Chapter Text
Scar Goodtimes was having a fairly average day.
All was well on Ranch Jellie this morning. The sun peaked out from a few clouds from time to time, warming his back as he ambled cheerily through his daily routine.
He’d already fed the chickens, collected a couple eggs, (perfect for his omelette later), feed his sheep, cows and of course his queen and darling Jellie. His favourite, of course.
He’d even named his home after his feline friend.
Scar was currently on his way to his beloved horses. They were a silly pair, always seeming to communicate with each other. His older stallion’s personality contrasted heavily with his younger (also stallion) horse’s hyperactivity. They were a perfect duo, and Scar was fairly sure perhaps a couple too. He knew those looks those horses gave each other.
Perhaps Scar gave his animals a little too much personality, but it wasn’t really his fault. There was nothing else to do out here apart from tend to his sunflowers, feed his animals and play with Jellie.
Scar whistled, pushing the door open to the stables. He got an excited nicker in return, his green-eyed stallion eagerly pressing forward for food. Scar chuckled, carefully brushing his nose before casting his gaze up to his older male.
“Cmere, Etho, you know it’s time for your cream.”
Etho grunted at him, displeased, but trotted over anyway. Scar set two apples into their trough, before turning around to reach into his backpack for Etho’s special eye cream.
He wasn’t quite sure how the stallion had lost an eye. He’d come in one morning to the poor horse whining in pain with Bdubs (the excitable horse) nickering at him nervously. Scar’s running theory was some loose nail, but he couldn’t find any in their stall, so he was a bit confused still.
After a very panicked call to Gem (his animal consultant and the only person he ever talked to these days) she had recommended this cream. Once the dreaded trip into town to pick it up was over, Scar had been applying it to Etho’s eye for the past few weeks.
He was already seeing improvement, which was good. He was also lucky Etho trusted him enough to apply it (once bribed with treats of course).
Scar squeezed a dollop of cream onto his fingertip, leaning over to carefully rub it over Etho’s scrunched up eye. The horse made a few noises of discomfort, but allowed him to finish applying it. Scar gave him some extra nose scritches for being so good, and got to work resetting the horse’s food and water.
Once finished, he opened the stalls to let the horses out into the paddock. The weather was fine enough, and he knew Bdubs liked to canter around the fields.
Yeah, today was going to be perfect.
In a couple hours he could be settling back with Jellie on his porch and practicing his sketching.
Activities that could be done by yourself and practiced over time were perfect for Scar. He’d take up many hobbies over the years.
He’d done knitting, making Jellie one sweater, (which she hated) and himself one scarf that was barely holding itself together. He still wore it on chilly mornings. He was partial to the red colouring. It was something he treasured, happy to have made something useful for once in his never ending pointless hobbies.
At one point, he’d taken up crochet. He never really got the hang of that one. He’d attempted to make a little plush Etho, but he did it unbelievably wrong. He named the defect ‘Eefo’, and never touched the crochet hook again.
Modelling clay, scrap-booking, origami, Scar had tried the lot. It was just so boring out here by himself, and he refused to use his tv or phone to relieve it. Wifi is expensive, people.
(He also wasn’t 100% sure how to use either of those things. Scar had a hard time tapping the little icons on his phone and had trouble deciphering the buttons on the tv remote. He’d so far figured out how to turn it on and off. He was pretty proud of himself for that).
His most recent venture (and the one that had him captive the longest, two months and counting) was art. Specifically, painting and sketching. He’d gotten extremely good at capturing his beloved animals on paper and canvas. He had the most sketches of his darling Jellie, of course, which he hung in her bedroom (yes, his cat has her own bedroom. What of it?).
There were various landscapes and self portraits littered all over the farm house. It was a pain making the trip to town every time his paints ran out, but the joy of creating far overpowered the inconvenience. Plus, he could visit Gem when he was in town.
Gem didn’t mind how he talked to himself or how he didn’t really know how to communicate. She understood his need for isolation, and even invited him to various agricultural events with her. She always asked, even if she knew Scar would always turn her down. It was nice of her to try, even when Scar considered himself much too far gone.
