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“Come on! Just a little further - we’ll be there soon,” rang out the voice amidst the streets of Rotfront. Two figures walked down the empty streets, heavy jackets wrapped around each of them to protect against the snowy winds which constantly whipped at them.
A pair of blue eyes squinted as the biting winds cut at her faceplate, her line of sight obscured by the near-blizzard conditions. It certainly wasn’t her idea of a good time to be out in a snowstorm, but her friend had a knack for pulling her into situations she would have never found herself in normally. Many amongst her cadre considered it strange of her. To her, she figured it was just a soft spot for the Eule.
“How much farther? I hate this,” hissed the Ara as she pulled the coat’s collar over her face, covering herself from the hostile environment. She stomped behind her friend’s brisk pace, the heavy clanking of her hoofsteps revealing her annoyance.
The Eule in front of her pointed ahead to a flickering neon sign. “Up ahead! We’re almost there!” she shouted, her voice barely carrying over the winds. The Ara looked up and nodded in affirmation. Just a few more minutes of this nonsense, and they could be back in a warm building.
The bell at the door jingled as the two Replika shuffled their way into the shop, the taller of the two hurriedly shutting the door behind them with a thump. Their shoulders sagged in unison as they basked in the warmth of the insulated lobby.
“Welcome in!” chirped a voice from the back of the building. “I’ll be there in just a moment!”
“Hello, Mrs. Lao!” shouted the Eule back as she gently removed her jacket and draped it over her arm. Her companion mimicked her actions with a slight delay. Before they had been reassigned to Rotfront, neither of them had ever worn Gestalt clothes. The Eule took to them quickly due to her interest in fashion, while the Ara considered them odd and uncomfortable to wear for extended periods, finding that they frequently got in the way of her maintenance repairs.
“Ah, Blüchen!” the woman welcomed in pleasant surprise. She quickly emerged from the back rooms and made her way to the counter. “I should have known it was you - no Gestalt would be making their way here in this weather!” Her eyes squinted in confusion as they settled on the Ara who awkwardly stood in front of her. “Who’s this?”
“Oh, she’s a friend of mine,” Blüchen explained. “She doesn’t get out much, so I wanted to bring her to one of my favorite places to go. Her name’s Tann.”
The room was silent for one… two awkward seconds, before Tann realized it was her turn to speak. “H-hello,” she quietly muttered, unused to making introductions, particularly those involving her preferred name.
“It’s nice to meet you, Tann,” the Gestalt shopkeep smiled before crossing her arms in thought. “Where’s Nines?”
“She had a late shift tonight, so she wasn’t able to make it,” Blüchen explained to her. Mrs. Lao silently nodded in acknowledgement.
“Well, you two are the only ones here right now, so feel free to pick anywhere to sit. I recommend the third window on the far side; it’s got a heater right above it so it’s nice and toasty,” she offered.
“We’ll take it,” Blüchen responded, before making her way over to the booth. Tann quietly followed her, unsure of what was going on. The two Replika took their seats at the booth, followed closely behind by Mrs. Lao, who handed them both a menu to peruse over.
“I’ll go get you two some water. Take all the time you need - it’s not like we’re busy, anyhow,” the woman joked before darting away. Blüchen grasped the menu, fumbling the first attempt before snatching it up in her lithe fingers. Tann simply stared at the sheet of paper on the table in front of her.
“May I ask what this place is?” she asked in a hushed tone. The Eule’s eyes peered over her menu, locking onto her friend’s face.
“It’s a restaurant. Haven’t you ever been to one?” she asked in genuine disbelief. She knew Aras were shut-ins, but she figured Tann had gone out at least once or twice when she was still on Heimat.
“No,” the Ara bluntly replied. “The rations are fine enough for me. Not like I had anyone to go with, anyhow.”
“Oh, don’t say it like that,” Blüchen said as she lightly slapped Tann’s hand. The Ara stood unflinchingly still. “You sound so sad when you say that. Well, you’ve got me now!” she smiled. Tann met her grin with a slight smile. The facial gesture still felt foreign to her at times, but it was becoming more and more commonplace as she spent time with Blüchen and Nines.
