Rising Heat
The night sky gleamed brightly, flickering with stars that shone like candles moving back and forth gently from an unseen wind. Anybody who looked up could tell the difference from each star, having a different luminosity or size.
On a dusty plateau overlooking some nearby arid badlands, a Mother and her Daughter were sitting in foldable chairs, staring up into the night sky. It was human to stargaze, and many partook in it.
Atop the flat landscape overlooking the dry plains below, the Daughter surveyed the area. She was a girl of about ten, leaning back and looking upwards, as was her mother. Her mother was in her thirties at least, having a tired expression on pretty much always it seemed. The daughter spoke up, tugging her mother's shirt sleeve and pointing up to a patch of stars that were rather elongated from top to bottom.
"Oh! Mom, what's that one?" she would say with an enthusiasm only found in children. Her mother smiled a little, her lips forming only a half-smile.
"Ohhh you mean that skinny one? That's the little dipper sweetie, It's an old earth constellation. I'm surprised we can still see it from here."
The dark sky had many other kinds of star tracings, but what stood out on this night wasn't exactly any constellations. In fact, one large flash of light in the sky drew the attention of both the daughter and the mother. With good reason too, as the bright flickering light got closer and closer.
"Mommy? What's..that?" she asked, pointing to the flash of light that was getting closer. The girl's mom quickly stood up and took the hand of her daughter who seemed more curious than scared.
Damian was only half asleep when he heard it. It was pretty hard to miss, even from within the safety of the cryo-pod. It was a massive explosion rocking the entirety of the shuttle they were on.
His eyes shot open, the sleepiness clinging to them like glue. Again another explosion. The pod lid in front of him slid open and alarms were blaring inside the cockpit of the shuttle. A loudspeaker voice came over the area.
"Warning. Warning. Hull integrity error, engines offline. Please evacuate at once."
The sleepy man clambered out of his resting place, nearly tripping over the entrance step. He was naked still, only having a pair of briefs to cover his extremities. Zesha came crawling into the room to see what was happening, readying herself for an attack with her sharp tail, even though there was no physical danger. Yet.
"Damian what's happening?!" she said within his mind, the echo prominent and letting him know who it was. He wasn't crazy, not fully anyway.
"I don't know! How long have we been out?!" he stumbled some more, still shaking off the sleepiness and growing nausea in his stomach. Running ahead, he felt Zesha aid his steps with her arm. The large black appendage was a big help to him, and he was grateful she was here still.
Zesha was still as pretty to him as she was terrifying to others. If there were no flashing lights, she'd be completely invisible and for some reason, Damian wouldn't have minded either way.
Stepping up to the console, both She and Damian stared down at it. Pressing a few buttons brought up the text on the screen. He watched them scroll across, reading carefully.
Emergency landing procedure initiated.
Shuttle hull integrity compromised from loose planetary debris.
Last security check: Seven months ago
"Wait wait what? Seven months? That would mean we're not even entirely out of this system yet. We're Still inside the area."
Zesha was looking out the viewport at the approaching planetary surface, that of which was covered in a slight brown tint. Things inside and outside of the shuttle were starting to feel rather heated, although not unbearably so yet.
"Damian, did you bring us here?" She would ask him, pressing her slightly domed head against the glass, her breath fogging it up.
"No, I...I don't think so. I set our destination for something a bit further away than this.. And now we're crashing. Again."
Damian hurriedly made his way over to the locker at the end of Zesha and Damian's cryo-pods. Another large amount of turbulence rocked the metal interior of the Shuttle, nearly making him trip.
Grabbing whatever clothes he could get, he slipped them on. He wouldn't have time to grab the combat armor he snagged from the facility back on Ceris. Black jeans and a T-shirt were the best he could do.
Zesha looked back to see him changing, interested sure but also encouraging him to hurry up. Whenever she turned her attention back towards the bulkhead window, she seemed far more alarmed.
"Damian, we're getting closer to the ground!" She said frantically, hissing and scuttling her way over to him. He didn't get much of a choice in the matter as he was hoisted up into her grasp and carried over to the nearest safety netting. Everything was going so fast, the feeling of being dropped into the kinetic netting and smothered by something large and warm.
The shuttle shook violently, metallic pieces coming off of the ceiling and floor. As Zesha had carried him to the netting, he was thinking over and over in his head, which she heard in the end.
