The most important non-meal of the day [Franzi]

She barely dared touch it with her fork. She did anyways, half expecting the soul of whatever animal that died to make the fried mess to fly out of the food in wailing despair.

Franzi had brought food from home-- but she didn't want to waste it once she got to the other planet, where she suspected the food would be even worse. Not that she ate much at all anyways. This food had been dehydrated, rehydrated, and then quickly warmed up. None of that spelled good news. Even though she hardly ate enough for a healthy person, she appreciated well made food as much as anybody-- the people who rant the ship obviously didn't have the same standards.

So Franzi decided to just drink her coffee (or, more accurately, cream and sugar with a little coffee) instead. At least no one had gotten their ruinous hands on the coffee yet-- she didn't think the people who were normally always on the ship drank coffee. It was food enough, usually-- until the sugar wore off. But it would keep her alert enough that morning to work on government documents. It was all still relatively harmless-- a virtual globe of Oratoa that at the current time only included where the volcanoes were, and many blank reports. For now she worked on them in the open. Once they arrived they wouldn't be so transparent with their information. Why was she looking at mostly blank documents in the first place? Ever since she'd been out on the mission she'd been having nightmares of failure that haunted her even in the daytime. Looking through the globe and already feeling another oncoming fit of fear, she turned to her security blanket-- a bottle of appetite suppressants in her bag. She chased a few down with the coffee, and coughed nervously to make sure they were all down.

She couldn't let herself become a failure-- she'd already failed at too much in life.

Anthony couldn't say that he was looking forward to this 'meal'. If he was right, it would be even worse than those horrendous fast food restaurants that they'd had back on earth. But at least he'd brought a decent brand of tea with him. Two crates of the stuff. He hadn't really known the exact length of time they'd be there, so he wanted to make sure he'd be prepared for the stay before he had to drink whatever swill they passed off as tea here.

With a defeated sigh, he opened the door to the cafeteria, fully expecting to be the first person in to get 'breakfast' what with habitually waking up early. Looking up to see her, he couldn't say he'd ever been quite so happy to not be somewhere first. At least he could examine the food visually before subjecting himself to it.

Casually making his way over to her and sitting opposite he took a moment to look at the food, visibly grimacing at the realization it was no better than those terrible microwave meals and setting his tea down on the table after a brief sip. "Morning," he muttered finally, stretching his back slightly as he sat, "Nice to see someone else actually wakes up in the morning." He would have asked her what the food had tasted like, but knowing her she probably hadn't even tasted it yet, not to mention that he'd seen her take a couple pills as he'd walked in and as far as he was concerned it was safe to assume they were those appetite suppressants she liked taking for whatever reason. He didn't understand it, really. She wasn't exactly fact, if anything she was skinnier than he was and with the speed of his metabolism meaning he was a perpetual stick, that was a pretty impressive feat.

But saying something like that out loud would be incredibly rude.

It wasn't as if she wasn't tired, her eyelids were already naturally darker, and the exhaustion was hardly noticeable under layers of concealer. And she wasn't about to let herself yawn. People looked ugly when they yawned.

He sat down, and she peered at him through the holographic images. "Gruss Gott...." She emptied another packet of sugar into her coffee. "I'm taking a tally of who wakes up early enough to be dedicated." He was second. She smiled slightly. "You better hope that someone else shows up, or you are last."

She looked around the room for a moment and cut the holograms off before nearly whispering to him, "Can you believe it? That we're not on earth? Christ... I mean... Are we supposed to feel sick? Jetlag? I don't know. I feel sick." This was far beyond anything she had ever experienced, despite her money and social standing.

"I don't intend to stick around long enough to find out if anyone else get here after me," he snorted, glancing at the words in front of the two of them and quickly scan reading them backwards, "Plus I don't care if I'm the first one awake unless other people have access to me whilst I'm sleeping."

After a brief pause his eyes met hers. He had traveled around what was left of the earth before and had even been to a few off world colonies before, but even he hadn't been as far this before. He'd never admit to it-- or even let himself show that it made him a little uneasy, being this far in space. Though it was less being away and more the thought of never returning if something bad happened.

"I think you probably feel sick because you've not eaten," he sighed finally, his tone less harsh than usual, "I know it looks more heavily processed than... I don't think I've ever even seen anything that looks worse than this-- but eating something will help settle your stomach better than pills and coffee."

He stopped again at hearing a noise, glancing over his shoulder as the door opened and the young Russian programmer walked in, looking a little like a deer in the headlights at seeing he wasn't the only one here. He'd planned, much like the Brit, to grab food and run but now that would look really anti-social...

And wasn't it better to become at least partially acquainted with other people on the ship? He paused, giving them a forced smile before slinking off to grab food. No, they intimidated Nikolai too much to try and befriend them.

