Firebrand
Inactive Member
LSDF Val'ta, Deck 7, Hangar
The doors to the hangar opened, and in stepped Ny'za, she was not in her uniform, but rather the standard issue work out gear. It was obvious that she had been using it too, since the white shirt was soaked in sweat and she was wiping herself off with a towel.
To the majority of the crew on shift in the hangar, this was starting to become a regular sight, the bespectacled Lmanel showing up early in the day after a hard work out. No one stopped her since they already knew why she was there as she made her way over towards one of the Whirlwind frames.
Of course today would be more out of the ordinary than what she was usually used to, her morning routine on the verge of being interrupted. That was because of one Menelik Berhane's new, My'ean approved training schedule. He had woken up even earlier than Ny'za had and immediately gone on a run around the ship to get himself warmed up, before going on a simulated training mission in one of the simulators. After that, he got out and went for another run, making laps around the hangar till he'd run four kilometers. Then and only then would he get back inside of the simulator for more training.
It was a rough, crash sort of training program, and look at that he was rounding the Whirlwinds just as Ny'za was coming up to them. The glasses wearing woman had been toweling sweat from her eyes, while the Nepleslian had been doing the same. This meant that despite being on a collision course, neither saw the other till they were almost doomed to run into one another.
It wasn't too late though, as Menelik did the best thing he could think to do: he did his best to juke to the side and get out of her way before bowling her over, but he was still a big guy. As is, he slowed down just enough to reach out for the L'manel's shoulders to stop his momentum and keep her from being bowed down by him.
Ny'za came to a stop as Menelik approached with his jog, she could hear his footsteps and breathing and knew he was coming in her direction. She didn't bother to stop what she had been doing though and let him try to avoid her. Once it was all said and done though she lowered her towel and adjusted her glasses before she looked over at him.
There was a long pause before she spoke trying to pick out her words. “You are... a Nepleslian soldier? Shouldn't you be sleeping like..morning wood?” There was uncertainty in her speech she felt like she had said something wrong but she was not sure what, but it was pretty obvious. She shrugged it off though and continued to speak. “It is not nearly time for the morning shift.”
The Marine shook his head, looking at the woman he had almost run into- and becoming quite aware of the rosy blush on his cheeks. With a step back to give her some space, the heavily built man offered the winged woman his hand and a smile. "Being asleep right now would probably get My'ean on my ass, I need to be awake and training early if I want to have any hope of becoming a pilot." There was the temptation to laugh at her bad turn of phrase, but he shrugged it off. "It's 'sleeping like a log', ma'am. Morning Wood is... well, it's something they taught us jarheads back in sex ed." Chuckling at his joke now, he looked Ny'za in the eye. "Menelik Berhane, Nepleslian Space Marine Corps."
The shorter woman held her hand out and shook his, the transparency of her shirt rather apparent now that the towel wasn't in front of her. “I see ...there are too many phrases with wood in it in your language. And I am Pitch.” After shaking his hand she looked over to the large frames they had in store.
“Sleep is important, especially if you're not used to your schedule. As a pilot your mind will get fatigued before your body does.” She softly added, not seeming to mind her own clothes at the moment.
His eyes didn't immediately lock onto her chest, but he instead focused on her eyes and face and how it all just seemed to work together. She was...cute in his opinion, but he was running into attractive women every five seconds on this ship. Still, there was something nice about the woman.
"I get plenty of sleep, ma'am, so don't worry about me clonking out in the middle of the firefight." There was another pause from him. "I mean you can worry about me, that's always a nice thing to have, but I'm responsible enough to not push myself too far." He smiled confidently at her, then realized that he probably looked like a goofy idiot wearing the skintight contact suit My'ean had assigned to him. He'd worn it so much these past few days that he didn't notice it sometimes; the tight and form fitting material showing off the large marine's herculean form.
"You say you're a pilot too? So you know how My'ean probably won't let us get ourselves killed by training too hard, right?"
Pitch looked the man over some, the suit drew attention for a number of reasons, but a male of his stature was a bit unusual to her. “I don't really know My'ean personally. She is pretty famous for a pilot though, I would think as long as your body can keep up with a Lorath's she wont end up over working you.” She chuckled softly and dried her hair. “I take it though since you're in such a suit, you're doing some simulations right? Are you just trudging through the pre-made scenarios or are you working on something?”
"I'm working on the pre-made scenarios- actually using the Winter II is pretty easy after you get the hang of it, but mastering it, using it to its full potential and not just as a big power armor? That's the hard part." Mene returned her smile and started to walk alongside Pitch, a happy look on his face.
