Showers had always been some kind of luxury for TO; one that was not only encouraged, but demanded of them while in training. The hot showers and the large tub had their dual purpose of soothing aching muscles and keeping clean. Unlike so many of the minor pleasures they stole for themselves while in training, the frequent baths and showers were one of the few things that they felt no need to hide or explain. It was a small, permissible pleasure.

 

It was surprising that for the first time TO was glad to have missed out. 

 

“I can still feel it on my feet.” Mira said as they headed to the Dormitory. “The entire floor in there was just a layer of slime. Don’t they clean that shit?” 

 

“Oh, poor you.” Pearla muttered, “You had your little tiny feet on it. I had my entire tail on it!” She shuddered, “I think I feel dirtier after the shower than I did before.” 

 

They turned a corner as they headed back to the dormitory and saw another guard heading towards them from the other end. The three shifted to the other side of the hall, walking in single file to let the guard pass. He gave them only a brief glance before moving on. 

 

“At least they don’t care too much about us being out of bed.” Mira muttered, “Otherwise we’d have a problem.” 

 

“Speaking of beds.” Pearla said, “Did you figure out where we’re sleeping tonight?”

 

“I suggest we just find beds in the dormitory and sleep under them.” She said, “Preferably ones with curtains around them. Maybe in the corner.” She glanced around quickly before pulling something out of the front of her uniform, “I grabbed extra towels for pillows.” 

 

TO sighed as she passed them one. Sleeping on a cold, hard floor with a rolled-up towel for a pillow. Even back in training they had their own bed. It wasn’t much, but it was comfortable enough, and they had thin pillows and basic blankets. 

 

They already weren't looking forward to a night of poor sleep when they entered the dormitory, and it only got worse once they did. The lights were still on and although they were dimmed, they still had that strange flickering quality to them that irritated TO’s eyes and reignited their still smoldering headache. Perhaps worse than the lights was the noise. TO had no idea how many people were in the dormitory, but the noise of everyone breathing, snoring, talking, or mating created a relentless cacophony of chaos that echoed through TO’s ears. 

 

“We’ll get under beds with curtains.” Pearla whispered as she nudged TO, “That’ll help.” 

 

“I hope so.” They muttered. 

 

They went to the back corner of the room where most of the private beds were; pushed against walls it was easier and cheaper to encircle these beds to make them private. 

 

“There.” Mira said as she pointed to the bed in the corner, “You take that one. There’s a wall at the head of the bed, and a wall bed behind you. Hopefully, it’ll help more.” 

 

It seemed like a privilege to have the corner bed and a part of TO wanted to object but their aching eyes and now throbbing head refused to let them. They nodded and passed their communicator to Pearla. 

 

“TO… this is yours-” 

 

“You take it.” They said, “It’s not connected to this.” They gestured to the back of their hand, “If something happens, we can’t contact you. At worst, I have… other means.” 

 

Pearla hesitated a moment more, her hand hovering before the communicator before she finally took it. 

 

“Alright.” She said “Just in case.”

 

“Sleep.” Mira said, pushing TO towards the bed, “Tomorrow… Might be better.” 

 

“I hope so.” TO muttered. They knelt to the floor, lay down, and rolled under the bed. Thankfully, the beds were higher than a normal one might have been, and the heavy curtains surrounding the two exposed sides worked to muffle some sound once TO was inside properly. They struggled to wrap their wings around themself, to position the rolled-up towel under their head, but then they finally pressed their back to the wall and tried their best to get comfortable. 

 

It was cold and cramped. Whoever was sleeping above them moved a lot in their sleep and TO could hear every creak of the mattress but at least the flickering fluorescent lights couldn’t penetrate the curtains, and at least they couldn’t hear as much of the noise from all around them. 

 

They missed their pod, with its soundproof barrier and basic comfort. Still, it was at least quiet and dim here, though it didn’t make up for how cold the floor was under them, or how hard. They hugged themself and curled themself into a ball to keep themself warm. If DH was here, they’d keep warm. They’d curl into one another, and be comfortable despite the cold hard floor and the ceaseless creaking overhead. 

 

If DH was with them, they’d be fine. 

 

They activated their chip, and though they couldn’t call DH, they could send them a quick message. 

 

==Trying to get some sleep now. I miss you. I love you. Goodnight.== 

 

They wouldn't tell their mate about how cold and uncomfortable they were, or how lonely. The idea of DH awake all night with worry made TO’s stomach churn, and if they had GiDi and Avery with them, then DH should try to enjoy the time with their friends as much as possible. They’d tell DH how awful it all was one they got back and once they could rest in DH’s embrace. 

 

TO shivered, and tightened their wings around themself. They wanted to go home. Such an odd word for them, first being the training center, then their ship, and even now it was their little room in the underground. Still, in this moment they suddenly realized what made all those places home, and why they were so homesick here. 

 

Home was with DH. 

