Starbound Overdoing It

"I think it's about time we pack up and move somewhere else.

We've mined this place dry and we have enough fuel to jump planets." Felix yawned. He was bent over the small workbench they'd stolen from a prison on the planet their (her) ship hovered over, his pride and joy, a bolt action rifle he'd modified to fire various types of seeds, laid out in front of him. Mekito was sitting formally in the Captain's chair, all three of her red eyes closed in thought. Turning in his wheeled, rotating chair (also liberated from the prison), he furrowed his brow as he looked her over. "What do you think? We can afford the jump, right? At least one. Then we go down, see what we can find, gather more coal from mines we haven't exhausted, and hopefully put together enough equipment to send a distress call out and make our way out of this wasteland of a sector."

After several minutes of thought, she nodded her assent. "I do not disagree." She acknowledged, always at least a little bit distant when she spoke to him. At the very least, though, she had reason to choose wisely. If they only had enough fuel to make it to one planet, it'd better be a good enough planet to set up base on for a while. Gliding her hand against the holographic controls in front of her, she deliberated over her options.

"Alpha Merqioa 14. A moon. Ores there are very plentiful, so we could most likely find enough coal to move quickly, and perhaps enough iron to strengthen our current armor." She suggested, turning her head to look at her partner of a somewhat lengthy period of time.

"Also subzero temperatures. I'd like to not die of hypothermia before I can put together a fire." Felix shook his head in disapproval, and the Hylotl nodded again, returning her gaze to the chart in front of her.

"Alpha Umbraxion 1215. A desert planet. Home to a large amount of feral Avians and other more barbarian types. Flagged as a danger to small or unprepared groups. I do not think this one a better choice."

Felix pondered over it for a moment, looking at the sledgehammer he'd stolen from a Glitch subterranean base and wondering how it'd stack up against an Avian skull. Or ten. Or a hundred. His hand lifted to straighten his cap and tug it down over his eyes some, and he picked up the small, cylindrical metal shard he'd taken to placing between his lips, shoving it in its usual spot and twirling it with his tongue briefly. "Can't say which I like more, getting clawed apart by bird men or freezing to death on a moon. Pass. What else do you have?"

"Alpha Melpomenia 6454." She read off the screen. "A toxic forest biome. Not very much information is listed on the current OS and we're too far away from any relays to update the ship's information to anything more current. However, it is also flagged, much like Alpha Umbraxion 1215."

"Better than the moon and the bird-planet." Felix shrugged. Something about that name was familiar, but he couldn't quite place his finger on it. "My vote goes there." There were so many planets, though, with such aggravatingly similar names. Surely it was just a coincidence. Mekito nodded and punched in a few commands, and then the starship was moving, FTL travel making the jump between solar systems a breeze. Several minutes passed in silence, as he returned to his rifle, polishing it up.

"By the way, Felix, this is just a couple of planets away from where I found your weakened distress signal and picked you up. Have you ever been to this planet, by chance?" She turned to him, one of her three eyes closed in concentration. That made him actually have to stop and think. Maybe the name was a bit more than déjà vu. If she'd found him near here, that meant that he'd probably been on-world at least once. So what was it about Melpomenia that made it stand out in his memory?

"Hold on a second." His hand lifted to his chest, fingers sliding around the collar of his cotton shirt. "You said it was a toxic forest biome? You're sure of that?"

"That's what the navigator says." Mek responded neutrally. Her curiosity piqued. "Why? Have you been there after all?"

"We need to cancel the jump." Felix said, and he stood up, urgently. "While we have enough fuel to go somewhere else. Hurry." The hand that had curled in his shirt grabbed at the silver chain his Hylotl partner had given him. Chocolate eyes widened in panic as he found the steel wing pendant hanging from it, the one he'd carried since before she met him.

"I can't 'cancel' it. We're already here, and we don't have nearly enough fuel to move somewhere else. We must mine for more on-world." Her eyes, too, widened, mostly at seeing him show such blatant distaste for a decision he'd agreed upon mere moments before. She was also correct; the ship had slowed to a steady circling around the world in question. "What's wrong? Have you been here after all?"

