly and if she hadn’t just woken up, she might be tired all over again. The only real complaint she had was a weird, artificial aftertaste. When she mentioned it, Trove just said that their synthesizer wasn’t the best.
“You hungry still?” Trove laughed, standing from the little table in the small room – the only thing in there besides the food synthesizer.
