Adventures of Tash and John Ch. 04

"I think I read somewhere that your species can drink alcohol." The Kai'ani stated.

John took the container and turned it over in his hands. "Yes, as long as it's ethanol. Thank you." He answered.

"Ah, well perfect then." Neire said and sat back in his chair. "I'm curious to hear what you think of it."

Curious himself, John gripped the spout looking part of the container and attempted to open it. When his first attempt failed John realized that he had never actually drank or used a container like this before. Neire caught on to his plight and spoke up.

"Squeeze the top, twist left and pull it off." The Kai'ani said as he gave the Human a demonstration.

There was a slight pop when he twisted it and removed the top. John followed the directions and the same pop resulted, letting him know the container was now open. John took a quick look inside. The opaque gray outer wrapping of the container concealed a blueish-green liquid inside. He also gave it a quick sniff. It was definitely alcohol, with a kind of woodsy, fruity smell to it. He lifted it to his lips and took a sip. He could already tell that whatever it was, was much stronger than the wine that Petran had gotten Tash drunk on the transport. It had an initial almost sour taste to it with a flavor that he had never tasted before, and after a moment it got sweet.

"I like it." John said, taking another sip. "What is it?"

"It's a local mixture. The ingredients come from crops grown just south of the city. They call it Rhye Sweet drink." Neire explained. "The Vakal-Hess distillers have started to become quite famous for it. Doing good business too."

"I can understand why." John said, finding himself taking a larger sip this time. "I know someone back on Earth who would probably really enjoy something like this."

"Ah, family? I'll see if I can get you a few bottles." Neire said with a smile, obviously quite pleased that the Human was enjoying something he enjoyed.

"No, just a friend." John replied. "I don't have any family on Earth right now."

"Oh, do they live somewhere else?" The older Kai'ani asked.

"Well both my parents are dead and my brother and sister both work out in space. It's kind of hard to tell where they are at any given time." John responded, once again nursing his drink after he was done speaking.

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that." Neire said, cupping his bottle with both hands and looking intently at John. "Stop me if you want, and I don't mean any disrespect, but I'm not very familiar with your species. Is it normal for both of your parents to be dead?"

The question caught him off gaurd and John let out a vaguely nervous laugh. "Well we all have to die sometime." He said and took another quick drink, hoping that the alcohol would reach his brain faster.

"Very true." He heard Neire respond.

John took a deep breath and let out a sigh. "But, no, they both would have probably lived another fifty or sixty years."

Seeing that John hadn't overtly dissuaded the conversation topic, Neire pressed further. "If you don't mind talking about it, what happened to them?" Tash's father asked.

John took another quick drink before answering. "It's fine, I don't mind." He gave the Kai'ani a reassuring smile.

John really didn't mind talking about it. It had been years and he had mourned plenty in that time. The Human now considered his parent's death more as an interesting piece of personal history than any kind of detriment.

"My mother died when I was young." The young man began. "She had a rare neurological disease that the doctors discovered too late. That was over ten years ago." John paused for a sip before continuing. "My father is more recent. He died only a few years ago. He was drinking one night, drinking alcohol, and while drunk decided to go for a drive in his truck. He ended up crashing it into a ditch at high speed. He lived in a fairly remote area so by the time someone found him it was already too late."

Neire frowned. "Oh, again, I'm sorry to hear that." The man said with a sympathetic face. "It's never easy to lose loved family members."

"Yeah, I suppose." John replied, slightly more somber in tone. "I think I've become a little desensitized to death though."

"I suppose that might have been inevitable considering your line of work." Neire stated, taking a swift drink from his bottle.

"You're probably right." John said with a short laugh. "I did tend to see a lot of people on the worst day of their lives."

Neire gave him an acknowledging nod. With that the conversation hit a lull. Both men relaxing on the deck in silence, drinks in their hands and enjoying the fading light of the day. John wouldn't have said it was an awkward silence, more that neither man knew what to say next. Do they continue on talking about dead family? Do they switch up the subject? John was starting to feel a little buzz from the drink. He wasn't sure how the average Kai'ani held their liquor, but if Tash was was to be judged, Neire was probably feeling a buzz as well. He decided that a switch up to a lighter topic might be for the best.

