Hey!
Thanks to all of you who have been reading this story! A special massive thank you to Vlaatjee and Flowangelic for their enthusiasm and continuing support along with the long reviews, I'm honored!
To Jbrichards77: Yes, I'd love to update and even finish my other story... However, I have a very limited amount of time to write and have not been able to get back to that one yet... All I can say is that it is on my list of things I should do, and preferably in the near future. I hate for it to be unfinished too, believe me...But I'm happy to hear that you've enjoyed it!
Well, let's get this show on the road again...
This turned out to be a little longer chapter and didn't fit everything that I initially planned to write about next, but I'll just have to move them to the next chapter. There's a lot of dialogue again, that's what I love to write and the characters just kept on talking, it's like they have a mind of their own, couldn't stop them from talking XD
Anyway, I hope you enjoy it. And feel very welcome to review , as always :)
Peace,
-SpaceFlora
The Story of Rebellion and Hope
17.
"Have you noticed how good the females smell?" Vinnie asked, leaning against the tent pole outside, his arms crossed and the look cast out on the desert around him though his eyes were dreamy, not really seeing the dunes and the endless supply of sand Mars had to offer. He had a toothpick between his teeth that he was leisurely chewing, as it always looked badass in the movies. He tried to seem cool and aloof but inside he was actually feeling anxious and restless, mostly because of what had happened during the past 24 hours. Well, he was restless by heart but rarely he felt anxious, as he wasn't a mouse who dwelled on things...But a lot had happened and a lot of what had happened had caused a stir inside him, which was annoying because if someone stirred things around here, he very much wanted to be the cause and not these awkward feelings that were threatening to bubble to the surface. Yeah, sure they've encountered aliens, humans of all races in the Galaxy but that didn't give Vinnie the anxiety. It was females. Since Vinnie was a young male and he was just merely past puberty, it meant that his hormones were acting crazy, working full-steam, like a locomotive pushing the speed limits, threatening to derail. It was fair to say he was very sensitive to the female scents right now, although been out fighting and training with mostly male Fighters, he had not really thought about it...Not many females to encounter when fighting out there...
Modo had knelt beside the fire again, looking at the hot coals burning in bright red, surrounded by the smoke that the cooking meat slowly breathed out. He had heard Vinnie talk and he was pondering whether the young rebel had pointed the question to him. If it even was a real question. But with a quick glance over his shoulders, seeing Harley further away tinkering with her's and Vinnie's bikes, not paying the males any attention, and looking like she wasn't even hearing them, he figured that maybe the young Fighter had indeed addressed the question at him and he turned to Vinnie, arching his eyebrow.
"Ya ask me whether Ah have ever noticed the females smell good?"
Vinnie snorted now fully back from his dreamworld and waved his hand dismissively like it was only Modo's fault he didn't get what Vinnie was after here.
"Nah, bro… I meant the Earth chicks! I mean sure the females smell great here too..." Vinnie rolled the toothpick with his tongue, his eyes temporarily moving to Harley whose wiggling behind was on Vinnie's direct field of view as she was rummaging under the hood of his racer. A small yet low growl escaped Vinnie's throat while his thoughts were quickly shifted back to the little moment he and Harley had shared a little while back when he had for the first time really gotten the glimpse of her scent and momentarily he had dived into this pool of lustful euphoria...a little before both of them had been noticed and stunned by the humans. Yeah, about that...What on Deimos' name had happened there? Who in their right mind would ever think to stun this stunning example of a mouse…?! Vinnie's thoughts escaped the current issue which usually was the case. Even his thoughts were hard to handle and chain...
Modo nodded back, studying the young white-furred male whose facial expressions were rapidly changing probably because of his own hyper thoughts obstructing his way of thinking clearly and the older male turned his head back to the fire, clearing his throat. Right. The young rebel quickly set his eyes on the older male, having heard his doubtful grunt.
"What? Ya didn't smell it back there? In the tent?" Vinnie asked his ears twitching. Had he gone mad? He most definitely had smelled the females and apparently, it did things to him. It gave him these weird sensations all around his body. Well, one scent particularly...
"Didn't think about it..." Modo muttered back. Of course, he had thought about it. The fertile scents of the females inside the tent were quite hard to go unnoticed. But he wasn't going to admit that to Vinnie, of all mice. Also, it wasn't very honorable to talk about these things as his dear ol' grey-furred Mommah had taught him years ago.
