Chapter 2.- The Train Subway
by ampthenoiseMars huffs, gasping for breath, “It’s been a while since I’ve done exercise.” She stretches her legs, her new pants surprisingly more resistant than I expected. “Alright, once more!” She stands straight, bounces once or twice, and— kicks high into the air! A pretty accurate kick, too. Minimal residual movement, good posture, as far as my somewhat researched perspective, she’s doing a good job.
Well, it sure looks like it.
I’ve no idea, really.
She just… suddenly started getting really good doing those kicks.
Like, I should be a little scared, but I don’t want to think about it too much.
Or, rather, don’t want to worry her too much. I’m guessing these are Blaziken instincts picking up the slack, but…
It’s kinda weird. Cool, but weird. Cool weird, even.
“I’m glad you think of me like that, haha.”
And, yeah, she’s been responding to me as if I was talking to her. “Still not saying a word…”
She pulls up her hoodie, and takes it off, revealing a slightly tight-fitting black shirt. “Well, it’s not nearly as weird now, since I can tell your voice apart from mine… for the most part.” She throws another kick, but this time, she kinda stumbles. She looks down, and pats her legs. “I think these jeans are getting in the way… Ugh, I’ll need something better to get higher kicks.” She sighs, “Well, that was a nice exercise routine. Got me warmed up and everything!” She pumped her fist.
“Yup, two hours well spent.” I say, finally managing to grab one half of my deck of cards on one hand without dropping it.
“I mean— wait. Did you say two hours?”
“Yup.”
She goes quiet. I’d get stumped too, but at this point, I’m too invested in my cards.
“So… we’ve been waiting two hours for a train to come by?”
“Yup.”
“…” She’s quiet now, a flat expression on her face.
Huh. Uh, distraction─ “Say, where’s─?”
Lloyd is sleeping on the ground.
“Awww, that’s cute.” I walk closer to him, “Hey, Lloyd, sorry to wake you up, but we kinda need you here?”
He doesn’t respond.
“Lloyd?” I poke him in his… body? “Lloyd, we kinda need you awake here…”
He still doesn’t respond.
… “Say, Marcille, didn’t snakes hibernate?”
“…huh? Oh, what? I think?” Good enough.
“Then, I think Lloyd’s hibernating.”
Her eyes widen.
“Lloyd! Hey, wake up!” I try to shake him awake─ I don’t think it’s working!
“Is he sleeping? This has to be a joke, right?”
“No joke,” I say, as I give him a small kick─
Ow. “Ow, my foot! His body’s tough!” Shit, did I break one of my toes?
“Oy! Lloyd!” She shouts, “Wake up already!” she shakes him again, getting more movement out of him, “Shit, he’s a heavy sleeper”
“Mars, I don’t think he’s sleeping.”
“LLOYD!” SHe now shakes his head, even slapping him─
WHAP
─In the face, wow that was loud. “God, is he even alive at this point?”
“Maybe you killed her with that smack.”
“Shit!” She shakes his head again.
“Maybe that was too much…?” Well, he’s not waking up, so… maybe not?
“Tch─! I’ll just─” She steps back, and─ Kicks him him down in the gut!
He groans, stirring from the hit. “Wha… Ow…?”
“Lloyd!” I shout at him, “You were hibernating!”
“We thought you were dead, even!”
“…?” He was still very groggy, by his half-lidded eyes.
“Lloyd, c’mon, do you need coffee or something?” I joke.
“…why is a furry speaking to me?”
“…” Both me and Mars kept quiet.
He looks around, going “…ehhhh???” every now and then.
“Alright, it’s been─ God, it’s been two hours.” Mars whispers that last part, “It’s been too long, the train’s not coming, and I think that,” She points at Lloyd, “is a sign we should leave here.”
Well, we have no idea what “outside” even is, so…
“Better than here, where one of us is going to die by─ er, hibernate to death?”
That’s not─ “That’s not how hibernation works.”
“How does it work, then? He could’ve died there!”
“Well, he’s not dead, but like.” I point at him.
He was still gazing around everywhere in a near-drunken stupor “…did I leave my ID card at home?”
“I don’t think it’s ideal, but to be fair, he just looks as if he pulled an all-nighter.”
“Tristan, he took a kick and all he said was ‘Ow.’”
“Sounds like sleep-deprived dialogue to me.”
She huffed, “Fair, but we need to get out of here, the ground is too cold for him to sleep and he’s gonna die of hypothermia.”
Uh. “He could sleep with one of us.”
She stares daggers at me.
“Yup, let’s find a way out. C’mon Lloyd, we leaving.”
“…how do you know my name, horny fox?”
“Okay, if you know that stereotype, you can’t say you’re not a furry.”
“Hnnnnnngh, just let me sleep.”
“Sleep another time, we’re gonna get you some coffee.”
“Coffeeeeee…”
Guess he’s going to follow us, now.
“Well, how’s the coffee working for you.”
“Hnnnn, I haeh hou.”
Snort. He burnt his tongue. To be fair, Mars was basically trying to drop all the coffee she bought off the vending machine down his throat. She’s just exaggerating, hibernation’s not that big of a deal.
She looks forward, currently in front of us, as we move down the hallways.
Just like how we noticed when arriving at the station, there was no-one around, but this time it was much more noticeable.
Not to mention the shops.
