His pronunciation was a little… well. But he was getting the pitch right! Just a weird accent, really. This was acceptable.
And they'd both found more common ground! … in that they were both horrified watching the other eat. Xe shut xyr mouth to hide xyr beak, then hid xyr mouth altogether with a tentacle, turning what was surely a familiar green. They would just have to agree to eat their meals separately. Assuming there was another. Usually xe only had specimens for a day before they were put back, or taken wherever they needed to be taken. And xyr meal for the day had already been delivered.
Xe looked to where he gestured, back to his hand. «The rock?» xe asked. "Earl?" Xe tried a few more times to make the appropriate p sound, and looked surprised when xe succeeded, chirping as xe did it a few more times for good measure. What a very silly sound to go including in words. Xe picked up the rock, and buffed it clean with the towel just on the principle of the thing. "Pearl?" xe asked as xe placed it gently in his palm.
If it made him happy, so be it. Who was xe to judge? Xe was the one not throwing out the shells like xe was supposed to, and xe knew better.
Xe really wished xe knew the words to explain that this was not how things usually went.
«Oh! Oh, wait, I have an idea! I have – wait, here, I'll–»
Xe moved quickly to the other side of the lab, digging through neglected cupboard to find what xe was looking for. «Found it! Okay, Roan, bear with me, here.» Xe stood up with arms full of… toys. Stuffed toys actually intended for children, but which xe had commandeered for the purposes of comforting specimens. Because sometimes having a stuffed toy to hold onto helped. This was just a science fact. Children usually didn't like the fluffy toys, anyway. Xe was doing them a favor. Xe moved carts and things out of xyr way as best xe could with arms full of toys, and then deposited them on the floor. Even though it was unnecessary, xe organized them so they were all standing upright, including one that looked like some kind of lemur-corgi centaur and another that looked like a long-haired purple pug with wings. Xe separated out a doll that looked like a person, if not quite as squishy and agreeable as Uala xyrself.
«Okay, so these are, uh, animals? On their planet. If these were all from the same planet. Right?» Xe looked to Roan hopefully. «Right. So, they're all doing whatever it is they do, and then someone comes along and gets one.» Xe acted out the doll in xyr hands picking up the pugasus, and then faltered. «And then they… put it in a… do I have a box? Where's a box. Oh, here.» Xe had the doll drop it into a nearby crate that was also full of bandages. «And then they deliver it to me!» It was probably unnecessary to hold the doll holding the crate, but xe was sort of getting into this now. Xe set the crate on top of the containment pod, then tossed the doll aside because xe thought it was creepy anyway.
«And then I come in and find it!» Xe very dramatically lifted the doll out of the crate, holding it aloft. «And then I look at its little paws, and its little wings, and its eyes and its teeth, and I feed it, um… oh, darn, I forgot that part. There's usually food in the containment unit, too. I should have… well, it's too late to start over, I'll just use this gauze.» Xe attempted to act out the toy grazing on the gauze. «I draw fluid samples while it's eating, usually.» Xe found a syringe, and did xyr best to act out taking blood without actually taking the syringe out of its sterile packaging. «And I – oh my gosh this toy is so fluffy, I love this thing, this one's my favorite actually.» Xe was briefly distracted snuggling the toy close to xyr face. «Aaaaah, so cute.»
«Then it goes over here!» Xe set it onto a table near the back of the lab. «See, this is why I'm showing you this,» xe said, gesturing. «I can't put you on this. If you don't do this yourself, I don't know what I'm going to do. Anyway, it lays down and gets comfy.» Xe flipped a few switches to turn on the display along the back wall, humming as it lit up with nothing on it. «And… I guess I'm going to have to waste some needles for this, aren't I? I wondered why I got so many needles in my supplies, that must be your fault.» Xe opened up a drawer on a cart, and retrieved a few sterile needles. Opening the package, xe hesitated. "No Roan," xe reassured him, pointing to the plastic. "No." Xe held up a tentacle to indicate that he was fine staying far away from it, if that felt safer. "Okay." Then xe took the needle out, long and so slender it was barely visible, a larger piece at the very top. Xe gently stuck it into the plush toy on the table, and pressed something on the top of the needle so it started to flash blue. On the screen at the back, it lit up with something resembling an x-ray, an ultrasound image of the toy from the inside. Xe moved some dials to move the image, from the side to the top and back again, a three-dimensional rotating image. «Now I can see all its organs! Or, well, this is just a toy, so there's just a lot of rocks. Lots of rocks. You're going to have to pretend these are organs. If you can pretend. Actually, I should have figured that out first. If you can't pretend, this has all been very confusing for you. Then I usually, you know, save the data and send – no, no, wait, I don't want to save this, this isn't – I don't need a log of this, oh my goodness, stop, stop saving this, I don't want to have to explain this.»
Xe turned the whole thing off abruptly. «That… probably didn't break anything.» Xe took the needle carefully out of the toy, putting it back in the plastic and throwing it in the biohazard bin. Then xe attempted to act out the toy going about its business, utterly unperturbed by being poked with a needle. "Ah. Okay?"