"Smelling doesn't require thinking, bro..." Vinnie took the toothpick out and cast his obvious look on his bro, with a good ol' know-it-all gaze.
"Well, wise guy, what Ah meant was Ah try to block those kinda scents..." Modo mumbled, unintentionally revealing that he perhaps might have indeed smelled something.
"We can block scents?" Vinnie asked now confused, apparently hearing about this piece of Cave Mouse trivia for the first time.
"Better than the sounds, apparently..." Modo answered dryly, poking the hot coals with a steel rod he had found. Sometimes under the desert sand one could find pieces of metal or different kinds of doohickeys, due to Mars' history that lies heavily on wars. The whole planet was like a burial ground for the unlucky casualties, both artificial and native... And yes, they actually could block the scents a little but that took a great deal of effort, and maybe even hurting oneself a bit in the course of it, that's why usually no one ever even bothered to try blocking them.
"But why would you want to block..." Vinnie started but immediately his confusion changed to a grin.
"Oh, yeah...Because you have a girl back waiting in the Camp, got it...Man, can ya be more boring..." The white-furred male snorted and put the toothpick back between his teeth, relaxing his body again, and leaning back but his other boot kept stomping the ground. Yes, restless by nature.
"Boring?" The big male chuckled.
"Yeah. Boring." Vinnie stated, as a matter of fact, shifting in his place, allowing him to see Modo better. A challenge was now written on his face. What could he say, he was never one to shy away from possible action. Never mind if the said action would mean a black eye and a sore bottom, but hey, action without the possibility of danger was lame anyway.
" And lemme guess: she's someone you've known your whole life. A girl next cave." Vinnie teased intentionally.
Modo raised his look, meeting those enthusiastically sparkling red eyes. Not really sure why but he suddenly felt a weird pang of unease go through him as the kid had read him like an open book. Not that anyone had ever claimed he was hard to read...Still, he was a little reserved, even more so when it came to his family.
"Something like that..." The big male muttered back.
"I knew it! I just knew it!" Vinnie immediately lit up for this lucky guess and Modo gave him another glance.
"Somethin' wrong with that?"
"Hey, I don't have a problem with you havin' settled for this gal before checkin' what's on the market..."
"They're not cattle, you know..." Modo lowered his voice while poking the burning coals again, absent-mindedly waving the thick smoke off his face.
Vinnie huffed, turning his eyes back on Harley.
"Hey, now, bro...The females love the VanWham! They simply can't get enough of this statuesque stud!"
"Donno, ya should maybe do a poll..." The big male thought out loud although he himself had witnessed the way the females' heads turned when seeing this young Fighter, although Vinnie wasn't even full-grown yet. He'd probably grow a good five inches still, and lose all the little roundness he still had left around his face.
"Hm, I don't need polls for given facts." Vinnie said, letting his eyes still roam on Harley who while rummaging under the hood of the red racer suddenly made a clattering sound as she drop something between the engine, making Vinnie hit his jaws together, his heart skipping a beat while eyeing his precious bike that was still unresponsive. His baby…It was all that he had, all that he owned. If not counting the gods-given looks of his... But as he felt Modo's eyes still staying on him, he knowledged how scared he had looked for a second and the white rebel cleared his throat and kicked a stone with the point of his black boot, trying to gather himself and figured the best way to steer this scene into another was to lead the other one thinking about other things. Not that he really thought these things through, he never planned anything. It was more like the result presented itself in the state of a small panic.
"What's her name?!" He asked so suddenly and with such an urgency that it startled the big guy.
There was a trace of doubt visible in Modo's eyes as he was trying to figure out why would the daredevil be interested in that.
"Sienna." He answered, stalling for a second, ready if this backfired in some way. He rarely was this reserved but the young addition to the Fighter family liked to poke others, just for fun. And to Modo's mind, there were things that were sacred that could do without the poking.
"Sienna..." Vinnie echoed the name but looked like he was occupied with other thoughts all over again. Suddenly remembering the earlier scent of that brunette gal inside the tent... It had been so different, much more delicate compared to the Cave Mouse females...But the delicate scent had caused a tingling sensation inside his nose and with further inspection, that fainter scent had opened up into a totally new palette of smells, smells that were not from this world, well not from this planet at least...And it was exciting, making his hair stand on end when even thinking about it...Then, like again sensing how he was starting to lower his walls a bit, he made another panic decision.