"As for keeping up with her, I've managed it so far in training. And if piloting doesn't work out, I can always do my best to make sure that you Lorath don't think all foreigners are bad."
Pitch had a surprised look on her face when she heard mention of the WINTER II “You are working with the WINTER II? I piloted one of those three years back when it was undergoing prototyping. I had to leave much of the work to intent recognition, I would imagine it's pretty complicated to work with though for your first frame…”
Remembering the time she had to pilot the WINTER II brought back some not exactly pleasant memories, but she was fond of the sensation of piloting the frame, even more so than she was of the AMX 100 series, which was her specialty. “Nepleslians like doing things the hard way don't they?”
"Only when it gets better results. If I can do something easier and get a better outcome than slamming my head against it, you'll bet I will." His smile became toothy for a second.
"And, yeah. My'ean has me training on the Winter II. I was even in one the first time I piloted a Frame. Its weird but I enjoy it." He gazed over the woman again, and offered her his hand.
"Say... Pitch? How do you feel about getting breakfast together? I managed to make something I used to love having for breakfast at home, and I was wondering if you'd like to share it?"
“Hmm I suppose I could eat now instead of after my training, though...” She pulled at her shirt some looking down. “I' don't think I can go to the mess hall like this.” She let go of her shirt and sighed. “You said you cooked something though, do you have it here?”
That... got Menelik to look direct at Pitch's breasts. Which further caused his face to go red and him to look back up at her face quite forcefully. "It's not in the mess hall, ma'am." He said a bit pointedly.
"I mean, I had it with me before entering the simulator, so if you'll just let me go get it. You aren't a vegetarian, are you?" He asked her, hoping to change the subject immediately.
Underneath her shirt the Lmanel had a sports bra on, and it seemed that was enough for modesty in her mind, or she just wasn't thinking about it. “I eat meat, but not fowl.”
"Good thing for you that we aren't too big on birds back in Hanya." Mene said to her with a smile as he turned and started heading back the way he'd come from, albeit in a more direct route. As he jogged away, Pitch got a good look at his body before she lost sight of him. Minutes later he returned, arms full of what looked like a bag filled with bread, and three separate sealed containers of food. Again he sported a broad smile on his face as he made his way back to her.
"Here we go! A traditional Hanyan breakfast. Where do you wanna eat then?"
Ny'za had her shirt off by time Menelik came back, it was getting cold and she didn't want to catch a cold. It was easy to tell with how toned her muscles were that despite her bookish appearance and thin frame, this woman was a soldier in peak condition, and she got that way with work. “Here is fine but that is a lot of food...would you have eaten all of that if I was not here?”
Menelik looked at the food, then at Ny'za, then back at the food before shrugging. "I probably would've saved about half of it for later, probably for dinner or something like that." He was about to say something about her exposure when he remembered the whole matriarchy thing, and figured that it wasn't a big deal or anything.
"Besides, who doesn't make more than they can eat themselves? What'll happen if you end up with someone cute to share it with?"
“Hmm, well that's only if you're really expecting to meet someone to share it with...though you shouldn't be calling just any woman you meet cute. You'll get kidnapped.” She chuckled at that maybe it was some kind of Lorath joke.
Menelik found a nice spot to set everything down, pulling out the bread first: it was a kind of spongy, almost round flat-bread. Then he got to work on the three containers: each was fairly utilitarian and were of varying sizes. The largest one had what looked like beans mixed with a variety of oils and spices; the second largest one had what seemed to be finely shredded flat-bread, similar to the round ones, only fried and seasoned to take on an almost reddish color.
"I don't call every woman I meet cute. Only the cute ones like you or Jiji." His smile seemed almost flirtatious, though he was more focused on the food. Opening the third container, this one was the smallest though almost maybe the most important. It had what looked like minced raw meat, though the color was off as if it'd been marinated in something. The aroma was almost overpowering; a mixture of alien spices of all sorts attacking Pitch's nose wafting from the meal.
Ny'za pulled out a small elastic and tied her hair back into a pony tail before making her way over to the food. She was not in the custom of eating a lot of Nepleslian food but she did recognize most things that Menelik displayed, at least in a basic sense. “You shouldn't complement a woman so lightly you know, you could lead them on.” Though she said such, she did not seem all that against being called cute. “However..that meat doesn't look cooked, I didn't think you Nepleslians ate things raw.” It was hard to tell how the aromas were effecting her, but her eyes were definitely on the food and she was ready to eat.
