im like inlove with this story so you get part 3 a week early cus i accidently locked in and have 5 parts already written and waiting
also i removed gaz because i came up with a much better way to introduce him later that will give him more plot
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Traveling in space was amazing. It was breath taking, every single moment. The stars laid out before the two fish like pin points, they could go wherever they pleased, do whatever they wanted. In the infinite cosmos, they were really and truly free to-
“SOAP?!” Price called, as he pulled his head out of the fridge. “Did you take my bag of perans? I was going to eat those, you know!”
“Price, I’m a carnivore!” soap’s voice echoed to him from somewhere deeper in the ship. “What the hell use could I possibly have for your perans?”
Price sighed and closed the fridge door, resting his chin in his hands as he leaned against the counter. He could’ve sworn he bought a brand new bag of perans before they left that trade moon, he’d been really excited to eat them…
At first it was little things like that. Things that soap could put off as Price being forgetful, or himself misplacing them. But this was just ridiculous.
His jacket. His favorite jacket was nowhere to be found. It was the big bright orange one with galactic force badges on either sleeve. He loved that jacket, Price knew he loved that jacket, and now it was gone.
“Price! Where’s my wrench?!” soap shouted as he searched the closet for the needed tool. He was doing some repairs on the engine, hopefully to fix whatever that ‘thump’ had been from their lift off a few days ago.
“Did you put it away after you used it last time?” Price shouted from the control room, making soap groan in annoyance.
”Yes. I always put my tools back! I swear, If you took it, I’m going to be pissed!”
He sighed and stalked down the hall towards the engine hatch. He needed the wrench to open the central panel where all the main components were. It’s not like he could just pry the bolts off with his bare hands! They were bolted down for a reason.
Somewhere in the ship, he heard a heavy metallic ‘CLANG’ that made his ears perk up and his fin stand on end. Worried that Price had fallen or hurt himself, he sprinted out the door and ran to the tool closet, just in time to see Price running down the hall towards him, looking just as frantic as soap felt.
“What happened? Are you alright?” He asked, worry written in his face.
soap nodded. “I’m fine, I- I thought that was you.”
They both stare at one another for a long moment before both their gazes turn toward the closed closet door. Hesitantly, soap stepped forward and pressed the release, the door sliding open to reveal the small workbench inside, sitting on top of it, as if it had been there the whole time-
He looked back at price, and almost simultaneously, the two of them look up. The maintenance hatch. soap’s heart dropped.
Price took a step forward as soap slowly reached up and grabbed the handle, and gave it a tug. It came free instantly with a small hiss of air as the seal broke. He stepped up on top of the work bench and lifted it completely, peeking his head inside. His eyes widened, and he pulled his hand up into the vent, reaching forward…
“soap?” Price whispered, his hands pressed against the edge of the work bench as he tried to get a closer look. “soap?”
He ducked back down out of the vent, holding a bag of-
“Perans…” Price mumbled, reaching out to take the bag from soap’s hand as he held it out to him. The neck of the bag had been tied into a knot, definitely not how he’d left it, and as he opened it, there was a considerable amount of perans missing. Maybe four or five.
As Price looked up from the bag, the two fish nodded to one another, closing the maintenance door, and silently walking down the hall towards the kitchen.
“What’s the plan?” soap muttered softly, keeping his voice low. Who knows what could be listening to them.
They walk to the kitchen where Price opened the fridge and tossed the bag of remaining perans in, and closed the door, clicking the lever into place to seal it. price sat down leaned his elbow on the table and motioned for soap to move closer, the younger fish leaning in.
“They’re hungry. They’ve already stolen food. Whatever it is, we can lure them out if we starve them.” He suggested, and soap nodded in agreement. “We’ll leave food out on the table tonight, see what happens.”
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He knew exactly why too, it didn’t make it feel any less dreadful. The vents weren’t insulated like the inner part of the ship was, most likely. And apparently whoever lived in this ship liked the cold. Good for them he supposed, space was plenty cold.
The jacket he’d stolen was a comfort, though there was one long slit cut down the middle, and he didn’t want to know what kind of eldritch horror abomination the thing was made for. Luckily whatever it was, the rest of the garment was vaguely human-shaped, the sleeves a tad long, but the jacket was tight on him anyway, so he wasn’t certain how much of that was the tailor’s fault.
