The team dinner was closer than I thought it was. The schedule for all team dinners was posted on bulletin boards on every floor but I’d never bothered to check them. Reading Alunai and understanding it were two different things.

“Do you want to work while you’re gone or should I count your time away as vacation?” Siele asked me suddenly.

We had been very quiet doing our own thing until she spoke. “Can I? I will if I can.” I already felt guilty that I was suddenly leaving work for weeks so soon after starting. Besides, I had to be away because Aubyn was going to be away. I didn’t need a vacation.

“You don’t have to but I thought I should throw it out there that you have options. I still want you to enjoy yourself. I hear Tsuk’ki is a beautiful country. I will email you with assignments and as long as you get them done and sent to me by the end of the week, I’ll count your working hours for the week completed. Deal?”

“Deal.” I was lucky. I never had a job before, but I knew for a fact that most bosses weren’t anywhere near this relaxed.

“Will you be alright getting to the restaurant on your own, or do you want to come with me?” Siele asked the day of.

“I’ll ride with you if you don’t mind.”

Taking her up on her offer sounded better than trying to navigate around bus routes and train lines. I’d gotten used to getting to work and I knew how to get to the closest shopping district, but anywhere else and I’d probably end up lost. With Sang and Aubyn not being able to show up until later, I’d rather stick with a friendly face instead of going on my own.

After work, I left for Balela to get something light to eat. Siele had recommended the family-run eatery to me on my first day working but I hadn’t had the time to check it out. Since I needed to wait around an hour for Siele to finish work for the day, I figured I’d stop by for something light. She had agreed to come to get me when she was ready.

I wanted to drink but I didn’t want to risk getting drunk. To slow the effects of the alcohol, I knew I needed to have something in my stomach.

The small restaurant was really nice. There wasn’t anyone else inside which made it less awkward for me to try to speak to the older man who welcomed me inside. I could tell the moment he realized I wasn’t a vacura. His eyes grew slightly and he suddenly looked apprehensive. Even so, he served me one of the sides I saw on the handwritten menu and bowed when I did. I had tried speaking as much Alunai as possible, but I always felt nervous that my accent was off or others simply couldn’t understand me.

I wasn’t sure what I’d ordered, but what came smelled and tasted like that one toast I routinely ordered from the café I ate breakfast at but in paste form with a stronger smell. It was a little fishy, salty and filled with all sorts of spices that I couldn’t recognize. It came with what looked to be plain, thick, round crackers that tasted really bland on their own but helped balance the strong, salty, peppery taste of the paste. With that, I got a warm, red drink that I believed was made from flowers.

When I finished eating, I paid and thanked the couple. The older woman who I assumed was his wife had joined him when I was halfway through my meal. They didn’t seem to mind when I retook my seat to wait for Siele. They simply cleared my table and left me alone, occasionally glancing in my direction even when other customers came in.

Siele sent me a message when she was outside. I put my things together and bowed to the couple as I was leaving. The woman held up her hand and ran off before I could ask her what she needed. She was back in less than a minute with a small bag.

“For me?” I asked hesitantly, pointing to myself with one hand while reaching out to take the bag with the other. “Y?”

“De,” the woman said with a nod, pressing the bag into my hand. “Cohi.”

Though unsure of what that meant, I bowed my head and closed my fingers around the bag. “Ni domao,” I said, thanking her.

When I got outside, Siele was waiting. She raised her hand when she saw me and got into the vehicle when I started heading in her direction. I was just going to call it a vehicle. The design was unlike the ones on Earth but I was starting to get used to it.

“Siele-sumeo?”

“Hmm?”

“What does ‘cohi’ mean?” I asked after spending a full minute struggling to find out how to strap myself to the seat.

“Uh… dessert, I think. A sweet one.”

“Aren’t all desserts supposed to be sweet?”

“Well, here, there are sweet and savoury desserts. Sweet ones are eaten after the main meal, and savoury ones are eaten before the main meal. Think of the word to mean snack to make it simpler because it just means ‘small meal’.”

“The lady at the restaurant gave me this,” I explained, tapping my finger on the bag I held in my lap. “She said ‘cohi’ when she gave it to me. I wasn’t sure what that was, but I thanked her anyway.”

“Oh? What is it?”

“I’m still not that versed in Karysian food so…” I opened the bag and took out the box inside. Maybe a slice of cake? I opened the box. Inside, was a square slice of what looked like cake with a pile of powder atop and surrounding it. “Not sure what this is.”

Siele glanced over into the box. “Oh! I know what that is. It’s a cake made of tun. Tun is like coconut, and the cake is made with strong, creamy alcohol.”

“And the powder?”

“Axam. It’s not Karysian food. It’s Tsuk’kian food.”

That piqued my interest. “Food from Tsuk’ki?”

