Despite DH's almost hesitant apology, Runala accepted it gracefully and promised DH that there were no hard feelings. Once more, Runala seemed more amused than anything else, something which put TO at ease but bothered DH.

"Don't get me wrong, I'm happy they're not upset!" DH insisted, "But acting so amused like that just makes it feel like they don't even care, or like I'm a stupid young trainee!"

"I wouldn't take it too personally. I mean, they are older than we are." TO's ears flicked in thought, "I think. Maybe older than Flit? I mean, how old would they be if that ship was theirs? How long did it take to build this place up?"

"Not sure." DH muttered, "I just know it's older. But, when I was working in fabrication, I didn't do a study on all the different generations of ships we've gone through! I was learning mechanics, not history!" they crossed their arms with a huff, "And besides, even if I learned all the different generations of ship, it's not like I'd remember them now! I don't have your memory!"

"And I don't have your skill with tech." TO said with a grin. They looked around quickly and, seeing that the hall was empty, they slipped their arm into DH's. "And that's fine. I have you to take care of that, and you can just rely on my memory."

DH huffed, their ears flushing as they continued on the way. A few minutes passed before they spoke again. "What do you think about that ship coming our way?"

"... I don't know." TO said. "I hope it's not Kei." Their ears dipped down, and they tightened their grip on DH's arm. "Runala says they can handle it if it's a hostile ship, but I'm not sure. Of course, they've been living like this for a while, and Runala says they can handle an attack..."

"I'm more interested in them talking about getting resources, and the ship somehow giving them an opportunity for more resources. What do you think they meant?"

TO hadn't thought about that part of the conversation as they had focused entirely on the fact that a strange ship was potentially heading towards them. As DH brought it up, they ran through several options in their head. "Piracy, perhaps?" TO ventured. "If they're able to out-gun most ships, they could demand resources for them to be let go. Or, maybe if it comes to combat, they salvage from the wreckage afterwards."

"Wouldn't that encourage them to destroy more ships?" DH asked.

"It would. Especially if they're in a pinch." TO pursed their lips as their ears pinned back, "It could even encourage them to take more aggressive actions." Their mind ran through old training scenarios and considered their environment as well as the state of Scraprock. "Though I doubt they'd try to initiate combat."

"And why not? If they were desperate for resources-"

"Because Scraprock is a big- well, it's not even a ship, it's an oversized asteroid." TO could imagine the size of Scraprock in their mind, comparing it to their own ship. "They can change its course, but this thing won't be doing any evasive maneuvers, or rushing away from a combat situation. There are also mostly civilians on this ship. They might be able to win an encounter, but they'll also take damage and potentially civilian lives. So, initiating combat would be too risky."

"But if they really needed something?"

"Maybe if it was an essential, 'We won't survive without this.' situation, yes. It still wouldn't be ideal. There's too much at risk."

"But, you think they'd engage in piracy? demand resources in return for letting a ship go free?"

TO fell silent for several long minutes, thinking not of interstellar piracy, but of the authorities on Scraprock, and of the fight in the sewers that killed so many of them. They thought of Tham, of his breakout from the holding center and the death of the guard there. "I think they're doing what they have to do to survive, like we did on Arkane."

DH gave only a low hum of assent in return, and let the subject drop.

======

Every five days, TO had to undergo an examination by Goretta and DH in order to make sure that not only were their wounds healing properly after the surgery with no hint of infection, but that they were adapting to their new leg. This time, not only could they manage, but they were able to perform a quick jog around the small testing room in the mid-levels of Scraprock, and perform some minor acrobatics. They couldn't run as fast as they used to and still stumbled with simple maneuvers. They also had to stop their testing earlier than they would have before due to leg pain, but it was an obvious improvement.

"Honestly." Goretta said as she looked over the stats, "I'd say we're good to go."

"Go?" TO asked, their ears flicking out in confusion.

"Yes, go," Goretta said, then when she looked up she added, "Go to Apoikia? I'm rather anxious to get there and get more work done."

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Of course TO hadn't forgotten about that, but it had been a nebulous thing up to now. "Good," they said. "The sooner we get there, the better." Despite how comfortable they had grown here on Scraprock, they still needed to go to Apoikia. They needed to see the Chilacians there in their home world, and they needed someone to tell them if Avery was going to be ok. Avery had been doing better, having most of their meals with TO and DH, spending a lot of their time with Lake or with Tham, but even so, they weren't back to their old selves. It was as though they walked around with an invisible weight on them at all times now, constantly distracting them.

"Time to make plans, then!" Goretta said as she clapped her hands together as a wide smile formed on her face, "I believe that Flit has the coordinates, and Runala can help coordinate-"

"Runala is... occupied." TO's ears warmed as they spoke. Runala and Pulsar had started their cycle just yesterday, and it would be another two or three days until they were done. "If we need to coordinate with them, it'll take a few days."

