6y 11m 3w 1d BV
John awoke slowly from his restful sleep to find Regalo curled up into a furry sleeping ball next to him. Oh my fucking god he is so cute and fucking adorable, no this is just too much I can’t handle how adorable this is I need to resist this. He thought he slowly reached out to Regalo. You need to exercise self control don’t do it DON’T DO IT. He thought was he slowly began petting Regalo. You are so weak.
Eventually he stopped petting the snoozing Gaoian and got out of bed. It was only when he left the room that he realised that he hadn’t showered at all since his abduction and he’d begun to smell a little musk. He quietly closed the bedroom door behind him and walked to the multispecies bathroom. What stunned john slightly was simply how large the room was. The toilet seemed to be a weird grey putty color with no definitive shape. The sink, however, was similar to the ones found on earth if again too big for human use. He noticed an interface by the toilet but chose to wait for Regalo to explain to him what the pad did lest he accidentally activate the self-destruct of the toilet when he meant to flush. He closed the door and stripped off his worn smelly clothes, leaving them in a messy pile by the showering cubicle. Damn this thing is freakin huge. You could have like 5 people in there showering. It could be this big to accommodate the Guvnurud- Gurvu- Guvnud- the big furry lighty ones. He thought as a control pad opened on the wall. On it was a list of all species currently a member of the Dominion. Unsure of which one would bathe similarly to humans John decided to opt for the Locayl option in the shower. Mercifully, warm water poured down from the ceiling and a weird spongy rock with some generic gel presented itself from a hidden compartment. John began to tentatively clean himself, using the spongy rock as a loufa. John simply stood in the rain of warm water, basking in the comfortable heat that embraced his body. Slowly he began to sing in the shower, even singing the instrumental parts with his almost none existent acapella skills. He was in the midst of air guitaring when a loud knock prematurely ended his performance.
“Are you alright in there? You were shouting and making strange noises,” Regalo’s slightly panicked voice sounded.
John’s cheeks turned a bright shade of red and replied. “No no I’m fine. I was just singing…”
There was silence at the door for a good while before John heard. “Carry on.”
John slowly began to resume his performance but with significantly less vigor than he had started with. When he finished showering he looked to the pad on the wall and clicked the red button and the water stopped. When john stepped out of the cubicle an absurdly large white towel hanging by the sink, which had most definitely not been there when he entered, greeted him. He wrapped the towel around himself until he resembled a human burrito. John awkwardly waddled out of the bathroom to see Regalo cooking.
“Hello Regalo.”
“Hello Jo-” Regalo stopped mid sentence as he simply observed the bizarre human burrito waddle away into their room. The sizzling of vegetables quickly brought back his attention as he cocked his head in a shrug at the human’s weird mannerisms. It was when John was in their room again that he realised he had no other clothes than the odorous pile he had left in the bathroom. Grumbling, he waddled back to the bathroom and came out clothed in his worn jeans and now stained undershirt.
“Regalo we’re going shopping today. You are coming with me since I can’t tell a phone apart from a microwave in this place,” John announced as he took a seat at the table. Regalo chittered slightly before replying, “You’re like a little cub.”
The two had quickly wolfed down their breakfast of grilled vegetables and set out into the station. The tall sterile hallways of the space station reminded John of a hospital for the unnaturally tall. Eventually they ended up in what seemed to be the market district of the station. Once more John was stunned by the sheer diversity of life. The novelty of being around so many strange creatures that were hardly analogous to anything on earth but this scene could have easily been pulled from any shopping mall on Earth. Baby aliens being herded by momma aliens, shopkeepers arguing with customers, they might as well have been in a London farmer’s market. Regalo rolled his eyes at the awe struck human. “Just like a little cub,” He teased. That seemed to snap John out of his reverie and grumbled slightly as the Gaoian led him by the hand to the many shops in the open square. Their first stop had been at a supermarket. Regalo gestured to John to get a basket as he set about decided what tonight’s meal was going to be. Regalo simply handed the produce to John who’d place it in their basket. Oh my god what is this purple thing? And what the fuck is this?! And that thing?! That looks like a dick. I ain’t eatin no space dick. Space didn’t turn me gay. John giggled immaturely as the running commentary in his head mused on about whether eating space dick would actually make you gay or not.
“What are you giggling about?” Regalo asked, not moving his eyes from the shelves of produce.
“O-oh nothing it’s just that…. That purple fruit you gave me looked like a [male genital],” John mumbled as his face reddened.
“Why are male genitals funny? Do your species find them funny?”
“Well yeah I guess but not all humans find them funny,” John answered awkwardly. An uncomfortable silence fell on them as they paid for their food and left. John looked to the other shops and noticed what looked like an electronics store. “Ooh! Ooh! I wanna go there and get some alien tech,” John excitedly barked. The human’s child like wonder with the world around him caused an instinctual surge of protectiveness from the Gaoian.
