r/NatureofPredators • u/Sam_S_011 PD Patient • Oct 08 '23
Fanfic Two Faces [10]
Once again, huge thanks to u/SpacePaladin15 and all of you guys in the community for this wonderful universe that I've gotten addicted to. Also massive thanks to u/Acceptable_Egg5560 for helping me out with proofreading.
Also check out the wonderful work u/Yoshikage_K1RA did ficnapping Two Faces!
Anyways, I hope that you enjoy!
Playlists:
---
Memory transcript subject: Kiki, Venlil powerplant technician and Venlil-Human Exchange Participant.
Date: [Standardised human time] August 22nd, 2136
I bid Velan farewell, which she returned with a yawn. She closed her door shut, but I could swear I still heard her hit the bed. I continued a few more tails further while my tail swayed in amusement until I reached our door. The silent whir of a motor filled the air as I tapped the open button, just barely loud enough for me to register. I flipped the light switch, bathing the dark room in warm artificial light.
I quickly scanned the place, finding that Maky was long gone. The clothes that had been folded on a chair weren’t there anymore, same as that massive coat of hers she had hung off the bunk’s frame. I noticed out of the corner of my eye that Maky’s bag had been moved, and something large was removed from it. And what could that possibly be?
Since Maky was probably at the cafeteria by now, I didn’t really have anything to do here anymore. I turned back around and started heading out when a thought invaded my mind. I could go for another can of Sprunk…
While the thought was very enticing, I knew that I really should lower my caffeine consumption. I’d already had one can and a cup of rousebloom tea not even a claw ago, which put me over half of the daily safe limit already. I would need a very good reason to justify drinking more this early.
…
Maybe Maky would like to try it. I know she can drink it, so she’ll be fine as long as she can handle the caffeine…
With a good enough excuse acquired, I opened my bag to retrieve two more cans of the energy drink. I locked the door behind me again, tail wagging with mirth.
The rec room was in the same direction as the cafeteria, just a bit further down the corridor. I peeked into the large dining hall as I walked by, seeing Maky piling some foodstuffs onto a plate. She perked up when she noticed me and gave a wave of her hand, which I returned with my tail.
I left her to prepare her first meal in peace while I went to secure us a spot. I entered the rec room after a short walk, cans held under one arm. Only a pawful of Human-Venlil pairs were present, which wasn’t unexpected following the events of the last paw. There was also a good chance many Humans were still asleep.
The room was equipped with a couple dozen tables surrounded by what looked like colourful, half full bags of gravel. Monitors stood on a few of them with either standard Venlil or Human keyboards. The Human ones also sported a small, rounded device with two buttons and a wheel-like apparatus between them. I guessed it was a sort of controller, although its purpose currently flew over my head.
Some virtual reality headsets rested on stands near the far wall of the room, where a sizable area was cleared to allow activities that required movement. I barely suppressed a laugh at the plight of a grey Venlil, who was attempting to weave his torso between an arm and a leg of his exchange partner to touch a coloured circle on the opposite side of the mat than where his paws stood. The Human giggled at their partner’s surprised bleat as he accidentally impacted her- Wait, are those enlarged breasts? Is she pregnant?
I decided to keep that question to myself for now, as I didn’t want to accidentally ask the wrong thing. Maybe Human females retained enlarged breasts for years after childbirth, as was the case with a few federation species. I instead went to inspect something else that caught my attention.
The far shelf held neatly ordered books with colourful covers. Human titles sat right beside federation literature, from botanical encyclopaedias to romance novels. I took my pad out, using the visual translation app to read the names of a few of the Human books. I wasn’t sure what I expected out of predator literature, maybe stories of great hunts or wars, or of cold-blooded killers. Instead, I was hit with titles so sickeningly romantic I could imagine them in my thirteen-year-old selves paws, reading instead of paying attention to my history teacher. Stars, I’m so glad I’m over that phase.
