Subject: Kat picked up a plate and looked at the selection of food.
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Posted on: 2019-01-05 14:04:52 UTC
She was about to grab a slice of cake when a thought struck her. "Hey, Farah," she said, looking suspiciously at the cake, "do you know where this food comes from? Is it definitely edible?"
One of HQ's moderately-sized empty rooms was nowhere near empty a few hours before 2019 began (in UTC on World One, because that seemed like the easiest reference point). A string of large paper numbers covered in gold glitter, spelling out "2019", had been hung from the ends of the ceiling. The far end of the room held tables piled with all sorts of party food (including something rather tasty that looked like blue spaghetti) and drinks. About half of the room contained tables of varying heights, some of which had chairs. The tables had started out with large stocks of noisemakers, paper hats, and masks, though a few of them were running low. The other half of the room didn't have much furniture so everyone could mingle. The dancefloor was near the door, shielded with sound dampening to prevent the rest of the party from being drowned in the music. Balloons hung in the air, either still tied to something or drifting.
Overall, everything seemed to be set up for a good party[1]. Some people were already in attendance, while the main group of partygoers was still filling in.
[1]: Assuming, of course, that the food and drink kept coming. Otherwise, it would be less of a party and more of a minor riot roaming the hallways looking for the promissed free refreshments.
A garish green vending machine and his hoodie wearing friend walk in. The vending machine looked festive, wearing a gold top hat style party hat and Mardi Gras party beads while twirling one of those noise makers. "Oh yeah, time to make 2019 twenty fine-teen!"
His less than festive companion gave him a deadpan. "3 seconds in and I already need drink. Thank you Spensor."
The pair go off to find drinks at the food table.
She was alone; after the disaster that had been Halloween Edward had point-blank refused to come. That suited her, as she was able to socialise without her embarrassing brother tagging along and annoying everyone.
Kat wore a simple pale blue dress made of light material and fairly unremarkable black shoes - not high heels, they were far too uncomfortable for her.
Glancing around, she saw that there weren't many people (or other sentient beings) there yet. She wandered over to one of the tables and picked up an orange paper hat, which she placed carefully on her head. It was a little big but would probably stay balanced if she didn't move around too much. She considered a plain white mask but decided against it. Kat preferred to be recognised.
She wandered over to the food and drink table, making up her mind that she'd have a few snacks and maybe a drink and wait to see if anyone wanted to talk to her.
She was wearing black breeches and a few earrings. The neon green hat she'd grabbed clashed with her brown fur.
"Hi there!" she said to the woman in the dress. "I'm Farah!"
"Name's Katarina Eagle, but everyone calls me Kat. Nice to meet you." She was at first a little startled by Farah's fur, but hid her reaction well. After all, she had feathers herself, even if they weren't immediately obvious.
"And happy new year." She took a few small meat-filled rolls and stuck them on her plate.
She was about to grab a slice of cake when a thought struck her. "Hey, Farah," she said, looking suspiciously at the cake, "do you know where this food comes from? Is it definitely edible?"
"Amino acid chirality, major ingredients, that sort of thing."
"If you can eat most anything a World One human can, that's marked too to make it easier, like on this one." She pointed to an icon on the label for the cake Kat had just grabbed.
“Guess that’s okay, then.” She placed the cake on her plate and looked around for a drink. She smiled when she spotted some Butterbeer: she’d taken a liking to it on missions. As she grabbed a plastic cup, she thought of a question. “What’s... amino acid chirality? I have a vague idea what an amino acid, but I’ve never heard of chirality.”
"Some species have their amino acids backwards from humans — and hani — so they can't eat the same food."
"Forgetting about that is a great way to have a bad time."