Strangers and Coffee
Dr. M emerged from his office with a stack of papers so engrossing he probably could have walked into a wall. Luckily, he was so familiar with the dimensions of the Gaian offices at this point that he could have navigated it in the dark hopping on one leg, as long as no one had changed the location of the furniture.
He went from his office into the kitchen where a pot of coffee was sitting unattended. Still reading, he swept up the pot in one hand and poured it down the sink. He had only to wave it in the right spot to turn on the autofaucet and refill the pot with fresh water. There were handles to control hot and cold water, but as usual the Fleet had redundantly added automatic systems.
Still operating on memory he poured the water into the coffee maker. Then and only then did he take his eyes from his printouts and scan around for a fresh filter.
He was making too much coffee, that much was obvious. As was habit, he drank too much of the stuff, but today there was no one else in and that had given the coffee a chance to go cold. Cold coffee meant too much. Despite an infinite supply of the stuff courtesy the Fleet, Dr. M still disliked waste.
He was forced to put down his papers to attend to the coffee situation, but instead of placing them on the perfectly reasonable counter, he rolled them up and shoved them halfway into his coat pocket. He then carefully arranged the filter and amount of ground coffee precisely how he liked it (on the strong side, of course) and set the machine running.
While the machine sputtered so incoherently it implied an advanced alien language, M pulled the papers out of his coat and began studying them again. He had long ago learned that there was no point in trying to ascertain a logical order to the coffee machine's sputters. It was not, despite his fondest hopes, attempting to communicate with him.
M stood there, reading and waiting for the coffee to brew, only half a mind on his task. He was here on pretense, really, and his reading was not so much important as an excuse.
The other half of his mind was focused on the world around him, which was as strange a state as conceivable for Dr. M. He so rarely paid attention to what was going on around him. He found it was much more enjoyable to just do as he pleased and pretend there was no one else in the room, or merely someone only he could see and hear.
Today was different, though. Today he was on a Mission.
It was a mission no one had given him, and had anyone found out, they probably would have thought it more than a little subversive towards the general goals of the Fleet. But so much as he loved the Fleet and all his friends there, Dr. M had never really been a good and loyal member. He had his own agenda to follow, an agenda so important and advanced no one else was even capable of comprehending it.
Yes, he was a part of God's Plan. Either that, or he'd been watching too much Battlestar Galactica.
The machine's sputtering finally reached a point of completion, turning the simple water molecules into Coffee, a substance which defied the classification of modern physics. Coffee could not be seen as mere atoms and molecules, particles of reality. Coffee was Better than that. Infinitely better.
With a smile, M reached into his pocket (the one without the papers sticking out) and retrieved a coffee mug. He siphoned out jsut the right amount and inhaled deeply.
Ah, coffee. Substance most divine.
*
She entered with hair pulled back into a clip that left strands of color varrying from blonde to blue falling down here and there. To call her 'odd' would, simply enough, be putting everything that she was mildly... Odd, but friendly. She had no problems with that.
The smell of coffee was strong, wrinkling her nose ever so slightly. They didn't make coffee at home all that often. It usually went bad... With that much caffination and two men who would do better off without it? Of course, fresh coffee would have to mean that someone was there, right? And if someone was there...
"Hello?"
Dr. M perked up at the nearby greeting, then sighed when he realized that was definitely not the greeting of a feien, but a human. Still, since he was here, he had a duty to potential test subjects. Customers. Whatever.
Making his way out of the kitchen with the coffee still in his hand, Dr. M appeared and bobbed his head in greeting. Knowing greetings usually required a verbal component he said, "Hello there."
If odd but friendly described the guest, only "odd" could describe Dr. M. As usual he wore a white labcoat and white pants and then $1400 Italian leather shoes. His hair was an unabashedly tangled mess of dull copper. His eyes were invisible as always behind the opaque lenses of his glasses.
As if M's mere thought process actually did affect the universe, the door tinkled again and a tall, austere-looking woman entered the shop, pausing behind the other new arrival, throwing the friendliness of the other woman into stark contrast with her own cool looks. A small feien sat on her shoulder, peering about curiously. Spotting M, Serafima nodded. "Doctor," she murmured.
"Captain Rabik," said Dr. M. He lifted his coffee mug to his lips and blew on it to cool it off. He noted Galatea's presence without reaction.
Galatea was less reticient and promptly bounded to her feet, hand barely touching Serafima's dark hair to steady herself. Then she performed a neat bow. "Dr. M, sir," she offered. Turning, she offered another bow to the as-yet-quiet stranger. "Ma'am."
Serafima eyed the other woman narrowly, calculatingly. She did not recognize her but that didn't mean much. There were so many people in town and Serafima didn't go out much. Finally, manners got the better of her (as well as an internal voice sounding a lot like Dr. Beckham, chastising her on setting a good example for Galatea) and she inclined her head a fraction of an inch. "Good day."
She offered a slight wave of a hand clad in a fingerless glove that didn't seem to match the glove worn on her other hand. No... Not a Feien, or an owner, but if she played her cards right... She'd made a few inquiries and now here she was. Might as well explore the place... And be nice while doing so.