And they'd both found more common ground! … in that they were both horrified watching the other eat. Xe shut xyr mouth to hide xyr beak, then hid xyr mouth altogether with a tentacle, turning what was surely a familiar green. They would just have to agree to eat their meals separately. Assuming there was another. Usually xe only had specimens for a day before they were put back, or taken wherever they needed to be taken. And xyr meal for the day had already been delivered.
Xe looked to where he gestured, back to his hand. «The rock?» xe asked. "Earl?" Xe tried a few more times to make the appropriate p sound, and looked surprised when xe succeeded, chirping as xe did it a few more times for good measure. What a very silly sound to go including in words. Xe picked up the rock, and buffed it clean with the towel just on the principle of the thing. "Pearl?" xe asked as xe placed it gently in his palm.
If it made him happy, so be it. Who was xe to judge? Xe was the one not throwing out the shells like xe was supposed to, and xe knew better.
Xe really wished xe knew the words to explain that this was not how things usually went.
«Oh! Oh, wait, I have an idea! I have – wait, here, I'll–»
Xe moved quickly to the other side of the lab, digging through neglected cupboard to find what xe was looking for. «Found it! Okay, Roan, bear with me, here.» Xe stood up with arms full of… toys. Stuffed toys actually intended for children, but which xe had commandeered for the purposes of comforting specimens. Because sometimes having a stuffed toy to hold onto helped. This was just a science fact. Children usually didn't like the fluffy toys, anyway. Xe was doing them a favor. Xe moved carts and things out of xyr way as best xe could with arms full of toys, and then deposited them on the floor. Even though it was unnecessary, xe organized them so they were all standing upright, including one that looked like some kind of lemur-corgi centaur and another that looked like a long-haired purple pug with wings. Xe separated out a doll that looked like a person, if not quite as squishy and agreeable as Uala xyrself.
«Okay, so these are, uh, animals? On their planet. If these were all from the same planet. Right?» Xe looked to Roan hopefully. «Right. So, they're all doing whatever it is they do, and then someone comes along and gets one.» Xe acted out the doll in xyr hands picking up the pugasus, and then faltered. «And then they… put it in a… do I have a box? Where's a box. Oh, here.» Xe had the doll drop it into a nearby crate that was also full of bandages. «And then they deliver it to me!» It was probably unnecessary to hold the doll holding the crate, but xe was sort of getting into this now. Xe set the crate on top of the containment pod, then tossed the doll aside because xe thought it was creepy anyway.
«And then I come in and find it!» Xe very dramatically lifted the doll out of the crate, holding it aloft. «And then I look at its little paws, and its little wings, and its eyes and its teeth, and I feed it, um… oh, darn, I forgot that part. There's usually food in the containment unit, too. I should have… well, it's too late to start over, I'll just use this gauze.» Xe attempted to act out the toy grazing on the gauze. «I draw fluid samples while it's eating, usually.» Xe found a syringe, and did xyr best to act out taking blood without actually taking the syringe out of its sterile packaging. «And I – oh my gosh this toy is so fluffy, I love this thing, this one's my favorite actually.» Xe was briefly distracted snuggling the toy close to xyr face. «Aaaaah, so cute.»
«Then it goes over here!» Xe set it onto a table near the back of the lab. «See, this is why I'm showing you this,» xe said, gesturing. «I can't put you on this. If you don't do this yourself, I don't know what I'm going to do. Anyway, it lays down and gets comfy.» Xe flipped a few switches to turn on the display along the back wall, humming as it lit up with nothing on it. «And… I guess I'm going to have to waste some needles for this, aren't I? I wondered why I got so many needles in my supplies, that must be your fault.» Xe opened up a drawer on a cart, and retrieved a few sterile needles. Opening the package, xe hesitated. "No Roan," xe reassured him, pointing to the plastic. "No." Xe held up a tentacle to indicate that he was fine staying far away from it, if that felt safer. "Okay." Then xe took the needle out, long and so slender it was barely visible, a larger piece at the very top. Xe gently stuck it into the plush toy on the table, and pressed something on the top of the needle so it started to flash blue. On the screen at the back, it lit up with something resembling an x-ray, an ultrasound image of the toy from the inside. Xe moved some dials to move the image, from the side to the top and back again, a three-dimensional rotating image. «Now I can see all its organs! Or, well, this is just a toy, so there's just a lot of rocks. Lots of rocks. You're going to have to pretend these are organs. If you can pretend. Actually, I should have figured that out first. If you can't pretend, this has all been very confusing for you. Then I usually, you know, save the data and send – no, no, wait, I don't want to save this, this isn't – I don't need a log of this, oh my goodness, stop, stop saving this, I don't want to have to explain this.»
Xe turned the whole thing off abruptly. «That… probably didn't break anything.» Xe took the needle carefully out of the toy, putting it back in the plastic and throwing it in the biohazard bin. Then xe attempted to act out the toy going about its business, utterly unperturbed by being poked with a needle. "Ah. Okay?"
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