Chapter Text
Stanford awoke the next morning feeling refreshed. He opened his eyes and, for a moment, panicked at the unfamiliar surroundings. So, the past couple of days hadn’t been an injury-induced nightmare then. He grimaced and rose from the bed, stepping back into his shocksuit. It was a dull purple, still powered down, which meant he and Agura still had no way of contacting the team.
“Stanford!” Agura’s voice came from the other side of the door followed by several loud knocks. “Get up! We’ve got a busy day ahead of us.”
That was an understatement. Not only were they stranded here, but they had to work too. He’d never had a real job before, being royalty and whatnot. DJing and BF5 didn’t really count either, right? And they were expected to be mercenaries? Maybe they would get lucky, and the team would find them before they had to do something too crazy. He sighed, opening the door to his room. Agura stood outside, arms crossed.
“Ready?” She asked.
“Lead the way.”
He followed Agura downstairs where Kyrion was waiting for them with breakfast ready. He was smiling at them, and Stanford couldn’t help but feel unsettled by it. A good Red Sentient would take some time to get used to.
“I hope you are well-rested.” Kyrion said as they ate, still smiling.
Agura’s swallow sounded slightly nervous. She wasn’t used to a good Red either. “Uh, yeah.” She looked over to Stanford. “You sleep okay?” He nodded vigorously, pretending to still be chewing. This was too weird. Where was Solaris?
As if on cue, the front door opened, and Solaris stepped inside. A cloaked figure followed closely behind her. Out of the corner of his eye, Stanford watched Agura stiffen as they approached. Solaris simply ignored the uncomfortable air of the room.
“This is Xunsu.” She said. “He will be able to assist you in your quest to find work.”
The figure pulled back his hood and both Stanford and Agura gasped.
Xunsu was a Vandal.
Much like Kalus, he was of the large cat variety, but instead of speckled, his fur was sleek and black. His broad shoulders straightened, and he suddenly towered over Solaris. The cloak covered most of his body, but the parts Stanford could see were covered in scars, one of which was a straight cut down his forehead to the chin that ran directly over his right eye.
“You look as if you’ve seen Vandals before.” His voice was deeper than Stanford had expected, and he scooted closer to Agura out of fear.
Agura glared at Solaris. “You could say that.”
Xunsu grinned, and Stanford caught sight of some very sharp looking fangs. “Very interesting. Perhaps you’d enlighten me later. As for now, however, Solaris explained your situation and I am willing to offer my assistance. On one condition, of course.”
Stanford turned to Agura. She was still glaring at Solaris, harder than she had been before. Solaris looked unbothered.
“You would be wise to accept his offer, huntress. Honesty is hard to come by here.”
“Name your terms.” Agura said through clenched teeth.
“It’s simple. I too, was stranded here against my will some years ago. Help me return to Vandal and in turn, I will help you return to earth.”
Agura’s eyes narrowed. “How will helping you get back to Vandal help us exactly?”
“You need money. Jump crystals are expensive.” He said. “Which means you need jobs. I can help with that.”
Stanford turned to Agura. He could tell she wanted nothing to do with this deal. Trusting a Vandal and a Red Sentient? No way. Vert would never consider it, especially after Stanford’s own blunder with Krocomodo in the ancient city. But Vert wasn’t here. It was Agura’s call. If what Xunsu said was true, then he didn’t have anything to gain by deceiving them, even if he was super scary looking. Besides, if this was their fastest chance home, then they should take it, right? It seemed, from Stanford’s perspective, that they would apparently be trusting both a Vandal and a Red Sentient. After all, what else did they possibly have to lose? Agura met his gaze, and he could tell she had come to the same realization. He nodded slightly.
Agura took a deep breath and squared her shoulders before turning back to Xunsu. “We accept your terms.”
“Good. Our first job is tonight.”
***
Agura stood in the dimly lit alley, her teeth clenched and her breathing carefully controlled. She’d hated the sound of mercenary work when Solaris had first mentioned it, but now that she was actually here and participating in said work, she was more than ready to get back to the team and bust Red Sentient ass. Fighting bad guys from inside her vehicle was one thing. Providing armed security for some shady deal on an alien planet was definitely not what she had signed up for. She looked down at the unnervingly Earth-like rifle in her hands and then over to Stanford. While his expression was neutral, his body was stiff and unmoving, his knuckles white as he gripped a similar rifle.
She gritted her teeth.
As Xunsu had led them towards where the job was, he’d explained that the two of them had been lucky Solaris was the one to find them stumbling around in the badlands and not someone from Inchon Vale.
Inchon Vale was the name of the city to the east of the desert. It was a little smaller than Handler Corner’s and about a two hour walk from Solaris and Kyrion’s inn. It was also home to rich criminal underbelly rife with plenty of unfamiliar, dangerous looking-alien species. And judging from the bewildered look on the alien they were meeting’s face, she and Stanford were probably the first humans to arrive in Inchon Vale.
Despite that, Agura did the job Xunsu provided for them silently, only speaking when spoken to directly. Xunsu collected their pay when it was over and by the time the returned to the inn the moon was high in the sky.
Agura trudged up the stairs exhausted, Stanford following close behind. He had been strangely quiet on the walk back. Before they separated for the night, she placed a hand on his shoulder.
“You okay, Stanford?”
“I wish the team would find us soon.” He whispered, and Agura could tell he was fighting back some kind of emotion. “That was… uncomfortable.”
“The guns?” She guessed.
“Yeah.”
“Same, Stanford.”
He looked relieved.
“However-”
Stanford groaned.
Agura rolled her eyes. “We can’t just do nothing, Stanford. We need to do everything we can to get out of here while we wait for the team.”
“I know. I’m just,” he stopped, sighed, and continued, “I’m scared, Agura. I really don’t want to do that again.”
“Looks like you’re going to have to toughen up, then.” She said semi-jokingly, while placing a comforting hand on his shoulder.
He chuckled a little at that. “This really sucks, but I’m glad we’re together.”
“Me too, Stanford. Even if you are annoying.”
He snorted at that, and it was then that Agura realized they’d moved significantly closer to each other.
“Well, you heard Xunsu.” She pulled back and briskly walked over to her room. “Get some sleep. We’ve got another job tomorrow night.”
“Right.” He cleared his throat. “Goodnight, Agura.”
“Goodnight, Stanford.”