“Welcome!” Frank announces, his arms spread open in the air, as he walks up the stairs onto the smooth wooden porch.

  He places his hands on the quaint double doors’ knobs, big panes of translucent glass adorning them both, the doors glide open without a sound as he pulls on them.

  He steps to the side and Pineapple zooms past him into the cabin.

  Amethyst still stands before the porch, silently staring at the entrance.

  It was my choice to come…

  “Everything okay?” Frank asks letting concern shine through his tone a little too much.

  Amethyst closes her eyes.

  “Amethyst?”

  She reopens them with a glint of newfound resolve and takes a step up the stairs.

  Each step causes the wood to groan under her as she slowly ascends them.

  To Frank’s relief, his stairs hold and Amethyst now stands on the patio, with her head bent to the side, due to the roof’s height.

  “Do you think you can fit in?”

  Even with double doors, the entrance isn’t exactly made to fit four-legged insect creatures through.

  “Yes, I have experience with doors.”

  Her confident tone makes Frank look forward to the result with trepidation.

  Amethyst steps forward and brings her first leg over the threshold.

  She then ducks her upper body and moves her weight over with the second step, her left front leg lands on top of a rug, and the fabric slips from underneath.

  As a split-second reaction Amethyst swings her left elbow blade to the door frame, it sinks in and prevents her from falling.

  At the same time, she slams her slipped leg down on the floor to further keep her balance, her leg sinks into the exquisite wood strip floor.

  Frank winces.

  Amethyst regains her balance, wedging her blade loose from the wood with a few shakes sending splinters of wood flying.

  Followed by pulling her leg loose from the hole in the floor, the floor cracks from around sending small fractures running through the wood.

  Frank sinks his head into his hands, peeking through the gaps of his fingers.

  Amethyst makes it inside the house without further incident and straightens her back.

  The house opens up into a high-ceiling space with the living room, followed by the kitchen on the left with a lower roof height.

  Directly on Amethyst’s left, a small door, and next to it straight stairs that go upstairs, which overlook the living room area.

  Frank still stands on the porch and looks at the damage horrified, the deep cut on the door frame, and the gaping hole on his immaculate floor.

  He notices small nicks near it, a trail leads out the door and down the terraces’ stairs, following Amethyst’s path perfectly.

  Oh, my beautiful house…

  Frank hurries inside and closes the doors behind him.

  “Amethyst, why don’t you wait on the couch and I’ll bring you something to eat.”

  “Okay.” Amethyst drags herself to the green sofa and sits down, both of her elbow blades sink into the backrest’s cushion.

  “Oh,” she pulls her hands up to get the blades out, placing them on her lap instead.

  “D-don’t worry about it.”

  I knew the risks but I still wasn’t prepared for this…

  Frank walks into the kitchen, the open room situated behind the sofa, he lays down the fruits on the kitchen table that he collected during their journey here:

  Two Applenuts, one Banaorange, and his personal favorite, Dragon Lemon.

  He takes a ceramic plate from a cupboard and turns to the fridge, suddenly stopping in front of it.

  “Amethyst, what do you actually eat?”

  “Anything is fine, I think, as long as it’s not... green.”

  She responds, her stomach aching with its emptiness, though that was much more bearable than the constant throbbing of her head.

  “Alright,” Frank opens the fridge as Pineapple brushes against his leg, begging for some food.

  You go first then, just don’t tell her, okay? He thinks and smiles at the cat.

  He takes out a plate covered with a translucent plastic film. Cracking open the covering, he takes out three small fish from underneath that resemble vendace, just with green eyes. He lays them on another plate, but before he can even set it down, Pineapple practically climbs up her trousers to get the fish.

  “Hey, Pineapple, wait just a second will you?” He whispers.

  He jabs the fridge door closed with his elbow and sets the plate down on the floor for Pineapple, it eagerly starts gnawing the fish.

  A loud purr starts.

  This was supposed to be our secret!

  Amethyst does not seem to mind however as there is no reaction.

  He washes the fish out of his hands and takes out another plate from the cupboard.