His apples were gone. Stolen back by… whatever had reached it’s hand into his vent. They’d been shouting all day at one another. It had to have been days at this point, simon had only ever heard two voices echoing through the ship, their language filled with keens and whistles and all kinds of odd noises. They sounded angry.
He hadn’t meant to lose the wrench. As had become his most common hobby over the past few days, he’d been sleeping when it happened. He wasn’t exactly sure how it happened really, he assumed what it was was that he’d kicked out in his sleep and hit the wrench by accident, moving it out of the way of the handle. The thing was heavy enough to make the hatch drop open on it’s own, he was sure. He’d lifted that thing, and it had some heft.
When it clattered to the workbench below, he’d woken up with a start, but had been smart enough not to scream. He pushed himself forward and, though it was terrifying, reached down and pulled the hatch back closed.
He froze for a few terrifying seconds, and then he heard running, so he tore his way over to the right-most vent and pushed himself inside and around the bend, watching as the hatch was once again pulled open.
The arm that reached inside was startlingly human in anatomy, clad in some type of rough brownish-tan sleeve. But the scales poking out around the wrist and the black nails gave it away. He could almost see the tip of its ear from where he’d scrambled back into the far right vent shaft, but almost as soon as it had come, it was gone again.
Now, he was freezing. The tips of his toes were turning white, as were his fingers. He kept rubbing his hands together, blowing air in between his palms, but it wasn’t doing much good considering his insides were just as cold as his outsides. He needed to leave the vent soon, or he was very literally going to freeze to death up here.
He waited until he heard the two fish people- he assumed they were both fish, since they sounded so similar -to call to one another for one last time. Then he started counting.
One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Seven. Eight. Nine. Ten.
Two. Two. Three. Four Five. Six. Seven. Eight. Nine. Ten.
Three. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Seven. Eight. Nine. Ten.
Four. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Seven. Eight. Nine. Ten.
Five. Two. Three…
After counting for ten minutes like this and not hearing a single noise, simon silently opened the hatch, peeking his head out initially before climbing down. The door was closed. Good. That was good.
He pressed the release button on the door, a hiss of air that sounded far too loud escaped the seal as the metal was pulled back, and he was allowed out. If he pretended hard enough, he could imagine he was back on base, sneaking out of barracks late at night to get to the kitchen and steal a snack before blaming it on a privet.
crept out quietly, pressing his back against the wall. His legs trembled and his numb fingers cried in relief as the air around him was several degrees warmer than in the vent. Still cold, but not dangerously so. He tucked his hands into the sleeves of the coat, holding them to his chest to warm them further.
He padded down the quiet hall and found himself standing in the entrance of the kitchen, the room completely dark, but the very obvious outline of a plate full of food on the table.
Okay, so they knew something was up. simon could smell a trap from a mile away, and this had ‘trap’ written all over it. Immediately he turned around and bolted back for the vent, closing the maintenance door behind him as he tucked himself away. He could suffer through another hungry night if it meant he could get food safely tomorrow.
Hopefully they’d leave him be, or maybe they’d land planet side again and kick him out onto some moon or something. God knows they probably won’t understand “Earth please, turn right at the sun.”
He hunkered down, his fingers and toes weeping at the loss of warmth, but he would manage. He would survive. He could hijack his ship and take it back to Earth himself, if that’s what it took.
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”Did you just open the maintenance closet doors?” Price’s voice crackled through his communicator.
“No.” soap replied, his heart pounding in his chest.
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Over the next few days, simon began getting more and more desperate. He refused to touch the food that was left out on the table each night. That was food they’d designated for him. meaning they could’ve done anything to it. It could be poisoned, or it could spring a trap. He always skirted around the edge of the kitchen, making sure not to even touch the table as he checked the fridge and cabinets.
Tonight was no different. He passed right by the plate of food, not even giving it a glance as he beelined for the fridge. He tugged on the door, but found that… it wouldn’t budge. Not even an inch. He pulled harder, and still nothing.
This was bad- had they locked the fridge? He checked the cabinets and- they were the same. Wouldn’t move an inch no matter how hard he pulled.
He knew he was making too much noise, every nerve in his body told him to run, run, run. But his stomach was talking louder, and it was telling him to try again. So he did, he pulled with all his weight, begging the door to just open.
When a light flicked on down the hallway, he knew he’d fucked up.
