This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/hfy by /u/Psychronia on 2025-10-01 02:04:34+00:00.

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Part 2

Garag stomped through the halls on the S.S. Kevak. He suppressed a low grumble as the other diplomats recoiled whenever they made eye contact with him. The only reason he even bothered coming to these meets is because the Uven people needed representation in the Coalition. The other races here clearly didn’t want his kind here, but of course they had to “graciously” allow his people prove themselves more than barbarians.

When you had bodies 2 meters tall, tough hides, and a proportionate strength, it was only natural that his kind’s interaction and sports would involve a little more…roughhousing than usual. And resources were scarce on his cradle compared to most. But these pretentious pricks always made him feel like a feral Wolikk in a zoo when he came by.

His nostrils flared. He was working himself up too much. He needed to keep calm. A calm and serene expression. Any negotiations he had would always hinge on never giving anyone an excuse to cry foul.

“Hi there! What’s your name? What species are you?”

A high voice called out to him. Not quite as shrill as the Mickets, but…

When Garag turned to find the source of the question, he looked down to find…a human, causing him to freeze up.

They were a new addition to the Coalition. During evaluation, they were found to be conflict-adverse, docile, and generally focused on peace. The exact opposite of the Uvens. He hadn’t had any chance to talk to them personally due to a coordinated effort by the Coalition out of some paternalistic concern for the newcomers.

For once, though, it wasn’t a wholly unwelcome consideration from them. He’d had enough trouble with meek little creatures crying as soon as he made eye-contact with them, and he could do without being mistaken for terrorizing the new guy. He also didn’t know just how fragile the most docile known intelligent species could be. With no apparent natural protection or weapons, for all he knew, an accidental backhand from him could break their necks.

This one was wearing its long head fur tied in a single clump behind its head. He never had a good look at them, but it seemed smaller than the ambassador he’d seen in senate addresses. He shook his head. He was asked a question, and it wouldn’t do to make it think he was ignoring it.

“I am…Garag, of the Uven people. Are you lost, human?” He spoke slowly and with a higher pitch than usual in an effort to avoid scaring her.

“I’m Kara! You probably know my dad the ambassador. I’m just exploring the place while he’s in talks.” After her self-introduction, she did something that took Garak aback. She smiled with a big wide grin. Maybe that meant something else for humans, but in every other race, baring teeth was a sign of hostility. More importantly, it was a gesture of happiness for his kind, so even if signals were mixed, it was a welcome sight.

Heavens, he missed smiling when greeting other Uvei.

“Can you tell me more about the Uvens? …Uvi? Uvo?”

“Uvei.”

“Back on Terra, we had large reptilian animals hundreds of millions of years ago. They’re not exactly like you, but our outdated understanding of them was! So I really wanted to chat with a real live dinosaur!”

“A…dinosaur? I…I see. W-Well then…I do have time, so perhaps we can chat in my office. You will need to be recorded as a guest, however. Is that agreeable? You should also leave a message with your father.”

Later…

“GRAAAAAAWR!” Garag let out a mournful roar, slamming his fists on his sturdy table and causing it to shake.

“Booyah! It’s my game!” Kara, on the other hand, was stood up on her chair, celebrating as the board game pieces scattered everywhere after her 5th consecutive win.

“AGAIN!” He angrily demanded another rematch. How was she this good at it already?!

He was snapped out of his frenzy by a light snicker. When he snapped his head to his door, the human Diplomat Kent was chuckling to himself.

“A-Ambassador Lewis. I didn’t hear you come in. My apologies. I…” Half in panic, Garag scrambled to his feet and hunched back over a little into a less intimidating posture. His tail flailed a little in embarrassment.

“Please, no need for formalities. I’m just here to pick Kara up. I’m glad to see you two having such fun.”

“Hey dad! We gotta get a copy of this game before we go. I know more than a few guys who’ll get really into it!” During Kara’s visit, after Garag had finished regaling her with explanations of his people and a rough summary of their biology, one of the old war games in his office caught her eye.

It had been many cycles since he’d last had a chance to play, so when she asked to try it, he couldn’t refuse her against his better judgement.

“I’ve actually been meaning to chat with you for some time, Ambassador Vedin.” Ambassador Lewis struck the bracelets on his wrists together twice, clearly imitating an Uven greeting.

“…You have?”

Something was odd. There was…a fire in the ambassador’s eyes. Fear, anxiety, or indifference common to low-aggression species were nowhere to be seen. If anything, they reminded Garag of when he was living among his own people.

Were humans…really as docile and fragile as he’d heard?

This was my first HFY post, I believe!

This started off with a prompt about Humans being on one end of the aggression spectrum getting along surprisingly well with a race on the opposite end, which I tried my hand at and kept adding scenes to as I got more ideas.

Since this is actually just a string of comments for scenes I came up with, I’m kinda writing by the seat of my pants, but I hope it’s enjoyable.