He hadn’t cared for people in years. He much preferred the isolation of his ranch. Animals didn’t make fun of his limp or judge him for his laugh or shitty jokes.
Out here, he could be himself. He didn’t have to put on a mask and pretend anything.
Out here, he was free.
“Horses done, now onto the sunflowers!”
Scar sing-songed under his breath, spinning his cane theatrically. He hummed, walking over to the fields.
“Rainwater time… rainy-times-with-Scar…”
He mumbled to himself, turning to grab a nearby bucket. Rainfall was common this time of year, and collecting it was perfect for watering his sunflowers. They always drank it up eagerly.
“Hello, my darlings!”
He announced cheerfully, splashing a bucketful of water onto the flowers. It trickled down with a pleasant sound, sinking into the soil. Scar smiled as the sunflowers blew slightly in the wind.
“One lot down, fourteen to go!”
Somedays it was a nuisance to have such a large field of sun-loving flowers. Today wasn’t one of those days, his leg didn’t feel too bad, and he actually had a good time making sure his flower children got the same amount of water each.
Eventually it was done, and Scar set down the final bucket. He let out a long sigh, wiping a sheen of sweat off his brow. The afternoon heat was really beginning to set in now, and wow, yeah, he’d taken two hours to finish chores that should’ve been done by 11:30, not 1:45.
Scar frowned, turning towards the horse’s paddock to see the two stallions standing together under the shade of a tree. He envied them.
Horses didn’t have to worry about their parents asking him every now and again if he’d found a girlfriend yet. Horses didn’t have to worry about societal expectations and funding to keep his ranch up and running.
Maybe they did. Scar had no idea how complex horse culture was. Maybe they did have to worry about those things.
Either way, the two horses looked extremely content, relaxed under the canopy in the shade.
At least his chores were over now.
Scar trudged back to his house, leaning heavily on his cane. He ignored the click of his knee and the aching that came with it as he stepped up the stairs.
“Jellie, love, do you want omelettes?”
A loud meow came from upstairs, and he giggled. There was a pitter patter of paws, and Scar turned to see his tiny princess trotting down the stairs.
Jellie meowed again, brushing against his legs.
“Oh, hello my lovely.”
He cooed, scooping her up and holding her to his chest. Jellie meowed a third time, already busying herself with making biscuits on his arms. Scar huffed a laugh. He had many scars from Jellie partaking in this exact action many times before.
Scar hummed to himself as he began to make omelettes with one hand. One with cheese, spinach, ham and spring onion for himself, and a more cat-friendly version for Jellie.
Halfway through cracking the second egg, he noticed his feline had simply fallen asleep in his arms. Lulled by the warmth, probably.
Scar rolled his eyes, but he would never break the unspoken sacred rule of not waking up a sleeping cat (even if Jellie would forgive him next time he got her treats).
Finally, when both omelettes were finished sizzling and turned a golden-brown colour that reminded Scar of his sunflowers, he carefully slid them off that pan and onto two plates.
After a few gentle taps to Jellie’s head, she let out a sleepy ‘Mrrp’ and stretched her little legs. Scar held back another coo as she flexed her claws and then jumped out of his arms. She landed gracefully on the countertop, but not before brushing Scar’s nose with her tail.
Scar sneezed at the tickle, which made Jellie let out an indignant meow and bat her bowl further away from him. Scar stifled a giggle. Jellie was such a sassy girl sometimes.
Scar slid onto the chair as best he could, wincing slightly. His legs ached from overuse.
At least his omelette did not disappoint. He always enjoyed produce straight from his farm. Not having to purchase it was a bonus.
Scar sighed, leaning back in his chair. It was barely midday and he already felt exhausted. Closing his eyes, Scar tried to imagine something pleasant. Something to distract from his aching legs and real life struggles.
Sometimes he liked to imagine he was a fantastic builder, with architecture that would inspire the people around him. A version of himself that didn’t have to worry about much else other than creative pursuits.
