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Sandy Bubbles
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“K-Kuvusha?” He has an easier time saying my name than I do his, apparently.
>To explain your dramatic reaction share that you just got here
... I guess it’s probably safe to reveal some of my situation.
“... Um, sorry. I’m ... very new to this job.”
>Politely ask it to sit or lie down a little aways from the glass, and to try to not show it's teeth or claws overly much
... That’s not a bad idea. I pause, thinking of how I want to phrase it. I know he asked if I was scared a moment ago, but at least for the sake of keeping him calm I ... probably shouldn’t openly say he’s intimidating.
“... Can you, um ... I promise I’m not going to collapse like that again. You don’t need to be right up against the glass ...” I think that’s indirect enough ...
“... O-oh, um, sorry.” He backs up a little bit, though he’s still pretty close.
“It’s alright, Orro. Now —”
>Explain that the main purpose of your studying him is to aid in his - and others' - recovery from, you suspect, whatever phenomenon or effect brought him here
>Tell Orro you mean, more- watching, talking to, interacting with- try to understand, that sort of thing.
“— to try to phrase it better ... I guess I could say that my job is to interact with you. Like getting to know each other, but I write things down sometimes. And hopefully help you recover from ...” I pause again. I don’t actually know what he went through. I don’t think calling it “translation” is going to help either of us, either.
“... f-from?”
>Find out if he remembers how he got here
>Ask him what he remembers about the events that led to him being here.
“... What do you remember about how you got here?”
He doesn’t immediately respond, and looks away from me for a bit.
“... I-I ...”
There’s a long pause.
“... I-I’d ...” His voice is shaking a bit.
... This may not be a good question to start with. I give him an out.
“If you don’t want to talk about it right now, you don’t have to.”
“That’s ... y-yeah ...”
I’ll have to come back to it, I guess ...
>Name, species name, gender, social status, recent events, needs, pressing concerns and the like!
I know his name already, at least.
“So, Orro ... what kind of, um ... what are you, exactly? They gave me a file on you but it was ... lacking.”
“O-oh! I’m, um, a numono.” Unsurprisingly, I’ve never heard that word. “A male one. We, um ...”
He pauses, presumably thinking. ... I guess I’d have a hard time coming up with an answer if an alien put me on the spot and asked me to explain what a tridenik is. I was right about him being male, at least.
“... w-well, um, the other species we know of say we eat a lot and we’re kind of clumsy. And we’re, um ... t-tough. On average. I-I don’t think I’m very tough.” There’s another pause. “Oh! And we have, um, ‘empathy,’ that lets us sense each other from a distance, and read our emotions a little bit. A-and we live in ... ‘hives’ ...”
He trails off a little. He seems to be using some words in a weird way ... I’m not completely sure how we’re able to understand each other, but maybe it has something to do with that?
>Is he actually speaking your language, or are you just hearing it that way?
He's speaking my language. Somehow.
I’m about to ask another question when he talks again.
“... I-I’m not going to get to go back home, am I?”
“I ...” I think he’s right, but I don’t think I want to tell him that. “I don’t know, Orro.”
He breaks eye contact and turns to one side, staring at nothing in particular. For a good minute or so, he doesn’t say anything, looking positively forlorn. I’m just about to try to move to another topic when he starts talking again.
“Numono live in hives. T-they’re sort of like ... a family or a tribe or something, but ... m-more ... ? It’s ... hard to explain to other species. There’s this sense of ... belonging coming from everyone around you, and it’s always there. M-my hive is called Daystar ... t-there aren’t that many of us, but we’re doing pretty well. We do, um ... a-accounting, and that kind of thing, for bigger hives that don’t want to spend that much time on it ...” He pauses again, and sighs.
“... This is the longest I’ve ever been away from them. I-in my entire life. I-I don’t know how many days it’s been, but even just the ones I remember ...” His voice is weaker as he trails off.
“I-I ... I don’t know how to deal with being alone, Kuvusha ...”
... What can I possibly say to comfort him?
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