Dont touch my food

Content Warning From Part 1 Applies

Smiling, I watched him leave before heading to heat up the venison steak. I was starving , I realized, having had almost zero food after retrieving a half drowned branch, learning a sentient tank had a crush on me, trekking up one mountain, trekking down the other side, riding nearly full speed across a field, dealing with a semi-repentant branch, going fishing, dealing with a skunk sprayed nerd, then finally learning that a certain Sergeant Shaggy McStabby had a crush on me.

How did you literally forget lunch? How? I mean you had some strawberries but that ain't enough!

I impatiently watched the damn chunk of meat slowly rotate, mocking me as the timer seemed to drag on forever. Finally , after what had to be millennia, the timer beeped. Ripping the steak from the microwave and sitting at the counter barstool, I nearly forwent utensils and just devoured it like a feral alley cat before stopping myself. No, if I ate too quickly bad things would befall me and that was less than desirable. But it was an agonizingly slow process of cutting it up.

"Whatcha got there, Squeak?" Wrecker asked, reaching for my plate.

A fierce snarl erupted from my throat as I guarded my dinner, pointing the knife at him.

Wrecker quickly snatched his hand back to his chest as Tech sent a startled glance my way and Crosshair stared at me like I'd gone rabid.

Hunter's yell echoed down the hall. "What in the galaxy was that ?!"

"I uh... tried to touch Squeak's food!" Wrecker said, tucking his hand closer to his chest.

"Never touch a martial artist's vittles!" I retorted with a territorial hiss.

"Guess not," Crosshair remarked dryly, getting up and heading to the table. When I shot a warning look his way, he rolled his eyes. "Not after yours."

Only when I saw him grab a fish and head back to the couch to eat it did I relax, although I kept an eye on the tank behind me.

"So, Squeaky," Wrecker ventured, careful to stay away from my food. "Where were you and the Sarge?"

My mood immediately went from hostile to sheepish. "Well, Wrecker... guess my crack-headed and erratic shenanigans has somehow gotten two of you to fall for me," I said, focusing on my steak.

The hearty slap on my back nearly sent me into the counter in front of me.

"Congrats, Squeaky!" he laughed. "You won over the Sarge!"

"Finally, di'kut admitted it," Crosshair muttered, putting seasoning of some sort on his fish.

"You knew?" I asked, tail flicking back and forth.

"I'm the opposite of blind," came the dry remark.

"He also was not particularly subtle about it," Tech remarked, heading to tinker with his helmet.

"So, what'd he say? How'd you react?" Wrecker asked, leaning on the counter with a large grin on his face.

Closely guarding my plate, I wagged a finger at him. "That's nonya."

"What's nonya?"

"Nonya bis'nes," I smirked.

His grin turned downright sinister as he coiled like a cobra, ready to lunge forward and presumably get me in some sort of headlock. "Ol' Wreck is great at gettin' info outta people."

Begone, thoughts! Go be kinky somewhere else! "And Shadow is good at goin' feral and maulin'," I replied with a dark grin of my own as I readied myself to fend him off.

"Go to the bedroom if you're goin' to flirt. Can't eat in this environment," Crosshair hissed our way.

Wrecker snorted. "You're just jealous, Cross!"

"Jealous?" Crosshair looked me over. "Hardly."

Despite my best efforts, my tail subtly bristled and my ears twitched backwards. "Hey, my self esteem issues are bad enough without that look!" I said, tone joking but tinged with a hint of genuine hurt.

Wrecker threw an arm around me. "I for one think you're stunnin', Squeak."

I rolled my shoulders under the warm weight of the muscular limb. "Thanks, Wrecker." I poked his ribs with my elbow. "Now shoo, lemme eat."

"Sure I can't have a piece-"

A hiss interrupted him.

He held up his hands and backed away before going after the cooked fish.

I looked over at Tech as he sat on the floor fiddling with his helmet. Thankfully he'd cleaned his armor too so the skunk stink was just a bad memory. "Hey, Techie, should be some strawberries left in the fridge."

"I'll eat later," he mumbled, preoccupied.

Shrugging and leaving the nerd to his work, I finished off the steak and started to clean the plate as Hunter stepped out of the shower.

His sleepwear blacks had also been slashed just like Wrecker's, but higher up the sleeve and his pants had been cut short. He held his bandana in his hand, leaving his dried hair free to fluff out.

Wavy haired boi.

"Alright, Ice. All yours."

I twitched my ears. "Thanks Sarge. No one else needs to get in right? The next trail shelter doesn't have a shower so I'll be in there a bit."

A chorus of no's and a grunt from Crosshair told me I was free to go, and I grabbed my pack before I left to wash off.

The hot water on my back was immensely satisfying, as was seeing the dirt wash away down the drain. My tail was a task and a half, and more than once I knocked the shampoo bottle across the room at high speed. A quick "nothing broke!" kept the boys away luckily, and after what had to be an hour I finally finished.

