The Smeet

The Rush

"SOMEBODY STOP HER!"

"IF SHE PRESSES THAT BUTTON WE'RE DOOMED!"

"I-Ilk, come to daddy, sweetie...!"

"SOMEBODY SAVE THE SNACKS!"

"ILK, NO!"

Inside the Massive, something exploded.

*IZ*

48 hours earlier...

About two years after arriving Ilk mastered the crawling technique and was now bold enough to try getting on her feet. She grew about five inches during that time and her first milk teeth started coming out, much to the dismay or everybody aboard the ship.

The most notable thing was that she could finally eat solid food. Unfortunately for Red and Purple, though, her favorite food was doughnuts. And sugar was apparently strictly forbidden for smeets.

It turned out it didn't only apply to Irken infants, though. Many species through the galaxy forbad giving sweets and candy to children so young due to some 'terrible consequences for health and the parents' sanity'.

"That article say it's a state where children go completely nuts with extra energy-thing." Red said that morning, taking a gulp from his soft drink.

"You mean a sugar rush?" Purple said, correcting him.

"Yeah, that. Apparently kids are susceptible to sugar and they get extra-hyperactive if they eat too much."

"I'm glad not to be a kid, then." Purple commented, and took a whole doughnut into his mouth matter-of-factly.

They heard a familiar whimper and looked down, finding Ilk clutching to her father's legs, trying to climb up.

"How did you get here, little one?" Red asked curiously.

Lately she had figured out how to climb out of her basket, crawl out of the bedroom and find her way to the bridge of the Massive, where she knew her father and 'uncle' spent most of their time. If Red tried locking the door, she'd fit herself into the ventilation system and somehow find her way to the bridge from there.

He'd blame her mom for making her so smart, but he was smart too. O in this case he could tell it was shared, more on his part, of course.

Red picked her up in his free hand, and she instantly climbed unto his arm and then up his head, where she nibbled on his antennae. "OW! Ilk, what did daddy say about nibbling those?"

"Let me lend you a hand," Purple said, carefully grabbing Ilk by the diaper and managing to get her off Red's head without pulling too much on his antennae. Ilk let out a few growls as she squirmed in protest until she saw the donut bag on her uncle's arm; her eyes instantly lit up and she reached out for it.

"No, no, kids can't get doughnuts," Purple told her. "Hey, don't look at me like that, it's your dad's idea."

Red rolled his eyes. "Geez, thanks a lot." He was being sarcastic, of course.

"Okay, how about I take her back to her basket so you can take a break?"

"Alright, just don't give her any." Red narrowed his eyes suspiciously; Purple had the tendency to pamper Ilk a bit too much, particularly in things to which he said NO.

"Alright, mister grumpy." Purple said with a roll of his eyes as he walked out of the bridge and towards Red's quarters.

Ilk's basket was placed on top of a small table. Red didn't place it on his bed because he moved a lot while sleeping, and he was afraid he'd accidentally push or kick the basket off the bed and hurt Ilk.