“Vik? No, I haven’t seen him lately.” Pearla said, though her attention was only half on TO. As she sat on the desk, her tail wrapped awkwardly around its legs, she watched a small group of children played nearby. She had rested for about three days before getting restless and asking to help and, after a brief chat, she was quickly put to work teaching the younger children. Teaching them mostly involved letting them do crafts and teaching them the simplest of words in Galactic Common.

  “When’s the last time you saw- Oh?” TO looked down at a small cat-like girl who tugged on their sleeve. She held up a small, roughly made paper flower to TO, who took it and forced a smile wide enough that the child could read it without having to look at their ears. She giggled and ran back to her friends.

  “They’re cute kids.” Pearla said, grinning as the small group reunited and began playing with some plastic blocks. “Most of them live here, and I guess if they want to leave when they’re adults they’re get an ID made for them.”

  “Interesting.” TO mused, “I guess they’ll be able to choose any planet and status, within reason.”

  “Yes, they’re kind of lucky like that.” Perala said, “More freedom than most of us got, anyway.” She sighed. “Sorry, you were asking about Vik?”

  TO shook their head and pocketed the small paper flower, “Right. When’s the last time you saw him?”

  Pearla pursed her lips as she tried to remember, her eyes occasionally flicking to the kids to make sure they were playing nicely. “Last time I can distinctly remember, we were in that cafe. It was...” She chewed her lip, “let’s see... I remember you were confined to bed...”

  TO closed their eyes and took a deep breath in. “I was in bed for a while.” They understood that not everyone had their ability to remember details with a glance, but certainly any average person could remember something like this, right?

  “It was in the first few days, at least.” She said, "I think so, because we were asking how long your recovery would take." She snapped her fingers, “Yes! I remember now! We were talking about preparations for leaving for Apoikia and I asked Flit what we might need to bring, given it’s going to be all Chilacians there save for us.” She frowned. “Tham’s being really flippant about it, you know! He said he was sure there would be food there, and anything else he could do without! Well, I pointed out that-“

  “Miss Pearla?” another child said as he approached. “Are we going to play music today?”

  Pearla turned to the child and gave them a gentle smile as she leaned forward. “Maybe later.” She said, “after lunch.”

  “Can I play the drums?”

  “Only if it’s your turn on the turn chart! If it’s not, then you have to let whoever’s turn it is play the drums. That’s only fair.”

  she considered this and nodded seriously, and went back to her friends.

  “Pearla?” TO said, “About Vik?”

  She blinked as though she had forgotten what they were talking about. “Oh! right. Yes. well, that’s the last time I saw Vik.” She frowned. “It’s been a while now that I think of it. I’ve been so busy...” Her eyes suddenly widened. “Is he missing?”

  “He’s not missing.” TO said, the words racing out of their mouth to soothe her sudden panic, “I saw him yesterday.”

  She visibly relaxed. “Well, that’s good.” She said, “But if you saw him, why are you asking me when the last time I saw him was?”

  TO sighed, adjusting the crutch under their arm. Thankfully, DH was happy enough that TO took another day to rest that they didn’t ask why, but they insisted on TO using the crutch again. If DH had asked, then TO would have told them, but they didn’t want to say anything until they figured out what was going on. They didn’t want to cause any unnecessary grief for DH.

  “He acted weird when I saw him last.” TO said, “And DH said that he’s not been talking to them.”

  Pearla frowned at this. “That’s odd.” She said, “They’ve been really excited to have DH around, you know? I mean, they’ve only known each other a short time, but they’re almost as close to DH as they are to Tham.” she hummed, looking back at the children as a minor squabble broke out. TO glanced over, and saw a few of the kids take a toy near another, and walk off to play with it. This caused the first child to begin crying softly. “Sorry.” She said as she got up from the desk, “I have to untangle this.” she hurried over, turning quickly to add, “Maybe ask Tham? They’ve been good friends for years. He might know.”

  You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

  ======

  TO only knocked twice on Tham’s door before it slid open and released the smell of cheap alcohol and stagnant air out into the hallway causing, causing TO to take a step back and nearly stumble with their crutch.

  “Well, you finally decided to visit, did you?” He hissed. It was an actual hiss, coming from deeper in his throat than TO expected.

  “I... am sorry?” TO said, not really certain what they were apologizing for. True, they hadn’t visited him since they became mobile again, but they hadn’t visited anyone! Up until the last two days, all they did was wake up, work, train, and then rest when they couldn’t train anymore!

  Maybe DH was right, and they should take a few more breaks, even if it was only to visit people.

  Tham grunted and pulled TO his room. “Whatever.” He said, that hiss still audible in his voice, “You’re here now. Let’s game.”