“Well I guess you’ll need a coms unit so we can communicate with each other while apart and I’ll need to help you link your Abductee Card to your coms so you won’t need to carry it around with you all the time,” Regalo thought out loud as they entered the electronics store. John was simply bedazzled by all the shiny alien things, each blinking and flashing lights as though they were each vying for his attention. “This one seems good,” Regalo commented as he took one of the models off the rack. It wasn’t particularly new nor special but hardy and durable. John looked at it with mild disappointment.
“But all the other ones are flashier and have cool looking lights n stuff.” He moaned. Regalo’s ears perked up and faced John, completing the stern look that cowed the mighty human. As the pair walked towards the cashier John stopped in his tracks before a rack of devices that all looked alike, the sign above them saying Interactive Map of the Galaxy.
“My [God] we are buying this, none negotiable,” John asserted as he took one of the small black boxes. Regalo sighed but let the human indulge in the frivolity of the device. It wasn’t like his species were going to be Dominion members any time soon. They paid for their goods and Regalo began teaching John how to use the coms unit.
“Ok John, this is how you turn it on.” He instructed. “Now that it’s on type in the information on your card to link your identity to the coms unit.”
“What does linking it do?”
“You won’t need to carry around that card of yours to pay for things but you’ll still need to present it when you’re travelling to different places.”
“So like a phone,” John interrupted. Regalo’s fur bristled in embarrassment as he forgot his friend’s species might have already invented similar devices. The small little coms glowed a sky blue, waiting for commands.
“Alright good now I’ll register my coms on it so you can contact me directly as long as we’re within light communications range from one another or send me a message from wherever and I’ll get it when I sync up my coms with the general network. Understanding it so far?”
John rolled his eyes at the question. “It’s not like my species doesn’t have stuff like this already. The only difference I can think of is linking my identity to it.” John elaborated. Regalo ducked his head in further embarrassment. Oh my god stop you’re too fucking adorable when you do that. John thought as he successfully resisted the urge to scratch behind Regalo’s ear.
“We need to get you new garments for the ones you’re wearing are really foul.” Regalo admitted. John knew his clothes probably smelled awful at this point but had no idea to what extent.
“Do I smell that bad?”
“People walk around us.”
John knitted his eyebrows together and looked around. Surely enough there was a healthy distance between them and the crowd, almost like a rock jutting out from a stream. John sheepishly nodded and the pair went to get clothes. A giant bat that manned the fabricator (which John felt should have been called nanoforge because that’s a cooler name) took their measurements and made 8 sets of clothes for each of them in varying colours. John thanked the giant bat for the clothes, which seemed to shock it.
The odd duo rapidly made their way home to change out of their smelly, worn clothes. Regalo noted the surprised look on some of the sophonts at how much John was carrying as they passed by.
When they got back, John tossed their purchases in the kitchen and retreated into their room to change. Regalo followed after the human but the door to their room was locked.
“John the door’s locked could you open up?”
“Just wait! I just got in to change for Christ’s sake,” The human called back.
Regalo simply cocked his head and went back to the kitchen to start organizing their midday meal, although they were very much past midday. Regalo had just selected the ingredients he’d need to make something analogous to a Gaoian stew before John exited the room. The Human was wearing a comfortably loose red shirt with a pair of black trousers.
“I feel cleaner already.” He sighed as he took a seat on the couch in their living room. Regalo rolled his eyes as he went to change into different robes. John lounged on their couch as he looked to the TV only to find that he had not the faintest idea as to how to turn on the display, let alone change channels. Soon enough Regalo emerged in a cerulean robe.
“Hey Regalo could you tell me how to this thing on,” John asked but no sooner then he expressed for it to turn on did the TV turn on. The Human jumped by the sudden activity from the display causing the couch to crack slightly under the sudden force. “Well never mind,” the human mumbled as the Gaoian chittered.
John watched the Dominion News Network (DNN) as Regalo made their late midday meal.
“Can the Dominion keep up with their attack on the Celzi Alliance?”
“Well, no, Rkktptt. Unless the Dominion can get more ships to hold the supply lines our troops are going to be cut off and surrounded by the recovering Celzi force. In the grand scheme of things…”
“Hey Regalo what’s the Celzi Alliance,” John asked as the news anchors kept debating the Dominion’s precarious position.
“The Celzi Alliance is a coalition of species that seceded from the Dominion on the grounds that each species should be able to claim whatever planet and system they want through military expansion. The Dominion doesn’t like that so they’re at war.” John was slightly surprised at how informed his friend was and turned around to ask him how he knew. “I tried to join the Whitecrest Clan and keeping up to date on such matters was very important for the exam,” the Gaoian answered before the human could so much as utter a word. John wondered what being a part of the Whitecrest signified but he chalked it up to either space James Bond or space nerds.
