“Feeling better?” Pearla asked as she scratched the back of TO’s neck.
“A bit.” TO said. It felt so strange to have someone else scratch the back of their neck, but Pearla said that it was one of the few things that made GiDi feel better when all the sounds and lights of Okoia got to them. With this information, it only took them a few minutes of suffering in the small, dark, sour-smelling laundry room for them to relent and let Pearla scratch just at the base of their scalp while TO rested their head on her tail.
They hoped it was ok. Having the back of their neck scratched was always a comforting gesture, but not one they considered romantic or intimate; Just nice.
“I thought you’d feel better after you ate.” Mira said, glancing at the little bag of fish that TO had taken. Of six small salted fishes, TO had eaten only two. “Maybe you need to eat more?”
“It’s not the food.” Pearla whispered. “Chilacians are really sensitive to sound, right? They can do that whole echolocation thing, and their hearing is really keen. In big places like this where the sounds all bounce around and stuff, they end up getting disoriented unless they have sound filters in.”
“My helmet.” TO muttered. “My helmet normally deals with that.”
“Yeah. The translators work too, but they’re not specialized. It’s better than nothing but of course we couldn’t take those with us because they have seen them.” Pearla huffed, “Just as well. We would have lost them anyway going through that gate; just like my communicator.”
The translators worked to help protect their ears? TO didn’t realize that before, but now looking back it made sense; while it was never pleasant to be in large echoing places, it never hit them quite like this; never made them feel as disoriented nor gave them the same headache as they currently had. Of course, that headache was probably also from eye strain. The constant flickering of the fluorescent lights made their unnatural brightness so much worse.
“Back when I was in training,” TO whispered, “I had a terrible headache from the laboratory I was working in. They gave me this mask to wear over my eyes.” They groaned as they pressed their palms to their eyes, “I wish I took it with me.”
As they said that, Pearla lifted TO’s hand and slid the end of her tail over their eyes. Before they could protest, the pressure from all that muscle over their aching eyes instantly soothed some aches.
“They’ll be alright.” Pearla said, “TO, we snuck some painkillers in. Do you want-”
“This will pass.” TO insisted. “We don’t know what else we might need those painkillers for, and if I know this is going to pass, then I’d rather just wait it out.”
“If you’re not better by the morning, you’re taking medication,” Mira said. “Non-negotiable. We can’t afford for you to be sick while we’re trying to get all this figured out.”
Pearla looked around, trying to see into the dark corners of the laundry room. The lights had, of course, been on when they came in but they turned them off right away and settled down on the floor, away from the piles of dirty laundry.
“You’re certain there're no cameras in here?” Pearla asked as she glanced at Mira.
“Not that I saw.” Mira said, “There’s no other way out of here, and there are cameras in the hallway outside, so I suppose putting a camera in here wasn’t a top priority.”
“We could use your chip in here then, TO.” She whispered. “It should be safe, and we were supposed to get in touch with the others hours ago.”
“So long as nobody comes in here.” Mira muttered, “it’s not like this door locks. One of us could wait outside though.” She got up, stretched, and headed to the door, “In fact; I volunteer. This place stinks even to me. I don’t know how the two of you manage it.”
The smell was ripe, yes, but TO was just grateful to have a quiet, dim place to rest in.
“If anyone tries to come in, I’ll turn them away. If I can’t, I’ll knock.”
“Alright.” Pearla said. “Sounds good.”
The door slid open, and through TO braced for the sharp fluorescent lights to strike their eyes, Pearla’s tail kept the light from hitting. The door slid shut, and they were alone.
“Alright.” Pearla said, “Do you think you can manage a video call? I understand if you can’t, but you could see DH! And…”
“And you could see GiDi?” TO asked, a light smile tugging at the corner of their mouth.
“I’d like to…”
TO sat up, letting Pearla’s tail slide from their face. They brought their own hands back up to their eyes and pressed against their aching eyeballs.
“You really care about them.” TO muttered.
“You thought I didn’t?” She asked. Even TO could catch the hint of anger in her tone, the hiss that colored the end of her words.
“No, but I’m just surprised by it. Pleasantly.” They lowered their hands and looked at her. The light provided by the emergency lights was dull, but enough for TO To see properly. “They really are precious to you.”
“More than anything.”
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
“Good.” TO said. They wondered if GiDi had told her about their conversation so long ago in the training center, how they didn’t feel precious to TO and DH. GiDi was important to TO, but they had been right; DH was special to TO in a way that nobody else was, and that nobody else could be.
It was a relief that GiDi had someone who felt that way about them.
“Alright.” TO said as they set their fingers against the back of their hand, “Let’s do a little video call.”
Their chip took a moment to activate, making TO worry that maybe the people in charge of this place disabled such devices in the confines of the indebted habitation, but soon it loaded up and displayed the slightly static-y screen before them. They gave a few commands, and the call went through.
Oddly, when it wasn’t answered at the first alert, TO worried. Was something wrong? Had something happened to DH? Had Gyrini found them? All these concerns faded when on the third ring DH answered.
“TO!” Their ears were perked right up, and their eyes were big, but even so TO could see the blue ring around them.
“What’s wrong?” TO asked, ignoring the throbbing pain in their head that the dim light from the display hanging in the air before them caused. “Is something wrong?”
“Oh, no.” DH said as they rubbed their eyes, I was just worried about you-“
“We all were.” Vik said as they jumped on DH’s shoulder. “Of course I knew you were alright.” They jerked their tail at DH, “I told them that your chips monitor vital signs, and I told them you were inside the indebted housing, and that you were alive.”
