Page 39 of Grulen

“Thanks for your help yesterday.”

“It was the right thing to do.”

As they approached their destination, the smells of cooking food greeted them before they arrived.

“Oh, good, it seems Morgan is taking care of morning meal.We all suffer when it’s Yaz’s turn.”Makai’s fangs flashed.

Stalad grinned.He took in the crew members as Makai introduced everyone.The primary pilot, Yaz, hadn’t been atDiversionsthe night before, and he already met Abby in the med bay when Lezon treated Morgan’s feet.

Jalaxians were the closest to Svesti in body type, both tall and having retractable claws, fangs, and tails.Although Jalaxian tails tended to be wider than Svesti and their skin blue.He knew they lost their home world fiftysolarsprior, but once, again, he couldn’t tell when or how he learned the information.

He took one of the empty seats next to Crax.The pink-haired female sat on the Jalaxian’s left.Makai introduced her as Kara.Rain sat on Kara’s left next to Lezon.

Makai sat opposite him in a seat between Tren, the engineer, and Yaz.Abby came out with several platters of food and sat next to Yaz.Morgan followed her with large pitchers of juice and water, then she settled next to Stalad.

“Hi,” she said quietly with a small smile.

“Good morning, Morgan.Did you sleep well?”

“Yes, actually I did.You?”

“Mmm, pancakes and bacon.”Tren’s boisterous voice interrupted them as he grabbed a platter with stacks of circular disks and piled a number of them high on his own plate.Stalad watched him slather butter on each disk before drizzling a dark, thick substance over them.“I love Earth food.”

“Make sure you leave some for the rest of us,” Crax grumbled.

The dishes with the pancakes circulated around the long table with the females taking much fewer than the males.Another platter of a wonderful smelling meat also was passed around.When one came their way, he offered Morgan first choice before taking some for himself.Surreptitiously, he inhaled her scent.Fascinating.She smells like grass and trulet in a light rain.Reminds me of growth and hope.

After preparing the pancakes like everyone around him, his tail swayed as the unusual tastes hit his tastebuds.Chewing slowly, he savored the new flavors, but one familiar one stood out.

“Is thereleringain these?”

Morgan nodded.

“Yes, I found some fresh on Nulorn.I enjoyed the berries when I lived on your home world.On Earth, we sometimes use different fruits in our pancakes, as well as other things, like chocolate.I thought it would be a nice change.”

“What is this?It’s sweet like a fruit sauce, but not.”

“Syrup.I tried to find one close to Earth’s maple syrup, which is made from the sap of sugar maple trees.The meat is similar to bacon.”

“This is delicious.Thank you for cooking us a wonderful morning meal.”

Her cheeks flushed.

“It was nothing.”

“He’s right, Morgan.Accept our compliments.”Makai pointed his utensil at her.

Huffing slightly, she said, “Thank you.”

Chatter mixed with the tinkling of utensils hitting plates.A relaxed atmosphere and genuine enjoyment in each other’s company permeated the morning meal.What a nice way to begin a day.They act like family with one another.

When they were finished, everyone placed the remains of their meals in the recycler.

“Okay, I’m off to take my shift at the helm,” Rain said.

“I need some sleep.It was a long day yesterday.”Yaz yawned and gave a little wave as he and Abby turned toward the quarters corridor.

“Give us a couple hours and we’ll meet you for our classes,” Abby said as Morgan joined her.

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