A Study of Hummus


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4 years, 3 months ago
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4 years, 3 months ago
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Chapter 11
Published 4 years, 3 months ago
879

It's slice of life trying-to-be-harder sci fi, ok?

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Author's Notes

[IN PROGRESS]

Nomenclature Pertaining to a Beat


[The silent listening concert]


Alice withdrew... the  earbud. It was safer to think of it as "an earbud" than assign  everything the name of "probe". And she looked around.

She knew  nobody here outside this morning's encounters, and most not even by  that. Which meant, make more friends, right? Socialize? But besides  Kohalji & Niren - who themselves seemed to be devoing all their  attention to some combination of mixing board and turntables - everyone  else seemed to be in their own little worlds. They weren't all on drugs  too, were they? No way she'd risk anything, but man, not even being  offered, if they they were - rude.

There was something like  humming from a few - and no sign they could actually keep a tune. A few  swaying moves that could generously be interpreted like dancing - while  remaining confined to their seats. At least nobody was actually  headbanging to turning their arms into actual whips or anything.

None  of these outfits were anything like what she would have expected to see  on deck, though. These were nightclub outfits - not bar outfits. Ok,  Gil'peve's, sure but she would have been in her appratment most of the  day, right?

Seriously. Nobody had ever offered her drugs oh  goddamn it one of them was staring right at her. If it were a proper  nightclub, than the lights would be blinding, and both could ogle each  other in relative obscurity. But no. Now her eyes were locked with a  predominantly purple chick who looked like she was leaning hard into the  science-fiction glows in the dark swimsuit look.

Who was also  withdrawing her earbud. And standing up. Wow that was a well-studied  human profile. And walking over with a sway that. No. Bi. Alice was bi.  And currently in a relationship. This was just aesthetic appreciation.  Which had Alice shrink away as the purple beauty elegantly sat beside  her.

"This is your first time, right? I haven't missed you." Not  quite a whisper, but nothing louder than the quiet rustling of clothes.

"....Hi." goddamn lack of lungs and no dramatic sighing, "I'm Alice."

"Oh,  of course darling," Her eyes read Alice's responce, which was one of  slight confusion, "Ah. Please - Matrice. Call me Matrice."

"Ok,"  It was like that moment when the camera switches to the space girl and  the screen goes just a little blurry to hide the imperfections. But in  HD.

"The music not your scene?"

"I... don't know if i ever really had a scene. Like, but this point I'd be drunk. Which is..."

"Don't  worry, I know what drunk is. But you'd probably be out for a week - at  least - if you tried it now. Which," she somehow managed a sigh,  "honestly makes me wonder about that whisky and rye."

"It's... not that great. If you ever make it down, just look for something with pumpkin spice."

"I'll  put it on my bucket list," Matrice considered her earbud for a long  moment, then deposited it in one of receptacles rather than pushing it  back in.

Alice did the same.

"This is a weird question, probably, but what's it like to be abducted?" Her expression was one of wariness.

"I  dunno. I mean, everyone was nice? Like, too nice. You know Lainyng?"  Alice got the response of a nod, "Too nice. I should have known she was  covering something up. Lied though... heh. heheh." Alice jammed her  fingers into her mouth and drew out her new set of 3d printed dentures,  stared at them for a moment, before shoving them back in, "I was going  to say lied through her teeth, but that's fake too. And then I got the  spa treatment." She tired to sigh - it didn't work, "Ok, honestly I want  to go on that mixing table again. To see if the second time is as good  as the first."

Matrice chuckled in response, "Hey, if you can get  an open time, by all means. Some of my... some of the crew downright  abuse that thing. But I can't blame them. It's not like anyone on this  ship signed up for quite the mission they got."

"What do you do? I'm sure monitoring silent raves for humans isn't a full time job."

"Oh,  not much. Put in the odd bit of work where I can be useful. At least I  knew when I sighed up that this mission could go a few ways."

"So your job is being bored."

"Hard work, somebody's got to do it."

Alice snorted a laugh in response.

"But unless we 'make it down', I suppose I'm just here to mediate in arguments. For the moment."

"So... negotiator? Of some sort?"

"Not really."

The  lighting changed. Alice looked around, expecteg somthing to happen -  nobody got up. If anything, they had settled in even more.

"Do  you mind?" Matrice was running her fingers over her earbud in the  container, "That was just the warm-up - I'd be happy to talk later but  for now I just want to veg, you know? You might as well enjoy the  music."

"Sure, sure - thanks." Alice didn't want to head back just yet, so - gingerly - she pushed the earbud back in.

Was this... like... Arabic music?

FIN