Nonsense brands, gibberish names, all the shops seemed to come out of a dream─ Or maybe out of an AI image generator? Whatever, they didn’t make sense, and were always not quite real enough.
Take this one, for example─ It’s a typical kiosk, where they sell sodas, chips, snacks and such, fairly normal. Thing is, all the names are a garbled mess that I can’t even begin to pronounce. It’s also locked in the most bizarre way; There’s no door to go in. There’s a window facade that we couldn’t get through.
It’s… unsettling? But, uh, it’s not that scary.
At the very least, there’s some ambient music thanks to the speakers.
We take a right, noting how there was a bookstore, and how unusual that was. Then a left, not long after, then… a left, since there was no other way… another left, but we found a vending machine, so, food break!
“Say, can snakes eat chips?” Lloyd looked at the food dispenser with suspicion.
“Not sure. I’d google it, but, well…” I was also concerned over the food selection we had available.
Mars took some bills from her bag’s purse, getting some chocolate pastries.
When she opened the bag, a─ holy shit, a wave of a strong flavor scent blew into me. “Hooo, you sure that’s not expired? And, isn’t chocolate poisonous to animals?” But the, she─
Bite.
“…” She’s gonna die.
It took her a couple of… chews? To swallow the piece she bit off, “Oh I’m not going to, I’ll be fine!”
…Huh. Wonder how foxes are supposed to eat. I walk closer, getting a bill in and getting a muffin. As I grabbed it and opened it, another─ Hooo, another wave of a strong scent blew into my face. “Hoooo, yup, that’s weeeeeeirdddd.”
“Hm, what is?” Lloyd was looking into the vending machine as well, choosing a snack to buy.
“Didn’t you smell that?”
“Smell what?”
Mars just tilted her head at me.
“Uh, the smell?? This thing’s probably gone bad!”
Mars takes a look at the package of the pastry she had. “…I’d say it’s still like two months in the clear.”
“…you think?” The packaging was garbled, so I guess she was estimating? “Then, how come it has such a strong smell?”
They both looked at eachother, and smiled. “Dog.” Lloyd chipped.
“Wha…?”
“Doggo.” Mars continued.
“Guys?”
“Scent tracer.”
“Fluffy boy.”
“Guys, please.” I felt both my ears fall flat on─ Hey, no, you don’t get to do that!
They both laughed, and Lloyd─ “Gah! What the─” flicked his tongue like a snake.
“W-what happened?” I chime in.
“Okay, whoah, I think I get what you mean.”
“Huh? Oh!” Mars is starting to get it. “Right, snakes use their tongue to smell, right?”
“I WHAT?”
We both laughed at his despair, as he kept asking questions he’d never get the answer to.
In due time, we’d have eaten after a while, though Lloyd refused to do so since “I am not snapping my jaws to eat something!” so I suspect he’s gonna be hungry soon.
Soooooo, we took a left, moving along the halls with idle banter, and then we noticed that there was a bookstore, which was pretty funny─
Hold on.
Right, left, left, left…
“Guys, are we going in circles?”
They both turned around.
“We took four lefts.”
They looked at eachother. “Uh…” Mars started, “I’m not good with directions…”
“Well, obviously, you’re gonna go in circles if you take four lefts!”
We all groaned, “Okay, new plan,” Time for the game strats to shine! “Does anyone have paper and pen? Wait, no, I have those.” I rummaged through my bag, and pulled out one of my notebooks and my fountain ink pen. “Alright, so… we came from over… there?” I pointed at the front of us.
The both of them nodded.
“And we took four lefts─ gods, this is triggering the ocd in me.” I couldn’t measure the length of the halls, so it looked janky as hells.
Mars walked closer, and took a peek at the map.
Lloyd just turned around.
“Aaaaand, the bookstore is… here! So, for now, let’s check all the halls we didn’t pick!”
They both groaned.
“Why can’t we take random halls and walk in them?” Lloyd was definitely not pleased by the proposal.
“Well, do you want us to be more lost than we are now?”
“Wait, we have a map now, how does that even happen?”
“Very often, trust me.”
He sighed. Mars sighed, and we all went back to walking towards our initial orientation, hopefully to find the exit to this damn place…
“STAIRS!” We FOUND THEM!
All three of us dash over to the stairs, no real pressure other than, I suspect, being done with the place.
So many dead ends…
“Mars, Lloyd, y’all good?”
“I’m fine,” Mars chimes in,
“Yup, same here,” Lloyd responds.
Somehow, even after sprinting, Lloyd has been consistently getting ahead of me, even if he started the exploration with two less legs. “You feeling alright now?”
“Huh?”
“It’s about the hibernation thing, isn’t it?” Mars caught on quickly.
“Yeah, I was getting worried. Seems like you’ve warmed up already.”
“Wh─ I’m fine, you two. I’d probably get worried about running around with no shoes, so I’m the one who should be asking the questions here.”
We go up the stairs, our (read: Me and Mars) steps echoing in the halls, clicking of claws and tapping of… paws? “Well, they don’t hurt yet, so don’t worry.”
“I barely feel the ground myself, though.” Mars seems like she’s the luckier one between us two.
“I… can sorta feel it? It’s much less sensitive than before, it feels like it’s, uh… like I’m stepping on grainy dirt, but I can’t feel much else.”