One theme all of his fantasies had in common were the inclusion of people. Strangers, friends, it didn’t matter. He just wanted to have someone who wouldn’t judge him for himself and loved him when he wasn’t putting up a front.
The key root of all of Scar’s issues, to him, were his inability to express himself properly around anyone. He had Gem, sure, but even she didn’t fully get him.
There were pauses in conversations between the two of them that stretched too long, or silences that grew awkward. Times where Scar wished he could say something, anything normal.
Something that wasn’t an observation of Gem’s nervous habits or the way she’d swapped her bangle to the other wrist that day, or one of her socks being slightly higher than the other.
A normal quirk to notice, where he could pretend he wasn’t overanalysing everything around him.
Since he was small, he’d always noticed the little things about people.
Over the years he stopped vocalising them. It turned out that most people did not like it pointed out that their ear piercings were slightly lopsided, or that one of their canines was sharper than the other.
Scar liked looking at people, but he didn’t like being asked why on earth he was staring so intently. He just liked noticing the little things about people, the things that made them different. The things that made them interesting.
He had a preference to unique livestock. For example, his green-eyed stallion, Bdubs. One of his cows had one less leg, but that didn’t stop her from producing milk that didn’t taste any worse that the cows with four legs. He had an albino chicken who was half blind.
Scar supposed, in a way, he liked noticing these differences because it helped him to validate his own uniqueness.
If it wasn’t already obvious, Scar had a lot of time to ponder his own existence and personality.
He conversed with himself extremely frequently, and perhaps that was a little insane of him, but…
“What’s life without a bit of insanity and whimsy?”
He murmured. His knife and fork carefully cut a square of omelette, which he pulled up and into his mouth.
Scar chewed for a moment, before moving his gaze over to watch Jellie.
The cat had finished her meal, and was making her way over to her favourite window spot. She stretched, before jumping gracefully up onto the ledge below the window.
Wordlessly, Scar stood up.
Shakily, he fumbled for his cane, and in a few wobbly steps, he was over there.
"What is that, Jellie?"
He whispered.
The sky had gone dark.
The sun had completely disappeared, like it was never there at all. There was no moon. His farm was completely engulfed in a dark fog. The barn wasn't even visible from the house, and it was only around ten meters away.
Scar squinted, his hand coming to resting Jellie's fur for some familiarity, and leaned forward.
His own reflection caught him in the glass like a mirror, reflecting in the soft lighting of his home. Scar's gaze traced the marks across his face for a moment, before blinking back up.
He winced.
There was bright light coming from the middle of his sunflowers. Something purple, glowing and ultimately, quite eerie.
A figure seemed to be in the centre of it, features obscured from the light and the sunflowers.
It turned its head towards Scar, and he froze.
Whatever was in his sunflowers and him held eye contact for what felt like forever, before Scar, swallowing in his dry throat, lifted a hand to hesitantly wave.
All of a sudden, the light was out, and the figure was gone.
Scar blinked. The world's colour returned.
Like it was never gone at all.
Jellie meowed at him impatiently, and he blinked a few more times, before looking back down at her. The cat pawed his hand, clearly wanting attention.
Despite himself, Scar smiled. He lifted a hand, stroking it down her spine. It shook with every movement.
Scar took a deep breath. Okay, maybe he was going a bit loopy.
Maybe he should have considered taking the medicine Gem recommended for his pain. Maybe his constant leg aches were making him delirious.
He really, really didn't want to go out there. He didn't want to see what it was, if it was real, if he was crazy.
Scar swallowed. The warmth and homely feeling had dissipated, leaving him uneasy and hollow. He should probably go see what it was. Probably.
He chanced another look out towards the field, and it really didn't look like anything was wrong. Maybe he had imagined it.
But...
There were two sunflowers, bent in the middle of the field. Like something with a weight they couldn't support had fallen and crushed some of them.
"Oh dear."