"Why do I keep getting knocked out of the sky by everything?"
Damian felt her arms and body wrap around his own in a sort of protective manner, as if the netting wouldn't be enough to cushion the fall. He only had enough time to hold her large segmented hand before a huge jolt of kinetic energy rocketed the shuttle, and then, nothing.
The smell of smoke and ember filled Damian's nose first, the familiar smell reminding him of his first crash back on ceris. His senses soon returned after that, a prickling sensation coming to his skin and body parts as feeling returned once more. That of what felt like metal was beneath him, cold and flat. He could feel a slight breeze against him, going against parts of his skin. Then he only realized some of his clothing was ripped up slightly.
Opening his eyes, Damian saw the ceiling and the sky on the outside. It was dark, the stars twinkling through the smoke-covered air.
Slowly sitting up, he regained his composure, a minor throbbing in his head causing him to wince. Noticing a lack of worry from his partner Zesha, he quickly looked around the destroyed pieces of the shuttle they crashed in on.
"Some space debris..gah. Zesha? Zesha are you there?!" Damian called out, hoping to get a response. But his worst fears were realized when he didn't get one back. Not even a whisper, which he could usually feel if she was close by.
The ship around him was in complete shambles, the section that he was in looking unfamiliar to him. It wasn't even a bridge anymore, but rather metal chunks and pieces of the room scattered about.
The ground beneath him and the metal were tough and layered with dust and small vegetation, meaning it was most likely a very dry planet.
His bodily injuries weren't so bad this time around, as they were just cut and gashed some. Nothing he couldn't handle, but he had to get out of there first off. Wherever "there" was in the first place. He could only come up with the conclusion that whatever planet he had once again crashed on, was hot, dry, and arid. Texas away from home if he couldn't think of another similarity.
Forcing himself to stand up, he grunted at his cuts opening up and bleeding from the strain. Groggy as he might have been, he was cut short by the clear voices coming from outside the crashed shuttle. Shouts and flashlights shining over and through the bulkhead windows were present. Of course, being through what Damian had been through on that God-forsaken rock called a planet had him paranoid, this being shown by Damian backing up against one of the destroyed metal walls of the shuttle, hands pressing against the now warm surface. Voices echoing from outside the craft got closer, footsteps on a metallic grating that was torn to bits. Sparks from the hallway illuminated the figures' slow approach, every flicker casting shadows on the corridors.
The first person rounded the corner soon enough, boots clanking against the grating once more. The person was a little hard to see in the darkness but from what Damian could make out, they were male and around his age. They had choppy-looking facial hair with a leather jacket on and relaxed fitting jeans with a pair of cowboy boots, fashioned from an unknown leather. From what he could see of their faces, they were sun-blasted and darker-skinned than himself.
"This shuttle got hit hard, nobody could have survived that fall. Hello? Anybody still breathing in here?"
Damian could hear the man call out, shining the light into various places of the cabin they were in. It only took another second before the light was shone directly in Damian's face.
"What the-" Damian sprung off of the wall and shoulder bashed the man, interrupting his starting sentence. That would have knocked the wind out of anybody as he indeed fell over and slammed into the metal roughly, splayed out.
But not wanting to take any chances, Damian dashed for the exit and nearly tripped in the process. Blindly heading for whatever resembled an exit, Damian's feet pounded hard against the grating beneath him. Shouts of surprise and pain could be heard from behind him, coughing through words as they rang after himself.
"Gah wait! Hey hold on!" but of course Damian wasn't going to hold on. Hell, he wouldn't even stop to give him the time of day, as he didn't want a repeat of Ceris. Only two things were on his mind and those were both Zesha and Escape.
Other voices chimed in roughly, boots now heard behind him as he made his way to freedom. One female and one other male, albeit unintelligible as they were from so far behind.
A large wave of heat rolled over Damian's face as the day became visible from in front. Sprinting out of a hole in the hull and out into the hot and dry badlands, Damian was met with a nothingness all around him. That nothingness was something akin to a badland area, similar to Arizona back on earth.
Nothing but sand cracked ground and mountains far as the eye could see.
