"Go fish."
Sighing, Marx reached forward and, in his struggle to draw another card, knocked the deck over. Taranza slowly reached over and righted it again, glancing at his own cards. "Alright, Poppy, any threes?"
Poppy, however, was sound asleep. Leo nudged him a bit, prompting the bomb enthusiast to straighten up, slightly confused. "Threes?" Leo muttered, and Poppy's eyes scanned his cards.
"No. Let's just go to bed," he murmured, leaning back again. The door opened with a quiet swish and in floated Magolor, hands and eyes drooping.
"How long's this been going on?" he asked, gently settling on the floor between Marx and Poppy.
"Like, three hours!" Poppy cried in frustration. Taranza scoffed.
"It hasn't been that long."
Marx prodded Magolor's side. "Hey, hey, hey, if you're here, who's flying the Lor?" he asked, raising his voice. Magolor pushed him back.
"I set her on a course. Don't worry, she's good at avoiding hazards. I'm thinking I'll just retire for the night, if you guys don't mind."
Poppy nodded. "Me too." He thrust his remaining cards into Leo's hands and watched as the fire demon sorted out a few more pairs.
"Wha-hey, that's not fair!" Taranza protested, jabbing a finger at Leo. Leo glanced up at him.
"Taranza, got any eights?"
"Here," Marx added, handing Taranza his cards. "I'm going too. You guys finish up." Standing, he scooped Poppy into his arms and followed behind Magolor as they headed toward the residence hall.
"So," Magolor said, "what did you think of Halcandra, Marx?" As he glanced at the Halcandran, Marx was met with a glower of anticipated disappointment. He sighed, wrapping a claw around Poppy's head.
"It was nice to see where you come from," he answered, "but you can see why we weren't that much into it, right?" Magolor tilted his head.
"It's very...inorganic," Marx continued. "Nearly all of us are native to Popstar, and most of us hadn't seen a mechanical planet before."
"Well, technically, it's not mechanical," Magolor stuttered, "just modified."
Marx laughed. "If it makes you feel any better, Leo was absolutely raving about Dangerous Dinner." Magolor chuckled.
"It does."
When they got to the hall, Marx pulled the covers back and set Poppy down in his bed, the lower half of a bunk. He swaddled him in the blankets. Poppy curled up and buried his face in the covers. Marx stepped back, glancing as Magolor scaled the bunk.
"Are you sure Lor Starcutter can handle herself?" he asked, flapping his wings to join Magolor.
"She's only a legendary Ancient Halcandran artifact. She'll do just fine on autopilot. Don't worry, Marx; you can fly through space anyway."
The mention of it caused a bud of tranquility to bloom in Marx's heart. He hopped to the next bed and pulled the covers into a hood around him. "I suppose," he answered, his mind already consumed in the peaceful feeling of flight. He let the drifting feeling carry him to sleep, barely noticing Leo's footsteps as he and Taranza finally retired.