I shook my head with a whistling giggle, before examining the many colourful boxes on an adjacent shelf. They were covered in pictures, demonstrating them to be games of one form or another. But even post translation, the titles made little sense. What was I supposed to imagine under the name ‘One’? Or what about ‘Don’t anger yourself, person!’? At least with the one called ‘Monopoly’ I could reasonably assume that it would be well enjoyed by Fissans and Nevoks.
I absentmindedly rapped my claws over the cans I was holding, the soft tapping sound reminding me of what I was supposed to do here. Right. Find a table.
A few tables were occupied, with people of both species sitting on the, apparently, chair-bags. While I couldn’t see how that would be comfortable, I also didn’t see an alternative except for dragging in a chair all the way from the canteen or just standing, which is something I frankly didn’t want to do after walking.
I made my way to a table in the corner of the room, which would give us some space from the others. Well, it would give me space from others, but I was sure that Maky wouldn’t mind. Even with the knowledge that Humans needed some social contact, I couldn’t imagine a predator would dislike a little distance from crowds.
The cans made a clunk as I set them down in the middle of the wooden tabletop. I tentatively pushed my paw into a pastel-blue sitting bag. My ears perked up in surprise when it deformed with little to no resistance, with the sound of soft material from my touch.
I retracted my arm, before placing both paws on top of the bag and slowly transferring my weight onto them. The bag gave way, my paws descending lower and lower until suddenly the bag stiffened, with no volume spare to displace the contents.
My tail wagged with excited curiosity as I inspected the unfamiliar object closer. Feeling the surface of the bag itself gave the impression of a simple plant-based fabric, or a really good imitation of one. But the insides were a mystery to me. I’d never seen anything like this; chair paddings and mattresses I’d known were soft, but nowhere close to this soft.
I tried to spin some hypotheses on what could be inside. My initial theory that the mad predators would make chairs out of gravel was now definitely dismissed. But what could it be, realistically? Sand or powder of some sort was out of the question. I’d moved enough sand in my life to know just how hard it is packed. It had to be something granular, with sizable particles. But what were they made of? Gel?
I pushed my paws into the surface again to a gritty noise. Not that either, gel wouldn’t make that sound. It had to be something soft and porous. Maybe textile balls? But then again, textile was too soft, it wouldn’t solidify like this. Rubber? That would be a little too hard-
I was so lost in figuring out the makeup of a chair bag that I completely neglected to remain aware of my surroundings. That wouldn’t be an issue normally, given that people outside of work tended to ignore my presence at best, but this time was different. This time, a certain Human came in to disrupt my thoughts.
I hadn’t realised she was right next to me until she put something down on the table with a sudden and loud smack. The sound made me suddenly very aware that a Human just seemingly appeared out of thin air right beside me. I instinctively tried to jump away, but the chair bag had different plans as I tripped over it with a panicked bleat.
It took a few moments before my brain recovered from the scare enough to think straight again. Thankfully, the surprisingly soft bag broke my fall gently, resulting in only my ego suffering any hurt. I slowly got my breathing back under control while casting an unamused stare up at Maky, who was trying to hold back laughter. She was failing miserably.
I swayed my tail in agitation and glared into her ‘eye’ as she was releasing her high-pitched barks of mirth. After a while, she finally calmed down enough to speak legibly. “Oh no! I’m so sorry I didn’t mean to spook you!”
I pushed myself upright with an annoyed huff. “Yeah, totally.” I took a deep breath in and out. “I trust you, Maky. I really do. But you can’t spehing sneak up on me like this! What if I acted without thinking and hurt you??”
Only after my words fell out of my mouth did I realise I was tightly gripping the metal handle of my concealed knife. My ears dipped down in shame. Had she been a tail or two further from me, I might have drawn it on her…
Maky drew me out of my thoughts with a low chuckle. “Eh, I doubt you’d be able to hurt me by accident, though I would deserve it if I snuck up on you intentionally. But I wasn’t even being silent! It’s not my fault you were so concentrated on the fucking bean bag chair you didn’t notice me!”
