Collab: FallenReaper and Sundered Echo

Ariadne breathed a mental sigh of relief as the Jaffa were led down a different corridor to her. She had been keeping Idalia from surfacing at all while they were around, something that she both disliked and found difficult. Idalia was a strong host and could make things unpleasant for her when she really wanted to - thankfully a very rare occurrence. She let her remorse and apologies shine through to her host as she relinquished control, adding the smallest bit of scolding to the woman for her rash and emotional thinking.

Idalia took control without breaking stride. She was annoyed at her symbiote for having dominated her like she did, but she understood why. She and Ariadne didn’t always immediately see eye to eye, but they usually managed to at least come to an agreement in such cases.

She didn’t like the Tau’ri base very much. It was dark, regular and though strange and new, somehow still boring. The woman that was leading them seemed vibrant and interesting enough though. They quickly arrived at the rooms, from the outside appearing much the same as the rest, but inside seemingly designed just for a Tok’ra - fairly sparse, but tastefully decorated. Idalia put down the box with her things in it on the bed and turned back to her escort. “The quarters seem alright. A little dark perhaps? But why wait? It has been too long since I explored anywhere.” Idalia had almost forgotten the Jaffa by now, the thrill of traveling to somewhere so new overtaking the hatred she felt for them.

Kay watched the pair settle in a bit and considered leaving, her body turned to the door after her offer. She’d stopped when the woman Tok’ra spoke, commented on the quarters and the fact it a little dark. The Israeli woman noted the lacking deep and alien voice of earlier which meant the host, not the symbiote, was in control. Kayle admitted it was a slightly less nerving thing to hear the Tok’ra sounding more human than earlier and no long felt the need to reassure herself her guest wasn’t someone to be afraid of. 

Once she registered who was currently in control, Kay listened to the woman, who looked four year junior of her age, take her offer. This caused a large swell of pride and excitement to pulse inside for the Second Lieutenant. Perfect, Kay thought. 

“Well, the main reason it’s dark is because the base is located underground. It took me a few weeks to grow use to it but you don’t have to worry about it for too long.” She said in a thoughtful voice, her mind trailed for a moment back to her first arrival and then moved on. “We can start the tour with a few science areas before we head to the cafeteria where if you’re open to new foods, there’s a few delicious dish I can recommend.”

With that said, Kay stepped to the side and cleared a path into the hallway. She did the proper greeting as she wasn’t sure, not completely, how the Jaffa would’ve acted to it. Last thing she wanted was to cause a rift between the base and either race by not being neutral enough. 

Idalia noticed as her guide was speaking that she had a significantly different accent to the other Tau’ri. She wondered for if maybe Zaken was not from Earth. Ariadne had no thoughts on the matter so she decided to ask. “Zaken… You speak unusually for a Tau’ri. Are you from earth?” She said as she stepped into the hall and waited to be led to wherever they were going.

Kayle’s face became surprised at the comment which melted into a thoughtful expression, her hands remained behind her back. Her mind drifted to how to explain why she wasn’t like the rest of the base personnel or her accent for that matter. However, Kay dogged on to answer the Tok’ra’s inquiry to her best ability while she started her tour. 

She took a breath then spoke. “Yes, I’m from Earth. This planet’s people are different and unique in their cultures from one another creating a wide variety. Currently, I’m only one of a few you likely see when we board the ship. I’m from a nation called Israel and where I came from, many different cultures who share similar faith live there in harmony, mostly.” 

Idalia nodded in reply, taking in the information quickly. “I have read that this world has many more people than any other in the galaxy… Billions of people. Of all the marvels I have learned of since I was freed from the Goa’uld, this has been one of the hardest to come to terms with. How can so many people live in one place? Are there many of these Nations? I have seen armies in Ariadne’s memory, but not even they could compare in numbers.” Questions bubbled out of her like water from a fountain - it had been far too long since she’d gone anywhere new and had a chance to learn from the people that lived there.

Kay chuckled at the questions, each one popped one after another while she tried to keep up with them. It was pleasant for her to hear a casual tone and gain a chance to learn about the woman’s enthusiasm, namely how it had matched her own. Her eyes kept track where their path wandered to while they approached the labs open for public display to guest were at. Currently none of the staff were busy toiling within the small lab but the sterile appearance would likely seem rather alien, or at least Kay had thought, to the host and Tok’ra. 

She tried to answer the questions and go on with the tour, her mind more focused on the prior then a the latter. “Well, Earth has had many years to grow and develop without any outside influences. It’s not hard to accomplish but I can see how hard it is to see when you’ve got nothing to compare to it. Currently there’s many Nations, from Israel to America, Scotland to New Zealand, and even a place called Australia. Each one has their own rules and ways of life.”

That’s when Kay showed the various labs acceptable for the Tok’ra to see. She pointed and answered all questions, within reason, tossed at her before their tour drew away from the labs and towards the cafeteria. By this time, Kayle couldn’t ignore her stomach. It’s aching and low growls seemed to fill her ears bad enough that she nearly missed her guest’s question. 

“Sorry, I missed that. Would you repeat that?” Inwardly Kay wanted to hit herself for the lack in attention and lacking manners. 

Idalia had found the tour of the base only somewhat interesting, at this point it was largely exploration for the sake of exploration. The scientific areas she had been shown interested Ariadne more than her, but even so, neither of them were particularly enthusiastic scientists. As they left the third lab, she heard her guides stomach make several noises and couldn’t help but smirk at the ridiculousness of the situation. Somehow, that simple thing made the Tau’ri seem so much more familiar. She decided to bring it up and suggest they find some food as some small mercy to Zaken.

“When was the last time you ate? Maybe you should show me what the Tau’ri eat, and perhaps tell me how your people can feed so many?” Tok’ra didn’t have to eat nearly as often as humans, but even though Idalia wasn’t hungry, it was worth seeing what kind of food the Tau’ri had. She imagined that like so many other things about them, it would be totally unlike anything else in the galaxy that she had yet seen.

Kay almost chuckled when the idea was brought about her meal, namely when it was last and the fact it was interrupted had popped into her head. “I was trying to eat really quick before you arrived but I think that failed miserably.” 

She was blunt and honest, finding little reason to lie to the woman when it came to the little things. It was little too obvious she hadn’t eaten lately with her protesting stomach and lacking attention. So without any delay, Kay started to reroute her tour towards the cafeteria as the two arrived just after the mass of the crew had eaten and taken their leave since Kay was last here. The Second Lieutenant walked towards the large stack of blue plastic trays, her hand took two which she passed one over to Ariadne. Slowly she made her way down, her hands reached for the familiar dishes she had acquired earlier without thinking as she used the other to point and name of each one out to her current guest.

Idalia was fascinated by the range of strange and exotic looking foods on display at the SGC mess hall. She had never seen the likes of many of them and she grabbed a small bit of everything on offer as she went, putting them all separately on her plate. She could feel Ariadne’s amusement at her reactions and smiled at it even as she looked closer at some of the foods they had. One thing in particular fascinated her though. A clear blue substance that seemed to be shaped and piled high into plastic cups. When she picked it up it quivered and wobbled, keeping her gaze fixed on it as she carefully carried her very full tray to the table Zaken had already found. Questions were forgotten as she began to taste all these new things, savouring each as she went.