If Damian weren't somewhat artificial in the first place, he'd already been sweating. The heat was almost unbearable and the waves of it were seen on the horizon in all directions. Even cacti-like plants scattered the landscape, although instead of green they were a dark purple color with thorns bigger than normal cacti.
Two old-looking trucks sat nearby, in park and looking worse for wear. They were rusty and didn't have a top to them, being more pickup trucks than anything.
The voices from before that seemed to be chasing him throughout the halls came to a stop at the entrance that he had exited from prior. Although no move to apprehend him or threaten him was heard.
Turning to face the would-be chasers, he was met with something that he didn't expect to look like in the first place.
On the left, was the man he had shoulder checked to get out of the room, clutching his side and not looking too pleased with Damian.
In the middle was the female voice from earlier. She seemed more middle-aged, having a jacket on as well as some similar boots. Her hair was up in a ponytail behind her head and a few wrinkles lined her face, although not too many. She seemed to have the same darker skin tone due to the sunlight that the other two guys had. And whoever she was, she was for sure more mature than the other two, due to having that aged look about her.
The last guy was the younger of the three, having a white T-shirt on and black shorts with those same cowboy boots. His hair was short and messy somewhat and his eyes screamed innocent and inexperienced.
Unlike the other two, his skin was lighter and less sun affected where it mattered. He probably stayed inside most of the time, although he had a bit of facial hair as well so he wasn't a kid.
All in all, they looked like they belonged in some sort of stereotyped version of Texas, cows and all.
"Son, is that how you greet everyone you meet?" asked the man on the left, still clutching his hurt side.
Damian was about to respond but the woman spoke up, tone firm yet not threatening.
"What he means to say is, who're you? You ain't got that Dis look about you." her demeanor was calming compared to the other guys who seemed ready to react to anything Damian would do.
"Dis? That's what planet I'm on? You..first who are you? All I remember is crashing here after coming out of cryo-sleep and hearing you."
He was trying to sound innocent in it all, without giving away the fact they were rather trying to escape from somewhere instead.
"Well we ain't judgin, but that's a funny way of showing thanks for people comin' to check on ya. You got any friends in there?" she would ask him, not looking a bit phased by his apparent lie.
"No, I'm..I'm the only one. Why'd I crash? You guys didn't shoot me down or anything did you?" sweat was starting to build slightly on his body, despite his artificial make. The heat there truly was some of the worst he'd ever experienced.
"Shot down? No no, nothin' like that. We're a Junk planet. Whatever hit your ship must've had somethin' to do with the junk that orbits Dis. Yer just unlucky is all, just like most of the folk that live here."
Her words sounded rehearsed like she had said this a thousand other times to different outsiders. He wouldn't let that dissuade him too much.
"Right I guess..anyway I'm Damian. I uh..still haven't heard your names yet though."
He rubbed the back of his head, wiping some of the sweat off and trying his best not to look bothered by it.
"Righty, I'm Jean Hollister. These two are my boys, Martin and Derrick Hollister. We run the saloon nearby, and check on any crash victims nearby, if the chance arises."
Damian was listening but could have sworn he heard a whisper at the back of his head, light and subtle but familiar all the same.
"Damian."
He shook his head clear for a moment, knowing it was Zesha but not wanting to give away him not being normal.
"A saloon? I..could use a place to stay until I figure out how I'm getting back up into orbit. I don't suppose you have any rooms? I can work if you need a hand around the place."
Jean just about expected the response from Damian, but she seemed to like it. Like nobody else would offer that.
"Now yer speakin our language. We'll get you sorted don't you worry." Jean walked past Damian towards the two trucks parked near the wreckage. After being rudely shoulder-checked by Martin, the bigger older of the two sons, Damian tried to reach out to wherever Zesha was for the time being.
"Zesha, just follow us if you can see me. I'm heading into town, don't worry they're friendly people."
He waited patiently while climbing into a seat with Jean, the trucks starting up and pulling out of the wreck, rumbly as they were. He could hear a single word from his companion, which made him inwardly thank she was okay.
"Following."
Relief washed over Damian as he relaxed in the back seat of the old truck, bearing down the dust-covered path towards wherever town she mentioned earlier. It would be a good time to get to know the three folks while he could. The wind felt lovely in his face, even if it was bathed with heat.
