Po, the man TO had been talking to for the last five minutes, was entirely too drunk. It was to where TO worried that there would be some medical concerns if he drank much more. His blue-green face took on a strange flush, and his closed gills twitched as though he were trying to breathe with them, despite the air being far too dry. His long fin flapped languidly on the floor and even the strange tendrils that flowed from his head to about his waist moved oddly; reminiscent of how TO’s own ears moved as though under water when they got drunk, or that time that they and DH ate those strange berries.
At any rate, Po was far too drunk, and needed to stop drinking now. With that in mind, TO could almost imagine their actions being less an attempt at trickery and more an effort to help the inebriated civilian.
“So how long can you breathe underwater?” TO asked in an effort to keep conversation flowing. They weren’t very good with civilian small talk but Mira gave them basic advice; keep asking questions about the target. Find something the target was interested in, and ask questions about that.
“Oh, indef-in-it-ly.” Po said as he leaned forward, brandishing the green bottle at TO and wafting the too-sweet smell at them. “You should ask how long I can breathe out of water!” He laughed as he took another drink.
“So… how long can you breathe out of water?”
“Dunno, but when I find out, it’ll take my breath away!” He laughed with an intensity that TO didn’t really think was right for a joke about the poor man suffocating to death on land.
“Then it’s good that they give you mostly aquatic jobs.” TO said with a nervous chuckle. “You said you get sent for harvesting jobs? What do you harvest?”
“Whatever.” He said as he set his bottle down on the floor. “The only things that can grow on this planet are underwater. Yesterday I was harvesting sea berries; can you believe that.” he chuckled and reached for his bottle, “No wonder they keep it cheap, given what they pay us.”
“What else do you do?” TO asked quickly, “Aside from drinking, I mean, to keep occupied here.”
Po chuckled, “Really easy to tell you’re new.” He said, “There’s much to do other than work and rest. I envy people who find the energy to keep hobbies even outside of the center.” He set the bottle down without taking a drink and let his hand slide close to where TO’s rested on the floor, “Though there are a few free amusements in here, you know.” He whispered. “You haven't said a thing about yourself you know.” He leaned forward. “Do you have someone outside?”
“I do.” TO said, hoping that their sudden nervousness didn’t show too much in their ears; or if it did. That PO couldn’t see it. “I have a partner. A romantic partner.”
“Ah… I see.” he said, his hand pulling away slightly. “I don’t suppose the two of y’are open, are you?”
“Open?”
“Open; ok with having some fun with others.”
TO’s ears dipped and burned, “No… no we’re not.”
Po sighed and pulled back, “Ah well. My loss.” he looked over TO, squinting as he caught TO leaning away just slightly. “Ah shit, I hope I didn’t make stuff weird.”
“Uh, no, I just-”
“I’m fine with just having another friend t’ talk to.” He said, “Don’t gotta be anything too much. I just I like y’wings.”
“Oh!” TO’s ears relaxed slightly. “Thanks.”
“Can I touch ‘em?” He asked, “Nothing weird or nothing, just… I like wings. Can I touch em’?”
“Sure?” TO’s ears flicked out at the oddness of the request. Nevertheless, they extended a wing so that Po could easily feel the membrane. He traced his fingers over it with careful fingertips, as though he might damage the strong, stretchy membrane.
“Are they real? I mean.” He chuckled, “I know we can’t have mechanical wings in here, but were they grafted on, grown, or were you born with them? Can you fly?”
“I can.” TO said, “And they’re real. I’ve had them since I was de- since I was born.” They almost said detanked, and that would have drawn far too many questions.”
“Very nice.” Po said as he pulled his hand away. “You know, when I was young, I said I was going to have wings one day too. I said I’d get ‘em grafted on, and I’d learn to fly with ‘em and everything.” He chuckled, “Parents smiled, and laughed, and said to do my best. What else were they gonna say to their dumb kid, right?” He shook his head, “No idea what I’d say if I had my own.”
“No children then?” TO asked.
“Nah. and likely none now, y’know.” He shrugged, “it’s fine though. I probably wouldn’t be a great parent, anyway.” He reached for his bottle, brought it up to his lips, and after tilting it up high he pulled it away, frowning.
“Something wrong?” TO asked, their ears twitching.
“Nah, I thought I had more.” He said as he peered into the bottle, “Though I had at least a few more good mouthfuls.”
“Pleasant conversation makes the drink go faster.” TO recited. It was something that the first target had said to TO when they went for their own drink and discovered the same thing had happened.
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Po chuckled, “That might be right.” He said. He reached around and pulled a small square plank where it leaned against the wall. Four wheels attached to each corner of the plank let PO drag himself about more easily. Of course, TO only knew this because they had seen him pull himself into the shops earlier, sitting on that and pulling with his arms. Already, they had seen several people using only little wooden boards on wheels, instead of a wheelchair. “I might go get myself another. You want one?” He glanced at the empty bottle that TO had been pretending to drink from, “You still good?”
TO gave a weak smile, picked up their empty bottle, and made a show of tilting it up as though they were drinking the last drops from it. “That’s it for me.” They said, “But.. no more. I should rest up, I think.”
Po chuckled as he arranged himself on the plank. “Oh, come on, it’s still early-”
“You should rest too.” TO said, grabbing Po’s wrist to hold them there for just a moment longer, “You’re likely to get another assignment tomorrow… right?”