  So what to get for Amethyst…

  Banaorange is probably a bit too difficult for her to eat and I doubt she’d want more Applenuts.

  ...

  Sorry, but the Dragon Lemon is for me.

  Frank grabs the Dragon Lemon in his other hand and bites into the soft red skin, it gushes juice from its seedy yellow innards.

  The perfect mix of bitter and sweet blesses his taste buds.

  He pries the fridge open with his elbow and evaluates its contents.

  In the fridge's small clear plastic compartment, situated at the bottom, he has artichoke, leek, salad, and other fruits and vegetables, mostly in the banned color.

  He looks higher, his eyes landing on yesterday’s leftovers on the top shelf: fried lizard meat, cooked potatoes, and some brown sauce are on a plate covered by plastic wrap.

  I was going to eat this later...

  But this is probably the most balanced meal for a starving anim- person.

  I can just eat at the cafeteria at work.

  “Do you care if I heat your meal up or do you prefer it cold?” Frank glances in her direction.

  “C-cold is fine,” Amethyst answers from the sofa, her head held down between her bladed hands.

  Frank lays down the empty plate and grabs the one in the fridge, placing the half-eaten fruit from his hand on the table too as he unwraps the plate.

  He is about to bring it over but notices the large size of the steak, a scenario runs through his head:

  Amethyst attempts to cut the steak into smaller pieces to fit into her mouth, but her blade slips, cutting through the plate and ultimately the whole table.

  Everything comes crashing down, and finally, she slashes the very floor open.

  Frank shudders and backpedals, digging out a knife and a fork from a drawer, and proceeds to cut the meat up into five smaller pieces.

  Frank picks up the plate again and carries it in one hand like a waiter.

  He curves around the back of the couch and places the plate in front of Amethyst, on the dark brown table.

  “Here you go.”

  Amethyst looks down at the meal, then at Frank.

  “Finally, some real food!

  Not some alien fruits but an actual human-cooked dish!

  Never thought I’d see the day!”

  She exclaims with a big grin and then looks down at the plate again.

  “I did tell you to trust him, didn’t I?

  You should know to trust my instinct in these things.”

  “W-what?”

  Amethyst lowers herself and eats up with her mandibles, they shove the food down fast.

  She raises her head afterward, crumbs and stains covering her lips, she notices the strange look Frank is giving her.

  “What?” she buzzes confused.

  “What was all that about?”

  “What was what?”

  “That thing you said just before you started eating?”

  “I didn’t say anything?” Amethyst looks at Frank perplexed and her head tilted to the side.

  “Oh, uh, okay...”

  What are these episodes she has?

  That did really just happen... right?

  “Well, uh did you enjoy it?” Frank awkwardly recovers and scratches his face.

  “It was delicious, I feel a little better,” Amethyst smiles briefly before her pained expression returns and she looks away.

  “Glad to hear it.”

  Frank gazes at this once so proud creature, her armor dusty and dirty in spots, with green dried blood giving the final touch of grime.

  Amethyst’s shoulders are slumped, looking down and defeated, shaking in anguish with pain and forlorn reflected in her strange eyes.

  A shadow of her former self when she grinned at him as she was breaking out of the cage back then.

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  How could anything bring down this creature- this person full of power?

  What in the world is wrong with her?

  He did not know how to help improve her condition, other than offer her food and rest, but he could at least help regain some of her dignity.

  Would she be averse to a shower? She could really use one...

  Frank imagines Amethyst walking through the bathroom door, leaving wide cuts on the frame, stepping on the tiled floor, with each step the tiles crack and break under her.

  Once she finally makes it to the shower he has to be there to hold it for her and shower her up.

  Then she’d turn and accidentally cut the shower line, water going everywhere, Amethyst would panic and…

  No way, that ain’t happening.

  I do feel sorry for her for having to wallow in her mother’s blood...

  With injuries of her own no less.

  ...

  I’ll just have to do it the manual way.

  “I should soon go to work, I’ll look for your mother and a spaceship to get you back to your home there.

