Welcome to Gaia! ::

Like Aliez, Vyn hung his head.

Unlike Aliez, Vyn could not speak.

They’d made a nuisance of themselves to these humans, which meant they made a nuisance of themselves to their own comrades, which meant they made a nuisance of themselves to the Commodore. They were told their parents must be contacted, but that would be impossible; their parents could not come for them here. The only thing currently working in their favor was that their ComTech looked enough like what these Earthlings knew as a “smart watch” (what sort of imaginative name was that?) that no one questioned that they managed to get a call out to their own people through it.

Vyn could not look at the man with the facial hair, who claimed to be some sort of security official. He could not look at Aliez. He could only look down at his feet, drowning in shame.

They had failed to blend in. Everything they meant to purchase had been confiscated from them. At this point, Vyn didn’t care to purchase any of it. He merely wanted to leave before they brought even more shame onto themselves.

Aliez could pretty much feel Vyn’s shame that he felt radiating off of him, which just meant that Aliez had to sit a little straighter and make sure that the man who was the security official of some sort didn’t make Vyn feel even worse than he already did. It wasn’t their fault that they didn’t know Earth’s weird customs, but it was their fault that they failed to blend in. They should have been more cautious. Should have observed the humans more before doing anything.

And now the Commodore was there and had to get them out of that situation. Aliez felt both relieved to see the man who was unmistakably Commodore Lyndin, and ashamed that he had to come and rescue them to begin with.

“These kids yours?” the security official asked as he shoved some crumbly snack food into his mouth. It made an unattractive crushing noise when he chewed. Aliez cringed and tried not to think about it. And he tried not to correct the man in saying that they were absolutely not the Commodore’s children.

“Hang on, they can’t just leave without having a report filed. They were caught stealing from various stores. And licking candles. All these dang TikTokers. Here’s what they were caught trying to steal,” the man said, apparently very proud of himself for doing his job and catching underage criminals. He placed the candle, silky panties, and flower crown on the surface of the desk, and looked at both Aliez and Vyn.

“Well? What do you have to say for yourselves?”

“We apologize and it will not happen again, as I already said,” Aliez said through gritted teeth, already beyond embarrassed. He didn’t need this harassment on top of everything. And he didn’t want Vyn to get in trouble. “I take responsibility for the incident and will accept my punishment. It will not happen again.”

Lyndin seemed to care little for the human, but he regarded him with what could have easily been perceived as guarded respect. He nodded to Aliez and Vyn, as if to silently reassure them that this was fine. And if he had to drain this human to unconsciousness to leave without an incident, of course he would.

“They’re mine,” he said to the human, who was an inferior specimen, no doubt. They were young, but not children to him. They were older than this human, and obviously more well-mannered. He didn’t comment on how disrespectful he perceived the snacking.

“I’m surprised to hear you haven’t filled out the report already. It would have been more effective to have that completed before my arrival, I think. I’d rather not waste my time while you do paperwork. I’m a busy man. And, I’m sure you are too. ‘All these dang TikTokers’ must keep you quite busy.”

He looked to the two again, still checking to make sure they were fine, and then returned his attention to the security guard.

“My boys are very well behaved. I’m sure this is just a misunderstanding. Why don’t I supply you with monetary compensation for your time and you leave the discipline to me.”

Grateful for well-meaning and good-hearted Earthlings who shared their currency, he produced a few bills and set them on the table next to the collection of ‘stolen’ goods.

Vyn had no idea what a hooligan was, but it didn’t sound very pleasant.

This was the worst experience of Vyn’s life by far. Even his admiration for the Commodore, and the effortless way in which the Commodore handled the situation, could not ease the nervous twisting of his stomach or the heavy weight of shame that settled over him.

And now the security official was lying. Surely the Commodore wouldn’t believe him, considering the human’s disrespectful nature, but the thought that he might, just a little, kindled Vyn’s anxiety even further.

“We weren’t harassing anyone,” he said, but his voice was weak, more a mumble than the firm argument it should have been.

Vyn wanted to say they’d been making an effort to go unnoticed and left each establishment when they realized they were drawing too much attention to themselves, but he thought that might be some sort of an admission of guilt in this context.

“And we didn’t break anything, we were just…” Vyn paused to swallow and quickly found he had no further explanation, so he shook his head and let the thought trail off.

The security guard’s eyes widened almost victoriously as the bills were pulled out and placed on the table.

“You know this is bribery, right? A huge offence. Could really land you in some big trouble. But you’re a reasonable guy, I can see that. Even if we were to agree to let this incident slide, that’s not nearly enough for the trouble these two caused. They could turn into a couple of real twisted perverts, if they’re not already. Standing and staring at women’s lingerie long enough to make people uncomfortable. And stealing them. I don’t know, that’s a little low for the trouble I’m going to have to go through to clean all this up. Listen to other customer complaints. You must know how it is,” the guard grinned, and coughed a few times to clear his throat of the chips he’d just inhaled.

Aliez was in the process of standing from his chair as instructed by the Commodore, his face burning as he realized that the soft colorful fabric he intended to purchase was not something meant to be looked at by him and Vyn, apparently.

“Come on,” he nudged Vyn, because he didn’t want to be in the Commodore’s way if there was any kind of additional confrontation, although it was annoying that this lying human wouldn’t just let them go. All they could do was listen to the Commodore’s orders, because he’d never led them wrong before, and Aliez knew he never would.

“Oh,” Lyndin said, in a tone he rarely used. He sounded disappointed, and it was completely directed at this human. “I suppose, when you put it like that.”

He reached for his pocket and withdrew his wallet again, only this time he brought the Source Stone with him. Absentmindedly he brushed his thumb over the surface, but he’d started draining even as he flipped it open. By the time he drew out two more large bills, he’d drained the guard. Not enough to hurt him, though really--he deserved it.

If he’d cared, he might have made sure the guard was comfortable, that he wasn’t going to fall over and hurt himself. His patience was already exhausted.

He didn’t take more energy than he had to, just to knock him out. Even if only for just a few moments. He returned the Source Stone and wallet to his pocket, but joined Vyn and Aliez at the door and passed each of them a bill.

“You handled yourselves very well, but I think it’s time we take our leave. I want you to know that I’m proud of both of you for keeping so composed. Unfortunately, it would seem you’ve become acquainted with some of the shortcomings Earth has to offer. I neglected to teach you how they exchange currency. We’ll have a lesson now, somewhere more pleasant. Have you had lunch yet?” he asked, and continued walking with the obvious expectation that they would all leave now, whether the guard had wanted it or not.