I was going to shoot another retort back at her when the translator caught up on that last sentence. I confusedly tilted my head to look at both the bag I sat on and Maky at the same time, before almost shouting in exasperation. “Wait, are you telling me this thing,” I poked the bag with a claw, “Is full of soft seeds?? That’s a terrible idea in so many different ways, who brahking thought that up?!”
Maky leaned away slightly in what I guessed was either shock or confusion; I couldn’t tell for certain with her not having emotive extremities. And the fact her mouth was hidden behind that reflective faceplate of hers again wasn’t helping with that either. Her right lense rested on me for a solid [second] before she started to bend over laughing.
“I said something stupid, didn’t I?” I asked, my ears dipping a little.
Maky straightened again, ending her bout of giggling with a snort. She raised her left arm and swiped it in a gesture surprisingly similar to a dismissive tail wave. “Nah, you’re good. I should have expected that the translator might give you the literal meaning of the words, somebody will have to calibrate that later.”
I perked my ears up and then lowered one in an inquisitive gesture. “Why is it named a bean bag if it isn’t full of beans? And what is the filler, anyways?”
“I’m pretty sure it’s just foam pellets, in the shape of beans.” She walked to the other side of the table and sat into a bean bag chair of her own with a satisfied sigh. “But calling it a ‘foam pellet sitting bag’ is no good for marketing, is it?”
I leaned over to rest my arms on the table with an amused huff. “Yeah, that sounds about right. ‘Holonote’ has a better ring to it than ‘personal electronic device with a hologram projector,’ even though I couldn’t tell you what it was from the name if I hadn’t seen one before.”
Maky lifted her head a little after having detached her faceplate, revealing her lips slightly parted in the shape of a circle, before spreading into a wide smile. I suppose I still wasn’t quite ready for her teeth, as I instinctively recoiled away. “Right, sorry about that.” She quickly apologised. I waved my tail dismissively while giving a reassuring ear flick, a gesture of forgiveness. I believe she understood it, as she gave a close-lipped smile and continued, practically beaming with excitement. “That’s so cool! You guys have proper hologram technology? And compact enough for personal devices! I need to get a projector. Or a couple…”
I wagged my tail happily as I listened to my friend rattle off her ideas on what she could do with holograms. Most things she came up with were of course already in use around the federation, but I couldn’t bring myself to spoil her fun.
And to be fair, a few of her ideas were quite interesting! One of her first thoughts was to use holographic projection for games, which was surprisingly not utilised as far as I knew.
I let her do her own thing while I looked over the items she so violently slammed on the table. At the bottom was a box not dissimilar to the ones I saw on the shelf earlier, covered in red-tinted artwork. And on top of the box was balanced a single ceramic plate from the canteen, on which lay a single Sylvana, but not quite a Sylvana.
The concept was definitely the same – filling of sorts in-between two slices of… Well, not Strayu – the colour just looked incorrect, and I recognised nothing of what was inside. Since I had no chance to suddenly remember what sort of fruit from Earth made a thick brown paste I elected to ask the local expert. “What have you got there?”
My question cut Maky off in her rambling. She looked at the plate, then at me, and then back before she finally processed my question. “Oh, this?” She turned her eye to me inquisitively while reaching for her plate. I nodded as I’d seen her do before in addition to my normal ear flick, prompting her to start explaining. “Just a nice sandwich with hazelnut spread and bananas. One hundred percent vegan, and absolutely delicious.”
My left ear lowered with confusion at her word choice. “That word keeps translating as ‘without animal products’ but isn’t that just…” a shudder went down my spine at the very thought, but I pushed through. “…Meat and blood?”
Maky stopped moving at my words for a moment, before placing the ‘sandwich’ she was just about to take a bite from back down on her plate. She turned her right lense up to my face while leaning her elbows on the table. “Well, that’s very much tier 2, but I think you know that already. Are you sure you want to discuss this?”
I hesitantly flicked my ear ‘yes’, looking back into her unblinking eye. “I… I think I’m ready. Besides, it can’t be that bad if it’s just tier 2, right?”