  But before that…

  Would you like me to clean you up?

  Especially your shoulder wound and those... green stains...”

  “Yes... Please...” She says with a serious expression, sadness reflected in her blue hybrid eyes which do not look at Frank, but stare at the table.

  He heads toward the kitchen, Pineapple passes him and strides up the stairs and into the second floor.

  Exploring the house huh? This alien cat really is just a regular one with a light show?

  In the kitchen, Frank opens up a cupboard above the sink and finds a cleaning rag and some paper towels. He slightly soaks both of them and returns to the living room.

  “I’ll start by cleaning your shoulder wound first, okay?”

  “Okay,” Amethyst answers quietly, slightly wobbling from side to side.

  The armor has fractured and bits of the purple chitin are stuck to the green dried blood, only small areas of gray skin visible through it.

  With the paper towel, he cleans up the wound, the blood soaks and becomes liquid again, and the armor shards stick to it nicely.

  Amethyst does not react to this clean-up at all, opting to stare off into space.

  The hole is now clean, underneath, multiple scabs have formed, appearing clean without any swelling of the skin around them.

  She isn’t even suffering from an infection?

  “Good news, your shoulder injury seems to be healing nicely.”

  “Do you want me to take a look at that fracture in your wing too? I noticed it when you, uh, escaped yesterday.”

  Frank says feeling a little guilty.

  “Amethyst?”

  “Oh, please do,” Amethyst finally answers apathetic, and opens up her back shell.

  “Are you doing okay?” Frank asks as he presses down a lever on the sofa’s left side, which lets down the backrest and turns it into a makeshift bed.

  “No...” She responds quietly.

  With the backrest out of his way, he kneels on the sofa and takes a look at her back.

  Her wings are folded up inside, the right wing’s second last bone shorter than the rest, but no longer leaking, it has sprouted new bone and started to mend.

  Her gray skin is badly burned from around the right wing’s root.

  “Hold on, I’ll get some cream for your burns,” He quickly stands up from the sofa and searches through his medicine cabinet, finding a small tub of cream for burn treatment.

  Wait, I shouldn’t just give medicine to a creature I know nothing about.

  He quickly glances through the ingredients list at the back, determining it doesn’t include any actual medicinal substances.

  Well, I guess it should still work and be safe.

  Hopefully.

  He returns to Amethyst.

  “I’ll apply some cream to the burns now, this will probably hurt a little.”

  Frank opens the tub and swipes some white ointment with two held-together fingers.

  He brushes his fingers gently against the gray skin, bumpy and raspy from the damage.

  Amethyst recoils slightly, silently hissing in pain.

  “Alright, that should help it heal better.”

  As he retreats his hand, Frank spots a loose bone about 20 cm in length, lying at the bottom of Amethyst’s back shell’s compartment.

  He reaches for it and picks it up.

  It’s light and hollow, he looks down it like a spyglass, to find it completely empty.

  “Uhh, Amethyst, your fractured bone has started to grow back, however, the old piece of bone was still inside.

  …What do I do with this?”

  Frank asks holding the dark purple piece of bone in his hands, conflicted.

  “I don’t know… it is just bone.”

  “I guess I’ll hold onto it then,” Frank returns to the kitchen with the bone, laying it next to the sink, and puts the cream back into the cabinet.

  “Oh, and you can close your back now, we are done there.”

  Frank hails from the kitchen as he washes his hands in the sink before returning to Amethyst.

  He grabs the rag from the sofa.

  “Alright then, the general clean up next.”

  He walks to her left and notices the orange flower still in her hair, Frank's lips can't help but turn into a smile as a feeling of warmth spreads in his chest.

  “I’ll start with your hair and go down from there okay?”

  “Okay.”

  Frank carefully grasps the stained strands of hair with his left hand, while cleaning them with the other hand holding the rag.

  Her purple locks are surprisingly soft as they caress his left hand, a contrast to the otherwise coarse and dangerous exterior.

  Amethyst follows his work with her gaze, the black pupil along with the multitude of small eyes in the azure iris staring him down.