“So how does the Dominion let people claim planets?” John asked as he heard chopping coming from the kitchen.
“In a technical sense the Dominion owns all planets and systems but species can either buy systems or the Dominion gifts them.” John nodded seeing how the system allowed for peaceful expansion. The news had shifted to celebrity gossip of which star did what. John rolled his eyes but kept watching out of sheer boredom. Doesn’t matter if you’re in space, celebs will always get up to dumb shit. He thought as a pixilated picture of the latest scandal aired.
“Alright enough TV for you. Anymore and your brain will rot away from the sheer stupidity of this,” The Gaoian teased as he used his coms to turn off the TV. “Midday meal is ready.”
Both John and the couch groaned as the human got up to go join the Gaoian for a meal. They ate their steamed vegetables as they discussed the events of the day and what they’d seen on the news. By the time they had finished their meals and done the dishes it was already time for John to go play for the Locayl.
John arrived at the bar and already he noticed a good deal more people than there was yesterday. “Ah! If it isn’t my favorite Humanity! Come come, the crowd is eager. Many here have brought family and friends to see you perform.” The Locayl’s neck bulge seemed to shrink in eagerness. John smiled and nodded gracefully at his employer.
“Then I hope they will appreciate what I have in store for them.”
With that, John walked up to the spot he had picked last night. When the human had opened his violin case everyone in the restaurant was silenced. With baited breath they waited as they human took out the instrument and began to tune it. Those who were new looked to their spouses with bemused looks before John started playing. The piece he had chosen for tonight was elegance turned to sound. The regality of the piece seemed to flow from the instrument as even the rougher-looking patrons suddenly fixed their postures and manners. Suddenly the human began to speed up. The audience let out a collective gasp as the human sped up even more. John closed his eyes as he lost himself to the music. Soon enough the piece returned to the original pace. The piece ended as it had begun, with the utmost distinction and dignity. The audience let out a dignified round of applause, in awe of the human’s skill with the instrument. As he did last night, he took out his iPod and connected it to the speakers. He made a face as he got a warning for how low the battery was. I’ll need to record the backing tracks on something I can recharge, he thought has he selected the backing track. As soon as the track played John jumped to play the invigorating tune as he stomped his foot. The beat of the music seemed to pulse through the crowd as they too began to stomp along with the human. John closed his eyes as the music coursed through him, sharply swinging his hips to the sides in time with the beat instead of stomping. This prompted the Patrons to join in on the dancing, each species dancing some variant of what John was doing. At the end of the song John was smiling and panting from the exertion and concentration. The patrons roared wildly as the human took a bow.
“One more song! One more song!” John was very much happy to oblige them.
“Now who here is tired from all that dancing we did!” The audience let out a general agreement. John nodded and closed his eyes as he contemplated which peace to play them next.
“Now this final piece of music will help you prepare for an easy night’s sleep.”
John took a deep breath before he began playing the final piece of the night. While John’s previous pieces were typically passion turned to sound this one was delicate.
Revno adored this last piece. Whilst the other ones had lit a flame in his heart this one brought about a stillness in his soul so profound he doubted he’d ever felt so calm in his life. The stream of emotions that usually dominate any sane sophont’s mind seemed to freeze before the melody. It was as if winter had come and his consciousness was snuggled warmly in the glow of happy memories, of contented days spent relaxing. Revno’s thyroid dropped further down his neck as all his muscles relaxed under the calming power of the tune. He looked around at his restaurant and was surprised to find some patrons asleep at their tables, their faces buried in their food. He mentally sighed in this blissful winter that had occupied his mind. He leaned back in his chair and let the stillness that winter usually brought with it slowly take over his mind. Revno was soon sound asleep.
John had finished the piece and looked to the audience to judge their reaction. Much to the human’s surprise, everyone had fallen asleep. John wasn’t exactly sure what to do next. They teach you good concert etiquette that covers everything and yet they do not teach you what to do when the aliens in the crowd have fallen asleep. God do I just wake them up? Do I leave them? Do I leave their hands in warm water? Would that even work? So many questions. He thought as he packed away his violin. John slowly tiptoed through the crowd of slumbering aliens and back home.
John opened the door, “Honey I’m home!”
Regalo cocked his head as he was setting the table and asked, “What’s honey?”
John simply waived his hand, dismissing the question. He left his violin case by the chair in their living room and Helped the Gaoian set the table for dinner.