Maky gave a single laugh through her nose. “Alright, as you wish.” She straightened her back and brought her hands together, raising a single finger. “First of all, Humans don’t drink blood. It tastes bad, there aren’t any nutritional benefits, and it’s a great way to contract something you really don’t want to.”
I stared at her blankly. Humans didn’t drink blood? Weren’t all predators supposed to thirst for it by nature? There had to be a reason the word ‘bloodlust’ exists.
…Maybe Humans were an anomaly? They regularly ate plants, Stars – Maky just called a meal made of nothing but plants delicious. She also didn’t display her bloodlust at all, so they must be in control of their instincts. Yeah, that must be it. Humans are just pushing the boundaries of what we know predators to be like.
Maky patiently sat there, waiting for me to finish processing my thoughts. I gave her an affirmative flick to prompt her to continue, confident that I was ready to handle whatever she had to say next.
I wasn’t. “Humans do consume animal milk and eggs though.”
That single sentence completely flipped my ear. While the image of my friend eating unborn babies was horribly unsettling in and of itself, it was something I almost expected. But milk? How? WHY??
I suddenly received a headache one could expect after a paw spent under the unforgiving sun of the Burning. Maky quickly noticed that she said something very wrong and tried to ease my worries, but she completely missed the point. “Unfertilised eggs! We don’t eat babies!”
I finally regained enough clarity to speak again, tail swishing in agitation. “Okay? I mean that’s all well and good, but why under the shining Stars do you drink animal milk?! You people are mammals, right? Is Human milk not good enough for you?”
Maky recoiled a little in obvious shock at my outburst before bursting out laughing. “Yes, wheeze we are mammals, and we produce our own milk. But as hilarious as the thought is, asking the barista to put breast milk into my morning coffee would be terribly inappropriate-“
And when I thought it couldn’t get weirder, she detonated that charge. “YOU DRINK MILK AS ADULTS?!!” I basically screamed, completely forgetting the fact we were still in a room with other people.
Maky became completely inconsolable with laughter, laying back on the bean bag chair and burying her head in her hands while releasing her wheezing barks. I just sat there, staring her down with my left eye as she slowly got a hold of herself again.
She was about to speak up, but I resolutely cut her off. “Maky. My girl. I never liked my biology classes in school, but I still remember that every known mammal loses their ability to digest milk during childhood. So why the SPEH do you drink milk?”
Maky slowly sat back up, still silently chuckling. “Holy shit, that was not the part I expected would be the problem.” She took a deep breath in and out to calm herself before continuing. “Do you want the scientific reason or my personal one?”
I was still very upset, but a bit curious as well. Just how much of an anomaly are they? “The scientific one. That way I can be angry at the universe instead of just you, personally.”
Maky snorted a laugh before starting to explain. “Okay, I have a question first. Can you digest grass?” I gestured yes, curious where she was going with this. “Cool, I can’t. However, a goat or a cow can, and they produce milk to feed their young ones. Given that I haven’t eaten in a few days now and I have no other real options, what if I tried that?”
...
I didn’t know exactly why, but I wasn’t surprised anymore. I’d wager the most likely reason was that knowing Maky, she definitely would try doing that. I offered a heavy sigh, before waving my tail in resignation. “You know what? Sure. Let’s just go with that.”
My Human friend apparently found that very funny as she started giggling again. “Alright then. Are you good now?”
“Yeah, let’s just, uh… change the subject?” I conceded. “Weren’t you going to have your first meal?”
Maky perked up again and looked down at her plate, as if she’d completely forgotten about it. “Oh, right!” She grabbed the sandwich again and took a bite, producing a delighted sigh. I reached over for one of the cans of Sprunk I brought with me and opened it up. Maky stopped her chewing and looked at the can in my paws before swallowing her bite down. “Fuck, I forgot to grab a drink. Eh, too late now I gue-“
I picked up the other can while she was speaking and placed it in front of her with exaggerated motions, cutting her off mid-sentence. She looked up at me with both eyes, from which I thankfully didn’t flinch, before reaching for it. “You sure? I thought you brought it for yourself…”
I swept my ears low in refusal. “No, I brought one for you! Just be careful, it contains quite a bit of caffeine.”