“LIke wearing socks outside?”
“Like wearing socks outsi─ Wait, Mars, what?”
He turns to look at me.
“You’ve worn socks outdoors?”
“I mean, I don’t really go out outdoors without shoes, but when you need to go out and get something, and you don’t feel like putting on shoes…”
I sigh, “Fair, I guess…”
“Alrigth, you two lovebirds, we’re nearly o…” Lloyd stops mid-sentence.
“…Lloyd?”
“Nothing.”
I finish the last steps, and─
Oh, holy hell.
The next floor is about the same as the first one.
It’s─ It’s literally the same, it’s not even funny.
“Oh gods, we have to clear another maze.”
I look ahead of me, “deeeeead eeeeend!” I shout, nothing but closed shops and inaccessible places.
Somewhere behind me, I hear a groan.
We cleared the… second floor? some time ago, but when we went up the stairs, another floor awaited us. At this point, I’m pretty sure we were all, like, done with this place. Hells, I’m pretty sure Mars is one hundred percent willing to burn down the place.
I’m one hundred percent willing to burn down the place.
…
“Hey Mars!” I shout as I go back to the hall I came in from, “I’ll take you up in that offer of arson!”
“YEHEEEAH! ARSON!” Echoes in the halls relay her pleased shouts.
I get back to the intersection, Lloyd already waiting for me. “How can I be the one that is against arson in this group? I’m usually the one suggesting it!”
“Well,” Mars came in walking through her hallway, “maybe we are a lot more strange than what you’re used to?”
“Impossible.”
“Gay.” I blurt out without thinking.
“What.”
“Gay.” Mars─ Yo, based?
“The hell?”
“Homosexual.”
“Gay”
Mars, we share one braincell, and I couldn’t be happier.
“The hell? You two ar─ Uh.” Yeah, watch your words.
“Yeah, we’re both fire types, and we’re not afraid of using it.”
“Uh, you two, uh.” He was blushing a little bit.
Mars raised her arms to the side.
…Oh!
I raise my arms to the side.
“Guys?”
We’re T-posing to assert dominance.
“Oh God I’m getting T-posed by two gay people.”
CLAP! Heard that? That’s me and Mars high-fiving.
“Silence, straight!” she chuckled, “But seriously, watch your words please, I could tell you were going to say something rude.”
“Well, I’m trying! It’s not like it’s a good idea, anyways, but calling you two furbait is good enough for me.” Ugh, dude.
“Dude,” she was right, it was rude, “That’s still not nice.”
“Still true, but it’s kinda sad to see that you’re not straight, since you’re probably just waiting to find a bed around here.” Dude, the fuck?
She huffs, “shut up…”, and walks past him.
I do too.
“What? It’s true.”
Still, we went in Mars’ direction, following the hall she checked since she’s the only one that had any path.
And soon enough, “stairs!”, she called ou─ wait, for real?
All three of us sped up, reaching the stairs quickly, and going up them without many words.
As we went up, my gut turned, expecting to see yet another floor with a maze─
IT WASN’T!
“HOLY SHIT WE OUT!” That was Mars, really loudly announcing our exit. Ow.
“Please, next time, don’t scream right next to someone.”
“Oh, sorry.”
LLoyd took the initiative, the small lobby that led to other sections of the station staging many vending machines, much bigger and with much more variety than the ones in the mazes. One with an assortment of snacks, one with a ton of canned drinks, a first-aid-kit themed machine with a lot of health and hygiene stuff… there was even one with phone chargers and stuff! There’s even some stalls to sit on, and a couple of tables to wind down! Man, I actually like this place!
Even the music was still playing!
Lloyd booked it to one of the vending machines with food, grumbling to himself. I myself go to one with the canned drinks, getting a soda for myself.
…actually, I get two instead.
Curiously, the machine also dispenses a paper bowl, like the ones that fast food stores use.
…weird.
Then I walk over to one of the seats, huffing as I wind down. Mars was already leaning back into her seat, having already spotted the seat.
I poke her in the side with the can, and since I poked her in the gut, where her feathers were visible, she jumped a little, the can very likely cold. “Wha─ Hey, that’s cold!” See? Toldya.
“Haha, yeah, sorry. Wanted to do a funny.” Seriously, though, the can feels like it’s burning into my hands a little, though it’s very faint thanks to…
Thanks to my paw pads─ eugh, that’s still kinda weird.
“Huh, thanks.” She looks at the second can, and grabs it, looking it over. “You didn’t need to.”
“Felt like it. You must be thirsty.”
She chuckled, “then get water, these ain’t too good for thirst.”
“I mean, it’s true, but would you accept a water bottle?”
“I’d be mildly offended, but I’d take it.”
Snort.
CRACK─ SNAP! Both our cans are opened near the same time, and we both reel our heads back to drink, the cold refreshment falling tingling my tongue.
I feel something cold hit my chest.
“…” I spilled my drink.
I look to the side, and Mars also spilled hers.
The hell? I even tasted the drink, did I spit it?
“Oh, god.”
“What?”
“We can’t drink off of these.”
Wait, what? “Why?”
“Well, you are a fox. Where do canines drink from?”
“…oh gods, that’s what the bowl was for.” I hate this.
“Er, what bowl?”
I step back towards the vending machine, taking the discarded paper bowls in the side, and once I’m back on the seat, I begin pouring my drink in one.