 

======

 

TO blinked, and it was morning. Or at least, they assumed it was. Through the thick curtains that muted the world around them, TO could hear the sudden blaring alarm that told people to go for their meal. Overhead, the occupant of the bed made more noise than they had the entire night as they woke up.

It had to be morning; nothing else could feel as miserable when DH wasn’t around. TO stifled a groan, not wanting to wake up yet. They hadn’t slept well at all; struggling to get comfortable and then waking up after small micro naps because of the noise from overhead. Well, they didn’t have to get up right away. In fact, they figured it was a good idea to wait until it seemed like whoever was sleeping over them was gone. All they had to do was keep from falling back asleep before them. 

 

As they opened their eyes, they suddenly realized that staying awake wouldn’t be a problem. They pressed their hands to their face, and this time stifled not a groan but a scream as they backed against the wall behind them. 

 

It wasn’t a Cocopod; it wasn’t as big as one, but it was still terrifying to TO. Perhaps it was only so frightening because it was so close to them; only inches from their face. Whatever it was though, it was about the size of TO’s hand; six legs, a fat squishy body, and some kind of pincer on the end of a long, thick tail. It had huge black eyes, wriggling mandibles, and was far too close to TO’s face for their liking.

They tried to back away, to get away from the horrible creature, but with their back to the wall there was nowhere they could go. At least the creature didn’t seem to notice TO; it wandered around under the bed as though it were alone.

Unfortunately, it wandered too close to TO’s face.

TO wanted to cover their eyes, to protect their eyes and snout and mouth with their hands and just wait until it went away… but what if it didn’t? What if it got closer to them?

The bed overhead creaked. Whoever had been sleeping there got up, and TO could hear their footsteps move away and get lost in the muffled noise from outside. Taking their chance, they removed their hand from their face and held it open, the back of their hand facing the creature.

They really didn’t want to touch it.

It got closer, its stubby tail rising in the air, opening and closing as its mandibles wiggled.

TO yelped and backhanded it. They could feel it against their skin for only a brief second, could feel its lightness as their hand batted it against the heavy curtain around the outside of the bed. The curtain was too heavy though, and in not wanting to touch it for longer than absolutely necessary, TO failed to follow through with their slap. It suddenly rose on its feet, its tail rising higher, its pincer grasping at the air.

“NO!” TO yelped, slapping it again. This time they pushed it to the outside of the curtains. As soon as it was out of sight they pushed themself down to the foot of the bed and wriggled out from underneath. The noise they made was clearly loud, as several people were now sitting nearby, staring. The one sitting on the bed closest to them, a green-haired lady with a long, spiky, fishlike tail, looked down at TO.

“Woah.. you ok?”

“I… Yes?” TO ventured. They looked around looking for the bug. As they peeked around the bed, they could just see it disappear under another bed.

“Yeah, don’t sleep on the floor.” She said as she caught sight of the insect scurrying away. “It might be quieter if you sneak under a private bed, but those things come out at night. That’s why the beds are so high.” She grinned, “And why don't we keep things under the bed. Keep anything between the mattresses; less likely to be found that way.”

“Thanks..” TO muttered as they got to their feet.

“TO!” Pearla said as she crawled out from under the other bed, “I heard you yell, are you-”

“I’m fine.” They said, wishing they could control the burn of their ears, “Let’s just drop it.”

“I’m fine with that.” Mira said as she crawled out from the spiky-fish-lady’s bed. She glanced up, “Oh, hi. Sorry for squatting.”

“No problem.” She said, “And I won’t tell anyone else you were here… But under the beds is not a great place to sleep. Lots of bugs.”

“Oh, poor TO.” Pearla said, her voice soft as she went up to them and offered a hand to help them up, “You ok?”

“I’m fine.” They hissed, their ears burning. “Just… a big nasty thing with a pincer-”

“Just a little snapper.” Spiky fish lady said, “Some people keep them as pets here. You’re lucky you didn’t seem to hurt it.”

TO shuddered at the thought that anyone would keep those things around.

“You’ll be alright.” Mira said as TO rubbed their arms. She offered a quick thanks to the lady whose bed she had been hiding under, then ushered TO along.

“I’m not sleeping there again.” TO said.

“Sure, we’ll find another place.” Mira muttered, “For now though, we have work to do.”

“Right.” Pearla said, “We have to find the people on that list-”

“Yes, but first, I want to find someone else.” Mira said. “The list has names, descriptions, and places where we can find the people. That’s fine. And as for everyone else, we’ll find who we can, right? But before that, I want to find someone in particular.”

TO nodded, the shock of that awful thing so close to them fading off. “Right.” They said, “And I think I know who you want to find?”

“Oh, do you know?” Mira asked, “Who is it then?”

There were lots of people that needed to be helped, and with limited space they couldn’t help everyone. There was one person though that TO felt they had to help if they could.

“Constance Cora Skinner’s father.”