"So, genius, what is your next almighty plan?" Purple asked sarcastically, keeping a steady pace and still managing to be a smart ass. Brows furrowed, Red really, really wanted to punch the cretin.
They'd managed somehow to get across the dusty landscape and had entered the edges of the jungle. The way Purple seemed weary of it, he was assuming that the violet eyed male had never been on such a mission before. Red had trekked through many a forest before and understood exactly what to do. "Because so far I think all you've really gotten us is lost."
"Will you sh-"Take deep breathes, he reminded himself. Keep your temper. "We are not lost. We are going to go into the jungle, get as far as we can into it, and find a safe area to rest. Hopefully find nutrients and wait out the week it'll take until they come back for us."
The effort it took to keep his voice even was starting to take its toll. Why did the little, moron have to be so irk damn frustrating? Why couldn't he have gotten stuck with a mute or something? Taking the lead, finally, like the commander he was, Red brushed past his fellow soldier to get a better scope of what kind of jungle they would be cutting though.
Rolling his large eyes, Purple took stock of the different kinds of trees and bushes but really understood nothing about any of them, so it was worthless anyway. They all looked the same. The sound of wet, foliage under their boots was the only sound for a while.
It wasn't dense enough that they needed to actually cut anything down yet, which was good since it would leave a trail if the Screw Heads found out they were still on the planet.
The sound of constant –squish squishing- under his boots was grating on Purple's nerves.
Well, to be honest it was the silence which had continued on for at least what felt like several hours. Irately, he swatted away a odd insect trying to bite him, and glanced up at Red who had walked ahead by several feet. Pur opened his mouth to say something, nothing huge. Just he needed it to stop being so quiet.
"Pomp Sack." Red said instead, rather abruptly.
"Wha-?" Suddenly, a large wet ball swung at his face and the sound it made when it hit his cheek was a sucking sound. "EWW~" With a demented growl, he smacked the horrid thing away, where it swung on its vine and split open on a tree. With a smug glower, Purple turned away, tongue sticking out in disgust. "What on Irk was that thing?"
Red glanced back, rather dryly. He figured this was fates way of apologizing about the whole falling thing earlier. "A Pomp sack. I told you."
Purple was not amused, as he stormed forward, still wiping his face. "Well, I heard that part, dumb-ass. What IS it though?" His mind flashed with all sorts of horrible possibilities. Was it poisoness? Filled with alien babies?
"Relax, Moron. It's just a plant. That's a pollination sack so it can repopulate." With that he turned back around to walk ahead, easily side stepping any more of the little balls. Purple snorted, and crossed his arms huffily.
"Neh nehit's justs a plant nehneh neh pollinationblahblah." Provided it wasn't the most mature thing in the world, the violet eyed irken found that it relaxed him to make fun of the stiff necked solider. For more hours than he cared to count, they walked. His feet ached, and his eyes kept falling shut but, Tallest help him if he would ever say anything in complaint to Red. He would rather die.
Said Irken had more experience with this kind of terrain and had spent much of his life working in harsh conditions. To his credit though, Red did warn Purple from then on of any other hazards.
"Here." Red stopped suddenly, in the middle of a small clearing.
"Wha-Ooomph!" Purple yelped as he crashed into the equally as tall Irken. It sent both of them forward and into the dirty foliage. They spent a few seconds becoming untangled.
"That was your fault."
"Oh shut up. You stopped and didn't warn me."
"You should've been paying more attention."
"Well, you shouldn't be so stupid."
"Uggh! Forget it." They both stood, trying to act distinguished, brushing themselves off of any invisible dirt. "I've chosen this area for tonight. It's far enough away from the ship and level enough to be a decent resting area."
Purple was already walking around, essentially ignoring the other, as he glanced about for anything that might be useful in creating a bed like structure. No, Irkens did not need sleep, but they defidentally needed rest and sometimes their Pak's needed to restart after a trying experience. From the way his lids kept drooping over indigo eyes, Purple was guessing this was one of those times.
He settled on a giant leaf like thing, and some spongy moss. Flopping onto the soft ground, Purple rested his cheek on the moss and pulled the leaf over his body. Just before he passed out, his pak whirling, Purple silently hoped that the visions didn't come again.
Red was talking to himself essentially although he didn't know that until he turned from his spot where he was setting up booby traps and alarm systems, to see the fast asleep solider curled up under a giant leaf. He blinked stupidly, almost in shock. The Irken whimpered a bit in his unconscious state, nuzzling the moss, antenna stretching languidly before falling limp.
The maroon eyes hazed over, his expression softening. The little cretin was almost…cute like this. Shaking off the thought and turning away, Red ignored any leafs or moss and just leaned against the rock, letting his pak get a few minutes of rest. He had to stay aware in case any Screw-Heads found them.
Little insects chirped in the darkening gloom, shadows trying to play tricks with your mind. Red stared up at the sky through the dense branches, noting whatever little stars he could as it could certainly be helpful one day soon. His internal clock ticked away the hours.
"No...p-please…I-I don't have it…some one else does…NO! Stop! Leav-leave me alone, Irk please!" Purple screamed in the clearing, making many startled creatures run for cover. Red's head shot to the Irken in alarm. What the hell? He stood and rushed over to try to shut the male up. In his mind it vaguely entered that Pak's sometimes played memories over again.
"Purple!" he hissed, hands going to the other's shoulders and shaking frantically. "Purple! Cretin!" Red frowned when it had no effect and the Irken kept squirming and yelling. "Purple! Damn it!" He curled a hand back and smacked Purple upside the face. The violet eyed irken sat up quickly, arms flailing about as if looking for something to hold onto. Anything. Unless he would drown.
Unfortunately and fortunately, the only thing to grab was his assaulter. Sharp claws dug into Red's shoulders as he fought for breath. The Commander allowed it to happen, barely wincing at the tight grip. "Shh. You're umm…alright now. It's okay." He clumsily tried to comfort Purple, raising a hand and patting his head.
Purple whined and clutched harder. "R-Red?" Not an enemy. This man hadn't tried to hurt him yet aside from the occasional jab. In his fragile state that was as good as a friend.
"Yeah. I'm uh…here. It's all okay." Purple nodded, trying to calm his breathing. The minutes passed in silence. Fuck. He'd seriously been hoping to avoid this. Even now they were bothering him. The memories of growing up in the side of the Irk that no one remembered. The rough side filled with drugs, whores and pain.
Once Purple's breathing had gone down, Red attempted to pull away. The other irken panicked, tightening his grip in fear. "I-I…don't leave me. Stay…Please Red."In the morning it would certainly seem like a foolish idea. He would punish himself mercilessly for showing the weakness.
But, right now Red was comfort. Red was safe. The only light spot in the unmeasureable terror he felt from this memory. He was used to waking up in the middle of the night without anyone to tell him it was okay. Some tiny, needy part of him wanted that more than anything in the entire universe.
Red froze, looking panicked. Those big indigo eyes that held unleashed tears, the shuddery way that Purple said his name. He could pull away and leave the other to his panic and fear. That would be the smart thing to do. Red looked into the dark of the tree where many dangers awaited them tomorrow. Licking his lips, he nodded. Then kicked himself for nodding. What the hell was wrong with him?
Purple pulled the maroon eyed Irken down with him, laying his head on Red's shoulder and slowly ever so slowly, falling back into unconsciousness. Said alien frowned up at the sky, starting to feel the warmth from the other's body heat his nicely. The feeling of sleeping next to someone was foreign and try as he might the longer they stayed that way, the more his eyelids drifted shut again and again until finally they stayed closed.