"So what did you say your Saloon's name was again?" Damian asked Jean, feeling the hot wind pass his face as the trucks rumbled down the paved out road. The more he thought about it, the more he felt he was in a western.
"Dead stop. It ain't much, but everyone who comes in keeps it neutral, so there's that."
Derrick looked back at Damian with a look of distrust, after his mother had finished talking.
"Now we ain't lookin' for trouble Damian, so you better be makin sure you keep it peaceful." Jean just nudged him in the arm as if disapproving of his less than friendly demeanor.
"Don't be antagonizing the man, he just fell fifty thousand feet from space. Less you want more chores at the house." After that firm scolding, he just huffed a little in his grumpiness and turned away as the Two trucks pulled up into town, the crunching of gravel signaling it so. His earlier suspicions were correct in the regard that this whole planet was one big western.
On both the left and the right, buildings lined up going parallel to each other, all made of metal. It was very rustic like it had been lived in and modified countless times. Many of the buildings had signs hanging off which slightly swayed in the wind with people sitting under awnings or walking on the dirt swathed streets.
"Ain't no horses here, just looks that way," Jean stated, amused at Damian's reaction to the place. He sat there in the truck for a moment, bit by bit making his way out of the truck and landing on the ground. The dirt felt extremely cracked and lacked any real moisture. Derrick, the larger son, headed for the Saloon while Jean and Martin stood in front of Damian. After processing that this was nowhere near like Ceris, he rubbed the back of his head, sweat building up near his neck.
"I uh..guess it's a bit different here. How're you able to support this place and keep it running?"
Jean seemed to think about this herself, as it was a miracle a place like this had economy or food at all.
"Well lemme see here.. We draw water from underground and nearby Caves. The food's easy pickin's as we hunt and have shifts dedicated to doin so. The only downside bein that old pharmaceutical and Medical Company, Wei-Yu. They got a facility here on Dis, and come back and forth often to take things that don't rightfully belong to em. Food, Water, and medicine. Ain't nothin' but a buncha bandits if you ask me."
Damian flinched at the mention of the company, and it brought a bad taste to his mouth. He wished he had seen or heard the last of them back on Ceris, but it seems he was mistaken. He sighed and rubbed his eyes a little, shaking his head.
"Right. Where's the saloon?" but this question was immediately interrupted and at the same time answered by Martin who seemed all too happy to direct him.
"O-oh right over here! You can follow me there, can't he?" the younger son asked his mother, and which sounded like a statement at the same time, Jean only shrugging.
"Oh sure, why not. I've got some business to attend to at one of the wells on a water issue. You two have fun for the rest of the day, but I expect work to be done bright n early." Jean smiled once more and headed off a trail leading behind one of the buildings and up into a hilled area above the town.
Martin motioned Damian to follow, albeit a little sheepishly, the redness of his face not distinguishable from embarrassment or the heat.
Following along, Martin went into a talk about the history of Dis and their town of Dead Stop.
"Our mom seemed to like the name "Dead Stop" and made it the name of this here town. We been here for a while now, but that Damn company didn't show up till bout ten years back. Harassment is all they know and it really just gets on my nerves."
The two came to a dingy little saloon in the middle of town, most of it made of metal but a majority of it wood, as if it hadn't been touched by recreation. Two metal doors were in the center of said building.
"Yknow we don't get alot of crashin people anymore. You um..come here with someone special?" Martin didn't look at Damian when he said this, which confused him a little. While Martin focused on unlocking the saloon for what seemed like opening time, he responded.
"I..didn't. I was alone." His voice led anyone to believe otherwise, but Martin didn't pick up on it, his tone sounding hopeful in some manner or another.
Pushing the metal doors open revealed a pretty rustic-looking interior, akin to that of a saloon out of old western movies. Although this saloon sported mostly up to date if not a bit rusty tech. Screens adorned the walls in each corner, being for the customers to watch to their benefit. There were a few patrons in the chairs and the barstools inside, looking bored or doing their own things.
A nice older-looking lady stood at the bar, giving drinks to the needy or food to the hungry. She was elderly but not so much so to look like she would have belonged in bed for a majority of the day. What gave it away was her obviously white hair, but her face and body looked more ageless. Her green eyes landed on Damian's and the lady seemed contempt to stop what she was doing to greet the new person walking in.
