I'm 15 chapters ahead of ya'll in writing, but I'm keeping with posting once a week - FOR NOW. If I get further than 20 chapters and I can keep up with writing and get the story done, then I'll increase the angst dosage. Promise.

Chapter 13 — Full Stomachs

"Sixer!" Maria was next to Sixer instantly. "What's going on?"

Sixer shook his head. "I don't—"

Star and Pine suddenly let out similar cries of pain.

"Get something in their stomachs now!" Crescent yelled. "I'm the only one who's been eating things!"

Maria didn't like the implications of that, but she knew what to do. Reaching under her jacket, she grabbed something from a space between spaces – a large, yellow fruit the size of a pear with orange spots.

A Sitrus Berry. Would Sixer recognize this one? Maybe.

She held it out to Sixer. "Take a bite of this. Make sure to chew and swallow."

Sixer did as he was told, taking a large bite of the fruit and chewing for a couple seconds before he swallowed.

Maria waited until he swallowed before gently pulling one arm away from his stomach. She pressed the fruit into his hand. "Eat the rest of this. I'm going to make sure that Star and Pine have something in their stomachs."

She moved away from him as he looked down at the fruit with an odd expression, pulling more Sitrus Berries out from that space between spaces.

She pressed a berry into Mizar's and Sphinx's hands – or paw, in the Ford's case. "Get them to eat these."

Mizar looked the berry over for a second, then nodded and knelt next to Pine. "Here, brobro."

"A curious fruit," Sphinx commented as he curled around Star. "What is it called?"

"Sitrus. With an 's' instead of a 'c'." Maria tossed another Berry at Stanley. "I don't care if his stomach has got something in it or not, having some fruit in his system will keep him from getting scurvy later." She started moving back to the porch then as Stanley stared after her with a surprised expression.

"S-subspace?" she heard Ford ask as Maria approached.

"How would she have access to that?! That's some kinda magic voodoo sh- scrap."

"I have an adopted older sister who's Cybertronian," Maria said as she walked over. "I was only a matter of time before I managed to gain that technique." She knelt down next to Sixer, who hadn't moved from his kneeling position. "Your stomach still hurt? Or do you think your hunger's been satisfied for now?"

Sixer took a moment, then shook his head. In response, Maria pulled out an apple that was twice as big as an apple was supposed to be. She pressed it into his hand. "Eat until you either no longer feel hungry, or you feel full."

Sixer nodded and started into the apple with mechanical movements, like it wasn't something he was used to.

"Where'd you get one of those that big?" Stan asked.

"What, that Big Apple?" Maria rose to her feet and looked at Stan. "That is literally what it's called by the way. I picked them up in another dimension that I visited a long time ago. Practically lived off them for a full year, now that I think about it. I'll have to see if I can plant some trees around here somewhere – both for the Apples and my Berries. They could be useful depending on what decides to hit us over the next year."

"If that thing you have him before was a berry I'll eat my eyepatch," Stan said flatly. "That thing looked as big as a pear."

That was a funny thought.

"Not my fault the climate of different planets is different from Earth's. You'll see what I mean – they probably will end up berry-sized here; you never know." Maria shrugged.

The sound of apple crunching from Sixer's devouring paused, causing Maria to glance over and down. She raised an eyebrow when she saw that he was holding the core of the apple he had been eating. "Feeling okay, Sixer?"

Sixer looked up at the question and met her gaze. "I…" He hesitated, then lowered his voice a little. "I am neither no longer hungry, nor full yet."

Maria's eyebrows rose. Normally a Sitrus Berry and a Big Apple were more than enough to take care of someone's hunger. Then again, Sixer's situation wasn't exactly "normal." "Wow, that's a really empty stomach, then." She frowned, looking over at Stan. "Your nephew wouldn't mind if Vash and I took over the kitchen for a bit, would he?"

"What, you plannin' on cooking in there?"

"That's the idea." Maria grabbed another Big Apple from under her jacket and held it out to Sixer. He took it carefully in both hands and started eating it immediately. "Fruit is only going to do so much, you know?"

Stan grunted. "All right. But you'd better make enough for—"

"Way ahead a' ya. Keep an eye on Sixer for me? Vash! Get over here – we gotta make an all-you-can-eat buffet!"

"I'm on it!" Vash scrambled over quickly, legs akimbo. "Where's the kitchen?"

In here." Maria motioned back to the shack. "Come on – I've got a few recipes in mind." She disappeared inside the house and made a beeline for the kitchen, Vash following right on her heels.

"A kitchen from 21st century Earth," Vash said in amazement. He looked around at the cabinets, the fridge, and the oven with its stovetop. "Wow. This is like walking back in time!"

