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⋆⛧* Chapter One *⛧⋆
⭒ Hallways ⭒

The start of the story, and how very weird it is that they keep running into each other! Almost as if fate is messing with them . . .
 
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Jaxent was excited. I mean, who wouldn’t be? A brand spanking new school backed up by multiple different planets, taught in a language that he already knew and would take him on an interplanetary journey throughout the galaxy? That would be any young Saxturn’s dream. He was served the opportunity to travel the world and learn of the wonders of the known universe on a silver platter, ripe for the taking. Only a fool would pass that up. And Jack, while not the sharpest tool in the box, was no fool. Now, to be fair, the boy wasn’t... completely on board with the idea. He’d be miles away from his home, stuck on a ship that would undoubtedly be crammed to the brim with numerous folks of other species. Not only that, but the school’s main ‘gimmick’ was literally planet hopping. Jack was a small town boy, whose only knowledge about non-Saxturns came from the scant interactions with his human mailman, who he didn’t even see every day, and from his Saxturn teachers. So the only alien species Jack has ever interacted with was humans. And he barely knew anything about them. Needless to say, Pyxis was definitely going to be a new experience for him. He was lucky Nima managed to pass with him, else he would have struggled a lot more with adjusting to his new life.

Nima, on the other hand, was much giddier about the whole affair. Like Jack, he was always one for new opportunities, but getting to attend a school and explore the wondrous expanse of space alongside one of his best friends? That was something that came by only once in a lifetime. And Nima was sure as hell going to enjoy it to the best of his abilities. Yes, it really sucked that he would have to leave most of his stuff and his family behind, but this was something he had to do. To be honest, Nima was nervous about taking the exam at first. The waiting period for retaking the eligibility test was around 1 year or so, and there was no way Nima was going to wait that long. But since Jack was doing it, Nima was sort of obliged to go along with him. Never in his life, though, did Nima expect to pass. Even now, sitting beside his best friend on the ship meant to ferry those who passed over to the school, Nima felt like he was in a dream. A wonderful, bizarre dream where he was handed the keys to the universe and told to knock himself out. To Nima, this was a vacation. To Jack, this was a new nerve wracking adventure.

The ship ride over to Pyxis was a very different experience for both of them. Jack was rubbing nervous circles into his hand, trying to decide if he was nervous, extremely excited or a nauseating blend of both, while Nima was bouncing his leg and trying to keep himself from breaking into a giant grin. So when they finally docked with Pyxis, Nima could barely wait for the other students to file out before rushing through the exit, leaving Jack in a puddle on the floor.

Finally moving to join his friend outside- though not after a heated debate with himself on whether or not jumping through the back of the ship and swimming through space back to Earth would be a good idea- Jack was greeted with a tall green alien, with two black beads for eyes that seemed to pop out of their sockets. “Greetings,” they announced to the group. “Welcome to Pyxis Academy. I shall be your guide through this ship, as well as your educator. You may call me Niurvane.” They performed a little curtsy, slow and graceful in their movements. “Please leave your bags here for the servants to put away, as the tour will begin soon.” Waving one of their four arms towards a square on the floor outlined in neon yellow tape, they said nothing more, simply beckoning the students to follow them with a single finger. Even their walking was impossibly graceful, as they glided their way out of the docking bay and into the main body of the ship.

The boys, as well as their fellow newbies, were introduced to the ship in slow, careful strokes, led by the enigmatic yet controlled Mx. Niurvane. The cafeteria, the class wings, the 3 or so levels, they all seemed to pass in a flash. The Academy itself was enormous, so breaks were a common occurrence. It was only around the 2 hour mark or so that the group was finally led to the dorms, with most of the students already exhausted from walking everywhere. The teacher carefully unhooked a small collection of keys from their belt, before passing them around to each of the 32 kids. Their expression was as flat as ever, and Jack couldn’t help but shudder slightly as the rough texture of their fingertips brushed against his hand. Returning to the front of the group they announced that their bags were already in their rooms, and that they were encouraged to find out where they would be sleeping by themselves. Nima and Jack were excited at first, wondering if their rooms had been assigned in close proximity to each other, but they had to split up after Nima found his earlier than Jack. It took about 10 minutes for Jack to finally come across his room. Exhausted, both emotionally and physically, Jack didn’t even have time to unpack before he collapsed into his pillow.



The next day was Jack and Nima’s first official class in Pyxis, where they could get acquainted with their fellow classmates. Lucky for them they both found themselves in the same starting class. Travelling groups would, according to Mx. Niurvane, be assigned after the kids adjusted properly to their schedules. So for now, the Saxturn boys would have to wait on the ship before they went on any grand adventures.

Their first class was going well, before introductions were requested of all the new kids. Nima did his with no fuss. It was Jack, where the trouble came in.

Jack and Nima were raised in different Saxturn communities. They met in school, then built their friendship off of a shared interest in some cheesy superhero comic they’ve both forgotten by now. So while Nima spoke with but a hint of a southern accent, Jack's had an extremely noticeable drawl. “H-howdy folks! The name’s Jaxent, but y’all can call me Jack! I’ve never be- uh.” Jack paused. A number of kids were already talking amongst themselves, passing along whispers in the middle of Jack’s introduction. And that whispering seemed to heighten in volume as Jack got further along, his drawl becoming more pronounced. Blood rushed to Jack’s cheeks as his throat seemed to tighten up, unaware of what he did wrong but feeling bad for it nevertheless. The teacher told them all to quiet down before ushering Jack back to his seat, but the damage had been done. Everyone had eyes on him now, and most were interested in making the little cutie blush some more.

Classes proceeded with no further incident, but once lunch rolled around, Jack was almost immediately crowded around by a gaggle of students.

“Can you talk some more, Jack?”

“How-dee Jack! Me and my friend were wondering if...”

“Jack, you’re from Earth right? Do humans…”

The poor Saxturn felt his head turn as the group bunched up around his table, asking him questions and generally just trying to get him to say something. The boy could barely get a word in about how he had to meet up with his friend in the cafeteria before a few more kids giggled at his accent. Jack had spent a solid few minutes trying to politely remove himself from the situation without offending anyone, his face continuing to flush as it became more and more apparent that these folks weren’t budging. So he, albeit reluctantly, agreed to sit with them.

Leading them out of the classroom the aliens continued to pour mountains of questions onto him, as Jack struggled to answer all of them in a timely manner. The poor Saxturn had to keep up with the seemingly breakneck speed of the conversation, the others often passing questions amongst themselves before turning back to him. It was times like these that Jack wished he had Nima’s confidence. He would’ve definitely told them all to screw off, without a shadow of a doubt. But Jack couldn’t bring himself to deny his classmates. They were just curious about him! It’d be really rude to just up and leave just because he was feeling slightly uncomfortable. So, maybe… he’d find a way to leave without them noticing.

Letting the rest get a little further ahead, engrossed in their own conversation for a moment, Jack ducked left into another pathway, leaving the group behind. Adrenaline pumped through his body as he ran and ran and ran, far from the others and leaving loud clanging noises in his wake. One of them, a small girl with pink skin, cried out: “Jaxent, where-” The rest of her sentence was drowned out by blood rushing to his head as Jack ran for his life, ducking this way and that in some vain attempt to lose them. He didn’t know how long he’d been running for before his legs wobbled, threatening to give out from beneath him. The boy came to a stop for a breather, bent over and gripping his knees tight as he panted. His lungs burned in his chest but he could still hear the others faintly calling his name, seemingly determined to have him sit with them. They were coming this way. Thinking fast, Jack ducked through the door beside him.

What he came upon was a quiet alcove of books. Familiar greenery hung from the ceiling, as shelves upon shelves went up and down the room in back-to-back pairs. Tables were dotted between the groups, able to hold 4 people each, but Jack only spotted one alien sitting at the table closest to where he’d entered from. Crimson skin immediately drew Jack’s eyes, his gaze trailing up to meet with two bright blue eyes. Jack opened his mouth for a moment, simply agape at this stranger, before the sound of his name being called made him jump, a sharp “eep!” falling from his mouth. He quickly turned to the beautiful stranger, floundering for words. “I- ah, uh, do ya mind if I hide here? I promise it’ll be quick, I-” The red-skinned alien wouldn’t be able to hear any more from him though, as the sound of the far library door opening shocked the freckled Saxturn into moving. Quickly Jack slid under the table, lacking in any other options, squeezing his eyes shut and hoping that the stranger wouldn’t rat him out. Jack held his breath as the sound of footsteps came closer and closer to his hiding place, holding his knees tight to his chest.

“Hi there!” Lypranos said to the pretty stranger. Three beady black eyes looked him up and down, pausing at his horns, before her mouth twisted into a smile. “Have you seen an adorable little purple boy pass by here? He’s around 5’5, has these adorable little lights on his head and just the cutest little drawl!” Lypra interrupted herself with a squeak, her pink skin flashing a light shade of purple before she turned her attention back to the boy whose eyes looked like little Kiraniones, eagerly awaiting his answer.
 
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There was a single problem that the prince could see with this situation. It was not the nervous flutter of his tender heart, or the fact that the ship would be traveling from world to world. It was not the fact that his difficult younger brother would be with him at the academy, to watch over him and report back to their father about any problem that ever occurred in regards to him and his solitary challenge. It was not the concern that the food would be disgusting or otherwise inedible, or that he would be judged based on his appearance and species, or that he would be stared at and asked several questions.

No, Kymil’s problem was in regards to the language he would have to speak while aboard Pyxis Academy. English. What even was that? Why did it sound like that? So clunky and not smooth, very much unlike his own language, Etaya. The Temernal’s might be several horrible, yet accurate, things, but the one thing that many other species could admit about them, begrudgingly, was that they had a beautiful language. It did not match with their blood-thirsty, violent, frightening reputation. It was a startling contrast to their nature; pleasant, light words, often times saying such horrible things, demanding destruction or death.

Not always did the words his people say demand destruction or death. Many other species would assume that was all his kind cared for, however.

Perhaps he was a tad nervous about being judged.

“You look frightened, brother.” Unfamiliar English words in his brothers voice caught his attention and he turned away from the window to look at Lier. “Are you scared?”

He was mocking him, with that cocky smirk on his face. Kymil ignored it and peered back out the window, watching the spaceship academy slowly get closer and closer. “Why are you speaking in that language? We’re not even there yet.”

“I am doing this thing called practice.” Lier came to the window and leaned against the wall near it, ducking his head to look out of it as well. His horns clacked against the dark colored wall. “How many Earth humans do you think are aboard that?”

“You sound like you’re not comfortable speaking that language,” Kymil remarked, smirking when his brother scowled at him. “They aren’t called ‘Earth humans’, either. They’re simply called humans.”

“Whatever.” Lier rolled his eyes, crossing his arms. “Did you even complete the practice assignments Father gave you? Let me hear you say something in that language.”

Kymil pondered for a moment, then shrugged a shoulder. “I think I would like to try some cheese sandwiches.”

“What the fuck is cheese?” Lier asked, pulling a disgusted face. Kymil noted his brother had learned to swear in the English language. Unsurprising. “And why do you want to try them? That? It?” He furrowed an eyebrow, annoyed, but shook his head. “None of the food on that ship will be good,” he said, in Etaya.

“We haven’t even stepped aboard it, Athel,” Kymil muttered, sighing.