"Looks like I'm not last then," Anthony muttered under his breath to his half sister, sipping on his tea again with an almost smirk on his face.

She laughed lightly. "What, you don't want to eat with your sister?"

Then, the laugh went away, and her face darkened. "I'll eat when I need to. I don't need to." She ran on coffee and sugar...and that was mostly it.

She would have said more, but she turned, distracted by the newcomer. She wanted to be as friendly as possible at first, so that people would be more apt to work harder for her. "Hello," she smiled sweetly. "Have we met?"

Maybe he was a stowaway.

"If it makes you feel better I don't want to eat with anyone," he shrugged, muttering under his breath about her response and just staring the newcomer down before going to bring up his own holographic display of news from Earth.

The Russian just blinked at actually being greeted, eyeing her suspiciously for a moment. "Uh, hey, and... Not properly." He looked a little awkward as he spoke, not entirely sure what do do since he'd yet to actually fall asleep for the night and had just come back to grab some more coffee and maybe some breakfast to wake himself up. His social skills were questionable at best but now they were even worse.

After a moment's contemplation he moved over to her, smiling awkwardly and half paranoid that she was going to tell him off for being too engrossed in setting up his computer and running some checks to make sure everything was as efficient as it could be for the moment. "I'm Nikolai Nikolayevich Kuznetsov. I'm incharge of telewor-- Communications. Telecommunications, sorry. I'm like a stock programmer, too, so if you have any problems with computers or the holographic displays then tell me!"

He extended a hand to shake, the Brit smiling briefly and shaking his hand after he'd finished shaking Franzi's hand before going back to reading.

"And you are...? Sorry, I'm not good with names," He lied, laughing a little awkwardly and hoping he could just pretend that he hadn't already looked at everyone's profiles in the ship's mainframe and didn't know what both their names were.

Maybe she wasn't smiling right. She wasn't used to it. It felt forced, maybe it looked that way, too. "Nice to meet you, Mr. Kuznetsov. Computers? Very good, I always seem to end up breaking mine." She hoped he was good at fixing electronics that had coffee spilled on them because her hands shook too much sometimes.

She shook his hand, trying to relax her smile. "Franziska Schuetzenuer--" she gestured to Anthony. "We both work for the government." He looked much too young to be hired... Maybe he was just that intelligent.

"It still feels weird being called Mr. Kuznetsov, feel free to just call me Nikolai... And I'll do my best to fix it if you do," he said, laughing lightly, "And maybe make it better, if I can."

He paused for a moment, raising an eyebrow at her, "That's pretty... Nondescript. What do you do for the government? Just like diplomacy and stuff or...?" If she was going to lie to him, he'd find out about it pretty soon due to his field of expertise. "Oh-- And excuse me I wanna get something to eat, I'm starving."

He bowed his head to the two briefly after panicking and deciding in his drunk on fatigue mind that that would be the best way to excuse himself fully, walking over to grab some food and a coffee. He'd have preferred an energy drink or tea-- but there weren't exactly energy drinks laying around and tea didn't have enough caffeine in it, as far as he was concerned.

She knew someone would ask questions. "Yes... Diplomacy. Why does it concern you? You don't go to your mayor's office and ask what everyone does." She admonished him. "You just trust your government to do its job."

Smiling, she joked, "You're here for computers, not espionage."

Franzi hoped to dispel any doubts he might have had... They didn't need someone who knew their way around computer systems to also be searching for something.

She shot a look to her brother as such while he was gone. "I didn't expect to get annoyed this early in the day."

(("I didn't expect to get annoyed this early in the day." I'M SORRY, I WASN'T PLANNING ON THIS, BUT I HAVE TO, NOW--))

Luzia usually never woke up early in the morning. But this morning was special. This morning, she was leaving Earth to visit another world. Another world. It had almost been impossible to fall asleep in order to even wake up early, in the first place.

Bursting into the common area with her usual gusto, she practically blew past the food wall like a tornado, picking up breakfast and shooting an excited (and loud), "Hi!" at the Russian there. She didn't bother with coffee; she had enough natural energy for ten people. Without the slightest bit of hesitation, she sat down with the government officials, grinning confidently, "'Morning Ms. Schuetzenuer, Mr. Black!" She didn't expect them to know her name, but she had to know theirs. "I'm your intern, Luzia Matilde da Costa Silva! How are you today, are you excited for the lift off? I'm excited!" She ran at about 200°, 500 mph.

Shoveling a spoonful of mush into her mouth, she chewed almost as quickly (though thankfully not as loudly) as she talked. Before, she would have considered the wall food too disgusting to be edible, but...she was a university student. She was used to it, by now.

"What, do you want me to apologize for that kid?" He responded in little more than a whisper, raising an eyebrow at her. "and your whole 'none of your business' attitude just then didn't help. Better to act like you're being open and tell everything-- well, if they don't ask for specifics, you don't have to tell them everything."