I then begin…
Sigh.
I then begin lapping the soda off of the bowl in my hand.
“…”
“…”
“…this is embarrassing.”
“No shit! I’m the one that has to drink like a dog! You can probably, like, use a straw!”
She sighed, “Probably not…”
“Augh, does that mean I can’t eat chocolate or coffee?” Gods, I can’t live without those.
“We─ Er, do you want to test that?”
“If we find medicine.”
“That’s… fair.”
“Hey, lovebirds!” Lloyd shouts from near the other side of the lobby, “What’s this machine for? Never seen it before, I suppose you pokemon nerds would know!”
“Wh─ Why would our knowledge on Pokemon be relevant for a machine?” I stand up, heading towards Lloyd’s current location, near the corner.
Judging by the clicking on the floor, Mars is following as well.
The machine in question… had like, two slots in one side, and one slot in the other, one dispenser hole under these slots─ Coin slots and such, with the holes from where the change comes out of. A screen in the middle, displaying two boxes in an incomprehensible language. On the one to the right, a picture of a dollar sign, and on the other…
What… was that currency? I don’t recognize it… It looks like the yen symbol, but with a P instead of a… Oh, I think I know what it is, I have a spare─
Yo, no shot! Is─ I gasp, “You two have a spare dollar?”
“Nope.” Both said.
“Wha─ But you’re both speaking English, you have to be tourists.”
“Uh, dunno bout Lloyd, but I am, but I don’t carry spare dollars.”
“Where are you from?”
“I was on vacation, I’m from the states.” She replies.
“Britain, same thing.” That was Lloyd.
“Why would─ Eh, whatever. Does nobody here have dollars?”
They both looked at the box on the right.
Why on earth would it─ You know what? I press the right button.
A list appears in front of me, different─ Oh, cool! It lets you choose the currency! I chose CLP, which prompts a box to display an unintelligible question, and a “$0” under it.
As I put a coin of $500, the counter goes up for the same amount.
“Oh, so it’s a coin exchange machine…?” Mars got the point quickly enough.
“I’m going to scream if it’s the one I think it is.
“Are you…?” Lloyd was, understandably, not getting it.
I press the button on the bottom-right of the screen, assuming it’s the “confirm” button or something. This makes the machine whirr a bit, and coins begin falling on the left hole.
A set of fifty─ Whoah, no wonder the deposit is big, a set of fifty gold coins with a ‘P10’ inscribed on them clicked as they fell.
“…That’s gold.”
“These are Poké! They’re used in a world where pokemon are the sole inhabitants! Honestly, seeing it in person is so cool.”
“What.” Both of their voices are flat.
“It seems like each coin is worth about… agh, running calculations are difficult when it’s coin conversion… Each coin should be about a hundredth of a dollar, more or less… Which is insane!”
“Tristan.”
“It seems like it’s also not the only type of coin, considering these are 10 Poké each! It’s pretty cool, but it makes sense, since it’d be weird to lug around hundreds or thousands of coins to just pay for a meal!”
“Lug around─ Is this some sort of medieval age world?”
“Might as well be! Oh, the place is surprisingly advanced! There may only be pokemon in this world, but know that they’re pretty resourceful!”
“Only─ Tristan, what are you talking about?”
“Well, the setting of Pokemon Mystery Dungeon is a strange one, there’s many theories on what happened to the humans in lore─ Extinction, massacred, there’s a buncha reasons─!”
“Tristan!” Wah─ Mars held me tight on my shoulders.
“What?”
“You said that this place only has pokemon!?”
“Uh, yeah? The currency is Poké, and there’s only one world that has Poké as currency, and there’s no humans in… that setting…” Oh.
Oh, I see what she means.
Hm.
“That’s… not gonna be fun if it’s true.”
“IF IT’S TRUE!?” Lloyd, pipe down.
“Well, I wouldn’t be sure? It could be different from the games─ There are many details missing, and I’m a hundred percent sure that there’s no place like a subway in there.”
Lloyd was seething, groaning fiercely at his inability to express his discontent.
“Look,” I sighed, “There’s a lot of details missing and mismatched, so we have to fill those slots and confirm all the stuff we know, okay?” As much as… I’m shaking right now, aren’t I? As much as this weirds me out, we have things to figure out.
Mars sighed. “Yeah, we need to move, we don’t know if this place is safe,” she spread her arms, motioning to the area around.
Lloyd began moving to the stairs out, all of the signs and arrows pointing in the direction of the exit, “well, I think it’s better if we find a place to eat and sleep─ as much as I hate furries having the only place to stay, I’d rather not have to sleep in the subway like a hobo, m’kay? I’m going, if you two wanna follow.”
“Agh, wait up!” Mars had the initiative.
…The floor clicked as I followed suit.
It’s not like this place is not good, but… Well, it may be healthier for us to sleep outside─ Animals can sleep outside just fine, what about us─? Ahg, what a weird thing to think about, I don’t want to be an animal─ but it’s so convenient─!
“Listen, Psycho man, could you, like, pipe it down a little bit?”
Huh?
“Yeah, thanks” Lloyd nodded as he thanked me, turning around once he was done.
“…” I looked at Mars, but she was staring at Lloyd, a frown forming in her face.
Still, we took what hopefully were the last stairs we’d take today.