Athelm Lier Rhana Triro Eisie Magstrariss-aral was the last born son to the Magstrariss royal line. He was not the youngest in the family, but he was last in line for the throne. That meant he would never inherit it, which meant that he was able to do most anything he wanted to. The reason he was on this ship, with his older, tender-hearted brother, was because of far too many reasons to list. One of the top ones was, indeed, to keep an eye on his brother. The other was, perhaps, because he was curious and interested and wanted to expand his mind. Maybe he also wanted to get away from his stifling home, but maybe that was not what he sincerely thought. Kymil, knowing his brother and his ways, had his own suspicions. They would be confirmed or denied sometime later, he thought, listening as his brother grumbled something in their language about how he doubted the food would be as tasty as he was used to.

“I mean, do you think we’ll even be able to eat it?” Lier asked, continuing on with his whining and effectively pulling Kymil from his thoughts. “What if it’s disgusting or we can’t process it correctly?”

“Our digestive system is not that strange compared to several other species,” Kymil answered, shaking his head. “We’ll be fine.” He looked his brother over, then smiled. “Now who seems to be frightened?”

“I’m not frightened,” Lier snapped back. He reached forward and grabbed one of Kymil’s horns, then pulled it to and fro. Ky’s head moved with the movement but he quickly slapped his hand away, glaring at him. “Ooh, watch you’re temper there, brother.”

“If you believe you’re presence at the academy will be vexatious to me and cause me to slip, then I regret to inform you that you’re terribly mistaken.”

Lier smiled and stepped away from the window, not saying anything else. Kymil watched him go, frowning until he left the room. After the door slid closed behind him, he let out a breath.

Kymil Maldrin Rhana Triro Magstrariss-aral was the third born son. Looking at him, one would not assume he was the family disappointment. He was too composed and courteous with his speech, not nearly as brash and irascible as his younger brother. He had, after all, been born differently than him, tender-hearted and lacking in fiery rage. The solitary challenge he had to face was one his brother would never fully understand, just as his father and older brothers never understood it entirely. Lier questioned and pushed him frequently, to annoy him. To test him. He was, to be perfectly honest, hoping that his brother would manage to overcome his inherent flaws and live the life he wanted to, so that he could become a good example to all of the other fools in their species. Though he never would say this directly to Kymil, the older brother did believe that Lier was trying to help him, in his strange, infuriating, round about way.

Thankfully, Kymil had the support of his family, even if some of them behaved as if they thought his idea was the most asinine thing they’d ever heard before. His mothers ensured him he would be okay before he left, as did his eldest brother and sister. His father loved him and wanted him to be happy. This was why Kymil was on a spaceship, currently preparing to dock at Pyxis Academy.

He had not initially wanted to come to the academy. He had asked for a second chance to prove that he could be kind, and this opportunity came at just the right time. It had been difficult studying up on humanity and the English language, but Kymil knew he would be able to manage decently enough on the ship with what he had learned. He wondered if Lier would be okay, since he remembered how upset Lier had gotten over the grammatical nonsense of the language, but before he could even think of going to find him, the door slid open again.

Ah, Lier came back to him, this time with their second eldest brother and younger sister in tow. Interestingly enough, none of his siblings had the same skin or hair color. Kymil had dark red hair and vibrant red skin, compared to Lier’s almost pink skin and golden locks. His eldest brother was black haired and had skin as dark as the blood running through his veins, while his little sister was pink skinned and blonde. The one thing they all had in common, apart from the same nose and eye shape, was their eye colors: bright blue, just like the tyeri flower that grew outside of their castle walls. Their eyes made it obvious they were royalty, as normally Termernal’s had eyes dark and dangerous, to more easily express what was inside of them outwardly. The light color of the siblings eyes made them always look less hostile, but it also made them look very striking. Shocking electric blue, one of Kymil’s old friends had once said. He did not understand the dramatic description back then, and even now, looking at his siblings, he did not see anything shocking about them.

Except for the slight discoloration of Lier’s right eye, but no one on the ship would understand what significance the golden rim around his iris had. Kymil was glad that he was showing it off, now. In the past, it had been so bad that Lier almost ripped his own eye out. Kymil and Naela had stopped him, as the younger siblings had always been closer with each other. The attempts before that involved a knife getting far to close to his eye, a red-hot metal rod that ended up hitting near his eye instead and leaving a very minor burn scar, and Lier also had almost sold his eye on the black market. Kymil remembered where he found him, on the table, tied up, having a hard time breathing because he was so panicked. There had been blood gushing out of a wound above his eye, blinding him temporarily. His dark golden drops fell unapologetically down to the dusty floor, leaving behind proof of life, and proof of the horrible mistake.

All of that was in the past, though, and it did not do well to dwell on it. Lier now accepted his eye and no longer wanted to be rid of it. It was a glad thing among everyone in the family.

Naela rushed over to Kymil and wrapped her arms around his middle, burying her face into his chest. He smiled gently and hugged her back, resting his chin on the top of her head. “I don’t want you to go, Kyly,” she mumbled, squeezing him. “You have to send me messages as often as you can, okay?”

“Of course I will, Naely,” he said back, smiling again when she pulled back to look at him. “I might be busy, though. It is a public school and the humans have this thing called homework.”

“Homework?” Khoqin repeated, obviously confused.

“It’s like our assignments, except about fifty times more annoying,” Lier explained. The answer was not sufficient, as Naela and Khoqin still seemed very lost. He rolled his eyes. “Ask one of our mothers’ about it once you get to Earth. I’m sure they can think of some homework to give to you.” He looked at Kymil, then past him, back out the window. “We have to get ready. Father and Mother and Mada want to speak with us before we go.”

There were several names to call mother’s who are not the biological parent of a Temernal. Mada was one of the more formal ones, and Lier used it when talking about Kymil’s birth mother. Mother belonged to the first women to give birth in a family; the first wife, most often. Mom was far more informal and was usually reserved for birth mother and biological child, though the siblings often referred to their Mother as Mom, since she was always the one to guide them and help them. Muya had stayed back on their planet, but Mama was on the ship as well, to see off her two youngest boys. Mama was always the one to cry over things like this, and Kymil knew she’d be weeping as he stepped off the ship and into Pyxis Academy.

He did not want to postpone the inevitable. He moved away from the window and walked, with Naela holding onto his arm, over to Lier. He smiled again and reached up to grab his little brother’s horn, then he shook it. “You look frightened, brother,” he said lightly, releasing his brother and moving around him.

“I am absolutely not frightened,” Lier scoffed, crossing his arms.

“You looked kind of stressed when you we found you,” Khoqin said cheerfully, dodging when Lier aimed a punch at his arm. He grinned and stuck his tongue out at him, mocking.

“Yeah! It’s okay to be scared, Athy,” Naela said, letting go of Kymil and grabbing onto Lier instead. She pulled him into a hug, and Kymil and Khoqin both snorted when Lier grunted. “You guys will be together, so you don’t have to deal with all the terrifying newness alone.”

“Yes, alone. With several hundred other people surrounding us almost constantly.” Lier hugged his sister back quickly, tightly, then moved over to Kymil and started pushing him toward the door. Naela and Khoqin laughed. “Let’s go, brother. We don’t want to be late getting onto the human ship, now do we?”

Kymil let his brother push him and waved to his siblings, then the door slid closed behind them. Lier stopped pushing and glanced back at it. “You’ll miss them,” Kymil mumbled.

Lier looked at his brother, then back at the door. “It’s only a year,” he said, mumbling. Kymil recognized the uncertainty in his voice. The hesitation and worry.

“You’ve never been apart from them that long before,” he said quietly.

“Neither have you,” Lier said, turning back to his brother, frowning. There it was. The annoyance and snappiness, back in full force. “I’ll be fine. You should worry about yourself.” He took off down the hallway, not waiting for Kymil to follow after him.

Kymil eyed the door, then went after his brother. The teary goodbye was going to happen sooner than he wanted it to. He’d have to say goodbye to his parents and siblings for an entire year. He needed to make sure he didn’t let his sisters wet eyes effect him, to reassure her that he’d be fine. Because he would be, sincerely. Saying goodbye was simply not going to be the most exciting thing to do.



The academy was not as bad as Kymil thought it would be. Years of being in the public eye were what was saving him from making a complete fool of himself in front of all of his classmates. He simply smiled and nodded along whenever they spoke with him. If he was feeling chatty or if an interesting conversation came up, he would make conversation with them. In the month since he had been at the academy, he had become relatively popular while also managing to make a couple of friends. He didn’t know them too well, truthfully, but he was fairing much better with his classmates than Lier was.

Lier had, predictably, gotten himself involved in not one, not two, but four fights since the prince’s came to the academy. The first one had been because of miscommunication, Lier explained to both the leader of the academy and to his older brother, but the following three could not be explained with the same excuse. Lier was getting better at speaking English, and the better he got at the language, the more fault he found in what people were saying about him. He fully expected to be judged because he was a Temernal. Only a fucking idiot would be naive enough to believe that they’d be free of judgement, especially when someone came from a species like his own. Lier knew that his brother was trying to redeem the reputation for their species on the ship, and his fighting had done nothing but damage it further. He did feel a little bad about it, but he refused to apologize to anyone. If people were assholes, he’d defend himself.

It was quite a problem for Kymil. They were in two classes together and had rooms across the hallway from one another. Lier often stayed near Kymil during free time, because he did not yet know anyone else to cling to. Kymil did not mind having his brother near him, even though his brother was often a brat who kept pushing and pushing and pushing him. Being in a school environment like this made it far easier for Lier to point out things and attempt to get under Kymil’s skin. He often questioned the people Kymil was speaking to and only after Kymil kicked his shin would he stop being so confrontational.

Kymil was feeling annoyed at the entire situation, to be perfectly honest. He did not want his brother to know that his presence was actually vexing him, so he did all he could to not snap at him. But... Lier had said he would try to not be as hostile to the humans and to the other species. He said he would try to behave, if he was feeling up to it. Kymil knew that meant he would actually do his best, since he knew his little brother did not want to be hated at the academy. He could tell the situation was also annoying Lier, although he refused to talk about it.

The older brother knew that Lier was far more like how a Temernal was supposed to be, and he could do nothing but explain to the leader of the academy that this was how they were as a species. It sounded like a pathetic excuse, even to Kymil’s ears, and Lier kept getting warning after warning until an ultimatum was reached: another fight, and he’d get punished. There was only so far the leader was willing to bend the rules for the prince’s.

This had been explained to Lier just recently this morning. Kymil tried to express how important it was he not fight with people, and Lier insisted he wasn’t going to be a coward and not stand up for himself. They had reached a stalemate, with neither side willing to compromise, and Kymil decided to give his brother time to think about what he said. It was useless to talk to Lier when he was pissed off, because during that time, reasoning with him was very difficult. Time and space would be what was needed in order for Lier to realize his brother was actually right.

In order to help his brother figure this out himself, he had decided to hide out in the library. It was one of the places Kymil enjoyed the most on the ship. He liked the unfamiliar plants inside of it and the stacks and stacks of books. It was quiet and peaceful in here, and he could focus his attention on reading the books in a language he wasn’t completely confident speaking yet. In here, no one bothered him or tried to annoy him, or made him almost snap. It was relaxing.

A door opened somewhere in the library and Kymil looked up, expecting it to be his brother, having found where he was hiding. Instead he was met with a rather panicked purple and surprisingly large-eared alien. His ears look soft, Kymil observed, but then realized he was being stared at. Why for? Was there something wrong with his appearance? Was it surprising to this guy? Perhaps. He did remember when he was still new to the academy, several people kept their eyes on him as he walked down the hallways. That had passed, though, as time went on. But it seemed like this stranger was not aware of who he was, which would be interesting.

