Bob is contacted by his boss, Mr. Potato, while out in deep space, still doing his paperwork from the LAST mission. Bob was to go to planet Florpin, a planet of bird-like aliens, and track down an outlaw.
When Bob got out of the shower, Ornna was perched out on the patio, waiting patiently. Bob was pleasantly surprised to find that the Lorp Porps had brought his things from the Pokey Pike to the suite, and after drying off he put on a pastel suit, trying to match the bright colors of the Porps.
There were no doors in the suite, possibly because having two wings and two talon-feet made it somewhat impractical to deal with such things. Instead, line of sight between different rooms was split up by diagonal or curved hallways, keeping the rooms accessible but maintaining some visual privacy.
Bob came out to the patio and leaned against a perch next to Ornna.
"When can we go investigate the holding cell?"
"It's getting late, so we can go in the morning." Ornna chirped. "Until then, if there is any place you would like to visit or any accomodations you need, please let me know."
"I'd like to explore Lorp some."
Bob insisted on staying on the ground as much as possible as he strolled along the dirt-and-straw streets of the city with Ornna hopping beside him, trying to politely match his pace. There were a few buildings accessible at ground level -- the hospital (perhaps in case a Porp hurt their wing and needed to get in), a school for young Porps, a few stores here and there -- but many buildings were up high; either built on top of a ground-floor structure, or sitting atop columns without a ground floor at all. Clearly, the city was built for flyers and didn't have enough "grounded" guests to really bother changing anything.
"Next time," he thought to himself, "I'm going to demand they buy me a small flying shuttle craft that I can use to get around and to rest in."
After a bit of aimless exploring, Bob's stomach began protesting. Up until now, it was still too twisted into knots to bother being hungry, but the cool air and earthy smells of the outdoors helped calm his nerves.
Ornna thought for a bit about available dining (no birdseed, Bob said) and eventually Bob to let her take him to a restaurant up high, serving "exotic foods from other worlds". The building was woven together with sticks and straw of varying colors, and the only signage outside was a small clay tablet, with a set of dots inlaid (possibly molded with a beak?), the dots being at varying vertical and horizontal locations, almost like notes on a musical staff.
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"This place is called DO-SI-SOL-SI." Ornna said, singing the restaurant name as notes (do-re-mi-fa-sol-la-si-do) rather than saying "do, si, sol, si".
The only Earth items on the menu were Corn on the Cob and Peanut Butter... That was it. There were dishes from other planets as well, but Bob assumed they were all just as Bird-centric. He filled up on corn.
As Bob and Ornna sat discussing Florpin after their meal, a pudgy Porp waddled out from the kitchen and came over to their table.
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"Ĉu la manĝaĵo plaĉas al vi?" (Are you pleased with your food?) the Porp asked.
Bob didn't want to be rude, but the corn was just steamed corn, no salt or butter, and there weren't many appetizing options available. The Porp tried to interpret the look of dismay on Bob's face, but this was his first time seeing a Space Alien and had no idea what it meant.
"It was... Okay." Bob said softly.
The Porp started bouncing anxiously, "Oh sir! I would greatly appreciate any advice you could give me! I would like for my restaurant to one day be THE spot for aliens to visit!"
Bob felt awkward. He was eager to get back to the quiet of his room, but also was put on the spot and didn't want to be rude.
"Uhh, well." Bob hesitated, "I'm here in Lorp on work. Could I maybe, uh, visit again once I'm done with my job? I could maybe give you some tips, then?" Bob internally kicked himself. He could have just said no or give some simple tip, but instead he had to give his future-self extra work to do and more things to worry about.
The Porp bounced up and down excitedly. "Oh! That sounds great!" He was excited at having an appointment with an alien! "You can come eat here anytime for free, sir, as repayment! My name is FA-FA-LA-MI and I own this restaurant!"
Bob grimaced, but human facial expressions were as opaque to the Porp as listening to chirp tones was for Bob. Clearly, he could see their BODY language, but when they chirped it all sounded melodic, and when they spoke it all sounded gravelly, Bob couldn't interpret the audible cues of Porps, and the Porps couldn't interpret audible or facial cues from humans.
Mercifully, FA-FA-LA-MI was satisfied and happily bobbed up and down as he returned to the kitchen. Bob turned to Ornna. "Can we get one thing before heading back to the suite?" He asked.
"Sure, anything." Ornna said.
"I need some bandages for my back after being carried around so much."