The outside light briefly blinded me, as I put an arm in front of me to block out the sun, and I’m greeted by the strangest scene.
It was… A subway station entrance in the middle of a forest clearing.
Uh…
The entrance was an elaborate construction fitting of a modern setting, stairs, handrails, signs, everything was there, it felt, quite literally, picked out of our world and placed here. The floor, however, slowly gave out to vegetation the further we stepped out of the entrance─ Like a pixelated ground glitching out, the tiled pavement slowly gave out, grass replacing the slots supposed to be covered by whatever public service placed the stone tiles. Literally useless, 0/10.
Despite all that, the tiles eventually disappeared fully, still in the middle of a forest clearing, like beckoning us to do the one thing every redditor swore off, as if the destination of the station itself is a forest smack-down in the middle of─
“Hey, look,” Mars piped up, “These signs are actually readable!”
Oh, uh, there was a signpost of metal, like the ones that name streets and avenues.
“…Achton Station, Forlorn Forest… what the hell does forlorn mean?” Lloyd was apparently illiterate.
Well, we are in the middle of Forlorn Forest, apparently. “Well, it’s got a name, means that there’s probably locals around.”
“Tristan, does Forlorn Forest ring a bell?” Mars asked.
“Nope, not a single clue.” I responded, “Really, that… kinda concerns me, since that place doesn’t even exist in the games, as far as I know…”
“Great! We’re still lost.” If Lloyd had arms, he’d thrown them in the air─ Oh wait, he does, his little leaves in the side raised and dropped exasperatedly.
“Well, we can wait till a local arrives, I get the feeling that a Subway suddenly appearing will eventually get some eyes here.”
“I… am not sure about sitting and waiting around…” Mars had a point, “I’m not sure if we’ll run out of food, but… sleeping in a subway? Really?”
“It’s not really a good idea, but we don’t have anywhere else to sleep, and I don’t think leaving too far is a good option either.”
“Damn, there’s not really a whole lot of options.”
“WELP! We’re doomed,” Lloyd was being rather useful, “I say we go back to the train to see if we can make it work.”
“The train left without us.” We both speak at the same time.
That shuts him up.
“Hmm…” I’m trying to think of a good inbetween… “Sleeping inside is demeaning, but sleeping outside is bad because no camping tools… but what if we had them?”
“Oooo, got an idea?”
“Well, remember the maze between the train and the lobby?” Well, dungeon, but whatever.
“Yup.”
“If we can find a store that has camping supplies, we could try and raid it, get something to sleep outside in!”
Lloyd groaned in the back.
“I, uh, sorta agree with Lloyd. It’s going to be a pain…”
“Well, with supplies, we would be able to go around and scout a little bit, no? Plus, we could get some clothes and other stuff in the way. All we need to do is clear our bags and stuff, so that we can fit as much as we can.”
“Hm…” She hummed.
“Well, I dunno about you,” Lloyd was being annoying, “But I’m not sure if I’d be useful in that situation, soooo─ I’ll be around here.”
“You could be a pack mule.” Mars, holy hell─
“Yeah, we could strap the bags to your side.”
“Sure, but you think Mr. Pokemon Wiki here could be of any use if he doesn’t know this place?”
Sigh, it’s true… The dungeon could work differently from─
“Well, we don’t have to take everything from the game as truth, but as a reference!” Mars’ tone was a lot lighter, “it’s true that it’s a pain, but honestly, if there’s food other than snacks and sodas, I would greatly appreciate it…” She held her stomach as she said this.
“Are we really going into a maze to get lost again?”
“We don’t have to go too deep in there, and not far from the stairs if we have to.”
Uh, but─
No, no, if it happens, it happens.
“How are we even going to break in if the place has no doors?”
“Well,” She kicked the air with a woosh for emphasis, both of us pulling our heads back, startled. “Arson is an option.”
“You really think that you can just kick those down?”
“If there’s anything I know,” I say, “is that pokemon are bullshit strong.”
She nods.
“I─ Ugh,” his head drooped to the side, and he sighed. “Think I can get some stuff in there too?”
“Sure. Think of this as window shopping.”
Mars’ eyes gained sparkles as I suggested the idea.
“And robbery, since we’re technically breaking and entering.”
“That I can get behind,” Lloyd seems satisfied, his voice trailing off.
“Alright, keep an eye on the stairs as we go down.”
“Why?” Lloyd asked.
“Well, the game is weird, I need to know how much is correct.”
“Well, turn us into guinea pigs, sure…”
He might be saying the truth though.
We left all our stuff in the tables, neatly packed in three different piles, so now my messenger’s bag and the other two’s backpacks were completely empty. We managed to get Lloyd’s bag strapped into his side, and he looked a bit goofy, I have to admit, but I know that once we get stuff in there, it’s gonna look better. Same thing for Mars and me, but those look better on us only because we were sorta humanoid.
We go down the stairs, and as the group moves forward, I walk with my gaze kept in the stair’s position.
It doesn’t disappear.
Whew, that’s a relief.
“Alright, keep your eyes peeled for stuff that might be immediately useful, we can write down the stuff that we might use later on the way back.” I took out my notebook─ the only exception to the whole ‘empty bag’ deal─ and I began scribbling down some of the things that called my attention.
