'This is absolutely ridiculous.'
"Hey, Miyu! I finished moving that bed into the room like you wanted me to!"
Miyu looked over her shoulder, away from the hot stove and towards the rather eager and overly happy human standing in the doorway. She was at first, doubtful of that because of how quickly he had done the job and how unfazed he was of moving that heavy bed seven rooms down all by himself. Still, Raye was not one to lie and be able to make eye-contact, which she established with him using her most inquisitive look possible.
"You did? Well alright then," Miyu said with a shrug as Raye moved to the table, beaming to himself. "Dinner is almost ready."
"Smells delicious!" he said after a long sniff.
Miyu's body flinched at the compliment before becoming warm. She was never the best cook, having usually eaten out at a restaurant or letting someone else do it who didn't sometimes either burn or undercook something. Still, if there was one thing she liked, it was all the positive reinforcement she was receiving from the human of late. Whether she knew it or not, Raye had already figured this out, and though he was exploiting it for his own personal gains, such as a warm meal that he didn't have to cook personally, it was helping the lynx cope with this bizarre and precarious situation they were in.
"Oh come on," Miyu purred, flipping one of the steaks of mystery meat over one last time before coating it in a layer of spice. "It's not that good."
Raye's stomach growled as if on cue, "I beg to differ, Miyu. It's been ages since I had a good, home-cooked meal. Shit. It's been so long since I've eaten anything that makes me happy I can taste!"
Miyu was positively roaring like a motor at the man's praise. Her wide smirk broke into a grin that she kept hidden far better than she did her purring. Her paws now rather lovingly rubbed the spices into the cooked chop of steak. Unbeknownst to the feline, her tail was happily waving back and forth with a playful flick.
"Now you're just being nice," Miyu laughed.
"Not as nice as your food."
'Oh. My. God!' thought Miyu at the cheesiness of what he said. Regardless, she took comfort from all the sap and served herself and Raye up.
What pleasure she took from Raye's honeyed words was nothing in comparison to the face he made when he saw the steak coming towards him. His eyes widened, jaw dropped, and she could hear his hands grip the table, making it creak. Suppressing a giggle, a thought came to mind and Miyu waved the plate around. The giggle burst out when Raye's eyes and head followed the plate like a begging dog.
"Here! Eat up you, stupidhead!" Miyu laughed and put the plate down in front of the starving human.
Miyu sat down across from him and laid a napkin down on her lap. She picked up her fork and knife ready to eat, yet something drew her attention to Raye, or rather, nothing drew her attention. Instead of seeing blurred motions where Raye and his plate should be, she found him resting his head on his clasped hands, eyes closed, and silently whispering something.
"What are you doing?" Miyu asked, starting to feel jilted as for every moment he was not eating, the food she had prepared was getting cold and going to waste.
Raye opened his eyes, "Just a little something a good friend of mine recommended to me."
Miyu had to stop herself from blurting out "you have friends?" and instead asked, "Your friend?"
Raye slowly picked up the fork and knife, even though it clearly pained him not to tear into the steak like a ravenous wolf does a dying deer. A small grin crossed his face as memories were recounted in his mind.
"Old Caddy," he said with chuckle, methodically cutting into his steak. "An old Bible thumper if there ever was one. He handles your kind if we take prisoners."
Ignoring that last comment, Miyu furthered the conversation as it was finally a peak into the person she had been surviving with for the couple of months.
"What's a bi-bell thumper?"
Raye didn't answer at first and instead stabbed the piece of steak he had cut for himself. Miyu watched with bated breath as Raye pulled his first bite to his maw. Part of her couldn't care less if he despised it and refused to eat another bite and thus go to bed hungry. Another part of her wanted him to choke just a little. Yet there was that stronger part of her that craved the attention, adoration, and approval of others. If he really did choke on it or hate it, it would hurt her more than it would please.
"Oh my god," Raye said over the steak in his mouth. He moaned loudly in his throat, chewing slowly and rolling the steak around his mouth to expose every inch of his tastebuds to the glory that was Miyu's steak. "You really outdid yourself."
Miyu's heart skipped a beat and she could feel her face and ears grow hot and red. Before she could thank him, the man continued his cutting and little story.
