Starship pilot who just realized they have more cargo than they have hold
Piloting her drone around the spaceport market, the warlock finds herself sending a request for assistance to the human against her better judgement. It doesn't take long for her to arrive.
"What's wrong?" She asks, eager to please.
She's been cold to the human, these past few feedings. It's making her act strange, desperate to rebuild their relationship.
"Carry this." She says, and her droid's mechanical arm points at a large plushie of a creature native to the planet, something between a walrus and a bear.
"Oh." The human says, grabbing it. "Is that all?"
"Yes. I would carry it myself but I don't want it to drag on the ground."
She pilots the drone to the checkout and transfers payment, then hovers away, human and plushie in tow.
"So, uh, about the other day-"
"I don't want to talk about it."
It is... unfair, of her, to remain mad at the human. She didn't understand the distinction between her and the demon, it was not a moral failing or an intentional slight.
She floats into another store, peruses their selection of games.
"Right, uh, we don't have to talk about it. I just wanted to say that I'm sorry. I uh, I misunderstood."
"You did."
"Yeah. And uh, I made things weird. And I would like things to not be weird."
The warlock would... also like things to not be weird, really. The human is on meal duty regardless of either of their feelings on the matter, any weirdness is going to be constantly out in the open.
"Speak no more of it then." She says, plucking a holodisc from the display and stashing it into a small compartment on the drone as she transfers credits to the clerk. "Accompany me as I return to the ship."
The drone can return autonomously, but the human is... peculiar. She shouldn't be here, she doesn't know what she's meant to be doing, and that makes her beguiling. The ship is her domain, she knows every inch of it's corridors, every scratch on it's hull as if it were her own skin. The crew behaves predictably, orderly, disciplined, except for the human.
She wants to understand her.
"Tell me, how did you come to work on the Ivy Cudgel?"
"Oh, uh, exchange program as part of the alliance. Humans go work on elf vessels, elves go work on human vessels, we all get a little more used to having aliens around."
"I'm aware, I meant you specifically."
"I dunno, seemed interesting I guess? See a new culture, or whatever."
"And do you find it interesting?"
"Sure. I mean, it's not super different, aside from all the magic stuff."
"You don't have magic on earth?"
"We have the concept, but like, we didn't think it was real."
"How did you become slipspace capable without magic?"
"I dunno, it's not my field. Some physics thing."
"How strange." The elf said, thinking. "No magic at all?"
"None. I mean they're probably working on it now, now that we know, but-"
A harsh gust of wind cuts her off, blowing out the drone's microphone and sending it spinning. Her viewport sweeps over the open sky, the massive skyport, the endless miles of city below.
She suddenly feels very ill.
"I-I-" She stammers, struggling to breathe. She wrenches the control helmet from her head and looks around her room, her four walls, safe and known and hers. "I'm setting the droid to autopilot. I have to lie down." She says, flicking a switch and leaving her desk before the human can answer.
She slumps into bed and covers her head with a pillow. She is inside. She knows the ship. She is the ship. Her demon creeps out of the back of her mind, sensing her agitation. It makes her feel strong when she is weak, brave when she is afraid. It is her only-
Her door slides open.
"Are you okay!?" Comes a voice, along with rapid footsteps. The human is in her room, panting from exertion after running all the way here. She places the walrus-bear into her bed and touches her shoulder gently.
The human is new. The human is an unknown factor. The human is in her room.
"Leave!" She hisses. She doesn't like change. The human is in her room.
"Okay, of course-" The human says, and she scurries away.
"W-Wait."
Her footsteps pause.
The human is trying. The human is in her room. The human doesn't know any better. The human is leaving her room because she asked, because she didn't know.
"Th-Thank you. for trying to help." She says. "But leave."
"Okay. I'll talk to you tomorrow." The human says.
And then she is gone.
The elf clutches her new plushie and cries until they leave port, until she is safe in the void again.