All three of us looked around for the store we’d need, an outdoors shop or something of the like, but we didn’t find any. There were some rather interesting shops around though─ Clothes shop, pastries shop─ A soup shop? What the hell is a soup shop doing in a subway?
Anyways, like earlier, some were open, some were closed, there wasn’t much variety on the shops themselves, with the exception of the clothes stores─ On which Mars kept oogling on. I’d eventually join in on the oogling once some rather interesting looking clothes started appearing, and even Lloyd would too, “Ey, free clothes, if we get to break in.”
Eventually, we’d─ holy shit, we explored the whole floor.
“Holy shit, we explored the whole floor.” I looked down at the notebook in my hands, the page completely covered in scribbles and notes, including steps taken and possible measurements of the floor.
Of note, there were… A bookstore, funny enough, that had about no real book of note, since it was all written in that nonsense language; A rather varied food store, filled with stuff of the re-heatable variety, like pizzas, lasagnas, sandwiches, the likes. It didn’t take us long before we decided on what to take with us.
“No noodles.”
“Sure.” I was sick of them too, Mars.
“But they’re super convenient!”
“We’re both sick of them, Lloyd.”
“But─”
“And we’ve no water.”
“Right, right…”
Despite everything, we took a few of the instant noodle things. Ramen’s fine, but when you’ve only been sustained by them for like a week straight, they lose their charm… We took some sandwiches, some pizzas─ “Hell yeah, Pizza!”─, some more random stuff like canned fruit, a whole buncha food. We took some clothes too, even though we were unlikely to use them in the immediate future…
Anyhoooo, we didn’t find a camping store of the sorts.
…yeah, we even peeked into the second floor…
…and the third floor…
We were adamant on not sleeping on the floor!
I guess.
Mars sighed, “Is there really no camping shop in here?”
“Well, how often do you find a camping shop around, anyways?”
I don’t think there is one in my home city…
“Surprisingly often,” Lloyd pipes in.
Well, damn. That was surprising… are all american subways like that?
Still, we eventually came to the realization that we would have to find a different way of sleeping inside… or, well, a way to sleep outside without being under the night sky…
Well, we would, if I didn’t have an idea already.
“We could use bed sheets as, er, stuff to sleep in! We could even catty some pillows!” And by some, I mean a lot of them. Yes.
“Well, we would have to carry a huge bunch of them…”
“Still, beats sleeping outside with no roof.”
She stared at me, “Are you sure you’re not just happy to hear that we can’t sleep outside?”
“Eh, sorta?”
“Man, and I thought you were actually trying to sleep like a normal person, you hobo.” Lloyd was… not being nice.
“Well, uh, don’t you ever think about sleeping in strange places?”
I hear Mars snicker.
“No, I’m not a weirdo.”
…Sure.
“Still, it’s a decent idea,” Mars stops snickering, “Got any other ones?”
…no words from either of us.
“Alright, then, we shall go and find some bed sheets to use.” He turns around─
“Hey, I have a map, you know?”
And walks towards me, taking a peek at the map.
I hear slithering behind me, so I’m guessing Lloyd was also taking a looksie.
“Well, here’s a few spots we can try…”
“Hrrrk! This thing is heavy!”
I am trying to move some bed sheets by myself─ they are kinda heavy and thick, so that we would not be cold when we actually went to bed. Still, they were maybe too heavy, as I was already struggling with a few of them…
My feet─ er, paws, clicked under me in an uncomfortable echo, and an awkward feeling underneath me. It was like having very calloused feet, I guess. The fur sagged, the skirt making things a bit awkward─ And not to mention the coat of fur! It felt very wrong, when there’s nothing happening there, but there’s already something happening there─ Do you get what I’m talking about? Well, my… pelt feels uncomfortable, and it’s even worse when I realize that I am wearing nothing but my hoodie and t-shirt over all that.
“Oh, okay, I might need a bit of help…” It was getting uncomfortably warmin here, maybe I should ditch the hoodie… “Gah, why is it so hot…”
“Maybe I should help with that.” Mars, for the nth time, asked that.
“Nono, I’m fine! I can carry this on my own!”
“…dude, you’re panting like crazy, you’re not doing so hot─ Or, well, you are.” She points at my face.
…? I feel some sort of refresh coming from my mouth, why is─
Oh. My tongue is lolling on the side of my mouth.
I slurped it back in, and I click my tongue, the sensation of heat coming back at full force not long after. “Oh gods, how did I not notice?”
“Pretty sure it’s how dogs─ er, canines cool off…”
“Be a good boy, and pant! We don’t want to carry more stuff, you know!” Lloyd taunted from the front, a decent amount of pillows and some of our bags strapped in his back.
“Hey, uh, I don’t want to tease or anything,” Mars lowered her voice a bit, “but, for real, maybe do it so that you don’t get heat stroke…”
“…” This was embarrassing. Treated like a dog, not because I wanted to, but because this damn body had me do it on its own! AGh, this sucks. As I kept my silence, I felt treated as less─ Well, of course I was! They were treating me like a dog!
Ghhh, the heat doesn’t help…
“See, doesn’t that help?” Mars whispers…
…? Oh, my tongue is doing the thing again, my mouth wide open. I sigh, “Alright, I won’t fight it…”
In the end… it did feel cooler like that…
Mars did not stop staring at me, though, and eventually, she steps closer─
“Here, let me help,” and takes some bed sheets off of me, “you can carry these.” She hands me some pillows she had on top of the bed sheets she was carrying.
