“It’s sometimes not so bad to be a tiny and unnoticeable grain of sand,” Derek tried to be funny. “Especially, when there are plenty of hostile aliens all around you.”
“Not many of them are hostile,” began Lora, but then stumbled realizing that her companion rose up from his chair and was now standing on his own legs, leaning a little on the glass.
“I’ve decided not to warn you about my intention,” Derek smiled, “to avoid the unnecessary stir.”
Frozen, Lora was watching the earthling. He cleared his throat.
“I’m fine.”
“I see,” she finally said, “This is great!”
He nodded.
“Despite the popularity of transport means on electromagnetic pillows here, I’d prefer to walk from now on. Shall we?”
“Sure!”
Amused, Lora was watching with how much effort her new friend applied to be able to walk. Despite the Council’s reservations, it seemed to Lora that she had come to know Derek very well in the past few days. He surprised her with his perseverance, hard work and energy. However, notwithstanding his obvious character virtues, the earthling was still far from having the inner equilibrium, inherent to all Titanium citizens. The latter remained calm and rational in any situation, trusting their intuition and accepting everything with wisdom. Derek’s behaviour was often quite the opposite of that. His feelings were contradicting, reactions unexpected, while his emotions were so strong that they drowned out the voice of reason.
Some days later, Lora and Derek came to have lunch in the canteen of the ‘Unity’ building. Lora’s first and foremost obligations as a junior Council member constantly demanded her presence. That’s why the majority of the day was spent doing her main job, while she met Derek closer to the evening.
“This time I’ll order food myself,” said the young man taking a seat. His hand swiped the sensor panel making a holographic menu appear over the table.
“Now choosing as if touching the names of the desired dishes…”
Derek was precisely repeating the instructions given by Lora during their first lunch together.
The young lady nodded contentedly when her companion easily completed the set task. After a few seconds, the central part of the table moved apart and two metal holders lifted a tray with two white food containers.
“Here you are, help yourself! But what did I choose?” Derek hesitated a little.