@interphrase
Bezi watched the distant habitats and gave a single, dissatisfied, noise as he lowered himself into a crouch. Loneliness gnawed at him like an ache and if he listened very closely, he thought he could hear his sanity begin to unravel. He’d lost track of how long he had been alone, and each time he hibernated threw even more uncertainty into the number. But now, practically right on his doorstep, there were people. Living, breathing, human people, here to explore Mars for what might be the first time in their history. He wanted to meet them. He wanted to get off this little red rock. He wanted something different to eat! But he did not want to end up imprisoned, experimented upon, or worse. Introducing himself could go one of several ways, and only a couple of them were good for him. Some of them weren’t even good for the humans. Could he risk it? Did he have much of a choice? Gathering his courage, he stood and began to approach the little outpost. The sun lay at his back, beginning to sink below the Martian horizon; if this turned sour, he’d need every advantage he could get, which meant his eyes in the dark, and the promise of night to make his escape.