Carbon gave him the most subtle look she could muster. Just a little tiny squint. The faintest, least detectable way of intimating to Alex that he should shut the fuck up, and they could discuss this later.
“It is a small ceremony, usually. Close family, some friends.” Su was equal parts amused and surprised. She wasn’t being too obvious about it at least, could have just been reminiscing about happier times. “It has been a while since I have seen one.”
Alex knew she had enough of the pieces, she got that they weren’t just very good friends. He swiveled his eyes to look at her, the motion brief, but it felt like it took five or six years. Dark lips curled up just a teeny bit at the corner. He looked back to Carbon, who was also looking at Su, slightly more politely than she had just been looking at him.
His lie about his ear piercings seemed to be holding up, at least. Su probably wouldn’t be so entertained by this if she thought she was doing so at the expense of those in line for the throne. Or maybe she would, Carbon’s previous station was well enough known, and the Empire had certainly let Su down recently.
“It sounds fascinating, other cultures have always interested me.” That was true, to a certain extent. He was eyeball deep in Tsla’o culture for reasons other than interest, though. Alex turned his attention back to Carbon. “I was thinking about going into anthropology before I got called back to the Scoutship program, you know.”
“You have mentioned that, yes.” She agreed, quite congenially. “It has served you well.”
“Ah, yes...” Raseta was entirely flummoxed by this exchange, and much more interested in keeping things moving. “As I said, this is the final stop on our tour. Not as interesting as the bunkhouses, perhaps, but an important spot in the village. The showers can get busy, as there are only ten, but a little bit of scheduling has ensured that everyone can bathe daily. The laundry machines can get busy as well, but again, scheduling keeps things moving smoothly.”
As if on cue, the dryer with Keta and Desaya’s clothes went off. “Oh, that’s you guys.” Alex gestured from the increasingly fluffy looking couple to the dryer that was spinning down. Keta hopped up, no concern over the fact he was still only wearing a towel on his head, and went to collect their stuff.
While Alex let them do their thing, Administrator Gyal had not gotten any more used to the level of casual nudity on display, turning away a bit harder than she had before.
“So are there any plans to expand the village? I’m not saying like, should a thousand more people be brought here or something, but it seems compact for the number of folks on site.” Alex had questions, importantly they were ones that are not related to his and Carbon’s relationship, or naked Tsla’o.
“It is compact, yes, and there are plans for more buildings. This was what was available on short notice, which I am still extremely impressed with.” Raseta was very pleased to report that.
“Yes, there are several more home-units slated for fabrication, something more appropriate for families. That should reduce usage on the bunkhouses and the shared facilities.” The Administrator continued turning as Keta walked back to Desaya and they started to sort their clothes out. She had gone nearly a full circle. “There have been some inquiries about building traditional structures as well. Some to build their own structures as a gesture of goodwill from the many cultures that have come to call Arvaikheer home, and others that are interested in helping retain the traditional construction methods of our new neighbors.”
“That sounds really cool. I haven’t seen a traditional Tsla’o home, I don’t think.” Alex was quite sure he hadn’t. One had been described in Temptation of the Harvest Fields, and it seemed like the general layout had sort of made the jump to modern design - circular or oval in shape, the integrated mud room, central hearth/kitchen with a sleeping area near it for the winters. “If you do make one of those, you have to document everything. I’d love to see the process. I bet a ton of folks would be interested.”
Alex’s enthusiasm for that idea was just as surprising to everyone else as it was to him. It took a second, but he realized that could be a boon for the Empire as well - Humans and Tsla’o working together to preserve their heritage would go a long way to improving public opinion of them. Then he cursed himself for thinking like Eleya again.
He still thought it would be cool to see.
“Well, perhaps when the rainy season slows, this is a thing we could approach as an actual goal, particularly now that we are connected with the Empire again - we have no one who worked in construction, so we would need more information to make it safely.” Raseta was almost bewildered to be saying that.
“There will be people who are familiar with just about any sort of construction ready to help, I know a few structural engineers who would be able to ensure that building materials here are sufficient for whatever you need.” Gyal was quick to add, having rotated back to face the group now that their love birds were nearly fully clothed again.
Carbon went full formal. “That is incredibly generous of you, Administrator. I am sure the Empire would be able to repay at least some of this - if there are any refined materials you are in need of, perhaps some of these merchants would be willing to return with them. While our home planet has been gravely wounded, off-planet mining has continued, and I am to understand that we have significant stores available.”
“To be honest, Lan Tshalen, we have not even considered the material cost. I have been in contact with MP Baatar, he told me that you have spoken of our history - some of the earliest settlers here were refugees, and there have been many waves of such since. We have not made a habit of forcing displaced people to pay for anything until they have truly found a place here.” Gyal laid out Arvaikheer’s views on how refugees were to be treated in a professional tone that said she explained this fairly often.
Alex considered the Confederation to be mostly post-scarcity. The Tsla’o had probably considered themselves to be post-scarcity at one point, too. In the core worlds, back around Earth and the early colonies, it was more obvious. Technology had stacked up deep, old things that still worked well pushed outward slowly, traded and repaired and traded again.