There was a name called outside of the library and the boy, who Kymil assumed was named Jaxent, turned a pleading look on him and started to speak. It took a single word out of the guys mouth for Kymil to realize he was from somewhere on Earth. The accent was pleasant to Kymil’s ears and reminded him of his own language, just slightly. The English words were still unappealing, but the way this guy was speaking wasn’t as awful as some of the other students Kymil had to deal with.

Ah, what was he saying? Hide him? From what? Was he being chased by someone? Kymil nearly asked what he could do to assist, but then there was the sound of another door opening and the boy immediately ducked under the table. Kymil moved his legs aside to give him room and blinked at the girl who came over to him.

A quandary. This was a quandary. Kymil could sell the boy out, but if he was hiding, then logic would suggest that he did not want to be discovered. The correct thing to do would be to help the one who asked for it, even though Jaxent had not actually asked him for help directly. Hiding under his table and relying on Kymil to not sell him out was a different kind of way to ask for help, however.

“I have been in here most of the day,” Kymil responded, shaking his head no. “There has not been anyone that matches the description you gave me that has come in here. Perhaps he ran this way to lead you astray.”

The girl, who was someone Kymil did not recognize, huffed but then nodded. “Okay! Well, if you see him, tell him I was looking for him, please?” She didn’t wait for Kymil to respond before she spun back around and left, after quickly looking around to make sure Jaxent wasn’t hiding among the shelves.

Kymil waited until the door was closed, then frowned. How would he even tell Jaxent that she was looking for him? He didn’t know her name. The silent question was irrelevant, as there was someone hiding underneath the table. He leaned over and looked under it, his long braided hair falling over his shoulder. “I believe she has left the room. I do not think she will come back this way.”
 
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Closing his eyes gave Jack the pleasure of concentrating on the stranger’s accent. It was a smooth, sultry tone, as the boy eloquently lied about not seeing the Saxturn. His sentences were long and informative, using words Jack found fuddling in an accent that was alien to him. He understood what the boy was saying, yes, but his words were said in such a way that felt foreign to him, as well as strangely alluring. It wasn’t something Jack could reasonably explain to himself nor to anyone else, were they to ask. It’s just that for some strange reason, he found himself wanting to hear more from the boy.

With the echoing clunk of the library door closing, Jaxent looked up in time to catch the glance of his red-skinned saviour. As the boy informed him of the girl leaving, Jack couldn’t help the little sigh of relief that slipped past his lips. “Safe,” he muttered to himself. Looking back up at those blue orbs from below, Jack was immediately reminded of the compromising position he’d forced himself into. “Ah- wait a tick, let me just-” the Saxturn put out, as he oh-so-smoothly backed out from under the table, though not before bumping his head against the wooden lip. Gentle little curses were uttered under Jack’s breath as he rubbed the sore spot, each said with the same care one used for handling small animals. People always found it strange that the boy cursed. Jack blamed Nima for being such a pottymouth that he made Jack’s cursing sound like verses from the Yyirre.

With a deep flush of embarrassment clearly present on the poor kid’s face, Jaxent looked to the Temernal with a sheepish smile. “Sorry about dragging ya into my business there. Just, uh, wanted to take a breather. Honestly didn’t expect anyone to be in here. But um, thanks for helping me out anyways! Actually-” Jaxent threw a nervous look to the library door, as though expecting the girl to come bursting back in at any moment. “Do you mind if I uh, hide out in here? Oh- unless you’re waiting for someone!” Jack quickly clarified. “I can just find another table if you aren’t comfortable with sitting with a stranger! I don’t wanna step on yer toes or anything, ‘specially after you helped me out with Lypra there, haha... “ Babbling. He was babbling. Not even a minute into knowing this guy and Jack was already trying to apologize for things. Deciding not to cut off the stranger any longer, Jack shut his traitorous trap with another awkward smile, this time accompanied with a nervous rub of his arm. ‘Prolly thinks I’m weird,’ Jack’s thoughts echoed, deepening the already apparent flush on his face.
 
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Wait a tick? Was that some slang? A tick was a bug, was it not? Kymil felt the corner of his mouth twitch at the confusing word, then the boy hit his head against the table. He started uttering several softly spoken swear words, still with that pleasant accent, and Kymil heard a couple that he was familiar with. He was not partial to using curses, himself, though his brother would be keen to discover there were new ones he could say. He observed Jaxent’s forehead to see if he had torn the skin but saw there was nothing raised on it. Perhaps he simply would not see any sort of injury on this alien, because this alien species did not show off their wounds as easily as his own did.

His thought was interrupted when he realized Jaxent was embarrassed. Oh, yes, because of the situation he had just been in. The flush of his cheeks was an interesting shade of purple, and it made him wonder what color the aliens blood was underneath his skin. Perhaps a blue color, or pink. Kymil’s own blood was a deep red, much like humans own blood. There’s was not as dark as his was, however. Lier’s, also, was not at all the same color as his. The reason it was not was because of his mother’s species. Her strange blood color had been passed down to her son. Did this alien also have some strange quirk like that? The antenna looking things on top of his head had to be for something, but what were they for? A Temernal’s horns were used for identification; age, sex, lineage, status. Perhaps those strange yellow bulbs were used for something similar?

He was distracted by his own thoughts, he knew, and was simply listening to Jaxent speak. It was very calming, his voice. He kept rambling about something and Kymil was not entirely sure what he was talking about, but he did hear a thanks followed by a question. Hide here. Yes, that would be fine. It was not as if Kymil owned this library.

He waited patiently for Jaxent to finish rambling and watched the boy rub at his arm. A month was all it had taken for Kymil to pick up on nervous habits such as that. Kymil did not think he had any outward ways of expressing his nervousness, since he rarely felt nervous, but he noticed several of his classmates averted their eyes or played with their clothes or hair. It was slightly distracting, and mildly annoying, when some of his classmates acted so stressed out. He did not understand the feeling very well. Mumbling and murmuring and stammering were not helpful toward any sort of conversation. He knew Jaxent had done much of that during his rambling, but Kymil could forgive it, because his voice was not as grating as most of his other classmates’.

“You can hide here.” Kymil motioned to the seat across from him, smiling. “This is not my library, since I am simply a student here.” He set his hand on the table and tried to recall what else Jaxent had said. “I am not necessarily waiting for anyone, either. And, no, I do not mind a . . . stranger, was it?” He was not familiar with that word. “I do not mind you sitting with me. We are both on the same ship and you are wearing a band, as I am, so you are also, presumably, a student.” He gestured to his wrist with his other hand, sliding a finger under the dark blue band and pulling on it gently. “I believe I saw you had the same color on your identifier, but I have not seen you on my floor in the dormitories.”

He paused for a moment, wondering about why this boy was being sought out by that girl, Lypra. He did not remember seeing him anywhere. He could have missed him, of course. The ship was massive and there were several floors in the dormitories, but Kymil was under the impression that the colors on their bands belonged to only one floor - one floor that was not too big, at that. He remembered the group who was frequently around him had other colored bands and two girls had been saddened they were not the same color, because they would not be as near each other as they wanted to be. Lier had the same color on his band, and he was ridiculously close to Kymil’s own room. Logically, then, Jaxent had to be on the same floor as him. Not as close to him, but on the same floor. And yet he had not seen him, and he was being tracked down by some girl. Strange.

It was strange, and Kymil wanted to know why this was not coalescing into one solid thought inside of his head. He looked the boy over and did, indeed, not recognize him at all. He would have seen a purple alien. “Why was Lypra searching for you? Are you, perhaps, a stowaway on this ship?" he asked, careful to keep his voice non-accusatory. "Did you sneak aboard it? Are you here illegally? Is that identifier on your wrist a belonging of some other student?”
 
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The red boy was calm, even when presented with a rather peculiar situation. It was something Jack found himself grateful for. One nervous wreck was bad enough, two would’ve just been a disaster. The boy waved to the seat across from him, the one beside Jack, with a smile. The Saxturn took the offer up with a sigh of relief, plopping himself on the chair. “Thank ya kindly,” Jack returned shyly. Words couldn’t describe his relief at the guy’s willingness to accommodate, even for some weird alien who’d just barged into his personal time. When the Temernal struggled to recognize the word stranger, however, Jack’s relaxed demeanor flipped to curious, just for a moment. His expression returned to that nervous gratefulness once he realized it had changed, but internally, the boy was wondering to himself. He’d noticed the blue-eyed prince’s accent, of course, but the fact that he didn’t seem familiar with a simple term such as ‘stranger’ was eye-catching. ‘Or ear-catching, in this case,’ Jack thought to himself with a little twitch of his left ear, a smile tugging at his lips. He could already hear Nima’s groan.

“I do not mind you sitting with me. We are both on the same ship and you are wearing a band, as I am, so you are also, presumably, a student. I believe I saw you had the same color on your identifier, but I have not seen you on my floor in the dormitories.” The horned male continued on with that same calming voice, tugging on the blue band around his wrist. Jack took a moment to glance at his own bracelet. The purple boy was unaware that the coloured groups were stuck on the same floor. In all honestly Niurvane had been unclear to them about daily operations on the ship and how the kids would be grouped together for the planet trips. He and Nima had been placed in the same group, but their rooms were quite a ways away. Well, it was perfectly reasonable to think that Jack had somehow wandered onto another floor in search of his room before stumbling back onto his level, but the boy liked to think he wasn’t that bad at navigating places.

It was rather strange though, that the horned boy hadn’t caught a glimpse of them at all. He would’ve thought the teachers would have informed other students. Then again, the academy was rather large… hmm, maybe they just weren’t in the same classes? Jack would’ve definitely noticed a red-skinned boy with large imposing horns and pretty blue eyes.

Looking up from his thoughts Jack heard said boy asking him something. “Why was Lypra searching for you? Are you, perhaps, a stowaway on this ship?” The boy continued on, asking more and more questions, until Jack started laughing. It wasn’t even the polite laugh Jack saved for first meetings, no, this was a bona fide Jaxent Nerd Giggle™. The earthling himself wasn’t even expecting it. The laughter just sort of… rose up in his throat. And now he found himself leaned over the table and clutching his stomach, struggling for breath as he was inexplicably shoved into this wonderfully weird situation.

Catching his breath, Jack let the grin on his face fade away, a much more controlled smile taking it’s place. It wasn’t completely recovered though, as his smile gave off a hint of genuine joy. “Shh!” the boy could just about manage through a giggle. “You’ll blow my cover!” Jack shot a wink at the other. The Saxturn couldn’t quite explain why he’d gotten so comfortable so suddenly with the prince. It’s just that what the pretty boy had said sounded so similar to what Nima would’ve said in that moment, in that same sarcastic tone he loved to use. That hint of familiarity gave Jack enough comfort to drop his guard for a moment, forgetting he was with some stranger and allowing the southerner to make a little joke.

“Ah, but-” Jack lowered his genial smile back into a nervous one. “Seriously speaking, I didn’t sneak on here or anything. I wouldn’t have the guts to do anything nearly that cool anyways, haha! I’m just a new student. Lypra was just uh-” Jack scrambled to think of an excuse to explain his escape. “...looking for me. Because I may have… ran away. Accidentally.” Smooth as always, buddy. “I mean- that’s not what I mean,” the boy quickly tried to amend with a nervous shake of his hands, as though swatting away his previous statement. “It’s just that I was feeling a little tired is all! So I may have… wandered off. To rest. For a bit. But I’ll go back later, promise! I just…” The boy glanced around the room, letting out a small exhale. “...wanted somewhere quiet to sit for a moment.”

Turning back to the stranger, Jack's expression slipped into something softer. “And I guess you’re my unlucky victim, haha!"