"It depends on what part of Nepleslia you're from, Pitch. Not all of us enjoy scarfing down hamburgers while wildly firing automatic weapons into the air." His grin turned serious as he took one of the pieces of flat-bread and tore a chunk out of it, folding it in and using it to scoop up some of the meat before offering it to her.
"Where I come from, Hanya, we call this Kitfo. Beef or another kind of red meat, marinated in spices and what we call Niter Kebbeh. Perfect safe to eat, and kind of a tradition in my family to have with large meals." The marine seemed very pleased to explain things to her, and a bit anxious for her to try it.
“I admit I expected all of the Nepleslians on board to be asking about where they could find a firing range.” spoke the Lorath woman as she took the food offered and considered it a moment before putting int into her mouth and chewing, mulling over the taste as her wings shifted in consideration. She seemed to be seriously evaluating the taste of the food.
The bread had a subtle, base taste, more than anything simply complimenting the strong taste of the meat. The Kitfo was obviously the main focus: the meaty, irony taste of the minced beef enhanced by the hot and strong spices and clarified butter it had been marinated in. It was spicy and hot, but not entirely or overpoweringly so as some hot wings were: It was similar almost to the taste of some curries, albeit accompanied by raw meat.
Mene took another chunk of bread and scooped up some of the meat for himself, popping it into his mouth and chewing.
After swallowing Pitch gave a soft nod. “It's good, no offense though but I think the spices flavor would come out more cooked. Rhiq enjoys seasoned meats too, so I think he would like this a lot.” Hey eyes moved from the container with the meat to the one with the beans inside it. “So how are we supposed to eat the beans?”
"The exact same way, how else?" He chuckled and dug into the beans with another strip of bread, popping them into his mouth and chewing. He clearly enjoyed the flavor before swallowing, clearing his throat and covering his mouth with a fist to politely hide an escape of air.
"At least in my family the Injera, the flat-bread, is what you use to pick up and eat almost all foods. As for the beans, they're called Ful. Beans with vegetable oil, spices, and lemon juice. Cooked this time, though."
“You eat all foods without utensils? That sounds a rather limiting.” She took a piece of the bread and scooped up the beans to try it, thinking over the taste once again before swallowing. “Wouldn't it be pretty difficult eat soups?”
"Well, we eat soups and other things like that with spoons and stuff. We aren't all a bunch of introverted weirdos where I'm from." The beans tasted... like roasted beans, seasoned with vegetable oil, the same spices as in the Kitfo, and lemon juice. Menelik wasn't an amazing chef, not able to make magical dishes that danced on one's tongue. But his cooking had a homey element to it, and from his expression he was glad that Pitch didn't hate it.
"We have this stew called Wat; it's served on top of the Injera so that when the stew's finished, the bread's soaked up all the juices and you finish it off."
“The bread...Injera? It sounds like it's really a stable in your diet, are there different flavors of it or is it just one kind?” She didn't seem to mind that the taste was not that of professionally cooked food and just continued to eat. She seemed to really be focusing on the meat though, and occasionally when she opened her mouth it could be noted that her incisors looked a lot like fangs compared to baseline humanoids.
"Well, like I said. Nepleslia is a pretty diverse place, so wherever you go there's different staples, and various different recipes and ways to cook them. And it does, well, mostly stay the same, it just varies depending on who cooks it an preference." He shrugged and sat himself down, closing dark eyes and humming. "I personally think the best best Injera is made by my mother, but y'know." Eyes opened back up, and he studied Pitch's mouth for a second.
"Say... are you aspected with some kind of carnivore or something? Because if you are, I could try cooking more meat stuff for you in the future."
Pitch paused mid motion when she heard mention of carnivores. She then suddenly became more modest covering her mouth while she chewed. “Why would you say that? It's not as if I have some special fascination with meat. The food simply is good so I like to eat it.” She kept a composed look on her face and continued to skirt around things. “And gif'elm are omnivores, but they rarely eat meat in the wild, but as I said, Rhiq does enjoy eat.”
Menelik looked at Pitch, and his smile grew suddenly devious in scope. "So that is most definitely a yes, then." Her sudden reaction and evasive answers were definite shows, as was how she tried to hide her mouth . Actually the whole thing was adorable, and he couldn't keep from chuckling.
"But if you say so, you say so Pitch. There's nothing wrong with liking meat so much, though."
“I do not like meat so much, just as much as a normal person does. Omnivores just have better taste buds than carnivores so they can taste the subtleties better. And no laughing.” She definitely was a bit flustered, there are probably more to it than just her liking meat. “Besides you're the one who can't wait to cook it and eats it raw.”
