…mouth.. tastse likes… p[lampt.. ppffbfbt…

          “..PPbnffftbtfp.”

Alice began to spit and gag a bit. Wriggling out a mess of moss and vines.. Oh god why did everything taste like GREEN. is this what green tastes like? it’s more of a.. bbfhf GOD WHY DOES MOSS TASTE SO.. …hm. This moss tastes kind of nice, actually–WAIT SHES NOT EATING MOSS EW NO PFHFFHFTFTHTFHTF.

“Bleghkg– Ack– bpppfbffhfhttt…”

                  Suddenly, she was yoinked out, held by the scruff of her neck, face to face with Ceshyr, who looked.. Well, Like Ceshyr. Planty. Grinning, Eyes glowing.

“Pardon me, dear Alice… Sounds like you were having quite the dream, weren’t you? Enough to start nibbling on me. Thanks for that, by the way...”

Alice nodded, a bit.. Captivated by her eyes. Or maybe just how fluffy she looked? Maybe both????

“You’re.. Welcome???”

“..That was.. Supposed to be a joke, I heard terrans enjoy some banter, right?” Ceshyr tilted and spun Alice around, rotating her slightly...

“Uh-huh..”

“..Too tired to do ‘Banter’, are we?”

“Uh-huhhh…”

“I thought so.. Come on, let’s get you ready for the day, alright?”

“First thing’s first…”


                              “Take off your hat.”

..Dusty stared at the Rebel Captain for a bit. Oh, sorry. It seems that the perspective switched to Free Terran Kai Dusty, friend of Alice? Yeah.

“..You want me to take off.. My hat?”

“As cool as it is.. We gotta make sure you aren’t hiding anything under there, y’know? The Somewhere Mobile’s got tight security, can’t have any plants ruining our rebellion, y’know?”

“I already told you, I’m not affiliated with the Affini– Leave my hat alone.”

The Captain glared at Dusty, standing up, approaching them…

“Listen, we need to just make sure. It’ll be quick, alright? Just give me–”

As the Captain reached for Dusty, they grabbed his arm, pulling it close– Dusty grabbed the Captain’s waist before pulling him up and letting him SLAM onto the floor!

“okay. nevermind. you can keep your hat.” the Captain croaked.

So the interview went well, all things considered. The Crew of the “Somewhere Mobile” all seemed rather friendly, perhaps a bit afraid by the fact that this newbie just suplexed the Captain without any effort.

Turns out, they’ve all got code names. Maybe to protect their identities? You’ve got Easiest Peter, Charcoal, Brass Maiden… Really great people, probably. Dusty, naturally, earned the name of ‘Mad Hatter’; any significant meaning of the name did not fall upon Dusty. Best not to think about it.

Sooner or later, they were out to space. Dusty found himself a nice window to gaze out to the stars. Beautiful things, stars. They couldn’t help but wonder if Alice would’ve enjoyed the view. At this point, she was with her newfound owner, right?

They dug out their phone, bringing up their chatlog with Alice. The last conversation they had…

Rabb1tHole: so thats what ive been doing for the week.
Rabb1tHole: grinding that pb
DustDude: Have you stepped outside at all..??
Rabb1tHole: …
Rabb1tHole: no
DustDude: Do you want to go outside?
Rabb1tHole: i do but not alone.
DustDude: I feel that. >_>; If you want, we can swing on by and grab something to eat.
DustDude: My treat, how does that sound?
Rabb1tHole: sure. come soon?
DustDude: Of course. ^_^b
Rabb1tHole: thanks kai
DustDude: No problem.

That was.. Quite a while ago. Their finger was hovering over the virtual keyboard.. Should they..? ... What should they even say? “Hey I hope you’re not drugged enough to read this I hope you’re doing well?” … “Hi tell your plant caretaker that i hope you’re okay?” … “hey so i became a rebel don’t snitch lol”??? 

Ugh. This was too hard. Short and simple. Dusty switched to the Camera App on their phone, snapping a picture of the starry sky. Switching back to the chat client, he attached the view with a sentence.

DustDude: Wish you could see this in person.

That’ll do for now.

“Texting a fiance, Hatter?” chirped a voice from behind, making Dusty yelp and fumble with their phone, clearing their throat as they regained their composure.

“It’s just a friend of mine, back on Terra.” They explained, adjusting their Awesome Hat. “Nothin’ to worry about… Er.. Foxboy..” God these nicknames were so fucking stupid.

Foxboy was a slender looking Terran, brown, long hair that went down to his back. He wore rather baggy clothing (Including an oversized hoodie of dark hues, there was a fox head on the back of it, the Captain must’ve not been feeling very creative when designating their “Code Name”) On his back was some sort of.. Rifle? Most likely stolen somewhere.. Had various stickers stuck onto it, some faded, some recently applied. He blinked a bit, adjusting his round specs as he stared at Dusty – Who was examining him in detail.

“...You good, man?” Foxboy asked, watching as Dusty shook their head.

“I..I’m fine.. I must’ve.. Spaced out, I’ve got a lot on my mind.” They sighed.