"She's hot?"
Modo regarded him back, a wave of sudden anger threatening to spring up inside of him. Of course, why had he ever thought this conversation would turn to anything else than about Vinnie's dirty mind?
While not hearing his bro answer, Vinnie changed his a little clueless glance on the big guy, not thinking there was anything weird asking the question. He met the otherwise gentle red eyes that were now slightly squinting back at him, suggesting that Modo was seriously pondering whether he should punch him or not and the young rebel only spread his arms, smiling sheepishly.
"Hey, can't say it's a valid question..."
"It's a disrespectful question, that's what it is."
"Oh, c'mon…" Vinnie rolled his eyes while lip-trilling, falling into utter boredom again, his stance against the pole now so relaxed that it looked like the pole was the only thing preventing him to fall back on his ass.
"...and to add to the previous subject about early commitment, that ya seemed to have a problem with...The way Ah see it, is that Ah'm very lucky that Ah've known my love for the good part of my life." Modo's deep baritone started with some added edge to it. He was starting to feel like his worldview was being challenged and questioned by the young male and he would always defend what mattered to him.
The earlier bored look on Vinnie's face shifted from confusion to hard thinking as he thought, miraculously, this sentence through. Maybe it was due to the lack of other activity around here...He thoughtfully tapped his lower lip.
"Well, fuck me, that's actually pretty sweet..."
This unexpected answer sparked a guffaw from Modo who instantly felt most of the gathered tension fall off his massive frame. Damn, if it wasn't a rollercoaster with this kid he mused while shaking his head...He got up and passed Vinnie on his way inside and gave the young Fighter an amiable tap on his shoulder.
"And if Ah may give ya a lil' brotherly advice regarding the scents...Just keep your nose outta trouble..."
"Yeah, yeah..." Vinnie muttered back but his eyes were already back on Harley and his precious red racer. He pushed himself off the pole and walked towards the mechanic now that it was just the two of them out here again and just as he did so, Harley closed the hood of the red racer and dusted her hands in an "all done" manner.
"How's it going, Sweetheart?" Vinnie asked and while Harley gave him an immediate warning look regarding the use of a pet name again, Vinnie quickly tried to save the situation by kneeling down beside his racer.
"Was talking to my baby here..." He muttered lovingly stroking the bike's sides, one ear flat against its' cold surface.
Harley placed his hands on her hips nodding towards the bike.
"Well, in that case, your bike can tell you how she's doing..."
And sure enough, the lights suddenly lit up in the front and the bike let out an ear-shattering scream if that was even possible for a motorcycle while popping a wheelie, to celebrate her coming back to life and Vinnie took a startled step back but in an instant he pumped his fist in the air, uncontrollable feeling of joy and victory filling his body as he joined in on the whistles and howls his bike was making.
"Aaaawhooooo! Back from the other side, ready to whip some tail, are we Sweetheart?!" His suddenly very hoarse voice hollered and the bike popped another exhilarated wheelie, accelerating the engine, roaring, causing Harley to wave her hand in front of her face, unfazed while attempting to not inhale too much of that smoke that was quickly surrounding them. But her lips slowly started to gather a smile while regarding this heartfelt reunion as Vinnie hugged his bike, carelessly stroking her sides while the bike was still making loud whistles and beeps to return the love.
"Yeah, she's good to go and ready to burn some rubber in the desert sand." Harley nodded while giving the last approval of a self-respecting bike jockey.
"Thanks! You're the best, Harley-girl!" Vinnie was hyper-excited and without even thinking about it, he grabbed Harley for a quick embrace but was not really sure why and why now of all moments he placed a kiss on Harley's lips before suddenly realizing what he was doing and while regarding those baffled blue eyes staring right back at him in this close proximity he quickly released her, so abruptly in fact that he might have actually pushed her a bit and accidentally caused Harley to stumble a few steps back before falling on her butt on the sand, still gawking at him.
"Uhm...Meant to thank you, I mean...thanks, Sweetheart, uhm, girl...Harley." Vinnie took hasty steps backward looking a little clueless, well not just a little, he looked like he had hit himself on the head with a board and he backed towards the red racer before sensing this was his way out of this awkward situation he quickly mounted the bike that added a few panicky beeps as well and with a rush, they sped off, leaving Harley coughing inside the sand and dust cloud.
