Siege - Sci-Fi (M/M)

4. Haven't I seen you before?

Izander

I made it just in time for the crew boarding, and relief swept over me. That could have been bad, turning up late when you were still a new crew member. I could have been in real trouble with the Secaro.

I have a few hours before I need to go to sleep so I decide to have a walk around. Most of the passengers are Secaro and it seems to please them when you make the effort to talk to them. It also makes a good impression and you never know where or when you may meet them again. The same ones do tend to return to your flight on a frequent basis. Some of them may even be new to Earth and haven't got much experience talking to humans, so it helps them learn.

I am about to greet one of the regulars who just so happens to be one of my old mentors from my training, when I notice him. He seems much calmer than he did earlier, and a lot happier. I don't think he would be particularly happy when he spots me though, so I try to stay out of his site. I hope he doesn't become a regular to my flight...

I am about to head to my cabin for a slightly earlier sleep than usual when he finally spots me. I carry on walking but there is something telling me to stop. You older humans may say that's my subconscious talking, or intuition, but in reality it is actually basic telepathy. You older humans were also experiencing the same thing, but weren't aware.

Our skills are much greater now but we often feel it this weakly when we are unaware a connection is being made, an accidental one is made or if the person does not know us well. The strength also gets weaker with distance.

I listen to whatever is telling me to stop and I turn around to see the Secaro man making his way over to me. What do I do? I can't just walk away as it would be very rude of me and I could get into trouble if he complained about it. I hope he isn't coming to berate me for speaking to him earlier.

He stops just in front of me and looks intensely at me. Why doesn't he say anything? He goes to open his mouth to speak but nothing comes out. I'm about to apologise again to get rid of the awkward silence when he finally does speak. 'I. Am sorry.' It is said quite stiffly, like he is new to words, but did I hear correctly? He is sorry. What for? I should be the one apologising for speaking out of turn to him at the bar. Being Secaro automatically makes him above my station.

I think he understands my inner confusion because he speaks again. 'I. I shouldn't have walked. Away at the bar.' He is most definitely new to speaking - I've seen plenty of new Secaro struggle with the flow of sentences like this. I think he is understanding my thoughts again, because he carries on. 'I am new. A month on Earth is where I am going. Experiencing the language before I work. I am sorry.' I still don't know what for though. 'My language is not so good. Yet. I don't know what to say. To you. At the bar. I did not want to lack sense. Or speak stupid. I just left.'

'It is ok. I spoke well above my station and I thought you just hated humans.' Me and my big mouth. I probably just offended him all over again by saying that. He did not reply. 'I am sorry, speaking out of turn again.' He just walked away from me for a second time that day. Then a thought occurred to me.

'You are supposed to say goodbye, you know, when you leave a conversation. And hello when you introduce yourself into one. It is sort of normal for most people to interact that way. Also introducing yourself by name is a good thing to do.' Of course, he is new! They don't often understand the etiquette of conversation at first. With telepathy, you don't really need to do any of that as it's all kind of felt when you make the connection.

'Shall we start this all over again? Maybe I can show you how we interact on Earth?'

'That would be good. Yes.' he replied.

I walk over to him and shake his hand. It stays quite stiff but slowly relaxes into my hand. I feel all tingly doing this, maybe because I find him attractive. He pulls his hand away quite quickly. 'Hello, I am Izander Stottle, I am a Level 3M and I will be navigating this ship at night. Nice to meet you.'

'Hello. I am Jaxenayo Cilencia. I am a passenger. On this ship. Nice to meet you.' He copies my sentence structure almost perfectly. I should probably explain more about greetings though, if he is to become more natural with the language. I note he did not state his proper station or job, but then again, I am not privy to such information.

'Now, you don't have to do that every time you see someone. Only with people you are new to meeting. If you were to see me again, you may just say 'hello' or 'hi' and I would do the same back. If it has been a long time you may shake my hand again, but usually hello will suffice. If you know someone more intimately, like a family member or partner, you may give them a hug like so' I show him a hug, which is very awkward as I feel that tingle again.

'Understand so far?' He nods his head. 'Good. When you wish to leave the conversation, you may want to explain that you are leaving. You can say the reason but you don't have to. Here is an example: I apologise but I really must be going, I need to get some sleep before my shift. Goodbye. You can shake their hand or hug them at this point if you did not do so at the start. Try not to hug someone twice in one meeting as it may get a little awkward. Either do it at the start or the end - you can use your own judgement on that one. Then you may leave after they respond.'

'And you must need to leave now, to sleep, if you are on night shift. Is that correct?' He must have paid attention when I mentioned my night shift.

'Yes, that is correct. But before I do so, I think I should show you some examples of greetings.' I share some memories of me greeting different types of people. I don't use telepathy all the time, especially not with Secaro I barely know, but he seems even more clueless than the usual newbies.

'I must go as you need sleep. Goodbye.' He shakes my hand making me tingle once more and he turns and leaves. It wasn't a natural goodbye but it was a big step up from him just leaving like before. It was nice seeing the benefits of helping others.

I stifle a yawn and realise I really must go to my cabin if I am to be any use on my shift tonight. I can never sleep straight after a shift so I choose to wake up to one instead. I walk to my cabin and crash my head against the pillow. An image of Jaxenayo pops into my head briefly before I let go and fall into a deep sleep. He was going to be hard to forget.