Sometimes the rest stops don’t really have a proper eating area, so if you want to eat a bug burger without taking it back to your ship (where your fussy AI will harass you about it) then you have to find somewhere else to perch.
Often, that means squeezing yourself into the Assistants’ Suite—a little closet most rest stops have where Assistant Robots are left to charge, to upgrade their software, or to be diagnosed for any number of dangerous faults.
(coloured version of a sketch)
Link
Relaxing Dragon
Is there at least a robotic bartender that Thom can spill all his troubles to? Possibly while it simultaneously washes a small shot glass with a cloth (an unnecessary addition by some homesick designer, given that robots don't do shots in space).