"I really appreciate you doing this with me Hatti." *Finlay inspected the cocktail the Ur'quanth had prepared for him, He may have a wee bit of education when it came to edibles and the like, But was wholly lost when it came to the ones his new mysterious friend had sent. Little jelly cubes of... stuff. Just floating in a mildly alcoholic mix.*
"It's the least I could do! It's been a while since my walker ceremony anyway, Seems like some good fun." *Drinking from her own glass of what Fin was told was Jerala 'tea'.* "I was a little surprised when you told me that you wanted to dabble in Hakah arts, I'm a little curious as to how far you may be able to peer."
"...You said alot of words just now...60% of which I have no context for, The hell is Hakah arts?" *Taking his own gulps of the surprisingly tame drink, If he had to compare it... Like a Brown sugar Boba tea, with an almost smoky kick. He could probably replicate the taste by toasting some cinnamon, brewing it all together.... maybe turn it into a fancy mayan hot chocolate?*
"Sorry, uhm... In my home culture we have *Hakah*, They are professionals who use herbals to... to..." *Hatti would turn on her Holo for a quick 'Google' as she had learned from her terran roommates.* "Dreamwalk! They're similar to what you'd call shamans or witch-doctors, they'd predict weather or how well a field would grow for a season, among other less important things. The better the Hakah, the further forward or backward they could see. Really popular for teenage girls."
"Ooooh, psychics, telling your love life and all that. Well, how accurate are they?" *Taking another swig from the tea, and chewing the gummy bits.*
"Ah, well most people don't really have a gift for it, but 60-40 for your average professional and almost creepily good at 90-10 for experienced Hakah, they can see almost a full year ahead. Terribly expensive though... and horribly vague. 'You'll find love with sandy mountains and a cold heart, Sweet words over your humble treat.' Mom wasn't too happy spending 800 credit for that."
"Eight!- Motherfuckin' 800!? for that shit? I wouldn't be either! I'da slapped the shit out of that bitch!"
"Oh, what do you know? Almost word for word what my mother said."
"She'd be right to! Like... what the fuck even is that first bit? You gonna meet that love on a cold desert night? AND your family business is literally making ice cream! Every treat you make is humble and delicious!"
"Thank you!"
"Yeah, you're welcome- I-I just... that makes me so livid." *Finishing the rest of his cocktail, laying back against the couch.* "And yeah it's nothing so noble as seeing the future for me, I just thought i'd get a cool little head or body high."
"No worries there, you're gonna get that for sure."
"...I don't like how ominously you said that, but I appreciate the confidence."
*Finlay had Spec scrub through his music files and make a playlist... Something akin to "Lo-fi beats to get wasted to", and together he and Hatti sat slowly letting the herbs seep into their blood. It happened a bit faster than Finlay would have liked, The colors of the universe seemed to fade before his eyes. Leaving a monochrome world where only the moving remained. He looked to his own hands and saw another oddity, phantom limbs moving about and from him.*
*It was only when he moved his limbs that the mystery of why and how they formed was revealed. They were his own phantom limbs predicting where and how he move his hands.* "Nnnnnope, That is... freaky." *Of course once he got to thinking about it, it was probably just his own mind playing tricks on him, since his mind knew how he was going to mov-* "JESUS!" *his thoughts were interrupted by the Phantom of Hatti peering at him from above, Which was then followed by Hatti actually doing so roughly 2 seconds later.*
"Are you good? It's only been a good 20 minutes and you're starting to twitch out on me."
"I- uh I'm good..." *"...Okay maybe I'm just super sensitive to my environment right now... High brain is making some pretty good guesses on how people in my environment would move... Interesting."*
"Okay, well, where are you going?"
"What?"
"Your dreamwalk left the room for me, But I don't know why..."
"...Hatti a thought occurs... And sorry if this sounds rude.... But did you calculate the doses separately or all together? And, if all together.... For who's body weight?"
"...."
"Hatti."
"....."
"Hatti?"
".......So I may have made a teensy oopsie doodle."
"HATTI!"
A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
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*Finlay sprung up from his seat and broke into a light jog, telling Hatti to stay in the lounge.*
"Spec, Sync! Sync with me right fucking now!" *Calming a bit as the Holo formed outside of his glasses then dove into his chest. Maybe the rebound from the sync would help burn the herb out of his system faster.*
"What's the big rush Fin-man? I thought *Just one* couldn't hurt?"
"Oh, fuck you. I didn't think I'd be following my own ghost by the end of it."
"It's almost like I told you that experimenting with alien grassroots could be dangerous."
"Again, fuck you."
"Let's see, irregular heartbeat, alteration of perception, Self-perceived Time dilation and hyper-sensitivity to outer stimuli."
"You being an asshole about it, only makes me want to have fun with it."
"No no, by all means, have fun with it. No one's ever died from Jerala extract... As a matter of fact collecting information on it's effect on your sync with me is an interesting Idea."
"I don't know who you get your sass from, but so help me... I don't know yet, but you're not gonna like it."
*To anyone outside of Finlay's high bubble, he was practically sprinting through the halls of The Kitchen. A silent blur of high rambling and green neon lights. A blur that freighted a pastry making Katherine as they stole a few of the baked goods from the kitchen of 'The Kitchen'. A blur that would pass the training deck of the ship only to jog backwards and peer inside at the battle taking place.*
*Hada and Xiao were mid training session, using their holo weapons while Sync'd. Nyeith sat in a Bundle of her own tail watching and recording the exhibition for study. Enraptured as she was, She never noticed Finlay as he posted up behind her to watch the martial artists duke it out. Hada with a fancy Hard Light Katana and Xiao with the Sun on a stick.... Though with some slight changes from the last time Finlay had saw it, the sun seemed to change shape as he made his movements from a proper war hammer to a spearhead.*
"Woof, I'm glad I'm not on that mat right now."