"What the fuck?!" Harley shouted after him but could still feel the kiss and his enticing scent lingering on her lips. After a brief dizzy moment, she got up, dusting her pants, trying to shake off the feeling the young rebel had left her with.
She gave the desert another glance but there was no sign of the red racer or her owner anywhere. Vinnie most surely had fled the scene of the crime in the fastest way possible. A sudden powerful gust of wind hit her face and she let out a "yikes!", and quickly turned around to head back inside. She would work on her bike at some other time when the weather would allow it. The storm that had been threatening to rise now a few hours would soon be here. She gave the deserts one last glance and her mind suddenly shifted to Stoker. She felt a pang of guilt going through her. True, she had said she wasn't Stoker's girl...That statement might not even be technically accurate but she sometimes spat out things she didn't mean when annoyed. But...Why did she feel this nagging feeling about the recent developments regarding her feelings towards Vinnie? What did she actually feel about Vinnie? He was just a kid, for gods' sake! And most arguably that kid could spin a girl's head. But was she really open for that merry-go-round? Maybe this all was just very confusing to her since she didn't really know what was going on between her and Stoker either… She let out a sigh as she finally opened the tent door to go inside. Men! Always making things too vague and complicated! She sighed, feeling irritated while staring at this bunch of humans still hurdled into the kitchen nook, where they all now were sipping water from the cups, as if their lives depended on it, which it did technically...Water and oxygen. That's what the little humans were about. And that's what the little Martians were also about... Harley gave Throttle a glance. Gotta hand it to Throttle for not spilling the beans yet for these creatures that had no clue about anything whatsoever... And Harley could see why it was also crucial for the humans to not know they could actually breathe outside without the gears...The thought of immediate death kept the herd nicely together and put, inside the tent. Very smart, Throttle, very smart...
The ginger-furred mechanic cleared her throat as she walked with determination through the clutter towards Throttle and Modo who glanced at her. Modo shifted a little on the work table he was currently sitting on and tapped the place next to him and Harley hopped on it.
"Got Vin's bike working? Heard the engine rolling..." Throttle asked while handling a camera he had found. He was digitally flipping through photos: taken of the crew still back on Earth, or inside the space shuttle, probably on their long journey to Mars...
"Yup. He took off, too. Just so you know...Couldn't get away fast enough apparently..." Harley muttered and Throttle arched his eyebrow, raising his look from the photos.
"Care to elaborate?"
"No." Harley answered not letting Throttle's look disturb her as she let her own gaze wander on the facilities. The tan-furred tall male changed looks with the even taller grey one but Modo only answered with a shrug, while having his arms crossed, remaining silent. Throttle then decided it didn't matter what had caused this sudden departure of their bro and as he could already smell the cooking meat outside, he figured the hunger will lead the young rebel back soon enough. He wasn't too concerned, there was something about the kid that made Throttle believe he could take care of himself. Heck, that loudmouth had taken care of himself before he'd joined the Fighters as no one knew where he had come from, not from the Camp, Throttle had figured out that much. The kid was a puzzle and Throttle still had many pieces missing from that story. He turned his concentration on the photos again: the crew flying around in zero-gravity inside their shuttle, photos of Earth from a distance, of space, stars…. And the photos made Throttle wonder for the first time how it would actually feel, to see all the glory of the Universe from the humans' perspective, from the limited knowledge they've had on everything. How amazing it must have felt for them to see their planet from that far, to see it as this lonely small spot in the endless darkness... There was something beautiful about it.
Throttle noticed he was only halfway through looking at the photos, the upper corner of the camera's small display showing he would still have over 600 photos left to go through. He turned to the human space crew, thoughtfully looking at them before changing his look to the clock that was ticking on the wall. There would still be an hour or so before Carbine came there, along with the honorable Army. He gave Modo a look.
"The grubs ready?"
"Depends. Ya want it slow-cooked or not?" The broad-shouldered and tall-built Fighter answered, looking laidback sitting there on the table and a thought came to Throttle's mind how on Mars the table could take his weight, looking as flimsy as it did...
"Charred, preferably." Harley chuckled next to him and Modo lowered his questioning look to her.
"The carcinogens might bring the saber squid meat into a different level, like, eatable." The female added and the gray male huffed back while getting up and heading to the tent door, his heavy boots crushing things under his weight. It was hard to dodge the fallen and buried items that paved the tent floors, thus it was pointless to even try.
"Well, ya have not tasted my cooking, you can be surprised."