Scar remarked quietly, scooping a hand under Jellie to pull her back to his chest. She was surprisingly willing, settling against his thumping heart.
His hands tightened around his cane, and he took a shaky step towards the door.
It was silly, but having Jellie with him felt like a surge of courage.
Scar took a deep breath, and turned the knob.
It wasn't dark anymore, but the temperature of the farm had significantly dropped from the cheerful atmosphere it had just hours earlier.
Scar suppressed a shiver, his grip on Jellie tightening slightly. He took another step forward, the tap of his cane feeling too loud in eerie atmosphere.
Jellie made a nervous chirrup. Scar couldn’t help but feel a little guilty for taking her with him. What if she got hurt? What if he got hurt? Who would feed his animals? Who would water the sunflowers?
Scar swallowed, loosening his grip on Jellie.
”You wanna go back inside?”
He asked softly, trying to stop his voice from shaking. Jellie blinked up at him with wide eyes.
Fur and softness pressed into his arm, and Jellie let out a little ‘mrp’.
Relief flooded Scar, and he let out a breath. A wobbly smile emerged onto his lips.
Jellie didn’t want to leave. She’d stay with him.
Feeling a little more brave, Scar continued to step forward.
Gravel crunching turned to mushy mud and squishy grass, which was weird because it was a sunny afternoon. Emphasis on was.
A glance at the field next to the barn reveals what Scar already suspected. Both horses, probably spooked, were no longer stood in the grass. The hen house was silent too. He hoped they were okay. He’d have to check later.
The sunflower field looked awfully eerie in the mist that was slowly beginning to set in over the farm. It was the most unnerved Scar had ever been in his own home.
Normally the farm was the safest Scar had ever felt. He was content here. Unjudged.
Happy.
Currently, though, those good feelings felt like the opposite.
Scar paused at the gate separating the sunflowers from the rest of the farm.
For a moment, Scar just stared.
He really didn’t want to go in.
What if he never came out again? What would happen to his farm?
He didn’t know what was in there! Whatever it was looked like something out of those movies Scar used to watch as a kid.
Those alien sort of ones, where a some sort of strange creature would land on an unsuspecting farmer’s land.
Normally, the farmer would be brutally murdered. Or attacked. Or have to fight back with a gun (Scar had no idea where his gun was).
Scar hoped it wouldn’t be the case for him.
Maybe he'd get to be the one the alien bonded with or something.
A rustle in between petals and leaves made him stiffen. Scar’s breath hitched.
Something that looked like a person, but felt a bit off, peeked through the flowers with clawed hands.
It tilted its head at him. Scar shivered.
It had.. so many eyes.
Three on either side of its face, small feathered wings curled just behind pointed ears, eyes dotted across the tip of each feather. Purple feathers coming from behind drew Scar’s attention towards the large wings attached to it’s back, larger eyes spread across them too.
Each eye was empty. Little void-like stars twinkled in each one. A mix of green, blue and purple.
Purple robes with a white undershirt. An undershirt stained with red.
It staggered towards Scar, who found his legs too tense to move.
Jellie hissed, which caused the creature to pause. It made a questioning sort of noise, a chittering and chirping.
Scar forced his eyes away from those sparkling eyes. It pressed a clawed hand to its stomach, making another chirp.
It was hurt, Scar recognised. With the amount of blood on it, it was a miracle it was even still standing.
Before he could even react, the bird-thing with too many eyes had moved forward. It made another wounded noise, and collapsed over the fence.
Scar let out a yelp, moving forward instinctively to catch it.
A gurgle came from it’s chest, and Scar felt himself begin to panic.
Oh, god. How was he meant to help?
Scar gritted his teeth, using all his strength to pull the creature over the fence and against his chest.
Jellie hissed again, currently squished between them. Scar lifted the bird-thing just enough for Jellie to squeeze out.
She curled against Scar’s legs uncomfortably, hairs stood up.
Scar’s legs ached. His grip on his cane was tight, practically dragging the passed out thing with him.
It was a miracle he even got to the house.