Drying off and finding a hair drier for my hair and tail, I changed into my own sleep clothes; black basketball shorts with a broad red stripe down the sides and a black T-shirt. I usually slept in a tank top but given I was sharing the bed with Tech...

No need to cause trouble.

I came back into the living room to find Crosshair and Hunter locked in a rather intense game of cards, Sabbac maybe, while Wrecker lounged on the couch and Tech still sat tinkering, this time on Wrecker's helmet.

Wrecker looked up as I walked up and his eyes widened. "Woah! Your tail is fluffy!"

Hunter lifted his eyes from his cards at this and sent a grin my way. "You were right, Icy."

"It's a frizzy mess, you two. I ain't brushed it yet," I said, heading to sit beside Wrecker on the couch.

He looked a bit sheepish before asking, "Can I brush it?"

I thought about that for a moment before saying, "Sure. Just stay a foot from the base."

"Thanks, Squeak!" he exclaimed as I handed him a brush from my bag and shifted to let him reach the tail easier.

" Well what can I say, except, you're welcome !" I sang with a laugh. For years I'd been super self-conscious about my singing voice, but at this point I'd accepted it was bad and sang anyway. Felt good to do.

Wrecker's eyes widened as Hunter sent a glance my way. "You can sing?!" the demolition expert exclaimed.

I had to laugh again. "Not well, but that's never stopped me from doing something before!"

"Can you sing a song you know?" he asked, grinning ear to ear with child-like enthusiasm.

"I can but ain't sure y'all want screwdrivers in your ears..."

"Naw, c'mon! You sound great!" Wrecker protested.

"No complaints from me," Hunter added.

I flicked my ears. "Well, guess I can! Just remember, y'all asked for this." I frowned thoughtfully. "What to sing, what to sing..."

"Want somethin' dark."

I twisted my head around and stared in shock at the speaker. "Is that a song request from the sardonic sniper himself? "

Brown eyes narrowed as he rolled the toothpick to the other side of his mouth. "Want a twist, too."

"Complex as ever," I retorted, rolling my eyes. "You're a hard man to please, ram'ser ."

He gave me a faint smirk in return. "Too hard for you, sweetheart?"

I mirrored his smirk. "Hardly. Alrighty, Mister Crosshair. Your wish is my command. One dark song with a twist, comin' right up. This is a personal favorite of mine called In All My Dreams I Drown ."

"Perfect," Crosshair remarked.

I rolled my eyes once more and began, " The ship, it swayed, , o . And I held tight to the Captain's might, as he pulled up his ."

Oh rad, the self insert gave me functional vocal cords.

" You haven't slept, heave ho, he said i Oh, I will sleep when we reach shore, and pray we get there soon. He said, Now hush love, here's your gown. There's the bed, lantern's down. But I don't want to go to sleep; in all my dreams, I drown ."

Wrecker's hand had gone still on my tail and even Tech had glanced up.

" The Captain howled, Heave ho, heave ho, and tied me up with sheets. A storm is brewing in the South, it's time to go to sleep. His berth, it rocks, heave ho, heave ho, the ocean gnashed and moaned. Like will be swallowed whole, and spat back teeth and bones. He said, Now hush love, here's your gown. There's the bed, lantern's down. But I don't want to go to sleep; in all my dreams, I drown ."

Oh this part might get a reaction...

" Captain! Captain! I will do your chores. I will warm your cot at night, and mop your cabin floors. Scold me, hold me. I'll be yours to keep. The only thing I beg of you, don't make me go to sleep ."

I turned my gaze to Crosshair. Here's your dark and twisted segment, Twiggs .

" The sky it flashed, heave ho, heave ho, his pillow dulled to the brink. The curtains ran between my legs as we began to sink ."

His eyes widened slightly before narrowing again.

" I closed my eyes, heave ho, heave ho, as the ship was rent and fell. Eddies in the water headed to the mouth of Hell ."

I allowed a look of panic to come over my face as I looked away and unfocused my eyes.

"Hush now, hush love, here's your gown. There's the bed, lantern's down. . In all my dreams I..."

I went silent, eyes wide with terror before grinning at Crosshair. "How was that?"

He chuckled. "It will do."

"I'll take it," I replied with a shrug and a smile.

"Where's the rest?" Tech demanded, leaning forward.

I grinned darkly. "That's where it cuts, Techie."

His face fell. "That's morbid!"

"Exactly!" I laughed.

"That why they call you Shadow?" Hunter asked from the armchair.

"No, I'm silent as a shadow and can take you out before you know I'm there," I snickered. "Lost count of how many people I've snuck up on, intentionally or not. One dude said he thought I teleported once!"

"Can you?" Tech asked.

I shook my head. "No, that's a Rageryan ability."

"Hold on," Hunter demanded. "Trevor could teleport if he wanted?"

"Yeah. Wears a Rag out to the point of unconsciousness, they can't do it through titanium, it's only planetary, and they have to know the exact coordinates of a place to do so. But they can teleport. Some can open portals if that's their power."

Tech grabbed his vambrace and started typing. "Each Rageryan has a special power?"