Harley raised her eyebrow at Throttle, looking surprised already.
"The Big Guy can actually cook?"
"He's a man with many talents, not all of them useful, though..." Throttle answered a little absent-mindedly.
"Well, what I really wanna ask is that if he can cook then why am I the one who usually ends up holding the ladle back in the HQ?" Harley asked dryly.
Throttle smiled back shrugging his shoulders.
"Out of a habit?"
"Yeah, like the habit of misogyny, that's a hard one to break, I know...She woman, give it apron and kettle, she make food." Harley rolled her eyes and walked over to the humans but at the same time pointed her finger towards the door where Modo had just disappeared.
"If he doesn't cause us food poisoning, he cooks the whole next year."
"Standards are not quite high, I see..." Throttle drawled amusedly.
"We're Freedom Fighters, we don't have standards..." Harley snorted.
She then stopped in front of the humans who still were rehydrating themselves with water. The curly-haired Lucas had just taken a gulp from his glass before his eyes locked with Harley's hard gaze and he spitted out the water, straight into Eve's neck who let a startled scream and tried to hit the man back who managed to escape Eve's fist. After the little comical incident, Lucas swallowed while still looking at Harley deep into her blue eyes before she turned her gaze on Noah.
"So...Captain."
Noah looked at her a little wary look on him, lowering his glass.
"Ma'am..."
A little smile appeared on the corner of Harley's mouth regarding the decency the man was still willing to give her in these odd circumstances...The truth was Noah didn't know how else would he address the female Martian.
"I saw you had a cute little vehicle parked there outside… How does it work?"
Noah's eyes fell on Charley who caught the look and answered the female.
"With sun batteries."
Harley moved her blue eyes to the green ones that were looking back at her.
"Honestly thought you'd still be using oil for all transportation..." The ginger female muttered.
"With all due respect, we've figured alternatives for oil already..." Charley stated but shut her mouth as she could hear the mild irritation in her own voice coming through.
"Sun and wind, right?" Harley asked a bit of mockery in her voice now too.
"For example." Charley's voice was tense.
Harley quickly turned to give Throttle a look who was standing further away but had his attentive eyes on the situation all the time.
"These are so adorable! It's like hearing them inventing fire the first time..." Harley said the last part while turning her slightly narrowed eyes back on Charley, studying her reaction. She couldn't deny it, she felt pleasurable to pet these Earth creatures the wrong way, after everything they've done to her and Vinnie...
"The boys told me the vehicle moved so slow even the slugs would've passed it." Harley added and Charley felt a bit hurt. The sandtrack had been her baby, her project.
"Well, it moves, doesn't it?" Charley looked sour and continued.
"...It's not meant to be racing against anything..." The auburn-haired mechanic then suddenly remembered the bikes she had seen on the dune.
"You...uhm, use...motorcycles?"
"The best way to ride. If you wanna stay alive." Harley crossed her arms and by doing that the lean muscles on her arms were tensed and visible.
"Hm. Funny. We invented motorcycles back in the 19th century already...Would've thought you guys were more advanced than that..." The auburn-haired engineer couldn't help to give back a little but felt a small push against her arm and gave Noah a look, whose eyes told her to stop with the sarcasm, this was not the time nor the place for that. Fair enough, Charley thought and closed her mouth. Well, she was still feeling defensive but yeah, she got the hint their Captain was making. It might not be wise to get into an argument with an alien.
"Sorry….If want to stay alive…?" Eve asked, not interested in the battle of technology but in the possible living breathing dangers out there. She gave a confused look around before she set her eyes back on Harley.
"From what? I mean, why... who...what, hu?" The biologist's brain hit a bump.
A mischievous smile appeared on Harley's face and she altered her husky voice like she would be talking to a child... Her sensual voice getting more quiet and sweeter, just emphasizing her current disdain for the humans.
"Yeah, the who, what, hu...are the saber squids."
"Saber...squids?" Eve squeaked but the metal twins had awakened again, too.
"They use sabers?!"
Eve, despite her puzzlement, gave them both a "don't be stupid" look and the longhairs shrugged back.
"Well, these are mice who ride bikes..." Isaac started.
"Yeah, it's not too far-fetched to think the squids here defend themselves with sabers..." Dylan added and took a sip from a coke can he had found underneath the clutter.
"You want to know why they're called that?" Harley asked but didn't wait for a response.