His teeth grit behind his lips and he turned away from her, for a moment. Reaching under his desk, he pulled out his extra-dimensional backpack, filled with the basic supplies he'd learned to carry—his pickaxe, a dozen torches, a flashlight, enough wood to build several fires, other essentials. Luckily, the bag only weighed as much as the interdimensional access portal did, which was essentially nothing. Tossing it onto the table, he immediately slid his sledgehammer into a holster he'd crafted out of leather, slung diagonally over the front of the bag for easy access. No words issued from his lips, no smart response or soothing 'it'll be alright'. For once, he looked downright agitated.

"Felix." Her webbed hand came to rest on his shoulder, and her confusion and curiosity gave way to a bitten lip and fear. "What is it down there that has you so afraid?" His hardened gaze slid from his bag to her, and then he glanced at her hand, tensing up from head to toe. After a few moments of silence and stillness, she removed her hand. The human exhaled slowly, trying to collect himself. His heavier palm came to rest on her shoulder in response, but she was a lot more attentive than he was.

"The wildlife here is –very- hostile." He cautioned. "And very, very dangerous. I need you to promise me you'll stay close."

"What do you mean by 'dangerous'?" She asked in retort, as tense under his hand as he was under hers. "I will… trust you. I will stay close. I need to know more about what I'm… what we're up against."

Abandoning her shoulder, Felix took to picking up a pen from the work desk, and a spare scrap of paper that had some preliminary designs for his rifle on one side. He flipped the paper to its back and started to draw, fingers working quickly and professionally. It was an important skill for an engineer, being able to communicate an idea in the form of a sketch. The penwork was messy, rough, but within a couple of minutes he'd drawn a creature on the page, and Mekito leaned over the table to look at the sketch.

The creature did not seem to have eyes. It looked almost like a Hylotl, a bipedal lizard, though significantly more feral. A long tail hung from its back legs. All four of its limbs were roughly equal length, implying that in addition to walking on two feet, it could probably run on four. All four were also topped off with tremendously large claws for their body size, though she didn't have much of a frame of reference as to its actual size. As she watched, Felix criss-crossed hatch marks all over the scales of the alien, before dropping the pen.

"The main threats are the claws." He said, eyes straight ahead, on the page. It looked like he was going over memories. From the grimace on his lips, they weren't pleasant. "They're as sharp as your blade, and just as deadly. They have fangs, too, but there isn't much point worrying about those. They won't use them unless they already have prey pinned down. If that's the case… well. Don't let that be the case."

"We've dealt with sharp claws and fangs before." She said coolly. "Honestly, I don't understand what you're panicking about. You have your gun now, and you're not alone anymore."

"I wasn't alone before, either. Let me finish." He said, just as coolly, tapping the scales he'd drawn onto the reptilian creature. She frowned at his harshness, finding it both unbecoming and quite unlike him. "The scales are the reason their claws are dangerous. It's something like… invisibility. Almost. Kind of like they take the image that's on the other side of them and place it on the side facing you. If you stand still, you can't see them. If you're moving, and you're looking carefully, you can catch the discrepancies. Like a section of your vision is angled incorrectly."

Their pasts had been something they'd never discussed, so Mekito had no idea there had been other people with Felix before their chance encounter. She knew nothing about him before she'd picked him up on a frigid snow planet months prior, and as far as she knew she had let little slip about her life before she began exploring deep space. Aside from cultural details he'd asked about out of curiosity, and what they'd learned of each other in the time since she'd brought him onboard, they were almost strangers. Shaking her head to clear it, her crimson eyes scanned the drawing again, only half listening to what he'd said. When he went quiet and looked at her, she realized he was waiting for her to respond in some form or fashion.

"I understand." She said, simply. "I will be very careful. If we use our matter manipulators to create a form of shelter as soon as we land, and tunnel down from there, we should be able to reach coal quickly and then leave this planet. Okay?" As little as she understood his excessive amount of worry, she at least tried to put him at ease. If they were off quickly, perhaps he would feel less endangered.

