ARCH 1.1
“…life sucks, then you die…”
10 Nov 2026, zero dark thirty
Vic wakes up uncomfortable in his modified bed.
He doesn’t want to get up, but he has to.
{Hate this hate this hate this. can’t risk it don’t risk it)
Horrible feeling.
Like a stubborn orange on a short nail day, he struggled to peel out the bed.
He gets up, quiet as he can to sneak past Nala on the couch a few feet away.
{Today was a long day of building, Nala really impresses with her stamina, i can’t keep up with her… …She’s so darn excited to be working on her new shed, a space of her own. we’re learning so many words… …what were them words again? Right, she said, kiwen tan sina en mi tawa tenpo ni iiiiiiiiiiis thank you for being my friend todaaaaaaaay.}
Vic chuckles to himself quietly as he moves about like a mouse
(imma have to remember that, that wording felt nice. she’s so expressive. bless her}
On his way navigating the dark Vic stepped on a lego piece Nala had left out by accident, Vic screamed at the top of his lungs; but with his mouth closed, his eyes doing the howling.
While flaunting the flamigo pogo dance, he banged his knee-up against a cabinet something wicked, making a loud sound.
Nala budged, adjusted herself to her other side, farted, then did a loud snort-whistle sound…
…then continued snoring like an epic beast straight from the perry index.
Vic was sobbing, tears out, but not a peep came from him.
He leaned up against the tall shelf.
{aaaaaaawww chucks that smaaaaaarts! 😭}
Nala had seen Vic’s star war’s movie collection, was a fan of that action and travel and exploring and adventure. She was learning quickly different human langauges, interactions and social roles and expectations and observations through those art mediums. Particularly though, she was a fan of the tools that she saw, and was particularly excited about the millenium falcon, as Vic happened to have a completed lego one proudly displayed on his wall, something that Nala couldn’t help but notice since her first day awake.
Vic lovingly, and begrudgingly, gave it to her after noticing so much attention and questionings of it.
He knew that giving it to her meant that she was going to play with it a little first, but then will break it completely down to try to figure out how it works, like she has been doing with other mechanisms around the shed. Thankfully, she is really good at putting things back as they were… …sometimes.
Vic never though he would be genuinely frightened by someone taking apart a lego set before, between her speed in taking it apart, insane strength, and her angry pouts when she came across one of those impossibly tight pieces…
Vic gets his breath back from leaning pathetically on the shelf; his knee sore from the cabinet, his foot sore from the lego, his soul sore from living day to day in poverty within a fixed social security income….
{It’s okay, this pain will heal… …really wish i had another one i could build though… ….they stopped selling that model, can’t afford a new one… …disney’s millenium falcon prices are in hyperspace… …forget about it, she’s happy and learning and living a fun life, that’s all that matters right now hoss, limp it off}
Vic limps his way to the bathroom.
Finally pees in the makeshift toilet, a huge sense of relief and comfort drowns everything out.
He does this multiple times at night, it’s frustrating, exghausting, torturous.
He realizes something.
Something weird since the storm… …he doesn’t dream anymore, it seems he hasn’t since then. Usually before waking up, he is forced awake with having to go to the bathroom… …but no dreams since then…
Anyways, it’s late, Vic limped his way extra carefully and eased back to his tub-bed.
Feeling a little more comfortable, happy to have been called someone’s friend today.