Lili had continued to stay inside until well into the afternoon. She hadn’t even offered so much as a word when Kyle had brought both her breakfast and lunch to her. As upset as she was about him peering into her brain, at least it had accomplished the task of keeping him from prodding her to get out of bed any more that day. Instead, he attempted to keep himself busy outside.
Kyle was in the process of trying to milk Goatess, as they had begun to call the adult creature that had adopted them. Though, that task was usually left to Lili, as the creatures both seemed to share a greater kinship with her than Kyle. He sighed as he finally got a full cup’s worth and looked for the lid as he set it aside, just as he had been trying to do with those dark thoughts he had stolen from Lili. However, that wasn’t all that easy to do in light of the fact that he wasn’t sure he actually should, despite her anger at him for discovering her inner fears at all.
Just as he had placed the lid on the cup of milk and stashed it in their cooler, Lili appeared at the door of the shack at last, letting out a deep breath as her eyes moved to Kyle.
“Hi?” he attempted a wary greeting.
“Your computer is beeping.” she managed to respond, though hoarsely, as she leaned heavily against the door frame.
Kyle furrowed his brow a bit as he looked at his watch, “Already?”
“I tried to see what the message was, but it wanted a password.” she added more quietly, still not managing to make eye contact.
“Sorry about that.” Kyle responded quietly, “I should turn that feature off, considering.” he added with another slight breath as he moved toward the door, only to be stopped as she gently touched his arm, “What’s wrong?” he asked again, though it was more an involuntarily spoken question.
Lili sighed softly, as she attempted a response, “I’m still not happy about you using, that, on me…” her voice trailed off as she tried to find the rest of the sentence.
“Yeah, I got that message.” he returned, though quietly, as he looked down.
“But I don’t wanna be mad at you, either.” she added with a slight sniffle.
Kyle forced back the slight smile before answering, “I don’t want you to be mad at me either.” he then allowed the smile as he gently touched the hand she had placed on his arm a moment earlier, “See, we’re already in agreement.” he added as his smile turned to a smirk.
Lili just shook her head as she forced back her own smile, “You’re really all I have right now, and I can’t let myself be mad at you.” another sniffle, “I’m already too mad at everything else.” she admitted in a soft whisper.
Kyle gently moved her hand to his lips with a soft kiss, “I’m a Leo, and you’re an Aries.” he began, “I doubt I’m someone you’d really have to explain your temper to.” he pointed out with a wry smile.
Lili looked up, just a bit startled by his comment, “You know my birthday? And you get astrology, too?” she asked with surprise.
“Remember who I told you was my favorite teacher up there? And I am a quick learner.” he teased with another gentle kiss.
“You mean I had one student who paid attention, after all?” she allowed another smile.
“Oh, don’t worry, I was very alert in your classes. I paid attention in all sorts of ways.” he chided.
“Do I even wanna know?” she shook her head, though still wore the smile.
“Oh, I think you already do. I’ve got the claw marks on my back to prove it.” he had to tease, referring to the last time they had made love, a couple of nights prior.
“Great, now he’s channeling Ian.” she scoffed with a lack of seriousness.
“Oh yeah, wasn’t there something I was supposed to be doing?”
“The computer?” she pointed out knowingly.
“Thanks, teach.” he smirked again as he squeezed her hand once more before heading inside at last.
----------------------------------------
Jared let out a heavy sigh and shook his head down at the ground in the fallout of Ian’s biting remarks. Finally, he looked back up where Ian still centered a disapproving gaze on him, “You never stop pushing, do you?”
“Well, someone needs to, obviously.” Ian muttered as he glanced pointedly back at the pod.
“You know, I actually saw what Serena became. It was almost like I was there, watching her murder those people, just because they got in her way. Just because she could.” he shook his head once more, “Whether you believe it or not, I think I have a pretty valid reason for wanting to keep myself in check.”