“It’s true,” Tann retorted. Aras were not social creatures. Nearly every waking moment of theirs was spent in solitude, whether it was doing maintenance work or poring over blueprints and tinkering with mechanical scraps in their free time. The thought of one finding herself in such a place was so strange, most Gestalt shop owners didn’t even know how to talk to them.
“Okay, well, how about we find you something to eat? Is there anything on here that looks good to you?” Blüchen asked. Her eyes made their way down the list in front of her, scanning the items one by one. “I usually get the Gongbao, but I know Nines likes the dandanmian. Her and I got hotpot once, as well,” she noted. “Do you like spicy food?”
“Never tried it,” Tann muttered. Replika rations are stale and underseasoned, designed for nutrition rather than flavor, and if she ever splurged on black market foodstuffs, it was usually sweets like chocolate, not savory foods.
“Okay, well… we probably shouldn’t start here. I tried some of Nines’ noodles once and I swear my mouth hurt for hours afterwards,” she reminisced. She placed the menu on the table and spun it around to face Tann, pointing at a line of text on the paper. “How does this sound to you? It seems pretty nice.”
Tann looked down at the paper to see what she was pointing at. “Beef fried rice?”
“Mhm!” hummed Blüchen. “I guarantee you it’ll be better than whatever passes for ‘fried rice’ in the cafeteria, okay?”
Tann nodded in agreement. “I suppose that sounds good, yes.”
Just then, the shopkeeper returned with two glasses of water. She placed the glasses onto the lacquered table with a pleasant thunk, before retrieving a small notepad and pen from her apron pocket.
“Have we decided what to get yet? I’m assuming you’ll want your usual tea,” she said with a smile towards Blüchen.
“Yes, please,” the Eule nodded. “I’d like to order the Gungbao chicken again, too.” The Gestalt scribbled down the order onto her little notepad. “My friend here would like the beef stir fry, since it’s her first time.”
“Not one for spice, hmm?” Mrs. Lao cracked as she clicked her pen and placed it back in her pocket. Tann stared at her and shook her head in response. “Alright, ladies. I’ll go get started on those for you,” she spoke before walking away.
Tann absentmindedly clacked her fingertips against the table as she listened to the footsteps leave the room. “Did you have to order for me?”
“Nope! But I know you well enough to know you appreciate that I did.”
The Ara sighed in a mixture of bemusement and annoyance. Whether she wanted to admit it or not, Blüchen was right - Tann usually hated talking to people unless it was urgent. The Eule continued. “Well, how have things been on your end? I haven’t been able to see you much ever since we landed here.”
“Fine,” Tann simply remarked. “It’s mostly been maintenance and repairs. They have us working to set up some armament factories further in the city.”
“Mmhm,” Blüchen hummed as she listened. “So like, you’re setting up the machines?”
“No. Structural repairs. The building had been abandoned for years.”
“Huh. Do you know what it was originally…?” the owl prodded. Tann simply shrugged her shoulders in response before taking a sip of water. “Sounds boring, then.”
“It isn’t. One of the other Aras found a crate of old blueprints somebody had left behind. There was a treasure trove of service manuals and maintenance pamphlets there.”
“How on Vineta can you even find that sort of thing interesting?” the Eule asked. “I’ve seen some of the manuals you read in your free time. I think if I had to read one of them for more than a minute, I’d have to do some persona stabilization afterwards.”
“...May I ask why you were going through my manuals?” Tann asked, her eyes narrowing in confusion.
“Oh, no, no! I just used to skim through some of the ones you brought to lunch back on the Freya,” she answered. “Goodness, what do you think I am, a blockwart?”
“Maybe,” Tann snarked back. “You ask enough questions to make me worry sometimes.”
“Oh, what’s wrong with wanting to know more about my friend?” the owl gasped in mock offense.