Goretta pursed her lips, her tentacles slowing and going slightly limp. "Well." She said, "We could just coordinate with someone else. Space travel isn't my strength, but-"

"TO is also helping with something while Runala's busy." DH said, hardly looking up from the screen where they checked various things on TO's prosthetic. "So, I think that we'd like to wait, regardless."

Goretta sighed, "Fine." She said, "It might be better off anyway - give people more opportunity to prepare." She began to pack up her things. "Though I thought you'd want to get there as soon as possible. For Avery."

TO's ears dipped, and their stomach lunged. Of course, they wanted to go and make sure their friend would be ok! Was it bad that they were waiting? Was it bad that they wanted to keep their promise to Runala as well?

"Avery would want us to be careful." DH said, now looking up from their screen. Once more, their ears pinned back, and their eyes narrowed, and their words became clipped, as though they were an overseer chiding to a trainee. "And we would do anything for our family. Your implication is insulting!"

TO put their hand on DH's shoulder, almost as though preparing to pull them back. Thankfully, that simple action seemed to pull them back to themself as DH shook their head as though shaking away confusion and turned away. "It's just a couple of days." They muttered, "We'll be heading to Apoikia soon."

"At any rate, I'll speak to Flit and Snout myself." Goretta said, her tentacles twisting into tight coils, her own eyes narrowed at DH. "I'm sure they'll have some opinions of their own."

"I'm certain they will." DH muttered as they stormed out of the room. TO watched them leave, turned to Goretta, and offered a quick apology before rushing after them.

======

Normally, DH would have headed to the lab they shared with Vik to work on a project—apparently they were at the testing phase of the prosthetic for Flit, which meant hours of testing every little movement that they could make. It wasn't particularly interesting, not even for DH.

"I just don't want to do it today." DH muttered as they walked. "Let's get some lunch first. Maybe make it a long lunch. Maybe I'll just not go to the lab today." They linked their arm into TO's. "Maybe I'll just spend the afternoon with you," they murmured.

"While I wouldn't mind that, I am training later."

"But Goretta said you're good, and you can fly again-"

"Not like I used to, though." TO said, "And I'm going to spend time with Mirian. You even brought that up to Goretta."

DH sighed, "I did." they said. "Maybe I'll just come with you."

"But Flit is going to be at the lab, right? For more testing? Isn't the leg is almost done?" They frowned, "I know you don't like this stage of things, but I thought you said that you liked fixing a problem you found, even if it was irritating to find it and figure out the issue."

They gave another long sigh. "Normally, yes." They admitted, "I just don't want to today. The idea of sitting in that lab for hours just makes me feel itchy."

TO didn't respond right away. Instead, they began considering the way DH had been over the last few days.

"What?" DH asked after a few moments of silence.

"Mmm?"

"You got that 'I'm thinking deep thoughts' look on your ears."

"O-oh. It's nothing." TO hated both that their ears flicked when they tried to lie, and that they flushed so easily. "Well, nothing urgent."

"Now I need to know."

TO sighed, "Well, you've been a bit aggressive."

"What? just then with Goretta?" they asked as their ears pinned back, "She was being-"

"And a few days ago, you got angry with Runala."

"Well, they made you upset!"

"I know, I know!" TO said, gently scratching the back of DH's neck, "But I'm just looking at patterns, right?"

"And?"

"Well... Runala and Pulsar did just start their 'cycle.' and we both know that when that happens it can have some effects on others around them, so I'm wondering if that's a factor?"

DH's ears flicked in concentration for a few moments. "If that's the case, why aren't you acting different? You spend more time with them than I do. I actually only saw Runala two times."

"You're reacting to threats to me, or at least what you think are threats." TO said. "Thankfully, I've not felt that you've been threatened as of late."

"Still, I don't think the handful of minutes I spent around Runala would have had much of an effect on me. Besides, I was angry at them before I met them, remember?"

"Of course I remember!" TO said, "But you didn't get really angry until you saw them!"

"Last time this happened, we spent time with GiDi, and they were in it then, not just approaching it." They put their arm around TO's shoulders, "Maybe I just want to make sure you're ok, and don't like it when people upset you, hmm?"

"Maybe..." TO felt that DH's actions lately were different, but they had a point. If it was because of Runala and Pulsar, then they'd be acting differently too, and the effect would have been stronger on them.

"Maybe I'm allowed to be a little protective after everything?" DH asked.

TO's ears warmed again. "You don't need to be protective."

"I could say the same thing to you."

"I know."

"Maybe I enjoy being protective."

TO looked at them, their ears twitching back as they caught DH's eyes, that familiar shiver going up their ears, "I don't like you being angry, but maybe I do like you being protective?"

There was an awkward beat of silence between them where they could feel the electricity off one another, where TO was hyper aware of DH's presence, their body heat, their breath.

DH cleared their throat. "Want to go have lunch in our room, not the food-"

"Yes," TO said, not even bothering to wait for DH to finish their sentence.

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