Foxboy nodded, “I getcha. It’s weird to think that we’re actually.. Out there, y’know? Doing rebel things– Fighting for freedom..” They shrugged. “..Honestly, if ya ask me… I dunno if this ship was the best choice.”

Dusty patted Foxboy on the shoulder, smiling. “Trust me, I’m having the same thoughts. What’re we even supposed to do?”

“Beats me, Hatter. I mean.. I just wanted to.. Uh. Y’know.. Get hell outta dodge–Before a plant could just *snatch* me up and just…”
Foxboy trailed off, pulling up their hoodie.
“...Okay, nevermind– Point is–Uh.. Plants.. Plants bad. They’ll probably like.. Make me.. Completely unrecognizable from.. What.. I’m supposed to be.”

Dusty just stared at Foxboy, unsure on what to say.

“...You wanna talk about it?”

“Yes.”

“Alright. I’ll get us some sandwiches. Let’s go.”

This is going to be one tough egg to crack, that’s for certain. Dusty walked with Foxboy, hands in their pockets, scarf blowing in the ventilation air (No wind in space, dummy!), occasionally glancing back to see Foxboy fidget with his hoodie strings, face down at the floor. Eventually, they found the cafeteria. After an awkwardly long sequence of ordering sandwiches, the two sat down at some table…

God, this sandwich tastes like absolute shit. 

“So.. You’re afraid of the Affini, right?” Dusty asked, watching Foxboy jump in his seat.

“I--I mean, who wouldn’t be? Giant plant aliens that’re determined to pet-ify the entire terran race?! That shit’s scary! Aren’t you scared as well..?” Foxboy questioned…

Dusty simply shrugged. “I’ve don’t have much of a reason to be. For the most part, they’ve left me alone. They certainly don’t just kidnap folks.”

“Th. They don’t?”

“What, you thought they did?”

“..I mean.. it would’ve been.. Nevermind.”

“Uh-huh.”

Dusty took a bit of their sandwich and grimaced. “Yeah, no. Between you and I.. I don’t think they’re.. Well, evil. S’not like we can really understand alien morality. But, y’know. I don’t think I’d like the idea of being a ‘Pet’.”

Foxboy let out a nervous chuckle… “Haha.. Yeah--Yeah, it’d be.. It wouldn’t be very good.. Being a pet. I like.. Being me, y’know?” They adjusted their specs, tensing up a bit before sighing. “I mean.. You know.”

“I’d like to at least decide who I get to be, right?” He sighed.. Drumming his fingers on the table. He hasn’t touched his sandwich.

Dusty just nodded, putting down his horrible meat between two bread meal and just leaning back in their chair.

“I feel you on that. I joined the Rebellion because I like being.. Free, y’know? I don’t like to stay in one place for very long. I like to travel, it’s always been my dream to see the stars… ‘Guess this is the best I’ve got, now…”

Foxboy nodded, now hugging himself. He seemed lost in thought… Like.. “Inner Monologue” lost in thought. Dusty knew this well, Alice used to space out in similar manners as well– Infact, Dusty themself was guilty of this quite frequently.

It’s best to let them finish.

.

.

.

After a while, Foxboy looked up at Dusty.

“Do you think the Affini are really that bad, Hatter?”

Dusty shrugged. “Between you and me…”

“An Affini is taking care of a good friend of mine.”

“Oh, no! Really? Are they okay?”

Dusty glanced at their phone. One new message.

Rabb1thole: :O pretty!!!

“..She’s doing fine, actually. I know that at least. Truth be told.. She.. Needed someone to look after her. As much as I didn’t like the idea of an Affini taking  care of her.. I have a feeling it’s what she needs.”

Foxboy nodded along, adjusting their oversized hoodie.. Rifle.. 

“Didn’t expect a rebel to say that..”

Dusty chuckled..
“I mean.. I don’t really consider myself to be a rebel, I’m more of a.. Traveler. Much cooler, y’know?”

Foxboy nodded. “H..Hell yeah..!”

Yeah…

The two chatted, and conversed. Talking heads, stale bread, moldy meat. Music played over the intercoms.. It eventually crackled, as they can hear the Captain humming along.. Guy has a nice humming voice, actually. The ship rumbled a bit..

The sounds of the door opening.

“CAPTAIN!” yelled someone from the intercom

…Did it get darker?

            “Ye--Yeah?!” The Captain replied

“LOOOOK!”
                                “OH FUCK- -”

Dusty glanced to the window and – All they could see was.. Some.. Something.. Colorful. Something huge. Something really, really HUGE.

“NO NO NO NO NO!! NO!!!” The Captain screamed over the intercoms “DUDE WE– WE HAVE SO MUCH SHIT – HOLY FUCKING SHIT!!”

That’s…

It looks like a giant.. Flower… Thing.. Oh.

Oh fuck.

Dusty lurched forward, feeling arms wrapped around them.  Foxboy was hugging Dusty really tight, shivering like crazy, screaming their lungs out.

“OH GOD OH FUCK OH GOD OH FUCK WE’RE DEAD! WE’RE SO FUCKING DEAD!!! I KNEW I SHOULD’VE STAYED HOME NONONONONOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!”

Dusty held onto their hat as the ship rumbled and shook, lights flickering…

“...Mother fu–”