“Nothing, I just… I’m still getting used to it,” she admitted, her eyes darting away to focus on the salt shakers next to them. The Eule’s expression visibly softened in response, and she reached a hand out to grasp Tann’s. The soft touch of the owl’s thumb gently caressed Tann’s worn gauntlets, and her shoulders imperceptibly loosened, ever so slightly.
“I know,” she quietly muttered.
Tann’s eyes slowly moved back to Blüchen’s face. “I appreciate it.”
“I’m glad.”
The two Replika discussed a variety of topics as they waited for their meals. Tann was never one to overshare, but with her friend she felt comfortable enough to let her feelings slip about some of her coworkers. Blüchen complained about the lack of free time she had ever since they made planetfall, and how it was affecting her time with Nines.
“Her Protektor-Commander keeps getting on her about security shifts, apparently. Ugh,” the Eule complained. Tann quietly listened to her rant, eyes fixated on the couch behind her. “Some Storch that was recently reassigned here with us… Gier, I think her name was. Kept complaining about the ship’s potential security risks.”
“Hmm,” Tann quietly hummed. “I might know who you’re talking about. I had to help her with a service weapon repair recently.” She had found the Storch standoffish at first, but she found her repeated thanks for Tann’s maintenance on her weapon oddly endearing.
Just then, Mrs. Lao emerged from the kitchen, carrying a tray piled high with foodstuffs and utensils. She placed the tray on the table and began to place the bowls of food onto the tabletop before her two guests.
“Uh…” the Eule trailed off, before finding her words. “We didn’t order these, right?” She looked down at a plate of steaming potstickers which had been placed between the two of them.
“Oh, no, you didn’t. These are a new recipe, and I wanted to see how you liked them before I officially changed it,” the shopkeeper explained with a smile. “It’s on the house! For my two guests who braved the cold to come here today.” With the plates of food and utensils served, she picked up the tray and made her way back to the kitchen.
Tann and Blüchen snapped their chopsticks open, and the Ara began to scrub the two sticks against each other to sand off any stray splinters.
“What are you doing?” Blüchen hissed. “Don’t do that! It’s disrespectful.”
“There are splinters on my utensils. I will not be ingesting them with my food,” the Ara retorted, scrubbing them even faster until they had been rendered smooth. Blüchen sighed in defeat and let her friend do as she pleased, worriedly peeking behind her in case Mrs. Lao returned from the kitchen. Tann uttered a hum of pleasure as she inspected her utensils, before digging them into the steaming plate of stir fried rice before her. She picked up a hefty stickful of rice, making sure to snag a piece of the glistening beef, before shoveling the food into her mouth.
She paused as she began to chew, staring at the plate as the glossy stir fry sauce coated her tongue in sweetness, saltyness, and umami all at once, her taste buds picking up flavors and sensations she had never experienced before.
It tasted somehow exactly like the ration stir fries she had eaten all her life, only indescribably better. The taste was like a home she couldn’t remember, a freshly-cooked meal her and the apparitions of her family would have enjoyed huddled around the table together.
She buried her chopsticks back into the plate and scooped another bite into her mouth, excitedly humming at the taste. Crispy fried rice, thinly-sliced browned meat and fresh, crunchy vegetables all filled her mouth. The Eule was right, she hated to admit - the food was leagues superior to anything that the Freya’s kitchen could concoct.
Blüchen laughed as she watched Tann scarf down the meal. “See? What did I say? I told you it would be good!” she giggled, before digging into her own meal. She blew on the steaming chicken and scooped up a variety of stir-fried vegetables, before digging her chopsticks into the accompanying white rice and eating the whole mishmash of food. For a moment, she chewed the hefty bite of her food-
Her eyes widened as she began to spasm. A cough wrenched its way from her lungs, causing her to spatter the bite of food. A groan escaped her lips as she hacked out her lungs, finally swallowing the little bit which remained in her mouth.
“Sorry,” she squeaked, flashing an awkward smile at Tann. “One of the pepper pieces went down my throat…”
Tann stared at her, unblinkingly. A small smile slowly crept along her face, until the two of them broke out in laughter.
