Angry red swaths of clouds swooped in and out of tall buildings, a product of the setting sun's wrath. Fralith stared at their angry hue while he fingered the blanket over his legs. The woman had left after he continued to ignore her, opening the curtains as she left.

Apparently, he was in one of the large buildings, as he was high off the ground. Other buildings dotted the horizon, broken up by pitifully small trees and black stripes. MetalEaters ran along these strips far more often than on the ones around the houses. Even from this height, he could hear their roars. It was very faint, and mostly covered up by that incessant beeping, but it was there.

He sighed and turned away from the window, staring blankly at the room. There was nothing to do in here besides sit and listen to the beeping. Beep, beep, beep, over and over again. If he had anything to throw at it, he would. It was almost as annoying as the KahKouh bird and its love for repetition before dawn.

Click.

Fralith jerked backwards, eyes flying to the door. The guard glanced up as a man with bright red hair walked in, pushing a cart. They exchanged what he guessed was a greeting, though he couldn't quite tell. He pushed himself away from the side the man was approaching.

"Hey there, bud. Hungry?" FlameHair pushed the cart over and gestured at it, smiling.

He blinked, baring his teeth. Leave me alone.

FlameHair raised his eyebrows. "Ferocious one, are you? Well, we better get some food into you before you eat someone." He chuckled, as if his words were amusing.

Fralith eyed the man warily. What was FlameHair going to do to him? What was in the cart? He shuffled back a few more centimeters, eyes darting to the cart. The scent of freshly cooked stew waved under his nose. Food. There was food on the cart. His stomach twisted and growled, saliva rushing into his mouth.

FlameHair chuckled again. "Alright, alright. I'll speed up. And we can get to introductions after." Reaching down, the man pressed one of the funny bumps on the side of his bed. With a verrr the bed under him started to rise.

He yelped and scooted away from the pillow end, which continued to rise like a snake's head. Was the bed alive? Was it some weird creature? Was it going to eat him?

"Woah! Woah, bud. It's okay; it's just the bed. Look, see?" FlameHair lifted his finger from the bump and the bed stopped rising. "This makes the bed rise up so you can sit." He pressed the button and the bed started to rise again. When he lifted his finger off, it stopped. He did this a few times, speaking in a reassuring tone.

Fralith stared at him. The bed beast obeyed FlameHair. He could control it with a single touch. What kind of— how did— Fralith shook himself and tore his gaze away. This place was weird. People could do weird and strange things. He just— had to get used to it. His stomach growled again and he cast a longing look at the food. Food. Actual food. Not silly fat birds.

FlameHair patted the part of the bed that was now semi vertical, like the back of a chair. "Rest your back here and I'll pull up the tray. Then you can eat."

Why was FlameHair patting the bed beast? Was he telling it that it was good in its language? Fralith bared his teeth and shrank back. He didn't like this. He didn't like it at all. He had been sitting on a beast for hours now and didn't know it. What if he angered it and it ate him? What if— If it hasn't eaten me yet, then it won't eat me now, he reasoned. And if I be really nice to it, it might not throw me off, either.

Taking a steadying breath, he glanced at FlameHair. The man looked at him expectantly. Was...he supposed to pat the bed beast too? Maybe that was the way FlameHair told the beast that he was okay and he wouldn't hurt it. He reached out with his good arm and tentatively patted the bed.

FlameHair's lips twitched upwards. "See? Perfectly safe. Now, if you sit there, I can pull up the tray for you."

Fralith glanced at him, face scrunched. The language of the people here sounded so strange, kind of like Kenverite, but less guttural and mean. If only he could understand it like Kenverite. It would make things so much easier. He could explain he never meant to be here and wouldn't make any trouble if they let him go. Maybe he could even ask them if they knew how he could go back.

He sighed. Unlike Kenverite, he didn't understand this language and he couldn't ask them anything in words they'd understand. Rubbing his chest, he glanced at FlameHair again. He was still looking at him, waiting for something. Fralith cocked his head to the side. What did he want him to do? Pat the bed beast?

No, that wasn't it. He checked the man's body language for any hints. All he could find was that he was supposed to do something so FlameHair could complete a task. It wasn't much. The people here didn't seem to communicate as much through body language as his people did. It made things so much more confusing.

"Here," FlameHair said, grabbing a flat part of the bed beast and pulling it away. An arm connected to the flat part, connecting it to the bed beast and curving the flat part towards the bed part. FlameHair gestured for Fralith to go past the flat part and rest on the raised part of the bed beast.

He blinked at FlameHair. Why...? FlameHair was waited for him with that same expectant look. He huffed and edged closer to the raised part of the bed beast. Keeping both waiting wouldn't help very much. Jatmap said that if he was captured, he should be compliant — but not give any information away — to give time for rescue to come and avoid being hurt. No one was going to come after him, he knew, but not getting hurt was still a good idea.

Tentatively, Fralith rested his back on the raised part, injured limb held close for protection. As soon as he was settled, FlameHair lowered the arm and the flat part so the flat part extended over his legs like a table.