“Regalo you won’t believe what happened at the bar tonight. Everyone fell asleep when I played the last song. I swear it was just ridiculous. I mean I’ve played that to people before and sure it’s a calming relaxed song but I doubt Vivaldi ever thought aliens would be put to sleep by it,” John giggled.
Regalo perked up his ears in surprised.
“They all fell asleep? I mean I’ve never heard you play your iolin but I doubt that they all fell asleep.”
“You’ll see tomorrow.”
Regalo rolled his eyes and took a seat at the table. The pair had begun eating in silence but something was bothering John. I know I bought a thing today. It was a cool thing but what the hell was it called? Galaxy mapper? Google Galaxy? Map of the Galaxy? Ah fuck it I’ll just ask Regsy. “Hey Regalo what was that thing I bought at that electronics store called?” Regalo scratched his chin as he thought of what they had purchased through the day. “I believe we bought a T85 Endurance coms unit and an interactive map of the galaxy.” John slapped his hand on the table, causing the Gaoian to jump.
“Yes! The map! Come on I wanna use the map!” Regalo chittered at the human’s cub like excitement.
“Just finish your dinner first then we can play with the Galaxy map.” John made a face and quickly wolfed down his dinner. It wasn’t like he knew how to operate the device. Regalo, on the other hand took a while longer to finish his plate. Does he have hands or are they called paws? Together they brought the small projector into the living room and turned it on. The small black box broadcasted a 3D hologram of the explored galaxy. John gasped at the sheer beauty that was the universe. Well Galaxy but who the fuck’s counting. He beheld the millions of systems scattered about like a rich tapestry.
“My God… Just…. Wow,” John mumbled as he beheld the glory of existence. Regalo fondly stared at his human companion’s wonder. Regalo waved his hand at the display to show all the territory the Dominion had taken up. He looked to his coms and linked it to the galaxy map then clicked the option to colour systems according to which alliance they belonged to.
“Now see, this huge red part is the Celzi alliance. We’re here close to the border of that war. We are right here.” Gaoian pointed to a dot and the map automatically zoomed in at that point showing them the station they were at. John was still bedazzled by the shiny lights.
“Where’s your world? Gorai,” John asked, as he looked over the star map in a futile attempt to find the world. Regalo tapped at his coms and Gorai came into view. The world was green with cerulean oceans. There were high peaks on one of the continents but that was the world’s only defining feature.
“I was meant to arrive there and start a clan. All my things were there too…” Regalo sighed as he thought of the future that could have been. He turned to find the human staring intensely at him with those predatory eyes. It slightly unnerved the Gaoian.
The human turned his fiery eyes to the representation of Gorai. Regalo hadn’t ever seen that look on John.
“Regalo, we’re going to get you to Gorai,” the human declared as he turned to face his friend. Regalo was stunned by the declaration for a moment then collected himself somewhat to form a response.
“I-it’s months away! Even with FTL travel straight to it it’d take weeks to get to it! We don’t have enough supplies to get us that far and don’t tell me you’ll just use the credits the Dominion gave you because even that will run out before we get to Gorai!” John had a counter.
“I’m gonna be the best musician in the Dominion and I can’t do that by staying in a space station near a war front. You have given me this goal so let me thank you. I will get you to Gorai and that is final so help me God I will get you there even if it’s the last thing I do because one of us will get home Regalo. One of us will get home.” John firmly declared. Quietly he repeated, “One of us will get home.” You furry little bastard you will not win this argument. I will win this and I will get you home and you will go back to your giant raccoon girlfriend and have lots of little raccoon babies and then tell those little raccoon babies that there was this one dude called John who was pretty cool.
“We’ll use that ship we nabbed from the Greys. I’ll pay to have that ship’s insides changed so it could be like a flying theatre. We’ll go planet to planet and perform and get lots and lots of money so we can get a better cooler ship. By the time you make it back to Gorai there won’t be a single Gaoian who won’t know the name Regalo of whatever you name your clan!” John announced at the galaxy map as though he was announcing it to every creature in the galaxy.
“We can’t refit ships on this scale John! If we were to go with this absurd plan of yours we’d need a whole new ship. The only shipyard station near here is Irbzrk!”
“Then I will go on the alien internet and order one from alien amazon.”
“That doesn’t even make any sense!”
“Damn it Regalo I am taking you back to Gorai so you can either help me figure this out or let me get swindled of 485 credits on things I don’t understand.”
Regalo growled slightly at how stubborn John was being. It was practically impossible for them to travel all the way to Gorai from here but John didn’t seem to accept the futile nature of the task he had set for himself.
“…What do you want to name the ship.”
“What?”
“I said what do you want to name the ship. If I’m placing an order for a ship they’re gonna need a name for it.”
John thought for a good few minutes before deciding upon a name
“The Lost Minstrel.”