Out here, on the very edge of things... The idea that they had a queue for buildings was almost unfathomable to him. At the very least he knew the prices for food were quite reasonable.
“That is... It is heartening. I cannot thank you enough for your reception of our people.” Carbon bowed to her, deeply. “If not in payment, perhaps in goodwill? Something that can benefit all of Arvaikheer.”
“I will pass that offer along to the Parliament, they may be able to come to some agreement.” She returned the bow, a warm smile on her face. “I am mostly concerned with my prefecture, and it is doing quite well at the moment. Our newest group has been visited by nearly everyone in a thousand kilometers, and I keep having people inquire about how they are settling in.”
“It has been a shock to see so many different cultures. I knew that Humanity had them, but I had never expected the variety.” The mayor was enthused about everything.
The dryer with the jackets in it went off next, the towels still tumbling. Alex stepped away from the group to retrieve his and toss the remaining two to Desaya. He shrugged it on, warm and most importantly, it still fit perfectly.
He wondered for a moment how everyone else viewed this. The crew from the ship knew how deeply Alex was involved with the Empire now. Did Su think this was weird tourist behavior, wearing a Tsla’o made jacket, or an attempt at making him appear less alien? Did Gyal parse this as being alien-obsessed? Some kind of cosplay?
Well, whatever. Truth would come out eventually. In the meantime, Alex thought the plain black jacket actually looked pretty good. He straightened the thin lapels and rejoined the conversation.
“As I said, we have seen everything, unless you wish to visit each bunkhouse individually. There is a crew out with one of the trucks on a supply run as well, they should be back within the hour.” Raseta was out of tour to give, apparently. “If you would like, I am sure most here would be willing to be interviewed.”
Stolen story; please report.
“I think that would be wise, yes. Everything seems to be going as well as can be expected, but I would like more background on what happened before you left the Empire’s borders. Preferably from those who came on different ships, so we have a better idea of where the Empire was failing.” Carbon nodded, looking between Raseta and Su.
“As you wish. We should return to the great house, many are already gathered there. There have been four ships carrying refugees - it will be easy to find those who will speak to you. Nata, you should remain with your sister for this time.” Raseta nodded to the younger Tsla’o girl who had moved on from the dinosaurs to a pile of notched sticks she was building with. He turned back to the group, “Administrator, I do not know how interesting this will be to you...”
“I believe my task here is done, and there is always more work to do at the office. Unless the Lan wishes for me to stay? I could provide more background on this area between interviews, answer any other questions she may have about the planet?” Gyal offered, turning to Carbon.
She shook her head. “Your explanations so far have been succinct. Further, I have your contact information, and while I am sure there will be questions I realize I should have asked in the coming days, I do not yet know them.”
“Very well. It was lovely meeting you all, and I look forward to those questions - but do feel free to reach out for anything, Lan Tashlen.” The Administrator smiled as she gave them a short bow and departed, a brief blast of cold air chilling the room.
“Alright, so you all are going to do interviews and...” Alex checked his watch, they had about two Human hours left on their layover. “I will hang out with these two and make sure they don’t get caught in the rain again.”
“Yes, I am afraid that it will be rather boring for you.” Carbon apologized, a faint frown on her muzzle. “But, this is something I must do.”
“Oh, absolutely. I’ll figure it out. Maybe Su can show us the rest of the village.” He grinned, eyes darting over to the Clan Mother who had offered to babysit him and the hypothermia couple specifically to avoid showing off the rest of the village. “Or something else more interesting than all of that.”
He was curious about the bunkhouses, about the rest of the village, actually. But officially that wasn’t any of his business at the moment, so he wouldn’t push it.
“I am sure there is much yet to do today.” She had a smile that said she was about to get a lot of work done but not actually do a bit of it herself. “The visit has shifted things around a bit, after all.”
“Is it so? Well, I will leave you to it.” Carbon gave them both a bow and followed Raseta out into the cold gap between the two yurts, having no problems leaving her husband to do chores. It wasn’t like she was off having fun or something, so a little bit of helping out was fine by him.
“If you really do want to see the bunkhouses, or even the rest of the village, I will show you around.” Su relented, giving Keta and Desaya side-eye as she said that. “But our usual schedule is thrown off a bit by all of this. We could use a little help.”
“Oh, if my mom ever heard that I didn’t help refugees to go on a tour instead, I would never hear the end of it.” Curiosity could be sated later, but knowingly being a slacker would haunt him for a good long time, particularly when he was part of the problem. “These two should probably go sit by a fire for a while and relax, though. Stay warm and make sure everything is back to normal.”
“Oh, we could help as well.” Keta piped up, much to Desaya’s displeasure as she gave him a poke in the side.
Alex agreed with her. “You’re still not dry all the way through. I can tell, you’re like... just almost there.” They were so fluffy when they towel dried. Not as much as Neya, but they were getting there.
“The pilot is right, you two should be taking it easy. I saw how you were shivering. Go have some tea, someone can certainly find you cookies or something to snack on.” Su positioned herself as the final say on the matter, being the Clan Mother and all.