He stopped at seeing yet another person enter the room and pushing him just that little closer to leaving. His idea of a 'packed room' was considerably less when he'd only been awake for about twenty minutes, not that it was that great normally.

The Russian just had a minor heart attack at the sudden appearance of the young woman beside him and acting more like she'd shot a gun than said hello. He just grinned nervously at her as she walked back to the tables and regaining his posture after a few moments and walking over to the table for a moment. He was definitely going to sleep once he'd finished what he was doing for the day.

"I'm gonna go back to my room-- I left my computer debugging some coding I did and I want to make sure there's not stupid errors or typos that I missed. So enjoy your breakfast, everyone!" He laughed a little awkwardly, waving briefly before quickly absconding towards the doorway to avoid anymore social interaction in his current situation. He was bad enough at it when he wasn't sleep deprived, let alone when he'd been up for around thirty hours.

Anthony just stared at her as she sat beside him, clearly not overly pleased by the fact that someone had sat beside him where there were all these empty seats around the room. "Morning," he muttered, taking another sip of his tea and trying to ignore her for now-- Hopefully his sister could manage all the talking until he was a little more in the mood for pretending that he didn't hate everyone.

She gave him a blunt look. Most everything she did she could put under the category of "nobody's business". She wasn't very open in the first place-- not that he was a model of openness, either. "Well maybe you should have spoken up, then." She nearly glared at him.

She heard the girl walk in, of course, but hadn't expected her to sit right down next to them. Franzi jumped, and if she hadn't already drained her coffee enough, it would have been all over her.

Struggling to regain her composure after the shock put so much pressure on her already strained lungs, she smiled breathlessly, for once not having to fake it-- she wasn't used to actual enthusiasm from people, but it was much easier if they were actually enthused. Like no one in her family ever seemed to be. "Ah-- I had heard something about an intern. Good to meet you." She held out a hand for her shake, feeling like she was looking backwards in time at herself. "I used to be an intern. I worked for my father. I promise I won't be as hard on you as he was to me." Misanthrope she could sometimes be, that wasn't a hell she was going to wish on anyone.

"I suppose I am excited-- but more apprehensive than anything."

"Bye!" She waved at the Russian as he practically fled the room, completely oblivious to any damage she'd inadvertently done to his--or anyone else's--composure. Or to the fact that the person she'd just sat next to did not appreciate her presence. Or that she'd nearly shocked the coffee right out of her superior's hands.

She took the handshake with all of her customary gusto, accompanied by a laugh that was almost impossibly booming for someone so small, "Thank you, I know all about father-tyrants; that's why I'm here!" Except unlike Franzi, she'd gone in the complete opposite direction and had done everything her father had never wanted for her to do.

Settling back in her seat (she'd had to prop herself up on her free hand slightly in order to reach across the table for the handshake), she grinned hugely, "I'm supposed to shadow both of you, and Mr. Keller, and Mr. Van den Haag, and Mr. Sokolovsky! I'm more excited for that than the lift-off, but I'm excited for the lift-off, too! I asked the captain all about it, but I don't think he could hear me, because he's too tall!" Not because she was too short. And certainly not because he was simply ignoring her.

She ate another spoonful of food before inquiring, "Why are you apprehensive? Is it going to be dangerous? Are Oratoans hard to work with? I had to pass an exam on Oratoan-Earth relations and Oratoan government, and the Oratoan economy, and I don't know, it seems like it would be difficult maintaining a peaceful dialogue with people who still use slaves, and I'm supposed to observe how Mr. Van den Haag handles individual rights issues, but I'm just wondering how everything works out on a day-to-day negotiation level because that seems like it'd be something that you have to handle pretty delicately to avoid conflict--" She had to pause to breathe.

She smiled, for once in the conversation, strained. "Oh, he's no tyrant." So he says. "I'm sure you've heard of him. Anyway-- soon we'll be far away from the both of them."

Pretending to think about the intern's assignments for a moment, she advised, "Mr. Van Den Haag is incredibly boring. And I don't know about Sokolovsky, but he doesn't seem too interesting either. Keller does what he wants, he won't bother explaining anything to you. You should follow Anthony the most." She gestured with a thin arm to her disgruntled relative. "He's very good at his job and is very eager to teach." She grinned at him. "Isn't that right, Anthony?"

"And don't worry about talking to the captain." She made a note of the girl's features. Short, thin, and an attitude like a coiled spring. "Don't take it personally when I say he's not ever going to pay attention to you."

Franzi only caught about half of her speech. "The most important thing is drawing the line between how far we play the game with their rules, and if they are civilized enough to understand our rules." She said matter-of-factly, then, in a stark contradiction to her previous word choice, "Also we must not assume too much about how a completely alien people operate."

