(GQ #1) Bon Voyage, Celestion-5!

7. Inventory Conversational

"See anything in there?" Emil waited in the doorway, clipboard in hand.

"Nope." Leon replied.

"Pick up whatever you can get your hands on. The space food should be at the front anyways."

"Okay."

Leon felt around the darkness until he encountered a box, a pretty large one at that. Two more of equal size sat on top of it.

"These look pretty heavy. I don't know if I'll be able to lift any of them."

"Give it a try. You can do it." Emil cheered.

Leon shrugged. "Well, okay. I'll try the one up top."

"No, lift the whole stack. You got this, Rookie!"

"O-Okay." Leon found Emil's confidence bewildering. He wouldn't call himself weak, but lifting the whole stack at once would be nothing short of superhuman. Regardless, he tried lifting up the bottom box.

All three boxes went up with ease, as if they didn't weigh a pound. Technically they didn't, thanks to zero gravity. Leon slapped his forehead.

"Did'ja pick 'em up?" Emil's voice rang with glee.

"I completely forgot about the gravity." Leon laughed at himself. "Thanks for not making fun of me; it must've sounded like the most obvious thing in the world."

"Nah, I figured you were still thinking in Earth logic." Emil began to clap as Leon approached the doorway. "Woo, you did it."

"I did!"

"You did it, yaaaaay!"

The new voice startled both Emil and Leon. Roxie peeked down from the top of the doorway.

"What'cha doooin'~?"

Leon held two of the boxes in each hand. "Look, Roxie, I'm as strong as you!"

He noticed the third box floating away just in time for him to catch it. Roxie giggled.

"He's getting food." Emil answered.

"Ahh, sustenance." Roxie rubbed her hands together. "So that's why the captain told me to tell you not to put anything in the refrigerator yet."

"He did?"

"That's the order."

"Where do I put these, then?" asked Leon.

Emil stretched out one of his curls and let go of it. To Leon's surprise, it bounced back. "Hmmm, you can probably just leave 'em in the kitchen for now. Here, I'll get the door."

He opened the door to the kitchen, allowing Leon and Roxie to enter.

"Just put them over there." He pointed toward the back-right corner.

Just as Leon was about to propel himself forward, Emil stopped him. The food left his hand. "Ah, the boxes!"

"Don't panic. Just sit back and watch."

Leon watched in awe as the boxes drifted toward their destination on their own.

"A big part of operating in zero G is learning how to do things the laziest way possible."

"It's important knowledge to have on your travels. The knowledge of efficiency!" Roxie agreed. "Use it wisely and you will go far! But–!"

Roxie propelled herself over to the boxes. When she reached them, she pushed down on the topmost one.