Chapter Text
The lights flickered once, the buzzing sound filling the room as the kid looked around. He scratched at his minty green skin, the effects of the earlier tests beginning to snake around beneath his skin.
"Celary," A voice called out as he looked up from the padded floor. "You have a new cellmate. He's fragile, so just don't be your usual self." Celary nodded, rolling his eye as the scientist shoved the experiment inside
Celary noticed that his cellmate looked... strange. His skin looked papery, and he didn't even have a mouth. "Can you talk?" Celary asked, tilting his head as he approached the shorter subject. "Of course I can." He responded. His tone was a bit rude, and Celary already felt disdain towards him.
"Well, what's your name? I'm Celary." He extended a hand. "Uhh... the smiley people just call me Paper Bag." He shrugged, looking around the plain room. "That name sucks! It's so boring, dude. I'm just gonna call yooou... PB!" He hopped around PB, examining his clothes. He wore a dingy purple hoodie, stained with Smiley knows what. Beneath, was a grey T-shirt that had a horrible stench. It smelled like rotting oranges and molding plastic, making Celary recoil with a disgusted look.
"What?" PB squinted, as if nothing was wrong at all. "You stink, dude! How do you not smell yourself?" PB leaned back, offended as he squinted at the taller boy. "I don't stink that bad! You're probably just too used to boring... plain, not scenty stuff!"
"Am not!"
"Are to!"
The children argued, seemingly trying to one-up each other in pettiness. "The orange guy didn't mind! I think! I don’t know, he was running too fast!" The paper bag-headed kid crossed his arms, glaring at Celary.
"Well, his nose doesn't work! You need to shower, bad!" Celary spat out, throwing a piece of crumpled drawing paper at him. He’d meant to hit him on the forehead, but it missed horribly. He and the other young subjects didn't get along too well, which typically had him at fault. The two continued to bicker and fight until the door to their cell slowly opened ajar. A short, odd-looking child peeked into the room, her eyes landing on PB and Celary. She shook nervously as she slid the door a bit more open, revealing more of herself. She wore a purple sweater with magenta pants, and a heavy-looking oxygen tank on her back.
"Oh, hi... uhh... oh, right, Amethyst!" Celary's demeanor switched up. "What're you doing here?" Amethyst looked around, scanning the room before entering in. She pointed at the two, making a zipper action across her mouth before opening her palm to her chest, circling it in a clockwise motion with a stressed expression on her face. Celary squinted in confusion before PB nodded, giving the young alien a thumbs up. "Ohh, okay! Sorry about that." She smiled before she backed up, hitting her back against the door before properly exiting the room.
Celary gave PB a questioning look as the door shut. "What do you mean, 'okay'? She didn't even say anything!" PB gave his arm a little punch. "She asked us to be quieter. Geez, how stupid are you?" The short boy remarked as he turned away from Celary before seating himself on the bed, the only piece of furniture.
"Hey, that's my bed! Eugh, you're gonna get your gross smell all over it!" Celary sneered, walking up to PB before promptly shoving him off. "Ow– what's your problem, dude?!" PB exclaimed, pushing the mint-skinned boy away. Celary's shoulders tensed as he attacked back, jumping onto the shorter one to claw at him.
It wasn’t long before a subject about their age slammed open the door, with Amethyst cowering behind them. “What the fuck is all this noise?” they sounded exhausted. Celary and PB paused, looking up at the two. It was the orange kid PB had mentioned earlier, his red eyes narrowed in frustration. He had on a black long sleeve with a bright red T-shirt over it and jorts. “You two’re makin’ a whole ruckus in here. Stop fighting and stop bothering each other.” He pushed the quarraling two away from each other, his force oddly strong for a kid.
Celary looked up angrily at him, his star-eye thinning at the edges. He just met two new people, and he didn’t like either of them one bit. He shot a glance at the orange kid before scoffing, turning away from the three.
Amethyst looked at PB, who returned the gaze. He looked up at the tired kid as he lifted himself up. “What’s your name? I don’t think I’ve seen you around here.” PB questioned.
“Rust Storozhit,” He extended his hand, shaking the bag-headed boy’s own firmly. He pulled it away, folding his arms. “I suppose you must be the ‘PB’ Amethyst told me ‘bout.” Rust scanned PB, getting a good look at his attire before wincing. “From what she’s told me, I assumed you’d be lookin’ more cleaner.
As the three yapped and yammered with one another, Celary looked up at them from the floor.
He knew he wasn’t getting along with them, and he was sure they wouldn’t get along with him anytime soon.