"Belowground is worse." He shook his head in denial to her plan. "You can't see them at all. There isn't enough light or different colors to catch their trick. We need to stay aboveground, as dangerous as that is. Hunker down at night, build small stone shelters. It'll take time, but it's the only safe way." He was speaking from experience, and his logic was sound, so she gave a half-nod of acceptance. He nodded back, and let a ghost of a smile flicker to life on his face, though whatever cheer it held was dashed by the haunted glaze in his eyes, mostly hidden under the bill of his cap.

….

After three days on-world, only rarely straying underground in the slightest amount to gather some coal that was visible from the surface, Mekito was beginning to grow uncomfortable. Felix had barely said a word since they'd landed. It wasn't much of a problem when they were digging, usually things were pretty quiet then, but especially as he insisted they shut down and build a shelter at the first signs of dusk, and they spent a lot of time in a crowded makeshift stone shelter around a campfire, the silence grew awkward quickly.

She caught him holding the pendant around his neck many times. Usually with a pained expression, but rarely with a resolve she had never seen the relaxed engineer wear. On multiple occasions, usually with their backs to a stone wall and the embers dying in front of them, she started to ask of its significance. Every time she worked up the nerve to speak to him, though, he stared at her with an unnerving pain in his eyes, and she always backed down, mumbled, or just trailed off. Truthfully, it was making her uncomfortable.

On the fourth day, both having barely slept in what must have been at least two or three Earth-days (it was impossible to tell time with the planet's solar cycle so vastly different), tensions were high. Her usually well managed temperament was starting to edge forth, and the Hylotl kept her distance from Felix. She heeded his advice at least, keeping a sword drawn constantly and scanning the horizon for any 'discrepancies', as he had put them. They had yet to have a single encounter with the creatures he'd mentioned, despite his wary eye searching for one every step of the way. When he stopped and stared at a particular pool of toxic sludge, the swampy biome's humid atmosphere suffocating the human and impairing his movement, Mekito pulled away to progress on her own.

Of course, her eyes were forward, and she noticed the slightest hint of something that left her skin crawling, like a part of the thick ooze they were mostly avoiding trekking through was just off-kilter. Her eyes narrowed, gripping her sword tighter and slowly, steadily advancing. Behind her, Felix was looking off to the side, strafing to his left and right, constantly moving in different directions. His eye was never searching adamantly enough for coal. She sighed under her breath and progressed forward, towards that spot that had seemed unnatural, lifting her blade to her side and preparing it. Just in case. Forward, slowly, but it didn't appear to happen again. Mekito justified it as a trick of the mind, her partner's paranoia wearing off on her. A heavy, exasperated sigh slipped from her lips as her grip on her sword loosened, smiling at the frivolity of it all. If Felix had spent half as much time looking for coal instead of searching for these mythical hell beasts, they would've already long since moved off of the rotting swamp world. She smirked at the thought, closing her eyes and imagining somewhere nicer, maybe an oceanic biome, that would be lovel—

"Mek! DOWN!"

Her head jerked up in confusion, fins twitching as she whipped her head back to look at Felix. She was about to yell back that he was being stupid, that this was a waste of their time. About to, until something broadsided her with the force of a truck. Her soft, easy to move in robes were of little protection against the claws that raked across her midriff, sending the Hylotl sprawling to the ground. She landed in the dark, stagnant water, faceup, crimson mixing in with the inky dark purple of the swamp and searing pain across her stomach and side. She gasped for air, but it was short lived. Long claws pressed to her shoulders, digging in sharply and forcing her underwater. It was certainly one of those monsters he'd warned about. Her arms pinned, she struggled as she saw it more clearly under the water, the thick fluid providing a filter through which its mirror image camouflage couldn't hide. Terror ran down her spine as she realized it was so much worse than his description and drawing had implied. Its teeth were massive and serrated, like knives, as its jaws opened and poised to strike. Closing her eyes tightly, she tried to drown it out, not experience it for a moment, and let it be quick and unexpected.