"For us, it is," Maria agreed. She started pulling berries and other food-looking supplies from under her jacket. "Check the fridge and tell me what Alex has, would you? I don't want to use much of his stuff, but I might have to depending on what we make."

Vash went straight to the fridge and poked his head in as Maria started hunting down cutting boards. "Okay. Wow, that's a lot of green. Um…"

"Just tell me what you can identify from what you know and we'll work our way from there."

"Sure."

Time Break

The kitchen turned into a bit of a mess by the end, but Maria and Vash had managed to put together a large enough amount of food that they'd needed help getting tables out into the middle of the clearing, as well as every plate of food.

"I'm afraid you're gonna have to make a grocery trip after this, Mr. Pines," Maria said to Alex as she carried out a pot of stew. "Sorry about that."

"Hey, if any of this survives whatever you're planning, we'll have leftovers for a while," Alex replied. He looked down at the plate of tough meat he was carrying. "What exactly is this, anyway?"

"Tomas meat. It's a flightless bird that lives on a desert planet. Toughest meat you're ever gonna eat, believe me." Maria smirked as she put the stew near the center of the table. "They basically look like some kinda kiwi bird crossed with a turkey. Don't quite taste as good, but if you steam the meat enough it gets saturated enough to be considered edible."

"Sounds like a tough meal."

Maria laughed. "It's a tough planet."

Vash nodded in agreement as he brought over a tray of sandwiches. "Yup. Gunsmoke is toughest they come, but it's home for as long as humans are able to survive on it."

Maria went back to the house and grabbed chairs from the kitchen before dragging them out to the clearing, two in each hand and one under her right arm. As she finished setting them up, she turned and caught sight of Sixer kneeling next to the porch, watching what was going on with Crescent sitting next to him, leaning against the wood.

"Come on! You're still hungry, aren't you?"

Sixer pushed himself to his feet, then swayed for a moment before he was able to find his balance by sticking his tails straight out behind him. He walked over to where the Guildmaster was standing at an even pace. Maria watched him approach with an expression that was almost unreadable.

Maria pulled a chair out and motioned for him to sit. "It's exactly like I told you before. Eat until you're full or no longer hungry."

It left her with a sour taste in her mouth telling him to do things that he should have known to do on his own. But it was going to have to be something that she would have to do for now.

Sixer nodded, then sat down in the chair carefully, his tails curling around the back of the chair.

Maria patted the back of the chair – a compromise for wanting to clap him on the shoulder – then moved around to the other side of the table and sat down across from him while the others moved to join them.

Crescent came up and collapsed into the chair next to Sixer, then grinned and stabbed a whole chicken before dragging it over to Sixer's plate. "There. Eat that."

Maria watched Sixer out of the corner of her eye as she murmured a quick grace under her breath and reached for a couple sandwiches. It doubled as a prayer that things would go well for the four Pines at this particular meal as well.

Sixer stared at the chicken for a moment before he started eating it with a ferocious speed and hunger that Maria hadn't seen in a man his age before. And the ferocity continued as Crescent gave him another half-chicken.

Crescent wasn't going quite at Sixer's speed, but he was going at a pretty good clip – and the same went for Pine and Star.

Finally, Sixer leaned back in his chair, putting one hand over his stomach as he finished off his second chicken. The pile of bones on his plate was a testament to his hunger – especially hunger for meat.

Foxes – Kitsune, Vulpix, it didn't matter what kind – were carnivores. It would make sense that Crescent would push chickens in his brother's direction.

Sixer tilted back in his chair…and kept tilting back.

Maria leapt from her chair, sending it falling back as Sixer's chair tipped back and he collapsed onto the grass. She quickly scrambled around the combined tables to check on Sixer, reaching his somewhat-sprawled form and checking his pulse from a limp wrist.

If any of the food had gone bad…Maria didn't want to think about it.

"I didn't think any of that chicken was – oooh. Hang on."

He still had a pulse. It was slow, and he was breathing – deep, slow breaths – so he wasn't choking.

Maria's eyes widened, and she looked up at Crescent, who was watching with a slightly curious expression. "He didn't let you sleep much, did he?"

Crescent considered that, then shook his head. "Beck and call 24/7."

Maria's face scrunched up into an annoyed, angered expression. "Well, isn't that just great." She huffed, then considered something.

If they hadn't slept, then there was good reason to believe that they'd be getting nightmares pretty quickly.

She reached under her jacket and brought up a familiar green-yellow feather and tucked it behind one of Sixer's ears. As she did, her fingers brushed against his ears and some of his hair, the texture of which surprised her.

His hair didn't feel like human hair. It felt more…fur-like, but not quite the right texture.

That was going to make hygiene interesting.

Maria decided to worry about that later as Sixer's expression relaxed as a result of contact with the Lunar Wing.