"Speaking of which, what are you doing here anyways?"
Jack looked away again, unable to hold onto that eye-contact. "If you don't mind me asking that is. Din't see lotta folks stick around the library as a haunt back home, much less hang out alone. Y'studying for something? Or do you just like the peace and quiet?" A glint had taken over Jack's eyes as he became genuinely curious. He hadn't meant to come off as accusatory or judgemental, far from it in fact. He just wanted to know things about the nice boy in the library is all! Of course, it hadn't occurred to him to ask the guy his name, but that was neither here nor there at the moment.
 
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Kymil had not expected that reaction to his questioning. What was this, exactly? Why was this strange purple alien laughing at him? It was incomprehensible. Baffling. Was laughing like this involuntary? A defense mechanism, perhaps? A distraction, so that a means of escape could be achieved? A clever ruse to lessen Kymil’s suspicions, to assuage his uncertainty over this stranger? Kymil watched, entirely confused, as Jaxent devolved into a fit of giggles then started to become short of breath.

Strange. Very strange. He had not thought what he said was particularly humorous. Perhaps the inhabitants of Earth found different things funny when compared to Temernal’s. Or, perhaps it was a case of cultural differences, and Kymil had not yet figured this particular situation out. Or maybe this was another sign of nervousness, because the purple alien had been discovered so easily.

An eyebrow furrowed when Jaxent smiled at him. Interesting. His eyebrow further wrinkled when the alien said something about his cover being blown, then Kymil felt the corner of his mouth twitch at the wink. He was being played. Toyed with. It was a joke, and he had misinterpreted it. The giggling was not anything but joyous, and he had thought so poorly of it so quickly. He felt his cheeks warm at his ridiculous misunderstanding and was thankful that Lier was not here to mock him. He also was thankful that his crimson flush would not be as obvious as the mauve watercolors that had been on Jaxent’s cheeks formerly.

He was a new student. That explained much. The purple alien still seemed unsure of how to explain the predicament he found himself in. Kymil waited for him to finish speaking, as he had been taught to do from a very young age. Interrupting when people were speaking was not something his parents had ever approved of. He did not hold as strictly to his manners when it came to those he was familiar with or his siblings, however, and Lier often got a more ignoble kind of treatment. Interrupting his little brother was something that Kymil always enjoyed. This handsy spectacle and prattling on was also rather fun to experience, thanks in large part to Jaxent’s accented voice. He made the English words he was saying easier to listen to, though they still were clunky and unattractive.

The pause and subsequent smile made Kymil smile back, although he wasn’t entirely sure what he was a victim of. The rambling? The under-table snatching? The laughter and obviously kind smiles and curious alien boy in front of him? He did not really feel like a victim, if he had to be honest. He felt, instead, rather happy to have the company. Jaxent was far more fascinating and friendly than his brother was, and this conversation was proving to be insightful. He had not been aware that Earth had any other alien species on it, and he had no idea that inhabitants of the planet could sound like this.

A haunt back home? Curious. This phrasing was peculiar, but so was some of what Jaxent had said during his spiel. Like, for example, how did one run away accidentally? And how would one ever become a lucky victim? Being a victim implied that some sort of unfortunate thing befell someone, did it not? This was the human language at it’s finest, and Kymil did not entirely understand it. The hyperbole or colloquialism or informality of it all was very difficult to see through. He would not ask Jaxent to change his way of speaking, however. He would simply adapt to it and take on various aspects of it to add to his own knowledge of the language.

“I do not mind you asking me any question that you might have,” Kymil said, smiling again. He touched the top of the book he had been flipping through before Jaxent came into the library and rotated it to show him the cover. “I was hoping that my brother might get over his aggrieved mood relatively soon, so while I was being patient, I skimmed through a few books to see what one would be less difficult for me to understand.” He removed his hand from the cover of the book and gestured to the three in a stack next to him. “I am still adjusting to the English language, and this library is a good place for me to find material to study. So, yes, then, would be my answer to your question.” He nodded once. “I also do prefer the peace and quiet that seems to reside in this room. Not many people aboard this ship seem to come here, and it is easier for me to relax when I am apart from the others.”

He considered Jaxent for a moment, then tucked some hair behind his ear and leaned back in his seat. The wooden back was hard against his own back, but he did not mind how solid it was as he relaxed against it. “If you are feeling tired, then you can nap if you want to. I will be silent so as to not disturb you.” He glanced at the door Lypra had left from, then back at Jaxent, a brightness in his eyes. He did not really believe the excuse that Jaxent had provided and wanted to know what the truth was. “However, if you were running away from some people, then I would like to hear why it is you were doing so. Did you upset them somehow, or are you in some sort of trouble? I do not think,” he whispered, cupping a hand around his mouth, “that I am the right type of Temernal who would be able to assist you if you were in trouble. We, as a species, are not the most helpful, and I, in particular, am attempting to remain unbothered and peaceful. Becoming involved in some kind of problem would not assist me with my goal, even if I would like to help you.”

He had not yet realized that he already did help Jaxent by not selling him out.

"I would like to hear whatever your problem might be, though," he continued, intrigued and wanting to learn more about the other drama that was aboard the ship that was not surrounding his own person. "I might be able to offer some advice. That is, of course-" he smiled, then, knowingly "-if you are currently experiencing some sort of problem. If I am incorrect about you having some troubles, then please do tell me and I will readjust my understanding of the situation."
 
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When the boy smiled, Jack couldn’t help the small twitch of his lips. The red-skinned male had been polite, yes, as well as incredibly helpful, but his long flowing sentences showed no hint of enjoyment in putting up with the Saxturn. That smile was enough to soothe over the boy’s heart, just a little bit, allowing him a sense of relief. He hadn’t meant to intrude on anything, and his mind was toying with the idea that his ‘saviour’ was mostly letting him sit out of some sort of moral obligation, but Kymil offering a sign that he was willing to talk with Jack made him think that maybe the other was genuinely interested in conversation.

Jack’s lights flickered when a brother was brought up, bringing to mind Jack’s own siblings at home. Jaxent couldn’t help the little tilt of his head when ‘aggrieved’ was mentioned, his brows coming together to try and decipher what the word meant. The way pretty boy said it was like a disappointed older brother talking about his petulant younger sibling, something Jack personally never used for Arvturn but certainly thought about using. Aggrieved brought to mind aggressive, though said in a… softer way, Jack supposed. The Saxturn wasn’t an english buff like Nima, so fancy words like ‘aggrieved’ certainly weren’t in his vocabulary. It did bring a little smile to his face though, as he imagined a tiny angry version of the boy before him.

When Kymil gestured to his own book, then to the stack beside him, things slid into place. Ah. That explained things. Jack had never caught sight of an alien such as he, so of course he came from another planet. The fact that he hadn’t been familiar with using a term such as stranger could be explained by one not used to casual conversation, which was probably the same with his usage of the term ‘haunt.’ That would also explain why on (not) Earth he was able to pull aggrieved out of his hat like a very strange bunny.

Deciding not to interrupt the boy out of appreciation for him not interrupting his own ramblings, Jaxent felt a twinge of guilt as the other offered his table as a place of rest. It wasn’t necessarily a lie that he was feeling tired, just that he wasn’t quite as tired as he may have put across in his word blurb. Plus, the idea of having this kind and considerate alien seeing him at his most vulnerable made Jack a little nervous. There was always this little paranoia in the boy that he would say or mutter things in his sleep that made him come off as less than kind. Sleeping was when he was at his lowest guard, after all, and falling asleep directly in front of someone he barely knew seemed nerve-wracking. The pulse of his heart only quickened when the other began questioning him again, returning to the topic of why the boy had ran away. The Temernal (Is that what he is?) wasn’t convinced by the Earthling’s white lie, as clearly shown through his questioning, and dark swatches of purple rose in Jack’s cheeks as he realised he was caught.

When the boy mentioned off-handedly that his species wasn’t the most helpful, though, a small frown passed over Jack’s face, that little caution blob in Jack’s head going off. ‘Not the most helpful? What does that mean? Is his species a warring one? Are they murderers?! Oh geez, oh crap, I can’t believe you’ve gotten involved with a species that kills Jack! He’s even got red skin, why did you think approaching him was a good idea?! You should’ve just ran to Nima and hid behind his table and-’ An eloquent way to describe Jack’s expression at that moment was ‘cowed.’ That caution blob took the remark Kymil’d made and ran with it, conjuring a plethora of nightmare scenarios, usually ending in Jack’s untimely and ultimately meaningless death. He hadn’t even realised he was making that expression, caught up in his own fear.

Time seemed to slow. Or rather, Jack’s thoughts began to speed up.

An increasing number of potential results from this interaction began to fill his head, and two golden orbs shot down to the floor, as if trying to hide from the now far more imposing figure before him. Ways of escape travelled alongside those nightmare scenarios, as well as a deep regret for ever having approached the boy before him. But, surprisingly, a small ball of guilt was beginning to balloon as well. The Saxturn glanced up at the horned guy, who was giving him a gentle smile. He didn’t seem… all that bad, honestly.

Okay no, he was a total gentleman.

Jack’s face fell into a frown as that guilt squeezed into the blanks between his ribs, darker lavenders rushing to fill his face. To anyone outside, it would appear that he was just embarrassed. But Jack wasn’t just embarrassed. He was ashamed. Ashamed for having heard a single not-so-positive thing about Temernals and immediately start assuming that the one Temernal he’d met, the one who had helped him no less, was going to kill him and launch his body into space. That kind smile etched itself into his mind, his heart beginning to ache in guilt. A day in and he was already creating a wall around himself, blocking out anyone he didn’t already know who wasn’t of the same species. He was being an asshole, that was the long and short of it, and Jack sincerely wanted to apologize for even thinking badly of the boy before him. He had let him stay for fucks sake!

Seconds passed in cold silence, leaving Kymil with no answers as Jack stirred in his guilt. But just as the prince seemed ready to drop the subject, a small creaky sound scratched it’s way out of the purple kid’s throat. “Ah-” he began, those dark purples swirling in his cheeks. If Jack could sweat he’d be drenched in the stuff. “I… might’ve lied. A little. It wasn’t actually a big deal, I just…” More silence as Jack fiddled with his fingers, trying to work up the nerve to speak his mind. “...made it a big deal. There was this group of aliens and, uhm… they were trying to get me to sit with them at lunch. They were just talking over me and stuff and I didn’t want to be rude or whatever and upset them so I just… left. To hide here. From them. I’m sorry.” The boy let out an apology, almost on instinct. He wanted to cry, oh so dearly, as he stared at the floor. His hand squeezed the soft material of his jeans and his ears seemed as though they were trying to swallow him up, stuck close to his head. The chair and the floor were all that kept him anchored to the real world in that moment, reminding him that he couldn’t cry, not in front of some stranger.

In all honesty, Jack’s truthfulness only arose out of his own selfish desire to make it up to the boy for thinking badly of his people. Those fearful and unjustified thoughts had whirled around Jack’s mind, and that guilt seemed like it was about to burst in his chest. Awful feelings squeezed around his heart. The quiet rumble of the air conditioning unit filled the dead space between the two. Golden eyes stayed trained onto his feet, waiting for the Temernal to have somehow read his mind and kick him out for being a terrible, terrible person.
 
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Did he say something wrong? The silence between them beat on Kymil’s ears like a drum. He could not hear anything outside of the library, the door serving as a barrier to keep the book filled room as quiet as possible. All he could hear was some distant whirring and, if he listened hard enough, the sound of his own heart in his chest. He studied the alien in front of him and replayed what he had said in his head. Nothing that he said was too erroneous, was it? Was he too eager with his questioning? Too at ease with Jaxent’s situation, maybe? Perhaps he was in deep trouble and Kymil asking more about the problem did not do anything to help ease his nerves. Perhaps he should have not been so vocal, so curious, so questioning. Perhaps he should have never asked about it in the first place.