He forfeited any idea of food and booked it back toward the hall, not caring about all the noise he made. He heard some kind of trill from behind him and his heart started to race, he skidded to a stop in front of the maintenance closet and jumped onto the workbench, pushing himself up into the vent as he felt hands on his ankles. He screamed at the contact, and he scrambled even more quickly into the vent, kicking out behind him but feeling nothing but air.
Apparently the kicking and screaming was enough though, because the hands let go almost immediately, letting him escape into the ceiling. He grabbed the handle of the hatch and pulled up on it with all his strength, not wanting the aliens to try to force the hatch open.
He was surprised when no such attempt came. They’d been so close to finding him- they knew he was up there, so why weren’t they coming to get him? He could hear them talking to one another outside, one sounding more frantic, the other sounding almost hesitant, if he could even call it that.
Silence, then. He could hear the maintenance closet door hiss shut, and he was once again alone.
He sighed, letting go of the handle as he collapsed on the floor of the vent, heaving breathes. His heart was racing, and his entire body shook with the adrenaline rush of being chased. That feeling of hands on his ankles made his legs twitch, and he had to pull his knees up to his chest to get it to stop. He refused to sleep.
_____________________________
They’d seen it. The human.
Price had made the mistake of flicking on the overhead lights in the control room. The thing bolted back down the hall, but soap had been right on their metaphorical tail. He caught up to them at one point even, and had even touched them. But the thing had screeched so loud they’d both had to cover their ears, and they’d escaped into the vents again.
soap had been about to go after it again when Price grabbed his arm, stopping him. “Don’t, soap. It- we scared it pretty good there, I don’t want you getting hurt.” He pulled soap down from the workbench, the two of them staring at the hatch like it was a ticking time bomb, because that’s exactly what it felt like.
The rest of the day was spent scheming up ways to get the thing to come out of the vent. Each of them involved food in some way.
The way that is inevitably went down was something neither of them had ever expected.
It was late into the circadian cycle, all the lights on the ship were either dimmed or off. Price and soap’s plan tonight was something of a genius move on their part, if soap did say so himself.
The plan was simple, lead the thing into a room that was far away from the maintenance vent hatch with food, trap them inside, and fly the ship back to MOC-34YÅ17 where they’d found them, and let them go back to whatever pack or family or whatever-the-hell they’d had there. God knows they didn’t want an angry human pack or even it's mate coming after their ship.
Because that’s what this human was an adult it could have a mate or even pups.
The plan was that both Price and soap would hole-up in the laboratory, where soap had hooked up a remote video feed of the observation deck, the only sealable area of the ship that didn’t have weapons, or was the control room, because god knows they weren’t locking the thing in there. Even with auto pilot on, they could do some damage.
No, the observation deck was the best bet. The only things in that room were a thermostat and a tiny vent opening that even the human wouldn’t be able to crawl through.
_____________________________
He was really. Really. Really smart.
…But he was also really, really, really, really, really hungry.
The trail of small cracker-like treats was a bit undermining, but he can’t say it wasn’t effective. He wasn’t sure exactly how long it had been since he’d last eaten, but it was long enough that he knelt down, and began slowly collecting the little bite-sized crackers in his hands, the trail leading into a large, open room.
In the center of the room was a box, the crackers spilling out from the top of it. Probably so he would know that there were more inside. God, these aliens were probably really going to undervalue his intelligence if this is the ploy that gets him, but he’s hungry, goddamnit! So he goes inside.
Almost immediately the door shuts behind him, but he’d already checked to make sure he was alone before he stepped in, so he wasn’t terribly scared. They just wanted him out of the vents, which was understandable. He wanted out of the vents too.
It was warmer in this room then the vents, but cooler than the rest of the ship, which was a bit disappointing. He shuffled over to the box of crackers and sat down on the floor, pulling it into his lap as he munched on them.
When he looked up, his eyes widened, and he dropped the box to the floor again.
He was… in a bubble. Space, outside the window for miles- no, eons around him. He pushed himself to his feet and took a few hesitant steps toward the window, pressing his hands against it. It was cold under his palms, but for once since he’d gotten trapped here, it felt good. He could see the outline of heat on the glass as he pulled his hand away, leaving a fading white trace of his palm print. His breath fogged against it and he huffed out a laugh, sinking into a kneel, and then sitting on his legs as he just stared out into space, the crackers and his hunger forgotten.
