talentforlying | -5 MCA, Friday Afternoon/Evening

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-5 MCA, Friday Afternoon/Evening

John had gotten the surprise of his fucking life this morning. In a good way, that was, and while it had taken a few moments for him to wake up enough to realize what, exactly, was coming out of his shower-head, he had figured it out eventually.

A call and a bribe to get a same-day delivery of a few giant bottles of Culligan and a water cooler from the mainland, a trip over the Causeway to the YMCA for a godsdamned shower with water and a shopping trip for the appropriate accouterments...

It was getting on towards dinner time by the time once he was back and had everything he needed. The door to his flat was propped open, text messages reading my fucking taps are running absinthe come fucking help me enjoy it, music on and food available.

Fuck yeah Constantine was indulging. And no, he wasn't lighting his sugar cubes on fire, that shit was for showy amateurs.

[OOC: Open post! If you think you got a text, you did, or feel free to stumble over Constantine's Bad Choices.]

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"Everybody's seem to have something different," Hera said. "What's in yours?" Then, realizing this was a strange face, "Hi, I'm Hera. Do you live in the building, too?"

For a moment, all Verity saw were Hera's lekku and hastily averted her eyes, thinking the other woman was a Gorgos medusa, or, more colloquially, a greater gorgon. Verity had never met a greater gorgon before, but that was in no small part deliberate on both sides. Most greater gorgons avoided humans out of fear of another attempt at extermination and Verity didn't want to chance being turned to stone with a glance.

"Hi," she said, a little awkwardly, carefully not making eye contact. "No, I live in the other apartment building in town, but I didn't know what apartments were inhabited and didn't feel like knocking on a bunch of empty doors, you know?"

And it was about then that Verity realized Hera's...hair-tentacles?...were not actually snakes at all. And if they weren't snakes, then it meant Hera was not a gorgon and--okay, now Verity was making eye contact and offering more than just a polite smile. "Hi," she said again. "I'm Verity and the pleasure is mine."

Much easier to be personable when the other person wasn't a giant snake-woman ability--and possibly the inclination--to petrify you!

Well, that was a weird greeting. Hera wasn't really sure if it was good or bad.

"Nice to meet you. You don't see a lot of twi'leks, then?"

"I believe you're my first!" Verity said cheerfully. "I thought you were a greater gorgon for a moment because of your...uhh...cranial appendages?" Hopefully that was a non-offensive way of saying 'head tentacles'. "And to make eye-contact with a greater gorgon if neither of you are taking precautions leads to a very painful death, so I was being cautious."

It wasn't like cockatrice and basilisk petrifaction that was reversible if treated in time. While it was possible there was a cure for greater gorgon petrification, Verity hadn't heard about it.

Hera blinked. "Huh. I don't know that species. The only thing too much eye contact does with twi'leks is get awkward, just like humans. And they're lekku," she said, gesturing at them. "I keep forgetting twi'lek aren't usual on this planet."

"Not at all," Verity said, noting the word lekku. Her fingers itched for a pen and paper so she could ask Hera all about twi'leks, both biologically and culturally, but she refrained. Because she was a grown adult who knew how to carry on a polite conversation, even with a species she'd never encountered before.

Which brought the total up to five or so since she arrived.

"I also just learned that Kanan isn't from this planet, either," she said, nodding in his direction. "Have you had a chance to talk with him yet?"

She wasn't going to assume the aliens knew one another just because they were aliens.

Well, it would be better than refusing to look at her, anyway, though Hera wasn't exactly a biologist.

And that assumption was probably a good thing, but in this case... Hera glanced over at Kanan - who seemed determined to get cheerfully drunk - and rolled her eyes at him. "I came here with him, actually. Or technically he came with me. He lived here first, I flew us back," she explained.

Even so, she probably knew a lot more about how she and the rest of her people worked than Verity did!

"Are you new, too?" she asked. "I've been here a over a month and people are still commenting on that."

"I've been here about that long myself," Hera said. "But mostly people just keep commenting on my not being human." She sighed. "Next time we head home, I'm taking Kanan to Ryloth for a month in revenge. See how he likes being the only human surrounded by twi'lek."

"I do apologize for assuming you were a gorgon," Verity said. "If it helps any, a major aspect of my, well, job is basically being a kind of ambassador to sapient non-humans."

In a very secret, 'let's not let the other humans know you exist' kind of way.

"I promise not to spend a great deal of time pointing out how human you're not in future conversations."

Hera shrugged. "At least you had a reason. And you know about other species. It seems like a lot of people here just haven't ever seen anyone but humans. I'm used to living in a mix of species and just being normal; it's really strange."

Verity nodded. "In my, uhh, version of reality, I guess, we spend a great deal of time keeping other humans ignorant of most species, both sapient and non. But that's because humanity's response to something new is either 'poke it with a stick for science' or 'kill it with fire.' And since most other species aren't real fond of either option, it's better for everyone if most humans stay ignorant of what's really out there."

Hera would've liked to say that wasn't true in her galaxy, but after seeing how the Empire handled aliens, she couldn't anymore.

"That seems sad," she offered instead. "Most of my best friends have been non-twi'lek; I can't imagine never knowing they existed."

"Sad for humans, sure, but the alternative is usually lethal for the cryptids involved, so..." Verity spread her hands. "My life would be emptier without them, but most people don't know what they're missing."

"Doesn't make it any less sad," Hera said, shrugging.

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-5 MCA, Friday Afternoon/Evening

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