The envoy as advertised, a bodyguard as expected, and a diplomat. With some measure of luck, at least two of the three would bring some thinking brains into the group. Avelyn wasted no time letting her mind wander, or rather letting their minds wander into hers, trying to gauge their new compatriots. But where was the complaining coming from? She turned toward the sound of an opening door, catching sight of one crew member who had recently climbed a few rungs on her shit list entering the room before turning back to face the delegates so her crewmates couldn’t see her rolling her eyes. When the self-professed first mate - one of three no less - mentioned a private talk with the two lovebirds, she couldn’t help but shoot them a look that screamed ‘I’m sorry for you two.’, made a bit worse by knowing he was right on that one: Mentioning that could’ve waited until they sat down or something.

The envoy was not what she expected. He might’ve been like that, or it might’ve been all a big show. She didn’t know and couldn’t readily verify. His thoughts were still alien to her and their language unknown to her, concealing their full meaning from her prying neurons. That feeling of uncertainty reminded her of her first interaction with an alien mind. A restrained Rau’Ve prisoner. First there was disbelief. Then terror. She shook her head to banish the uncomfortable past. Then the Gabriel guy whispered something in the language she didn’t understand. And while that might have been foreign to her, thoughts were a universal language. Alien ones could be a little confusing the first few times, but same-species brains always spoke the same dialect. She still didn’t know what he said, but at least his thoughts made it seem like he wouldn’t start stabbing people. [color=#FF2E00]“It’s widely considered impolite to whisper among yourselves in a language not all of your hosts might understand.”[/color] she joked with a friendly wave. [color=#FF2E00]“Sounds lovely though, you’ll have to teach me later.”[/color]

Then she had an idea. 50:50 good and absolutely idiotic, but to Hell with it, that wasn’t out of character for this crew. Avelyn turned to Melinae wearing a warm smile. [color=#FF2E00]“‘All you can eat’ he says. That’s coming from our rations after he cut them down ship-wide because [i]one[/i] of us made a mistake. If you take care not to go overboard and leave some for the rest of us, you might win some hearts and minds. K-rats are terrible.”[/color] she spoke a slightly slurred Rau’Ve, watching for Joey’s reaction and hoping he didn’t speak that one, but not holding out much hope.