"You have a beautiful home here, Neire. Fantastic view as well." The Human complemented.

"Thank you." The Kai'ani smiled. "We were lucky to get it. The Matriarchs gifted it to us after it was confirmed Shel'vhan was pregnant with Tashaiea. Of course we've made some modifications since then."

John was a little dumbstruck. "They just gave you this house?" He asked in an astonished tone.

Neire laughed. "Of course! A family needs room to grow!" He beamed. "Besides, it was an incentive to stay in the ancestral homeland."

"That was something I was meaning to ask Tashaiea about." John began. "The city is named Vakal-Hess. So is this were all Vakal's live? Or is it just where you are all from?"

"No, plenty of different families live here. The main two being the Vakal and the Hess." Neire explained. "Like me for example. I was Saqaraa before I became Vakal and I lived here on my own for years. But I am Vakal now so I can proudly call this land my home and not just where I live."

"Ohhh," John exclaimed. "I thought the Hess might have meant something else. I didn't realize it was another family."

"Yes, the Vakal and the Hess have lived in this area for eight hundred years." The Kai'ani began explaining. "It was originally only the Vakal here, but there was a catastrophic natural disaster in the Hess homeland and they asked for sanctuary with the Vakal. The ancestral Vakal accepted and the Hess have been an integral, yet independent, part of the family ever since. The original name of the city was eventually changed to Vakal-Hess to show the union of the two."

"Huh, that's interesting. It kind of reminds me of some of the things I've read about the clans of ancient Earth." John replied, now feeling the buzz of the alcohol coming on much stronger. "I've never really thought to look up my surname. I don't even know where the Baird family originally comes from."

"Bay-ard is your family?" Neire said with an amused look on his face.

"Yes, Baird is my surname, family name. I'm John Baird." The Human said, giving a curious look to Neire.

The older Kai'ani let out a laugh. "Has Tashaiea never told you what your family name sounds like in our language?"

"No?" John replied, now more curious than before.

"It's a tree! The Bayerd tree! It's a big, leafy yellow and green tropical tree!" The man exclaimed, grinning from ear to ear. "We have one in our office. I'll show it to you when Shel'vhan isn't using it."

John couldn't help but laugh as well. "So I'm a tree?"

"You're a tree!" The Kai'ani said as he burst out laughing.

The two men continued to chat and drink for the next few hours, exchanging stories and experiences from years past. By the time their first drinks were done they were already on to the next ones. Neire had apparently had installed in the deck a small stasis cooler, filled with some of his favorite drinks and had urged John to try quite a few before the night was over. When the time finally came and both men decided to pack it in, John felt that he had really made a connection. He hoped that Tash's father felt the same. Navigating back through an unfamiliar alien house while moderately inebriated was no small task. John however summoned up every last bit of his orienteering knowledge from his paratrooper training and through some miracle managed to find the hallway back to Tash's room.

He did however need to make one stop before heading back to bed. After several minutes of trying to figure out how the organic waste disposal worked in the alien bathroom, John was unburdened and ready for a good nights sleep. He found his way back to the bedroom door, paused for a moment to collect himself and make sure he could be silent enough to not wake up the sleeping woman inside, and then stood there dumbfounded as the door opened up before he was able to do it himself. Tash was standing in the doorway, staring down at him curiously.

"Where have you been?" She inquired.

"I was sitting on the deck, talking to your dad." He replied.

"You've been gone for a while." She stated. "Everything okay?"

"Yeah, of course." John replied again, trying to retain his composure. "We were just talking."

Tash's expression suddenly changed from one of concern to a creeping smile. She slowly bent down and gave John a kiss, retracting very shortly after. She licked her lips and smiled again.

"You're drunk." She said smirking.

"Maybe, yes." John said back.

"He was showing off his drink collections wasn't he?" Tash asked again.

"Yes." John's reply came.

Tash chuckled. "Alright, let's get you to bed then." She said as she took his hand.

She guided him to the bed, giggling as he fell back onto it. The bed was even more comfortable now than John remembered. Tash helped him get his leg braces off and out of his clothes, pulling the covers over him when he was appropriately undressed. She gave him a kiss on the forehead and crawled back into bed along side him. It didn't take John long after to fall asleep soundly with the Kai'ani woman in his arms.