The canteen was a highly trafficked area of the O.R.C.A which always had an unpleasant combination of sights and smells. It exhausted Pearl to eat there at any time other than breakfast (which she found she ate somewhat ahead of most people) but she’d recently been attempting to build her tolerance through exposure. With that in mind she’d gone to the canteen shortly after leaving Cohen and the engineers to their repairs - checking her Notepad briefly to find that Olaan had unsurprisingly refrained from responding to her earlier offer. She wasn’t even sure co had heard it.

Pearl had asked the crewman on kitchen duty what he recommended and now stared at the unfamiliar dish, standing behind an unoccupied table. It was a dish which had been highly recommended by several of the crew, ‘pizza’, but she had no idea how to eat it and neither the smell nor aesthetic was appetizing. 

Pearl poked the toppings with her finger. They did not move.

Perhaps she should have gone ‘first things first’ and stuck with a more familiar meal if she was going to eat it entirely in the busy canteen, she thought. As she thought this, she scanned the room in an attempt to find someone else eating pizza so she could copy their method of consumption. Instead, her eyes landed on a familiar Teretiwelligan who was pushing through the crowd.

“Pearl, hi!” Yaann cried out, her lackadaisical smile still in place despite having been whisked away for a conference with the captain shortly after Pearl called in the potential Kragorian threat. In contrast to everyone else, the woman was holding a tray piled high with nothing but vegetables and desserts. 

“It’s good to see you, you weren’t at that meeting,” Yaan said, sidling up next to Pearl. Like her, she also neglected to sit down upon reaching the table.

Pearl regarded the woman’s tray with interest, picking up one of her desserts and inspecting it closely. It seemed the Teretiwelligan had poured soup over her meal in its entirety. “I am not a senior member of staff. My presence wouldn’t be required in a tactical meeting.”

Suddenly, Pearl remembered that touching others’ food was frowned upon. She quickly handed the cake back to Yaann who blinked at it sleepily before opening her mouth and consuming it in one bite. Pearl tilted her head, curious, as Yaann continued their conversation.

“They’re bullying you? That’s so mean! Is that why you aren’t sitting down? I’d offer space on our ship but your captain seems pretty mad at us right now so we’re all trying to uhh keep the boat steady, you dig?”

“I am perfectly happy where I am. I’m not-” Pearl paused. She had been about to explain in depth what her position on the O.R.C.A entailed but by looking into the woman’s eyes she knew that not a word of it would be retained. Instead she sat down, exhaling as Yaann immediately sat down beside her, curling her tail around Pearl’s waist and giggling. 

“Yaann, what happened in your meeting?” She asked instead.

“Your captain was real mad about the whole thing but how were we supposed to know it was dangerous?” Yaann asked, beginning to eat everything gathered on her tray without distinction as Pearl watched. “We, like, thought it was fine since it was abandoned and everything. But everyone was saying it might be a trap!”

“A trap?” Pearl asked, tearing the flattened bread roll from the rest of the pizza. She knew that at least had a high chance of tasting good. Bread was one of the wider universe’s finest achievements in her mind.

Yaann nodded, speaking around the food in her mouth. “Mhm. Uh….I don’t really remember ‘cause I don’t like arguing. It’s too harsh for me. They were saying something about cheese and mice? Is this cheese, by the way?”

Pearl turned to look. “I am not quite familiar with Human foo- oh, no. That is iced tea.”

“Is this cheese?” 

“That is a fork.”

Yaann giggled. “I was teasing you that time!”

Pearl tilted her head. She was unsure about ‘teasing’ - whether it was good or bad. “I see,” she lied.

After that the conversation drifted to other topics. Pearl managed to learn a few things about Teretiwelligan technology, culture, and Yaann in particular. She had gone to school for something translated as ‘mellow making’ and graduated top of her class which was how she was selected to aid Luuu so closely. Her species widely strived to live at one with nature and the universe’s ‘natural rhythms’ and to this end even manmade structures were typically designed to look as organic as possible if they weren’t rejected by the government for being too antithetical to the natural world.