He felt some strange feeling in his chest that, although not entirely familiar, he could decipher as regret. How odd. He had barely held any conversation with Jaxent, and yet he somehow said something to make the alien go silent. It was troubling. He did not know what to say to ease the other boys anxiety and sudden reticent behavior. He could not figure out some other way to divert the conversation, in order to get the other boy to speak once more. Maybe he had no more desire to speak with him, if Kymil had said something insensitive or belittling. He did not have wanted to. He was simply being curious and a touch more casual with his conversation. If he had said something wrong, then he could do nothing but blame it on cultural differences, because he, personally, did not think he had. But maybe Earth culture was just that different from Temernal culture.

He pulled at the corner of the book in front of him and tried to figure out some other subject to speak about. Books were interesting, yes? These were English books. Jaxent possibly knew about them. Would talking about books be a better topic? Or was any chance of continuing conversation lost?

The purple alien made a noise and Kymil looked back at him, blue eyes focused entirely on him. He was flushed again. Why for? He listened and did his best to understand what a “big deal” even was. Was there a distinction between a “deal” and a “big deal”? If being talked over and accosted was uncomfortable for Jaxent, then it was a problem, plain and simple. What basis did anyone have to decide if something was a big deal? Did every inhabitant of Earth not have different morals and ethical beliefs? Was the society on Earth all single-minded and under one belief system? He did not think that was the case. This “big deal” ordeal must have been some cultural Earth thing that Kymil simply did not comprehend.

It was nonsensical, to him. Even his own species, with their hostile and truculent ways, understood that, no matter what way someone was feeling, it was justifiable. There was always a reason, be it due to a tender-heart or a negative brain, or to parentage or societal demands. Even if they did not entirely understand the situation, even if they could not place themselves into the headspace of another, they did not trivialize it. Even if his kind thought the feelings and emotions of another to be foolish or soft, they still did not disparage them.

Or, most did not. There were always those horrible ones who were entirely full of red and had no attachments to the emotions that ran deep inside of their chests.

He heard the apology and frowned, but quickly remedied his expression. He remained quiet for a moment, working through his thoughts to try to speak his mind as well as he could. He did not want to be misunderstood or too rough with this purple alien who, with his downturned ears and miserable expression, seemed, potentially, on the edge of a breakdown. Kymil had little experience with emotionally volatile people, with the single exception being his little brother. And little sister. How would he talk with them if they were in the same state that Jaxent was in? Naela would be easy to speak with and bring back to a steady place. She enjoyed hugs and physical forms of reassurance, as well as affirmations and problem solving. Lier was logical but intensely emotional, so much so that his logical brain got buried beneath his feelings. His little brother was aggressive and confident, and in no way at all similar to the purple alien. His experiences with them would not help him now.

Kymil would need to just try his best, then, to try to solve this with just his own mind.

“There is no reason for you to apologize,” he started, shaking his head once. “I do not understand, exactly, how any situation could be a big deal or not. If you were uncomfortable being surrounded by several aliens then it is a problem. While it may not be world-ending or horrific, it still made you uncomfortable, and that should never be diminished or made into something unimportant. It is my belief that any problem, no matter whatever form one may take, should be handled with the same respect that a difficult and challenging issue is handled. So I do not think you made your problem into a big deal, I suppose, is what I am meaning to say. Although I am not entirely sure what a big deal even is.” He hesitated for a moment, then shook his head again. "If I came off as dismissive of your situation then I do apologize. That was not my intention."

He paused, slightly flustered and mostly perplexed. Navigating this conversation was weird. Earth was strange. The inhabitants of the planet were peculiar. He still did not understand some problem being big or small. Problems were problems. Lier had several problems, and Kymil had a few as well, but none of them were less important than any other. Granted, Lier did have a tendency toward the dramatics, but his problems still were justifiable and important. He did find fault in many other things that Kymil did not, though. It was rather difficult to handle, but the little brother had always been challenging.

Kymil wondered, again, if he had made Jaxent feel as if he thought his issues were scornful. He had not spoken with that intention. The apologize should suffice, hopefully. He had simply been curious and, admittedly, a tad bit nosy. He enjoyed the purple alien and thought his animated way of talking was incredibly interesting. He did not seem to be the same as the other aliens that surrounded Kymil on a daily basis, those brash and forthcoming and startling audacious people who called themselves his friends. He did not want to have made some egregious mistake that would scare off the purple alien.

“I also do not think you have done anything to warrant apologizing twice," Kymil mumbled, careful to keep his voice soft and gentle. "To me. To someone who was not even in the same room as you.” This was sensical, yes? He was not being strange with what he was saying, he did not think. “There is never any reason to apologize for feeling uncomfortable. Although I am well-adjusted to speaking with people I do not know, it is understandable why you would be uncertain about being surrounded by people you do not know." He looked toward the door Jaxent had come from. "You can stay here until lunch is over so that you do not need to speak with them again, if you would like to. You do not have to go back to them if they were overwhelming or frightening.”
 


Jaxent waited for it, waited for the disappointment, waited for the fury, waited for…

Waited for…

Silence continued to sit between the two, uncomfortably present especially to Jack. His fingers resting on the wood, he readied himself that mysterious and vague something. But the boy’s response was not something he, in his guilt-riddled brain, could’ve imagined.

Validation. Validation for the… the stupid, silly reasons he’d said. The red-skinned boy was eloquent, and his tone of voice was matter-of-fact. It was as though he was simply reading off the laws of the universe. The facts of life.

And to some, that may have come across as discouraging. For their feelings to be addressed so nonchalantly? That’s ridiculous! Yet somehow, Jack found that he rather… enjoyed it. There was something so soothing about knowing that those feelings you had, those niggling, ugly thoughts that plagued your interactions with those you didn’t know, were just… present. That his discomfort was not some aberration in the social structure, not something to ignore and shove down your throat to unpack at a later date, but just… there. Those feelings were real. Real as any other discomfort.

Packaged with a gentle apology and a softly worded invitation to stay, this might’ve been the part where one would feel uplifted. But Jack still felt his tongue grow heavy in his mouth, because those words only spiked the guilt Jack’d been feeling. Because this boy was lovely. Because this boy was sweet. Because this boy, who didn’t have mind reading powers and didn’t want to swallow him whole and didn’t have a single clue about those paranoid and unjust thoughts that’d floated in Jack’s head mere moments ago.

And he was apologizing. For coming off as dismissive.

“...you did’n’t come off as dismissive, so you don’t have to apologize.”
The words were quiet, scratchy on the back of Jack’s throat, yet they floated out all the same. Because it wasn’t right that this boy, this boy who’d done so much to make him feel welcome, was apologizing. Not to him. Jack’s smile to the boy was wry. A little sheepish. Lavender still tinted his light purple cheeks, but there was a strange steadiness to his gaze now. Jack knew he was in the wrong. He’d made a mistake in assuming this boy was going to hurt him due to a mere offhand remark. So he was going to right by him. He was going to do right by him, even if he didn’t have a clue that Jack’d done something wrong. “If anythin’, I should be thankin’ you. You’re the one that put up with me, after all. Not to mention the one who offered me to stay despite my bargin' in here. And I’m really thankful for that.”

All at once, the Saxturn deflated. Gone was his straightened posture, the boy leaning forward into the table. “So uh… thank you. For offering. And, uh, apologizing. Even if you didn't have to.” He murmured. The sudden change in attitude could be blamed on one thing: when Jack’s mind is set on something, he usually ignores everything else to achieve it. Including his anxieties. So once his task is over, back goes the worries and thoughts and regrets. It just so happened that in that moment, the Very Important Task he concentrated on was ‘doing right by this stranger.’ So with his task finished, confident Jack floated away.

Still, despite the return of all of his higher brain power, Jack couldn’t help but smile. He’d managed to make up for his mistake, just a little bit. And that made him a smidge bit happier.
 
The sudden slump the purple-skinned alien took over the table sent a spike of concern through Kymil. He tilted his head to one side and studied the boy, trying to see if there was any injury on his person. Perhaps the wound he had received earlier from banging his forehead against the table was coming back to him now. Kymil did not want that to be the situation, truly. He did not know how to care for any other species except for his own kind, and even caring for his own kind could be difficult at times, as Temernal’s had hot blood and a stubborn heartbeat and a temper that did not like to be controlled. If Jaxent had injured himself then Kymil would not know what to do. He did not ever want to be put into that situation.

He very much disliked not knowing what to do. He always liked his plans and goals and knowing what the next course of action to take was. An injured alien boy was not in his plans for the day, but he was quite adaptable to certain situations, should the need to care for a purple-skinned alien boy ever arise.

Jaxent was thanking him for offering the library as a hiding place and also thanking him for apologizing, however, so he did not think his lack of knowledge of other species would be problematic at this current moment. Speaking while injured did, in most species, mean that the subject was okay. Coherent thought was important to keep when one suffered from any sort of wound or bump to their skull. Kymil still did not see any open wound on Jaxent’s forehead so he did not think any injury he might have had would be that bad.

He was done speaking now, though Kymil did see the small smile on his face. He stared at him, mildly confused. He seemed much narrower now and less eager to chat. He said Kymil had no reason to apologize, but did he truly mean that or was he just being polite? Had Kymil overstepped somewhere and Jaxent did not want to draw attention to it? He replayed what he had said over in his head, dissecting it and pulling it apart, as he often did after many conversations with English speaking aliens.

He might have sounded uncaring when he made his joke. He, possibly, had been too forceful with his opinions, although all he meant to do was explain himself. Expressing himself like that could have easily been misinterpreted. He was too casual, as well, too soon. He knew better than to do all of what he had done, yet he had overstepped and been too informal anyway. Jaxent did not seem upset with him or irritated at all, but Kymil was very aware that appearances could be deceiving.

The book in front of him was still unopened but he pulled it closer to him and drummed his fingers against the top of it. Was there anything else that could be said to further the conversation? Or, no, Kymil chided himself. The conversation might have reached its natural end and to force it to continue would be unnecessary. They might have already said all that they needed to with each other. Jaxent seemed weary now, anyway, and Kymil would not want to push him to speak further if he did not want to.

They did not even know each other. There was nothing for them to speak about with each other. They were not friends so there would be little reason to continue speaking with one another. Kymil wanted to hear Jaxent say more, because he enjoyed the tone of his voice, but he did not want to say anything foolish or come off as attention-seeking. He could ask Jaxent about Earth or how he acquired his pleasant accent, or about the people who had been chasing him, or what ‘bargin’’ meant, or what exactly a ‘haunt’ was, but he was unsure if Jaxent even wanted to continue speaking with him. He had seemed eager to chat earlier. Now, he was shrunken and laying his head against the table. Had his mood changed so quickly? Was it because of something Kymil did or said or was there some other factor he was unaware of?

“If you want to-” he started, but ceased his speaking when he heard a library door slam open.

“Brother!”

Kymil heard the Etaya word and closed his eyes, breathing out slowly. Lier was screaming for him as he often did, in a place that had been so quiet and peaceful - in a place that had been his hideaway. He looked toward the library door he had come from and saw no one standing near it. He glanced toward the other one he could see on the wall on the left, the one Jaxent had come in from, but his brother was not over there, either. The library had too many doors and Kymil did not like not knowing what side his brother had entered from.