_Pkew._ The muzzle of that rifle Felix had made went off, muffled in her position under the water. The loud gunfire echoed throughout the swamp. _Chk-chik._ The bolt hurriedly pulled back, another seed pushed into the chamber, she could hear each sound with a disappointed pang in her chest as she realized it wouldn't do any good, she was already pinned and it was too late, those teeth were going to snap down at any moment.

_Pkeww_. Louder this time. Why wasn't he running? The sound of water sloshing, of footsteps trying to sprint through marsh, getting louder. It looked like the gunshots were enough to distract the beast for a moment, though she kept her eyes firmly closed. The claws lifted from her shoulders, bounding towards the footsteps, and she lunged upright, eyes opening to search frantically for Felix.

_Chk-chik_. His rifle loaded another round, and fired it into the head of the reptile, who shrugged it off as if it were nothing and continued its charge towards him. She wanted to scream, for him to go, but her lungs were half-full with marsh water and her voice was a gargled yelp. The alien would reach him before he got the next round off. Holding his rifle by the wooden grip near the barrel and reaching his other hand up to grab his sledgehammer's handle over his shoulder, bringing it down over his head onehanded. It was a less than accurate strike, with nowhere near the force behind it that it should have had in both, but there was a sickening crunch as it collided with the top of the beast's head. Staggered and winded, it lifted its claws to slash at him, slicing them down his chest and stomach but only piercing the latter, scratching uselessly against the engineer's iron chestplate.

Grunting in pain, Felix swung the hammer horizontally, smashing it against one side of the reptile's head, again hearing that crunch of bone fracturing. Mekito watched in awe as the beast was sent to its side, only barely scrabbling for balance before the brunette's leather boot slammed into it, knocking it onto its back. The foot followed up, stomping on the underbelly of the bipedal lizard, standing on it like a conqueror. The hammer was dropped to the side, into the marsh, as Felix lifted the gun and pressed it against the lizard's throat.

_Pkew. Chk-chik. Pkew. Chk-Chik_. Again, and again. Mekito flinched every time she heard the sound of the gun going off so close to her, knowing that it was overkill, covering her ears. The monster had to have been long since dead. Indeed, the sound of it thrashing in the water had silenced several shots prior. _Pkew. Chk-chik_. Like a rhythm. As fast as he could get them out, the human was unloading the seeds into the dead alien's head at point-blank range. It went on like that for a little while, what felt like days to the injured and scared Hylotl, until the gunshots stopped and all that was left was the sound of Felix uselessly recycling the chamber, trying to fit another seed in but finding the special clip he'd created completely empty.

She finally felt ready to look up at him, though what she saw wasn't quite what she expected. His eyes were wide with horror, rust-colored blood splattered on his cheeks, his hands, his outfit, his torn shirt, his soaked pants. His hair was matted down with it, his hat having been knocked off at some point in the scuffle and floating in the filthy water. He recycled the chamber once or twice more, clumsily, before dropping to his knees on top of the carcass of the beast he'd just annihilated. The throat and lower jaw of the lizard were a messy, torn pulp of flesh and blood.

"F-felix." Mekito said, lifting up one shaky hand, palm out, to stop him. His gaze slowly, very slowly, began to inch towards her. When his brown eyes met her crimson, the pupils were dilated, his mind in a state of shock. One hand fumbled around, splashing through the water and grabbing his hat before tossing it on his head, slinging dirty water down his face and into his hair, washing some of the blood away as his hand dived back under the surface, picking up his sledgehammer and tucking it and his rifle under one arm. His expression, of raw fear and terror, was even more unsettling than both the alien that had attacked her and the gruesome extent to which the human had overdone it. Never breaking eye contact with her, the arm that wasn't supporting his gun and weapon reached to that one's wrist, pressing and holding a button with an arrow and a circle on the underside of his glove. A few seconds later, he was engulfed in a red light, and disappeared

Still unsure of what to do, Mekito rose and tried to collect herself. Making sure she hadn't dropped anything in the attack and pressing one hand to her split side and cut stomach, she pressed a fumbling thumb against the same button Felix had, the emergency beam back to the ship. In an identical flash of red light, she was pulled away from the marshy planet, back to the orbiting spacecraft.