"Mothers Dancing! Finlay..." *The poor snake woman recoiled from the high and sync'd croissant munching hooligan that snuck up on her.*
"Hi Nyny, Wotcha doiiiiin?~" *His little run had given him time to calm down from the initial anxiety... that and fresh made goodies make everything better... Maybe it'll soak up some of that jerala.*
"Please don't call me that... Uhm, Xiao has had his weapon modified and wanted to spar with Hada, Hada wanted to experiment with Sync during combat, And I was selected as the referee and camera woman... I've been here for 40 minutes..."
"Wow wow wow, what's the score?"
"0-0, They haven't been able to land a hit on each other. It's become a battle of endurance and focus."
*Finlay turned his attention back to the match and could see the issue. While Hada was smaller and faster, Xiao lu swung with such force that a simple graze would send Hada flying. Hada could usually dip and dive and dodge for a simple stab and that's that. But with Xiao's weapon upgrade, It gave him a new level of flexibility. Alternating between Hammer and spear, Swings and thrusts. Whatever simulated the weight also changed with the shape, from the looks of it. A little slower to recover from Hammer swings, sure. Though to Finlay with his current mental state could see so much more happen with their phantoms.*
"...I got 50 on Xiao lu."
"I'll take that action."
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*Hatti was busy trying to find her very high friend. She had long since lost the phantom of Finlay. though gladly stumbling upon a spooked Kathrine. Who was busy trying to rationalize how 4 of her croissants had vanished when the blur arrived. Maybe she had absent mindedly eaten them while baking?*
Katherine: "Oh! hey Hatti... are uhm... forgive me if this is silly, but are space ghosts a thing?"
Hatti: "...No Katherine, at least most of the time. Have you seen Finlay? We've been... experimenting and I may have upset him."
*Katherine who was still contemplating the 'Most of the time' in Hatti's statement. Immediately switched gears upon hearing 'experimenting'. Setting out a plate of fresh treats and encouraging her to have a seat.* "Really? How so? Spare no detail." *Thinking the Ur'quanth was talking about... something else entirely.*
Hatti: "Well, He asked me to try somethings. I figured it had been a while for me anyway, and with the whole.... Zombie and shampoo incidents. I thought it would be a good way to patch things up between us."
Katherine: "So He approached you first? And, You don't have to use that to repair a friendship! He told me it was mostly on him when we talked..."
Hatti: "With the zombies, it was my over reaction so I felt guilty and the shampoo was just an honest mistake. But you know... Small things build up, and while the ship is large it'd be awkward to travel together if we had some tension between any of us... Then I messed up again."
Katherine: "How could you have possibly messed up? It's not exactly rocket science... Well... It's a bit more complicated than usual, but still."
Hatti: "Well... he asked me to lead since I had more experience with it. It's rather common practice among the women of my species."
Katherine: "O-oh my... I suppose some cultures are a bit more.... Liberated then I thought."
Hatti: "Well it's perfectly harmless... when done correctly, and my people believe it to help with farming and finding mates."
Katherine: "A bit cart before the horse for my liking, but to each their own."
Hatti: "cart before the--? Well, we were in the lounge and decided to start with some drinks-"
Katherine: "In the lounge!? Anyone could have just walked in on you two!"
Hatti: "What's wrong with that?"
Katherine: "Y-you-uhm, That isn't exactly something my people do in public, more of a private affair."
Hatti: "Really? He told me he'd often do it in public with his friends, in parks and such."
Katherine: "YOU-HE!? WHAT!? what he does-" *Katherine, still lost in her misunderstanding. couldn't help but to imagine what kind of pervert Finlay must be, Just what did he tell their impressionable alien friend? Just what in the hell was he planning to do?* "That tears it! We're finding him! right this instant!"
Hatti: "Well that is why I'm looking for-"
Katherine: "NO! You don't have to say anything else! We'll fix this!"
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Lu: "Hold still you nimble little shit!"
Hada: "Be faster you big slow bitch."
*This fight had been going on entirely too long for both of them, Xiao had the clear advantage in strength. Hada had her enhanced dexterity, able to practically dance around Lu. They both had amazing endurance, brought up by Lu's days of working the field and Hada's rigorous days of training in the family dojo. The only other area where they were tied was will power. Anyone else on the ship would have given up to either of them by now, but they didn't matter now, the only things in existence were them, their weapons and the mats beneath their fee-*
Katherine: "Espèce de racaille perverse et dégoûtante! Comment osez-vous essayer de toucher la vache!" Intended Translation: "You perverse and disgusting scum! How dare you try to touch the cow!"
*This outburst was enough to shock the two warriors out of their battle trance. In time to watch a confused Finlay turn to greet an enraged Katherine who was followed by a flustered Hatti. Watching as the former soldier cocked back and gave Finlay the sucker punch of the century. Fully stopping the fight as the alien minotauress kneeled beside the unconscious Californian, trying to defuse the situation.*
Lu:"...What is going on?"
Hada:" I have no idea, But damn Kat has a helluva left cross."
*Continuing to watch as they cut off their weapons. Catching the tail-end of a Conversation between Hatti and Kat*
Katherine: "What in the hell is a Jerala?"