  He grows a little anxious under her watchful gaze, being extra careful not to pull her hair or to disturb the flower.

  Frank talks to ease his nerves and the awkwardness of the moment.

  “D-do you know what is wrong with you, what is causing your weakness?”

  He asks without looking directly at Amethyst’s face, finishing up with her hair, fully shining purple again.

  “No.”

  He moves on to clean the dirt and grime from her left shoulder and arm.

  “I see,” Frank answers while cleaning the tough and rough armor, getting its shades of purple and blue back into their full glory.

  “What about your strange… outbursts?”

  “Maybe…”

  “So, you have an idea?” Frank wipes long sweeps down her back armor with the rug.

  “A strange pressure in my head... painful... and a voice I do not know.” Amethyst glances at Frank as he starts cleaning her right shoulder.

  “A Voice?” Frank repeats surprised, stopping his cleaning, and focusing his attention entirely on Amethyst.

  “Have you… talked to it?”

  “Yes,” Amethyst says and meets Frank's gaze.

  “Do you know anything about it? Maybe its name or what it wants?”

  Frank asks with a serious expression.

  “No... I don’t know,” She looks away, staring at the floor instead.

  “Well, maybe the next time you talk with it you can ask it some questions.”

  He advises as he moves down from her shoulder to scrub the blood from her right hip.

  “I’ll try.”

  Frank is done with most of the cleaning, just one area now left.

  “D- do you want me to clean your chest armor too?”

  Amethyst looks at him with a curious gaze.

  “Yes.”

  “Okay...”

  Frank swallows hard, reaching over Amethyst’s side and starts rubbing her hard chest armor just below her neck, a small green splatter up there too.

  Oh... her lips are stained in the sauce and crumbs too...

  But I can't possibly ask to clean that for her...

  He feels like he voluntarily got into a guillotine, though the blade looms below him, instead of above.

  One wrong move by Amethyst and Frank’s guts would also join in on destroying his perfect wood floor.

  He works his way down, onto the darkest purple in her armor, a large crystal just below it, he cleans the grime and polishes the crystal.

  Amethyst looks down on Frank from above, quietly as he works, finding it strange how his face was changing color the more he cleaned.

  Frank gives Amethyst’s stomach plate a hasty clean in circular motions and shoots up, gasping and finally breathing out.

  Amethyst looks at Frank worried.

  “T-there all done.”

  Amethyst’s expression softens into a smile, as her armor sparkles in the rays of light shot through the window.

  “Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome,” Frank rubs the back of his head and smiles too.

  “Anyway, I should go to the facility now, I’ll try my best to find your Mom and get you a way back home. You should rest in the meantime.”

  Pineapple jumps onto an armchair at the right of the table and curls up to sleep in the warmth of the sun that shines through the window directly onto it.

  “I was talking to Amethyst, Pineapple.”

  The cat’s eyes remain closed, a single ear turn is all the attention this remark is deemed to deserve.

  “Anyway, try and get some sleep” He hesitates and adds:

  “I don’t mind if you end up stabbing the couch full of holes...”

  “Okay.” Amethyst remains sitting, glances at Pineapple, and then at him.

  “Take care, I’ll make my way back as soon as I can, I might be back by evening, maybe earlier.”

  Frank talks as he goes to the kitchen and scoops the Dragon Lemon with him, as well as placing the two Applenuts into his pockets.

  Amethyst follows him with her eyes.

  He walks to the doors and opens them, stopping briefly and tapping his left pocket to check for the presence of his work ID.

  “See ya, sleep well.” Frank glances back, gives a small wave, and closes the door behind him.

  Amethyst stares at the closed doors for some time, before laying on the sofa, her legs spill over it on the floor, but at least her upper body is on cushions. She Places her hands on top of her stomach, her left elbow blade invades and lays on the table, while the other sticks out off the other end of the sofa a little.

  She stares at the ceiling made of lumber, her head abuzz and pulsing with pain, even worse than before, somehow.

  Questioning how it will be possible for her to rest in such a state, but it does not take long at all for her to succumb to sleep.