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yolandekleinn[This ficlet takes place a few years before the events of An Intimate Charade (and sometime after the events of Navigation). I have almost as many head-canons for Edda as I do for Laia and Gamina... So many stories to write, so little time!]
Coffee
The first time Edda Dak boarded the Korria, he had very little idea what to expect.
He'd met Galin Odona only once, though the meeting had persuaded him the man would be a reliable employer. And it had apparently been enough to assuage Captain Odona's dubious questions about why someone so young—and so flush with other prospects—would willingly isolate himself aboard a transport vessel, with all of four crew mates and no possibility of promotion.
Edda could think of few better ways to acquaint himself with the wider reaches of galactic trade—few strategies so perfectly tailored to sate his wanderlust without risking his safety—and it wasn't as though he intended to remain aboard the Korria forever.
A few years of work, of exploration, of experience in this strange commercial niche… A few years away from a family equal parts supportive and stifling… These things were exactly what Edda needed, which made this the right place for him.
As to the rest of the little crew, he knew none of them. His first impressions of the captain made him confident the ship would be populated with kind, honest, competent people. And everything he'd indirectly gleaned since his interview seemed to confirm his assumption where Gamina Rielle and Laia Keeth were concerned. Edda knew how to dig up information, and it turned out Keeth and Rielle had a hell of a history.
But there was also Addison Valdez. Edda Dak had never met a Human before, and when he tried to research he found practically nothing about this Human in particular. A footprint so scant he couldn't even be sure where Valdez had lived and worked before joining the Korria's crew. Hell, Edda only knew how long he'd been aboard because Odona had mentioned it expressly.
The curiosity made him eager to introduce himself.
It was early morning—early enough he was glad to have his own access code so he wouldn't need to wake anyone—when Edda let himself into the ship's tiny corridors with a shiver of delight. This was going to be his home. These hallways, unknown and yet so inviting, would be part of every day. And even though he was sure the ship would sometimes feel claustrophobic and small, he was also inexplicably certain he belonged here.
He knew the layout of the Korria in the abstract—and once he had deposited his few personal belongings in his assigned bunk, he made his way along a short, sleek hall. Low lighting brightened as he passed, and as he crossed an open threshold into the common room.
Edda eyed the squishy couches and skinny table, homey comforts packed into a constrained space. There was a fascinating scent in the air, somehow warm and bitter and smooth all at once. He'd never smelled anything quite like it before. Nothing in the common room seemed likely to produce such a striking aroma, so it must be coming from the open galley door.
Movement from that door resolved abruptly into an unfamiliar figure. A man who could have been just as young as Edda, though he clearly wasn't Remian. Too small, for one thing. Slight and almost delicate-looking, with ears incongruously high on his head. He had the strangest eyes Edda had ever seen.
Those eyes were improbably alert considering the early hour, and they found Edda now with unvarnished curiosity. There was no hint of either surprise or alarm; it almost seemed like the figure recognized him.
"Are you Addison Valdez?" Edda asked, even though he already assumed the answer was yes. There was no one else this could possibly be.
The man grinned and saluted with his unoccupied hand—the other held a steaming mug of some beverage that must be the source of the mysterious aroma. "Just Addison. Welcome aboard, Mister Dak."
"Just Edda," he mimicked lightly.
"You're early," Addison informed him sunnily. "Captain's probably awake, but Gamina and Laia won't surface for hours yet."
"Yeah." Edda gave a shrug. He couldn't be bothered to feel self-conscious over his eagerness.
"You want some coffee?" Addison lifted his mug as though to illustrate.
Edda blinked. Coffee. The word was every bit as peculiar as the scent permeating the room. Strange, to hear the syllables tucked smoothly in alongside Addison's fluent but oddly accented Miri.
"What's coffee?" Edda asked.
Addison's grin spread wider.
The first time Edda Dak boarded the Korria, he had very little idea what to expect.
He'd met Galin Odona only once, though the meeting had persuaded him the man would be a reliable employer. And it had apparently been enough to assuage Captain Odona's dubious questions about why someone so young—and so flush with other prospects—would willingly isolate himself aboard a transport vessel, with all of four crew mates and no possibility of promotion.
Edda could think of few better ways to acquaint himself with the wider reaches of galactic trade—few strategies so perfectly tailored to sate his wanderlust without risking his safety—and it wasn't as though he intended to remain aboard the Korria forever.
A few years of work, of exploration, of experience in this strange commercial niche… A few years away from a family equal parts supportive and stifling… These things were exactly what Edda needed, which made this the right place for him.
As to the rest of the little crew, he knew none of them. His first impressions of the captain made him confident the ship would be populated with kind, honest, competent people. And everything he'd indirectly gleaned since his interview seemed to confirm his assumption where Gamina Rielle and Laia Keeth were concerned. Edda knew how to dig up information, and it turned out Keeth and Rielle had a hell of a history.
But there was also Addison Valdez. Edda Dak had never met a Human before, and when he tried to research he found practically nothing about this Human in particular. A footprint so scant he couldn't even be sure where Valdez had lived and worked before joining the Korria's crew. Hell, Edda only knew how long he'd been aboard because Odona had mentioned it expressly.
The curiosity made him eager to introduce himself.
It was early morning—early enough he was glad to have his own access code so he wouldn't need to wake anyone—when Edda let himself into the ship's tiny corridors with a shiver of delight. This was going to be his home. These hallways, unknown and yet so inviting, would be part of every day. And even though he was sure the ship would sometimes feel claustrophobic and small, he was also inexplicably certain he belonged here.
He knew the layout of the Korria in the abstract—and once he had deposited his few personal belongings in his assigned bunk, he made his way along a short, sleek hall. Low lighting brightened as he passed, and as he crossed an open threshold into the common room.
Edda eyed the squishy couches and skinny table, homey comforts packed into a constrained space. There was a fascinating scent in the air, somehow warm and bitter and smooth all at once. He'd never smelled anything quite like it before. Nothing in the common room seemed likely to produce such a striking aroma, so it must be coming from the open galley door.
Movement from that door resolved abruptly into an unfamiliar figure. A man who could have been just as young as Edda, though he clearly wasn't Remian. Too small, for one thing. Slight and almost delicate-looking, with ears incongruously high on his head. He had the strangest eyes Edda had ever seen.
Those eyes were improbably alert considering the early hour, and they found Edda now with unvarnished curiosity. There was no hint of either surprise or alarm; it almost seemed like the figure recognized him.
"Are you Addison Valdez?" Edda asked, even though he already assumed the answer was yes. There was no one else this could possibly be.
The man grinned and saluted with his unoccupied hand—the other held a steaming mug of some beverage that must be the source of the mysterious aroma. "Just Addison. Welcome aboard, Mister Dak."
"Just Edda," he mimicked lightly.
"You're early," Addison informed him sunnily. "Captain's probably awake, but Gamina and Laia won't surface for hours yet."
"Yeah." Edda gave a shrug. He couldn't be bothered to feel self-conscious over his eagerness.
"You want some coffee?" Addison lifted his mug as though to illustrate.
Edda blinked. Coffee. The word was every bit as peculiar as the scent permeating the room. Strange, to hear the syllables tucked smoothly in alongside Addison's fluent but oddly accented Miri.
"What's coffee?" Edda asked.
Addison's grin spread wider.
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