Ian sighed heavily before responding, “Keeping yourself in check is one thing. Never trying to use any of the power you were given, at all, even to help the rest of us: That’s another.” the older of the two stated plainly, but with some tinge of gentleness, nonetheless.
Jared sighed again as he set the computer aside and finally stood, casting another glance at the pod before turning his eyes back to Ian, “Just remember, when she used the power she was given, thousands, yes, thousands of people died, including your father, for just trying to help them at all. Just for doing his job.” he couldn’t help adding, causing Ian to quickly look down, despite his unconscious knowledge of the man’s fate without even having to hear it stated as a fact, at last, “So, remember that you pushed for this.”
With that final statement, Jared finally took a step closer to the pod, looking at it for only a brief moment before the door unlatched inside and creaked past the years of built up rust to allow them the opportunity to quite easily pull it open now.
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Ian swallowed a bit as he glanced at the now slightly ajar door, and back at where Jared simply turned his hazel eyes to the ground somberly, “You barely did anything at all. It took you like one second.” he stammered as he looked over at the younger man, trying to hide his obvious shock.
“Yeah, adrenaline and anger, not real far apart.” Jared mumbled as he morosely kicked at a nearby loose rock. Ian simply shook his head again as he looked between the door and Jared for another moment before Jared finally spoke again, “Well, you were in such a rush. There you go.” he retorted flatly as he gestured to the door.
Ian took a deep breath before casting one more glance at Jared and finally moving toward the door, one hand on a gun as the other moved to pull the door slowly upward. Upon lifting the door to its fully open position, the first and most noticeable discovery was what their eyes automatically moved to in the cockpit seats. Coupled with the nearly overwhelming smell of must and decay, there, still posed in their seats were not one but two badly decayed skeletons.
“Oh my god.” Jared breathed as he involuntarily moved forward to stand next to where Ian’s eyes widened more than a bit at the morbid discovery as well.
Ian finally let out a heavy breath of his own, both of them still stopped there outside the door, their eyes glued to the remains rather than even bothering taking in any of the rest of the compartment just yet, “They’re human, right?” Ian finally forced out the words.
“Looks like it…but I’d have to get a closer look, to be sure.”
“Well?” Ian prodded as he finally tore his eyes away long enough to return them to Jared, though only briefly, before being drawn back.
Jared swallowed hard before squaring his shoulders and taking a cautious step up into the pod. Another deep breath before he finally moved forward to the seats between the two skeletons, “Yeah, I’m pretty sure they’re human.” he finally answered a little breathily as his eyes traveled over one and then the other.
“God, how long have they even been here, you think?” Ian asked as he also took a step closer.
Jared sighed again, still hardly comfortable with living patients, let alone dead and decaying ones, despite all the other thoughts racing through his head right then. He took another moment to force himself to more closely inspect them before offering any more answers, “The one in the pilot’s seat, it’s a male, and it looks like he’s been here for even longer than the other.” he attempted his preliminary appraisal based on what he knew of both anatomy and human decay, when placed next to what he knew about the air on their current planet.
“Longer?” Ian raised a brow as he dared to step inside, though remained just inside the door, “How much longer?” he added.
Jared took another uneasy glance over the body, “Years.” was his only answer.
“Years?” Ian repeated, “Are you sure?”
Jared sighed again as his eyes moved over the fractured skull of the male and then back to look over the other skeleton, whose cause of death wasn’t quite as easily surmountable when all but the bones and some strands of long black hair were decayed away, “Well, it’s obvious that they’ve both been here for at least a decade. And him, even longer than her.”
“Her?”
“Yeah, the other one is a female.” Jared swallowed again.
“But, that doesn’t make a whole lot of sense.” Ian argued weakly.
“Does any of this?” Jared asked with a sad shrug.
“No, I mean, they’re both posed in the seats for crying out loud. Like they died in this damn pod. How could they have died years apart?” Ian attempted logic in the midst of such confusion.
