[center][i]Addressing: [@Tortoise] [@Flamelord][/i][/center]

Elm wasn’t paying too much attention to her surroundings, browsing through the shop's display and thinking how the new plants would get incorporated in the already existing greenhouse ecosystems. There weren’t many interesting things though, most seeds sold there were pretty common - spices, grains and various vegetables intended for hydroponics on smaller ships, bred to be fast-growing and space and water efficient.

One pack of seeds was already in a satchel hanging over her shoulder. It was an impulsive idea, something almost unheard of for her kind and she was still not really sure about it. The seeds were sold under the counter - they weren’t exactly illegal, but also weren’t entirely legal. It was a bit of a grey area in all the rules and regulations of the I.S.A. Elm however loved the smell of the plant and occasionally chewing on a leaf or two was very relaxing. She knew humans preferred to set the dried leaves on fire and inhale the smoke. A strange habit, as it destroyed all the nutrients contained in the fresh leaf tissue.

When she heard someone commenting on her snack, she turned to greet him. As her kind was extremely rare outside her home planet, she was used to curious people occasionally starting conversations with her. It was much better than those that just stared at her from a distance. When she realized that this isn’t just some random passerby but the captain himself, she winced, for some reason feeling like she got caught doing something wrong. She decided it would be better not to mention the seeds. Or the problems in the greenhouse. After all, there were plenty of other botanists eager to go on this mission and she didn’t want captain Carabello to think she was incompetent and replace her before the expedition even starts.

She was surprised that the captain introduced himself only by his name, omitting the title. She had only known a few I.S.A. officers, but all of the high-ranking ones were particularly proud of their titles and insisted on using them everywhere. She was pleased to see that their captain might be something different. [color=82ca9d]“Well, we are supposed to be on an exploration mission,”[/color] she smiled, [color=82ca9d]“so I am exploring. Haven’t found anything interesting yet though. Not enjoying the local cuisine?”[/color] She had noticed that the food stands sold a lot of different body parts from animals that humans normally didn’t consume, or at least she thought they didn’t. 

The captain wasn’t alone, he was accompanied by a large crystalline… person? Entity? Elm had no idea what was the correct term. She knew he was also part of the Prize’s crew, she had noticed him walking around the hallways before and saw him at the senior staff meetings. He was kind of hard to miss. She felt a slight connection to him - while there were many races present on the Prize, still the crew were mostly humans and sometimes it wasn’t easy to be this much alien looking like they were. [color=82ca9d]“Hi, I’m Elm,”[/color] she said, nodding her head in his direction.