Splat!

Crescent's head turned at the same time that Maria's head whipped around. He snorted when the two of them caught sight of Pine and Star, fallen face-first into chocolate pudding.

"Someone wanna give me some help getting Sixer into the house and onto a couch or something?" Maria called. "The kids, too. And probably Crescent when he keels over."

Crescent snorted, then yawned.

Stanford rose to his feet and came around the table. "Might as well get him inside. The children should take the beds, if they can."

"Sounds like an excellent idea," Sphinx said. He rose up on his hind legs for a moment to pull Star away from the chocolate pudding with one large paw; he settled back down on all fours before he started to try and get the girl onto his back himself, but then a figure flickered into existence.

Maria watched as a Dipper-looking figure in a suit, with wings so far down his spine they were on top of his rear, lifted Star from her chair and set her on Sphinx's back, cleaning her face with a wave of his hand before he disappeared, taking one of the bowls of chocolate pudding with him.

"So that's what he looks like up-close," Maria commented as Stanford motioned for Stanley to come over and help.

"These tails are going to make moving him difficult, I'm going to need another set of hands," Stanford said to his brother.

Stanley grunted. "All right, all right." He pushed himself up from his chair and came over, looking slightly annoyed.

Maria moved quickly in response, settling herself at Sixer's head and hooking her arms under his shoulders. "Ready when you are."

It took some work, but they were able to get Sixer into Alex's house, with Stanley and Stanford using one hand each to keep the tails up off the ground as much as possible. Still, two of them were left dragging on the ground.

"Try to get him on his side; his tails look like they're going to end up being in an uncomfortable position if we just drop him on the couch like this." Maria looked between the couch and the unconscious Sixer.

"On three then," Stanford said. "One, two—"

The three of them put Sixer on the couch while moving him at the same time, lying the kitsune on his side facing the room. His tails curled over his legs in response as Stanford and Stanley let go.

"This is too weird," Stanley muttered. "I'm gonna go get Crescent." He turned and walked out of the house.

Maria looked at Sixer with a worried expression, then adjusted how the Lunar Wing sat behind his ear, just in case he moved.

"What sort of item is that?" Stanford leaned over a little to get a better look at the shimmering, yellow-green feather.

"It keeps nightmares away," Maria replied. "If he's gonna be sleeping for long, it'll help make it more restful."

"Ah." Stanford nodded, then stepped away. "I'm going to see if I can help Stanley—"

"Yer, a person, not somethin' less," Stanley said as he brought Crescent into the house. It was clear that the changeling was exhausted; his legs were giving out under him. "If I have ta beat that inta yer skull, then so be it. But I'm not gonna use ya. That'd be stupid."

With that, Stanley dropped Crescent onto the couch across from Sixer's, Crescent falling unconscious as soon as he came into contact with it.

Stanley turned to look at Stanford and Maria as Sphinx and Mizar came inside, carrying Star and Pine. "He stopped actin'."

Maria nodded wordlessly. She looked back at Sixer, just to make sure that he wasn't stirring in his sleep. His face was lax.

"I hope we can help them get better," Maria said worriedly.

"It's more likely that we won't be able to," Stanford replied as Mizar came back into the room, carrying blankets.

"We got Star and Pine in bed," Mizar said. She looked worried as she dropped the blankets on the coffee table in the middle of the room. "Alcor said that there's a lot of damage."

Maria grabbed one immediately and threw it over Sixer with a quick, practiced flick of her wrists. "I'm not surprised. Tech mind control is one thing to recover from, but this is a whole new ballgame."

"Tech—" Stanford cut himself off. "Oh, yes. Right."

Stanley gave his brother a curious look. Stanford caught sight of it and looked over at Maria with a slightly raised eyebrow.

"Let's just say that a bunch of people have tried to control me because of my abilities," Maria said. "It hasn't ended well." She looked at Sixer. "So I kinda know what to do, but…I haven't been on this end of things before. The…the one pulling the strings, instead of being pulled."

Stanford winced a little at the analogy while Stanley frowned.

Mizar nodded. "Think you can help them get better?"

"I intend to help as much as I can, yeah." Maria adjusted how the blanket lay on Sixer a little, then turned and looked at the three. "Might as well let them sleep. No use standing over them like this in case they need anything." She sighed. "As much as I hate to leave them be."

Stanford stepped forward and placed a hand on Maria's shoulder. "It's only their first day, and you've done well so far. I'm sure they'll be fine tonight."

Maria paused for a moment, then nodded. "I'd better find a place to sleep, then."

"We have a guest room." Stanford looked over at Stanley. "Do you think—"

"Yeah, it'll be fine," Stanley grunted in reply. "Come on; might as well get ya settled in."