LF Friends, Will Travel

Why we said yes - Jkugar and Yuur

"Uhm... Am I in the right meeting? I was scheduled to meet with the Jkugar ambassador. If I'm interrupting, I can wait."

Zantari asked the question with a level of concern and confusion in their voice, the Ghirlinn in their near default reptilian form, sitting on the lightly padded seating upon the Jkugar space station. The station and the meeting room weren't anything special, when you've seen one lightly decorated room, you've seen them all. Although the Jkugar tendency to use glowing crystals as decorations instead of houseplants was mildly interesting.

What was special, interesting, and out of the ordinary, were the two figures seated across from them, who had both entered at the same time with a surprising level of aggression. The first was the person Zantari had been expecting to meet: the Jkugar ambassador. The Jkugar were a species of mollusc: A relatively large one standing around three feet wide, their entire beige body hidden under a giant bright orange spiky shell. Only a few of their several leg-like appendages were visible below, and their two eyes protruded out of the top of their protective covering on the ends of stalks.

She was exactly as Zantari had expected, 'dressed' in the standard professional attire of various rocks, gems, and other pieces of precious metals grafted to her shell, creating a shiny glittering display popular amongst the species. No, that was perfectly expected, what wasn't expected was the person who stood next to them.

"Oh, I know what this devil creature has done to the poor, honourable Ghirlinn diplomat. Did you not think I'd realize what you were planning, spinning silken lies of treachery and deceit with your soft-spoken silvery tone?"

The Yuur were a species of turtle-like reptile. Heavily armoured, thick plates of dark green keratin created a fortressed ball of interlocking plates, out of which smooth flippers and a tiny head suited for their natural aquatic environment poked out. Tiny red eyes and a strong jaw that could bite through bone and shell alike adorned his face. This ambassador was also dressed in the Yuur's standard attire: Extravagant pure white silks whose frills and fabrics billowed in the air as the diplomat spoke, their head bobbing dramatically with each word.

That was a Yuur. In the same room as the Jkugar. Zantari thought they had seen everything, but right in front of him was a Yuur and a Jkugar, standing in the same room, less than 2 feet away from each other, and nobody was trying to murder anyone... To Zantari this was... unthinkable.

The last the Ghirlinn diplomat had checked, around fifty years ago, the Yuur and Jkugar had been engaging in a general cultural and literal war of genocide for the past 300 odd years. Both claimed the other had started it, both committing atrocity after atrocity against the other. It was fascinating, in a morbidly depressing way; how both sides had popular food items made out of the other species, yet both sides believed themselves to be the victims. Who exactly had started the war and why was unknown, and at this point not really relevant.

The entire concept of these two species being in the same Terran Alliance had been shocking to Zantari, but seeing it in action, seeing these two within striking distance of each other and not trying to gouge each other's eyes out was... weird. Like returning home for the first time in years, and finding the shady alleyway where drug deals had once been done was replaced with an artisanal muffin store.

"We are allowed to have diplomatic discussions with other species. Not everything is about you!" The Jkugar responded back with venom, turning her eyestalks to glare at the Yuur before looking back apologetically at the Ghirlinn. "I'm sorry about this, our agreement means he has the right to be at this meeting. We are going to have to accept the presence of this strong brute."

"I can reschedule, if that helps." Zantari awkwardly responded, feeling the most uncertain they had felt for the last several thousand years. "I've got plenty of time."