Chapter 2

okie guys before i start again pls for the love of GOD his name is DONDRAGMER NOT DONGDRAGMER im so tired of u all misspelling his name write ur own fanfic w "dongdragmer" in it if u want to spell it like that so bad. this is supposed to be fun for me and ur making it unfun w flames

also it is NOT a plot hole that they r using english on the nearcom bc if u actually read mission of gravity u would know he speaks english w the flyer and they say that explicitly it is english. english is literally the lengua franka for everywhere including melskin so stfu and cope

Shameful but not unjustified waves of skepticism pulsed through Barlennan – the sea had taught him frugality, suspicion, and thrift. He did not regret helping the man before him, nor could he stop combing through the man's speech for signs of deception. The clueless figure was focused on his slop.

"What were you doing up here?" asked Dondragmer.

The stranger was puzzled. "You pulled me up!"

"No," said Don sternly, "Before that."

"Before that…" two of his eyes looked down to the cabin floor. "Before that, I was down there."

"Up here on the bowl," said Barlennan softly.

With some embarrassment, he brought the half-eaten bowl of slop up to Don, as if offering him a taste. Don's jaws pulsed in rage.

"What can we call you?" Barlennan maintained his diplomatic tone.

"Lickergisper," came the answer.

"Lickergisper," repeated Bar. "What were you doing so close to the Rim?"

Lickergisper scrunched his face in confusion. "I beg your pardon? What Rim?"

"The Rim of the bowl."

Lickergisper did the same with his bowl, now to Bar. Barlennan, determined to keep his cool demeanor, accepted the bowl. Having no spoon, he held it in his jaws and slurped its contents down, prompting a frustrated glare from Don. Desperate to reassert his authority, Bar threw the bowl to the floor. Everyone jumped, and then felt terribly embarrassed for him.

"What were you doing so close to the Rim?"

Don buried his face in his thorax. A panicked Lickergisper stared at the shards of ceramic on the floor. He began to cry.

"That's right," said Don, "Now he's cracking. What is it? You knew there'd be a ship, didn't you?"

"What are you doing?" demanded Barlennan. "He'll never talk now"

"Why are you doing this?" sobbed Lickergisper. "I didn't do anything."

"Where are you from?" asked Don. The choler was gone from his voice – he just sounded desperate to know.

"South!"

hehehehe did anyone see that twist coming? im so proud of it ha! anyway im going to write chapter 3 soon pls leave comments if u enjoyed the ending and if u are excited for chap 3 :333333333

omg wait im getting so many comments on chap 1 so i got to clarify it here – BYZANTINE, per wiktionary "Overly complex or intricate, especially of bureaucracy." yes it comes from the name of byzantium but surely we can recognize that it has a meaning separate from its etymology, and it is conceivable that Melskinites would have developed a word for it. or actually, why insist on their language even having words, come to think of it? maybe words are an earth thing