milliways_bar | (no subject)

Naraht fires off a jaunty salute. "Good morning, Barry. I haven't seen you since...well, since things got fixed. How are you doing?"

"I'm doing reasonably well. Some security matters to handle, but not out of the ordinary." There is a tiny hint in Barry's voice this is true but that "ordinary" is not what it used to be.

"Can I assume that you are feeling your old self and that there are no lingering affects?"

"Feeling very much my old self," he says. "As for lingering effects..." Naraht falls silent a moment. "I've been having some decidely unpleasant dreams every once in a while, but I suppose that is to be expected. I'll survive."

He adjusts George's cage to where it is slightly better balanced on his back. "I'm just heading out to let this little monster loose where he won't bother anyone. Then eventually I need to go back home for a bit...even if it does mean I'll have to endure Peck's snore-a-thon briefing."

Barry looks at the cage.

"What the heck is THAT?"

Naraht, chuckles. "Barry, meet George. AKA The Black Beast of Aaaauuuggghhh. AKA The Millstone Around My Figurative Neck. George, meet Barry, and don't you even try to bite his fingers off."

George snarls.

Barry, veteran of many encounters with the strange and bizarre in the animal and non-human realms, keeps a safe distance.

"I would ask if you brought that back from the Enterprise, but you just told me you haven't been back yet. So where did you find it?

"And where are you planning to let it loose exactly. It doesn't look all that safe." The security mode in Barry's mind is active.

"It found us. Peter and myself, that is. We were exploring some caves I found behind the gardens and it attacked. I decided to keep it caged until we could figure out what to do with it. Believe it or not, this is an improvement. Mace Windu did some behavior modifiation."

He sighs. "But it's not enough to let him run loose in the Bar and I can't take care of him forever. So Tim suggested letting him loose in the Dreaming."

"Yes. Let Lord Morpheus cope with it. That sounds like a good idea." Barry's voice doesn't quite drip with contempt for Dream, but his brief contacts with the being were not comfortable.

"I wasn't aware there were caves here. Though I suppose that you would probably be more likely to follow such things than I would."

Naraht can't grin, but his voder tone manages to convey the same sentiment. "Oh, you could say that I'm uniquely suited to such things. Believe me, if there is a cavern within a square kilometer of me, I'll be able to find it."

He gestures with his fringe at the cage. "I simply hope that he is the only one of his kind in that system. If there are...well, I'm going to have to collapse the two new exits I made."

Barry thinks about this little beast.

"I'm curious as to just what it is. It's odd that it would be living here, and if we had the facilities, I would seriously suggest trying to learn more.

"Can I at least hope that you can get some kind of lifesign sensors for the caves?

"And by the way, who named it?"

"Oh, I'll be sure to take some on my next trip," Naraht says. "I didn't get to explore anywhere near as much as I wanted to. And the entrance I made is plenty big enough for an average humanoid to use."

"And I named him George. It seems to be a running gag on the ship that, whenever someone comes across a new creature, they say they're going to name it that."

He shrugs. "They never do, for some reason. I figured I'd break the chain."

Barry smiles.

"Actually, I meant the Black Beast name. Sounds like it's a reference to something.

"But George sounds as likely as anything else.

"Anything else of note in the caves?"

"Peter called it that. It apparently appeared in some movie. 'Monty Python and the Holy Grail'? People keep telling me that I need to watch that one."

"And, aside from some very impressive flowstone, not much in the place we explored...but we didn't get too far before George showed up."

"Yeah, that sounds like a Peter kind of thing to do," says a man who never quite got the appeal of Python. "I can't imagine that you'd get most of the jokes in that film, though. It's very 20th century, very English.

"Any sense how large the caves are?"

"Perhaps I should watch it with someone to explain the jokes."

"As for how big the caves are...Well, we found a sizable cavern right off. but I could sound a great many beyond it. I believe the proper descriptive term for this system would be 'freakin' huge'".

Barry laughs at the wording.

"You're learning 21st century idiom. I can't say if that's good or bad.

"I wonder what else you'll find in the caves. Or if there's anything we should do with them. I have some friends who like to hang around in caves, but it would be cruel to actually suggest they set up shop in there."

Naraht laughs as well. "It's you tricky humans," he says. "You'll infect any innocent extra-terrestrial with your quirky way of seeing the universe."

He ponders. "I hadn't really thought of the possibility of doing anything with the caves. I'll certainly let you know if I find anything interesting. But, if some beings prefer them to the very comfortable accomodations Milliways provides I don't see why they shouldn't be used. Why don't you send those friend my way? I'll take them along on my next expedition."

Barry thinks about it.

"I'll see what kind of mood these friends are in if and when I see them. They've been a bit scarce of late. But they might appreciate it, yes.

"And you have no idea how infectious us humans can be. I had a friend back in my super-hero days. A Martian. He loved jazz music, came to visit for Christmas, and ate sometihng called Oreos. That's a kind of cookie. It was so stragne seeing him eat them."

He chuckles. "As strange as seeing a Horta with a Rubic's Cube?"

Barry smiles. He'd forgotten about that. "Stranger. but, I will admit, not by much.

"Did you get far with it?"

"Was this close to solving it," he says, holding two bits of his fringe a centemeter apart, "when Tim gave Q his comeuppins and...well, I can't tell the colors apart anymore. Ray said he could modify it for me so there's still hope."

"Oh. Didn't realize you are color blind. That does make sense, though. What good is color vision in the dark, after all?

"I guess we could get a version that has different textures or patterns on each face." Barry thinks a bit.

"Can I ask you something? Now that it's over... what did you think of it? Of being one of my species."

"I suppose you would consider it 'color blindness' in a way. After all, I don't 'see' using the spectrum of light you do. No retinas, after all. Ray did suggest textured stickers. I really need to track him."

Naraht has to stop and think about it for a moment. "It was...well, astronomically different. I doubt I will ever be able to comprehend living with a blindside or being so high up when you move around under your own power, but...I don't know. It's not like I had the inclination to explore the positive aspects of being human at the time. Color vision was new. Seemed to add a dimension to perception I've never experienced."

He chuckles. "If only I could have that as well as my usual 'vision' using thermal signatures and radiation gradients."

"Skin sensation," he says after another moment's thought. "I was just getting to the point where I was ready to really start exploring that when I got changed back. And I do miss wine. I'm afraid it's completely tasteless to me in this form."

He appears to look up at Barry. "I'm not sure. I think I'd have to experience it again under more voluntary circumstances to give a truely fair assessment."

"No, that's fair. I know it was not something you cared for, under the circumstances, but I guess the scientist in me is always curious about such things. Even the insights that you did gain are of note, I think.

"I also find it interesting that of all the foods you could have tried, wine is what stuck with you." it takes Barry a few seconds to realize what that might mean.

"Or was is the feeling that goes with wine?"

Naraht guesses what he means. "No, Barry. Most definately not. It was the taste of chardonney, the only wine I got a chance to try, that appealed to me. I never drank enough of that to get intoxicated."

He seems a little chagrinned at this point. "Not that I didn't get rather intoxicated on some other drink. A gentleman by the name of Face offered it to me. Before I knew what was up, I had gone through...oh, Great Mother. A good many. Did my damnedest not to let that happen again."

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