Lian- "I'm still not sure if it's a perk of the city, or if it's because we're with a local celebrity, but this went surprisingly fast", thought Lian about the quickness with which they received their official visitor status. Her latter guess was probably closer to the truth, but it was also factual that the paper lane set in place for extradimensional guests was a swift one.
Clerk -" That's also because we don't get that often people like you", answered a clerk goat lady with whom the girl was making small talk, passing time while waiting for Ogda's procedures. " Wish our world could match rotation points more often, I so desperately want to meet one of your earthlings' social stars."
Lian -" Oh…is that like a painter, or big screen actor?", the girl asked with a small, polite smile. Her body slowly remembered, among other small gestures, how she acted doing simple, breezy things like gossip.
Clerk -" Well, I would put it to age, but the only other 20-ish-year-old who came last time was also aloof when it came to social stars. " Liadan didn't even think about her age, but the goat had a keen eye when it came to guessing specifics about others. Goidel also confirmed that's the same bracket they put her in as well. " We can only compare you to Arim, to be fair, but yeah." A snap from the clerks' hooves would bring the attention back to her, who was now holding a small, reflecting device in her hand.
Clerk -'' The human matron of the Union gave it to me", she added proudly. " It's not working like in the human world, apparently, something about signals but I can still take photos and watch videos on it! I got one of the visitors to doown'lod my favourite's latest video and I wanted to show it to you!"
Liadan's next hour was spent browsing the old goat's catalog of videos, learning more and more about Earth and what the showbiz stage was like. She would find some of them amusing, others gave her second-embarrassment and a few left her void from boredom. " That's more people than I thought", she remarked at the end. " Some of them had no schooling in the arts, but they still tried…huh. Earth seems…a bit less frightening now". Sometimes aware, other times ignorant, Liadan had many nerves eating at her confidence. One of which sprung because of her possible home, Earth. A place she knew nothing about, with humans she didn't know. Besides the language, she would probably have to relearn everything, culture, social interactions, history...
Lian -" Thanks for showing me those", the girl added while sipping from the tea provided by the clerk.
Clerk -" It's no problem, hun. I didn't know you were that homesick, getting all teary-eyed from my silly videos."
Lian -'' Oh no, that's not why…can I tell you something?", she asked, cowering her head a bit as if someone was listening in. The goat lady hunched over and got closer with her left ear. -" I don't think I'm from…", but she stopped herself, unsure of the repercussions, especially if her hunch was wrong; "...the same country as the one from the videos. They don't have an accent I'm vaguely familiar with."
Clerk -" Oh…and what's the problem with that?" asked the bewildered clerk, who was expecting bigger gossip than that. Laidan then tried to add more grievances than she had, just to convince the clerk, and luckily for her, she was swayed to take the conversation in another direction.
….
Clerk- " And done!... Almost", exclaimed the goat lady while stamping Ogda's card." You're now visitors in our lovely city, with the same rights, temporary of course, as any other citizen has." Laidan wanted to believe their rights were applied universally, but she suspected that the approval from a Union member helped raise their lot. "These sweet boys helped us more than a few times, hun. If they say you are good, then that's all we need '', remarked the old goat lady, while signing their visitors' badges, leaving the 'last name' section empty.
Their next stop around the center was a storeroom, where Laidan picked up fresh, plain clothes, followed by a quick cleanup session and finally, a cantina with proper food for the emaciated girl.
Cook -" What about you?'' Ogda was asked by the bored, short service cook, to which he didn't know how to respond except for "...Rocks?". The cook squinted his rectangular eyes, as the reply kindled some curiosity in him. "It's a rare taste, I'll give ya, but not unheard of. But just to be sure, can I ask you some things?"
Ogda-" I don't mind".
Cook -" Good. So besides rocks, have you tried anything else beforehand?"
It took the water creature a few moments to remember all the delicacies the desert had to offer for him -" I started with sand, then some mud, tried regular rocks afterward, dried branches, some bones and I finally found that I like…digest… the crystals."
Cook -" Aha, knew it. You're one of those energy suckers! It's not the crystals themselves that you eat, but I'm betting it's the juice they store."
Lian -" Huh…you might be right. How did you know?"
Cook -'' Years of experience boy. Served and talked with lots of Firbolgs while working here, and learned a thing or two about the foods people enjoy. Now, if that's the case, I'm guessing you could get your pangs stuffed by the sun. But, you're in our kitchen and I can't let a visitor leave without his taste buds (wherever they are) unfulfilled. So, how about this?", he asked while handing him a fruit enveloped in a hard shell. It didn't look very appetizing to Ogda, and he wanted to ask Liadan's opinion on it, but before he could even turn his head towards her, the small server pointed something out;
Cook -" Listen, I know what I'm talking about, just take a small bite and see if you like it. If not, well at least you tried".