….

After she'd taken time to wash the foul-smelling swamp water from her skin, change clothes, and bandage her injuries, she still had not seen her human companion. He wasn't in the on-board shower. He wasn't in his bed, in their cramped shared room. Nor was he in the engine room, a favorite hangout of his, where he'd spent hours trying to visually dismantle the inner workings of the ship. She'd passed by his desk a couple of times, and he wasn't there, either.

Her bare foot stepped in a puddle of water as she circled the ship for a third time looking for Felix. Pausing to look down, she saw wet footprints trailing back towards Felix's desk, then stopping abruptly, the chair pushed off to the side. So he'd gone there, and… Mekito stepped around the desk curiously, finding the trail of water only grew deeper as she went. When she'd rounded it entirely, some patch of brown was visible underneath. Kneeling next to the desk, she looked under it, and found the man she was looking for in the most unlikely of places.

Felix was curled up into a ball under his desk, still covered in blood and swamp water. He reeked of the mixture. He also looked worse for wear than before, knees pulled up to his chest and arms snugly wrapped around them, hugging them close, shivering and cold. His chin and nose were buried, but of what she could see of his eyes, they were reddened with tears. When she knelt to his level, he glanced over to her, but returned his empty stare to the wall, clenching his hands into fists. One was wrapped so tightly around something that it was digging into his skin, little streaks of his own dark red blood slipping down his wrist. Her webbed hand tried to separate his fingers to remove whatever he held (she suspected his wing pendant), but when she tried, he just jerked his away from hers, squeezing harder and closing his eyes.

She had no idea what to do. Conflict raged in the back of her mind. On one hand, he had warned her that the beasts were dangerous. He had taken more care of watching for whatever that thing was than he had eating, or sleeping, for days on end. They were in this mess partially because she had considered him paranoid, and moved ahead without him. Moreover, when she had been endangered, despite his obvious overwhelming fear, he had stepped up. She was alive because he ran into the fight, refused to retreat, thrown his entire being into defending. Such a decision could only be seen as honorable.

On the other hand, though… a very ugly side of the human had come forth. Unbridled emotion, an uncontained anger and hatred, which he hadn't been able to stop or control. The image of that pulped flesh made her frown with discontent. That was the exact opposite of honorable. He had shown his fear plainly, and in his display, he had scared her. Nevertheless, scared or not, he had come through and done what he needed to do. She could not fault him for showing fear when she herself had cowered at the end, closed her eyes and braced for her own death. A shiver ran down her spine as she recalled that moment. While it was unbecoming of her, what else was to be expected in that scenario? Was Felix's outburst really so different from her own shut-down?

After her moment of inner turmoil, she simply picked the side of the desk that was most dry and took a seat next to the dirty and upset engineer. It's what he would most likely do in her scenario, minus the friendly hug he would offer. She was still just a little too shaken to offer that, and besides, it was always him whom wrapped an arm first. She was too cold and proud for something like that. So they sat on the floor for a while, in silence, and she waited for him to speak. He needed to. She had plenty to say, of course, but she also knew that judging by the way he was handling himself, he needed to clear his head first.

After what felt like only a few minutes but in reality was closer to an hour, the brunette's chin lifted to rest on top of his knees. His lips cracked to speak, and Mekito turned her head to listen, offering patience. "I really… overdid it." He said, softly, his voice scratchy. Brown eyes shifted to look at her, awaiting reproach. "Didn't I?"

"Yes," She responded softly, after a moment. "You took things too far." A slight nod, to indicate she was finished speaking, as her own knees lifted and she rest her palms on them. He watched her, guard still up, before his eyes flicked to the floor and he breathed out, finally, his shoulders sagging as much of the tension abandoned his muscles.

