trans_9 | Meet Aeneas, the Hungry Creature [closed]

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Meet Aeneas, the Hungry Creature [closed]

The Sensorium food was good, but by no means satisfying. If it had been, then Aeneas wouldn't have bothered looking so passionately for the Mess Hall.
This time around, thank Spode, he had a companion who more than likely had a much better sense of direction than the alien did, so perhaps they wouldn't end up walking in circles around the Living Quarters.

But maybe even more powerful than the prospect of real food was the idea that Stacy may or may not have an area for cooking. If she did, that was fabulous. If not, then at least Aeneas would be able to find somebody that he could suggest the premise to. He assumed only good things could come from this escapade—which was ironic, considering how it had started.

Regardless.

Standing just outside the Sleeping Halls in the junction between them and the Sensoriums (the only place that Aeneas was familiar with), he waited patiently—with the human Matt nearby—for Will to show up. She would be guiding them to food.
This was a good thing.

Unfortunately for both of them, it would be an awkward few minutes until she appeared—Aeneas was terrible at starting conversations, especially with sustenance on the mind.

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“I did as soon as I woke up,” Aeneas scratched his ear, rather confused, “But they were not there. I assume that they are in the Special Weapons cache, since that is where all other possessions went.”

Again, no idea why they’d be moved there. Well, except for…hmm…

"Then it's possibly there, just buried under a bunch of stuff most likely. I know I had to dig pretty deep to find my things and I'm sure there's more there," replied Matt with that lazy grin of his. "Don't worry, I'm sure you've got more in there."

Aeneas nodded, a low sigh escaping his nostrils.

“Yes, I suppose you are correct.” Nothing left now except to get inside the place and look, yeah? Although, speaking of finding things from one’s homeworld…

“I wonder what is taking Will so long?” murmured the alien, looking behind him as if he expected to see her trailing curiously nearby, “We have been walking for a while now…Any sign of her?”

"Haven't seen her yet," replied Matt, trying to think if he forgot to tell her that they were out there.

He took another look around and sighed, shrugging nonchalantly. Ah well. Maybe they would run into someone on their way who could fill in. Matt was probably looking forward to seeing Will specifically, but he could always talk to her later (and would, Aeneas imagined, prefer it if the alien was not tagging along).

“She has not gotten back to me on the message I sent her,” he resumed walking and purring, both at a casual pace, “Perhaps she is busy?”

They’d been keeping to the walls of the Sleeping Halls, mainly to avoid getting lost, and there was a junction coming up in the far distance. Aeneas hadn’t traveled this far before—well, not intentionally—so he had no idea where they went.

"Probably. We can probably still wander a lot more, trying to find the food." Matt grinned and added, "It isn't too bad, getting lost with a friend."

Aeneas’s eyes smiled pleasantly. A friend…well, at least that was one person. He just had, like, eight billion more to go.

Of course this title also gave Aeneas permission to ask more personal inquiries.

“Speaking of which…how long have you and Will known each other?” the alien narrowed his lavender irises, his tone becoming slightly less formal, “I assume that you two are very close.”

"Oh upwards of five to six years for me," replied Matt. "We got together officially in our second year and been together since then."

He grinned. "You can say that she's my everything."

His smile grew brighter and wider.

“That’s great that you have someone here to care for you,” Aeneas paused and blushed slightly, “How many—“

Wait, wait, wait, not a good question. Last time he asked that the Awesonian woman it was directed to gave him the stink eye.

“—Erm, nevermind.”

Aeneas quickly diverted attention from his previous sentence.

“I—I cannot express how happy I am for the both of you,” he scratched his ear, giving a thoughtful glance at the ceiling, “It must be wonderful, having someone you can always rely on to be by your side.”

"It is," replied Matt. "When you find someone, you feel... whole, I guess is the word for it. Complete."

Well, Matt Olsen had already seen Aeneas break down once before. Not that he was going to do it again, but he was definitely about to divulge something he didn’t often spill out to everyone he met.

“Yes…yes I believe I know how you feel,” Aeneas’s gaze traveled to his front feet as they shuffled along the meatship floor, “I once felt the same way.”

Squish squish went the floor.

“…Or, at least I think I did. I, uhm. I cannot be certain.”

Matt chuckled at that, nodding. He knew how it felt and said, "You'll know it when you feel it. Trust me on this."

Grinning, he added, "Don't worry. There's plenty of time in this world to do so."

Erm.

“I—No, I mean I—uhm—“

Aeneas faltered heavily. Okay, fine. He could be trusted enough to know. No need to be embarrassed.

“—I know that feeling. I just—I—every once in a while—“

No, this wasn’t working. Aeneas stopped talking and set a heavy stare at the upcoming junction, a thorough blush setting into his muzzle.

Matt, you better help him out here—his foot’s jammed so far down his throat that it’s stuck in his lower torso (which, considering his length, is pretty far).