Ogda -" I…I guess it isn't important enough to bother…Ok! I'll try it!" To his surprise the fruit didn't just give him the same boost, but left him with the joy of taste, something the crystals never provided him the opportunity to try. "..It's bitter", he mumbled after eating the entire fruit.
Both -" What do I do now?", they had the same thought.
Their next stop on the trip was something Liadan also insisted upon: " I'm glad to be wearing clean clothes, but this is a potato sack. I would prefer not to wear a potato sack."
The shop they stopped by had the same stone building block, with two extra floors and a round rooftop. Many other facilities had the same rundown, as a lot of local business owners lived and worked in the same building.
The FitforaBit shop had the same pattern, being run by a family of three large dogs, each from a different race, except that all of them were covered in glittering fish scales and had an extra pair of arms growing from the back. The moment they saw Goidel, all three started to wiggle their tails and be as courteous as possible.
Vendors -" Always a pleasure to welcome a Union member", the trio exclaimed in unison, with a posh accent. Goidel anxiety spiked when the spotlight was put on him, and through pauses and voice-cracking stutters, he explained why they were there. In the meantime, Liadan and Ogda started browsing around for something to wear.
Ogda -" I didn't think about this, but do I need to wear clothes?" asked a bewildered Ogda after just realizing he was naked in the eyes of others. " I shouldn't, right? Since I can just change my shape at will…right?"
Lian -" True", replied jokingly the young woman. " I also didn't consider it, but I don't see you as "naked", somehow. Is there any rule regarding stuff like this?", to which Goidel and the dogs pondered for a moment. One of the trio, a dalmatian, pointed out how they sometimes get customers like Ogda, ones who get a feeling of imposed shame "and every single time it's elemental or floral types… or delusional ones who only have lots of body hair. I guess we're all accustomed to nature being very naked, I guess."
Vendor 1 -" As my brother explained, my good (and former) customer, there are Firbolgs which are much closer to a primordial state with which we are accustomed. Water is everywhere, earth is all around us, so if I encounter a rock Firbolg, I wouldn't question his lack of clothing at all."
Vendor 3 -" Of course", quickly chimed in the third dog, " but you can still use garments for self-expression. Maybe a pair of pantalones are not suited for you, but even a being like yourself would look more dashing with a gorra", he tried to market the products, true to his profession.
Goidel tried to help the amnesiacs by adding more context: " A lot of the Caer Sidi's rules, social and administrative, are influenced by human society", he explained, a bit dejected, before quickly resuming his summary. " As the Captain explained, our world works on inspirations and how we integrate them…"
Lian -" Integration? Right, since you're much more malleable, I'm guessing that also applies to your world? ", asked Lian while checking some t-shirts with more than two sleeves.
Goidel -" Yes and no. It depends on a lot of factors. As Firbolgs grow, they can go through multiple transformations. I think the Captain shortened it to: we grow through inspiration, right? Well, to add to that, some just grow old like humans, others can change forms entirely, have different stages, etc. It's also a matter of time, environment and what's around that affects you. For example, most of the Union's members grew up in the same small village, surrounded by the same hills filled with a special metal. And we used to mine it using special tools…"
Lian -" The gauntlets?" Lian asked, trying to guess some parts of his story.
Goidel -" Yap. Afterward, as we grew up, we were kinda thrust into fights. Other Firbolgs, wild beasts…monsters like the one under the sand. So we adapted…the gauntlets integrated with us, and from there each branched out their growth from different inspirations. And so did the helmets, and parts of our armor. But we don't just limit ourselves to this process", he mentioned while pointing towards his breastplate," This was made from hides, then other, stronger materials. So over time, I kept on replacing it with newer, better ones. Without integrating them...It all depends, in the end."
The world became even more chaotic than expected, but that wasn't surprising at this point. This made Lian wonder about Ogda, was he still in a growing process? But until he showed any signs of peculiarities, it all fell into speculation.
For now, though, they came with a purpose in mind, and after browsing for several tens of minutes, mostly because of how many clothes fitted tens of body types, Liadan decided to go with a simple combo of jeans, a shirt, and a red sports jacket.
Lian -" Works for now, but I might come back to check out other clothes another time. It's surprisingly exhausting to find something nice that fits, but the challenge isn't welcomed."
Goidel, for a while ago, started to frantically check the door. His impatience for his replacement grew minute by minute, then immediately burst when Arim, covered in his crimson exoskeleton, politely knocked on the shop's door. He greeted the shopkeepers with a laid-back smile, then respectfully shook Goidel's hand.
Arim -" Sorry to make you wait, I know you're probably eager to get back to the library", he added.
With the pleasantries out and done, he then took a glance at the two strangers. The first one was Ogda, who was measured from top to bottom with a stern look, followed by Liadan, who took the boy by surprise. While the girl knew another human would replace Goidel, she was still struck to see another of her kind.