"Martin! It's so good to see you, who's your bud here?" she asked, wiping out a cup while looking at the pair. Martin eagerly introduced Damian in place of actually doing it himself. He didn't mind, it was nice to see some hospitality after everything he and Zesha had been through.
"Oh, this is Damian! He crashed here just today. Same reason the others did too, the scrap orbit." His saying this made it seem like people just did it too normally.
"Well It's nice to meet you, Damian. You stayin here long or you plannin to find a way off this rock?"
Damian didn't really know to be honest, as he had only just arrived. Obviously, the thing to do would be to find a way off, but the presence of Wei-Yu on Dis made him rethink that. He had been trying to get away from them for weeks on end, and when he finally did they had a nasty habit of just coming back.
"Well...I don't know. I only just got here and..well your problems seem to be worse than mine. What's this about Wei-Yu being on Dis?"
She stopped her cleaning of the cup, looking at Martin who seemed a little sheepish about telling Damian in the first place.
"I see Martin was keen on tellin you our problems before you even got a place to lay your head. Hm."
She sat the glass down on the counter, leaning over it to outstretch her hand, which was aged sure but she still seemed to be in rather good shape for an older person. Damian took it and shook in a friendly manner, before pulling back, Martin taking a seat at the bar while they talked.
"The names Debra. It's..no secret Wei-Yu set up shop here around ten years back. Now anyway." Debra said, giving Martin an eye before going back to talking.
"At first it was harmless in our little town, all they needed were supplies and the occasional animal for whatever purpose. We weren't happy but they left us be."
Debra put her arms on the bar, leaning over it seeming to remember every detail vividly.
"But then it got a little uncomfortable. They'd have armed escorts bringin in higher ups, tellin us they needed volunteers. We didn't think much of it, so we'd send one. The first one to go was..my son."
Debra looked just about ready to shatter a hole in the wall with a blank stare she was giving, trying to keep herself from getting emotional.
"He was such a brave boy.. They said they would pay us for our troubles. And we didn't think much of it. He had volunteered himself so..what bad could come of it right?"
The older lady wiped her eyes slightly and shook her head sadly.
"He never came back to me. We hadn't heard anything from him in over a month. It was hard enough to send him away even when he wanted to..a-and then."
Debra took a deep breath, composing herself. "One day, one of the grunts came to the Saloon, tellin me that my son died during experiments due to Cardiac Arrest. Somethin about his chest exploding."
Damian once again couldn't keep himself from flinching at that part. That sounded rather similar to..something else he had known about. This whole story was enough to make his own Artificial blood boil.
"Do they have a Facility nearby?" Damian asked for his own personal reasons.
She shook her head, seeming a bit better now although he knew that story probably brought her pain just to think about.
"If by nearby you mean a day's trip, consider yourself correct."
The conversation in which Damian was going to reply was cut short by the Saloon doors opening.
They turned around in unison to see Five armed men walk in, followed by someone in a black Uniform, bearing the WY insignia on the chest to the left. Debra slammed her fist on the Bar and pointed to the man, glaring daggers into the man. However, he seemed unphased and properly responded without much violence in return.
The armed men all approached the Bar, having the Usual grunt uniforms which made Damian mad just looking at them.
"Oh come now Debra, you knew this day would come. It runs in the family, doesn't it? Your son was a brave boy, just think of what Nate-"
Debra shouted at the executive with malice in her voice, not letting him finish that breath.
"DONT YOU DARE use his name in my Saloon. Get the fuck out of my Saloon or I'll stick my six-shooter up your ass."
The executive seemed taken aback for a moment, adjusting his tie and nodding to one of the men that were near the bar. He walked to the Bar in an attempt to go through the entrance to get to her, but Damian stood in front of him, blocking his Attempt. He was about as tall as the armored Man even without boots like his. Martin looked shocked that Damian actually stood up to them, which made it seem like nobody ever did that.
"You might wanna take her advice."
"Sir you're in violation of Subsection twenty-four of the Contract of Dis. Clause 88c of her employment agreement has come into effect. Move aside."
His words sounded recited and almost android. But he knew he wasn't an android. The man didn't have the posture to be an Android. And he'd know since he was a type of Android himself.