Matt was grinning at his friend's antics and he said, "Hey, don't worry. Y'don't have to explain it. I'm sure that you've got your ways and so do I."

But he wanted to! Aeneas enjoys talking about himself! He is only hu—wait, that’s not right. You know what I mean.

Of course, there is also something to be said about personal censoring. Aeneas, therefore, left the subject.

“…True.” the alien took a deep breath, “Okay then. Which way should we go?”

They were at the crossing. There were several paths, none of which were familiar. And Aeneas was, by no stretch of the imagination, about to lead the way. With his luck they’d end up in the biological furnace or a pit of zombies or something.

…Haha. Zombies. There’s no such thing as zombies.

Oh if only the pair had been on the ship a scant month ago, they would have disagreed on that part readily.

"Lets go... left," said Matt after pointing down a random passageway. "If anything we can double-back and figure out how to get there that way. Sound good?"

“Sounds good to me,” Aeneas blinked. What else was he supposed to say?

Following behind Matt Olsen (because, again, there was no way he was going first), they filed through the fleshy door and into a long hallway. It looked…exactly like every other hallway on Stacy.

Well, at least it was only one way. There was a branch off here or there, but Aeneas figured that keeping to the “main road”, as it were, would be the smartest choice.

Now, for more conversation.

“How much have you figured out about this…’ship’?” the alien asked, last word eliciting a sarcastic click from his mandibles.

"Not much other than the usual. It's alive, it seems to be protecting us, and it's obviously trying to shelter us from the worst." said Matt, ticking his fingers off with each statement.

"The big problem I see right now is that we've got such a spread, we're disorganized with the newcomers and it seems like they're all recovering from something from before. Dunno what, but Will and I are together again. I also heard there's a guy who's mising on Stacy, and I promised a friend to find him." he added, wishing he had pockets to shove his hands into. "Other than that, it's pretty much what everyone told me."

Aeneas trilled in a low register that Stacy didn’t bother to translate because, for the first time, Aeneas actually made a noise that was exactly like one a human would make (and meant the same thing).

“Hmm.”

Yes, Matt had a point there. While the basic “reunion” of sorts had helped with getting general information, Aeneas was having a hard time getting the basic rundown of what the current crew had done so far. Frankly he hadn’t been interested until just now, but that was irrelevant.

Perhaps it would’ve helped to have an entire conference on the matter—a gathering of the entire crew soon after the newcomers (them) had arrived to brief everyone on current affairs. Sure, it would be hard to get everyone together in one place, but it wasn’t like size was a problem (there were plenty of massive rooms that could serve as a makeshift auditorium), and the comm system was pretty reliable in contacting others.

As for the missing person…well. That was just unusual. Weren’t there a bunch of missing people here? Aeneas was missing about half a planet of Awesonians that should be running around right now—so wasn’t that the point?

In any case this seemed to make Matt a little uncomfortable, so Aeneas did his best to lighten his mood (also in an attempt to redeem himself for being such a let-down thus far).

“Who is this missing creature? Maybe we will find him in the Mess Hall,” the alien ruffled his feathers with quaint laughter.

"A dear friend of Katara's," explained Matt. "And no, I don't think that finding him will be very easy. He's lost-lost, as in apparently trapped somewhere on the ship and can't get back."

Matt sighed, remembering Katara's expressions. "He's very dear to her."

Well so much for lifting the mood.

“…That is unfortunate,” Aeneas exhaled deeply, feeling a little awkward; he of all people should know what it felt like to lose someone close.

Especially when that ‘someone close’ was himself.

“If it would help your acquaintance, I can also look for this individual,” the alien offered hopefully. ”After all, every time I get lost I seem to run into people. There’s a good chance he’ll turn up eventually if I just wander around long enough.”

Matt nodded, his mood definitely lifting at that. "I think they'd like that actually," he said.

"There can never be enough help when it comes to keeping a look out for one another. Thanks Aeneas."

Oh. Well he must’ve done something right.

Aeneas smiled bashfully and scratched his ear. “It is no problem. I am always willing to help.”

”Despite how much help I need for myself.”

“What does he look like? Do you know his name?”

They reached the end of the hallway. Beyond was a huge, wide-open space…it probably wasn’t the Mess Hall, at least not that Aeneas could tell. Especially with all the books lying around. Were they culinary books?

"I heard his name is Aang, but they don't have a picture of him or anything," replied Matt with a thoughtful expression. "I'd have to ask Katara later what he looks like so I could probably get a good description of him."

A library probably. Or some kind of normal reserve for it.

Aeneas’s thoughts exactly. No, that’s actually not true; his real thoughts were:

”Not food. Turn around.”

“I do not think this is the place,” he rephrased his ponderings into something a little more appropriate, “We should probably head back.”

Aeneas’s mind somehow managed to return to the previous topic from its determined resolution to obtain sustenance after he started for the door.

“I am not familiar with this ‘Katara’ person, but I assume she has also been on this ship for a while, correct?”

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