"To answer your question, it's just a bad-word for someone who is of a faith. And please, if you ever do meet Caddy, do NOT tell him I called him a Bible thumper. The man's bigger than me and "hit's harder than the hand of gawd!" Raye laughed nervously.
"He's bigger than you!?" Miyu gapped, hardly believing that to be true.
Raye nodded but allowed himself another bite before continuing, "Oh yeah! I'm not all that big, just pretty damn cut. Caddy though, that man could pick me up over his head and crush me if he gets pissed off! Bastard had me covered in bruises and a broken nose before I could get him to calm down after his last little outburst."
Miyu frowned, "He's sounds horrible."
Raye shook his head and laughed, "No. He really isn't. Only when someone mistreats one of yours. You should see how well he treats you guys. Smiles are all around the brig when he comes around. All the while he stuffs more and more of that ancient religion down their throats. Funny thing is, most of them listen!"
"Do you not?" Miyu asked, gently stabbing her steak as her hunger had taken a backseat to her innate curiosity.
Raye shrugged and cut more of his steak, "Not really. It's all old stories and fairytales, if you ask me. Never had a god, never needed one. Though that hasn't kept Cadfael from telling me about Him."
Miyu smirked to herself, "I think it's nice that some people still hold to faith."
Raye looked at Miyu with a most peculiar look, "I think Caddy would really like you. He'd make a believer out of you yet."
Miyu tried not to scoff at that, as it was truly ridiculous in of itself. Miyu had never been really religious her entire life, never went to church, never really prayed before, at least officially. Sure, she allowed herself to believe there was the possibility of a god out there somewhere controlling everything, but never would she think that a human god would be the true and right god before any of the many differing gods in Lylatian cultures.
"You gonna eat that?" Raye asked, pointing at the lynx's steak.
"What? Oh, yes, yes," Miyu said and dug into her steak finally.
Much to Miyu's disappointment, she didn't get anything further out of Raye. Though, when they were both done, Raye took all the dishes and washed them, much to Miyu's relief. If there was anything she hated, it was getting her hands soggy and wet, and getting the normally soft fur on her paws grungy.
As time wore on, Miyu and Raye eventually found themselves back in the bedroom and ready to fall asleep, though this time, things were a little different. Miyu pulled back the rather soft covers of her own bed, the scent of fresh strawberries emanating off of her. She noticed that Raye had stopped talking and looking at her ever since she climbed out of the shower, though she didn't think much of it. Instead, all she thought of was how great it felt to finally curl up in a bed of her own and sprawl out as much as she wanted without the fear of batting a human in the face or accidently kicking him!
"Ah!" sighed the lynx.
"Goodnight, Miyu," said Raye, already in bed and on his side facing away from the lynx.
"Goodnight, Raye," Miyu sang, feeling more giddy than sleepy as she nestled deeper into her beds.
'Ah, I'm just a big, fluffy ball of warmey-warms! I never wanna leave this bed!' thought the lynx, quietly giggling to herself.
Eventually the novelty of having her own bed was overcome and the lynx settled in to get some sleep. She nuzzled up into the pillow, hugging it tightly and grinning widely. Everything felt so right in that instant. Her body was relaxed, she was free to spread out in her own bed, her belly was full, her head lovingly supported by the pillow, and her gorgeous blue eyes closed and ready for sleep. Yet several long minutes turned into hours, and for whatever reason, sleep eluded her.
'Why am I not sleeping?' Miyu wondered to herself. 'I am tired, and I'm comfortable enough to pass out, yet… just what the hell is going on?'
Miyu's ears swiveled around impatiently and it dawned on her that there was a missing white noise through all this. She pulled her face away from her pillow and with her keen feline eyes, saw Raye lying in bed, unmoving, but also not making a sound when usually by now, half the air in the room was noisily rolling into his nostrils.
"R-Raye?" Miyu whispered, hardly expecting a response.
"Yeah?" Raye whispered back.
"Are you asleep yet?"
"Uh… no," Raye grunted rather smarmily.
"Don't get smart with me," Miyu growled. "Why are you not asleep?"
"I'm… just not," Raye sighed, the sound of his body moving against the bed reached the feline's ears.
The lynx let out a long winded sigh. She tried going to sleep again and it took almost another hour for her to finally slip under. Yet for all her bed was worth and how comfortable it was, it was perhaps the worst sleep of her life. It felt like she woke up every five minutes just to realize she was awake and then fall asleep again. Her body tossed and turned, her back started to twinge and tweak a little, and for whatever reason, she always felt cold.