…the pillows were decently light…
“See? No sweat, you can let me carry them.”
“Hah! What a gentleman─ Oh wait! I thought it was supposed to be the other way around!” Lloyd is…
Sigh…
“Don’t listen to him,” Mars whispers, “I bet he’s jealous of your arms.”
I snort, “are arms that important? He does realize he can use Vine Whip as arms, right?”
She looks at him, “Don’t think he’s realized he can do that.”
“I even told him how to do that!”
“He probably ignored you, or something, heh.”
“He’s missing out, then.”
She looks at me with a smirk, before going back to staring straight ahead.
It didn’t take long before we reached the lobby once more─
“Wait, why aren’t I the one that is on the front? I’m the one with the map.”
Well, it could’ve taken less, but still…
It’s a great thing that we eventually reached it, lights and machines still lit up, and our stuff still neatly packed up in their little corners.
We drop all the bed sheets in one spot, where we chose to discuss what to do next.
“So, sleeping outside is a no-go.”
I nod, and Lloyd kinda lets his head hang.
“It’s… still kinda gross that we have to sleep in a subway, but there’s not much we can do about it…” She sighed.
“Well, not much we can do here, is there?”
“You could tell us how to make a tent, right Tristan?” He poked my side.
I sighed, “I don’t… know how to make one.”
“Aw, that’s just great.”
“Well,” Mars interjects, “there’s still the matter that you’re likely to start hibernating…
“Wait, wait, that wasn’t a joke?” He squints his eyes at her. “I thought that was Tristan trying to be funny.”
“…” I don’t respond…
“Well, if you get too cold, but we don’t know, well… I think it’s a better idea if you don’t sleep in the cold floor again─”
“Oh, thank God.”
“…and sleep with Tristan instead.”
“Wait, WHAT!?” He is definitely surprised.
“Wait, what?” I certainly was.
“Well, something about us being… fire… types?” That hesitation feels deliberate. “That makes us super warm, which may be why we were fine with the cold floor.”
He nods, but still has doubt plastered all over his face.
“Well, it might still get cold even with the bed sheets, so maybe sleeping with one of us might alleviate the cold.”
“Uhuh, uhuh, I see. Still, one question: Don’t you think that’s gay?”
Huh?
“Huh? Well, maybe? But─”
“You two are a hundred percent furries, so you wouldn’t understand─ I’m not, so I do─ sleeping with someone else, especially a dude, does not fly under my radar.”
“…when did we─”
“Hush, fido, we’re talking here.”
I…
“Alright, what’s with you? You’ve only been talking trash here.”
“And what of it? It’s not like that fa─”
“Do not. Finish that sentence.”
He stopped, flinching at her sudden serious tone. “Wait, you’re not seriously saying─”
“I am.”
He only stares back, mouth agape.
“Now, here’s the options you have right now: Sleep outside, sleep on the cold floor, or sleep with Tristan so that you two can be warm. Those are the three options you have.”
“I told you, I’m not going to sleep with a do─”
“I’ve got half a mind to make you sleep outside.”
“Make me, bitch.”
Mars takes a few steps to the side, where a metal bench was in the wall─
She swings her leg down, breaking the metal apart, with a horrid screech that makes my ears ring briefly.
“Do you want me to force you out?”
He stared once more, dumbfounded at the sight. Some beats passed, and he sighed. “Alright… I’ll sleep with the damn mutt…”
“…on second thought, no, I’m sleeping with Tristan.” Buh─ Wait─
I’m sorry, what????
“What!? You can’t be serious!!”
“But I am,” she grabbed me by the arm─ hey! “Now, let’s go find a bathroom, we need to wash ourselves, somehow.”
“Wha─ But─ Mars!?”
As she dragged me, I saw how Lloyd hung his head low, looking at the bed sheets…
It didn’t take long to find the bathroom, even with the whack distorted language that polluted the signs and directions.
“Alright,” she dragged me into─ THE WOMEN’S BATHROOM─
“Hey─ Are you sure that─!?”
“Yes, yes, there’s no one around, right?” She insisted, and she dragged me across the entrance.
…huh. It’s just like the men’s bathroom.
Alright, I dunno what I was expecting.
She puts down the bag on her back, and opens the faucet, letting the water run. We both watch as the water falls, and falls…
I wonder where it all comes from…
“Well, somewhere, I bet, but it’d be great if it was just, like, endless.”
?
“No water issues for us, right?” She cups her claws under the water, and splashes her face with it. “Gah─ Cold!” She then rubs her face, because apparently it was too cold.
“…did you hear my thoughts again…?”
“Huh?” she was rubbing her eyes, “Did you not say that again?”
“Yeah, well─” I stop.
She stared at me.
Well, it’s happened before, so it makes sense, right?
“…that is weird.”
“I know, right!?” I have no control over it!
“Ah─” She held the side of her head, “That sounds really weird.”
“How so?”
She washes her claws slowly, inspecting every bit of them. “Well… it’s like, agh, it’s hard to describe… Well, it’s like I’m thinking what you say, but I can almost hear that with your voice too! Like, I’m suddenly thinking what you’re thinking, but it’s your voice doing the thinking!”
…That doesn’t make sense.