Apparently, they’d been able to space travel only after several generations of protests and petitioning which led to new blood being elected into office and redefining what was ‘natural’ to include the universe at large, giving scientists permission to strive for the stars.

Pearl listened carefully, taking notes, and Yaann reciprocated with enthusiasm, oohing and aahing as Pearl attempted to describe what an underwater city looked like.

“You’re so lucky! Our planet is mostly protected forests and farmland. I want to see a tall building one day, a really really tall one,” Yaann told her with a grin. “That’s why I wanted to explore space in the first place.”

“Is that all?” Pearl asked. “How strange.”

“Yep, I wanted to see one with my own eyes,” Yaann said dreamily, nodding. “Spires as far as the eye can see…”

As Pearl watched her, though she still thought it frivolous, she found herself hoping that that dream would come true.

Olaan had called Teretiwelligans incompetents who should not be allowed to space travel. While Pearl still agreed to some extent (they had proven themselves to be a monumentally careless bunch who were potentially putting all of their lives in jeopardy), she could not bring herself to say that they shouldn’t be allowed access to the stars.

Once they’d finished eating and put their trays away, Pearl turned to bid Yaann goodbye only to find her bicep firmly in the woman’s grip.

“Hey, Pearlie. Let’s explore the ship together, alright? Show me around a bit!” Yaan exclaimed. 

Pearl winced, avoiding eye contact with the exuberant woman.

“I’m quite new to the ship myself. Another guide might be more informative.”

“I don’t really care about ‘informative’...my people like people more than anything! Or is it peace? Or…nature…?” Yaann paused, giving the matter some thought before shrugging. “One of those things. Oh! Or music…I guess we like a lot of things but ‘informative’ isn’t one of ‘em.”

That is obvious, Pearl thought with a sigh which she barely held back. She did have work to do despite what Yaann seemed to think. Though she held the nebulous title of ‘inventor’ she mainly worked in ship optimization - going from department to department and seeing if anything important was broken, slow, or subpar. Currently, she was certain that her presence would be required with engineering and the defense team had requested that she take a look at the ship’s shields due to Opranov being famous for its planetary defense system.

Her reluctance must have shown in her demeanor because Yaann wilted, her hand slipping away.

“Umm…if you don’t want to, that's fine! I’ll just find someone else or go on my own…it’ll be like an adventure! I’ve never been on a ship this big before,” Yaann said, obviously trying to cover her disappointment.

Though she’d never been as exuberant, for a brief moment Pearl saw herself from only a month or so earlier. Hadn’t she been in Yaann’s position? Lost, unsure, overwhelmed by the feeling of overwhelm despite her determination to continue on? It was strange how quickly one could acclimate to what was once shining and new. It was frightening how quickly one could change themself to fit what was around them.

Strangely, she remembered Opranov. During one of many decision hearings a government official had told her that to leave Opranov was to become something else.

“No one, not a one in this planet’s history, has ever left it. To be Novian is to reside on Opranov. What sort of creature will you become out there?”

Though the words had been said in outrage, distance tempered them. What sort of creature would she be, Pearl thought. What sort of person would being amongst non-Novians turn her into? 

The thought of changing scared her as much as she desired it and, looking across at Yaann, she wondered if this woman was frightened as well - despite her bright facade. Though she’d been asked to lead the way, Pearl herself was still attempting to tread water - though she’d been saved from drowning twice. 

What sort of person…?

Pearl suddenly bowed at the waist, startling some nearby crewmen. “Please allow me to guide you,” she said.

Yaann blinked then laughed, crouching down and patting the top of Pearl’s head. Though she was clearly unfamiliar with the gesture, she was attempting to return it. They were explorers in an unfamiliar world, the two of them.

“Huuh? Wasn’t I the one who asked you?” Yaann asked, and when Pearl raised her head she saw that the woman was grinning once again.