“I guess we head to our own ‘room’ for now.” TO said as they let DH lead them down the hallway. They perked up suddenly as they remembered something from their visit with Flit earlier. “If that is our room, then maybe we can make it look different? I went to Flit and Snout’s room today and they have their room decorated with posters and all kinds of odd things!”
DH’s ears perked, “I’d like that!” They said, “I could find some prints of Lendulin’s work, maybe?”
“Oh, and maybe we could get a small speaker!” TO added, “We could listen to musicals without using our chips. The sound’s not been the same since Vik tinkered with it. If we found an old projector we could watch them too! Maybe-” suddenly their ears dipped down, “I was going to say maybe we could watch that musical we went to watch. The one we didn’t finish.”
The one they didn’t finish because TO messed up everything. That would be nice, but it seemed now that the musical was intrinsically linked with their fight with DH that day, and even thinking of it put a sour stone in TO’s stomach.
DH squeezed TO’s arm, a wing wrapping around them, “I’d like that.” They said. “We could make it special. Maybe get some food-”
There wasn’t a lot of interesting food, and what they had needed to be consumed sparingly, saved for their flight from the planet. That fact, of course, reminded TO of several things.
“... Of course, we might not even be here long.” TO said, “We’re trying to get off the planet and if everything goes right, we’ll be gone soon, and back out in space.”
And if they didn’t get off the planet… well, from what Flit said it was likely that they wouldn’t be around much longer anyway. Either they would get caught by the synths, or perish if the synth army on its way decided to ‘deal’ with an unsalvageable population. Of course, there was always the possibility that the security minister might catch them first. TO wasn’t sure what she’d do to the civilians that helped the insurgency, but they did know what was waiting for them if anyone discovered they were synths.
“That doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy the room we have while we’re here.” DH said. “So long as we’re here, and so long as that room’s ours… I say we do what we like with it. And maybe Vik has an old projector we can borrow!”
TO smiled as they held onto DH’s arm. “Let’s ask tomorrow.” They said, Maybe if they watched that musical with DH again, this time blissfully alone, they’d be able to form some new memories.
Suddenly, TO realized that they were not heading to their room. The underground still confused TO, but there was a distinct crack on the floor next to the water in one part of the main hall. TO recognized the crack as they passed it, and realized that they were walking away from their room.
“Where are we going?” TO asked. Their mind raced as they came up with possibilities for their eventual destination, and landed on the obvious one, “Avery said we shouldn’t be there. They don’t want Kei to be upset when they wake, and -”
“I know. I heard.” DH said, “But we’re not going there, not now anyway. We should head there after though, just for a minute.” They turned a corner, and TO realized that they were heading towards the common room. “Pearla said we should come here for some food. It’s a bit late for a proper supper, but apparently there’s something made up for us before we sleep.”
Nausea plagued TO all day, born either from nerves or the sight of the cocopods being prepared. They didn’t know if they could eat the awful shelled little creatures now but they had to try. They had to eat something, and their options were limited.
At least the cocopods tasted better than the nutrition cubes they were used too. At least the cocopods had a flavor. For TO, it was just a matter of getting over how they looked in order to enjoy it.
Soon they reached their destination and opened the old fashioned door. The second TO stepped through the door, there was a loud shout.
“THERE THEY ARE!”
TO flinched since the shout was so close to them, and yelped as a heavy weight suddenly dropped over their shoulders and pulled them away from DH. They panicked, thinking at first that this was it; the authorities had broken in, caught them, and now had TO. They felt DH slip away from them, and the only thought that entered their head was that they didn’t care who it was, they didn’t care if it was the planetary authorities, the insurgency, the minister of security, or King Decon himself, nobody was taking them away from DH again! They drew their claws, and turned to face their attacker… then stopped.
Not an attacker. Tham was hanging off TO’s shoulder, his already red skin flushed even redder at the face.
“Tham?” Their ears flicked out and their claws retracted though their hand hung in the air for an extra moment.
“Yeah, of course it’s Tham!” Tham said. The smell of alcohol poured from their mouth, and TO felt their snout scrunch up.
“You’re drunk.” They stated, their ears flicking parallel to the ground.
“I am, and it’s all thanks to you!” Tham said as they patted TO heavily on the shoulder. He leaned on TO, putting more of his considerable weight on them and causing TO to strain. Tham had lifted themself to TO’s height using their tail, but now TO had the Nagarajin’s weight was on TO, causing their knees to buckle.
“Tham, you’re heavy-”
“Tham, come on.” Pearla approached, a chuckle in her voice as she took Tham’s arm. “Come on now, you’re gonna squat TO.” Judging by the slight slur of her words, and the much more mild flush to her cheeks, Pearla too had been drinking. She pried Tham off TO’s shoulder though, and tried to keep him steady.
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“I wouldn't squat ‘em!” Tham protested, “I’m trying to thank ‘em!” He pulled away from Pearla and seemed to fall at TO, who caught them just as they did.
