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The original was posted on /r/hfy by /u/Guardbro on 2025-12-18 03:43:42+00:00.
Lirya found herself realizing she had undersold just how awkward this short trip was going to be.
When she and Mohki had boarded the luxury skip-liner, Tyllia’s mother, Icirit, had stuck them both within a small waiting room by the loading dock. This small room was normally used by officials of the trading vessels to sign paperwork, adorned with a simple round table, a few couches, and a small water cooler.
Despite Icirit’s best attempts, Tyllia found a comforting solace in waiting with both Lirya and Mohki, the three sitting back on the couches that were still luxurious compared to most other ships. Crafted from false leather that had a light squeak to it when sat upon, Lirya happily wagged her tail from in between Mohki and Tyllia, the three playing a quick sparring match with their R.I.S. trading cards.
Icirit refused to just be in the same room as Lirya, though Tyllia’s father, Kohan, quickly found them after realizing they weren’t in the normal hosting area.
“What are you three doing down here?” Kohan asked, the door sliding all the way open with a soft hiss of hydraulics. “The crew made you all snacks and had no idea where to find you!”
Tyllia shrugged, playing Maestra Dawn, the Pict Maiden to counter Lirya’s Owen Lewin, the Bostaff Brutalizer. “Mom stuck them down here, probably so Lirya wouldn’t get white fur on her ogenstaffew carpet.”
“Your mother…” Kohan said with a sigh, though he typed rapidly on a wall-panel to alert his staff where the girls were. “She is a lovely woman when we are by ourselves, but she is a staunch believer in the social circles of our kind.”
Mohki glowered down at the cards and their positions, realizing that her current hand was going to get murdered. “The term ‘venomous’ comes to mind, Mr. Rhidi.”
Kohan chuckled, then settled down in a seat across from the three female Kafya. “Yes, well, as you well know we anili aren’t privy to choosing our mates. As the Humans say, we make hay when the sun shines.”
“I had a few husbands lined up for me back home.” Mohki said as she was forced to play Star Teeth, the Lilly, knowing that the child was not going to last more than a single round. “I didn’t really like any of them, half of them had fake piercings and one always winced when he looked at me.”
Lirya perked up her ears, sorting her cards in her hand as she prepared to play Well Preserved Snoballs, Snack of Mystery. “Why would he wince when he looked at you? That doesn’t seem very nice.”
“Who knows.” Mohki grumbled, watching as Tyllia rolled a D10 and swiftly eradicated the health points of the card she played. “Apparently I don’t ‘smile pretty’, and another always got pissy when I wouldn’t simper at him. As a matter of fact, I don’t even know why I wear these anymore, looks like I came off the cover of a cringe metal album.”
Mohki set her cards face down onto her lap and twisted off her studded bracelets, tossing them down onto the table top. She rubbed at her wrists with a grimace, then picked her cards back up.
Kohan laughed politely. “Not being covered in spikes and studs doesn’t fit very well into the doteful aspects of a wahdah wife, I take it? From what I understand it’s why a lot of brown furs are joining the Human military, freedom to express themselves how they wish.”
“Large number of them, yeah.” Mohki agreed, pulling a card from her deck and rolling her eyes. “I enjoy working on my own terms, why the warehouse fits me well enough. The sounds of cargo moving around and the hum of cranes is soothing, and my ears help me hear whatever is called out above the noise, keeps people safer.”
Tyllia grinned to herself, the rainbow shimmer of her fresh card dazzling in her eyes. “Are you sure it’s not due to all the Human men who want to pet your fur?”
“That doesn’t hurt either.” Mohki said with a rather different grin, one that made Lirya and Kohan chuckle while Tyllia snorted. “Though to be fair I mostly keep to myself and try to keep my head out of drama, makes for a happier life.”
“I fear for your sister in that regard, Tyllia.” Kohan mused as staff quickly stepped in, setting down trays of dessert cubes and concentrated meal bars. When Kohan saw this, his brows furrowed inward. “What is this?”
A female, yellow furred Kafya bowed her head, the annoyance fresh and clear on her face as she spoke to him in Kafya-Hi. “I am sorry, Master Kohan, but your wife-”
“For fuck’s sakes.” Kohan growled. “We have proper food on board! We have had a full store ever since we left the last Human station around Korvas!”
“She is blockading the kitchens, Master Kohan.” She responded, still half bent at the waist. “She insists this is all… she needs.”