“Are you in here, brother?” Lier called. A whooshing sound and soft click followed the question and Kymil recognized the sound of a door closing. “Fucking door,” Lier muttered, in English. There was a loud clank and a scoff. “Don’t close me in here so suddenly like that,” he muttered, switching back to Etaya. “Next time you do it to me I’ll detach you from the wall and throw you out the airlock.”

His brother did not enjoy how the doors on the ship closed after anyone that passed through them, since the doors on their planet were not automated, except for on their space vessels. It was rather humorous to Kymil to see his brother startle then get annoyed whenever a door closed behind him. It was such a minor inconvenience, but to Lier it was just another bizarre thing to add to the list of bizarre things on the ship. Doors that closed themselves. Strange and pointless and stupid.

Kymil heard a soft shuffling and mumbling in Etaya and spotted his brother looking around some shelves. He kept quiet and watched him look, then blinked once when Lier left the shelving and froze.

Lier’s eyes darted immediately to Jaxent and he scowled, crossing his arms. “What is that?” he asked, sneering at the purple-skinned alien.

“He’s a fellow student of the academy. His name is Jaxent,” Kymil responded easily, smiling when Lier narrowed his eyes. “Did you take so long to find me because you got caught up yelling at doors?”

Lier flushed, a rose hue blossoming over his pink cheeks. “Don’t mock my anger over the Earth inhabitants' usage of pointless technology, brother. It’s nonsensical for doors to close automatically. They could catch someone in the middle of them or short circuit and be unable to be opened or closed.”

“Mm.” Kymil nodded, since it was easier to agree with Lier than to argue about the technicalities of automated doors. Lier was not impressed with his response. “So are you here now because you’ve given any more thought to what I told you?”

There was a slight change in the way the younger brother held himself in response to the question. A minor slump of his shoulders and instant understanding in his odd colored eyes. Kymil saw it, and he saw his brother shutter his expression again. He tightened his grip on his arms and shrugged, then moved over to the table Kymil and Jaxent were at and slid into the seat next to Jaxent breezily.

Lier examined Jaxent, then flashed him a smile, cold and cruel. “Has anyone ever told you that you look like a villi?” he asked, speaking in English to make sure his question was understood.

“Athel!” Kymil hissed, shooting an apologetic look at Jaxent.

“What?” Lier asked, wide-eyed and mock innocent. “It is not as if any being at this academy will understand what a villi is.” He turned his attention back to Jaxent and smirked. “But allow me to enlighten you, simple-minded alien creature named Jaxent. Villi are meek and pathetic creatures on our home planet that are hunted down by every other creature because of their delicious purple flesh, which is a few shades darker than your own skin. They are ill-suited to defend themselves and have fragile bones that shatter with a single good whack. My brother has a fondness for them and nurtured one when we were younger.” Lier’s gaze slid over to Kymil. “Of course, that is due to his tender-heart, but-”

“You also cared for one,” Kymil said quickly, impatiently. Lier arched his eyebrows at the snappish tone. “I apologize for my brother’s behavior,” Kymil said to Jaxent, sighing. “He has a temper that he struggles with controlling and he likes to scare the students at this academy. You do not truly resemble a villi.”

“I do not have a struggle with my temper,” Lier objected, scowling. "I do not have a struggle?" he repeated, furrowing his eyebrows. Even though he was getting better at speaking English it was still obvious it was not his first language. "I do not struggle? There is no struggle? Struggle I do not have?"

"You do struggle, it seems," Kymil joked, laughing when Lier flushed again. “He has gotten into four different fights since we have been here,” Kymil continued, turning back to Jaxent and ignoring the sound of protest Lier made from somewhere in his throat. “I advise you to ignore any attempts he makes at upsetting you.”

“I advise you not to ignore me,” Lier argued, turning in his seat to face Jaxent directly. “Tell me, purple Jaxent being, what are you? Since you are clearly not a human and I have never seen a single picture of your species before. What planet are you from?”
 
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More silence. More, more silence. Jack’s relief was short-lived, as the crushing awkwardness of the situation began to make itself apparent to the boy. Because while yes, it was painfully awkward before considering he’d made a fool of himself and banged his head against the table and just started rambling and probably made the other boy feel super nervous or ignored or all of the above and—

Okay. So maybe Jack hadn’t really made anything better.

The purple amphibian almost wanted to laugh at himself. Here he was, talking and talking and talking and not even letting the other boy talk, other than to apologize and reassure him.

Jack didn’t feel better. His betterness was, in fact, slowly decreasing as time went on and he began to go over the conversation in his mind, which now that he thought about it, was pretty… one-sided. As in the red boy was usually apologizing and Jack was rambling and rambling and rambling and he just wasn’t letting the other talk.

So. This conversation wasn’t going well.

In fact, you could even say that this conversation was going terrible.

Which was exactly the word Jack wanted to use for this convo. His mouth opened for a moment, thinking about making a joke about how this conversation was just… bad. But the start of the Termenal’s sentence made him pause, the Saxturn lifting his head and turning his attention back to the boy. ‘Okay. You can do this Jack. Just listen. Don’t say anything stupid and just let him talk and DO NOT INTERRUPT! BE POLITE!’

Straightening, Jack took a deep inhale and made sure to keep eye-contact. However, before the horned boy was able to say anything, a sharp exclamation echoed throughout the library.

Jack turned his head to stare at the direction of the sound, eyes turning wide. The little warning bell in his head went off, telling him that somehow, another one of Lypra’s group had thought to check in the library, but as the voice continued to yell and curse (not very polite, voice), Jack’s wide yellow eyes gradually shrunk in size, realizing that the voice wasn’t one he recognized, but relief turned to slight anxiety as he realized that no recognition meant yet another stranger.

Muffled steps approached the two, as Jack quietly prayed for something to happen on the ship that would let him escape this awful, awful situation. Like the academy exploding, for example. That would’ve been nice. But the fates were apparently feeling cruel today, so they decided that adding another person to the mix was good.

When the new, pinker boy entered, Jack felt his fingers begin to twirl around each other. It was one of his nervous responses, something no one other than Nima and Jack’s family knows about, and the mean-looking sneer from the new addition to the group certainly didn’t help to calm the boy down, because it meant he was already making a bad impression.

Which. Jack felt he kind of deserved for being an ass. But it still hurt.

The boy across the table from Jack simply smiled, and while Jack didn’t exactly understand what he said, his ears certainly perked up at the sound of his name.

Which was… good? Or bad. Maybe bad. The tone of his voice sounded kind of smug and mocking and oh no he was making fun of him wasn’t he? Jack was definitely being made fun of in a buttery smooth accent by the pretty boy and his mean pink companion.

Jack’s face withdrew into the fluff of his jacket, swirling purples returning to his cheeks. 'Don’t cry don’t cry don’t cry…'

As the boy coloured pink slid into the seat beside him, Jack’s expression once again returned to ‘cowed.’ The horned male looked him up and down, dragging his eyes over the ball of nervous energy, before he smirked. “Has anyone ever told you that you look like a villi?” He asked, sharp and mean. Jack had no idea what a ‘villi’ was, but by the way he said it and the way that the crimson red male across from them sounded aghast, it probably wasn’t a compliment.

The devilish pink boy looked to his red friend (Were they friends? They talked like they were close, so probably, right?), reassuring him that no one on the ship would know what a villi is, which probably meant that a villi was something from the two’s home planet, judging by how they both seemed aware of the insulting (?) nature of calling someone a… villi.

So definitely not a compliment.

Pink turned to Jack once again, smirk having grown wider, and he began to explain in gruesome detail about how villi were apparently weak and meek and pathetic and delicious and how they had fragile bones and with each sentence, Jack could feel himself withdraw further and further into his jacket.

The terrifying boy’s words were cut off by his brother, the crimson-skinned Termenal across from them, who apologized and reassured Jack that he did not resemble a villi. Pink cut in, insisting he did not struggle with his temper (while struggling to craft a sentence) and Red retorted, saying he did seem to struggle, before laughing when Pink flushed rose. Red turned to Jack once again, the purple boy having, at this point, been engulfed by his jacket, telling him to ignore any attempts that his brother makes to upset him. And that he’d apparently already been in four fights.

Which was slightly terrifying, as Jack had only been in a ‘fight’ once, and he’d lost. Very badly. Nima was very mean back then.

Jack couldn’t help but gulp when Pink turned to him once again, steeling himself for another insult that he probably wouldn’t understand, but instead, Pink asked him a question, inquiring about his species.

There was a momentary pause as Jack tried to summon any higher brain power to help him respond, or, honestly, run away, but when the screech of the PA system informed the three that lunch was now over, and to get back to their classes, Jack took the opportunity to shoot up from his seat, announcing, “That’s my cue!” before taking off into a sprint, leaving behind the pair. There was a pause in his steps though, and he look to Red, before he smiled and waved a last goodbye.

Then, he was gone. If Pink was chasing him, Jack certainly didn’t notice, as his history with track meant he was very, very good at running away. And as the Saxturn shot through the hallways, just barely avoiding an encounter with a huffy-looking Lypranos, he finally stopped at the Cafeteria.

The cafe was a large, spacious area, with plenty of space for the students of Pyxis to hang out, as the glass dome which opened up into the sky showered light down. A beautiful sight, especially with the numerous trees that dotted the space, but Jack barely had time to take it in, as he bent over, clutching his knees as he wheezed between breaths, when a hand came to rest on his shoulder. The Saxturn jumped up, flinching away from the touch, but Nima simply gave him a half-smirk and a questioning look. “What’s got you all riled up, Jaxie?” He asked, lowering his hand. His other palm was holding a metal tray, trash piled up on top, and beside him was a short, rocky extraterrestrial, who gave Jack the same questioning look.

“Oh, ah, uh…” Jack stuttered, mind still in flight mode. Any attempts at a response stopped short, trailing off as Jack stood stock-still, looking a little blurry. Nima’s expression of amusement turned to slight worry, as he handed off his tray to his companion and turned to face Jack fully.

“You okay?” The blue Saxturn asked, silver underside flashing in the starlight. Jack nodded mutely, still somewhat at a lost for words, but Nima simply shook his head. “Nevermind. You don’t have to tell me now. But…” He trailed off, placing a hand on Jack’s chest. “Make sure to tell me later alright? When you’re feeling better.”

Jack finally found himself able to smile, and Nima returned it. “Got it, bud?” He asked once more, and Jack nodded again.

“Yeah. Yeah, I do, thanks Nima.”

“No problem dork. Now go to class, we’re late.”


“WHAT?!”

With that, Jack took off, taking out his scribbled schedule and leaving behind the cackles of his best friend behind, making his way back to his classroom.

Later on, Jack was scolded by the redheaded human woman Ms. Umbridge, but the rest of class was ultimately uninteresting; Lypra and her gaggle of friends had apparently forgotten all about him and were back to chatting amongst themselves, although Jack did occasionally catch the eye of one of them, but none of group approached him at the end of the day. Whether they left him alone out of pity or annoyance, Jack was still grateful nonetheless that he could rest easy.



During the night cycle, Jack made sure to take up Nima’s offer on letting him talk, and the two settled in the east sector of the dorms, sitting in Nima’s room. The purple Saxturn was still wearing his jacket, but he’d switched to shorts, Nima donning a loose white T-shirt and some shorts of his own. The taller of the two had taken the floor, hugging a pillow as he sat against his bedside table. Jack himself was sat cross-legged on the bed. He’d been a little hesitant to take the bed earlier, but Nima’d assured him he’d be fine on the floor.