Jared sighed again as he looked back over them, “I think he died when they landed. It looks like his skull was cracked off of the console, which most likely shattered his helmet. But her, she’s not even strapped in…and not even sitting in a natural position.”
“Ok, care to share a theory on that then?” Ian continued.
“I don’t know, maybe her injuries didn’t kill her right away? And she just came back here to be with him when she…did die. Or to possibly keep her body safe from predators? But…”
“But, what?” Ian pressed.
“Like I said, she’s not sitting in a natural position. I mean, maybe the decay caused her position to shift, but it’s more like…” his voice trailed off as he paused in thought for another long moment
“Finish a damn sentence, please!” Ian complained.
Jared allowed another sigh before forcing his only other guess, “Like someone else put her here, with him.” he managed.
“Someone else?” Ian stammered a bit as he repeated the words, casting another look back outside.
“It’s all just theories, Ian. I’m not a forensics expert, I just…it’s just theories.” he repeated quietly.
“So, you think there was at least one other person in this pod, that’s what you’re saying?”
“Theory, that’s all.” Jared stressed, “And even if I am right, it’s obvious no one else has been inside this pod for nearly as long as the woman’s body has been here, judging by the rust built up on the door, alone.”
It was after another long, thoughtful moment that they finally allowed their eyes to leave the skeletons and move around the rest of the pod. As they glanced back toward the supply compartment, both their sets of eyes came to rest on a small seemingly hand-made basket, filled with a ratty, bunched up cover.
“What is that?” Ian asked.
“It looks like a pet-bed, almost?” Jared offered his first guess as both of them moved in to get a closer look.
“So, guy and a girl crash on a planet, he dies on impact, but she decides to start keeping a pampered pet in here with his dead body? Why do I find that just a little far-fetched?” Ian mumbled as they moved closer.
“Just a little?” Jared agreed, as Ian scoffed, “I’m not saying it is a pet-bed, just looks like one, I’m pretty sure that’s not what it is though.”
“Then what is it?” Ian retorted.
“You’re still not getting how this psychic thing works with me, are you?” Jared complained under his breath.
“Whatever.” Ian mumbled, “Let’s look in the supplies crates, shall we?”
Jared just sighed with a slight nod as he moved to accompany the search, only to be stopped again as he turned his head almost as though hearing some unknown sound for a moment.
“God, what now?” Ian complained further as he caught the halt in Jared’s movement, as well as his distracted look.
“Shh.” was Jared’s only response, as he seemed to be lost in concentration right then. After another long moment, he finally spoke up again, “It’s Kyle.” he offered.
“What’s Kyle?” Ian asked with a furrowed brow.
“He got the pictures.”
“Well goodie, but we’re already in, now, aren’t we?” Ian scoffed.
Jared sighed once more, “He wants to come see the pod.” Jared added quietly.
“Well, of course he does. But too bad, so sad, we got the fun of walking through the woods for two months just to find it. Guess he’ll have to wait on the next fun filled road trip.” Ian stated flatly as he moved to continue with his search.
“No, he thinks that he may be able to get the computer in here to work, but he has to do it himself, cause it’ll be all about what could be days of trial and error.”
Ian scoffed, “Our pod is newer, and more advanced, and he couldn’t get that one to work, now could he?”
“That’s the thing.” Jared swallowed, trying to keep the two conversations, both inside and outside his head, separated enough to pass along the pertinent information, “When he redesigned ours, he had it set up to be completely dependant on the ship’s mainframe.” he squinted again as Kyle’s voice continued in his head, overlapping with his own actual conversation, “He says that the old ones, like this one, they have free-standing computers on board. He says he might even be able to get a message out, if he could get this one working.”
“A message?” Ian raised a brow again, “To who?”
“I don’t know, but isn’t it worth a try?” Jared asked with a tinge of desperation, though Ian’s silence was enough agreement for him, “We have to get Kyle here. It could be the one chance we need, couldn’t it?”