"Doctor?" Another voice that caused her to turn, offering a smile towards it. "Hello to you as well. As you each seem to know each other, I suppose it's only fair that I introduce myself and then we'll all have names." A little nod. "Blithe."
"How can we help you?" asked Dr. M. If he kept his statements short, there was no sign of his characteristic gasping.
"I have been told that you learn something new every day... Having not learned much of anything today, I thought this would be an interesting place to start?" She gave a slight shrug, displacing the jacket that was hanging off of slender shoulders. "I'm not... Interrupting anything, am I?" She'd interrupted things before. On various occassions. All unintentionally, of course.
"No, quite alright," said Dr. M. When he smiled it was mildly unsettling. "This is a very good place, to try and learn things." He left his statement at that, conversation not being one of his fortes.
Serafima checked the urge to reply tartly and merely held up her hand. Delicately, Galatea stepped onto it. "Could you see if there is fresh coffee, Galatea?"
The blood feien shot a very proper salute and fluttered off, barely clearing M in her haste to obey. Galatea safely gone, Serafima turned to regard Blithe once more. "Were you looking for something in particular?" she asked.
"No... Should I have been?" She blinked, head tilting to the side. She couldn't help but feel as if she'd walked into the wrong place at the wrong time. It was... Like one of those sci-fi movies. Soon men in white coats would drug her and take her awa--- Wait. Wasn't there already a man in a white coat standing there? Yes. And he had a strange smile on her face... Although she was used to those sort of smiles, given the men she lived with.
She cleared her throat quietly. "Perhaps I should leave and come back at another time..."
M held out his mug towards Blithe. "Coffee?" he asked simply, tilting his head to the side. On the bright side, it was unlikely Dr. M would be dragging her anywhere; he was fairly diminutive.
For some reason she couldn't help but smile. "No thank you... My broth-- No, well, yes, I suppose I can call them my brothers. They are, in a way, afterall... My brothers seem to think that I can do well enough without the effects of caffinated beverages. After seeing the feline hyped up on it, I can't help but agree. But, to each their own, yes?"
"You're very right." Serafima slid her hands in her pants pockets and nodded solemnly. "There might be tea in the kitchen as well, though, if that variety of caffeine appeals."
At those words, Galatea reappeared and once more settled on her Captain's shoulder. "There is a full pot, sir," she announced. "And it's very warm so I believe it's fresh."
"Good." Serafima glanced at M's mug. "I suppose you made it, sir?"
Dr. M withdrew the cup at Blithe's answer. All the more for himself. "Yes, it's a fresh pot." He paused a small moment for thought. "This is an excellent place for learning. I was hoping to do some learning myself."
With a shrug that nearly spilled some of the precious coffee onto the rug, M looked down and frowned. If it was learning he was after, he clearly was not finding what he was looking for.
"It seems as though it would be an excellent place for learning... What with such interesting characters?" Again that odd little smile, drifting right up to dance throughout her mis-matched eyes. "And what were you hoping to learn, Doctor? If you don't mind my asking, that is..."
"Oh, ah..." Dr. M switched his coffee to his other hand and reached for the papers sticking out of his pocket. "I was hoping to conduct a survey of some of our feien. But none of them are here."
"Galatea is, sir. Would you like to ask her questions? I assure you that she's quite intelligent."
At her bond's words, the little feien practically glowed with pride. "Sir?" she asked.
"No, no," said M quickly. "That wouldn't be of any use. Galatea came to Gaia after the arrival of the Fleet." He shook the papers to emphasize some meaning only he was aware of.
"Mm... Well, I hope you find what you're looking for." She nodded slowly before taking a step back. "And, perhaps, I'll find what I was looking for as well... I'm certain I'll see you again, one way or another." One more tiny nod followed by a soft smile as she turned towards the door. "Good day to both of you."
"Oh." Galatea looked down at her folded hands and bit her lower lip. "I'm sorry, sir." Then a thought made her raise her head again and try a tentative smile. "But I could ask the others if they would be willing to answer your questions. Hadrian is very clever and Mr. Silva and Mr. Aleric have been on Gaia a while. Perhaps their whole lives."
"Mhm," said Dr. M to Blithe's departure, turning his attention to Galatea. "That would be useful. How soon can you get them here?"
Apparently it never occurred to the good doctor that maybe Galatea and the the other feien had lives that might preclude their immediate reply to his beck and call.
Galatea tilted her head as she did some thinking. "I'm not sure. I would need to talk to them first," she finally answered. "But I will ask them when next I see them. I promise, sir."
"Good. I'll be waiting here." And he stood unmoving as if he were intending on waiting in that exact spot until her return. Of course, since it was Dr. M, one could never discount the possibility.
Serafima stared at the short man for a long moment and then, knowing by now that nothing more would come from him, she nodded politely and stepped around him. "Coffee first, Galatea," she announced. "And then you can look at the boards." Halfway through the kitchen door, though, she paused and looked back at the doctor. "I will bring her back when she has word from the others, sir. Is there anything else you need?"
"No," said M curtly. "Thank you." He sipped at his coffee and was silent.
"... Very well." And then, with that, the dark-haired captain and her feien disappeared fully into the kitchen.