Scar sighed, carefully draping the winged creature over his couch. Hopefully the position wouldn’t hurt it’s wings too much.
He had no idea what to do about the bleeding. No idea at all.
He’d only done basic first aid on his animals before.
Scar needed Gem.
He was so tired.
Scar fumbled for his phone, discovering it was on 3% charge. He stifled a groan, wincing at the brightness of the screen. He tapped around for a moment, before finding Gem's contact somehow.
All the colours on the screen were blurring together. He opened the call button.
The phone buzzing felt far too loud in the uncomfortable silence. He wished Jellie was in his lap. She had, fairly, not wanted to be around the stranger.
He missed her already.
Gem picked up on the second ring.
"Hey Scar, what's up?"
The Canadian's accent brought so much comfort to Scar.
Gem was involved now. It would be okay.
"Uh, Hey Gem, I-I.."
Scar swallowed, hoping his voice was more steady than he felt.
"This sounds kinda, um, sudden and stuff, but could you drive down? Soonish? Asap?"
He heard a sigh from the line and felt a tinge of guilt.
"You don't have to! Like, it'll probably be..."
Scar scrambled, gaze drifting over to the curled up creature on the couch. It looked kinda.. sad. It needed help for sure.
"Well, uh actually, I do need you. First aid assistance? Can vets do human aid? human-aid. That sounds like a weird soda. I wonder what that would like, taste like? Like blood or-"
"Scar, focus. Are you hurt?"
Scar bit his lip.
"Uh, say theoretically, um, if something human-ish, turned up on the farm and seemed pretty like, hurt? and stuff? Would you come help? Asking for a friend. I have heaps of those. Very real."
Gem let out another sigh. Scar winced. He was about to have a talking to for sure.
"Scar, please tell me you're not going crazy. See, I knew this could happen, I knew letting you be out there all alone was a bad idea.."
There was a muffled voice on the other end of the line, and Scar's interest piqued as Gem leaned away from the phone to reply.
"Who's that?"
He chirped, effectively distracted.
Gem cleared her throat.
"Uh, no one."
"And you say I'm hallucinating."
Scar replied smugly. Oh, right. Hallucinating.
"Are you coming over? help would be appreciated. Like, when I say appreciated, I mean like, big thank you hug and everything you know-"
The sound of keys in a lock jingled over the phone, and the sound of a car door slamming.
"Yeah. I'm coming, give me fifteen."
"Yes!"
Scar fist pumped the air before mentally cringing at himself. He clicked the hang up on the call, and moved to grip his cane.
Shakily, he stood and peered over at the creature on his couch.
In the lighting of the house, he could inspect it a little more closely.
It seemed a little more pale than before. Perhaps the blood loss was taking more of a toll than Scar thought it would be.
All six eyes shut, dark lashes fluttering softly with each breath. The brighter lighting revealed a head of pretty caramel hair, tousled probably in Scar's awful half-drag-half-carry back to the house.
It's nails were long, curling over into claws that made Scar shiver. The robes it was wearing were weird too. Purple, with a bunch of random symbols stitched into the sleeves and around the clasp of the cloak. White undershirt still stained with dark red. It. didn't seem to be spreading anymore through. Maybe the weird alien-bird-thing had some magic healing powers. Hopefully. That would make Scar feel a whole lot better.
Strange symbols and patterns in dark ink travelled down its arms like tattoos. They ended around it's wrists, wearing a pair of cuffs. Deep purple gems were set into dark stone and curled elegantly around both arms.
It looked like some sort of sci-fi device. Then again, this whole situation felt like a sci-fi film.
Scar tilted his head, gaze travelling back up to the creatures face.
He froze.
Six purple eyes blinked back at him. Not swirling like voids before, or with normal human pupils. Just purple. Deep, unending purple.
Scar took a shaky step back on impulse, but clawed fingers pulled him back forward.
His breath hitched, feeling weirdly like the thing was inspecting every part of his soul as it's gaze travelled down Scar's body. He suddenly felt a little self conscious.