  With a yelp, TO stumbled into Tham’s room, keeping their crutch with them as the door slid closed at their back. The smell of alcohol was stronger inside and now TO could see why. In the dim light, they could see several empty bottles gathered in a large box, the simple labels reading, “Brian’s Brew-ha-ha”

  “You want to do that mining-sim game, or…“ Tham looked around, tablet in hand, and saw TO looking at the pile of bottles. “Oh.” He said dumbly. “Don’t...“ He paused, sighed, and threw an old blanket over the pile, “look. I know it’s a lot. I know it’s not good. I know I need to cut back. I know. Just...“ He sighed, “Just ignore it for now. Let me get through all this shit, and I’ll cut back.”

  TO’s first plan was to just ask if Tham knew where Vik was, but now they didn’t want to just do that and leave. “Does Pearla know?” They asked, taking out their communicator. It wasn’t as good as the tablet, but it would work.

  “... To a point.” He said. “If you were to tell her, it wouldn’t surprise her, but she would be needlessly worried.”

  “Would it be a needless worry?”

  “Yes”

  “So, you’re asking me to not tell her?”

  Tham paused, tapping gently on their tablet as their tail swished back and forth, “No.” He said, “But I’d rather you didn’t. I’ll be fine.”

  TO’s ears flicked back as they looked over Tham. Yes, he was clearly drunk, but he still kept himself relatively well put together. The room was cluttered and smelled stale and like booze, but it wasn’t dirty. There were lots of bottles in the box nearby, but they were neatly stacked, and who knew how long they had piled up there?

  “... I’m going to check up on you.” TO finally said, “And if I feel worried, I’ll tell Pearla. Also, if she asks how you are-“

  “I know, I know, you can’t lie.” He said. He sat down on the bed, his tail wrapping around him. “Now, are we going to play one of these games, or what?”

  ======

  “So, you only came around to ask about Vik?”

  TO coughed, taking an accidental chug of the drink which Tham insisted they try when TO only wanted to try a sip. He said it was good, that it ‘went down smooth,’ and that it had a nice aftertaste, but all TO could taste now was the burning that flowed down their throat and into their stomach, setting them aflame from the inside out. How could people actually enjoy this? No, worse than that, how could people pay good money for this? Would it taste different if the alcohol could affect them? That would be the only way this drink could make sense to TO.

  “You ok there?” Tham said, holding back a laugh. “I thought you could handle a bit of this stuff.”

  TO waved his concerns off as they took a moment to collect themselves. “I don’t drink alcohol.” They said, “None of us really do.”

  “Ah, I see. Why? Is it from your training, or-“

  “It just doesn’t affect us,” TO said. They put the stopper back on the fat red bottle and passed it back to Tham. “All yours.” They said, “And why did you ask about Vik?”

  Tham grinned and held up their communicator, showing a message from Pearla. The message stated that TO had come around asking about Vik, was worried about him, and that she had pointed them in Tham’s direction. She also stated in the message that now she was worried about him, too.

  “She just sent this,” he said as he put his communicator away, “Asking if there was any update.”

  “Sorry.” TO said as their ears flicked back. “I know I haven't visited lately, but I haven’t visited anyone, and-“

  “Eh, you stuck around, even though I assume this was burning in your mind the whole time.” They said, glancing at TO. For the first time, TO saw Tham’s eyes flick to their ears for a split second before returning to their face. “See, I still can’t read your ears, but I’ve got the feeling that maybe I’m right?, because your ears aren’t up.”

  TO huffed, “Well, since you brought it up-“

  “I don’t know where Vik is.” Tham said quickly. “Sorry. Haven’t seen them since the same day Pearla did.” They frowned, their tail slapping against their narrow bed for a moment. “Which is bull, since the little fucker and I normally watch funny shit before I go to bed. But...” He sighed, “I thought he was hanging out with DH now.” He pursed his lips together. “You’re certain you saw him? You actually saw him? It wasn’t something you saw out of the corner of your eye?”

  “I had a very brief conversation with him.” TO said, “He didn’t seem his usual self.”

  “That’s not good,” Tham said. “I mean, normally when he disappears, they’re working on some kind of project. Even then, they’d come see me later in the day.”

  “He is working on something,” TO said. “They had it all these pieces out on the counter at a smoothie bar.”

  “... Which is worse, because he wouldn’t have his stuff out all over the place like that,” Tham said.

  “yes, I figured he’d be in his room with it-“

  “We’re supposed to be sharing a room.” Tham muttered. “He just stopped showing up, and his shit was gone.” He paused, thinking for a moment though what TO could only imagine was a fog of alcohol. Finally, he gave a dry chuckle. “I was trying to think of a way to track him down, but the only ideas I have involve getting him to help.”

  TO’s ears twitched and pinned back as they tried to figure out a solution. Everything they could think of involved going to DH, and they would if they had to, but they’d rather not worry DH anymore about it if they could avoid that.

  How could they track down the one that normally tracked them all?

  They had an idea.