The armored guard grabbed Damian's arm in an attempt to move him, but Damian grabbed a nearby plate and brought it up, bashing it into the side of his head in response. An overreaction to an overly ridiculous situation. The armed man dropped the tough act and yelled in pain as it shattered over his head, causing him to fall over and hit the ground, holding his now wounded and exposed skin.
Damian half expected Debra to get upset at him, but all he could hear was "I told ya!"
Martin had his hands over his mouth, looking rather shocked at the show of force. He had no attachment to the people of Dead Stop, but he had stood up for them regardless.
The executive raised an eyebrow, looking at Damian like he was a science experiment and nothing more.
"How interesting. No mere man could knock out a man like that in one fell swoop. Not without some sort of cyber enhancement. Then it's settled, Debra I won't be needing you anymore. I need this young man right here."
Now that was something he wasn't expecting, but he wasn't going to stop. Two men approached Damian from the front, in an attempt to subdue him. One tried to grab the young man, but he was far too fast for the armored and bulky guard to react. Damian grabbed the man's arm that was outstretched and slammed a balled-up fist downward, using his superhuman strength to completely break his arm. The pain didn't even set in for the poor guy as Damian kicked him square in the diaphragm, sending him toppling into a table. Then he started screaming from the sudden pain his brain finally registered.
Having been caught up in focusing on that one guard let one of the men grab Damian's arms from behind in a sort of lock. He grunted and struggled while one of the Guards in the front came in, holding what seemed to be an electrified baton. It sizzled with energy that he'd really rather not have to deal with.
Getting all of his strength, as much as he could in that position, he swung his head back right into the guy behind him. He couldn't see it, but he heard a crack and something wet fall onto his own hair. The blood he thought, as it smelled rather strange. Damian lunged around the guy whose nose he had just eviscerated, holding him against his chest and at the last second, using him as a meat shield. The baton slammed straight into his chest, making him convulse and fall limp.
Taking advantage of the now limp and unconscious man, whose nose was no better than it started if he was honest, he tossed him forward at the baton-wielding man. This threw him off balance just enough for Damian to grab the Baton from his hands. Of course, the Guard only took a few seconds to get back into his balanced form, but that was all Damian required. Turning off the Electricity in the baton, Damian hit the Man square in the side of the head with a loud "WHUMP". Falling over from such a large beating over the head, Damian saw the last guard. If he wasn't nervous or scared before, the whole tough guy act completely disappeared leaving nothing but a man who seemed to really hate his job now.
"You're on your own sir. Promotion isn't worth this." Before the guard ran out of the Saloon, most likely back to base.
The executive seemed shocked that all of his men had been bested, by one man nonetheless. His suspicions grew of Damian most likely, his stare one of a squint.
"You..you're not going to get away with this. I'll be back, and you all will be sorry. You could have just come with us and saved everyone else the suffering, and now. Their blood is on your head, fool."
The executive ran out of the Saloon, but not after being hit in the head with the baton, causing him to curse on his way out. The other guards, all metaphorically licking their wounds, ran out to the best of their abilities, a vehicle outside heard starting up.
Damian sighed, turning back around and taking a seat in the barstool he was on prior to the whole confrontation.
Martin seemed like he had found his knight in shining armor, although it was hard to tell from the way he was covering his face. Debra on the other hand didn't seem upset at all that Damian wrecked some of her bar. Did she look..happy?
"Good riddance. That straight-spined prick kept tryin to get me to volunteer myself. Keyword volunteer. Not like I ever had a choice in the matter."
Debra smiled some and passed a glass of water to Damian, the precious stuff hard to come by on the planet but her eyes and smile seemed to indicate he earned it one way or another.
"They teach you to fight like that where you come from, Damian?" The question was sort of serious, sort of not. He hadn't really learned to fight at all. Things just processed faster for him, what with the artificial brain and the like.
"Yeah I..guess so. Look I'm so-"
Debra shook her head and held her hand up in a way to say not to talk.
"Damian if you stood up for us, while only bein here for a day, you don't have to apologize. Far as I know, nor care, you're a part of this town now. Don't worry about what he said, we'll worry bout that when it comes down to it."
He closed his mouth, thinking over her words. He nodded, although he was still worried. All this just caused more trouble for the town, but she didn't seem bothered by it at all.