He was nothing to look at really. He'd had few romantic interactions in his life, and he considered his various scars.. nothing pretty anyway.
Why was he thinking about romance right now? There was an alien literally touching him.
Focus, Scar.
"Uhm. Hello."
Scar said after a moment, his throat finally unstuck. Nervously, he raised his hand slowly in a wave.
The creature blinked at him for a moment. Then promptly let go of his shirt, and pulled Scar's fingers into its mouth. And bit down.
Scar yelped, immediately trying to pull his hand back. The teeth on his fingers felt like little needle points, pressing sharply down into his palm too.
"Ow- oh, uh, ouch- could you, oh! maybe let go..?"
He tried to communicate, using his other hand to gently pry the bitten one out of it's mouth. The creature stared at him, and Scar swallowed uncomfortably as a string of black saliva connected the two for a moment.
Brushing it on the side of his pants gingerly, Scar readjusted his cane to feel a little more stable.
Evidently, the creature had decided Scar was not food, and was busy tapping at it's wrist cuff.
It made a weird little ping noise, and the creature made a little squawk, pulling Scar back forward. He blinked, watching the purple gems light up very close to his face.
The creature looked at him expectantly. Scar cleared his throat.
Maybe it wanted him to speak?
"Er.. Hello?"
He said quietly. Scar was rewarded with a chirp of approval, so feeling a little more confident, he spoke again.
"Who... rather, what are you?"
The cuff made a second beep, and the creature released him. It pressed one of the crystals out, and put it into the crystal shaped gap in the cloak clasp.
"Uh, English, right? That's what the translator picked up.. er, can you understand me?"
Scar blinked rapidly. Oh. Oh, it was speaking English. Oh lord.
He froze for a moment, taken aback from the fact that understandable words were coming from it's mouth. English. Words. From the bird thing.
"Hello..? I didn't break you, did I?"
The creature leaned forward, and poked a clawed finger into Scar's cheek. He blinked again.
"Oh. Yes. Hello."
Scar said quietly. The creature bared it's teeth at him, in what seemed to be some resemblance of a smile.
"Hello. I am Xelqua."
"Uh, hello, um.."
Scar paused. What did it say it's name was again?
"Well, I'm Scar, anyway Scar Goodtimes."
"Scar Goodtimes."
The creature mused. The wings on it's back twitched, and it looked down at itself.
"Ah. I've made a bit of a mess of my robes. Unfortunate."
Claws tapped against Scar's arm for a moment, thinking. This thing clearly didn't have any concept of personal space. Scar felt his cheeks heat up a little.
It was silly, but he hadn't had anyone touch him casually and affectionately like this. It was weird. But not unwelcome.
"I- You're not, like, bleeding out?"
Scar sputtered. With the shock of this bird thing being able to speak English he'd completely forgotten that it had been bleeding out literally less than two minutes ago.
"Bleeding?"
The bird thing repeated, tilting it's head.
Scar pointed to it's robes.
"Um, yes? Blood? You were hurt? And now you're not?"
"Oh. That."
The bird thing patted it's stomach casually, though He noticed it being slightly more gentle than it's rough grabbing of Scar.
"Just a scratch. Barely felt it."
Scar blinked slightly. Right. Maybe he should stop questioning things at this point. A literal alien thing just landed on his farm.
"Well. Scar Goodtimes, I best be out of here."
Before Scar could process that, Xelqua was halfway to the door. Scar scrambled to plant his cane securely on the flooring and stand up after him, despite his knees aching in protest.
"Hey! Wait-"
Xelqua turned to Scar with an unreadable expression. One that was completely uncharacteristic to the cheerful chaotic energy he was giving Scar before. The change in expression threw Scar for a loop, and his mouth hung open awkwardly for a moment. He swallowed. Xelqua hadn't moved an inch.
Scar's gaze flicked down to where a clawed hand curled around the door knob. Each nail looked as sharp as a needle, and if they were anything like the teeth that had bitten Scar just earlier, he had every right to feel a bit cautious.
