After the screaming, anger, blood and tension, neither of them found sleep very easy to achieve. For two hours they lay in the bed, tossing about and getting in each other’s way in a manner that they had never done when they slept in a pod. It was only because Goretta warned them that the next day would be busy, and that they’d have to do a lot that DH dug into their med kit and pulled out a small bottle. They shook the small container, listening carefully to the sound from inside.

“... There’s not a lot left.” They said as they opened the bottle and upturned two small white pills into their hand. They broke them into halves, and gave one to TO, one to Avery, and took the other for themself. “Sleeping pills.” They said as they tossed one into their mouth and drank it down with a bottle of water that they kept in their room. They passed it to TO, “Here.”

“Shouldn’t we save it?” TO asked, looking at the white chalky piece of pill in their hand.

“For what?” DH’s voice seemed oddly flat to TO. “We need sleep. We’re not sleeping without help. Who knows what’ll happen tomorrow?”

TO’s mind was still swirling with blood, and they still felt sure they could smell disinfectant in the room. The odd time they nearly fell asleep, they thought sure they could hear that distinct sound of the blade of a scalpel slicing through skin, and the cracking of smaller bones - too small for them to be certain that they heard them, but also too vivid for them to be sure that they didn’t. Sleep would be a welcome relief from such torment. With that in mind, they took the bottle, downed the pills, and passed the bottle to Avery before climbing into bed after DH, wrapping their body around their mate and snuggling into their chest.

They were asleep before Avery crawled in after them.

======

Half doses of the sleeping pills were enough to put one asleep, but it wasn’t enough to help TO get the comfortable, silent sleep they needed. When they woke, they felt like they had hardly slept at all, and they felt entirely too uneasy. They were certain that they dreamt in their uneasy sleep, but they couldn’t remember anything that they might have dreamt of. All they had was the uneasiness they normally did.

That, and a slight headache which the beeping of their chip did nothing to help them with. They ignored it for a while, but then as they woke up and their thoughts came back to them, they realized that the alarm was for Kei, to wake them about when they should wake up so that Avery could go check on them.

To pulled themself to a sitting position, detangling their limbs from DH’s and lifting their mates’ wing from their shoulder. Despite the noise, DH hadn’t yet woken. They considered letting DH sleep as they woke Avery and went to the recovery room… but they knew DH would be more helpful than they would if anything happened. Still, DH looked so peaceful there sleeping, so content, that To didn’t want to wake them up. They wanted only to curl back up and go back to sleep.

They leaned forward, and gently kissed DH on the cheek, and scratched the back of their head. After a minute, DH woke up, their eyelids slowly flicking open.

“... Morning.” They said with a yawn as they blinked away the sleep from their eyes. They reached up and gently took one of TO’s ears in their hand, rubbing gently and drawing low chirps from TO. Of course, it also made their ears flush vividly.

“Avery is here.” They whispered. “Did you forget?”

Confusion, followed by a vivid flush on DH’s face, told TO that they had forgotten. They pulled their hand away from TO’s ear as though burned, and sat up, looking around as they caught sight of Avery, still asleep next to them.

“I guess it’s time to go see Kei?” they asked. TO nodded, and DH got up with a sigh, rubbing their face as they fumbled around the floor for the clothes they had worn the day before. AS they dressed, TO turned to Avery and gently shook them awake. Unlike with DH, Avery’s eyes shot open, and though groggy, they pushed themslef up, and started fumbling on the floor for their things.

“They’re awake?” They asked, “It’s time?”

“I don’t know if they’re awake.” TO said, “But it’s been six hours.”

Avery nodded and cursed as they failed to find one of their shoes. They got up, got on their hands and knees, and fumbled under the bed.

“Alright, I’ll go. If they’re not awake now, they will be soon.”

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“We’ll go with you.” TO said as they got up, “Let me get dressed-”

“No.” Avery and DH both said at once. Half off the bed, TO froze, then looked at DH with their ears down.

“No?”

“Sorry.” They said as they finished pulling on their shirt. Fully dressed, they then grabbed their med kit and slung it over their shoulder. “You already fainted once yesterday, and I know you weren’t feeling well last night.”

“I can manage!” TO insisted. True, the sight of blood, the smells, the very room had left TO entirely disquieted, nauseated, and they were certain that their dreams from the night before were the same as the ones they often had, just dulled by the sleeping pills.

That didn’t matter. They wanted to be there for DH and Avery. If there was any small thing they could do to help, they wanted to be there.

“I know you can manage.” DH said, “I don’t want you to manage. I want you to be comfortable.”

“And if they wake up and they can take in who’s around, then DH being there is going to be bad enough.” They said, then with a glance at DH added, “No offense. I Don’t think you should go either… but you helped with the procedure.”

DH nodded before turning back to TO, “What you can do is find Gidi, and make sure that they won’t isolate Kei again.” They said, “I don’t even like them, but they shouldn’t be isolated like that. Nobody should.”