After several grueling hours of that torture, Miyu decided enough was enough and got out of bed. Her eyes still had heavy bags under them and she slowly stumbled out of the room and into the piercing white light of the hallway. Without much of a direction, Miyu headed down the hallway and walked around for several minutes until she found herself standing in front of the garden door.
A small smile came to her sleepy face and she opened the door. Instantly the cool air of the garden washed over her body. She took a deep sniff and savored all the smells from the dirt ground, the sap oozing from the trees, and the heavenly aroma of the flowers waving happily in the breeze. She walked quickly past the crushed carcass of the robot to the nearest tree to rest against. Looking down to her left, she saw a beautiful blue, green, and yellow flower dancing in the moonlight. Her paw reached out to pluck it but as her fingers pinched its stem she thought better of it.
Miyu sighed and leaned her head back against the trunk. As tired as she was, she was starting to feel more and more depressed. The crushing sense of loneliness started to loom over her like the fake clouds were doing to the moon above. The lynx looked up and was so grateful that the clouds changed course last second and allowed the moon to shine down its borrowed light. For some reason, the fake moon above her held Miyu's gaze and it reminded her of home. Though the stars were all wrong and the radiant Z nebula was nowhere to be seen, she felt closer to home gazing up at the moon than she had in what felt like years.
"I want to go home," she whispered to herself for the millionth time with a million more to come. "Fuck this planet, fuck this place, and fuck this war with the stupid humans," she scowled, feeling more bile roll off her tongue with that last word than all the curses before it.
"Miyu?"
The sound of the human's voice made the vixen shiver and then her fur bristle. The last thing she wanted right now, was to even see the human. The fresh, wet trails running down from her eyes were too embarrassing. Miyu stood up and quickly and quietly delved deeper into the woods. She heard Raye's calls grow softer with every step but did not stop until she was hidden away in the unexpectedly large garden's trees.
Having yet to explore it fully, Miyu continued to trek through the forest, being careful not to leave a trail. The forest was untamed, having no animals nor people to trodden through it so callously and make any kinds of trails. The trees were tall, thick, and very unfamiliar, making her miss her beloved palm-trees of Zoness. She reached to one longingly, pretending it wasn't the rough bark she was really feeling but instead the soft, smooth bark of a palm-tree.
"Miyu?"
'Oh, just fuck off!' Miyu thought to herself, snapping out of her delusion and scampering further away from the human.
The feline looked behind herself to see if Raye was still hounding after her, yet when she turned back her flight halted.
"You will always find what you're looking for when you aren't looking for it."
Miyu rolled her eyes at her mother's voice and proverb and stepped to the door before her with a great bold words "Control Room" imposed on it. The door opened with the typical whoosh and hiss. The control room was musty and reeked of recycled air. A layer of dust coated everything from walls to the floor to the consoles. Her nose wrinkled before letting off a dainty sneeze.
"The one place that isn't clean and sterilized all to hell… of course," Miyu scowled and let off another curse when she found the control room was without power.
It took a good minute of searching to find the circuit breaker box and jimmy it open. Yet another good minute and she located the breakers to the control room.
"Let's see, climate control, light fixtures, water controls- communications relay!" Miyu gasped and flipped all the circuits that were off to on.
The room hummed and buzzed with life anew. Control consoles illuminated, as did Miyu's smile. First things first, Miyu rushed to the communications relay and began hammering at the buttons. She had a distress call on all channels and wavelengths ready to go, yet when she tried to broadcast it, she was denied.
"Denied? Denied!? What in the merciless hell is this about?" barked the feline, smashing her fists on the console. "Transmit you damn machi- …would I like to boot the VI? No I don't want to boot up that useless… UGH! Fine," she scowled when she couldn't do anything until she booted up the facility's Virtual Intelligence….
~X~X~X~X~X~X~
"Well here it goes!" the Watcher sighed to himself as he awaited the faux-loading bar to fill up. "I suppose this was going to happen sooner or later, but not this soon. I guess it's true what they say about cats and their curiosity. Virtual Intelligence Vinnie, online!"