“Look.” He said, “You. That stuff you got. It had SO much in it. Enough for everyone. And this.” He held up an empty bottle , “So much of this.”
Pearla pried her brother off TO once more, “It’s a juice.” She explained, “Or, it was. It’s supposed t’ be good for vitamin C and stuff.. But-” She pointed to a similar bottle in her own hand, still half full of a bright red liquid, “This stuff fermented. So it’s no good for us-”
“Plenty good!” Tham insisted. “It’s got lots of... You know. Good stuff.”
GiDi came up, an amused smile on his face as Pearla struggled with Tham. They put a hand on her shoulder, “Are you going to be ok with your brother, love?” They asked.
“OH yeah.” she said, “I think I should get him to bed-”
“Oi.” Tham said, glaring at GiDi, “You drank more than me. Why aren’t you drunk off your ass?”
“Alcohol doesn't affect us.” TO said, “Not unless it’s been altered with other substances.”
“Well, it has a strong effect on them.” GiDi said with a sigh.
“It wasn’t supposed to!” Pearla said.
“I know, I know.” GiDi said. They turned to TO. “We were going to save most of the juice for emergencies, but VIk and Goretta thought that the people who went to get all the stuff in the first place should get to enjoy a bottle. Tham drank his in less than a minute, and it apparently fermented, so..” They gestured at Tham, who was hanging off Pearla, “Now he’s like this.”
“It’s not like I tried to get hammered.” Tham muttered, “It wasn’t supposed to have a hit to it.”
“Come on Tham.” Pearla said, chuckling, “Let’s get you laying down, hmm?”
“Nooo, I don’t want to leave.” Tham muttered. He looked around, and saw one of the makeshift couches near the edge of the room. “I’m gonna lay down there.” He pulled himself upright, and slithered a foot away towards the couch, then stopped, turned, and pointed to TO.
“You.” He hissed.
“Me..?” TO took a step back, expecting Tham to throw a fist or maybe try to strike him with his tail.”
“You're not bad.” He said, prodding TO in the chest, “Not bad. Right?” He gave one more firm poke before suddenly turning and heading over to the couch and leaving TO very confused. After a moment they turned to GiDi, their ears out in confusion, their eyes wide.
“… Can you explain any of that to me?” They asked. GiDi chuckled.
“From what point?” They said.
“From the point where he came up to me and started rambling?!” They frowned, “He said something about there being enough for everyone? Enough of that drink?” Their ears pinned back. “I don’t know if I can deal with more people like that-“
“Like you’re any better when you get inebriated.” DH chuckled.
“I’m not that bad!” TO insisted with flushed ears and an absolutely scandalized voice, “Not nearly-“
“You are.” DH said, “In the training center, with those fruits? You fell asleep on my lap.” They grinned, “Which honestly I was alright with. Oh, and only recently at that weird bar-“
TO turned away from DH, focusing all their attention on GiDi, “What were they talking about?” They asked, ignoring DH’s chuckling behind them.
“Oh. Well, there were a good few bottles of that stuff, but we can’t use it as we’d like because it is so intoxicating. Probably it’s best to trade most of it for extra food in the second and third rings.” They shrugged, “Despite the food shortages, the kind of work they do there drives most civilians to drink- the continuous, monotonous, thankless work. The bars will trade us for certain.”
“Yeah.” Pearla said, “I know some of the owners, and they’re actually expecting a boost in their business so long as they can keep up their stock.”
“But… with food shortages, people won’t be spending their money on -“
“Stress, anxiety, and hopelessness drives people to it in these times.” Pearla said, “I can’t say I blame them; the only difference is I have something to do, a path to take to make things better. Most of the workers in the second and third rings don’t.” She shook her head, then set her hand to her temple and rubbed gently as though that might help get rid of some of the intoxication that she was struggling with. “Anyway. Aside from that, we found a bunch of these bars that Jason had been making. A contingency in case there was a food shortage.”
“A bit like the nutrition cubes from training.” GiDi said, “Except they taste better.”
“Right” Pearla said, “Now, it won’t work for everyone long term- some people need more protein, or more grain depending on the species, but it should keep most of us from starving for a while anyway.” She shrugged, “You know… at least long enough.”
TO understood what she meant by ‘long enough’. They wouldn’t starve, they’d get caught by the authorities first. Either that of the planet would be dealt with.
“Tomorrow, we worry about that.” GiDi said. “For now, we worked hard, and we did a lot of good today. All of us. I think we deserve to relax for a little at least. Tomorrow we start the real work.”
DH took TO’s arm on their own, and led them into the room. “Well, come on.” They said, “I think Petra and Lendulin are around somewhere, and I know that Snout said they were going to come here after they spoke to Flit. Let’s go find them.”
Everyone that was important to them - almost everyone, anyway- was here. Family, friends, and of course their mate.
“Alright.” TO said, “Just one moment…”
They checked their chip, and though it was a little early, they sent off the first message to Avery.