Until that point, Anthony had been managing to completely block out the voices, and being brought back by the mention of his name with a look of bemusement. It took him only a second to realise he was being volunteered to help out the intern, shooting his sister a look that could probably have made a small child cry.

Mature. Real mature.

But he wouldn't let himself be bothered by it, nor act like it was. After a final sip of his tea as she finished offering his services to her, he smiled at the smaller woman, having only just realised just how tiny she was.

"Of course, I am probably the most suitable for the job," He shot a look at his sister before returning his attention to the younger woman, "And it'll be nice to talk to someone that actually acts like they enjoy the job for once." He could have used the chance to get a dig in at his sister-- but no. He was five years older than her and he wasn't going to play such a childish game with her.

Being reminded that she would soon be away from her fathers influence (however small of an hold it had on her), only served to pump her up even more. When Anthony Black accepted the job of being her mentor, it was as if she'd been plugged into a high-powered generator, she bristled with so much energy. These were the people who they studied in school: the most important ambassadors in the government. She was a student sitting among giants. And now one of them was volunteering (or rather, being volunteered) to teach her.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you, sir!" Any more excitement, and she'd be bouncing in her seat. "It's not an act, Mr. Black, I REALLY enjoy this job, I swear!!"

She nodded furiously as Franzi talked--of course, she had her own opinions on how to deal diplomatically with other people, but she wanted to see the masters at work. She stared intently at Anthony, waiting and fully expecting to hear his thoughts on the subject.

It seemed the only time she truly ever grinned nowadays was when she could laugh at someone else's expense.

And she did laugh, when he glared at her, a short, strangled burst of a giggle. Although she didn't like him claiming he was the best, no one but them was around to hear it.

She watched the intern struggle with the strength of her delight. Franzi remembered when she was that enthusiastic about her job. About anything. It saddened her. "Well, Anthony, I'm sure you and Luzia have much to discuss. As for me, I have things to do," she smirked at Anthony. "And don't quite have the time to teach, so I will see you both.... Later." She drained the rest of her coffee and slid her untouched breakfast into the disposal before walking out.

"Even better!" He responded with false enthusiasm, grimacing at the thought of how obnoxious a task this would be and how to best ditch her whilst being polite about it and not endangering her education on the subject.... Perhaps it would be best if he were the one to teach her, he admitted to himself begrudgingly as he finished off his own beverage.

And now she was leaving them and only seeing to make him even more annoyed at her for this. He narrowed his eyes at her as she got up, not gracing her with a goodbye and catching the look Luzia was giving him. What was she expecting from him-- he wasn't sure, but he was certainly almost beginning to regret not listening... Almost.

Rather than show himself up he just sighed, running a hand through his already messy hair and trying to dodge the blow with one of his stock responses, "I think it's much to early to be discuss the topic. I've only just woken up and it's much harder to think before I've had any breakfast."

"Speaking of which, if you'll excuse me I'm going to go collect some breakfast," He rose from his seat quickly, taking the chance to get away from her and decide what to do by himself and sitting in the opposite seat to her when he returned this time. At least she should be slighty quieter.... He hoped.

She waved madly to the anorexic woman as she left, dumping her food on the way.

"Right!" She held her spoon aloft, "Most important meal of the day!" She resumed eating her own food with renewed vigor, as if she was the one who'd claimed she couldn't function without breakfast.

It was true, at least, that she was maybe one decibel quieter, once there was one less presence in the room. Whether she was consciously aware of it or not, Luzia suffered from a particular height complex when it came to being faced with more or bigger people than herself. Being loud and noticeable was her way of compensating for it...and was also just part of her nature. The more or bigger people present, the louder she was.

When he reclaimed his seat, she looked to him again with a wide and expectant grin, eager to receive the teaching she was promised.

Aaaaand she was still giving him that look. He glanced at her for a moment, going to start eating his 'food' despite being painfully aware she was staring at him. Putting his fork down after a moment, he turned to her.

"It's rather rude to watch people eat, you know," He sighed, rubbing the back of his neck like it would dispel the awkwardness from his mind, "You'd do better finding me later when I'm a little more... Prepared for this. I won't be of much use to you at the moment."

It was the nicest way he could think of to tell her to piss off and leave him alone for a while... But he wasn't entirely sure she'd catch the hidden meaning in his words. Oh well, at least she'd hopefully stop looking at him whilst he was eating-- it was making him far too self conscious to even eat breakfast.

The only thing that Luzia seemed to catch out of the entire dismissal was 'come find me later'. Permission to seek him out and tail him, as needed. After all, wasn't that what it meant to 'shadow' someone?

"Righto, sir!" She agreed loudly and cheerfully, leaping to her feet (or perhaps more aptly, dropping to her feet, considering they weren't touching the floor in the first place) and marching out the room with her food.

She'd find him later.