Braga and Salvia both stifled the urges to either tell him they hadn't said, or laugh at the sheer stereotypical nature of the comment. It was a line uttered thousands of times by the same few dozen stock human characters in movies and television they'd grown up watching. Or that Salvia had grown up watching certainly, she couldn't really speak to Ga-Vok media presentations of humans. He did seem to display similar ideas about the situation though, a slight wag being especially indicative. Hack, on the other hand, seemed determined to play out the conversation.
"We didn't, but it will become clear in time."
"Ooh, mister mysterious, the mysterious man, won't say where he's from."
"The name of my birth-world is unpronounceable in your tongue."
"I'm from Gasca, If you've heard of it you're better informed than I thought."
"I hear the women there are beautiful." He winked. Salvia rolled her eyes and looked over at Braga. His ear twitched, maybe it was just a twitch, but she felt her mental groan echoed in it. "'course, I'm not certain whether you're a female or even how I would tell. Do you just know, or is there some more measurable quality?" The thief still seemed bothered by Braga, but less in fear as in outright disregard now. She'd have loved to call it a human trait, but she'd met plenty of Nielda who felt that way too, and brought some of them to justice, of one form or another, on occasion. But humans were definitely unique in that they were one of the only species to do so internally based on minor genetic traits. Part of that was simply the number of variations within humanity, no other species had the same level of internal variance. Part of it was just that humans had a much smaller concept of locality than most races, and their 'not us' classification rarely made it off-world. A Ga-Vok would consider any member of their own clan, family; where a human would consider only parents, spouses, siblings, and children to be that same level of family. Ga-Vok might fight between clans, but it was like a rivalry between the fans of two competing sports teams, only better armed and less expensive.
Nielda had only one such quarrel, and that was between the old Empire and the newer, Secloran one. It was more bitter than any human rivalry, and flared up every generation or so. The Seclorans had set themselves up as 'protectors of the universe' and insisted that the other major powers not set to their normal behaviors, the periodic border skirmishes between the Empire and the Ga-Vok (nothing harsh, or even deadly, just a war game out of hand or a dispute between civilians escalating), Harakai heretics seeking shelter in foreign lands (always friendly, heretics were usually trying to destroy some part of the universe anyways), or the regular extermination of human worlds for fun and profit (Even the Harakai didn't try to write that one off, everyone knew that humans had the potential to become greater than every other race in the universe if they tried. Killing them wasn't just good business, it was downright necessary for the good of every non-human in the universe. Everyone still taught the shade invasion in schools, and even if no human remembered it, everyone else had seen what they did in the Frostbourne War.) But that didn't fly with the Seclorans, and so they'd started a war. And it escalated. Then there was peace, but obviously that didn't last. And the cycle continued. Only the Gravagan's were exempt, and only because they were an immortal race of super-soldiers designed by an ultra-powerful necromancer with an ego matched only by power. Nobody was stupid enough to get them involved. Usually.
"I am male. But I doubt you would be able to tell if I were not. If you're truly interested in the anatomy of my species, read a book!"
Salvia conjured up a book and passed it to him. "I bookmarked the relevant pages and provided helpful notes on how to not get on the bad side of creatures more voracious than you. I'd pay close attention to the part about asking rude questions of creatures carrying weapons longer than your forearm, its highly relevant to your situation." Salvia ducked down the corridor leading to her room. "I'll be in my room, it has a lock. Before you try picking it to see what I've got that's worth stealing, read the part about taking things that belong to witches, its a doozy."
Braga let out a snort of laughter and headed off towards his own room, leaving the thief in the middle of the hallway alone. Hack peered out from the cockpit and in a surprisingly clear, yet quiet voice stated simply, "Read the chapter called 'how to recognize when the powerful sorceress you're talking to wants you for you, for your body, or just for a human sacrifice' You're going to need it."
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