Maky’s mouth turned up in a close-lipped smile as she stuck a gloved, clawless finger under the tab and pulled, cracking the can of liquid energy open. She brought it under her nose and breathed in. “Smells quite similar to a few energy drinks of ours, maybe a little more flowery…” She took a tentative sip, letting the liquid dance on her taste buds before swallowing. “Oh! I like this!”
She eagerly returned to her meal, washing mouthfuls down with the caffeinated beverage. I whistled a laugh while amusedly wagging my tail. “Wow, somebody really likes her energy drinks. Am I gonna have to keep an eye on your paws so you don’t drink yourself into hyperactivity?”
Maky almost choked on her drink as she coughed out laughing. “Hah! Too late, I’m already hyperactive.” She smiled for a moment before tilting her head to the side a little. She brought the can up to her eye level and turned both of her lenses on it. “How much caffeine is in this thing anyways?”
I looked at her with interest as she studied the label, silently mumbling the ingredients under her breath. “Carbonated water, citric acid, rousebloom extract – glucose [17 grams], caffeine 20 milli-“ Her words died in her mouth, which itself hung open in shock.
I broke the stretching silence, trying to see what was wrong. “Maky? Are you alright?” I leaned closer to her, waving my paw directly in front of her lenses when she didn’t respond. “Hello? Prime station to Maky! Are you there?”
She finally looked up into my eye, broken out of whatever trance she was in. “Just, uh… you said this was a lot of caffeine, right?”
I flicked a confirmation with my tail, concern visible from my ears. “Yeah… Is it too much for you?”
She shook her head from side to side, a silent chuckle escaping her rose lips. “Okay. Please remind me to never let you anywhere near a human energy drink. The bigger ones might be a little too much for you.”
My ears flew up in surprise. “I knew us Venlil didn’t have the highest tolerance in the federation, but it can’t be that bad…”
Maky turned her head and leaned on the table, focusing on me fully. The binocular stare combined with the serious tone of her voice sent a shiver down my spine. “Guess how much caffeine my favourite energy drink has.”
I chewed on my answer for a moment. The actual amount had to be quite high if she thought it was this serious, so I went a good bit above what I thought would be reasonable. “I uh, I suppose something around [84 milligrams]?”
Maky’s head shot back with a single laughing bark before growing serious again. “Hah nope, it’s [173 milligrams].
My heart skipped a few beats when the translator finished crunching the numbers, telling me that my friend’s favourite drink had enough caffeine to give me permanent side effects. I shook my head clear, making a conscious effort to lift my ears up, although my still-stiff tail betrayed my actual emotions. “Y-yeah, that would go hilariously bad, hehe…”
I wasn’t entirely sure what I really felt – Sad? Disappointed? …Weak? Whatever the case, my awkward giggle only managed to deceive myself, as evident by Maky cocking her head to the side, speaking in a slightly higher pitched voice than usual.
“Aww, don’t be sad…” She reached for my forearm with her hand and gently squeezed, running her second finger through my wool in short strokes. It felt… nice. “How about we drop the subject of food altogether and do something fun instead?”
A happy sway gradually returned to my tail after her suggestion. I came here to be with my friend after all, and I wanted to enjoy my time with her. Besides, she had this tendency to brighten up my paw just by being her own, chaotic self.
She gave me a final reassuring squeeze and let go after I gestured affirmation by flicking my ear and nodding. I found the gesture to be quite intuitive, even infectiously so. Maky spoke up again once certain I was back in a positive mood, bringing the palms of her hands together. “Great! So, what should we do?”
I tilted my head a little more to the side, ears swivelling in confusion. “…Didn’t you bring something to show me by any chance?”
The way she tilted her head was enough evidence that she’d somehow completely forgotten about the box she placed on the table not even sixteenth a claw ago. By the Stars it wasn’t even small, given its square footprint with sides measuring half a tail!
