Jaxon

Sun

     "You don't want to get new clothes? The ones from the shelter don't fit you right and they're all dirty." Hace tried hard to get his Inchoate to pick anything. The poor thing looked terrified suddenly, like it was in trouble for doing something he shouldn't have. Hace just sighed and tossed a few pieces of clothes into the cart. 'This isn't going like I had hoped... maybe I should just give him a few more days to adjust first.'

     Hace decided that was enough shopping for today. He just had to grab the last two items now. He went to set his Inchoate back in the basket when he noticed it looking intently at him. "Are you doing ok?" The Inchoate moved its mouth a bit but didn't make any sounds. It seemed to be studying him. Hace thought it was so cute how its eyes suddenly filled with curiosity and wonder as it looked at him.

     Hace carefully secured him back down in the blanket. The Inchoate didn't stop looking at him. It was tilting its head a few times. Hace couldn't help but awe at his cute face. He tried to pet his head, just to break the little guy's concentration. It yipped and flinched. Hace just sighed and pushed the cart.

     As they went around the corner, another cart sat there with an Inchoate in the basket. It smiled at Hace's Inchoate and gave a cute wave. The man standing next to the cart pat their head and went back to the items on the wall.

     "He looks so well behaved." Hace said.

     "He's been a sweetheart recently... but he still makes a run for it whenever he's off his leash. So I have to keep a close eye on him." The man turned and looked at Hace's Inchoate. "Wow... he looks young, and a bit scared. Is he ok?"

     "I just picked him up from the shelter. I can't get him to pick anything. Did you have that problem with..."

     "Jumper, and no. He picked out everything, right down to the color of the undergarments he wanted! He still tries to grab things off the shelf if they catch his eye. But I got mine from a breeder, he's not wild at all."

     Hace looked over at his little guy and saw him watching the two of them, more like, their mouths. He didn't seem to be paying attention to the other pet yipping at him. But Jumper didn't seem to mind that the little guy was ignoring him. He just continued to yip and kicked his legs back and forth.

     "Well, I have to get a few more things then get him home. Thanks for the info." The man nodded and turned back to the wall of what looked like high-tech toys.

     Hace already knew what bed he was going to pick up. He read all the reviews and found the one that looked the best. It was a raised cage that allowed the top to be opened fully instead of the side. With this little guy being handicapped, that would be perfect. Hace picked up the heavy box and put it on the bottom of the cart. The Inchoate gasped and grabbed the handle in front of him as the cart shook. He looked a bit shocked as he tried desperately to see what was going on behind him.

     "It's ok." Hace shushed him and rubbed his back, making him tense up. "It's just your bed. You'll love it once I put it together."

     Right next to the beds were changing tables. Hace thought about just getting a pad to use anywhere in the house, but a table would work better. It would be a better place to store everything... at least until his Inchoate could control himself again. It was decided then, he tossed in a pad, and he got the table.

     It had almost felt like an earthquake when the whole basket shook a second time. Jaxon knew that Mint was putting something big in behind him, but he couldn't see what it was.

     Jaxon felt kinda bad about not talking to that other human, but the guy was a bit strange. There was something not quite right with him. He seemed to be talking almost like a toddler... which made Jaxon wonder more about what his role would be there.

     They seemed to be heading to the exit now. Jaxon was thankful for that. This place was terrible and brought up so many unwanted memories of growing up.

     They headed over to a counter where an alien with pale off-white skin and two heads was standing. The alien cooed at him and said something. To which Mint answered. She, Jaxon assumed it was a she by the tone of her voice and slightly different body shape, awed him and even reached out to pet him. Jaxon backed away the best he could and cowered a little bit. Mint smiled and said something else. Her hand retracted. Jaxon gave a sigh of relief as they exited the building.

     This was the first time Jaxon had got to see outside on this planet. Being in the sunlight had a very different effect than the simulated sunroom that they had back on earth. It had a warmth to it that made Jaxon close his eyes for a moment and smile. Even though it looked like they were in a town of some kind, the air still smelt clean. It had almost a pine smell to it. The sky was about the same shade of blue as Jaxon's eyes. But before he could look at much more, he was suddenly lifted up and put back inside his carrier that sat strapped into the backseat of some kind of vehicle.

     Mint closed the carrier door and said something in a soothing voice before covering it up with the blanket. Jaxon was in the dark again. He gave a sigh and just lay there. It wasn't like he could really do anything else. The car moved a few times as he felt Mint loading up the items he bought. He wondered how much there really was. Was it all for him? How much money was Mint spending on him? How did money work here? He'd seen Mint pull out a piece of plastic that looked like a credit card, but how did they make their money? Was it all on cards? Was there any kind of paper transactions? Is it even money, or some type of credits?

     Jaxon didn't know why, but he knew that money was valuable. They talked a lot about how they spent a lot of money on the boys. His C.O. always said that he was a waste of the taxpayer's money. He sighed and looked down at his hands.

     His thoughts were broken again when he heard Mint get into the vehicle now and start it up. There was only a small sound of it starting...but then it sounded like the motor was muted almost. Jaxon really wanted to know how it worked. How could they get an engine to sound that quiet? What did it run on? What was it made of?

     He started to make a mental list of everything he wanted to learn. He wondered if some how he could ask Mint for books? Did they have books? Maybe they had children's books. Using children's books, he could try and learn the language and then read more complex books. Wait... were there children on the planet? What was the name of the planet? He wondered if Ash was somewhere thinking the same things because he knew that Ash was just as curious as he was...

     ASH! Where was he now? Did one of these aliens take him too? He remembered that they said Ash was taken towards the beginning while he was asleep for a week. Did all of the other teens get taken away? Were some of them taken to be tested on? What if Mint hadn't taken him? What would they have done to him?