“Yeah, but it’s fine.” He said. He pulled away, and TO let him slip from their grip. “There’s Not much else for me to do here, ya’ know? I work, I come back here, I drink, I sleep.” He shrugged, “There’s just not much else to do.”
TO sighed as they watched him roll away, heading back to the canteens to get another bottle.
“You know. We’d get through this a lot faster if you didn’t try to convince people not to drink themselves to sleep after we were done.” Mira said. “I mean, it hasn’t worked once yet has it?” She had been sitting behind PO, feigning sleep until the moment she could take his nearly empty bottle and pour it into the empty bottle she had nabbed from a recycling bin.
“It’d be faster if we just asked if we could ask for the last sip instead of stealing it.” TO murmured.
“Yeah, you try that and see where it gets you.” She glanced up to see Pearla coming towards them, “Ah, sorry, was I too late to get to your target?”
“She started feeling woozy and said I could have the last of her drink since I was so sweet.” Pearla said as she passed a mostly empty green bottle to Mira, “I braided her hair, so she was happy enough to part with the drink.”
“See, we could have just asked!” TO said.
“Yeah, you learn to braid hair and we’ll try that.” Mira said as she poured the dregs of Pearla’s bottle into her own. After a careful examination she nodded and screwed the cap on top.
“Done.” She said as she stood up, “Come on now; let’s see if we can’t get you something to eat.”
TO thought they’d have to ask around and see if anyone was interested in trading with them, but Mira led them to the other side of the hall towards a group of people all sitting around another Nagarajin; this one had scales that spiked out on their tail as opposed to Pearla’s smoother scales, and a patterned coloration of red and white, with black spots that trailed from the tip of his tail and up his back. He sat in a nest of blankets, his tail coiled around a small speaker that played some kind of narrative broadcast.
As they approached the Nagarajin glanced over the three but his eyes landed on Pearla. Once they were close enough, he said something in a language full of hisses, where all the syllables merged.
“Ah… sorry.” Pearla said, her cheeks growing a deeper purple than before, “My parents were from Typhon… You’re from, uh-“
“Montalvo.” He said, switching to galactic common. Still, despite the change, TO found it hard to understand his accent. “Sorry, Got a little excited there.”
“Nothing to apologize about!” Pearla said. She glanced back at Mira, but Mira just passed her the bottle.
“You want to trade something, I guess?”
“Yes.” Pearla said, the word coming out in a rush of relieved breath. She glanced at TO. “My friend here can’t eat the cafeteria food, so we need something they can eat.”
“Well, sit down then.” He said as he gestured to the floor as though offering fancy cushioned seats, “Let’s talk business. What did you get for me?”
“Sea Berry Brine.” Pearla said, passing the bottle forward as she lowered herself to the floor. TO and Mira followed suit, sitting on either side of Pearla as the Nagarajin took the bottle, opened it, and sniffed at it. After a moment he nodded and screwed the cap back on before turning to TO.
“Alright then!” He said as he cracked his knuckles, “What can you eat?”
TO foundered for specifics. “Uh... meat? But not eggs. I can eat fruit…” they frowned. Their food was always pre-prepared for them in the training center, and probably thanks to GiDi, Flit, and Snout, the insurgents seemed to have a good idea of what they could eat. “Certain grains are ok-“
“I got Jerky.” He said, pulling some bags from the folds of the blankets. “Meat jerky and fruit jerky.” After just a moment he had a spread of different vacuum sealed bags spread before them, each one bearing a white label that detailed the contents. “For the bottle, you can choose one.”
“Just the one?” Mira said, “Come on now, We should get two or three for a full bottle.”
“These are more expensive than the brine.” He said, “I’m being nice in letting you have an entire bag.”
“Mira, it’s fine.” TO said, but she ignored them.
“Maybe it’s more expensive at the canteen, but we both know you could trade this for a lot more, and a lot easier.”
“Maybe before, but not now; not with the lockdown. It’s only a matter of time before the fancier foods are gone from the shops altogether.”
TO ignored their bartering and focused on the meat. Taste wasn’t important; they had to find nutrient dense meats. Finally, they settled on some dried and salted fish.
“These, please.” TO said, setting their hand on the package.
“Oh, come on!” Mira said, “Those are local; we can get those here on Arkane-“
“And because of that, they’re going to be one of the few foods we can still get, and they’re going to be worth a lot more.”
Mira sighed, “Robbery.” She muttered.
“Hey, I’ll let you sit and listen to the rest of the show for free.” He said as he patted the speaker, “No admission fee for you for the night. This is something I can be generous with.”
TO rubbed their head, their ears flicking down, “… I’d rather find some quiet.” They muttered. “Somewhere quieter, and smaller.” A smaller location would echo less, even if the walls had no soundproofing.
“Not doing so well?” Pearla asked, leaning forward and putting a tentative hand on TO’s shoulder.
“Not at all.”
“I don’t know where we’ll find a quiet spot for you” Mira said, “We don’t have a private bunk-“
“Go to the laundry room on this floor.” The Nagarajin said, “It’s quiet enough, though it smells a little odd. What can you expect though?” He shrugged, “And if you don’t want to listen to the speaker with us, well, direction can be just as valuable.”
Mira frowned, glancing at the small bag of dried fish that TO still had their hand tentatively resting on. Finally, she sighed.
“Fine. The bottle for the bag of fish, and directions to that laundry room.”
He smiled and pushed the bag towards TO.
“Done.”