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Alex wakes up.
Well, really, he stirs awake from someone moving near him. The only someone near him could be Bad, and, as he opens his eyes: sure enough, they're sitting up, ready to leave.
"Don't...", he whispers sleepily, grabbing their hand. Bad turns around to look at him, eye wide in surprise.
"Jesus, sorry, buddy, I didn't mean to wake you up."
"Y'cant say that...", he reminds them. The scientists really hated it when subjects talked like humans, and-
"Okay, I won't", they scratch behind his ear and be melts into the touch. Okay. That's okay, then. Then, nobody can hurt them.
"Thank you..."
"Go back to sleep, bud, okay? I'll be right back.", and they pull away, and-
"Nnnnooooo..... nuh.", he pulls their arm, making them plop down onto him. "Don't leave me."
"I'm not...-" Bad chuckles, trying to wiggle from his grip. "I'm not leaving you, honey, I'll be right back. I just gotta..."
"Buh. B- Nuh. Noouu.... stay."
Bad stares at him for a moment. Something akin to understanding glints in their eyes.
"Are you... feeling... small?", they word carefully. Alex does hate any mentions of that...
"mmh....."
...that is. When he's here.
"Huh... Buddy... I won't leave you, promise. I'll just step outside and be back in a minute. Do you trust me?"
"But... what if... IT finds you?", Alex asks in a hushed tone, and looks around, as if IT is looking at him.
"Who 'it', pup?", they chuckle. The fight for their arm results in them winning, but when they try to stand up, Alex grabs their legs instead.
"...The SALAD..."
"...the who?"
"Salad!", he says, and stares at them with puppy eyes. "Stay, please.... it'll eat you....."
"...salad. The-" they freeze for a moment, and, despite the horrifying memories, can't hold back a snort. "You mean the Elder??"
He nods really really fast and hugs their legs: "Don't leave. Or it'll eat you. Again."
Jesus.
That's not their proudest moment. The fact that Alex remembers it even while small makes it even worse.
"I promise I'm not getting eaten any time soon. You were really brave, remember? I'll remember for you, buddy. You were really brave and saved me from being eaten."
"I... did?"
"Of course! You're really strong. You'll be fine without me--, that is, if you ever lose me."
"I don't wanna... lose." he says stubbornly.
nobody's asking us, they want to insist. They need to insist. They're not important. If Alex gets the cargo, he's the only one who'll probably get back onto Earth. He needs to leave them eventually.
"I'll be with you. Always", they lie and pet his head. "But I need to leave for a minute. I swear nothing is going to eat me. Do you trust me?"
Alex stares at them suspiciously as if they're trying to trick him somehow. "Promise? You'll be with me?"
They can't. They won't. "Promise. Now can you let me go, pup?"
"Mmh.... nuuu...."
"Alex," they almost laugh. "Please? I really need to piss. I'll be back in a moment, I promise."
He squints his eyes at them.
"Would you like my scarf?", they try bribing him.
"Yuh... y- ye...yeah.", he looks up at them as they wrap their scarf around him, and seems to calm down a little.
"Can I go now?"
Then, he finally gives up: "hmm... okay....", and lets them go.
"Thank you, buddy. I'll be back."
Alex stares at them as they carefully half-stumble out of the pod.
He buries his face in Bad's scarf and dozes off.
...
"I don't think I've ever actually seen stars before.", they say quietly.
"have I?", Alex asks. "I don't remember..."
"I think you have. They let you go outside sometimes, on a gravleash..."
"what?"
"Leash. Y'know what a leash is? But you can't break it as long as the battery works. Like your gravbag. I figured you'd remember that."
"sorry..."
"It's okay."
Alex wants to ask something else, but... Bad looks preoccupied. And pretty. So he decides to just stare at them instead.
Their tears are glistening in the light, - what light, he's not really sure. Why is there so much light here? The lamp in their pod is off.
"I think it's the glowfruit.", they seem to read his mind, "One of the critters took the seeds all the way up there. It seems rather unfazed by its environment."
"What?"
* Glowplant (80) --
Bad doesn't look at him. They're --
"Then the icicles reflect light. That's why they... Jesus. That's why they look like stars. Or... or don't. I don't know what stars look like."
They're pretty.
"They are?"
oh. he said that out loud.
"Wuh? Um. I think. I think the stars are pretty.", he repeats, to clarify. He's talking about stars, not them, you see. "I don't really remember."
"Huh..." they stay quiet, then whisper: "I wish I could see them."
"Weren't there holes in the walls of gravel lands?"
The way he says that, so suddenly lucid, makes Bad turn around and stare for a moment.
"Yeah... yes, there were. I'm surprised you remember that, but don't remember... we were sent on a cloudy day. Even if we tried, we wouldn't see stars through the holes."
"Oh."
They sit in silence. Alex curls up against Bad's side to save some heat.
"Sorry I don't remember." he whispers.
"It's okay," Bad smiles. Or he guesses from their voice that they do. "You don't have to."
He tries to look at them, but-
Alex wakes up.