“That couple from Balela travel a lot. They sell their versions of their favourite foods from their travels in their little restaurant. It’s probably not going to taste like the real thing since tun doesn’t grow in Karys and can be difficult to get, but it should be close enough.”

“I think I’ll save it for later,” I said. I wanted to wait to share it with Aubyn. Even if it tasted differently, it may just remind him of home. Hastily, I took a picture of the treat and sent it to him, then closed the box before I could spill any of the powder inside.

It didn’t take us very long to get to the restaurant where everyone was supposed to meet up. I realized most people walked or took public transportation in Baxat which would explain the lack of traffic pretty much everywhere.

When we went inside, many of our coworkers were already there. By ‘many’, I meant around fifteen, and I could tell our party by the joined tables of familiar dark blue uniforms. I dragged my feet behind Siele as we neared the table, nervousness now creeping at the sight of everyone. I was so fixated on the table we were approaching that I hadn’t noticed the usual curious stares of other patrons realizing I wasn’t one of them.

Siele took my hand and pulled me to her side when she stopped at the head of the table. In Alunai, she got everyone’s attention and began her greeting. When she introduced me, she placed her hand on my lower back and nudged me slightly forward. Miraculously managing to not bite my tongue, I introduced myself in Alunai and bowed to the table. They all clapped, which surprised me. I thought it was going to be an awkward meeting.

“Some aren’t here yet, but they should be coming later,” Siele said. “Have a seat and order. Do you need help?”

I was about to tell her I’d probably need help with the menu but changed my mind when I caught movement from the corner of my eye. Matis. He was waving at me and gesturing to the seat next to him. “I’ll be fine,” I told her, then left her to sit next to Matis.

“I hear you leave for some weeks,” Matis said before taking a sip of his indigo-coloured drink.

“Yeah. I’ll be working, just not at the office.”

“Ah, too bad. You just get to meet everybody.”

“There’s always time to get to know everyone when I get back from Tsuk’ki.”

Matis took out his phone. “Can I… get your contact?”

“M-Mine? S-S-Sure.” I fumbled while taking out my own phone. I didn’t know how to share my contact, so Matis had to show me.

“Message me when you are away, yes? Take lots of pictures since I never been to Tsuk’ki before.”

“Enough to make you wish you were on vacation too?”

“Yes.” He slid the menu over to me. “Hungry? The company pays.”

A normal life with friends had seemed so far out of reach before, but here I was promising to send pictures of my trip to a coworker.

I was feeling a bit peckish despite my earlier meal but I couldn’t understand anything on the menu. Thankfully, there were pictures and I pointed at two dishes that I’d like to try along with the drink he was having. “Have you tried these? Are they any good?”

“I like. The plate is big.”

Unlike any other eatery I’d dined in, the serving sizes were big as Matis had warned. It was as if I had ordered to share with the table. I first thought I had made a mistake, but as more food started to arrive at the table and I saw everyone taking a bit of everything, I realized then why the serving sizes were so large.

When my drink came, the shy female waitress bowed slightly to me just before running off to whisper to another waitress. They not-so-subtly glanced in my direction as they whispered to each other, only being broken up by a patron asking for a drink. On Earth, that would have raised a red flag for me. But here, in Karys, I had no idea if that was a good or bad thing. I’d been living here for months but I still couldn’t get a feel of the people and how they saw me. Aside from Af’fy, that was.

“What is this little thing?” Matis asked, pointing to the phoenix charm hanging from my bracelet. “Guaxar?”

Since I got it, I hadn’t ever taken it off. “It’s a phoenix.” I tried to find a way to explain it. “It’s a bird that can be reborn from its own ashes.”

“Uliyo? Earth has animals like that?”

“Well, not really. It’s not real. It’s a myth. But the bird symbolizes rebirth and healing. A friend of mine gave it to me as a gift before I moved here.”

“Cool. Really good friend.”

“Yeah. She was.” I held my drink up to my mouth and was immediately assaulted by its strong scent. My mind went fuzzy for a moment and I had to pause before taking a sip. It was sweet. Sweet with a rich, strong aftertaste. "Is this alcohol?" I asked Matis.

"Alcohol? Yes. Really strong alcohol. You don’t like?” he asked.

“I don’t mind it.” The dangerous part of the drink was that it didn’t burn on the way down like Earth’s alcoholic drinks did. Usually, the burn prevented me from chugging back a glass of strong liquor. There was no strong, bitter flavour in my syrupy drink either. Just a rich sweetness of the indigo-coloured drink. “It tastes really good.” Good in the way chocolate truffles tasted. Rich to the point of being nearly overwhelming, yet really addicting. Since I was unable to measure how strong it really was, I decided to limit myself to one glass and made sure to eat between sips.