Tongzka watched intently as the giant went about his business, his attempt at ingenuity actually having worked! Well, of course it did, Tongzka smirked to himself as he re-assured... himself. That's where one of the special universities will get you.
Of course, such smug individualist pride was bound to warrant some form of karmic retribution. Once Tongzka had become entranced with the very convincing light show the neanderthal put on from the mug (though to be honest, he'd seen better from the Jairovi), his focus and, to a lesser extent, his circulatory system were both in for a nasty surprise when the liquid seemed to EXPLODE out the top, deafeningly so.
"AIEEE!!" He shrieked, toppling onto the floor. The sight that greeted him when he came to his senses was, while still not as good as the Jairovi's handiwork, still good enough to warrant a "...Tun in'kraas Bardovaz Porz'l-pehteh..." in sheer awe.
Once it was all over with, Tongzka clambered back onto his stool and was surprised to see that, after all of that, he was still going to get coffee and not some kind of hallucinogenic. "Uh... miz scut'l-grad, uh... Nutovaz-avee." He thanked the giant, already scrambling to down the whole mug in one go.
@SimplyJohn
It was then he noticed the giant's outstretched hand, combined with a remark he couldn't understand but made it quite clear he was expecting something. Perhaps... the 'M' word?
"N... Nevi-z'wez-ma?" The longshoreman hesitated; the term he used wasn't even the 'm' word itself, just a euphemism. Some 'necessary evils', his kind would usually say when they expected payment. 'Oh, how much is that?' 'Just five necessary evils, thanks!' 'Here you go, my good man! Make sure you didn't ask for more than your planetary share or the Party will be pissed!'
"Ah!" He finally vocalised, remembering that he did have some necessary evils on him, by sheer luck. He stuffed one hand in his pocket and rummaged around, before bringing out a pair of necessary evils in the form of small credit chits, the most accessible and portable form of necessary evils.
Once that was dealt with, he didn't hesitate. Grabbing the mug of coffee with both hands, he tipped it up into his mouth, gulping it down ravenously, blissfully ignoring the heat. Before he'd even finished, he began to experience that trademark rush of energy, that reactivation of abandoned bodily functions... but then it just kept getting stronger... and stronger, until it reached a very sharp point and something inside Tongzka just... clicked.
"Miz... miz.... MIZ. B'YYN. AYN. DEEZ-MAAT."
...He said somewhat blasphemously, if you happen to be religious, as all of a sudden his voice took on an echo-y quality, and his eyes starting glowing like the headlights on a car, rapidly changing colours. Inside, he was overwhelmed with sheer focus... his focus was so great, it seemed to penetrate reality itself. He was focused on the collective unconscious beyond reality that connects all minds and experiences, or something similarly hard-to-understand.
In this trance like state, he began to move his arms around in a robotic fashion, leaving behind multicoloured trails as he did so. He tapped along the bar, creating glowing 'buttons' in the process, and created ethereal music from beyond space and time, as if he was playing the keyboard of the Big One. The One in charge of the big game he now realised he was in. He saw everything. There was no conspiracy, no reality show, no giant, no Party, no tavern, no nothing. Nothing except a series of words describing everything he was doing. He and everyone else were just hollow imitations of people dumped into a space they don't belong, like the rubbish tip of the cosmos where everything without a home gets thrown away, to act out a random sequence of events for all eternity, all for the enjoyment of...
But then, just as he was getting into it, his coffee-induced high wore off almost as abruptly as it had begun, and Tongzka came back to his senses, returning to normal both in body and mind... and toppling back again.
"Eggghhhh..." He grunted to himself, desperately trying to remember what Interdimensional Travel Quarterly said about drinking coffee from another dimension... you may very well be unable to comprehend how strong it may be. After all, it was a weird brown colour, not the blue-black he was used to.
Of course, such smug individualist pride was bound to warrant some form of karmic retribution. Once Tongzka had become entranced with the very convincing light show the neanderthal put on from the mug (though to be honest, he'd seen better from the Jairovi), his focus and, to a lesser extent, his circulatory system were both in for a nasty surprise when the liquid seemed to EXPLODE out the top, deafeningly so.
"AIEEE!!" He shrieked, toppling onto the floor. The sight that greeted him when he came to his senses was, while still not as good as the Jairovi's handiwork, still good enough to warrant a "...Tun in'kraas Bardovaz Porz'l-pehteh..." in sheer awe.
Once it was all over with, Tongzka clambered back onto his stool and was surprised to see that, after all of that, he was still going to get coffee and not some kind of hallucinogenic. "Uh... miz scut'l-grad, uh... Nutovaz-avee." He thanked the giant, already scrambling to down the whole mug in one go.
@SimplyJohn
It was then he noticed the giant's outstretched hand, combined with a remark he couldn't understand but made it quite clear he was expecting something. Perhaps... the 'M' word?
"N... Nevi-z'wez-ma?" The longshoreman hesitated; the term he used wasn't even the 'm' word itself, just a euphemism. Some 'necessary evils', his kind would usually say when they expected payment. 'Oh, how much is that?' 'Just five necessary evils, thanks!' 'Here you go, my good man! Make sure you didn't ask for more than your planetary share or the Party will be pissed!'
"Ah!" He finally vocalised, remembering that he did have some necessary evils on him, by sheer luck. He stuffed one hand in his pocket and rummaged around, before bringing out a pair of necessary evils in the form of small credit chits, the most accessible and portable form of necessary evils.
Once that was dealt with, he didn't hesitate. Grabbing the mug of coffee with both hands, he tipped it up into his mouth, gulping it down ravenously, blissfully ignoring the heat. Before he'd even finished, he began to experience that trademark rush of energy, that reactivation of abandoned bodily functions... but then it just kept getting stronger... and stronger, until it reached a very sharp point and something inside Tongzka just... clicked.
"Miz... miz.... MIZ. B'YYN. AYN. DEEZ-MAAT."
...He said somewhat blasphemously, if you happen to be religious, as all of a sudden his voice took on an echo-y quality, and his eyes starting glowing like the headlights on a car, rapidly changing colours. Inside, he was overwhelmed with sheer focus... his focus was so great, it seemed to penetrate reality itself. He was focused on the collective unconscious beyond reality that connects all minds and experiences, or something similarly hard-to-understand.
In this trance like state, he began to move his arms around in a robotic fashion, leaving behind multicoloured trails as he did so. He tapped along the bar, creating glowing 'buttons' in the process, and created ethereal music from beyond space and time, as if he was playing the keyboard of the Big One. The One in charge of the big game he now realised he was in. He saw everything. There was no conspiracy, no reality show, no giant, no Party, no tavern, no nothing. Nothing except a series of words describing everything he was doing. He and everyone else were just hollow imitations of people dumped into a space they don't belong, like the rubbish tip of the cosmos where everything without a home gets thrown away, to act out a random sequence of events for all eternity, all for the enjoyment of...
But then, just as he was getting into it, his coffee-induced high wore off almost as abruptly as it had begun, and Tongzka came back to his senses, returning to normal both in body and mind... and toppling back again.
"Eggghhhh..." He grunted to himself, desperately trying to remember what Interdimensional Travel Quarterly said about drinking coffee from another dimension... you may very well be unable to comprehend how strong it may be. After all, it was a weird brown colour, not the blue-black he was used to.