"It's because of their teeth as tall as you people are sharp as sabers… And you know where they're hunting? On these open plains like this one where you've built your adorable little camp..."
The humans' demeanor became more restless as the ginger-furred female continued.
"And you know that previous marsquake you experienced…? That was a saber squid. Ready to dine...Smelling the fresh meat..."
Throttle smiled a little amused in the background but corrected his face as he decided that he should step in here.
"Okay, Stephen King, enough, no need to spook them more...You wanted to go check on that vehicle, remember?"
Harley only gave a small snigger seeing how the humans were changing wary glances and suddenly becoming very interested to try and listen to what was happening outside and staring at the tent walls like they wished to see right through the thick fabric...Well, Harley couldn't lie, she was also feeling quite uneasy regarding the next possible saber squid attack. And why wouldn't she be, mice died every year because of the attacks.
But not revealing her thoughts or her fear, the Fighters' mechanic sighed satisfied and nodded, seemingly happy about the mental state the humans were at the moment, some of them shaking again, and she then turned around and marched outside.
"Yeah, I'll go... We have no use for such an antique of a vehicle like that, but we could use the spare parts... These guys won't need it anyway. It's ours now since they landed here without a permit. I just gotta get my hands on it before the Army comes and seizes everything with their governmental right..."
Harley left the tent and Throttle went back to going through the photos again.
Charley looked after where the female Martian had gone and scrunched her nose a little.
"She's unpleasant ..." She muttered but got startled when she got an answer from the male still in their presence.
"Well, what did you expect? You used a stun gun on her and tied her up. She's entitled to be a little unpleasant..." The male then raised his look behind the specs and Charley could see a glimpse of those brown eyes behind the dark glasses.
"You should feel lucky you're still walking... There are no laws here to protect you, mind you."
The human engineer felt her cheeks burning from getting caught while speaking unkindly. Oh yeah, their impeccable hearing... When will they remember that...
Noah tried to steer the conversation into somewhere else, to maybe try and get some useful information out of this male alien that fascinated him on a certain level. This male whom Noah presumed to be an authority figure of some degree was like this stereotype of a leader: a silent, restrained, unwavering character that presented a hard-to-read and tough presence, who most likely knew much more than he was letting on. Smart, no doubt about it.
"Anything interesting?" Noah asked the male who was flipping through the digital photos.
Throttle raised his look from the camera but lowered it back.
"Not really..."
"Want to destroy all evidence of our existence in here?" Noah asked again while studying the male's every movement.
Throttle gave a little laughter and Noah didn't know whether he liked that sound. Somehow this leader alien's rare signs of amusement only brought Noah on the edge.
"From what I've gathered, you're disconnected from your planet. They won't know a thing. They think you're dead."
Noah gave his crew a quick glance and noticed how this last sentence really hit their emotions as it was a bit crude thing to say, even in the intergalactic sense, and somehow a protective flame raised inside the Captain as he turned his look back on the tan-furred male.
"That was unnecessary."
Throttle's look darted up but Noah stood there firmly, although swallowing a big lump. The Martian set his jaw.
"What's unnecessary is us guarding you here instead of us being where we're needed, on the battlefield where we can fight for our planet, like the soldiers we're trained to be."
A small silence fell amongst them and the humans eyed each other skeptically whereas the tan-furred male continued his task with the camera, not minding the heavy silence.
"Then can I ask you what happens now?" Noah asked after a small hesitation. But hell, he thought they would at least have the right to know about their future or if there even was one.
Throttle went through the photos again showing no sign of hearing the guy but of course, Noah knew he had heard him very clearly, with those big round furry ears. But as the seconds flew by and Noah became sure the male alien purposely avoided his question he heard the male's gravel-like voice again.
"Well, what happens next ain't really in my control. Just like being here ain't really my choice."
"Then in whose control, it is?" Noah's voice was sharp and his crew eyed him a bit fearfully. They most certainly did not want to have a conflict with these giant mice carrying firepower worth of blowing up the whole Milkyway... Charley gave Noah a gentle but determined push, he had just told her to lay off with the sarcasm, and here he was raising his voice to this big furry thing. But Noah continued.
"The Army's? You told us they're coming here...They're the ones who can determine what happens to us?"
Throttle remained silent, but it was not because he didn't want to answer, it was because he had the option to do so. And for some reason, the silence rubbed Noah the wrong way.
