(Time to get the game going again. Hopefully this will be the last time I have to appologize for delays.)
You order an iced tea and when the waiter leaves you excuse yourself to the bathroom.
You enter an ornate porcelin room. You think to yourself,"They sure went out of their way to make this place look ancient". You releave yourself and wash off your hands, never going to get that lemoney smell off now. You wipe off your hands and head back to the table.
Looks like the drinks have arrived. You take a seat and remove the citrus fruit from the lip of your glass. Cassidy giggles,"You don't like the taste?". You respond,"I don't like my drink smelling like soap". You both get a laugh out of the mildly amusing joke. You notice that Frank and Roxxy are having a nice conversation, something about one of the new videogames. You leave them be and interject in the conversation between your little sister, your older brother, and Louis. Seems like they are talking about recent military news, of which your sister knows nothing about. Cassidy and Elliot begin talking about local goings on. Your older sister and mother are talking about you but you are not interested enough to know why or what they are saying.
Nigel remarks about the new trade fleet,"I for one think that the new freight carriers were a perfect thing to add what with the food shortages happening on the inner systems. That and we will be getting much more contact with the other planets now that the new fleet will be heading through our system. We will prosper finally and maybe receive high tech equipment to ramp up food production. I hope this world becomes like Triticum (one of the major and most prosperous farming worlds and leader in farming technology production)". You jump into the conversation noting,"While it would be nice to prosper like Triticum, our planet simply doesn't have the human labor force for such farming increase. They would have to bring immigrants over on the carriers and you know how ignorant some of the people here can be, it would cause problems.". Louis adds,"While problems would be abundant if immigrants were brought in, there are people like me who would solve them. Security forces would be able to handle it and keep them from becoming too violent and volatile". Nigel and you both nod in agreement. You get the conversation back on the topic of the new fleet,"So back to the fleet, why are the defense ships armed with MAC guns? They can't possibly be expecting enemy raids this close to home could they?". Nigel begins to answer but stops as he can't think of a clear reason why. Louis is puzzled as well. Your little sister makes her one and only useful comment,"Maybe they are just for show? You know the military likes to show off it's might any way it can". Louis agrees,"She's probably right, it's the same reason security are armed with a side arm, we never use them and they only have a couple rounds loaded unless they are doing something serious. Besides that the guns are just for show, intimidate people and make them think twice about doing something stupid". Jennifer has a giant smile on her face, probably because her biggest crush just defended her. Louis continues,"With the MAC guns it might just be to intimidate the enemy, knowing that we arm our inner trade fleets heavy enough to take down flagships would be enough to keep me from making a rash a assault on the inner systems."
The food arrives and the conversation ends, the stuffed pasta on your plate looks absolutely delicious. You take a swig of tea to quench your slightly dry throat before you dig into your meal.
What do you do when you are done eating?
(The culture/tradition of this region usually has gatherings at meals stay awhile after eating to talk and socialize and let the food settle before they leave)