"About time," the lynx scowled, moving the chocolate-brown hair out of her eyes. "Hey, Vinnie! Give me access to facility controls!"
"Oh you're just a treat," the Watcher said to himself before masking his voice as a soulless automaton. "I'm sorry, I'm afraid I can not grant you administrative authority without the express permission of Captain Adelson."
"There's no one else here but me!" Miyu huffed. "I am the captain now!"
"Scanning… confirmed," the Watcher said, not wanting to argue with the feline seeing as how well it worked out for Raye all the time. "You are now the new captain, Captain Lynx."
A devious smile curled across Miyu's cute little muzzle, "Good. First order of business, transmit my distress call on all channels."
"Yeah, okay. Like I'm going to let my two favorite lab rats go free!" the Watcher laughed to himself but "acknowledged" the order.
"Now, tell me what this place is and what happened here. Why am I being gassed all the time?"
"Captain Lynx, this facility is the living quarter annex for the research facility. Records indicate that the rampant research drone is at fault for your gassings," the Watcher lied through his teeth, extremely glad that Miyu could not see him else she would know just by the devious look he was making.
"Rampant research drone," said Miyu flatly, obviously very skeptical.
"First signs of rampancy began almost thirty years ago. As time went on without proper memory wipe and CPU replacements, the drone's directives became muddled and assumed communal charge of the station," the Watcher explained.
"And what about the people here? What happened to them?" Miyu asked as she folded her arms across her chest.
"Sadly according to records, due to the course of the Great Lylat War, the research this facility was in charge of was compromised. High levels of radiation from the research wing leaked into the annex and killed all the researchers and their families almost thirty years ago," the Watcher revealed to the lynx.
"So…" Miyu asked, beginning to look around the room with a worried eye, "am I going to sprout a second tail and kill over?"
"No, Captain. The rampant research unit scoured the compound of the radiation, as well as buried the cancerous, tumor ridden bodies," the Watcher managed to say before laughing to himself at Miyu's concern. "It was, however, unable to gain access to the research compound and scour it. I so very highly advise you stay out of that wing, lest you succumb to radiation poisoning."
Miyu nodded her head, "Noted. Do you have access to any external networks? Like the Lylat Legacy Line?"
"Negative. We're too far from the nearest satellite relay and can only broadcast a transmission trough this solar system," the Watcher said as he closed a tab an open browser page to the LLL with Miyu's social media page on it.
Miyu sighed as it became apparent to her that although they had a solar system-wide transmission going, it was still only about as effective as throwing a message in a bottle out to sea. Of course, the Watcher would never allow the remotest chance of his newest pet-project to leave, or possibly expose himself.
"So what about you? Why were you powered down during all this? How long have you been here?" Miyu asked, starting to get a little personal.
The Watcher smiled to himself, "I have always been here, I have always been watching, though to save myself from rampancy, I had my CPU in hibernation so to avoid rampancy. Everything older than a week was deleted in a never ending, vicious loop. So to answer your question, I've been here for almost fifty years."
"Fifty years!?" Miyu gapped, hardly able to wrap her mind around that. "But this is so far out into deep space! The nearest colony is about five thousand light years away, and that was settled only thirty years ago! Just… just what kind of shit were you all getting into?"
"Oh you have no idea," the Watcher mused but fed Miyu a cock and bull story about how she was not authorized to know.
"What do you mean I'm not authorized? I'm the captain, aren't I?" she hissed, tail starting to flick about.
"Yes, Captain. You are indeed the captain, but of the living quarter annex only. Your authority does not extend to the research wing."
"Why not!? I'm the only Cornerian here left! I should have absolute control!"
The Watcher's lips curled up into a sadistic smirk, "Begging your pardon, Captain, but the original residents of this compound were not Cornerian."
Miyu's face twisted into one of fear. Seeing it change from skepticism to fear so quickly nearly made the Watcher burst out laughing. It suddenly dawned on him why it was so much fun for Raye to tease her. From the way her tail curled into her body, her ears drooped, and her eyes grew wide, it was so sadistically funny.
"You're… you're," the feline gulped, "a Venomian program?"
The Watcher rolled his eyes, "If only you knew, my dense little kitty-cat. Yes, Captain. I am," answered the Watcher, omitting his first comment.