Alex pointed to her as the authority here, and nodded along.
“Thank you, we will do that.” Desaya hopped up and practically dragged Keta out of there before he could volunteer them for anything else.
She watched them go, then lifted her chin over Astada’s head and cleared her throat. “Nata, can you run over to bunk three and tell them to bring the laundry?”
“Of course.” Nata carefully pulled her hood up, antenna still tucked carefully into the collar of her Human-made jacket, and zipped it up before dashing out into the rain.
While they conversed, Alex slipped his Tsla’o comm out of his pocket and let Kenath know that Keta and Desaya were heading her way, a move that was met with a particularly curious head tilt as Su noticed that was not a Human phone he was hastily shoving back into his pocket.
Nata returned ten minutes later with a large bag, and a couple more Tsla’o also carrying large bags. Both of whom were not expecting to see a Human sitting on a bench, Kaseya carefully stacking small stuffed toys on his head, having a casual conversation with the Clan Mother who was having an increasingly hard time keeping a straight face.
“Should I leave these here?” He pointed to the pyramid of stuffies atop his cranium, absolutely serious as he gave Su the most deadpan look he could currently muster. “I’m not familiar with Tsla’o customs regarding such things.”
Kaseya answered first, the translator close enough for her to understand him again. “Yes you should.” She took the inquiry as seriously as he had made it sound.
“I suppose that is your answer.” Su could barely keep it together, a stifled snicker escaping as she shook her head.
“Ah, that’ll make things difficult.” He did manage to stand before they slid off, Alex catching all five of the little things as they went forward. An assortment of floppy Earth animals, stuffed with beads. He turned and handed them back one at a time, naming each animal as he did. “Elephant, lion, cheetah, hippopotamus, honey badger. Looks like they’ll be safer with you.”
Kaseya was disappointed but thanked him and went back to playing.
Alex was already familiar with doing laundry, and it seemed like this was mostly bedding, so there was no complex separation of clothing to worry about. Pillow cases and sheets got split up into equally sized piles, along with a smattering of towels, and before long they had all of the washing machines going at once.
Astada had woken up and was fussing again, so Su gathered the little group together and they retired to the great hall. Carbon was sitting in the dining area, talking to a couple of Tsla’o as they slipped past into the kitchen to get the wee kid something to eat. While her jacket was one of her simpler ones, the shade of blue really stood out amid the mixed bag of older, worn Tsla’o clothes and mostly Human outerwear everyone else had.
Su slipped Astada’s carrier off and left him with Nata, both of them at the table with the tea. Alex helped himself to another mug and then joined Su and Kaseya as the elder rummaged through some drawers and the younger wheedled her for snacks of her own.
“Is there more chocolate? I can have that. My mother said so.” Kaseya stood impatiently beside Su, who was picking through a row of boxes that Alex was entirely unfamiliar with. Didn’t recognize the packaging, which was mostly simple colors and written in... One of them was in Korean. He did know that much.
Was this how everyone lived on the frontier? It was so much different in the movies.
“Well, I do know it is safe. Worst case for eating a lot of Human food is magnesium deficiency.” He was a font of knowledge sometimes.
“Magnesium?” Su straightened up a little bit, glancing over her shoulder at him like that unlocked some knowledge for her. She closed the drawer and checked the next one down. “You cannot have chocolate, because I think we are out. Perhaps when Suna returns. I asked him to get some treats for the children as all of you had to visit the doctor today. You did visit the doctor?”
Kaseya groaned and kicked the tile. “Yes, I did. It was boring! I am fine.”
“I was going to mention this earlier, but there’s actually a lot of overlap between Human and Tsla’o physiology.” Alex sipped his tea, the timing very inopportune based on the wildly incredulous look that Su was giving him. “Human docs can probably do checkups and basic stuff like that without much trouble, particularly if we get them some medical texts to familiarize themselves with the differences.”
“Ah... Given our food compatibility, I do not find that too surprising.” She grabbed out a green box with a picture of a cracker on the front out and pried the flap open, pulling a packet of the golden disks out and handing it over to Kaseya. The child took it and toddled off, wrapper crinkling as she made her way back over to her sister.
“Yeah, that was a surprise - I half expected we would need to eat separately on the Kshlav’o before that report came down. But, aside from taste, no actual limitations.”
“I take that, as you are traveling on a Tsla’o ship, you are not having any trouble with our food?” She continued rummaging, moving on to a cabinet and finding a box with a baby on the front in short order, an annoyed grunt punctuating the discovery. “Has the Lan had the opportunity to try Human cuisine?”
“Yes, on both accounts. There was a Tsla’o dispenser on the Kshlav’o, but none on the station that we launched from. I would say we have both found things we did and did not like.” Even the many kinds of bugs landed better than that awful cabbage-potato.
Su shook her head, a hint of a smile peeking out from the silver fur as she set about making some cereal for Astada, shaking powdered flakes into a bowl and giving them a splash of hot water. “Would it trouble you much to give us some instruction as far as Human foodstuffs are concerned? There is much to work with, and while we have translations, some of the early experiments have left our cooks somewhat shy to the idea of trying new recipes.”