"In extremely rare cases, they can have two. Or, if they have the Stealer ability, they can copy another Rag's power." I frowned. "Or was it Mimic... I don't remember."

"What kind of powers do Rageryans have?" It was Hunter who asked.

"Without a list I couldn't tell you all of 'em. But it's things like Animal Speak, Beast Release, Tracker, invisibility, technopathy, some elemental powers, dream control, portal generation, ect. It's far more varied than Alphian powers, but we have more individually."

"Beast Release?" Wrecker echoed, brushing my tail again.

"Mid tier verging into high tier. Basically it's a massive power charge up. They get stronger, bigger, and feel no pain. Side effect is a weird red eyes thing, plus higher aggression."

"That sounds awesome!" Wrecker exclaimed.

Acey doesn't really think so... "It's got its ups and downs, just like anything else," I replied thoughtfully. "Usually Polars seem to get it more than Equatorials, which makes sense since it would benefit Polars in their environment more."

"Oh! So powers are prevalent based on environmental factors?" Tech asked.

"Any Rag can have any power, but some powers show up more in Polars while others in Equatorials."

Tech nodded. "I see! Where do Rageryans live?"

"Depends on the subspecies. Polars, which is what Trev has in him, are a very hardy species from the far northern regions. Evergreen forests, tundra, ice sheets, and mountains. Equatorials are, of course, closer to the equator and are leaner and smaller. Built for dense jungles or the fringes of humid savannahs."

"Speaking of jungle," Hunter spoke up. "What should we expect for the jungle tomorrow?"

"Honestly?" I sighed. "The only thing predictable about that jungle trek is its unpredictability. See, the normal trail loops back around the cove from here. We're heading out on the extreme hiker trail. Anything and everything could happen. As long as we don't meet a Howler, we're good."

Tech straightened. "What's a Howler?"

"Wolf-reptile hybrid with big nasty teeth." I mimicked a bite with my own teeth. "Over five meters long not counting the upper body."

"Upper body?" Wrecker asked, working on the white tip of my tail.

I flicked my ears. "You know what a taur is?"

While Wrecker shook his head, Tech nodded. "I've heard of them," the nerd began. "The lower body is animalistic but where the head should be a humanoid torso is grafted resulting in a strange beast."

"Yeah, that," I replied. "It's got a covering of shaggy fur along its dorsal side, plus scutes protruding from its back. The underbelly, face, and tail are scaly. It's a nasty critter, but the likelihood of it being on this planet is low."

"But the odds aren't zero?" Tech asked.

"Ha," I sarcastically laughed as Wrecker finished my tail. "When magic leaks get involved, the odds are never zero for anything."

"All the more reason to get some rest tonight," Hunter said. "I'll take first watch after we finish this game."

"I'll find the sheets for the couch," I offered.

"Already done," Crosshair spoke up, indicating the pile of sheets I didn't see earlier.

"Well, guess that's covered. Covers. Heh." I snorted with laughter.

"Is your brain a pumpkin yet?" Tech asked.

Hunter stared at him as if he'd grown two heads. "Is her brain a what ?"

"If it's really late my brain turns into a pumpkin aka I go off the rails," I explained.

"And she becomes very honest!"

"Coulda left that part out," I sighed.

"Honest, huh?" Wrecker chuckled, grinning at me.

"I think it's time I make a tactical retreat," I announced, standing and yoinking the brush from his grip. "Thanks for brushin' my tail, though."

"What, tired of us already?" Wrecker laughed.

"Nah man. Just... I'm an introvert. I need alone time or my social batteries die and I turn into Crosshair," I explained with a shrug before looking to Tech. "Take your time with that helmet."

"He will anyways," Hunter remarked.

"Figured so," I chuckled. "Just lettin' him know regardless."

"Thank you, Shadow." Suddenly Tech's brows furrowed. "But didn't you say last night that if a man and woman slept in the same bed people would assume they'd had intimate relations with each other?"

" Please! " Wrecker groaned, startling us both. "Just say 'fuck' ! Once! Just once! I have a bet with Crosshair to win!"

"You what ?!" Hunter demanded, glaring between him and Crosshair.

Crosshair shrugged. "Kid's got to harden up."

I slowly backed into the hallway. "Imma leave whatever this is." I gestured at the four of them. "As for that, Techie, I'm too tired to care. Also lowkey wanted to see your reaction to me saying that last night."

The nerd looked downright betrayed , eyes wide with hurt and mouth hanging open.

"Aw, c'mon Techie!" I laughed. "It was an experiment! For science!"

"That was an unethical experiment on an unwilling test subject," he pouted.

"Don't look at me like that, man. You looked like a kicked puppy!"

His pout immediately shifted into a grimace of anger. "I am not a puppy!"

"Sure, Techie," I laughed. "Sure." I looked around at the men, eyes lingering on each one but mainly Hunter and Wrecker. "Sarge. Wreck. Twiggs. I bid thee, good day." With a two fingered salute, I disappeared down the hall.