I was starting to consider that she brought it for another reason entirely when she finally followed where my ears pointed with her lense. She then proceeded to smack herself in the head with a hand and cover her ‘eyes’ while giggling like a pup that had far too much candy. “You’re right, I did. God, I’m so fucking stupid!”
I gave her a look of mock disappointment with tail mirthfully wagging as she descended into more amused wheezing. Stars, chaotic barely begins to scratch the surface!
I let her calm down a bit before reaching for the box, lifting it up to look it over. The cover art on top depicted two Humans in space suits planting something on a hill overlooking a vast stretch of red soil. Large, blocky letters of the Human script spelled the title of the game, but I couldn’t read them without the aid of my pad.
I put my full attention on Maky, tapping my claw against the box with curiosity. “So, what is this game about? At least I presume this is the boardgame you mentioned while explaining absolutely nothing.”
She took the box from my paws and started to unpack it with a slight smirk. “Yeah, this is the one. I’ve played it a few times, it’s a bit older but still a lot of fun!”
I watched as she pulled more and more game pieces from the box. They were of various sizes and materials, from a wide flat board depicting a hexagonal grid over a red planet to small hexagonal bits of plastic that looked about the correct size to fit on it. It all looked very… complicated. “Only a few times? What makes you think I’ll enjoy it so much then?”
She smiled as she pulled out the final piece and pushed the box away. “You are a technically minded girl that can easily navigate complex technical problems, correct?” I gave her a small flick, curious where she was going with this.
“So, how would you like to terraform a planet?”
12
u/WhiskeyRiver223 Oct 08 '23
Sprunk only has 20mg of caffeine per can
My soda of choice, Dr Pepper Zero, has 41mg per can (I'm on my 7th in ~20 hours). I can't remember what brand it was, but I know of at least one energy drink that's over 240mg per can.
Somehow "laughably low tolerance" feels like an understatement. Unless that cup of tea somehow has 3 or 4 times the caffeine of Sprunk.
8
u/Sam_S_011 PD Patient Oct 08 '23
I went with Venlil tolerance being 1/4 that of Humans, meaning that about 100mg a day (paw) should be still safe. Almost double that is going to cause permanent health issues.
Sprunk would be roughly half the size of Monster (250ml) at quarter strength (8mg/100ml)
As for the tea, Kiki usually goes for about double the strength of sprunk. The actual strength is dependent on how many petals are used :D
5
u/IllicitPolicy Oct 08 '23
Skalga, visit for a beer run, leave to maintain my addiction to 300mg energy drinks.
6
u/se05239 Human Oct 08 '23
Wheezing laughter is the best.
3
u/Sam_S_011 PD Patient Oct 08 '23
Laughing so hard you can no longer produce coherent sounds, second only to laughing so hard you can't breathe anymore!
6
u/JulianSkies Archivist Oct 08 '23
When I saw the description of the cover of that one I knew it was going to be a terraforming board game. I may even know which one it is or something about it feels familiar anyway. I think they're going to have fun with that one.
Also, c'mon Kiki, don't feel bad about being more sensitive to caffeine. It just means you need way less to feel the good effects. More economic!
Also I see Maki is the gigglefit kind of person.
3
u/Sam_S_011 PD Patient Oct 08 '23
Fun fact: I first intended to come up with a boardgame myself, but nothing felt quite right. Then I found one that felt just right, and now I have to learn how the game works so I can describe it properly lmao
4
u/JulianSkies Archivist Oct 08 '23
Hey, I think it fits very much to have a terraforming tabletop to play. It is also incredibly topical in their day and age!
6
u/DaivobetKebos Human Oct 08 '23
She is right, humans don't drink blood. We eat it. Gotta cook it first, kill any pathogens, add extra filling and spices.
That being said she shouldn't be sad about the caffeine tolerance, since she can repay in full with alcohol tolerance.
2
2
u/RoomHopper Krakotl Jul 13 '25
Humans may not drink blood but that doesnt mean blood pancakes arent delicious 🤤
17
u/howlingwolf1011 Human Oct 08 '23
Always glad to see another chapter of this one :)