That was true, at least. The days of Isolation Avery had suffered had changed their friend, and though TO was more used to their friends being around them, and being close to them, ‌that this was not how Avery acted normally worried them. They’d give anything to see Avery turn back into their normal, slightly detached self just because that was normal, and they’d know their friend was ok.

“Please go check on that?” Avery asked. “Just.. make sure they won’t have to go back to that room.”

TO really didn’t want to leave their friends… but they also didn’t want to go back to that room, to see and smell everything that reminded them of surgeries and blood.

“Please.” DH asked, sensing the hesitation in them. “You’d do the same for me. You’d insist.”

They would, they knew that. If there was something that would make DH uncomfortable - for example, being outside a ship in space….

“Alright.” TO said as they climbed off the bed and fumbled for their own clothes. Their uniform was getting dingy and needed to be washed. TO hadn’t taken a bath or shower since they got here. They had been using the small bowl of water and the electric kettle in the corner of their room to wash up. DH had showered yesterday, which meant there had to something in the tunnels to allow them a proper shower.

First, they’d talk to GiDi, then they’d find a shower in the tunnels. After that, if DH and Avery were still with Kei, well, they’d go there, anyway. They didn’t want to be away too long.

======

TO went to the common room first, assuming that GiDi wouldn’t be there until later, just like the day before, since they lived with Pearla. The only ones who stayed in the tunnels were those who were wanted criminals, with their names and faces known like Vik, Tham, and Goretta, or people who had no other homes like themself, Flit, and Snout. It would be quiet, so they’d probably check the news reports while they ate, just to keep their mind quiet. They assumed that the room would be quiet, and they’d risk being alone with their thoughts for too long.

They were wrong.

The cacophony of conversation that hit TO the second they entered the common room was surprising and a little overwhelming. The table was full with a combination of people that To had met and those they had not. Most were legless, but there were a handful of legged insectoids as well. Some were even sitting on the floor to eat, as there was no space at the table. Nobody seemed to notice them, so they figured at first that they’d leave, and maybe send a message to Vik—who was still at his table in the corner⁠—and ask for directions to a shower.

As they took their first step backwards, they caught sight of GiDi, who looked up at the same time, caught their eye, and waved them over. “TO, over here!” they called out. “I got a place for you to sit!”

They hesitated for just a moment, but didn’t want GiDi to feel like they were avoiding them, so instead they headed over to the table to see GiDi pulling a crate out from under the table.

“Here.” They said as they scooted over, brushing up against a bleary-eyed and exhausted Pearla, “Sit here.”

“Thanks…” TO said as they stepped over the crate and tried to make themself as comfortable as possible. “More people here today than yesterday…”

“Well, most of us live in the tunnels.” GiDi said, “After yesterday, those of us that didn’t get caught had to come down here.”

“Yeah. Myself included.” Pearla muttered as she picked at scraps of bug-meat on her plate. She had shelled the cocopod already, so thankfully what she was poking at looked like nothing that would bother TO. “All my stuff… I mean, it’s only stuff, but…”

“I’m sorry.” GiDi said, slinging a wing over her shoulder, “When things cool down, we’ll go back and see if we can salvage anything.”

“Might be too risky.” She said. She gave a sigh, and then picked up her tea. “It’s only stuff.” she said again as she gently let her hand rest on GiDi’s wing. “I have you; that’s all that’s really important.”

Something sliding in front of TO distracted them from watching GiDi with their mate. They turned to see a plain container coming to rest before them.

“Here.” Tham said. “This is for you, apparently.” He groaned as he spoke, then picked up an enormous glass of water and drank half of it before laying his head down on the table. Tham looked really ragged - his eyes had dark circles around them, and his color seemed somehow duller today than it had yesterday.

“Are you ok?” TO asked, leaning forward, “Should I get Goretta-”

“He’s hungover.” Pearla said, “That’s all. He’ll be fine.”

“I won’t be.” Tham protested, his voice muffled by the table, “I might die. It’d be a relief.”

TO felt their ears twitch, and their stomach lunge in sympathy as they remembered the day they chugged DH’s special drink at that club. There was nothing they could do to help Tham, so they turned their attention to the container before them. They cracked it open carefully and peeked inside. They couldn’t see much, but at the very least, they were certain that whatever was in the container wasn’t moving, so they opened it up.

A simple round patty of meat, and that strange seafood salad sat on the plate. They leaned in and sniffed, and realized that it must be cocopod. It smelled like cocopod, and TO knew for certain that the insurgents didn’t have many food sources.

Then they remembered Lake saying they’d prepare it in a way that wouldn’t bother TO. The smell of the food, the relatively innocent look of it, and their own hunger did in fact override their disgust of the cocopods. At that moment, that patty looked delicious. They made a mental note to thank Lake later and then set into devouring the prepared meat.