"Well…" Raya turned her head slightly towards him. "That’s a bit corny, don’t you think? Something special."

"I suppose it is a bit corny.

"Yes…" Raya yawned. "Although…" She rested her head against his chest. "I don’t mind corny… In moderation."

"Just like I don’t mind awkward… In moderation."

"Then we might be a match made in heaven."

"Me and the weirdo, huh?"

"I recall both of us having reasons to call the other a weirdo… And I don’t appreciate being referred to as such. Even… If I did refer to myself as such."

"How about referring to you as My little weirdo?"

"Great…" Raya chuckled, her eyes still closed. "You added a bit of corny to it."

She yawned, which caused Cero to yawn as well.

’Something special, huh?’

The two remained silent, enjoying each other’s presence.

Raya slowly put more and more of her weight against him, until she was completely lying against him.

Enjoying his embrace, she started falling asleep again.

"So I assume… You’re not very busy today…" Raya muttered.

"Not really." The Paru admitted. "There isn’t much I plan on doing during the days we’ll be staying on Tyl. I guess I’d like to get some more of those hallucinogenic ones, but other than that-"

"Those that you brought me?"

"Yeah. Well, one of those I brought you."

"Hm…" Raya frowned slightly. "How do you know that they have hallucinogenic properties?"

"Because of the hallucinations." Cero answered plainly.

"Huh. You must have gotten a big whiff then… With your size and weight… Yes, you must have taken a lot of it in."

"I guess I did."

"The cloud of spore that they produce?"

"I ate a couple."

"..."

Raya remained silent for a bit, but she did end up chuckling.

"Well, I would’ve liked to see that. How were the hallucinations?"

"Pretty cool, all things considered. Funny as well."

"Hm… Alright." Raya turned her face towards him slightly. "I’m… Going to run more tests on those later. If you’re not busy too busy today…"

"Yeah." The Paru nodded. "Let’s do that together."

"Okay…" Raya whispered as she lay a hand on his, and started falling asleep.

***

"Well, well… What do we have here?" Rea grinned. "Playing scientist?"

"What do you want?" Raya sighed, reluctantly pulling her gaze away from the microscope that lay on the desk in front of her.

"Same as him, I would guess." Rea nodded as she pointed at Cero. "I don’t have much to do."

"Well, go have not much to do elsewhere."

"Why so cold? Come on! I wanna look at microscopic stuff too!"

"Go away. I’m not going to humor you."

"Oh, come on! Please! What am I supposed to do otherwise? What’s a Navigator’s to do when there’s nothing to Navigate?"

"Go Navigate some random dick and fuck off."

"Oh, trust me… I want to. I’m just having a bit of trouble getting the… Anyways… Plus, it’s not exactly a random one…"

Raya couldn’t help but frown at Rea’s muttering.

"You’re… Trying to get-"

"Yes!" Rea shouted. "I’m trying to get some, and he refused me!"

"Well…" Raya took a long pause, hand on chin. "Good for him." She nodded.

"What do you meaaan?!"

"I don’t know who you’re talking about, but good for him." Raya shrugged.

"Good for him? For refusing me? Well, aren’t you an evil bitch."

"Why would that make me an evil bitch?"

"Because I have a faint, soft, and fragile heart."

"I doubt it."

"I do! You just can’t-"

"Where’s Liz?" The Paru suddenly interrupted.

Rea started at him for a bit, before scratching her head.

"Outside, making sure everything goes well. Why?" She sighed.

"I see." The Paru muttered as he turned back towards whatever it was he had been doing. Rea couldn’t really see what it was. He seemed to be kneeling, and because of the desks separating them, she could only see his head and shoulder peeking.

"I asked why!" Rea shouted as she pointed at him.

"Why do you care?" Raya muttered, acting like she knew.

"Why shouldn’t I? I’m curious!"

"Well…" Cero started. Both turned towards him. "I’m not sure who it is you’re trying to Navigate… But being useful might help you do that, don’t you think?"

"True, true." Raya nodded as she chuckled. "If you’re useless, then of course you’ll be refused. Maybe you should go help Liz."

"W-Well…" Rea’s irritation was obvious. "I’ll help here then!"

"That’s not really useful." Raya sighed. "You need the guy you want to Navigate to see you being useful, you know? You can’t-"

"Shut up!" Rea interrupted. "I’ll help here, alright? I don’t want to be outside. I hate being outside in the first place." She explained while circling around the desks separating her from Cero.

’Another one…?’

"Rea, you really shouldn’t…"

"Shut up… Holy shit! What the fuck is that?" Rea suddenly shouted, understanding why the Paru was kneeling.

He was seated on top of a very strange creature, using his arms and legs to keep it from moving.

"Don’t get too close." Raya warned as she placed a mask over her face and started walking towards Cero, surgical knife in hand. "Well, if you’re bored enough, I suppose you should breathe in some of it’s-"

"I don’t know about that." Cero interrupted, frowning.

"Oh, it can’t be that bad." Raya smiled sadistically. "If you’re bored, then you might as well. It’s just a test, you know?"

"Those hallucinations are pretty trippy."

"Well, it’s important to test these things. Does the effect depend on the person? On whether it was eaten or breathed in? How much stronger do the effect get when the quantity increases? Do the effects get stronger proportionally to the quantity? Exponentially? Diminishing returns?"

’Didn’t the test we’ve already run give us…?’

"So!" Raya clapped her hands together before closing the distance separating her from Rea. "Will you be useful?"

"Huh? I… Uh… Tests? Do I… Really have to?"

"Yes, of course!" Raya shouted as her hands took hold of Rea’s right hand. "It has to be tested!"

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