The Stars Have Aligned

Chapter Three

Aimsey was now back in their garage, pacing as they waited for Eloise to get off her shift so she could come check on The Kite, while music blasted in their ears. Aimsey could not be happier about their wristband having an application where they could listen to music.

Aside from waiting, Aimsey had also been thinking about Guqqie and how mad they were with Scott. At least, Guqqie was patched up now.

Aimsey didn't even understand why they cared so much about Guqqie; they barely even knew her. In fact, they were an alien! And Scott had always pressed it into Aimsey when they were younger about how aliens hated them and how they couldn't be trusted. Especially after what aliens had done. Aimsey knew, though, that Guqqie was different. They weren't like the other aliens. Their gut was just tugging on their feelings, saying that Guqqie was no threat. She hadn't done anything threatening, anyway. They didn't deserve to be thrown in jail until proven a threat.

Aimsey heard footsteps and was dragged out of their thoughts. They stopped pacing and looked to the garage entrance, where they saw Eloise approaching them, smiling. Aimsey paused their music and took out their headphones and set them on their tool shelf.

"Heya." Eloise greeted.

"Hey." Aimsey greeted, waving a hand. "How was your shift?" They asked, as Eloise took the flashlight off of the tool shelf.

"The usual." Eloise sighed. "Just repairing ships." She added as she turned on the flashlight and slid under the ship. Aimsey chuckled.

Then, the two sat in silence for a good five minutes or so. Aimsey wanted to make sure they wouldn't distract Eloise or anything, but a question had been nagging their mind for some time.

"Did you hear about what happened?" Aimsey suddenly asked. Eloise seemed to pause for a second, before resuming.

"No..? What happened?" Eloise's voice was coated with confusion.

"Well... yesterday an alien crashed into our landing port." Aimsey began. There was a short silence, before Eloise whacked her head against the ship, resulting in her yelling out an "Ow!" before sliding out from under the ship. She put a hand to her head, as she looked up at Aimsey.

"An alien? Is that what that loud crash was yesterday?" Eloise asked.

"Probably." Aimsey nodded. "I'm gonna be honest, I didn't even hear anything." They admitted.

"Wait, so, what happened?"

So, Aimsey explained everything. They explained Scott threatening Guqqie, Aimsey protecting Guqqie, Guqqje explaining her situation, and Guqqie getting thrown in jail. Aimsey had left out the detail of aiding Guqqie, out of fear of Eloise getting mad and telling somebody.

When Aimsey was done explaining, Eloise just blinked while she took it all in.

"Wow." Is all she said. "So, they were thrown in jail, even though they didn't do anything?" Eloise asked. Aimsey nodded, and Eloise slightly shook their head in disbelief.

"I know. It's so stupid." Aimsey expressed. They paused, before adding, "Also, I can, uhm, take my flashlight back if you don't need it anymore."

"Oh, right. Yeah, you can take it back." Eloise handed the flashlight back to Aimsey, and they put in on their tool shelf.

"Everything seems to be good. I'd say that you should be back in the galaxy soon." Eloise informed, which excited Aimsey.

"Let's go!" They quietly cheered, pumping a fist. Aimsey couldn't wait to be back in the galaxy, honestly. They had missed watching the stars fly by as they did small flight tricks in their spaceship. "Thank you so much, El." Aimsey couldn't be happier.

"Of course." Eloise smiled. "Now that I'm done here, though, I'm going to go make sure Bek isn't getting herself into any trouble." Eloise said, flicking a thumb behind their shoulder. Bek, was also a mechanic, and one of Eloise and Aimsey's friends. She was better friends with Eloise than Aimsey, yet still held a friend title with them. To describe her simply; she's a clumsily chaotic person.

"Yeah, you should do that before she blows something up." Aimsey joked. The two laughed.

"Yeah, you're right. See you later." Eloise waved goodbye before leaving. Aimsey turned to look at their ship, eager to fly it right in that moment. Except, they knew that they couldn't. At least, not without permission. But, honestly? Aimsey was alright with that, because they had somebody else to be looking after; Guqqie. Aimsey hadn't seen them since yesterday, and they had been waiting a long while to say hi to Guqqie.

Aimsey finally zoned back in, and heard Eloise's footsteps finally go quiet. Aimsey quickly grabbed their med-kit, and turned around to be faced with Michela, another one of their friends.

"WAH!" Aimsey yelped. "Michela! You scared me." They muttered, grasping their chest. Michela was a pilot who was much more experienced with flying a spaceship than Aimsey, but has also probably crashed their ship more than Aimsey. They've asked, probably so many times, for Aimsey to repair their ship, that Aimsey's gotten tired from it. Of course, though, they would never turn down helping a friend.

"Not even intentionally this time!" Michela chuckled. "Where are you in a rush to?" She asked. Aimsey froze.

"I'm... I'm..." Aimsey thought hard to come up with a lie. "I'm going to the healing ward to get more med-kit supplies." Aimsey finally lied. God, was that even believable? Michela would probably think Aimsey's lying.

And she definitely did. Their expression said it all.

"Right." Michela said, unconvinced. "Is that... important enough to be rushing about it?" They asked, arms crossing.

"I.. don't want to forget about it, y'know..? I might get distracted, or I might get hurt, and then I won't have the supplies for it..." Aimsey sort of trailed off, feeling hesitant under Michela's suspicious gaze.

"Mhm. What are you really rushing around for?" Michela asked. Aimsey wanted to crack, tell the truth, but what would Michela think? Would Michela snitch on Aimsey to Scott, so Scott could personally kick Aimsey out of the corporation and then tear them apart? Aimsey knew Michela wasn't a big fan of Scott (and, admittedly, nobody was), but Aimsey also knew that nobody in the corporation was a big fan of aliens either, except maybe Eloise, depicting their conversation earlier. They could only assume that included Michela.Aimsey almost shuddered at the thought of Scott's eyes glaring the anger of a thousand suns while he'd kick them out of the corporation. Aimsey couldn't let it happen. It was selfish, yet... it was also helping Aimsey stay alive.

"That is why I'm rushing around. To get more medical supplies." Aimsey insisted, hoping to sound more convincing. Aimsey knew that, if Michela were to believe it, she wouldn't for very long.

"Alright. You win." Michela said, raising their arms in defeat. "I was swinging by to see how you're doing, but I suppose I can wait if this is that important." Michela explained. Aimsey almost crumbled. Now they were on a timer.

"Oh. Alright, I'll try to be as quick as I can." Aimsey stated. "Don't mess with anything. Be back soon!" Aimsey said, waving before quickly rushing out of their garage, not even waiting to hear Michela's response.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Guqqie!" Aimsey whispered aloud, sitting in front of their cell. Guqqie's pointed ears perked, and a grin fell upon their expression.

"Aimsey! I was beginning to think you weren't coming." Guqqie mumbled. Aimsey softly laughed.

"Yeah, well, I've been fairly busy, I'll tell you that. In fact, I can't stay very long." Aimsey informed. Guqqie frowned.

"Why not?" She asked.

"I have a friend who's waiting for me." Aimsey briefly explained, before placing down their med-kit. "How's your plasmablast wound?" They asked.

"It still hurts a lot, but it feels a bit better than yesterday." Guqqie explained, slowly moving a hand to their side.

"Alright, let's see how it is."