Legends of the Halcyon Era

Episode 18 - Monday Morning Blues

After Nytetrayn, Celeste, and Janine bailed Fenix and Xenos out of jail, the group got something for dinner, and returned to their apartment to settle in for the night. While Janine and Fenix had some arrangement, Xenos soon fell asleep in a small but regal-looking bed he produced from seemingly out of nowhere, and set up in the living room.

Nyte decided to give up his bed to Celeste, and instead opted to take the living room sofa instead. At the very least, he figured, this would be her first real night's sleep since waking up, and he could manage well enough with the couch. After all, it was good enough for watching TV for hours on end, right? Surely one could get a decent bit of sleep on it.

Janine emerged from Fenix's room at about nine in the morning, a robe loosely draped around herself, and yawned as she made her way to the kitchen. There, she saw Radi, who was busy raiding the fridge. Janine noted this with a quiet lack of shock, indicative of her acceptance that this is how much sense her life makes now.

Out in the living room, Nyte had woken up just a few minutes prior. He stared at the ceiling for a moment before pulling the blanket back up over himself and turned inwards to the back of the sofa with a groan.

Meanwhile, Xenos slept soundly in his bed.

Back in the kitchen, Janine grabbed the milk and fixed a bowl of cereal for herself.

Nyte was tossing and turning a bit, when Xenos snickered in his sleep. The Digger glanced over, wondering what that was all about.

Since he didn't seem to be having much luck getting back to sleep, Nytetrayn got up and headed into the kitchen, his hair a jagged, pointy mess. Janine munched on her corn flakes, while Radi grabbed her ankles and rolled around in a ball, as she took special care to tangle up Nyte's legs. Nyte took note of Radi's presence, and pondered whether he should give sleep another go.

"There seems to be a fungus among us," Nyte said drolly.

"It might go well on pizza," Janine replied with a devious smile.

"...knock yourself out."

Nyte managed to get to the counter and fridge to make some cereal for himself, and sat opposite Janine at the wall-mounted table. He munched on his cereal, and tried to ignore Radi licking his feet.

"So, how was your evening?" Janine asked.

"Meh," Nyte replied. "Sofa isn't too bad, once you get used to it..." he said, but the exhaustion in his voice told another story.

From the living room, the two heard a loud snort as Xenos shifted around and took in his environment. A loud scream was then heard throughout the apartment.

With a raised eyebrow, Nyte asked, "What the hell?", while Janine winced and just kept repeating to herself, "I don't want to know, I don't want to know..." Nyte concurred.

The Pirate's voice could then be heard, saying, " ..oh... right... dammit."

Xenos shuffled into the kitchen, looking a bit disgruntled. Meanwhile, Nytetrayn pondered whether or not to ask Radi why she's here... or how she got in... but knowing Radi, decided against it for the time being, and chose to engage with Xenos instead.

"Sleep well?" Nyte asked, yawning. "...I hate mornings."

"Hey there," Janine said to Xenos as she flourished the box of cereal. "Want some corn flakes?

"Sure," he said, as he took a seat and clumsily prepared a bowl of his own.

Meanwhile, Radi had returned to raiding the fridge. It seemed she had emptied it of most of its contents, save for a random bottle of lemon juice.

"I take it Fenix isn't up yet?" Nyte asked Jan.

"Nope," she said, with an amused expression. "We were up pretty late, and Reaverbots require less sleep, so..."

"DIRTY," Radi said.

"Wonder how Celeste is doing," Nyte said, before turning the subject back to Jan and Fenix. "...so what were you two doing up so late?"

Janine sighed. "Sadly enough, talking."

"Sadly?" asked the young Digger.

"She wanted more," the Air Pirate said as he poured milk over his corn flakes.

Janine nodded. "It's fate. Every time we're in a position to go at it like rabid weasels, I'm already worn out from something else."

"...I see," said Nyte.

"Obviously," Xenos added groggily. "She loves the masked gun-toting maniac half to death."

"...wow. Didn't realize you felt quite that way about him."