"Can you at least tell me, if this has happened before?" Noah tried to go the other way, build some kind of a path to getting some knowledge but the other humans were eyeing him in suspicion. "Before?". But at least Noah got a reaction from the tall male.
"What? Aliens dropping in on our planet? Happens surprisingly often. But in those cases, the premises have been more threatening. No offense." Throttle added with a voice that told the humans he couldn't care less if they were offended or not.
"None...taken. I mean, I've said it before, we mean no harm." Noah cautiously lowered his voice.
"Well, we can see that. You only cause inconvenience but that's about it." The tall alien shifted his weight.
"And the ones you're fighting against...They're not from this planet?" Noah inquired further but as the Martian remained silent he took that as a "yes" and it finally hit Noah as well as the other humans in the tent.
"There's even more life out there." The Captain kept his voice down while wondering what that sentence would even mean.
"There you go." Throttle said a bit too supportingly for it to be sincere.
Eve pressed her hands on her forehead.
"My head hurts."
Throttle was still going through the photos before he suddenly stopped.
"What the…?" The raspy-voiced alien started and got the humans' attention again.
The male lowered his glasses to inspect the photo more clearly and the humans saw a glimpse of his brown eyes behind the specs before he adjusted the glasses back on and raised the camera like it was an important piece of evidence.
"What these tracks are?"
"Tracks?" The humans wondered but Eve then cleared her throat, remembering her curiosity about the tracks around their shuttle that no other seemed to find peculiar.
"Oh, those are just...some strange prints on the sand that had appeared during the first night here..." Eve answered a little ashamed.
"Oh, not those again..." Lucas rolled his eyes. Throttle studied the photo and zoomed in before his face became grim.
"Well, it seems we're not the only ones who have paid an interest towards you guys..."
"How so?" Noah asked, alertness rising inside him again.
Throttle tucked the camera into one of the deeper pockets of his camo pants.
"Don't worry about it..."
Yeah. Like it was that simple, the humans shared looks with each other.
x
Harley walked beside Modo who looked like searching for something, his look roaming the sand under his big combat boots. Harley had opened her hair and was now combing it with her fingers, her ginger hair dancing in the wild wind, her look cast on the dunes, far away. Both of them had their bandanas to cover their snouts against the strong wind that made their ears flap. Harley had decided to go for a little walk instead inspecting the space crew's vehicle which to her mind didn't look too sophisticated and figured she'd have no problem tearing it down before the Army came.
"Everything's just a big mess." She sighed, sounding tired.
Modo gave her a quick glance before continuing his search.
"Wanna share?"
"I don't know if I should..." Harley sighed but then tried to make a joke.
"I mean, you're so sweet and innocent, don't wanna get you all traumatized with my messy life..."
Modo gave her an amused look accompanied by a burst of deep laughter.
"If it helps, Ah'm not that innocent..."
"Oh…? Sweet Modo has dirty secrets? Hey, since we're sharing here..."
"Nah… Maybe another time..." Modo answered a bit bashfully but knelt down to dig the sand a little with his fingers before stopping, not finding whatever he was looking for. He glanced at Harley, who seemed to not understand what in Deimos' name Modo was doing, his actions looking rather pointless to her.
"So…? What troubles ya, sis?"
Harley felt a warm sensation in her heart hearing him referring to her as a sister but didn't really know if it was for how he actually felt or if it was just this twist on words to use sis instead of bro like the Fighters called each other on regular basis.
"Men." She answered.
"Figured that much, to be honest."
Harley let out an exasperated sigh.
"I mean, why do men have to be so thickheaded morons sometimes?!"
"Well..." Modo cleared his throat.
"I mean, me and Stoker, we have a thing, right..." Harley started again, quickly forgetting her doubts about sharing.
"Right..." Modo concluded. Everybody knew that.
"Don't worry I'm not gonna tell any sex things..." Harley waved her hand nonchalantly.
Modo got startled and accidentally inhaled some saliva that made him cough a few times, feeling his cheeks burning, but nodded. Well, he asked...He would have only himself to blame.
"...I mean there is a lot I could talk about the sex part..." Harley continued totally unaware of just how uncomfortable her companion was at this point.
"...but I want more than that. But it's this friggin' war… There's nothing stable, there's no time, and there are no promises to be made...Well, there most certainly are males available around battlefields...if they don't end up dead..." Harley seemed to have an endless supply of cumulated thoughts inside of her and Modo wondered where was this conversation going.