He shrugged off the orange jacket, folding it neatly before setting it down and using it as a pillow. He didn’t care if he was trapped. He’d been trapped the moment he stepped onto this ship. He was trapped the moment he was stolen from Earth. For now, he had the stars watching over him, and for maybe the first time since he’d been taken, he fell asleep peacefully.
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“What’re they doing?” soap hissed as they watched the video footage. “They’ve left the food right in the middle of the room! They even picked it up, why are they-“
“soap.” Price hushed, pushing him gently aside so he could see the screen. A small smile on his face. “They’re stargazing.”
The figure on the screen, so large and hesitant as they had entered the room, was staring out the observation deck windows, their hands pressed to the glass as they tilted their head back. Price chuckled softly at this sight.
“Look at them, johnny.” He whispered.
“I’m looking.” soap mumbled, folding his arms. “They’re a human, Price. Just think, if you were in there with them, they’d probably rip you to shreds.”
“I don’t think so.” Price crooned doubtfully, leaning back with his hands in his pockets.
“Oh, no?” soap asked with a dry chuckle, obviously taunting him. “You want to go down there and find out, do you?”
“Do you?” Price mused, seeing the cockiness drain from soaps face at the dare. He even paled slightly.
“I don’t have a death wish, unlike some people.” He mumbled, going back to staring at the screen, where the terrifying thing had now nestled up to the window, with soap’s stolen jacket tucked under their head. Price pushed his chair out from underneath him and headed for the door, only to be stopped by soap’s hand hot on his wrist.
“Where the hell do you think you’re going?” He asked tersely, his eyes sharp.
“I’m going to go greet our guest. Stars know we’ve kept them waiting far too long.” He replied, eyes sharper.
soap pulled back, his hand releasing its grip on Price, hovering in the space between them. “…If that thing hurts you, I… I’ll never be able to forgive myself.”
Price sighed, his eyes softening. “soap, if I don’t do this now, I’ll never be able to forgive myself.” He said quietly, placing a hand on soap’s head for a few moments before he turned to the door and walked out.
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simon curled up in front of the stars, his eyes scanning the sky in hushed awe. Things had been quiet for a really, really long time. He can’t remember the last time he… spoke to someone. That silence scared him to his core. But now… right now, he didn’t mind. The hum of the engine was enough to quiet the darker melancholy parts of his mind, and he was content.
The door slid open on the other side of the room, and simon immediately sat up, his back pressed against the cold glass behind him. There, standing in the doorway, was… something. He wasn’t quite sure yet. There weren’t many lights on, but he could see a figure… humanoid in shape, but he’d learned to have his doubts.
They stepped into the room, light from the stars outside casting shadows on the planes of his face. simon was shocked by how startlingly human he looked.
“my name is price.” The thing said to him, stepping inside the room and closing the door behind him. simon watched him like a hawk as he stepped forward, stopping about ten or twelve feet away, and sitting down on the ground.
He couldn’t tear his gaze away from the gigantic fins that were fixed to his back. Giant and black and shining in the starlight.
“can you understand me?” He asked. simon could tell it was a question based on the way his voice lilted upwards at the end. Or at least- he prayed that was what it meant. Either way, he shook his head.
“I- I don’t-“ And oh god his voice was gone. Airy and gravelly and cracking all over the place. He coughed into his elbow, taking a breath. He could see the look in his eyes, looking at simon like he was a lost child. And for once in his life, the analogy didn’t make his skin prickle. He was lost. He was more lost than any human being had ever been in the history of humanity.
For a moment, the… fish-man, looked like he was about to move forward, looked like he was about to reach out and try to touch simon, and instinctually he pressed himself back further, even further against the glass of the window, shaking his head.
“No. No- don’t. Please. Please, d-don’t touch me.” He whispered, his voice low but still begging.
He backed off, placing his hands in his lap and even moving a few inches backwards, which made simon feel leagues better. He took a deep breath and let it out, closing his eyes for a moment before he remembered himself, and snapped them open again.
The fish-man-thing in front of him trilled softly, his head tilting to the side with a smile on his face as he mimicked simons deep breath, and closed his eyes as well.
simon laughed despite himself. “You- you like when I do that, huh?” He took another deep breath, closing his eyes as he let it out, before opening them again. And again, the fish-man repeated the action.