"I mean, I'd LOVE to have sex with Fenix. He's athletic, lustful, suitably kinky, and he has–"

"...right, right, got it," said Nyte. "I didn't really want to know all that; I have to work with the guy, for crying out loud."

"But it doesn't happen, because I've just had a whole lifetime's worth of memories forcibly inserted back into my head, or the skin ripped off my arm, or been in a crash, and... I just have my limits, you know?!"

"...so why is it you took Long John Silver here instead of Boba Fett in the ruins?"

"Because Xenos isn't exactly chopped liver, and he had just saved my life."

"Fair," Nyte replied. "Does Fenix have any idea?"

"Probably," Xenos said. "Though I'm guessing the guy's in denial, so that he can feel more sorry for himself."

At this point, Celeste entered the kitchen, minus her vest and with her shirt untucked. She let out a yawn and a stretch before taking a seat at the table.

"He should. We can't screw, but that doesn't mean we can't find other things to do while we talk," Janine said as she waggled her eyebrows.

"...um, I'm not interrupting anything, am I...?" Celeste asked, looking slightly embarrassed, as one would if they heard someone talking about something private.

"No," Xenos said casually as he munched on his cereal. "Janine's just talking about wanting to bear Fenix's child.

"...basically," Nyte confirmed.

A little taken aback at how bluntly they were with the subject matter, Celeste simply uttered, "Um... ok."

"Actually," Janine said with a frown, "I'm not capable of giving birth."

"...ouch," said Nyte. "That good or bad for you?"

Suddenly, Radi spoke up. "Everyone in this group is a big, fat pervert. I'm thinking about leaving them in a pit with armed explosives lining the sides."

"That's likely a good idea, kidd-o," the Pirate said as he continued to feast upon his milk-soaked flakes of corn. "...I miss my airship."

Nyte took a deep breath. "You invited yourself. Deal with it."

"Blah," Xenos said, as he took his bowl to the sink and washed it, before placing it aside and exiting to find a place to dress.

"See," Janine continued, "my species wasn't given the capability to bear young to control our rate of creation."

Nytetrayn nodded. "Makes sense."

"If we could reproduce, our numbers would have grown exponentially, and that could have been bad. At least, for the humans. And hell, thanks to that screwup, East, things DID go bad," Janine said with a growl in her voice, before sighing.

Nyte turned to Celeste. "How was your sleep?"

"...pretty good, thanks," she said, a little sheepishly.

Janine wasn't quite done yet, however. "I can't BELIEVE I dated that guy..."

"...eww," said Nyte.

"Of course, he wasn't evil and ripping the skin off of people then," Janine continued. "Before the rebellion he was one of the nicest guys you could meet, but... honestly, I don't know what changed him. He just up and went batshit overnight." She pondered this for a moment, before muttering, "Although, I have to say, talking with Fenix isn't exactly a root canal."

Meanwhile, Nyte turned back to Celeste. "Want some cereal? 'S today's special."

"Sure, thanks," she said.

Xenos returned, fully-clad in his fancied-up armor.

"'Sup?" Nyte asked, as he went to make the cereal.

"Getting a start on the day."

"What are your plans?"

Xenos glanced at Nyte. "Gonna get started back on my ship, of course."

Nyte nodded, as he placed the bowl of cereal down in front of Celeste.

"Thanks," she said with a smile, as she started eating.

"How long will that take?"

"Not long," the Pirate said confidently, before turning to the resident scavenger. "Hey, Radi, you had breakfast yet? Or do you even do breakfast?"

Radi opened the now-empty fridge as a response. The same fridge that once had some food in it.

"Hum. Kidd-o, you may have to start paying for your food..." Xenos told her.

"Yeah, really," said Nyte. "This ain't a bed-and-breakfast, y'know."

"...oh," the younger girl said. "Well, I can give some back, if you like."

"That's okay..." Janine started to say.

"Well, anything you didn't eat," Xenos said.

"Radi pulled a bag out from under a counter and revealed a whole crapload of food that wasn't in the fridge before. Expensive stuff, too. The others widened their eyes in quiet disbelief, before Xenos started to applaud and asked, "Where'd you get that stuff?"