"Now. You look tired, all that cryo-sleep must've made you that way. Why Dontcha head on upstairs and get some sleep for today, it's gettin late."
Debra motioned with her head to Martin who was still trying to process what really just happened.
"Martin can show you to your room. Isn't that right?"
Martin snapped out of his thoughts, looking at the two and nodding, jumping up out of his seat and motioning Damian to follow him.
He didn't say much to the young man as he was led down the hallway to a room, opening up the wooden door and nodding.
"H-here you go Damian. Just um... Let us know if you need anything okay? I sleep right down the hallway in the other room sometimes."
Damian wanted to get more words in, to ask how things were going to be or what word he'd have to do. But Martin just left before that could happen.
The room Damian would be staying in seemed rather nice, with everything belonging in the twenty-first century. The bed was wooden with a nice comforter and sheets with pillows that looked pretty comfortable.
There was a bathroom to the left, it being more of a walk-in shower, a glass door blurring anything on the inside.
Finally, there was a terminal on a desk in the front of the room, access to a sort of internet being possible he thought.
Closing the door behind himself, he sighed and rubbed his face. Whatever happened next, wasn't happening before he had a nice shower. It'd be nice to get the blood off of him, as it didn't even belong to him in the first place.
The bathroom itself was nice too, having white tiling and a lockable door with soap and other necessities inside. Closing the door behind him, but not locking it, he stripped his clothing off. The water felt nice and warm, heating up quickly which he enjoyed greatly. He'd always seemed to like the heat more than cold.
Damian's naked body was covered in surgical scars and other scars he'd gained over the year at least he'd been alive. That thought itself was a bit strange for him to mull over.
Life had been given to him, and he'd acted like a fully grown adult for just that short amount of time. All that knowledge he thought he had about life, and then figuring out he'd never lived it. Stepping into the shower, he leaned against the wall and let the water run from his back to his rear, washing all the sweat and blood off into the drain below.
He didn't even get five minutes to think to himself before he could see something out of the corner of his eye, outside the glass door on the other side. A large, black mass stood there. It almost gave Damian a heart attack, if he didn't know any better.
"Zesha, you can come in." He said out loud, and there was a hiss before the door opened.
Finally, after hours of longing for his friend, the Alien was there. Zesha stepped inside, her large form barely fitting there in the small shower room made for humans.
Her warm breath was felt against his back as she bumped her head against his shoulder. She seemed sad.
"Damian are you okay? I've been waiting for a good chance to get close to you. I saw everything those men, those people I.." her voice was noticeably worried, but nevertheless, he understood. He had felt the same way about her, although he couldn't tell what happened through her eyes. It didn't seem to work that way as well as hers did.
"Zesha I'm okay I promise. These people are nice, and they treated me with respect. Even...after I shoulder-bashed one of them."
He'd still felt bad about that part, but what was he supposed to do when paranoid like that?
Zesha put her arms around his waist, stepping up behind him to hold him, even though he was rather naked. This whole interaction made him flush a dark red and look down. He could see her larger clawed feet behind his own smooth human ones. The large hands that he knew belonged to her rubbed up and down there on his stomach, feeling nice to him. He knew she'd be careful with her claws.
"Z-zesha are...you okay?"
A quiet purr was all he got in return as the Alien who seemed to miss him dearly held him, not minding he was naked. She never seemed to mind that. He'd always wondered why she acted this affectionate to him. He had a few ideas, but he was too embarrassed to ask. Even after that kiss they shared.
"I'm okay Damian. Please don't be away for long again, It took everything I had not to come to your aid against those...men."
"Okay...I'm sorry. I'll find a way for us to be together more often while we're here. It seems we can never get away from Wei-Yu can we?"
There wasn't an answer from the Alien, but he knew how she felt about it. Not thinking about anything else, but just being together there and then. Out of all the things he had lost when on Ceris, he was glad Zesha stayed with him. He had a feeling that's how it'd be for a while to come.
"It's way too hot on this planet," Damian said, and it elicited a giggle in his head from her.
(Hey guys thanks bunches for being patient with the writing this time. I'm sure you'll enjoy it if you enjoyed the previous one, although I apologize if it seemed similar to the last. It'll be far better than the previous despite intro similarities. That being said, Thanks again! And enjoy. Please leave comments if you liked it.)