"Shit," Miyu cursed to herself, sounding more like a little squeak. Her eyes darted to the door and the Watcher saw that her vitals were rising rapidly. "There's no telling what kind of atrocious shit's been going on here!"
"Captain, your vitals are increasing rapidly," said the Watcher in a very calm tone when on the inside he was positively cracking up. "Do you require medical aid?"
"N-No! I'm fine," Miyu said as she began to slowly tiptoe towards the door. "So… are you everywhere in the compound?"
"My reach extends to the public areas and hallways, not the living quarters," the Watcher answered her with a devilish smirk and a roll of his eyes.
Miyu let out a sigh of relief, "Good. I don't want you watching me while I'm in the shower or anything."
"Why? Embarrassed of what we do during those little, extra-long showers?" chuckled the Watcher darkly.
"Alright, I'm going to go now. Just uh… carry on then," Miyu squeaked and scampered out the door, allowing the Watcher to throw his head back and laughed harder than he had in what felt like eons.
~X~X~X~X~X~X~
Raye trudged through the hallway like a zombie. Like Miyu, he too was exhausted and tired but was unable to find sleep easily. So, without anything better to do, he decided to go for a walk when he found that Miyu had done the same. This was the fourth time he'd roved the compound's halls and checked every room looking for the lynx. He'd figured she'd gone into the garden but he had no desire to go looking for her in that faux-forest. He tried calling out but if she was in there, she didn't care to answer.
'God my back hurts,' Raye thought as his lower back twinged rather painfully. 'I can't remember the last time my back hurt this bad. Probably when we were flying twelves and every time I got in my cot, my back would seize up and I couldn't even move!' Raye sighed, 'I'm getting' old and I'm not even at the half way mark!'
Before long, Raye found his way into the kitchen and into a big box of Goodboys. As much as he was still upset at Miyu for making him beg like a animal for these, they were really good. Almost like a watered down chocolate richness with a raspberry-ish kick at the end. He wolfed down about three of them before closing the box back up with more for later.
"RAYE!" Miyu shouted, scaring the bejesus out of the human.
"I only ate three!" Raye cried out, throwing his hands up in the air and a vast haul of candy bars with them.
The lynx ran over to him and he readied himself for another fight. Instead, Miyu grabbed him by the collar of his gray shirt and started hauling him out of the kitchen. Raye tried to protest but the look of concern on Miyu's face worried him. He followed her to the bedroom and then, much to his surprise, the bathroom where Miyu promptly locked the door and jumped into the shower.
"Get in!" she hissed.
"Uh…" said Raye before he was yanked into the shower. "Miyu! What is wrong with-"
Miyu clamped a paw on his mouth and whispered, "This is a Venomian facility!"
'What in the hell is she talking about!?'
Shaking off Miyu's hand, Raye said, "Miyu I don't know what a Pneumonian even is!"
"They're horrible people! They tried to take over the Lylat years ago and almost succeeded! Raye, we need to leave, right now!"
Raye shivered, "And go where? There's nothing out there for us but cold and death!"
Miyu's ears laid back, "Raye, please! We can't stay here! Venomians are bad news."
The human shook his head, "I'm sorry Miyu, buy we can't leave. We have no weapons, no idea where we are, and hardly any supplies. Besides, no one lives here anymore but us, so it's fine. We have plenty of food and once we get your communicator working again, we-"
What happened next nearly caused Raye's heart to wrench into a knot. Miyu's ears laid back against her head and her eyes gave him the saddest, most pleading look he'd ever seen.
"Please, Raye. We can not stay here!" she whimpered, pushing Raye over the edge.
Raye's jaw tightened and he felt sick to his stomach. With a long regretful sigh, Raye nodded his head.
"Okay. We'll leave."
Her smile was a reward in itself. The human and the lynx climbed out of the shower and instantly began packing. Miyu quickly grabbed every edible thing sealed and packaged that would last without refrigeration while Raye grabbed some of the more useful cooking wear and other tools he could find.
"Alright, are you ready?" Miyu asked as she came bounding into the room with an armful of Goodboys.
"Just about," Raye said, tying together a rucksack made out of some of the multiple pairs of identical gray clothes. "Put those in here."
Miyu dumped the candy bars into the sack and quickly donned it. She and Raye now both wore their old dirty flight clothes but with multiple layers of the soft, cottony clothes underneath for added protection.