"I like cooked meat too." He responded with a mock pout, before chucking again. "Oh... This has been great, Pitch. Do I get to learn your actual name, or are you still just "Pretty woman named Pitch" to me for now?"
Pitch relaxed her posture a bit and finished off another mouth full of food, making sure it was beans this time. “We tend to give these names to offworlders cause our names are a bit hard to pronounce. Even my name though short does not exactly roll off the tongue. Pitch is easier for you to say, Menelik.”
He shrugged. "Try me. If I'm going to be on the Val'ta, I should at least learn to say proper names out of courtesy." He took another scoop of the fried bread, the fit fit, and chewed up. "Besides, everyone has weird names to someone else."
“Well we don't expect you to use our names but.. Ny'za Hasti Lmanel is my proper name.” Her name rolled off her tongue with a distinct Ly'thir flavor to it, clipped but subtle emphasis made the short name seem like something refined, but it what was obvious was though similar, the sounds were not the same as those used in trade.
Menelik tried his hand at it, taking a few tries in his hanyan brogue to get the words to come out right. He knew enough Ly'thir to get most of the sounds right, but it still came off, well...
"Nizer Hasty L'manel, Right?"
She chuckled at hearing his pronunciations, he did better than she expected but it was still funny to hear. “No..the sound is a bit different, you can't use sound from Trade, you'll have to practice speaking Ly'thir for it.”
"Well, I guess that's a good thing. I'll be trying to speak lots of Ly'thir on this ship. And hopeful, I'll get more practice with your name." He blinked, and blushed. "Seeing you more in the future I mean."
“We will probably have a lot of assignments together, but it will help you a lot to learn some basic Ly'thir. You'll get a better response of out others if you try to speak their language.” She wagged her finger in a matter of fact sort of manner and nodded. “Just remember, don't touch the neck, or wings, not unless you want to be considered a pervert.”
"I'd prefer a nice date before touching sensitive spots, Pitch." He offered her, chuckling. "But I hope we get to see each other more, honestly."
“Well if you're going to set foot on the planets we visit then we will likely see each other. I'm going as the manager of Yabeu and as a soldier, so in order to study the ecology of the planets I'll be heading down rather frequently myself.” She spoke with a bit of excitement as she spoke about landing on the planets, obviously more than a little enthused by the notion.
"So you like that ecology stuff?" He asked, another bite of meat in his mouth again, offering her the last bit of it for herself.
Ny'za let out a chuckle at his response. “Yabeu is a wildlife sanctuary that prioritizes threatened species. So yes I think I do like the 'ecology stuff' just a bit.”
"A wildlife sanctuary?" He hummed, thinking for a bit. "I think I'd like to visit a place like that. Is it on Nyli?"
Ny'za shook her head softly at his question “No, we're based in Hici'emi, the planet isn't as metropolitan so there's more space. I managed to find a good island that serves as an enclosed ecosystem. You're welcome to come whenever you like, we even sell pets.”
"Well, I'll be sure to stop by when I can, Pitch. And hopefully you or one of your employees can show the around the place." He said good naturedly, as he started to slowly pack up the finished breakfast.
Pitch smiled softly and nodded in response to Menelik. “The place is beautiful, I'm sure you'll enjoy the scenery. Just remember when you get there, the animals roam the land pretty much freely. We made some paths and have guest wear bracelets to help keep animals away and so we can track you. But for the most part it is almost entirely natural.” There was an excitement in her voice that just wasn't present before hand, it seemed she really loved her work at Yabeu.
He could see why she loved it from the way she talked about it, and it made him want to see it more. "If you say its so wonderful, Ny'za, I'll have to go see it with you the next time we're in the area."
Pitch paused a moment at hearing his words and then smiles “You pretty much got my name right. But yes, I'd be glad to give you a tour if we're in the area.”
With their breakfast finished, Menelik offered Pitch his hand. "Sounds good to me!"
Pitch extended her hand to his and shook it with a smile. “We might be seeing a lot of each other for this, so lets work well together.”
"Agreed. I hope I give you a good impression of Nepleslia and Nepleslians as a whole in the coming months." He vigorously shook the hand before letting go. "I better get back to my training before My'ean comes by."
Pitch let his hand go and chuckled some. “Yes, you probably should get back to it before you get caught slacking.”
"If it was just the slacking I'd be fine. It's what My'ean would do if she caught me flirting that scares me." The Nepleslian stretched and hefted the remains of the breakfast, waving to Pitch as he headed to dispose of them and get back to his workout. "I'll see you around then!"