Lirya’s face fell as she realized they were talking about her, and she let her eyes droop to her cards, her tail ceasing to wag.
An odd look came over Kohan’s face, and his eye twitched as he looked back towards his staff. “Go and fetch the pre-packaged snacks then, and make it quick so Icirit doesn’t catch on.”
“I believe pop-tarts are popular, Master Kohan, I’ll fetch some of those as well.” She said, then snapped a pawed pair of fingers to set the other staff in motion.
Mohki set down her next card, Gloria Stills, the Blade Maiden of Minnesota, then clicked her teeth. “We still know Kafya-Hi, Mr. Rhidi.”
Kohan laughed, the cheer washing back over his face with practiced ease. “Oh I had no doubt, but this staff doesn’t know much English. The bridge and station staff know a fair amount though, and I make them take their lessons three times a week.”
Lirya picked up one of the dessert cubes and gave it a little squish, a faint smile cracking her lips. “I haven’t seen one of these in a long, long time. I remember having to beg and collect scrap to even get a single one of these, while caracara sometimes got away with a larger parcel if she hid her face while ordering.”
“I almost want to eat one just to remember how bad they are.” Mohki muttered, drawing a new card with a sigh of relief. “Thank fuck, something better than an A-rank.”
Tyllia reached over with a free hand and took a cube as well, giving it a soft squeeze between her fingers. “How about we all eat one at once? Solidarity and all that?”
“I find the same distaste in them as you do, really.” Kohan said, picking up his own cube. “Ever since I found that one delicatessen on Station Hasslehoff, my taste has dulled to these as well. Have any of you also been to the baskin robins?”
Tyllia snorted into a giggle, while Lirya and Mohki both leaned their heads towards her.
“I think they know her by name now.” Lirya said kindly, poking the yellow fur on the shoulder. “She’s spent more money there than most people do on dinner for a week.”
“I like the banana splits, sue me.” Tyllia laughed out, playing her super rare: Machete Madison, the Whirling Bladesong.
Kohan leaned forward, pinching Tyllia’s cheeks. “Just as I thought! You always did have more of a sugar-fang than your sister.”
“She likes that savory stuff.” Tyllia agreed, though she shook her cheeks free of her father’s hands. “She always used to give me her dessert cubes, made mother furious.”
Kohan sighed at the mention of his wife. “Yes, well, she always liked you two nice and thin for your outfits. You should hear her rail on and on about how many fashion shows you’ve been missing.”
“A pity.” Tyllia snarked, watching Mohki furrow her brows and Lirya narrow her eyes at her Machete Madison card. “I did so much enjoy the standing around and catty conversations from a bunch of bitches.”
Kohan laughed good naturedly, though Mohki and Lirya were talking from the corner of their mouths, behind the fans of their cards. “I see you have been studying English just as hard as I have been. It is such a curious language! Did you know the word ‘fuck’ can be used as both a verb, noun, adjective, adverb, and as an interjection?”
“It is quite fucking versatile, Mr. Rhidi.” Mohki said under her breath, forced to play a card after Lirya placed a buffer card to keep her own safe.
Lirya nodded, hoping her Undignified Assault card would be enough to keep Tyllia from taking too much off her health points. “A lot of Human words have their odd rules, while some have so many meanings purely by inflection.”
The staff returned quickly, their arms loaded with enough junk food to satiate a party made up of first year college students. With bowls quickly filled and staff departed, Lirya, Mohki, Tyllia, and her father Kohan began to pick and chew at finger foods.
As with many things that came with Humanity’s arrival to the stars, their food was always close behind; Chips were considered a coalition-wide delicacy, and the flavors were hotly debated.
Sour cream and onion were championed amongst the Pwah, while the Lilgara were under the strong belief that barbeque reigned supreme above all. The Kojynn held the firm opinion that all flavors were trifling when compared to the original, salted flavor of potato crisps, while the Skalathir consumed enough salt and vinegar potato chips that Goldilocks had its own massive amount of fields to keep up demand.
The Drafritti refused to participate in the forums and data-stream wide pissing contests, more to the fact they preferred popcorn over chips.
The Kafya on the other hand, had their own particular favorite flavor and chose no others…
“Cheddar and sour cream.” Kohan said with a grin as he held up a perfectly round potato chip, admiring it in the light. “I got a good portion...
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