"That's everything. We can always come back for the rest of the stuff later," Raye said, grabbing his own heavier rucksack.
"I don't even want to look at this place again," Miyu scowled darkly as she trudged out of the room, adjusting the backpack as she went.
'Just what in the fuck is a Smithsonian, and why does it frighten her so?' Raye wondered as he followed Miyu to the large sliding doors that led to the cold, unforgiving Hell. 'Whatever it is, she fears it more than what's waiting for us outside-'
"Excuse me, Captain, but where are you going?" asked Vinnie, nearly scaring the bejesus out of Raye a second time.
"WHO THE FUCK IS THAT!?" Raye shouted, throwing his fists up and ready to clobber whoever just snuck on them.
"We'll be right back, Vinnie," Miyu lied as they neared the door. "We have some business on the outside, now open the door."
"I'm afraid I can't do that, Captain."
"Why not!?"
"Because of the raging snowstorm outside. Were I to open the doors, I would not be able to reclose them and the temperatures outside would lead to your untimely demise," Vinnie reported as Miyu started to stress out.
"Ugh! Fine! When will the storm pass?"
"By my estimates, the storm should pass in the next thirty-seven days."
The lynx's muzzle fell, prompting Raye to ask, "What's the matter? What are you guys talking about? Who even is that!?"
"Thirty-seven… we're stuck here for thirty-seven days, Raye!" Miyu shouted in his language and flew off into a rage.
Miyu took off her rucksack and threw it on the ground. She let out a loud howl of anger, frustration, and rage before punching the wall, denting the reinforced drywall and bruising her knuckles. Before she could do it again, Raye grabbed her shoulder. She tried to shake him off but his grip was too firm yet surprisingly not painful.
"Relax. Everything is going to be fine," he said with a very deep voice, grabbing Miyu's attention and reigning her in. "We'll leave when the time is right. For now, let's just sleep on it."
The lynx shook his hand off her shoulder but seemed to listen. She picked up the sack and carried it in her hand back to the room, stomping the entire way.
"Just who is that, anyways?" Raye asked on their way back to the bedroom.
"Vinnie, he's a… he's a thing," Miyu said pointing at her busted wristcom.
It took a moment for Raye to realize, but it clicked after enough gear turning in his head, "I think I understand. He's not real?" Miyu nodded. "That's good. Is he the one gassing us?" Again she shook her head.
"It was that robot, so Vinnie says," Miyu mumbled, opening the bedroom door and throwing the sack on her bed.
Raye felt a little peeved by how she was treating their supplies, but he quickly forgot about it when Miyu flopped down on his bed.
"Ah, ah, ah, ah! What are you doing?" Raye asked, putting his pack by the door and quickly stepping out of his nasty flightsuit and the extra layers of clothes he'd put on.
Miyu took off her jacket and flung it to the ground, "I'm going back to sleep," she said, now working on her flight suit pants.
"Not in my be-"
"I'm not sleeping in that bed," Miyu growled, rubbing her back. "That bed sucks!"
Raye ambled up to the bed and grabbed Miyu's ankle and started dragging her off his bed, "Get off!"
Miyu yelped and tried to kick his hand off her ankle, "No! Let go of me!"
Just as she began to slip off the bed, Miyu managed to escape Raye's grasp and then dove under the covers. Raye let out a frustrated grunt and dove after her.
"Miyu! Damn it!" he growled, grabbing at Miyu as she wrapped herself up in the blankets like a purrito.
"Really?" Raye huffed when he tried to go for the blankets again but Miyu rolled away.
"Go away! You snore, and you hog the blankets!" Miyu purred as she snuggled up into her blanket wrap.
The man's teeth began to grind together, "Miyu! I'm tired and I'm cranky, now get out or I'll do something you won't like!"
"Do your worst!" Miyu said with a dismissive wave of the hand, though under the covers and unseen by the now reddening human.
Like a flame on the wick, Raye's wrath ignited and he jumped onto the bed. Miyu squealed with fright and somewhat delight as Raye scooped her up and lifted her off the bed. The lynx tried to struggle but her whole body was trapped in the sheets that it was impossible to do anything but squirm.
"Raye! Raye? Where are you taking me!?" Miyu wanted to know, her voice hinted with a small squeak of worry.