Well, he was certainly regretting that decision, since Jack had spent the last two hours blabbering on about some guy named Red and his brother Pink and how Red was so pretty and his voice was so wonderful and his accent was so unique and interesting and blah blah blah. At some point Nima had subconsciously stopped listening to his friend’s words as exhaustion was starting to take over, eyelids beginning to droop as more time went on.

“...and then Pink called me a villi! He’d said they were small and meek and—”


“Sounds like you to a T, Jack.”


“Nima!” Jack’s cheeks puffed up with air and Nima cackled, undoubtedly waking up his neighbours in the process. However, where Jack would’ve normally flushed purple and shrunk into his jacket, the boy merely reached over to his friend and lightly smacked his shoulder, huffing. “You didn’t let me finish the story! He said they tasted delicious, Nima!”

“Well, maybe he thought you looked delicious.”
Nima wiggled his eyebrows, and Jack rolled his eyes.

“I wouldn’t doubt it, honestly,”
Jack murmured, shivering to himself. “I thought he was going to eat me alive, Nima. He was so scary.”

“Red? Or Pink?”


“Pink. Or… Athel? That’s what Red called him.”

Nima raised an eyebrow. “Athel? Certainly sounds like a fancy name.”

“I dunno, maybe they were princes.”


Nima leaned back, crossing his arms behind his head. “Wouldn’t doubt it from your description. You certainly gushed as if Red was a prince.”

Jack’s cheeks warmed at the tease, yellow eyes averting to stare at the wall. “I’unno about that…” He muttered under his breath, holding his knees closer to his chest. Nima let out an airy snort, smirking at his friend’s sudden embarrassment.

“What’s Red’s name, anyways? I’m kinda amazed you never mentioned it once through that whole 2 hour rant.”


“It wasn’t 2 hours!” Jack retorted, but his open mouth shut slightly when he realized he hadn’t actually been keeping track of the time. So, a 2 hour rant was… certainly possible. “At least… I don’t think it was 2 hours,” he murmured.

“It was definitely 2 hours. Anyways, name?”


…there was a silence. And with each ticking second, realization began to dawn on Nima’s face, incredulity taking his expression.

“...No. Please tell me you asked me his name.”


Jack flushed further.

“JACK!” Nima exclaimed, jumping up to stand.

“I didn’t think of asking him his name okay, leave me alone!”
Jack responded just as loud, face turning a deeper shade of lavender.

“Arghhh! I can’t believe you managed to develop a crush on some guy you don’t even know the name of!”


“I don’t have a crush!”


“2 HOURS, JACK! 2. HOURS. OF TALKING. ABOUT ONE GUY.”


“I talked about his brother too!”


“AT THE END OF THE RANT!”


Jack’s face dug itself into his soft, purple knees. The tips of his ears looked as though they’d been dunked in a vat of purple essence.

Nima began pacing around his room, grumbling to himself. He paused in his pacing to stare at the translucent blue slime sitting on his counter, picking the pet up and grimacing. “Can you believe this, Meel? 2 hours and he didn’t even as his name.”

“Leave me aloneeee,” Jack whined from the bed, and Nima turned to stare at him, judgemental.

“If you ever run into this guy again, you’d better ask his name, because I can’t be having my idiot best friend going around all like ‘Ooo Red Red Red, have you heard of Red?”


“Mmmfine,” Jack mumbled, pouting.

“Good.” Nima put Meel on his bedside table, the slime’s ears perking up curiously, before the blue Saxturn pat Jack’s head. “Now, go sleep dummy, it’s late.”

“Alright…” There was a pause as Jack got onto his knees, hugging Nima from his position on the bed. “...Thank you for listening to me, Nim.”

“It’s no prob, stupid. Now get out of here.”

Jack picked up his blanket, wrapping Meel in the fabric, and the slime happily let out a little ‘gloop!’ in response. He waved goodbye to Nima, walking all the way back to his room through the chilly, conditioned halls of Pyxis. When he finally arrived, he unlocked his door, before trudging through the dark to his hard, uncomfortable bed, the mattress doing little to cushion him. Still, exhaustion does wonders to one’s comfort levels, and before long Jack found himself drifting off, his dreams populated by bright blue eyes with pricks of green and red horns and soft smiles and long, beautiful hair.

 
Four days. It had been only four days since Lier had received the warning from the leader of the academy to control his temper, and less than a week later, he had gotten into another fight. This one had not yet escalated to a physical brawl, but it was too close to being one. Lier was too angry and ready to jump over the table to attack Zolle, but Nal’ere and Milty were holding him back, somehow. It was mildly impressive seeing the girls try to contain the rage and hostility Lier was directing at Zolle.

Kymil thought, distantly, that he should leave the cafeteria. Separate himself from this situation. Zolle was being too antagonistic and he could recognize that it was not good for him to hear all that he was saying. He stayed in his seat, though, and gripped tightly onto the edge of the table to keep himself tethered.

“Say that again, asshole!” Lier shouted at Zolle, shoving against Nal’ere. “Let go of me, spikey female being, or you will get hurt too!”

Zolle was smirking and sipping his drink out of a straw, smug, arrogant, and deserving of a thrashing. Kymil wanted to take the straw from the drink and stab it into his throat, but he inhaled deeply and closed his eyes. He could not get involved. He should leave. He needed to leave.

“If you get into another fight—” Nal’ere started, but Lier shoved against her again and she fell backwards, falling against the quietest person at the table.

There was a whimper from the green skinned person that Kymil did not know the name of and Nal’ere gasped, then released Lier to check to see if they were okay. Kymil spared a glance at the green skinned silent one and saw some dark green liquid running down their arm, from where Nal’ere’s spikes must have scratched against their skin. Milty gasped and let go of Lier to check on the green skinned person as well. Kymil’s eyes slid back over to his cantankerous little brother.

Lier took the opportunity to lunge across at Zolle, who had been distracted by the commotion on the other end of the table. Kymil was quick enough to grab one of his horns before his fingers could reach Zolle and tugged him back, wincing when Lier grabbed his wrist and dug his sharp nails into his skin to try to get him to release him.

“Let go of me!” Lier snarled, squeezing even harder on Kymil’s wrist. He couldn’t move very much since his horn was being held, but he had another hand that he brought up to pull against Kymil’s grip on his horn. “Let me go!”

“Think about this, Athel,” Kymil hissed, pulling Lier further away from Zolle. The pain in his wrist was a small price to pay to ensure his brother did not do something disastrous once more. “Do you really—”

Zolle laughed across from them, loudly. “Oh Gods, look at that! Those horns look so scary, but is that how you actually control Temernal’s? That’s so good to know!”

Control? Kymil felt the roil in his chest and saw the edges of his vision blur. He caught the scent of the green one’s blood and tasted the acerbic taste on his tongue. He could hear the soft whimpers from them, pathetic and weak; easy to tear apart. Control a Temernal? Zolle had treacly smelling sweat on his temples and his eyes were wide, but not panicked like they should be. His heart was racing. He smelled cloyingly sweet - and very tempting. What color would his flesh be? Yellow, like his skin? Or red, like so many other beings? Kymil wanted to know. He felt the desire to break into the beings skin and tear his flesh off crawl over every inch of his body and settle in his chest.

Kymil let go of Lier’s horn to press his palms into his eyes, to block out the blurring. Control. Control. Control. He had control.

He had control.

He tried to stifle the roiling in his chest. The smells in his nose. The pressure in his throat. The warmth he could feel getting hotter, hotter, scalding underneath his skin. He pressed harder against his eyes to not see the blurring that would make it so much easier to hurt someone. He knew that blurring. He knew what followed after the blurring started. Heat. Red. Anger. Blood. He tried to take a deep breath.

“Brother?” He heard Lier’s voice faintly, though it sounded so far away.

“Look at that, Lier.” Zolle snickered around the straw. He sounded so much closer. “Your brother’s even tired of all your bullshit now. About time. I mean, how long did you think—”

“Shut up,” Kymil growled, low and dangerous, but in Etaya.

“What?” Zolle asked.

Kymil dropped his hands from his eyes and got up from the table, taking a large step away from it. He dug his nails into his palms and felt something warm blossom underneath his fingertips, but he was unable to think of what to say, so he turned and headed towards one of the doors out of the cafeteria.

“What’s wrong with him?” Zolle asked, gasping when Lier snatched his drink away from him. “Hey, that’s mine!”

“Yeah, so here you go.” Lier screwed the lid off and dumped the dark fizzy drink over Zolle’s head, then he threw the cup across the cafeteria as Zolle sputtered and wiped away the liquid all over his face. “Go fetch, peasant.” He ignored the gasps from the rest of the table and ran after Kymil, who was already at the door. He grabbed his arm and tried to stop him, but Kymil yanked his arm out of his grip. “Brother, your—”

“Not now, Athel,” Kymil hissed, walking through the door when it slid open.

“Your eyes.” Lier followed after him, pointing to the edges of his own eyes. “The red is there.” Kymil paused and squeezed his eyes shut. “What did you want to do to him?”

“I can’t tell you.” Kymil pressed against the sides of his eyes, then blinked them open again. “Now?”

“Better, but you left behind smudges of blood.” Kymil rubbed at the space by his eyes with the back of his hand, scowling. Lier kept up with him when he started down the hallway again. “You can tell me what you wanted to do. I bet it’s not as bad as what I wanted to do.”

“I can’t, Athel,” Kymil snapped, turning to face his brother. “Did you forget what I’m here to do? Are you doing it on purpose? Can’t you leave me alone?”

“I didn’t forget,” Lier snapped back, crossing his arms. “And I’m not really... I don’t...” He trailed off, then huffed. Kymil was too bothered to deal with this current mood of his. He turned back around and headed down the hallway, but Lier kept pace with him. “I didn’t actually hit him or anything. You should be proud of me, since I actually listened to you and walked away. But, ugh, come on! I was just defending our species! Wasn’t all the bullshit bothering you too?”

Kymil bit down on his tongue to keep himself from speaking. He could feel the warm liquid on his wrist and the wetness on his palms. Ridiculous. A quick look at his wrist was enough to confirm that Lier had broken through his skin with his nails, and his palm had dark red crescents cut into his crimson skin from where he squeezed his fists together too tightly. He kept his nails trimmed to avoid this. If he let them grow out as Lier did then he would have damaged his skin too often and developed scars on his palms, which would be unpleasant to look at.

Lier was still speaking at him. He did not care, at this particular moment, about whatever his brother was saying. He stopped in the hallway and turned to face him, showing him the bloodied wrist. Lier’s expression fell but Kymil spoke before he could say anything else.

“You might not have hit him, but you still managed to injure not only myself, but also one other person at our table who was completely uninvolved in the entire conversation. You cannot keep doing this, Athel.” He pulled his hand back before Lier could touch it and waved his less injured hand dismissively. “If you want to be of any help or apologize in some way, then go find some medical supplies so I can take care of these injuries.”

“You don’t have to use that haughty tone with me, your highness,” Lier grumbled, stepping back. “When I text you to ask where you are you better respond to me. I’m not going to wander around with all these stupid hallways and run into all these stupid doors just to find wherever you’re hiding.”

Kymil rolled his eyes. Lier huffed and turned on his heel to find medical supplies and finish his new assignment.

The older brother watched his younger brother go back into the cafeteria then took a deep breath and held it. He came too close. He should have removed himself from the situation before it escalated too far. If he did, however, then he would keep running away from infuriating problems, and he could not do that. He must be able to handle any situation no matter how provoking it might be.