“Sorry, sorry, it’s probably nonsense…” She washes her arms, though flinches a bit when she does, “It’s so weird, I can’t describe it properly…”
…I think that─ hold on, focus on my voice.
She shook her head a little.
Uh. Ahem. I think that it kinda makes sense, but seeing it happen helps…?
She stops, blinking a little bit, and staring at herself in the mirror. “Uh… yeah… I guess it does…?”
“That. That was me, by the way.”
“No no, I noticed…” She kept quiet as she stared.
I turned to look at the mirror…
…Only for a fox to look back.
His fur was curly, puffy and fluffy. Cheek fluff puffing to the side, wild locks curling up and down. White fur reached halfway his muzzle, leaving the underside of it in a fancy silver, contrasting the yellow of his face. His ears were big, tall, red tufts of fur coming from inside it, mildly waving towards the outside. A red nose topped his slender snout, and some fluff that resembled hair waved towards the back of his head, almost like a mane.
Yellow fur reached down to his torso, with a white luft reaching down from the bottom of his neck, after which a red robe-like pelt overtook most of his lower body and arms, black paws at the end of the red fur.
Or, at least, it looked like it was black.
I grab the pelt and pull it around, noting how hefty it was. Well, it was heavier than expected, not necessarily heavy, per se.
“…” This is so weird. I shouldn’t look like this. That cant’ be me, right?
I open my mouth, the fox in the mirror opening its maw. I poke and prod at the muzzle, trying to get used to the sensation…
I don’t think I…
Hm…
I sigh, “Mars… I, uh…”
She looks at me, gaze blank and flat.
“…you alright?”
“…yeah…” She returns to looking at the mirror.
“…” I sigh. “This is too weird…”
“..yeah…”
The water runs, a small hum breaking the silence on the room.
“You don’t mind sleeping with me, right?”
Wait wait wait wait─ “Wait, what???” I’m sorry?
“I didn’t mean to offer it seriously, Lloyd was being an asshole and I needed to shut him up, and you also seem pretty nice, so…”
“It’s─ It’s fine! I don’t, uh─ Well─”
“You don’t have to do it, if you don’t want to─”
“No no, let’s do it! It’s going to be cold at night, it doesn’t look like there is heating here,” I chuckle nervously. Sure, it was weird, but like, it would also be nice? She also said I was a nice guy, and I AAA─
She chuckles, “Well, that’s nice~”
Did. Did she just tease me?
She, once more, checked herself in the mirror, and asked, “Could you, er, like, do stuff while I change? I still don’t think this… Well…”
“…Ah, alright.”
I decided to walk into the stalls to wait for her to change clothes. I close the door, and sit down in the toilet.
…how the hell does this work, now?
With the blankets and bed sheets set down much like a futon, we went to bed, Lloyd with a ton of blankets, and me and Mars with significantly less bedding.
We lay down, back to back, as we both were a tad uncomfortable about it.
“…”
“…” Even though it was her who suggested this, she is… awfully timid about it.
Not that I was much different, but still. I’m only wearing another shirt I got in the shops, very baggy to account for my… fur.
Likewise, Mars is wearing some rather expensive-looking PJ’s, as she shuffles a little─ ACK─!
“Sorry, I’m, er…” She whispers.
She touched my legs with hers! Well, it’s to be expected, but still!
“…this is weird…” She keeps her low voice.
“What part of this is?”
“Well, it’s more the us having, like, fur and feathers.”
Ah. “I see…”
She shuffles a little bit again, brushing against my back, “Your, er, fur is kinda odd. Like I’m sleeping with a dog…”
What fur─ Oh, she means my legs… “Ah…”
“Not─ Not in a bad way! It’s more like, uh, it’s cute! Very cute!” She raises her voice as much as you could while whispering.
“…Cute?”
“Yeah! I─ Uh, can I be honest with you?”
“Sure.”
“You’re really cute.”
…?
I turn my body around, looking at her─ She’s already looking back, and I meet her gaze, “Cute as in…?”
“Er… cute!”
“Cute?”
“Cute!”
… “Sure, I’ll take it.” I turn back around, attempting to sleep once more.
We both hear a yawn─ It seems like Lloyd is already comfortable.
“I’m…” She whispers again, “I’m very awkward about this… It’s so weird…”
No need to tell, honestly.
“The pants are a bit awkward, I won’t lie… And changing clothes was an… experience. It wasn’t me─ I felt like I was wearing…”
“A costume?”
She turns around to meet my gaze once more. “Yeah. Like I’m wearing a very fuzzy costume.”
…I snicker. “That’s called a fursuit.”
“What?”
“Ah, it’s a furry thing.”
“…I genuinely don’t know what a furry is.”
No shot. “No shot.”
“Yeah! I’ve seen people comment about it on passing, but I refuse to believe that there’s people so obsessed with─”
“Oh, most rumors are exaggerated, I’ve seen it first-hand. I’m not really a furry, but I’ve been around pokemon circles online for the subject to come up.”
“Is that so…?”
…
…
We kept talking after that… For a while, even as our chat grows slow. And eventually, she stops talking.
I sigh, and lay back on my back.
The ceiling is strange. Fun strange. But strange, still…
…There’s something moving between my legs.
…Oh. It’s my tail.
…I completely forgot that delphoxes had a tail.
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