It's a Plan(et)

Chapter 4

H'zashi repeated the word "floor" until he got it right, and then was momentarily stumped on what exactly the translation into Standard would be.

Was Midoriya asking for the word for "floor" or "metal"? H'zashi took a guess and taught Midoriya the word for "metal" in Standard until he got it right.

Next, Midoriya pointed at his fur and said "green," so H'zashi then taught Midoriya the word for "fur" in Standard.

After that was the word "white" that H'zashi learned was the word for "clothes" in Standard, which is what H'zashi was teaching Midoriya when the blue-furred Terran called a word that H'zashi recognized– Midoriya's name!

The Terrans then coordinated themselves to stretch their lower limbs out into the corridor.

"What do you think they might be doing?" H'zashi asked A'zawa, watching the Terrans curiously.

"I'm not entirely sure," A'zawa said. "I taught my Terran how to say "food," and pointed out that the cart was coming, and this is what he did immediately after."

"Oh, how interesting!"

"He acted like he understood me, but then he goes and does something like this, going so far to drag his companion into it as well. I'm not sure how to read him, yet," A'zawa said, watching the Terran in his cell with guarded eyes.

"We didn't see anything like this during our research on Terra, but maybe they're part of a subspecies that we didn't get a chance to observe that need to be seated to digest food," H'zashi theorized.

"But wouldn't it make more sense that they would need to be lying down if their orientation was important for digestion?" A'zawa questioned, making H'zashi rethink his initial theory.

Soon it became obvious what exactly the Terrans were up to when the dolluns that were in charge of handing out meals were impeded in their progress by the Terrans' lower limbs.

Oh, they're mischievous ones, H'zashi thought to himself, but knew better than to voice his thoughts aloud with the dolluns there, knowing that his giddiness that would leak through in his voice would be sure to start a fight. We might have our hands full with these ones.

"H'zashi?" Midoriya had asked, looking up at him from his place on the floor, against the electrified bars that had no effect on him. H'zashi was once again reminded how effortlessly Midoriya could say his complicated name, but he wasn't quite as startled as the first time. It would surely take some getting used to, though.

Midoriya pointed at the dolluns, and so H'zashi responded with his best guess of what Midoriya was asking: with the species' name.

"Dollun," H'zashi said, and tried to tamper down his glee so it was not so obvious when the dolluns startled.

They startled again, little bug limbs rattling in displeasure when Midoriya said some words in his own language across the hall to the other Terran, but the word "dollun" in Standard was crisp and clear among the unrecognizable words.

They already seemed nervous that the Terran in H'zashi's cell was already saying H'zashi's name, but to be able to nonverbally ask a question and get an answer in response? To easily repeat the word in Standard after just hearing it once and then communicate that to another Terran? Maybe H'zashi was giving the dolluns too much credit, though. That would be an interesting development for one of the scientific species on the planet, but not necessarily the guard species. The dolluns were probably just nervous that they were being discussed by the Terrans at all, especially since neither had received a Universal Translation Device implant.

It really did speak to their intelligence, and H'zashi was fascinated all over again. He wanted the dolluns to leave so he could speak freely with A'zawa about their Terran charges.