After centuries in space, it was difficult to adjust to life on a planet.
There was gravity, for one thing, combined with the uneven floor of the dirt and the chill of the mornings that made his morning runs increasingly difficult to handle. Twice this morning he had needed to pause to rest, stretching out the ache in his hip born from the uneven gait he could never quite erase. His cohort had met him at the door when he arrived, worried while trying to not look like they were worrying over him. The attempt was appreciated, though it did not do much for his ego. It smarted, knowing that they were aware of his weakness. Knowing that they worried about when it would take him down.
He was meant to be the Elder. A pillar of strength and confidence, at whose feet they could lay their problems. Not some… old man made invalid by the weight of the world, aching and worthless at the end of what should have been an easy run. He could have chosen the flatter path, within the human’s physical activity center but… that was another thing to get used to here in the colony. At least the ceilings there were a bit higher than most.
There was also the density of taste here. It was distracting, and even overwhelming in crowds. The air was full of noise in a way a scrubbed station’s wasn’t, tasting of food and dirt and animal and human and plant. He had grown more used to it now, able to filter out the unnecessary information with the help of his implant, but the first few months had seen him even more crowd-shy than usual, struggling to process the information the world was throwing at him, while still retaining the façade of the cool and confident leader.
There were many problems that came with living planet-side, it was true. But there were also many wonderful upsides to balance it out. The warmth of sunlight felt fuller than that of the UV lamps of the flotilla, softer and almost heavy upon his shoulders in the full light of day. And there were the people — outside of the shyest, the humans did not seem to mind his presence once they had grown used to seeing him around. There was no scramble to stand straighter as he passed, no heavy scent of fear upon the air should he look at them. There were only simple head nods, sometimes a verbal acknowledgement from those he interacted with daily. Humans were adaptable creatures, it seemed. He liked that about them.
But more than anything, his favorite part about the colony… lay outside of it and through it — the veins of green plant life that shot through every part of the city. Every warren seemed to keep some. Some gardens overflowed with useful plants, bearing fruits and vegetables the humans found palatable and nutritious. Some seemed purely ornamental, filling the air with their heavy, sweet scent. It was strange. It was startling. And it was wonderful.
His own warren contained its share of plantlife as well. Some of it stood captive within the terracotta vessels that adorned their porch and windowsills, some of it grew free and wild within the soil around their landing pad. All of it held a sort of enduring fascination for him, along with a twinge of bittersweet nostalgia. Yhinn, with her greenery filled rooms, would have loved this, he knew.
In the full heat of the high summer days, he found it a luxury to stretch out in the grass behind their warren, sighing as the sweet, warm smell of it filled his senses, his antennae loose and curling within the blades. It filled an empty space within him that was difficult to describe, soothing as the Black but somewhere on the opposite side of the coin. It felt… solid, and real. It did not make him feel smaller, but it did make him feel right. As if he could feel the beat of something greater. As if he could truly feel the ground beneath his feet.