"I dunno, it just ... turns up."

With a look of surprise, Xenos exclaimed, "She's a sleep-klepto!"

Wordlessly, Radi just spread beluga caviar on some crackers and began munching on them.

Turning to Janine, Nyte said, "I dare you to wake Fenix up while floating over him, hanging down over his face. I'm actually curious to hear the initial reaction..."

"Hmmm," Janine said, as she mulled it over. "That would be interesting..."

"No kidding," said Nyte. "Bet he screams. For good or for bad, I bet he screams."

"Let's just see," Janine said as she got up, flipping the hanging belt of her robe as she marched into Fenix's room.

"Yeah, let's," Nyte said with a devilish smirk. "...I'll just wait here."

Nytetrayn waited for the scream.

Moments later, a resounding "WAHA!!!" rang out from Fenix's room.

Janine's voice soon followed. "Aaaiee! It tickles!"

Nytetrayn smiled and sipped a glass of orange juice. Celeste just tried to process what she just witnessed.

"...bet he won't soon forget that," Nyte said.

"So, Radi," Xenos said. "What do you say we try and salvage stuff from my ship. Getting out of here as soon as possible could be good."

"Salvage, salvage!" cheered Radi.

"What? Our humble digs aren't good enough for you?" Nyte said sarcastically.

Janine returned, giggling. "You should have seen the look on his face," she reported with a smile.

"Too bad we didn't send you in with a camera," Nyte said. "Still, I think just imagining it is fun enough."

Fenix emerged, looking pretty wasted, his hair a mess, and with one eye twitching.

"Hi, Fenix," said Nyte. "Sleep well?"

"That was either extremely nice, or unbearably cruel."

"Jan can take credit for the nice," Nyte said.

"Yo, Fenix," said Xenos.

"Hello, Xenos," the older Digger replied. "Someone get me coffee."

"Do most baristas dress like this?" Xenos asked.

"Baristawhasisas?" Janine asked.

"...coffee server people."

"Like you?" Nyte asked.

"...no. A little more like you, actually."

Janine chuckled, while Nyte looked down at himself.

Meanwhile, Radi threw Fenix a leg of ham, which he caught and began to gnaw upon as he sat down, making scarfing noises all the while.

"Come, Radi! Let us explore the great labyrinth that was once my ship!"

"It's smelly in there," Radi said, as she clothespinned a lilac to her nose. With that, Xenos headed off to his ship, and for once, Radi followed sedately.

Nyte stretched his arms up and over his head. "So... looks like it's going to be just the four of us, soon."

Fenix responded with more sloppy eating sounds.

"I dunno... do you really think he can repair that ship on his own?" Janine asked. "And I doubt Radi will be any help at all..."

"Stranger things have happened," Nyte said as he popped a crick in his neck.

Fenix not-so quietly finished the ham, downed a steaming pot of java, and headed for the bathroom. A short time later, he emerged from the shower, refreshed and looking far less worse for wear as he got dressed and rejoined the others.

"Hmm," said Nyte. "Guess we should start to plan our next dig sometime, eh?"

"Yes..." Fenix replied.

"So, think you'll be coming with?" Nyte asked Jan.

"So long as there are no kangaroos."

"Cool. What about you, Cel?"

"Um... I dunno..." she said, lowering her head a little bit. "I... guess?"

"They're kind of fun, just so long as you avoid the kangaroos," Janine said. After a moment's thought, she added, "and any ruin Fenix suggests."

"I'm never gonna live that down, am I?"

"Nope," said Nyte.

"At least you got your memory back, Jan."

She shrugged. "I'm sure there could have been more pleasant methods..."

"Yeah, really," said Nyte, as he got up to use the shower next. "Well, we can discuss it more later. I think we've got time to relax a little before we go risking our necks again."

At the wreckage of what was once the sky-faring vessel of the Air Pirate Xenos Geist, he and Radi rummaged around in search of anything salvageable. Other than nibbling on some random things, Janine would be shocked at just how helpful Radi was being.

By the end of the day, the two had collected a strange assortment of random, un-charred junk before settling in for the night.