He hadn't really thought about it before, how easily it would be for Xelqua to just... rip him apart.
Cautiously, Scar reach out and gently pried the clawed hand off the door knob. Xelqua didn't even blink. After a moment, the claws in Scar's hand retracted.
In a weird way, it reminded him of Jellie.
Scar mentally took a breath.
"Okay, look. I don't know who you are, or even what you are, but you somehow appeared on my property, and were literally dying on my couch a couple minutes ago, so I think I'm entitled to a few questions."
A chirp escaped Xelqua, tinged with frustration. Scar tried not to let his fear show, holding his ground and keeping eye contact, no matter how uncomfortable it was to look into Xelqua's eyes.
The silence grew even more awkward until Xelqua finally broke eye contact.
It leaned against the wall, bird features, previously kinda of cute and fluffy, twisted with annoyance and irritation. Scar repressed a shiver, trying not to look at Xelqua's claws as it crossed them.
"How about this. You ask me a question, I ask you a question."
Scar nodded. Those seemed like fair terms.
"Alright."
He murmured. Xelqua's talon tapped impatiently against the floorboards, and it tilted it's head.
"By all means. Ask away."
Scar swallowed. He took a breath, sorting through the chaos in his head. Xelqua was allowing him to ask questions. What were the important ones?
"Well, first of all, why are you in such a hurry to leave? I mean, you just got here, you were pretty injured a moment ago."
"Like I told you, just a scratch."
Scar gritted his teeth. Xelqua just completely ignored the first part of his question.
"Unfair."
"Fine. I'm on an unfamiliar planet to me, with a language I have to translate, wouldn't you want to get out of here? I have no idea of the customs, traditions or ideals of this place. What would you expect me to do?"
Scar grinned.
"Was that your question for me?"
Xelqua bared it's teeth back.
"Of course not. What is this planet named by its residents?"
Scar blinked slightly. Xelqua's way of speaking had shifted way up to formal, and he was having somewhat of a hard time deciphering each sentence.
"Earth. It's called earth."
"Earth."
Xelqua repeated, pressing it's cuff a couple of times. Scar shifted his feet uncomfortably. They were beginning to ache with standing in one place for so long.
"Fantastic. Your next question?"
Scar hummed thoughtfully, tapping his foot against the floor. He was trying to regain some feeling in it, because numbness was beginning to set in.
He didn't really have a good question but..
"Pronouns?"
He said lightly. Xelqua frowned at him.
"Pronounce?"
"No, pronouns. Like, he/him for me, what are yours?"
"Oh. I am also a he.. him as you call it."
Scar smiled at him.
"Matching!"
"Matching."
Xelqua repeated, confusion dusting his features.
"Humans.. sure are strange."
Scar tilted his head.
"I could see how you could come to that conclusion. We're not all this whimsical."
"Whimsical?"
"Whimsy! Joy! Magic! I'm very whimsy."
Xelqua furrowed his brows.
"I.. okay. You are an.. interesting individual, Scar Goodtimes."
Scar grinned. He wouldn't want to be boring.
"Scar?"
A quiet, accented voice approached the farm house, along with the crunch of gravel. Scar froze.
Oh dear. He forgot he invited Gem over.
As subtly as he could (which was not very subtle, Xelqua did not get the message) Scar shifted Xelqua to be behind him. The alien tilted his head at him curiously when Scar hissed:
"She'll see you!"
"Who is this 'she'?"
Xelqua replied in his own whisper, which was not very whispery.
"Scar? Who is that-"
Pressure on the door made Scar stumble back into Xelqua, who squawked at him and bonked him with a wing.
Dizzy, Scar straightened himself on his feet, and placed his cane back into the floor. Just in time for a frazzled Gem to step inside and-
Gem's eyes flicked from Xelqua to Scar and then back again.
And without another word, she crumpled like a tin can onto the floor. And fell forward. Face down. Unconscious.
Scar blinked. Blinked again.
"Oh dear."
He murmured.