DH’s ears dipped, coloring slightly, “Yes, well…you were supposed to contact us hours ago!”
“And I said that they probably just couldn’t do so safely yet.” Vik said with a sigh, “Honestly, you worry too much-“
“I worry just the right amount!”
Vik rolled their eyes and looked at the screen, “I am surprised you’re using your chip though, and not the communicator.” He frowned, “I mean, the worst case with the communicator is that it gets taken. What’s gonna happen to you if they find out you have a built-in communicator?”
TO gave a weak chuckle, their ears dipping back, “Well, about that.”
======
Vik cursed in a dialect that TO couldn’t quite make out, since they didn’t have the translators in. Still, they got the gist of their feelings.
“They didn’t give a shit about that stuff before.” Vik muttered, “I mean, you’re not supposed to be criminals in there; you’re indebted-”
“You know that’s hardly a difference to some.” Pearla said.
“I know, but they never acted like the indebted were dangerous before! They never bothered with scanners, and checking for communicators.”
“Wait…” TO frowned, forcing their still throbbing head to piece together ideas, “We met someone; Beck. She said that we’d lose the communicators if we got caught with them, and that there wasn’t any means of charging them?”
“Maybe things changed.” Vik said with a shrug. “Though, before, if you found valuables you were supposed to turn them into your work supervisor. They put the items in a lost and found, and you get the amount they were worth taken off your debt. If they saw you with a communicator then yeah, they’d probably take it because it’s assumed you found it and it wasn’t yours in the first place! But they never scanned for them; not as far as I know.”
“... maybe it’s Gyrini.” TO said, “The insurgency helps a lot of indebted people, right? Maybe she thought that there were people inside trying to help the insurgency, so demanded that they scan for communicators.”
“Well, if that’s the case, it worked.” Vik grumbled, “She put a knot in our plans!”
“We’re getting the communicators back!” Pearla said. “Though, it’s going to cost us some space getting off the planet. I was hoping to get as many families together as possible-”
“Well without that communicator, we’re not getting anyone out…” Vik looked seriously at Pearla, “Without it, we can’t get you out. So, a few seats is worthwhile.” They sighed and rubbed their little hand against their head, “Find anyone we were looking for yet?”
“We haven’t looked yet.” Pearla said, “it’s been chaotic, and TO couldn’t eat the food here-”
“Wait, what?” DH, who had been mostly quiet as they listened, suddenly leaned forward, their ears pinned back. “TO! You didn’t tell me-”
“It’s fine!” TO protested as they held up the bag of fish. “I’ve got something to eat. Besides, the other meal they offer might be something I can eat.”
“Maybe.” Pearla said, “If it’s not, we can trade it for something that you can eat. We won’t get that much though.”
“But I have food.” TO said, giving a small smile to their mate, “I knew you’d be upset if I didn’t eat.”
DH’s ears relaxed, and they rewarded TO with a soft smile. Of course, that smile hardened as soon as Pearla next spoke.
“Yeah, because we forced you to.” Pearla said, “You kept going on about how you’d be fine.”
TO’s ears pinned as they glared at Pearla, but given their headache they could really only manage a pout.
On the display, DH chuckled, “Well, at least she’s there to take care of you since you can’t take care of yourself.” They said, “Though, I wish I was there to take care of you instead.”
“... Me too.” TO said. Pearla was nice enough to help, but DH scratching the back of their head would be a hundred times more effective; TO was certain of that.
“Ok you two, stop flirting.” Vik grumbled, “Flirt when and if we get you out of there. Now, I know a few ways to sneak things in there, but I don’t know how viable it’ll be now if there’s been changes. I can still try to sneak you a new communicator-”
“I said we’re getting them back!” Pearla said, “We found someone to help, and he’s a friend of Mira’s, so I’m not worried about them being trustworthy.”
“Well, if Mira’s comfortable with them, it might be fine.” Vik said, “Still, maybe we can figure something out just in case.” They looked to DH, “Think we can capture and reprogram one of their drones?”
“OH!” DH’s ears perked right up, their eyes widening, “Yes! Let’s do that-”
“You don’t have to.” TO grumbled, their ears dipping. They shouldn’t be here. They should be back with DH. It was important that they spend as much time with DH as they could! They didn’t know how much time they had left.
Pearla frowned at TO, but nodded. “Y-yeah.” She said, “Do nothing yet; nothing that might raise more alarms. We’ll know if we need the help later, ok?”
“We can still look into it!” Vik said. “Besides, that might be a useful thing for the future, anyway.”
“Fair enough.” Pearla said with a sigh, “But just keep out of trouble.”
“Always!” Vik said, giving a mock salute. “When do I ever get into trouble?!”
“Do you want a chronological list?”
“Not really!” Vik said, “TO, will your chip give a notification if I send you a message?”
“Yes, but I can set it to be quiet.”
“Good. Do that. Check it often. I’ll give you any updates that we get.” They looked over something on their screen, “Anything else before I let you go?”
“Yes, something very important!” Pearla said. “Something you nearly forgot!”
“Ah, sorry Pearla. You know my memory. What did I nearly forget?”
Pearla gave Vik a serious look as she leaned forward, “I need to talk to GiDi.”
Vik rolled their eyes and started typing something on their computer. “Fine, fine, apparently I’m running a dating hotline or some shit here.”
“And we appreciate it, Vik.” Pearla said, smiling as she waited for GiDi to come on the screen.