He let out a sigh. Okay. Things were okay. No one knew how close he had just come to destroying Zolle and the entire reputation he had spent several months cultivating and perfecting, except for Lier, who he had sent away, because he could not talk with him at this current moment. He did not trust himself to talk with anyone at this current moment. His nerves were too hot underneath his skin.

He looked at the wounds on his wrist again and saw his blood was slipping down the side of his hand. He glanced up and down the hallway he was in and noticed a bathroom sign at the end of it. The students of the academy were gathered in the cafeteria bantering with one another and eating, so perhaps no one would be in the communal bathroom - the very strange, Earth-based communal bathroom. After cleaning his wound Lier would probably have what he told him to get. It’d be perfect, and no one would even know what had happened, if he could time it properly.

Upon entering the bathroom he let out another sigh when he saw no other student was inside of it. He did not hear any noise coming from the stalls along the wall, so he went over to the sink and waved his hand underneath the faucet to trigger the sensor. The cool water slid over his skin and took his blood with it, and he watched as everything got washed down the drain.

“If only it were that easy,” he muttered, wiping his fingers over the still bleeding cuts on his wrist. There was only a slight sting attached to the injuries. He had received worse wounds from his brother before.

He knew he should stop the bleeding. That was the first step toward caring for any wound. It was the easiest step. Apply pressure and let blood coagulate and clog the opening that the broken skin created. He was good at doing that. He had the patience needed to be good at caring for injuries. He had steady hands and a level head, most times.

But he had not in the cafeteria.

The blood on his hand was his own. It could have been Zolle’s. It almost had been Zolle’s. If he had not fled, then it would have been.

He needed to keep himself calm, or else what had happened before would happen again.

A squeaking behind him caught his attention and he turned toward it, trying to locate what stall the sound came from. Was something in here with him? An alien rodent of some sort? No. The sound seemed not animal in nature. Then was someone in here with him? Were they just being quiet? He wrapped his fingers around the cuts on his wrist and squeezed gently, then pulled his hand back so the water would stop splashing in the sink.

“Hello?” he asked, speaking in English, since it was the common tongue on this ship. “Is there someone here?”
 
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Four days it’d been since the last… incident, yet once again, Jax found himself cowering in a little hidey hole.

Listen, it wasn’t as though he hadn’t tried to be nice to Lyra and her posse these past four days! He’d gone along with them, talked with them— or maybe listened while they talked at him would be more accurate— all in all, Jax thought it was a pretty good run. Heck, he’d even sacrificed spending lunch with Nima and his cool new rock buddy (whose name he now knew was Tapa) just to hang out with them! So, if anything, him running away yet again could be considered perfectly reasonable! And no Nima, he couldn’t just ‘tell them off,’ that’d be far ruder; obviously, the much nicer course of action was to flee from the approaching group with a yelp and scurry to the nearest bathroom available.

And that is why he was now stuck hiding in a bathroom stall, sighing despondently to himself as he pondered over all of the decisions that had led him to where he was sitting at that very moment.

Unfortunately, (or fortunately, depending on how funny you find Jax’s misery) his pitiful moping was interrupted by the sound of the bathroom door opening.

Scrambling to put his feet up from the bathroom floor, the Saxturn clasped his hands around his mouth. By some miracle, he managed to be completely silent throughout this whole process, and now his cowering session had turned into a MUCH MORE PANICKED COWERING SESSION.

The boy squeezed his eyes shut, like a child thinking that if they hid under their blanket they’d be safe from the encroaching darkness, and he halted all of his breathing.

‘Please go away please go away please go away,’ echoed his thoughts, as his ears perked up to listen for the sweet, sweet sound of the bathroom door opening once again.

Instead, what his ears picked up was a sigh and a pair of footsteps (so not someone with multiple feet) that sounded reasonably light (so not someone bulky or a gas-based lifeform). What followed next was the sound of running water, and muttering.

Muttering.

Accented muttering.

Muttering that he recognized as belonging to one red Termenal. Or, as Nima had begun to call him: Jax’s very own Red Prince.

The boy let out a squeak at this revelation, face turning a bright purple as his hands shot up to cover it— and, just as quickly, he realized his mistake.

Hands scrambling back to cover his mouth tighter and harder than he’d ever done before, Jax once again squeezed his eyes shut and prayed that his squeak was quiet enough to slip by unnoticed. Because this wasn’t just Lypra and her terrifying crew anymore; this was the cute guy he’d gone and made a dummy out of himself in front of.

Sadly, it seems Jaxie wasn’t quite as quick as he hoped, as soon he heard the water being shut off, followed by a cautious hello.

Poor, poor, Jax. His little rabbit heart just couldn’t take the stress. From thinking about the cute guy, to thinking about himself acting stupid in front of said cute guy, there was only so much Jaxent Chwatchnkorb’s itty bitty blood pump could take before it just… burst.

And so, this was where Jax’s story ended. Dead on the bathroom floor, having never met his soon-to-be-friend and current-massive-crush. But at least he was at peace now…

Was what Jax wished would’ve happened. But no, the universe decided to let him suffer a little longer and keep him alive, left to suffer the humiliation of cute red guy and his scary pink buddy mocking him.

“...I’m here,” Jax muttered, meek and nearly unnoticeable had it not been for him following up his call by leaving the stall he’d been hiding in. Long, floppy ears covering his freckly face, Jax had decided to spare himself the embarrassment of having to meet Princey’s eyes for a few minutes longer by using the ingenious strategy of covering his face.

“...Hi.”

 
Ears. Ears? Ears in front of the purple alien's face, hiding it, for some reason? Kymil felt himself frown. Why would one need to hide their face? Were they in trouble? Hidden in the bathroom, away from every other student in the cafeteria, was rather suspicious. Was this a student caught where they were not supposed to be, and they thought obscuring their face would help keep their identity hidden? However... No, that did not seem right. Kymil thought he recognized this alien. He examined the figure, still applying pressure to the injuries on his wrist. Soft looking ears, purple skin, the jacket, the antennae...

Ah. That was right. This was the boy who hid under the table in the library. This was the one Lier called a villi. Jaxent. The first meeting between them had been a rather strange encounter, and the following conversation between them had been cut short due to the shorter alien running off when the bell rang. Though, Kymil suspected his running off had been more so to do with Lier's insistence on calling him a villi and being generally unwelcoming. And now, apparently, they were to have another strange encounter in the weird Earth-based bathroom. What a curious situation this was, and also slightly annoying to deal with. He glanced at the door into the bathroom to check that Lier would not be barging in any time soon to startle Jaxent again then focused his attention back on the purple alien.

He did not want to talk with anyone at this current moment, especially not an innocent boy who seemed to be somewhat shy. He had hoped, naively, that he would manage to care for the injuries to his skin discreetly, so that no other student saw them. He had sent Lier away so that he did not have to speak with anyone else. He peered at his fingers wrapped around his wrist. That hope, and his careful planning, was not going to work out. Jaxent would definitely see what he was doing after he removed his ears from his face, and he would likely ask about it. Although perhaps some grace was granted due to the fact that, if Jaxent had been in here instead of in the cafeteria all this time, then he would not know about what had transpired at the table Kymil and Lier sat at.

Kymil kept his sigh contained and moved his hand back under the sink, then uncovered it once more when the water splashed against his fingers. His wounds were not bleeding as badly, now. The blood still seeped out of two particularly deeper cuts and he still had to clean the wounds on his palm. “Hello, Jaxent,” he said conversationally, keeping his tone light as he rubbed at the wounds his brother inflicted. “Why is it that you are hiding in that stall? Is the pink skinned alien seeking you out once more? Or do you eat lunch in here instead of with the other students?”

If he did, then Kymil would like to suggest he not do that, since it seemed to be quite isolating, based on the human movies he had been forced to watch with Lier. He did not think it would be wise to offer the table he sat at as a place for Jaxent to join, although Kymil and Lier may not need to concern themselves with that now, since Lier had potentially ruined that entirely. He eyed the door again and made sure to keep his expression neutral. Thinking of Lier, why had he not yet texted him? Was he lost? That would be ridiculous.
 

JAXENT

Alright. So, good. Jaxent’s crush wasn’t totally weirded out by him covering his face in embarrassment. That was good. Great, even! Amazing, possibly! Because him not being weirded out meant Jack could do this longer, which meant he didn’t have to keep eye-contact with his total not-crush, which meant his life-expectancy was tripled. Excellent. Great. Awesome.

Jack laughed at the other boy’s question, more out of nervousness than anything. Because how on Earth was he going to explain his situation to him in a way that made sense? Was he just supposed to go, “Yeah, the pink alien was looking for me again, but it was also kinda my fault for letting her because I’ve sort of been hanging out with her and her gang for the past few days even though I didn’t want to, which I know sounds weird and it is weird and I am weird for doing something that weird but it wasn’t like I could just turn her down, because then she’d hate me and her friends would hate me and they’d launch me into space and everyone would laugh at my dried-up raisin corpse which I wouldn’t want because raisins are gross.”

Yeah, he definitely couldn’t explain all of that. Instead, he went for the much simpler answer of, “The first one you said. That’s the one I was doing.”

Thankfully, before Jack could trip over any more of his words, a loud bang echoed off the tiled walls. The Saxturn jumped, his ears flying up and his cheeks going dark. The boy’s pulse thundered in his head with no signs of stopping. Because standing there, with his chest raising and sinking, eyes furious, was the scary pink ‘Athel’ from the library. And that wasn’t even the worst part.

The worst part was that a silver haired, blue-skinned figure was standing behind him, staring at Jack with equal parts alarm and confusion.

God, if you’re real, doing this to me is really mean and sucky.



NIMAVRYUN

‘Where did that idiot run off to now?’

Far from the chaos of the cafeteria, a sky-blue alien stalked the halls with a stormy look.

In one hand he held a bright red lunchbox, its contents half-eaten. Having been spotted and subsequently rescued from Lypra’s table, the identity of the owner was so obvious it was painful. Written on the side of the tupperware-adjacent container was the marker-doodled name ‘Jaxent,’ and on its cover was a mass of stickers, each layered over each other and each varying in tackiness. Nima’s personal favorite was the spandex-clad humanoid dressed in yellow and red.

And, like an idiot, Jack had completely abandoned it.

Originally, he’d decided to find his purple buddy and return it like the good friend he was, but his well-intentioned mission had quickly devolved into a quest for revenge on the purple dunce who’d hidden himself far too well to be normal.

“Stupid sneaky southerner,” the boy grumbled to himself. “Stupid sneaky superpowers.”

It really did feel like Jack had a talent for sneaking, as absurd as that sounded. Nima had been searching for the past half hour or so, and he couldn’t find a single trace of the other Saxturn. He’d peeked in all of the storage closets, all of the empty classrooms, and all of the bathrooms. Having started from the rooms closest to the cafeteria and then circling out from there, he would’ve expected to find his friend by now, but his search was coming up with nothing so far. And it wasn’t like he could stop, either. Jack was a star track-and-field runner in middle school, which meant the possibility that he’d just ran as far as he could from the cafe was definitely non-zero.

His legs aching from having walked so much, Nima considered dumping the rest of the lunch in the garbage out of spite, but he quickly shook away the thought.

‘Come on, Nima. You’re trying to be better here.’

Nima sucked in a breath to steel himself, reaching for the door of yet another bathroom—

When a pink blur barrelled past him.

“Hey, wa–” was all Nima managed to get out, before a slam sounded throughout the hallway. Wincing at the noise, Nima turned to the idiot who’d so rudely pushed him aside with an insult at the ready, but all words left his mind as he stood face-to-face with the idiot he’d been chasing all period...

...and a tall, red-skinned alien standing beside him.
 

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