Pitch held back a chuckle and waved to Menelik as he headed off. “Another time then.”
The doors to the hangar opened, and in stepped Ny'za, she was not in her uniform, but rather the standard issue work out gear. It was obvious that she had been using it too, since the white shirt was soaked in sweat and she was wiping herself off with a towel.
To the majority of the crew on shift in the hangar, this was starting to become a regular sight, the bespectacled Lmanel showing up early in the day after a hard work out. No one stopped her since they already knew why she was there as she made her way over towards one of the Whirlwind frames.
Of course today would be more out of the ordinary than what she was usually used to, her morning routine on the verge of being interrupted. That was because of one Menelik Berhane's new, My'ean approved training schedule. He had woken up even earlier than Ny'za had and immediately gone on a run around the ship to get himself warmed up, before going on a simulated training mission in one of the simulators. After that, he got out and went for another run, making laps around the hangar till he'd run four kilometers. Then and only then would he get back inside of the simulator for more training.
It was a rough, crash sort of training program, and look at that he was rounding the Whirlwinds just as Ny'za was coming up to them. The glasses wearing woman had been toweling sweat from her eyes, while the Nepleslian had been doing the same. This meant that despite being on a collision course, neither saw the other till they were almost doomed to run into one another.
It wasn't too late though, as Menelik did the best thing he could think to do: he did his best to juke to the side and get out of her way before bowling her over, but he was still a big guy. As is, he slowed down just enough to reach out for the L'manel's shoulders to stop his momentum and keep her from being bowed down by him.
Ny'za came to a stop as Menelik approached with his jog, she could hear his footsteps and breathing and knew he was coming in her direction. She didn't bother to stop what she had been doing though and let him try to avoid her. Once it was all said and done though she lowered her towel and adjusted her glasses before she looked over at him.
There was a long pause before she spoke trying to pick out her words. “You are... a Nepleslian soldier? Shouldn't you be sleeping like..morning wood?” There was uncertainty in her speech she felt like she had said something wrong but she was not sure what, but it was pretty obvious. She shrugged it off though and continued to speak. “It is not nearly time for the morning shift.”
The Marine shook his head, looking at the woman he had almost run into- and becoming quite aware of the rosy blush on his cheeks. With a step back to give her some space, the heavily built man offered the winged woman his hand and a smile. "Being asleep right now would probably get My'ean on my ass, I need to be awake and training early if I want to have any hope of becoming a pilot." There was the temptation to laugh at her bad turn of phrase, but he shrugged it off. "It's 'sleeping like a log', ma'am. Morning Wood is... well, it's something they taught us jarheads back in sex ed." Chuckling at his joke now, he looked Ny'za in the eye. "Menelik Berhane, Nepleslian Space Marine Corps."
The shorter woman held her hand out and shook his, the transparency of her shirt rather apparent now that the towel wasn't in front of her. “I see ...there are too many phrases with wood in it in your language. And I am Pitch.” After shaking his hand she looked over to the large frames they had in store.
“Sleep is important, especially if you're not used to your schedule. As a pilot your mind will get fatigued before your body does.” She softly added, not seeming to mind her own clothes at the moment.
His eyes didn't immediately lock onto her chest, but he instead focused on her eyes and face and how it all just seemed to work together. She was...cute in his opinion, but he was running into attractive women every five seconds on this ship. Still, there was something nice about the woman.
"I get plenty of sleep, ma'am, so don't worry about me clonking out in the middle of the firefight." There was another pause from him. "I mean you can worry about me, that's always a nice thing to have, but I'm responsible enough to not push myself too far." He smiled confidently at her, then realized that he probably looked like a goofy idiot wearing the skintight contact suit My'ean had assigned to him. He'd worn it so much these past few days that he didn't notice it sometimes; the tight and form fitting material showing off the large marine's herculean form.
"You say you're a pilot too? So you know how My'ean probably won't let us get ourselves killed by training too hard, right?"
Pitch looked the man over some, the suit drew attention for a number of reasons, but a male of his stature was a bit unusual to her. “I don't really know My'ean personally. She is pretty famous for a pilot though, I would think as long as your body can keep up with a Lorath's she wont end up over working you.” She chuckled softly and dried her hair. “I take it though since you're in such a suit, you're doing some simulations right? Are you just trudging through the pre-made scenarios or are you working on something?”
"I'm working on the pre-made scenarios- actually using the Winter II is pretty easy after you get the hang of it, but mastering it, using it to its full potential and not just as a big power armor? That's the hard part." Mene returned her smile and started to walk alongside Pitch, a happy look on his face.
