Everglow: The Trials Of Agaron

9 - Stripes

Ko's still body lay on the couch. She'd been unconscious for almost five minutes now. The blanket that Quin had laid on her glowed a very faint blue, a small hum emitting from it. Trikka had told him that it was an electric blanket that released an odourless chemical that was designed to calm people down. 

Fischer felt no different, his palms were still sweaty and his heart was still racing. He held her hand in his, paying extra close attention to her pulse. So far nothing had changed. In fact it almost felt like her heart was beating faster than normal.

"How is she?" Quin asked, sitting down next to him. 

Fischer gazed over in her general direction, his eyes not quite meeting hers.

"No different than before. They don't usually last this long. She should be awake by now," he worried.

"Do you know why she has these. . . blackouts?" 

"No. I don't even think she knows."

Quin let out a slight sigh and rested one of her hands on his shoulder. He noticed the streaks of colour that ran down her arm and face had changed colour from a faint light blue to a deep shade of grey, almost black. 

"Hey. . . uh, this may sound a bit. . . out of the blue. . . but I noticed that you carcans have those stripes on your arms and tails. Did. . . did they change colour?" He asked with a very sheepish tone. 

"Oh, oh yea, yea they do." Her eyes darted away from him for a split second before returning. "Yea they change colour depending on our mood. It can be real frustrating sometimes. Apparently it's a thing that helped our ancient ancestors communicate with each other. Our top scientists even to this day don't know why we haven't evolved out of it though. Doesn't really help much today," She explained, rubbing her arms gently, almost like talking about it made her slightly anxious.

"Right. Yea that doesn't sound like it would be the most helpful thing in the world. I can imagine it's lead to some pretty embarrassing moments."

"Tell me about it. Although it can be pretty funny when some bully tries to hide their fear but it's plastered like a sign on their arms.

Fischer let out a small chuckle, thinking back to all the times he could've called out bullies as a kid if humans did the same thing. 

"Hey I've been meaning to ask. I couldn't help but notice that Kori and Trikka both have those two stripes above their eyes but you. . . well you have it all around just one eye. Is it like a fingerprint where every one of you species has a unique pattern?"

Quin turned her head away slightly and Fischer noticed her stripes go from grey to a light shade of pink. Judging from her body language he assumed that colour meant embarrassment. 

"Oh, sorry I-I didn't mean to -" 

"No. . . no no no it's. . . it's alright. No, it's not like a fingerprint, all carcans have the two stripes above their eyes. I was just born with this really rare stupid birth defect that has a billion syllables that I'm not going to try and pronounce. Basically it just messes up a part of my face," she explained slightly shielding that side of her face from Fischer's view.  Her stripes were now a lush bright pink. 

Before he could apologise anymore, Kori and Trikka walked in. 

"Hey. How's she going?" Kori asked. 

They both took a seat on the couch opposite of where Fischer and Quin were sitting. 

"I don't know. Normally she'd be awake by now. It's never lasted this long before," he worried.  

"Well, when she does wake up I'll get some cynip," Trikka stated, standing up and heading to the kitchen. 

"What's cynip?" Fischer asked. 

"It's like a warm drink. Has a real soothing feel to it," Kori explained. 

"Right, right."

"Ko wasn't looking too great when we first arrived either. She seemed really. . . on edge. She didn't eat anything when we brought out the pich either. And I don't know if it's just me but. . . she seemed to be staring right at me. I don't really think she likes me too much," Quin stated.

"It's not that she doesn't like you Quin, she's just scared. She's really scared," He he held his head low for a few seconds and took a deep breath in.

"Look, I really shouldn't be telling you this but it's probably important for you all to know. She. . . she never really had a childhood. Up until I found her, she'd been a slave. Apparently her whole life she had been forced to work and work. She doesn't really trust anyone and I can understand why."

He watched with a slight feeling of guilt as Kori and Quin's expressions told him everything he needed to know.

"Oh my god. . ." Quin stated, unsure of what to say next.

"Bloody hell. Well I guess that kinda explains why she didn't know what race she was," Kori said.

Fischer replied with a series of slow nods, still looking down at his friend's closed eyes.

"You two seem really close. You a couple?" Quin asked.

A slight cough escaped his mouth as he processed her question. He knew what he had to say, but he also knew what he wanted to say.

"N-no, no. Just friends. Just friends," he stated sheepishly. 

"Right. What was it like living with her on Earth?" Kori asked.

"Well, it had it's ups and downs. More ups than downs. I mean, for the time we were at my house she had to hide in the shed. Unlike here people on earth are. . . well we'll just say they're not too fond of people from different planets. It's become something of a myth back home. If you believe in aliens you're marked as crazy. I never believed in them until I met her. But it was nice having a friend. It was really nice. Skipping past the constant worrying about my mum finding her and her potentially breaking something. Honestly some of my best memories are with her. And it was only a month ago."

His mind re winded to when they sat at the river of lights. How they laughed and joked and talked about how much they hated life and everything that it had done to them. How she grabbed his hand and her reaction to receiving the necklace. Memories that would stay with him until the grave.

He felt his nose start to flare up and his eyes become wet at the though of sitting with her again. 

Before everything went to hell. 

"Hey, you alright?" Quin asked softly. Her voice immediately snapped him back into reality. 

"Huh? Oh yea. . . yea I'm alright. Just. . . just miss those-"

"Cough cough!"

Ko let out two sharp coughs before her eyes snapped open and she sat up straight as a steel beam and shrieking at the top of her lungs.

"Ko!" The three collectively shouted.

Her breath was sharp and staggered, almost like she was struggling to take in air.

"Hey hey hey! Breath Ko, breath! You're alright, you're alright!" Fischer consoled, rubbing her hand gently. She looked around the room, shaking like she'd just come out of a refrigerator and whimpering like a puppy before locking eyes with Quin.

Quin in turn eyed her back, a look of confusion on her shark like snout. Ko's wobbly hands raised to her chest.

"I. . . I know you."