Chapter Text
Gro’lark really didn’t want to go on a mission like this, but they needed credits and they needed it now. The profit from their last mission (extermination of a certain less than friendly beast in the aX59oO system), unfortunately, ran out last week and while they didn’t have any debts to pay off, they did need to pay for accomodation and buy food. They knew they could steal, but, despite having a bad reputation among the other races, they never were the type to do so.
So they spent a few days out and about at the station they were currently staying at looking for odd jobs with good pay. One day, they were on the marketplace, looking for their favourite fruit, when an old friend of theirs, Fir, called out for them.
“Gro’lark! Long time no see! What’re ya doin here?” the Garlian asked.
“Well, my last mission brought me here and I haven't found a new job yet…”
“Oh? Looking for a job, are ya? Lucky ya met me, ‘cause I’m just out here to offer one! I got a ship, can ya believe it? Well, anyways, I am lookin’ for a strong someone to help me protect the cargo we transporting through the galaxy. The pay is really nice.” she added, obviously knowing that that is what is most probable to persuade them into taking the job.
“I do need the money...Who else will be on the ship?” they asked.
“Well, right now I got a couple of Raa’s, a pair of Dalmans, a few Sor’da’s, a whole lot of my own race, including Jin, you remember Jin, don’t ya?” the orc nodded their head. “Oh yeh, and I have a Terran!”
They stared in surprise. “Where did you get a Terran? I have never seen one with my own eyes and I have traveled across the galaxy two times!”
“Well, I met ‘im when I bought the ship. I may or may not have almost landed on ‘im. He just laughed tho and asked me if I was hiring crew.”
“So the Terrans really don’t have a sense of self preservation, huh?”
“Yeh, I don’t think so. He’s crazy and most of the other crew members are scared shitless.” she said and laughed.
The orc chuckled to themself. “Okay, okay, I will take the job, if only for the chance of meeting a Terran. What would my duties and position be?”
“Well, ya would be the soldier. We need protection from a lot of things since we’ll be passing a lot of dangerous territories. If yer not saving our asses from a monster or somethin’, ya go to check in with the mechanic and see if there’s any maintenance that he can’t do and ya help ‘im. If ya get injured, this is, of course, irrelevant and you just go to yer quarters and rest, or heal, or some other shit, yea?” she said, as if getting injured wouldn’t be better then interacting with a mechanic from a different race.
“Yeah,sounds like something I could manage. ” they said.
“Nice, pack your shit, gotta leave at dawn tomorrow.” she said with a grin.
They really didn’t have anything to pack, they always kept all their belongings in a big travel bag in case some monster hunters should come to the place they’re staying at. Not all of them consider orcs ‘monsters’, but it was better to not have to find out by having to fight for your life if they do.
The next morning, the station had not yet rotated enough for any of the three suns to be seen, but they were already waiting in the docs. No one liked orcs anyway and it was better to not make the crew hate them even more by being late and making them wait.
An entrance to one of the big ships opened up and Jin exited them. She was just as beautiful as the rest of the Garlians, 6 feet tall, horns growing from her head, crystal scales, one of the hardest materials in the galaxy, covering her entire body all the way to the end of her tail. Garlians didn’t have legs (or arms, for that matter), instead their lower body was that of a gon (you can be sure that my lovely beta readers made a hxh joke here) from the orcs’ home planet, Harral. (It is a big snake, basically. But it has three heads and can mimic voices. It’s pretty terrifying) She had three sets of eyes with no irises, but they had every color of the rainbow in them. She flashed them a smile, showing her insanely sharp canines.
“Hey Gro’lark. Long time no see. See ya lookin’ at my scales again. Like what ya see?”
“Sorry about that. Know what they say about orcs and shiny things...Anyways, how are you? Heard through the grapevine some time ago that you and Fir are back together.” they said and smirked when the Garlian spluttered, looking for words.
“I- yes, we’re together. Where did ya hear it ya little fiend, huh?!” she said, playfuly.
“Well, I may or may not have talked to Shira a little while back and they said that you two ‘figured it out and then did the bonga’ apparently.” They chuckled and she started full on laughing.
“Okay, that is an acceptable way of learnin’ about it. Yea, me and Fir’re back together. And we’re mated!”
“That’s great! For both of you, I mean! You deserve some happiness after what happened on Li48A.”
“Thanks kar’r (a term of endearment, think hun, sweetie), ya always been one of the nicest people ‘round. Get on board, Imma show ya yer quarters and the ship.” she said, flicking the end of her tail to motion for them to follow her.
They did just that, not looking back as the three suns began to rise behind them.
~
Most species were either scared of orcs, seeing them as thugs, thieves, or murderers, or they looked at them with disgust for, well, being orcs. So to say that Gro’lark was used to being ostracized was an understatement. They were literally almost murdered for being an orc on multiple occasions.
So it was a pretty big surprise for them meeting the Terran for the first time.