“does that make you feel better?” He asked, and simon shook his head again.
“I-… I still don’t know what you’re saying. I-“
Behind him, the door opened, catching simon’s attention immediately. His eyes widened and his whole body tensed.
“soap. leave now” The fish sitting in front of him said, the words sounding biting and quick, even if simon didn’t know the language.
“I will, I just thought... you might be able to use this” The bird at the door said, stepping inside hesitantly. He had something in his hands, and simon gasped, shielding himself with his arms. He didn’t want a repeat of last time. He didn’t want-
Almost as soon as the other bird had arrived, he was gone. The first one slowly- very slowly -rose to his feet and backed away from simon, picking up whatever the other one had left on the ground for him. simon still flinched when he sat back down, but peeked an eye out to see what he had with him now. It was… something. simon wasn’t quite sure what. It was thin and metal, silver in color, with what seemed to be two slots on either side of it.
“im going to set this between us is that ok?” He asked. simon shrugged, still unable to answer his questions.
He carefully reached forward and placed the object between them, one slit facing himself, and one slit facing simon. His heart pounded, but he waited to see what would happen, not like he had much of a choice.
Something small was tossed across the gap to him, and simon had at least enough sense to catch it, albeit with a bit of a fumble. He held it in his hands and realized- it was a pen.
The bird reached forward and pressed a button on the machine in front of him, and suddenly a blue projection fizzled to life in front of both of them, as well as a screen between them. simon observed it all with wide eyes, his mouth agape. He heard a chuckle across from him and closed his mouth, glaring at the fish, who held his hands up placatingly.
“lets start with names” The fish mumbled, writing something onto the projection in front of him. simon watched as what he drew appeared on the hologram that separated both of them as he drew it.
‘price’ He wrote, setting the pen down before pointing to himself.
simon squinted at the… letters, he assumed, but shook his head. “I can’t read that.”
He sighed and shook his head, and started trilling repeatedly, while still poignant to himself. simon’s eyes widened. “Prrr...rrrr..Price? Is that your name? price?”
Apparently waving your hand side-to-side is the universal gesture for ‘iffy’ or ‘so-so’ because the fish- price, did it while giving simon a shrug. The human laughed, shaking his head with a grin. “God- Okay, so you’re Price. And my name…” He scribbles down S-I-M-O-N on the board. “…is simon.”
“...simon?” Phil repeated, and he nodded encouragingly.
“Yeah! Yeah- god, I- that’s me.” He said, a wet laugh bubbling up in his chest as hot tears brimmed in his eyes. Even as accented and butchered as it was, that was his name.
“simon?” Phil asked, his face morphing with concern.
He shook his head and sniffled, sighing heavily. “No I- I just… I’m okay, I just haven’t heard anyone s-say my name in a-… a long time.” He whispered, well aware that Price couldn’t understand him.
He turned off the projection after that, carefully sliding the machine back towards himself. He held his hand out towards simon, and for a moment he wasn’t sure what Price wanted from him.
“Wh-oh, the… the pen.” simon mumbled, looking down at the little stencil in his hand. He gripped it tightly for a moment, not quite ready to give it up.
Price chuckled but shrugged, waving it off. ’Keep it’ He meant, and simon was grateful for reasons he couldn’t quite understand.
price reached to his left and grabbed the box of discarded crackers, and held it out to simon with a small, gentle smile.
The air hung still between them, simon staring at the box in Price’s hand, and price staring at simon, his arm outstretched. The universal signal for ’Take it’. So he slowly, very slowly reached forward, his hand reaching out at he leaned forward more and more, his fingers grazing the side of the box. He flinched back at the contact only slightly before reaching out again, his hand wrapping around the side of the box as Price let go, letting him have it.
They stayed suspended like that for a long moment, hands reaching out toward one another, eyes scanning one another’s faces for some hint, some trick, some glint inside the other. And then it was gone, and simon shrunk back, his arms wrapping around the box protectively as Price too leaned backwards.
"ill take my leave now" He said quietly as he stood up and brushed off his flight-suit, heading back toward the door.
“…-Price?” simon called after him as he was about to step out the door, making the fish turn back toward him. “…Thank you.”
Price smiled, and offered him a single nod before he stepped out the door, and closed it behind him.