"There we go." FlameHair flashed him a smile. "Not so scary, is it? Now, for the food." He picked up the food from the cart and, to Fralith's delight, placed it in front of him. "Beef stew, hunk of bread, a bit of cheese, and orange juice; a meal fit for a king."

Food. Actual food. And it was in front of him, ripe for the taking! His stomach rumbled; it smelled so good. He looked up at FlameHair, biting his lip. Was this his food? Was he allowed to eat it? When he'd seen plates like these, people always chased him away, even if they were done eating.

FlameHair nodded, as if he could hear his thoughts. "Yep, it's all yours bud. Bet it looks like a feast compared to what you've been eating." He waved a hand invitingly to the food.

Just to be sure, Fralith picked up the hunk of bread and lifted it towards his mouth, watching FlameHair's reaction. The man just smiled. It was his to eat. He grinned and took a bite. Fresh, yeasty bread burst along his tongue, sending tingles of delight down his spine. Bread! Real, filling bread! Not hot, bland SillyBird meat, bread! He chewed it slowly, savoring every last possible bit before swallowing.

A chuckle reached his ears. He spared FlameHair a glance as he shoved the rest of the bread into his mouth. FlameHair grinned. "Bread for the win, eh?"

"Mmmph," Fralith mumbled. He knew FlameHair wouldn't understand, but the bread tasted too good for him to care. Once the bread was gone, he surveyed the rest of the food.

A bit of yellow cheese — or something that looked like cheese — sat next to a small bowl of steaming stew. Beside those was a cup with a bright orange liquid.

Eyeing the bright orange liquid, he hesitantly picked up the cup. It squished under his fingers and he narrowed his eyes at it. What kind of wood squishes? After examining it closer, he decided it must be the weirdest wood in existence. It was pink, for one matter, and had a smooth, somewhat reflective surface. The walls of the cup were incredibly thin, yet didn't break no matter how hard he squished it. How did a tree with this kind of wood survive? One strong wind and it'd be flapping around like a bird!

Fralith huffed and turned his attention to the bright orange liquid. It...looked okay, but so did the ScarletDeath shroom and the Don'tEatMe plant, who were named that way for a reason. He made a face. Maybe it was better not to taste it. Bright colored anything usually wasn't safe.

Putting the cup down, he turned back to the bowl, inhaling the delectable fragrance. Meat stew...it had been forever since he'd eaten it. Forever, actually, since he'd eaten any good food. Without further pause, he picked up the bowl, brought it to his mouth, and downed half of the steaming contents down his throat.

"Woah, careful there, bud! You're going to burn yourself!"

He ignored FlameHair and the burn in his mouth. It was food — good food — and he was going to eat it no matter how hot it was. Still, he slowed down a little so he could taste it.

When the Fralith had licked the last drops from the bowl and devoured the cheese, he leaned back and sighed with utter contentment; stomach delightfully full. Scalding hot stew never tasted more heavenly.

"Wow."

He glanced over at FlameHair, who stared at him with mouth open and an expression of awe.

"I...I have never seen in my entire career anyone devour piping hot stew that fast before. You, bud, are seriously talented."

By FlameHair's tone, he could tell the man was amazed. A contented smile poked at the corners of his mouth. FlameHair...FlameHair was nice. He hadn't shown any sign of amnosity or aggression towards him, and, most importantly, had given him food. Not only food, but good food. For that, he was eternally grateful. It was an amazing feeling to be full again. So he...he liked FlameHair.

A yawn forced Fralith's mouth open, adding tingles to the warm, balmy feeling spreading through his body. Tired... He sniffed and rubbed his eyes.

FlameHair stood from where he had been sitting and gathered the bowl and cup, putting them back on the cart. "Ah, the food's catching up with you, eh? Let's get you settled and you can sleep off your feast." He pushed back the bed beast's arm and set it back in place. "I'm going to lower the bed now, okay?"

He yawned again and let a noise escape him. Weariness weighed down his limbs, so when the bed beast started to lower, he only managed a flinch and a grimace. Running away from it seemed too much of a hassle right then.

The bed beast finished flattening itself and FlameHair reached over. He grabbed the blanket and tucked them over him. "Sleep well, brave bud. Press the button if you need me." With that, FlameHair straightened and walked out of Fralith's sight.

He stared up at the strange planks of the ceiling, listening to the murmuring of FlameHair and the guard and the eventual swish of the door clicking shut. Moments later, the lights died. He furrowed his brow. How had the fire in the ceiling gone out so quickly? There weren't even embers that he could spot.

Strange. Fralith yawned again and settled in. Maybe this wasn't going to be so bad. Maybe the RedShirts turned him over to these other people who were nice, like FlameHair. If that was true, then he could survive this — especially if they kept giving him food. The thought of the stew brought a smile to his face. Yes, especially with food.

He drifted off into sleep to dreams filled with bowls of stew and platters of his favorite food.