They were walking through the hall, just having done an equipment check in the storage, when someone bumped into them.
“Fuck!” the person exclaimed as the things they were carrying dropped to the floor. Gro’lark froze in place, fearing a violent reaction as soon as the person noticed what they bumped into.
They rubbed their head, having had hit it on Gro’lark’s armor and looked up.
“I’m so sorry, I should’ve watched my step.” Gro’lark quickly said.
“Ah, don’t sweat it. It’s fine. I should’ve been more careful too, was carrying something after all. Shit! I was carrying something!” they exclaimed and immediately kneeled down to the thing they dropped.
Gro’lark also leaned down, trying to help them as best as they could.
After they were finished, the person said “Thank you for your help. I’m going to have to repair it once I get back to my workshop, but oh well. What you gonna do. Anyways, what’s your name? Haven’t seen you here yet.”
“I’m...Gro’lark. And I usually don’t leave my cabin…”
“Oh, that’s a cool name! It means ‘happy’ or something similar, doesn’t it? I’m Jada! And a guy. I can see you’re pretty confused about my gender. Don’t worry, most people are. There’s not many who know about Terran biology.” he said and chuckled.
They were at a loss for words. Not only have they met a Terran, but the Terran was being friendly. And laughing. And he also knew the meaning of their name, had been talking in their language and WHAT?
“I- uhm-” they said, smartly.
“What’s the matter? Did I scare you? Are you hurt?” he asked, still with that light attitude of his, but now slightly concerned. Concerned. About them.
“No...I am okay. You did not...scare me. But-”
“Oh okay! What’s the problem then? Are you worried about the state of this old thing?” he slightly pointed his chin downwards at the thing he was holding in his arms. “It’ll be fine, it won’t take that long to get it back together and even if it would, it’s not your fault.”
“Aren’t you scared of me?” they blurted out, finally.
He stared at them for a beat. And then he smiled. “Oh, you thought I was gonna be scared of you or hate you because you’re an orc? Well, trust me, I’m not. You seem a lot more scared of me then I do of you, don’t you think? Would you like to get lunch and maybe talk about it? We don’t have to eat in the caf, we can just go to my workshop or your room or something.”
“I...would like that, yes. And could we go to your- wait, your workshop? So you’re the mechanic?”
“Yea, that’s me. Why so surprised?” he asked, the smile still on his lips.
“Well, I have been instructed to visit you whenever I finish getting rid of some attacker to see if you have some repairs that you can’t manage by yourself…”
“THAT’S YOU?! Like, I knew that the person getting rid of the dangers would probably be of a big and strong species, but I didn’t think the captain would actually hire an orc! I thought more along the lines of one of the Dalmans or Garlians. You guys are known for working alone, even if it is only because everyone either hates you or is scared of you.” he exclaimed.
“Well, I wouldn’t accept the offer if I didn’t know the captain before...she asked me to take it, I needed money, I knew her and it just ended with me on the ship...Also, her mate is nice to me.” They didn’t know why they were telling all of this to the Terran, they just felt like he could be trusted.
“Oh, that makes sense. Fir and Jin really are pretty nice. Unlike the rest of their species, apparently. They tried to eat me multiple times. Got bitten by three. Thinking about it, it probably makes sense to not make one of them the one to come to me after an attack.” he said, rolling his eyes and chuckling.
“You got - bitten by a Garlian. Not one, but three. And you’re still alive? H o w?” they were genuinely confused. A Garlian bite was lethal for most species and even orcs had troubles with them, if the teeth pierced their skin. How was this puny person still alive?!
“Well, yea, it’s like getting bitten by a cobra. Thankfully, the antidote is basically the same, so I was okay the first time and then developed a better version for it for further use.”
“A cobra? What is a cobra?”
“Well, it looks a lot like a Garlian, but it’s smaller and doesn’t have horns and only one pair of eyes. It lives on Earth, my home planet. It’s also very venomous. A bite can kill you if you don’t get the antidote.”
“So something like a gon? But with only one head and smaller? You have that on your planet?” they asked.
“Oh yea, we do. But it’s pretty easy to not meet it. It only lives in certain parts of the world. And if you’re quick enough, you can manage to not get bitten by it if you encounter it, so it’s not that bad. And I have heard of gons before, I would like to see one in person, though I have never gotten that close to Harral to be able to visit...sucks.” he said, like visiting Harral was a holiday that he was excited about and not an almost certain death trip for anyone other then an orc. Hell, sometimes even orcs would die there.
“Uh. I don’t think you would like to meet a gon. It does sound a lot like a cobra though, hard to encounter and while it is dangerous if you do, it’s not that hard to kill it or hurt it if you’re quick enough...more of a nuisance than anything else…”
“Exactly! I’m pretty hungry now, though. Let’s go get food and talk in my workshop. We can continue talking about your and mine home planets, yea?” he said and smiled.
“Okay then, right behind you…” they replied and followed the Terran to the cafeteria.
~