"You're not upset." He noted, keeping his head down, staying in his sheltered space under the desk even now. She shook her head, and his gaze lifted to look at her in slight surprise and confusion. No, she wasn't upset, or no, he was wrong, she was? Such an unclear gesture, for unclear thoughts. Felix dragged himself out from under the desk, then, and she wordlessly rose to her feet to help him. Her smooth, scaled and webbed hand caught his, pulling the soaked and filthy engineer to his feet and making sure he was steady enough to stand and walk. Now that his knees weren't covering his stomach, she could see that the lower half of his shirt was rent open, deep gashes similar to her own vertically running down his stomach. They were bleeding still, and the murky water that had stained his clothes and skin were probably not doing any favors in lowering the risk of infection.

"I'm going to… go clean up." He said, absently, and she felt herself nod numbly in response, unaware of her own actions and every bit as absent as she was. Perhaps they both needed some time to think, but more urgently he needed to get some of the potentially toxic contents of the water off his skin, and that wound bandaged up. It'd heal, if it was anything like hers, but it was still nasty and painful.

….

Sometime later, Mekito found herself sitting at the desk he'd been hiding under. While he was away, she'd cleaned up the mess of water and mud Felix had dragged in from the marsh. Her eyes wandered the workspace, absorbing the intricacies of the way everything was kept. Finished ideas were left facedown in a corner of the desk, unfinished ones that he'd taken care to highlight particular ideas were in the top-middle. Small pieces of metal, bolts, screws, and tools she couldn't fathom the use of were strewn about the center of it. Everything about his area was a certain orderly disorder. Careful to make sure everything was back the way it had been when she arrived, the amphibian girl slid the chair back to look over the simple metal desk one more time. Something on a small shelf underneath the desk and to one side caught her eye, a photograph in a simple wooden frame, and a weathered black leather-bound book next to it. Her curiosity piqued, she reached one hand out to pick the photograph up and—

"…hey."

"Y-yes?" Her hand retracted sharply, tucking over her lap as she looked up at Felix. He was standing in the doorway, in a clean pair of sweatpants. While she had redressed in another set of attire, prepared to go out again, he looked like he was far from ready. Aside from his sweats, the only thing the human was geared in was a set of bandages wrapped around his midriff and the silver chain and pendant around his neck. His hair was still wet, though, so more than likely he'd spent a majority of his time in the shower. He certainly looked fresher, his face cleaned of blood and swamp slime, and his reddened eyes seemed smoother. Leaning in the door frame, he took in a deep breath, exhaling it.

"Look, I'm sorry I—"

"Felix, I should have—"

They interrupted each other, and then both fell silent for a moment. Her visage turned down for a moment, though truthfully she was trying to get a better look at that photograph. She had plenty of suspicions, and she was almost positive she caught a flash of black hair in the picture, in stark contrast to the dark brown on the human she'd befriended. A pair of hands, human ones, the fingers tanned and sturdy compared to her amphibian skin, came to rest on the desk. Mek's eyes lifted, to catch his, and then they were both quiet for a moment. Eventually, he decided to speak.

"I took things too far." He said, in a voice barely above a whisper, his gaze softening as he carefully chose his words, like navigating a minefield. "I did something I'm not proud of. I'm really, truly sorry that I… lost control of myself. I wouldn't want you to think that I was crazy or anything." She nodded in acceptance, a gesture he reciprocated, before continuing. "I was acting a bit… paranoid. Still, though, you can see why I might be, right? I mean, there was a real danger. I was trying to watch out for us."

Mekito's hand lifted to lay on top of his, and he half flinched away in surprise, but steadied out to look at her and let her respond. "I am not upset." She assured him, just as careful with her wording. "However, there are certain things about you that I… would like to understand. You have been to this planet before. You knew about these…things. I should have trusted you. I need to know, though. I need you to explain to me what happened to you here." She watched his hand lift, away from hers, up to his chest, and wrapping around his necklace. He'd done exactly as she'd predicted. "Does it have something to do with your pendant?"

He was silent for a long while, but she had somewhat expected that. After he'd considered his response, he reached a hand back to undo the clasp, sliding the chain off his neck and placing the pendant face down on the table. Picking up the same pen and paper he'd used to draw the dangerous alien earlier, he looked closely at the back of the pendant, and then started to write something on the paper, a series of numbers. After he'd finished the string, he scrutinized the pendant again, and she realized there was something scratched into the back, the same numbers he was copying over. By the time he'd finished off the second set, she realized it was a set of coordinates. Pushing the paper towards her, he closed his eyes for a moment, before slipping the chain back on and clasping it around his neck once more.