"As for keeping up with her, I've managed it so far in training. And if piloting doesn't work out, I can always do my best to make sure that you Lorath don't think all foreigners are bad."
Pitch had a surprised look on her face when she heard mention of the WINTER II “You are working with the WINTER II? I piloted one of those three years back when it was undergoing prototyping. I had to leave much of the work to intent recognition, I would imagine it's pretty complicated to work with though for your first frame…”
Remembering the time she had to pilot the WINTER II brought back some not exactly pleasant memories, but she was fond of the sensation of piloting the frame, even more so than she was of the AMX 100 series, which was her specialty. “Nepleslians like doing things the hard way don't they?”
"Only when it gets better results. If I can do something easier and get a better outcome than slamming my head against it, you'll bet I will." His smile became toothy for a second.
"And, yeah. My'ean has me training on the Winter II. I was even in one the first time I piloted a Frame. Its weird but I enjoy it." He gazed over the woman again, and offered her his hand.
"Say... Pitch? How do you feel about getting breakfast together? I managed to make something I used to love having for breakfast at home, and I was wondering if you'd like to share it?"
“Hmm I suppose I could eat now instead of after my training, though...” She pulled at her shirt some looking down. “I' don't think I can go to the mess hall like this.” She let go of her shirt and sighed. “You said you cooked something though, do you have it here?”
That... got Menelik to look direct at Pitch's breasts. Which further caused his face to go red and him to look back up at her face quite forcefully. "It's not in the mess hall, ma'am." He said a bit pointedly.
"I mean, I had it with me before entering the simulator, so if you'll just let me go get it. You aren't a vegetarian, are you?" He asked her, hoping to change the subject immediately.
Underneath her shirt the Lmanel had a sports bra on, and it seemed that was enough for modesty in her mind, or she just wasn't thinking about it. “I eat meat, but not fowl.”
"Good thing for you that we aren't too big on birds back in Hanya." Mene said to her with a smile as he turned and started heading back the way he'd come from, albeit in a more direct route. As he jogged away, Pitch got a good look at his body before she lost sight of him. Minutes later he returned, arms full of what looked like a bag filled with bread, and three separate sealed containers of food. Again he sported a broad smile on his face as he made his way back to her.
"Here we go! A traditional Hanyan breakfast. Where do you wanna eat then?"
Ny'za had her shirt off by time Menelik came back, it was getting cold and she didn't want to catch a cold. It was easy to tell with how toned her muscles were that despite her bookish appearance and thin frame, this woman was a soldier in peak condition, and she got that way with work. “Here is fine but that is a lot of food...would you have eaten all of that if I was not here?”
Menelik looked at the food, then at Ny'za, then back at the food before shrugging. "I probably would've saved about half of it for later, probably for dinner or something like that." He was about to say something about her exposure when he remembered the whole matriarchy thing, and figured that it wasn't a big deal or anything.
"Besides, who doesn't make more than they can eat themselves? What'll happen if you end up with someone cute to share it with?"
“Hmm, well that's only if you're really expecting to meet someone to share it with...though you shouldn't be calling just any woman you meet cute. You'll get kidnapped.” She chuckled at that maybe it was some kind of Lorath joke.
Menelik found a nice spot to set everything down, pulling out the bread first: it was a kind of spongy, almost round flat-bread. Then he got to work on the three containers: each was fairly utilitarian and were of varying sizes. The largest one had what looked like beans mixed with a variety of oils and spices; the second largest one had what seemed to be finely shredded flat-bread, similar to the round ones, only fried and seasoned to take on an almost reddish color.
"I don't call every woman I meet cute. Only the cute ones like you or Jiji." His smile seemed almost flirtatious, though he was more focused on the food. Opening the third container, this one was the smallest though almost maybe the most important. It had what looked like minced raw meat, though the color was off as if it'd been marinated in something. The aroma was almost overpowering; a mixture of alien spices of all sorts attacking Pitch's nose wafting from the meal.
Ny'za pulled out a small elastic and tied her hair back into a pony tail before making her way over to the food. She was not in the custom of eating a lot of Nepleslian food but she did recognize most things that Menelik displayed, at least in a basic sense. “You shouldn't complement a woman so lightly you know, you could lead them on.” Though she said such, she did not seem all that against being called cute. “However..that meat doesn't look cooked, I didn't think you Nepleslians ate things raw.” It was hard to tell how the aromas were effecting her, but her eyes were definitely on the food and she was ready to eat.