“You sounded like a clogged vent,” she snarked.
“Oh, hush! Next time I’ll make you order,” the Eule shot back.
The two of them bonded over their shared meal, cracking jokes and enjoying the presence of their friend, trying each other’s plates, talking about whatever conversation topics came to mind.
Tann reached her chopsticks forward greedily to snatch up a stray piece of chicken from her friend’s plate, grabbing a few vegetables and a chili pepper as well.
“You had better be careful,” the Eule warned her. “You saw what that did to me.”
“It’s just a pepper. I’ve had peppers before,” Tann bluntly informed her, before popping the bite into her mouth. She sat still as she chewed, tasting the flavors and textures of the meal, and swallowed the bite after a few moments. Blüchen’s jaw went slack as she stared.
“How on Vineta did you…?” she trailed off. Tann shrugged.
“It was nice, but it isn’t what I would usually prefer. I think I will stick to my fried rice,” she decided, before taking another bite and thinking. “Was there ever an update on the spy situation?” Tann whispered as the Replika across from her crunched down on a piece of crispy chicken. She shook her head in response, before swallowing.
“No, I don’t think there was one to begin with. Nines said it was just a false alarm. Apparently one of the Gestalts onboard was just a stowaway, that’s all.”
“Well, that’s good, at least,” the Ara muttered before taking another bite. She shuddered to imagine what may have happened had there actually been a spy on the ship. If they were found, at the very least that would mean decommissionings and punishment to the security crew for allowing her onboard. If they hadn’t… She pushed the thought from her mind and looked past Blüchen.
“I’m glad nothing came of it,” she noted. “You seemed worried when you first mentioned it.”
“Well, of course I was!” the owl retorted. “Imagine getting pulled into an interrogation room by a Protektor to be asked questions about a spy. I thought I was going to be decommissioned by the end of curfew.”
“I would have missed you if that had been the case,” Tann quietly muttered. Tann still considered herself a subpar conversationalist, but with Blüchen she felt comfortable enough to speak her mind freely. This was a rare feeling for an Ara to have, but one she embraced nonetheless.
When they had scraped their plates clean and left their glasses dry, Blüchen got ready to pay, pulling her coat jacket over to her.
“Are we not sharing the cost?” Tann asked quizzically.
“Nope! It’s my treat,” Blüchen responded as she rummaged through her coat pockets to retrieve a bundle of rationmarks she kept on her. She scooted out of the booth and made her way over to the counter to pay for their meal, returning a few moments later with her jacket back on.
“You ready?” she asked. Tann silently nodded, and shimmied her way out of the booth, slipping her own coat over her arms. They made their way back to the entrance, with Tann pushing the door open. The bell jingled once more.
“Thank you both! Take care! It was good to meet you!” Mrs. Lao called out to the two of them as they stepped out.
“Thank you for the meal,” Tann called back.
“It was delicious! I’ll be back soon!” Blüchen yelled, before stepping outside. The door rattled as it slammed shut behind them, leaving them exposed in the Rotfront winter. The Eule looked up at the sky.
“Seems like it’s nicer out now, at least,” she decided. The winds were still present, but they were nowhere near as aggressive as they had been when they walked into the restaurant. It was… almost pleasant.
Tann nodded in agreement, and began to make her way up the street, back the way they came. There was not a chance in hell she was spending a minute longer than absolutely necessary out in the snow.
Blüchen was lost in thought, imagining other places to drag her friend to for next time, almost losing sight of Tann. Her head whipped to the side to the disappearing figure in the distance. “Hey, wait for me!” she called, her metal hooves clanking against the sidewalk as she chased after her friend, all the way back to the ship.
The Ara silently mulled over the experience as she walked, lost in her thoughts. It was unbecoming, unusual, a strange occurrence for such a solitarily-minded Replika to be out with friends. But it felt… nice, surprisingly enough .
Maybe Blüchen was right. Maybe she should get out more.