The dark-eyed man did not answer though it quickly became clear when they walked into the bathroom and he turned on the shower, setting the water to the coldest setting.
"No! NO, NO, NO!" Miyu screamed, not wanting to get doused with very, very cold water.
"Are you going to stop!?" Raye asked, pulling the lynx's face away from the water to get his answer.
"Y-Yes! Just don't spray me with cold water, you stupidhead!" shouted the wildcat.
Satisfied with her answer, Miyu watched helplessly as Raye turned off the shower and brought her back to the bed where she unrolled herself to let Raye back under the covers. As Raye slid back into the bed, it dawned on her that the whole time he was carrying her, he did so with just one arm.
"Now get out of my bed," Raye chuckled while Miyu unfurled herself.
Miyu sat-up on the bed and sighed pountingly. The lynx strode over to her own bed and sat down. Raye huffed and laid down in his bed. Even after a half-an-hour of trying to make himself tired enough to sleep, Raye's body still refused to allow itself to rest. He groaned and tried rolling over onto his side to see if that was better, but he found Miyu staring at him.
"Hey," he said, eyes shifting uncomfortably.
"Hey yourself," Miyu grunted.
'Uh oh.' Raye took a deep breath and considered his next step in the minefield that was Miyu's temper. 'Don't try to fix it. You'll only fuck it up and make it worse! Just. Leave. It. Alone-'
"Are you alright, Miyu?"
'FUCK!'
Miyu hugged herself and looked away, "I'm fine."
'I'm dead.'
Raye sat up and clasped his hands together between his legs, "Please don't do this. I apologize."
"You don't even know what you're apologizing about!" Miyu hissed, her claws digging into the sheets. "No wait… I'm sorry, too."
Raye's hands began to fidget as Miyu's mood travelled further and further south, "Do… do you wanna… talk?"
Miyu brushed the hair out of her eyes, "I thought we were talking."
The man let off a small smile at the bemused smirk of the lynx, "So what's a Vandorian?"
"Venomian," Miyu spat like she would a curse. "They're terrible people. They killed lots of people in a war and attacked my home planet!"
"I see," said Raye, watching Miyu's face for even the smallest of movements to help him key in his approach, "and is your home planet alright?"
Miyu nodded her head, "Yeah. Thanks to Kesmo Vulen," she said as a small smile scrawled across her face. "Hell, I think it's because of them I became a pilot. Fox especially," she added with a girlish giggle.
"Is he your boyfriend?" Raye teased, getting just the reaction from her he wanted and also a pillow to the face.
"Shut up!" Miyu laughed before getting the pillow back, though it failed to hit and whizzed right past her head. "No. He is not my boyfriend," Miyu purred and made herself comfortable. "He is my… well I like him a lot and respect him. He's very brave, strong, handsome, good at flying…"
As Miyu stretched every ounce of her Germanic knowledge trying to describe her little "hero," Raye noticed just how blushed and red she was becoming. At first he thought it was frustration trying to come up with the ample words, but then she let out a swooning sigh. For whatever reason, this "Fox" person was not impressing Raye in the slightest. He actually sounded like quite the tool for some reason.
"He sounds impressive," Raye said with the most genuine tone he could muster. Luckily it was convincing enough for Miyu to buy it.
"He really is," she said with a wide, predatory grin. "He saved my home and me!"
Raye nodded his head, "That's good. But uh… who was that guy talking earlier?"
Miyu's smile instantly disappeared in favor of a frown, "Vinnie. He's harmless but very annoying."
"I can't understand him at all, though I have to agree," Raye grunted getting a laugh from the both of them.
"Once I get my communicator working again, I'll upload what I have of your language into him. You'll be able to talk to him and he'll translate from then on."
"Great," Raye said very flatly, getting another giggle from the lynx. "Until then, I'll be in the gym."
Miyu crossed her arms and scowled, "Is that all you do? Don't you ever have fun?"
"Going to the gym, is fun," said Raye and looked Miyu over for a quick second. "Maybe you should give it a try?"
Miyu's eyes froze over in a heartbeat, "What's that supposed to mean?"
The cold ire in her eyes was strong enough to freeze the very blood in the man's veins. Rather than answer her though, he bolted out of the room before she could pick up anything to be used as a projectile or smash over his head.