"It depends on what part of Nepleslia you're from, Pitch. Not all of us enjoy scarfing down hamburgers while wildly firing automatic weapons into the air." His grin turned serious as he took one of the pieces of flat-bread and tore a chunk out of it, folding it in and using it to scoop up some of the meat before offering it to her.
"Where I come from, Hanya, we call this Kitfo. Beef or another kind of red meat, marinated in spices and what we call Niter Kebbeh. Perfect safe to eat, and kind of a tradition in my family to have with large meals." The marine seemed very pleased to explain things to her, and a bit anxious for her to try it.
“I admit I expected all of the Nepleslians on board to be asking about where they could find a firing range.” spoke the Lorath woman as she took the food offered and considered it a moment before putting int into her mouth and chewing, mulling over the taste as her wings shifted in consideration. She seemed to be seriously evaluating the taste of the food.
The bread had a subtle, base taste, more than anything simply complimenting the strong taste of the meat. The Kitfo was obviously the main focus: the meaty, irony taste of the minced beef enhanced by the hot and strong spices and clarified butter it had been marinated in. It was spicy and hot, but not entirely or overpoweringly so as some hot wings were: It was similar almost to the taste of some curries, albeit accompanied by raw meat.
Mene took another chunk of bread and scooped up some of the meat for himself, popping it into his mouth and chewing.
After swallowing Pitch gave a soft nod. “It's good, no offense though but I think the spices flavor would come out more cooked. Rhiq enjoys seasoned meats too, so I think he would like this a lot.” Hey eyes moved from the container with the meat to the one with the beans inside it. “So how are we supposed to eat the beans?”
"The exact same way, how else?" He chuckled and dug into the beans with another strip of bread, popping them into his mouth and chewing. He clearly enjoyed the flavor before swallowing, clearing his throat and covering his mouth with a fist to politely hide an escape of air.
"At least in my family the Injera, the flat-bread, is what you use to pick up and eat almost all foods. As for the beans, they're called Ful. Beans with vegetable oil, spices, and lemon juice. Cooked this time, though."
“You eat all foods without utensils? That sounds a rather limiting.” She took a piece of the bread and scooped up the beans to try it, thinking over the taste once again before swallowing. “Wouldn't it be pretty difficult eat soups?”
"Well, we eat soups and other things like that with spoons and stuff. We aren't all a bunch of introverted weirdos where I'm from." The beans tasted... like roasted beans, seasoned with vegetable oil, the same spices as in the Kitfo, and lemon juice. Menelik wasn't an amazing chef, not able to make magical dishes that danced on one's tongue. But his cooking had a homey element to it, and from his expression he was glad that Pitch didn't hate it.
"We have this stew called Wat; it's served on top of the Injera so that when the stew's finished, the bread's soaked up all the juices and you finish it off."
“The bread...Injera? It sounds like it's really a stable in your diet, are there different flavors of it or is it just one kind?” She didn't seem to mind that the taste was not that of professionally cooked food and just continued to eat. She seemed to really be focusing on the meat though, and occasionally when she opened her mouth it could be noted that her incisors looked a lot like fangs compared to baseline humanoids.
"Well, like I said. Nepleslia is a pretty diverse place, so wherever you go there's different staples, and various different recipes and ways to cook them. And it does, well, mostly stay the same, it just varies depending on who cooks it an preference." He shrugged and sat himself down, closing dark eyes and humming. "I personally think the best best Injera is made by my mother, but y'know." Eyes opened back up, and he studied Pitch's mouth for a second.
"Say... are you aspected with some kind of carnivore or something? Because if you are, I could try cooking more meat stuff for you in the future."
Pitch paused mid motion when she heard mention of carnivores. She then suddenly became more modest covering her mouth while she chewed. “Why would you say that? It's not as if I have some special fascination with meat. The food simply is good so I like to eat it.” She kept a composed look on her face and continued to skirt around things. “And gif'elm are omnivores, but they rarely eat meat in the wild, but as I said, Rhiq does enjoy eat.”
Menelik looked at Pitch, and his smile grew suddenly devious in scope. "So that is most definitely a yes, then." Her sudden reaction and evasive answers were definite shows, as was how she tried to hide her mouth . Actually the whole thing was adorable, and he couldn't keep from chuckling.
"But if you say so, you say so Pitch. There's nothing wrong with liking meat so much, though."
“I do not like meat so much, just as much as a normal person does. Omnivores just have better taste buds than carnivores so they can taste the subtleties better. And no laughing.” She definitely was a bit flustered, there are probably more to it than just her liking meat. “Besides you're the one who can't wait to cook it and eats it raw.”