"I don't know. I just feel the world is not a fair place..." The mechanic sighed, sounding sorrowful.
"...and I don't ask much...Am I?" Harley asked and Modo turned his eyes on her, he was to open his mouth and maybe answer that but Harley cut him off, as she didn't see the big male would have anything to say due to their bandanas covering half of their faces and she got on with her monologue.
"Or maybe I am. Maybe it's just too much to ask for someone who loves me to come my way. But I know. It's war. This world is not about me. It's about going there, killing some aliens, have a beer, sleep a few hours and then starting everything all over again."
"C'mon, you ain't that cynical, Harley."
"I don't know. Maybe I am. Maybe I'm becoming cynical. As it feels sometimes there's no sense in anything. Maybe there's no hope left..."
"There's plenty of hope. But you have to look into detail."
"What detail?" Harley stopped as her walking companion stopped again while noticing something on the ground and he knelt down on the sand.
"You see this?"
"Sand?"
Modo huffed and cleaned a little sand off and soon there was a faint stem poking out.
"See? Even in a harsh and barren land like this...There's life."
Harley raised her eyebrow as Modo dug a little before he lifted a big bunch of dangling round thingies, showing them to the female Cave Mouse.
"You compare my love struggle with sandpotatoes?" Harley raised her eyebrow.
Modo started to laugh.
"Nah. Just saying, there's hope. In everything. In this world. And these are not sandpotatoes, these are desert radishes."
"Hey, I never acclaimed to be a food expert here..."
"Never eaten desert radish?" Modo wondered while getting up, holding the root vegetables.
"Hey, I've eaten radish before…! I've just never seen them in...wild, I mean, in their... natural way. Look, when the market ladies sell them, they've cleaned them and cut the roots or whatever those pointy thingies are...!"
"Stems."
"Right. Don't look so shocked..."
"Ah'm not..."
"You're the worst liar. I can see through you..."
"Just...There's like three things left one can eat around here anyway..."
"Okay, no need to rub it in, oh mighty hunter/gatherer...Never thought that since the day you guys put me in charge of the food we've been eating so many Venusian goods wrapped in tin foil?"
"Not really, but it slowly starts to dawn on me..."
"There's no need to boil or simmer protein bars...So easy! Like what the fuck is simmering anyway?" Harley muttered, crossing her arms.
They suddenly heard a bike roar and soon a red dot appeared from the whirling sand clouds and in just a few secs, Vinnie stopped his racer next to them and opened up his helmet and he immediately regretted doing so as he noticed Harley's cheeks turning red as she darted her look away from him.
Vinnie felt his cheeks burning as well but he tried to act all cool and untouched and nodded at Modo.
"What's up?"
Modo gave Harley a look, furrowing his brows while seeing her flustered all of a sudden, wondering what had gotten into her before glancing back at Vinnie.
"Where have ya been?"
"Just...blowing off some steam...It's awfully uneventful here, I don't know if ya guys have noticed that...Probably not..." Vinnie talked, clearing his throat while waving and slapping his hands together trying to act in a normal way, but not really succeeding in that.
He then cleared his throat again while thinking he had played his cool and aloof part in an award-winning manner once again, and he nodded towards the campfire which barely was burning anymore due to the winds that threw sand all over, including into the fire, but he could smell the smoke and something to be recognized as meat.
"We ready to eat?"
"...soon...once Ah've cleaned these... It'll make a good side dish..." Modo wondered while holding the radishes at his eye level, studying them. A teasing smile crossed Vinnie's youthful face.
"You'll make a great wife..."
Modo lowered his gaze on Vinnie, furrowing his brow a little but then seemed to come to a different conclusion on how to play out the scene and he lowered the radishes.
"Thanks for the proposal, bro, but Ah'm taken like Ah already told ya..."
"What..hu? No, no, that was not what I meant...!" Vinnie panicked and Modo passed him with a smile although the others couldn't see it due to the bandana covering his face. Vinnie turned on his bike's seat to look after him.
"Bro, c'mon...!" He yelled after the big male.
Vinnie sighed and his two ruby red eyes darted on Harley who was now studying him back.
"So...eh...about..." Vinnie tried to come up with a coherent sentence but failed.
Harley rolled her eyes and passed him as well, walking down this little dune they were on, towards the tent.
"C'mon, let's go eat..." She muttered while passing him, too.
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