"…Beam us there." He said, evenly, turning around and walking back towards the door. "Make sure you're geared up, just in case. I'm going to get dressed. I'll meet you when I've got everything I need." After she indicated her agreement, he left the room, leaving her to ponder where exactly all of this was headed. She could only hope for an explanation.

….

When they'd arrived, they were on a hilltop. It looked incredibly steep, as if falling down meant an impossible climb back up. Judging by the way the earth was incredibly uniform around them, Mekito made an observation to herself that it was most likely intentional, artificial. The grass looked out of place, too—very green and lush, compared to the almost purple and rotten fruit smelling plantlife in the swamp beneath them. At the center of the hill, in a very symmetrical style, there was a simple open roofed building comprised entirely of cobblestone.

Before she'd gotten the chance to ask, Felix was already moving. He was going towards the stone landmark, passing under a curved arch, and into a doorway barely wide and tall enough to fit through. Giving pursuit, she followed him through the tight entrance, having an easier time slipping through than the larger male, three curious eyes wondering what exactly he needed to show her so badly. She had a feeling that he'd put this hill and stone in place, but more importantly, she was beginning to get a sinking sensation in the pit of her stomach that it was all for something she wasn't ready to handle.

When she'd gotten inside, keeping quiet so she didn't throw off her partner's resolve, she had to take a breath in at the surprise of what was within. Her three red eyes widened in disbelief as she glanced around at the surreal sight within. Her body straightened up, hands sliding to press to the stone wall, finding the scene difficult to take in all at once.

The building was one large 'room', circular, symmetrical, flat. Deceptively high compared to what she had seen from outside, the stone walls around them were built to form more of a dome than a cylinder. It closed in for a portion of the top, though a wide ring was left open to the sky, the sun shining in and illuminating the space. Below their feet was a garden, overgrown. The grass was long and wild, but in much the same style as the stuff outside, planted artificially. Flowers, gorgeous ones of various colors, dotted the 'floor', though they too were vastly overgrown, thriving in the humidity. A few birds and insects had called the place home, but for the most part, the beautiful place was silent and still, a paradise on a planet covered in poison. It was mystifying.

Felix, however, did not stop there. He continued forward, through the long grass, towards the centerpiece of the display. A large stone block, at least two meters tall and three long, perhaps one and a half wide, filled the center of the room. It was flooded with sunlight, the stone bleached an almost white, weathered, smooth. Carved into each side was a very familiar symbol. Mekito's eyes glanced from the intricate, tribal wing design on the stone over to Felix's chest, where an identically shaped pendant hung from a simple silver chain. "You built this." She acknowledged, and he nodded stiffly, lifting one hand to rest on the stone and patting it gently. "This is a…"

"A grave." He supplied in response. It looked like he was having a hard time forming words, his throat caught on a knot. "Yes." She stood in silence at his answer, confirming what she'd begun to believe. After a moment, she placed both of her palms on the stone as well.

"The lizards?" She asked softly, making sense of it at this point, piecing together his extreme distaste and fear towards the creatures that, for all their danger, he had dispatched with relative ease.

"Yes." He answered. It wasn't cold, or impatient, but very serene and thoughtful. It looked like he was having a harder and harder time holding himself together, as his mouth closed and his jaw set, looking at the stone in silence for a moment.

"Your friend?" She pressed carefully. He shook his head in response, and she could see the human fighting back a fresh wave of tears. She wanted to know, though, needed to understand. "Partner?" She continued, looking up at him, white-gray skin paling further as she considered the other options. Rarely did one ever build such a display for just a friend.

"Wife," He answered simply. Her red eyes blinked in surprise, and she felt a wash of cold run from head to toe. That was not the answer she had been expecting. No… it was the one she had been afraid of hearing.


End file.

Starbound, Adventure, Hurt-Comfort