"I like cooked meat too." He responded with a mock pout, before chucking again. "Oh... This has been great, Pitch. Do I get to learn your actual name, or are you still just "Pretty woman named Pitch" to me for now?"
Pitch relaxed her posture a bit and finished off another mouth full of food, making sure it was beans this time. “We tend to give these names to offworlders cause our names are a bit hard to pronounce. Even my name though short does not exactly roll off the tongue. Pitch is easier for you to say, Menelik.”
He shrugged. "Try me. If I'm going to be on the Val'ta, I should at least learn to say proper names out of courtesy." He took another scoop of the fried bread, the fit fit, and chewed up. "Besides, everyone has weird names to someone else."
“Well we don't expect you to use our names but.. Ny'za Hasti Lmanel is my proper name.” Her name rolled off her tongue with a distinct Ly'thir flavor to it, clipped but subtle emphasis made the short name seem like something refined, but it what was obvious was though similar, the sounds were not the same as those used in trade.
Menelik tried his hand at it, taking a few tries in his hanyan brogue to get the words to come out right. He knew enough Ly'thir to get most of the sounds right, but it still came off, well...
"Nizer Hasty L'manel, Right?"
She chuckled at hearing his pronunciations, he did better than she expected but it was still funny to hear. “No..the sound is a bit different, you can't use sound from Trade, you'll have to practice speaking Ly'thir for it.”
"Well, I guess that's a good thing. I'll be trying to speak lots of Ly'thir on this ship. And hopeful, I'll get more practice with your name." He blinked, and blushed. "Seeing you more in the future I mean."
“We will probably have a lot of assignments together, but it will help you a lot to learn some basic Ly'thir. You'll get a better response of out others if you try to speak their language.” She wagged her finger in a matter of fact sort of manner and nodded. “Just remember, don't touch the neck, or wings, not unless you want to be considered a pervert.”
"I'd prefer a nice date before touching sensitive spots, Pitch." He offered her, chuckling. "But I hope we get to see each other more, honestly."
“Well if you're going to set foot on the planets we visit then we will likely see each other. I'm going as the manager of Yabeu and as a soldier, so in order to study the ecology of the planets I'll be heading down rather frequently myself.” She spoke with a bit of excitement as she spoke about landing on the planets, obviously more than a little enthused by the notion.
"So you like that ecology stuff?" He asked, another bite of meat in his mouth again, offering her the last bit of it for herself.
Ny'za let out a chuckle at his response. “Yabeu is a wildlife sanctuary that prioritizes threatened species. So yes I think I do like the 'ecology stuff' just a bit.”
"A wildlife sanctuary?" He hummed, thinking for a bit. "I think I'd like to visit a place like that. Is it on Nyli?"
Ny'za shook her head softly at his question “No, we're based in Hici'emi, the planet isn't as metropolitan so there's more space. I managed to find a good island that serves as an enclosed ecosystem. You're welcome to come whenever you like, we even sell pets.”
"Well, I'll be sure to stop by when I can, Pitch. And hopefully you or one of your employees can show the around the place." He said good naturedly, as he started to slowly pack up the finished breakfast.
Pitch smiled softly and nodded in response to Menelik. “The place is beautiful, I'm sure you'll enjoy the scenery. Just remember when you get there, the animals roam the land pretty much freely. We made some paths and have guest wear bracelets to help keep animals away and so we can track you. But for the most part it is almost entirely natural.” There was an excitement in her voice that just wasn't present before hand, it seemed she really loved her work at Yabeu.
He could see why she loved it from the way she talked about it, and it made him want to see it more. "If you say its so wonderful, Ny'za, I'll have to go see it with you the next time we're in the area."
Pitch paused a moment at hearing his words and then smiles “You pretty much got my name right. But yes, I'd be glad to give you a tour if we're in the area.”
With their breakfast finished, Menelik offered Pitch his hand. "Sounds good to me!"
Pitch extended her hand to his and shook it with a smile. “We might be seeing a lot of each other for this, so lets work well together.”
"Agreed. I hope I give you a good impression of Nepleslia and Nepleslians as a whole in the coming months." He vigorously shook the hand before letting go. "I better get back to my training before My'ean comes by."
Pitch let his hand go and chuckled some. “Yes, you probably should get back to it before you get caught slacking.”
"If it was just the slacking I'd be fine. It's what My'ean would do if she caught me flirting that scares me." The Nepleslian stretched and hefted the remains of the breakfast, waving to Pitch as he headed to dispose of them and get back to his workout. "I'll see you around then!"
Pitch held back a chuckle and waved to Menelik as he headed off. “Another time then.”
